This is what I was referring to. Philippians 1. Philippians 1. 1 and verse number 12. One of my favorite sections in us praying for one another. I'll just reiterate it again tonight, but in 1 9, and then we'll bring it on in to that where Paul makes reference to praying. In verse number nine of Philippians one, he says, in this I pray that your love may abound, that it may grow, that it may expand still more and more in knowledge and in all discernment. I think maybe the King James uses the word judgment because a judgment meaning the ability to make a right judgment having discernment. So he was praying that their love would grow. For what reason? Verse 10. That you may approve, that you may, same word used in Romans, the idea of proving what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will. The idea is being able to know it, recognize it, and walk in it. that you may approve the things that are excellent. That is that good and acceptable and perfect will. And what would be the fruit of that? That you may be sincere, authentic, and without offense to the day of Christ. seeing you'll be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. So that's just a great, great. prayer that has everything important in it. That you got an expanding, growing love and knowledge and discernment. That is, your knowledge of God and His ways is growing so that you can, as He says here, that you can have discernment. You'll know how to make a right judgment. And when you can do that, you can approve what is excellent. what God sees as excellent, or Romans would say, what is good, acceptable, and perfect, in Romans 12, two, being authentic, sincere, genuine, without offense to the day of Christ, that you won't be offensive. So that tells me that if we can't prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will, the excellent things, we stand in a position where we're offensive to the things of God. So I need an increase in knowledge, so that I can make right judgments, that I can prove what is good, acceptable and perfect, so that I stay in a place that I'm not an offense to the work of God until the day of Christ. So this is not just now, this is what a continual growing process as we walk through. And being filled with the fruits, because if you're an offense, you're not gonna be filled with the fruits. You won't be filled with the fruits because the Spirit is not going to work through you if you're in a fence, but if you're free-flowing you will have the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. These fruits are not gonna bring you glory, they're gonna point to Jesus. They're gonna point to him. They're gonna give glory to God. So that word right there, grasping it and understanding it and continuing to dig in it is the sum total of why we pray for one another. That we can make right choices, that we can recognize God's work, that we can be sincere and authentic, that he could work in us, and his fruit flow out of our life, and God is glorified in that. Man, that's the journey, isn't it? That's the everyday life. So that is a wonderful, wonderful truth to just grab ahold of and expound on. But verse 12, I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happen to me have actually turned out for what? The father and son of the gospel. What? That he was put in jail. that he was put in jail. The putting him in jail, which they thought would be shutting the gospel down, actually advanced the gospel. Like we're talking about today with this funeral. By killing a man, you think you're gonna silence this that you don't like, but all it does is it's for the furtherance of it. God takes it and expounds it, multiplies it, makes it known abroad of the hatred in comparison to the compassion that was shown. So he goes on to say, verse 13, So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, those who were overseeing him and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. So his chains were not him causing trouble for himself, but it has become evident this man sold out for Jesus. And that has run through the halls. of justice that is run through the palaces of the Roman Empire. It's spreading fast that they see this man ain't a troublemaker. This man's not a problem. This man's been a blessing. And all he's doing is bringing light to us. He's not bringing the darkness they said he's bringing. He's not bringing the hatred they said he's bringing. He's not bringing the troubles they claim he's bringing. This man's been bringing a message of life to us. And they locked him up for no reason. So now he's got an audience inside that arena. Just like today, there was an audience. Now see, if it would have been a high profile preacher that had passed away, what I say by that, like a pastoral Billy Graham type of thing, everybody that had been on the the speaking list would have been most likely preachers and people from around the world. But this was on the platform of most of them speaking were intimate, connected people, most of them in the political world. And the gospel has been shared by many of them in sharing that. And we see this happening in the same way. Now, we also know in every area of life, there's gonna be those who are authentic and those who are not. those who's gonna share the message with genuine concern and those who gonna share it because it was expected of them to share it. So he says right here in verse number 14, and most of the brethren in the Lord having become confident by my chains are much more bold to speak the word without fear. That is, as you heard JD Vance, if you was watching it, heard it, you'll hear about it. He said, I've spoke more in the last two weeks than I have in my entire life. Why? He says, because I believe these things, but I didn't have the liberty to say them, but now I feel like I got the liberty to say them. And I'll say them unashamedly. And that's what, here's the brethren who were somewhat reserved in speaking, now are more confident to come out and speak. Verse