"Just Passing Through"

C. S Lewis once said - "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world".

For the past 3 years you all have been so gracious as to provide us with a nice place to live. We are fortunate to raise our children in a house that keeps us safe and dry, cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And we are looking forward to using the new addition that we have been working on all summer.

But it is a temporary home. I do not nor will I ever posses the title to the house or the deed to the land... However, about 50 miles away from here we have some land, up in Chase, that we call our own. But it really isn't.

Technically Greenstone Farm Credit Service will own it for about the next 20 years. And even if we held the deed it would still only be ours, temporarily. A fire destroy it, The government could seize it if I fail to pay the property taxes. The state could claim eminent domain and use it for whatever they please. If we miss enough payments in a row the bank will foreclose… If we are that desperate for money, we could sell it… The point is… There is no guarantee that it will always be ours.

The same is true for each person here, certain circumstances could arise and you would find yourself displaced from what you call home. But for those who are born again we have a guarantee of a permanent residence.

The Apostle Paul said in - Philippians 3:20 “20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

Paul also is the one that tells us that we are not to be conformed to this World…

Jesus, as He was praying for His Disciples, said “They are not of this world, even as I am not of this World...”

In the few verses that we will read today, Peter describes us as “Sojourners” and “Pilgrims”… Why?… Because this world is not our Home, we are just passing through…

We are still in 1 Peter 2… Turn there if you will…

Last week we ended with Peter’s encouraging words… (Read vv.9-10)…

And today we will focus on vv.11-12 (Read)…

Meat:

In vv. 9&10 we (believer’s) are called “God’s special people” and “the people of God”… In the verses that we are going to look at today and for the next few weeks, we are going to see what our lives should look like as “God’s Special People”, who are just passing through this sinful world…

As God’s Special People...

First of all… As God’s Special People…

1. We Are Aliens and Strangers

v.11 in the NASB says “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers...”

I know the NKJV says “Sojourners and Pilgrims”, but I believe that the NASB captures the meaning of the original Greek words a little bit better.

The word that is translated as Sojourner or Alien means; “a person who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there temporarily”

Meaning… we are...

1.1 Living in a land that is not our own.

If you didn’t have a passport and decided that you wanted to go to mexico, but had to get there in an unlawful way… and you get caught by the Mexican government… they are going to say that you are an illegal alien… You would be a foreigner who is living in a land that is not your own…

We are Aliens, sojourners, foreigners… Peter also say that we are strangers… Not only are we living in a land that is not our own… we are also…

1.2 Residing among a people who are not our own.

If we are living out what we say we believe, then to the world… we are going to seem awfully strange… and I’m ok with that…

It is ok for the world to think we are strange… remember, it is the Holy Spirit that illumines us, that brings us understanding to the principles and instructions we find in Scripture.

It is also by that we trust and believe the Word of God to be absolutely true.

You start talking to someone about some of the major accounts in Scripture, and they doesn’t have the Holy Spirit giving them that understanding… It is going to sound a bit strange…

A fella by the name of Chris Martin, wrote an article entitled “Keep Christianity Strange” and in that article he says this;

“If you were to summarize the plot of Scripture in a concise way, here’s one way it could sound:

A married couple was in a garden, and they were unashamedly naked. Then, a snake talked to them, and tricked them into disobeying God. They became ashamed, and they broke the way the world was supposed to be. God kicked them out of the garden, so they were free to roam the world and mess everything up.

Generations passed, God saved some people from slavery, and then gave them 10 important rules to live by (and a bunch of others, too). Kings eventually came to rule God’s people, one of whom was David. He killed a giant with some stones when he was a kid, and grew up to write a lot of worship songs.

Generations later, God’s Son—who’s as much God as God is—who had always existed but never as a human, became a human to be killed. Yes—to be killed. He lived perfectly, which no one had ever done before, and then people nailed him to a cross. Then he literally got up from the dead. Somehow, in God’s economy, this act paid for the screw-ups of everyone who has ever lived, so that whoever believes this good news can spend forever with God.

Oh, and one day he’s going to return in the sky on a horse.

If you aren’t familiar with the biblical narrative, much of that account will sound utterly odd: talking snakes, a “perfect” world, God’s Son pinned to a tree, bodily resurrection.”

The story of the Scriptures on which Christians build their life is strange… at least to those who are of this world… But we as believers are not of this world. We are living in it, but we are not to be of it.

That leads right into our next point…

As God’s Special People...

2. We Need To Be Representatives of Our Heavenly Home

v.11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts… ”

Peter is saying that Christians live in a land that is not their own and they live among a people who are not their own. Given this reality, it makes sense that we would not fit in, nor should we.

As Aliens and Strangers we should reflect the values of our homeland, the kingdom of God, not the values of the place in which we are just passing through.

When I take my children somewhere, I expect them to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the values my wife and I have taught them. We do not expect them to adopt the customs and practices of those around them.

In the same way, we as God’s children are expected by God to conduct ourselves in a manner that properly represents Him. God expects us to live our lives by His standards…

That being said…

We represent our Heavenly Home…

2.1 By Resisting Temptations

Again, Peter is saying… Even though you are away from home, even though you are surrounded by people living a sinful lifestyle and you are tempted to do some of the same things… don’t do it! Resist those temptations… “Abstain from fleshly lusts...”

