Again, the text, 1 Peter chapter
1, 1 through 9, for those on the video and on the tape. Here is our passage for this
morning. 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, under obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you,
and peace be multiplied. 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, or living hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance,
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades 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, wherein ye
greatly rejoice. Though now for a season, if need
be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, 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,
whom, having not seen ye love, in whom though now we 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 soul." I would like to emphasize verse 7 again, 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."
Now, in hearing this text, Who is there that can deny that we
have struck a very rich vein of spiritual ore or truth in
the Word of our God? Here are gems before our eyes
that glimmer and that sparkle. There are several good doctrines
that are here and are highlighted by the Apostle Peter, each of
them capable of yielding unto us a sermon and a study in and
of themselves. For example, Look, if you would,
very quickly, here is election in the second verse. He calls
them to whom He writes, the elect. And also in verse 2, according
to the foreknowledge of God. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. Not God looking ahead and seeing
who would turn unto Him, knowing us in election before the world
ever began. Also in verse 3, we notice He,
that is God, has quickened. He has begotten us. He has made
us alive unto a living hope. Then look at verse 3. The resurrection
of Christ from the dead is included in this great eulogy of the Apostle. Then look in verse 4. the spiritual
inheritance that is laid up for the saints, not in the bank and
not on earth, but yonder in heaven. Then notice in verse 5, we have
the great doctrine of the preservation of believers in Christ and faith
until the end. Notice in verse 7, we have a
mention of the appearing of Christ. Look at verse 9, He speaks of
our final salvation when sight, or rather, when blindness shall
give way unto actual sight. Now, let's notice this passage
of Scripture. The author is Peter, the Apostle
Peter, whose original name, you remember, was Simon. Also call Cephas, as we see in
Matthew. Cephas, as it was his name, a
sure name of Peter, meaning the rock or the stone. Notice his
office also, as he writes with authority. His relation unto
the Lord is as an apostle. He is an apostle. Christ. And to Peter, you remember,
was given a special key by the Lord and for all of his faults
and for all of the warts that one might find on the Apostle
Peter, he made some of the most amazing confessions of the Lord
to be found anywhere in in the New Testament and by the Apostle,
such as it was Peter that said, you are the Christ, the Son of
the living God. You have the words of eternal
life, we believe and are sure. Where else could we go? He, by the grace of God, was
one of the first to make the great confession concerning the
person of Christ. Now, he intends this epistle
to be for those that he calls the strangers scattered abroad,
or the dispersed, or the dispersion. And he names five areas where
those people were at the time. His words are intended for those
who are Christian believers, whom he describes as the elect
according to the foreknowledge of God. Not only had they been
chosen, but then we notice in verse 2, they had experienced
the saving benefits that flow from their election in Christ. They had been called they had
been sanctified by the Spirit unto obedience, and they had
been sprinkled, or bathed, or cleansed in the blood of Christ. Now, let's focus a bit before
we go along on verses 3 through verse 5, which Gil called, and
I liked it, an ascription of blessing, praise, and glory. It is a song of praise. It is
a eulogy of the God of heaven for the spiritual abundant blessings
with which He had blessed them in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now this eulogy or this song
of blessing or of praise might remind us of the greatest one
there is in the New Testament, and that is from Paul in Ephesians
1, stretching all the way from verse 3 down through verse 14. It has been said by expositors
that the main purpose of this epistle of 1 Peter is to encourage and confirm the readers in the
Christian life and the faith of Christ. And to encourage and
exhort them to be steadfast under their trials, their tribulation,
and their trouble. To hold fast to their profession
of Christ and the gospel. To patiently endure the trials
that they meet with in the way. So for their encouragement, he
recalls the goodness and the blessings of God toward them. That not only were they elect