number 15, some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife and some from goodwill. That is some are going to do it for the right reasons and some are going to do it for the wrong. And anything and everything you're going to have that dynamic. You're going to have the authentic and the hypocrite in every facet of life. The hypocrites don't keep us from doing what we do just because the hypocrites in the church don't quit us quit with us preparing for the coming of the Lord. There's hypocrites that teach school. There's hypocrites that work at the Navy base. There's hypocrites that work in Walmart. Everywhere you go, there's people that play the hypocrite, but that don't stop us from doing what we're doing. It ain't gonna stop us from doing it. It won't stop me from doing it. So he says, verse 16, the former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add even more affliction to my chains, meaning to make it even more difficult for me. But the latter out of love knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel. So Paul is attaching it to those intimately personal with him in this setting who were doing things to create more tension for him And then some were doing it because they really believed the message and knew what it would affect other people. But notice his response, verse 18. What do we do with this then? Only that in every way. whether in pretense, that is, if they're not doing it sincerely, or if they're doing it in truth. Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes, I will rejoice. That's the thing. If the message is going forth, Christ will do with it what he wants to do with it. Even if somebody stood up there and only was speaking what somebody, a speech writer wrote for them, and they did it Eloquently they did it the right way, but in their heart they don't believe it. What matters is the message was broadcast. It went forth. That's what Paul is saying here. Even if they didn't have the right motive in doing it, hey, Jesus went forth. And when He goes forth, He can do what He wants with it, amen? And that's the point he's making. Verse 19, for I know that this will turn out, turn toward for my deliverance through your prayers and support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest expectation, Paul was expecting something. What was he expecting? that in nothing I should be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always now also, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. That was the expectation. If I live, I'm going to glorify Jesus. If I die, it's going to glorify Jesus. Jesus is going to be glorified. I expect that to happen no matter where I go. whether it be on the streets, in the church house, in a synagogue, or in a jail cell, or at a crucifixion, whatever it is, I love that phrase. As my earnest expectation, Christ is gonna be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. Verse 21, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit for my labor, yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better." Which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. That's knowing as we read in Romans in the beginning. He knew he had something for the church at Rome. When you have that confidence, you know that no matter what happens, God's gonna use me. God's gonna use me. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. Verse 25, and being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. " That is he knew that if God left him he would see the church at Philippi again They would be encouraged. They would be rejoicing and getting to see Him. And Paul said, I'm content with that. I'm good with that because I know God's going to use it to magnify His name. But if He takes me, I know He's going to use that too. It'd be better for me if I left. But if I leave, that would be a disadvantage to you. So I believe God's going to leave me here. I got something to give away to you. That's how we want to live, right? That's how we want to live. They use somebody, I think that Telsey Gabbard used some of these principles here along with 2 Corinthians 5. Look at 2 Corinthians 5 and see what it says. 2 Corinthians 5. All these things parallel with our reading in Peter. But 2 Corinthians 5. You know where Paul said, if need be, If need be, if need be, we are grieved. Paul was in the need be. Verse one of chapter five. For we know, he keeps using that phrase, don't he? We know. That's one of the things that our modern day lacks is the confidence of knowing. You can't know though if you don't know. That's why we keep saying and keep reading where he says, I want you to know, I don't want you to be ignorant because it's in knowing where confidence comes and it's in knowing where courage is built. Charlie Kirk's message was all you had to do is make a choice to be courageous. But you make a choice to be courageous on what you know. And what you know you become responsible for. And responsible people are courageous people. He was a guy of great understanding and knowledge, he knew much, he was responsible for much, and that gave him courage to do what he was doing. When God told Joshua to be not afraid, but to be of courage, and not operate in fear, he was saying, take the responsibility of what you know, be accountable unto God, and fulfill your mission. Courage is based on what you know. and the responsibilities to what you know. You can know but not be responsible for what you know and you won't have courage in it. So courage is always connected to my responsibility to what I know and then my accountability to who gave me what I know. See, our accountability is unto God. He's the one taught us what we know and what we're responsible for. Now we are courageous to walk in it. And the more confident you are in what you know, the more courageous your steps will be and even more compassionate in that courage. You'll show compassion in your courage. It won't be so much bravery where you throw all restraint out the window. No, you're responsible for what you know and accountable to somebody. You're gonna give an account to him with the actions. So that keeps you courageous, confident, and compassionate. Now you're a usable vessel that can do things for the glory of God. So he says, For we know that if our earthly house, that would be the tent that we live in, is destroyed, we shall have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this, in this, that is what? This knowledge, what we know. You see, what did he just say before then? What did the close of chapter 14 say? Look in about verse number 16. 