Sermon Nuggets Mon June 1, 2009
Theme: Through it All
Verses I Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Scenario of Security
It was a little blurb in the Reader's Digest. A man was sentenced to death and he obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty's horse to fly within the year- on the condition that if he didn't succeed, he would be put to death.
"Within a year" the man explained later, "the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly."
The man was taking the long-range view. What is your view?
Some people live so much in the past they never face their present. Others live only in the present that they have no preparation for the future. Others may live only for the future they fail to appreciate the present. How then out we to live?
Peter declared the recognition of the past, the strength of the present and the hope of the future is what sustains us in our faith.
Last week we looked at the Triune God who planned and executed our salvation. God the Father, who is timeless, saw from the beginning of tim the working out of redemption. 2000 years ago Jesus died on the cross to take our punishment and rose for the grave to win for us the victory. The Holy Spirit takes the truth of Christ and applies to our hearts now and calls us to live in faithfulness and in holiness and we grow in the character of Jesus. Then our goal and direction comes as we place our hope in the return of Christ and the glory that is ours as promised by God. That future goal sustains us.
We began a new series from the letter of Peter to a persecuted people. He wrote reminding them they are chosen of God, the Father who planned their salvation; They have been redeemed by Jesus Christ who purchased their salvation. And they have within them the Holy Spirit who purifies them and protects them until Christ returns. It is important to ponder the wonder of God's love and the reminder that when he brought you this far he is not going to drop you and leave you. You are loved of God. He is to be praised.
This week Peter takes that foundation of hope and shares it with a different perspective to help a suffering and afflicted people. He gives them meaning and purpose in persecution as he shares how to go through hard times.
This week there was much made of the man who won the greatest lottery. He had the winning ticket. But he had not received the check yet. He is living in that which he will receive.
Rejoice in that which has already been sealed for you. We live in the already but not yet time of life. We already have received the promise of God, but not yet realized it and brought into the fulfillment of it.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues June 2, 2009
Verses- 1 Peter 1:6,7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
The Scenario of Suffering: v.6-7
Peter wanted to remind his people of some things when they go through suffering. First he wants them to recognizing suffering is temporary. This message is important to remember for both the attractions of this world and the difficulties of it. It is all temporary.
Of course this was a main theme of Ecclesiasts which we had looked at the last few months. Life like a vapor, a mist, steam from a tea pot. You see it and then it is gone into the air. From God's perspective it is hard to imagine why we give so much attention to the things of this world which is short lived both its pleasure and its pain. But this is all we know.
That does not mean we ought not to enjoy things here. Nor does it mean ought to live lives accepting discomforts and difficulties. It means we ought not to loose perspective of eternity when we are wrapped around the temporary. We can face suffering by looking forward to life and joy with God forever.
Why do people have surgery when they know it's going to hurt? Because they know that for a little while there will be pain and suffering with the hope that it will take care of a problem. In the longer run the disease will cause them more difficulty if not taken care of. Sometimes the pain is so bad that they will endure more pain to correct the pain. Bryan, our son, just had appendix surgery when the pain got too bad it needed attention. Had it not been done he would have died. Further pain was worth it in the long run.
Secondly, suffering is a means of proving faith and is a tool for character building. I think of the training that many of our service men and women go through in order to prepare for the military. Some of the exercises they go through seem senseless. Except when one learns obedience without question in boot camp, they don't have to sit and analyze every movement when their commanding officer gives them an order in battle or warfare. There were many strategies that were not discussed during the Dessert Storm Operation. There would be no victory if each person debated the wisdom of the plans. Each carried out a task that was part of a greater strategic plan unbeknown to some of the Navy, some of the Air Force and Army and Marines, but called to accomplish a total task together that when each did their part out of obedience with the training they have already gone through.
We are called to a much more important conflict than Afghanistan, Iraq or the United States. We are called to a spiritual battle. God knows what He is doing and doesn’t have to reveal the strategies to us. Satan and his evil forces, principalities, and powers use all types of deception, discouragement, disease. Many times we do not even know we are under spiritual attack. But even the trails which are different than temptations are either allowed by God or brought by God to make us stronger in our faith. The advantage is that God is the one in whom our victory and strength is placed even through it is hard. We are victorious as we continue in Him. It is a promise.
There is no question as to who will win, but in the midst of the battles we do not always understand the reason for some of our training and we do not understand where we always fit in the bigger picture. That is where being obedient and trusting in the one who called us into his service is all we need to keep going when success and victory is already promised.
Peter wants them to know that they can stand anything if they remember it is a test. Gold has to be tried and tested and purified with fire so it can be stronger and cleaner and firmer than even before. Fire draws away the crud and impurities; so do trials in this life. When the heart is too attached to the reputation to success, to riches, to health, to family, to jobs, to positions, to possessions, then there needs to be fire to resort our priorities. That is so we can see Jesus only. It has been said that the eastern goldsmith kept the metal in the furnace until he could see his face reflected in it. So our Lord keeps us in the furnace of suffering until we reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ.
