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Bro. Bill Nichols
The first two verses in 1 Peter. So what we're going to do is we want to read about the first eight, nine verses, and then we'll begin. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
Through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which has, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
For in ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
That's the passage that we're gonna try to deal with this morning. First, let's pray. Most gracious heavenly Father, we thank you. First of all, just for being who you are, the creator of the universe, the provider of salvation for us, the provider of your holy scripture that allows us to come together and study your word, your Holy Spirit that you gave us to guide us as we study.
We thank you also for giving us a place that we can come to and meet face to face and technology to reach out to those that can't be here. All of these things are in their own way miracles. Bless us and keep us, go through all the services today.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So we're gonna pick up with verse three. Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. John MacArthur said this, God was known as creator and redeemer in the Old Testament, but he was rarely called the Father.
So I decided to check that out. So I did a word study of Father. And I was only able to find one passage in the Old Testament in which God was even referred to as Father. And interestingly enough, that reference was by God himself, about himself.
We find it in 2 Samuel 7, verse one and following. And after I read that, I decided that this might also be something that we needed to include, because it gives us an instance of someone of us, what someone that is certainly belongs to him, someone that is favored by him, someone that was even called the apple of his eye, asked the Lord, asked to do something for the Lord, something that the Lord had in mind to be done, but did not have in mind that this man do it.
And of course, this man that we're talking about is David. So we're gonna pick up at 2 Samuel chapter seven, verse one. And it came to pass when the king, that's David, sat in his house and the Lord had given him rest roundabout from all of his enemies.
Now you need to understand, they've gone through a time of turmoil, the time of the judges, they've gone through the time of Saul, they've gone through the time where they had people oppressing them all sides.
And the Lord had given him rest roundabout from all of his enemies. That the king said to Nathan the prophet, see now, I dwell in a house of seer, but the ark of God dwells within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, go, do all that is in that heart, for the Lord is with thee.
Now you might notice that Nathan didn't use the word formula that is always used so far as I know, almost always used, I can certainly say, when a prophet is truly getting ready to express something that was told him by the Lord.
You know what that is? You know what that phrase is? The phrase we're looking for? Thus saith the Lord. The prophet saying, I am now no longer speaking for myself, I am now speaking for God. You won't see that here.
And Nathan said to the king, go, do all that is in that heart, for the Lord is with thee. Well, is the Lord with David? The Lord is just going to, as we go through, he's just going to relate to Nathan all the ways that he's with David, and he's going to ask Nathan to repeat that to David.
He wants to assure David that he is with him, but David is not the one to do what he is asked to do, what he's going to ask to do. So we made a note. Nathan is speaking to David as a man speaks to his king, not as a spokesperson for God.
So it's possible for, in this instance, for Nathan to be wrong. Verse four, and it came to pass that night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, go and tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord.
So what's going to follow now from now on is going to absolutely be true, or Nathan's going to be stoned for it. Because it was not taken lightly for a prophet to make a false promise. So he asked Nathan to begin by asking David a question, relaying to David, through Nathan, from God.
Shalt thou build me a house for me to dwell in? For as I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle, in all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word to any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my children, saying, why build ye not me a house of cedar?
So what's he doing? He's saying, have I asked anyone at any time to build me a house? So what's David's answer going to be? No, you haven't asked for anybody to build you a house. This was my idea. I want to build you a house.
If it had come to that, that's what David would have said, I think. Now therefore, so shalt thou go, so shalt thou say to my servant David, thus saith the Lord. So he's got some more to say to him. David, I took thee from the sheep cult, from following the sheep to a ruler over my people, over Israel.
And I was with thee, whithersoever thou wentest. And I have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight. And I have made thee a great name. Now you just told David, remember where you came from. Remember, I took you from tending the sheep.
I put you in charge of my people. I made you a great king. I cut your enemies off from you. I provided safety for you and your people. I was with thee, whithersoever thou wentest. I have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight.
I have made thee a great name, likened to the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel. And I will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own to move no more.
Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as before time. And as since the time I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, I have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. So he's reminding David that the enemies are all subdued.
There is nobody left to oppose him. Also, the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee a house. So what does he say? Among other things, I will make you a house. And he's getting ready to say, but you won't make me one.
Verse 12, and when thy days are fulfilled, that thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels. And I will establish his kingdom. And he shall build a house for my name.
Now, who is this son that Nathan is talking about? He's talking about his son, Solomon. Solomon will build a house for me. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And here's the verse that I came to find.
And I will be his father. And he shall be my son. And if he committed iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men. Did Solomon ever commit iniquity? Solomon was so carried away with his 500 or 700, which one was it?
