It's good to see you tonight.
And I truly pray, as Brother Bob has said, that our Lord might
be pleased. Bless this Word to our heart.
Bless the preaching, the hearing. In 1 Peter chapter 1, I'd like to begin in verse 6,
where I left off. Last time we were looking at
this chapter, Peter writing in verse 6 says, wherein ye greatly
rejoice. Believers truly rejoice in the
Lord. They have much to rejoice in,
in Him. The Scripture says in the third
verse of this chapter, 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. He has birthed us, begotten us
again, reborn. The Lord told Nicodemus, you
must be born again. Now, I know this. A man must be born again or he'll
not see the kingdom of heaven. That was what our Lord told him.
And I know that a leopard can't change his spots, an Ethiopian
can't change his skin, and we can't do good who are accustomed
to do evil. We can't. But we must. be born again, wherein we greatly rejoice. For
our Lord has birthed us in the Lord Jesus
Christ, by Christ, reborn, created us in Christ Jesus. The God and Father of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, has done that which only He can do. created us, life, born again. Chapter 1, verse 23 of this chapter
that we read says, ìBeing born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever.î Paul said in Romans 1, ìI am not ashamed of the gospel.î
It's the power of God unto salvation, this gospel. It's the gospel
of God. It's His gospel, His truth, His
Word. Justice has been satisfied by
our blessed Redeemer. He is our atonement, justified
us. No record of sin. And we're kept, the Scripture
says in verse 5, this to rejoice sin were kept by the power of
God. Kept, how? By His power, by His
might, by the power of God through faith. To what? Salvation. Through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The faithfulness
of our blessed God to us. For Christ's sake, how thankful
we are. We rejoice. Just to stop for
a moment, just for a moment. I think sometimes how frail my
mind is, Bob, when I... How little I'm thankful. I am thankful, but how little. Peter says here, wherein we greatly
rejoice. We rejoice in Him. Salvation
by the obedience and the suffering of our blessed Lord and Savior.
Saved by grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God wherein
we greatly rejoice. But now for a season, now we're
in this world. Here we are. We're in Fairmont,
West Virginia. We're in this world. And the
Scripture says we rejoice, though now, for a season, if need be,
you're in heaviness through manifold temptations. Right now. We truly rejoice. A believer rejoices in the Lord. No doubt about that. We're kept
by the power of God through faith. We know that. We rejoice in that. But right now, we're going through
manifold temptations, manifold trials. And there's not a person
in this room tonight that's not going through some problems of
some kind, whether it's sickness, family, financial. But all of
these trials, all of these troubles, are so ordered by our blessed
Lord. All things work together for
good to them that love God. to them who are thee called according
to His purpose." He does all things well. We believe Him. We trust Him. We rest in Him
by faith. All these manifold temptations
that we must have, David says, you've dealt well with me. These problems that we have have
been so sent for one purpose, that we might behold Him, that
we might find our rest. We greatly rejoice in His everlasting
love, free grace, salvation, lively hope. But right now we
are being tried and we suffer for a while, these manifold different
kinds of temptations, heaviness of temptations, proving who my
faith rests in. He said, ìIíll never leave you. I will never forsake you. Never,
never.î The believer rejoices even in the trials, even in the
temptations, even in these trials that we must go through. It causes a weaning away of this
world. You tire of it. We suffer, but we rejoice. Trials. Faith in the midst of
trials. God-given faith proves His faithfulness. At the trial of your faith, verse
7, being more precious than of gold that perisheth. For it be
tried with fire, it might be found unto praise and honor and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Faith is the gift of
God. It is given to believe. The trial of that faith is from
the Lord to reveal its origin and its end. because the object of our faith
is Christ Himself, our Lord. Lord, You've sent this. Lord, You've purposed that I
go through this. Lord, and You'll keep me in that. In You, I greatly rejoice. I
rest. The Father has purposed to try
and prove to people by sending these manifold trials, trials
of your faith. The Scripture says, they that
endure to the end shall be saved unless he keeps me. I will not
endure. I will not. I will give up. If he didn't keep me, I would
quit. I would not. Find these things
to have anything to rejoice in. The most precious possession
that a man has. Precious is the Lord. I am his, he is mine. I rest
in him. Faith sets our sights. upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The trial of your faith is faith,
precious faith. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. The Scripture says in verse 8,
Whom having not seen, ye love. Now, here is where I would like
to just stop for just a minute. I thought on that passage, that
part of this scripture, the last few days, whom, having not seen,
you love. Salvation is to those that Almighty God
has called out of darkness. given a heart to believe. And
they love him. They rest in him. They trust
him. The Lord asked Peter, Peter,
lovest thou me more than these? You love me. Whom having not seen, you love. The Scripture says, He will show
mercy unto thousands of them that love Him and keep His commandments. Show mercy. We are commanded
to love the Lord our God with all of our heart. Love Him. Love is of God. The scripture says, "...whom
having not seen." Now, stop for just a minute. Let me ask you
something. Have you ever seen Him, looked
at Him? I'm talking about in body. Now, some did. There were some that saw Him.
