For the next Couple weeks, months, we're going to go through the book of 1 Peter. And I'm going to have, I don't think we have them this week, but next week in our resource center, I've got some supplemental resources to go through, to give you as we go through this. One is this book by Randy Alcorn called Heaven. We're going to talk about heaven next week. Every Christian ought to have that book.
Heaven By Randy Alcorn. I think we've lost our stuff here.
So, guys, do we have? I don't have that book enough. But anyway, Heaven by Randy Alcorn. There's another book that's a really, really good book called The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. Jerry Bridges is an incredible writer.
This is a great classic book. Peter talks about holiness, purity, many, many times in this letter.
So that's another good resource. And here's a good commentary by Wayne Grudem. On 1 Peter. The reason I like Wayne Grudem is he's a scholar. Really Baptist, but he's open to the power of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And it's not an easy read, it's more of a college-level book. But if you want to do a deeper dive into First Peter, that's going to be a good resource as well.
So let's just start off in this study by giving you a background of First Peter. Uh in 64 AD There's a psychopath on the throne in Rome. His name is name is Nero. Nero was a crazy man. But he loved to build stuff.
And as he looked at the city of Rome, he said, There's buildings everywhere. How am I going to build if there's buildings all over the place?
So on July 19th, Nero had some of his men set the city on fire. He's trying to burn down some of it so he could do a little building project, but the fire got out of hand and it burned for three days, and it burned a significant part of Rome down.
Now everybody's looking at Nero. You burn my house down. You burn my businesses down. And Nero said It wasn't me.
Okay, who was it? He said, Well, There's a group of weirdos called Christians out there. The Christians did it. You know, they come out of Judaism. There's a lot of anti-Semitism there.
And so a lot of them are Jews. Um They don't worship the emperor like everybody else. They talk about the day that God's going to judge the entire world with fire. They have a weird ritual where they eat a carpenter's flesh and drink his blood. It's the weirdos that did it.
And Persecution broke out. En masse. among Christians. They were killed in the most brutal of ways. Our forefathers and four mothers in the faith were wrapped in animal skins, or the kids were wrapped in animal skins, and hunting dogs and lions were sick on them and it tore them apart.
Some of our Christian Ancestors, as a result of this persecution, they were dipped in tar. Tied to posts. lit on fire.
So they could be human torches in Nero's garden parties. They were stoned. They were burned alive, they were beheaded, they were hung, and their leader. The Apostle Peter is seeing what's coming.
So he writes 1 Peter to prepare Christians for the coming persecution.
Now, you don't come to cross assembly for me to make you feel good. You come to cross assembly to hear, thus saith the Lord. And so as I see what's happening in our culture. I'm concerned. that I might be seeing the same thing that Peter saw.
I think we're in a time of peace right now. I think we're in a time of tolerance, basically, of Christians right now. But I sense the day is going to come where that tolerance is going to end. And I believe the church of the 21st century will be more like the church of the first century than the church of the 20th century. I think persecution is coming.
If you look at the stats. Violence against Christians and churches in America has risen exponentially. We have the Charlie Kirk assassination when a radical leftist guns this man down in public. We had a few weeks ago in Minneapolis. Don Lehman and his group.
Break into a worship service and interrupts a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church. They interrupt the worship service. And they say, well, it's our First Amendment right to interrupt their worship service. No, it's not. You do not have a First Amendment right to interrupt a worship service.
I want to ask you a question. If a bunch of right-wingers in MAGA hats broke into a worship service in a synagogue or a mosque, you think MSNBC and CNN will be applauding their First Amendment rights? Don, if I broke into one of your gay bars and started preaching Jesus and preaching against homosexuality, would you be applauding my First Amendment right?
So we have a social contract, or at least we had a social contract for years in America that worship services, whether it be in a mosque or a synagogue or a church, they were off limits. That social contract has been broken, and I'm wondering what's next. And so I think 1 Peter. is highly relevant. to the church today.
And so we start this letter off in chapter 1, verse 1, where Peter says, You want to know who wrote this? This is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. There are four lists of the 12 apostles in the gospel. It's interesting. Peter's name is at the head of every one of these lists.
He was the leader of the apostles. His real name was not Peter. It was Simon or Shimon. When he followed Jesus, Jesus gave him a nickname, Rocky. That's what Peter means, rocky, the rock, the stone.
