Several weeks ago, I spoke to about 200 students in their Chapel time at the New Tribes BIBLE Institute in Waukesha. I didn’t like it but I had to scold many of them because many of them did not have their Bibles; after all, they were in a BIBLE Institute! We are All Nations BIBLE Church! We do have Bibles here but everyone of us should have our own and open it; the best thing you can do for your spiritual growth here is for you to read the Word of God. What I say can not compare with what God says in his Word!
We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God is good!!!.........
Because God is good, all the time God is good, everything He created, especially you and me, are meant for good! Would you turn to someone and tell them, “You are meant for good!”
And how can we do good? – God gave us the Bible! Of course God would tell us to read and study the Bible everyday, because God calls us to do good everyday! Does our world need good godly work? What godly good work did you and I do yesterday? The amount of our godly good works is a reflection of our diligence in pleasing God by studying His breathed-out words!
Let us equip ourselves to serve our good God by studying the First Letter by the Apostle Peter; please open your Bibles to 1 Peter….. again, ALL Scripture is God-breathed; even though Peter wrote the letter, it is God Himself speaking.
Read along with me 1 Peter 1:17-25……….
All Scripture is God-breathed and we know from v1-2 that this letter is specifically written to Believers of Jesus Christ. Through Peter, God gave several truths about Christians in this passage:
v17… (Christians call on God the Father!) And as alluded to in v2, Christians also call on God the Spirit and God the Son. Christians believe and depend on the Triune God!
v18… (Christians had an empty way of life from their ancestors) In other words, Life is really meaningless without Jesus Christ! This is truth!! Do you and I really believe this in our lives? Think about this for a moment; if we do not involve Jesus Christ in our lives, our lives really would be meaningless. How often do we not involve Jesus Christ in our lives? Ponder about this statement: Any areas in our lives in which we do not involve Jesus Christ is really meaningless!
v21…. (Christians believe in God through Jesus Christ) Christians live with the words of Jesus Christ. How many of you have memorized John 14:6?? All Christians should know this verse; let’s say it together…. Jesus said….
v22.. (Christians are purified by obedience to the truth) What is truth? More importantly, who is Truth? Remember what putting on the Belt of Truth meant from Ephesians 6?
Jesus is the truth and He said in John 15:3, You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Whoever obeys Jesus Christ is cleansed!
v23…. (Christians are born again with imperishable seed!) 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Why do so many Christians live like Non-Christians? This is really the main point of the message.
v25…. (Christians are given the eternal word of God!) Ephesians 1:9, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure! God tells Christians everything they need to know! Isn’t it interesting that even though god has given us everything we need for life and godliness, we still look into many “how to” books? The Christian life is a battle; God calls us to fight but God also equips us! God is good!! All the time!! God will not ask us to do anything we are not capable or equipped to do! We really have no excuses to do what god has called us to do!
Now, all of that about Christians should excite us. Why? – Think for a moment of the opposites of all those truths for those who do not believe in Jesus Christ!
Because of sin against a Holy God, God sums up all people in v24…..
Unless a person believes in Jesus Christ, he/she will wither like dead grass and all of their seemingly good work will fall to nothing! – repeat…
But then again, God is good….. All the time…..! God warns people who do not believe in Jesus Christ but in this same passage God tells us who Jesus Christ is:
Again in v17 – Jesus is part of the Triune God! Jesus is God but became a human being for us!
v18-19 – a lamb without blemish killed for Christians
v20 – chosen to die even before man was created
God chose to create us even though He knew we would go against Him. God already had a solution for the problem of man even before He created the earth where man was to live on.
v21-22 – God is fully revealed for people after the resurrection (anyone who can know the resurrection of Jesus Christ are special people!) Christians can fully know the love and power of God through Christ’s resurrection!
And again in v25 – Jesus’ words are eternal!
Now, do these truths apply to us today? Look again at v20….
The original Greek actually meant revelation till the end! Other English translations of this verse actually notes this. How close are we to the end of this world as we know it?? How do we know we are close to the end of our time on earth??
We have many signs told to us by God that the time of the end is near; yes, note the severe weather patterns, the evil in the world (the Boys Scouts of America are now accepting gay boys but they will not accept gay leaders, hhmmmm…. I wonder why?); the troubles in the Mideast continues to escalate, especially in Jerusalem where they are in the brink of rebuilding of the Temple; and the Bible tells us in the end there will exponential increase of not only knowledge but false religions!
We today are living very close to the end of time as we know it! The truths in 1 Peter is more applicable to us Christians today than to those 2000 years ago!
What are WE to do according to God from this passage in 1 Peter?
v17…..
v22…..
Let us take a moment of quiet meditation to think about these 2 things:
1. Do I really see myself as a foreigner here on earth in awe of God OR do I just blend in with this world?
2. What am I doing to show my deep love for my brothers and sisters in Christ right here in church?
