Preaching this morning, the pulpit's at regular height, so that's one indication. As we know, Doug's been ill, and so usually what happens is about Thursday, he emails me the sermon, and I read it, and I get to put together the liturgy for us, and I hadn't heard from him this weekend, so Friday morning I emailed him and said, am I going to get the sermon so I know what to And I read the paragraph and said, well, I have a sinus infection. I'm not feeling well. I'm going to get some antibiotics. So I kind of went into a panic mode. I'm like, OK, I got to come up with a sermon now. And I read the second paragraph. The second paragraph said, no, Tony's preaching for us this week. And so I was grateful for that. Yeah, and we're happy to have Tony's family here. Moved up from Texas with the, as Mason mentioned, a desire to start a ministry down south. For a long time, we've kind of been alone out here in Colorado. It's the only Reformed Baptist church that we kind of know of, and we've been praying about that, and God has put it in Tony's heart. I know him, and Doug and I have been talking about this for quite some time, but having something eventually started down south, and so we're happy to have you here, Tony, and he will bring us the word this morning, and so I would ask that you would welcome him and get to know him and his family. Join us in fellowship and worship. And I'll turn it over to you, Tony. It is indeed a privilege to be with you all this morning. Officially, I bring you greetings from the elders and brethren of Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas, where my wife and I are members at this point, and look forward to joining you all as the Lord would direct our steps in our desire to, as Sean mentioned in response to the call of the elders of this church, as the Lord should lead plants and other Reformed Baptist work in the South Denver area. And it is a joy to have met some of you and gotten to know you already, to see the Lord at work in your midst. And I don't need to tell you what a privilege you all have. in having Pastor Doug as your preaching and teaching pastor. He and I have gotten to know each other over the past few years and have spent many, many hours on the telephone talking about theology and various things. And I believe he's one of the most gifted thinkers and scholars of our day, believe it or not. And I think you all perhaps don't even realize the treasure in the preaching and teaching that you regularly have in this pulpit. And I admonish you to continue to work hard to listen to the word being preached and to pray that the Lord would conform your hearts to God's word as it is faithfully proclaimed. If you would turn in your Bibles. to first Peter chapter one. As we open God's word together, first Peter chapter one. Verses one and two, and I'm reading this morning from the New American Standard Version. 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, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. Let's bow for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you with gratitude in our hearts, for we know God that we have indeed, as we've heard from the law this morning, we have and are condemned by your law, for we know that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole hearts, minds, souls and strength. We have not loved our brethren as ourself. We have violated your law in so many ways, even this day in what we've done and what we've not done. But we thank you, God, that you have manifested your grace fully in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that in the church of Christ spread about throughout the whole world, the gospel can be proclaimed from week to week and the glories of Christ may be manifested in our midst. We thank you, God, that Christ is here among us now. We ask that he would indeed be lifted up in our minds and our thinking and that all of our attention would be turned to him, our king, our savior, our prophet, our priest. who has interceded for us with his blood, and even now his blood is effective for the cleansing of all of our sins so that our only and true comfort is found in him. Oh, God, may your spirit reveal these things to us powerfully this morning that we might walk in Christ and learn to love him more and more. We pray in his name. Amen. Homelessness is a significant problem in our society. I was just driving down the road yesterday and a man approached my window, obviously homeless, depending on what statistics you look at. On any given night in this country, somewhere between one and two million people are living without a home. One statistic cites that families with children comprise more than 30 percent of those who are homeless. While I was in Bible college, now it seems like many years ago, I worked with a couple for a semester who had a real burden in their hearts to help the homeless on many cold nights in Portland, Oregon. We would drive down to the homeless huddles in the city and pass out blankets and hot coffee and try to share the gospel with these folks whenever someone would listen to us. Now, having worked around some homeless folk for a short time, I can tell you there certainly is not very much comfort in their condition. Where do you find comfort if you know that This very night, you may not have a place to sleep, and at best you may sleep on a cold concrete loading dock behind some dilapidated building. You don't know where your next meal is going to come from. There's not very much comfort in that kind of a life. Now, what's remarkable about this passage and really the entire epistle of first Peter is that Peter addresses his letter to Christians who are essentially, well, homeless. They've been driven from their homes. Many of them by persecution. We won't need to take a lot of time to review the background of the New Testament in the first century during many periods when Christians, along with Jews of their time, were uprooted, were