1 Peter #2
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Connection:
“I hope so”. This is a phrase we hear often in our modern world. Hope, on the lips of our modern culture, is nothing more than wishful thinking. “I hope so”.
Is my pay cheque going to come in on time? I hope so.
Is my fridge going to have enough food for this week? I hope so.
Is my car going to last another 20 miles even though the empty symbol is flashing? I hope so.
Am I going to get to heaven? I hope so.
This my friends, is worldly hope—But this is not biblical hope. Biblical hope is not a possibility of something coming to pass. Biblical hope is not left wondering about whether or not something will happen. Biblical hope is a sure and steady confidence based on God’s unchanging promises. Biblical hope is a full assurance of faith, based on God’s Sovereignty, that what He has promised will most definitely come to pass.
Worldly hope is wishy, shaky, and unsure.
Biblical hope is sure, steady, and confident.
Theme
Born Again to a Living Hope
Need
We need to recognize that our hope is not fallible—that our hope is not shaky—that our hope does not depend on us—but that our hope depends on the sovereign grace and mercy of our Triune God who saves us, holds us, and guards us—biblical hope is biblical hope, only because salvation is entirely of the Lord. We need this kind of confidence—all of us.
Purpose
To fix our hearts on Christ, the fountain of hope; to warm our hearts with his Beauty, the delight of our hope; to strengthen our hearts in trials, which refines our hope; and to stir our hearts for the 2nd Coming, which is our hope.
Read Text:
1 Peter 1:3-12 ESV
PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY
(1) We are Born-Again to a Living, Perfect, and Secure Hope - v. 3-5.
(1) We are Born-Again to a Living, Perfect, and Secure Hope - v. 3-5.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Here we see the heart of the Apostle Peter breaking forth into praise. After talking about the electing love of the Father, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, and the redeeming work of the Son—he cannot but break forth into praise and blessing.
Peter blessed the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—He gives praise, thanksgiving, adoration, glory, honour, and majesty to God the Father because of who He is, and because of what He has done. But notice that He intimately connects this blessing with God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—no—our Lord Jesus Christ!.
Jesus Christ is ours—He is ours, and we are His—He is our Lord and Saviour, we are His people—He is our Mediator, we are His children—He is our delight, and we are his joy.
Oh to sing: “blessed assurance, Jesus is mine—oh what a foretaste of glory divine!”
Oh beloved, can you say this morning with true faith: “I am loved and chosen by God my Father, and I belong to Jesus Christ his Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit—Jesus is my Saviour, and I am trusting in Him alone for eternal life”. Can you say this? Then let’s continue meditating on God’s grace together:
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,
God the Father has great, glorious, and infinite mercy for his beloved saints—He showed this mercy by graciously and sovereign causing us to be born again to a living hope!
What does it mean to be born again? It means to receive a new nature from the Holy Spirit who grants new life, who grants a renewed mind, heart, and will—who gifts faith, repentance, hope, and love—it is to be made a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Notice that our being born again is not caused by us, it is not caused by faith—no—it is caused by God and brings the fruit of faith, hope and love. This is precisely what the Spirit means through the Apostle John who wrote that we: John 1:13
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
This is precisely what Jesus means when he says that: John 3:3
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
God the Father, for all those whom he has chosen as elect exiles, in due time, will mercifully cause them to be born-again as they heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ—He will blow through the pews and make new creatures in Christ, as Elder John says, and God gets all the glory and all the praise because it is accordingly to his great mercy and great power that He causes us to be born again to a living hope. And how?
Peter says it was through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is the resurrection power and life and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ that flows into our souls by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings the resurrection life of Jesus to all those for whom He died—and the Father uses this to bring all his sheep to himself.
When the Father gives new life according to his mercy, by the Holy Spirit, then our eyes are opened, our heart is set free, and our will is unchained so that we freely and delightfully and irresistibly run to Jesus for salvation and eternal life.
Have you been born again? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ? If so, then hear the sweet promises of God to your soul! If you are God’s child by His sovereign grace, then listen to what He has in store for you:
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
What is the reason why God the Father causes us to be born again by the Holy Spirit? So that we would receive the promised eternal inheritance! Wow! God not only causes us to be born again, but He causes us to have an eternal reward to look forward to! This is our living Hope, that we will be with Jesus and his Church for all eternity, in the new heavens and new earth. This is our inheritance—everlasting life in the presence of our everlasting King!
