Looking in the book of 1 Peter,
I thought that last song that we
sang was pretty appropriate for what we are looking at here in
the book of 1 Peter. We're going to begin reading in verse
3. We've already looked at these verses, but we'll read them again. 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, to an inheritance incorruptible,
non-defiled, 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. Wherefore ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations or trials, that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto the praise and
the honor and the 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,
of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching
what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in
them, did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed
that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the
things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into. Now we'll stop
right there. And, All that we have and are, every
blessing that's ours has come to us by the grace of God. We
say that we believe that and surely we do. Sometimes we our
thoughts get skewed in our mind and we don't think on that as
much as we should. But every good and perfect gift
cometh down from our Father which is in heaven. He has ordained
all things to come pass in this world for the benefit of his
people that they might bring glory to his name And all things
work together, it says, for good to them that love God, who are
thee called according to his purpose. And we know that the
Lord does all things according to his purpose. And his purpose
is sometimes quite at odds with ours, even as Saul found out
that his purpose was thwarted at every hand. And as long as
a man goes on the way of thinking that he shall accomplish his
purpose rather than God's, that man's in for a life of misery.
He's in for a life of unthankfulness. He's in for a life of rebellion.
But as the grace of God appears unto us and shows us that the
Lord's will shall be done in the earth as it is in the heavens,
as we pray, if we pray rightly, We don't pray that God will change
his mind. That forms the basis of the prayers
of many. They go to God seeking that God
will change his mind. They go to God giving him advice.
They go to God telling him what he should do. I mean, do you
find yourself praying, Lord, let so and so become president? Now how do you know that's the
right thing? Now we get, what's that? Yeah, well, we, you know,
now certainly, you know, we as people, we have our opinions
and desires and things that we want. And that's really the realm
in which we can operate in this world. But when we fall upon
our faces before God, We have to leave all that behind, you
see, and say, Lord, whatever seems good in your sight, that's
what we'll do, because the Lord is the one who is gonna bring
his will to pass, even if it is that direct contrast to what
we think is right. Now, a lot of people will be
ready to get up and quit, following the Lord, if the one they vote
for don't get to be president. I mean, the way they act, I mean,
you know, it's just like, well, God's on our side, you know,
this is the way it's gonna be, and if it doesn't turn out that
way, then, well, God got overwhelmed. I mean, you know, somehow or
other, Satan got in there and he thwarted the plans of God,
no. The heart of the king is in the
Lord's hand. as rivers of water, he turneth
it with us wherever he will. And he raises up kings, that's
what he told Nebuchadnezzar, didn't he? He said he raised
them up and he puts them down. And the Lord raises up the basest
of men, not the greatest of men. People get worried about, oh,
well, you know, we need to try to get the one that's the best.
Like an old feller says, you know, he always voted for the
worst one. Because he didn't want to ruin
a good man. Because he said, when they get
in there, they're going to be ruined. Because the Lord does
set over the kingdoms of the earth the basis of men. Now you
can take that any way you want to, but that's what he told Nebuchadnezzar.