That was his nickname. His real name, his given name was Simon, but Jesus changed his name to Peter. He was a commercial fisherman from the town of Capernaum. And in fact, some of y'all are going to be going to Israel with me in a couple months here. And Darren and I are going to take you to Peter's home.
We have actually found the foundation of Peter's house. And it's interesting. Peter's house was a little bit larger than most houses there in Capernaum. And it's in an ideal spot. It's right beside the Sea of Galilee, which means not only was he a commercial fisherman, he was probably a wealthy, prosperous commercial fisherman.
And he leaves all that to follow Jesus Christ. He had a wife, because the Bible says that Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, the Apostle Paul says, Hey, when Peter goes on his preaching trips, sometimes he brings his wife with him.
So evidently, there was some kind of ministry partnership with Peter and his wife. And we're not certain how he died.
Now, there might be a hint at the very end of the Gospel of John where Jesus says to Peter, Peter, when you're old one day, They're going to take you where you don't want to go. and they're going to stretch out your hands. implication he's probably going to be crucified.
Now, this is where you have to look at church history. I think maybe it was Eusebius that said that. Where was Peter crucified? We're not sure. We're not even sure if he was crucified.
Again, that's implied in the end of John. But I want you to look at this picture. This is the Vatican City today. And in Peter's time, forget about it, none of those buildings were here in Peter's time, okay? Y'all see that circular courtyard right there?
In Peter's day, that was an old dirt track. They'd have chariot races right there. And from what I think again it was Eusebius said. They had a circus or they had a They had a chariot race. This is called the Circus of Caligula, and then later on, the Circus of Nero.
And then the announcer said, It's time for our halftime show. And they brought this old man. and his wife out. And what they did to Peter was very cruel. You know, it's one thing for somebody to hurt you.
It's it's something else to hurt the one you love. They said, Peter, before we get to you. to his wife, come here. And they take this old lady. And they crucify her.
And Peter has to stand there at the foot of her cross and watch his wife die. And the church father said that he kept repeating this over and over. Honey, just remember Jesus.
So your heart just remember Jesus. Just remember Jesus. And when she died, they said, Peter, it's your turn. And Peter said, I'm not worthy. To die the same way my Savior Jesus died.
They said that's fine. They crucified him upside down. And when he was dead, They took.
Now, again, that day the basilica wasn't there. There was an old cemetery right there. We believe that they took Peter's body and buried him right where that basilica is.
Now, Years ago, I think it was in the 1960s, the Catholic Church said, We want to know, was Peter really buried here? Let's do some excavations. And so they kind of dug and dug and dug and dug down under that basilica until they came to the first century level and they found a stone slab. And written on that stone slab were the words, Petros Eni. Peter is right here.
And they pulled the slab up and they found the bones of a 60 to 70 year old man. Burley in build. And we think those are the bones of Peter. It's kind of interesting. They found, it's about half of his skeleton.
They found bones from every part of his body, except for the feet. They did not find any feet bones. And scholars wondered, why are we not finding any feet bones until somebody pointed out if Peter's crucified upside down, the easiest way to take him off the cross is just to hack him at the ankles and pull the body down. You say that's abnormal Christianity.
Now I'm afraid this is abnormal Christianity. Living connect. In a country that tolerates us in a climate-controlled room with no persecution, that might be abnormal. That might be a little bit more normal than you realize. And so the Apostle Peter says.
Church persecution is coming. I gotta get you ready.
Now, if you were Peter... And you're writing a letter to people who are about to go through persecution and be tortured. How would you start your letter off? Here's how most Americans have started off. I am so sorry y'all are about to go through what you're going through.
I don't know how a good God could let good things happen or bad things happen to good people.
Sometimes we question God. Maybe we need to rethink our faith. That's not what Peter does. Peter says, persecution is coming. The first thing I want to do is to remind you who you are in Jesus Christ.
We're going to start with that. Listen to me. You need to know who you are. And whose you are. Before the persecution comes.
You need to know Who you are. Before the paint slip comes. You need to know who you are. Before the cancer diagnosis. And so Peter says, Let me give you a sampling of who you are.
Because I'm telling you, if your identity is not in Jesus Christ, everything is shifting sand. In fact, here's what God did. Before Jesus had his three-year ministry, Jesus, over the next three years, you will be maligned by people. Your family will turn their back on you, your friends will turn their back on you, you're going to go through a lot of stuff over the next three years. Before Jesus Christ started that three-year ministry, when Jesus is baptized, do you know the first thing the Father did?