This is fascinating, because the word inheritance referred to the land of Canaan in the Old Testament. The land of promise was the inheritance of God’s people—but as the Book of Hebrews says, even Abraham was looking past the land of promise to the true and eternal inheritance: Heb. 11:10
For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
The Book of Hebrews literally says that the physical temple and priesthood, and the physical land and inheritance, that they: Heb. 8:5-6
They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
The new covenant is the fulfillment, the substance, the goal, the end, the purpose, the final destination. The old covenant was a shadow of the good things to come—and here Peter is telling us that the true and everlasting inheritance is in heaven, in the new creation, which he elsewhere says: 2 Peter 3:13
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Schreiner says:
Peter understands the inheritance, however, no longer in terms of a land promised to Israel but in terms of the end-time hope that lies before believers. This hope is still physical, for we learn from 2 Peter that it will be realized in a new heaven and new earth (2 Pet 3:13; cf. Rev 21:1–22:5).
In Christ, the final goal of the the land promise, was that all those who share the faith of Abraham, those who are spiritual children of Abraham, that they would inherit the entire world. This is Paul’s point in Romans 4:13—That Abraham and his true children would inherit the world. This is not replacement theology—this is fulfillment theology! This is letting the New Testament give us the final interpretation of the OT. This is seeing how all the promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus our Lord—that He was the focus of all the promises, and that He brings the ultimate goal of all such promises.
This is our inheritance, beloved, the entire cosmos when Jesus Christ returns! Oh that we would long for this blessed hope of the fullness of the Kingdom of God when our King Jesus returns to reign and rule from earth forever and ever.
And what does Peter say about this true and everlasting inheritance? It is imperishable (cannot cease to be), it is undefiled (cannot be corrupted), and it is unfading (cannot be lessened in beauty and splendour). This is our eternal inheritance for all of God’s people, all those who belong to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by the sovereign grace of God. Peter says that it is kept in heaven for us!
That is something to look forward to, isn’t it? This promise motivates us through all of our trials in life—that we have an eternal and perfect inheritance in heaven.
But, can it be lost? Is it possible that God would cause us to be born again and then would cause us to be un-born again? Is it possible that God who sovereignly saved us would sovereignly remove our salvation that He gave as a gift? Is God stingy? Are the gifts and callings of God revocable? Will God go back on his Word and Promise?
No. It is held by the hand of Jesus our Gracious Lord who is King of kings and interceding for us in heaven! Jude says that we are kept by God, and here Peter says that our inheritance is kept by God. Oh dear believer, that your heart would rejoice that your eternal life is kept in heaven for you.
It is kept for you through the high and low, through the good and bad, through the thick and thin—nothing can separate you from the love of God and the inheritance that he has for you as his dear elected child, by grace alone! You can rest secure, and then serve Him without fear for all of your days. If your salvation could be lost then you wouldn’t be able to serve God without fear, since you would be trembling day in and day out wondering if you might sin to badly to lose God’s grace—but Jesus is no weak Saviour, He is strong and mighty, He is faithful and true, and no one and no thing can snatch you from His loving and gracious hand. You are his, dear Christian, and He will hold you fast. Believe the Gospel, and believe that God is able and willing to keep you and your inheritance—this is His desire for all of his dear children—to rest in His infinite and gracious power to all who believe.
Peter continues:
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Why is our eternal inheritance secure? Because salvation belongs to the Lord, from beginning to end. We are being guarded by God’s power! God’s infinite, almighty, unchanging power! Nothing is to hard for God, beloved! It is not a difficult thing for God to cause you to be born again, hold you fast, and bring you home. No, this is light-work for the infinite and eternal God—but it’s also his heart-work.
He loves and delights and rejoices in his people and in bringing them home to their eternal inheritance. His greatest joy is in saving his people, uniting them to Jesus, making them his children, and lavishing his eternal bounty and riches upon them. One scholar says:
God’s power protects us because his power is the means by which our faith is sustained. Faith and hope are ultimately gifts of God, and he fortifies believers so that they persist in faith and hope until the day that they obtain their [eternal] inheritance.
