And we're back.
00:00:01.40\00:00:02.77
Dr. Shepherd, you
were talking about
00:00:02.80\00:00:04.17
the statuses of these people.
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And also what these people--
foreigners in this area.
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Yes, well, that's a--
00:00:08.35\00:00:10.17
well, in one way or
another they were foreigners.
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That's what he describes at
the very beginning of the book.
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He describes them as foreigners.
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Okay, you know, I can understand
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being a foreigner
in a country is very--
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it can be quite challenging.
00:00:22.65\00:00:24.93
You know, I've traveled
different parts of the world.
00:00:24.96\00:00:27.93
And it's interesting that
00:00:27.96\00:00:29.65
whenever I'm in a different
country other than in my own,
00:00:29.68\00:00:33.58
people immediately know
that I don't belong there.
00:00:33.61\00:00:37.31
You know,
whether it's my haircut
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or different shoes
or the way I dress.
00:00:38.74\00:00:40.76
You know, I'm either
a tourist, a visitor.
00:00:40.79\00:00:43.55
And so I immediately can
tell that they are actually,
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you know, looking
at me differently.
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So I'm kind of
wondering if maybe these people
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are also
experiencing something similar.
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Yes, yes, very much so.
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And when we jump into
the book in our next session,
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we'll take a look particularly,
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those first verses and
see some interesting stuff
00:01:01.85\00:01:03.93
about the foreignness that
these people are experiencing.
00:01:03.96\00:01:07.58
I remember they are
separate from other people
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and they are living
in small communities
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that are probably close knit.
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Most of the
people of this community,
00:01:13.94\00:01:17.37
as we read first
through 1 Peter--
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we're particularly
thinking of 1 Peter right now.
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There they seem to be a people
who have low social status.
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They are not the higher ups,
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the people in
the city government
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or the Roman government or even
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most of them,
leaders of household.
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They are slaves, they are women,
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they are people
who in that society
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did not have high social status.
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So some of the
problems that they faced,
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you know, linked
into all of these issues
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of being in small
rural communities mostly,
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being so different from
the society around them,
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and being people
of low social status.
00:02:03.94\00:02:07.86
When we try to think
in the terms of, okay,
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so what were the
problems that they were facing,
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we kind of have to
read between the lines.
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We ask the question, "okay,
so what does Peter emphasize?"
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Well, what he
emphasizes over and over
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and over again
are two main issues.
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And I being a teacher
like to use alliteration to,
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you know, help people
remember what they are.
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So I say,
"persecution and passion."
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Persecution-there are two
Ps, persecution and passion.
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The people around
them didn't like it
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that they were different.
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And we see this as we
read through the book.
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We'll be studying
through the entire book.
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So we'll see this
coming up again and again
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and again that
the people around them
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are pushing them back to
become, you know, pagans again.
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Yeah, they were
different in one ways
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because I think
we're all different. Yes.
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And in which
manner ere they different
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that the people did
not like about them?
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It's really
their lifestyle. Okay.
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Peter will
emphasize a holy lifestyle
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and that links into
this other idea of passion.
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The pagans had put
fertility rights and everything.
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It's part of their religion.
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And they were famous or
infamous for their debauchery
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and their parties and
different things like this.
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And the Christians
stood away from that
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to live a lifestyle that was
very, very separate from that,
00:03:36.71\00:03:40.74
very changed and
different, away from that.
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So much so that it
surprised the pagans.
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They--Peter says
that they are surprised
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that you don't come
to their parties anymore.
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So made them look
bad? Yeah. Well, yes.
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They don't feel like,
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you know, the change of
lifestyle when you're different.
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People--and it's
still true today.
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People try to make you conform,
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you know, They try to get
you to wear the same clothes.
00:04:02.83\00:04:04.99
They try to get you to
live the same practices.
00:04:05.02\00:04:07.64
They have many
different ways to make you feel
00:04:07.67\00:04:11.14
out of place if
you don't fit in and,
00:04:11.17\00:04:13.92
you know, do what
everybody else is doing.
00:04:13.95\00:04:17.08
So the problems were
persecution and the passion.
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So it's the push of persecution.
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This is a stick
that the pagans are using
00:04:22.95\00:04:25.62
to get them to conform.