It is probable that we will be forcefully separated form many people and things that are precious to us and this separation will involve sorrow and pain. The blessings and gifts that are eternally valid, however, will never be taken from us. The gift of God's Son, the eternal hope renewed in His resurrection, the presence of His Spirit, the salvation which is already ours--these gifts are ours forever, and ought to fill our lives with perpetual praise.
Too many professing Christians have a false faith which is revealed in the trails of the life. This is the story of the wise man and foolish man building their houses one on rock the other on sand. We see their true faith when storms came. One fell the other overcame the storm. The seed that fell on shallow soil produced rootless plant and the plants die when the sun came up. When the person abandons his faith when the going gets tough he is only proving that his attention for faith was on the wrong object.
These are some important things suffering teaches us.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds June 3, 2009
Verses- 1 Peter 1:8,9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
The Scenario of our Savior
Hope in suffering comes from focusing on the work and life of Jesus Christ. Peter reminds the persecuted people they will see Him when He returns and rewards their faithfulness. All rights will be righted when Jesus returns. That is a cause for hope and Paul defines it as a living hope. The important point is that the glory is not fully revealed until Jesus return for His church. Our situations today are preparation for us glory tomorrow.
Peter focused on the life of Christ, His Death, burial and resurrection. But the next event on God’s agenda beyond spreading the victory news is He is coming again. But we are not left alone in this present life. He is with you, though you don't see Him.
Napoleon Bonaparte referred to the mystery of Christian’s affection to an unseen Christ. He recounted how his soldiers fought bravely as long as they saw him in the field, but as soon as he was unseen, their courage flogged and met with defeat. Yet l,000s of Christians in this world have not seen Jesus, but are devoted with passionate zeal to their savior.
Peter did see Jesus. He had the privilege to walk with Him and hear his voice and see his miracles and witness the resurrection as he with his eyes and ears and touch witnesses the living Son of God.
But now people do not see Jesus in his physical form. Yet they love and believe in him and that brings joy. Peter recognizes their love and faith. This was based on a relationship with living Christ, not on that which is seen, but unseen. Jesus promised that very thing when He was standing with Thomas in the upper room following his resurrection. He would not believe in the resurrection without seeing it with his own eyes. Jesus was frank, “You believe because you have seen me, Blessed are those who do not see me yet believe.”
When one commits Himself to Jesus in obedience there is a blessing and awareness of God in ways that science does not understand. Power of faith is stronger than any other power in the world.
The more you love Jesus the more you are aware of His love in your lives through thick and thin. Love and faith go together when you love someone you believe in them when you believe in someone you learn to love them, in holy sense.
How do we grow in the faith? Romans 10:17 reminds us faith come from hearing and hearing from the word of God." We become people of stronger faith by feeding on the Word of God. Trials bring us to the Bible and it sustains us. The key to strength and courage, the ability to endure, and the grace to find beauty and joy even within the crucible experience of our lives is faith. Rejoice in your Salvation.
Likewise, our confidence in what Jesus did, is doing, and will do leads us to joy. That gives encouragement to people who are down. Let God work. Trust His love, His promises and His power.
Abraham discovered new truths about the Lord on the mount where he offered Isaac. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego discovered His nearness when they went through the fiery furnace. Paul learned the sufficiency of God grace when he suffered the thorn in the flesh. The people of faith, Peter are full of joy unspeakable and full of glory. This inner joy is deep and wonderful it is hard to put it into words.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs June 4, 2009
Verses- 1 Peter 1: 10,11 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
The Scenario of the Scriptures
Prophets of old spoke things for our benefit, not theirs. The believers could find it easy to give up because of problems, persecutions and prejudice against them. Who wants to be ostracized by friends and family? It is not easy being a Christian today in our world, but can you imagine what is was like being a Christian in USSR when it was illegal, or Yugoslavia, or Albania? Can you imagine what it is like today for the believers of Jesus in some of the strict Muslim countries like Iraq, Lybia, Iran? What do you think it was like for first century believer in Jesus? They were ostracized from synagogue, from worship, from their Jewish traditions.
Now, keep this in context. Paul is reminding his readers of their Jewish heritage which they love so much. He is pointing to the prophets of the Scriptures whom they love and have been part of their faith- teaching in the Old Testament. Then Peter masterfully reminds them that these prophets, even whom they Rabbis and Jewish teacher and quoting and following today were pointing to the very gospel which you have received. All of the Old Testament writings were pointing to the one who had been revealed to Peter James and John. They did not want to live in the past and they wished they could have what you have. Do you catch that argument? Prophets of old longed for the revelation of the Messiah and now Jesus came. They worked for your benefit.
The words of salvation to you and me are a result of those men and women who met the Lord many centuries before and wrote and thought about that which is to come, the coming of the Messiah. They wrote of the suffering of the Messiah. They were told of the redemption that must be paid for people to be released from bondages. Sure someday God was going to come and free his people and dwell in them. Oh won't that be wonderful? Peter tells them “You are that people.”
