In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of being a stranger in the world as a Christian. He emphasizes the importance of Christians remembering their earthly citizenship and being subject to the governing authorities. The preacher also addresses the idea of punishment and how Christians should respond to their enemies with love. He then introduces the concept of the "faith once for all deliverance" and encourages the congregation to study the Bible diligently. The sermon concludes with a prayer for God's guidance and the hope for a new life in Christ.

Now, this is the last of our morning Bible school, and our study of the survey of the New Testament. It's, of course, as you know, a study that might well have taken twice as long, but we are thankful for what we have been able, I trust, to cover during these days. Now, we begin this morning in the epistles of Peter. Perhaps I should say at the beginning that those epistles which are known as general epistles are Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st John, and Jude. These are called general epistles because they are not written to any particular church, nor to any particular individual. They are general in character, you see? Epistle to the Hebrews. They are the general epistle of James. He writes to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. Peter writes to the strangers of the dispersion, and so on. They are general in character. We touched upon the general epistle to the Hebrews and James, and want to go on to the epistles of Peter this morning. Now, I think that the epistles of Peter are built around Matthew 16 and Matthew 17. If you are acquainted with those chapters, you'll remember that Peter figures prominently in each of them, and Wlanders in both of them. In Matthew 16, we have the sufferings of Christ announced for the first time by the Lord, and in Matthew 17, you have the glory that follows on the mountain of transfiguration. Now, the main theme of Peter's epistles is the sufferings of Christ and the glory that's to come. Read the epistles of Peter, will you, at your leisure, and notice how often he couples the sufferings of Christ and the glory that is to come. Sufferings of Christ and the glory that is to come. In fact, when he finishes up his first epistle, he says, Now the God of all grace, you have called us unto his eternal glory after you have suffered of us, and established and strengthened and settled. So, as we turn to the epistles of Peter, we are thinking of Matthew 16, the sufferings of Christ. As we think of the second epistle, we are thinking of the glory that is to come. So, the epistles of Peter are built around Matthew 16 and Matthew 17. Now, when you read Matthew 16, you find that Peter wonders, first of all, because he thought the sufferings of Christ should not be. You remember, as soon as the Lord announced his forthcoming death and resurrection, Peter began to rebuke him. He says, Lord, be it far from thee. We've talked about that. Lord, be it far from thee. This shall not be unto thee. And the Lord said, Get thee behind me safe, although safer is not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. The Lord Jesus looked behind Peter and saw the sinister face of Satan prompting him to say, Lord, don't talk about suffering, to get him away from the subject of his own suffering. Peter had spoken by the inspiration of God five minutes before. Now, he speaks by the inspiration of Satan. Five minutes before, he had said, Ah, but Christ is come of the living of God, and the Lord said, Blessed are thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath revealed it to you, but my Father in heaven. He was speaking by the inspiration of God. And now, I was going to say in five minutes, the Lord has to say, Get thee behind me safe. He was speaking by inspiration of God. Peter would be a poor man to be a pope and build a church on, wouldn't he? When the man who speaks by inspiration of God speaks by inspiration of Satan, a few minutes later. But, Peter realized his mistake. And, by the way, another thing you should notice when you read the Epistles of Peter is that you shall notice it particularly, I think, in seconds. That he always profited by his mistake. And you can read and say, I remember when he made that mistake. I remember when he made this one. He's exhorting us about this matter because of his own failure at such and such a time. You can really and easily detect it as you go along. When he says, Be ye clothed with humility, literally, and in the Greek language, it means, Be ye girded as with a towel in humility. And, he remembers when his Lord girded himself with a towel, and kneeled down at the feet of each of his disciples, and washed the girdle away. He says, We all ought to be clothed with the towel of humility. That's just one illustration of how Peter seeks to profit by the illustration of his mistake. Now, when he writes his first epistle, he says, There's one thing I'm going to emphasize. I didn't know it to begin with, but now I am emphasizing it. The sufferings of Christ. That's the main theme of Peter's first epistle. The sufferings of Christ. Now, when you read Peter's first epistle, try to see, in the five chapters, a