00:04:25.65\00:04:27.44
And the other is the
pull of the old way of life,
00:04:27.47\00:04:31.14
the passions of
the old way of life.
00:04:31.17\00:04:32.54
So Peter--1 Peter is focused all
around solving those problems.
00:04:32.57\00:04:38.93
Those two major
problems for the Christians.
00:04:38.96\00:04:42.95
And he has an incredible way,
00:04:42.98\00:04:44.83
I mean, he brings out
all the big guns of theology
00:04:44.86\00:04:48.12
to help these people to
cope with the world around them.
00:04:48.15\00:04:53.06
Okay. And for 2 Peter,
let's talk about 2 Peter.
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What problems were they facing?
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All right, now in 1 Peter,
the majority of the problems
00:04:58.67\00:05:03.98
are coming from
outside, you know?
00:05:04.01\00:05:06.90
The outsiders
are pushing to make
00:05:06.93\00:05:09.31
these
Christians be pagans again.
00:05:09.34\00:05:12.22
And the Christians are probably
enticed by the old passions,
00:05:12.25\00:05:16.74
the old way of life.
00:05:16.77\00:05:18.62
In 2 Peter the
problem is internal.
00:05:18.65\00:05:22.17
It's a group of people who had
become leaders in the church,
00:05:22.20\00:05:25.85
they're called teachers.
00:05:25.88\00:05:27.50
So you don't just let anybody
teach your Sabbath school or,
00:05:27.53\00:05:31.21
you know, preach in your church.
00:05:31.24\00:05:33.84
It has to be somebody
that has some honor and,
00:05:33.87\00:05:38.40
you know,
gravitas that they say,
00:05:38.43\00:05:40.28
"oh, yeah, why
don't we have them
00:05:40.31\00:05:41.68
be the Sabbath school teacher
00:05:41.71\00:05:43.08
or why don't we have
them preach the sermon?
00:05:43.11\00:05:45.52
These people had
become leaders in some way.
00:05:45.55\00:05:48.55
And they are taking the
people away from the true faith,
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particularly things
focused around the old passions
00:05:53.52\00:05:56.82
that the pagans were focused on.
00:05:56.85\00:05:59.61
And a denial of the
second coming of Jesus.
00:05:59.64\00:06:02.76
And so that internal
heresy is creating turmoil
00:06:02.79\00:06:08.75
within Peter's churches.
00:06:08.78\00:06:11.01
And where 1 Peter
interweaves beautiful theology
00:06:11.04\00:06:17.46
and concepts back and forth
00:06:17.49\00:06:19.32
and beautiful
alliteration and everything,
00:06:19.35\00:06:21.56
2 Peter is very straight
like an arrow, you know?
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Its outline is much
simpler and straight forward
00:06:24.46\00:06:28.35
because he's facing a problem
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that's going to destroy
his church from the inside.
00:06:29.78\00:06:32.04
And which is more
dangerous? What do you think?
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To be persuaded from the
outside to come to the world
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or having heresy
within the church?
00:06:37.06\00:06:41.32
Well, if we are to
gauge this by Peter's passion,
00:06:41.35\00:06:47.20
the heresy from inside
seems to be more of a problem.
00:06:47.23\00:06:50.19
Now when we get to 2 Peter 2,
00:06:50.22\00:06:53.77
it is as though you
put your hand on the page
00:06:53.80\00:06:57.17
and it's still warm
because it's so fiery,
00:06:57.20\00:07:01.39
you know. So Peter really
gets steamed up in 2 Peter.
00:07:01.42\00:07:04.50
He's very direct and just really
lambastes these false teachers.
00:07:04.53\00:07:08.91
So in that case it's
seems like this is the problem
00:07:08.94\00:07:14.18
that there's--
that they're facing.
00:07:14.21\00:07:15.58
Now it's interesting that
the false teachers in 2 Peter
00:07:15.61\00:07:21.40
seem to have linkages
with other groups of the day.
00:07:21.43\00:07:29.05
There were a
group of philosophers
00:07:29.08\00:07:30.61
known as the
Epicureans who had a philosophy
00:07:30.64\00:07:35.08
that sound very
similar to some things
00:07:35.11\00:07:38.58
that you read in 2 Peter.