A whole bunch of wives, all of them heathen, that he began to at least condone their worshiping of their gods. And he fell away. But I thought there's something interesting here. Solomon fell away from God.
But did God fall away from Solomon? I always wondered that. I always wondered if when Solomon committed immorality by worshiping other gods, maybe he lost his salvation. But did he? No. Listen to what it says.
I will be his father. And he shall be my son. And if he committed iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men. Amen. And with the stripes of children of men. Now listen to this. But my mercy shall not depart away from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever. According to all these words and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
Now, so what we can take away from that is people that are Christians can sin and will sin. Every person that is a Christian, every one of us will still occasionally commit sins. Hopefully not more often than less, but there is a pathway to forgiveness.
And he will not allow us to fail to take that pathway. That's what I didn't understand for a long time. God will not allow his children to live in sin forever. You know what he will do? He'll begin disciplining you.
And if the discipline is not severe enough, he will go up a notch and discipline you more severely. There will come a time when if you belong to him, you will come to him, confess your sins, and he will forgive you.
So when we look at the afflictions that are in our lives, we need to remember that we're God's children. And he will not rest from disciplining us until he has successfully turned us back to him. For some of us, it takes more discipline than others.
There's a verse in 2 Timothy that says, if ye believe not that he abideth faithfully, he will not deny himself.
Ooh, I wish I had that one. I would put that in. Would you say that one more time and I'll try to repeat it? 2 Timothy 2, 13,.
If ye believe not that he abideth faithfully, he cannot deny himself. If we believe it's not. Yet he abideth faithfully.
Yet he abideth faithfully because of himself. That's basically it. As best I can get it. And that's 1st or 2nd Timothy. 2nd Timothy 2, 13. Thank you. That is very good. I wish I had that in my notes. I do, yeah.
I do. Well, I don't, but I'll put it in my notes shortly. Well, I do. It'll be on paper. Now, remember what MacArthur said. In the Old Testament, God was called creator, but he was seldom called father.
And I found one time. On the other hand, in the New Testament, especially Christ, Christ almost always addressed God as his father. For example, we have this in John 5. But Jesus answered them, Jesus, John 5, 17.
But Jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto and I work. Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him because not only had he broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father, making himself equal to God.
Anybody know the one example, the one exception to when God, Jesus spoke to God and didn't refer to him as his father? Anybody remember it? When he was on the cross. When he was on the cross, I took the passage out of Matthew 27, 46.
And it said, about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, la sabbathanah. Now, he translates that for us. That is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood there, when they heard that said, this man calls for Elijah.
Well, that's not what he was saying. He was saying, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why did God, why did Jesus not call God his father at this particular instance? Because at this very instance was the only time that Jesus was ever separated from God.
And why was he separated? Because God couldn't bear to look on the sins that were on Jesus, not his sins, but our sins. Jesus, because of our sin on him, had to die and had to be resurrected for that sin debt to be paid.
And he paid it. So the Jews in chapter five were correct. Jesus was claimed to be of the same nature, the same being, or the same essence as the father. Now, also you notice that in that passage, Jesus, back in the verse that we're dealing with, I'm gonna go back and get it.
Blessed be the God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In speaking of our, Peter points out to us the understanding that we also are children of God. We are children of Jesus, and we are therefore children of God.
He's pointing out that we are children of the God of the universe through his son. And that's an important truth for all Christians to remember, especially in times of suffering. If you're undergoing suffering at the present time, then an important truth for you to remember is, you are a child of God.
So here we go. Verse three, I could've gone down one night. Verse three, blessed be the God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Abundant mercy. The elect experience that abundant mercy when they receive salvation. The non-elect also receive mercy, but just not as much. It's not as abundant for the non-elect as it is for the elect.
All sinners, both elect and non-elect need God's mercy because they are in a pitiful, desperate, wretched condition when they are sinning. Paul in Ephesians, speaking of the elect, adds to what Peter has already said.
Ephesians 2 .4, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love for which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are we saved. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Hath begotten us again. God gave you birth as part of his provision in salvation. When a sinner comes to Christ and puts his faith in him, he is born again unto God's family and receives a new nature.
And he is now one of the remnant, one of the elect, one of the remnant that God saves. Saves into what? Into a lively hope. The lively hope is eternal life. Hope means to be confidently optimistic. Here are some of the things we know about this lively hope.
One, it comes from God. Two, it's a gift of grace. Second, Thessalonians 2 .16 says, now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our father, which hath loved us and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.
Comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Thirdly, it's defined by the scripture. Romans 15 .4 says, for whatsoever things were written before time were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might have hope.
