The joy of our salvation - part 1

So, we're in 1 Peter chapter 1, just to remind everyone, chapter 1 through verse 10 of chapter 2 is really about salvation. And so, the title of today's The titles, by the way, come from our elder, Roger, and they're excellent. It's The Joy of Our Salvation. And they aren't inspired. The Joy of Our Salvation is a good title for today because it's talking about tribulations. So the joy that we experience through tribulations is really very difficult. So I think to get into verses six through nine is only appropriate. We only have nine verses to read. Let's take it from the top and read down through verse nine.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace to you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again, to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith deemed much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory of the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The map is very small, but just to remind you the direction that this epistle was headed. This is Asia Minor, basically Turkey. And Margaret and I had the privilege of going to Turkey on several different occasions. Actually, we drove through the entire continent, almost to Iran. We didn't get there. But we went through South Africa, traversing kind of the center part of the country. And so that's really where Peter is directing his epistle into Asia Minor, probably mostly to Jews. But clearly, there were Gentiles that were saved as part of the missionary journeys of Paul in that particular region.

So 1 Peter 1.6, and this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.

I said to Roger this morning, I think the handouts need to be given after the class here, not looking at them. If I'm asking questions, you have the answers in part written in the handout. Anyway, this is a conversation. This is Sunday school, so this is interactive, so interrupt at any time. But I'm going to start with the question of why are they greatly rejoicing? Well, we can go to the next slide.

Roger, can we hope in it? Are they rejoicing in their salvation and or are they rejoicing in their hope? And if they're rejoicing in their hope, what hope? Well, isn't it the hope of what's been already revealed about what's going to happen to them? I mean, that's not only have their they know that their sins have been forgiven through Christ, but also what their hope is for eternity.

Okay, and I think that is to some extent what precedes this verse and also what follows. Back to verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope. Right? Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And to an inheritance incorruptible.

I mean, in a sense, when we think of hope, what do we think of? As believers, what do we think of in terms of our hope? Our presence with the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that our eternal hope? In a sense, the scripture here in 1 Peter 1 through 9 deals with, in fact, our eternal presence with the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's our hope. Our hope is in the rapture today. And Josiah, I think in terms of the threat of the Islam presence in this world, the rapture takes care of all of it for us. Our hope has got to be present within us in each and every moment of the day. And that doesn't mean we live just expectant and ultimately not living the life that the Lord has for us here. that our hope is glory.

And that's in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ forevermore. But what's occurring now? What's going on now? Could it also be greatly rejoicing that we are kept by the power of God, so that salvation is being kept secure? Right. And that comment really reflects that we were saved, we're being saved, and we will be saved. I mean, salvation is really a three verb tense scenario, isn't it? I can, on July 14, 1978, I got saved. Okay, but day in and day out, I'm being saved by the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. And ultimately, the eternal hope is our presence with the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I think that could relate to that. Other comments? No, I was also thinking that, I'm just thinking about the time during that time.

And the Romans had come in and were conquering them. And I would think that, you know, these people that are being saved were probably in a bad place. I mean, emotionally, physically, not knowing what was going to happen to them down the road. They're seeing how the Romans are coming in and changing their culture and their life. It has to be pretty traumatic for these people.

And to have a hope, you know, that they didn't have at all. There's no hope. And to have a hope, it's got to be so uplifting to them, for Paul and Peter to be sharing these. Well, just think of our conversation last night when we were discussing people that have lost loved ones recently, particularly children, and ultimately who are not saved. There's no hope.

What's the hope? I mean, to grieve when you're a believer is appropriate for a period, that ultimately you move on and you thank the Lord for having your relative or your loved one, friend, whatever, with the Lord. But in the absence of that, there's no hope. But I think we live in such a soft age today, don't we? The people to whom Peter is writing probably were not enjoying a lot of aspects of life. Actually, I've heard it said that this is a time of Nero. Nero, he was burning Christians, right? He was exactly your friendly leader. He was very... forceful and it was a very difficult time. You mentioned the Islam thing I said a couple of times.

