This may be the last time you
ever preach the gospel. This may be the last time you
ever hear the gospel preached. You turn in your Bibles to 1
Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Salvation of your souls. How important is the salvation
of your souls? Lord Jesus Christ, Mark 8, asked,
what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul? What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? How important. Genesis. Chapter 2, verse 7. This is all God's work. It says, in the Lord God formed
man of the dust of the ground. And he breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life. And man became a living soul.
God made Adam upright. God said, let us make man in
our own image. And Adam fell, Adam fell in the
garden. Adam, our first representative
head, sinned against God. He disobeyed
God. And the wages of sin is death. We all sinned in him, in Adam. We're all ruined in sin, born
with Adam's God-hating nature. Spiritually dead. And our bodies are dying because
of sin. We've all sinned to come short
of the glory of God. And it is appointed unto every
man to die. And after this, the judgment,
God's righteous, sovereign, strict justice. And soon our bodies will return
to the dust, but your soul, your soul will go to God who
gave it. And we are at God's mercy. We're
at God's mercy. Spend eternal life in Jesus Christ
in glory in his only begotten son. Or we'll turn, spend eternity
justly and rightly so in eternal punishment apart from God where
that worm never dies. and the fire is never quenched. The soul is going to go on. In first Peter chapter one in
verse 24, for all flesh is as grass and
all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withers
and the flower thereof, it falls away. but the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. How important is the salvation
of your soul? Here in Peter chapter one, first
Peter chapter one, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ led by
the Holy Spirit, describes the elect and the salvation of his
soul. Pray God, be pleased to give
us ears to hear his word. First one, it says, Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and by Bithynia. In the salvation of your souls, the elect of God and Jesus Christ
are called and referred to as strangers. Strangers. God makes us strangers in this
world, scattered scattered to the four
corners of the world. Christ has overcome the world. And in him, we're no longer of
this world. When you're in Christ, you're
no longer belong to this world. You belong to God. Because he
has made us new creatures. He's made us new creatures in
Christ Jesus. Born in corruption, but raised
an incorruptible seed in Christ. He's made us join heirs with
Christ to inherit a place that he has prepared for us in glory. Hebrews 11 verse 16 tells us,
but now they desire a better country that isn't heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. We sit in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus right now. One not made with man's hands,
but the true Jerusalem. It's in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Verse two, elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the
Father. Through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. This work of salvation, it's all of God. It's all of
the one triune God. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. God, by his foreknowledge, chose
a people for the foundation of the world and his only begotten son, Jesus
Christ. Not anything that they or we
would merit or would ever merit, but because it pleased God to
do it. Because all things are His, all
things are created by Him, and He will do as He pleases. He
is a sovereign God. And we stand naked before Him,
guilty, full of sin. And he predestinated his elect
to be conformed to the image of his son. His elect, he calls us his elect. As God came, Christ came, God
manifest in the flesh without sin. And he fulfilled all the
scriptures, all the prophets, all those types. All those pictures,
he came. They were all about him. All
those Old Testament prophets, they were looking for him, the
Messiah to come. They were all of him, the law.
And as our surety of a better covenant, and as the mediator
of it, as our representative head, The elect have another
representative head. They have the representative
head. And as our substitute, he came
to save his elect. He came to redeem us with his
own blood on the cross on Calvary. And these elect of God, he will
call. He will call by the foolishness of preaching. That is the way
and the means that he uses. to declare his gospel. For the
hearing of his word, he sends preachers with his message. And
by his grace, he gives eternal spiritual life and faith. Because faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. It's God that makes his word
effectual, to whom he will have mercy on. who he did foreknow, to believe on him who he has
sent. And God, the Holy Spirit, through
the sanctification of the Spirit, he quickens us, borns us again,
creates a new creature in us, makes us partaker of God's divine
nature, his nature. We have his nature now in that
new man, that spirit in us. Christ Jesus revealed in you
the hope of glory. Spirit of God applies that blood
that was shed, that Christ shed for you. He applies it to that
new heart. And to your conscience, he sprinkles
that conscience. That you can serve the living
God. That you can know. Who he is. You can understand
spiritual things. In Christ. We are under grace. New creatures. Born of God. Born of his spirit. You look
over in John chapter 1 verse 10. He Christ Jesus was in the world
and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He
came into his own and his own received him not. But as many
as received him to them gave he power. power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were
born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. And the word, he is the word,
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.