He told Jesus, Jesus, never forget this. Here's your identity. At the baptism of Jesus, the Father said, This is my son. You are my son. Don't forget that.
Immediately, Jesus goes into the desert, has a fight with Satan, and you know the first thing Satan tries to do? Make him forget his identity. He says, hey, you're going to be. Jesus, if you really are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. He's trying to make Jesus doubt his identity.
What is your identity built on?
Well, my identity, first of all, is a mother. I'm a good mama. That's my identity. That's great. What happens when your kids go off the rails?
Then you don't feel like you're a good mom anymore because your identity is built on them kids. Chad, what's your identity?
Well, I'm first of all a pastor.
Okay, that's fine as long as the church is healthy. What if the church starts declining? My identity, if it's tied to this church, when this church goes down, my identity goes down. My identity is: I'm a professional athlete, and I'm good at it. That's great.
But what happens to your identity then when you have a career-ending injury?
Well, my identity is my looks. I'm a man, I'm a woman. I look good, I make heads turn and mouths drool. That's my identity. Okay, that's fine.
What happens when you get to be aged Whatever. And uh the looks aren't there anymore. What happens to your identity? No, my identity, Chad, I'm a businessman, and I'm a good businessman, and I'm a successful businessman. That's great, but what happens when your business goes bankrupt?
What happens to your identity? If your identity is in your work rather than Christ, success will go to your head and failure will go to your heart. And so Peter starts off by saying, No, let me remind you of just a few things. I'm going to give you a sampling. This is not exhaustive, but let me give you a couple ideas as to who you are in Jesus Christ.
What is your identity? And the first thing he tells them is, Hey, your identity, you're a stranger. Look at verse 1: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the Strangers. Scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, all those geographical areas are modern-day Turkey. What happened is persecution started in Rome and it spread to where Peter's talking about right there.
But he calls them, look at that. Strangers. In the Greek language, and that word's used three times in the New Testament, it means a foreigner. in a different country.
So today If I get on an airplane and go to Spain. I may land in Spain, eat supper in Spain. But I don't belong in Spain. I'm just a temporary visitor in Spain. If I leave here today and fly down to Peru, I may tour Peru, have a good time in Peru, but that's not where my citizenship is.
I'm a visitor in Peru, but I belong in America. And what did Peter, listen to me, the Apostle Peter is saying. You don't belong in this world. You are a temporary visitor here on planet Earth. This is not your home.
You're just here for a short time. Your home is somewhere else.
Now That's imperative that you understand that. Because I think the problem with the American church is we're getting a little too comfortable in this place. There are only two kingdoms in this world. Don't you have there's 100 and something countries. I don't care how many countries there are, there's only two kingdoms.
The kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God. You are born into the kingdom of this world. When you get saved, when you turn from your sins and give your life to Jesus, you are no longer a citizen of this world. You're now a citizen of the kingdom of God. And there's no such thing as dual citizenships in the kingdom of God.
You either belong to this world or you belong to Jesus. And this world, this kingdom. And I'm using this word specifically. This world, this kingdom, hates Jesus.
Now look. This world tolerates baby Jesus because he's cute. This world tolerates the Jesus that told everybody to love each other and don't judge each other and heal people. They'll tolerate that Jesus. But the Jesus Christ who says in John 3:18, whoever believes in the Son has life, but whoever does not believe in the Son is condemned already because they have not believed in the Son of God.
The world cannot stand that Jesus. You don't believe it? Here's what the man himself said: John chapter 15, verse 18. If the world hates you, remember it hated me first.
Now we're not nasty to the world. We're not mean. We're not belligerent. But you represent Jesus. Listen to me.
You are a diplomatic representative of the king of another place. You just happen to operate in this country. If you work at Sheets gas station, You are Jesus' ambassador to Sheet's gas station. If you go to college, you do not belong to that college. You are Jesus' ambassador on the campus of that college.
You are part of a different kingdom. And gee, again, here's what he said. This world hates me.
Now I'm going to go one step further. If the world hates Jesus, Then the world's going to hate his followers. That's a very clear teaching in the scripture. You you don't belong here.