4. 4.16 says therefore we do not lose what? We don't lose heart. We're courageous in this even though we're going through difficult things we don't lose heart. Why? Though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is being what? renewed. What did he pray for in Philippians? That our knowledge would increase with judgment and discernment so that we can approve the excellent thing. So he sees it here that the inward man is growing in knowledge and responsibility and accountability and courage before the Lord and it's over, we're not overwhelmed with what we're going through, we're overwhelmed with the Lord and what he's given us. And we're walking in that revelation. For it's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Verse number 17, for our light affliction, he's not minimizing it, it is affliction, it is difficult, but the idea of light means it's temporary. Remember that. It's only light in the relationship that it's a temporal thing. It ain't gonna last forever It's temporal. It's temporal for our light of fiction, which is but for a what? but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. That's kind of a long way of saying a thing, isn't it? How did he say it? He kept building on it. That the affliction is for a moment, but it's working for us a far more what? Exceeding eternal weight of glory. glory. I mean those are big words when you really think about it. When you think about the word exceeding, what do you think about? Something that is growing, something that is excessive, there's a lot to it. Then you think about the what? The word eternal weight. You're talking about something that has heavenly ramifications with it. Talking about something big here now. An eternal weight is of glory, of beauty and purpose given by God. Beauty and purpose given by God. Verse 18, while we do not look at the things which are seen, that is, you don't give your attention to the temporary moment, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are what? Temporary, but the things which are not seen are what? See, you focus in on the excessive eternal weight of glory and not the temporary moment of affliction. It's how you look at it. Remember, it's not what you're going through, but who's going through it with you. That's where James says you can count it all joy because God's at work. God's at work in the trouble. That's why you can count it. It's not the trouble. God's gonna show up in the trouble. God's gonna do something exceedingly, eternally weighted with glory. There's something bigger going on in this than what you're going through. And no matter what you're going through, and as long as you live in this life, you're gonna have to face the afflictions. That's inevitable. But that is all in comparison to the exceeding eternal weight of glory, it's temporary. It's just a momentary thing. Your life, my life, our lives are what? Momentary. But you want them to have those qualities of exceeding, of an eternal weight of glory. That's the quality of heaven in what you're going through, not the temporary issue. Why? Everybody goes through problems. Everybody in the world has to face difficult things. There's not a person alive that's not gotta face the temporary moments of affliction. Everybody does. But not everybody has the quality of eternity at work and the problems they go through. We do. We wanna. That's why we gotta be what? Renewed. That's why we gotta be transformed. As he closed out, look, I'll read verse 16 again. Therefore we do not lose heart. Do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing. That don't sound promising. But we got greater promises, right? He overwhelms the temporary because the inward man is being renewed, how? Well, how is that happening? What am I doing? I'm giving my, I'm making myself available to him. What does Romans say? Present your bodies unto the Lord as what? As living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto the Lord, which He's already said, how does that? That is your love's growing, you're sincere and honest, now you got God working in you, He's gonna what? Transform you by the renewing of your mind. That knowledge is increasing. You see in things how He sees it. And as a result, He begins to put an eternal weight on you. Not an earthly problem that is only wanting to slow you down, but you have an eternal weight that's gonna overwhelm the temporary problem. That's a beauty, isn't it? That's how this works. Verse number 18. While we do not look at the things which are seen, But at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. So now we know when you get in the chapter five, he says, we live in this tent. And this tent's gonna go away someday. But if it goes away, you got a promise. Isn't that what Peter said? God's reserved something for us that's incorruptible. So he goes on, verse number two, this is where we in the groaning. This is where Romans 8 said, we're groaning for this. We're groaning for this. For in this we groan earnestly or eagerly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is what? From heaven. If indeed, that is saying seeing, have you been already clothed? We shall not be found naked. That's Paul saying that you may not think that away because you've never been clothed with heaven. If you've not been clothed with heaven, today will be a great day to be clothed. That is, today will be a day to give your life to