Can't Give Up Now

Introduction

Illustration: “Iron” Mike Tyson

Prize fighter “Iron" Mike Tyson. was hailed as a knockout artist, knocking out his opponents in the first few minutes of the fight. He held the title as the Heavyweight Champion, but we really didn't know what he was made of until when he began taking some hard punches, and was even knocked down. We began to see just who he really was. He began fighting dirty, biting the ears off his opponents. Only after being knocked down did we see the man he really was. Being on "top" doesn't always reveal who we really are. It’s only after taking some "punches" and even getting knocked down by life's circumstances that we are able to see who we really are. What is really on the inside often surfaces in times of hardship.

Bring into view the audience’s issues of feeling exiled during this pandemic

Illustration: Timothy Keller in his new book:

Hope In Times Of Fear: The Resurrection And The Meaning Of Easter....

Personal Hope- Hope for you

Hope for relationships

Hope for justice

Hope in the face of suffering

Hope for the future

Transition To Body

1 Peter 1:1 ESV

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Today in the book of 1st Peter we find God’s chosen people facing hard times while scattered to the four corners of the world...

Yet Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit does not announce himself as one of the original 12 disciples nor as a member of Jesus’ inner circle who traveled with Jesus to see his private healings, went with him up in the mountain and saw Jesus transfigured, or witnessed Jesus sweating drops of blood as he prayed

Naw, Peter announces himself as an Apostle of Jesus Christ- messenger of Jesus the anointed one, Jesus the messiah-

I have a message from heaven for you- you Can’t Give Up Now

Instead, put the message of the cross and Jesus Christ’s resurrection not in your rear-view mirror and in the past tense but you’re gonna need to keep it front and center , right on the front windshield of your life as you walk by faith and not by sight

But first Peter says I need to first bring to your attention importance of the Trinity

1 Peter 1:2 ESV

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Elect Exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

Illustration: the process of electing leaders in this country. Elections say more about the one doing the choosing than the one who is selected

elect- select of a higher grade

foreknowledge- knowledge of things or events before they exist or happen

predetermination of God’s omniscient wisdom & intention

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Romans 8:28–29 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

In the Sanctification of the Spirit

For Obedience to Jesus Christ

For sprinkling with his blood

May grace and peace be multiplied to you

Pandemic, pandemonium, panic

Epicureans

Epicureanism argued that pleasure was the chief good in life. Epicurus actively recommended against passionate love, and believed it best to avoid marriage altogether.

Nominalism

The other version specifically denies the existence of abstract objects – objects that do not exist in space and time.

Body- Blessed (Good, praised) Be God & Father of our LORD Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:3 ESV

3 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 from the dead,

Jesus’ Resurrection Reveals God’s Charity

According to His Great mercy

Mercy- compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

an event to be grateful for, especially because its occurrence prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering.

Jesus’ Resurrection Rebirths Holy Humanity

He has caused us to be born again

Illustration: Rebooting Windows 10 every morning in order to clear out corrupted memory

Jesus’ Resurrection Reimagines Faith’s Reality

To a living hope

Discuss the inheritance

Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Discuss never seen Him, you love Him

Genuine faith determined through trials & tribulations

You do not now see Him, you believe in Him & rejoice with inexpressible joy & filled with glory

Why? Obtaining the outcome of your faith- the salvation of your souls

Jesus’ Resurrection Defies Life’s Finality

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Psalm 121:1–8 ESV

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Transition To Close- Don’t Forget about your receipt

Closing Illustration:

WHEN people go shopping and pay for something, they get a receipt. That receipt validates that they made a purchase. If there is ever a question or if anything ever goes wrong, the receipt proves that the payment was made in full. For Christians, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, the payment for their salvation was paid in full on Friday night when Jesus was crucified on the cross. Early on Sunday morning, the receipt was given. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our receipt. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s receipt for the payment of the death of Christ.

Jesus Paid It All For You and Me

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our receipt...

That’s why Peter could say:

He who called you is holy, so be holy...

1 Peter 1:15–16 ESV

15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:24–25 ESV

24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Taste and See

1 Peter 2:2–3 ESV

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

You come to him

1 Peter 2:4–5 ESV

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The stone the builder’s rejected

1 Peter 2:7–8 ESV

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

You have been chosen!

You are royalty!

Proclaim the excellencies of Jesus!

Brought out of darkness into his marvelous light!

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

In your hearts honor Christ the LORD as holy- prepared to make a defense

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

1 Peter 3:18 ESV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Above all, keep loving one another

1 Peter 4:8 ESV

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

And when the Chief Shepherd returns

1 Peter 5:4 ESV

4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Jesus said- It is finished!

John 19:28–30 ESV

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Concerning though you have never seen him, you now have not seen him

Illustration: At the Cross Where I First Saw the Light

Alas, and did my Savior bleed?

  And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

  For such a worm as I?

At the cross, at the cross where

  I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away,

It was there by faith I received my sight,

  And now I am happy all the day!

Was it for sins that I had done

  He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! grace unknown!

  And love beyond degree!

Illustration: Can’t Give Up Now by Mary Mary

There will be mountains

That I will have to climb

And there will be battles

That I will have to fight

But victory or defeat

It's up to me to decide

But how can I expect to win

If I never try

I just can't give up now

I've come too far from where

I started from

Nobody told me

The road would be easy

And I don't believe He's brought me this far

To leave me

Never said there wouldn't be trials

Never said I wouldn't fall

Never said that everything would go

The way I want it to go

But when my back is against the wall

And I feel all hope is gone

I'll just lift my head up to the sky

And say help me to be strong, oh

I just can't give up now

I've come too far from where

I started from

Nobody told me

The road would be easy

And I don't believe He's brought me this far

To leave me

Close

Isaiah 53:4–6 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

1 Peter 2:24–25 ESV

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1 Peter 2:1–3 ESV

1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.