The glory is of the only begotten of the Father is full of grace
and truth. We are his workmanship. This is all God's work. We're
his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God
hath foreordained that we should walk in them. We don't have any
good in ourselves, and we don't do any good. If you do any good
at all, it's because of God. It's because Christ is in you,
and you're in him. He makes us able and willing
to do of his good pleasure. Oh, the mercy of God, we're sanctified. Sanctified, we're set apart. Sealed by his Holy Spirit that
he gives to everyone who believes on him Sanctified by the blood
of Jesus Christ God gave us to him in the beginning
before the world was and he came and he bought us He bought you
with his blood He paid the ransom. We just sang
it. He paid the ransom for you. The blood of Jesus Christ. And he gives us life and faith. Here in Christ is the grace of
God multiplied. Here in Christ is our peace with
God multiplied. By the grace of God, in the shed
blood of our Redeemer, our Savior, that Lord Jesus Christ, and the trying of that faith. The trying of that faith, grace
is multiplied because His grace is sufficient for us. We sin,
and we can go boldly before Him, before the throne of God, And
he allows us to cry, Abba, Father. We know we're not worthy to be
his son. But we are in Jesus Christ. He spread, shed that precious
blood for you. You're his, you're bought. You're in him. Verse three. 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. God gets all the glory and the
salvation of your soul. It's God's work. Please God to
do it. How important is the salvation
of your soul? He gave his son. Son gave his
life. Lay down his life for you. For
the salvation of your soul. It's important. It's important. Oh, his mercy,
that abundant mercy. Begot us again. unto a lively
hope, a living hope. He is our hope. He was raised. Christ Jesus was raised from
the dead. What blessed assurance. What
blessed assurance. Christ came, manifest in the
flesh, humbled himself. He's a king of kings and a Lord
of lords. This is Christ, Jesus, the Son
of God, came down as a man into a virgin's womb to be born, humbled himself. He created everything
by himself and for himself. Everything is God's. He came,
manifest, God manifest in the flesh. for your salvation, for the salvation
of your souls, for all that God gave him. Humbled himself, he came to do
the Father's will. I don't come to do my will, I
come to do the Father's will. What was that? To save your soul. To his glory, for his name's
sake. He did it for His namesake. And He saved God's elect. He
brought in that perfect righteousness that we didn't have, we don't
have, we could never have. He brought in a perfect righteousness,
a perfect obedience to God, to the law of God. Perfect obedience
to God and His will. And you know what? You were in
Him. God chose you and His Son before
the foundation of the world. You were in Him. You were in Him. He obeyed the
law of God perfectly to the death of the cross. Spies in the shame,
but oh, that reward. That reward. We're going to talk
about that. Sinless, blameless, the Holy
One. He's the only one who could have done it. Anointed and chosen
of God before the foundation of the world. God chose his sacrifice
that he would accept before the foundation of the world. What does man think he can bring
God? He suffered as a man. He was
made perfect through suffering. The perfect one was made perfect
through suffering. He bore all our sins, all our
guilt, and all our shame. Your sins are put away. They
don't exist. We sin every day, we sin continually. You put them all away. Past,
present, and future. You know how much we think we
know how much we sin during the day. But what about all those
we don't know about? What about all those we think
we're doing something good and we're not? Christ died and bore all, all
of the elect, all that God gave him, he bore every one of our
sins in his body. All the guilt, all the shame,
it's gone. He put them away. He shed his blood for the remission
of sins. He laid down his life for his
sheep. There's no greater love than that. He became a curse. He hung on a tree. He fulfilled
the law of God in our room instead. We were born with a nature, a
sinful nature, spiritually dead in our first representative,
Adam. We already had disobeyed God. We already could not fulfill
the law even if we thought we could. And we're so sinful. You broke one law, you've broken
all. You've broken them all. He walked perfectly before God
in the flesh without sin for his elect. And we were in Him. And beloved, elected God, we
were in Him. What He did, we did in Him. We take none of the glory because
there's none to be given to us. We didn't merit any of this. We didn't even know what was
going on. It's God's work. When he died, our old man was
nailed, crucified on that cross with him. When he was buried, we were buried,
but that grave couldn't hold him. Praise God that grave could
not hold him. Why? Why could not grave not
hold him? Because there was no sin to be
found. God's not going to punish a righteous
man. But he made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made to righteousness of God
in him. He made him to be sin. And God cannot show mercy. He
cannot. Justice has to be served. This
assures us because he raised him from the dead. He accepted his sacrifice that
he had already chosen and prepared before the foundation of the
world. And because we was in him, our
lives hid in him. He took all our sins away. He arose from that grave because
justice was satisfied, because redemption was accomplished.
