The Bible Breakdown

1 Peter 02: We Just Passin’ Thoo

• Brandon Cannon • Episode 647

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Speaker 1:

Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, 1 Peter, chapter 2. Today's title is we Just Passin' Thu Okay, now listen, you got to say that. Right. We Just Passin' Thu A-T-H-O-O. Okay. We're going to get into what that means and everything else. But if you're new around here, make sure you like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel, make sure you also leave us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing team of people doing a wonderful job and the more we dig, the more we find. Also, you can text RLCBIBLE to 94000 and get all of these chapters to your text messaging every single day. Okay, all right, if you have your Bible and want to open up with me to 1 Peter, chapter 2.

Speaker 1:

Don't forget the overall theme of 1 Peter is that Christ is our living hope and it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, written by the Apostle Peter. He is in the city of Rome and he is writing to the neighboring area and he's saying hey, persecution is building up, so make sure you keep your eye on the prize our living hope. Who is's saying, hey, persecution is building up, so make sure you keep your eye on the prize, our living hope. Who is Jesus Christ? Right, and he's going to say something in here. He's going to call us temporary residents and foreigners or, as we would say, where I'm from, foreigners. Temporary residents and foreigners. All right, but what it made me think of is, once upon a time I worked at this fine, high-class establishment called Hardee's. Shout out to all my friends right now, all over the world, who work in fast food restaurants Listen whatever you're getting paid, it's not enough. That is a hard job. Well, I was working at this place and, for some unknown reason, I was promoted to a shift manager. I had no business being a shift manager, but I was right. I was like 17, 18 years old. Here we are.

Speaker 1:

Well, there was a lady who worked in the grill area back in the back, and I was supposed to be in charge of the whole thing, right, and she had been getting in a lot of trouble at this particular time and I'd already been told when I was working one of my first shifts with her hey, you need to be careful, she's not going to do what you say. She can be violent sometimes. I was like, why does she work here. But they said good luck. And, sure enough, I said, hey, here's the three things we need to do before we close.

Speaker 1:

She looked at my list, put it down, went outside, had herself a cigarette, right, just having herself a good time, didn't care about what I had to say and I was thinking you know what? I'm going to try to connect with this lady. So I go out there with her. There's no customers. This is Hardee's in the afternoon. All right, people come to Hardee's for the biscuits in the morning, at least they used to. So we have nothing better to do anyway.

Speaker 1:

And we're out there and I just level with her and I say, hey, listen, I have been told that you don't really love your job and there's people here who wish you didn't work here. I don't want that to be so, but I just got to know. Does it not bother you that, that that people around here are not happy? You're even here and she looked at me and she said, son, I don't care about them, this is my life, they just pass them through. I said what she said this is my life, they just pass them through. I was like, well, what does that mean? And she said you got to realize I do want to be here, but I can't help if they don't want me here. So I'm just passing through and doing my life, and along the way I'm going to make some friends, I'm going to make some enemies, but I'm headed somewhere. And apparently heading somewhere was not Hardee's, because she quit pretty quick after that.

Speaker 1:

But the overall idea stuck with me, and that was that she had this perspective in her life, and her perspective did not involve her working at Hardee's all of her life. She was apparently waiting for a different job to open up, and while she was waiting on it, she had to have a job. And I'm not saying that it was a good idea, that she didn't take her job seriously, but she had this idea that I'm just passing through this season of life and so I'm going to hold everything loosely right. Well, that is what Peter is saying in chapter 2. He's talking about evil behavior, different persecutions that we face, all of this. We need to hold all of these things very loosely because that's not our identity. We're just passing through. God's got something so much bigger planned for us, and so let's read this and see if we can kind of pick up what Peter is laying down. Are you ready?

Speaker 1:

1 Peter 2, verse 1 says this Now. First of all, really quick, he talked about in chapter 1 how we have an internal inheritance from God. He's saying that. He continues in chapter 2, and he says so since we have the eternal inheritance of being with Christ. Get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave the pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness. Pause.

Speaker 1:

We should really think about the idea that people think that once you get saved you should never think about how you live. Oh, man, all that is under grace. Man, god's forgiven all of that and so you don't have to worry about that. That's not at all what the Bible says. Now we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace alone. But if we are truly saved, then that grace will not stay alone. But now, because we have been saved, we now want to walk after Christ. And even Paul says should we sin, that grace may abound, god forbid. Well, even here he says so we then get rid of all evil behavior. Why Not? So God will love you more. You've never been more loved than you are right now, but it is out of appreciation for what God has done in all of us All right.

Speaker 1:

Verse 4 says this you are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor, and you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are his holy priests into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the scriptures say, I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, the stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, or the cornerstone, and he is the stone that makes people stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they do not obey God's word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, god's very own possession, and, as a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people. Now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy. Now you have received God's mercy. Now pause, a lot was said there. Notice how twice he says now you are like God's priests.

