INTRODUCTION
„X SLIDE 2
„X There are times when life is a real struggle. The health starts to go bad, bills start pouring in, and debt starts to accumulate. Problems start to happen in the marriage. Your children start to cause you a lot of trouble. You job is no longer as secure as you once thought it to be.
„X There are times when living out your faith is a real struggle. All of the above things can cause us to back down from our faith. The problems of life can cause us to want to abandon the faith we have in Jesus because we feel like there is no hope.
„X SLIDE # 3. The book of 1 Peter was written to Christians who were suffering various levels of persecution. The Christians were going through a lot of tough times and it was hard for some of them to keep the faith. Many of them felt as if God had left them or let them down.
„X How many of us have felt that way? How many times have we faced struggles of various types and as we were going through them, wondered where God was?
„X When you are facing what seems to be a hopeless situation, what is it that keeps you going?
„X For me the answer is the hope of better things, the hope that things will get better, the hope that it will all work out.
„X When things are not going well, we need to know that it will get better, that there is a pot of gold if you will at the end of the rainbow.
„X As the Christians were going through persecution, Peter wants to remind them of the great things we have in Christ and that these things are so good that we would not want to leave Jesus and miss out on them.
„X Today we are going to look at the great promise we have from Jesus concerning our future. This great promise should be something that can change the way we look at today with all of its problems and concerns.
„X Today we ask the question, Are You in The Will? This is a bit of a play on words. There are two things involved in this. The first issue is, ¡§Are you written into the God¡¦s will? Most people who receive and inheritance are included in someone¡¦s will. This will is a legal document that secures the inheritance. Secondly, if we want to be written into God¡¦s Will, we must be living within the will of God.
„X READ 1 Peter 1:1-5
„X SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AN INHERITANCE. 1
„X An inheritance is significant in part because of what it symbolizes. Having an inheritance usually means you are part of a family. It may mean you have something waiting for you, something that took a long time for someone to accumulate
„X For the Jews, they had the Promise Land. God had promised them a place where they could escape the slavery of Egypt. A place they could call home. When they lived in Egypt, they were aliens in a foreign land.
„X Peter is reminding the Christians who were suffering persecution that they were aliens in a strange land.
„X SLIDE # 5. An ¡§alien¡¨ was one who ¡§lives alongside of¡¨, ¡§temporary residents,¡¨ ¡§not permanent settlers in the land, who have a deep attachment and a higher allegiance in another sphere.¡¨
„X The word emphasizes both the alien nationality and the temporary residency of the Christian.
„X Christians are on a journey to a sacred or holy place; this journey we are on is an act of devotion on our part. Our alien status should positively influence how we live in our temporary home and how we handle to mistreatment and bad circumstances that sometimes follow.
„X Verse one tells us that we are chosen by God! God has chosen those who accept Jesus as part of His family. People in God¡¦s family are special and are set aside for special service for Him in this world. We have a challenge and responsibility from God! SLIDE #6
„X 1 Peter 2:9 says: But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God¡¦s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
„X The significance of your inheritance is that you are here to complete a mission for God. We have a higher calling than just living; we are called by God to reach more and more people for him!
„X The very fact that we have an inheritance awaiting us should help us to realize that God will be with us and that God wants us to succeed.
„X Right now, where we are is not home, we have something better waiting for us!
„X If you are a Christian, you are chosen of God. God will chose anyone who chooses to be a part of His family. If you are living within His will, you are written into His Will, so you will receive an inheritance!
„X SLIDE #7
II. THE REASON WE CAN ENJOY AN INHERITANCE. 2
„X We can enjoy an inheritance because of God. God predestined a plan by which anyone who would agree to the terms of the plan would be chosen by God to be one of His children who as a result of being His child would receive an inheritance.
„X My father is going to retire after 40 plus years with the same company. He was sharing his plan with me. He shared with me his hope to leave my brother and myself an inheritance. He wants to do this because we are his children.
„X Of course he told me they were going to travel, and I suggested they stay at home and not ¡§waste¡¨ all their money traveling. ƒº
„X What we have is all about God!
„X Part of the way we can stay within the will of God as we live our lives is because when you belong to Jesus, you are given the gift of the Spirit.
„X SLIDE #8. Verse two speaks of the sanctifying work of the Spirit. To sanctify means to ¡§set a part¡¨, to ¡§dedicate something to holy purposes.
„X The Holy Spirit helps us to remain faithful to God; He helps us to make choices that reflect our position in Christ.
„X We are told in verse two that the sanctifying work of the Spirit is given in part so we can obey Jesus. The design and end of the sanctifying work of the Spirit is to lead us to obey Jesus, which in turn allows us to be covered by the blood of Jesus.
