1 Peter chapter 1, and I just
want to read the first nine verses of this chapter. 1 Peter chapter
1, and beginning in verse 1. 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 unto 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, who according to His abundant mercy
has begotten us again into a lively hope, a living hope, by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance that's incorruptible
and undefiled and 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. Wherein you
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are
in heaviness through manifold temptation, 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 praise and
honor and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having
not seen you love, and whom though now you see him not, yet believing
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." Peter
is writing here to these suffering saints, troubled saints, and
tried saints, tried in every way that one can imagine. Tried
on their jobs. Tried in their communities. Tried in their families. Tried
with their spouses. Tried in their heart. They were
tried saints. They had believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ and as they began to confess Him, they were persecuted
because of it. The sufferings of Christ abounded
in this dear group of people. And the Scripture tells us here
in 1 Peter that they suffered for conscience sake because they
believed in Christ and because they wouldn't do certain things
and believe certain things that the world did. They persecuted
them but they were faithful to the Lord Jesus whom they professed
and they suffered because of it. And Peter identifies these
people here and add to this that they were strangers Scattered. Strangers scattered. You know,
the Lord has always had people that are scattered. They're scattered
all through this world, and they're strangers. They're strangers.
Not to God, but they're strangers to this world. I imagine these
that Peter talked to you about being strangers are those that
were scattered because of the persecution of Stephen. In Acts
chapter 8 in verse 1, he says this, And Saul was consenting
unto Stephen's death. And at that time there was a
great persecution against the church at Jerusalem, and they
were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. And then in chapter 11, we find
out that they were scattered farther than that. Not only in
Judea and Samaria, but he said, they that were scattered upon
the persecution of Stephen traveled as far as Parnassi, Cyprus, and
Antioch preaching the word. And here Peter says they're scattered
out even farther than that. They continue to be persecuted
and scattered out, and he gives all of these different countries
here in verse 1 that the Lord's people had been scattered. And
He calls them strangers and pilgrims. In chapter 2 verse 11 He calls
them strangers. You're strangers and you're pilgrims. And this word strangers and pilgrims
means alien. They were aliens. We know something
about alien people, don't we? Coming into your country. These
were aliens. They were strangers traveling
through this country. And you look at this in a spiritual
sense. They had no continuing city here
in this world. They sought one to come. They
were aliens in regard to this city. They had a citizenship.
It just wasn't of this world. It was from heaven, and that's
where they looked for their Savior, the Lord Jesus, who was coming
to save them, to change their body. They were strangers. They were strangers to the world,
but not strangers to God. That's a wonderful thought, isn't
it? I'd rather be a stranger to this world, and God know me,
as be a stranger to the God in the world know me. Wouldn't you?
They were strangers and pilgrims, but God knew them. God has always
had a people, and these were His people. His elect people,
His chosen people that were scattered all over the world, and listen
to this, before He gathered them, before He gathered them to Himself
and saved them, they were His people. They were scattered,
but they were His people. They were His sheep, they were
His chosen people. But you know something? They
didn't even know that. They were a sheep that went astray. They didn't know they were sheep.
And they didn't know where they were. But you know something?
The shepherd knew, didn't he? Scattered. I want you to look
here in John chapter 11. A couple of places with me. John
chapter 11. This was a prophecy that the
high priest made. And he didn't even realize what
he was saying, but the Spirit of God obviously moved upon him.
And he prophesied of Jesus Christ dying and gathering his people
from all over the world. This is where everybody was going
after Christ and the Pharisees were so upset about it. And Caiaphas,
the high priest, here in verse 50 of John chapter 11, look what
he said. And look in verse 49, And one
of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year,
said unto them, You know nothing at all. Why are you complaining
about him? You don't consider that it is
expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and
that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of
himself, but being a high priest that year, he prophesied that
Jesus should die for that nation. And look in verse 52, And not
for that nation only, but that also that he should gather together
in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. The shepherds going to gather
together in one from all over the world, the children of God.
You know, they weren't children by regeneration yet. And here's
a marvelous thing. Here's the way the Bible talks
sometimes. Simply because God had predestinated
them unto the adoption of children, He calls those things which be
not as though they were. They're already His children. And the shepherd is going to
die for them, and He's going to gather them together in one,
in Himself. They didn't know that, did they?
