Sojourners and Pilgrims

Well, thank you once again, Mr. McNamee. Good afternoon once again, everyone. Brethren, the concept of home can be a very difficult concept to define. Kind of a wiggly concept, actually, for lack of a better description. There's actually a lot of factors that play into where someone considers home to be. Sometimes it's the place where they currently reside, other times the place where they were born and raised. Sometimes people even consider home to be the place that their family came from originally. They're kind of their nation, so to speak, of origin.

We all recognize, as we consider this concept of home, we consider this idea that a house, it's not necessarily a home, and a home is not always the place where you hang your hat. It means different things to different people. And it's a question that people have actually set out to determine an answer to. Researchers have found over the years that home is defined largely by a set of physical and emotional attachments. Because people are so variable, and because people are so different, it can be really challenging to pin down because of that variability.

So, the Pew Research Center, I'm sure with some sort of government grant, performed a survey of 2,260 American adults, and there were a series of questions. The actual overall study was about moving, you know, and why people move, and where they move, and what caused them to move. But in that survey was a question. And that question asked the participants to identify the place in their heart where they consider home to be. It asked them to think about all the different places that they've lived, and to consider which of those places would they identify as home.

What the study found was that U.S. adults who lived in more than one community, I mean, first off, if you've only ever lived in one place, born, raised, lived, stayed, chances are good, that's home. Right? I mean, chances are real good. You're not going to be like, oh, I feel like home's, you know, over here somewhere. No, that's where you've lived. That's home. But for those that have lived in more than one community, four out of ten respondents, 38%, roughly, actually did not identify the place where they currently resided as being home.

Some other place was home. And so as they boiled the data down even further to try to figure out how those individuals would define the concept, 26% of those individuals that they talked to said, well, home is where I was born and raised. It's the place where I spent my formative years, so to speak. It has all the memories of the house I grew up in. It has all these things in all these places. 18% of the respondents said that home was the place they'd lived the longest.

So maybe they were born and raised in one spot, but then they moved and they've been 30 years somewhere else before they moved eventually again. And they said, well, that 30-year stretch where I've been the longest feels like home. Again, 15% of people said that that was where their family came from originally. Interestingly enough, they found correlation in this data, actually, with immigrant families, and that was a big one in immigrant families, where their family came from originally. And a very small percentage said that home was where they went to high school, that the high school years, those four years of high school, were so formative in their life that that was home, those four years where they spent high school.

Now, if you're running the math—I know some of you are math people—that doesn't add up to 100%. There's 15% missing, and I scoured this study. I looked everywhere for it. If they'd have turned this into me, I'd have flunked them. But here we are. So 15%—I don't know where the other 15% are. I don't know where they went. I don't know what they answered, but that's what we got.

Thank you, Pew Research Center. But if someone asked you the very same question, if somebody came to you as part of this survey and asked you the exact same question, how would you respond? How would you respond to where you feel in your heart of hearts home, quote-unquote, is? For a number of years, for me, Spokane was home. That was where I was born and raised. You know, we lived out in the same place in the valley for 18 years. Never moved. It was just that same location. The first move I ever had in my life was here.

Well, Portland first and bounced around a little bit, then here. But this was the first place that I ever moved to. I moved to Salem in the spring of 2000. Spring of 2000, I moved down to Salem. And I remember for a time after I moved down here that I would periodically still reference Spokane as home.