Jesus. And when you give your life to Jesus, it'll change everything about your way. It'll change you. Paul is always, all the way through everything he writes, he's always recognizing there's somebody in the crowd that ain't met him yet. There's somebody that ain't heard about him yet. That's why he told them at Rome, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you. But he tells them in chapter 15, I know you got everything you need. Why? Because there's gonna be people that hears the message that still ain't trusted, just like here. He's saying, I know some of you are hearing what I'm saying and you can't connect with it. You don't see it the same way I'm describing it. And the reason why, he says, you're still perishing, but today you could be clothed. And when you get clothed, you're gonna wanna be more clothed. You're gonna want more of Jesus, more of heaven. Verse number four. For we who are in this tent, in this body, grown, being burdened, not because we wanna be less or have less of the Lord, less of heaven, but we want more of that eternal weight of glory. We want more of God in us, being clothed. For what reason? I'm a mortal man, but I want my mortality to be swallowed up with the Lord. I want that to be swallowed up by life. What life? Not this life, but God's quality of life. I want to be swallowed up with it. I want him to consume me. I want to be fully clothed. That's why he says that. If that's not where you're at, it's because you've never tasted it. When you taste it, you want more of it. You want more of it. It's good, amen? You want more. Now, somebody's prepared us for this. Now, he who has made us fit for this groaning and for this life and for this eternal glory, for this very thing is who? It's God who done this. How did he do it? He did it through Jesus. How does he do it? By the Spirit. That's what he's saying here. Who has also given us the Holy Spirit as what? As a guarantee that we'll get more. More's coming. More's coming. He gave us the Spirit to let us know that we're His. And He's got a promise that we will receive the adoption one day and we're gonna be just like Jesus. Verse six, so we are always, always, always what? Confident. Confident. Why are we always confident? Because we know something. What do we know? Knowing that while we are at home in this tent, this body, what are we? We're absent from the Lord while we live here. So what do we do then? Saying we so confident know this, for we walk by what? Faith and not sight. That's exactly what Peter was saying. Peter saying the same thing. that we don't see Jesus but boy, we sure do love Him, don't we? He said, we don't see Him right now but we're persuaded, we believe. We believe and we rejoice with joy unspeakable in some translations say inexpressible glory. Receiving, taking possession of the aim, the end, the goal, the thing aimed at, of faith. What is it? The salvation of your souls. That we anticipate the appearing of Jesus. But see, we get to taste and have the quality of that life in Jesus here on this earth before He ever appears. That's the saving or the deliverance of the souls. That we're not restricted by this planet and this world we live in. He's done such a work of making us alive in Christ that we fix our eyes upon Him. And even when your faith is tested like gold, that faith is gonna be found to praise, honor, and glory. At the appearing, when Jesus appeared, He said, you don't see Him now, but you love Him. You don't see Him now, but you believe Him. You persuade it. Why? Because you are by faith taking possession of everything He's got that He's offered. And it's yours now. And when He appears, the faith that possesses it now is going to be found to honor, praise, and glory. in Him when He appears. This is what Paul and Peter and John, they all say the same thing. They all reiterate it. They just reword it in their own personalities that God is using them, but they all point to the same work. And that's what He's telling us here. So that's why He says in verse number Chapter five, when he says in verse number 13, for if we seem beside ourselves, that if we don't seem to make a whole lot of sense, because it's just so exciting to us, it's for God. But if we seem to be of a sound mind, it's for you. We want to make sure you understand it. It says, for the love of Christ does what? Constrain or compel us. Because we judged us that if Jesus died for all, then all died. And he died for all that those that live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and rose for him. Amen. That's the life of living by faith. So let's go look at anybody, any questions on that? Let's look at it. Peter real quick and see how he pulled this together and how dependent we're all on God to do these things. Because 1st Peter 1, he illustrates it and Peter's just encouraging the brethren who are strangers in this world, pilgrims in this world, that they don't need to let the world they live in dictate how they live. They got something far greater to live by. And it's the Lord who's given us all these things. Remember as Paul said, who prepared us for all this? God prepared us for all this, amen? He's prepared us for all this. So look in verse one, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, he's writing to the pilgrims there in Turkey. These are all cities in Turkey and they've been spread out, they're strangers. And in verse number two, he refers to them as chosen. He's gonna use the same word again and another spot in here, the elect. their elect strangers is what they are. Elect strangers in the world. They don't belong to this world no more. They have a new citizenship. Philippians talked about it in chapter 3. Paul says our citizenship is where? In heaven for whom we wait for the Lord Jesus Christ. We're strangers in this old world, amen? He says it over, look over in chapter two. I know he says it again, let's see. He uses two words over there in chapter two. Look what he says in verse 11. Chapter 2, 11. Beloved, I