But he did, because he's the shepherd. And he said, other
sheep I have which are not of this foal. They're Gentiles.
They're not even born yet. But I know them. I know my sheep. I know where they are. And when
he goes out to find them, he don't quit searching until he
finds them and puts them on his shoulder and brings them back
to the foal. And then they become strangers
to this world. But they know they're shepherds.
They're not a stranger to Him and He's not a stranger to them. Look over here in Ezekiel chapter
34. This is not just New Testament
doctrine. But look in Ezekiel chapter 34.
He talks about the shepherd gathering his flocks that's scattered. Look here what Ezekiel says about
it in Ezekiel chapter 34 and look in verse 11. Ezekiel 34
and 11. For thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them
out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. Boy, when was that? When was
that cloudy and dark day when the sheep were all scattered?
That was back there in the garden, wasn't it? Boy, I tell you, we
fell. The sheep fell in Adam just like
the goats did. And when the Lord drove Adam
out of that garden, I'm telling you, the elect began to be born
and they went all over the world, scattered all over the world
in that cloudy and dark day. But he says, I'm going to gather
them, I'm going to seek them, I'm going to gather them. And
in verse 13, I will bring them out from the people, I will gather
them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own
land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers,
and all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them
in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel will
their foal be, And there shall they lie in good fold, and in
a fat pasture they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel.
I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith
the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost,
and bring again that which was driven away. I will bind up that
which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick. And I will
destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with judgment."
It's going to cause them to lie down, he said. It's going to
cause them to lie down. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. I was reading a fellow, he was
a shepherd. He wrote a commentary on the
23rd Psalms and he had some very interesting things to say about
sheep. And he says they will not lie
down except three conditions are met. One, he said, they have
to be fed. If a sheep is not properly fed,
it'll stand and pick. It won't lay down. It stands
and picks. It has to eat. It has to have its stomach full.
The other one, he said, it can't have any fear. They're so timid
that if they have any apprehensions of fear around them, they won't
lay down. They'll stand there until absolutely
wore out. The third thing is they can't
be agitated. If there are bees or flies biting
them or you've got one biting, they stand. They'll just stand. You know the Lord Jesus makes
us to lie down. Don't He feed us? He feeds us
of Himself, of His grace and His love and mercy and my flesh
is meat indeed in my blood. And we rest, don't we? We can
rest. David said, Though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou
art with me. I can lay down and rest. And
the agitation, I tell you, who can disturb somebody when the
Lord gives them peace? You can just lay down and rest,
can't you? The shepherd has found his sheep. That's what the Apostle
Peter is talking about here when he goes on in the second verse
of our text and he says, That's God's elect that He's chosen,
hasn't He? Before the foundation of the
world. You elect people. Boy, that's a good word to write
to suffering saints. I can suffer and be patient in
myself if I know I'm one of His. If I know the shepherdess found
me and written my name down in the Lamb's Book of Life. Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. This is so
important. This means that God He didn't
blindly choose His people. He knew them. He knew them in
a way that you and I can never know. He foreknew them. He foreloved them. Before they
were ever born and had to be in, He foreknew them and His
choice of them was not one of doubt and uncertainty as to who
they were or what they were. He knew them perfectly. Had perfect knowledge of them.
even before they were ever born. He told Jeremiah before I farmed
thee in the womb, I knew you. I knew you. And you know he still
knows us, doesn't he? He don't put confidence in us.
He knows our frame. He remembers that we're just
dust. He's always known us. This doesn't mean He looked down
through time and saw something in us, or He saw something we
would do that somebody else wouldn't do, and therefore chose us. He didn't say He knew what we
would do. He knew us. He left according to the foreknowledge. He foreknew you. And He purposed something for
them. And what was that? Well, their
eternal salvation. He purposed their salvation.