of God, but they were converted to a new way of life. He tells them, being chosen to
salvation, they had been begotten unto a living hope and an inheritance
from God Almighty. They had been made alive under
that inheritance in Christ and they were being preserved unto
the realization of that great inheritance laid up for them. He says, They are kept by faith
through the power of God to the full realization of the benefits
of salvation in Jesus Christ. Then the apostle tells them,
beginning, if you notice, in verse 6, how the knowledge of
these things will serve them in their present distress. He tells them in verse 6, these
things were cause for rejoicing, even if it be that for a time
they were in heavy trial and manifold temptation. These, says
the apostle, are temporary. They are but for a little time. And as Paul said, they are nothing
in comparison with the great glory that shall be revealed
in us. Romans 8 and verse 18. And then
he said they are of short duration compared to the eternal glory
that is to follow. He speaks of their present situation. And then he makes several good
points to fortify them in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for the first point, I think
that there is no better way to put it than in this very quote
from the commentary of John Brown on the epistle of 1 Peter. He wrote this, quote, Now and
here Christ is not bodily present with them, and all of their knowledge,
their revelation, and their fellowship is by means of faith, unquote. Christ is not literally, physically,
bodily in our presence as He was at one time. What's more,
these people were enduring various trials and troubles that had
come upon them because of their Christianity. And final glory
was yet a matter of faith and of hope. It had not been realized
yet. And at present, they were in
heavinesses of all kind. And the apostle then speaks of
their faith under different aspects, especially the trial of their
faith that would come upon them. In the text we read, I see three
mentions of faith in this passage of Scripture. Verse 5, verse
7, and again in verse 9. So look at verse 5, if you would. "...who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time." Now, the who, in the beginning of verse 5, that are kept by
the power of God, has as its nearest antecedent the last words
of verse 4. for you who are kept by the power
of God. He says there is an incorruptible
inheritance. laid up for you in heaven. It is reserved, he said, it is
kept, it is guarded, so as not to escape and not to be lost. It is there that it might have
an eye kept upon it. as the word can mean sometimes.
This word terio is many times translated in the New Testament
by the word keep or by the word kept. It is also translated by
preserved and reserved. This word will appear in the
New Testament. It's the same word that he uses
here for our inheritance be locked up for us. It is the same word
used in Acts 12 and verse 5 of the apostle Peter that he was
kept in prison. There's that word again. It is
the same word in 2 Peter 2 and verse 4 for the angels that are
reserved in judgment. It is the same word in Jude 6,
reserved in everlasting chains. They are kept. They are there.
They cannot escape. It will be so. And what shall
be benefited? It being in heaven. This inheritance
is not here in our presence, now it is in heaven and we are
in the howling wilderness of this world in our troubles, trial,
and triumphant tribulation. How then shall we actually experience
or attain it? How shall they persevere that
they might have the possession of it? The Apostle's answer is
this. God will, according to His power,
preserve alive in them the grace of faith. Their faith is the
faith of God's elect. It is peculiar unto the elect. It has for its object the Son
of God and His great redemption. And all of their interest in
Christ and their only interest in His salvation is grounded
in that which Paul calls the faith of God's There are two
blessed truths concerning the faith of the elect that are appropriate
to be included in our study this morning. First of all, the first
one, I shall only speak briefly of it as described by Paul in
Ephesians 1, verse 19 and verse 20. And he talks there about
the mighty, almighty, irresistible, all-encompassing power of God
that brings one to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
the same power, he said, that raised up Jesus Christ out of
the grave and from the dead. Now many think believing is an
easy matter and that all are capable. Paul says it takes the
almighty power of God to bring one to faith in Christ. Secondly, that faith is maintained
in them by the power of God. The same power that wrought that
faith in them is that power that maintains
it. As saith our text in verse 5,
who are kept by the power of God through faith. Scripture says, does it not,
the just shall live by faith. Paul said in Romans 11 and 20,
