1 Peter 1 - Living Like You are Born Again

[Music] tonight we begin a brief series through the book of first Peter and I think you'll see how powerful and relevant this book is let's just begin with this thought here from verse one how the letter begins Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia now first of all we have the author of the letter it's Peter and you all know Peter Peter the probably the second most prominent man in the Gospels after Jesus himself Peter the same one who walked on the water and who sank in the water Peter the same one who confessed that Jesus was the Christ the Messiah the son of the Living God and Peter the same one who was rebuked by Jesus just a moment later Peter the same one who protested that he would never deny Christ and then a few minutes later he did deny Christ and the Peter who was restored from his denial by Jesus along the shores of the Sea of Galilee this Peter is writing and he writes as you notice verse one says as an apostle now what I find fascinating about this is to compare this just a little bit with Paul's letters you know most of the New Testament letters were written by the Apostle Paul this is one of only two letters written by Peter when Paul introduces himself in his letters it always has a phrase something like this Paul an apostle by the will of God something very similar to that you know this Peter doesn't do that in this letter and I think one reason why is that Paul was an apostle born out of due time Peter was an apostle from the very beginning to put it bluntly nobody questioned Peter's apostolic credentials so he just I'm that Peter Peter an apostle notice who he writes to of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontius Galatia fedosya Asia and Bithynia he addresses the Christians that he writes to here in the first century and he's probably riding around the year 64 AD that's what most scholars think somewhere around there so we're talking about maybe 30 years or so after Jesus has ascended to heaven he's writing to them and the first thing he calls these believers are pilgrims now you understand what the idea of a pilgrim is we're coming up to Thanksgiving so we're thinking of the Pilgrims and we think of the guys with the Quaker Oats hats you know and the buckles on their shoes well those people were called pilgrims because they didn't settle down in one place they were looking for a place to settle down and that's what a pilgrim is a pilgrim is someone who has not yet settled down in a place but is searching for a place to settle down now our place as believers to settle down is not in this world our place is believers to settle down is in heaven and that's why the idea of a heavenly hope hangs with such prominence throughout this letter of first Peter it's in the very first verse when he uses the title pilgrims he's pointing towards heaven and I want you to know that in some circles within the Christian world today it's very popular to advance this idea that being a Christian isn't just about going to heaven you know the Bible really focuses is on what we do in the world here and now now believe me I would be the first one to say that being a Christian is not only about going to heaven but if you read the New Testament it puts a lot of emphasis on heaven and it stirs up a heavenly hope and even the mention of the word pilgrim sort of suggests that for us so he's writing to pilgrims but notice from a particular place of the dispersion which is kind of an interesting phrase or word that he uses there he's writing to Christians mainly from a Gentile background we see that from later on in the letter especially verse 18 this very chapter but he calls them pilgrims of the dispersion the dispersion being a reference to when the ancient Jews were dispersed at the Babylonian Empire but what he's just trying to say is you guys are dispersed into the world you don't have a center homeland but your pilgrims waiting for your homeland just like the Jews after the Babylonian exile and then he mentions the cities where they're gathered you see it there in verse one Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia now all of these places that he mentions and on a map we could show you this all of these places that he mentions are places of what would be today modern day Turkey northern southern all the just general area there and the first thing I want you to notice by this is because he mentions all these different regions in the area of Turkey one thing I want you to be aware of is this was a letter not written to a specific congregation now Paul's letters for the most part were written to specific congregations and usually to address a specific problem in that congregation oh no there's heresy in kalasa I got a write a letter oh no there's arguments in Philippi I got a write a letter oh no they've gone off the rails again in Corinth I got to write a letter first Peters very different it is one of what we call one of the general epistles first Peter second Peter James first Peter first John second John third John general epistles epistles not written or letters I'm using kind of the churchy word for it epistles they're letters written not to one specific congregation but to Christians in general now I just want that to sink in with you just for a moment here understand that we as Christians in general need to be taught about the Christian life you know some things are so obvious for us as believers that we don't really see them and think about them but this is something that our age right here right now needs to hear we live in such an individualistic age we live in an age where all of y'all got instant access to information from your smartphone not to mention your tablet or your personal computer and you could look up all the facts about this or that or the anything just like that it's very easy for us to think in our modern age I don't anybody teach me nothin I can figure it out look it's out there ladies and gentlemen I want to show you that just a basic principle behind these letters of the New Testament especially the