driven from their homes because of their faith, because of their faith in Christ, because of their desire to submit themselves in whole to the sovereignty of their King Jesus. rather than to the sovereignty of the king or the emperor of Rome. And so we know that many people were driven away from the comfort of their lives. Most of us can't really contemplate what that is like. And yet we know that Peter is addressing those believers who were, in one sense, physically driven from their homes by the providence of God. And secondly, there is another sense which we see in this and throughout this entire letter that they are called by God to be homeless in a couple of different ways in their attitudes towards this present age and in their humility in submitting themselves to the sovereign will of God. I was sharing this with a friend this week and he Thought of a wonderful word picture, as Peter says here, that they're scattered about. And he says, isn't this so much like the Lord Jesus Christ, who is like the dandelion, the flower? How many of us have delighted in picking the blossom of a dandelion and blowing on that and watching the seeds dispersed into the wind? And this is so much like that, that in the providence of God, in his sovereignty, he saw fit to drive believers to the very four corners of the earth. The Holy Spirit blows wherever he wishes, Jesus said to Nicodemus, and the spirit of God has blown you to this very place today in the hearing of God's word. He has blown believers in China and all over the world to hear the gospel being preached and to become gospelers, to become those who proclaim the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ wherever they are. What perspective that offers us. When we consider even the difficult providence of God in these verses, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout minor Asia, scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Who are chosen, so on. I couldn't help but think as Peter was writing this, that perhaps he was thinking about the words of our Lord to his disciples in John 15 and 16 in John 1520, Christ said, Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. And then in John 1633, that remarkable prediction with a promise. I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will expect it. You might as well expect it in the world. You will have tribulation. But take heart, Jesus said, why? For I have overcome the world. And so in this letter of first Peter. It is being written to believers to strengthen them. In this respect, in a time of increasing hostility towards Christians, as well as the possibility of persecution against them, even in the form of mistreatment and violence, Peter observed, especially in this geographical region, that increasing hardship and persecution had caused some believers to wonder whether or not God had abandoned them. And so he wrote to these Christians to reinforce their hope in God and to offer meaning when life seemed as though it was becoming increasingly meaningless. Now, if you're taking notes this morning or if you like to take notes, there are three things I pray that the Lord will bring forth from this passage in your understanding. The first of these. is that we find comfort in our homelessness in verse one. Second, we find comfort in our helplessness in verse two and third, we find comfort in the grace and peace of Christ in the last part of verse two. Notice with me at the first part of verse one again to those who reside as aliens. scattered throughout. Now, as we proceed through First Peter, it becomes clear that Peter meant this in a couple of different ways. First, he meant it as a description of the physical status of believers to whom he was writing. They were physically scattered throughout Asia Minor. And secondly, he meant it as a general description of the status of our lives as believers, no matter where we live, no matter what age we live in, what time in history we happen to be reading this letter together. In fact, the NIV, interestingly, translates this with the latter sense by referring to the status of these believers as strangers in the world. Not necessarily that all of us have been scattered, not all of us have been driven from our homes, but we are all strangers in the world. Now, throughout all of scripture from beginning to end, we can detect this theme. All of scripture is composed of stories and songs and lives all being woven together by the spirit of God to proclaim the greatest story ever told in the person and work of our Savior. We see a type of this, this stranger theme, this alien theme, even in creation itself, in the creation of man. God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. And then and only then, by the animating spirit of God, Man became a living being. The body is a house of clay, said the Puritan preacher Ebenezer Erskine. It is a house of clay in respect of the means that support it. It stands upon pillars of dust. For corn, wine, and oil, wherewith the body of man is maintained, all spring out of the earth. And if these props be withdrawn How soon will the clay tabernacle fall to the ground and return to its original? I've often put it like this in our sinful condition, in the human condition in which we live in our human bodies. If God were to stop upholding us even for one nanosecond, if God were to stop giving us the breath of life, we would simply cease to exist. All of us are upheld. By the right hand of God's power, God gives us all of these props, all that we have, all of our existence is but what as dust. We know that how frail we are. We know that if God were to stop upholding us, if God were to stop giving us life, if God were to stop giving us the very things that sustain us, then we would not only die, but we would cease in our existence. For God gives us our existence. It is God's life. which gives us our existence. It is the breath of God, the spirit of God breathed