I guess I'm referring to the time before the rapture where I'm concerned, which is right now in this moment. Because we know, careful what I say because it's recorded, but we know that if they were here there would be... Let me get closer. There would be body parts in this room. You know what I'm saying? So it's a blessing that we have protection to gather together in freedom.

Some countries don't, Boko Haram. And Nero, they didn't. Nero was a tyrant. Right, right. I think that's a very good point. Yeah, that's true. A little bit of comfort sounded out there. And actually, times may change here. Our country that we love, and we see it come before us, it may change to a very different kind of country than what we have right now. You know, Margaret and I were in New York between Christmas and New Year's, and we went to the 9-11 museum. That's an incredible evidence of what can occur very quickly in this country.

Sure. I was just thinking that I've been on the radio. Of course, you can't believe everything you hear, but... Which channel do you listen to? Anyway, they're saying that it is possible that this country is going to say, okay, here's what we're going to, we're going to only have one religion, period. And if your church is not teaching that religion, that's it.

All right. That means this one. Ask a question five minutes ago. This is great. I'd rather not get done. We can make this Mike Doyle style. Actually, I only have two weeks on these four verses. So actually, Jeremy is on one. Don't worry. Jeremy is. I'm covering all four. I didn't look ahead. So he can come back and embellish this in a different way. If we only get through two, then he's got the second two. He can even use my handout. So this is my fault, and I'm looking at the same four verses being covered two weeks in a row. So what's occurring now is trials, isn't it? The end of verse six is in fact that you've been grieved by various trials. That's what's occurring right now.

Welcome to the light, huh? I mean, if you read None But the Hungry Heart, I mean, even this morning, you know, the idea of trials is part of growth. And it's not that you can't be comforted and secured for a while without them, but we praise the Lord during those periods. And I'm just thanking the Lord because I'm a pretty secure blanket kind of guy.

I don't want a lot of trials, but they've come, and they probably will occur again. But nevertheless, the trials are there, and I think the message that Peter has for the body is uplifting and provides a joy of their salvation in the setting of trials. First season, short time, temporary. These trials come and go. Welcome to the ed flow or the circadian rhythms of trials. We go through periods that are soft and easy. We go through periods that are quite difficult. And welcome to life, right?

Remember where our citizenship is. Expectations from the earthly system is something we can't really trust in. Our citizenship is at a different place. My late wife, Sharon, had a thing on the refrig said, no whining. Earth is my business address. Heaven's my home. Good message. Reminding us constantly where our citizenship is.

I love 2 Corinthians 4, 17 and 18 for our light affliction. Notice Paul. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding an eternal way of glory, while we look not at the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen.

Because the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal. Nice verse. Really fits the light reflection which is used but for a moment, temporary. Things will pass. And our earthly patience often doesn't think they'll pass. But when we look through the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ, our new creation, Christ Jesus, and the power of the Spirit by faith, we put them in the perspective.

If need be. So question to the class. Hypothetical or affirmative? Meaning, if need be. Does that mean trials may or may not come? Or does it mean they're going to come and they're a necessity? Well, it depends on who you read. Greece says they're hypothetical. That means they can come. They may come. And Macaulay feels very strongly that if you interpret the Greek in context, it means they will come. This is a necessity.

Well, I think if we ask someone who is 90 years old, have they ever had a trial? I would betcha there won't be anyone that would say, no, I never had a trial. Maybe at some age you say, no, I haven't had a trial. That's true. And let's not turn anybody in the class for that question. Have you ever had a trial? Yeah. We've all had. Yeah. Thinking about age. All right. So.

So interpret it however you want. I think as you read it, if need be, seems kind of hypothetical, doesn't it? But Macaulay fairly strongly says, I listened to his teaching on this and I read his notes. He feels this is to be expected. Yeah. Well, actually, there's a parallel. Why don't we turn to John three seven. OK, good. John three seven. So actually, I want people to come in and just read. Sure. John three seven. OK. So I don't know. John, do not be amazed. I said you must be born again. And the word must there is the same word as we have here. So that's why I kind of I kind of like my colleagues. Yeah. Because I seem to fit more with the you know, I tend to agree with that.

