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Bro. Otis Fisher
A great many folks have a feeling, or they do not have the feeling, of assurance in their salvation. Why is that, David? Well, we're going to see if we can come to assurance in this book. The security of the believer is a doctrine that I believe.
It took me a long time to come to it, but I believe it. There are a great many folks who do not have the assurance, because suffering and security of the believer go together.
That's right. That's right. That's right. That's something. You're totally right. That's true.
I think one reason for it is that suffering and security of the believer go together. And being a human, I can't accept that, except in faith. Now, what does that produce, suffering and security, Virg?
It produces joy. Joy. That's hard to imagine, isn't it? First verse. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Assyria, and Bethany. First of all, note his name.
We can learn a lot just from his name. The word Peter is Petros, and it's feminine. It means a chip off of the rock, a stone, if you please. The rock was Jesus Christ, and that's Petra, masculine. Peter is called the rock man.
Jesus Christ was the rock man. The day of Pentecost is behind him, and he knows what it is to take a stand for Christ. He has been arrested. This is Peter I'm talking about. He's been arrested. He's been threatened, and he realizes that there is a crucifixion on the cross ahead of him, but he knows what he's talking about.
I think that most of us would have to confess that we're not impressed by the professors in theological seminaries with little or any experience as a pastor who get up and spin off some little theory to prepare young men for the ministry.
They don't really know what the problems of the pastorate are because they've never been there. They don't know what it is to really suffer for Christ. They haven't been there. I'm sorry, but I just don't trust these young professors.
I want to hear a man from the ground up, a man that has thoroughly experienced a pastorate. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, Peter is an apostle of Jesus Christ, states that right up front, and that's all that he ever claimed to be.
When Paul went to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles, he talked with Peter, James, John. He said that they seemed to be pillars of the church, but he did not learn the gospel from them. Paul makes it very clear that he received the gospel directly from Jesus Christ by revelation.
Nowhere does Peter claim to have a superiority. He was an apostle, and that's all. He's writing to the strangers or aliens who were scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Greg, why were they scattered?
That's right, but what was the immediate carnal affliction that caused them to scatter? Right. They were Jews called dysphoria because they were no longer in the land of Philistines due to persecution and other reasons.
They had settled throughout the empire. Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles. Simon Peter was the apostle to the Israelites who had turned to Christ. The apostles had a unique position in the early church.
It doesn't exist today. This is why they could perform miracles. Two, elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit and unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied.
The apostle Peter immediately plunges us into deep doctrinal waters. For instance, he presents the doctrine of the triunity, the foreknowledge of God, the Father. God had no foreknowledge. That's an earthly term.
If God had foreknowledge, then he'd have to have afterknowledge, and he doesn't. Foreknowledge is this, if you want an explanation of it. God knows what he has decreed to occur at any time before the actual does occur in history.
To have foreknowledge belongs to this world. It's an earthly term. Sanctification of the Spirit and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, don't let anyone tell you that the Bible does not teach the triunity.
It's full of it. We certainly cannot consider Peter to be an ignorant fisherman because he's talking about things most of us, we just don't know much about. Theologians try to help us understand the tremendous doctrines of education, of election, and foreknowledge.
They have written books and written books, and you cannot understand it unless you believe it. Sanctification. Now, we had justification, let me go back, sanctification, separation to God. Joy, you can separate things from something else, and you can separate them to something else.
The Holy Spirit is the agent in this act. It is a divine act of God, sanctification. In Romans 8, 29, we find, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to conform to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. It is as though we, by a second creation, were made sons of God, by whose Spirit we're inwardly changed, and by whose blood we're also reconciled.
David, is God reconciled to me, or am I reconciled to God? It cannot be the other way. Three, blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
Bill, what is an inheritance? All right. Virg, what is our inheritance? That's right. David, it says this inheritance is incorruptible, incapable of being morally corrupt. What does incorruptible mean?
Not subject to corruption or decay, meaning that it is non-destructible. It would have to be spiritual, wouldn't it? It cannot be damaged in any way. No rust, no moth, no germ, no fire can touch it. Undefiled indicates that it is not stained or defiled by anything.
We will not get this inheritance illegally. Why, David, tell me, why can we not get it illegally? What's meant by illegally? You just don't do that. That fadeth not away. We won't inherit it and then find it to be worthless, like some stocks.