different aspect of the sufferings of Christ. In chapter one, the sufferings of Christ in relation to the Holy Scripture, he shows us there that there were to be expenses on the basis of profit. He says, Those men that went before time declared to you the sufferings of Christ and the glory of God. Peter didn't know that the sufferings of Christ were a great subject of Old Testament profit. He didn't grasp them. Now, he does. So, chapter one, sufferings of Christ in relation to the Scripture. In chapter two, the sufferings of Christ are mentioned in relation to the servants of God. When you look at 1 Peter chapter 2, and please note it carefully, you have seven similes of the Christian life, usually indicated by the word as. As newborn men. As living souls. As strangers and pilgrims. As servants. As sheep going astray, and so on. Look for the word as in chapter two. But, there are seven similes of the Christian life. Just let me say that, in 1 Peter 2, the Christian is a son in a family. A newborn faith, as a newborn faith in a family. And then he says the Christian is a stone in a building. He also was living stone, built up spiritually. A Christian is a stone in a building. Thirdly, the Christian is a sacrificant. He's a sacrificer. He offers up spiritual sacrifice. Peter says he's both a holy and a royal priest. He offers that. So, the third thing is that a Christian is a sacrificant. He's a sacrificer in a temple. Fourthly, he's a stranger in the world. He says I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. He's a stranger in the world. Not only that, but the Christian is a subject of a nation. He's not to forget, although he's a heavenly citizen, that he's still a subject of a nation, and to be subject to the powers that be, and is to give obedience to governors as those sent by him for the punishment of evil doers. Some Christians think the punishment of evil doers is wrong in view of the Scripture of love for enemies, but the Word of God doesn't so say. The Word of God says we love our enemies, we never seek to fight them in the cause of Christ. That never interferes with our duty as subjects of a nation, as citizens of a country, and are to be sent since the governor so desires for the punishment of evil. There's such a thing as the punishment of evil. Again, further down in 1 Peter 2, the Christian is a servant in a factory, or in a house for that matter, under this section as a servant of the covenant of Christ as spoken. Now, then he says the Christian is a sheep in a flock, for the last verse says he were as sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherding mission of Israel. Seven similes of the Christian. A son or child in a family, a stone in a building, a sacrificer, priest offering sacrifices in a temple, a stranger in a world, a subject in a nation, a servant in a factory, or a house, and a sheep in a flock. It's very interesting to look at these things one by one. It'll do you good. So in chapter 2, the sufferings of Christ are for servants, version 4 on that. In chapter 3, the sufferings of Christ are for sinners. For we read, for Christ also hath once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring up the sufferings of Christ for us as sinners. In chapter 4, as you'll notice, the sufferings of Christ are for saints of God. For, in chapter 4, he says in verse 12, Oh beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to come. May I just pause here a moment and say, you're not to say when sufferings come to you as an individual or into a family, you're not to say, why should it happen to me? Don't say that. Why should it happen to me? Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to come. Whenever you say, why should it happen to me, you infer that it should have happened to somebody else, and not to you. The Lord has made an inference. I've been serving the Lord, why should it happen to me? No, we're rather to say, why should it not happen? Why? Because it says in verse 13, But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's love, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad of his exceeding joy. So, it's a necessity for saints of God to suffer. When you get to chapter 5, you'll notice, the sufferings of Christ are a necessity for saints, for pastors of the flock, of which every family ought to have a number. For it says in verse 1, The elders which are among you, high in sorts, who are most of an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also partakers of the glory, which shall be revealed, feed the flock of God. You'll notice that responsibility is upon the elders. Feed the flock of God. It is not contemplated that the elders can't function for God, and must of necessity bring somebody in to feed the flock. The normal thing is that the burden is placed upon the elders. You feed the flock of God, all of which the Holy Ghost, or rather, which is among you, taking the oversight of. The word oversight is the same word translated vicious, or overseer, in Acts chapter 20, where Paul says exactly the same words as he did. To the elders of Ephesus he said, Feed the flock of God, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. And the word overseers is the usual word elsewhere