Moses promised the land but was not able to go in. For him he worked on a promise that he was not able to see, but wished he could it was for the joy of the Israelites and obedience to God that Moses did what he did. King David dreamed about the temple and wanted so badly to build this magnificent structure of worship to Almighty God but it was not to be, he had shed too much blood. So David did all he could with the energy that he had in peace time to prepare plan and provide for the building but he never saw it. He worked for others to witness the majesty of worship in the grandeur of the building. He worked for others as he was obedient to God. We even see the greatest of prophets, John the Baptist, pointing people to get prepared for the coming Messiah. He longed for the deliverance and peace which he knew Jesus was to provide, but what happened to John? He died before he realized the full implication of his message.
But now the people were recipients of all that which Moses David John and Isaiah, Daniel Ezekiel longed to see and witness and it is ours. We know Christ came, died on the cross for our sins, and was buried and rose again. We know the Holy Spirit comes into the lives of followers of Jesus who commit their lives to Him. We know that God speaks to us and uses and gives us gifts and strength that we can encourage one another to glorify God and bring others to the point in their lives when they hear the call of God in their lives. Are you praying working and helping others to see what great God we have?
Preachers filled with the Holy Spirit speak for your benefit. The message of the preacher was to announce salvation, the good news. They were filled by the Holy Spirit from heaven and proclaimed truth as the Spirit took those words and directed that truth to the hearts of people prepared to receive them.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri June 5, 2009
Verse I Peter 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
The Scenario of Salvation.
As Peter writes to encourage a persecuted people the plan of salvation itself is a privilege to behold. The fact that we are saved is a wonder. How God came to each of us is reason to change our moping to praise.
Angels marvel at God's plan. Even the heavenly beings become observers and not participants in the great Salvation that is ours. How God marvelously calls us, planned our salvation, prepared us, purchased us through the works of the Son and purifies us through the works of the Holy Spirit. Angels long to look into the wondrous works of God that is for our rejoicing.
Dr. Criswall has an interesting illustration regarding the angels. “If I were to say to you, ‘Here is door that opens into heaven, let us look in that door.’ Would we not all eagerly gather around it to look at the vista of glory? Just imagine what you would see. Look and see those gates made out of solid pearl. Look at those foundations-- all the pure gems. Look at that jasper wall. Would you not like to see something like that and would you not be amazed as you look at the golden streets? Gold so valued here will be so plentiful in heaven that you can use it for road material. That is the implication of trying to compare our world to Heaven. And look at that throne-look at the water of life--look at the tree of life--and look at God's redeemed. When I think of standing there, I can hardly take it in.”
But the apostle says the angels crowd around the windows of heaven and look down at us. They are amazed and filled with desire to understand as they see Christ dying for our sins, raised for our justification, and the Spirit of God wooing and convicting the human heart. They are looking down on us, and they are filled with wonder and amazement at what they see. The Bible tells us that there is joy in the presence of angels of God because of one sinner who repents. They look down and are overwhelmed by the grace they see flowing from the wounds of Christ, the salvation that pours from His heart, the blessedness of the cross and the winning of a soul. It is ours for the taking.
What do you say to a persecuted people?
When I had the privilege of teaching pastors in Russia I was told stories of how believers were denied upper education, professional jobs and benefits from the communist regime. They showed pictures to me of their parents and grandparents who were arrested and killed for their faith. The family saw the purpose behind many who died for their faith so that their perseverance would light the nation with the truth of Christ. Now the stories were coming out, the lies of atheistic communism were being challenged.
Joseph Ton was an active Baptist in Rumania. I heard him speak a few years ago in Minneapolis. He ran away from his country to study theology. When he was ready to go back to Rumania some of his friends told him he would not have much chance being a Christian pastor and preacher in that country. He asked God about it and God brought to mind Matt. 10:16 I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves - and seemed to say, "Tell me, what chance does sheep surrounded by wolves have of surviving 5 minutes, let alone of converting the wolves? Joseph, that's how I send you; Totally defenseless and without a reasonable hope of success. If you are willing to go like that go, If you are not willing to be in that position, don't go."
He went. He preached uninhibitedly. Harassment and arrest and persecutions came. One day during interrogation an officer threatened to kill him. Then Joseph Ton said, "Sir, your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. Sir, you know my sermons are all over the country on tapes now. If you kill me I will be sprinkling them with my blood. Whoever listens to them after that will say, "I'd better listen. This man sealed it with his blood." They will speak 10 times louder than before. So go on and kill me. I win the supreme victory then."
The officer sent him home. "That gave me pause. For years I was a Christian who was cautious because I wanted to survive. I had accepted all the restriction the authorities put on me because I wanted to live. Now I wanted to die, and they wouldn't oblige. Now I could do whatever I wanted in Rumania. For years I wanted to save my life, and I was losing it. Now that I wanted to lose it, I was winning it."
Peter knew that. He was trying to convince the followers of Jesus of that. Think of God, your life here is temporary. We are being changed and tested, but think of the joy of your reward. Think of the love of Christ the strength of faith and be filled with the joy of being heaven bound. Many have gone on before you so you might know this wonderful God. Now play your part that others might know too.
Pastor Dale