general letters is you and I we're all in this together let's just say we we need to be taught how to live God's Way we do and and it shows us a fundamental principle we must submit ourselves to the Word of God whatever it says in here how we should live we need to take that seriously we need to say listen God you helping me I want my life to conform to that you moving in my life I want to be able to fulfill that I don't have the choices now I don't need that I can figure this out no we need to submit ourselves to the Word of God one other thought and if I could ask put up that map just one more time to show these cities when you see the reach and where that is listen up there were many Christians there in the day that Peter wrote through the centuries this has been a highly Christianized areas this is the modern nation of Turkey and there is almost no Christian presence in Turkey today percentage-wise our congregation supports a pastor and his church in Istanbul you should think pray for the Christians of Turkey pray that God's work there advances because this very area where Peter originally wrote the letter to which has had a strong Christian presence through the centuries has very very little Christian presence for the last hundred years okay going on now to verse 2 he's going to describe the people that he's writing to they are elect a court the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ grace to you and peace be multiplied so you believers your elect in other words God chose you and he chose you notice here in verse 2 according to foreknowledge in other words God chose you but not in a random way we all understand that God chooses but how does God choose he chooses according to his foreknowledge according to his wisdom in other words God doesn't look over the human race and just kind of say eeny meeny miny moe those are the ones I choose no there is wisdom and knowledge and and and and forethought within his choice now I don't really believe that foreknowledge connecting with election means that God chooses me only because I choose him that would mean basically there's no choosing on God's part whatsoever but I believe that God's knowledge of who I am of what my destiny is of what I will do with my life of my inclinations that it plays some role in whatever it is that he chooses but the big picture is God's choice of us isn't random as believers it's done with knowledge and forethought but notices we are chosen according to foreknowledge of God in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience Christians are chosen but they're chosen in sanctification and for obedience if you think the whole point of you being chosen by God is saying hey man God chose me I got my ticket to heaven I can live any way I want I wonder if you're chosen at all because it's choosing that God describes it's a choosing that is for sanctification or holiness and for obedience this is just basic fundamental to Christian thinking here and again for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ grace to you and peace be multiplied now he's going to give thanks to God the Father here now starting in verse 3 blessed 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 from the dead to 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 I want you notice how Peter begins this letter he gives his greeting his few introductory words and then he says let let's talk about let me explain to you what God did when he rescued us let me explain to you what God did when we became born again how you were saved if you want to use that term how God rescued what he did now again this is such an important principle and one that's so difficult for us in our modern age in our modern age we are so practical and pragmatic ok you Pastor you said I need help in my Christian life great tell me what to do come on give me a list give me the three things I got to do to live a successful Christian life come on I want to do one two three do I want you notice in those few verses in which he begins there's no doing it's about what God has done he says listen before I tell you what to do and there's gonna be plenty of doing for us to do in the letter of first Peter but it's all founded on the spaces of you got to understand what God has done in your life do you really understand do you understand what God has done in the realm of the Spirit there is a spiritual world that we interact with every day but many of us are in some ways blind to it we ignore it Peter's trying to open our eyes to the spiritual reality of what happened when God rescued us so he says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ he's praising God for his unbelievable plan where he says he has verse three begotten again now when he says begotten us again in verse three it's different from John chapter three the Gospel of John where it talks about being born again or born from above it's different wording but it's the same idea we're born again we're given new life in Jesus Christ Peters idea is that when a person is rescued by God when they are saved they're made a new creation in Jesus Christ and you were born again verse three to a Living Hope why is the hope living look at what it says there in verse 3 it's a Living Hope because it comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ of the dead I mean if a hope comes to you through the resurrected Jesus it's gonna be a Living Hope you know maybe some dead Buddha can give you a dead hope maybe dead Muhammad the Prophet can give you a dead hope the Risen Jesus Christ deals with a Living Hope and he wants that hope to be alive in each and every one of us so the hope lives because it's set on verse 4 inherent inheritance incorruptible it's an inheritance that can never go away it can never fade away because it's reserved in heaven again a heavenly look in first Peter when God rescued you he gave you an inheritance have you ever dreamed of a big inheritance you know oh I had an uncle who I never knew and he died and he left me a jillion dollars you know Wow well let me tell you something about that jillion