But anyway, so we give thanks unto the Lord, for he has given
us a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
That is the basis of our hope, is the fact that Jesus Christ
is risen from the dead. Because as Paul said, if that
be not true, if there is no resurrection, then brethren, we are of all
men most miserable because everything that we have preached about,
everything we've hung on to, everything that we have believed
and hoped for is really of no use whatsoever. We're of all
men most miserable, but that's not true. We know that the dead
rise because Jesus Christ is the first fruits of his people. and he shall raise his people
from the dead. And that is our hope. To an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away, and reserved. Boy,
you could stay right there on that verse for a long time. Those
four words, incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away, and reserved
in heaven. I mean, that's pretty certain,
isn't it? You know, if something's incorruptible, I don't know of
anything that is in this world that is not corruptible. Everything,
I mean, you can take the finest gold, gold is probably one of
the purest substances that exists in the world, but gold, it'll
tarnish, you know, it'll get to looking bad after a while
and you won't even know what it is. But that which is given
to the people of God is not in any wise corruptible. It fades
not away. And it is reserved, that is it's
preserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation. He will keep his people from
falling. Now sometimes it doesn't look like it. If you'd have looked
at Peter on that night when he stood by
that fire, you'd have said he fell. And he would have. If it had
been left up to him, he would have. Because the Lord said to
him, Peter, Satan's desired to have you. because he goes about
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And he is out
to get the people of God, especially. He will try to devour the people
of God. But the Lord said something to
Peter, which is true for all of the saints of God. He said,
Peter, I have prayed for thee. That what he did in the garden,
or before he went to the garden, when the 17th chapter of John,
he said, Lord, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
I pray for them which thou hast given me out of the world, thine
they were, and thou hast given them to me. Peter, I pray for
you. He said that your faith fail
not, and he will keep his people from falling. They are kept by
the power of God, preserved through faith, not through their ability. but through faith. Now where
does faith come from? It is the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. He keeps us through faith. He
preserves us. He applies the faith to us, and
even in such times as we believe not, the scripture says, he's
faithful. Now some people say, well, you
know, if you don't believe, you're gonna perish. Well, if we belong
to the Lord, He may bring us through some dark times. He may
even bring us to a place where we question whether or not these
things are even true. But he will preserve his people,
even as he did Peter. Even as he has kept us, even
to the present hour. And he gives to every man the
measure of faith as it pleases him. No, I don't have any, I
can't look at a man and say, well, you know, you don't have
faith. I don't know. See, but I know that the Lord
knows, and I know that the Lord will apply that faith to his
people and keep them from falling. And they may be taken through
a dark and dangerous time, but for he says here, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. When will the people of God finally
be revealed? When is it going to be known
who the people of God are? Is it going to be in this world?
Now, surely the Lord does manifest his people from time to time
in this world, no doubt about it, and we rejoice as we walk
in this journey. But the only time that the people
of God are gonna be known is in the last time. And the Lord
is gonna gather his people. And he said, many shall say unto
me, Lord, Lord, Didn't we do all these great, wonderful works
in thy name? And he'll say, depart from me.
I never knew you. But you see, he's gonna reveal
his people in the last time, because his people are gonna
be there and say, Lord, we never did anything. We didn't do anything. We don't deserve anything. How
is it, Lord, that we can be called your children? He said, because it's my work
and not yours. And he will reveal his people
in the last time. Now we talk about the last time
from, you know, there's a last time of the last time. This is
the last time that we're in. This is the last age. There's
not coming another age in the earth. The Lord has come and
he has revealed himself as the Savior. Senator, this is the
day of salvation. And there's not another age that
is to occur in the earth. This is it. But there is a last
day of the last time. There is coming a future end
of these things. The elements shall melt with
fervent heat. That's what he says. And the Lord is gonna create,
he's gonna cleanse, he's gonna do something somehow, some way,
I don't know how. But it says that he's gonna make
a new heaven and a new earth. And that's a glorious thing.
That's going to occur at the last time. That is the last time. That's when the trumpet shall
sound and the dead in Christ shall rise first. and we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with the Lord,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. That is the last time.