And then He goes on here in this verse and to tell us how the
Holy Spirit comes to accomplish that purpose. Through sanctification of the
Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you. What does
the Spirit of God do when He comes to us? I tell you, He secures
our obedience. He secures our obedience, the
submission, the faith, our faith and trust in the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He secures that through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience to the blood. I don't care how we may have
fought against it before and had no confidence, no faith in
the blood. We may have been like that fellow
that the prophet told him to go down and worship in Jordan
seven times. Why do that? I don't want to
do that. There may have been a time when
God's elect was so rebellious and ignorant, I don't have any
confidence in His blood. But the Spirit comes and secures
that obedience and faith in His precious blood. And Peter says
here in verse 3, he's so caught up, he's so caught up here already,
it seemed like when he began to write this epistle, he was
just so caught up in the glory of all of this and the joy of
all of this, so he just, he says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed. This word means to adore,
to admire, to praise, to give thanksgiving to. He just couldn't
find the word. Blessed be God, he said. Blessed
be God. And he can't find words for the
mercy that he sees. He doesn't just call it, he hath
begotten you again by his mercy, but he says he hath begotten
you through his abundant mercy. Overflowing mercy. Superabundant
mercy. A sea of mercy. Abundance of
mercy. The Bible calls God's mercy tender
mercy, and sure mercies, and mercies that's higher than the
heaven, and it calls God the Father of mercies. Why does they
use these adjectives to describe mercy? I tell you, when the Lord
comes to you, and you see that you're a hopeless sinner, and
by His mercy He gives you hope, I tell you, you can't say enough
about it, can you? Abundant mercy, higher than the
heaven mercy, tender mercy, everlasting mercy, sure mercies. Paul said,
I was a blasphemer, an injurious, but I obtained mercy. Don't you love mercy? Peter was
just, he was up. Oh, he was up about it. And he said, this mercy, and
there in verse 3 he says, he's begotten us again. and to a living
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A living hope. Why does
he call it a living hope? Well, there's a dead hope, isn't
there? There's a dead hope, people have.
A hope built on the rock. Because some people have got
a hope built on the sand. A hope of the righteous. Why?
Because there's a hope of the hypocrites. This is a living
hope. This is a good hope through grace. It's not enough just to say,
I have hope. Peter said, Be ready to give
a reason for the hope that's within you. Hope without reason
is presumptuous, isn't it? What's our hope built upon? Jesus
Christ, he said, has raised from the dead. That's what our hope
is upon. Not only did Christ die for our
sins and purge them away, but He arose from the dead and ascended
at the right hand of God. And He says, because I live,
you shall live also. That's a good ground for hope,
isn't it? My representative, my surety,
died in my place and He arose and ascended back to heaven where
I hope to be because of Him. and what He's did on my behalf."
Oh, no wonder Peter said, Oh, blessed be God. Wouldn't your
heart break without hope? I preached a funeral Thursday.
A woman I don't think had any hope. And I couldn't tell if
the whole big congregation was there. Some of the things that
they were saying, they had any hope? Had any hope? Wouldn't
your heart break if you didn't have a good hope? Death laying
here in front of us? That's what I told him. Here
lies a woman that's dead, going down into eternity. Oh, the preciousness
of hope. And it's through His mercy and
through the death and the burial and resurrection of our dear
Savior. And look what this hope is into. To an inheritance. Oh, this must be a large estate.
And I say that because God has provided it. It's something that
God has provided. Nobody gets this inheritance
by merit or works. You know the only way to get
this inheritance? You have to be a member of the family. That's
the way we inherit it. You've got to be a member of
the family. Paul said, The Spirit bears witness with our spirit
that we're children of God, and if children, then heirs of God,
and joint heirs with Christ. It comes through His death. I
never got my dad's inheritance until he died. And Jesus Christ
had a great inheritance that He earned on our behalf, and
it was given to Him. But you know when it comes to
us? After He died. He willed it to His heirs. And look at this inheritance.