Now be nice. You try to fit into the system as far as operating. You be the best worker you can be. You be the best employee you can be, the best citizen you can be. Do all that.
But understand you're never really going to fit into this place. Their values are not your values. Their destination is not your destination. Jesus said, They hated me, they're going to hate you as well. Listen to what he says in John 17:14, praying to the Father.
He says, The world has Hated all of them. Cross assembly. Because they are not of this world, just as I am not of this world. Matthew 24:10, you will be hated by all the nations because of me.
Okay, so y'all got these beautiful, and I'm not knocking this, I think this is great. Y'all got these little calendars where it's a Bible verse for every day.
So tomorrow, February 9th, you'll turn the calendar up. Oh, this is beautiful. Take heart. I have overcome the world. I love that.
The next day you'll flip the calendar up. My peace I give to you. Oh, I love that. I've never seen Matthew 10, 24 on one of these calendars, or 24, whatever. They hated me, they will hate you too.
But that's in that same book. It's in that same Bible. You ain't gonna fit into this place, so stop trying to fit into this place. If you can't handle being an outcast, don't follow Jesus.
Now listen chapter no we're different See, we're in America. It's easier to follow Jesus because we're in America, and America is a Christian nation. I'm begging you. Could you please stop calling America a Christian nation? We are not a Christian nation.
We kill more babies per year than any other nation in the world. We produce more pornography here than any nation in the world. The biggest sports event that we're going to have tonight. A sexual deviant is going to get up there and perform, and all the nation is going to clap like train seals. Yay, bad bunny!
We don't belong to this world. This is not a Christian nation. You got to understand: if you stand for Jesus, you're going to be standing against the tide.
Okay? Hey, and it's interesting. Peter not only says you're a stranger. He says this in the Greek, you're an eclectos stranger. You are a chosen stranger.
chosen by the foreknowledge of God. Before the world was even created, God looked into eternity. And he said, man, one day that person's going to say yes to Jesus. One day you're going to follow Jesus. And you're my chosen stranger.
Listen, you are not an accident. You are intentional. From the foundation of the earth, God has seen you and known you, and you belong to Him.
So, who are we? Number one, we're strangers. Number two, Peter says: not only are you a stranger, You're set apart. Look at verse 2. through sanctification of the Spirit.
That word sanctification means to be set apart for a special purpose. You're set apart. You're special. You got a special purpose that's different than his special purpose. You're set apart for special work that's wonderful, but it's different than her work.
Sanctification means you're set apart for something special. Let me try to illustrate that. Let's say you had a Lamborghini. I'm not into cars.
Some of y'all get into car stuff. That's fine, whatever. You're into cars. Let's say you had a Lamborghini. And I come to you and say, man, I heard you got a brand new Lamborghini.
Yeah. It's in my garage. I wipe it down every night.
Okay. Hey, can I borrow your Lamborghini? Look, you're my pastor. I love you. I want to honor you.
I guess, but What do you want to use my Lamborghini for?
Well I got some trash I need to take to the dunk. And I don't want to get my truck dirty, so can I use your Lamborghini to haul some trash? You'd say absolutely not. My Lamborghini is sanctified. It is set apart for a special purpose.
That's the word that's used for you. You listen, guard the purity of your body. Watch what you do with your body. You're not supposed to be hauling around pornography and junk in your body. You are set apart and holy for God's purpose.
Y'all with me on that? You know, I was listening to a great sermon illustration from Joseph Stowell. Pastor Stowell was the pastor of Moody Church. Hey, said I was talking to a violinist in our church. About a Stradivarius violin.
Have you heard of the Stradivarius? Haste into this sub. Violinist, he said, man, those strandoveriuses, they cost millions of dollars. He said, can you tell a difference in a strativarius? The guy says, absolutely.
He said, What's the difference? He said, There's this resonance in a Stradivaris violin that you don't see in other violins. And so, so that intrigued me, so I did a little bit of research. Hey, so we're not sure why. A Stradivarius violin is different.
But one theory is that Strativarius lived in a poor Uh Italian village. He was too poor to purchase fine wood.
So he would scour the polluted harbor, which was basically just a floating landfill, and he'd get his wood from there. And Stowell says they've taken cross-sections, microscopic cross-sections of the wood of a Stradivaris violin, and the superstructure of the wood cell is there. But all these microbes from the polluted harbor ate the inside of those cells.