See, that's the unfolding of all things having to do with
this world is coming to an end. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need
be, You are in heaviness through manifold temptations. Sometimes
it's necessary for God's people to be put through heavy trials
and troubles. And we all face disappointments
and things, and you know, because one person is called upon to
face great difficulties of life and loss and all of these things,
And these trials are greater, we might say, than say a man
who just stubs his toe when he's walking down the sidewalk. But all of these things are trials
that are brought upon us to remind us of the temporary nature of this
world. Of the misfortune that has come
into this world upon men because of sin. Now we're not hapless
victims of it because we have embraced it. Because that's what
we came forth from our mother's womb with a penchant towards
sin. and it nags at us every day,
and that is a manifold temptation for the people of God. Now, for
the people of the world, don't bother them a bit. I mean, it's
just a natural thing, and they just can't wait to get more of
it, but God's people, by the grace of God, are made to see
what they are by nature, and as Paul said, the good that I
would, I do not, and that which I would not, that I do, and it
causes me grief, but I know that I have a Redeemer. I know that
there is one who has paid that price for me, and that is my
hope. My hope is built on Him, wherein
we greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be. And
we don't know yet what it might be. Now those people that are
in these places where the hurricanes hit, they have manifold temptations
of a natural sense. And it was needful. Now some
people say, well, why'd that happen? I don't know why it happened,
but I know this, that it was needful to happen. It had to
happen. It was going to occur, and nobody
was gonna change it. But it was for the benefit of
God's people. And I know, you know, maybe there's some of them
that can't really grasp that right now, but later on they
will, if God be pleased to show them. And so, we are, he says,
for a season. Now isn't that a glorious thing,
for a season? I mean, what if there was no
end to our sufferings? That'd be a terrible thing, would
it not? But see, these are temporary things. I mean, you know, the
worst sickness you can have is temporary, even if it takes you
out of this world. Even if it is unto death, it
is yet a temporary thing for the people of God. Because we
don't look at these things which are present, but we look at those
things, not these things that are temporal, but the things
that are eternal. Because God in his mercy has
given us a mind to look on those things which are to come. And
that's the glorious hope of the people of God. He said, though
you be in, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that is, many trials, you are greatly distressed in
heaviness, that the trial of your faith being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth. Now think about that. The trial of your faith being
much more precious than gold that perishes. Now, I thought
a trial was a bad thing. Well, it is. It wouldn't be a
trial if it wasn't. See, you can't have a trial that's
enjoyable. It wouldn't be a trial. But a
trial's not enjoyable, but it's precious. That's what he said. He said, the trial of your faith
being much more precious than gold. That very trial, I mean,
that's a glorious thing. It's of more worth than gold.
You see, we will look upon the trials that we have and say,
thank God that he brought us that way. I mean, think about
the Apostle Paul. All the things that he bore,
he said, these things are nothing. He said, I counted all joy, brethren.
Why? Because you could look upon it
and know the truth of this, the trial of your faith being much
more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire. See, gold, I mean, it just becomes
more pure the more it's refined. That which, you know, cheap metal,
it just burns up. Cheap, that withdraws. I mean,
all that stuff's gone. But the pure metal, the pure
gold, it comes forth, even as that which is, might be found
unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of our, of Jesus
Christ. And he appears to God's people.
And I think this is, of course, speaking about that last time.
the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Lord said to us,
or the angel said to his disciples, this same Jesus whom you saw
go into the heavens shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go. Now how did they see him go?
They saw him go in a body that was raised up and went up into
the heavens. Now, can you imagine that? Be sitting there looking and
just see somebody just go up in the air? I mean, you know,
you've seen these magic, magician guys where they're supposed to
levitate and all that stuff. And of course, they got, you
know, they do that through illusions and all sorts of things. But they don't, I've never seen
one of them go much, you know, about that high off the ground.
Now if you just saw one just go right on up into the heavens,
that would be an astounding thing, wouldn't it? And you can imagine
that the disciples were, they never seen anything like that
before. Just like you haven't either. And the angel said, look,
what are y'all doing? What are y'all doing? This same
Jesus who just went away, he's coming back. Now get on out of
here and do what he told you to do. I mean, that's basically
what they told them. The trial of your faith might
be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen ye love. I never have seen him with these
eyes, never laid eyes on him at all, and I can't explain it. How it is the Lord can give you
love for somebody you've never even seen. But it's true. In whom though now ye see him
not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. And the world looks at the people
of God and say, you're a fool. You know, all of these smart
guys, they say, oh man, you know, you guys are, I mean, this stuff's
all just made up. You know, just like those Peter
writes about them later on, it says, they say, well, where's
the promise of his coming? I mean, you know, I've been hearing
that ever since I was, all my life. Where is he? Like, remember
the old Russian cosmonaut when he went up and orbited the Earth? What an idiot. He says, you know,
there ain't no God, because I didn't see him while I was up there.