The value has become completely worthless. Reserved in heaven for you. I like that. What's that mean, Virg? Reserved in heaven for you. Bill, is your name on that place? Yes. The word reserved means it is guarded.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are taking care of it for us. How much more safe do we want it? We couldn't have it in a better safety deposit box than that. I heard of a man that inherited a large home in Louisiana, but the very night the original owner died, the house caught fire and burned down.
There was no insurance. The wonderful home that he was to enter went up in smoke. Everything, everything goes away. As believers, we have an inheritance that is incorruptible. This is a wonderful thing to look forward to.
The believers to whom Peter was writing, and you and I as well, praise God as the Father of the incarnate Son. The Father of the incarnate Son. Explain that statement, David. The Son, Father of the incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus, the author of the new creation and of a spiritual redemption.
Also, he gives a living hope, hope that we'll never die. He has begotten us and made us his sons through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. And in addition, he has reserved for us virgin inheritance, not on earth, but in heaven.
That inheritance is impeachable, indestructible. No enemy can take it by force. Someone has expressed it in poetical form. It will always be new. It will never decay. No might ever comes. It will always be day.
How it gladdens my heart with joy. That's untold to think of that hand, land where nothing grows old. Unfortunately, in our day, our attention has been taken away from that. We dwell on the present. We look at things and react to them.
Learn how to not do that. Five, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in that last day. I like that little word kept. We are kept by the power of God, emphasizing the keeping power of God.
Kept is probably one of the most important, most wonderful words that we have. Kept by the power of God through faith. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, it needs to be, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.
Now, the suffering and the security of the believer produce joy. They can do that because of the work of the triune God. David, I have adopted that word, triune. According to his mercy, he has been so merciful, has begotten us, given us a new nature and a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
And way out in the future, he has a marvelous inheritance waiting on me, on you, on us. Wherein ye greatly rejoice. Now, rejoice in what, Greg? Well, that's true, but it's not really what it refers to here.
David? Well, let's go back. What? That's it. That's right. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. In something good, it refers to the temptations.
Yes, that's right.
We are kept, no matter what, no matter who, no matter when or how or why. I have an inheritance that's laid up for me. We each have an inheritance. We ought to find joy in that. The two words rejoice and trials don't seem to go together, but here they do.
Peter gives us reasons for enduring trials down here in this life. Now, for a season. Greg, what's that mean? If you are afflicted all of your life, it is but temporary. It comes to an end. Man can withstand anything if he knows it's going to end.
In our day, there's too much emphasis on the present life. Psychology and materialism have slipped into the church. We're told that we must develop ourselves into a well-rounded individual. If you're having trouble, something's wrong in your Christian life.
If you're continually having trouble, it doesn't mean that at all. Instead of so much introspection, you ought to be looking outward to the great God we have and to the marvelous inheritance which he has already for us, which has already for us to receive someday.
We should stop this attempt to improve our old nature through the power of the flesh. I was listening this morning. It is difficult on a Sunday morning in the space of an hour or two that I have to watch television.
It's most difficult not to find somebody that is preaching materialism. God is the one that's in business improving us, not you yourself. He is the one who is trying to bring us to a maturity in our Christian life.
God's way of improving us is through manifold temptations. We have been told this in previous books. In fact, it's almost like a stuck recording. Jesus told us not to be dismayed. He says that in the world we would have troubles.
In the epistle to the Hebrews, we learn that God tests us by his trials and troubles. James wrote about the teaching that came from God, and Paul had a great deal to say about suffering. Now Peter comes along and says the same thing.
I know he is not at all popular in teaching that God will prove us by leading us through temptations and sufferings. People would rather be encouraged to think that they are somebody important, that they can do great things on their own.
That's actually taught in churches. We're nothing until the Spirit of God begins to move in our hearts. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Christ Jesus.
Now we have that the trial of your faith be much more precious than of gold. That perisheth. Verge, how does an assayer test the material for gold? Can you explain the details of it? Bill, how does the assayer determine when he has all of the dross out?
That's quite a process. Some of us have more dross than others. But it is done by heating the crucible until the Lord can see his reflection in the gold. We need always to remember that our trials are only temporary.
I'll say here, like the fire, even the metal, is taking the impurities out of our lives and getting rid of them. Sure. They don't need to be there, and we'll never be perfect. But as we go along, it gets better and better and better.
When you get the land, you will have the truth. That's right.