beg you as what? As sojourners, strangers and what? Pilgrims on a journey. abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." Okay? I think in Hebrews, we just read Hebrews last month, didn't it refer to Abraham and Sarah and all the Older Testament saints of God? Didn't He refer to them as pilgrims? and strangers as they pilgrims through the world that they were on their way to a city whose builder and maker was God. Why? Because the people that live by faith are strangers in this world. Matter of fact, Hebrews 11 said the world ain't even worthy of these strangers, but God leaves us in the world to make a difference in the world, to bring his message to his sheep. We go back to chapter one again, and we'll see how he does this. He uses three prepositions, really four here, but they tie all together. Look in verse two. According, that is a preposition. It's the word katah, katah, in step with, in line with, in this purpose. Elect strangers according to the what? The foreknowledge of God. Has he used this word? He uses it again in Peter's writing. So he uses that word foreknowledge twice. He don't use it foreknowledge, he says foreknown. Where did he say that? Who was foreknown before the foundation of the world? He says it in this, in Peter's writings. Jesus was. Look in chapter number one. Look in verse number 19. Well, verse 18. We might as well talk about the blood, right? Let's do it. Verse 18 says, there's that word knowing again. You ain't never gonna get away from knowing. If you're gonna walk with Jesus, there's some things we need to know. So knowing that you are not redeemed, purchased, bought, with corruptible things. What's corruptible? Silver and gold. Silver and gold's natural, comes out of this world, but it's corruptible. Like silver and gold from your aimless conduct. Notice how he describes that. We had an aimless life before we were purchased. We were just wanderers in a hopeless world. but He purchased us from our aimless conduct and we received that conduct by tradition from who? Those that wasn't walking with God. If your father was walking with the Lord, he was redeemed from his aimless conduct and he pointed you in the right direction. But you had to be redeemed too because Jesus don't have grandchildren, right? He had to be bought. Look, verse 19. But you were bought with the precious blood of who? Christ, who is as a lamb without blemish and without spot. He was innocent. Verse 20. He, Christ, indeed was what? For? Ordained. The word ordained is the same word over here for knowledge. for knowledge. So what God foreknows, God has foreordained. He has appointed in advance. Did God know Jesus before the foundation of the world? Did He set out and foreordain what Jesus was going to do in time? Yeah, it's not that Jesus did it and God can see in time and therefore he could have foreknowledge of it. No, it was foreplanned, foreordained. He had foreknowledge of, foreknowing of, not only Jesus, but every elect stranger. He knew as well. In advance, He knew who they would be. Verse number, let's see, verse 20 again. For indeed, He was foreordained before the foundation of world, but was manifested, brought to light in these last times for who? For you. Now, the next verse is gonna tell us who the you is. Right? Look at verse 21. Who? through Him who was foreordained, believe in who? So the for you is those who what? Believe. The for you is the ones who believe. The for you is the ones who believe. But the ones who believe, believe what? Through Him who was foreordained. There ain't no believing in God except through Jesus. You got to believe in God through Jesus. But Jesus was foreordained because He was foreknown and those who believe in God through Him were also what? Foreknown because He was given for them who believe, who believe. Verse 21, who through him believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your persuasion, your faith and your hope are in who? In God, who foreknew him, foreordained him and gave him to you who believe. You see how that works? Well, how did we come to believe? Well, go back to verse number two, tells you how we come to believe. Remember, it's according to his foreknowledge. It's in line with, they were elect strangers in step with the knowledge he had in advance that was foreordained and forepointed. to the foreknowledge of God the Father through, some translations use the word in, but the idea is through, through who? Through sanctification of what? Yeah, I Peter 1, 2. The elect strangers in line with the foreordained knowledge of God the Father through sanctification of who? Okay, so God foreordained what he foreknows, and this came through God the Spirit. God the Spirit, through God the Spirit. What was the sanctifying, setting apart work of the Spirit? What was it for? Well, here's the next, where the next preposition is the word through, or the word in. The third one is, is the word for. For what? For what? Obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of who? Of Christ. So we see the Father, you see the Spirit, and you see the work of Jesus. The work of Jesus is applied to the person who is being made holy, sanctified, and justified by faith in Jesus, but it only comes through the sanctifying work of who? The Holy Spirit. See, if the Spirit doesn't do the work in us, you'll never put your trust in Jesus. You'll never put your trust in Jesus. So he's saying how we came to know the Lord is because we are the foreordained, strangers who have been chosen by God, sanctified by the Spirit so that we could by faith obey Jesus and the sprinkling of the blood will be applied to our souls. Because nothing happens for the believer to know what he has until there's a sprinkling of the blood applied. You had to be applied, the blood had to be applied to you. But remember in chapter one, verse 21, he says, that life of Jesus and the redemption of his blood was given for you who would what? Believe. Well, you're not gonna believe unless the Spirit sanctifies you to obey Jesus and the blood can be sprinkled. So this is a divine work of God, amen. So that's why Paul said, it doesn't matter if they preach it with the wrong motive or not, when the gospel goes forth, God can do his work because man can't save himself anyway. Only God can save men, and when God saves men, the whole triune Godhead is at work. The Father's been at work, the Spirit's got to work, and the Son's got to work. Well, how do we know to be obedient to Jesus? Well, God sends the seed of the gospel to us. Look what 1, chapter 1 of Peter says, look in verse 22. 