September 16, 2018
Evening Service

To begin our study of I Peter we reviewed some of the events in Peter’s life that made him who he was.  He was a fisherman by trade, but his life was forever changed once he met Jesus.  We reviewed some of the highs and lows that Peter endured that helped to mold him into the man he was.  One of the greatest attributes that he displayed was that when he had a time of failure, he did not stay there but was able to dust himself off and keep going.  It is an encouragement for me to rise above my failures and continue my journey with Jesus as well.  This letter was written to the persecuted church that had been dispersed throughout the world.  After a short greeting Peter offered them hope for the future that we looked at this morning.

 1 Peter 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  (4)  to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you

·        Our “living hope” is the promise of eternal life given to us through the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.  Death was defeated, our sins forgiven and our reservation for heaven was confirmed.  That inheritance will never change.  It is set in stone because Jesus has promised it.

 

1 Peter 1:5-7  by the power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;  (6)  in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold temptations;  (7)  so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

·        It is through the power of God that we will be kept through faith until the end.  There will be trials and tribulation to be endured, but we can rejoice knowing in the end we will win.  Our reward (inheritance) will always be there for us and that should be our focus during the hard times.

·        Peter here compares our trials, hardship, and suffering to the refining of gold by fire.  Through intense heat the impurities of this precious metal are driven out leaving only what is pure and undefiled.  So are our lives that are refined by the trying of our faith.  The impurity of sin and selfishness are driven from us leaving our faith pure and undefiled.  It is a faith like that, proven by hardships, which brings “praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

·        The question then has to be asked; why are we subjecting ourselves to such an intense lifetime process as this?  Because we, like Peter, love our Lord and Savior and count it joy to suffer for His sake.

 

 1 Peter 1:8-9  whom having not seen, you love; in whom not yet seeing, but believing in Him you rejoice with unspeakable joy, and having been glorified,  (9)  obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

·        This is the basis for our “living hope” that we love our Lord and believe in Him.  We are able to rejoice with “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”  Paul said almost the exact same thing to the Roman church

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed in us.

·        When our perspective is focused on the eternal and not on the present we can endure our present suffering knowing that it is but for a short time and our reward awaits us at the end.  The short term pain of our suffering will not compare with the eternal joy, peace, and contentment that await us in heaven.  Look at the attitude Peter and the other apostles displayed after they were persecuted by the Jewish council for preaching in the Name of Jesus in the Book of Acts.

Acts 5:40-42  And they obeyed him. And calling the apostles, beating them, they commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.  (41)  Then indeed they departed from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.  (42)  And every day in the temple, and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching the gospel: Jesus Christ.

·        They rejoiced to be found worthy of suffering in His Name.  That is being a doer of the Word and not a hearer only; counting it all joy when we fall into various trials.  Just exactly what we learned from the letter from James.  They were not discouraged by the suffering, but motivated by it.

·        Peter now shows us how fortunate that we are to be living in this dispensation of knowing the risen Savior unlike the many prophets of the OT.

 

1 Peter 1:10-12  About which salvation the prophets sought out and searched out, prophesying concerning the grace for you;  (11)  searching for what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ made clear within them, testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow.  (12)  To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, they ministered the things which are now reported to you by those who have preached the gospel to you in the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

·        The OT prophets preached the same message, but it was a message of the future coming Messiah not knowing when He would come.  We however have the first hand eye witness accounts of those who walked with the Messiah and now enjoy the revelation given to us through the Holy Spirit.  Jesus was and is our Savior.  Salvation is not something of the future but is here and now in the present.  We have been so blessed to have this revealed to our generation.  But what do we do with it?

 

1 Peter 1:13-16  Therefore girding up the loins of your mind, being sober, rest your hope fully upon the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,  (14)  as obedient children, not conforming yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance,  (15)  but according to the Holy One who has called you, you also become holy in all conduct,  (16)  because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

·        We now as obedient children of a Holy God need to experience a change in our lives.  Peter calls us to a walk of holiness in all our conduct.  He is calling us to strive for a life of perfection because our Father in heaven is perfect and we should try to imitate Him.  He is calling us to a life that is totally devoted and dedicated to our Lord and Savior.  We are to set ourselves aside for His use no longer conforming to our former ways of sin.

·        There lies the change in our lives.  God’s ways are not man’s ways.  Our focus, priorities and perspectives now are lined up with what God wants not what the world wants.  We have crucified the old man of sin and have put on the new man of holiness.

 

1 Peter 1:17-21  And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to the work of each one, pass the time of your earthly residence in fear,  (18)  knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers,  (19)  but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot;  (20)  indeed having been foreknown before the foundation of the world, but revealed in the last times for you,  (21)  those believing in God through Him, He who raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

·        This change is our life is to be fueled by our love for Christ and also in fear (reverence) of the price that was paid for our salvation.  It was much more than just gold or silver, but the “precious blood of Christ.”  God gave his all for us and asks nothing less from us.  This was God’s plan all along, since the foundation of the world and we are the ones who are benefitting from it. We don’t have to earn our way to the top of God’s mountain of holiness, He came down to us.

 

1 Peter 1:22-25  Purifying your souls in the obedience of the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brothers, love one another fervently out of a pure heart,  (23)  having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the living Word of God, and abiding forever.  (24)  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of men as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls out,  (25)  but the Word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the Word preached as gospel to you.

·        I love how he puts that out to us; “purifying your souls in the obedience of the truth.”  As we walk in obedience of God’s Word we are purifying our souls.  In doing that He then calls us to sincerely and fervently love one another with a pure heart.  This kind of love is defined in I Cor. 13 (the love chapter).  This love involves selfless giving that someone who is focus solely on themselves would find impossible to do.  We as true Christ followers adopt that as our way of life imitating our Savior.  Jesus’ message to His followers can be summed up like this; love God and love each other as I have loved you.  We are called to love our brothers, not to judge or condemn them.  Love never fails.

·        Peter quotes Isaiah 40 in verse 24 and 25 reminding us that everything in life (possessions, people and accomplishments) will eventually fade away and disappear.  Only God’s Word will last forever.  It is only the things we do for God that last for eternity.  Solomon incorrectly declared “vanity, vanity all is vanity.”  Anything we do for our Lord will last forever.

 

Peter has truly challenged us with some very deep teaching here that we may need to chew on the rest of this week.  Go back and review this first chapter, I guarantee you there is more here than what I brought out to you today.

 

Heavenly Father, open our minds and hearts to the challenges of putting You first in our lives and truly loving others.  Please give us the resolve, courage and faith we need to make this a reality in our lives.