THE GUARDED INHERITANCE
Text: 1 Peter 1:3 – 9
1 Peter 1:3 - 9: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, (5) who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (6) In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, (7) so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (8) Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, (9) for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (NRSV).
The story is told about three unlikely men who guarded a missionaries home. “Tears glistened in the eyes of the Salvation Army officer Shaw who was a medical missionary who had just arrived in India, as he saw three shackled lepers. The Army was taking over this particular leper colony. These three men had manacles and fetters binding their hands and feet, cutting their diseased flesh. Captain Shaw turned to the guard and said, “Please unfasten the chains.”
“It isn't safe,” the guard replied, “these men are dangerous criminals as well as lepers!”
“I’ll be responsible. They’re suffering enough,” Captain Shaw said, as he put out his hand and took the keys, then knelt and tenderly removed the shackles and treated their bleeding ankles and wrists.
About two weeks later Captain Shaw had his first misgivings about freeing these criminals; he had to make an overnight trip and dreaded leaving his wife and child alone. His wife insisted that she wasn’t afraid with God being there. The next morning when she went to the front door, she was startled to see the three criminals lying on her steps. One explained, “We know the doctor go. We stay here all night so no harm come to you.” That’s how these dangerous men responded to an act of love. Christ came to set fettered people free.” (James S. Hewett. Ed. Illustrations Unlimited. Nashville: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988, pp. 118 - 119). In today’s world, it may seem unlikely that criminals would show appreciation.
We know that Christ died for His enemies as well as His friends to set them all free from the bondage of sin. Those who truly believe in Jesus are heirs to the gift of eternal life.
We have a living hope, a guaranteed inheritance and the understanding that we are studying for what some call “finals” --- their final exam when they will receive the goal of their faith namely eternal life.
LIVING HOPE
How do you define hope?
1) Hope: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NRSV). In last week’s sermon, we encountered the struggles of Mary Magdalene, and the ladies with her, two on the road to Emmaus and then Thomas, who was both a disciple and Jesus’s real life brother as they struggled with faith and hope. It was and is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that gave them assurance and that gives us assurance!
Every other world religion worships some dead guy or idol. Somebody please tell me where is the hope in that? We worship the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified, dead, buried and then raised on the third day. That’s why we have a living hope! That’s why we gather every Sunday!
2) Heirs: Sometimes people who are heirs place their hopes in material things that are attached to a will. One of my friends who works in a funeral once told me about some of his neighbors who lived down the street from him. After both of the parents died, the siblings split up over some old, non-functional TV, in storage that was tied up in the will. He said that the real tragedy was that they were all close growing up. Somebody please tell me where is the hope in that? The only thing that TV was good for was its sentimental value. Only our faith in Jesus Christ can give us living hope!
3) Guarded inheritance: It is only through our faith in our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, that we have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:4). This is a God-given blessing that no one---no hope dashers can ever take away from you!
What does living hope look like to you?
1) Creeds, Mottoes and mantras: Many people live by a motto, manta or creed that expresses something about what they believe and possibly how they operate. Those things are good for motivation, but they cannot give us eternal life. Somebody please tell me where is the hope in that? Only our faith in Jesus Christ can give us living hope!
2) Captured hearts: I once saw a guy who had what appeared to be a motto painted on the back of his jacket that said, “A victim of life”. I imagine some people have probably had that slogan as a tattoo.
A story is told about a guy who questioned an oriental tattoo artist somewhere in Asia if there were really many people who got something so pessimistic as “Born To Lose” tattooed on them. The tattoo artist answered in broken English, “Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind.” How many today suffer from tattooed minds of defeat?
3) Liberating the captives: Tattoos are used by gangs as a symbol of ownership and often exhibited as allegiance to a gang of ill repute who later abandon the gang life. Former gang members with tattoos can be dangerous when recognized by active and rival gang members. In East Los Angelos, Father Greg Boyle is founder a director of Homeboy Industries which is a tattoo removal service of physicians who are trained to remove tattoos for former gang members free of charge. Even though tattoo removal is a painful process involving a laser there are over a thousand names on the waiting list for tattoo removal at any given time. Every person on the list “… represent[s] a life that longs to be free and is willing to endure the pain to seize freedom.” “Perhaps the imagery of tattoo removal can evoke a renewed sense of our blessed assurance. Like former gang members who have had the marks of a former life removed, so our sins are blotted out by the blood of Christ. They are remembered no longer. (copied and paraphrased from: Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof. gen. eds. 1001 Illustrations That Connect . [— Jill Carattini, “A Slice of Infinity,” rzim.org (June 23, 2006)]. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2008). This kind of feeling of having the “former life removed” is what I Peter 1:3 describes as a joyful time ---“a new birth” wherein we have become a new creation.
FAITH TESTING
Who likes to have your faith tested? How can we grow if our faith is not tested? Faith is like muscles, it grows with exercise. Some call faith testing a time of hardships, trials or tribulations. Some even call it a trial by fire.