I imagine as Peter was writing this to them, he thought, boy,
this is really going to encourage these suffering saints. Bless
their hearts, they've been ran out of their homes. Some of them's
goods are confiscated, and they're suffering on their jobs. And
the community don't even like many of them. And how this letter
is going to thrill them when I tell them about their inheritance
in Jesus Christ. And the first thing he says about
this inheritance is this, it is incorruptible. And the first
thing I'll say about that, you and I can not even enter into
this game. It's incorruptible. I'm not looking
at a thing this morning that is incorruptible. Not a single
thing. The words in this book are incorruptible. But this book itself is going
to rot. Somebody's going to throw it
in the trash or somebody's going to burn it. Everything is corruptible. Our bodies, our strength, our
beauty, gold and silver is rusting and canker is eating it up. The
earth and the heavens are waxing old and ready to vanish away.
Corruption all around us. But that new heaven and the new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and everything that's associated
with that is incorruptible. It's incorruptible itself. It
can't corrupt and it can't be corrupted. Incorruptible. And you know something? Corrupt
flesh cannot inherit it. That's why the saints can't even
inherit it. They've got to be changed. You
can't go to heaven like you are. You can't inherit what God has
laid up for you until you're changed. Flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of heaven Neither do a corruption inherit
incorruption. There must be a change of these
bodies. These mortals must put on immortality. And those corruptible bodies
that have decayed in the ground must put on incorruption. Then shall be brought to pass
the second. Come, you blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you. But this inheritance
is incorruptible. And the second thing he says
about it is undefiled. That word means pure and holy
and unpolluted. Boy, there's a lot of inheritance
that's been defiled because of some unjust means that they got
it by. We had a friend of my son's that
she deals with the lawyers that brought wheels out to help some
old people, and she would tell them about the children that
come into their office and bringing their parents with them, older
parents, and trying to get them to sign their property over to
them and their bank accounts over to them, trying to defraud
them so they can have the inheritance. That happens, I guess, all the
time. Getting the inheritance by some
unjust means. There's been people killed Well,
Ahab killed Laban for his inheritance, didn't he? Happens all the time. But the inheritance of the saints
is an unholy inheritance. It wasn't gotten by unjust means. And it won't be kept by any unjust
means. There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defile
it. or worketh iniquity, or abominations,
or maketh a lie, but those whose names are written in the Lamb's
book of life." The Muslims tell us that they're going up to heaven
to receive their inheritance with twenty virgins or whatever,
but what would they do with those virgins? You can imagine, can't
you? This is undefiled inheritance.
Undefiled. And he says thirdly, he says
it like this, that fadeth not away. This fadeth, this word
fadeth, it has to do with colors losing their original brightness
and fading out. We see that all around us, don't
we? I had a, I put in some paneling a few years ago in one of my
bathrooms. I messed one piece up doing something with it a
few years later and I had to replace it. So I took a piece
out to the hardware store, the lumber yard, where I got it.
And I showed the guy, I said, I want a piece of this. He said,
yeah, I can order that for you. He ordered me a four-by-eight
sheet and come back in. He said, it's in. I went out
and got it and took it back home and put it there against the
wall and I thought, that ain't it. This piece here is pretty
and bright and this piece over here, that don't even match.
So I've got it back down and tuck it back in and tuck the
piece with me again. I said, man, this ain't the same
thing. He said, yes, it is. Yours had just faded out and
here's the new piece. And I got to looking at it and
that was it. That was it. That's the way life is, isn't
it? Everything is fading away. Our beauty is fading. You see
some of the young ladies and they love to dial up and wear
their dresses and fix their hair. That beauty is going to fade.
It's going to fade. Our strength is fading. Everything
is fading in this life. It's losing its color. Isaiah
24, verse 4 said, The earth mourneth and fadeth away. The world languish
and fadeth away. The haughty people of the earth,
they languish. Why? Because the earth is defiled
under the inhabitants thereof. Oh, but this inheritance, this
heavenly inheritance, will never fade away. The substance of it
will never fade. The glory of it will never fade.
And listen to this, the joy of it will never fade. I've had
an old truck now, Larry, for just a few months. What, November?
And man, I remember when I got that thing, I just go out and
sit in it, let my seat back and lay in it and sleep. It don't
mean that much anymore. Fading away. But Peter said,
we received a crown of glory that fadeth not away. That's the inheritance. That's
the inheritance. And look what he said about this is so important.