into man that gives us our life. And so we can see even in the story of man's creation, how temporal we are, how dependent we are as creatures upon our creator, that it is only our creator that gives to us. anything that we are, all of our life, all of our being, all of our sustenance. And so we may see that there is even in our creation, this sense of homelessness, this sense that without God providing, without God giving us what we need at the moment, that we are abandon of all of our resources. There is nothing in and of ourselves. There is nothing that we can create. Man in today's society says, I am the captain of my destiny. I provide for myself. I provide for my family. I provide for my future. And God says to that man, this very day your soul is required of you. We know that it is only God who gives us life. And so there is even in that this sense of humility that we must have in dependence upon God. We also see this theme in the story of the redemption of man, not only the creation of man, but also in our redemption. How wonderfully is this recounted in that great hall of faith that is, as it has been called in Hebrews chapter 11 in verses 7 through 10. The author recounts by faith, Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence In holy fear, another translation says, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he did what he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith by faith. Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place by which he was to receive for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith, he lived as an alien, the very same word in the subtuagent that Peter uses. He lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob in temporary buildings, if you will, living wherever he was. For the glory of God, fellow heirs of the same promise looking forward to that promise where he was looking for a city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is gone. And then in verses 13 through 16, speaking of all that he mentions, he says all these died in faith without receiving the promise. But having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, for those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. Indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had an opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. We know, of course, throughout all the scripture, there are many other examples of this theme. There are many examples of this type that God has given us in scripture. Of those who would forsake What was left behind? We know of the people of Israel who were called by God continually. Let my people go that they may come into the wilderness and worship me and serve me according to my law, which I will give to them. God's people were called by God to leave their comfort, to leave Egypt and to serve God in a way that was beyond their comprehension. They couldn't understand what God was doing in their lives. We know, of course, also that the same people were commanded by God after Sinai to construct a tabernacle. And the tabernacle itself was a picture of their mobility, the worship of God as they moved from place to place. And so we see in all of these pictures a type of the perfect representation which was to come. That, of course, being the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord himself was the perfect representation, the fulfillment, if you will, of this type of homelessness and finding comfort where comfort is to be found in God alone. John declares. In his gospel that Jesus became flesh. And he dwelt the word dwelt, as I'm sure many of you know, in the original Greek is the word tabernacled. The Lord Jesus became flesh and he tabernacled among us. He dwelled among us in a temporary way in order to manifest for us the glory of God and all that he did in his perfect obedience to God's law and in his atoning sacrifice on our behalf. Like Israel, Jesus left his home and after being baptized, he was led into the spirit to be tempted by the devil. Like all of these types that pointed to him, Christ became a sojourner. He became a pilgrim in the very world that he had made. Jesus himself became a pilgrim. In the world by which his word The worlds were created. Christ himself is the word of God upon which the earth stands and is upheld and was created. And he himself humbled himself by becoming a man, but not only a man, but one who pilgrimed among us, who tabernacled among us, who moved from place to place in order to proclaim the kingdom of God. The foxes have holes, Jesus says, the birds of the air have nests. The son of man has nowhere to lay his head. The Lord Jesus Christ became to us the perfect fulfillment of this theme of homelessness, this theme of wandering, this theme of sojourning, of being pilgrims and sojourners in this present age. And so then we ask the question, Where is the comfort in being homeless? It is found in this. We do not belong to this present age. We do not belong to this world. We belong to Christ. Virginius, the principal author of the Heidelberg Catechism, really seemed to understand this. If you've heard that catechism, I'll read it in a moment, that first question, you know how different it is from the Westminster Shorter Confession or the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which for most of us is very familiar. That one begins with this very significant and lofty doctrinal question. What is the chief end of man? The answer to which is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And that catechism rightly begins with the majesty and the glory of God and all of his creation. All of God's creation is to give glory to him as our chief end in all that we do. Our greatest end, the greatest, the highest good that we can do in our life, no matter what it is. is to give glory to God. Paul says, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you do all that you do for the glory of God. And so that question