1 Peter, 1:17-21

We're at 1 Peter chapter 1, 17 through 21, and we have this chart that we've been working with here, and we're stepping in here the second week into that second section here, Sanctification as Salvation's Process. That'll continue into the first part there of the second chapter. And that puts us here. So, before we dive into the passage, just some things to kind of get our mind set on. Peter is doing a lot to convey perspective, isn't he?

How do you see things? Isn't that a big issue? It really is a big issue in people's lives. How do you see things? How do you view the world? Perception, perspective, those kinds of things. Touching on those points, because think about it, as this guy has grown in the Lord, having spoken to the Lord face to face, both before and after the resurrection, as this guy has grown in the Lord, he's come to see perspective is huge. He's come to see that how you view things, what's your orientation, is big, right? We have kind of a bullet list there. Time perspective. What kind of time perspective is Peter trying to give the believers? Pardon? Eternity, yeah. Remember, what's the phrase that he used about the time that we're here on planet Earth?

A little while. A little while. You may have a twinkling somewhere else, but I remember the phrase, a little while, as being a phrase that he used earlier. That's our time here. A little while. Just think, for some people, it's the whole thing. This is it. This is all you get. Instead, the perspective that Peter is encouraging the believers to take is, a little while. It's the eternity. That's what really matters. This is just a little while. That time perspective is one that he has reinforced and will continue to reinforce.

Remember one of the things that we said was that Peter is forward-looking when he talks of salvation. His tendency is to look forward. Certainly he acknowledges and recognizes that we have been saved. He encourages and teaches regarding their present process of sanctification, but he especially encourages them in the direction of looking to the forward, to the here-on-out perspective on salvation, and the certainty of the hope that we have. How about value? What is Peter encouraging them to value? The precious blood of Christ.

Remember he said silver and gold? Nah, that's nothing. The silver and gold, which in those days you didn't have any sandwich coins like we do. They did water down some of the metals, dilute them, the metals at times. But certainly silver and gold were looked at as, hey, this is basic value. Peter says that's nothing. It's far more precious than that. So Peter's conveying a sense of value, a perspective on time and a sense of value. How about the third one? Life before and after salvation by faith. And he's going to continue to talk about that. He says, unbelievers, this is the position that they're in. This is the viewpoint that they have. Believers, this is the position that we are in. This is the viewpoint that we have. Right? Make sense? How about this fourth one?

God's intimate involvement in their lives. He, in what we saw last time, here is the Holy Trinity involved in each believer. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. We saw that previously. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit all in one verse. They are all involved with each of your lives. Think of it here this morning. You're sitting in the pew or I'm standing up here. The entire Trinity is focused upon you and your position and where you're going and how you're growing and where you're headed right now. That is phenomenal, isn't it? That's amazing stuff. The entire Godhead is focused upon where you stand spiritually and where you're growing and where you're going.

And the fact that the Lord does all these other things because His intelligence, His knowledge, His understanding are not challenged. See, for me, too many things happen and I can get distracted, lose focus. That doesn't happen to the Lord. The Lord has some big event, as we see it, going on over here, and that doesn't reduce His focus upon what He's doing in your life.

And the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit's involvement. Isn't that neat? That's fantastic news. That's great stuff. The Lord doesn't just suddenly wake up and say, oh my heavens, I forgot about Vern. Right? No. The Lord is constantly conscious of what he has done, is doing, and ever will do in our lives. Each one of us. Every single believer, no exceptions. And that is cool. That is really cool.

Alright, 1 Peter 1, 17-19, the beginning part. If you address his father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth. knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your feudal way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." Now, verse 17 begins with this if, right? Peter wasn't casting doubt here.

There's a manner of speaking that we see actually rather often. And Peter's not the only one who writes this way in the New Testament. It was a way of writing things in the Greek that says, if this, then that. Sometimes people will just jump to the idea of since, but there's a reason why he does that. He doesn't want to just put since and then just go along. He says, if, and assuming it's true, and I assume that it's true, then this, he wants us to be involved in the thought process.

It is an invitation for you to think God's thoughts after him. Isn't that cool? That's what it is. It's an invitation for you to think God's thoughts after him. That's what the IF is there for. Not to cast doubt, but to say, I want you to think these thoughts along with me. Think this through yourselves in parallel with me, right? That's what he put that there for. The addresses father portion of verse 17 made perfect sense.