1) The impostor's mask: The story is told of a man who faked an injury in his arm and immobilized it in a sling to avoid being drafted. One day when the war was over, he took his arm out of the sling and found that the muscles in his arm were weak and deteriorated from lack of being used. The impostor’s mask became a cage.
2) Faith’s charter: “We can picture faith as a connection between the work of the Holy Spirit and the power at work in our new nature. Faith is a wire that conducts a current called grace that flows from the Spirit so that the new nature receives power”. (Tony Evans. Tony Evans’s Book of Illustrations. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009, p. 96).
God gives us the gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8) and the gift of hope that “does not disappoint us” (Romans 5:5) because it is attached to “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” ,
Do you believe that our God will do everything to help us find Him even through trials? God’s love is so great for us that nothing could ever keep us separated from His love (Romans 8:39).
Thomas Andrew Dorsey was a black jazz musician from Atlanta. In the twenties he gained a certain amount of notoriety as the composer of jazz tunes with suggestive lyrics, but he gave all that up in 1926 to concentrate exclusively on spiritual music. “Peace in the Valley” is one of his best known songs, but there is a story behind his most famous song that deserves to be told.
In 1932 the times were hard for Dorsey. Just trying to survive the depression years as a working musician meant tough sledding. On top of that, his music was not accepted by many people. Some said it was much too worldly—the devil's music, they called it. Many years later Dorsey could laugh about it. He said, “I got kicked out of some of the best churches in the land.” But the real kick in the teeth came one night in St. Louis when he received a telegram informing him that his pregnant wife had died suddenly.
Dorsey was so filled with grief that his faith was shaken to the roots, but instead of wallowing in self-pity, he turned to the discipline he knew best—music. In the midst of agony he wrote the following lyrics:
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand.
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light;
Take my hand precious Lord,
lead me home.
If you live long enough, you will experience heartache, disappointment, and sheer helplessness. The Lord is our most precious resource in those hours of trauma. “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Ps. 9:9). Tom Dorsey understood that. His song was originally written as a way of coping with his personal pain, but even today it continues to bless thousands of others when they pass through times of hardship. (Ted Kyle and John Todd. Compilers. A Treasury of Bible Illustrations. AMG International, Inc. [1995]; Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 2005, QuickVerse). . God will give us the strength we need for every trial because His grace is sufficient for any trial (II Corinthians 12:8 – 10).
SALVATION
How do you define salvation?
1) Eschatology, futuristic and realized: Do you define it as both the now and not yet? We have faith for the present as we look forward to the future when the “clouds will be rolled back as a scroll as we will bear no more pain (as the hymn “It Is well” puts it) realizing the reality of our guarded inheritance.
2) God’s guarantee: The Apostle Paul put it this way : “God has given us of His Spirit a deposit guaranteeing what is to come” (II Corinthians 5:5).
3) Staying alert: 2 Timothy _1:14 says “Guard the good Deposit given through the Holy Spirit indwelling in us”. Now why would Paul tells us that God is guaranteeing our salvation until our time comes unless there is a chance that Satan would attack our hope? We cannot share hope if we do not possess hope.
How does our salvation serve as a witness to others?
1) Witness: Everything we do as Christians serves as a witness. You might think of it as a witness stand in a court room. Others are watching how well and how poorly we serve as witnesses of this “new hope”.
2) Weak spots: In the words of Beth Moore, “Satan never wastes a fiery dart by aiming at a spot covered by armor. The bull’s eye is located dead center in our inconsistency. That’s where the enemy plans to bring us down”. (The Complete Guide To Christian Quotations. [Beth Moore. Daniel 2006.] Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing Inc., 2011, p. 394). The trials we encounter can show us where these “inconsistencies” and weaknesses are. Besides Jesus pleads our case for us (Romans 8:34).
3) Image bearers: We should never slight how important our witness is because we may be the only Jesus that some will ever see! We believe without seeing because we know the day will come when we will get to see the One in Whom we have believed when our work on earth is done.
4) God’s poster children: As God’s children, we are models of God’s love and providence---God’s poster children! “… dare we present the Christian faith like a recruitment poster that talks about the “perks” of being a church member without letting people know that one’s life is on the line for following Christ?” (Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof. gen. eds. 1001 Illustrations That Connect . [— Rubel Shelly, “Discipleship Is Serious Business,” PreachingToday.com]. . Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2008). Remember Officer Shaw in the Salvation Army that we mentioned at the beginning? Didn’t he exhibit a compassion that was Christlike to some prisoners? Didn’t God’s love take a chance on you and me at Calvary? We were not saved just for our own goals for preservation, we were called to salivation to reach all of the people we can for the kingdom. Satan wants to lie to would-be believers that “they were born to lose”. God wants us to reach them so that they will not wander. God wants them to be born again!!!! In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
