Chosen...With Enthusiasm

This isn't a little postcard, you know, for a few churches. This was extensive, desperately needed revelation for thousands upon thousands of Christians who were feeling like they didn't belong anywhere and what are they supposed to do about it? What would you say to them?

How would you encourage them? Peter is saying you might be an outsider as it relates to the kingdoms of this world, but you are an insider as it relates to the kingdom of God. In the early days of the Christian church, believers were scattered as the gospel was spreading across the land. Just like in the early days of the church, the true Christian church is still a scattered minority on this earth. Sometimes we feel like we really don't belong here and that's because this world is not our home. Our status is that we've been chosen by God and heaven is our real home.

We're going to learn more about this today. Stay with us as Stephen Davey opens God's word to the epistle of 1 Peter and brings you this message called chosen with enthusiasm. You need to understand in the context of 1 Peter that when the church had begun just 30 years or so earlier in Jerusalem, the Roman empire regarded the church as a sect of Judaism, just a part of Judaism. Among all the pagan religions in the Roman world, Judaism was the only legal religion not required to offer annual sacrifices honoring the deity of the emperor, but they were allowed to offer prayers on behalf of the emperor. So long as the Christians were viewed as a sect within Judaism, they were under the umbrella of a religious exemption. By the time you get to Acts chapter 20, we don't think often of the courage of these believers because by the time you get there, they're abandoning the synagogue and it's Sabbath worship and they're beginning to worship on the day Christ rose, the Lord's day we call it.

They called it that first. And what they're doing is they're identifying themselves as different from Judaism and they are voluntarily removing themselves from the umbrella of that exemption and protection. And with that their protection would eventually end. It will become illegal to be a practicing Christian, just as it is in many countries today. For instance, in Islamic countries where to convert to Christianity is a death sentence.

It's illegal. So by the time you read the opening words of this letter that are just as current for our generation, the believers have been uprooted, they are unwanted, they're being rejected, they're preparing for even more waves of persecution which will indeed come. Now, let me ask you, when you face ridicule, when you're mocked, when you perhaps experience a taste of persecution in some form or another for your faith, I mean your instincts tell you either to flee or to fight back.

It's one of those, right? Flee or fight. You've lost your job because of your faith.

I mean you've worked for everything and now it's up for grabs and it's not right and it's not fair and maybe you want to say hey wait a second, this is my country and I'm older than you which means I was here before you were. To defend yourself, to lash back, to get even is our natural reaction. And it was theirs in this chapter and Peter writes to them to cause them to gain composure and find hope and joy in the truth that he is going to reveal to them and to us. And he does it in the most interesting way. The first thing he does, if you'll turn to First Peter in chapter one, is he sort of acknowledges, so to speak, their pain. He identifies with their suffering.

He refers to them a couple of different ways. First Peter chapter one and verse one, to those who reside as aliens. That doesn't mean they're from another planet. This first term alien could be rendered, you might mark into your margin the word foreigner. It refers to them as strangers in their own country. They would have immediately responded just with that opening phrase, yeah Peter, you got it, you know how we feel. Man do we ever feel like strangers in our own country. It was happening.

It's how we feel. The term rendered alien is a term that refers to a temporary resident, a traveler whose stay is sort of marked by months or even days, maybe a brief year or two. The second term Peter uses here in verse one for them, he writes, to those who reside as aliens, scattered, this is a compound noun, has the nuance of scattering seed in the wind. It was also, by the way, a technical term, the diaspora, the dispersed ones. It was referring technically to the Jewish exiles who were dispersed, scattered among the Gentile nations where they were always in the minority. But Peter here drops the definite article and uses it as a metaphor not to refer to the scattered Jews in his mind, he's referring to Gentiles and Jews who now form this scattered community called the church and you will always be in the minority. Scattered like seed, wherever the wind seems to take them, wherever they can find a place to settle down and survive, it's going to get tougher.

They'll always be in the minority, they'll never feel like they belong and that's because they don't. They don't. Now Peter goes on to tell us where this letter is traveling.

