1 Peter chapter 1. Peter says here in verse 10, of which salvation the prophets,
the prophets of old, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all those old prophets,
have inquired and they searched diligently who prophesied of
the grace that should come unto you. They spoke of the grace
of God that was to come to you. The salvation which Peter is
speaking of has to do with the eternal salvation of the soul. Not a salvation, just a temporary
salvation of these bodies. The church at that time was going
through an extreme amount of trials, very, very heavy trials. But the salvation he is speaking
of here has to do with the soul. My soul is eternal. Everyone's soul is eternal. It's
either going to be with the Lord in paradise. My soul is me. Your soul is you. That's who
you are. That's your soul. Or it's going to be in perdition. And so Peter, in writing here,
he's speaking about the eternal, the salvation of our soul, the
eternal salvation of our soul. And there is such a salvation. Years ago, I was speaking, this
is after I heard the gospel, and I was speaking to a man about
salvation, a man that I worked with. And he started making fun
of it. He started just making light
of it. Talking about being saved. He was just going on and on.
I left it alone and left because he was just making a mockery
of it. But there is a real salvation of the soul. It is a salvation
from sin. Scripture says sin shall not
have dominion over you. It's a salvation from the wrath
to come. What Paul says over in 1 Thessalonians
1.10. Saved from the wrath to come.
That's nothing to make fun of, is it? Nothing to make fun of. That's real. Salvation from sin
is real. Salvation from the wrath to come
is real. Salvation from the power of darkness. Power of sin. That's real. That's real. And
this salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. As Jonah said,
salvation is of the Lord. Who better could say that than
Jonah? Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, down
under the ocean, in the belly of a whale. There he is. And
he knew. He knew if he came out of that
alive, God would have to do it. The Lord would have to do it.
So he knew that salvation is of the Lord. He knew that by
experience. It's of the Lord in its beginning. It's of the
Lord in its ending and everything in between. It's of the Lord. And it is a salvation that is
free. It cannot be purchased. Cannot be earned, not purchased
by us. Cannot be earned by us. It's
free. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come and
buy. You couldn't buy this salvation
if there was a price stuck on it. You could never afford that one. You could never afford it. But
it's free. It's free. Everything else you
have to pay for. I was talking to a pastor the other day. I
said, salvation is free, but everything else we have to pay
for. You have to pay for your home, your food. You got to get
up and go to work so you can pay for it. But not this. Not
this. This is free. This is free. And it's for sinners. It's for
mercy beggars. And it's complete. He said, come
and dine. The Spirit and the bride said,
come and dine. Don't bring anything to the table. If you're going
to invite guests to your house, you're going to take care of
them, aren't you? You don't want to invite guests to the house
and have them to bring everything. It's free. And it's complete. And nothing needs to be added
to it. We don't need to bring anything. The hardest thing for
us to do is not to do anything. In salvation. In salvation. And it's the same salvation that
the prophets of old searched diligently into. They searched
diligently, it says here. Searching diligently. They looked
into this mystery. Isaiah 53. Isaiah knew he was
speaking of the Messiah. And for a time to come, and for
a Messiah that was coming, He knew that. But He didn't know
His name. He was called the Branch. He's
called the Lamb. He was represented by the Ark. Many of those Old Testament pictures
and names they gave to them, but they didn't know His name
that we know. They knew it was the Messiah.
They knew it was the Lord. They knew the Lord was going
to send a Messiah. We know His name. We know who He is. Jesus
Christ. We know who He is. But they searched
diligently. They looked into this mystery.
And they looked at the time. They sought to know the time
that He would come and do this work of redemption
And who it would be for. And who would be the recipients
of His grace. They were ministering to us.
That's what they were doing. They were ministering to us.
And they knew that. They knew that. You see it here
in verse 12. Unto whom it was revealed. See,
it's revealed to them. That not unto themselves, but
unto us they did minister. They knew they were not just
ministering to themselves. or for that particular time period,
but to us when the Messiah would come.
And when He came, we would recognize Him. They were ministering to
us. But unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported or preached unto you by them
that have preached the gospel unto you. That's the apostles
that have come along preaching the gospel. And those now whom
the Lord calls to preach the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven. Which things the angels desire
to look into. The angels. It's a mysterious. You see, it's
a mysterious salvation. It's a common salvation because
the prophets spoke of it. It's nothing new. We're not preaching
anything new. I'm not preaching anything new. And none of the prophets, priests,
anything knew. It was a common salvation. It's a purchased salvation. The Lord came into this world,
and as you go back up here in verse 11, searching water, what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ. Like
Isaiah did. And the glory that should follow.