Speaker 1:

Well, in the Old Testament, among the Jewish people, being a priest was a high honor, because out of all the people in the nation of Israel, there was a select few people who were born into the priesthood that had access to the presence of God. Well, everybody else had to stand outside the tabernacle or be in the outer court and just kind of look at a distance to see God's presence. As the priests, they got to go into the holy place and the high priest got to go into the most holy place. So they were very, very special people with unique access to God's presence. And what Peter is saying is now you have been invited into the family of God, that gets to enter into the very presence of God. And then also what he says in verse nine and verse 10 is he said now you have that same promise that was given to the nation of Israel, because the nation of Israel, through Abraham God, said through you, I am going to bless the world. You now are going to be blessed because of me and through me, you are going to be a blessing to others. You are a chosen people. You are my very own possession and now, as Christ's followers, we have been grafted into the promise of God. And so what Peter is saying is that for all these generations, we, the Jewish nation, the people of God, have had this promise that God calls us special. He says that we are somebody. We've been chosen by him, nothing that we earned. It was because of his love he's like. That's how loved you are. You are now part of that special people. That's amazing, can I tell you. You should never let anybody tell you that you're not somebody, because in Christ you are significant, you are secure and you are accepted in him.

Speaker 1:

Verse 11 says this Dear friends, I warn you, as temporary residents and foreigners, to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then, even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. Notice how he says that one of the most important things we do is to live carefully and properly among our unbelieving neighbors, so that that will be an example to them about who God is. I think it's very important. All right, verse 13, for the Lord's sake, submit to all human authority, whether the kings as head of state or the officials he has appointed. Lord, help us, for the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. Verse 15, it is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you, for you are free, yet you are God's slaves. So don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, respect the king. Pause one more time. That is so very important when we realize that, when it comes to being a dual citizen, a citizen of the kingdom of God and also a citizen of the kingdoms of men, jesus says fear God, place God as number one, but also respect the authority of the king. So in other words, we do exactly what the king or leader says, as long as it doesn't contradict our primary citizenship, which is in heaven.

Speaker 1:

Verse 18,. You who are slaves must submit to your masters. With all respect, do what they tell you, not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel, for God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong, but if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, god is pleased with you. Now pause again.

Speaker 1:

This is not Peter condoning or saying it's a good thing to have or be a slave. He is just saying, whether we want to admit it or not, there are people who are currently slaves. Now also, remember, in first century Roman culture there were many different kinds of slaves. A lot of times people enslaved themselves because of debts that they had to pay and stuff like that, but it didn't mean they wanted to be this way. And so Peter's not saying hey, everybody go get you a slave. He's not saying that at all. He's saying let's be real. Some of us are around here and if you are how challenging is this? Do good, even if your boss or even if your slave owner is not good. Back, do Like, do good, because you're doing it out of worship to God. That's hard, right.

Speaker 1:

Verse 21,. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example and you must follow his steps. Selah, verse 22,. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross, so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away, but now you have turned to your shepherd, the guardian of your soul.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's hard, can I just tell you. That's hard. It's hard when God's word is literally saying when you are mistreated, don't repay evil for evil. You know there's a famous phrase out there that says you know the best way to fight fire with fire. You fight fire with fire. If someone is violent with you, you be violent right back to them, and there are times when you do need to take up for yourself. But when it comes to unfair treatment and different things like that, you know what God's word says Do not retaliate when you are insulted nor threaten revenge. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor did he threaten revenge when he suffered. Instead, he left his case in the hands of God.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's hard, but there's a reason behind that. The reason is number one is God knows what he's doing and he has a way of doing the right thing at the right time, for the right reason, in a way that is all for his glory. And so it's hard, but we can trust him. So what do we make of this today? First of all is to have that eternal perspective that we are just passing through. Therefore, we don't want to accumulate sins, broken places and all that in our life. We want to keep our eyes on that eternal perspective. Now, obviously, that doesn't mean that we don't occupy until he comes and live and develop legacy for the future. It's not saying that. It's just saying to hold all of the difficulties in life loosely and instead treat people with honor, as we would want to honor Christ. And so here's an action step for you today.

Speaker 1:

What would it look like for you today, as soon as you're through with this podcast, what would it look like for you to take a moment and write down some specific ways you can live honorably in your workplace, in your community and in your home this week. What would it look like for you to live honorably, to purposely show honor? That's one of the things that Peter said. He said, since you are citizens of heaven and temporary residents just passing through, what would it look like, then, for you to show honor to everyone around you? Honor might be letting someone go ahead of you in traffic. I know that might be the hardest thing in the world, but letting someone go ahead of you Maybe it would be showing grace for someone who hasn't earned it. Maybe it's to do an extra chore at home and then, when someone finds out, say, hey, I just want to show you I love you. That's hard, especially when they ain't done their chores in two weeks. And no, I'm not bitter about it right now, in Jesus' name. But what would it look like for you to show honor? And then, when you do that, you do it as an act of worship and watch what God does, because you don't have to have anyone serve you? You have already been served so well by your King. Why don't you try it today and see what happens?

Speaker 1:

God, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you, lord, for your word that is so full of goodness. Lord, we just we can't even see it all. There's so much here for us to chew on and think on, but the overall idea, god, is that you are for us and with us in more ways than we can imagine.

Speaker 1:

God, I want to confess to you one of the hardest things to do is to not always retaliate but to show honor. God, I pray you'll open our eyes to help us to find ways to show honor, put boundaries in place of people who are so broken they don't know how to not retaliate and stuff. Just be with us today. Help us to navigate this hard thing called life. I'm so thankful that you're with us every step of the way. I celebrate you today In Jesus' name. We pray Amen and amen. Well, god's word says in 1 Peter 1, verse 3,. It says it is by his great mercy that we have been born again. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For 1 Peter 3.

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Brandon Cannon

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