rightly states in a doctrinal sense, what is the chief end of man? It is that we live, we breathe, we have our being. All that we do, we do for the glory of God. The Heidelberg Catechism is a little different. It begins from a different perspective. It seeks to trace out that question which reverberates in the heart of all of our lives. It beats in all of our souls. We know that we live in a world that is deeply filled with pain, with suffering, with trials. with tribulations. We know that we have a body that is weak, that is subject to sin. We know that we often give in to our temptations and we know how difficult it is to live in this world in our present condition. And so the catechism begins from this perspective. Where do we go to find true spiritual comfort for our souls? When we are homeless and beaten and bruised by the winds and rains, when we are ill, when we are cast down, when our countenance is fallen, when we shudder to our core from cold and hunger, where do we go to find warmth and sustenance? When our bodies, sinful bodies, give in to temptation and we know that we need to The forgiveness of God, where do we go to find forgiveness and peace? And so the question goes like this. What is your only comfort in life and in death? The answer that I with body and soul, my whole being. Not my own. But I belong to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ, who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins. And he has delivered me from the power of the devil and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly father, not a hair can fall from my head. Yay. That in all things that all things must be subservient to my salvation and therefore by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life and makes me sincerely willing and ready henceforth. To live unto him. Is there truly comfort in being homeless? Is there truly comfort in knowing that whatever the circumstances of our lives, In God's providence, whether they be good in our estimation or difficult, whether God in his good providence sees fit to take away that which is precious to us. To uproot us, to bring much suffering and persecution into our lives, regardless of what it is. Is there true comfort in being homeless? The Bible says yes. There is. We have true comfort when we look to Christ. He's the author. And the finisher of our faith. He is the author and finisher of our faithful lives. So that with whatever we do, wherever we go in service to Christ, as we submit ourselves to him, regardless of our circumstances, you see, in our world today, we think of comfort only having to do with our circumstances, don't we think of the word comfortable? I am very comfortable sitting on this pew that has cushions. I wouldn't be very comfortable if I were sitting on a wooden pew or a metal chair or something like that. We think of comfort in terms of how it affects our physical circumstances. But the Bible teaches us that true comfort is not to be found in our physical circumstances. They change and we respond to them in our feelings differently from day to day, don't we? We want to be comfortable or not comfortable. We get agitated and irritated. And so our tendency is to blame God, is to grumble like the children of Israel did. And they fell in the wilderness because of their disobedience, because they found not their comfort in the person and work of the promise of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the provision of his atoning blood in the forgiveness of their sins, but rather they found their comfort in their external circumstances. But our comfort is not found. In our external circumstances, which is wise, we read this morning in 2nd Corinthians chapter one that we have a comfort, a true comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted. What is that come? Is not. What we experience, but rather what we know it is not what we endure, but rather what we know to be the truth of God, that in Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. And if we know that. Then our true comfort is established. And so this brings us to the second point in this passage that there is another sense in which we find comfort as well. We find comfort not only in Christ, not only in our homelessness, but also in our helplessness. Notice that Peter says here that you are chosen. You were chosen at the end of first one, according to the foreknowledge of God, the father. by the sanctifying work of the spirit that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. Now, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, but if you're using a different translation, such as the English Standard Version, you may have noticed a different word order than I read from the New American Standard. In the English Standard Version, for example, the word elect comes up front in verse 1. The chosen or the elect who are scattered throughout. The elect exiles of the dispersion. The word elect does come, in fact, in that word order, and so the English Standard Version is really a very wooden translation of the Greek text in this case. It does come up in the first part of verse 1. But the first word in verse two is dependent according to notice, he says, who are chosen in the new American standard according to the foreknowledge of God. Now, that verb, according to is dependent upon the verb elect. that comes up in the first part of verse one, which is why the New American Standard, as the translators chose to translate it in this way, because the word according to is dependent upon that word elect. Now, I think that the correct translation is probably both. Peter is writing to the elect. He's writing to the elect who are dispersed abroad. By the way, just as a side note here, I think it's important to recognize that Peter, along with all of us, none of us know who the elect of God are. I think it was Spurgeon who said, wouldn't it be nice if you could go down the street, lift up someone's