Reserved in heaven for you. Must be pretty secure if they're
in heaven. I don't know even the devil's going to climb up
there and try to take it to you. Who's going to go up to heaven
and take this inheritance? If he gets up there, you know what
God's going to say? Don't you touch that. That's
reserved. That's reserved. If you're going
to go on a trip, especially in these holidays, I'll tell you
what you better do. You better call ahead and get reservation
or you may be sleeping in your truck. This inheritance has been reserved
ahead of time for people and for them to use it for their
good and for God's glory. Why talk about a glorious inheritance
if it's not sure? That don't make any sense, does
it? That mars the joy of it. It's sure. You ain't going to
lose it. It's reserved in heaven for you.
And he says here in verse 5, he adds to that, "...who are
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." Who are
kept by the power of God. How important is that? How important
is it to believe this? You know, we talk about the perseverance
of the saints and they'll hold on their way. They won't stop
believing. They won't stop coming to Christ.
They won't stop following Christ until heaven is their home. The
righteous shall hold on their way. They're kept by the power
of God. And we tell somebody that and they'll say, I just
don't believe that. Well, how important is it to
believe that? That's pretty important, isn't it? And if you talk to
somebody and he says, well, I just don't believe that, you ought
to say, buddy, you probably ought to examine yourself. Because
you may have a form of godliness and denying the power of the
other. For the power of God is this, He not only reserves heaven
for His people, but He keeps them for heaven. And that's comforting. And I almost say, if a man don't
believe that, he needs to check and see if he's being begotten
himself into a lively hope. There's no excuse for that, is
there Greg? I know we can be ignorant about things, but when
we're confronted with things and taught things, And we say,
I don't believe that. Well, we need to examine ourselves,
don't we? If we're not kept by the power of God, how are we
kept? In verse 6, wherein you greatly
rejoice. Why wouldn't somebody believe
that? Because this is a source of great rejoicing. When we live
in the faith and reality of these blessed truths, our hearts rejoice. And he said down there in verse
8, it's joy unspeakable and full of glory. And now he goes on
in the last part of verse 6 and look at this. Though now for
a season, just for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness
through manifold temptation. This word heaviness, it means
distress. It means you've come into a closed
place. You go to some of these parks
and some of these places down in the hills and the mountains
and they've got these trails. You go through the fat man's
squeeze, they call some of them. Boy, you've got to turn sideways
to get through there. It's a squeeze. And if you've
got this thing about being in close places, you better stay
out of those. That's what this word is, distress. It means you're
shut up. You're square as M on every side. You're sad. You're grieved. You're
sorrowful. You're dejected in your mind.
You're depressed in your spirit. You're cast down. You're heavy. Why are you cast down within
me, O my soul? Why are you so disquieted within
me? Solomon said, Heaviness in a
man's heart causes it to stoop, but a good word will refresh
it, cause it to rejoice. My soul melts for its heaviness. Strengthen me according to thy
word. Boy, a believer is a paradox, isn't he? He says you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and turn right around and say though you're
in heaviness. Though you're in heaviness. As sorrowful and yet
rejoicing, the Apostle Paul said. What was this heaviness about?
Well, he tells us that the trine of your faith being much more
precious than of gold that is tried. You know, faith is a precious
thing, isn't it? The trying of faith is a precious
thing because faith is a precious thing. You know why faith is
a precious thing? It's a gift of God. We weren't
born with it. We can't muster it up. It's given
to you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe
on Him, He's given it to you. It's a gift. That's what makes
it precious. God don't give cheap gifts, does He? Because of its
scarcity. How few have it. All men have
not faith. And as you look around you and
talk to your neighbors and people that you work with, you realize
how few have it. That's what makes these jewels
so precious, silver so precious and gold so precious. Not that
much of it. Ain't that much of faith. It's
scarce. Therefore, it's precious. It's
precious because it's a necessity. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. One man said it'd be very difficult.
No, it's impossible. It's impossible to walk with
God if you don't believe. We walk by faith and not by sight. Can't please Him, can we? Can't please Him without it.
Can't be saved without it. By grace are you saved through
faith. And boy, faith is precious because the way it ends. Look here in verse 9. Rejoicing,
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul. Faith's going to end in sight. Desiring to be with Christ, which
is far better. That's faith that says that.