It's a purchased salvation. It's a salvation that's all of
grace. And it's a mysterious salvation. The angels desired
to look into it. They desired to look into the
thing that you and I know has been revealed to us. The Holy
Spirit has revealed it to us. And they gave their lives to
this message, this gospel of redemption. They gave their lives
to it. That's what they did. And anyone Anyone who has been given an
interest in Christ desires to know more of Him just like they
did. They desired to know more of this Messiah, more of His
redeeming work. They searched, it said, diligently.
Diligently. Anyone who has been given an
interest in Christ will do the same. You'll do the same. You'll search diligently. Wherefore,
in verse 13, seeing that we have been so highly favored of God,
wherefore gird up the loins of your mind. Seeing you being so
highly favored of God, then gird up the loins of your mind. Now
when you gird something up, you strengthen it. It's like
you prop it up. And this statement, tells us
that it's spiritual warfare. Gird up the loins of your mind.
Not talking about a physical warfare going on here. Not talking
about a physical fight going on. It's spiritual. That's why
he says, gird up the loins of your mind. We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of
darkness. So he says, see, we have this. Gird up the loins
of your mind and be sober-minded. Give your hearts to this. Be
very serious about this. Be very diligent in this. You
know, Paul said in one place, make your calling and election
sure. Make it sure. And live, he says there in verse
14, and live as obedient children. Children who have been taught
of God. Children who have been born of God. Live as obedient children and
be holy. Be holy. You see, it starts out
there in verse 13. Wherefore, gird up the loins
of your mind. See, we have this salvation, such a great salvation. Be sober and hope to the end
for the grace. It's all of grace. It's all of
grace. is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children. Not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lust and your ignorance. Not
fashioning yourselves after this world, after the religious
principles of the world, or just the principles of this world.
He said don't fashion yourselves after this world. Paul says over
in Romans 12, Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind. But as He which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of your life. It says
here, gird up your minds, be sober minded, live as obedient
children, and be holy, live as one who has been redeemed from
the curse. Redeemed by the blood. He says,
live your daily lives. Live your daily lives this way. Because the One whom we serve,
the One who has bought us by His blood, there in verse 16,
is holy. He's holy. He takes no pleasure
in sin, but He delights in righteousness. And even so do His children. Even so do His children. They
hunger and thirst after His righteousness, and they delight in righteousness.
A person who's lost, lost, is miserable being around God's
children for any length of time. They really are. They'd be miserable
in this place for any length of time. Because they don't love
righteousness. And the gospel is a gospel of
righteousness. It is righteousness, but it's a gospel of righteousness.
And I can assure you that a person who is lost will not enjoy this
gospel very long. Not very long. Because He says here, He that
has called you, He that has saved you, He that has redeemed you,
your Father is holy. He's holy. And if you call Him
your Father, if God is your Father, now He's not the Father of all
men. He's the Judge of all. But He's the Father of those
in Christ. And if you call Him your Father, the One who has no respect of
person, No respect of persons. The One who judges righteously,
if He's your Father. And He says, then pass the time. Pass the time every day as time
goes by. Time just ticks by. Pass the
time of your life here in fear. That is irreverent fear. as a
fear that had with it respect and honor. But he said, you pass
it here in fear. You know, my earthly father,
I had a good father. I have. He's still around. Okay, did you hear me say that?
He's still around. But now he would discipline us.
He would chasten us. We got out of line. And there
is a sense, there is a sense in which we walk before God as
His children, knowing, knowing that if we step across that line,
He's going to chase us. He's going to, you can just mark
it down, He's going to chase us. And Peter says, so you pass
the time in here, that's not a slave ship, but it's a fear
of respect. at the fear of knowing that he will chasten his own.
He'll chasten his own. So you pass the time here in
fear or with reverent respect, not in foolishness, not in our
conversation. And I'll tell you what, it takes
some time for those old gray clothes to come off, doesn't
it? When you work out in a factory, You worked out in a factory for
years, 30 years, you're around this stuff all the time. Sometimes
it just, sometimes it rubs off and it takes a while to get rid
of all, get rid of that stuff. You just have to work out there
to know. And you just, you've got to separate yourself. You
know, and here's one of the most difficult things about it, you
separate yourself without Trying to appear like you're holier
than thou. Like you're holier than thou.