Peter says we looked on Him. We saw Him. We handled Him. Life Himself touched Him. Some saw Him. And I realize that
in this day, bodily, with these eyes right here, we don't see
Him. I know that. But the Scripture
says, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, whom having not seen,
you lost. I thought about what the Scripture
has to say about this thing Love, whom having not seen, you love.
Scripture says a friend loveth at all times. You believe a friend. If a man, I had an uncle from
New Orleans, made this statement one time, and I tend to agree
with him. He said, if you come to the end
of your life and you have in this world five friends, he said, you can
count five friends on your hand. He said, I'm talking about friends
now that you can depend on. I'm not talking about weekend
warriors. I'm not talking about daylight
savings friends. I'm talking about friends that's
there. thick and thin. I'm talking about
friends that you can rest your life on. If I need them, they're
there. Friends. He said, if you can
find five. He said, you're a blessed man. A friend you can believe. The Scripture says, Whom having
not seen, in verse 8, you love. In whom, though now you see him
not, yet believing. I have not seen Him. You have
not seen Him. You that believe with carnal eyes, but with eyes
of faith, the seeing eye. It is of the Lord. By faith we
see Him. You cannot explain that to an
unbeliever. But a believer sees Him by faith
and hears Him. I hear Him. Hear His voice. My
sheep, He said, hear My voice. And they followed Him. Whom having not seen. You trust
a friend. You trust Him. If a friend tells you, I won't
let you down. I'll give it my all. I'll do
whatever it takes. I'll be there. I will not let
you... Our Lord said, I will not forsake
you. I will not forsake you. In that
day, when we stand alone in Him, oh, the anthem of those blessed
words, I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. I will not. Whom having not seen
you love him, a friend, one that will not disappoint
you. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
came to seek and to save that which was lost. Not maybe. He came and walked this earth
as the representative of His people, and at Calvary freely
laid down His life and shed His precious blood, redeemed with
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom, having not
seen, you love, one that you love You cleave to him. You remember when Jacob was wrestling,
it says, a man wrestled with him all night. The day was starting to break. And it says, as Jacob wrestled
with the man, he told him, he said, let me go. And Jacob, by
God's grace, Held on because he was being held on to. He says,
I won't let you go unless you bless me. I will not let you
go. I can't. When the Lord Jesus
Christ asked His disciples after many had left Him, after He said
some things that they surmised was a hard saying. That's a hard
saying. They walk no more with Him. And
the Lord asked His disciples, will you go away also? Peter says, Lord, where shall we go? To whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life. Where are we going
to go? You that believe, let me ask
you, where would you go? Would you go? By God's grace, you won't. A friend is faithful friend. You're concerned with his character
and you long for his fellowship. You long for it. You long to be with those that
you love. If you don't love somebody, you
take them or leave them. It doesn't matter. If you see
them, fine. If you don't, fine. Well, if
our paths cross, okay. If they don't, okay. But if you
love them, if you have a heart for them, you want to be with
them. You want to be where they are.
You want to fellowship with them. You look forward, Bob. Going
home, don't you? I know what you're thinking.
You're thinking, just me too. I'm going home. I don't want
to go home by myself. I want to go home with my wife. I want to be where she is. Why? I love her. Whom having not seen, you love. Abraham and all like him. He's called the friend of God.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. And listen to this. The Lord
said, You're my friend. You're my friend. You're my friends. What an honor. He's called the friend of God.
You love Him. He loves you. 1 Corinthians 13
says something about love. Whom having not seen, you love." This is the evidence of a new
heart. I heard someone speaking the other day, and they were
talking about love as if it was something that you could just
conjure up. You know you just can't conjure
it up. Now, it doesn't... Just try as hard as you want
to. If you love someone, you love
them. If you don't, you don't. Now, you can like them, but there's
a limit. A man feels for his wife a certain
way. He doesn't feel like that, or
shouldn't, concerning others, other women. He loves her, has
a love for her, and she for him. Love. It's the gift of God. Love is of God. God is love. Love is not... I'm talking about loving of Christ
here. It's not an emotion that is conjured
up by the carnal heart. Man, by nature, hates God. He says he doesn't, but he does. And the reason I know he does
is because God said he does. And God is true, and every man
is a liar. love, suffereth long." It means
it's not quick to assert its rights. Let me ask you this,
what rights? I have the right to do so and
so. This right and that right and this group says we've got
our civil rights and we've got this, that and the other. What
rights does a man have? Man by nature has rebelled against
Almighty God. and has forfeited all rights
of life, peace, hope, man by nature, said this, I will not
have that man to rule over me. I will not love. Suffereth long, not quick to
assert its rights, its kind. It's disposed. This is what it
means. It's disposed to do good. Good. Good, Master? There's none good but God. But
we're saved unto good works. But let's never forget whose
works they are. They're His. The fruit of the
Spirit. Not something you conjured up.