So now it's like you've got millions of these little chambers there. And because of the pollution of the harbor, eating out the middle of those cells, now you have this incredible sound from a Stradivarius violin. I've just given your testimony right there. The God of the universe reached down from heaven, pulled you out of the muck, the mire, the pollution. He washed you in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he made you a masterpiece.
You belong to God. You are God's workmanship, God's masterpiece. The God that pulled you out of the mud has cleansed you and washed you, and now you belong to him. And so Peter says. You're set apart.
Not only are you a stranger, you are sanctified. You're set apart. And then he says, number three, who are you?
Well, you've been sprinkled in the blood of the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 2. Unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Wow. What does he mean by sprinkling in the blood?
Now, Peter's a Jew, so his frame of reference is the Old Testament. And in the Old Testament, sprinkling of blood was only used three times.
Now, we're not sure what Peter's referring to, maybe all three of these, when he says sprinkling in the blood. But the first way that sprinkling of the blood is used in the Old Testament is in Leviticus 14, where you got these open. Wounds. You got puss leaking out of them. You're filthy, you smell, they can smell this decaying skin from a mile away.
Everybody runs away from you. You're just hideous. And then one day you're healed. Those wounds close up. Your skin is healed.
No more smell, no more pus. You've been cleansed of leprosy. And in Leviticus, you go to the priest, and what does he do? He sprinkles blood on you and says, You're now clean. I mean, that's what Peter's talking about.
One of the biggest disagreements I have with modern substance abuse counseling. is we are told to tell people, hey, once an alcoholic, Always an alcoholic.
Now, you may be saved now, and that might be your struggle, but that's not your, your identity is not your struggle. You will be on there?
So, I don't refer to you.
Well, my name is Chad, and I'm an alcoholic. No, you're not. You've been sprinkled with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been washed and cleansed. You are a saint of the Most High God.
Chad, I was a stripper. I was a lesbian. I was a whore. I was an adulterer. Yeah, was, was, was, was, but you've been sprinkled with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's not who you are anymore.
So, maybe that's what Peter's talking about. Second way, sprinkling with blood was used in the Old Testament is in Exodus 29, where God says, Hey, Out of the millions of people in Israel, This group right here, they're my special servants. Y'all are set apart. Come over here. I'm going to set you apart and I'm going to use you in a special way, and I'm going to do it by sprinkling blood on you.
And maybe that's what Peter talks about this in 1 Peter 2. That we are God's priests. He has set you apart for a special purpose, and he sprinkles you with the blood of Jesus Christ. Third way that sprinkling with blood was used in the Old Testament is God signed a contract with his people. By sprinkling them with his blood, Exodus 24.
In Exodus 24, God says, hey, look, come here. Israel, I know there's a lot of other nations out there. Exodus 24, I want to have a special relationship with you. I want y'all to be my special people. Let's have a contract.
You agree that you're going to obey me. And my part of the contract, I'm going to sign it by sprinkling blood. You agree to obey. I sprinkle the blood. And you're now my special people.
And when you got saved, you said, I will obey you. Your word says, All who call upon the name of Jesus will be saved. I've obeyed you. I've called on the name of Jesus. And God says, And my part of the covenant is, I will sprinkle the blood of Jesus, and it is sealed henceforth and forevermore.
You're my people. Who are you? You're a stranger. You're set apart. You're sprinkled with the blood of Jesus.
And then, number four, Peter says, You want to know who you are before persecution comes? You are recipients of God's grace. Verse 2: Grace unto you.
Now we throw these words like grace and mercy around, and y'all, you know what I'm talking about. When Peter says grace to you, you're the recipients of God's grace. Let me use this illustration. Billy Graham. I can't remember if Billy Graham said this actually happened to him.
Or he used it as a hypothetical. I actually think he said it happened to him that he was going through South Carolina years and years ago. The great evangelist, Billy Graham. Not the wrestler, the great evangelist, Billy Graham. He's going through South Carolina.
and he sees a blue light behind him. He's like, crud. He pulls over and the officer said, You've broken the speed limit. I said, I'm sorry. Yeah, I didn't realize I was going over.
The officer said, Look, you can handle this today. We're a small town here in South Carolina, courthouse is over there. Go present this to the judge and pay your fine.