Our Lord ate with sinners, but I know they didn't sit there
and tell dirty jokes. They didn't do that. And you
know as well as I know that that is just uncomfortable. It's just uncomfortable to be
around that. And he's saying here, you walk
with reverent respect. Don't let your conversations,
your conduct, your attitude be in any way foolish. Foolish. Adorn the gospel. Adorn the gospel
by which you have been saved by a gracious spirit and attitude
at all times. At all times. It's the dawn of the gospel that
way. There's nothing more beautiful than a meek and quiet spirit. You see, the body grows old.
Okay, how pretty you are, sooner or later it grows old. But that
meek and quiet spirit that's born of God, it just grows more
beautiful as time goes by. Then Peter gives us here an even
stronger proof for living godly and walking in fear, a right
fear before God. For as much as you know, in verse
18, as much as you know that you were not redeemed, you are
redeemed, but not with silver and gold. You were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold. He called silver and
gold corruptible things. Did you call them that? Oh, I
tell you what, if we really saw them as that, we wouldn't lay
out ourselves so much to get Him that. Silver and gold. I know we need it. I know what
we need. I live in this life too. But
I tell you what, we need the spiritual things far more than
we need these earthly things. He said, lay up treasures in
heaven for yourselves where moth and rust does not corrupt. And
thieves, robbers, cannot break through and take them away. I
just hate a thief. I remember one time when we were
just young, married, bought a lawnmower, you know, and somebody right
in broad daylight walked and took that lawnmower right out
from under the house where we had it and just walked off with
it. The neighbor saw him do it. Just walked right off with it.
And I had to go buy another lawn mower. Well, he said, lay up treasures
in heaven, where moth and rust... I'm working in a machine shop.
I've watched steel rust, let out in the rain, or the weather,
humidity, just rust and rust and rust. He says, don't lay up those kind
of things. Lay up your treasures in heaven.
That's kind of off the point here. But anyway, he said, you've
been redeemed with corruptible things, that's silver and gold,
from your vein. This is your life. This is how
God sees your life. Vein. You reckon if you stood down
on that football field and said to that crowd, this man that
gave five million dollars is a vein. You say, this is vain. Vain. They'd have kicked the
midfield goal out of you. Guaranteed. But God looks at us. Everything
outside of Christ is vain. It's vain. And we have to be
honest with lost men. We have to be honest when we
speak to those who are lost. It's vain. I don't care if you
give 50 million. It's vain. It's your vain life. You've been redeemed, not with
silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by your
parents. Be careful. Oh, be careful what
you teach your children. They are a product of us. They
are a product of us. That's why it is so important
that we watch Who teaches our children and what they're taught?
Received by tradition. You notice he didn't say you're
received by the Word of God, received by the prophets. No,
bud, just tradition. That's all. It's just a tradition.
There are families that keep traditions, but we do this all
the time every year. It's a tradition. Well, that's
all right. Go ahead. But don't bring it into a matter of salvation.
Just don't turn it into salvation. But here's what you've been redeemed
with. The precious blood of Christ. You know what that is? That's
the blood of God. The blood of Christ, as we were
told over in Acts, Acts 20, 28, it's the blood of God. And that's
what you have been redeemed with. That's the one who died for you.
That's the one who suffered. His blood is the blood that we
have been redeemed with, as of a lamb, innocent, spotless, as Christ knew no sin, without
blemish and without spot. This is who died for you. This
is who redeems you. Well, that ought to motivate
you to walk godly in this present evil world, considering who died
for me, by whose blood I have been redeemed, who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world. Calvary was not a last-minute
attempt. It was not a reorganization.
Better to step back and Now we've got to change plans
here. Things have happened. Things have changed. Adam has
fallen. Who was verily foreordained before the world began, before
the foundation, before the building of the world, the creation of
the world. This was all taken care of, but it was manifested
in these last times for you. For you, the church. He was made known. He was revealed
in these last times for you and me. That's what He came to do. He came to save. He came to redeem. And it's for you and me. And
it's by Him. It is by the Lord Jesus Christ
who by Him do believe in God. You do not believe in God. A
person does not believe in God or believe God, maybe it should
say, maybe it would be a better translation, who believe God
until they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't even know God until
you know Christ. People believe there is a God,
about like many people believe there are aliens. Not a lot of
difference, really not a lot of difference. But those who have been redeemed by Him, believe in God by Him
when they come to know Him. They believe in God. Who by Him
do believe in God that raised Him up from the dead and gave
Him glory, seated at God's right hand, in glory is the man Christ
Jesus. And all power and all authority
is in the hand of that man. My life is in the hands of that
man. People talk about their destiny.
