4-16-23 Sermon "Words of Comfort" 16 Minutes

1 Peter 1:3-9

This morning I'll be reading 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 through 9. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1 Peter 1:3-9 Peter is writing to new Christians that are going to face persecution to encourage them to hold on to their faith. Those who read 1 Peter today,,, are encouraged to lift their eyes from present problems and trials and look to the future. Believers may suffer grief in trials today,,, but through faith in God,,, they are assured of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. 1 Peter 1:3–9 (HCSB) — 3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith —more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at Matthew 28:1-10 and we seen that the resurrection is vital to our lives today.

I used 3 examples from David Jeremiah’s sermon that helps us understand how important it is.

He said that it affects our past,,, our present,,, and our future,,, which means that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is our everything!

The women went to the tomb that morning and had their whole lives changed!

We can and should experience the same feeling when we realize the importance of the resurrection!

Simply because everything important to us,,, hinges on Christ’s resurrection,,, and the help that we get from the Holy Spirit each and every day as we strive to live a life pleasing to God!

So we should have left last Sunday knowing that the resurrection affects every part of our life,,, our past,,, our present,,, and our future!

And we have Jesus Christ to give the praise and glory to,,, as we celebrated this Easter Sunday,,, and each day going forward,,, all “Because of the Resurrection”!

This morning we will look at these verses in 1 Peter 1:3-9 and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verse 3 said: 3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Peter is giving God the praise and glory that He deserves because of His grace given to each of us even though we didn't deserve it.

He could have been referring to the three days before the resurrection that were worse than death that turned into the celebration of hope when Christ arose that first Easter morning.

If you recall,,, on that Resurrection Day,,, the disciples were hiding,,, scared,,, confused and in great sorrow,,, but because of the resurrection,,, they were filled with joy and hope that could never be stopped by anyone on earth.

And because of God's love for us,,, even while we were still sinners Christ died for all,,, this is not something that we earned by being good enough to accept it,,, but it was given to each of us simply because of His love!

Peter could also be making a connection to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus when He told him that he must be born again,,, found in John 3:3-7.

Nicodemus was missing something in his life,,, like all of us before we accepted Christ as our personal Savior,,, and he felt like Jesus could supply that need,,, and we know that He can.

Religiously,,, he had everything that he thought he needed at the time,,, but he was still searching,,, so he went to Jesus.

Jesus was telling him that no matter what he did on the outside,,, he needed changing on the inside.

And that can only happen through the Holy Spirit making us aware of our sinfulness and bringing new life to our souls once we accept Jesus as our Savior.

When you accept Christ as your Savior,,, you have a change in your personal life that can only be explained as being born again.

And because Jesus is alive today,,, sitting at the right hand of God,,, interceding for us,,, we have this living hope!

A hope assured by the resurrection of Jesus that we can claim as ours today!

___________________________________ Verse 4 said: 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

In this verse Peter is encouraging them with these words.

Even though they might be going through trials today,,, their salvation is assured because it's kept in heaven.

Since their future is guaranteed by the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,,, who lives today in heaven,,, they don't have to worry.

This way there faith is in Christ,,, not in what they try to do to earn it,,, because that's something that they cannot earn!

We have that same guarantee today once we accept Jesus as our Savior.

___________________________________

Verse 5 said: 5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Not only is the inheritance guarded, but heirs who have been born into that inheritance are protected by God’s power.

What greater hope could be given to those undergoing persecution than the knowledge that God’s power guards them from within,,, to preserve them for an inheritance of salvation that will be completely revealed to them in God’s presence.

Believers possess salvation now,,, in other words in the present tense,,, but we will realize its full significance at the return of Christ in the last time.

This final step, or ultimate completion of “the salvation of their souls” that it's talking about in 1 Peter 1:9,,, will come “when Jesus Christ is revealed. ___________________________________ Verse 6 said: 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials

A living hope results in a present joy,,, even while we go through trials today.

This doesn't mean that we are happy about the hard times,,, but it means that we know that this won't last.

Because of our faith in God,,, and the fact that we have probably been in tough times before that God has brought us out of,,, we know that He will bring us through this time too!

___________________________________ Verse 7 said: 7 so that the genuineness of your faith —more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

These various trials talked about from verse 6 have two examples described here.

The first example is that your faith is "refined" or purified - like gold by fire,,, which is very valuable.

But it becomes much more valuable than gold because your faith in God means eternal life in heaven,,, and gold is just something that remains here on earth.

It is useless for us in heaven.

The second example is that the trials that you go through will "prove" the reality of your faith.

Stress deepens and strengthens a Christians faith,,, it makes it visible for others to see.

You become a witness to others that are searching for Jesus.

According to my Bible Knowledge Commentary genuine faith is not only of ultimate value to its possessor, but it will also bring praise, glory, and honor to the One whose name Christians bear, when He will return to claim them as His own.

___________________________________ Verse 8 said: 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,

We have not seen Jesus but those of us that are Christians are aware of His presence through the Holy Spirit.

And through that experience,,, we believe.

We also believe because of the overwhelming evidence written down by His disciples that did see Him after the resurrection and had the courage to go to any lengths to tell others about Jesus!

It's because of the testimony of those that came before us,,, the testimony of those living today,,, and our own personal relationship,,, that we can rejoice with glorious joy in our love for Jesus! ___________________________________ Verse 9 said: 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We can rejoice because we are receiving what was promised,,, which was our salvation,,, the goal or the end result of faith.

For those who love and believe in Jesus Christ,,, salvation is past - present - and future.

Past is found in verse 3 where it said: He has given us a new birth, present is found in verse 5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith, and future is found in verses 4 - 5 & 9.

Verse 4 said: and into an inheritance,,, verse 5 said: to be revealed in the last time and verse 9 said: the goal of your faith.

Past - present - and future!

Since each day brings believers closer to that final day, we are now “receiving” it.

All of this—in spite of the trials and persecution we go through,,, which only deepens and demonstrates one’s faith,,, and,,, is certainly cause for “inexpressible and glorious joy”!

___________________________________ Peter wrote these words to persecuted Christians to give them hope during their trials.

We can use these words today the same way whenever we have struggles of our own!

Whether it's something physical,,, emotional,,, financial,,, it doesn't matter,,, we have these "Words of Comfort" from Peter to comfort us today,,, just as it did them so many years ago!

___________________________________ So remember these "Words of Comfort" from Peter when you are going through tough times,,, remember that Jesus died for you and me,,, and because of that,,, there is nothing that can hinder us or stop us from receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

And that should help us,,, no matter what we are going through,,, to know,,, that we will receive our inheritance,,, that can never perish,,, spoil,,, or fade.

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------