Good News For Discouraged Believers
Living God’s Way – part one
1 Peter 1:1-12
THIS MORNING - we are about to begin an exciting journey AND I am really pumped up and jazzed about it. YOU SEE – we are going to being doing something during the next 10 Sunday mornings that we only do about once a year… A SERIES OF MESSAGES – dedicated to a particular book of the bible. (Now every Wednesday night in our adult study during 242 New Community that is what we do – a verse by verse study of a book of the bible, right now we are in the book of James, and if you want to improve your bible knowledge it is the place to be – we are in James chapter 4)
BUT – on Sunday mornings most of my series are topical; for example this year we have done series called; “What Jesus Came To Do,” “I Have A Friend Who…,” and “Changing From The Inside Out…”
NOW – don’t misunderstand me I enjoy those series too, AND everyone of them has been exciting journeys as well… AND – I feel that they are exactly what I need to be doing on Sunday mornings, BUT – about once a year I like to grab a book of the bible and really dig into and pull out of it - all of it’s treasure…(AND – if not all at least a bunch of it) LISTEN – this book is powerful, and it is a treasure…
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” - Is 55:10-12
“Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another--showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.”
- 2 Tim 3:16,17 (NLT)
THIS BOOK – is God breathed! It is alive and it is active. It cuts through all the junk and barriers in our lives… It judges your thoughts and your attitudes. It shows what is wrong with the way you are living and tells you how to live right. This book will accomplish what God wants it to accomplish today…. Like the rain coming form the sky – it waters our life….
BEGINNING TODAY – we are going to dig into the book of 1 Peter, in a message series called, “Living God’s Way…”
NOW – you are going to find out over the next several weeks that 1 Peter is an amazing book… FULL – of awesome truths that will enable you to live God’s way.
QUESTION – who wrote 1 Peter? (you are sooo smart…)
YOU KNOW - I love Peter – I MEAN he is a guy that I can relate to… He kind of reminds of Mike Alstot of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers… A strong tough guy with passion who does some pretty amazing things (runs with power, knocks people down, carries people into the end zone) but every once in awhile (right when you need him the most) he fumbles the ball…
UNDERSTAND - when I think of Peter… So many snapshots go through my mind…
I see him - dropping his net’s by the sea of Galilee, leaving everything to follow Jesus…
I see him – in the middle of the night, a powerful storm pounding a little boat, full of frightened fishermen, swinging both legs over the side of that boat and walking on water…
I see him – taking his eyes off of Jesus (like we do at times), and sinking into the crashing waves…
I see him – with great power and confidence… answering Jesus question, “Who do you say that I am?” “You are the Christ the Son of the living God…”
I see him – pulling Jesus (his master, his teacher, his friend) aside, after Jesus told the 12 that he must go to Jerusalem and die - and rebuking Jesus for talking like that… “Jesus you need to stop all this death talk…”
I see him – with great confidence say, ‘even if everyone else leaves you, I will never abandoned you Jesus…”
I see him – with a sword in the garden cutting off the ear of a man who came to arrest Jesus.
I see him – in a courtyard, by a fire warming his hands and saying with a curse, “I never knew the man…”
I see him – looking straight into he eyes of Jesus as Jesus is led through that same courtyard, I see him running out into the night weeping bitterly over his failure….
I see him – running with all of his strength, as fast as he can, up the winding dirt road, to see the tomb that the women said was empty…
I see him – walking inside and seeing the burial clothes folded neatly in the corner…
I see him – meeting the risen Lord, falling at his feet and being forgiven…(now we don’t where it happened just that it did… and it happened before any of the other 12 saw the risen Lord I Cor 15:4)
I see him - jumping out of the boat and swimming to the shore because Jesus was cooking breakfast on the beach…
I see him – standing before 1,000 of people on the day of Pentecost, telling them that this man Jesus who they crucified was the Christ, the Messiah, God the Son…
I see him – telling the convicted 1,000 to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I see him – standing before the Jewish rulers who had him arrested and beaten – telling those leaders; “I cannot, and I will not stop talking all I have seen and heard…”
I see him – on a roof top catching some Z’s, telling God no, when God tried to get him to eat pork chops…
I see him – finally getting and taking the good news to the gentile Cornelius…and baptizing Cornelius and his household into Christ.