But you know, if need be, sounds kind of conditional. Like it could or couldn't come. But I think the other part is key in here. Usually if you interpret, I didn't take the time. If you look at the you know, the if statements in script in the Greek, they have their first. Yeah, right. So you could go down that path. I didn't really do. I didn't take that time.

If you really get into this, if meaning sensor, when or conditional. You know, the Greek version that I think the late Doug recommended to me that I picked up. I mean, it's like 400 pages on this or something. Anyway, so we'll leave that as likely a necessity that trials will come.

And it says they were grieved in heaviness, eris passive. How do we interpret that? They have been grieved. that ultimately it's passive. So the trial itself is the heaviness that they're experiencing. I mean, they're perceiving this personally or individually. But the trial is something they can't control. Our own trials are often out of our hands. So in heaviness, by various trials or temptations, I think, what kind of trials are these?

Well, here the Greek is helpful. The Greek term here is paraismos, which means not the inner wrestling with evil inclination, but undeserved sufferings from outside the person. So I mean, we all have internal trials, don't we, that we kind of, as part of the sin nature of the old man kind of thing, the trials that we go through, the temptations that we face and thoughts and deeds or lack thereof.

That's what we're talking about here. We're talking about powers from beyond each one of us that come upon us that are our trials. And that could be an illness in the family, could be loss of a job that was really not our responsibility, whatever. An injury that we, in fact, were just a passive recipient of. So we're talking about things extra. It could be the Islam trial.

The point is we could carry this to anything that's outside Each one of us individually, pressured from the outside. 2 Corinthians 4, 8 through 10. In fact, 7 through 11 is probably more inclusive. But we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed or perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed.

Key, always caring about. in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. Let's interpret those couple of verses. Always caring about, in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus. Why that, then, ultimately, leading to the life of Jesus that's manifested in each and every one of us?

Because we're dying with him. What's that? We're dying with him. Okay, but he's dead, right? And he's not going to die again. So how do we put that in? How do we personify that in terms of our day-to-day existence? Our decreasing so that he may increase. So what's been crucified? The old man. So what price did the cross pay?

Two things, importantly. It relates to the table. We have a large table in the neighborhood? Yes, a large table has both the cup and the bread. The way I look at this may be nonscript, I don't think so. I really kind of like it this way. What's the cup for?

What's the blood for? It's sins, right? He bled to remove all sins of all men for all time. Now we need to respond to that by faith, don't we? To come to a saving relationship. But on a day-to-day basis, we look at the spilled blood as crimson and gold. I mean, this is the payment of all sins for all time for each one of us. What's the second thing that was accomplished on the cross that we think of when we eat the bread?

At least I think of. I don't have the corner of the truth here, but I think this is probably something to consider. The damning nature of judgment. Absolutely. You know, when Christ died, he not only spilled the blood for all the sins of the world for eternity, but he crucified the sin nature of each and every one of us. I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, not I, but Christ who liveth in me. And there's the importance, I think, of this verse, as Paul perceives it, is that the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ is his ability to put himself and his sin nature in addition to the sins being paid for on the cross. And the resurrection is our new life. Think about this for a second. Without the resurrection, is there Christianity? The resurrection is everything. And that's the tripping stone, isn't it, for people? The resurrection. I mean, what does the world system call Jesus Christ?

They don't deny his existence. Well, a few people do, actually. They deny that he ever lived, which is historically an inaccurate statement. Well, they call him a great teacher or a prophet, right? But Christ was never seen alive after the dead. But we have biblical evidence by the many that saw him alive from the dead.

So again, I think in terms of our trials, we're always caring about the body of our sin nature having been crucified. And that gives us freedom, doesn't it? Because when we're risen with him in newness of life, these trials are put into perspective in terms of what they really are.

