Be Ready Part 4
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Tonight, we will finish up chapter 1 of 1 Peter…We’ve been in this chapter for several weeks now and have looked at “This Amazing Salvation” that God had given us, we have looked at “An Awesome Power” that God has given us, and we have looked at three messages on the thought of “Be Ready” - Tonight will be the fourth part of that one.
Because of this amazing salvation, and the awesome power that God has provided, we ought to be ready for His coming again; and Peter gives us several things we are to be doing in order to be ready for the Second Coming. Here they are:
Be Girded (V. 13)
Be Growing (V.14)
Be Guarded (V. 15)
Be Holy (V. 15-16)
Be Grateful (V. 17-21)
Tonight, we will look at two final things we are to be in order to be ready:
6-Be Loving
6-Be Loving
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Peter urges the Christians reading this epistle to have sincere brotherly love for their Christian brothers and sisters...
Friends, being a Christian involves loving other people! Why? Because that is the character and nature of God. He is holy and He loves us.
Because of the love of Christ for us, we are to have an unfeigned love for the brethren. This word unfeigned means “undisguised, sincere, or without hypocrisy.” We are to regard others with a fervent love from a pure heart.
The word fervently means “eagerly, constantly, zealously” - It’s a physiological term meaning to stretch to the furthest limit of a muscle’s capacity. Metaphorically, the word means to go all out, to reach the furthest extent of something. This is how we are to love other people.
Let me remind all of us of what the Scriptures say about Christians and love:
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
Yes, as a Child of God, we are to be loving to those around us.
The seventh, and final thing we find in this passage that we are to be is:
7-Be Glorifying
7-Be Glorifying
God created us for the purpose of glorifying Him. That’s why we were created.
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
It really should not be that difficult to be glorifying to God, when we consider the following three things out of these remaining verses:
We ought to be glorifying when we consider:
The Faithfulness of our Message
The Faithfulness of our Message
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
How can those who were formerly slaves to sin be holy, fear the Lord, and love others?
Because they have been born again. If you have believed in Jesus Christ, you received a seed (the divine nature) that is incorruptible (which means believers cannot lose their salvation). God sparked life in you where once there was death, and he did it by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1:23).
We can have absolute confidence in the infallibility and preservation of God’s Word. We have in our possession that very Word of God. It is without error and we are assured of its power to change lives.
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Peter tells us we are saved by the incorruptible see, and indestructible Word of God!
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word of God is powerful and permanent! The word of God is alive and active!
We have a faithful message!
We have been born again by the living eternal word to a living eternal life. It cannot be stamped out or shut up. It cannot be destroyed or deterred. It cannot be suppressed or silenced!
Peter tells the church that they have been born again through the word of God that lives and abides forever. It is the indestructible scripture. History records that man has tried persistently to destroy the Bible, but have failed miserably.
The Bible is the best selling book in the world. The Bible is the most translated book in the world. The entire Bible has been translated into over 700 languages, and the New Testament has been translated into over 1,600 languages. No other book comes close. There are over 24,000 copies of the New Testament manuscripts, some of which were written within 35 years of the writer’s death. No other book has been so attacked throughout history as the Bible, but yet it remains!
The Author of the Bible is God Himself and He lives forever therefore His word will abide forever.
Some today question this matter of preservation. Do we really have God’s Word today or just a copy of a copy of a copy? It really boils down to how big your God is. If God could inspire His Word, breathing every word through the human author, don’t you think He has the power to preserve it as well?
Peter gives great inspiration to the church by reminding them that they have been born again through the living and abiding word of God.
We have a faithful message!
The second reason we are given to be glorifying is:
The Frailty of Man
The Frailty of Man
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
Our bodies are not like the Word of God…We are frail, we are weak.
You don’t have to live long in life to realize how weak we are as human flesh.
Just as the grass fades and withers so too does man.
There is nothing permanent about our flesh.
Since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden mankind has been sentenced to death. At birth we began the journey toward death! God told Adam that the day that he would eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would surely die. (Genesis 2:17)
On the day that Adam ate of the tree he died spiritually, but he lived on in the flesh for 930 years, but there also came a day that he died physically. Because sin entered into the world and brought death and separation with it we all will face physical death.
Because of this, we are going to need something bigger than ourselves to make it through life. To have confidence in our human ability is to fail every time.
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
We will wither and die, but when we trust the Living Lord through His living word then we can live forever.
Living with this in mind and realizing our strength comes only from God and not ourselves will help us glorify God in our lives and live, being ready for the return of Christ.
The third reason in these verses that we are to be glorifying is:
The Fervency of Our Mission
The Fervency of Our Mission
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Peter closes out chapter 1 reiterating the permanence of the word of God. He had previously told the church that the word of God lives and abides forever. Peter uses two different words for the “word” in these verses.
One refers to the written word and the other to the spoken word. He previously used the word “logos” which means, “written word” - Here he uses the word “rhema” meaning “spoken word”...
This is where the fervency of our mission comes from!
Even though we are weak and frail humanly, we have been given an eternal message from God that will never fail or weaken. This message needs to be preached to the entire world!
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Every person who is saved ought to make a conscious and fervent effort to tell others about the Saviour.
I think it was Bro. Stinnet Ballew used to say, “Our first concern should be God’s final command.”
What was that?
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Thank God that the word of God has been preached to us.
Thank God that I heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus by the preaching of His word.
Don’t let this go in one ear and out the other…Don’t just learn some principles tonight in Church.
Get the truth and let it work out itself through your life!
Let what you believe, change your behavior! Use these principles given to us through the Holy Word of God, and be ready for His return!
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