Chain of Command – I Peter 2:18-20

Having just read this scripture, you may be thinking that this will be some sort of “filler message.” The preacher needs to look at these words only because they are in the context. You may think, this scripture doesn’t apply to 21st century Americans, because none of...

Don’t Mix Up the Verbs – I Peter 2:17

Are you familiar with the Rorschach Inkblot Test? Back in the 1920s Hermann Rorschach came up with the idea that someone could reveal their soul by describing the image created with ink dropped onto a piece of paper which was then folded and reopened. What does this...

For so is the Will of God – I Peter 2:13-15

Peter reminds us that it is the will of God we submit ourselves to the ordinances of men. And as we have seen in earlier lessons, the purpose of this submission is for the glory of the Lord and the evangelism of the lost. He also adds a couple of qualifications and...

The Duties of Citizens – I Peter 2:11-17

Good sermons begin with a text of scripture and as the Lord directs, other scriptures, explanations, illustrations and applications are used to bring that scripture home to the heart. We have an example of this here in this passage. The scripture text is made up of...

Abstemiousness – I Peter 2:11-12

I was driving one of our members back from a medical appointment at the VA hospital one afternoon. While on Francis Street I glanced over and saw a small office with a sign above the door reading: “Abstemious Outpatient Clinic.” I was confronted with a new word:...

Canticle in 4/4 Time – I Peter 2:9

Not very long ago, I preached a series of messages from verses 9 and 10. At least it doesn’t seem very long ago to me, because they were such a blessing to my heart. I have no idea whether or not you remember them. I hope you do, but forty months can seem like a...

Acceptable to God – I Peter 2:4-5

You have just spent half hour at the grocery store, looking for the supplies you need for a camping trip. You have been planning this little get-away for a month, and in your pocket is the cash you’ve been laying aside to pay for it. As you go through the store, you...

Questions Babies Never Ask – First Peter 2:2-3

One of the ways in which God keeps the Bible relevant throughout the ages is by using timeless illustrations. And for our instruction, the Holy Spirit has given us one of those illustrative metaphors right here. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word,...

Angels in Sodom – Genesis 19:1-25

This chapter introduces material which is not particularly welcomed or believed in this world. There is, of course, God’s condemnation of the sins of Sodom. And it’s not just that the city was destroyed for its homosexual immorality, but it’s that Jehovah has the...

The Gospel’s Written Seed – First Peter 1:23-25

In addition to our text, let’s add two other scriptures. Psalm 126:1-6 – “When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD...

The Grassiness of the Flesh

In concluding chapter one of I Peter, the Holy Spirit blends together three subjects: the new birth, the eternal Word of God and the weakness of human flesh. In order to fully understand any one of these, we must understand to some degree the other two. Why do we need...

Salvation’s Social Effect – First Peter 1:22

There have been a number of life changing events in each of our lives. When you were born, your previous life, (and I’m not referring to some pre-incarnate spirit existence, because there was no such thing). When you were born, the life you enjoyed inside your...

Christ, as of a Lamb – First Peter 1:18-21

Peter reminds us that God’s saints have been purchased out of sin’s market place by the blood of Christ, “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” We often refer to the Jesus with the words of John the Baptist: “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the...

Calling on the Father – First Peter 1:17

The Lord Jesus was in the midst of His short period of public popularity. The last verse of Matthew 4 tells us that “great multitudes of people” followed Him. At that time He was in northern Galilee, but people came from as far away as Jerusalem and Judea. In order to...

Princes and Princesses – First Peter 1:14

I no longer feel the same way, but when I was a child I had a silly dream; a wish. I dreamed about trading places with the eldest son of Elizabeth II, the Queen of England. Remember, I am a Canadian and my parents were loyalists. My father was born in England and both...