 1 Peter chapter 1 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 3 Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus Galatia Capetacea Asia and Bithynia elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father In sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ a grace to you and Peace be multiplied. I'll stop there at verse 2 and move into my introduction. So let me give you the basics and Then I'll move into the study This letter of 1 Peter is written to believers who are enduring intense persecution That's what would be seen And so for this reason the apostle Peter has written to them a letter a letter that is intended to encourage them It was written around the years 64 65 AD so by that time the gospel has already spread from Jerusalem and has gone through a great portion of that place in the world So it's about 64 65 the gospel is moving out If you were to say there was a key word it would be suffering Because this epistle deals with a proper response to persecution If there's a key chapter it would be chapter 4 which provides teaching concerning how to handle the persecution Because believers are suffering through persecution as mentioned Peter has written to encourage them now persecution for being identified with Jesus and leaving a righteous life is inevitable and the thing to remember is that believers are persecuted because they love the Lord in John chapter 15 at verse 20 Jesus said remember the word that I said unto you the servant is not greater than his Lord if they have Persecuted me they will also Persecute you and so this letter is intended to bring encouragement to people who are suffering It was written around 64 65 the gospel is spreading persecution is also spreading Suffering is something they need to deal with and so we'll see how he points to us how we can handle that by the time We get to chapter 4 so with that said he begins in verse 1 Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus Galatia Capita see Asia with in your Chino Ontario and some parts of Pomona Now letters during this day pretty much in general start the same way they begin with the writer Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ They then speak to the recipients which he says to the pilgrims of the dispersion and then they conclude with a Blessing grace to you in peace Be multiplied and so when he's beginning here He says he's writing as an apostle notice in verse 1 to the pilgrims Now the pilgrims he's speaking of who live in the dispersion also called the diaspora Now he gives the location Pontus Galatia Capita see Asia and Bethany all of these if you were looking at a map are in ancient Turkey So that's who he's writing to the pilgrims. He says of the dispersion Now James when he wrote his letter used the same word to speak of the Jews who do not live in Israel in James chapter 1 verse 1 It started like this James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes in the dispersion Greetings and so at this time, let me give you some background at this time around a million people lived in Israel But four million Jews were scattered The city of Rome had been burned the Romans had been devastated Everything had been destroyed including the religious temple shrines and household idols This had shaken them because they had it had been made obvious that their gods could not protect them But also were victims of something they couldn't control So their anger was intensified when they began to believe that Nero had burned the city in order to satisfy his insane lust to build Nero circulated the rumor that it was the Christians who had set the fire The Romans already opposed Christians because they associated with Jews and because they opposed Roman culture So as a result vicious persecution broke out against the believers and spread throughout the Roman Empire So the regions as mentioned in the introduction are representing modern Northern Turkey and so when he begins here in verse 1 and says to the pilgrims Peters using a term that is normally reserved for the Jews, but has been transferred to speak of the church He's speaking of pilgrims Now what is a pilgrim a pilgrim is a person who comes from a foreign country into a land That is not his own to reside It speaks of sojourning in a strange place as a foreigner in the New Testament Heaven is our native country and we as pilgrims are temporary residents We are a community living outside of our native land our native land is heaven And we're living outside of our native land temporarily the earth is not our home When I first got saved this is an old saying now, but it was kind of cool then we used to say we're just passing through And that's what pilgrims do. They're just passing through. We're not getting attached to this world You know, we don't need the things as why because Heaven is our home and earth is just a temporary residence for us That's what we we need to get that back in our heart today, by the way Because a lot of Christians have become so earthly minded everything just revolves around what they have what they do where they live and In fact, we're just passing through Philippians 3 20 says our citizenship is in heaven And we eat really a way to savior from there the Lord Jesus Christ And so he's writing to pilgrims and that would be those of that day But it speaks to us also and he refers to in verse 2 as being the elect according to the foreknowledge of God so we are chosen we're chosen by God to be his own special people and This is the God who wants all men to be saved We need to remember that remember God loved the world He loved it so much that he gave his only begotten son That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life God so loved the world God desires The world to be saved God wants all men to come to him Isaiah 46 10 says it like this I make known