We continue our study of God’s Word through the Apostle Peter. The Lord Jesus Christ called and taught Peter to strengthen the faith of Christians especially during times of trials. Peter not only affirms the blessings to Christians but provides instructions for living with God while patiently waiting for the appearance of Jesus Christ. The letters of Peter are so pertinent for us today! As Christians, we live in trying times, but Jesus will appear to us soon!
So far, we’ve learned from 1 Peter that God can call ordinary people like Peter, and like you and me, to do extraordinary things for God! Last week we noted Encouragement #1 for Christians: all the eternal blessings from God through Jesus Christ who died on a cross, was buried, but rose from the dead to save us from our sins!
Open your bibles and let us continue to learn from God through 1 Peter 1…..
Let us pray together our commitment to God’s Word…..
Read along with me 1 Peter 1:10-16….
Peter continues to talk about salvation; because every person has sinned against God, every person is destined for eternal judgment unless saved through faith in Jesus Christ! What do we read about this salvation in v10-12?
v10: prophets spoke about this salvation
Prophets of course were called by God prior to the birth of Christ on earth. We read about them in what we call the Old Testament.
Encouragement #2: God gave us prophets, who wrote the Old Testament, laid the foundation for the reality of God’s greatest gift of salvation through Jesus Christ!
What did these prophets do to be successful?
v10: Searched intently and with greatest care about God
v11: Believed in what God said and proclaimed it!
How can we say this? You see, those prophets knew they were talking about the King Messiah but they believed that He would first suffer. Many Israelites of old did not, and many today still do not, believe in a suffering Messiah. But God’s prophets who truly believed, spoke and wrote down the seemingly contradicting truth about a King who would suffer. You see, back in Old Testament times, if you claimed to speak for God and found wrong, you were killed. The prophets of old who spoke about a suffering Messiah risked their lives for us!
v12: they served others rather than themselves
How special were these prophets to God? – look again at the end of v12….
How interesting why God would insert this statement in this passage.
Angels are powerful beings but they marvel at what God does through and for sinful people!
There are angels around us right now and they are watching us with wondrous curiosity! How is our worship of God, in the sight of angels, on Sunday mornings?
Encouragement #3: God sees us more special than angels!
In v13 we see the word “therefore”; and what do we ask when we see the word therefore in the Bible??
When we see the word therefore in the Bible, we need to ask “What is therefore there for?” The word therefore in the bible is a hinge word; before the word there are truths and after the word there are responses.
Before v13 we noted the encouraging truths: God blessed Christians with eternal life through Jesus Christ. God gave Christians the prophets. Christians are more special than angels!
How are Christians to respond to these amazing truths in the beginning of 1 Peter?
v13b: minds that are alert and fully sober (How often do our minds wander and not fully sober?) Our minds must always be alert and sober for God! G-I-G-O…. can have 2 meanings..
And what is the last part of v13 saying…..
v13c: Constantly look for Jesus appearing!
And v14-16: simply states be holy!
i.e. simply do not do anything evil!
We Christians, loved by God, simply must not do anything evil. How often do we check ourselves in what we’re doing?
Before we summarize this message, let us not forget that it is Mother’s Day; you thought I forgot didn’t you? And before we lose the thought, the best gift we can give our mothers is to be a Christian and not do anything evil! Being holy will honor our moms!
Many years ago as I prepared for a Mother’s Day message, I was surprised to find out the Mother’s Day was not started by Hallmark Cards!
Mother’s day started in a Christian Church! But sadly, like many things which started godly have become secular and ways to make money. We even hear of Christians complaining that Mother’s Day hurt many women because they cannot have children or lost children.
How do we handle this? Biblically of course!
God’s Word tells us to honor our mothers! And so, we will try and do that for our mothers today; But Christian mothers, as well as fathers, are to be godly leaders and teachers of their children. In a moment we will take more time to pray for our moms. But moms, may I encourage you to follow the example of God’s prophets as we heard from 1 Peter.
Moms, you will be successful in your godly calling as a mother if you:
1. Search God intently and with care
2. Believe in the Bible and proclaim it
3. Agape love your children
All of this is of course also applicable for all Christians to be successful for God but crucial for leaders like moms
And because mothers are to be followers and doers of God’s Word in order to be truly successful, along with all of us Christians must be obedient children of God by constantly looking for the appearance of Jesus Christ and not do anything evil!
To be successful Christians, we are to ask ourselves constantly, “Is what I’m doing ungodly?”