I see him – being chewed out by Paul in Galtia, for showing favoritism…
I see him – him sleeping in a jail cell, awaiting his death – and then being sprung by an angel…
AND I SEE HIM – as an old man; being lead out to a cross, his hands stretched out, the nails driven – crucified upside down…for the love of Christ and His church!
LISTEN – that is the guy who nearly 2,000 years ago penned the words that we are about to read and study over the next several weeks…
QUESTION – DO YOU THINK - this man who knew Jesus so well, who knew the church so well (who loved both so much that it cost him his life), DO YOU THINK - this man who ran with power, who knocked people down, and carried guys into the end…BUT who sometimes fumbled when you needed him most… DO YOU THINK this guy who knew both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat has something to say to us? To you? Over the next several weeks….?
YOU – bet he does! AND – he who has ears to hear will hear… He or she WHO has a heart and mind that is good soil will bear a crop a hundred times what was planted…
TODAY’S – message is called, “God News For Discouraged Believers…”
UNDERSTAND – that the church in the first century, the men and woman who first held this letter from Peter in their hands needed to hear some good news. They needed to be reminded of some old & awesome truths – that they may have forgotten under the weight of the present difficulties…
YOU SEE – when Peter wrote these words the persecution of the church by Rome under Nero was heating up (an was about the get worse)… There is no doubt that many who would hear these words had already suffered and lost much.
A lady who lost her husband – he was burned at the stake – read this words
A family whose home was burned down – read these words
Children who were now orphans – read these words
UNDERSTAND - Christians at that time were being fed to lions. They were being burned at the stake. Nero burned Rome in 64 A.D. and blamed the Christians. They were being tortured. They were being imprisoned. They were being thrown into the Coliseum and torn apart by wild animals.
QUESTION – do you think these new believers were a little discouraged? Were their enemies really starting to wear them out and wear them down? Do you think they could use a little good news?
QUESTION – did discouragement, did hard times… did attacks from the enemy end in the first century? Do believers still get discouraged today?
MAN – I see discouraged believers all the time…
I see single moms discouraged because they are worn out from doing it all alone
I see single people discouraged because they think they will always be alone
I see people discouraged about their marriage
I see people discouraged because of other family issues
I see people discouraged because of health issues
I see people discouraged because of financial & job issues
I see people discouraged because they stood up for the truth and got blasted…
ARE YOU – discouraged today? Do you need some good news? WELL FRIENDS – God has some pretty good news for believers… IN FACT – it is awesome news!!!
Prayer…
OKAY BEFORE – we start digging into first Peter I want to show a clip about someone who was discouraged. NOW – the guy in this clip had gone through some pretty tough times in his life, years before his father was killed and this guy blamed himself. When his dad died so did all his future dreams… EVENTUALLY – the guilt and discouragement caused him to give up and to longer live the life he was born to live… to settle for a discouraged existence
In the clip I am about to show – someone comes into this guys life – who is going help him get back on to the right track…
(LION KING clip – when ‘Rapikki’ tells Simba to remember who he is…a great clip)
LISTEN – the first people to hold this letter from Peter in their hands, like many believers today were discouraged… AND – in their discouragement they had forgotten who they were.
AND FRIENDS – discouragement is a powerful tool of the enemy that gets us to no longer live the life our Father has called us to live. YOU SEE - many times discouragement causes people to, like Simba run away and settle for a life that is not even shadow of what could be… AND – we become less than what we are….
SO – the very first thing Peter does right out the starting blocks is to remind discouraged believers of who they are….
“This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ…I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia. God the father chose you long ago…and the Spirit has made you holy”
CIRCLE – “God’s chosen people…” “the Father chose you.” “the Spirit has made you holy”
QUESTION – who were these discouraged believers…? They were God’s people. They were chosen by God. They were children of the Father….they were people in who God lived, through His Spirit…
LISTEN – if there is one thing that discouraged believers need to remember, it is, who they are….