His work's finished. He arose from that grave victorious.
He was offered for our offenses and he was raised again on the
third day according to the scriptures. for our justification. He made
us righteous in Him. We're justified. Now God can
look at us in His Son. He can justly look at you now
in His Son and call you the children of God. He can't show mercy at the expense
of his justice. There had to be a death. There had to be bloodshed. How important is your salvation?
How important is it? Christ Jesus, the just and the
justifier of the ungodly. Let's read verse three with four
here. Blessed be the God and the 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 and undefiled that
fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you. You have an inheritance.
You're a child of God. He's made you a child of God,
a son of God, and his son. You've got an inheritance. He's
got an inheritance. We got his inheritance. We got
him. We're his inheritance. And all
the blessings and all the promises in Christ Jesus, they're ours
in him. Doesn't that make you smile?
Huh? Doesn't it make your heart rejoice? Now we have a lively hope. Cause
he was raised. He promised he gonna raise us
too at that day. Death, sin, Satan. They've got
no more dominion over us. We're under grace. We're under
grace. That new man in Christ, we have
an inheritance. We're joint heirs. Christ Jesus
has made us joint heirs. We have his righteousness. That
Christ Jesus who ascended, he ascended and he was exalted.
He was glorified. He was glorified. He give us
his spirit. I will send that comfort. But
he had to be glorified. And he sent gifts to me. He who descended into that Virgin's
womb has ascended to heaven into the whole is of holy with his
one time sacrifice of himself that God except at propitiation. God accept his sacrifice in our
room instead for our sins. Justice, justice satisfied. His work's finished. And now,
right now, he sits on the throne, on the right hand of the majesty
on high, and he rules and he reigns sovereign over all his
creation. over his church, over all flesh. He is the God of the living and
the dead. There's no limit. He is sovereign,
supreme. All his enemies be made his footstool. He's the prophet. He's our high
priest. He's our king. That God man. There's a man that sits in heaven
on the throne. He's the son of God. And he's
God. He's equal with God. All the Godhead, all the fullness
of the Godhead resides in him bodily. He's our advocate with
the Father. He ever lives to intercede for
us. He is faithful to forgive us our sins. He's already put
them away. But we confess our sins and he's
faithful to forgive us. All the promises, all the blessings, they're ours in Christ Jesus,
given to us by God's grace. Verse five, who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. You're kept. There is nothing
that you could do to obtain your salvation, to merit your salvation,
or to keep your salvation. He does it all. He's done it
all. He's promised to do it all. You're being kept. Thank God
we're being kept. We're not left to ourselves,
because we go straight to hell. We'd turn our backs on him. We'd
shake our fist in his face. And we'd say, I won't have this
man to be over me. If God left us alone for one
second, we'd do it. We'd do it. But he keeps us. We're sealed, just like in the
day of Noah. In that ark, we're sealed. We're in him. He abides in us. We're sealed with His Holy Spirit.
He gives us His Holy Spirit to teach us. He teaches you, and He only testifies
of Christ. Christ came to do the Father's
will. Comforter of the Holy Spirit
only testifies of God, of Christ, and all things Christ. He keeps
us by the power of God through faith, that faith unto salvation. We are under a grace in him,
ready to be revealed in full at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
We, the just, justified by him, shall live by that faith, that
God-given faith, the faith of Lord Jesus Christ. By grace you
are saved, through faith, that not of yourselves. It is a gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It's all of God. He keeps us
by faith. Let's look on in verse six and
seven. 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 perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. That faith, that God-given faith
that he gives us, He sends trials our way. He sends tribulations. He says he doesn't do it unless
it's necessary. And only he knows when it's necessary. And only he knows what's good
for us. He reproves us. He instructs
us. He chastens us. He deals with
us. as his sons. When sin was found, when he was
made to be sin, Christ Jesus, his only begotten son, he punished
him. He punished him to the full satisfaction
of his justice. Everything that we deserve. It
would have took an eternity and we still would have never paid
for the first sin. He bore in his body for you and put it away. God's satisfied with his son. And he's satisfied with us in
his son. And he calls us his sons. his
daughters, his children. And he deals with us as children.
