1 Peter 1:3-12
October 20, 2002
Piggott Christian Church
D.T. ¡§The Mercy of God has the ability to change lives.¡¨
TITLE: ¡§A Great Salvation¡¨
Intro:
¡§How do you know you are going to heaven?¡¨ -- Being asked a question while applying for a youth ministry.
At what point can you say, ¡§I am going to heaven.¡¨
ƒÞ We sing songs about it.
o ¡§I¡¦ll fly away¡¨
o ¡§I¡¦ll meet you in the morning¡¨
o ¡§When we all get to heaven¡¨
But at what point could we say, with all assurance that we will be in heaven?
We speak of justice and we might be tempted to say, ¡§all I want is justice¡¨ -- You don¡¦t want and should never ask for justice when speaking of the eternal. ¡V Justice would send you to the depths of hell.
There is something about mercy that makes it extra special.
A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.
"But I don’t ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy."
"But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied.
"Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for."
"Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman’s son.
Discussion:
Have you experienced mercy and grace? Has there been a time when you got what you didn¡¦t deserve? Our text this morning speaks of a God who loves us so much, he did something because of mercy. Don¡¦t confuse mercy and pity. You have pity out of guilt. God has mercy, not because of guilt but because of Love. His love for us, and for all people in every generation before us caused him to have mercy. If God had pity on us, Jesus wouldn¡¦t have left heaven, but because God had mercy, Jesus came in the form of a man. Read (Philippians 2:6-11). It was mercy that brought Jesus to the cross.
Turn with me this morning to our text 1 Peter 1:3-12. I see some movements about Salvation that Peter is speaking of. We have Salvation as hope
I. Salvation as Hope (3-5)
If you get nothing else this morning understand this:
The Mercy of God has the ability to change lives
a. Mercy at work
i. Gives us new birth
1. Not a new concept ¡V (John 3:4)
2. God alone has the ability to give us new birth
3. God alone has the ability to wash us clean
God is master of ¡§re-do¡¦s¡¨ ¡V Playing as a kid, I often needed a redo
ii. Living Hope
1. Connected with the resurrection
a. Paul thought the same thing (1 Cor. 15:13-19)
b. Notice the difference in joy
i. Before the knowledge of the resurrection
1. (John 20:15)
ii. After the knowledge of the resurrection
1. (John 20:18)
From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.
A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we’re behind."
"Boy," said the spectator, "I’ll bet you’re discouraged."
"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet!"
iii. From Living Hope to Heaven
1. Inheritance ¡V nothing that you are owed ¡V Given without merit.
a. NIV ¡V won¡¦t Spoil or Fade
b. Living Translation says ¡V Pure and Undefiled
c. NASB ¡V imperishable
2. Disciples after the ascension were staring into heaven ¡V Angel told them to get busy.
a. Their focus was on heavenly things but kept to themselves
3. Church ¡V we should stair into heaven!!
a. Unlike the disciples we shouldn¡¦t keep this great mystery to ourselves.
b. Tell EVERYONE you know about heaven!
4. Jesus said that he was going to prepare a place for us!
5. Told us to store up treasures in heaven
a. People are the treasures!!!!
The Mercy of God has the ability to change lives
iv. Peter¡¦s Understanding
1. God¡¦s Power
a. Shield your inheritance
b. Shield ¡V ¡§Guard¡¨ ¡§to keep in custody¡¨
2. Salvation ¡V is a process until it reaches a conclusion
II. Salvation as Joy (6-9)
The Mercy of God has the ability to change lives
a. Hope revealed ¡V JOY
Joy is the byproduct of obedience.
As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: "It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians--and I am one of them."
i. You won¡¦t find joy in trials ¡V but the result of the trials
ii. More than anything God wants depth in the faith of his believers
1. People fall away ¡V ¡§Something I did when I was a kid¡¨
2. People make excuses ¡V ¡§keeping the kids Sunday mornings¡¨
3. Going to church only for a small portion of your life will lead to a lack of understanding.
a. You either get to a point that you feel you no longer need God
b. You get to the point where you don¡¦t trust God
c. You get to the point where you don¡¦t believe God
d. Experience is more important than trusting God to know which way you should go.
iii. Warnings in this section
1. The trials only last a little while
a. They are only temporary
b. The grief is short term
2. Something greater than the trials
a. FAITH
b. Result of the trial is testing of the faith
c. Testing of faith might seem harsh because Jesus isn¡¦t in sight yet.
d. Isn¡¦t talking about the end times as much as the end of Time as we know it.
Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
C.S. Lewis.
The Mercy of God has the ability to change lives.
3. Of greater worth than gold¡K
a. Causes people to leave all they have and go into countries where there are laws against faith.
b. Causes people to tell others and become witnesses to a merciful and loving God.
c. Faith is more valuable when you give it away!
4. Result of valuable faith
a. Praise, Glory and Honor
i. Directed at God
ii. From God to us
¡§If the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is a God of grace, then it is in giving that he receives. In honoring he is honored, in glorifying he receives glory, and in praising he receives praise.¡¨ ¡§They are not the ¡§prizes¡¨ awarded on the basis of merit but simply the eschatological equivalent of ¡§genuine faith¡¨ itself. ¡V J. Ramsey Michaels
iv. The Goal of our Faith
1. Salvation
a. Inexpressible Joy
b. Glorious Joy
Nothing sad about this process of salvation ¡V I heard a preaching in this town say that some of the saddest people are saved!!! HOW can you be sad about your salvation? Remember the psalm¡KWhy so downcast, oh my soul? PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD.
The Mercy of God has the ability to change lives.
III. Witnesses of Salvation (10-12)
a. Christians before Christ
i. Language used
1. Reference to Prophets
a. Daniel x 2 (chapters 9 & 12)
b. Ezra (Chapter 4)
c. Habakkuk (chapter 2:1-4)
2. ¡§Spirit of Christ¡¨
a. Some understood
b. Some didn¡¦t
c. Was the spirit of Christ showed them
ii. Knowing his will
1. We aren¡¦t given a glass for the future
Once while Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, he was asked, "What would you do if you suddenly learned that you were to die at sunset today?" He replied, "I would finish hoeing my garden."
2. We don¡¦t know what tomorrow holds
a. We can find out the weather
b. We can find out different things about tomorrow, but not the number of breaths we will take.
3. Text says, ¡§Even the angels long to look into these things¡¨
Conclusion:
John 21
15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
18Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
The Mercy of God has the ability to change lives.
His mercy is there for you this morning. If you haven¡¦t been baptized in the grave and raise to life with him please come as we sing, if you have walked away from him and desire the mercy that can change your life. Come as we sing.