Oh yeah, you know, back home. Or, oh yeah, yeah, we're gonna go home for the Thanksgiving. Or we're gonna go do this. When Shannon and I were dating, kind of late 90s, you know, early 2000s as we were preparing for marriage, etc., I drove that stretch of road a lot. I think there was about a six-month period. I was down here every two weeks, every other week, I should say. And there were times in which I remember leaving late at night on a Sunday night. Because I had to get back to work and school and whatever on Monday. But, you know, I sleep when I'm dead. So I'd leave real late and I would drive all the way home. And if any of you have ever driven that stretch of road, if ever you've ever driven that stretch of I-90 going into Spokane, there's a section of the highway as you come into the city. And you come in, it's a long gradual hill between Cheney and Spokane, and you can see the city spread out in the valley out there. And at night, it's just beautiful. I remember that stretch of road, that little decline of the hill, that was my sign in my head that I was almost home. That was my sign. You know, I cannot tell you when that changed. I can't, honestly, cannot pinpoint it exactly. But eventually, as time went on, that view meant less and less and less. And it simply served as another proof that I was just visiting somewhere else.

That I was a sojourner. I was a pilgrim, so to speak. Someone who would temporarily reside in that location until I eventually returned home. As I've started traveling more for the church, I'm finding I have a period of time for me that I am ready to go home. I've noticed my trips to Nigeria and Ghana as they started to turn into three-week-type trips. By the halfway mark of that third week, by about two and a half weeks in, I'm ready to come home. It is like a horse to the barn. Put a fork in me, I am done. Where is the airport? Get me on a plane and get me out of here.

And I found on this latest trip back to Cincinnati, since it was a three-week trip with the camp conference and ABC, I learned it's not just Africa. It's just being away from home in general.

It's just being away from home in general. And I have dear friends. I have dear friends in all of these places. But none of these places are home. None of these places are home. And so at the two and a half week mark, I start looking for the airport. I start looking for any plane that says Portland. On the other side of it, PDX, get me there, get me a car, get me home. But we have a strong connection to the places that we consider to be home. We have an emotional connection to those places. And it can be challenging when we're not able to be there. Now, that varies based on circumstances. But for most, home is the place that we turn for comfort. It's where we go to be with family. It's where we go to be at peace, from the stresses and the insanity of this world.

In your home, you feel secure. You feel safe. And to some degrees, you're able to let your guard down a little bit. Now, again, most circumstances, most circumstances, that's not always the case.

That is not always the case. But everywhere else just feels foreign. It just feels different.

Let's turn over to the book of 1 Peter. Let's turn over to the book of 1 Peter today as we go ahead and get started. First epistle of Peter we see was written to the pilgrims of the Diaspora. It was written to the pilgrims of the Diaspora, to those believers who were dispersed, who were sown, you might say the word speero in there for Diaspora. Spiero means to sow seed. A scattered, so to speak, like a sower would scatter seed. These individuals who were spread out from Judea, they were spread out to these other locations in the lands other than Judea as a result of all these various dispersions that took place throughout Israel's history. You know, there were a couple of very big ones with Assyria and Babylon in the post-exilic period. But even in the modern history of the church, say modern history of the church with regards to Peter and his writings, there were a number that fled their homes during the persecution of Saul in the 30s AD. You know, we see Saul at one point, you know, really making life difficult on the church, really making it challenging on the church. And we see that they spread out. They left. They went to different places. Of course, we see that didn't necessarily stop him. He went and got letters, went as far as Damascus with those letters to bring people in. So, I mean, this area was spreading out a little bit at that sense as he arrested those of the way. We see in the 40s AD, Herod Agrippa persecuted the believers in Jerusalem. Put James, the son of Zebedee, to sword and put him to death.

See the arrest of Peter at that time. We see people again leave. Leave that area to get out and away from those things. But what that caused was a number of individuals to flee Judea to these surrounding areas. De Pontius and Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithnia, and Asia. These individuals were pilgrims. They were pilgrims in every sense of the word. The Greek term is parapidemos. They were sojourners. These individuals were temporary residents of these other areas. So, 1 Peter 2, we're going to go ahead and pick the account up in verse 11. Okay, Peter references this concept.

He references it a couple of different times in his epistle.

I'm sorry, 2 Peter. 1 Peter 2, we're going to pick it up in verse 11. He illustrates this concept and ultimately then illustrates a really important concept for us in the modern church today.

