Turn with me, if you would, back
to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. A dear brother called me Monday
night, and we were talking about how down we get and how absolutely
disgusted we get with ourselves because of our sinful flesh.
I don't know if anybody can relate to that, but all of our lack, all of our insufficiency,
just considering everything that Christ has done for us, and then
all of our lack and insufficiency in return. Every time that we
turn our eyes to this flesh, we get so disheartened and so
disappointed. If you would like to get disheartened
and disappointed, turn your eyes within. Really, that's all it'll
do. Every single time we do that.
And this dear brother to me said, he said, I hope you have something
encouraging for Wednesday night because I need it. And I got
to thinking about that. I thought I do too. So I got
to praying about that. And the Lord laid this scripture
on my heart. And I believe this is about the
most encouraging thing that a sinful wicked man or woman could ever
hear. I believe this is about as encouraging
as it gets for a child of God who truly needs it. First Peter
one verse five says, you are kept by the power of God. The last word of verse four is
you. You who are kept by the power
of God, you are kept by the power of God. David said in Psalm 41,
he closed that Psalm by saying, amen and amen. That's what God has to say to
every chosen sinner. who has been bought. We just sang about being redeemed
and that word redeemed means bought. That's what it means,
purchased. purchased by the blood of the
Lamb of God." I wish I could enter into that line. I wish I could enter into the
fact that we have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb of God
Himself. To every soul placed by God the
Father in Christ, This is his word of comfort and encouragement
to every single one of them. He says, you are kept. I just can't imagine a better
thing to hear in that moment when you think, Lord, like David
used to say, are your mercies clean gone? You know, the Lord
had to put him in a terrible place for him to cry that, are
your mercies clean gone? You are kept by the power of
God. I'm so glad that he didn't say
right here, your flesh is better than you think it is. He didn't
say that. He didn't say that at all. He
said, you're kept. You're kept. Not only does this
word say, Your flesh is as bad as you think it is. I have conversations
with people all the time and we share this sentiment. We talk about this all the time.
Why do I do these things? Why am I still the way that I
am? Why can't I stop sinning and
doing all this before God? Why is that? Here's the reason
why. Open up the Word, it'll tell
you plain as day. Your flesh is as bad as you think it is.
And not only that, it's worse. When we think, oh, I'm so horrible
in the flesh, we have no idea. We have no idea. But this is
what the Word says. In spite of you, stop looking
at you. Yep, it's bad. Yep, it sure is. Oh, my flesh is so bad, the Word
cries, amen. That's right, the Word says,
I agree, I wholeheartedly agree, it's bad. But the Word says,
in spite of you and in spite of all your sinful flesh, God
the Father has chosen to keep you in Christ. And if that's what God the Father
has chosen to do, then that's what's gonna happen to you. You're
gonna be kept. I think that's so encouraging.
That just encourages me, you're gonna be kept. You're gonna be
kept. Turn over to John chapter 10. John chapter 10, verse 27, our
Lord said, "'My sheep hear My voice, And I know them, and they
follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which
gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck
them out of my father's hand. No man. Thank God that includes
this old sinful wicked man. If I need to fear anybody, it's
myself. If I need to fear the influence
of anybody, it's myself. No man, no man. I can't even pluck myself out
of his hands. And it's because by God's grace
in the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm being kept and so are you. In Christ, in Christ. Those are the two greatest words
ever uttered in Christ. We're being kept. Look at John
chapter 17. John 17, verse 10, the Lord speaking
to His Father, He said, All mine are thine, and thine are mine,
and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world. And He's speaking of His people.
He said, And I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one
as we are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept. And none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled.
He said, the only reason that man was lost was because the
scripture declared it had to be done. And the scripture had
to be fulfilled. None of them are lost. Never have been, never will be. If one could be lost because
Christ was not able to keep him or her, then none would be saved. If one could be lost, none could
be saved. If one man's sin could ruin him
and make him fall through the fingers of the Lord Jesus Christ,
all of us would fall through the fingers of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But thank God, none can be lost. It's because they're
all being kept by the power and the ability of God Almighty.
Number six, verse 24 says, the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord will bless his people
and the Lord will keep his people. Psalm 121 says, he that keepeth
thee will not slumber. You have to love that. It says, behold, he that keepeth
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. God's people are a kept people.
We are a kept people. I've titled this message, Encouragement
for Sinners in Christ. And this is it. This is the encouragement. You are being kept by the power
of God. Now, let's go back to our text
and let's look at what we are kept in, what we are kept through,
and what we are kept to. All right, what we're kept in,
through, and to. Back in 1 Peter 1, verse 1 says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
unto the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father." He said, I'm speaking to the elect. God's people are
called the elect because they're the ones that God chose to give
salvation to. That's why they're called the
elect. the chosen ones. God the Father selected who He
wanted to save, and He gave every one of them to Christ the Son.