Peter had already painted a picture of children of obedience, remember? Last week we studied. Children of obedience, and that was a phrase we made particular point of, because a lot of the translations have it as obedient children, and that kind of loses some of the sense. But as children of, and remember what we say children of or son of meant in that culture?

Having a nature or character of, okay? Having a nature or character of obedience, of listening under, because of your new birth. Because of who you're born with here. That's why the address as father makes sense. He just got through saying that. So for Peter to have said that they addressed the father being children of obedience was quite in line with the teachings of the Apostle Paul.

We give a few quotes there, Ephesians 2.18. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the father. We pointed out previously, that this access is a privileged royal introduction. It's not just, oh, somebody left the door open, or the door isn't locked, or you could if you want to. No, it is a privileged royal introduction. That kind of access.

How about Ephesians 3.14, next chapter, For this reason I bow my knees before the Father. It's that kind of access.

Colossians 1.3, we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. It's that kind of access, it's that kind of relationship. That's what he's talking about here.

Okay, page two. The one who impartially judges according to each one's work. There are three parts that we'll break this into. The one, the father, judging, impartially judges, and then each one's work. Let's take a look at those in turn. Here's God the Father judging. Is there any part of that that kind of puzzles you? Wait a minute. Why would that puzzle you initially? God the Father judging. Yeah, Jesus is the judge, so wait a minute, how come God the Father is involved here? I would submit to you that the way to reconcile it is this.

Here's John 5.22, for not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son. This is the point that Carol was making there. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

Scripture is clear that Christ is the one doing the judging ultimately and intimately, but His fellowship with the Father and oneness with the Father are such that the Father is in full agreement regarding Christ's judgments. Jesus would say the Father and I are one. The Father is in complete agreement. It isn't a matter of Christ doing the judging and the Father saying, hey, wait a minute. It isn't a matter of Christ doing the judgment and the Father saying, you know, you didn't do too bad after that, but let me talk to you about a few things.

We've got a few points to get reconciled here. That didn't happen, is it? No, they're one and the same. They're in agreement. Alright, impartial judgments were something that everybody desired, but Reality often fell short. Do we have that happen in our day? Boy, okay. Yeah, it's a difficulty, isn't it? Human beings, you know, we can recognize that this is a good judge or something of that sort. But the reality is, as human beings, we can often fall short. Why do judges sometimes fall short? I'm not trying to make a political statement here, but just thinking through, why do judges on earth sometimes fall short? Pardon? Wrong viewpoint. They view it wrongly. Good. Other thoughts? They're just humans. And what's the problem with humans? We have a sin nature. Pardon? We have a sin nature?

What? Other biases. Yeah, something that's kind of tugging on our perception and perspective and what's of value. Yeah, good. Anything else? I'm sorry, what? Politically oriented. That was some sort of political orientation that pulled us. Yeah. All right. Can't stay focused. Right. As human beings, there are a number of different things that are regardless of any particular judge. There are a number of things in which human beings can go astray. Right. In judging. Yeah, subject to the social poles. In other words, we get judges that get yanked around by what's kind of the current wave of thought. Like that happens with our own Constitution. Current waves of thought yanking people around rather than seeing things objectively.

When the Lord judges, He will not have those limitations, those deficiencies. He is, by character, and Peter sets it out here, he impartially judges. And that's a good thing. Ah, God has the ability to judge more than one at one time. That's one of the points that comes out of what we said earlier. The fact that God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are focused upon you and who you are. and who you are in Christ, and what God is doing in your life, the entire Trinity, eight times all three of them are mentioned together in the book of Ephesians. Here in Peter, we've already seen here in the first chapter, it's shown up already.

Because of God's infinite capacity, He is not pulled aside, distracted, He doesn't lose focus. The Lord is able to impartially judge, and we won't walk out saying, oh man, I sure wish I had gotten a different shake on that, because that just wasn't right. Yes, Marilyn. He knows the truth.

It isn't a matter of, nobody's going to pull a wool over his eyes. Nobody's going to try to pull a fast one. No fast talking. No defense attorney loopholes. It's all going to be very, very straightforward and out front. Nothing biased. Nothing overlooked. No political pull. No distraction. No out of focus. None of those things. No human limitations or distractions.

Now, how can God's expression of mercy and grace towards believers be reconciled with believers being judged according to their works? Does that kind of make you scratch your head a little? Being judged by your works? Are you worried about that? Do they wake at night? Furrowed brows? I think they have to be his work. Ah, there you go. Carol said they have to be his works.