So Billy Graham takes the ticket. Goes to the courthouse, goes in the courtroom. The judge is there. He gives him the ticket. The judge reads this.
He says, Wait, Billy Graham? Was that yeah? The evangelist I said, yeah. He said, man, I'm your biggest fan. He said, Did you do this?
Did you break the law? Billy Graham's like, I did. I'm sorry. Yeah, I broke the law. And the judge says, well.
Then this ticket's got to be paid. But Billy, since I'm your biggest fan. I, the judge, I want to pay your ticket for you. That's mercy. Then he said this, and Billy it's almost five o'clock.
And the best steak. I've ever had is in a restaurant right down the road there. Man, would you go with me and let me buy you a steak? That's grace. Mercy is the God of the universe looking at you and saying, Did you do these sins?
Yes, sir, I did. And God says, Well, somebody's got to pay the ticket.
Somebody's got to pay the fine. I will pay it myself through my Son, Jesus Christ. I will pay your ticket. And now that your ticket is paid, that's mercy.
Now open up your mouth and let me fill you with good things because I'm God and I love you and I want to bless you. And you always say to God, yeah, but God, I'm not worthy. And God says, if you are worthy, It wouldn't be grace. Grace means no, you're not worthy, but not only am I going to pay you a ticket, I'm going to buy you a spiritual steak dinner because I love you. We are recipients of God's grace.
Who are you in Jesus? I want you to get this through your mind. You don't belong to this world. You are set apart. You are holy.
You're sanctified. Who are you in Jesus Christ? You are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. You are the recipients of God's grace. And let me give you one more: you are also the recipients of God's peace.
Verse 2. Grace unto you and Peace be multiplied. You said, oh, timeout. Time out, Chip. You just told me these people are about to be slaughtered, tortured, and killed.
And now you're saying they're going to have peace? Ain't that contradictory? No, it's only contradictory in your mind because you have the wrong definition of peace. We think the peace is the absence of something. Peace is the absence of conflict.
The absence of strife The absence of problems, the absence of war. Listen to me. Peace is not the absence of something, it is the presence of someone. Did y'all just catch that? Peace is not the absence of something.
It is the presence of someone. And as long as you have Jesus, you have peace. Church, I'm gonna be honest with you. Here's where I'm at in my life now. The second best blessing God has ever given me is peace.
First one is my salvation. Close second is peace. In the old days, I used to love to fight, get things riled up and torn up. And let me get, I love that adrenaline rush. I don't want that now.
I just want to live in peace. I just value God's peace. All hell's breaking loose out there. And I just stand here in the peace because I got someone with me who is the Prince of Peace. Jesus doesn't just give me peace, He is my peace.
And that's what you have in Jesus Christ. I've known, now I mean this when I say this. I have known, how much, let me ask you this. How much is your piece worth? Because I have personally known millionaires.
Plural. I've known millionaires. who have said, I would give away my millions. If I had the peace that you're walking in right now. What's your piece worth?
I don't want to share this story, but this hit me first service. It's a great little story from Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said that there was a There was an old martyr who was about to be killed. They had the post, they tied him at the stake, they got the wood at his feet. They're about to light the wood, and the guy's going to be burned alive for being a follower of Jesus Christ.
And he's been witnessing to everybody, including the warden. And as the warden is tying him to that post. That martyr said, Warden, Put your hand on my chest and feel my heart. If my heart is racing uncontrollably, Do not believe the gospel I've been sharing with you. But if my heart is calm, And pump.
Punk. Punk. Maybe you ought to be listening to the gospel I'm sharing with you. Because that gospel works. And I want to say to this world.
If cross-assembly people are running around like chickens with their head cut off, and they're as upset as everybody else about what Trump said and he posted, and the Democrats are doing that, and the liberals are doing that, and Ocasio-Cortez might be our next friend, and everybody's all upset at cross-assembly, I will say to this world: don't listen to the gospel I've been sharing with you because it doesn't work. But in the midst of a crazy, turbulent, shifting world, if these people will walk with a peace that passes all understanding, with their eyes on Jesus, hands raised high, a smile on their face, understanding this world is not their home, then maybe you ought to be listening to the gospel I'm preaching to you because it works. Do you have that piece? And so before anything happens. Peter speaks, blessing.
Over his readers. Who are about to go through persecution before anything happens? He says. Do not let, listen, do not let the enemy lie to you. Here is who you are in Jesus Christ.