Put it in the hands of Christ the Son. And I hope we will all
say every time we hear this, I still, it goes through my mind,
and that's why I bring it up, because I believe it goes through
your minds, and it ought to go through all of our minds. Every
time we hear the elect, we ought to say, am I one of them? Who
are the elect? How can I know if I'm one of
the elect? Who exactly did God choose? Well,
turn with me over to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26, it says, For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty and base things of the world and things which are
despised. Hath God chosen. Yay. And things which are not to bring
to not things that are to bring to nothing things that are that
no flesh should glory in his presence. This right here says
that the people that God chose to save are, who did he save? Who did God choose? Well, this
says that the ones he chose to save are foolish. They are weak. Honestly, go announce this out
into the world. See how many people raise their
hand. All right, raise your hand if you are foolish. Don't really
raise your hand, but you understand what I'm saying. Ask people,
all right, are you foolish? God chose the foolish and the weak and the base, and what base means
is Not able to make it up to the standard, subpar, insufficient,
not enough. God chose something that's worthy
to be despised. Those who are worthy to be despised. They ought to be despised. That's
who God chose, the ones who should be and are worthy to be despised,
hated. And he said, they are nothing.
Anybody raise your hand if you're a fool, weak, totally insufficient,
worthy to be hated, and nothing. Now, if you can have a conversation
with each other and say, yeah, that pretty much describes me. I think that pegged me pretty
well. In my flesh, that's honestly about what I see, especially
before God. You want to talk about before God? You know what
I am? I'm a fool. The Apostle Paul said we're fools
for Christ's sake. We acknowledge it. You want to
talk about before God? I'm weak. Before God, you know
what I am? Insufficient. Before God, I ought
to be hated. Before God, I'm nothing. I mean,
honestly, if we get to a place where we can say, yep, that is
me. You are talking about me. If
we can say that, we fit the description of the elect of God. Peter said, that's who I'm talking
to. You know, Peter had enough experiences in his life to know
that's what he was. He said in his epistle, I'm an
apostle. I've been made to be an apostle.
And he said that to prove you can believe what is said here
because it's inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, but he knew
that's what he was, and he said, that's who I'm speaking to. So
go back to 1 Peter 1. Verse 1 says, Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. He said
to every soul who has been covered in the blood, grace and peace
be multiplied to you. That's what comes from being
covered in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Covered in the
blood, in abounding, multiplying, never-ending, eternal grace and
peace. Grace is God's gift. Grace is God's favor. Grace is
God's kindness. And peace is His rest. Peace. It's the quietness that
His Spirit brings to His people. It's the contentment that He
gives to the soul. And how does He give that to
His elect? How does that come to God's people? Peter said in
verse 2, it came through the obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ. He is that grace. He is the gift. He is our peace. Look over, it's across my page
at verse 18, 1 Peter 1 verse 18, it says, for as much as you
know, that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. He was foreordained to this. And verse 20 says, he was manifest
in these last times to do it. And he did it. He was foreordained
to it and manifest in these last times to do it. He shed his own
precious blood, gave his own precious life because he was
the Redeemer. And if we were to ask Peter,
who did he do this for? Tell us, Peter, who all did he
do this for? He went on to say, look at the last two words in
verse 20, He said, for you. He did it for you. Grace and peace be multiplied
to you. Look now back at verse 3, it
says, Blessed be the God and 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. In two verses right here, verses
two and three, Peter said, the obedience, the death, and the
resurrection of Christ has brought grace, peace, mercy, and hope
to all of God's people. When Christ came to us, grace
came. Grace came. When Christ came
to us, grace came. He was the gift. When Christ took our sin from
us, peace came. He took our sin away. There's
a little song that says, did you hear what the Lord Jesus
said to me? They're all taken away, away.
Look at all this sin. Look at all my sin. But the Spirit
of God says, peace, be still. They're all taken away. Your
sins are pardoned, you're free. They're all taken away. When
Christ shed His blood and died for us, mercy came. He took that
sin away from us and died to pay the debt, and mercy came.
Because God the Father gave the punishment that was owed to us
to Christ. He won't give it to us. He can't give it to us. It's
paid for. Mercy came. And when Christ arose from the
dead and walked out of His tomb and ascended back to glory, hope
came. He said, what you've seen happen
to me, that's what's gonna happen to you. The same thing that has
happened to me, that's what's gonna happen to you. So verse
three says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten
us again unto a lively, that means a living hope. A living
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Verse four
says two. We are kept in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are kept through his obedience
and the sprinkling of his blood, the shedding of his blood. His
abundant mercy that was given to us through His blood. And
because of His resurrection, we're kept too. We're kept in,
through, and to. And this is what we're kept to,
verse four. An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you. Christ is our inheritance. Christ is our inheritance. Oh,
the unsearchable riches of Christ. He is precious, more precious
than gold. He is our incorruptible, undefiled,
everliving, reserved inheritance. And in himself, he said, I have
prepared an inheritance for you. Because he is all of that in
him. He said, I've prepared inheritance
for you. He said in John 14, I'm going
back to prepare a place for you. That where I am, you may be also an incorruptible, undefiled,
ever existing, reserved place for you. First Corinthians 2
verse 9 says, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. Who is that who truly loves him?