Here's Romans 14, 10, and 12, where we will all stand before the judgment seat of God, so then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. 2 Corinthians 5, 10, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

However, in 1 Corinthians 3, 10-15 there, But ultimately, and this is in the direction of what Carol pointed out for us, Ephesians 2.10, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, ergon, is the Greek word, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. The next chapter, Ephesians 3, 20 and 21, now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly. Who's the doing? Him. He is the one who does the doing.

Far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works, Energeo, it's a verb coming from the noun Ergon. So the works that he's prepared, he's going to energize them. It's the works that he has prepared, it's the works that he does, he's energizing within us, that's what he has in mind. Not us pulling it off and looking to God and saying, how did I do? Yeah, not us saying, alright, I gave it my best shot, I gave it the whole college try, I did the best I could, and the Lord says, that's not what I had in mind. No, it's His works, it's His energizing, it's His doing. He rewards us for what He does in and through us. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that gracious? Wow. Let's put the core truths of these verses together.

Christ will judge us in fellowship and agreement with the Father. Christ and the Father, and I would say the Holy Spirit, being in complete agreement, being identical in character and virtues and attributes, there won't be any disagreement there. Next, each person's deeds will be judged.

Those not from the Lord, not prepared beforehand and energized by Him, will be burned away. And those from the Lord, prepared beforehand and energized by Him, will be rewarded by the Lord. He rewards us to the extent that what we do is from the energizing of God and the life of Christ lived in and through us. He rewards us for what He does, for what He's prepared beforehand. Conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth. What kind of fear do you think Peter is talking about here?

What's that? Respectful awe. Okay. When he says awe, do you think of any other descriptive terms that come to mind? The fear that you yourself will not live up to the Lord. Self-doubt. Any other thoughts there? A reverence. Ultimately here, this is not a fear that says, oh no, it's the Lord. But instead, it is a fear of ultimate respect. It is a fear that means, as Doug phrased there, a reverence. It is a regard for him and not a regard for us. Not a regard for what we can pull off and what we can do. It's what you ultimately respect. Ultimately. When it comes right down to it, Where's the respect?

That's the kind of fear he's talking about here. These words, on earth, are actually not in the Greek text, although they're certainly implied, because that's where he's talking about. This is the place where we are visitors. Verse 11, he already said that. He's going to say it again in chapter 2, verse 11. We're just passing through. We're here for a while.

We actually have a citizenship, Philippians 3.20, a home, 2 Corinthians 5.8, and an eternal relationship with the Lord of Glory. There in the heavenlies where we're seated with Him. That's where it's at.

How many of you have done any visiting, especially in a foreign country? It's kind of neat, it's cool to visit this other place, but still there's this other sense that I'm from somewhere else. I did some business travel over in Germany a couple decades back and they were quite sure I was from somewhere else. Top of page four.

Knowing that you are not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold. This word for knowing is a participle in the perfect tense. They have known, they already have known, as a completed past action, with an emphasis on the ongoing knowledge impacting the present. This is what Peter does, as Paul does a few times with knowing in Romans 6. It's a knowing that they already know. And he builds upon the knowledge that they have. That's the way he writes this here. He builds upon the knowledge that he either rightly assumes or does actually know that they actually understand.

He selected this word redeemed from a family of culturally based words that have to do with the long-standing practice of slavery. You have, let me, there we go, we have today's supplement here. This is the second to the last page, or it should be, in your handout. Okay. Pardon? Vitamin S? Yes. Here's your vitamin S supplement. And this is a two-column supplement focusing on slavery and some of the key words. I would suggest to you that understanding the things that are in that supplement will help you with a great deal of the New Testament.

From the Gospels all the way to the book of Revelation, there are words relating to the institution of slavery in the Roman Empire. And in the larger cities where Peter would have been writing to, Ephesus would have been a prime example, probably half the population were slaves. Throughout the Roman Empire overall, roughly one in five of the people were slaves.

And by people either dying, becoming disabled, or being bought out or otherwise gotten out of slavery, into freedom. About a half million new slaves were needed every year. It was something that a person could be born into, or been captured into, or several other different means. But it was very common, very well known, and very well understood.

It is quite likely that a significant percentage of the church members were slaves. were owned by another, so that the terminology of slavery was well understood. It shouldn't be thought of in terms of the same as the historical American slavery that we had. It operated differently. There were oftentimes slaves who owned other slaves. There were slaves who were in some cases quite wealthy. Some were very highly educated, sometimes even more so than their masters. The mentality, how we perceive it, needs to be thought differently. But understanding that is important.