Faith is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8), God graciously gives us faith as he draws us and causes us to be born again—and He guards us through faith. Faith is what we do, we trust in Jesus—but the reason why we trust in Jesus is because God gives and guards the very faith we exercise.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
God started our salvation, God preserves our salvation, and God will perfect our salvation. We are not passive in this—we are actively pursuing Jesus and obeying Him and delighting in Him—but we know that we are, and that we will, because God is behind every ounce of our faith (giving, sustaining, and perfecting it).
Peter says that this salvation is secure, because it is being guarded by God through faith. And when Jesus returns, we will enter into the joy of our Master—we will enter into the eternal life that was promised to us, in Christ, before the ages even began.
As Born-Again Christians, we can know that our salvation is secure because our God is faithful to all of his promises—and for his chosen ones—God the Father promised your salvation in God the Son—and God who never lies will ensure that His promise to you is safe and secure as He guards you all the way home to glory—for his gifts and callings are irrevocable! Amen?
(1) We are born again to a living, perfect, and secure hope.
Let’s look at our second point for this morning:
(2) We are Grieved, Tested, Refined, and Preserved by Fire - v. 6-7.
(2) We are Grieved, Tested, Refined, and Preserved by Fire - v. 6-7.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
Peter says that we rejoice in these truths! Believer—are you rejoicing in God’s sovereign grace that is kept for you? Let the delight of your heart be found in the unshakeable promises of your God. This joy goes no deeper—for it is founded on the eternal love, power, and grace of God to our souls in Christ. We rejoice because for all eternity God has chosen us, sent Jesus to save us, sent the Spirit to hold us, and promises that we are safe in His hands—how can we not rejoice!?
But this rejoicing is not divorced from trials in this life. Peter says that if it is necessary, that we are grieved by various trials. This is interesting. Peter says that our trials are necessary—not by fate—but by the sovereign plan of our God. Our trials and hardships and are the will of God for us. He says this in 1 Peter 4:19
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Peter knew that nothing comes to pass apart from the will of His God and Father—not even a single hair from his head could fall apart from the Father. Peter knew that suffering and trials and persecution was not something God merely allowed to happen—but something that God plans to happen to us, for his good purposes in our lives. He turns to an analogy to help us to grasp this difficult concept. Why does God brings necessary trials into our lives?
7 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.
Trials have a way of refining, don’t they. Peter is using the analogy of refining gold in fire. When gold is put in fire, all of its impurities are revealed and removed. You might not see the impurities until the gold get’s under the flame—but the flame reveals them, and removes them. This is the important principle: The impurities of gold won’t be removed unless fire is brought upon them. In a similar way, our baggage of sin and impurity won’t be left behind or killed unless trials come into our lives.
God sends trials in order to purify us—God brings the fiery afflictions upon us in order to make us more like Jesus. Our suffering is not in vain, beloved, it is the hand of our gracious God to make us more like his Son, by the Spirit.
But there’s another powerful effect of such fire. When trials come, they purify believers, but they can scare away false-converts. Jesus taught us this in the Parable of the Sower, didn’t he?
The one seed that is sown on rocky ground proves to be bad soil and unfruitful because of persecution. Mark 4:16-17
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
Trials reveal our true nature within. Trials prove that our faith is either genuine and from God the Spirit, or that we are merely professing faith without possessing faith. This is what James says about false-false—faith without works is dead. Dead faith is merely intellectual and does not include a genuine trust in Jesus Christ and a genuine love for Jesus Christ.
Peter says that these trials have come so that the tested genuineness of your faith, that it may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.
What trials are in your life? What hardships are present in your midst?
Maybe it’s health problems (many of us here have ongoing health challenges that just seem to weigh us down day-by-day).
Maybe it’s financial problems (Many of us here might struggle to make ends meet and could be tempted to steal or abuse our tax returns).
Maybe it’s marital problems (I’m sure that no one here has a perfect marriage—maybe your seriously struggling as a couple and aren’t enjoying a sense of unity and love like before?).
Maybe it’s family problems (the roles of leadership and submission aren’t very smooth—kids aren’t obeying like they should).
Maybe it’s inward sin-problems (you just can’t seem to get the victory over this recurring temptation and burden).
Maybe it’s mental health problems (your just always down and depressed and don’t feel the joy that you know you should).
Why does God bring such trials into our lives? To prove that our faith is genuine, to purify us from our sin, and to preserve us for the 2nd coming of Christ.