It's going to end in eternal salvation. The trial of our faith
is precious. Not only is faith precious, but
the trial of it is precious. Though it be tried, look at this,
with fire. You know fire doesn't do silver
and gold any harm, it does it good. When it's put under the
fire, it makes it more precious. Gets all the dross out of it.
It's the same way with faith. When it's put to the fire, it
removes the dross and makes it more pure and precious. David
said, ìFor thou, O Lord, hast proved us, you have tried us,
as silver is tried.î In Zechariah 13, verse 9, he says this, ìAnd
it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord,
two parts therein shall be cut off and shall die, but the third
part shall be left therein.î Third part, a remnant left. I
want to be among that remnant, donít you? I want to be among
those thatís left. But listen how He's going to
bring them. I will bring the third part through
the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and I will
try them as gold is tried, and they shall call on My name, and
I will hear them. And I will say, This is My people. And they will say, This is My
God. Though it be tried with fire. Abraham, you take your
son, your only son Isaac, that you love, and you get into the
land of Moriah, and you offer him for a burnt offering. That's
fire, isn't it? Boy, that's fire. Dried with
fire. Gideon was going out to fight
the Amalekites and the children of the east, and he went down
into the valley, And boy, he saw them land like grasshoppers
all over the valley. Couldn't even number them for
a moment or two. And the Lord said, get in. How many men do
you have? I've got 32,000 is all I've got. He said, send them
all home but 300. You've got too many. Tried by
fire. Your faith. He gives you faith
and he tries it. And boy, when he tries it, you'll
know you've been in the fire. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial, Peter said, which is to try you. And yet
we think it strange, don't we? We think it strange. This is
why faith is so precious. It's in the fire that we trust
our Savior. Easy to trust Him on a sunny
day, isn't it? Easy to trust Him in the shade.
But boy, when it's hot, And when the fire is hot, then you trust
the Savior's wisdom. You trust His love. You trust
His faithfulness. You trust His grace to bring
you through and give you the victory. That's why it's precious. When it's in the fire, you've
got nobody to look to and nobody to call out to but Him that gave
you the faith. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. Trust His Word. Trust His faithfulness. Trust His truthfulness. Trust
His grace. Trust His purpose. Trust His
righteousness. Trust His provision. Trust in
the Lord with all your heart. And listen to this. Lean not
to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge
Him, and He shall direct thy steps. Don't be wise in your
own conceit. Don't try to figure this out
and escape. Your afflictions and sufferings
and your trials, submit to Him. Believe Him and wait upon Him. And depart from evil. And it shall be health to thy
navel and mirth to thy bones. Trust. That's what faith is.
It's just trust. Abraham was called to leave all
of his family in this land and to go out in the land that he
had received for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where
he went. Boy, that's a trial, wasn't it?
That's a trial. But he trusted the Lord. He distrusted
the Lord. Sometimes the Lord will give
us instructions from His Word just before He hides His face. And then all we can do is trust
Him and wait on Him and hope in His Word. Listen to Isaiah
8, 17. I will wait upon the Lord that
hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for
him." It can be difficult to trust a God you can't see when
He hides His face. A trial is not so hard to bear
if you feel that, boy, He's right here with me. He's manifesting
Himself to you through His Word, the boy when he hides himself. We have to trust a God sometimes
who it seems like is going to kill us. Poor old Job, he lost
his herd of cows, he lost his servants, he lost his children,
he lost his health, he lost his friends, some of the young men
mocked him. And there he sat on a pile of
ashes. And he had broken an old urn and was scratching his balls
with it. And you know what he said? Though
He slay me, yet will I trust Him. That's faith. That's faith
in the fire. And that's why it's so honoring
to the Lord. And that's why it's going to
be honoring to Him and a reward to us when He comes. When He
comes, it's going to be founded to praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And you know the more difficult
this way is, the more glorious that day is going to be when
He comes. We don't see Him, do we? But
boy, we love Him, don't we? We love Him because He first
loved us. And thank God for the hope that He's given us. Without
it, our hearts would break. Lord bless His Word. Greg, would
you dismiss us, please?