Redeemed, this particular word means to buy out and off of the slave market. You were in the slave market and the Lord bought you out of and off of the market. You're no longer just bought to be turned around and sold, but bought and taken off the market as a slave.

Isn't that cool? That's the word that he uses here. Usually silver or gold was a means of buying someone out of slavery, but Peter made a radical point here in that the currency to buy us out of slavery consisted of something far more precious than that. The currency of the Lord's blood.

Now before we get there though, we have from your feudal way of life inherited from your forefathers. He's talking to the slavery from which Christ had redeemed them. It probably implies a significant number and probably a majority of them were Gentiles. That whole way of life idea would be looked upon as Gentiles.

But all the activity of that life was absolutely useless, nothing but a wasted expenditure of energy and time. You bought out from the futile way of life. Have you ever been through something and you've done something and then realized it was all for naught? Afterwards, oh man, I did that for nothing.

I knew this one fellow years ago who overhauled a Ford engine. All the time, effort, and energy to get all the parts and everything. Ford engines have little clips at the ends of the pins that go into each of the pistons. The clips keep the pins from sliding out and up against the cylinder walls. He forgot to put the clips in. So as soon as he started the engine, he scored up the walls on every single cylinder and wrecked it.

All for nothing. That's what Peter's communicating on a much grander scale. He says, your whole life was futile. You're doing it all for nothing. Doing it all for nothing. It's a way of describing... What are the wages of sin? Debt. What does an unbeliever basically have to rely upon so that he's doing all the time? But the unbeliever, has to rely upon the sin nature. Life is futile. The only thing that can produce is death. That's the only outcome. Everything is futile. That's Peter's description here. Useless.

It was a tradition. And now he uses this inherited. Remember that the prominent cultural mindset was that of tradition is a value. What's old and what's been around, what's been passed along and has ancient character to it, that's a value. He said, that's what you got. He says, that's what you got, but the Lord redeemed you and took you out of that.

That futile, useless thing that, yeah, you inherited it. Usually things that are inherited are thought to be of value. Not so much. Not so much. Now here's the point where he makes the comparison here with the gold and silver. But with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

The word but here, chosen by Peter, And, as in 1 Peter 1.15, means a strong contrast. This is the Greek word Allah. And the value is radically greater than gold and silver. It's not just a little bit more. It's not just a slight difference. It's not just a different kind. Radically different.

In great contrast, to the relatively worthless gold and silver, the precious blood of Christ. Very, very precious, unlike gold and silver. In Revelation it says the streets of heaven are paved with gold, that which is trampled under our feet. Yeah, that which we put our feet on. It's paved with gold in the heavenlies, but yet this far more precious, the blood of Christ. Here's where we talk, remember, at the very beginning about what's valuable.

This is a key thing. For a believer to grow in Christ, one of the things that needs to take place is to have a changed sense of what's valuable. What's valuable? What's important? What matters? What makes a difference? What's really worth it? That changed assessment of what's valuable. That's pivotal. That's key to spiritual growth. Ah, this is a value. Now I understand. And notice he doesn't just leave it as a slight increase. He doesn't say, oh, it's just 10% more valuable. He uses that word for strong contrast.

Much, much, way on the opposite end. of value, the precious blood of Christ. Second Peter, we'll get there, unless the Lord comes first, for by these he granted us to us his precious and magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Peter, having grown for these several decades in the Lord, had come to recognize what was precious. He had come to see and come to value those things that are truly precious of spiritual value. Okay. Top of page five.

Peter described God's ultimate sacrifice, Christ the Lord, as an unblemished and spotless lamb. Like the Passover lamb, the lamb sacrificed under the law of Moses, Christ met the requirement that a sacrifice be without defect. as Leviticus 22, 17-25. Christ is referred to over two dozen times in the book of Revelation as the little lamb. Isn't that interesting?

You go through the book of Revelation and people are cowering, hiding in caves from the wrath of the lamb. Do you know that that word for lamb is little? By the Mosaic Law's definition, it could be as young as eight days old. They're cowering from an eight-day-old lamb. Isn't that amazing? All the way to the last chapters of Revelation, Christ the little lamb, looking as a lamb as if he had been slain. The little tiny one, just barely able to meet the Mosaic Law's requirements of 8 days old. That one is the one who comes down out of heaven with a 5 foot long sword out of his mouth, the barbarian Ramphaya. Even into the new heavens and the new earth, unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, the blood of Christ was a once-for-all sacrifice, given several times there in Hebrews.

