I am glad for the privilege of being here with you today. I do very much hate the circumstances. We have an early Friday morning prayer meeting. each week and have for several years at the church. And immediately following that, when we're able, the elders get together and kind of catch up on logistics and different things. And we had been praying in the prayer meeting for you all, for Jordan and his family specifically. And so the elders decided to, for me to come down today, and it was a bit odd because I'm letting Jordan and DJ know that I'm coming down here, not necessarily to preach. I'm glad to preach, but I wanted to come down. I love your pastor and his family. It's been a joy getting to know them over the past several years. Before we look at the text, does anybody know the name Horatio Spafford? Okay, so we just sang a song by him, and you probably know this story, but it's wonderfully applicable in light of singing. He wrote the hymn that we've just sung, and he wrote it at a unique time. Horatio was quite a successful businessman in the Chicago area, owned a lot of real estate, and the Chicago fires of 1871 destroyed almost everything that he owned. Two months after the fires of that year, he lost a three-year-old son. Two years following that, he was unable to travel with his wife and four daughters back across the ocean. There was a wreck. Four daughters died on that trip, which is what led to him penning this remarkable hymn. And We see him dealing with sorrow and suffering and trials, and we also witness what it was that was the salve for his soul in the midst of that when we get to verse three, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. It was the gospel, it was the reality of who God was in Jesus Christ that proved to be the only hope for Horatio Spafford. And we can still sing that glorious hymn today, this morning, with the same kind of wonderful hope. If you open with me this morning to 1 Peter 1, I really want to consider that very theme, which is why I took the opportunity to draw our attention to the circumstances that the hymn was penned originally, because it's quite fitting for our time together this morning. I want to read the opening 12 verses, the introduction to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning in verse 1, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood, may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you have not seen him, You love him. And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicated, as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look." May God bless his word in our midst this morning. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, Peter, the apostle of identification for us, I don't know about you, but when I consider Peter's life, I can identify with Peter much better than I can identify with the Apostle Paul. I mean, it takes quite a person to say, yeah, I'm kind of like Paul. But Peter, right, we can identify with Peter. We understand feeling bold and confident one moment and feeling like we just want to hide and go away, that we don't have the ability to move forward the next. I mean, let's consider Peter's life, having a context of who this man is who's writing this letter. In Luke's gospel, Jesus finds Peter, James, and John out fishing, and he says to them, come and follow me, leave your nets, I'll make you fishers of men. And Luke tells us they left everything. They walked away from life as they knew it in order to follow Jesus. And then when Jesus has the disciples around and he's asking them, who do the people say that I am? It's Peter. It's bold Peter that makes the famous confession. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. But it's only a few verses later when Jesus is talking about how he must go to the cross and suffer. And Peter's attempting to argue with him, if you will, and stand in the way of that, not realizing what he's saying. And Jesus actually has to say to him, get behind me, Satan. And then in the upper room, Not long before the crucifixion was set to happen, there's confusion as Jesus brings in the towel in the basin and begins to wash the feet of the disciples. And Peter speaks up. No, you're not going to wash my feet. And Jesus says, well, if I don't wash your feet, then you have nothing to do with me. And he says, well, then wash all of me. And we see here after three years of witnessing Jesus's ministry and experiencing discipleship from heaven's favorite himself down here on earth, that Peter is all over the place with regard to what justification is and what sanctification is and why Jesus came and what the ongoing need is. In the midst of that conversation, Luke's gospel records for us that Jesus continued talking with him and said, listen, Satan has requested to sift you like wheat. And Peter says, I will follow you all the way to your death. And Jesus says, you'll deny me three times. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John into the garden on the night before his crucifixion, and they fall asleep. Stay here and pray, he says, and they fall asleep. Not once, not even just twice, but three times. They fall asleep in Gethsemane. And then Judas and the entourage come in order to arrest Jesus. And Peter attempts to take matters into his own hands. He pulls out his sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant. And Jesus, on the night before his death, still full of pity and compassion for people, heals the servant's ear, the last recorded miracle. And Jesus says to Peter, put your sword away. Do you not think I could call 12 legions of angels if I needed them? And then. The issue of the denials. It wasn't strong, it wasn't an outright denial at first, but it was following at a distance. And then three times. I don't know him. Jesus went