the end from the beginning from ancient times what is still to come I say my purpose will stand I will do all that I please and so these people know that God wants them to be Taking care of in the midst of their persecution. God is working with them He's doing what he pleases but his desire is to reach people and he's speaking to those who are pilgrims who are just passing through They're undergoing persecution. They need to remember It's not going to always be that way that we're going to pass through this and we're going to see him face to face That gives us a special hope He says in verse 2 in sanctification the spirit for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus in sanctification of the spirit The holy spirit applies redemption to believers The holy spirit works within us and purifies us and sets us apart that we might serve God So the sanctification of the holy spirit empowers and is working to set us apart But it's the blood of christ that cleanses us In first john 1 7 remember that scripture it says if we walk in the light as he is in the light We have fellowship one with another and the blood of jesus christ his son cleanses us from all sin From some sin. No from certain sins. No from all sin If there's anything that that I needed to know it was that that he cleansed me from from all sin Every single stinking sin everyone Has been forgiven by jesus christ And I tell you If you walk away with anything tonight walk away with that Because there's an awful lot of christians who wrestle with what they've done in the past Listen if you came to faith in christ and you're washed and you're made new all things are passed away Behold all things are become new you're new in jesus christ The devil loves to remind you of what you've done Again, let me give you an old saying You know when the devil comes knocking reminding you of your your past Remind him of his future you know Somebody once said when the devil comes knocking to your heart asked jesus to answer the door You know, so we we need to rest our Hope on on the things that christ has done and so jesus is the perfect sacrifice He's making that clear for obedience and sprinkling of the blood with jesus christ jesus made the perfect sacrifice for our sins You see in the old testament the sacrificial system was built on the shedding of blood In the old testament book of leviticus chapter 17 verse 11 The life of the flesh is in the blood And i have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls For it is the blood that makes atonement By the life Jesus became the perfect sacrifice He poured out his blood John the baptist sees him and says behold the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world Jesus is that true Passover lamb and jesus covered us By his blood And it's a one time for all time sacrifice In heavres 9 13 and 14 the blood of bulls rather goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer Sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean Sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean How much more than will the blood of christ to through the eternal spirit Offered himself unblemished to god cleanse our consciences From acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living god If the blood covered the outside, it's jesus's blood that covers our inside And that's how we became brand new. He doesn't just clean up an old life He gives us a completely new one Mark that in your heart You're not you're not refurbished You're reborn You're brand new Again old things have passed away. We've been set apart We've been freed from sin And we have the ability to obey In roman 622 it says But now that you have been set free from sin And have become slaves to god The benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life So when someone says I can't help myself. Well, that's not true. Maybe in the flesh you can't But I can do those things all things through christ who strengthens me and the holy spirit Who dwells within me gives me the ability to do that what she commands me to do We've been set free and we have to live as those who have We have to be careful not to run back to that vomit run back to that mud The mud we were cleansed from in the vomit that dogs like to return to We have to see our old life as mud and vomit who wants to go back to that We have to be aware of that vomit's gross I've shared this with you. Why don't I think of these things when I teach I I shouldn't My friend bill and I 16 years old. It's uh, washington's birthday. We go to a liquor store in norwalk called wong's market It was on front street if there's anybody listening from that area. You'll remember that wong's market And we went into the wong market at the wong time because because we went in and Took wine. We were 16 years old got very very drunk. We stole a lot got very drunk. We weren't drinkers were just kids at that time We got arrested Put in the norwalk substation jail I was laying on the ground. I couldn't I was so drunk. I couldn't couldn't even stand up my friend bill on the other hand He was sitting down over me And I've told you this before as I was laying on my back. His face was over mine I was there. He was here and he was sick all over All over me And I'd say he was vomiting all over my face And and and one of one of the sheriffs came and said you guys got to see this and I couldn't move So these sheriffs are all they're watching my friend as he's puking on me and And I said stop it stop it and he goes I can't I'll never forget that So who wants to go back to that? You know we talk about the good old days If that's so good about those old days right When the enemy tries to draw you back remember what he what god saved you from Remember where you were what you were doing what your life was like It was rancid. It was bad. You were lost. You were broken. You