Four, it's a reasonable reality. First Peter 3 .15 it will say, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
So there's a reason for your hope. Five, it's secured by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Six, it's confirmed in the Christian by the Holy Spirit. Romans 15 .13 says, now God, now the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may be saved by Satan's attacks.
Let us, this is 1 Thessalonians 5 .8, but let us who are of the first day be sober of faith and of love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. Now, it's not that you hope you have salvation, it's that you have hope because you have salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. That's a passage that a lot of people misapply. Wrath is not the same as extreme discipline. Extreme discipline is totally different than God's wrath.
It's confirmed through trials. Romans 5 .3 says, and not only so, but with glory and tribulation also. Knowing that tribulation worketh patience. Patience, experience, and experience hope. And nine, it produces joy.
Happy is he that has the Lord God of Jacob, we said, whose hope is in the Lord his God. And 10, it is fulfilled upon Christ's return. Okay, we're getting ready to go to a new verse finally. We just finished with, 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 the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
To an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Peter showed these Christians how to look past their troubles to the eternal inheritance. Life, righteousness, joy, peace, perfection, God's presence, God's glorious companionship, rewards, and everything else God has planned is the Christian's heavenly inheritance.
And it's sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our salvation unto the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. Not only is that inheritance awaiting us, it is incorruptible.
It's not subject to passing away. It's not liable to decay. It's undefiled. That means unpolluted, unstained with evil. The undefiled inheritance of the Christian is in marked contrast to an earthly inheritance, all of which is corrupted and defiled.
And finally, it fadeth not away. Fading was often used of flowers that wither and decay. Though earthly inheritances eventually fade away, the eternal inheritance of the Christian has no decaying elements.
And where is it? It's reserved in heaven for you to be revealed in the last day. It will be waiting for us in heaven as it was promised in the Holy Scripture. Verse five, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
Those are the children of God. They're kept by the power of God. They're secure through God's power. If you belong to him, your belonging to him is not conditioned. It's secure. And it's secure by the power of God, both God the Father and God the Son.
So nothing can keep us from our inheritance. We know from Romans 8, 28, and we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow.
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn of many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them also he called, and whom he called, them he also called.
And whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also who did give us all things?
Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us, who can separate us from the love of God?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is written, for thy sake we were killed all along, we are counted as sheep of a slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
So who can stand up against us? No one, nothing. In fact, just before Jesus died, he says this in John 17, while I was with them, talking about his disciples, I kept them in my name. Those that thou gavest me I kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture may be fulfilled.
And now I come to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shalt keep them from the evil one. And he goes on to say, these I pray I for these alone, not just the disciples, these I pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they may all be one, as thou father art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
What did that happen? All of that happened. So let's go to verse six of Peter. Wherefore, you greatly rejoice, though for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That is to be exceedingly glad, exuberantly happy, exuberantly jubilant.
This kind of joy is not based on changing circumstances, but is used as a joy that comes from the unchanging eternal relationship with God. Peter relates this joy to the assurance of once protected eternal inheritance, and to the assurance from once proven faith.
Manifold temptations. Peter teaches us several important principles about trouble in this verse. First, trouble doesn't last. He says it's for a season. Second, trouble serves a purpose. If need be, you have trouble if it's necessary that you have trouble.
Three, trouble brings distress if you're in heaviness. Trouble comes in various forms, manifold temptations. And five, trouble should not diminish the Christian's joy. It says, greatly rejoice that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than that of God, which perisheth, though it be fried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
God's purpose in allowing trouble is to test the reality of one's faith, not so that he can find out, but so that we can find out. The benefit of such testing is not for God, he already knows. It's for the Christian.
When the believer comes to a trial, still trusting the Lord, he is assured that his faith is genuine. Verse eight, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing you rejoice with joy, unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
So what is the end result of salvation? It's the eternal life that you will live with him. Now, what I thought I would do at this point is summarize what we've covered in Peter so far. And it's gonna be really, really quick.
The first thing Peter did was he identified himself and he identified the recipients of the letter. The second thing he did was he offered praises to God, not only to God the Father, but also God the Son.
The third thing he did is he reminds us of the blessings that God has in store for us, our inheritance. He also assures us of the security of that inheritance. What does that inheritance depend upon? Not what you do, but what God has already done.
And as a result, we are to rejoice, even though we may face many trials and tribulations in our life on the earth, because we know that the culmination of the salvation process is an infinitely better life waiting for us, a life that is secured by the power of God.
Okay, any comments or questions that I can answer? If not, let's take a moment to pray. Most gracious heavenly Father, thank you again for bringing us into your house so we may study about you and worship you.
Thank you for giving us this place, thanking us for giving us this assembly. Thank you for going with us through this service and also for the one to come. Bless us and keep us, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.