So, Jeremy, you're teaching next week and you didn't hear this earlier, but I'm covering all four verses today, but if I may not get done, you're going to finish it, but you're going to exemplify today's. I need to look ahead to see what you're doing next week, so forgive me. Anyway, but these four verses could take a month to do. In fact, when you think of Hal taking, what, two years to do, Galatians 2.

Anyway, any thoughts at this point? when you said the first time about the dying of the lord jesus that the life of jesus manifested and you said the ability to you remember how you said that? I think the ability to put our trials and tribulations in perspective relates to the fact that we've now been given a power over the human perspective or the earthly perspective of the events around us. I don't know I could get depressed about many things can't you? I mean, if we think about this through only earthly eyes, often disappointment, expectations not met, pain, sorrow, grief.

It's kind of funny. The New England Journal of Medicine is a major journal for doctors. And it pertains to all aspects of medicine. I was telling Margaret last night that this week's clinical practice update was on pathologic grief. I was reading the story of this woman who had lost her husband and she still has sandwiches she made for him in the freezer five years after his death. She's going through a ritual day in and day out. And of course, the update is provided by a psychiatrist and she is outlining unexpected pathologic grief.

I'm just reading this and saying, where's the Lord in this woman's life? I mean, it's not there. Of course, a major medical journal is not going to talk about spiritual things. That's the world system. She doesn't have any hope. She has no hope for her husband. She apparently, something about all the rituals she goes through in terms of getting up in the morning and fixing him breakfast, but he's not there anymore.

Just from a medical perspective or an early perspective, that's pathologic. I mean, most people who don't have the Lord still get through a loss of a loved one, ultimately, and life goes on. But here's an example of an inappropriate way that doesn't relate to caring about the body of the dying Lord Jesus and the life of Christ that now lives with each and every one of us. Yes? What I like about this verse is that the dying, it's like the physical. The pain that you suffer focuses your eyes on the Lord. And it's all about Him. And that's what gets you through. And it's like He pushes your trial to the point where you're almost broken but not fully. to depend on him and have that relationship.

And with the believers uplifted by the fact that the Lord never allows us to go through trials that we can't experience into his glory, right? And that's hard to trust him sometimes, isn't it? And each and every one of us knows circumstances in which, Lord, this is just too much for me. I can't handle this.

But he's not allowing anything in our lives that doesn't have the power to overcome it by faith. Now keep in mind, faith is the vehicle. We need to respond by faith. If we're not responding by faith, ultimately we develop a very earthly perspective of what we're going through. All right, good. Let's go ahead. What's our response to these facts?

Well, 2 Corinthians 6.10, is sorrowful yet always rejoicing, is poor yet making many rich, is having nothing and yet possessing all things. What does this relate to? This is our citizenship. Our citizenship's not here. We're citizens of heavenly places. And that sounds kind of glib in a sense and kind of simplistic, but it's really true. When we look through the eyeglasses of our citizenship, these external pressures that we call trials and tribulations become pale. Now, we experience them, but ultimately we put them into eternal perspective.

Also, 1 Peter 4, 12, 13, James 1, 2, 3. Let's look at these verses, I think, because these are really further exemplifying viral responses to these trials and tribulations. So whoever gets these verses first, just go ahead and read them for the class, please.

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye shall be glad also with exceeding joy. Okay, we'll be covering this in the middle of September, I guess. Alright, the James 1, 2, and 3 verses, please. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

Knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience. Thank you. Now as we go ahead, Peter, we're ultimately going to see that the trials and tribulations aren't just there for our growth and to further develop our faith, but we're called privileged to have trials and tribulations. Boy, that's a tough one. If you put on your earthly mindset, that just doesn't make it, does it? We're privileged to have trials and tribulations. Wow, that's growth. That's not milk, that's meat. And Peter's going to build us up to that point.

Okay, any other questions or discussion on 1 Peter 1.6? And Jeremy, I can tell him, we're making promise here, you're going to have a 9x week, but you can go back and handle 6 and 7 maybe in addition here. Yes?