dollars you don't know what's gonna happen in the financial world in the next six months or a year or ten years but that could be a very corruptible inheritance right let me tell you something though the inheritance that God gives us in Jesus Christ it's incorruptible and it's reserved for us in heaven this is his message so it's verse four incorruptible undefiled it does not fade away now I want you to notice he's not telling us what our inheritance is he's telling us what it is not it's not corruptible it's not defiled it does not fade away it's almost as if what it is is too great to describe so all Peter can tell us is what it is not by the way I just had a thought but when you consider this kind of thing I think about when we talk to people about faith in Jesus Christ and there are times when if we're gonna tell people about God's Word and God's work and all that there are going to be times we have to warn people about Hell it's not exactly my favorite thing to do I don't know about you but I mean it's real so there's a there's a place we're doing that but not only should I or should we warn people about Hell but a second warning that we can give or maybe it should be our first warning is on what they will miss out on in heaven it's not just that hell is a bad place which it is heaven is a great place and as much as it's bad to go to hell it is unbelievable glorious to be in heaven so it's not just that the penalty you'll deserve it's the reward you'll be denied or the inheritance and these are the ones verse five who are kept by the power of God through faith this makes our inheritance certain we are kept by the power of God and this enables us to endure through faith until the coming of Jesus notice we're kept by the power of God but how through faith that means your faith in my faith the person who has kept is the person who's abiding in a continual relationship of faith with God faith and the preserving power of God work together and keep the believer now it continues on but notice verse six is going to introduce some difficulty that they're having right then looking at verse six he says in this you rejoice you rejoice though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom having not seen you love though now you do not see him yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls so we rejoice in this you rejoice what do we rejoice in we rejoice in the idea that we have an incorruptible inheritance in heaven now give friends I want you understand I get it how some Christians can kind of live this dreamy pie in the sky you know sometimes the cliche that's used you're so heavenly minded you're up no earthly good I understand there's an extreme like that out there but can you please understand what Peter's saying here he holds the hope of heavenly reward right in front of believers and says this is important for you to hold on to that that you shouldn't think that primarily the end of God's plan is the salvation of this whole world that we live in but it's heaven above now we rejoice in that heavenly inheritance to come but notice this though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials and first one when you say various trials this bad trials because he uses the analogy later on in verse 7 that you're being tested by fire fire bad trial get this this isn't like a heating pad this is like a open flame I want you to notice something there verse 6 he says if need be you have been grieved sometimes it is thought that if you were a real Christian come on now if you really trusted Jesus you'd never be grieved in a trial if you really trusted Jesus be like the spiritual Superman go ahead shoot the bullets of adversity at me and they just all bounce off me ha ha ha nothing affects me I want you notice not only does Peter say that the trial itself is necessary but there are times when our grief in the trial is necessary God never has the expectation that we would go through trials and adversity with this stoic dr. Spock like I am never shaken by anything no and let me tell you there are times when God knows we need the grief that's a slogan for you you need the grief sometimes we do it look at verse 6 if need be you have been grieved there is a need be not only for the various trials but more especially there's a need be for being grieved itself God has a purpose not only for the trial but also for the heavy grief that we bear in the midst of the trial now some of you right now you're in a season of difficulty or trial and you are grieved in the midst of it and you think I must be so out of God's will because if I was in God's what I would be just ecstatically happy all the time please Joe that's not only is that not Christianity I don't even think that's sanity do you ever read the Psalms did you ever see how God deals with us with the whole complexity of all of our human emotions and behaviors know that there there's a season to be unbelievably happy praise the Lord for that and there is a season where God appoints grief for our life and he has things to teach us in that what Peter's saying is look I know you got this inheritance in heaven above don't be shake if you're in a season a grief why verse 7 because your faith is being tested by fire our faith isn't tested because God doesn't know how much faith we have or what kind of faith we have our faith is tested because we are often ignorant of our own faith God's purpose and testing our faith is to display the enduring quality of our faith and you want to know how important that is look how precious your faith is to God verse 7 it's much more precious than the gold that perishes now isn't gold refined by fire and if you would refine gold with fire and gold a pretty precious thing how much more then our faith which is much more precious than gold you know it's funny gold is one of the most durable of all metals just a week or so ago England and I were on vacation and we we went to Israel and we were floating in the Dead Sea and if you float in the Dead Sea you want to take off all your jewellery and stuff well I had my wedding ring on and