GOOD NEWS FOR DISCOURAGED BELIEVERS
Living God's Way -- Part 1
I Peter 1:1-12 04-15-12 Sermon
Today’s sermon is the beginning of a series on 1 Peter. Today’s sermon is from the following portion:
1I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. 2God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!
3What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, 4including a future in heaven--and the future starts now! 5God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all--life healed and whole.
6I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. 7Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
8You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him--with laughter and singing. 9Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation.
10The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. 11The Messiah's Spirit let them in on some of it--that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. 12All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves--through the Holy Spirit--the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!
© 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
GOOD NEWS FOR DISCOURAGED BELIEVERS
Living God's Way -- Part 1
I Peter 1:1-12 04-15-12 Sermon
Funerals and cemeteries can be depressing and discouraging, but not always.
A newly appointed young clergyperson was contacted by a local funeral director to hold a graveside committal service at a small country cemetery in Iowa. There was to be no funeral, just the committal, because the deceased had no family or friends left in Iowa.
The young pastor started early to the cemetery, but soon lost his way. After making several wrong turns, he finally arrived a half-hour late. The hearse was no where in sight, and there were workmen relaxing under a nearby tree, eating their lunch. The pastor went over to what he thought was the grave and found that the vault lid was already in place. He took out his funeral book and read the service. As he returned to his car, he overheard one of the workmen ask the other, “Should we tell him that was a septic tank or not?”
And you can find some pretty funny inscriptions on tombstones as well. One read, “Here lies the dust of Marvin Peeper, swept up at last by the Great Housekeeper.”
Another read: “She lived with her husband 50 years and died in the confident hope of a better life”
Another said: “Here lies my wife in earthy mould, who when she lived did naught but scold. Good friends, go softly in your walking lest she should wake and rise up talking”
And finally: “Beneath this stone lies Dr. John Bigelow, an atheist all dressed up with no place to go.”
In spite of that humor, there is much to be discouraged about in this world. Would you agree that discouragement is a universal disease? Everybody gets it from time to time. We all get discouraged. It's also a highly contagious disease. You notice, when you get around discouraged people, what happens? You get discouraged. But it also is a very curable disease.
I've discovered that what you focus on in life determines your happiness. If you're discouraged, I've got some good news for you. Today we're going to begin a new series of messages from the book of I Peter. It's a short letter at the end of the New Testament written by Peter about faithful, godly living, about living God’s way in an ungodly society. It was written to discouraged believers. It was written to encourage people who were hurting. Do you think that can relate to any of us today?
In our passage it says, "I know you're going through a few trials right now." That's the understatement of the century when Peter was writing that. Christians at that time were being fed to lions. They were being burned at the stake. Nero burned Rome in 64 A.D. and blamed the Christians. They were being tortured. They were being imprisoned. They were being taken to the Coliseum to be torn apart by wild animals. Peter says, "I know you're going through a few tough times." Just a few years after this Peter himself was crucified upside down.
WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN DISCOURAGED
In this passage he says, "When you start to get down you need to focus on what is really good in life." He says there are three things believers ought to never forget. If you're a believer there are three things to remember when you're discouraged. They are simple, but they're really profound. If you'll focus on them your discouragement will lift.
1. GOD HAS CHOSEN ME TO BE A PART OF HIS FAMILY!
I Peter 1:2a: "Dear friends, God the Father chose you long ago and knew you would become His children." What is he saying here? He's saying your salvation is no accident. God chose you long before you chose Him. He knew all about you and chose you. He took the initiative. Your salvation is not a fluke. It was God's idea from the very start. Good News Version: "You were chosen according to the purpose of God."
To me that brings up a couple of immediate questions. The first one is "Why in the world would God do that?" Why would God choose you, or me, to be a part of His family? The answer is, "Not because of something I've done, but because of Who He is." Because He is a God of love. He is a God of grace. The more you understand grace the more you're going to be amazed by it. God chose you. Did you deserve it? Not a chance. Do you deserve to go to Heaven? No way! Are you good enough to be in God's family? No. But he chose you, anyway. And that's good news.
On what basis did He choose you? V. 3: "For it is His boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that now we are members of God's own family." Boundless mercy. It's based on God's mercy not your performance. You'll never earn it. You'll never deserve it. You couldn't work hard enough for it. You couldn't be perfect enough. It's just God's grace, God's mercy, that He says, "I want you in My family." The Creator of the universe says, "I want you in My family." If that doesn't encourage you, you'd better check your pulse.