translated vicious. Now, the difference between a modern bishop, as we hear about it in the churches of the world, is that the rule that a bishop is a man set over a number of churches in any particular diocese. Whereas in the New Testament, the bishop is one of a number of men in any local church. Did I make that point? I hope I did. All right. Now, the word, of course, feeding the flock, notice it in 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 3, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensnared within the flock. And when the chief shepherd, that's the word shepherd, that's the word, and when the chief pastor shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory, that's how this model works. In other words, elders are under pastors. They are the undershepherds who care for the flock. You see? And the emphasis in chapter five is the sufferings of Christ in relation to shepherds who have the care of the flock. You see? So, here then, in the first epistle of Peter, are the sufferings of Christ, you see, in relation to the scripture, the prophetic character, you see. In chapter two, the sufferings of Christ in relation to shepherds, you understand what I mean? The patient character of those shepherds. Further on to say, concerning the Lord, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened him. The patient character of the sufferings of Christ as seen in all shepherds. In chapter three, the sufferings of Christ in relation to sinners, their propitiatory character. The sufferings of Christ as a propitiation, the just or the unjust, that he might be. In chapter four, the sufferings of Christ, their practical character of them, in their lives, they were not to be suffered. And then, in chapter five, the sufferings of Christ in relation to shepherds, the pastoral character, the pastoral character of the sufferings of Christ. The man who followed Tom Allen in the Tron Church in Bledsoe was a Catholic speaker, a very famous Catholic speaker, whose name, for the moment, I have forgotten. Anyway, Tom, he told us this about Tom Allen of the Tron Church in Bledsoe. He says, when I came back, when I succeeded him in the Tron Church and came from the Church of England, actually, about five weeks later, my phone rang. And a woman's voice said, is Mr. Allen there? And I said, oh, didn't you know? Mr. Allen's dead. He's been dead five weeks. And the woman burst into a torrent of weeping. She said, I found out afterwards that woman was a prostitute in Bledsoe. But she thought so much of that man. And the pictures told me, told us, I've heard of that man being in a house at two in the morning, sweeping that house out with a broom to help out the family. And here's a man who is held in such high regard that even the woman of this church couldn't hold him in her arms. That's a man who knows something of the sufferings of Christ, the life of the cherubim. The sufferings of Christ, therefore, and of the chief sin of first discipline. Now, as to the key words of Peter, there are about six or seven altogether. That is to say, words occur over and over again. Now, if you're like me, you take notice of key words, because the Spirit of God is put in them for a purpose. Now, in addition to the words of how they mean, the next important word in Peter is the word precious. The word precious. This kind of thing occurs seven times. He speaks of that precious blood. He speaks of the precious promises of God. He speaks of those people of life's precious flesh. He speaks of the Lord Jesus as a precious cornerstone, and says, Unto you therefore which believe, he says. That's one of the key words of Peter. Another key word of Peter, it looks like, is the word, as it's translated, conversation, which occurs seven times in Peter's epistle. The word conversation, however, is the Old English word for conversation, which means more than speech. It means behavior. It means deportment. Now, he begins by talking about all manner of conversation, all manner of things, and then he becomes specific. He will speak of filthy conversation, when talking about lots of the ungodly people of man, and then he'll speak about the vain conversation, the empty conversation, empty behavior before it's conversed. Empty behavior before we converse. Vain. And then he'll exhort women to chase consciousness, chase to him, before an unsaved husband. Peter says the best way to win an unsaved husband is not by your talk, but by your watch. It's not by your speaking to him constantly, keeping after him to this day. It's by living such a life, says Peter, that when the word says he may be won by the chase, the manner of living of his wife. That's very important. And then he speaks of holy living. He's holy in all manner. Holy conversation. And, uh, I think there are seven of these. Look for conversation in the physical world. Another word that he did this year is the word corruptible, or incorruptible, as the case may be. There are four incorruptible reasons. And then he'll, uh, he'll use the word, uh, reserved. Look for the things which are reserved in the epistles of Peter. Look for the word well-doing which occurs quite a number of times. Look for the subject of objection. I hope you'll enjoy 1 Peter. It's very easy, very readable, and very, very precious. Now, when you get to the second epistle of Peter, it's the glory that follows. It answers to the transfiguration of Matthew 17. As a matter of fact, we'll turn over to 2 Peter, chapter 1. You'll notice that he talks about the transfiguration. Notice what he says in verse 16. He tells us in these verses, look for it, he tells us in these verses that the transfiguration was a premature and miniature picture of the coming of Christ in his history. A premature, miniature picture of the coming of Christ. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we did so in 1 Peter, the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Right? But where eyewitnesses of his majesty. His majesty. You know, these words were only properly applied to Jesus Christ. Yes. For here we see from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice. The Gospels will say there came a voice. Peter says there came such a voice. From where? From the excellent glory. Luke says there came a voice from the glory. Peter says such a voice from the glory. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Land. The Gospels will say the man Peter to whom the experience of the transfiguration has been a growing apprehension. It wasn't a thing that faded away with the passing of the year. No. The transfiguration was a growing thing in Peter's knowledge and appreciation. We were with him in the Holy Land. So that he refers to that mountain of transfiguration and speaks of the glory that is to follow at the coming of Christ. And do remember that when you get to the end of Matthew 16, the Lord says there will be some standing here which shall not see death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. And six days after that, he'll take them up to the mountain and give them that premature and miniature because he took them up to the mountain. What happened? His face became like the sun. He was glorious. With them in the glory and standing with them was Moses who had died, Elijah who had not died, but was taken up to heaven without death. And these are typical of the church translated to heaven. For the dead in Christ shall rise first and he which are alive will be brought up together and there in the next new year. While down upon the earth on the top of the mountain was a Jewish cup symbolized by Peter, James and Jesus looking into the excellent glory. But upon the earth had Israel in that day of Christ's return. When he returns with this cup, Israel will be on the left. Matthew 16. So that in 2 Peter you have the glory. Matthew 16. Now, when you get to the third chapter of 2 Peter, he looks forward beyond the mere coming of Christ to the earth. May I suggest, my brothers and sisters, we should not forget that the coming of Christ to the heavenly bridegroom is only incidental through the revelation of Jesus Christ on earth. For the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as we walk this earth. Sometimes you and I say the biggest thing for the future, we know, is the return of Christ on this earth. Well, it might be as far as we are concerned. But I think as far as God on the world is concerned, the biggest thing in the future is not the incidental in the twinkling of an eye which is that when the church is done. That's incidental. But when he comes in his glory for public manifestation, he's going to be here for one thousand years in millennial glory. And after that, the ages to come, the ages to come, the dispensation of the fullness of time which goes beyond the millennium before you come to the eternal church. And all that is the Lord. And the knowledge of the Lord to cover the earth as we walk this earth. But nobody will ever need to say that they know the Lord. For all shall know him from the least of them. Do you understand? That's right. So these are then the epistles of Jesus. Next, the epistles of Jesus. John 1, first epistle, second epistle, and third epistle. Now let me say this, that the epistles of John are built around the same theme as the gospel of John. Now the theme of the gospel of John is this, that light and the life and the love of Christ. Life, light, and love are the themes of John's writing. And, by the way, John is the only disciple, the only writer of the New Testament who writes in all three divisions of the New Testament. All of them. He does not. John writes in the first division, the gospel. John writes in the second division, the epistles. John writes in the third division, the revelation. He should, he can know. But, in all of them, his keywords are light and life and love. And I think that John takes that from the first chapter of him, the first page of the Bible. For the theme of the first page of the Bible is let there be light when they want it. Let there be life on the air that is filled with the birds, the sea with the fishes, and the land with the animals. Let there be life. And then, lastly, let there be love in God for the man, and with him his bride ruling over the earth. And Genesis chapter one, in all the days, is a successive view of the ages and run their course through the Bible and in the history of man until such times as Christ and his bride will be reigning always