Lord's Day Sermon, January 31, 2021: "Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day" Part 3

“Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day by Remembering We Are Sojourners and Exiles in the World”

1 Peter 2:11-12; Hebrews 11:13-16

Bart Newton, Preaching Minister

To view a simple online worship service of “Word, Communion and Prayer,” and please click on the the following link: "Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day” Part 3 .

Summary: In part 3 of the series "Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day", the Scriptures remind followers of Christ that since we are citizens of heaven we are strangers and exiles in this world. Living faithfully as such requires that we live distinctly from the world while loving those in the world. Morality, good deeds, a loose grip on material possessions, and hospitality toward strangers are the marks of such a life.

Sermon Outline

 • When was the last time you thought of yourself as a stranger if ever?

• When was the last time you thought of yourself as a stranger within the community you live?

• Three weeks ago we began the series “Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day.”

• Part 1: Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day by the Power & Promises of Jesus (2 Peter 1:3-11)

• Part 2: Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day with the Humility & Obedience of Jesus (Philippians 2:1-13)

• Today we consider this truth: Christians are to live faithfully in the mystery of the day by remembering we are strangers and exiles in this world.

• Within God’s kingdom, both OT and NT, God’s children have always been considered strangers and aliens on this earth in some form or fashion.

• Speaking of when the Jews would be in captivity in Egypt…

Genesis 15:13: Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed. (CSB)

• Or think about Lord’s instructions to the Hebrew children regarding their parcels of ground in the Promised Land:

Leviticus 25:23-24: 23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land. (ESV)

• Consider the compassion the Jews were to demonstrate once they were settled in the Promised Land to transients:

Deuteronomy 10:19: Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. (ESV)

• Do you remember King David’s prayer in response to the offering given by the Jews to build the temple?

1 Chronicles 29:14-15: 14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! 15 We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. (NLT)

• Now, under the New Covenant, followers of Jesus are considered strangers and exiles whether of Jewish or Gentile background. Speaking of Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians as foreigners, Paul writes:

Ephesians 2:11-13, 17-19: 11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. … 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ….17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. (NLT)

• Think about this fellow Gentile converts. We were strangers and outsiders to God’s family and God’s kingdom. Through Christ, we became members of God’s household and citizens of His kingdom. Once we received Christ and were adopted as God’s children and became citizens of God’s kingdom, that is citizens of heaven, we then became strangers and exiles to the world.

• But much of the church in America has forgotten that our primary citizenship is in heaven: Philippians 3:20: Our citizenship is in heaven…

• Christians are citizens of the kingdom of heaven—the kingdom of God—and our ultimate allegiance must be to King Jesus!

• And His kingdom is not of this world so His citizens are not to act like citizens of worldly kingdoms!

• When Jesus was before Pilate, He replied to one of his questions like this:

John 18:36-37: 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world. 37 … For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (ESV)

• Much of the American church has not lived as such. Instead of making followers of Christ of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them for obey all that Christ has taught us, many believers have insisted on a form of Christian nationalism which is unbiblical, impossible, and unwise.

• “Christian nationalism aims to turn the country back to God through the avenues of patriotism and politics. It's a faulty premise from the start because the focus relies far too much on those who crave power first and foremost.”—“The Christian nationalism experiment failed” by Kimberly Ross, January 14, 2021 11:00 PM (Online source:washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-christian-nationalism-experiment-failed)

• Article: “Christians in a politically charged climate: Questions to ask as tensions ratchet up”--By Waldemar Kohl (world.wng.org, 1/23/21):

• Kohl asks: “How are we to respond—in this overly sensitive, divided, and politically charged climate—to a society that needs to know Jesus’ love? I think it starts with us doing some serious self-reflection on where our priorities lie, and even where our heart is.”

• Kohl then asks a series of questions for Christians to consider. One question is this:

• “Which kingdom are we pursuing? If we were Christians anywhere else in the world, we would struggle less with the melding of nationalism and faith. As it is, the church in the United States—in my opinion—has a dangerous emotional and spiritual bond with conservative political power. They are not one and the same. Jesus was clear, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’ If it were, He would have fought more like we’re fighting today—for power and control. Listening to the leaders involved in the Jericho March, you would think that the president is our messiah and we are fighting for his kingdom on earth. Anything that pulls us away from our focus on God’s eternal kingdom, or draws on our passion and energy to preserve worldly possession or influence, plays into the devil’s hands. Let us vote our conscience for the leaders we believe are best able to govern our country. But let our hearts and minds pursue the eternal kingdom, not a kingdom of any kind on earth. (Online Source: world.wng.org/2021/01/christians_in_a_politically_charged_climate)

So, let us begin to answer this question: How do we live faithfully in the mystery of the day by remembering we are strangers and exiles in the world? The apostle Peter tells us.