00:07:38.61\00:07:41.15
There's a group that most
of our viewers will recognize,
00:07:41.18\00:07:44.20
the Sadducees that are
referred to in the gospels.
00:07:44.23\00:07:47.46
And there are parallels between
00:07:47.49\00:07:49.99
the teachings of the
false teachers in 2 Peter
00:07:50.02\00:07:53.52
too sound a lot like
the Sadducees as well.
00:07:53.55\00:07:57.97
Now it doesn't mean
that the false teachers
00:07:58.00\00:08:00.29
in 2 Peter were Epicureans.
00:08:00.32\00:08:02.75
It doesn't mean
that they were Sadducees.
00:08:02.78\00:08:05.72
But it just is kind of an
illustration of how a culture
00:08:05.75\00:08:10.55
kind of has some
things in the air, you know?
00:08:10.58\00:08:14.10
There's a philosophy
that is floating there
00:08:14.13\00:08:17.39
and it's
influencing lots of people.
00:08:17.42\00:08:20.31
You know, and today we
think of post-modernism
00:08:20.34\00:08:23.09
and its impact on
all of our culture
00:08:23.12\00:08:26.57
and all of the education
and Christian churches as well.
00:08:26.60\00:08:31.73
And so here we have these
two books from the ancient world
00:08:31.76\00:08:37.83
that have an awful lot of
parallels to our life today.
00:08:37.86\00:08:43.36
It's amazing, I was thinking
just that the bible says
00:08:43.39\00:08:46.53
that all scripture is
given by inspiration of God.
00:08:46.56\00:08:48.69
And so, you know, these
writings of Peter written,
00:08:48.72\00:08:52.22
you know, several years
ago but as we read today
00:08:52.25\00:08:55.33
they can apply to
me, to my church as well.
00:08:55.36\00:08:58.65
And we read the bible and say,
00:08:58.68\00:09:00.85
wow, it seems like
God is speaking to us
00:09:00.88\00:09:03.66
this day for this generation.
00:09:03.69\00:09:05.95
Yeah. There's a reason why
these books are in the bible.
00:09:05.98\00:09:08.16
They're inspired, and their
message is a timeless message
00:09:08.19\00:09:11.99
that addresses us to this day.
00:09:12.02\00:09:13.57
Now we want to look
at the outline of 1 Peter
00:09:13.60\00:09:18.76
just so our listeners can get
a perspective on this and see,
00:09:18.79\00:09:23.90
you know, where things
are going to be heading.
00:09:23.93\00:09:26.35
We have a
graphic that shows this.
00:09:26.38\00:09:28.51
And so in this
graphic you'll see
00:09:28.54\00:09:31.46
that the book of 1
Peter begins with a section
00:09:31.49\00:09:37.00
that goes through
chapter 2 verse 10,
00:09:37.03\00:09:40.19
from 1:1 through
2:10 called establishing.
00:09:40.22\00:09:43.70
I've titled it, "Establishing
the household of God."
00:09:43.73\00:09:47.64
The book of 1 Peter never uses
the word, church. interesting.
00:09:47.67\00:09:53.04
Not once. Never
uses the word, church.
00:09:53.07\00:09:55.26
But instead it tends
to focus the attention
00:09:55.29\00:09:59.33
on this idea of a household,
00:09:59.36\00:10:01.61
a group of people
that are in a house.
00:10:01.64\00:10:03.76
God is called our
Father. We are His children.
00:10:03.79\00:10:07.28
We are born again or born anew.
00:10:07.31\00:10:10.77
So he has this
kind of parallelism
00:10:10.80\00:10:13.61
with this idea of
house so that you'll see
00:10:13.64\00:10:16.92
in our outline that
establishing the household,
00:10:16.95\00:10:20.32
it's the very first section.
00:10:20.35\00:10:22.50
Rebirth that leads to holiness,
00:10:22.53\00:10:24.26
metaphors of growth
and then the house of God
00:10:24.29\00:10:26.76
in this very first section.
00:10:26.79\00:10:28.27
He takes a lot of time,
00:10:28.30\00:10:29.91
uses a lot of
metaphors to emphasize that.
00:10:29.94\00:10:33.11
In the second
section of the book
00:10:33.14\00:10:35.61
he talks about how Christians
00:10:35.64\00:10:37.27
are supposed to
live in the world.