were hurt and christ picked you up and changed you We have to rejoice in things like that and that's why that's why uh, Peter says grace and peace be multiply make god continue to move in you and to show you how good he is Blessed verse three 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 Blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ blessed speaks of god being entitled to receive all Blessings and praise may we bless him like it says in psalm 41 13 Blessed be the lord god of israel from everlasting and to everlasting amen and amen God is entitled to to receive our praise He is worthy of all our praise. He is the god. He's the father of our lord jesus christ the god and father Speaks of the special relationship. God the father has with god the son This is an expression that paul used in second corinthians 1 3 when he says blessed be god Even the father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies god of all comfort So in the trinity there's father son holy spirit God is identified as the father of the son jesus and also personalizes our relationship with god Through our lord jesus christ. So blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ Who verse 3 according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope Born again. He's begotten us again To a living hope jesus's resurrection Provides hope for us If jesus would have died and remained in the grave We would not have the hope we have now But the bible makes it very clear that because he was raised from the dead He will also raise us which gives us hope In romans 8 verse 11 paul said if the spirit of him who raised up jesus from the dead dwelling you He who raised up christ from the dead shall also quicken or make alive your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwells in you So according to his abundant mercy, that's what god used if you will that he exercised When we were born again. So what were we born again to verse 4? to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled That does not fade away reserved in heaven for you to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled And that does not fade away This harkens back to the old testament patriarch man by the name of abraham And god gave an inheritance To this man abraham He gave to him land In the book of genesis chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 The lord had said to abraham leave your country Your people your father's household go to the land i will show you I will make you into a great nation And i will bless you I will make your name great You will be a blessing god gave abraham Israel We need to keep that in mind in these latter days When there's such argument concerning that God had given to him the inheritance the inheritance all the way in genesis 12 Is the land We have an inheritance our inheritance is fellowship in heaven with jesus christ In matthew 25 34 it says the king will say to those on his right Come you are a blast by my father take your inheritance The kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world In colossians paul said in chapter 1 verse 5 The faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven And that you have already heard about in the world in the word of the truth The gospel this is stored up for us he says In heaven so heaven for believers Is a sure thing As real as the land that abraham Was to inherit In hebrus 11 verses 8 through 10 By faith abraham when called to go to a place who would later receive as his inheritance Obeyed and went Even though he did not know where he was going By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country He lived in tents as said isaac and jacob who were heirs with him of the same promise For he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder Is god One of these days and it won't be long And it's not that long We're going to be with the lord in that place called heaven What's it like i don't know i has not seen Ear has not heard neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that god has prepared for them He has disclosed them to us to a certain degree, but we have yet to experience them But i do know this that when You read the word and the word gives you promises hold fast to them because it's a sure promise God doesn't lie And he has promised us that through jesus christ is a better place And it's not for just anybody just to go in as a matter of fact It's available to anybody all you need to do is receive the lord jesus christ to do that But you don't just enter in on your own good works or the things you do that you think are going to help you to enter And you have to enter in by faith and and when you have a relationship with god Through jesus christ that inheritance that is prepared for those who love them that that inheritance inheritance becomes yours And so he speaks of it in this way. He speaks of an inheritance notice. It's incorruptible When he says it's incorruptible unlike the things of this age it doesn't decay. It's it's permanent In matthew 6 20 jesus said store up for yourselves treasures in heaven Where moth and rust do not destroy where thieves do not break in and steal store up for yourself things in heaven Um By way of application not necessarily absolute correct Interpretation but one of the things that I have grown to to to kind of Think could possibly be true as this um When he speaks of treasures in heaven sometimes we may think only in terms of just what we would today regard as heavens But have treasures rather and one of the things that I've come to more and more wonder if it may be true That it's we're not storing up just just material blessings of any sort but There are other things in heaven awaiting us and I look forward to seeing that would be like treasures and Like relationships like like the opportunity for me because there are treasures