Verse Peter 2 and verse 11, Peter writes, Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works, which they observe glorify God in the day of visitation. And so, Peter, the people that he's addressing at this time were literal pilgrims. They were literal pilgrims. They were living as temporary residents in these foreign lands. But what we see as Peter builds this concept contextually in this letter, we'll see that there's a really strong spiritual facet to these words as well. I want to show you that. If you would turn with me to 1 Peter 1, just back a couple of, probably honestly, the same page, if you have the same Bible as me. Same page.

One of the things that we want to consider with this, we want to consider when we talk about epistles. Whether it's the epistles of Paul, whether it's general epistles, whether it's, you know, James, Peter, Jude, you know, John, whoever's writing these epistles, these were letters from a specific person to a specific group of people for a very specific reason, right? You typically don't write a letter to somebody unless you have a reason to write them.

And so, when we look at why these were written, when we look at the reasons that they were put forth, and quite frankly, even the words that are used, we have to keep in mind these are inspired and they're intentional. These words are intentional. And so we want to understand why, why did he use these specific words? So, 1 Peter 1 and verse 13, 1 Peter 1 verse 13 says, Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all of your conduct, because it's written, Be holy, fry him holy. And so Peter begins this letter by addressing a holiness principle. He connects this importance of the obedience as children of God, the obedience of us as children to our Father, to becoming like our Father. That as children of God, we have a certain spiritual DNA, so to speak, through the Spirit of God dwelling in us. And he's getting at this idea that as we are developing and maturing, as we are growing up through that Spirit, that we express spiritual characteristics, just like any other organism would express characteristics as a result of their DNA. It's the same for us. As obedient children, we grow up to become more and develop more like our Father. But Peter brings out this idea that this maturation process, this process that we undergo throughout the whole thing, well, it requires us to be alert. It requires us to be vigilant mentally and spiritually. In fact, he goes as far as saying that our mental loins should be girded. Okay, and that concept, when they had flowing robes in those days meant to take those flowing robes, hike them up and tie them off so that you could go to war. You could go and have action and do things. It's a very active concept, girding up the loins of your mind. It means vigilance and activity. But Peter says we need to have those mental loins girded. We need to remain sober, and we need to ensure that we are resting our hope fully on the grace that is brought to us by the revelation of Jesus Christ. That we maintain our focus on the gift of eternal life, on the mercy that we're shown as obedient children, as we transform our minds from the way that we used to think to how God has called us to think. So Peter continues in verse 17, and this is where he connects this concept. In verse 17 of 1 Peter 1, he says, and if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, he says conduct yourself throughout the time of your stay, remember that word we're coming back to it, in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. So the recognition of the price that was paid for our redemption, and that word literally means that. It means being bought back from slavery. It means ransomed.

We've been bought back through the blood of Jesus Christ from slavery to sin, from the death penalty. We've been bought back from those things. We've been ransomed. Not with corruptible things, not with things subject to decay, not with the currency or the treasure of this world, but with something far more precious, the blood of Jesus Christ. As a result, what Peter says is that we need to conduct ourselves through the time of our stay here in fear, with that appropriate respect and awe of God. We recognize fully who and what God is, and we respect the price that was paid for us, and we reflect that respect for that price in our conduct. Now, this word stay is where he makes this connection. The word stay is the same Greek root as the word for sojourner. The word in Greek is paroikos. Paroikos. And so what Peter's getting at here is he's not talking anymore about their stay in distant lands. He's not talking about their physical, literal pilgrimage in Asia and Bithnia and Pontius and Cappadocia. He is saying our stay here on this earth, that they should be conducting themselves in this stay in such a way. He is talking about our sojourn here on this earth as the children of God. Title of the message today is sojourners and pilgrims. And with the time that I have left, what I'd like to do is to further kind of explore this concept and the important spiritual lessons that we have today as the modern church of God. So to do that, it requires a little bit of backdrop in Greek, so please bear with me. But there's two concepts in Greek to the idea of dwelling in a place. Okay, so Greek has two primary concepts that explain what it looks like when someone dwells. There's others, but these are the two primaries. These cover the most of the gamut of possibilities of whether someone is staying in a certain way. The first word we've seen, that's paroikos. Paroikos or its word paroikio. Paroikos or paroikio. That's G3940. The verb is G3939.