My Bible has manifold through manifold trials? It's not like stacking them on top, but you're just looking at the whole pool of increasing trials. I like Vern. He has various manifolds, many of different shades and types. They're not always the same. For some people, they maybe have a chronic condition. But many times in life presents various kinds of trials, small ones, little ones, big ones. That's kind of the idea.

Manifold is in some translations. You have the American Standard. Is that what you're reading out of King James? Manifold. Maybe it's the original King James. I have new King James, which doesn't use manifold. OK. Okay, now I don't want everyone to understand many of a variety of types.

Welcome to the earthly experience. All right, 1 Peter 1 says that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

This is a great verse. Why is this a great verse? Reminds me of J. Vernon McGee. I listen to him on the way to work in the morning. And every book of the Bible, he says, this is a great book of the Bible. I think it's the greatest book of the Bible. He said, I think I've said that 65 times. So anyway, 65 times before. So why is this such a great verse? I mean, that's my opinion. This is a great verse. But there are many great verses.

Why might I have said that? Well, it's going to tell the value of your trial. I mean, your trials just aren't, you know, just got to give you a hard time. It's not going to give me a hard time. No, they're eternally valuable, eternally wonderful, really. All right.

And how are they compared with what we see and feel and experience? Mount Golden, we kind of look at that as kind of a precious stone, don't we? Well, and at the time, gold was about the most precious. It still is. Well, it's way up there. How many people have invested in gold in the classroom? I don't see any. Roger's invested in gold. Roger, can we meet after class?

I have another reason why I think this is such a great verse. He's talking about the quality of our faith. Not just that it's precious, but it's so valuable that it's the most necessary thing we have. That's absolutely the genuineness of our faith. Not just a hallowed faith. I think it speaks to the day that we get to be with the Lord, when it talks about how our faith is tested by fire, and then it's used to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Christ.

So when we see him face to face, we can glorify him. All right, good. Lots of different views on why this might be such a special verse. All right, let's go ahead. Thank you. Introduced by that, what that. That's a genuine interface. What does that relate to? Well, it's connected. And it's the foundation of what follows. So what is the foundation of what follows?

Verse 6. Being distressed by trials. Right. That. The trials are there. That. that the genuineness of our faith might be paramount. OK? I'm paraphrasing. What does the genuineness of our faith mean? Important question. Just don't say your faith, unless it says the genuineness of your faith. Maybe the certainty of your faith? How do we measure certainty of our faith? Well, so that you're not getting blown around. maybe away from Christ, the person of Christ, but Christ is the foundation of your faith.

Okay. Alright. What else might we be thinking? I think of the realness of your faith. In other words, without trials, I would not be so firm in what I believe or don't believe or what I want to stand for. I like that. You're kind of moving in the direction, I think, that scripturally is what we mean here. It's testing, proving our faith by the testing we've experienced. Let's look at that for a second. Tested meaning proven versus untested, unproven faith, as if by fire. Keep in mind, what might be an example that we could think of in our own experiences of proven faith?

I think you don't need to make this public. I just want you to think a little bit about the experiences you've been through where your faith has carried you and you've been uplifted and really secure in that faith. There are times when your faith is a little bit weak and kind of lukewarm, and you don't seem to have that conquering view of the trial that you're experiencing. Just think about that a little bit.

So an example of untested faith in Peter. Let's look at an example. Luke 22, 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. that I pray for you that your faith should not fail. And when you've returned to me, strengthen your brethren. But he said to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with you, both to prison and to death."

Untested faith, right? Did Peter prove that was true? Yeah, he proved it was untested. I was going to say earlier when you asked, we put faith, we all have faith, we put faith or trust in the Lord or in things we shouldn't, so here Peter's putting faith in himself. And boom, bites the dust. That's really true.

The things that are of self always die and they are always disappointing. Newell says to be disappointed with yourself is to have trusted yourself. The Lord doesn't show up in our lives like a robot or a bolt of lightning in terms of his vision of the world. The genuineness of our faith relates to the fact that we see ourselves crucified, buried, dead and risen in newness of life. And that life is eternal. And when we see ourselves from that position seated and with no condemnation, eternally placed in his presence, then that's genuine faith.