You better understand that before you get into the persecution. I was listening or reading a preacher years ago, years ago. who visit Hong Kong. I used to I'm walking the streets of Hong Kong and I walked past a a tattoo parlor. And he said there in the windows of that tattoo parlor that all these different tattoos that you could get there, and tattoos that people had gotten there.
He's, you know, I see a butterfly, I see a skull, I see this, I see that. But he said, I saw one tattoo, and here's what the tattoo said. Born Two Lose. He's like, that's crazy. He said, I went inside and talked to the tattoo store owner and the tattoo artist.
He said, man, you got some beautiful work here. He said, I'm just looking at that one tattoo that says, born to lose. He said, Did somebody get that tattoo on their body? He said, Yeah. He said, who would tattoo born to lose on their body?
And that tattoo artist in Hong Kong said something very insightful. He said, Before tattoo on body, Tattoo on mind. And Satan has tattooed some things on your mind that's making the battle a lot harder. You are a mistake. You are worthless.
You are a failure. You are so, you are a disappointment to your mom and dad and I. Listen to me. Listen to me. Parents, you be careful about the words you're speaking in the lives of those kids.
They'll remember it 40 years later. I just feel very strongly. The enemy Through others. has spoken They've spoken some identity in you that does not belong. And I canceled that assignment this morning in the name of Jesus Christ.
How many of y'all believe there's power in the words we speak? See, we say, sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. That's not biblical. The Old Testament Hebrews understood there was power in the words that were spoken over people. And so I want.
Would you stand to me right now? I want you to receive this. I've told you before: the longest journey in the world is that distance between your ear. and your heart. But in the next few moments, I want these words to go from your ear.
To your heart. What I'm about to speak over you, I'm not making these things up. This is from the Bible. I mean, I'm pulling these right out of scripture.
So would you raise your hands? Father, right now. I pray for a sensitivity. Of the Holy Spirit on our spirits right now. Father, take your plow and plow up hard areas in hearts and souls right now.
And Lord, may these seeds find good. Father, good soil right now. I speak these seeds over your people right now. Beloved, in Jesus Christ, you are God's special possession. You are chosen.
You are treasured. You are love beyond compare. You are worth dying for. You are forgiven. You are precious.
You are a new creation in Christ. You are the friend of Jesus. You are God's masterpiece. You are a temple of God's Spirit. You are a part of the body of Christ.
You are Christ's representative on earth. You are a child of God. You are a citizen of heaven. You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. You are raised up with Christ.
You are seated with Him in victory in heavenly places. You are more than a conqueror. You are an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb. No matter what the enemy throws at you this week, you are victorious. You belong to God.
You are a conqueror through the Lord Jesus. There's going to be a war this week, and it's not that you're going to win. You have won already through Jesus Christ. Let's celebrate the victory right now. To take what the enemy invented.
Hmm. Go. Make it. For You turn it for good. Come on, sing out, you take.
You take what the enemy meant for evil. And you turn it for good. You turn it for good. Sing out in faith this morning. You take what the enemy meant for evil.
And you turn it for good. You turn it for good. Come on, sing it again in faith. You take what the enemy meant for evil. And you turn it for good.
You turn it for good. I see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord.
I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to three. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory.
For the battle belongs to you, Lord. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. Hey, just about every Sunday when y'all do your closing song, I just stand out there and I.
I just get the Lord's presence. In a first service, He gave me a picture, I think this is God, I don't know. A picture popped in my head. When I was a kid, I used to love to watch the Charlie Brown specials. Remember that?
And you remember when Charlie Brown would be criticized or made fun of? He'd do the Charlie Brown walk. You remember that? He'd go like this. And I don't know, I think I need to tell y'all.
Y'all don't need to walk out of here with the Charlie Brown walk, beaten down like a beaten puppy. You're a prince or a princess of the Most High God. You belong to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Maybe you ought to lift up your head and throw your shoulders back and walk out of here as more than conquerors through him who loved you. Or as God said to Joshua, Hazak Behemoth.
At a rubber head. Which is Hebrew for Cross will simply be bold. Be strong. Y'all don't be afraid. You don't be terrified of anything.
Why? Because the God of heaven's armies is going to be walking beside you this week, everywhere you go, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Man, go out there and change your world to Jesus Christ. God bless you. Yeah.
