Introduction: It Never Runs Out
Pastor Dave Brannon relates the following: When I asked a friend who is about to retire what she feared about her next stage of life, she said, “I want to make sure I don’t run out of money.” The next day as I was talking to my financial counselor he gave me advice on how I might avoid running out of money. Indeed, we all want the security of knowing we’ll have the resources we need for the rest of our lives.
No financial plan can provide an absolute guarantee of earthly security. But there is a plan that extends far beyond this life and indefinitely into the future. The apostle Peter describes it like this: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:3–4).
When we place our faith in Jesus to forgive our sins we receive an eternal inheritance through God’s power. Because of this inheritance, we’ll live forever and never run short of what we need.
Planning for retirement is a good idea if we’re able to do so. But more important is having an eternal inheritance that never runs out—and that is available only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Source: Dave Branon, Our Daily Bread
I. An Undisputed Instructor 1-2
A. The Instructor Identifies His Students 1
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
1. Notice the names and locations
a. Pontus = Turkey, a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea
b. Galatia = highlands of Ankara, Turkey
c. Cappadocia = central Turkey
d. Asia = Asia Minor - The name 'Asia Minor’ from the Greek `Mikra Asia' - Little Asia was first coined by the Christian historian Orosius c. 375-418 AD in his work Seven Books of History Against the Pagans in 400 AD to differentiate the main of Asia from that region which had been evangelized by the Apostle Paul which included sites known from Paul’s Epistles in the Bible such as Ephesus and Galitia.
e. Bithynia = corresponding roughly to central-northern Turkey
2. Why did Peter go to the trouble of naming five Roman districts when they were all in the same geographic area?
a. First and foremost this letter was addressed to all of these churches.
b. If Peter had been writing to the churches of East Texas, wouldn’t you want him to say, Hey, Afton Grove!
3. So it is that the instructor identifies his students all over what is now Turkey!
B. The Instructor Identifies His Subject 2
2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
1. There are four statements in verse 2
a. elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
b. in sanctification of the Spirit
c. for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ
d. Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
2. Each on builds upon the last to give us the subject of this book and this sermon.
a. Peter is writing to believers.
b. God knows the spirit state and the spiritual estate of all.
c. Peter is writing to the churches to encourage them in their salvation – which he called an Incorruptible Inheritance.
C. Application To The Church
Illustration
II. An Incorruptible Inheritance 3-5
A. A Living Hope 3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1. Bless the LORD 3a
a. God is to be praised simply for being God!
i. All too often we praise God for all that He does.
ii. But we fail to praise God for all that He is!
b. God is to be praised for being the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
i. When we see Glory we will understand it.
ii. But right now we are looking at a glass darkly in this matter.
c. Listen to our Doctrinal Statement
i. God the Father—The Supreme Ruler of the Universe
ii. God the Son—the Savior of the World
iii. God the Holy Spirit—the Manifest Presence of Deity
d. Bless the LORD in every way He is manifested!
2. Bless the LORD for birth 3b
a. He has begotten us again to a living hope
i. I find the word again interesting.
ii. I am immediately reminded of Jesus and Nicodemus – You must be born again
b. We are born again to live with hope!
i. The Apostle reminds us that just like Nicodemus, we must be born again.
ii. But our new birth gives us something our physical birth could not!
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
—2Timothy 1:7
3. Bless the LORD for death and resurrection 3c
a. Death made new life possible!
b. The resurrection of Jesus is a precursor to the resurrection of David Hallum and every other saint of God!
B. An Incorruptible Inheritance 4
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
1. Speaking of death, how does inheritance work?
a. Someone works for a lifetime to give an inheritance to their children upon their death.
i. But the testator must die before the inheritance can be distributed.
ii. So it was that Jesus had to die and be resurrected before the New Testament could come into being.
b. Now we are in possession of that incorruptible inheritance.
2. Remember with me for a moment the inheritance of Christina Onassis:
a. At the age of 25 she inherited her father’s shipping business – estimated at $500,000,000
b. 12 years later she would be found in the bathtub of her Argentinian home.
c. No signs of foul play were indicated.
d. But in 12 years she managed to lose $250,000,000 or about 21,000,000 per year.
3. So why are we talking about Christina Onassis and not Jesus Christ.
a. At a young age she lost her brother, mother and father in a 29 month span.
b. She received an incredible inheritance but at a brutal price.
c. Her inheritance was subject to:
i. Corruption
ii. Loss
iii. Instability
d. Ours is not!
C. A Powerful Salvation 5
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1. We are kept by the power of God
a. Remember Jesus calling his followers his sheep?
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
30 I and My Father are one.
—John 10:27-30
b. Peter tells us that we are kept by the Power of God
c. Jesus tells that
i. He gives us eternal life
ii. He holds us in his hands
iii. He gives us to the Father who holds us in His hand
d. Paul tells that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
—Ephesians 4:30
2. We are saved and ready for the last day – or are we?
a. It is Peter’s contention that Christians are ready for whatever may come their way vis-a-vis salvation and the Last Day.
b. I’ll say I’m ready!
c. But only the day will prove is I am or I’m not.
D. Application To The Church
Illustration
III. Conclusion