We give the reference chapter 7, 9, and 10. He specifically uses that the word hapax means once given, perpetually valid, done deal. Christ is the once-for-all sacrifice, not the every year we do this. Not the, we'll do it this year, but we've got to do it again next year. No. The once for all. The once given, once done, perpetually valid, forever and ever. That one. It's that lamb. 1 Peter 3, we'll get to there.

For Christ also died for sins once for all. Same message as in Hebrews. The just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God. By the way, that word bring us is the same family of words Paul used about giving us access to the Father. So bringing us to God isn't saying, here, now you're brought to God. It is bringing us with a royal introduction. That's the word that he used.

1 Peter 1 20-21 For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Christ the little lamb was foreknown before the foundation of the world as the one who would take our sins upon himself. By the way, what was Christ's perspective on this thing?

Oh, I guess so. Oh, if I have to? Alright, I will. Is that what His thought was about going to the cross for us? For the joy set before Him. He expressed the agony that He was anticipating, and yet, for the joy set before Him. He endured it. Amazing.

We can show a timeline of the events of Scripture, including Christ's death on the cross. Many of us can even pinpoint the date when we believed. Any of you know the date when you believed? You happen to know when that date was? I can remember. I was about four and a half, but I don't remember what day it was.

You may be able to look at that. But look at the time perspective here. From God's standpoint, he is not just catching up to the spiritual facts. Oh, he isn't saying, oh yeah, that's what Vern believed, therefore this and that and all. They were foreknown before God said, let there be light. Before he began creating the very first thing, these were foreknown. Christ, though foreknown, appeared in his first coming for our benefit, for the sake of you, for the sake of those who believe.

In these verses, including verses 16 and 17, we have specifically spelled out Christ's death, his precious blood, and resurrection raised him from the dead, as well as Christ's seating in the heavenlies gave him glory. Implied is his burial from the dead, literally out from dead ones, and his ascension in order to give him glory. Finally, hear what he says at the end of verse 21, that your faith and hope are in God. It is who he is and what he has done that we trust in and where we have our certain hope.

Notice that Peter is all about conveying a uniquely certain hope, something that the pagan world could not offer. We have writings from the time of Peter in the pagan world, where people wrote things like, if only I knew what the God wanted. I have no idea. We have such a unique thing here.

Peter is able to write the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are all focused on you, and who you are in Christ, and what's happening, and your new nature, and your new identity, and where you're going to spend eternity. The Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit are all focused upon those things in your life. Among the pagans, they were just hoping to get the God's attention, because the God's natural inclination was to neglect you, unless you somehow got His attention, or hers. Oh yeah, Norm brings up a good point. They'd build all kinds of statues and all sorts of temples, and they'd even have an altar to the unknown God, just so they wouldn't offend one they might have forgotten, or be unaware of. And so instead, what does Peter offer?

Notice as we step through this chapter, and we're not done, 1 Peter 1.3, a living hope. How is a living hope different from some other kind of hope?

It can work. Pardon? It can work. It can work, okay, yeah. It's not a, gee, I kind of hope so, right? Other thoughts? Yes. Well, it could be a dead hope. Pardon? It could be a dead hope. Yeah, a dead hope isn't so good, right? Yeah, ever have something here on planet Earth, of course, that you were hoping about and you looked at and, well, that didn't happen. That's not happening. Yeah, so this is a living hope. This is one that's real.

1 Peter 1.13, fix your hope completely. So here is a hope, it's not just a hope that, yeah, I hope that one works out, and if it doesn't, here's my plan B. He says, no, this is a certain hope, fix your hope completely here, because it's not going to fail. It's not going to be a whoops. It's not a, oh, better luck next time. Not that. We're here, our faith and our hope are in God. Absolutely. Right there. We know where our hope is. We know who our hope is in. And that's who we trust in. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Norm makes a point. This is an entirely different Peter than at the Garden of Gethsemane. What are your thoughts there on that? Yeah. or might not have changed, but could have changed, had this been the Peter of that event. Yeah. Yeah. And I think this is one of the things we underscored last week, is God's grace.

That here is Peter. I mean, if you'd have seen Peter at one point there during the Garden of Gethsemane and the crucifixion, and we said, hey Peter, that's as far as you're going spiritually. Not so good, huh? Not so hopeful. Yeah, this is a guy who has grown spiritually and you can see it. You can see it in what he says. Here's a guy that really, think about it, There at the Garden of Gethsemane, at the crucifixion, even until he found out that Christ had been raised from the dead, he was a guy without hope. Now what's he saying? He says hope three times before we finish the first chapter. One other thing, he was a guy without faith. I don't even know him. Four times in this chapter so far. Faith, faith, and your faith. Yes?