I mean, how do you write a letter to scattered people that don't have a PO box? Well, it's a circular letter and it's going to travel and he indicates perhaps even in the way he rolls out these nations where it will travel. He refers to a region and by the way, the overall region he's going to refer to as modern day Turkey.

Modern day Turkey. In the New Testament, the geographical term is Asia Minor or sometimes generally Asia. But you'll notice Paul refers here to Pontius.

You're scattered throughout Pontius. That's the far north. That by the way is the home of Aquila and Priscilla, faithful servants of the church. He refers next to Galatia, that's the central region where Paul often traveled. Do you remember he wrote a letter to the Galatians?

That would be these people. He mentions Cappadocia. That's located in the eastern portion of Asia Minor, modern Turkey. And Jews, by the way, from this region we know from the book of Acts in chapter 2 and verse 9 had traveled to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and they heard Peter preach.

Some of them believed, no doubt, and went back to Cappadocia where they established the gospel. Peter then mentions Asia. This includes most of western Asia Minor, cities you'll read in the New Testament like Phrygia and Lydia. Finally, Peter mentions Bithynia.

It's on the southern shore of the Black Sea just west of Pontius. So this area, and you're going to forget all that I just said, but what I want to sort of draw in your mind is this little mental picture that this letter is going to millions of people eventually. In fact, the area that he's writing to is roughly the same size geographically if you were to start with Texas and move west all the way and include California.

That's the region to whom he's writing. So this isn't a little postcard, you know, for a few churches. This was extensive desperately needed revelation for thousands upon thousands of Christians who were feeling like they didn't belong anywhere and what are they supposed to do about it? What would you say to them? How would you encourage them? What could you ever say that could bolster their faith and encourage their hearts and their spirits? Well, you would want to say what Peter says. Notice, near the beginning of verse one, to those who reside as aliens, foreigners, scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, who are chosen, chosen, chosen. What do you tell somebody who feels like they don't belong to this world?

Tell them that they have actually been chosen for another one. Peter is saying you might be an outsider as it relates to the kingdoms of this world, but you are an insider as it relates to the kingdom of God. Peter uses a word here that has caused a lot of heartburn throughout church history. It still divides believers.

It still kindles the fire of debate and basically renders the church foolish. It's that word there at the end of verse one, the word chosen. It's from the Greek term eklektos, which gives us our word elect. You are a chosen, peculiar, I like that term because that's true, isn't it?

We're peculiar, a people of his own possession. See, Peter uses the term for scattered believers made up of both Jews and Gentiles who are chosen by God. In fact, he presents this verbal adjective elect or chosen as passive, which further highlights the fact that the believer is the object of the electing action of God. When the gospel was preached after the resurrection and the early church began to evangelize the world, Luke records the following. This is a sermon preached by Paul, more than likely Barnabas chimed in, and here's what Luke said.

He said, following the sermon, the Gentiles began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord and as many as had been appointed to eternal life, believed. Now, you might be saying, but Stephen, it says, you know, we're chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. So he just kind of knew what was going to happen. But just know that foreknowledge is his action known to him prior to any time we could conceive of.

It's not just he saw. In fact, he'll use that term to relate to Jesus being foreknown in his sacrifice. It isn't that God the Father saw Jesus becoming obedient. Oh, and since you're going to do that, we'll just go ahead and ordain you to die.

Oh, no. It's part of his intention. That's another sermon. I'm sure you'll pack the pews to get in on that one.

Now, let me just keep a couple of things in your mind here because I want to stop with this word. The writers of Scripture don't answer all the questions and all the issues that naturally cluster around this doctrine. In fact, they don't even really try to harmonize the sovereign election of God with human will. They just deliver the truth of both of them. They just deliver it as two sides of the coin that relate to our salvation. They don't try to harmonize the eternal decree of God's electing love in his initiative with our repentance and our faith and our belief and that prayer that you may have delivered to God whereby you say I was at that moment saved.

And that would be true. That would be an attempt, perhaps this is why they don't do it, to harmonize an eternal truth that comes from eternity past. How far back is that? Eternity past.