And what paroikios or paroikio illustrates is the concept of temporary residents. It illustrates the concept of temporary residents. What paroikio describes is an individual who dwells near someone else. Not near their own people, necessarily, but instead they reside in an area as a foreigner, as a stranger, or as a sojourner, ultimately in that area. If you want to turn over to Hebrews 11, turn over to Hebrews 11. We see this word used in context. Hebrews 11, we'll pick it up in verse 9.

Ultimately, the use of it in Hebrews 11 and verse 9 is to describe the method by which Abraham dwelt in the land of promise. Okay, so the land of promise is the land which was promised to him. That was home. But it talks about how he dwelt in the land of promise. Hebrews 11 and verse 9, it says, by faith, Abraham here, it says, by faith he dwelt, that is paroikio, paroikio or paroikos.

By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And so this use of this word is describing the method by which Abraham dwelt in that land of promise. He dwelt in tents. He didn't build houses with foundations. He didn't set those things up. He was nomadically living in that place that he had gone at that time.

Instead, he dwelt, paroikio, as though he was a foreigner, even though it was in the land of promise, because he waited for the city which has foundations. Okay, that's the use of the word in context. Another spot, Luke 24 verse 18, and if they can put it on the board, that'd be great. I'm not going to turn there. On the road to Emmaus, after everything happened, you know, the two gentlemen are walking along the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and his unnamed friend, and Christ comes along beside them, in course disguised to the point that they didn't fully understand who he was at that time. I don't think he had like, you know, Groucho Marx mask thing on. I think he was able to at least provide enough of a thing that they didn't quite understand exactly who he was at that point. But in Luke 24 and verse 8, on the road to Emmaus, Christ walks along with Cleopas and this other man, and he says, why is everybody so sad? Like, what is going on here? Why are you so sad? And Cleopas responds, are you the only stranger? Are you the only paroikio? Are you the only sojourner, the only foreigner in Jerusalem? Do you not know the things that happened there in these days? Essentially, Cleopas says, you're not from around here, are you? You're not from around here, are you? Haven't you heard about this Jesus Christ? Haven't you heard about all the things he's been doing over the last three and a half years? And what just happened this last week? He's like, where you been?

Were you a foreigner? Are you a stranger? Did you just get off the boat, so to speak?

Are you dwelling temporarily here in Jerusalem? How do you not understand what happens? He uses this word paroikio again, okay, this concept of someone who is in transit, someone who is sojourning, someone who is not a permanent resident in that area. In the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, there's a number of places in which this word paroikio is substituted for the Hebrew to indicate some concepts. One of those is Genesis 12, Genesis 12 and verse 10. It talks about how Abraham sojourned paroikio in Egypt during the famine in Canaan. Again, remember, dwelt in the land of promise. Canaan was home, so to speak. He was visiting Egypt temporarily in that sense, but he sojourned paroikio in Egypt during that time. Another spot is in Acts 7 and verse 6. That's not the Septuagint, but Acts 7 and verse 6. Stephen describes how Israel sojourned again paroikio in Egypt for the 400-year period that Stephen talks about in Acts 7 and verse 6. Now, that's a long time to be sojourners, but the point that he's making with that concept is that Israel was never intended to be in Egypt permanently.

They were always sojourners. Whether it was 400 years, 2 years, 3 years, their intent was never to settle down in Egypt. They were intended never to remain long-term.

Their current circumstances, at least in that scenario with Israel and Egypt, it was only temporary. So that's one of the words, paroikio. The other word is katoikos. Katoikos or katoikio, which is a fun word to say. Katoikio. Paroikio and katoikio. G2, 7-3-0.