Here’s the question we must ask ourselves—are we pressing on through these trials with our eyes fixed on Jesus? Or have our trials caused us to turn our back on Jesus?
If you find yourself pressing on in repentance and faith—and maybe that needs to happen right now for some of you—but as you find yourself pressing on, the Lord is saying through this text—see, that one is mine, his or her precious faith is being shown to be genuine, he or she is running the race with their eyes fixed on the prize, and he or she is not denying Jesus my Son who I sent to save them.
Those who endure to the end will be saved—because those who endure to the end are guarded by God’s power through faith, by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Schreiner again says:
Perseverance in suffering reveals the authenticity of faith and brings a great reward. Sufferings test the genuineness of faith, revealing whether faith is authentic. Genuine faith leads to faithfulness. Those who truly believe will persist in their faith, continuing to trust in God when difficulties occur.
We persevere—because God preserves His saints—and God brings trials into our lives to prove our faith to be genuine. So don’t let your trials take you to where Satan wants you—bitterness and anger toward God—when trials arise ask God to refine you, give you the strength you need, and to make you more like Jesus as you press on by faith.
(2) We are Grieved, Tested, Refined, and Preserved by Fire.
Let’s look at the third point for this morning.
(3) We have a Genuine Delight, Faith, Joy, and Salvation - v. 8-9.
(3) We have a Genuine Delight, Faith, Joy, and Salvation - v. 8-9.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him.
Through all the trials of our lives, no matter what may come, for those who are truly born-again, they can say—Lord Jesus, though I do not see you with my eyes, I see you and trust in you from Holy Scripture, and I know you are in heaven and coming again, and thus—I love you, delight in you, and enjoy you as my Lord and my God.
Yes this level of love might wax and wane—it might rise and fall—but the true believer is never for a single moment without an ounce of love for Jesus Christ. By the fruit of the Spirit, he has love for his Saviour, even if it is ever weak.
Paul writes this in 1 Cor. 1:22
If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!
If you do not love Jesus, then you do not know Jesus—because to know Jesus is to trust in Him, to know Jesus is to treasure Him, to know Jesus is to hope in Him, to know Jesus is to delight in Him, and to know Jesus is to enjoy Him. Examine your heart this morning and ask: do I love Jesus with a sincere heart?
If you can answer yes to this than Peter wants you to know: that your faith is proven genuine, and your calling and election is made sure.
Though you do not now see him, you believe in him
Through all the trials and hardships of our lives, for those who are truly born again—they are casting their faith on Christ alone for their only hope of eternal salvation. They are not looking 99% to Jesus and 1% to us—because if our salvation depends upon us even by 1% then we would be lost—give me Jesus or I die—give me Jesus alone and His sufficient blood to wash away my sins and bring me home!
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Are you trusting in Jesus Christ alone? Not Jesus + Mary, not Jesus and allah, not the biblical Jesus and the mormon Jesus, not the biblical Jesus and the jehovah’s witness Jesus—are you trusting in Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, true God and true man, are you believing in Him alone for salvation and eternal life?
If you can answer yes to this than Peter wants you to know: that your faith is proven genuine, and your calling and election is made sure.
and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
Through all of the trials of life and all of the hardships, those who are God’s people are never void of a true joy in Jesus Christ—yes it will be shaken at times—but such rejoicing and joy will be revived as the true Christian looks to the Cross of Calvary and sees Jesus who bled for their salvation—as you fill your mind and heart with the promises of God, then the Holy Spirit will produce joy—your weary heart will rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Christian joy is not fleeting happiness—it is a deep-seated and inexpressible happiness in their God and Saviour who has loved us and given himself for us!
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Are you a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Do you have peace in Jesus, and joy in the Holy Spirit? Do you rejoice in the Gospel with a deep joy that cannot be explained by words?
If you can answer yes to this than Peter wants you to know: that your faith is proven genuine, and your calling and election is made sure.
Do you find Jesus altogether lovely? Do you find him glorious, distinguished above all? Do you find great delight in Him? Do you find his love better than wine? Do you find his beauty and glory as supreme and preeminent? Then you can know for certain that you are:
9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
For those who are born again—with true faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ—they can know for certain that the outcome of their faith will come to pass: they will, by the sovereign grace of their God, receive the salvation of their souls—resurrection and eternal life—pleasures forevermore at the right hand of God—an eternal delight of eternal glory in the presence of our eternal God—free from sin, free from pain, free from disagreements, free from division, free from suffering, free from death, free from sickness, free from the Devil.