on the earth. Let there be life. Let there be life. Let there be love. Now, when you come to John's gospel, the theme is this. The truth of life and life on the earth. The epistles of John are the text of life. If you walk in the light, you hear the music. For men say he walks in the light and is in darkness, he is alive. This was the epistles of John. For even in the second epistle, he writes to the elect lady and says it's all very well to talk about walking in love, but remember you've got to walk in the light. And refuse any who might come to you without bringing the darkness. And then in the third epistle, when he talks about three individuals, Gaius and Diocese and Demetrius, the subject is walking in the light and in darkness. When you come to Revelation, it's the triumph of life. On the triumph of life. On the triumph of love. Absolutely. Now let's keep that in mind. Another thing you might notice about the three epistles of John, and that is that in the first epistle we have charity or love that is emphasized. In the second epistle of John, it is heritage. But in the third epistle of John, it is praise. See? Charity and heritage and love in these people. Now the gospel of John is about the Son of God. But the epistles of John are about the Son. When John begins his gospel, he says, in the beginning was the Word. When he begins his epistle, he says that which is from the beginning. And he's not taking you to a point before the Word. From the beginning in John is from the beginning of the ministry of Christ. He tells us when he begins his epistle, he handled that Word. He handled the Word of life. He taught it. So all the way through in his epistle, John is saying if you're in life, and in life the proof of it is that you walk. John uses the word for children. He uses different words. But his common word for children is in the diminutive. It's the little one. They say it's best understood if you know the Scottish word little little little children. And John uses the term, that term, for all the children of God. Then he'll speak specifically of the children and young men and older men. Now, John always draws his picture, somebody has said, in colors of either black or white. There's no shading in between. If you're not white, you're black. If you're not walking fully in the light, then you're in the dark. John is an omnipotent and he proclaims it in his epistle. The next is June. Now, I have been, as you've probably noticed, sometimes devoting more time to a little book, which I think is neglected, rather than a larger book, which is fast enough. I'm tempted to do that in June, but I haven't the time to do it. I'll tell you what to look for when you read June. Look for that phrase, please, that says in verse 3. Notice how John was changed from the subject he had in mind. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to the right unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto you. Once usually translated in Hebrew as once for all. Once for all delivered unto you. So that the subject of June is this. The faith, Christian revelation, once for all delivered unto you. Now, what is the faith once for all delivered unto you? I have discovered that if you will read this in person, carefully, and you must have noticed during this week that if I'm the teacher, then I've given you an assignment that may well occupy you for the next year. I've told you how many things you're to look for in all the different books, and I hope you're going to put it to real use, so that when you meet each other, you'll say, how are you getting along in your homework? How are you getting along in your homework? And those of you who ever care about people, don't let people get by by saying, I didn't get it done. Say, now look, if you don't get your homework done, you're going to get out of the synagogue in time. You've got to get your homework done. So, get your homework done in all these book types suggested to you. Now, when you get to June, here's what they say. First of all, the first article of faith is You can't help but notice the accuracy of the Old Testament, because he mentions character after character after character in the Old Testament. He takes for granted that the account in the Old Testament is correct. It's true. And, I think if I remember right, he writes them down in their chronological order. You can see exactly. Right? There are numerous references to individuals and to intent in the Old Testament. The historical accuracy of the Old Testament in character after character and character after character are many. They talk about God in the character of God. They speak about the love of God in the character of God. They speak about the wisdom of God in the only one of God. They speak about the doctrine of God in the church. They look for the revelation of God in Jesus. And they look in June for the military of only Jesus. Look at that. Or, Jude will talk about evil angels calling the earth in everlasting time. And they do that in the end. They look for the personality of faith, because he mentions faith in faith throughout the world. See, I want you to do this or do this. Praise the accuracy of Jesus. Praise the person of Jesus. Praise the ministry of