Katoikio is translated regularly as to dwell, to inhabit, to settle down. And when you use the word katoikio, the implication is that the individual who is dwelling has settled down and has become a permanent resident. They have put down roots, so to speak, and instead of just passing through on their way to Australia, so to speak, as James Garner describes in Support Your Local Sheriff, instead of just passing through, instead of just sojourning, this individual, katoikio, has chosen to inhabit this area. They have decided this is the place I'm putting down roots. This will be the homestead, this will be the place in which I will develop my family, this becomes home. Katoikio becomes home. We see this use of the word, actually, in Hebrews 11, verse 9, also. Turn over to Hebrews 11, verse 9. I should have had you put a bookmark there, I'm sorry. Hebrews 11 and verse 9, we see this word used here, too. Hebrews 11 and verse 9, by faith, Abraham, by faith, he dwelt paroikio. Again, the manner with which he dwelt, he dwelt in the land of promise as though he lived in a foreign country, is what Hebrews 11.9 says.

He dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob. That second dwelt is katoikio.

Okay, so he made his home settled down with Isaac and Jacob, while all of them sojourned.

All of them dwelt together as a home. They settled down in that location, or it's sorry, together, I should say, let me clarify that. Settle down together as they ultimately lived in that area as sojourners. They settled down with one another, so to speak, with his children, with his family. So we see that set up in the land of promise as a foreign country, in tents having dwelt, katoikio, with Isaac and Jacob. The joint heirs to the promise. So he dwelt with them permanently, katoikio, together, Isaac and Jacob, as they all sojourned in that land.

So how do we see this word used in Scripture in other ways? Ephesians 3, verse 17. Ephesians 3, and verse 17. Paul writes, may Christ dwell, katoikio, may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith. This idea that Christ might make permanent residence in our hearts, he might settle down and dwell in this spot through our faith in him. Not a sojourner, not just there temporarily, not just there passing through, but that Christ would dwell within us, that he would make his home among our hearts through faith. It's Ephesians 3, and verse 17. In Colossians 2, and verse 9, I'm going to go through these a little bit quick. Colossians 2, and verse 9, he, Paul uses the word to describe the way that the fullness of God dwelt in Christ. That the presence of God was not temporary in Christ, it was not just passing through. Christ was fully God. He was God, right? Fully God, in that sense, is God. And that concept of katoikio, that dwelling in him, in the fullness of God, it wasn't something temporary, wasn't something just passing through, he wasn't a sojourner. Christ had the fullness of God dwelling in him. Another spot we see it is 2 Peter 3, and verse 13. That righteousness will dwell, righteousness will make its permanent residence, it will settle down, and it will make its home in the new heavens and the new earth. It's not temporary, it's not passing through, it's not a sojourner, it's permanent. That is, it's permanent home, it's permanent residence. So these two words we see in Scripture, parikio-katoikio, they're in contrast to one another. They can both mean dwell or reside, but when we talk about katoikio, we are speaking specifically toward a long-term permanent settling down in an area, making one's home in that location, while parikio is referencing a temporary residence of someone who is traveling through, or sojourning in that area temporarily. Now, why do we bring all of that up? Because Peter used the word parikio purposefully. He used it intentionally. He is bringing to bear this idea that when we, as Christians, are dwelling here in this world, our stay here is temporary.