I said to my wife I said Ingle oh do I have to take my wedding off she goes no wait gold won't won't hurt it in the Dead Sea and it didn't it's just fine the Gold's pretty durable metal but even it will pair us someday but not the result that comes from our faith it's even more precious than gold that perishes and at the end it all verse 9 we will receive the end of your faith the end of your faith is the return of Jesus and the ultimate salvation of your soul testing and trials are inevitable as long as we are on this side of the end of our faith as long as we do not yet see the God we serve we have to endure through trials and face them with faith and joy so I'm what you notice Peters encouraging some discouraged believers isn't he here's your heavenly hope hang in there I know you're being tested but the result of this is worth it the result of this is something that's more precious and more durable than gold hang in there to the end do not give up such times now verse 10 of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow to them it was revealed that not to themselves but to us they were ministering the things which they've now been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things which angels desire to look into friends those are three verses are very thick with information but he's talking about the revelation of this salvation that we receive okay see you you got a heavenly inheritance did we get that you're going through some trials now but that's storing up some of your heavenly inheritance well this whole plan that God does to give us this in Jesus Christ to give us new life in Jesus but Peters trying to tell us it's nothing new God had this planned out a long time ago he says in verse 10 of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully it was very important to Peter and to other New Testament writers to demonstrate that what the Bible speaks about what God would do through the Messiah Jesus Christ was not a novelty he spoke about it in the Old Testament it was testified beforehand by the prophets they as a matter of fact verse 10 they prophesied of the grace that would come to you you see the prophets of the Old Testament long to see the grace of the New Covenant to come they prophesied having some knowledge of what was to come but so much less than they really wanted to know think about it how much would Isaiah have loved to read the Gospel of John you imagine that I bet you're gonna be able to pick out Isaiah in heaven he's gonna be just one reading the Gospel of John over and over again you know think about all those amazing prophets man they searched they looked into it they're like wow we spoke about this ahead of time and we only had a shadowy understanding of what this was gonna be but here it is all revealed and then in verse 12 says to them as revealed that not to themselves but to us they were ministering the prophets understood that they were ministering to people far beyond themselves as well as to people in their own day and these things the prophets predicted were reported as finished fact by the Apostles look at verse 12 the things which now have been reported to you through those who preach the gospel so Peter saying the things we apostles told you that happened in the person and the work of Jesus all of that was predicted in the Old Testament we brought it to you right here right now and then he says verse 12 the things which angels desire to look into okay it's not like the main point of what Peter's talking about here no it's a side point he's setting on the side out in heavenly inheritance about enduring through trials now it's nothing new but the Old Testament prophets predicted it and then he just gives us a little throwaway line things which the angels desire to look into it doesn't that blow your mind there are angels studying us right now I don't say that to freak you out but they they they long to know what we do God is using us to teach angelic beings first Corinthians chapter 4 Ephesians chapter 3 first Timothy chapter 3 all give to us the idea that we are under angelic observation and Peter just says it as a tantalizing throwaway line but it's it's really fascinating for us to grab a hold of and to consider right now verse 13 therefore okay you wanted something to do you can't okay just tell me what to do Peter says I'll tell you what to do but in good time first let me tell you about your heavenly inheritance let me tell you that it's okay that your faith is going to be tested let me tell you that that this is nothing new but God planned it out a long time ago now I'll tell you what to do verse 13 therefore gird up the loins of your mind be sober and 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 yourself to the former lusts as in your ignorance but as he who called you is holy you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written be holy for I am holy and if you call on the father who without partiality judges according to each one's work conduct yourselves through the time of your stay here in fear what does he do first of all you got to get serious verse 13 gird up the loins of your mind gird up the loins of your mind what's that even mean well he's using an ancient figure of speech were to gird up the loins was to fasten the belt you had you know they robe these robes these tunics and if you were gonna do some work you know if you're gonna you had to take up your robe and tuck it into your belt tuck your robe into your belt that's what he means my good influence we would use the figures feet today roll up your sleeves and get ready to work that's what he's saying how about this roll up the sleeves of your mind in other words get ready to work with your head with the way that you think be sober that means the ability to take a serious look at life it means to control what you think about to control the things you decide to set your mind upon I'm gonna say something that is an absolute revolutionary concept to some of you it is possible in Jesus Christ to control what you set your mind upon you don't have to set your mind on