My destiny is in the hands of that man. All the glory of creation, all
the glory of the universe, all the glory of salvation, all the
glory that can be, all the glory that exists belongs to that man. Belongs to that man. And gave
him glory. That's your faith and your hope. might be in God, God who cannot
lie, God who has given us the promises, that it might be in
God. It is through Christ that our
faith and hope is in God, the living God, the God of creation,
the God of redemption. Now, seeing ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth as evident by your obedience,
it's evident that your souls have been purified. It's evident
that you believe the Gospel. It's evident that you've been
born of God by your obedience. By your obedience to the faith.
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You follow Him. You've been seeing He have purified
your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned,
genuine love of the brethren. I don't know if... I don't. else
I would rather see than you. There's no one I'd rather be
around than you. I have a large family. We get together at Christmas. Just my immediate family is 50
people. At one time, Dad told me he had
100 first cousins. That's a big family. But I'd rather be right here.
I'd rather be right here. Unfeigned love of the brethren. A genuine love of the brethren.
Seeing that you love one another with a pure heart. It's genuine. It's real. It's a pure heart. Fervently being born again. Being born again. And this is
why you love one another fervently. This is why you enjoy coming
here. This is why you enjoy hearing
the gospel. For this reason right here, you
have been born again. Born of God, born anew, made
a new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ, born not of corruptible
seed, not of corruptible semen. That's what that means. Not like
your first birth. That's what it was. It was corruptible. David said, I was born in sin
and shaped in iniquity. But you were born of incorruptible.
That is an incorruptible seed. And that seed is the Word of
God. One day you heard the Gospel.
One day you heard a man standing in a pulpit. Preaching
from the Word of God. Opened the Word of God. Read
the Word of God. And then preached the Word of God. And you were
born again. That seed was planted. And God
gave the increase. God gave life. It started to
grow like a tender plant. And when you plant a piece of
corn, you can see it's starting to come up. You have that tender
plant. That's the same thing. That word,
that seed of God was planted in the heart. It may have been
planted, actually it may have been planted in your heart 20
years ago. It may be planted in their heart
right now. Those little girls, little fella there taking pictures
of me. It may be planted in his heart
right now. And 20, 30 years from now, 20,
30 years from now, God gives the increase. How important it
is, how important it is that they sit under the gospel. And I'll put that into words.
By which liveth, liveth the Word of God. Now listen. I like to
read books. I like to read history books.
But those words don't live. They're just books. And they
don't live. I can read them. They're just
words put together. But this Word right here, liveth. It liveth. When you're out in
this world, and you're out here working, and Scripture comes
to your mind, You're really affected by it? It's alive. Liveth and abideth forever. But now that first birth, look
here, concerning this first birth. All flesh is as grass. That's
all it is, all it ever will be. And all the glory of man as the
flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower
thereof falleth away. All these good things that men
do, men and women, what the world calls good things. It's the flower. That's the flower of grass. Oh,
it smells so good for a while. So pretty. Nothing like a field
of flowers. So pretty. But then the fall
of the year comes and they die. The winter comes and they die.
Old age comes on and we finally die. And the only thing grass produces
is grass. It's only grass for grass. And
all it's worth is mowing. All flesh is as grass. This is
how God sees it. And it's the way it is. And all
the glory of man. Just think of the natural man
and the most glorious thing he's ever done. It's just like the
flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower
thereof falleth away. It's gone. The place thereof
shall know it no more. But the word of the Lord, what
you're listening to right now, what you're listening to, endureth
forever. Life. And this is the word which
by the gospel that these prophets wrote of, searched diligently
to look into, and the angels desired to look into. This is
the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you. Isn't the Lord gracious? We have
the Gospel. I believe, honestly believe with
all my heart, we have the Gospel. We have the Gospel by which God
saves sinners. We have the Gospel that honors
the Lord Jesus Christ, that gives Him all the glory and praise
and salvation. We have this Gospel And it's
given to us. Given to us. Makes you want to
walk softly, doesn't it? Makes you want to walk softly
before the Lord. Okay, Frank.