We are sojourners, we are pilgrims, this is not our permanent home. We're not settling down, so to speak, and so he's reminding those reading his epistle that during that stay, during the time that we are here, as sojourners in his pilgrims, that their conduct is critical, that the way that they interact with the individuals is critical, and that that conduct should reflect the price that was paid for them. It should be with that proper awe, with that proper fear, that proper respect of our Father, and it should ultimately reflect the light of God to those whom we dwell among. Peter doesn't use the word kutuikio. He doesn't use it to describe this. He doesn't refer to this stay as permanent. He doesn't refer to the believers as permanent residents of this world. He doesn't refer to them as having set down roots, so to speak, making this world their dwelling place. And he does that on purpose. He makes a very careful contrast, and I think it's a contrast that's important for us. Let's turn to Revelation 17. I want to show you why it's important. Revelation 17. You know, John writes this book about 30 years, ultimately, after Peter writes his first epistle, first and second epistle, kind of roughly 30 years. 90s AD is the general timeline. It's one of the latest works that we have preserved for us in the canon. It provides a great deal of things that are to come prophetically, and provides a great deal of things which are going to take place coming up into those times. Revelation 17, and I want to pick it up in verse 1.

Revelation 17 and verse 1 says, Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth. That word is katoiki, the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Okay, so we see this word that's used here for inhabitants in verse 2. It is katoiki. These are the individuals who dwell on the earth. Now, certainly it's implying that in a physical sense. Okay, certainly it's implying that in a physical sense. These are individuals who literally dwell on the earth. They're not dwelling somewhere else, right? They're literally dwelling on the earth. They reside with the nations of this world, but it says those individuals who reside and dwell in the nations of this world are made drunk with the fornicate or with the wine of her fornications.

But spiritually, there is an implied contrast here. That God's people, those whom he has called, those who are paroikio, those who have not made their permanent home among this world, those who are just passing through. The expectation is different for them. What is the expectation?

The expectation is to come out of her, my people. That's the expectation that God gives his people.

Verse 3, he carries on. He says, or he continues. It says, carried away. He continues, So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names, of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, and the filthiness of her fornication.

On her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and when I saw her I marveled with great amazement.

Verse 7, But the angel said to me, Why did you marvel?

He says, I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth, cotoyquio, those who dwell on the earth, will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was and is not, and yet is. John records that those who dwell, cotoyquio, on the earth, they'll marvel.

These are the individuals who have made their home here. These are the individuals who reside not among those of the world, so to speak, but with those of the world. These individuals, it says, will marvel at the beast's power that will come on the scene at the time of the end.

These are individuals who are not just passing through this world, and all that is in it is home.

This world and all that is in it is home. It's here, in this world, in these conditions, in which they feel safe. It's here, and it's now that they feel comfort. They feel connection. They feel security. They feel safety. This world is home for these individuals, and Revelation 17 says these individuals' names are not written in the book of life, so either through their ignorance, through their arrogance, whatever it may be, they do not know God. They don't see the temporary nature of this physical world. They don't see the opportunity that is coming, at least not yet, but for them, this world, this world is it. This world is it. And while there is certainly a physical aspect to their dwelling on earth being brought up here, their literal residence is here, there's other passages in Revelation that bring an additional spiritual dimension to this concept as well. Let's turn to a couple of those. Revelation 6 and verse 10, and if I can continue doing what we've been doing, which is pop the verse on the screen, that would be immensely helpful to me. Revelation 6 and verse 10 says, the saints cry out in Revelation 6 and verse 10 to God, saying, how long will you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell, katoikio, on the earth? Those who have made their home here? Those who have caused all of these things to take place and to happen. Of course, with the influence of Satan present. Revelation 8 and verse 13. Revelation 8 and verse 13 says, woe, woe, woe to the inhabit... it sounds like an 80s rock song a little bit... woe, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitors, katoikio, those individuals, who inhabit the earth by reason of the other three voices of the trumpet of the three angels yet to sound. Those who dwell on this earth. Woe to them, it says. Woe times three. It says, woe, woe, woe to them. Revelation 11 and verse 10. Just a couple more. Revelation 11 and verse 10, this speaks of the death of the two witnesses. It says, they that dwell, katoikio, on the earth, shall rejoice over them. They shall make merry and shall send gifts to one another because the prophets tormented those that dwelt on the earth. There's a spiritual dimension to this as well.