to the cross and died, was buried, was raised again. And then that compassion of Jesus shows when he says in that specifying kind of way, go tell the disciples and Peter. And doubting, misunderstanding Peter, go tell him I'm alive. Go tell him what I promised has come to fruition. And then unfortunately at the beginning of John 21, now this is after Jesus appearing to more than 500 over a period of several weeks and appearing to Peter on more than one occasion. He says this, John 21 verses two and three, I am going fishing. Back to Luke chapter five, they left everything to follow him. And for three years followed him. It was prophesied that he would deny him. He denied him. He died, was raised again, as was promised, has appeared in his resurrected body, and still, Peter, I mentioned, we can identify with him. Still, Peter's questioning everything. It's hard to understand what's going on. And then the famous interchange between Jesus and Peter after they got back to the bank. Peter, do you love me? Simon, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? And each time, followed with the command from Christ, feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. Feed my sheep. And the fulfillments we see in our New Testaments are full of them. Specifically, in Acts chapter 2, in the famous sermon at Pentecost, as Peter is heralding the good news of the gospel. And then in Samaria, as Philip goes down there, and then among the Gentiles, Peter's there again. This letter is Peter fulfilling that command, not just feeding the sheep who were alive in the day, the original recipients, but feeding us, God willing, here this morning and its counterpart, the second letter of Peter as well. Peter. an apostle of Jesus Christ, an apostle that we can identify with. And he's writing a letter to those who reside as aliens, verse one tells us. He's writing a letter to us type Christians. Some of these aliens or exiles are products of Pentecost. If you go back and look, people that Peter preached to that day from Cappadocia, from Pontus, from Asia, this letter's 30 years later. This is a mature, a more mature and stable Peter writing to people who very likely would have heard the gospel preached that day and come to Christ. But now, as a result of their surroundings, they've been scattered. They're living as strangers in their land. They're suffering persecution and homelessness. They have devastating circumstances. And it's to these people that Peter's writing. He's tending to their needs. He's attempting to minister to their souls. He's attempting to fulfill the command that Christ gave him on the bank after he had gone fishing, before Christ ascended on high. He's feeding the flock of God. He's shepherding the sheep, fulfilling that threefold command from Christ. We might think of it this way. Peter did not just open the gate that day at Pentecost when he preached the gospel, so to speak, but he's still now, 30 years later, shepherding them, feeding them, tending to their needs. Now, what's helpful for us is to notice how he's doing that. Let's take note of how Peter is going to deal with people who are suffering. who are trying to come to grips with fallen humanity, with the results of living, with the consequences of sin all around them. What is he gonna say to folks who are in these kinds of circumstances? How do you encourage us type people in the midst of trying times? It's so helpful here for us to remember Peter's life, which is why I gave some time initially in looking at his life. that identifiable life that he had lived up to this point. What is this apostle going to say after 33 years of walking with Jesus? Three walking with Him in the flesh and 30 walking with Him by the Spirit. What has he learned in all the ups and the downs of life? What advantage is his apostolic expertise going to play in the advice that he offers these aliens and exiles that are scattered all throughout the world? Peter opens his letter with an amazing reminder of the triune work of God in the gospel. This is what he says to them. You who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood, may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. You're chosen, you're sprinkled, you're being sanctified. chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. This is the foundational reality. It's this. God has determined and decided to lavish His love on you. His unending love. He has decided to just dump it out onto your life from reasons drawn from within Himself. He has determined to bestow on you the richest kindnesses in Christ. He has established an eternal relationship with you. You've been on his heart for all time, and now he has orchestrated all things in this life to bring that relationship to fruition in his time. Peter writes, now you, who are aliens and exiles in difficult circumstances and trying situations, you know experientially because you've been redeemed, that this is true of God. You know that he has saved you, that he's drawn you to himself. And this is the question that's posed. Are you willing to now admit his loving sovereignty concerning all things spiritual, but not yield likewise to his absolute control of the physical or the temporal? He's a God who's over all. He hasn't just saved us spiritually and let us defend for ourselves as we continue battling with our own sin and living in the midst of a fallen world. Peter exclaims, be encouraged. The God who saved you is in control, ruling and reigning, even in or especially through these circumstances that you find yourselves in. This is true, not just for the original recipients in Peter's day. This is true for us this morning. It was true when Paul was Preaching in Acts 17, the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth. having determined the