On that day—we will be free indeed. And by the grace of God we can, today, know for certain that this is our eternal home if we are born again believers who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Oh that God would grant us all the “full assurance of faith and hope” that the author of Hebrews delights in—that we would not prove ourselves to be false as we fall away or coast through life—but that our faith and salvation would be proven genuine by the Holy Spirit, and that we would cry out: Abba, Father—knowing that God is for us, and nothing can change that, not even out own weakness and frailty.
(3) We have a Genuine Delight, Faith, Joy, and Salvation
This leads us briefly to our fourth point:
(4) We know the Christ Predicted and the Christ Announced - v. 10-12
(4) We know the Christ Predicted and the Christ Announced - v. 10-12
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
Here Peter is reminding these suffering believers that the object of their faith, Jesus, and the object of their delight, Jesus, is the very center of all of Holy Scripture. Jesus and his Bride, the Church, have been the Plan A from before the foundation of the world—and the Gospel is not new, it is not novel, it is the central theme of all of the prophets of old, who, by the Holy Spirit, prophesied about the coming Christ and his Church and the New Creation Hope of Glory.
The prophets focused on the sufferings and glories of Christ—and just as Christ suffered first before entering glory, so too must we suffer first before we enter glory. The Christ we believe in is the Christ predicted in the OT—but more than that:
12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
Not only were the OT prophets serving the church, but their prophecies came to their ultimate goal by the preachers of the NT who, in the power of the Holy Spirit, preach to you the good news of Jesus Christ—the true prophet, priest, and king—the true Messiah—the true temple and the true tabernacle. We preach to you Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and how his life, death, and resurrection on our behalf and for our salvation is the center of all of Scripture—and how He is our only hope in life and death. This is the Good News that we preach to you, the very things that the Holy Spirit prophesied and promised in the Old and New Testaments.
We preach to you the very things that the Angels long to look into. These angels are stooping down to gaze into the beauty and mystery of Christ and his Church—how the mystery of the church and the new covenant as the goal of Scripture was hidden but is now fully revealed by the Spirit. This is how Paul puts it: Eph. 4:4-6
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Do you see? Do you see why the Angels would long to look into the mysteries and beauties of Christ and the Church? This is the unsearchable riches of Christ and His Gospel—that by his grace, the eternal purpose of the new covenant might be made known—that Jesus would brings Jews and Gentiles into one new body, the church, the true Israel—the one olive tree—that Gentiles from all nations would share in the commonwealth of Israel and become children of Abraham by Faith (Rom 4:9-12; Gal. 3:23-29; Phil. 3:3; Rev. 21:9-14).
Do you delight in such things like the Angels of God? Does that make your heart rejoice? That God the Father would extend his salvation to the ends of the earth, to believing Jews and Gentiles? That Jews and Gentiles would be saved into one new man, in one new covenant, and made one new creation as the church of the living God!
Our Christ Jesus was predicted in the OT and Announced in the NT, and the beauty and glory of His Gospel and New Covenant should capture our hearts just like the Angels of God in heaven—and this should fuel our tanks as we continue to press onward, through sufferings, to our eternal inheritance in heaven, the full and final salvation of our souls.
(4) We know the Christ Predicted and the Christ Announced.
This leads to our conclusion:
(C) The Living God gifts us Living Hope and Living Delight in our Living Christ.
(C) The Living God gifts us Living Hope and Living Delight in our Living Christ.
And as long as Jesus is alive, which is forever, for it is impossible for him to die—as long as He lives, our Hope remains a living Hope—for our Hope is Jesus Christ Himself!
Worldly hope is wishy, shaky, and unsure.
Biblical hope is sure, steady, and confident.
My prayer for you all is that you would enjoy this eternal hope, with eternal assurance, in the sovereign grace of our Triune God—and as we meditate on Jesus during this Passion Week of our King Jesus, that we would find our souls warmed, convicted, comforted, and encouraged by the sovereign grace and love of our Triune God.
(C) The Living God gifts us Living Hope and Living Delight in our Living Christ.
(C) The Living God gifts us Living Hope and Living Delight in our Living Christ.
Amen, let’s pray.