in heaven You know like seeing seeing my dad again Seeing my mom again Seeing my friends again. We've we've a lot of us in this room Have seen many go home Especially with the covet in things You know our fellowship was hit very hard some of you know this some of you may not but within uh In the first year and a half or so of of when covet hit We we had um between between 80 and 90 of our members Who succumbed to it and went home through covet? We had quite a number of people in our fellowship who died Quite a number of funerals now. We already have a number of funerals per year, but this was even more And so many of us have have have friends and relatives Who are awaiting us and and so part of the joy that we're going to have in heaven is Is the family reunion Where we're going to be able to get together with those whom we love and miss And and to me that's a that's a wonderful thing to consider And so you store up for yourself treasures in heaven He speaks of it as being undefiled. It doesn't fade away and it's reserved In other words undefiled. It's spotless. It doesn't fade away. It doesn't wither Reserves speaks of it being guarded. What are you saying? Well heaven is the most secure place in the universe Nothing evil Can ever enter in In revelation 21 27 their shell by no means enter in Enter at anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie But only those who are written in the lamb's book of life In revelation 22 14 and 15 Blessed are those who wash their robes That they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city Outside are the dogs those who practice magic arts the sexually immoral murderers the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices a lie falsehood heaven is the most secure place In the universe Now notice verse five. He speaks of being kept by the power of god through faith for salvation Believers are kept by the power of god through faith When he says who are kept that word kept speaks of being protected by a military guard We who are the heirs of heaven Are protected by the power of god now remember there's persecution that's occurring That peter is writing about And so he's saying you are under attack But we're not defeated In 2nd Corinthians 4 8 and 9 we are hard pressed on every side yet not crushed We are perplexed but not in despair. We are persecuted but not forsaken. We are struck down But not destroyed You're in a war. Listen when you got saved. I'll be sharing some of this on sunday when you got saved You you became part of the lord's army Or marines or navy or air force or if you're pentecostal air force for sure so You're part of the military force of the lord And there are no ceos. There are no conscientious objectors You can't pretend that you are injured or can't be part of the battle You know you're part of it and that's the thing that some of us didn't realize you got saved and man Oh For me I got saved i'm rejoicing. Oh praise the lord and then here come the attacks of the enemy and I thought what's going on here I thought once you got saved it's every day's a happy day You know just always rejoices always praising the lord. What are these attacks? Where are they coming from? Well, I had to be taught Don't you understand you're in the lord's army? Don't you understand There's a constant warfare. See before you were on the enemy's side. He didn't have to worry about you He just needs to give you a little trinket here and there just to keep you satisfied Like children who have small objects shiny objects that you give to your one year old or two year old And they're just they're there for hours just playing with it and that's what we were like the enemy We give us things to occupy our minds So we're just occupied with this dope and we're occupied with this relationship and we're occupied with that alcohol We're occupied with whatever small thing that kept you going And then you got saved and the enemy didn't like that It sounds almost like a myth when I was presenting my study to you I thought boy this could sound like a like a a children's story what it really what what actually is I was miserable without christ I gave my heart to christ I had the joy of the lord The enemy didn't enjoy me having the joy of the lord So he began to attack the things that gave me joy Tried to undermine my walk So I could go back to being miserable And it took me a little while to realize That he was actually after somebody as insignificant as me You may think you're nothing You say within yourself I'm not you know a servant of any sort. I don't lead worship. I'm not a pastor. I don't teach. I'm not a leader in the home fellowship That doesn't matter. Don't you understand? You're a christian You're a believer You're an enemy And the enemy wants to take that joy from you because there's very few things that are as unattractive as a angry christian A mean christian There are very few things as unattractive as somebody who Is just always miserable and the enemy wants to keep you miserable Because even though he can't take you from the lord. He certainly can make you ineffective And so I've been doing this for a long time keeping my mind on that which matters kept by the power of god I'm kept by him Now what power is greater than the power of god? This power of god is provided On behalf of a believer by faith to believe It's been said is our work The exertion of power is of god It's like Philippians 4 13. I can do all things Through christ Who strengthens me And so faith in god places us in the position to experience the keeping power Of god And god's keeping power brings us to his goal. And that's what he's referring to in verse five He says who are kept by the power of god through faith for salvation Ready to be revealed in the last time Final salvation is his goal So god is pictured as a soldier Escorting people through