Nothing good is ever permanent. Nothing good is ever perfect. Nothing good keeps its goodness. Have you ever felt like good gifts are incomplete? The lost person complete emptiness. The believer is longing for a better country. We forget that this life is not all there is. God created us for eternity.
New series... 1 Peter
In Peter we see both triumphs and failures. He was a fisherman from the little village of Bethsaida in Galilee.
- He walked on water
- When asked he said "You are the Christ". "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven." 6 vs later Peter rebukes Jesus and Jesus says "Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
- I will never betray you... denied Jesus 3 times before the rooster crows.
- Jesus asked "Do you love me?" 3 times and Peter said "Yes" "feed my sheep"
- He was the preacher at Pentecost. He spoke with authority. Acts 4:13
-He was rebuked by Paul for shying away from Gentiles because of pressure from Jews.
-God worked miracles through Peter... lame to walk, raised from the dead, his shadow cast.
-Peter is a hero of the faith, a leader.
-Peter's name in Aramaic is "Cephas" which meant rock.
1 Peter 1:1-2 (ESV) "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Potus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you."
-Peter says that he was writing from "Babylon" which is probably code for Rome so as to protect the church in Rome. He was writing to Gentiles converts in the towns in modern day Turkey. They were exiles from "Babylon". Spiritual exiles...believers are chosen, called and set apart. They are one in Christ. These believers were being persecuted by Nero.
1 Peter 2:9-10 (ESV) "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
If you are in Christ this is you, you are set apart.
VS 2 "We are known by the Father, Sanctified by the Spirit, bought by the blood of Christ."
This is best explained by a hymn.
"Down at the cross where my savior died. Down where for cleansing from sin I cried. There to my heart was the blood applied. Glory to his name!"
We see the trinity in this vs.
Grace & Peace this is a greeting that both Paul, Peter and the early church use to a persecuted people. He was encouraging them to set their minds on the things above. Nero was persecuting Christians.
1 Peter 1:3 (ESV) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
Peter is mixing his Hebrew the background with his new life.
I God's Great Mercy
Why did God save us? John McArthur said ....because of God's great mercy. God's mercy is for our misery...our great need...to give relief
Matt. 17:15 (ESV) "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and they could not heal him."
Lamentations 3:22 (ESV) "The steadfast love the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end"
Psalms 103:17 (ESV) "But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children"
Psalms 108:4 (ESV) "For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds."
2 Corinthians 1:3 (ESV) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort"
Titus 3:5 (ESV) "he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"
Ephesians 2:4-8 (ESV) "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God"
God shows us his love and his mercy with his patience. Even small mercies in times of tragedy...look for them.
How should we respond? In faith and show mercy to others.
Luke 6:36 (ESV) "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."
Matt. 5:5 (ESV) "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
We should be the most loving and merciful people of all.
II. Our Transformation
Be born again...you have been changed...born again. We are used to this language, but can be confusing especially if you claim to follow Jesus, but live your life like the rest of the world. When Jesus saves us there should be a change in who we are.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
2 Cor. 5:17 (ESV) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away;( behold, the new has come."
Galatians 2:20 (ESV) "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me
How do I know that I am saved? The Holy Spirit is our guarantee of our inheritance. If you have trusted in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is in you and you will produce fruit.
Galatians 5:19-24 (ESV) "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
You are never going to be perfect, however you need to be growing . Does sin bother you? Aaron Rogers said "the most miserable person is the believer walking in sin."
1 John 1:8-9 (ESV) "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV) "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."
III. Our Hope & Our Inheritance
1 Peter 1:4-9 (ESV) "to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
We are saved from the penalty of our sin. We are being saved from the power of sin over us. Finally being free from the presence and effects of our sin.
We have a promised inheritance. Ephesians 1:11, Colossians 1:12, Hebrews 9:15
Peter describes this inheritance by what it is not. It's not perishable, defiled and will not fade away. Everything on earth is tainted like this. This inheritance is in heaven. Eternal life, joy, peace perfection, being in the presence of our creator, our savior, every wrong righted, every tear dried and reward for faithfulness.
Matt. 6:19-21 (ESV) "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heave, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
God has given us so many blessings in this life, but this life is still just temporary.
Encouragement...
- to the non-believer... life is temporary, you need to be made right with God. He is merciful. If by God's grace you accept by faith in Jesus
- to the believer... do not store up treasures on earth....
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