Double Strangers
They were double strangers, for they had been kicked out of Jerusalem, because of Jesus. And because of Jesus, now, they are strangers everywhere they go. No matter how you look at it, as a stranger in a foreign land, but they're strangers because they serve a Stranger to this world. Peter opens his message with that thought. He called them strangers and pilgrims that had been dispersed. When? When they were persecuted by the Jews as believers in Jerusalem.
"Forget your own people also and your father's house." Psalm 45 ; Hebrews 1:8-9
It's her uniqueness, as she's connected to her King — a King that loves righteousness, who loves truth and mercy. For His scepter is a rod of righteousness, by which He operates by. And it's when she puts behind the heritage that she's learned from her past and the society she once lived in that she can be effective. Now she comes under her new King, with every intent to learn His ways. And when we walk in His ways, that's going to appeal or draw the society – not blending in with the society. Are you following me? Right now, across the board, when you survey churches, from place to place, not all of them, yet a good majority, look more like the society, than smell like Jesus. Are you with me? Okay, what is this passage telling us? What is the beautiful thing or the appealing thing, or the unique thing about the bride? She lines up with her King. And it's because of who she's connected to, who she smells like, who she looks like, who she thinks like, who she serves now, is what the world around them sees them as different. It's the differences in us that make us profitable in the society we live in, not… |