hostile territory and he's bringing them to safety and freedom behind friendly lines So we're kept verse five through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time Ready or prepared to be revealed he's saying the inheritance is prepared for us But the glories are yet to be fully revealed So in verse five the last time until your life has gone its entire root That would be the day of judgment the glorification of our body and soul in heaven And so what are we to do verse six in this? You greatly rejoice Though now for a little while if need be You have been grieved by various trials If need be you have been grieved you've been vexed Though we in tested god is in control And god can use suffering To result in the benefit of the ones he loves as a vehicle For him to receive final glory Now we're going to be going through this letter and we're going to see Various trials. Let me develop this for a moment with you We're going to be seeing physical persecution verbal assault There are things that happen like gossip economic pressure spiritual heaviness marital struggles child related problems sickness parental pressures job pressure neighbors and in-laws All of this is going to be dealt with and we're going to be looking at all of these things And that's why I wanted to take us through this. There's so many things that we're going through now But what is the purpose of this? Notice he says again, they're enduring various trials They can be grieved or distressed. They can get bummed out by these things Why are we going through these things? Well verse seven That the genuineness of your faith Being much more precious than gold that perishes though. It's tested by fire Maybe found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of jesus christ when I when I perform weddings on occasion Not everybody's using gold rings anymore. That's kind of interesting the old the old I use the illustration of gold Long time ago and now people are coming with different kinds of things and I'm saying, you know, oh my you're ruining my illustration. So I'll But I'll share with the the couple that's about to be in memory. I'd say listen and said Today you're making promises That are easy To say you'll fulfill Let's just pray that Later on when they're not so easy to fulfill That you'll remain true to your promises and I'll ask them to give me the ring Sometimes they give me cigar bands and various cheap things, but I'll ask them to give me the rings And I'll hold it in on say this ring is made out of gold and gold Is refined through fire And what happens is it's melted and the dross Things that are imperfect will rise to the top And the goldsmith Will skim it off And the goldsmith knows That the gold is pure When he can look into the gold And see his own face reflected back at himself That's when it's pure when the goldsmith sees himself in the gold And I'll tell the people that that's the purpose of trials Trials causes through the fiery trials causes the dross it causes the impurities to rise And then the lord scoops him off as we confess and forsake he scoops him off if you will But the ultimate goal is for him to be seen in us And that's what these impurities that's how they're removed when we begin to get upset at god for the trials We go through sometimes we're going through because we brought them upon ourselves Because we've made choices that we shouldn't have made or and we're reaping the consequences of bad decisions And then we blame god. Why are you doing this to me? Other times there are things within us that god is answering a prayer Our prayer so that they would be removed when we say god make me like you He says okay And we go into the cauldron and we're Uncountable and it hurts and anybody who's been with the lord knows this that That it doesn't feel good When these things are removed It's not like you giggle all your way to heaven It's difficult sometimes And we can go through these things the various trials that cause a lot of pain and all of that And so what he's saying is this whole fast and understand god is keeping you through faith for salvation But you're being grieved by various trials Why that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious and golden parishes though It's tested by far may be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of jesus christ He's removing the things that are killing you as a little boy once and I was in a room My mom was there and there's a guy. I didn't know him But he stabbed me in the stomach in front of my mom my mom didn't do anything I'll never forget that He stabbed me My mom didn't do anything Because he was a doctor Gotcha, and it was removing my appendix If he had not removed the appendix I would have died Sometimes you go through painful surgeries To remove the thing that's killing you And instead of me saying don't touch me. Don't hurt me. Don't put me through this I had to lay on that table quietly Because if I moved when the surgeon was operating It could damage me When the holy spirit is operating on you Lay still Don't be jumping off that table You see they gave me this whatever it knocked me out I still remember him saying we're gonna count from a hundred down I got to about 93 and I was out. I still remember that But I also remember waking up during the surgery I also remember hearing him say to the nurse scalpel And I still remember seeing him plunge it into my side and slice my stomach open I went right to sleep when I saw that The smartest thing I could do was remain still while the surgeon operates And when the holy spirit is removing something from you Stop fighting him Stop arguing with him stop saying it's good. I need this is you know, she's good to me. You know, she's good to me When in fact that person you want so bad is destroying your life Oh, I need this. No, you don't what you need