• First, he tells us who we are in Christ Jesus by God’s grace:

1 Peter 2:9-10: 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

• By grace we have a special identity different than those outside of Christ. To prove it in hostile territory, we must live up to Whose we are:

1 Peter 2:11-12: 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (ESV)

V. 11, NLT: Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners”…

Living faithfully as strangers and exiles requires followers of Jesus to live a lifestyle that is:

• Moral and holy. (1 Peter 2:11)

• V. 11, The Message: Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.

• V. 11, Amplified: Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges [those dishonorable desires] that wage war against the soul.

Living faithfully as strangers and exiles requires followers of Jesus to live a lifestyle that:

• Demonstrates good conduct and good deeds. (1 Peter 2:12)

• v. 12, Amplified: Keep your behavior excellent among the [unsaved] Gentiles [conduct yourself honorably, with graciousness and integrity], so that for whatever reason they may slander you as evildoers, yet by observing your good deeds they may [instead come to] glorify God in the day of visitation [when He looks upon them with mercy].

• Remember, because we are citizens of another kingdom, we in a sense are guests to our neighbors and must live in a way that they can say nothing bad about us that is valid.

Living faithfully as strangers and exiles requires followers of Jesus to live a lifestyle that:

• Is flexible, sacrificial, long suffering and filled with hope.

• Chapter 11 of Hebrews is the great faith chapter. The writer gives several examples of the OT saints who left their homeland to follow the will of God. They could have gone back to their old stomping grounds but they didn’t. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says of them:

Hebrews 11:13-16:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (ESV)

v. 13c, GW: … they were living as strangers with no permanent home on earth.

• The Hebrew writer goes on to tell of other faithful saints that suffered greatly as strangers and exiles on the earth. Some didn’t live to tell it. Listen to what was known about their faithfulness:

Hebrews 11:35b-38: But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. (NLT)

• Faith rebukes materialism and cowardice. Faith inspires heroism, encourages fortitude and awaits fulfilment.

• You see, the writer of Hebrews was trying to encourage Jews who had accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah not to turn away from Him so they wouldn’t be persecuted. Listen to what he writes to them and us in…

Hebrews 10:32-34: 32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. (NLT)

• “The description of these heroes of faith challenges our cowardice and rebukes our materialism.”—Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews, p. 208

• Now here is where I believe it really gets fascinating, exciting, and challenging. Many of these Christians described in Hebrews had lost most of their material possessions, and maybe even their homes, and he goes on to tell them this. Are you listening?

Hebrews 13:2: Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. (CSB)

• Hebrews 13:2, Amplified: Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

• They had little to nothing to share yet in their poverty they were called to still practice hospitality even to strangers!

• We are strangers in the world called to be hospitable to strangers whether or not they are citizens of heaven.

• “Strangers in the strict sense, are those who are disconnected from basic relationships that give persons a secure place in the world. The most vulnerable strangers are detached from family, community, church, work, and polity.” –Christine D. Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, p. 13

• Obviously this requires care and discernment. But we can and must offer biblical hospitable more often than we generally do.

• If we will remember that we are sojourners and live like we are sojourners, we will be better at practicing biblical hospitality.

• Historically, biblical hospitality that includes the Gospel message, which we’ll be learning about in the weeks ahead, has done more to demonstrate the love of Christ and make followers of Him than the slickest worship services have ever done!

• Funny, I didn’t realize it at the beginning, but the common theme in the series for us to pay attention to is the certainty of the Second Coming of Jesus our King.

• The one thing that 2 Peter 1:3-11, Philippians 2:3-11, and 1 Peter 2:11-12 all have in common is to live faithfully in the mystery of the day by looking forward to the return of Christ.

• In today’s passage Peter speaks of it as “the day of visitation.”

Philippians 3:20: Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. (CSB)

• "Living Faithfully in the Mystery of the Day", reminds us that since we are citizens of heaven, we are strangers and exiles in this world. Living faithfully as such requires that we live distinctly from the world while loving those in the world. Morality, good deeds, a loose grip on material possessions, hospitality and anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus are the marks of such a life.