Untitled Sermon (2)

The Foundation of Encouragement: 1 Peter 1:3-12

1. First things

a. Greeting

b. Quick Metanoia

c. Introduce scripture, 1 Peter 1:3-5

i. Context of letter, briefly

ii. Read scripture, pray

2. Story: Art Loeb 

a. We need encouragement – struggles and suffering of life

b. Peter’s encouragement to suffering believers was to remind them of their salvation

(Proposition): Our salvation is our encouragement in trial, it is the foundation of our hope in life.

We will look at this under three headings … As we walk through these verses … the warrant, the worth and the wonder of our salvation.

1. The warrant of our salvation (v3): “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…”

a. Definition of warrant: authorization, sanction, justification.

i. The basis upon which we do something

b. God has caused us to be “born again.”

i. God has done this // effector // He is the justifier

ii. John 3:3, Nicodemus asks how // answer  Christ

iii. Eph 2:1, 4: emphasis: we were dead

iv. Entered into death and resurrection with Christ

c. Born again, to what? A living hope.

i. Fred Craddock: this living hope“does not simply wait for the end of time, but it is active and vigorous, fueling the life and activity of the believer.”

ii. Present with us: Holy Spirit indwells us. Rom 5:5: “hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

d. Application:

i. Not only life changing, but fundamentally reality changing

(Transition): Peter expounds upon this living hope when he describes our inheritance. We were born again to a living hope, to, in v4, an inheritancethat is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you…”

2. The worth of our salvation

a. Inheritance described: imperishable/undefiled/unfading

i. Commentator: what it is not…

b. Reminiscent of Israel’s inheritance

i. Imperishable is subject to corruption

ii. Undefiled is subject to blemish or stain

iii. Unfading, subject to withering; “it withers not”

1. 1Pet 1:24: all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

c. Darling story

d. We are promised something better. We long for the imperishable.

e. Peter can only describe this against the backdrop of our fallen world and say this isn’t it. 1 Corinthians 2, no eye has seen and no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him.

f. He brings these idea together in v 1:18-19: you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot

i. All these same images and pictures

g.  We long for something that won’t fade away. This longing only Christ can satisfy!

Transition:

3. The wonder of our salvation

a. Peter finishes this long statement with v5, that this inheritance is kept in heaven for us “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

b. God guards us // once justified, we remain justified

i. This word “guard” is the same as in Philippians 4:7, where Paul is saying to take your requests and supplications to God, and “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard our minds in Christ”

c. God is going to make sure we reach the end. He guards us for our salvation.

i. This is perseverance of the saints … R.C. Sproul called this preservation of the saints… that God is keeping you/defending you/ensuring you for salvation

d. How? Through faith:

i. Edmund Clowney writes: “Why does God use faith as the instrument of his keeping power? Because faith is not our achievement, but trust in God’s achievement; ‘your faith and hope are in God’”, verse 21

e. Peter knew this | foretold denial | Luke 21: “Simon, Simon behold Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned, strengthen your brothers.”

f. The wonder of the gospel: Christ will bring to the end of yourself and restore you.

g. Peter saw Jesus: alive, teaching/preaching, healing/defying, walking on water and transfigured, but then he saw Him on the cross.

h. And Peter saw the wonder of the gospel in the face of the risen Christ restoring him. That Jesus had already paid the price of Peter’s betrayal on the cross

i. So God makes you alive, promises you an indescribable inheritance and guards you for it

Conclusion: This is the gospel, that in spite of our sin and failure, Christ draws near to us in love and makes us alive. He keeps us despite our failure, and restores us that we might walk in His Spirit, in freedom. This is the hope we take into prisons. Not job skills, or therapy, but the gospel. Those things are good, but the gospel is life.(Lennie Spitale book: great equalizer.)

1. We who are in Christ, who have been made alive by Him, can then take heart. We have a mighty encouragement for life’s trials. Nothing in life that we face can take that away, so we can live in hope no matter what comes.

2. We also must be ready to share this hope with others. God uses imperfect, ordinary, broken people to accomplish His extraordinary work. The kingdom comes through weak people like us. We are invited to be a part of that.

3. And if you don’t know Christ, if you know you’re trusting your own works, or holding back for whatever reason. Hear the invitation to come to Him today. Don’t wait.