coattails and see a yellow stripe painted down their back indicating that they were the elect of God. It would make our witnessing much more comfortable, wouldn't it? And easy in our efforts. But rather, we don't know. And Peter didn't know. And the apostles didn't know the elect of God were. But they wrote to the elect of God because God knows those who are his. And we know that we belong to him. We hear his voice and we know that we belong to him. And so it is written in a general sense to the elect who are dispersed abroad, those who have been chosen before the foundation of the world, who've been called by God, who've been made new, regenerate by the Spirit of God, who've been justified by God. And they know in their hearts by the witness of the Holy Spirit, because he bears witness in their hearts that they are children of God. And so he writes to them, to us, you who are elect, you know that you are a sinner against God or in need of God's grace. And he writes to them wherever they are, to the elect who are elect what the second part of, well, the first part of verse two, who are chosen or elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the father and so on. Now, the first thing I want you to notice that Peter intends for our comfort is that the entirety of our salvation is the working of the triune God. Notice, he says, we are chosen or elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the father, by the sanctifying work of the spirit of God, so that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. Our comfort is found in our knowledge of the triune God, of his work on our behalf for our salvation. Our election unto salvation is ordained by the Father. It is accomplished by the Son, and it is applied by the Spirit of God. And we must never lose sight of the work of the triune God in our salvation. It is Christ who has died on our behalf, but Christ died on our behalf because God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. And the spirit of God applies that work to our hearts. Now, I ask you, dear people of God, what greater comfort could you have in this life than to know that the triune God who created the heavens and the earth, the triune God who upholds all things by the word of his power, is the same God who perfectly unified in his purpose. Desired to accomplish and apply the redemption of a people for his own name. What a comfort it is to know that God's word does not fail, that God before the foundation of the earth, before God spoke the word and the world came into being, that God said to his son in that eternal covenant of redemption, I will give to you a gift. I will give to you a people who are conformed to your image, who look like you, and they will be your blessed bride. They will be your blessed people. that through the history of redemption and all of the history of God's creation of this earth that is revealed in God's word, it is the working out of that covenant of redemption. Now, this doctrine of election in scripture, it's never to be proclaimed as a sterile doctrine that is supposed to be debated by seminarians and professors. I think it's tragic. It's terrible. It's a travesty in our day when preachers come to this doctrine of election in scripture and they say, well, I don't understand it, and therefore we're not going to talk about it. There are two sides to the argument, and so we're not even going to discuss it. Not talking about it, however. We miss God's intention for revealing this doctrine to us, and that intention is, I believe, that it gives comfort to our sin-sick souls. Now, I will say, as I believe, that we only may be comforted by this doctrine of election when the Holy Spirit has first revealed to us the true nature of our human disposition and the full measure of our sin against a holy God. You know, as a young man, I remember rebelling against the doctrine of election. I remember my cousin coming into the room and like so many of us hearing Romans nine read aloud for the first time. And I wanted to take the Bible and throw it against the wall and say, that's not my kind of a God. But over time, I began to embrace what the scripture said, and I came to believe that the scripture did indeed teach God's election of those that he chose. before the foundation of the world. But I want to tell you, even though I believed it up here, it was never in here. I remember as a seminary student, I was actually pastoring a church and I was hearing the doctrines of grace being preached by some of my professors from week to week. And I was driving to school one day. And it was the first time in my life that the doctrine of election came home to me in my heart because it was the first time in my life when I realized just how grievous my sin was before a. Holy, holy, holy God. And it was then that I came to the knowledge. Of the comfort of election. of knowing that God's doctrine of election is not an ivory tower doctrine that is to be debated by men. But rather, when we hear that God chose sinful human beings such as myself and all of you, and there's nothing in me that makes me worthy to stand before a holy God. When God says, I will choose these were no better than any of these. I realize that I am humbled before God. It makes me contemplate and wonder and stand in awe as Job did before a holy God when he came to a knowledge of God's sovereignty. What did he do? He covered his mouth and repented before God in sackcloth and ashes. He said, I've heard with my ears, now I've seen it with my eyes. I know how holy you are, and I know how sinful I am. The doctrine of election is a doctrine of comfort to the true believer is a doctrine. that brings comfort to our souls. Though I raised my fist against God in rebellion against Him, though my heart was black as sin, though my mind was filled with every kind of perversion, that my estate in life was no better than anyone else, that all of us before God, even with one sin, we have sinned against an infinitely holy God. And therefore, every sin that we ever sin is an infinite sin. against an infinitely holy God. And it is then that we come to the realization that this doctrine of election is not something to be bandied about by men, but rather to be humbled before that God has chosen to open up the door and reveal to us this light so that we can see his grace and his mercy to us, so that we can see how wonderful he is, though we be but sinful men, it is when we come to this. Understanding that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. I love that in Ephesians chapter one and two, that we were dead as it begins in chapter two, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and R.C. Sproul says this is the greatest conjunction that all of the Bible. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God. But God being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace. We have been saved. I remember growing up with that idea in my mind that I was swimming in a pool and drowning in my sin. And when I chose to look up at Christ standing there on the side of the pool with that lifesaver waiting for me to command him, oh, Christ, throw me the lifesaver, that concept of salvation that I must call upon Christ from my own will in order to be saved. But the Bible teaches a completely different picture. The Bible teaches that we're dead in our trespasses and sins. We're already on the bottom of the pool. Our lungs are no longer filled with air, but with water. Our bodily functions have ceased. Our brain no longer works at all. We're dead. We're lying there helpless in that estate. The Holy Spirit dives into the pool, fills in regeneration. It's what it means to be born again. He fills our lungs with the newness of his creation, and it is then and only then that we look to Christ who is standing and calling us. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and heavy laden. You have known what it is like to be dead. Come to me. And we fly to Christ. So there's no other remedy. There's no other help, the doctrine of election. Is that kind of a doctrine is a doctrine which gives us a deep and residing comfort in our souls. So when we come to these passages of scripture that teach to us this doctrine that God has chosen us in Christ, that God has elected us before the foundation of the world. We don't come with a high handedness. We don't come with all of our books and all of our learning. Oh yes, this is what election means. Now that's a part of the discussion. I don't dispute that. But first and foremost, that doctrine calls us to worship. It calls us to great humility before God as we bow before Him. What the doctrine of election does not teach, however, is that we're not involved were animated by God in bringing about his sovereign purpose in our lives. Notice what Peter says that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the father, through the sanctification of the spirit unto what obedience. And the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, this is to say that in God's sovereign purpose of election, he uses means to accomplish our salvation. He uses the hearing of God's word. He uses the preaching of his word, uses the means of grace. When we hear God's word being read, when we hear God's word being preached, when we sing God's word into our hearts, when we partake of Holy Communion, when we participate with another believer in baptism, when we partake of these means of grace, God uses his word to bring about the sanctification of his spirit unto obedience, unto the obedience as we confess that we have been sprinkled by The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the spirit of God who is sent to do Christ's bidding has given to us a new nature, when he has taken from us our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh, it is then by the same spirit we cry out to Christ. Yes, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Yes, Lord. Have your will and your way in my life. May your blood constantly be applied to me. May I rightly before you confess my sin. May I rightly before you walk in such a manner as to bring glory and honor and worthiness to your name, which is a name above every other name. Oh, Lord Jesus Christ. We cry out from our heart and our soul. May you be exalted and glorified in my life and all that I do in my family, the way that I treat my wife, the way that I act at work, the way that I conduct myself in the community, wherever I am. Oh, God, let me be obedient to you because you have sprinkled me with your blood. Maybe even some here today don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know your heart. There's no yellow stripe painted on your back. What we know is that God works through these means. There may be someone who says. I've never trusted in Christ, I've never been made regenerate by the Holy Spirit. Well, the Bible. Clearly. Teaches that we must call upon him. That we ought to humble ourselves and recognize how sinful is our condition. And that is where our only comfort is. That the Lord Jesus Christ, I belong to Him as the catechism says. He has fully delivered me from all of my sin and the power of the devil. Where is our comfort in this doctrine? It is in knowing that Christ has accomplished what the Father has ordained and the Spirit of God must apply it to our hearts. And so we must cry out to God, Oh God, apply this to my heart. Let me know the comfort that can only be found in Christ. Now, the third source of comfort we might summarize is the full knowledge of what Christ has accomplished in both our helplessness and our hopelessness. And so finally, we see in verse two that we find comfort in the grace and peace of Christ. Notice what Peter, how he concludes this paragraph, may grace and peace be yours in fullest. measure. May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. Now, the form of the verb that Peter uses here for