Who truly loves him? Tell you who it is. It's those
who are being kept by the power of God. All who he keeps looking to Christ
and waiting for His return. Do you know that if we were not
kept looking to Christ and waiting for His return, we wouldn't? You know that? He said we're kept by the power
of God through faith, through looking to Him. waiting on Him,
desiring Him. We're kept through a willing
desire that He puts in us to be kept. We want to be kept. We're kept through a heart that
He places in us that is constantly crying and begging and pleading,
Lord, please keep us. Do you ever find yourself begging
that? Lord, please keep me. Please don't let us go. Like Ruth said to Naomi, entreat
me not to leave you. Don't let me go. Please keep
us. You know, Peter prayed, Lord,
save me. That's a wonderful three word
prayer. Here's another one. Please keep
us. We are kept by constraining love,
His love that constrains us. And our love for His constraint,
He puts a love in us for that constraint. We'll close with
these verses. Verse 6 says, wherein you greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness
through manifold temptations. All these trials and they bring
heaviness. But He said, it's need be. If
it need be verse seven, that the trial of your faith being
much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire might be found under praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ. And what he said right there
was, I know you think it's bad now, but just wait till the moment
that Jesus Christ appears. I know it's really bad right
now. I know all these trials are bad and your faith is trying
to look up, but you're crying, Lord, we believe, help our unbelief,
increase our faith. I know we're just trudging through,
you know, Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress and he called this the
slough of despond. You feel like you're just being
drug through the miry clay. He said, I know it's bad now,
but you just wait till the moment you see Jesus Christ face to
face. Just wait till the moment. He
said, if it need be that the Lord sends you through trials
to keep you looking to Him and keep you crying out to Him, Lord,
please keep me. He said, if that need be, He said,
that's more precious than gold. That's worth more to you than
gold itself. And he said, the moment that
Christ appears, and I just, eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, but I still like to imagine it. I like to try to. I just,
you know, I just cannot imagine. Cannot imagine. The moment we
see him, the moment we're in his presence. John said, the
moment our eyes behold him, Paul said, in a moment, in a twinkling
of an eye, we're going to be changed. And John said, the moment
we behold Him, we're going to be just like Him. We're going
to see Him as He is. So what that means is the very
moment we behold Him, we're going to be sinless. The moment our
eyes get the visual of Him, we'll
be sinless. will be caught up. You think about the glory of
the one, the redeemer, the lamb of God who shed his blood. My
sheep hear my voice. They know me. They follow me.
We're going to know him. We're going to know it's him. You don't know it's him. And
then you're going to see that great host of people, brethren
that we dearly love, who he has brought with him. You're going
to see a mighty number of angels that no man could number. You're
going to see cherubims and seraphims. And none of that's going to mean
anything compared to Christ. But he said, you just listen to me.
He said, you're being kept by the power of God. And he said,
I know it may be bad right now, but because of what Christ did
for you, it's all going to be worth it. It's all going to be
worth it. Verse eight, he said, whom having
not seen you love. in whom though now you see him
not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable, full of
glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of
your souls." He said, even though you haven't seen him, you love
him. And do you know why we love him? It's because we're being
kept. being kept. So, you know, as we finish out
our course, we're just going to be so disappointed in ourselves. We're going to be so disgusted
by what we see in ourselves. We're going to be so disheartened
by everything we are. We're going to be so shamed by
what we do. But every time we look to Christ,
we're gonna remember in Him, we're being kept. That's what
we're reminded of every time we come here. We're being kept
by the power of God. And thank God, His keeping is more powerful
than my falling away. I would try and try and try,
but I can't do it. His keeping is more powerful.
If He's keeping us, we're gonna be kept. We're gonna be kept
all the way till the day that we see our salvation himself. Verse nine said, receiving the
end of your faith, even the salvation of yourself. I love how Martin
Luther said, feelings come, feelings go, feelings are deceiving, my
warrant is the word of God, nothing else is worth believing. He said,
though all my heart should feel condemned for lack of some sweet
token, there is one greater than my heart whose word cannot be
broken. I'll trust in God's unchanging
word till soul and body sever, for though all things shall pass
away, his word shall stand forever. And he said, in Christ you'll
be kept. Verse 24, last two verses, all
flesh is grass, all the glory of man is as the flower of grass,
the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away, but the
word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word by the gospel,
by which the gospel is preached unto you. Amen. I pray the Lord will make that
an encouragement to us. Let's all stand