Going back to v.1 of chapter 2… Peter gives a short list, that we looked at a couple of weeks ago…

1 Peter 2:1 “1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,”

Let me give you a couple more lists… keep in mind, that this is coming straight from God’s Word… This is what God expects us to resist if we are going to represent our Heavenly home…

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 6… (Read vv. 9-10)

Something that is becoming prominent today… but was also a problem back in Moses’ day…

Deuteronomy 22:5 “A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.”

Look at Galatians 5… (Read vv.19-21)

Some would say… “Oh Pastor, God loves ALL of His Children”… and to that I would say… Yes! He absolutely does!… and we become God’s Children, Part of God’s Family, by repenting of our sin, turning away from it, laying it aside, asking God to forgive us of our sin and then living in a way that honors and glorifies Him… by abstaining from the evil desires of the flesh.

We represent our Heavenly Home, by resisting temptations… which is not going to be an easy task… and so we also represent our Heavenly Home…

2.2 By Always Being Ready for Battle

Peter tells us to “… abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

This speaks the great power of temptation… We are all familiar with the word “War”… “War" means to carry on a military campaign. It is planned out, it is methodical, it is destructive, and it is time consuming.

Satan uses temptations to exploit our weaknesses. When he finds a temptation that we will give in to… he will focus most of his attacks on that area. And if we leave that area unchecked, un-confessed, and we are un-repentant about it… meaning, we have no desire or intention to get it taken care of… then it will start to destroy different parts of our lives, a little at a time, until we are fully consumed by it.

Someone once said…

“•Sin will always cost you more than you really want to pay.

•always take you further than you really want to go.

•always stay longer than you want it to stay.

•always change you in ways you can never imagine.”

So how do we make sure that we are always ready for battle… The answer to that is also found in Galatians 5:16 “16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Again, we walk or live in a way that honors and glorifies our Heavenly Father, by abstaining for the evil, lustful, desires of the flesh.

This next point goes along with the fact that we need to representatives of our heavenly home… and that is…

as God’s special people…

3. We Are Witnesses To The World Around Us

This is why Peter says in v.12 of our passage… 1 Peter 2:12 “12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

Again, I like the way the NASB translates this verse… “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

As "Aliens and strangers" we have a responsibility to live as witnesses to those who are of this world.

Have you ever encountered someone from another country?… It doesn't take long to realize that they think and act much different than we do. They are from an entirely different culture, they have different customs and beliefs.

In the church that I grew up in, there was a family that would have a different exchange student every year. They’ve had Japanese, Korean, German, and a few other nationalities living in their home.

One of which is still a friend of mine today. His Name is Moritz, he is from Germany, and he accepted Christ as his savior while he was here as a foreign exchange student. When he went back to Germany, he finished high school, went on to “University” and he is now a Lawyer.

One of my favorite memories, is when his host dad took him to a rodeo (he had know idea what that was), boy was he in for a treat... and they asked if I wanted to come along… of course I did. After the third or fourth bull rider got bucked off his bull, Moritz looks over at me and says… “these guys are stupid”

One year they had a Korean student… as soon as he would walk into anyone’s house… shoes came off… when told that he could leave them on, He explained that when entering a Korean home, you must remove your shoes. To do any less is a sign of great disrespect…

They were from a different place, they had different cultures and customs, and even though they were away from home, they stayed true to those customs…

As God’s special people we are citizens of Heaven… and we should have a heavenly mindset… We have different beliefs and customs… and as Christians we should think and act differently than the people of this world.

Whether we realize it or not the people of this world are watching us… There are so many people that think the church is a sham, its a money hungry scam or its completely irrelevant… Where do you think they got that idea?… by watching us… They are looking to see if our faith is real…

Many are watching and hoping to see us fail so they can criticize (or slander) us. This may be frustrating on the surface but it is actually a great opportunity. When we live consistent Christian lives... We prove that our faith is genuine - We prove that we are different and We show what a difference Jesus can make in a life.

Though they may criticize us for our standards...Though they may mock, scorn and ridicule us for what we oppose.... Though they consider us as “haters” and “a danger to society”... … If we continue to live out what we say we believe, then there may be some that are lead to Christ as a result of the witness we have for Him.

Peter says the only defense you have to an accusation that your faith, your church, your life, is nothing but a sham and a scam is to be able to point to our actions, all of us together, as a church, and be able to say “That’s not true. We live the way we say we live, we live the way God wants us to live.”

As God’s Special People, May we live each day in such a way that the lost world will see the glorious change that Jesus has brought in our lives!

Closing:

We will face temptations and we battle daily with the "fleshly desires that war against our soul"… As Aliens and Strangers… We must walk in the Spirit, We must represent our heavenly home and We must be witnesses to this lost and dying world.

We have been called out of the darkness into the light. And we should shine as lights in the darkness!

If you are here and you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, this old world is as good as it is going to get for you. You are living this life with no hope. You are headed toward eternal condemnation.

Jesus said that "unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God" . But He also gave this promise "He that believed is not condemned!"

If you will trust Jesus as your Savior you too can have the hope of eternal life. And when you face the troubles, difficulties and sufferings of this life you can do so with hope, I encourage you to surrender to Christ today and you can say with us ...."This World Is Not Our Home… We are just passing through"