things our impure on things that are silly on things that are fruitless on things that are crazy you can set your mind on things that are good honourable beautiful helpful fruitful before God this is really possible in Jesus Christ and this is where the battleground is so that's the first thing it says look you want something to do and you krislac realize the battleground is there in your mind and what should you do with your mind looking at there and verse 13 rest your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ he can't stop talking about heaven what is the revelation of Jesus Christ and the hope that's gonna start thinking about the return of Jesus and how glorious that's gonna be now look I don't know when Jesus is coming back again I hope it's soon I look at the situation in the world around us like oh man I don't know if it can get any crazier I really don't you think this is this is a crazy time come quickly Lord Jesus but I tell you whether Jesus comes back for me or I go to him first I got to get ready to meet him there's gonna come a day when Jesus Christ is revealed to me fully either cuz I go to him or he comes to me so I have to rest my hope upon that day the only way we can do that is to receive the grace that is to be brought to you now I love that phrasing there in verse 13 notice what he says the grace that is to be brought to you that's how about Grace in the future there's a message I've done a few times it's been so long I've done it but I call it grace past present and future because Bible talks are grace that was given to us in the past it talks about grace that we walk in right now and here's grace that's going to be given to us in the future our life with God is Grace past present and future set your mind upon that wouldn't it be horrible if you believed in Jesus Christ your whole life if you suffered things for him if you sacrifice things for him and when Jesus came he was ticked off at you wouldn't that be awful no no rest your hopefully on the grace that's going to be revealed to you on that very day and therefore verse 14 as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance in other words live as obedient children verse 15 live holy now notice to live as obedient children as it says in verse 14 and to live holy as it says in verse 15 I'll talk about holiness in just a moment I need to make this point first though that's our actions isn't it primarily doing with our actions I want you to notice something he spoke to the mind before he spoke to the actions do you see how important that is this is why the Word of God has such a huge place in our own pure living and sanctification before the Lord we need to be bringing the Word of God into our life reading it listening to it memorizing it thinking about it meditating on it because what we need is what the Apostle Paul called in the book of Romans the renewing of our mind and Peter felt the same way because before he addressed our actions he spoke to gird up the Launcher roll up the sleeves of your mind we deal with that first and then out of that flows a holier life and that's when I went speak I hear in verse 15 but is he who has called you as Holy you also be holy in all your conduct you know it's hard to think of a word that sounds more old-fashioned and out of place in the church today than the word holiness when you hear the word holiness don't you think of an angry man shaking a bony finger in your face this gentleman the holiness of God is beautiful the holiness of God is majestic the holiness of God is part of what makes God God and God looks I says I am separate from sin and shame and impurity and the ways of this world I want you to be holy as well I pray and listen I believe it'll happen because these things just kind of run in cycles and God is always bringing back a fresh work I don't despair on this but I pray for this I pray that a whole new young generation will come to a new appreciation of the holiness of God and learn to love it and treasure it and see how the holiness of God transfers into a holiness of life that's why God comes to us and he says be holy for I am holy men 417 and if you call upon the father you know look if you're gonna call upon the father and you realize our holy life is connected with all this now let's take a look at the last few verses this motivation for godly living verse 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father's but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot he or deed was for deigned before ordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you through him who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God now understand this he says this work that God did in your life it was not done with corruptible things knowing this verse 18 you were not redeemed with corruptible things you were redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus and if I could put it very bluntly we weren't redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus so that we could go out and live like garbage that's know why he did it he came to redeem us from that garbage life not to it my effect verse 18 to save us from your aimless conduct received by tradition by your father's this is the frame of mind that seeks to be justified by the law it's aimless conduct it seems to have an aim rescuing yourself by good works but it's aimless because it can't succeed instead God did what we couldn't do verse 19 he sent a lamb without blemish and without spot and he was foreordained before the foundation of the world to make the sacrifice and in that we would believe in God who raised him from the dead he says simply talking about the glorious plan of salvation and how this should be a motivation it should be a motivation for us to consider all that God did for us that's why I want to live for him now have you heard the illustration of the cart and the horse here you got the horse and the cart and let me tell you something about the way that horses and carts work the cart has to be behind the horse if you put the cart in front of the horse it doesn't work now