allotted periods, that is now for us, and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that's here, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being. I mean, this is shocking in a very real way from Peter. Right, because surely in all his difficulties, he has learned some secret to dealing with life and the hard times that come with it. Surely he's just before divulging some information that's going to aid these folks and us as well in pressing through trials and temptations. Surely, Peter, in his roller coaster like life in Jesus, has the secret to overcoming hardships and difficulties. Well, the fact is, Peter does know the key. He learned it by experience. And he learned it well, it seems. And as a result, Peter writes to this battered and scattered group, offering to them exactly what has proven to be beneficial for him through all these years of walking with Christ. And it's this. the good news that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. It is the glorious gospel of the triune God. Listen as the apostle closes his letter to the church at Rome. Not to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but now has been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God. to bring about obedience of faith, to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. It's not just Peter who recognizes that the gospel is everything, but the apostle Paul writes in the same vein, continuously. to you who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, to you whom God has determined and thus successfully dumped out His immeasurable loads of love. You're chosen, you're loved forever, no matter what. How? How does this happen? through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Peter doesn't leave us wondering. In Exodus 24, when Moses confirmed the covenant that had been made between the Israelites and God, Moses sprinkled both the altar and the people with the blood of the sacrifices. And in like manner, for you and I, when we embrace that new covenant of blood by God's grace, it's because we have been sprinkled with the blood of our great sacrifice, which purges us from sins and justifies us as a holy people for the Lord. that the shedding of the blood is great. The shedding of Christ's blood is sufficient for all, but it is particularly efficient for those to whom it is applied, which is why Peter says here, through the sprinkling of the blood, it must be applied to our souls. God deciding to love us, is not enough without a sacrifice because our sin is an offense to him. Not only that, God deciding to love us and the sacrifice happening is simply not enough. The blood of Jesus must be applied to our souls. It's that spirit of God and regeneration that makes us new. The Spirit applies the shed blood of Jesus to our hearts and our souls. That same Spirit of God that initially breathed upon the nothingness that was and created order and beauty, that Spirit of God breathes life into the believer's soul. Whatever is corrupt in us, He mortifies. Whatever is wanting or lacking, He supplies. And above all, he reveals the Savior to our soul and thereby changes us progressively into Christ's image. We all, the apostle writes to the church at Corinth, we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. And this triune work of God in saving us is even more amazing when we consider that it happens in a way that is consistent with His distinguished honor. You see, when God loves us, He does not, by mere absolute decree, forgive those whom He has chosen to love. He doesn't overlook the honor of his own law, nor does he disregard the demands of his own truth and justice. On the contrary, he provides for those that he loves a Savior, Jesus, through whose atoning blood we might be forgiven and in whose obedience we find a justifying righteousness. and are able to stand before Him, God in His infinite wisdom provides a substitute, Jesus Christ the righteous. If God loved us and determined to save us, simply to salvation without any regard of an atonement or a payment for our sins, then God would be exercising one attribute at the expense of nearly all the rest. But by choosing to show His love to us through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, He provides for the honor of His broken law and maintains in perfect united harmony the glory of all His perfections. Listen to the way the psalmist said it. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet. Righteousness and peace kiss each other. God has determined to save a people for himself. And it's not just the way in, particularly for These folks from Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia who are chosen, it was the way in in Acts chapter two. But here, as Peter writes, he is making clear the gospel is not just the way into the faith. The gospel is the way on in this life. Or the way one friend of mine says it, the gospel is the way in and the way up. Colossians 2.6 says it well, as you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him. This truth is the reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only hope for the original recipients. It's our only hope as well. Christ is our only hope. The gospel is all we need. We can't go deeper than the gospel. We can't go broader than the gospel. Because we cannot find anything more significant than the Father's electing love, the Son's redeeming death, or the Holy Spirit's blood-applying regeneration and continued sanctifying, mortifying, life-altering work in us and for us. We cannot get beyond the gospel. We merely swim deeper in it. take longer dives in it, gaze at His glory more regularly, which is what Peter says, the last phrase there, may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. May they be multiplied to you. May you live in an exponentially greater reality of the gospel and what God has done for you in Christ. That's how Peter begins his letter. Be encouraged. And the greeting is over. And he's encouraged the recipients with the great reality of God lovingly choosing them and sprinkling them with the blood of Jesus Christ and the guarantee that they will be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So it's at this point we expect Peter to get right to the issue. for him to now deal with the actual topic at hand, to hammer out those relevant issues that they're struggling with, to reproving them in the areas that are necessary and instructing them from his apostolic expertise. But Peter doesn't do that. He opens the body of this letter with verse three, look back there with me. