Wayfaring Strangers
A study of 1 Peter
Part 5
“Believing without seeing”
How many of you need proof in order to believe in something?
Sometimes in my life this is true
When crossing a log over a deep creek or river
I might want you to go first
If it holds you
And I see that you made it safely across
Then I figure I can as well
But if you fall off and don’t drown
I am going to laugh and find another way across
If I go to look at a horse to buy and the man says he does not buck
I want to see him ride him
And then if he doesn’t buck
I might swing a leg over the horse myself
So sometimes seeing is believing
Right
But there are many things that we believe
That we trust
That we don’t even think about everyday
How many of you carry an Oxygen meter with you?
You look outside
Test the air
To make sure it has enough oxygen to sustain life
Or do you simply walk out
And breath
Trusting that what you can’t see
Unless you are in southern California or Dallas
Will provide for you what you need
We trust in something we cannot see
Right?
How about pulling a horse trailer down a big mountain or hill in Colorado?
One very steep hill between Pagosa Springs and Chama New Mexico comes to my mind
Do we get out
Pull the hubs
Look at the brake shoes or pads, check the fluid in the master cylinder and then Go down the hill
Or do we simply trust
“Hopefully we have maintained our trucks”
Trusting that the brakes will stop us
These are just a couple of simple illustrations
I could go on and on with things that we simply trust to be true without seeing them
And I have no doubt each of you can come up with many and most likely better illustrations in your own minds
This is where we are going today in our study of 1 Peter
Please open your bibles to 1 Peter chapter 1
And we will be looking at and then breaking down verses 8-12
1 Peter 1:8-12
“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and rejoice with glorious inexpressible joy.
The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holt Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
We must remember that Peter had seen Jesus
He had walked beside him
He had eaten with him
He had been taught and rebuked by him
Peter had seen the miracles
Heard the words
He had walked on water
Drank the wine at Cana
And had been present at the transfiguration
He had seen Jesus die
Seen him placed in a tomb
And had seen the risen Lord
In my opinion believing would have been easy if
We were to see Jesus
But that is not the case
Thomas another of Jesus’ followers
Had to see to believe
Thomas like many others had seen many of the same things Peter had seen
But he would not believe Jesus had risen from the dead
Unless he saw for himself
Let’s look at that account in John
John chapter 20
Jesus has been raised from the dead
And all the apostles except Thomas had seen him
They told Thomas all about what they had seen
They told him Jesus was alive
And here is Thomas’ reply
Verses 24-28
24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),[a] was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
Jesus says ok Thomas
Here is the proof you seek, and Thomas cried out
Verse 28
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Thomas saw
And he believed
Crying out on of the strongest statements of faith in all of God’s word
My Lord and my God
In this he is saying I understand and accept who you are
Not only are you my teacher
Not only are you my leader
You are indeed God
My God
My savior
I believe. I believe
But then Jesus says this to him
Verse 29
“You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me”
Blessed are those who believe
Without seeing me
Blessed are those who trust without seeing me
Blessed are those
Who place their faith in Jesus
Without seeing him face to face
Without placing their hand in his side
Their fingers in the wounds in his hands
Back to first Peter
Verse 8
“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and rejoice with glorious inexpressible joy.