concerning the Gentiles in the faith of Christ, he said, Thou
standest By faith. He said in 1 Corinthians 1.24,
by faith we stand in the Christian way. Saving faith is not in the
power or in the ability of any person. In fact, Paul writes
in 1 Corinthians 3 and the 2nd verse, all men have not faith. It is not something native unto
them. It is not native to the unregenerate
heart. Faith is a work of God ineternally. Consider what the Lord once told
Simon Peter, the same man, whose feet we sit at this morning. In Luke chapter 22, there is
a passage that is amazing. How it must have stirred and
put fear in the heart of Peter when he heard our Lord say in
Luke 22, verse 31 and 32, And the Lord said to Simon, Simon, Simon, twice he calls
him, behold, Satan hath desire to have you that he may sift
you like wheat. My, how that would stir a heart. But the Lord quickly adds these
words. But I have prayed for you that
your faith fail not." Oh, now get it, Simon. Simon, Satan has
asked again and again repeatedly for you that he might thrash
you like wheat. But I pray that your faith fail
not. Now consider these things. Satan
had asked leave to get at the Apostle Peter, to have him, to
thrash him, to shake him, as the word means, to shake him,
to toss him to and fro, and toss him about. Now, remember Job
When the devil got permission from God to bring him to trial,
the devil would try him whether he served God because God had
made him so prosperous or whether it was genuine and a sincere
heart. And the devil questioned that
in concerning Job. Now, it is a fearful thing, whether
Peter or Job or one of us, to hear that the wicked one petitions
God that he may get at the saints to prove them how weak and how
frail they are and how easily they might be led aside or led
into sin. My, how that troubles our heart. But at the same time that the
Lord reveals a diabolical plot against His servant Peter, He
assures him, I have prayed for you. Now notice, it is not, I
will. pray for you in the future. I have prayed for you. I have petitioned the Father. Look at John 17 and you'll see
plenty of that. In your behalf, what is the end
of my prayer? That your faith fail not. that it come not to a complete
end, and you become an apostate. Now the word fail here is the
word eclipo, which is the root word for our English word eclipse,
and we think of it in that light. Three times we have it in the
New Testament, this word. It is here. It is again in Luke
chapter 16 and verse 9 of the earthly life that we are experiencing. And it's in Hebrews chapter 1,
and I believe it is in verse 12, of the years of Christ. Thy years shall not fail, or
shall have no end. Even as the Lord spoke these
words to the apostle Peter, he was then and there on the verge
of a fall. In Luke 22 and verse 32, when
you are converted, when you are turned back, when you are recovered
out of this. For Luke 22 and verse 34, he
would deny the Lord that very night, the Savior said unto him,
but Peter, as do all of the elect, had a divine intercessor and
advocate. He had a friend in the courts
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who obtains mercy and grace for
our souls in time of need and in all time. Just as J.C. Ryle wrote, On that passage in
Luke 22, verse 31 and 32, quote, here we learn the great secret
of a believer's perseverance in the faith, unquote, part of
which are the prayers, the intercession of our great high priest in heaven
at the right hand of God. Do you remember Hebrews 7? And
verse 25, He is able to save them that come unto God by Him
to the uttermost. Shortening it, He is able to
save them to the uttermost. That means evermore, completely,
and entirely, altogether, meaning full, endedly, and also meaning
absolutely. Now this word uttermost, pantellus,
is one more time in the New Testament. In Luke 13 and verse 11, where
it is used of a poor woman who had such an infirmity that she
was bowed down or bent down together. Bending double is what we would
say. We can see that woman in our
mind bent over double and unable to raise up as she came to our
Lord. And there the word in Luke 13
and 11 is used in a negative sense, that the woman could not
in any wise lift herself up. She could not straighten, she
could not stand up erect. Absolutely, positivity could
not. Like the inheritance that we
have is reserved. But in Hebrews 7.25, the word
is used in a positive sense. That Jesus is able to save those
who come unto God by Him absolutely, completely, full-endedly. And the reason is given. Because
He ever lives to make intercession for them. He ever lives. He has
conquered death. He has overcome the grave. Behold,
I'm alive evermore. Revelation chapter 1. But secondly,
to make intercession for them. Remember 1 John 2 and 2, if we
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. Remember Romans 8.34, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for