Because everything that we go through is put into that perspective. There's a physical analogy that I always like to think about. When they had the biosphere, they planted trees, and all the trees fell down, and that's because there was no wind. in order to have them grow roots that made them firm. And I think of that, you know, comparing it to us, the winds are the trials and our roots are establishing Christ.

That's neat. That's very scientific. We could talk further about that. Already a biosphere is a great example of a lot of money put into an experiment. How about going, you know, where the government's at right now? I mean, I'm all in favor of science and in many forms, in many ways. I think the government should support a certain amount of that. That's a bit biased. But, you know, this idea of taking many people on this planet to Mars to live. Roger, maybe you're closer to this than I am. I don't know. By the way, you're not coming back.

I think After reading through a lot of Peter, this book, I think one of the focuses of Peter is that he keeps talking about the salvation, but it seems almost in the future sense. So I wonder if when he talks about salvation, and we'll get to it in a little bit in this lesson, maybe, maybe not.

It's the second coming of Christ. The fact that one day Christ is going to come back. He's going to establish his kingdom on the earth. And one of the key aspects of Christianity is that hope of our future resurrection. That we are going to be remade and have a glorified body. We know as Christians, our belief is that we're going to be reigning with Christ, but there's still the hope of that future resurrection, that hope of the future coming of Christ.

So this verse, when it talks about the genuineness of our faith, I don't think it's centered on us, whether or not our faith is real or sincere. I have this old student that is always posting stuff on Facebook, and he's really getting into this sense of John MacArthur, and is your Was your conversion actually true or not? Or if you're sinning and doing all these things, how can you be a real Christian? You know, this whole John MacArthur idea of if he's not Lord of all, then maybe you never actually got saved. I don't think it's, you know, was your faith really genuine?

It's what is our faith in? That's the genuineness of our faith. And I think what Peter is saying is, even though we're going through all these trials and testings, the final The final test is that when Jesus Christ comes back one day, when he is revealed, then all of us, that through all these difficulties, continue in our faith in God, that's going to be the final validation that our faith was real. When Christ comes back, and oh, all these people that were able to continue in faith, they were right, because a major part of it is looking forward to when Christ comes back.

So I don't know, I think that's an important aspect that I haven't heard talked about much. Well, because we covered that a bit before you came in. But it's going to be covered as we move forward, but you were very, I think, right on. We've talked about what should they be rejoicing in, and their hope was what they're rejoicing in, and it relates in part to what you just said.

I mean, I think the glorified body is not mentioned scripturally here, but the hope is being eternally with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's going to be in the glorified body. both in heavenly places and on earth ultimately as we rule with them in the millennial kingdom.

For me, I think the danger is we humans love metrics, right? We want to be able to measure something. And if we no longer have the law, which we teach pretty clearly here that we don't have this law standard. So what is our standard? I think it can be very easy for myself or others to, okay, then let's measure our faith.

How much faith do you have? How real is your faith? And I don't think that's what he's talking about at all. I think it's, when we talk about the genuineness of faith, it's What is the integrity of what we believe in? The outcome of our faith? I think the best, simplest, reductionist view of genuineness is proven faith. What's your daily walk with the Lord? Your moment by moment dependency on Him?

And by the way, we don't have it all worked out because we, you know, it's like this circuitous path of, you know, OK, bumper sometime. Yeah, exactly. It's sort of like the bowling alley. You know, you need the bumpers. Take me there, please. You should say never mind. All right.

Well, I think. that the genuineness of our faith is kind of seeing things from above, though, in terms of our position of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is Holy Spirit-led, and that gives us a confidence of eternal truth, and that relates to the glory that we related to earlier in the class today, and ultimately is covered in more detail as we go forward. All right, let's go ahead then.

And Peter has to say, I didn't go back and try to select from many examples, but it's evidenced I mean, Roger, we taught this in the book of Acts, and we see examples of Peter's faith being genuine, if you will, and proven in Acts. His advice to Paul and beyond, and also his epistles. As we are looking at these verses in 1 Peter 1 through 9 and beyond, I'll tell you. There are very few epistles in the Word of God that are more uplifting than what Peter's sharing with the body of Christ in his two epistles.