is the lord You need to learn to trust in him, right? And so we have to be very careful that we understand the purpose of trials It is reducing it's taking from us the things that keep us from the lord It's making us more like him and he's purifying our faith because testing is going to produce a seasoned real faith So when you endure trials It's intended to produce praise honor and glory to the lord Psalm 66 verse 10 for you. Oh god have tested us You have refined us like silver Proverbs 17 3 The refining pot is for silver the furnace for gold But the lord tries the hearts So trials have a purpose They reveal first what is really in us They reveal that in the midst of the trial You're going to be revealed for what you really believe in in Jeremiah 12 verse 3 We read you oh lord know me. You have seen me. You have tested my heart toward you Spurgeon once said trials teach us what we are They dig up the soil And let us see what we're made of So trials have a purpose they reveal what is in us and second They strengthen us they teach us to wait on the lord with faith and hope Like james 1 2 through 4 says My brother and count it all joy when you fall into various trials Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking Nothing so they strengthen us and third they teach us something of the character of god You're going through the trial and you begin to say will I ever come out and what's the purpose of this? Well again in james chapter 5 verse 11 we count them blessed to endure You have heard of the perseverance of Job And seeing the end intended by the lord That the lord is very compassionate And merciful i've had people ask me um This question some of you perhaps have have heard it asked of you As you grow older and the things of the lord and all i've had people say to me Is there anything that in your past you would change anything? And at first i had a whole list of things Of course Oh Of course You know what i've done now in my latter years i've said no i wouldn't change a thing Why not because it's the things i endured the things i went through that made me who i am today They're the things that helped me to see god's grace In so many levels in so many ways Would i change him? No Did i want to go through them? No Did he put me through them did he make me want to sin and do all the sin from no God doesn't use temptation to sin never does But god can redeem us through those things we go through and make us into the people we want to be And i i i've a long time ago began to say lord make me like you i want to be more like you Trials have a way of doing that they remove the things that are unlike christ And they transform you into things into in ways that can bring praise to him Notice he says your faith will be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of jesus Your faith will be found to praise And it says to praise that refers to the approval that we believers will receive praise from the judge himself We're going to receive commendation the word praise means approval or commendation. Why because our faith is real In matthew 25 verse 21 jesus said that this one's lord said to him well done Good and faithful servant You have been faithful over a few things i will make you rule over many things Enter into the joy of your lord. So we receive a well done to honor Now honor refers to the honor that that god gives to his children in the kingdom In john 1226 if any man serve me let him follow me where i am there shall my servant be And if any man serves me him will my father honor And then glory glory refers to our participation in the future life. It's filled with radiance Romans 8 18 I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed In us and this all occurs at the revelation of jesus or the second coming And so he's speaking of jesus and he says in verse 8 Whom having not seen you love Though now you do not see him Yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible full of glory receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls Whom having not seen you love These are second generation believers at least second generation They weren't necessarily those who walked with jesus when jesus ministered on planet earth What they have heard is the gospel and they have received the words of the gospel as truth from god And they love him They have yet to see him physically with their eyes But one day they're going to In the old testament book of job 19 verse 27 job said speaking of god i myself will see him with my own eyes I am not another how my heart yearns within me I will see him one day They never physically saw jesus, but they loved him Even as we do they relied on the promises even as we have In john 2026 following it says these are written that you may believe That jesus is the christ the son of god and that by believing you might have life through his name You heard the gospel. I heard the gospel. I've never seen jesus walking on the face of the earth I never had a conversation with him. I didn't walk with him as the 12 apostles That was 2 000 years ago That was 2 000 years ago Never seen him, but I do love him Never seen him, but I do love him why? Because I believe his word Because I believe his promises just like these people did you are the same as I in this It's written that we may believe It points to us a perfect saviour who loves us It points us to a cross that he died on To a tomb he was buried in It points us To the message of the gospel sins forgiven new life promised through him And what is the result? joy inexpressible And full of glory The joy that that we have when we grasp the reality of our salvation And that's beyond words when I first got saved. I I still remember very well I I was taught something. I'd never heard this before some of you perhaps heard it Before you were saved. I never heard of something called a