Last one, Revelation 13 verse 8. All who dwell, katoikio, on the earth, shall worship him, referring here to the beast power, whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. All who dwell, katoikio, on the earth, shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. These individuals are contrasted with those that God has called. There's a number of other places in Revelation. We'll stop there. I don't think we need to keep going. There's 13 references to katoikio, those who dwell on the earth throughout the entirety of Revelation. Very similar in this way. But there's contrast that's provided here because the people of God reside here too. People of God reside on earth as well. So there's a contrast here when we talk about the inhabitants of earth because in a sense we are an inhabitant, quote-unquote, of earth as well. We're not living on Mars. You know, we're not living on the moon. We physically reside on this planet too. But the use of the word indicates a certain spiritual dimension to this concept that's important to keep in mind for those of us in this modern era. In the book of Revelation, John uses this concept of katoikio to illustrate individuals who have gotten too close to the world.

Individuals who have set down roots, so to speak, who have become a part of the system.

They've elected to become permanent residents of this world, and as a result they've become comfortable with everything that is in it. It's no longer foreign to them. It's no longer strange.

They're no longer a sojourner. They've chosen to settle down in this place. And as John describes in a variety of locations in Revelation, this comes with significant consequences.

Let's go over to 1 John. 1 John 2.

1 John 2. What are the characteristics that we see here? What are the characteristics of this world? What is the issue here? 1 John 2. We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 15. John, again, writing these words in the latter part of the first century. At this point, John is dealing with significant heresy as Gnostic thought starts to make its way into the church. Individuals are aligning themselves with that heresy. They begin to compromise their belief. They begin to align with Greek philosophy. Synchrotism comes in. A mixture of Greek thought, a mixture of religious practices. People begin to depart the faith. They begin to leave the fellowship of believers for the lie. 1 John 2 and verse 15. What John writes is this. He says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but it's of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. John talks about the things of the world. He talks about the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the various temptations that are in the world around us as a result of Satan's influence and the things that are in diametric opposition to the way of God. What John says is that a love of these things is not of God.

That if we become too close a friend, so to speak, with these things, we begin to love these things. It says, a love of the Father is not in us.

A love of these things that John is discussing indicates someone's built their home here.

That they built their home here. They built their house, so to speak, among these things.

There's a book that I'm a fan of. It's called Not a Fan. I'm a fan of Not a Fan. But the book is called Not a Fan. It's written by Kyle Eitelman. And in the book, Kyle relates a story of a Christian missionary who returned to the United States. And this guy had retired. He'd been a missionary for 30-some years. He'd come in out of the mission field, so to speak. And this guy did his work primarily in the wilds of the world. Okay, so this guy has been out in villages, and he's been out in forests, and whatever else. He's not been in a whole lot of urban areas through most of his life. He's in much quieter type areas. This gentleman, after he retired, was on his way to his daughter's place. He had a connecting flight in Las Vegas. And that connecting flight was delayed. When his arrival flight was delayed, he missed his connecting. And it resulted in a missed flight and the need to stay a night in Las Vegas. Imagine the culture shock, you know, coming out of where you have been to Las Vegas, Sin City, right? You can imagine, after that many years out in that field, he must have been absolutely overwhelmed by the sights of the city, so to speak. The sounds, the smells, the noise. He talks about, Kyle describes, it was a member of his church, he talks about this gentleman walked through the Las Vegas strip to get to his hotel. And if any of you've been to Las Vegas, you know, there's various things on that strip that are not okay. He's walking past these various temptations of Sin City. And as the story goes, as Kyle describes it, he said he got upstairs, he threw open the window of his hotel room, you know, looking down over the city below, and he dropped to his knees and he prayed to God and he said, Lord, I thank you that there is nothing down there that I love more than you. Just this recognition of the love of this world, recognition of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Similarly, William Barkley, in response to this section on First Peter, writes, the Christian must never become so entangled in the world that he cannot escape from its grip.