AND PETER – after reminding them of who they are takes the next several verses to remind them (and us) of what it means to be God’s people…
QUESTION – are you a believer….? Are discouraged?
THEN – let God’s word…pure down on you today like rain, and accomplish it’s purpose in your life…
FIRST - being God’s people means that;
You Are Not Home Yet
In verse one Peter says; ”I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia.”
CIRCLE - people who are living as foreigners…
Back in 1981 when I was in the Navy, one time during a patrol our submarine pulled into Lisbon, Portugal. I got to leave the sub for about 10 hours and check out the city. It was not a very pretty city… It was dirty… I remember tons of people walking around, people sleeping in the middle of the side walks and there was a strike going on when I was there and men in trucks were shouting communist propaganda… NOT – a nice place to visit – let alone live…
BUT – do you know what? None of that stuff bothered me BECAUSE I was a foreigner… Lisbon was not my country… I wasn’t home yet…
Back in 1997 – Laurie and I, John, Chelsea and Leila, had the opportunity to stay at a little hotel in Stark Florida… It was a dump… I think we slept with our clothes on – shoe to I think…. The shower was actually a converted closet… I MEAN – it sat right in the middle of the room with a shower curtain… ABOUT – the only thing that was nice was the TV that was chained to the wall…
AND – though it was the most pleasant place (even made Milligan dorms look good), I didn’t worry too much about it being so gross – WHY? BECAUSE it was not my home.
LISTEN – discouraged believers need to remember that they are not home yet… FRIENDS - we are just passing through…
YOU SEE – as Paul says in Phil 3:20; “…our citizenship is in heaven..”
QUESTION – where is your citizenship? Where is your home…?
YOU KNOW – I have always loved and have been challenged by – the people the Hebrew writer talks about in Hebrews 11;
“All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15If they had meant the country they came from, they would have found a way to go back. 16But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them.”
-Hebrews 11:13-16 (NLT)
LISTEN – someday we will be home… not yet… BUT – one day we will be… THEREFORE;
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Jn 14:1-3
Discouraged believers need to remember that they are God’s people and that they are not home yet! This world is NOT your home. THIS is most definitely not as good as it gets. Save your FORKS – because the best is yet to come.
SECOND – Peter reminds discouraged believers that they are
They’re Born Again Into A Living Hope
CHECKOUT – verse 3;
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
YOU KNOW – for a long time I didn’t really like the term born again… I guess I had always associated it with radical and fanatical people (people with TV shows, Rolexes, pink hair and them parks).
BUT – I’ve since out grown that – and I’m glad because being born again is a good term. I MEAN - the first person to use it, was Jesus Christ himself, who said to Nicodemus that a person must be born again (born of water & spirit) to enter the kingdom of heaven.
SO – being born again it extremely important… AND - Peter tells discouraged believers in verse 3 says that God – ”…In his great mercy he has given us new birth..”
UNDERSTAND – Peter is reminding them that when they came to God, they were, "born again" they got a fresh start, a new beginning…a do over…
QUESTION - have you ever been painting a room and you get halfway through and thought "Man, I wish I could start this thing over." (yeah some of you have been there)… QUESTION - have you ever been half way through a life and thought "Man, I really wish I could start this whole thing over." (some of you are there now)
FRIENDS – the good news is God gives you that option; it’s called being born again.. AND – Peter just a few verses down the road in verse 23 says, that we are born, “through the living and enduring word of God…” YOU SEE – the word of God tells us how to be born again…
This book (that is God-breathed) says; that a person is born again – when they in faith and repentance are immersed into the name of Jesus… LISTEN – at that moment as Paul says in Romans 6;
q We die to sin,
q We contact the blood & death of Christ
q And we are raised to live a new life…
A couple of Sundays back when Andres Gonzales was baptized into Christ… (“I am reborn…”)
Man that was AWESOME!!! AND – it gets even better because when we are God’s people we are born again INTO 9what kind of hope?) a living hope…
UNDERSTAND – many times in life our hope dies and we become discouraged. WHY? - because we have placed our hope in the wrong things…
QUESTION – what are some wrong things people put their hope in?
q Money
q Career
q Stuff
q Relationships
CHECKOUT – these words from Job; about misplaced hope….