122, since you have purified your souls in what? Obeying the truth through who? Who did you obey the truth through? You can't obey the truth without the Spirit. in sincere or authentic love of the brother and love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been what? Born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through what? The word of God, which lives and abides what? Forever. You see, God brought us a word. And in that word, we heard the gospel. because of the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Therefore, we were able to put faith in Jesus, be declared justified by Him, and then He sprinkles the blood over our heart, and as a result, yeah, we have faith in Him, and we've been redeemed. And now, that same Word and that same Spirit is gonna continue to sanctify us. To do the work that He called us to do. Why? Because we are what? Flesh. What does he say in verse 24? Because all flesh is as? Grass. And all the glory of a man as the flower of the grass, the grass withers and the flower falls away, but the word of the Lord does what? Nurture. See, we had to be born of that word. That word of the gospel had to come to us. We believe it because the Spirit went to work and he sprinkles us with the blood. That changes everything forever, don't it? Redeemed by the blood. We, just like these flowers here, these are pretty flowers that Stephanie brought, they sent her home with yesterday, and the vase. We will not be able to keep these flowers alive. We only maintaining them. As long as they will last, they gonna what? They're gonna wither and die. We've got some over here that Stephanie asked me, why'd you bring them flowers in? Why'd you bring them dead ones in there? I said, I think in Peter, we read today about the flower fadeth, right? And withereth away. It's here and it's what? That's us. That's us. Without the spirit and the sprinkling of the blood. That changes us from being simply a natural man that's gonna come and go. Now we've been birthed of the Word of God. We got new seed that is birthed. Remember what we talked about a couple weeks ago out of 2 John 2? You've been born, when he says you don't sin because you've been born of the truth, that was in 1 John 3. But then we went over to 2 John 2 and he says that those that have the truth, have the truth forever. And those that have the truth love the people of the truth. Why? You've been born of incorruptible seed. And that seed is the truth that has brought you in. You've been birthed by it. That's why he says, if you look back in verse number two again, where he says, elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit for the seed, obedience, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. Then he says, grace to you and peace be multiplied. Notice what verse three says. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has done what? He begotten us. He begotten us. He birthed us. Same thing he's talking about in 22 to 25. And then the eternal work of God in verse number two, but this is when we get included in it. When he birthed us what? To a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That's how we get included into the process. That is, he brought us a message of the dying Jesus who was buried and resurrected. We say, yeah, we wanna trust him. We wanna believe him. We're gonna put our faith in him. Well, how did that happen? God was at work. The message came to us. The Spirit was sanctified and the blood of Jesus was being sprinkled. We just get to be included in by His wonderful work of grace in our life that brought both the grace and the faith for us to believe Him because of the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Now we know who we believe and now we have a living hope, a lively hope in Him and then He begins to teach us in verse number four that look, He birthed us to an inheritance that's incorruptible. Can't be tainted. and undefiled and does not fade away and reserved for us, where? Who are kept, guarded, protected, preserved by the power of God. Well, what does God tell us is the power of God? He tells us on a couple occasions where the power of God is at and what reveals to us the power of God and how we kept by the power of God. Remember what he said in Romans? He says, the gospel is what? The power of God unto salvation and the just shall live by faith. And then he goes on to say, that's where the righteousness of God is revealed from heaven. And then Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and he said, look, it's the preaching of the cross that is the power of God unto those who believe. Those who are believing that we always go back to the cross, we hold to the cross because the cross tells us we were saved by grace. And that work of Jesus is what saves us and that same work is what preserves us and keeps us all the way through until we see him face to face one day. That our salvation is not dependent upon us, it's dependent upon who? It's dependent upon the righteousness of Jesus. And he keeps us and preserves us because his cross, we've been brought to, you can't come up with this on your own and man can't keep himself in this. This is what God does for the man in his grace. So he says it, who are kept by the power of God through faith for the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. in this revelation knowing this we rejoice knowing that for a little while if need be