us. Now with all of that entered
in and out of our way, let's go back to our original text
in 1 Peter 1. Verse 5, again he says, we are
kept by the power of God and then he adds, Through faith,
we are kept for the inheritance by the power of God through faith. Thomas Goodwin, a Puritan minister,
did express it in these words, quote, we are not kept by faith
alone and of itself, but by the power of God, unquote. The power of God is the principal
supporter of our faith in perseverance, To persevere, He is in us. The faith of Christ is there
maintained by the power of Christ. To keep alive faith in the soul
of the elected, regenerate, converted elect of God. It likely will
seem or sound strange to some that the power of God is needed
to preserve the faith in the people of God, especially to
those today who see faith as simply and only the act of the
sinner, something done by human ability, something done by a
choice, that is made. But once we understand the power
of God that brings one to faith in Christ. Again, Ephesians 1,
19 and 20. That Colossians 2, 12. It is
an operation of God. Through the faith of the operation
of God. Acts 18, 27. We believe through grace, not of our own
power. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, by grace
you're saved, through faith that not of yourself, it is the gift
of God. Then we gladly acknowledge that
he who has wrought faith in us must then preserve it. Even as
our beloved brother Paul has said, for he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1 and verse 6. Faith
is His work, both initially and subsequently. Consider this point
as it is of vital importance to us this morning, that the
particular grace which the Apostle highlights and emphasizes in
our text is the grace of faith. By faith, We are kept through
the power of God. Now, not love, not fear, not
patience, not zeal, not self-denial, not knowledge, not sincerity,
not good works. All of those have their place.
But faith, the faith of and in our Lord Jesus Christ. The faith of Christ and faith
in and toward Christ. Now, here you'll understand it.
Faith is a leading grace. I'll call it the leading grace
of all of those that God works in us. I have heard of some of
the old-time preachers who referred to the faith of God's elect,
faith as a mother grace. Faith is a mother grace. A mother grace. In other words,
giving birth to the other Christian graces or virtue. For example,
apart from faith there would be no love for God, there would
be no zeal unto God, there would be no self-denial, there would
be no saving knowledge of Christ, apart from that faith that God
has wrought in us. Of course, faith cometh not except
by regeneration. It rises up out of that sovereign
spiritual renewal that God works in us. Nor could it be otherwise,
except that God makes us alive and then faith comes. There is
no spiritual faith in one while he is dead, in trespasses, and
in sin. There is no faith in a graceless
soul. There is no faith in one such
as that. So in the words of John Brown,
the power of God, it is exercised in the form of spiritual influence
on the minds, the heart, and the soul of the Christian. keeping
them in the faith of the truth, in the love of God, in the patient
waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ." That's what Brown had to say.
We say it is by persevering in the faith that a divine influence
preserves the people of God from absolutely falling away. In fact, without this divine
influence, it is safe to say all would fall away if God did
not maintain a work in them, keeping them. We concede some
professors do and have fallen away. We don't question that.
This does not mean, however, that their profession was rooted
in the grace of God or in a divine call. Let's consider verse 6
and 7 of the text that we have read in 1 Peter chapter 1. We notice that in verse 5, he
spoke of being kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. And in the first part of
the 6th verse, in this you greatly rejoice. Oh yes. This is a cause
of rejoicing that the Scripture has taught us this. Rejoice that
your names are in heaven, the Lord told His disciples in Luke
20. Rejoice that you have an inheritance
reserved in heaven, 1 Peter 1 and verse 4. And yet in the present,
and for a little season yet, they were in manifold temptations,
with heaviness. Or as the NIV renders it, quote,
for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds
of trials Then verse 7, these things, these present things,
spanning a season, these griefs and various kinds of troubles
and temptations and heavinesses, what Gill called, quote, afflictive
providences, unquote, they are to your fate what fire is to
gold. These trials are to your faith
what fire is to gold. They try faith of what sort it
is. The apostle chooses here that
as a companion unto faith, which whirlings are apt to value the
most, gold. People would say gold and silver.