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Peter opens with this strong exclamation. Peter knows where he's headed in the letter. He knows he's headed to looking again and again at the truths of the gospel and the glory that results from it for God's people. So as a result, he can't help but from the outset to burst forth in blessing God. He very easily could have begun the letter in a cool, collected, calm, dispassionate, unemotional way. He could have simply said, my topic for today is salvation. And I have several related doctrines upon which I wish to discourse. Let me list them for you. God, hope, regeneration, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, your inheritance in him and heaven as your home. He could have begun this way, but he did not. He begins with exaltation and blessing and all blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, he just gave the intro of the triune work of God in the gospel, and he can't move on to bigger and better things because there's nothing bigger and better. It's an overflow coming out of his heart when he considers the the reality of what the gospel has done in him, and when he begins to write about them, he breaks forth in praise and blessing to God each time. If you go home this afternoon and read through 1 Peter, and you see these gospel glimpses showing up again and again, it's never far from Peter's pen, because it's never far from his heart, what God has done for him and others in Christ. Peter discusses the greatest and most amazing realities in the universe with a worshipful spirit. He writes with exultation and wonder and marvel, oh, to have this kind of worship. for our minds to apprehend the great truths about God, and for our hearts to kick in with deep feelings of brokenness, and gladness, and admiration, and gratitude, and for our mouths to say, like Peter does here, bless, be God, blessing, and praise, and honor, and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what we see Peter doing here with his pen should be the goal of our lives, to see God's great reality with our minds and to feel His beauty and majesty with our hearts and to speak and sing of His greatness with our mouths and with our lives. What caused Peter to respond in this way? What caused Peter to worship like this? What are these glorious truths that gripped Peter's mind and moved his heart and opened his mouth to say, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, he lists them out here. Just in the next three verses there that we looked at briefly, three, four, and five, there are seven particulars that he can't be quiet about. Because of his great mercy, the foundation of everything that follows the foundation of all the other blessings flow from this foundational aspect of God, according to his great mercy. This is all we ever get from God in this life. Mercy, not pity, not sympathy, not empathy. Those things are fine and have their place, but God gives us mercy. If you have breath in your nostrils right now, this morning, you are experiencing the mercy of God. Your condition, your situation, your circumstances are mercies from God orchestrated by His loving hand that you might seek God. According to His great mercy, He's caused us to be born again. The second point. This is the main idea expressed here. The mercy of God is the source. He'll get to the resurrection, which made it possible. The living hope and the promised inheritance that result from it. But the main work of God that is focused on here by Peter is this new birth. Specifically that it is God in his remarkable love and kindness that causes us to be born again. That gives us new life. Born again to a living hope. Hope that is not an uncertain desire, but a confident expectation, not, I hope we don't have too bad of a winter, but hope that does not disappoint because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us a living, absolute guarantee. There's not much to be sure of in this life. We are reminded of that continuously, but we can be sure of this, that we've been born again to a living hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The blessing of regeneration, of being made into the image of Christ is traced here by the Apostle Peter to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul does the same. The same focus on the resurrection. Christ Jesus is the one who died, Romans 8, 34. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God. Or Philippians 3, 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. The cross is wonderful, glorious, but it's not everything. The death was necessary, but so is the resurrection. The tomb is empty. And here Peter says, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, or through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain, he calls us to be born again, that we might obtain an inheritance. Not just any kind of inheritance, but there are special qualities of this inheritance. It's imperishable. It's undefiled. It's unfading. Listen, if it's imperishable, if it doesn't perish, it will never come to nothing. It will never cease to exist. It will never run dry. It won't even run low. Not only that, it's an inheritance that's undefiled. It will not spoil. That is, it's pure. It's perfect. It's unblemished. And because it's imperishable, back to the first point, it will always be that. That's what's promised to us in Christ. And it's unfading. That is, it's immutable, unchanging. It stays the same forever. He has caused us, according to His mercy, to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away. Where is it now? Last phrase of verse four, it's reserved in heaven for you. So the inheritance is not just promised, but it's kept, giving us the absolute certainty of obtaining this inheritance. It's kept by God. Nothing threatens it. Nothing threatens it in heaven. Not now, not ever. And then finally, verse five, you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Listen, consider the importance of this. Because you may believe all the great truths about God in verses three and four, yet still worry about one crucial danger that is not explicitly covered there. You may know that God is merciful. You may know that God has caused you to be born again. You may know that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead. You may know that God promised to keep your inheritance in heaven for you. You may know what God has done in the past to give you life in him. And you may know what God is going to do in the future to give you your inheritance. But what about now? What about the time in between the new birth and final salvation? What about temptations and pressures and stresses and weariness and persecution? and suffering and confusion and perplexity and fears and trials that we're faced with now. Does God do anything about that? Did He send His Son to die for our sins, raise Him from the dead to open up the possibility of eternal life, cause us to be born again, and then stand back to see if we make it? Peter's not about to leave this question unanswered or even merely implied. He makes the answer very explicit, clear and powerful in verse five. You are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Those who are born again. are being protected, guarded by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. That's Peter's long answer to the short answer, no, God does not just stand back after causing us to be born again. He uses, employs his divine power through his spirit in and among us to protect us through life for the final salvation of our souls and bodies. Peter wants us to see here that God intends for His people to be profoundly secure in Him. To see that God Himself is doing everything that must be done in order to guarantee our final, eternal salvation. Verses three, four, and five. A single sentence, an amazing sentence, as Peter begins this letter. We read verses 1 through 12 as we started. If you gaze back over it, notice that it contains no commandments for us, no demands, no requirements, no instructions, no directions. Because as Peter opens this letter, he's not telling us what to do. He's rather telling us what to enjoy. He's not exhorting us to do anything, but is exulting in God and his remarkable gospel. He begins with blessing and worship of God, and he aims at aiding us in blessing and worshiping God as well. He'll get to those issues, those points that need to be dealt with, the encouragements and exhortations and admonitions that need to happen. But here in the beginning, he just begins with this. God is great in mercy. It is God who causes us to be born again. God gives us a living hope. He raised His Son from the dead for us, promising us an indestructible inheritance. And He's keeping that inheritance so that it will never perish or soil or fade. And He's protecting us here on earth by His power, even now, to guarantee our obtaining one day of that glorious inheritance. Which brings us to the close this morning. And I want to go back to where we started. to those who reside as aliens, who are suffering, who are dealing with loss, who are going through trials and difficult situations and circumstances, knowing why and how are of no value ultimately. It satisfies curiosity, but for a moment. Peter doesn't even deal with those practical things here as he writes to people who are dealing with real life situations. But he does bask in the glorious gospel of the triune God. His goal is not to make them oblivious of everything around them, but to keep their eyes lifted up above the sinful circumstances and the consequences of fallen humanity in order that they might see Him whom their soul loves, in order that they might know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, that they might keep on putting one foot in front of the other, living by faith and being sanctified, conformed, transformed into the image of Christ Jesus who loved them and gave himself for them. May the same be true for us as we walk through this life and are faced with circumstances that are often out of our control, that are inexplicable, that we can't begin to fathom or understand. May we remember the truths of the gospel, who God is, and that he's for us and not against us. Let's pray. Our Lord and our God, we thank you We thank you for sending Christ to save us. We thank you for your word this morning, that you have preserved it and provided it for us. God, we pray that by your spirit, you will take the truths contained in your word and cause them to sink deep into the recesses of our soul, that Christlikeness might result, that majesty and glory for you, honor for you, and effect among the world around us. God, use your gospel, lived on by your people, to bring more into the light. God, make us salty and full of light as your people. In Christ's name.