I mean, what was he, 100 miles above the Earth? I mean, you
know how foolish men are to think that in their wisdom they can
know God. But it's only by the power of
the Spirit that men come to know these things. Yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable. That's the gift of faith. You
can't rejoice in the Lord without the gift of faith. I mean, you
can get all worked up one day a week, and you can think, well,
you know, I felt pretty good, but then apart from the Lord
giving you the gift of faith, it doesn't become joy unspeakable
to you, because you can take it or leave it. Receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your soul, the purpose of faith, what is
the purpose of faith? the salvation of our souls. That's
the end of it. That's what the Lord gave it
to us for, is that we might receive the salvation of our souls. You
see, our salvation's rolled out by Jesus Christ. You didn't have
a thing in the world to do with it. Not one iota. He purchased your redemption
before you was ever born. You never knew one thing about
it. But in his time, he brought to you his truth and he applied
to you the gift of faith that you might believe and receive
that which he has already provided for you. It didn't become yours
because you believed it, but because you were the Lord's,
he gave you the gift of faith that you might believe. and seeing
it. See, that's why we preach the
gospel. That's why we declare the truth
of God, that God's people might be encouraged to see what it
is. Now, you can preach the gospel
to a thousand people, and I don't know how many of them, but some
of them will say, praise God. Why is that? Because they've
been given the gift of faith and they believe it. Others say,
well, so what? I don't believe it. I mean, you
know, sounds good, but it's not really important to me. We rejoice with joy unspeakable,
receiving the end, the purpose of our faith, even the salvation
of our soul. Of which salvation? Now listen
to this, of which salvation? And this, I told you that song
we sang a moment ago, this is, what I thought of as we sang
that song, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come
unto you. Now look, you know, some people
say, oh, well, we don't need the Old Testament anymore. All
we need is the New Testament. Well, we'd be missing the glory
that God has done in the preparation of the world for him who was
to come. Because the prophets, every one,
they had one message the Lord gave them to deliver. Now, sometimes
it's hidden in dark sayings and things that we can't even grasp
at the present time, but we can at least, see, you can look back
and you know more than Isaiah did. Now Isaiah, I mean, I can't
think of one of the prophets that was given a greater vision
of Christ and the work that he would perform than Isaiah was. He was not the greatest of prophets,
however. The greatest of prophets, according
to the Lord Jesus Christ, was John the Baptist. But John the
Baptist was an Old Testament prophet. How'd I know that? Because
he died not having seen what Christ would do. Isaiah died
in puzzlement. He said, you know, I wrote all
these things and I believe them to be true, but they've got to
be for somebody else down the road because I don't know exactly
what these things are. Of which salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently. Think about those wise men. Who
were the wise men? I don't know. You know, we don't
have a lot of information about it, but they searched diligently.
And they looked and they saw a star in the east. I don't know how they could have
known that this was an indicator of Christ. How did
they know that? Why did they leave where they
were and travel hundreds of miles, thousands maybe? I don't know
exactly where they came from or what, but they came because
the Lord showed them this star in the east. which the star itself was not
Christ, but it indicated where the Christ child was, and they
came to worship him. See, no missionary went over
there, but God, who's rich in mercy, opened their eyes to see. Now, I don't know what they saw,
but they searched diligently, and the Lord showed it to them, They prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you. They said, well, you know, I
don't know, this didn't happen. Remember when, was it Ananias
in the temple when they brought the Lord Jesus to him to be circumcised? And he said, he held that baby
in his arms. And he said, mine eyes have seen
the salvation of God. You see, he was a blessed man.
Because his eyes were open to behold. Because you see, he had
searched diligently. And the Lord showed it to him.
Now the prophets of old, before the coming of Christ, they searched
diligently, but they never saw it. They died. They wanted to
see it. They hungered to see this one
whom the Lord would send, but they were not allowed to do it.
They prophesied of the grace that would come to us, searching
or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them.
Now you hear some people say, well, you know the Spirit of
the Lord wasn't ever in people until the Lord came. That's not what the scripture
teaches us. This right here says the Spirit of God which was in
them. Same Spirit, He just wasn't pleased
to reveal to them everything that He's been pleased to reveal
to us. But they testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. There again, we go back to Isaiah.