angels throughout the world. See what their work is and the love. Praise, praise him, first of all, in his pride going back before the world. In his humility in his present position as the prince of the power of the world. In his policy as a destroyer and as a dragon. As a dragon, he destroys as the person of Jesus. As Satan, he betrays and calls back the people of God. Peace. Peace. And then look in this epistle for what he started out with, but not the common promise. And you'll find salvation in three aspects. Look at salvation from day to day as well as the text. And then look for the coming of the Lord in this epistle. Both in the regard to the church and in the regard to the world. You'll notice he says he says, verse 14. Verse 14, the seventh commandment prophesied of these things. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his henchmen to execute judgment. This is coming of the Lord in the day. And lastly, look in this chapter. Even for their punishment of unbelief. Even for their truth of sin in regard to the church. These are seven elements of the faith on the world. And now you'll notice that in the time is done, I haven't reached the last division. I'll give it to you later. What does he say? Looking for that blessed hope. That's the third division. Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God. That's the theme of the epistle. But, keep in mind this. If you want to understand Revelation, I think there's no real understanding of it unless you see the threefold division that is made for you in the writings of Jesus Christ. In chapter one, where John says, although the angel says, John, write the things which thou hast seen. You've already seen on the things which are the presence of Revelation the angel. On the things which shall be after Jesus. Chapter four to the end. The things which thou hast seen, chapter one. The things which are, chapter two and three, the things which shall be after these things, four to the end. Now, although John gets his vision on the day of Christ, the Lord says, all sort of theme of Revelation is the day of Christ. Chapters two and three is the Christ's church day. That is for the church. Chapter four begins with, and I saw a door open in heaven. John wants to receive all the elders of all the nations to be in the church. And then, the book is opened. What book? The book that Jesus Christ closed on that day, when he began his public ministry. Do you remember he closed the book before he got to the angel? The passage which he left out was the day of vengeance, it was. It wasn't the time for the day of vengeance, but it was. But in Revelation, chapter five, he opens it, because it's the day of vengeance. And when all the shields and vials and conflicts in the life are closed, then that is the day of vengeance. How may I say one thing? I might say that even with the light and radio. Here's something which I think will do you good. Well, in that series, the phrase wrath, the wrath of the Lamb or the wrath of God is confined within the chapters partly of chapter six and nineteen. That's where you get the wrath of the Lamb and of God, in chapter six and nineteen. And during that series, the church is not safe from the wrath of God. Showing us this, that the church does not go through the tribulation in monastery. The church is caught up in chapter four. Wrath is poured out upon it, and God has not appointed us to wrath, but to the attainment of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And whether we live, we shall live together in heaven. For then, when you come to the earth, the church is seen again red. And when you close the book, before the disease works, not actually, but it ends, we'll live happily ever after. My mother used to punish us, these times, by reading a book. She used to read quite a big book. It was announced to us in a short time, she thought, really? We said, Mother, you didn't read all that book, did you? Well, she thought, really. I began at the beginning, and I got to settling, and I got to heal, and I could see the flap opening up. I read a little bit further, and a bad one came in. What did it seem on the page? It looked as though the bad one was going to kill the good one and take his prize. So I kind of hurried over there. I wanted to see how it finished. It turned out, I turned to the end, and I was so glad, I read, and they lived happily ever after. The bad one was saddened. The good man was there with his prize, and they lived happily ever after. And do you know, that's exactly the time of the Bible. It begins with a sin. It begins with the good one. And then the bad man comes in. And for centuries, the bad man seems to have looked as though the good man must kill him, and he tried this. But the good man tried in spite of his problems, in spite of his problems, in spite of his dangers, in spite of his death, he tried. And he gets to the end of it. And the bad one comes. And they live happily ever after. Amen. Amen. Grace has brought our father to thank you for the time we've spent together this morning. May it have spread with all our hearts to the exact existence of the Word of God, the right to be punished, the right to be judged, and the right to be converted. Amen.