Notice he says, "We are born again." Some people don’t like that term, born again. They think of fanatics. Some think it means reincarnation. But "born again" is a biblical term used by Jesus and Peter that means getting a fresh start. That's all it means. You’re painting a room and get halfway through and think "I wish I could start over." Or you get half way through a life and think "I wish I could start over." God gives you that option; it's called being born again -- a fresh start. Not a new leaf, a new life. He says He gives you the privilege of being born into God's family.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be born into royalty? Let's say you could be born into the Queen of England's family. You'd get perks. You'd get privileges. You'd get opportunities.
God says to you, "You’re in My family. You are royalty. You’re a king’s kid. Act like it. You're a child of God. Realize it." If somebody starts bragging about their business, look at them and say, "My father has offices in every city of the world. In fact He owns this airplane. He owns the air above it and the air below it. He owns IBM, AT&T, Exxon ... He owns them all." You are a child of royalty and you are deeply loved.
Some of you may be just barely hanging on by a thread. Some of you may be deeply hurting. Some of you may be facing a tough week, maybe getting some test results back. Or you are dealing with a relational problem. You're not here by accident this morning. No, you're not. Just as God chose you before you were even born, He brought you here today. And He wants to say this to you today, He wants you to know, no matter what happens, God will always love you. Here’s the first mood lifter--No matter what happens in 2012, God will always love you. He will never stop. Nothing can stop Him from loving you. No matter what happens in 2012, God will always love you.
2. GOD IS WORKING IN MY LIFE
Then Peter moves on to a second encourager. Not only does God choose you to be a part of His family but he says, God is still working in your life, even when you're going through problems.
Even though you don't feel it, even though you may feel God is a million miles away and you are all alone, God says, "I'm working in your life." He's working in your life right now, even though you don't feel it.
Look at v. 2: "And the Holy Spirit Who has been at work in your hearts, cleansing you with the blood of Jesus Christ and making you to please Him". Notice he says God's Spirit does two things inside of you: He cleanses you and He changes you. He's always molding you, making you more like God. Jesus Christ is the world's greatest interior decorator. He's decorating you on the inside. He's working on you on the inside even when you don't feel it.
There are two benefits to having God work in your life: v. 2c: "May God bless you richly and grant you increasing freedom from all anxiety and fear." He says there are two benefits from having God work in your life:
1. You are richly blessed. The Bible calls this grace. Grace means I'm richly blessed. What's a blessing? A blessing is when God gives you what you need, instead of what you deserve. That's a blessing. That's grace.
2. You will have increasing freedom from anxiety and fear. What does that mean? The Bible calls that peace. It's peace of mind.
As your pastor, the deepest desire of my heart, is that you will understand the grace of God and experience the peace of God. That's my prayer for you just as it was Peter's prayer for these people. I try to say it in a hundred thousand different ways so that you will understand the grace of God and you will experience the peace of God in your life.
You say, "But you don't know the problems I'm going through right now." No, I don't. But God does.
Look at v. 1b: "You're not forgotten. God the Father has His eye on each of you." I don't know what's going on in your life, but God does, and He cares.
Here's the second mood lifter when you're discouraged. Not only no matter what happens God will love me, but no matter what happens, God will help me. He's working in my life. You may feel like the situation you're going through right now is hopeless, but it's not. As long as you've got God, you're not hopeless. You may feel it's hopeless. It's not. We have a living hope. We celebrated Easter last week. The tomb's empty, we have a living hope. So no matter what happens, God will love me; no matter what happens, God will help me.
You say, "How is God working in my life?" What about my current problems? V. 7: "Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold is tested by fire and so your faith must also be tested that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and honor on the day when Jesus returns."
The purpose of problems is to refine and test your faith. The result of that is that you're going to be rewarded in eternity for a tested and tried faith. The reward is going to be long, long lasting while the problems you're going through are short and temporary. Even if the problem is one you've had your entire life and you had to live with it and suffer from it, look at it in light of eternity and it's like a snap.
Peter is saying, God is testing and refining your faith. You know how they refine gold? They heat it up. They put it under intense heat, and as the gold gets hotter, the impurities rise to the top and they just skim them off. Gold is refined through fire, through heat. Your faith is far more precious than gold.
Someone asked a refiner of fine metals when he would know the molten metal was hot enough and pure enough. He said, “I know when I can see my reflection in it.” Jesus is refining you until he and others can see his reflection in your life.
Are you feeling the heat these days? Are you feeling a little pressure on you? God is working in your life. He's testing your faith. He's strengthening it.
II Cor. 4:17 "This short time of distress will result in God's richest blessing on us forever and forever." He says the short time of problems you're going through is going to result in the richest blessings forever and ever. He says these hard times are just small potatoes compared to the coming good times. Because God's working on your faith. He's working on your character.