"Can papyrus reeds grow where there is no marsh? Can bulrushes flourish where there is no water? While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither. Such is the fate of all who forget God. The hope of the godless comes to nothing. Everything they count on will collapse. They are leaning on a spider web. They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it fast, but it will not endure. - Job 8:11-15 (NLT)
FRIENDS - I have seen the hope of many believers (collapse – because they were leaning on a spiders web; they were looking for hope and security in the wrong thing)… QUESTION – you ever been there done that? Are you even now leaning on a spider web hoping it will hold you up?
CHECKOUT – this question the psalmist asked himself when he was bumming?
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God…” Ps 42:11
NOW – that’s a good question to asked ourselves when we are discouraged and lost hope… LET ME READ – a few more passages about putting hope in God…
“No one whose hope is in you, will ever be put to shame…” - Ps 25:3
”those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
– Is 40:31
FRIENDS – we have been born again into a living hope…
AND WHY – is our hope alive? BECAUSE – Jesus is alive… In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
AND – let me tell I am convinced that as Peter wrote about the living hope and the resurrection that his mind and heart went back to the time – when he fumbled the ball big time – I MEAN – he was discouraged as man could get – he had lost all hope… At that moment… It was done… it was over… and not only was his master, teacher and friend dead.. BUT – he had failed, he had denied Jesus…
BUT – then came that run to the empty tomb – that reunion and restoration with Jesus… and that living hope…
3rd Peter reminds discouraged believers that when you are God’s people;
You Have An Inheritance That Cannot Be Destroyed
Peter writes that we have; “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you…” IMAGINE – that this coming week, you go out to your mail box, you open it up and you find an official looking letter in it from a law firm out in California. You open it kind of cautiously, hoping you’re not getting sued… AND – the letter tells you that you are (unknown to you) the only surviving relative of millionaire… His estate is valued at over 150 million… They tell you it may take a few months to a year to process everything, but by this time next year… your bank account will have a 1 & 5 and 7 zeros after it…
QUESTION – what would be your reaction to that letter? NOW - I‘d be the first to tell you know that I got no rhythm.. BUT - but I can guarantee you that I would do some kind of dance… 150 million – yah baby!
AND – do you know what else? IF ANYTIME - during those months of waiting I began to feel a little discouraged I would pull out that letter, remind myself of what was coming and I’d dance again…
FRIENDS – Peter 2,000 years ago – a bunch of people (who very well may have lost all of their possessions because of persecution), went out to their mailbox… AND – they pulled out a letter… AND – this letter was not from a law firm in California… it was a letter from God written by Peter… AND – when they opened it up, it told them that they had; “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for them…”
IF – you are a believer God says to you today…. “Tim, Laurie… there is an inheritance in heaven with your name on it…
LISTEN – in this life the things we love & many times give our life to - break down, they wear out, they fall apart – like Jesus said in the sermon on the mount; they are treasures that moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal… BUT NOT – so with the treasure we have in heaven; NOT so with our inheritance..
YES – Peter reminds discouraged believers that they have an inheritance in heaven…
LISTEN ONE DAY – we will live in heaven.
LAST WEEK – in our message, “Stay The Course,” we talked about how awesome heaven is going to be… we talked about how unbelievable it will be to one day live in a perfect world…
FRIENDS – one the heavens will open up and the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem will come down from the sky… AND….
q You will be at home with the Lord,
q You will get a new body.
q You will be reunited with our loved ones..
q You will walk on streets of gold
q You will see and live with God
AND – There Will Be No More…Tears, death, sorrow, crying or pain… No more guilt no more shame… No cancer allowed. No funerals… No death, no dying, no disease… No more - divorces, separations or affairs.. no murders, thefts, gossip, broken hearts, broken dreams or loneliness…
LISTEN – discouraged believers need to remember that they have an inheritance in heaven – that cannot be destroyed. AND – that never fades… YOU KNOW HOW WHEN – you get a new toy (and adults get toys too they are just bigger and cost more) you know how after awhile the thrill kind of wear off – kind of fades…. NOT SO – with you inheritance in heaven… I MEAN – everyday it is going to make you want to do the 1 & 5 with 7 zeros behind it dance… EVERYDAY – it will blow you away to be heaven!!!
