Sermon Tone Analysis

!!!!! ICC

!!!!! Pastor Alan Keiran

!!!!! August 5, 2007

!!!!! /Our Living Hope/

!!!!! 1 Peter 1:3-5

!!!!!  

Christians are the most fortunate citizens on planet Earth because God has selected us to spend eternity with Him in heaven.

Our inheritance is already prepared and our lives protected until the time we graduate from this life and enter our eternal reward.

Though we face difficulties, trials, sickness, misunderstanding, and many bumps in the road of life…we are destined for eternity and will one day reign with God on high.

That is our destiny and the devil cannot take it away.

Rev.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon calls this passage a string of fine pearls.

Those without spiritual discernment might see this precious string of spiritual truths as mere costume jewelry, something to be treated without regard for its enduring value…Those with discerning eyes and hearts will see that this passage contains treasure beyond value…of infinite worth.

These are the core teachings of our faith—the very promises of God himself.

* *

*Illustration:* As we look into God’s heart felt gifts…we must cherish them and value them as the most precious gifts anyone could ever hope to receive.

But not only should we live in an attitude of thanksgiving for these gifts, we must be willing to give them away to other needy souls for God calls us to share His love, hope, and salvation with the world.

A traveling man came into a hotel to secure a room for the night.

Upon being informed that every room in the building had been taken, he was naturally quite perturbed, until a portly gentleman standing nearby kindly offered to share his room with him.

The offer was thankfully accepted.

Upon retiring, the portly man knelt and prayed, tenderly mentioning his guest for the night in his petition.

In the morning his host informed him that it was his custom to read a portion of the Word of God and pray before taking up the responsibilities of the day.

The effect upon the man was moving; a strange feeling came over him; something had been working in his heart all the night.

When gently pressed by this stranger to accept the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior, his resistance went down in a heap.

A soul had been won for Christ!

But who is this humble ambassador of Christ, who so strikingly resembles a member of President Wilson's cabinet?

When business cards were exchanged before parting, to the guest's amazement he read, "William Jennings Bryan, Secretary of *State."

*

*1 Peter 1:3-5* “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

*1.  **Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! *

a.     Praise to God is what we offer in acknowledgement of God's excellent being.

You might think that praise is the same as saying "thank you," but there is a difference.

Thanksgiving describes our attitude toward what God has done, while praise is offered for who God is.

b.     P*salm 18:3 *says "I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise…" All believers are commanded to praise God!

In fact, *Isaiah 43:21* explains that praise is one reason we were created, "This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise."

c.     *Hebrews 13:15* confirms this: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name."[1]

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2.    *In His Great *(surpassing, infinite, limitless)

a.     *Mercy* (compassion):

                                                  i.

*He has given us* (caused us to experience, brought us into) *New Birth (a new life)*

                                                ii.

*James 1:16-18* “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.”

iii.

*John 3:1-7* “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.

He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God.

For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.’

In reply Jesus declared, *‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.*’

‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked.

‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!’

Jesus answered, ‘*I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.*

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.’”

b.     *Nicodemus case study*

                                                  i.

*John 7:45-52* “Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.

“You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted.

"Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?

No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them."

*Nicodemus*, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"

They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too?

Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."

ii.

*John 19:38-40* “Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.

Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.

With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away.

He was accompanied by *Nicodemus*, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night.

*Nicodemus* brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.

Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.”

iii.

*Dr.

Tozer tells us*, “There are two spirits abroad in the earth: the spirit that works in the children of disobedience and the Spirit of God.

These two can never be reconciled in time or in eternity.

The spirit that dwells in the once-born is forever opposed to the Spirit that inhabits the heart of the twice-born.”

1.      Without *spiritual rebirth* there is NO entry into the KOG.

We can’t buy our way in with good deeds.

Nor can we enter without giving our hearts to Jesus Christ.

Jesus brings us into His Kingdom and hr brings his kingdom into us.

2.    *Dr.

Miles Monroe tells us*, “God reigns as King and absolute Sovereign over all things in both the spiritual and physical realms.

After he created the earth with its varied plant and animal life, He created mankind to rule over the earthly domain.

God is King of the universe, and we are His ruling representatives in the physical realm.

The earth is our designated territory.

As God’s vice-regents in this world, /we are the Kingdom of God on earth/.

The Kingdom of God, therefore, is not the earth itself, but the ones chosen to function as His rulers in the earthly domain.

This planet is not the Kingdom of God; God’s Kingdom is /us/ carrying out His dominion on this planet.

God’s Kingdom is manifest in His people rather that in a particular place.[i]

c.     *We’ve Been Born Again Into a Living Hope* (not a dead life of religious duty, but a dynamic never ending relationship with God Almighty.

That’s a bit hard for an finite mind to grasp, but it is nonetheless absolutely true.

i.

NT word "hope" might better be translated as "utter certainty" (of something yet in the future)

                                               ii.

*1 **Timothy 4:9-10* “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that *we have put our hope in the living God*, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”

                                             iii.

Let me contrast our living God with the dead gods of our world today—Remember that idols or gods (with a small “g”) are anything people hold more dear than God…Money, fame, power, pleasure, celebrities…anything that is more important to someone than God is can be a “dead” idol because it can’t give salvation or eternal life to us as the Living God does.

All worldly idols actually do is temporarily relieve the ache people have to know why they are alive.

iv.

God is never jealous of our love for life, hard work, relationships, fortunes, hobbies—it He is always first in our lives—that is because he is not only jealous of our idols—He is so in love with us that he doesn’t want us to rob ourselves of our birthright by letting the things that are temporal take on more importance than eternal and lasting things.

v.

We cannot add anything to what Jesus has done for us on the cross, not should we value anything more than the One who died to set us free from sin and bring us eternal life.

vi.