00:10:37.30\00:10:39.08
And here our graphic shows,
00:10:39.11\00:10:40.48
it goes from
chapter 2:11 through 4:11.
00:10:40.51\00:10:44.04
Scholars don't know always
agree exactly where to draw
00:10:44.07\00:10:46.23
the lines in
this book, you know?
00:10:46.26\00:10:48.04
But he has this whole emphasis
00:10:48.07\00:10:51.02
on the idea of
submission and an upright life.
00:10:51.05\00:10:54.85
And vindication that is coming
and how to live as a Christian.
00:10:54.88\00:10:58.89
So he has a lot of emphasis
00:10:58.92\00:11:01.91
on how you're supposed
to relate to outsiders.
00:11:01.94\00:11:05.81
I find this quite interesting
00:11:05.84\00:11:08.65
that the book has this
very strong emphasis on holiness
00:11:08.68\00:11:15.23
and yet it has this
very powerful engagement
00:11:15.26\00:11:18.72
with the world around us.
00:11:18.75\00:11:21.68
Two ideas that a lot of
people today tend to separate.
00:11:21.71\00:11:26.96
Holy life, go out,
stay away from the world
00:11:26.99\00:11:30.65
or oh, no, be engaged
with the world, you know?
00:11:30.68\00:11:33.19
Getting there and work with
them in the cities and so forth.
00:11:33.22\00:11:36.14
Peter brings
both ideas together.
00:11:36.17\00:11:40.27
So I think he really
has something very important
00:11:40.30\00:11:43.36
to say to our own
culture and our own church
00:11:43.39\00:11:47.55
as we think about how
do we relate to the world,
00:11:47.58\00:11:50.63
how do we relate to one another,
00:11:50.66\00:11:52.82
how are we to
think of ourselves.
00:11:52.85\00:11:54.70
It's the fantastic
theology in this book.
00:11:54.73\00:11:57.18
The very last section
of the book we list here,
00:11:57.21\00:12:00.29
it's section C, facing
trouble and each other.
00:12:00.32\00:12:06.04
Peter talks about a fiery trial
that people are going to face.
00:12:06.07\00:12:10.63
And over and over he deals
00:12:10.66\00:12:12.82
with issues of
persecution, of suffering.
00:12:12.85\00:12:16.92
Then he talks about
relationships within the church
00:12:16.95\00:12:19.72
and he finishes up by
talking about fighting the devil
00:12:19.75\00:12:23.75
and how God is going to
strengthen you and help you.
00:12:23.78\00:12:26.42
Because the
battle that we are facing
00:12:26.45\00:12:29.76
is not simply a
battle of--against,
00:12:29.79\00:12:34.31
you know, human philosophies
around us or problems around us.
00:12:34.34\00:12:38.58
It's truly a great controversy
between good and evil.
00:12:38.61\00:12:42.23
And he pinpoints that the
devil is like a roaring lion,
00:12:42.26\00:12:46.92
going about
seeking who may devour.
00:12:46.95\00:12:49.56
I mean, it's a
scary kind of an imagery.
00:12:49.59\00:12:53.11
But he doesn't end
with the scary imagery.
00:12:53.14\00:12:55.10
He ends with these
powerful verb that talk about
00:12:55.13\00:12:59.18
how God is going to establish,
00:12:59.21\00:13:00.64
he's going to help you,
00:13:00.67\00:13:02.04
he's going to save you
and take you through it.
00:13:02.07\00:13:03.44
So, I mean, we're going
to have the funnest time
00:13:03.47\00:13:06.35
studying 1 and 2 Peter.
00:13:06.38\00:13:07.75
And, Dr.
Shepherd, you not only sound
00:13:07.78\00:13:09.28
but you look very
passionate about these books.
00:13:09.31\00:13:12.14
Yes, they are great.
00:13:12.17\00:13:13.54
And I'm also looking
forward to continuing
00:13:13.57\00:13:15.58
studying the
books of 1 and 2 Peter.
00:13:15.61\00:13:17.93
Friends, if you
believe that this was inspiring
00:13:17.96\00:13:20.13
just wait till
we continue studying
00:13:20.16\00:13:22.08
more of the books of 1
and 2 Peter till next time.
00:13:22.11\00:13:25.45