That's a long time back there. And that's God's perspective. And harmonize that with an earthly truth.

You have the heavenly truth of the eternal decree of God happening before the worlds were ever fashioned. With this earthly truth from our perspective, we understand our will. We understand the gospel we believe and the moment we did, our eyes were open. We understand the decision we made to believe the gospel and trust Christ. We get that part.

That's easy. But we believe the God word side of it because the Bible simply reveals it and clearly teaches us that we were chosen by God before we were even born. And we can't understand that. God chose us in eternity past. That's divine election. We chose God in a moment of time. That's human will acting on God's gift of faith and his initiating work toward us. And by the way, the Bible makes it clear that both of those perspectives are absolutely necessary for salvation. To overemphasize one distorts the gospel that would lead the elders of the church William Carey belonged to to say to him when he said, I want to go to India to deliver the gospel. They said, sit down. If they are elect, they will believe.

You don't need to go. Salvation involves both. In fact, as the scriptures roll out the truth and the doctrines that we believe, the scripture tends to emphasize one at some point in time and the other at another point in time. And it's been my practice that when I get to a verse that emphasizes one, I'll emphasize it. And when I get to the other one, I'll emphasize that. But salvation involves both of these incredible truths.

So let me give you an illustration. Here's Paul and Silas. They have just finished a duet concert in the jail and they're singing. It's midnight and an earthquake takes place. They've been preaching and they've been singing and the jailer, evidently, has been listening in. He's gotten enough of it to know the gospel and what it means. The earthquake loosens all their chains.

None of them leave. The jailer rushes in and he says to Paul and Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? It's interesting to me that Paul did not respond, well, listen, if you're asking that kind of question, it's proof you're among the elect.

Don't worry about it. No, the apostle Paul responds, believe, trust in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. I find it interesting that Paul also did not say to him, believe in the Lord Jesus because you are already saved. He said believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be, at that moment, saved.

It takes both truths. Maybe you're wondering how do I know if I'm one of the elect? How do I know if I've been chosen by God before time began? I mean, didn't Peter say to the believer, make your calling and election sure? Second Peter 1.10, he did.

We're going to get there in another century. But at any rate, you need to understand Peter is not asking you to feel sure about it because maybe you're saying I don't feel sure. How do I make my election sure?

I don't feel sure. Peter didn't tell you to feel sure about your election. But to make your election sure, it has nothing to do with how you feel because that's like this.

It has everything to do with who you believe in and what you're trusting. And you can make your election sure by trusting in Christ alone. The question is, have you? Have you? Have your eyes been opened to the gospel that demands you repent as a sinner and trusting Christ alone?

God has to do that. And if that's happened to you and you've responded in faith, you're one of the elect. Charles Spurgeon, the great pastor, teacher in London during the mid 1800s often spoke on the doctrines of grace and he was a prolific author as well. In one of his books I read some time ago, I turned down the page because I knew I'd get to this text and I wanted to read it to you.

And even though I read it several weeks ago, let me just kind of work through it. I think his balance and wisdom will be encouraging. Here's what Spurgeon, who loved to be known as a man who believed in election, here's what he wrote to his congregation. He said this, Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4, for we know brothers loved by God that he has chosen you. Now many persons want to know of their election before they look to Christ or trust in Christ. But election cannot be known that way. It can only be discovered by looking to Jesus. If you desire to ascertain your own election, well this is how you shall assure your heart. Do you consider yourself to be a lost sinner? Well go straight away to the cross of Christ and tell Jesus so.

And tell him that you have read in the Bible whoever comes to me I will never drive away. Look to Jesus and believe in him and you shall make proof of your election for as surely as you believe you are elect. If you will give yourself wholly to Christ and trust him, then you are one of God's chosen ones. But if you stop and say well I want to know first whether I am elect, you do not know what you're asking. Leave all curious inquiry about election alone.

Go straight to Christ and hide in his wounds and you shall know your election. The assurance of the Holy Spirit will be given to you so that you will say I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard that which I have entrusted to him. So go, Spurgeon writes, and put your trust in him and his answer will be, I have loved you from everlasting past. Spurgeon ends with this profound yet simple and wise statement. He writes, there will be no doubt about his having chosen you when you have chosen him. Also keep in mind that Peter is bringing up the issue of election as an encouragement. You're thinking, really?