Isn't this just such a beautiful picture of God's grace that He didn't just take men who had good character. He took men like Peter who couldn't stand up for Christ. He took Paul. who stood against Christ and made them faithful men. It's because of his work in their lives, not what they did, not who they were, but who he is. And so gracious to us that he would use men like that because we're so weak and fallible that we can see there is hope in him.

This is one of the wonderful things I think about studying 1 and 2 Peter, is that you look at it and you say, as one fellow put it, they see Peter described and they say, now that's my kind of man. We see Peter and we see the ways in which he failed and the ways in which he stumbled, not just a little bit, but rather profoundly. and yet to see the Lord's marvelous grace and working in his life and growing this guy Peter to the point where he could write these words that he has here that we've read and studied these last few weeks. Potent, powerful words, not because Peter was somehow cream of the crop from the world's viewpoint, but because of what the Lord had done in his life. And that is hopeful, isn't it? That's marvelously hopeful. That's just wonderful stuff to study. And it is just deeply encouraging to see how the Lord has changed this guy. And so it's interesting.

It is not just, what does God's word tell us? Certainly it does. And what is Peter telling us about what our perspective is to be and how we're to live? Certainly those things. But also how wonderful to see the example of this Peter having grown now for about three decades. And to see what the Lord has done in his life and how the Lord has changed his perspective on time, his sense of values, and what's important. Yeah, it shows what the living hope is. Good point. It shows what the living hope is. We can see that. To me that's just, it jumps out of the page. Not simply the direct message of scripture, but the other message that leaps out of the page is, here is Peter having been changed profoundly from the one that he was. And that's just a wonderful message.

Pardon? After the crucifixion. without the Holy Spirit have existed prior to that time. And here he was, pre, you know, Acts 2, there at the gate, and he's probably going, well, I plan for the Messiah to come in and take over the throne and all of the messianic things that the Jews were expecting. We're all shot into nothing.

A guy who's being criminally charged. Yeah, yeah. Isn't that amazing? He's got to figure out how to make plan B out of this. He's devoted a whole lot of time to it. Yeah. Yeah, this is astounding stuff to ponder, isn't it? This is amazing. Any other thoughts here? We've kind of talked through the material, but it's valuable to gather together some of your thoughts and perspectives and insights on this passage. Bob?

These last times, for the sake of you, are talking about the cross. But where is it in the timeline that's talking about the burning of the foundations of the world that has appeared in these last times? He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. Think about what did he do for the sake of you? What was so pivotal for the sake of you? His death and resurrection, his ascension and his seating are all things in which you've been identified. his appearing, his coming in the flesh for those unfathomable blessings that we have in Christ.

Those are these last times, these most recent moments of time. There are a couple of different words typically used for time, several, but a couple of them, and this particular one focuses on a sequence of key moments. And so that's the thought here, not great spans of time. Good, other thoughts?

Is the point of the little lamb just that he was the consummate sacrifice? The mosaic law specified that they must be at least eight days old and you may not sacrifice the mother and the baby in the same day. Pardon? That was nice of you. Yeah. Must not sacrifice the mother and the baby in the same day and the lamb must be at least eight days old.

And so here is this spotless lamb. And that was the key thing that Peter was focusing on. The lamb must be, of course, the Mosaic law, without defect. Of course, the rabbis were looking and the priests were looking at one without physical defect. And pointing to Christ, who is without spiritual defect. No deficiency in his spiritual character. And that's the focus that he has here is that issue of defect.

But yeah, it could be a lamb as young as eight days old was legal according to Mosaic law. Other thoughts? Yes, it's interesting that coincides with the day of circumcision. I don't know exactly why the day figure, but that was specified in the law. OK, let's call it a day here or at least a class.

Lord, what richness in your word. How marvelously you have quite evidently taught this man, Peter, and grown him spiritually. And Lord, how richly that comes through the words that we've read here this morning. Lord, we pray that you would bring those truths home to our hearts, that the time perspective that Peter was conveying, the value perspective that Peter was conveying, It might be things that we appropriate, not just intellectually, but in our hearts. We might indeed grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for these things, for these precious and marvelous truths. In Jesus' name, Amen.