Sometimes a freak accident changes the direction of your life. Sometimes an unexpected problem happens and you think "How in the world can God use this?" and you wonder what's going to happen. But God has a purpose in it.
Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Philippians 3:13, "I am still not all I should be, but bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing, forgetting the past, and looking forward to what lies ahead."
God said if you never felt pain, then how would you know that I’m a healer?
If you never went through difficulties, how would you know that I’m a deliverer?
If you never had a trial, how could you call yourself an over comer?
If you never felt sadness, how would you know that I’m a comforter?
If you never made a mistake, how would you know that I’m forgiving?
If you knew all, how would you know that I will answer your questions?
If you never were in trouble, how would you know that I will come to your rescue?
If you never were broken, how would you know that I can make you whole?
If you never had problems, how would you know that I can solve them?
If you never had any suffering, how would you know what Jesus went through?
If you never went through the fire, then how would you become pure?
If I gave you all things, how would you appreciate them?
If I never corrected you, how would you know that I love you?
If you had all power, how would you learn to depend on me?
If your life was perfect, then what would you need me for?
When you get discouraged remember first, I am a part of God's family; second, He's working in my life, and third...
3. GOD HAS SECURED MY FUTURE
V. 4: "And God has reserved for His children the priceless gift of eternal life. It is kept in Heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay."
Peter says, God has given you this priceless gift of eternal life. How long is eternal? It’s forever. How much is eternal life worth to you? It's priceless. You couldn't put a price on eternal life. Peter gives some good news: you can know you are going to heaven. In fact, he wants you to get the point so much that he emphasizes it four times in this verse.
"God has reserved for His children the priceless gift of eternal life." That's one reservation that will never be canceled. Then he says, "He's kept it in Heaven pure and undefiled [that means nobody can spoil it for you] beyond the reach of change and decay." Peter says it four times. He's saying, "Get the message. I can keep you safe." That is security.
Titus 3:5 "It is not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved us." If I were saved on the basis of my work, obviously if I stopped working I'd lose my salvation. If I were saved on the basis of what I did, obviously if I stopped doing it I'd lose my salvation. But you're saved on the basis of what Christ did and He did it all and on the cross He said "It's finished".
John writes in his concluding remarks to his first letter chapter 5:13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.
Jesus said in John 10:29 "They're in My hand and no man can pluck them out." Paul said in Romans 8:39 "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, not demons, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus."
We sing in one of our hymns, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day. That is almost an exact quote from 2 Timothy 1:12.
That's security. That's something to give you a boost when you get discouraged.
V. 5 "God in His mighty power will make sure that you get there safely." Now, is that good news? That's good news. Because God will make sure that your assurance of Heaven isn't based on your performance, it's based on God's performance. It's not based on your ability, it's based on God's power. God, in His mighty power, will make sure. That is an encourager to me.
There's the third spirit lifter -- no matter what happens I can be sure of my salvation. He keeps it. He holds it. He protects it, reserved, kept in Heaven, undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. I may lose so many other things in life but I can read the final chapter which God has already written. The final chapter says this, "We win." The world may be going to hell in a hand basket but in the end, we win.
What's Peter's conclusion? V. 6, Phillips translation: "This means tremendous joy to you, even though at present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials." He says don't worry, relax, rejoice. You may go through some tough times here on earth. In fact, you will go through them. But in light of eternity and what you're going to see in reward for the testing of your faith is so much greater it makes the problems seem insignificant. Don't lose your perspective.
You may be going through problems right now but God has chosen you to be a part of His family. God is still working in your life. And God has secured your future. It's settled.
So Peter concludes, v. 12 "Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!"
I want to close with an allegorical story I had gotten off the internet sometime back. It goes like this:
As I faced my maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls. Before each of us lay our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles. An angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry of our life.
But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares was. They were filled with giant holes. Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult, the challenges and temptations I was faced with in everyday life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.
I glanced around me. Nobody else had such squares. In fact, other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened. My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air.
Finally the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light, under the scrutiny of truth. The others rose, each in turn, holding up their tapestries. So filled their lives had been. My angel looked at me, and nodded for me to rise.
My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn’t had all the earthly fortunes. I had love in my life, and laughter. But there had also been trials—trials of illness, and death, and false accusations that took from me my world, as I knew it. I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again. I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance in my life. I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me.
And now, I had to face the truth. My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was. I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light. An awe-filled gasp filled the air. I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes.
Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me. Light flooded through the many holes, creating an image…the face of Jesus!
Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in his eyes. He said, Every time you gave your life over to me, it became my life, my hardships, my struggles. Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let me shine through, until there was more of me than there was of you.”
May all the quilts of our lives be threadbare and worn, allowing Jesus to shine through.
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