We're really privileged to have this segment of scripture. And that's, in my view, really evidence-based proof of his faith, the genuineness of his faith. And I'll let you kind of experience that as we move forward throughout the year with the study of these two epistles. All right.

Thinking about what's precious and what's earthly and being much more precious than gold that perishes. So gold is man's most precious and valuable object. I guess you could argue with that now in terms of other minerals that have been identified. But what might you place more valuable then? Is there anything more valuable than gold? I mean, firstly, you're talking about oil, maybe. Oil? Platinum? Platinum. Diamonds? Titanium. Titanium? How about cadmium or technetium? Anyway, let's go on here.

Alright, so faith is God's most precious and valuable object. And it's heavenly. That doesn't mean we get zapped by heavenly faith. It means that what we do is we respond to the evidence we have to respond by faith. And that's different now than it was once. But remember, what's faith? Simple definition. Schofield. What's faith?

Not Hebrews 11.1, which is faith, biblically. Schofield does this extremely well, and it's very simplistic. Faith is believing what God has revealed. Very, very simple. And that's something you can teach your three-year-old, is faith. What's faith? Well, faith is believing.

Here's my Bible, this computerized deal. If you've got a book, I'd show that to your kid. Maybe you should. Make sure you show the computer to the kid. There's the Bible, right? Anyway, so faith is believing what God's revealed. What did Adam and Eve have that we don't have? Kind of a personal communication. Think of Abraham. God spoke directly to him. And Daniel.

But yet, the text wasn't complete. Today we have a completed text. And that gets more in verse 8 and 9, and I'm not sure how far we'll get today on that. But now we don't see him anymore, do we? He's not here. But yet, we believe he was here by the record.

And also, we believe in the joy of our salvation, because it's been repeatedly evidenced by the word of God. We see the prophecies fulfilled. Christ died for our sins and was risen with newness of life. And we'll position it that way. Hey, Bob? Yeah. I have paraphrased Hebrews 111. OK, good.

And I basically said that Faith is the assurance of things expected. Assurance of things expected. Hope is not wishful thinking. It's not something we wish for and we think we might get. It's an assurance of something we expect to get. That's good. I'm not doubting Hebrews 11 a lot.

The thing is, I guess, what were Adam and Eve's expectations? What was their faith based on? Well, God had promised them, right? What had God promised Adam and Eve? He promised them green pastures. He gave them some instructions. He told them they were king and queen of the earth. There was no death either. No death, no pain, no suffering. Adam and Eve doubted God. He took the first step, but Adam was not there to support that decision. The point is, from time eternal going forward, what God has revealed is how we respond by faith. Good Jim, I like that. It's certainly faith is based on something we are expected to receive. We're having a little internal discussion here.

Is it serious? Where does love fall into faith is God's most precious and valuable object? Is that brain faith or is that heart faith? I would trump faith here by another term. This is open to discussion. I think in terms of in context faith is more valuable heavenly in terms of a major important item whereas gold might be from an earthly facility.

I think, you know, you're talking about what, first Corinthians of what, 13? Faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love. Is love. I would say love is trumped by something else, and I'm not being abiblical here, or anti-biblical. I think truth trumps everything, doesn't it? Yes. I came to be saved personally by truth that I was a sinner and needed to be saved by grace.

And that's God's love tied into that. But we all seek truth. And that's why we study the word. And God's love is so wrapped around all of that. His mercy, His love, His grace. But yet it's the truth that ultimately brings us to salvation and understanding of our being saved. and will it be saved? So the three verb tenses.

Anyway, so in context, I'm just comparing gold with faith as being a precious and valuable object. And I said here, faith is so much more precious than gold because it's unperishable. That's in the text. And tested by fire. Now, what happens to gold in fire?

So in verse 14 in this chapter, Peter says, for as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. So he goes ahead and points out that silver and gold are corruptible. From your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. So the reason I state this verse is that silver and gold aren't corruptible. And things of the earth corrupt by the environmental circumstances that surround it.