FRIENDS – discouraged believers need to remember their inheritance. AND – do you know what else, I think if we do our best to remember our inheritance all the time – we will find discouragement makes fewer visits to our life (just a thought)… BUT – I think that this is why Paul wrote the following in Coil 3;
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. 2Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. 3For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” – Col 3:1-4 (NLT)
LISTEN – when you feel discouraged about this life… Let your inheritance, let heaven fill your thoughts…
Peter has some awesome news for discouraged believers…
q You are God’s people
q You are not home yet
q You are born again into a living hope
q You have an inheritance that can not be destroyed
5th Peter reminds DB’s that;
God’s Power Is Protecting Them
5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
CIRCLE – shielded by God’s power…
NOW - the word that is translated, shield, is a military term that means, “to guard, to protect, to keep a close watch over…” AND – it is in the present tense, so what Peter is saying is that we are constantly ( all the time) being shielded & protected by God’s power…
QUESTION – do you think these words came as good news to the first people who read Peter’s letter and who being threatened on a daily basis by the power of Rome? YOU BET! LISTEN – on their own they were no match for Nero, BUT with God… Nero & Rome were no match for them… FRIENDS – our God has absolute power. There are no limits to his power…
WHEN – the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they got tired of eating bread all the time…so they whined and complained to Moses… WELL - God heard their whining & complaining and told Moses that he would give the people meat everyday for a month, as much meat as they wanted… NOW – Moses got a little nervous and wondered how God could come up with all that meat…
“But Moses said, "There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you promise them meat for a whole month! 22Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?"
23Then the LORD said to Moses, "Is there any limit to my power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!" - Numbers 11: 21-23
LISTEN – there is absolutely no limit to God’s power. AND FRIENDS – that power IS protecting and shielding each believer in this room – EVEN as we speak. AND UNDERSTAND – just because we cannot see God’s power & protection does mean that it is not there…
I got to tell you a quick example of this from the book of 2 Kings chapter 6… The prophet Elisha is with his servant in a place called Dothan… He has really ticked off the king of Aram. SO - the king in the middle of the night sends his army to get Elisha… Elisha servant wakes up the next morning looks out the window and freaks out…. CHECK THIS OUT…
“When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Ah, my lord, what will we do now?" he cried out to Elisha. 16"Don’t be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" 17Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened his servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.”
NOW – before we move LET me make something clear here. There is a catch (if you will) to God’s power protecting us…Peter said; 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power
UNDERSTAND – the greater your faith – the more God’s power protects you… AND – the opposite is true; the weaker you’re the less God protects you… NOW – I don’t know about you but I like the idea of THE All Powerful God protecting and shielding me…
“Those who trust in the LORD are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever. Just as the mountains surround and protect Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds and protects his people, both now and forever.”
- Psalm 125:1,2
6th – Peter reminds DB’s; that…
Troubles Are Designed To Purify Your Faith
“…for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
LISTEN – the good news that Peter has for discouraged believers is that the hard times they are going through… (they hard times that you are going through) Are designed, are allowed to happen – BECAUSE they will purify your faith. They will as James says in the first chapter of his book help you to become mature and complete so you will not lack in anything…(James 1)
FRIENDS – really pray you get this (in fact Friday as I typed these words I prayed just that – I prayed for some of you by name) UNDERSTAND - your hard times do not have to be a waste of time – they do not just have to be a bad time.
QUESTION – are you going through a trial, a hard time right now? LISTEN WHATEVER – it is, it can serve a purpose… it can refine your faith… THAT - is exactly what God wants it to do…
As most of you know – almost 7 years ago my first wife died of cancer… Let me read for you a journal entry I made about 3 weeks after she died. (8/16/96)
It’s is a little after 6 am. I’ve been up an hour and have spent at least a ½ hour on the porch talking with you Lord and reflecting on my present-past- and future life.