Because if he don't, you're not his. Therefore, we can, as Paul, joy
in our infirmities. And they hurt. Don't say it lightly. They hurt. It hurts to be punished. Hurts to be chased. Supposed
to. Supposed to. But he says, my grace is sufficient
for you. That's where your grace is multiplied.
That's where your peace is multiplied right there. In Christ. You are his children. He doesn't do it to destroy you.
He does it because he loves you. Cause it's good for you. Mortifying the deeds of the flesh.
Causing you to look to the object of your faith. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Cause we can't take our eyes
off of it. We do. We do. We do. We're led away
by the lust of our flesh. We still have that sinful nature. But it's crucified with Christ
on the cross. It doesn't have dominion over
us anymore. We're under his grace. We're
in Christ. We're being kept. We're forgiven. He put all our sins away. And
he gives us that faith. to look to Christ, believe Him. And He grows us in the knowledge
of His Son by the gospel being preached to us by preachers that
He sends. And only He can give you ears
to hear. Only He can give you eyes to
see. Only He can give you a heart
to understand and a conscience Keep him in remembrance, because
that spirit in us works in us and teaches us all things of
Christ. Points us to our Savior. Look
over here in Isaiah real quick. Isaiah 48, beautiful passage
here. In verse nine, for my name's sake will I defer
mine anger. And for my praise will I refrain
for thee. It's all God, that I cut thee
not off. Behold, I have refined thee,
but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. For my own sake, even for mine
own sake, Will I do it? For how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory
to another. Hearken unto me, O Jacob in Israel,
my called. I am he. I am the first, and
I also am the last. For his name's sake, for his
glory, he does this. And we're the recipients, we're
the beneficiaries. That he would even look upon
such a vile creation and choose a people and his son to save
out of it. Oh, praise God. Blessed assurance,
he gives us faith, he gives us hope, and he loves us. He loves us for his name's sake.
All right, quickly here in verse eight. Whom having not seen,
ye love, and whom though now ye seen 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
the reward He's coming again when he comes
our faith Don't be psyched We're gonna
see At his appearing and all his power and all his glory is
coming to gather all that are his unto himself. At his appearing and we shall
see him. We shall be like him. We're in
him. We're gonna know as we're known. We'll see our Redeemer face to
face, the author, the finisher of our faith, the object of our
faith. And we'll be with him forever. Salvation of our souls. Joy is
unspeakable. All the things that God has prepared
for those. And he knows who loves him because
he loves him first. And quickly, verse 10, 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 unto. So wherefore gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober in hope to the end, for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. From eternity to eternity, salvation. This is a partial quote from
Fred Evans here, and I love it. Salvation in its planning, in
its purpose, in its accomplishment, in its application, in its perseverance,
and in its preservation, to the redemption of the purchased possession
and to the praise of His glory is all of God's grace in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. These Old Testament saints, they
looked for his coming, the Messiah who was to come. And they looked for his second
coming too. And we, by that same spirit, by that same faith, by that same
gospel, By that same Lord Jesus Christ, we know He has come. And He will come again. And we
look by faith with hope, a lively hope, for His coming. Because He has
made us strangers here on earth. citizens of the new Jerusalem
in Christ Jesus. He has made us his elect, his
foreknowledge. He chose us in Christ Jesus before
the foundation of the world. Christ has made us one with God
in him, his spirit working in us, teaching us all things Christ. We're in him. And He is made,
I and my Father make our abode in you. Kept, we're kept by His mighty
power until that day. We're more than conquerors in
Him, because He's overcome the world. Does this describe your
salvation of your soul? Does it? Because if it does, you can rejoice with unspeakable
joy. You can rejoice in the Lord. Not everybody can do that. To God be all the glory forever.
Because being confident gives us confidence. Confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, he
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And he that
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he that believes that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, and Lord of all, is born of God,
and ye shall be saved. You shall, you must, you will. He's promised he won't lose a
one. You will be saved. You will be made known that he's
already accomplished your salvation. And you shall have eternal life
in him. Collective God, he is the salvation
of your soul. Go to Lord and pray.