He must never become so soiled that he might be unfit to enter the presence of the holy God to whom he is going. And we are so thankful for the grace of God. We are so thankful for his mercy.

But, brethren, where is home? Where is home? When you think about that concept, where is it?

Where have we set down roots? You might even ask these other questions. Where do we turn for comfort? Where do we find comfort in this world? Where do we feel safe, secure? Where do we go to alleviate stresses of life? Where do we place our trust? Where do we invest the abundance of our time and our energy? Is it here in this world? The things of this world? Or is it a world that's coming?

Do we spend more time trying to fit in with the world around us than we do standing out and standing up for God and for that world that's coming? Are we focused on experiencing everything that this world has to offer at the expense of what's truly, truly important? Where's our focus? Where's our focus?

Is it in the here and now, in this moment, in this section and time of life that we have?

Or is it firmly planted in the hope of what is coming? And does our conduct ultimately follow?

Brethren, I would advocate and I would submit to you that if it's the former, if our focus is in the here and now, I think we really need to ask ourselves and our heart of hearts where home is. If our, you know, focus right now is the here and now, in that sense, and if we're not looking to that vision, if we're not looking into the distance to see the things that are coming that God has prepared for us, we really need to ask the question of where home really is. Barkley wrote, this world is a bridge. It says the wise man will pass over it, but he will not build his house on it. Right? You can't build a house on a bridge. The bridge ceases to function. It doesn't work as a bridge anymore, if you do that. C.S. Lewis wrote, I love this quote, he says, our Heavenly Father has provided many delightful ends for us along our journey, but he takes great care to see that we don't mistake any of them for home. You know, we have a number of places where we can find respite. We have a number of places where we can find respite from this world, but they're not home. This world is not home. We're called to something more.

We're called to become like our Father. We're called to become holy as He is holy, and there's no place in that process for our home to be here, for us to be turning to this world for its comfort, for our safety, for our security, or for the physical or the psychological, rather an emotional nurture that home can provide. Peter's writing in this epistle to individuals who were literal sojourners and pilgrims in this world, but also spiritual sojourners and pilgrims, and he was giving them instructions for their stay, for their temporary residence in this world at this time, but he was writing to a group of people who did have and do have a permanent home. That home's just not here yet, but that home is coming. In fact, if you turn back to 1 Peter 1 and verse 4, it's our last scripture here for today, verse Peter 1 and verse 4, he speaks to this inheritance.

He speaks to this inheritance. Verse Peter 1 and verse 4, he speaks to an inheritance that is incorruptible, an inheritance that is undefiled. Verse Peter 1, we'll pick it up in 3, bless it be God, bless be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 2. An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Ultimately, this inheritance that we've been provided that is reserved for us is incorruptible. It's undefiled. It doesn't fade away. It is reserved in heaven for us until that kingdom comes to this earth, until that home arrives. The reign of God is established for eternity when we will have the ability to, you know, realize that inheritance fully. Brethren, as a result, we need to live accordingly. We have to continue the focus and the vision on what's coming. We have to resist the effort and the things that we see to become inhabitors of this earth, to become katoikio, so to speak, with respect to this world, to make our home here in the here and now, settling down, setting down roots, to become so ensnared and so entangled in this world in its ways that we can't escape its grip. But it's a challenging balance. It's a challenging balance because our sojourn in this world does not mean a complete withdrawal from it. God does not expect us to wall ourselves off in a commune and never go outside. God expects us to take this way of life into the world around us. And it means, as Christians, as we sojourn in this world, we have to view everything, everything, in the light of eternity. We need to make every decision in the light of eternity. We have to consider those things. We need to ensure that we don't love that which is in this world more than we love God or more than we love others. We have to see this life for what it is. This life is an opportunity for each of us to learn, to practice, to grow in the character of God as temporary residents, as sojourners, as strangers in a foreign land, and as a bride that is in the process of preparing herself for her husband's return.