I am already tired of being alone… I often go through what transpired wondering what could have been done differently – only to realize that the entire situation was in your hands.
From what I prayed on that Thursday, it is apparent (since you took her home on Sunday) that Judy was never going to be healed in this life. And only had more suffering to go through…
Lord, help me to consider all of this pure joy. Help this to make, NOT break my faith. Help me, to focus on your kingdom and truly trust you to take care of me and ALL my needs…
Thank you Lord… AND God please be with us… we need you.
UNDERSTAND – though I didn’t always do everything right as I walked through that dark valley – I did do enough right SO THAT my God was able to use that trial to purify my faith…
NOW – He most definitely has more work to do in me (I am so far from who I was designed to be)… BUT – I want you to know that as crazy as it may sound I would not want to take that experience out of my life. IF – I was given the choice I would let it happen all over again…
(AND – do you know what - I am confident that many of you who have made it through your own valley of darkness would say pretty much the same thing…)
“…for a little while (it’s not going last forever) you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
AND remember > faith = > protection NOW – don’t know about you but I think Peter has awesome news for discouraged believers…
q You are God’s people
q You are not home yet
q You are born again into a living hope
q You have an inheritance that can not be destroyed
q God’s power is protecting you
q Troubles are deigned to purify your faith
AND – next Peter reminds DB’s that;
They’re Saved
“for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
NOTICE – that Peter says, you are receiving,
LISTEN – you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to be saved. You are saved right now, today!!!
QUESTION – how does that make you feel? Does that truth make any difference in your life? Does it make you want to do the 1 & 5 with 7 zeros dance?
YOU KNOW – I am convinced that MOST, if not everyone here who is a Christian takes the fact that they are saved for granted… YES - I am convinced that in regards to our salvation for most of us – familiarity has bred contempt. (NOT – they we have contempt for our salvation BUT that it does excited us that much anymore – at least not as much as;
q going a vacation;
q getting a raise at work;
q that guy or girl saying they will go out with us…
AND – do you know what I am also convinced that we are not the first to treat our salvation this way… I believe this why Peter writes the next 3 verses in this letter…
I really like how the Message Bible words those verses;
“The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. 11The Messiah’s Spirit let them in on some of it--that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. 12All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves--through the Holy Spirit--the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!”
LISTEN – the salvation we have in Christ is unbelievable… SO – unbelievable that the angels and the prophets of old would have given up anything to be in on this thing you & I experience every day…
“FATHER … forgive us for treating the greatest gift – this way…”
Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 talks about our salvation and how – ---oh let me read just a little…
“Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. 2You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else. 4But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!)”
- Eph 2:1-4 (NLT)
QUESTION – do you think your salvation is pretty awesome!!!
IF SO – Paul continues in verse 11,12 of Ephesians 2;
“But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenant and promises to Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ – dying that death, shedding that blood – you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything..” Eph 2:11,12 (msg)
If you are a Christian you are saved! LISTEN…
Right Now!
Your sins are forgiven
There is no condemnation for you because you are in Christ
You have access to throne room of God (the holy of holies)
You are a child of God
You are the son or the daughter of the KING of kings and LORD of lords
The Holy Spirit lives inside of you as a deposit guaranteeing what will come
God won’t let you be tempted beyond what you can handle
Greater is the one who IS in you then is in the world
Jesus is preparing a home for you
You have an inheritance in heaven
You are a new creation
For you to live is Christ and to die is gain
You have a living hope
God’s power is protecting you
You are God’s workmanship/His masterpiece – created in Christ Jesus to do good works
You can have the peace of God the surpasses all understanding
God is working in your life to make to more like Jesus
You can stand before God as someone who is – holy, faultless and innocent
You’re past is forgiven and your future secure…
To discouraged people 2,000 years ago – AND to discouraged people today… Peter says;
Remember who you are!
You ARE
God’s chosen people!!
AND as God’s people….
You are not home yet
You are born again into a living hope
You have an inheritance that cannot be destroyed
God’s power is protecting you
Your troubles are designed to purify your faith
You are saved!!!
Prayer…
Help us to remember who we are
So we will live God’s way…