I mean, he gives a most clear picture of what Christ would
do. David in the Psalms, he gives
a clear picture. I mean, read this 22nd chapter,
the 22nd Psalm. He knew, he could see to some
extent the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow,
but it wasn't given to him to know it. even as us. Because,
you know, there John the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets,
according to the, there's no prophet born of woman greater
than John the Baptist. But he said, I tell you this,
he that's least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the
Baptist. Well, what did he mean? He meant
the man who's been privileged to see the crucified, risen,
and ascended Christ has more knowledge of the things and purpose
of Almighty God than all the prophets that have gone before. What a glorious thing. Unto whom it was revealed that
not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things
which are now reported to you. See, the things that they prophesied
would come to pass. Those who have been sent with
the gospel to preach unto the people of God in the present
age, these things which they prophesied of, those who are
sent with the gospel declare that these things have occurred.
See, we live in a time when Christ has come into the world. Now,
they changed it a few years ago, but it used to be, you know,
time used to be measured in B.C. in A.D., and now I get it's C.E. or some crazy something. But
they knew this was the year, A.D. means the year of our Lord. This is the year, in fact, I
remember, used to, you'd hear people say, this is the year
of our Lord, such and such a date. And this is the year of the Lord. It belongs to him. He made it,
and whether they want to call it that or not, I don't care.
But it is the year of our Lord. And they prophesied and reported
to them, which have preached the gospel unto you with the
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire
to look into. You know, there, we sang that
song. I want to look at that. That verse, it kind of sends
chills up and down my back when I read it. It says, millions there of flaming
seraphs fly across the heavenly plain. There they sing immortal
praises. Glory, glory is their strain. Now it's talking about those
heavenly creatures that inhabit the heavens. I don't know what
they look like or, you know, people paint pictures of them
and all this stuff and people think they know what, I don't
have any idea. I know that there are those that
surround the throne of God and night and day, from the moment
of their creation, even until now, they surround his throne
saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty who was and is and
is to come. And it's speaking about all of
those heavenly creatures. You see, they're created for
the purpose of bringing glory to God in the fashion in which
he would have them to bring glory to him. It says, millions there
of flaming saris fly across the heavenly plain. There they sing
immortal praises. Glory, glory is their strain. Methinks a sweeter concert makes
the heavenly arches ring, and a song is heard in Zion, which
the angels cannot see, which things the angels desire
to look into. Dear brethren, we are such a
privileged and blessed people. to see the glory of Christ revealed,
to live in a day and an age when Christ has come into the world
and poured out His blood for sinners. And we're given the privilege
to praise Him with that knowledge. See, the angels, they look on
these things and they would like to embrace it, but they can't
comprehend it. They can't know what it's like
to be a sinner redeemed by the grace of God. Oh, they can know
what it is to be preserved by the grace of God, for they have
been from the beginning, but they cannot see. You see, the
only thing the angels have ever seen before men were created,
or maybe, I don't know exactly when it happened, I don't know
the chronology or if it even matters, but a third of them,
the scripture says, was cast out of heaven. They've seen that. But those third that were cast
out of heaven, there was no redemption for them. They're bound in chains,
the scripture says, in darkness. But now they look on this scene and
they see a creation that has done exactly what these angels
did and caused them to be cast out of heaven And they see the
very one that created them, whom they have worshiped from the
beginning. They see him come down and pour out his blood for
sinners. And they can't get it. It's a
wonder. But oh, the saints of God. You are redeemed by that blood.
Give Him praise. He's worthy of praise. And we want to give Him praise
and thanksgiving and rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. Oh, what a glorious Savior He
is. May His name be ever praised and may His people bow down and
worship Him and be thankful for the gift of faith that whereby
we believe, receiving the end of our salvation, the purpose. See, God does all things on purpose.
He purposed to save his people and he's done it. And now he's
bringing it to their mind through the gospel. He's bringing life
and immortality to light through the gospel. He sends it forth. And it gives men eyes to see
it and ears to hear it, and hearts to embrace it and rejoice. Oh,
that he might be praised.