full fullest measure is both the expression of a desire and the verb is passive. Now, literally, If we might best express this in English, we might quote Peter as saying, my wish for you is that in the knowledge that you have received of God's purpose for you through Christ in both the grand scheme of his sovereign choice of you, as well as in the mundane, difficult providence of God in your lives. In other words, in the doctrine or in the knowledge of God's sovereign choice of us, yes, that's where our fullest measure of peace is. Our fullest measure of comfort is not in a feeling. So many Christians today, or those who want to be called Christians, Go from day to day. All of us have done it. Haven't we? Wanting God to comfort us. Oh, God, give me comfort in this day. We want a feeling of comfort. We want a feeling of a sense of all is well in my life. I love that song. How many times have we sung all is well in my soul? Why? Because I know that my sins have been forgiven. I know that God has given to me new life that I didn't deserve. Truest comfort in our life is in the knowledge of these things. It's in a deep, resounding knowledge of these things. Truest and deepest comfort can be had by those who are willing to submit themselves to scripture, to read scripture and to hear the word of God proclaimed to them It is for those who will grow in their faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort is a growing thing, I would submit to you. It grows as we learn of the source of our true comfort. And that can only be had as we submit ourselves to God's word, as we learn these difficult doctrines and learn to apply them in our thinking. And so Peter says, my wish for you is that knowing in the grand scheme of his sovereign choice and knowing even in the most difficult circumstances in your life, whatever they might be, regardless, even if you're scattered throughout by my providence to the four corners of the world, regardless of your circumstances in the knowledge of the glory of God, which is manifested in his perfect plan of redemption in Jesus Christ. My wish for you is that God, the God of peace and grace. Would fill you up, that's the passiveness of the verb. The verb is passive, you can't do it. When you hear the word of God, you grow in the grace of God. God will do it. God will accomplish the work that he's begun. He will fill you up. and multiply to the very fullest measure so that your comfort will be a true comfort that can only come from the knowledge that one, your sins are forgiven. And two, though you be set with many temptations and trials and possibly even homelessness in this life, Christ who began to work in you will bring you home. Christ will finish the work. You will become conformed to his image. You're tempted to sin. And you feel the guilt of the law that is pressing against you. When you give in to sin. Turn to Christ. Fly to him as you did at the beginning. He's the only source of comfort. He's the only source of true joy and peace in this life. Regardless of the circumstances of our life, we know. God, whatever you do, I'm not in control. I know, God, that you uphold me, you direct me, you direct the hearts and lives of kings like waterways in your hand. How much more just a humble servant like me? God, I know that regardless of what takes place in my life, And my true comfort is found in the Lord Jesus Christ and what you have accomplished in him and through him on my behalf. What comfort we have, even as a church, in the knowledge of these things, that a church grows not by the external measures of the world, but rather by its acquisition, by its gaining of understanding of the true nature of comfort. As God has revealed in his word, the church can be filled with peace and love and joy and hope because we know as the people of God. We know that Christ has gone to prepare a place for us and where I go. I will take you there, you will be with me. Also, we are looking for a country whose architect and builder is God. Behold, blessed brothers and sisters. The formation of that country is in our midst. For Christ has come to establish his kingdom in our midst. So regardless of what it is in our lives, we may look to him. We may look to his plan. We may look to his sovereign, eternal plan and find great comfort in In our time, let's pray. Heavenly Father. We know Lord, how often we have doubted you. We know how often our own hearts and minds, like the children of Israel, have been filled with grumblings against you. How easy it is, oh God, to raise our hand against you in our thinking and not even realize Why, God, did you allow us to lose our homes to these Egyptians as we read Lamentations? Why, God, would you give our wealth to the nations? Why, God, would you take from us that which pleased us, made us feel good? Oh, God, when we come to the gospel, we thank you, Lord, that we are humbled before you, knowing, God, that we don't deserve anything, we deserve Death and damnation. We don't deserve even one day of our life. God, how we thank you. That regardless of where we are and what is what you are doing in our lives and your Providence. That we exist for you and because of you. And how much greater God is our comfort in knowing. That our sins are forgiven. that Jesus Christ has borne all of our sins in his body so that we may turn to him when we are stricken by sin, when we are dragged down to hell by your law and slain there. We may look to Christ, our only comfort in life and death. And we belong to him. We've been adopted by you and given to him. And how precious a thing this But you have accomplished this even before we were born. And you accomplished it for your grace and your glory. Oh, God, manifest your grace more and more in us, we pray. Make us to be. Those who portray and. Show forth your graciousness to the world. As we proclaim the only true comfort, as we proclaim Christ, hope of glory. Thank you, in Jesus' name, Amen.