rapture never heard of that What are you talking about and my friends introduced me to the fact that christ is coming for us It's going to take us we're going to be with him one day and and me, you know I I still remember going Oh, that's wow really. Yeah one of these and and I was like I'm 20 years old I'm an ex hippie. I was into into hallucinogens and things. So I thought oh, that's gonna be so heavy. You know, I was It was real. I mean the fact that christ is returning and he's taken us Was real and I've told you this before some of you haven't heard this forgive me for repeating myself Some of you have heard me say this more than once But this is what kind of helped me to center on that was when my friend george and I were driving and I Got to a stop sign took a left turn george had his bible in his left hand I'll always remember that and as I took the left turn The passenger side door had swung open and george had leaned out like this with this bible in his hand And and I hit the brakes. I still remember hitting the brakes and what are you doing and I pulled what are you doing? I thought he was gonna jump. I mean I had no idea what he was doing and that's when he said I thought the rapture happened And true story. I thought the rapture happened. Jesus is a gentleman. He opened my door to let me out I'll never forget that and he he had his bible in his hand So he had his bible open the air as his body was like out It's embedded in me that he was his door was open and mine wasn't so it made me What have I done wrong lord? But see that's how real our faith was That's how real it was If god said it he can do it Why would I argue with god? If god said it he can do it I learned that as a brand new christian Now I had to learn certain limits, you know, if he said it he can do it What if he didn't say it? Well, he's not gonna do I had to learn certain things But that was embedded in me And it gives you joy It's what drove you drove me to tell people about the lord jesus christ It's what I've been doing now all these years. Why because it gives you joy because these people's sins can be forgiven The name can be written in the lounge book of life. They can have a new life A complete and go to heaven. Are you kidding me? Why not tell people about that? And and it brings you such joy in second chrithians 9 15. It says thanks be to god for his unspeakable gift Believers have this tremendous and expressible joy At the reality of our salvation He says verse 9 receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls When he says the end of your faith, it's the goal of our faith The goal of our faith is salvation It's a salvation that we that we presently have But it's also salvation that looks to the future And this anticipation and promise to be with jesus forever is what causes great joy I was speaking to a dear friend of mine today karen johnson whose husband jeff went home to be with jesus recently And she gave us she asked me to call her she sent me a text Could you call so i called her and was visiting with her today and she was talking to me about About how heaven has become even more attractive to her Because she's going to be able to be with her husband once again They were they were married over 50 plus years And he he knew she knew him and when she was 13 and he was 15 I mean you're talking about 60 years And she was just talking about that about seeing him again about that That glad reunion That's going to happen And one of these days And it gives you joy It gives you joy When you're young you don't realize And that's okay. How could you how could I? You don't realize what your future holds for you in terms of the day Today things you go through As you grow a little older you begin to experience things that Kind of make you wonder in terms of like gosh I never expected that to lose this friend to lose that friend to to bear my dad to bury my mom to To eulogize people i've known for so many years And every time you say goodbye a little portion of your heart Is taken away Every time Until one day When you go to be with the lord The the joy That you have prepared your heart to experience is fully experienced And it's the joy of the lord that is my strength. It's the joy of the lord And the hope I have in god That has helped me to endure all the things that I have endured as a man for all these years And there are a lot of joys and a lot of pains a lot of disappointments and a lot of Things that you wouldn't plan for yourself that you experience But all that does is deepen you as a person And awaken you to a greater longing for that time when you'll see him face to face And uh i'm kind of getting it when it says he will wipe away all our tears Because there are no sorrows in heaven. There are no Funerals in heaven. There are no losses in heaven. There's no more pain in heaven no more sickness In heaven no more disappointment in heaven no more no more funerals They're all done man. It's all gone. It's all over And all there is is joy The soma said you'll show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy At your right hand are pleasures Forevermore at your right hand are pleasures forevermore Well done my good my faithful servant Enter into the joy of your lord And not a single tear ever again not another painful memory Not another loss A glad reunion And even though you go through hard times And hurts and trials It's all worth it Because you're refined You're made ready for heaven And then you enter in And you enter into a joy inexpressible And peter wants these people to know That though you're going through A trial that Is a fiery one. It's a difficult one It refines you And prepares you And one of these days You'll experience the joy that is beyond any pain you've ever experienced And that's one of the reasons why i'm so blessed To serve a god like that like i do