in this illustration the horse is all that Jesus is and all that Jesus did to rescue us Peter mentions it so many times right here of the precious blood of Christ lamb without blemish for ordained from before the foundation of the world manifest last time raised from the dead I don't know that the person work at these guys that's the horse what follows behind the horse our commitment to living a righteous life in Jesus Christ the horse draws the cards our constant temptation and Christian living is to put the cart before the horse to think that Jesus is pleased with us or Jesus rescues us because of our holy living and that's not it he did his freakin we're to respond to all he's done to us by our righteous life verse 22 since you've purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the Brethren love one another fervently with a pure heart having been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the Word of God which lives and abides forever because all flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass withers and it's flower falls away but the word of the Lord endures forever this is the word by which the gospel was preached to you now notice this he says look since I love how it begins at verse 20 since you've purified your so listen Peters like saying I know I've been telling you to be holy I know I've been telling you have a passion for purity and your Christian life because I know you're there I know you want to do that but but let me add one more thing to you it's almost as if Peter saying you want to been wanting to know what to do now I'm telling you what to do live holy but then second do you notice what he says here in verse 22 love one another fervently holy living is incomplete if it's not accompanied with love now there's a problem in the Christian world and it is not a new problem I think it's a problem that's existed from the very beginning it just matters what end of the problem you're on the problem goes something like this there's holy living and there's fervent love we always want to emphasize one or the now right now we're in a love page man the important thing is that we love it's all community it's all relationships and listen all that's important to God does God want us to love yes he does but does he also want us to be holy you better believe it now in previous I don't know generations or ages whatever you want to call it those have been holy ages you got to be holy your life has to be right stop doing that start doing this you know emphasis on islands is that good does God want us to be holy you better believe he does but not to the exclusion of love now right now I pray that the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart one word it's the word you need to hear I praise even speaking more love or more holiness now we both need all of those more it's not like we can ignore one or the other but isn't it just usually a fact in our life were more deficient in one than the other I love how Peter puts this yes pursue that holiness but love one another fervently with a pure heart through verse 23 the Word of God which lives and abides forever and then he ends with this great confidence in the Word of God I love this verse 24 the grass withers and it's flower falls away but the word of the Lord lives or indoors forever Peter is quoting from Isaiah chapter 40 verses 6 through 8 and as he quotes here we see that his word has been fulfilled ladies and gentlemen the word of the Lord certainly has endured think about it for centuries the only way that the word was transmitted was by people making copies by hand now that's that's a tenuous line but God beautifully preserved his word through all the centuries that it had to be copied by hand in those years it was persecuted vigorously there were Roman emperors that made it virtually their life mission to burn every copy of the Scriptures they could find it survived centuries of ever-changing philosophies all kinds of critics it survived centuries of neglect the the Word of God has survived centuries of neglect in the church from both the pulpit and the pew and today what do we hear a bunch of people on a Wednesday night listening learning paying attention to the Bible truly the word of the Lord endures forever in the year 303 ad the Roman Emperor Diocletian demanded that every copy of the scriptures in the Roman Empire be burned that was his Imperial decree but he failed in that obviously 25 years later the roman emperor constantine commissioned a scholar named Eusebius to prepare 50 copies of the scriptures at government expense it endures forever let me read you this quote from Charles Spurgeon God's Word never dies God's Word never changes there are some who think we ought to get a new gospel every few years or upon every few weeks but that was not Peters notion he wrote and he was divinely inspired to write concerning the Word of God which lives and abides forever now what should it result in in us I'll leave you with those two things holy living and fervent love one for another I'll let God speak to your heart as to which one he wants to work on more right knee we're not gonna exclude either one we want more of both but if there's a greater need in one area another let's let God speak to our hearts about that right now Father in Heaven we just collectively now as a congregation we want to take a quiet moment and invite you to speak to our heart because Lord we we don't want to be deficient in either area it's the Lord speak to us about these areas of holy living and fervent love as we wait upon you in silence just for a moment father thank you for the inheritance that we have in you it's absolutely incorruptible thank you for that heavenly hope that you give us and Lord thank you even for the grief that we sometimes bear out of necessity in your plan we praise you for it together Lord in Jesus name you

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: peter born again

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Length: 48min 23sec (2903 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 16 2018