Sermon for April 26, 2020

Good morning everyone,,, watching by video.

Hopefully we will be able to have services again soon.

Even if it's from outside it will be better than by video I'm sure.

Before I begin with my sermon,,, I wanted to begin this morning with an opening prayer and lead into the Lord's prayer like we usually begin our worship service. That way if you like,,, you can join me in saying the Lord's prayer.

Invocation and Lord's prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for your continued presence among us today and every day. I thank you for those that are listening and watching by video. I ask for continued guidance for them and others. So we ask for healing for all of those that are sick this morning,,, we ask for safety and guidance for our healthcare workers and all others that must work during this time. Lord,,, I pray for all of those that are still working on clearing storm damage and helping others. We ask for comfort and rest for each of them.

We ask these things in Jesus's name who taught us to pray, by saying:

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever.

Amen.

This morning I'll be reading 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 17 through 23.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

1 Peter 1:17-23

As I told you last week,,, Peter is writing to new Christians that are going to face persecution to encourage them to hold on to their faith. And,,, those who read 1 Peter today,,, are encouraged to lift their eyes from present problems and trials and look to the future. The verses that we read this morning are talking about the price that was paid for our Salvation and if we truly take the time and understand the price that was paid,,, then our love for God will be greater also.

1 Peter 1:17-23

17 And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence. 18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again —not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of 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 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.

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After the tornado's came through here Sunday before last,,, we spent last Sunday's sermon talking about the reason's why we can have joy in our hearts even while we are going through trials.

We have seen the tremendous amount of love and support that has been visible ever since that day.

That love and support has done a lot for our community and it helped those with damage to see that unselfish love shared with them.

That also helps us to see and understand just a little better,,, of God's love for us.

In these verses,,, Peter is talking about the price that was paid for that love and how precious to us that should be.

Hopefully we can look at these verses this morning and they will help us to see God's love clearer than before.

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In verse 17 it says: 17 And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says

The high cost of salvation,,, which was Jesus' precious blood,,, calls for believers to live in "reverent fear" before God.

Holy living is motivated,,, by a God-fearing faith which does not take lightly what was purchased at so great a cost.

The right to call God Father leads to us obeying Him in reverent fear.

Which leads us to the question,,, what is "reverent fear"?

Reverent fear is hard to explain in just a few words.

A lot of times it's simplified as a feeling of respect and adoration,,, but the word fear is used way too many times for it to be taken lightly.

And,,, at the same time,,, it's hard to see how God is "love" when we are told to fear Him too!

Of course,,, God isn't like a tyrant or a dictator waiting to take your head off.

We don't have to fear God unless we are dealing with a guilty conscience from sin in our life.

To fear God is absolute reverence and an unbelievable adoration for an Almighty God, the Creator of all things.

In the Bible we get a few glimpses into heaven, and we see the heavenly creatures worship Him around His throne continually, crying out “Holy, holy, holy!” and covering their faces.

This Almighty God has called me by name to serve Him, and He is working in me so that I can be saved to be with Him for eternity,,, and He is calling you as well!

The wonder and joy that is in my heart because of this is indescribable,,, and again,,, it should be the same for you!

This causes us to fear to sin against Him,,, because we want nothing else in this world than to be pleasing to Him,,, and to bring honor to His name.

We fear to cause Him sorrow or grief, knowing how incredibly terrible sin is, how much God hates it, and how much it hurts Him when we sin.

Also,,, if we lived each day like God was watching over our shoulder,,, (which we tend to forget that He does know everything),,, how much different would we live our life every day?

You see,,, if we don’t fear God, we don't take sin seriously enough.

The consequences of sin are enormous.

At the same time,,, we have people today who don't think anything about sin because they believe that God is "love".

We as pastors,,, have forgotten it seems,,, to tell them that God is also "just"!

They forget that the same Jesus that loved everyone,,, also told sinners to,,, "go and sin no more"!

They forget that Jesus said that "you'll recognize them by their fruit." "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Found in Matthew 7:20-21

Those who do not fear God will have little or no sense of his presence and protection.

But,,, those who fear God and obey his Word,,, will experience a deep sense of spiritual security and the anointing or empowering of the Holy Spirit.

It's this type of fear that allows us to survive during our temporary residence here on earth,,, because our time here is short,,, but for Christians,,, our eternal home awaits in heaven.

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Verse 18 says: 18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold,

John Wesley said that in this verse,,, when Peter writes "that you were redeemed",,, he uses a word meaning “to set free by payment of a ransom.”