and precious stone. What do men reckon the most prestigious
that they might own, which will serve them best and give them
the most security? Every day we now are hearing
commercials encouraging us to consider the advantage of owning
gold, and so it is. But God, gold rather, endures
the fire, is purified by the fire, and all dross is burned
away by the fire. Still, the apostle declares to
us that faith is much more precious than gold, and that when faith
is, as it were, tried, when it, as it were, put in the fiery
furnace, tried by fire, as he calls them in chapter 4 and verse
12, It will be found, that is, it will be proven. It will then,
by being tried in fiery trials, be manifest that it is genuine
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will even be that at the appearing
of our Lord. The trial, both of goal by fire
and faith by fire, may yield two results. Blessed to the child of God. A, to test the genuineness of
them. What tests the genuineness of
gold more than fire? And what tests the genuineness
of faith more than the trials of this world? And B, not only
to try it, not only to test the genuineness of it, but to purify
them even more, to burn away the dross and that which is worthless. Faith is not tried, hear me,
brother and sister, by easy and pleasant times. It's not then
that our faith is tried. When all things are well, the
soul is at ease and happy in Zion. When health is strong and
every day brings us new and wondrous joys, that's not the trial of
our faith. Just as the mighty oak is not
tested by the gentle breeze, but by the ferocious blowing
howling winds that test its strength. Faith is tried in adversity,
what Peter calls fiery trial. Fire tries gold, adversity tries
the grace and faith of the child of God. Remember that God tried
Abraham, Genesis 22 and verse 1. Again, Hebrews 11 and verse
17. When Abraham was tried, Or as it says in Genesis, God
did tempt Abraham. That means try, test him, or
to prove him. So will he try or prove or make
trial of the matter of the Christian's profession and of his faith. A minister of long ago named
John Flavel wrote extensively during the 16th century, six
volumes I have, and among his writings is a treatise that he
called, quote, the touchstone of sincerity, unquote. And from that article, I lifted
these quotes to share with you, quote, that only is to be accounted
true grace which is able to endure all of those trials that are
appointed by God for the discovery of it." Again he said, quote,
no one can say what he is whether his grace is true or whether
it is false, until it be tried and examined by fire, by those
things which are as fire is to gold." Now there has always been
false professors among the people of God, both in the Old Testament
and in the New Testament. And adversity and persecution
and trials and hardness purges them out and makes an end of
their profession. When persecution comes, because
of the Word, he is offended. Matthew 13 and verse 21. Now, the Christian life, has
been portrayed by many con men, huckster preachers in our day
as a bed of roses, that if you will but give your heart to Jesus,
it will be smooth sailing. Prosperity will come. You will
have it well every day. I want you to put this down. You watch the coming exodus from
the megachurches when real harsh persecution begins to come. When happy hour is over, I think
we will see. They've tried by fire. It is
a strange council. that James gives us in chapter
1 and verse 2 and verse 3. He said something here that grates
against our flesh. Here's what he said, "'Count
it all joy, brethren, when you fall into divers' temptation.'"
That is, into different trials, different ones. "'Knowing the
trying of your faith works patience.'" It is amazing to me, I close
with this, over the years, how the faith of some of the children
of God has withered the storms of life, has endured, their anchor
has held in great trials and tribulation. How they endured
great losses. How the death of a loved one
or a mate, instead of destroying them, drew them closer unto God. Because it was genuine, their
faith failed not. And did they realize that the
Lord Jesus Christ had prayed effectively that their faith
may not fail them in the trials of life. They try us. We may stumble. We fall. We fail. We are weak. We know that. But
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous,
who acts in our behalf. And it says that we are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time. And when it is tried, like gold
is with fire, your faith shall be found unto his glory and honor
at the appearing. of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
it does not seem so. We seem so weak. We faint so
easily. We grumble so quickly. But there
is a faith that God, through Christ, will preserve in the
elect until they are glorified with Jesus in glory itself. Thank God for that. The trial
of your faith. that it might prove it to be
genuine.