„X To ¡§obey¡¨ means to listen and submit to that which is heard.
„X This verse speaks of the initial obedience to answering the call of Jesus to be a Christian. Every day obedience is important, but the initial obedience to the call of the gospel is where it begins. When we submit ourselves to God¡¦s way of saving man, we are then covered by the blood of Jesus.
„X This verse does not mean each time we are disobedient we are not covered by the blood.
„X We are not covered by the blood unless we are obedient to God¡¦s way of saving us.
„X Covenants were ratified by the shedding and sprinkling of blood. READ HEBREWS 9:18-23
„X Not only are our sins forgiven, but the Holy Spirit leads us into a new covenant with God!
„X From an earthly perspective, we are only able to enjoy an inheritance because someone else did something. Someone else was financially successful enough to have something left after they passed on to give to you.
„X We are able to enjoy an inheritance because Jesus did something for us!
„X We are able to enjoy an inheritance because Jesus shed His blood for us and His blood is applied to us when we are obedient to His calling!
„X SLIDE #9
III. WHAT DO WE INHERIT? 3-4
„X We get to be born again! We get to have a new beginning in Christ! SLIDE #10
„X 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
„X We inherit the ability to be born again to a living hope!
„X We can hope for things that will in reality never happen. We can hope for that winning lottery ticket or some other thing that most likely never happen to us.
„X Our hope in God is a living hope because it is grounded in the promises of God, therefore it is not empty or deceptive, our hope is living because it is guaranteed by the living Christ!
„X Think of the other religions in the world. What hope do they really offer you? Think of the way you are living right now. If your eternal life is not based and grounded in your relationship with Jesus, what is your hope based on?
„X In Christ we are born again to a LIVING hope! SLIDE #11
„X Ephesians 2:12 says: ¡§remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.¡¨
„X SLIDE #12Titus 1:2 says: in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
„X This living hope is backed up by something. By the resurrection of Jesus Himself! 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 READ
„X SLIDE #13
IV. WHY THE INHERITANCE IS WORTH BEING IN THE WILL. 4-5
„X SLIDE #14
„X There are three ways in which the heavenly inheritance differs from the earthly inheritance.
„X CLICK #14. The heavenly inheritance is imperishable! What we get from God is not subject to rust, decay or corrosion! It is also un-ravaged by an invading army! Matthew 6:19-21! READ
„X When we get an inheritance, it can be stolen, or it can rust or decay. What we receive from God never does these things. It will not change!
„X CLICK #14. The heavenly inheritance is undefiled. The inheritance we receive from God has no spot nor is it polluted or contaminated in some way. When the Israelites took the Promise Land, it was polluted with false idols that needed to be cleansed.
„X Have you been in a clothing store that had a really expensive garment on the sale rack? You could not figure out why until you saw it, a spot. A spot can ruin a garment. Our inheritance will be undefiled!
„X CLICK #14. The third thing that makes our inheritance great is the fact it is unfading!
„X Our inheritance will never fade away. It will never decrease in value. It is not like an automobile that looses it value each time it is driven. Even the pleasures of the world lose their value and luster after a period of time!
„X In the ancient world, they would compete for a crown which was a garland of leaves or flowers. That prize would one day fade away. SLIDE #15.
„X 1 Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
„X This great gift is reserved in heaven for those who belong to Jesus!
„X The word ¡§reserved¡¨ tells us that God is watching over, taking care of, and guarding our heavenly inheritance!
„X Verse 5 tells us that we are protected by the power of God through faith! God will carry us through until He returns!
CONCLUSION
„X In the race of life, what kind of prize are you hoping to get?
„X Antwone Fisher is a movie based on a true story of a young man who struggles to come to terms with his past. Antwone Fisher, orphaned as an infant, has dreamt all his life to find his family. With the help of his girlfriend he finally does.
„X DVD Chapter: 30 Start Time: 1:47:31 End Time: 1:50:05
„X We all long for a place where we know we are loved, and where we feel we belong. Some people are blessed to experience some of that with their family. But all of us have the chance to experience the ultimate homecoming in heaven. Imagine what it will be like to see those you love with you in heaven, and then to have Jesus wave you over, hold his nail-pierced hands to your face, and say to you "welcome".
„X Are you in the Will? TO be in the Will, you need to be following God¡¦s will for you.
„X SLIDE 16
„X Many of us are living like this life is all there is to life. When we will not give our lives to Jesus, we will miss out on a great homecoming, we will miss out on a great inheritance!