we are grieved by various trials that we're not when trials come trials are not indication that we lost something trials are being used by God just to validate the the legitimacy of our faith that our confidence is in Jesus and Jesus is the one keeping us and therefore the impurities are burned off and you can't help but love him and can't help believing. That's what he says in verse seven. That the genuineness, I think the King James used the word trial or the test because that's what it means. It's to test something for its authenticity. Of your faith being much more precious than gold that loses. Gold loses when it goes through the fire because the impurities are burned off of it. Though it is tested, your faith by fire may be found to what? Praise, honor, and glory at the revelation or the appearing of Jesus. Faith always gains. It doesn't lose. It always gains. Why? Because faith lasts. How long does that which is done in faith, how long does it last? It lasts forever. So you gain with faith. Whom this Jesus, having not seen you love. Though you do not see Him yet persuaded, believing, you rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory, taking possession of the aim, the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Matter of fact, of this salvation that you have, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace. So we're talking about grace here, right? This salvation is all grace. This is all Jesus doing, living, giving, granting, releasing, we becoming part of Him that should come to you searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand of the future sufferings of Christ and then the glories that would follow. See, we part of the glories that follow. His word. To them it was revealed that not to themselves but to us they were serving the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached what? You see, you had to have the seed of truth come to you. That's what introduced us to Jesus. But the only way to see Jesus is the mere fact that you were foreordained, the Spirit went to work, and Jesus sprinkled the blood, and now you see it. And man, you fall in love with him, amen? And you trust him with your life. That's what Peter said, that's what Paul was saying. That's what he was saying. What a difference he makes, amen. Anybody got any questions on any of those things? To him be the glory. I want that exceedingly eternal way to glory. I wanna be able to rejoice through the trial, if need be. What's that old saying? If need be, I'll be, if you'll be, so that we'll be, that they'll be blessed. as we go through it. How does that work? If need be, God, you know the need be. I'll be willing, if you're willing to go in it with me, so that as we in it together, we'll be able to be a blessing to those that you send in our life, right? If need be, I'll be, if will be, so that they will be blessed. That's just based on that little if-need-be. That's right. He knows what you need, if-need-be. And he knows when the need-be is. He controls the thermostat of how to turn the heat up or bring it down, if-need-be. You leave that in his hands. And what is he doing? He's authenticating your trust. And a trust that can't be authenticated is a trust you're not worth having. It's gotta be authenticated. An authentic trust prays honors and glories while it loves and trusts, while it loves and believes. It receives the goal, the aim of faith. The aim of faith is taking possession of Jesus here before your peers. You see it. And when you see it, you can't unsee it. Makes all the difference in the world and your life, right? But according to Peter, according to Paul, according to John, all this had to be a work of God to do in our life. Remember, he said, who's prepared us for these things? God prepared us for this. He's prepared us to live the life of faith. He's prepared us to be where we are. As he said about this here in Peter, Peter said, Jesus was foreordained and given to you who would believe in God through him. So Jesus is only given to the believer. That's a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people out there. They don't think that. They believe he was given for everybody. But when you tie in what we have here, he was foreordained before the foundation of the world for you who believe. For you who believe. And that's taking God at his word and not taking what man says. God said, He was given for you who believe. John 3.16 says the same thing, right? Doesn't it? They don't want to agree with that though. They don't want to accept that. God loved in this way. He so loved the world that He gave His only who was foreordained before the foundation of the world that whosoever believes will not perish but have what? Who is it for? The believer. That's exactly what we see here. He was given to you who believe in God through him. Remember what we said, who does Jesus reveal? He reveals the Father. Who's the Father reveal? He reveals the Son, that's right. He reveals the Son in the Gospel to us and Jesus manifests the Father. when we see Him. It's just a beautiful work, amen, of what they do. And who has to be involved in every step of it? The Spirit of God and the Word of God. It's the incorruptible seed. Everything else is gonna what? Perish. Our flesh, what man can produce, won't last, will it? It's the dead flowers. Up today and gone tomorrow. But his incorruptible seed will last forever. And that seed's gotta get in you. You gotta be birthed by that seed, amen? According to what, and Peter covers all that in that one first chapter. Right there, he covers it all. So to him be the praise. Like I got coins in my pocket. It wouldn't take long, Brother Shannon, for you to take a torch and you could melt that coin down And anything, though we don't go by weight, right, today, we go by a certain size or type of coin to authenticate a coin. But back then, what did they have to go by? Everything was measured in a weight. And they would modify some of the stuff to make it weigh more, but