And the result of this whole scenario is that it may be bad to praise, honor, and glory of the revelation of Jesus Christ. So in particular, glory. When we think of glory, we are placed eternally in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. So glory really relates to our ultimate existence journey. I think that that's where it starts to build on the fact that it's the eternal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ that's being expected. And revelation or appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoops, my bad.

So Titus 2.3, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And the rapture, why delay it until then? So the result is that it may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And my question to the class is, the rapture we're looking forward to, it's our hope, it's our glory, to be present with the Lord, to be lifted up with him and eternally in his presence.

Would it have to be? I mean, I think in context, that's what we're talking about here. That nature of the Lord Jesus Christ in each and every one of us is revealed day in and day out, is it not, by the genuineness of our faith? As Hal used to say, ultimately, Cheryl may be the only Bible people ever see. As we think about that in terms of our living in genuineness of faith, uplifted in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ultimately, that itself is a revelation to his praise, honor, and glory, ultimately.

Now, does that go, the true revealing is after that being tried by the fire? Well, tried by the fire, I think it just relates to our faith being tried by fire. It's not damaged, not altered, not, you know, ineffective. The fire we're going through is the trials and tribulations in context.

Well, and to some people, it's just being on the earth. Being in the world system is a trial in itself. I mean, just like what Josiah is saying, we pick up the newspaper, you read, you see the news every day. Being here is a trial. I mean, it may not be, you know, directly affecting my being right just now, but it's a trial. Just being here. Right. So we're foreigners in this land of the earth.

That's a trial in itself. But when we say the Lord, it talks about how all of our deeds will be tested by fire. And I think of that as literally fire. So is this talking about the literal fire, or is this the... No, I think it's our faith being tested by fire. And the fire is our trials and tribulations. And that relates to proven faith.

I mean, we all have things we can share about some of the things we've been through. I mean, I lost a wife at a very young age with five children. And, you know, I can't tell you how many times, first of all the Lord brought me a wonderful second wife who married me with five kids that still worked out of the home. But secondly I can't tell you how many times the Lord has put me in a position of ministering to a man who has lost a wife with kids. sharing through that.

In a sense, it's the testing of my faith that we were uplifted ultimately going forward through a trial that I went through. You can all put that into a personal experience of things you've been through that ultimately put you in a position to be able to comfort someone else. 1 Corinthians 1 is very meaningful here in terms of God's comfort through our trials. We'll not study that here, but maybe that's something we'll want to refer to as we proceed through the study of 1 Peter.

So I'm just going to quickly just show the rest of the handout. I think Jeremy can take up the first eight next week, but I'm going to let him maybe revert back to 6 and 7 to put his touch on it. So my bottom line here is remember even now for me to live as Christ and die as Cain. Either way, you win. There's a victory in living here in the power of the Spirit through the new nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that puts him permanently in his eternal and forever position with Christ.

You know what I'm getting from all this is that faith untested is really bold. What's the source of it? The question is the source of it. But faith when it is tested is that it's true faith and it realizes that, yeah, I and by now he's very mature, he's gone through a lot.

Jim, that doesn't make us robots. The Lord Jesus Christ and the new creations we are in Christ Jesus just doesn't show up and exist. It requires us to put faith in the fact that we've been crucified, buried and risen with him in newness of life. And that faith is ongoing, it's 24-7. We fall short all the time because the human spirit way of times and we confess that.

Remember always no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. You've got to begin now. Remember Romans 7 is there for a reason. We come out of it with there's no condemnation. Let's close with prayer. Jim could you close us with prayer this morning?

Father we thank you so much. You're so dependable. We can trust you in everything we do. everything we say, everything we have to live for. We thank you for your word and we thank you for the joy it brings to us. We ask that you continue to guide us and strengthen us in our walk with you. We ask that you, right now we ask that you bless the room and give them the words that you want us to hear. Speak to each one of us through him. Yes, this is Jesus name. Amen.