The ransom price paid for all men’s liberation from captivity or death is contrasted with silver and gold, the most precious metals commonly paid for human ransoms.

Slaves could save money they earned,,, and use it to buy their own freedom,,, “But while silver and gold could purchase that slaves freedom,,, it would never help you to buy your way out of sin.”

That's why silver and gold were considered perishable,,, they were worthless when it came to paying for this.

But verse 19 continues this sentence,,, and tells what was paid to redeem us from the effects of sin.

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Verse 19 says: 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

In writing of the precious blood, as of a lamb without defect or blemish, it brings to mind the Suffering Servant found in Isaiah chapter 53 and the Passover Lamb “without blemish” of Exodus chapter 12 verse 5.

“What we are redeemed from is something grim—the complete destruction of our souls from sin.

What we are redeemed by is something glorious—the atoning blood of our Savior,,, Jesus Christ.”

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Verses 20 and 21 say: 20 He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

This payment for sin was planned before the creation of the world and revealed for our sake,,, through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

In Wesley's Commentary he says: In Christianity’s plan there is “the unfolding before men of the eternal counsel of God.”

Barclay also said: “Here we have … a God who was Redeemer before He was Creator.… He is Redeemer as eternally as He is Creator.”

And he also adds a further glorious thought about the scope of this redemption,,, which is that the effects “are eternal; they are not limited to those people who saw our Lord, nor confined to one country or race; they are for all mankind, always and everywhere ‘for your sake.’ ”

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Verse 22 says: 22 By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

In this verse,,, Peter is reminding us that the earlier law of purification that the Jews used,,, only dealt with external matters,,, whereas the purification that Jesus Christ offers includes the whole person.

My Faithlife Study Bible says: "The soul of a Christian is purified through acceptance of God’s truth, as manifest in Jesus, and rejecting their former way of life" found in 1 Pet 1:18.

Once we accept Christ as our Savior,,, then we can truly,,, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

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Verse 23 says: 23 since you have been born again —not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.

According to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, Peter gives us an illustration of the difference between the perishable and the imperishable.

Peter quotes from Isaiah 40:8 where it says: The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”

There is a story to the effect that Martin Luther was once asked if he felt that his sins were forgiven and to that question he gave this response:

No, but I’m as sure as

There’s a God in heaven;

For, feelings come and feelings go,

Feelings are deceiving;

I’m trusting in God’s word,

Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned

For want of some sweet token,

There is One greater than my heart,

Whose word cannot be broken.

I’ll trust in His unfailing word

Till soul and body sever.

For though all else should pass away,

His word abides forever.

You see,,, God's word never changes.

It's always the same,,, Gods word stands forever!

(14:22)

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That makes all of this so incredible for us.

We know from history that God's word is true and it doesn't waver or change.

That is one of the reasons that we can have this indescribable joy even when we are going through hard times because of this fact!

If you add in the account that a lot of the times we don't deserve God's faithfulness,,, that makes it even more amazing!

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In these verses,,, Peter is trying to make it plain that we have received a gift that we could never pay for.

This was the only way to erase the effects of sin even though it was so hard for Jesus to go through.

That's why we cannot escape from sins grips on our own.

We cannot buy our way out with silver or gold and we can not do anything on our own either.

It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that this was possible.

That's what makes this so special and so powerful because for us it is free,,, but for Jesus Christ,,, it cost Him everything!

(15:25)

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I believe that if nothing else,,, this coronavirus scare has made us aware of how important our "essential workers" are to this country!

Movie stars,,, athletes,,, singers,,, all of the people that make millions of dollars,,, are sitting at home while the "essential workers" are taking care of this country.

They are putting their lives on the line today for all of us to see.

They did this before but we didn't recognize that fact.

Today we can see that this is true,,, and they should be thanked by us every chance that we get.

We take them for granted,,, just like we take so much for granted when it comes to what Jesus did for us also!

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Maybe God is trying to tell us to be thankful for what we truly have in our life,,, and it's not found in material things but eternal things.

Matthew 6:20 says: But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal.

We are beginning to see that the really important things are the number of things that money can not buy,,, like family,,, friends,,, neighbors,,, people looking out for one another,,, those type of things.

And of course we have the most important thing of all,,, and the most costly thing of all,,, the atoning blood of our Savior Jesus Christ,,, who gave His all,,, so that we could spend eternity with Him,,, forever!

(16:54)

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