Paul says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 4, 17, and 18. For our light afflictions, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a fair and more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The things at our fingertips, which we consider to be most valuable, are not really value at all. They're simply passing things when we measure against the eternity.
All these are destructible. They are corruptible. And they can be defiled. The things of this world do fade away. The things we cannot see are the eternal things. They are of real value. This past week has been a rough week for us.
The week before was rough. But it's all for his glory. And in that I glory. Eight. Whom having not seen you love, in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
This verse ought to mean a great deal to us. Remember that Peter had seen the Lord Jesus personally and had traveled with him for three years. He had failed miserably during that period there. Then one morning on the shore of the sea, you remember the Lord prepared breakfast for the men who had been fishing all night, and I guess he was waiting for Peter.
I would have expected him to say, Peter, I can't trust you. Why did you deny me? I'm not going to have anything to do with you. I'm going to set you on the sideline. I cannot use you. But no, he didn't say that at all.
Rather, he said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? That was his question. Do you love me? The man who had been a braggadocio before was no longer. Just cried out, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.
And the Lord Jesus says, I'm going to let you feed my sheep. And it was Peter who preached the first sermon on the day of Pentecost. Now Peter says to you and I, whom having not seen ye love, the Holy Spirit is the one who can make him real to you and to me.
This is the secret of a Christian life. When we have him, everything else falls into place. If you do not love him, no course in the world is going to help you. It has to come from inside, down deep inside.
Though now you see him not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Does this set your heart to beating faster? I certainly hope so. Simon Peter loved him. Paul loved him. And all those who have genuinely served him have loved him.
I hope you love him today. You rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Loving Christ brings rejoicing in your heart. Are you a rejoicing Christian? You should be. You're a child of the King. And you have an inheritance coming to you someday.
We're a child right now of the King. Nine, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Salvation was a subject of prophecy in the Old Testament. They didn't know about it. Both the prophets and apostles bore witness to the truth of it.
What an encouragement that was to the dysphoria, those who were suffering for their faith. Ten, of which salvation the prophets, having inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify when he testified before the suffering of Christ and the glory that should follow.
The prophets spoke of suffering, of the suffering Christ and the grace of God. Now, we know that the prophets wrote some things that they did not understand. They were searching for it. They searched for the meaning, diligently, searching of what time and what manner the Spirit of Christ was to be in them did signify.
There are many places in the Old Testament that speak of suffering of Christ. There are many other places that speak of the sovereignty of Christ, of the kingdom. Grace and glory are combined, and it was difficult for them to understand this.
For example, Isaiah wrote in the 53rd chapter of the sufferings of Christ. Then in the 11th chapter he wrote, The Messiah is coming in power and glory to the earth to establish his kingdom. It seems like it contradicts itself.
They tried, but they could not understand it. These two events took place, or looked to them as one event, and there was a valley in between them. If you've ever traveled on a highway, which I know you have, you come to a long, straight path of highway, and you can see a hill in the distance.
And it looks like your road leads right to it. But as you go along, you go down a deep, deep valley. You couldn't see that unless you're in it. That puts you and I in a unique position of living in that interval of time between the suffering of Christ, which is in the past, and the glory of Christ, which is yet in the future.
Let's stop with 12. We'll start there next week. Is there anything that you would like to add?
I think that's the only place that was resurrected. He instructed the person down there, he said, go your way and tell your disciples and Peter. Now, that was in Mark, that was in Luke. Peter, basically.
And he didn't, at this point, he said, we're going to let them decide after the resurrection when he is nine. So, in his heart, he felt like he was not a disciple. Then when he had this event at the firmament where he was, where he had the fish and the demon sheep message, Christ kept asking Peter what he was doing.
And Peter kept saying, back to the one I like. Those were two different words that were said. And finally, Christ replied and he said, yes, I like you. And he left it there. So, he wasn't really fully convinced that he was bad enough with standing.
That's right. And I think this is his final answer to that event in his life that he went from being one of Christ when he knew for sure he was, until he denied Christ and thought that he wasn't. But he still was.
He thought he was. Until he went to a stage where he, he really blacked off and couldn't really say what he loved. Until he finally got to the stage where he was back in God's good graces. And I think he finally passed that message back on to us.
He passes it this way, and we'll see more as we go into this, that no matter what you are or what you have done, if at one time you were visibly a Christian in the grace of God, you are forever. No matter what you have done.
And Peter finally come to that conclusion. No. No. That's right. Burge dismisses, please.