it really didn't have the right materials for that weight and then when it was tested it was proven that it was less than what they were thought. Well he said that's why God authenticates our faith. Back in those days they would make clay pots. Everybody used clay and when they would dry those clay pots oftentimes in the furnace what would happen to those pots? They would crack. So people always trying to get around it, and what would they do with some of those cracks? They would put wax on it. And if you picked it up and it had wax, you would never find the crack. But soon as you put that clay pot in heat, what does heat do to wax? And then your stuff begins to seep through and leak. So the fire, the furnace, would test the clay. and if it had a crack in it, now you lose, you lost what was in it and your investment that you paid for that. And he said the same way, you gotta go through stuff because God's gonna prove if you really have faith or not. If you don't go through the fire, through the trouble, you can't claim you got faith in Jesus. He's gonna make a deal. I jotted this down about believing and we'll go. Believing. So here's a couple issues. Brother Shannon brought up a point that he was reading this morning that we looked at in Sunday school about believing. They believe Jesus, but when Jesus pressed them about sin and being a slave, They rejected His message and proved they didn't really believe Him. They only believed Him like you would believe me as a man and say, yeah, what He said is true, but see, I don't have any redemptive qualities in me. You just look at me as a normal person. That's how they looked at Jesus. But they then looked at Him as a lying person. As fast as they believed Him, they didn't believe Him. Why? Because He put them to the test and it proved they really didn't believe Him. So, many believe something about Jesus. And because they heard something about Him, but they don't actually trust Him, they don't believe Him. They like what they heard about Him, but don't really put their confidence in Him. And others believe Jesus for something. They believe that it ought to go the way they believe or want it to go. But that is not actually believe in Him. That's still believe in what? Your idea or your way. Your faith is in your faith when you believe Him for something you want or need Him to do for you and how you want it to go, but still haven't believed Him. There's a lot of people that do that. They've been promised Jesus to do this and they'll do that, so they need this and they'll believe Him for that, but they really haven't put their confidence and trust in Him and His life message. Because he said, if you believe me and my message, you'll be my disciple. How do I know? Well, They don't trust Him. They're wanting Him to trust them and what they know is best and how they should live their life on their conditions. That's how you know somebody believes Jesus for something. It's still conditional. Well, how do I know that? Well, you don't obey Him or follow Him. You set the conditions on the what, when, how, where, and why, and what you believe Him for. How do I know? Well, you want him to follow you where you go and be your genie in a bottle to use when you need him. Why? Because you don't believe him. You don't believe his life message. It's not your life message. His mission isn't your mission. You believe him for something someone told you you can have or what he'll do for you, but you still don't believe him. How important is this belief and witness? It goes with everything we've learned, that everything in creation witnesses toward God. Everything in the scriptures, laws, prophets, Psalms, all was a witness toward Jesus. And His saints or His believers are witnesses who point to Jesus on everything. But if I only want Him for something, but I haven't trusted my life to him, I haven't believed him. And there's a lot of people we're around on a consistent basis that believe him for something as long as it goes their way. Or they believe things about him, but they haven't believed him. But then we go back to, we trust God to do this work in transforming the soul. So we preach an authentic message depending on God through the spirit, Sanctify them for the sprinkling of the blood because they can't do it themselves, but we still preach the truth, amen. we still preach the truth. What is the truth? That when you give your life to Jesus, you surrender your entire life to Him and His message. You become an ambassador for Him when you trust Jesus. You're an ambassador for Him. You're not just believing Him to fix this or to fix that or do this, you believe in Him with your life. And boy, that'll set a man free, amen? That's what he was talking about, Brother Shannon, when he said, the truth you shall know and the truth will set you what? Free. to follow Him in everything, to trust Him in everything. So I think that's important. In our day, we see a lot of people believe in Jesus for things. Because some friend, some preacher, somebody told them this is what Jesus will do for them. That's what they want for Him. But they really don't want Him, they just want an answer for this. We want to help them see that, hey, Jesus is much more than him fixing your problem. He'll transform your life. He'll birth you into a kingdom that you now love him and believe him. You'll live for him. Now, will you get it all right? No, but he'll get it all right through you. Amen? He'll work that out for you. So we just want to help people. So Father, we bless you. We thank you. Help us with these things, ask you to glorify your name continually through our lives, through this, that went on today with this funeral, and that you would just magnify Jesus, whether through life or through death, whether we find ourselves preaching it with pretense or in sincerity, we pray that the message goes forth and changes lives, and we're gonna give you the glory for it in Jesus' name, amen. Love y'all, y'all have a good night.