Yes. Not for them to start heated debates or create doubt but to cause them to thank God for this amazing miracle of his grace that is only being revealed to us in his word. And here's the practical application of the doctrine. These scattered Christians had every reason to believe that perhaps God wasn't in control or that somehow they had kind of slipped off the divine radar system of heaven or that God lost track of them or worse yet that he no longer loved them. That this was a short-term affection. That he no longer cared for them. They would be able to look at their own lives like you can look at yours and I can look at mine and say well there are just plenty of failures.

I can understand why God would start with somebody else. Plenty of doubts. Plenty of misgivings. Plenty of sin. Maybe God was finished with these scattered believers who are saying well perhaps he's finished with us.

And Peter informs them here that they were chosen by God to be the people of God as if to remind them that if before the creation of the world God had chosen them he was not going to lose sight of them now. It is from eternity past to eternity future. He hasn't lost sight of them. And he hasn't lost sight of you either.

If he opened your blinded eyes to believe the truth of the gospel he isn't going to stop loving you until eternity future comes to an end and it never will. You are not an accident. You are a divine choice. That's reassuring especially when you're scattered and your world has been turned upside down. That everything about you as you study the Bible from your conception which requires the appointment of God to your birth, to your new birth, to every ability you have as you were formed and made, to every disability God invested in your body, to everything about your past and your present and your future. It's all according to God's sovereign plan.

Nothing is missed. And lavish grace and incredible divinely initiating love opens your eyes to see it as truth and you believe and you choose him because he chose you. And you know he chose you because that's the only way you would ever choose him.

You love him because he first loved you. Garrison Keillor, not exactly the best theologian but a good storyteller. He recalled in one story and I thought about this text as I read this story, this childhood pain of being chosen last for those baseball games you know after school. He said the captains are down to their last grudging choices. They choose a slow kid for catcher, someone to stick in the outfield where nobody hits the ball and they choose the last ones two at a time. Yeah, you and you and you and you because it makes no difference to the team. And the remaining kids are bartered. Well, if I take him, you got to take him.

Sometimes I would get chosen as high as the sixth choice but usually much lower. Just once I hoped Daryl would pick me first and say, him! I want him!

A skinny kid with the glasses and the black shoes. You! Come on! Garrison Keillor ends by saying that I have never been chosen with much enthusiasm. Beloved, let me tell you as hard as it is to imagine, God just didn't choose you. He chose you with enthusiasm. I want you.

I want you. Can you imagine how much this truth would be an encouragement to these marginalized, unappreciated, misunderstood, fearful, displaced, mistreated Christians, rejected by the world, chosen by God forever. Isn't that great news from God's Word today? God didn't choose you begrudgingly or because he felt obligated. God didn't choose you because he couldn't find someone better.

No, God chose you enthusiastically. And that's the title of the message you just heard, chosen with enthusiasm. Thanks for joining us today here on Wisdom for the Heart. This is the Bible Teaching Ministry of Stephen Davey. In addition to equipping you with these daily Bible lessons, we also have a magazine that includes articles written by Stephen to help you dive deep into various topics related to the Christian life. The magazine also has a daily devotional guide that you can use to remain grounded in God's Word each day. The magazine is called Heart to Heart.

We send Heart to Heart magazine as a gift to all of our wisdom partners, but we'd be happy to send you the next three issues if you'd like to see it for yourself. You can sign up for it on our website or call us today. Our number is 866-48-BIBLE. That's 866-482-4253. We're here in the office from 830 a.m. to 4 o'clock p.m. each weekday. You can learn more about us and access all of our Bible teaching resources if you visit our website, which is wisdomonline.org. We also post each day's broadcast, so if you ever miss one of these messages, you can go to our website to keep caught up with our daily Bible teaching ministry. I hope you'll be with us for our next message tomorrow here on Wisdom for the Heart.