Advantis not. That means love doesn't gain
or seek after the applause of others. Look to Him. It envieth not. It means it has no wrong feelings
that are excited in view of the good of others. Look to Him. Trust Him. cast yourself upon him, it is
not puffed up, conceded, or boastful, does not behave itself unseemly,
or doing that which embarrasses. It seeketh not her own, that
is, her own honour. All honour is due him, not easily
provoked, not quick-tempered. it thinketh no evil, or it doesn't
plan it, doesn't devise it, isn't suspicious of it, doesn't seek
after it. I know that in us, that is, in
our flesh, there dwells no good thing. I know that. But I'll
tell you, a man or woman that has been given a heart after
Christ does not look far and enjoy rebellion against Him. He does not. Love rejoices not in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth. It's love. It beareth all things,
that is, in silence. It beareth them in silence. It covers them. It's the Lord. Let Him do. that which seemeth right to him. It believeth all things, not
suspicious. All these manifold trials, tribulations,
these things that we providentially go through, is He not worthy
of our trust? Is He? Yes, He is. hopeth all things, and endureth
all things by God's grace, endures all things. In whom having not seen ye love,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory. Joy unspeakable. You can't explain
it. I can't tell you. If Almighty
God has given you a heart after Him, it's joy unspeakable. Rejoicing in being able to believe
Him. It's experienced in the heart. Now expressed, full of glory, By faith, the saint knows something
of God's honor and God's glory. Receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls. This is a just and a sufficient
ground of rejoicing. Salvation kept from, saved from
something to something. Saved from the power of sin. Saved from self. Saved from Satan,
this world, its power, its influences eternally. Saved to Him. Salvation is of the Lord. Oh, consider the scope of Almighty
God saving a sinner. Consider, in closing, our natural
state. Let me just read this in 2 Kings
5, verse 1. The Scripture says that Naaman
was captain of the king of Syria's army. He was a great man with
his master. He was a mighty man of valor.
There was one problem. He had one problem, just one. The Scripture brings out, he
was a leper. just nullified everything. You might be, as far as this
world is concerned, might be a pretty decent guy, hard-working. He's a hard-working. You know,
I think a man's a hard-working man. That's good. Diligent. Whatever he set his mind to do,
he does it. Whatever his calling is, do it. Hard-working man. American. Patriotic. Down to earth, just one problem,
though. He's a sinner. He's a rebel against
God. He hates God. He hates that which
is good. He hates Christ. He hates the
atonement. He hates Him. You consider your
natural state. Consider the holiness of Almighty
God. Exodus 15, 11 says, Who is like
unto thee, O Lord? among the gods, who is like Thee,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders. You
consider what we are by nature. Consider who He is. David says,
My God is in the heavens. Nebuchadnezzar says, He doeth
as He will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. Here we are, nothing, rebels,
lost, undone, from the crown of our head to the sole of our
foot, putrefying, sores, unbound, unsalted, haters of God. Consider the state of separation
between the two. Isaiah 59. says this, that our iniquities
have separated between us and God. But consider the condescension
of Almighty God. Consider God's mercy, wondrous
grace. Here is where we greatly rejoice,
knowing where we are by nature, who He is, and the separation
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Consider our hope. John 7, 37, our blessed Lord
speaking on that last day, the great day of the feast, He said,
If any man thirst, Let him come unto me and drink." Almighty God makes some thirsty
for Him and then says, you thirsty? By His grace and power, by a
new heart, a new mind, a new man, a man realizes. I thirst after
him. He made me thirsty. Oh, consider the natural response. This is what I said a while ago.
Here's the natural response. I'll not come to him. I'll not
have this man to reign over me. Consider the consequences. Matthew
7 says the Lord speaking says in that Today, many will say
unto me, have we not prophesied in your name? Cast out devils
in your name? Done many mighty works, wonderful
works in your name? And he will say, I never knew
you. Consider his grace. Romans 5,
6 and 8, when we were yet without strength, In due time, Christ
died for the ungodly, but God commended His love toward us
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, being by God's grace, believing
Him, trusting Him. Oh, the preciousness of our blessed
Savior, precious blood that atones. the precious blood that washes
us white. Faith in Christ is the evidence
of birth. Life. In closing, I just want to leave
you with this thought. Whom, having not seen, you love. The scripture says that we are
to love the Lord our God with all of our heart. How thankful I am that our blessed
Lord who loves, who obeyed that law, perfectly
as a man. The Lord Jesus Christ, who loves
the Father, perfectly loved him, obeyed him. His meat was to do
his will and finish the work that he came. Christ himself lived before Almighty
God's perfectly. His righteousness is charged
to those that believe. In Christ, I do love Him perfectly. Whom having not seen, you love
Him. In Christ, I have obeyed Him.
In Christ, in Christ. I believe Him. Our Father, how thankful that
we had a time, a moment of time to come and hear. Lord, how thankful we are
for the goodness of Your blessed Word. Oh, that Word that endureth forever. That Word that is sure. That
Word. Lord, we pray, hide this Word
in our heart. For Christ's sake, we ask these
things. Amen.