I need to tell you
I have seen pictures of Jesus
Most I hate to say are not accurate depiction of our savior
But I have seen Pictures
I have seen Jesus in my mind on many occasions
I have my own idea of what he must look like
But I have never seen the living Christ in person
But
That does not mean I have not seen the proof of him
Let me use the example of wind
We can’t see the wind
But we can see the effects of the wind
From the gentle breeze that moves my wind chimes while I’m having coffee and quite time in the mornings
To the hurricanes and tornadoes that cause great destruction
Wind is an unseen powerful force
I know it exists even though I don’t understand it
Listen
I have never seen Jesus face to face
But I have seen the effects of Jesus
I have seen the changed lives
I have seen people
Myself included
Go from lost to found
From Guilty to redeemed
I have seen brokenness turned to wholeness in Christ
I have heard the stories of life change, many of them yours
And of miracles, many of them yours
Times that make the doctors say- I don’t understand what just happened
Listen
I see the love of Jesus in the world
I see the love of Jesus in this church
I see the love of Jesus in you
I see the mercy of Jesus daily
I feel his comfort in the trials and troubles of this life
I want to do back flips because of the Joy he gives
The inexpressible- glorious joy as Peter describes it
But
Here is a cool part
----- I see because I believe-----
repeat
Not believe because I see
When we believe without seeing
God gives us the ability to see
God the Holy Spirt moves into our hearts
And we begin a transformation that continues all our lives
Until we are one day glorified in heaven
The speed and depth of the transformation depends on us and our faith, commitment and obedience
But
Our eyes are opened to the love, grace. mercy peace and comfort that come with salvation
Once we were blind but now we can see
Because we believed without seeing
Listen
I have no doubt that when people see Jesus they will believe
When that eastern sky parts and Jesus comes in all his glory on a charging white horse
Riding on the clouds
When he comes back as King and conqueror
Instead of servant and carpenter
I have no doubt they will believe
And
I have no doubt because
God’s word says every knee will bow
And every voice will confess Jesus as Lord
But also know this
it will be too late
They did not believe without seeing
They never placed their trust
Their hope in Christ
They wanted proof
They wanted to see
And they missed the boat
But for those who believed without seeing
Peter says this in Verse 9
“The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
The reward for trusting him
Without seeing him
The reward for accepting his sacrifice even though we were not there at the cross
The reward for crying out for forgiveness
Will be the salvation of your souls
Redemption
Restoration
A new person
A new creation
A reride
a do over
The reward will be the forgiveness of your sins—past- present and future
The promise of eternity in heaven
That means forever!!!
And the assurance of those promises
Jesus says to the Father, I will lose none you have given me
Paul says Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God though Christ Jesus our Lord
This is what we get when we believe
When we trust
--- Without seeing---
The Old Testament
With all the laws
And sacrifices
Was a mere shadow of the things to come
It all
Pointed to Jesus and the salvation we now have the ability to receive
The Old Testament prophets spoke about it
But like me and the wind
The did not fully understand it
But their words
Given to them directly by God
Were meant to show us the path to salvation
Listen to 1 Peter 1 verses 10-12 again
“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holt Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
Imagine
Even the angels
Beings created to do God’s will
Are watching eagerly
And rejoicing at the redemption of each person who makes the choice to accept on faith the grace offered by our loving Father
I want to go back again to verse 8 and camp out here just bit this morning
Over the last few weeks we have seen that even though Peter addresses problems in our lives
He always begins with Praise
He always begins with Glorifying God
And he always talks about the joy
Verse 8 again
“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and rejoice with glorious inexpressible joy.
Verse 8b is where I want to go
“Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and rejoice with glorious inexpressible joy.”
Listen
Knowing and trusting God is the source of glorious inexpressible joy
Notice I said---- is------
Knowing and trusting God is not a way to salvation
It is the way
It is not a way to joy
It is the way
Knowing and trusting God is not a way to peace it is the way
Many people in today’s world
In fact, throughout time
Have searched for peace and joy apart from a relationship with God through Christ
They have looked for love in all the wrong places
And have failed to find what they were looking for
Maybe they didn’t understand what true joy and peace was
Or what real love is
So, they are content to find what they believe to be happiness
And emotion that can change
They place their trust and hope
In things that will rust and rot
In things that will fade
Relationships
Possessions
Accomplishments
Fleeting pleasures
Grasping only what they can see
Only what they can touch
And missing the blessings that God desires to pour out on them
Missing the salvation that is freely offered
Being content with the crumbs
When they were invited to a banquet
Listen to me
We all seek happiness in this life
But happiness is affected by circumstances
But
The glorious
Inexpressible Joy
That Peter speaks of
Is forever
It is unchangeable
Inexhaustible
It is not just some emotional high
But it is a deep
Supernatural - contentedness
That only comes from God
When we trust in Jesus Christ not only for salvation
But for direction in our lives
When we allow him first to save us
And then to be Lord of our lives
We will find what we are looking for
First salvation
Then joy and all the glorious fruits of the spirit
Galatians 5:22-25
‘But the Holy spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, peace, patience. Kindness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to the cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives
When we believe and trust without seeing
He will open our eyes
He will open our minds
But more importantly he will open our hearts
“ Blessed are those who believe even though they have never seen me”
Close from the heart
Pray
