March 11, 2025 • 61 mins
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Peter's first epistle serves as a powerful battle manual for believers living in hostile territory, calling Christians to hope, holiness, and steadfast courage while remembering their divine election and blood-bought identity.
• God chose believers before the foundation of the world according to His foreknowledge
• Our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading—kept in heaven and guaranteed
• Trials serve as refining fire, testing the genuineness of faith and making it more precious than gold
• Though we have not seen Christ physically, our belief demonstrates powerful faith that even Peter admired
• We live in an era prophets foretold and angels longed to understand
• Christians are called to prepare their minds for action and pursue holiness in all conduct
• Our redemption came at the cost of Christ's precious blood, not perishable things
• Spiritual warfare requires unity with fellow believers—no lone wolves will survive
• The Word of God is living and abiding, carrying regenerative power to conquer hearts
• Christianity explodes in persecution but often dies in comfort
Every soldier in Christ's army must embrace their election, rest in God's sovereignty, endure the refinery, pursue holiness, love the brotherhood, and proclaim the word until every knee bows to Him.
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Welcome to Christian Warrior Mission: the ministry where Christian warriors are forged, equipped, and united for the battles of life and faith. Our channel is dedicated to empowering you to stand firm, advance the line, and claim victory for Christ’s Kingdom. We offer two powerful streams of content:
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Nehemiah 4:14
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone, happy Lord's Day to you.
Welcome to Christian WarriorMission, a home church,
community ministry and farm thatforges Christian Warriors.
For today's challengesAnnouncement Hopefully we'll
have our first Christian WarriorTalking Forever this Wednesday
at 9 o'clock.
Last time, and then we had afamily emergency.
(00:28):
Everyone's all fine, but one ofthose family things that when
they pop up you got to go all inon, and so we did that as a
family and we're doing that.
So we asked for prayers Again.
No one's hurt, no one's sick,no one's whatever.
No one's hurt, no one's sick,no one's whatever, just maturing
processes.
So let's just put it that wayand we ask your prayers on that.
(00:55):
Another reminder the only otherannouncement I have which is
amazing that I only have two isour first men's fellowship fire
will be Friday, march 21st at 7pm up at Warriors Rest Fire Pit.
Please always be on ourFacebook event page.
Really appreciate it if youguys let us know so we know how
many people we're looking at.
We appreciate everyone who'scoming to that and no matter if
(01:20):
it's one or 20, we'll have agreat time.
All right, so without furtherado, I want to talk a little bit
about I believe Trump's Stateof the Union hat.
Was that this week?
Yeah, president Trump's Stateof the Union One of the best
(01:45):
speeches I've seen.
You know, I think Reagan didsome better ones or did a better
one, but that was top five,absolutely amazing.
And what we saw there was asecular president who I don't
think is Christian, gettingthings more clear than most
pastors do in America, at leastthe beta church, where you know
(02:11):
they believe in 126 genders,rainbow flags, the whole thing.
So our president got up thereand said there are two genders
and that our kids are madeperfectly by their creator.
We're not going to tell kidsthere's something.
They're made wrong, they'retrapped in the wrong body.
They were made perfect just theway they are by God.
(02:33):
So I wish more pastors wouldsay that and we'd have a lot
less issues in this country, Ibelieve, if we had our clergy
and our men of God speaking thatclearly, which we do here, and
there are others, but far toomany don't.
All right, so that's all I'mgoing to talk about.
(02:53):
We're going to read the newbook today.
We wrapped up the book of James.
We're starting 1 Peter today,so let's go to prayer.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your word.
We thank you for your word.
We thank you for your body,lord.
We thank you for our countlessblessings and we thank you most
(03:13):
of all for your divine grace inchoosing us when we were still
your enemies.
Lord, you chose us before wechose you.
Lord, thank you for calling ushome.
Thank you for writing our nameinto the book of life and
choosing us before thefoundations of the earth.
(03:36):
Lord, we're going to talk aboutthis today in the sermon.
Give me the words, your words,not mine.
Lord, help me communicate whatyou would have us know about.
1 Peter, 1.
Lord, we thank you for yourcommon grace, your creation,
this universe, the sun, the moon, the stars, everything on this
(04:00):
planet, the mountains to theoceans, and everything in
between, all the creatures,plants.
Lord, we thank you for therelationships in our life and
everyone who's in them.
Lord, help us not to take anyof them for granted.
Lord, we thank you for thesebodies that you gave us, the
trillions of cells that have towork near perfectly to even be
(04:22):
here.
Thank you for giving us anotherday working there perfectly to
even be here.
Thank you for giving us anotherday.
So now, lord, we ask for you tofill this room with the Holy
Spirit, to open ears and give usdiscernment to find your truth,
the only truth that matters.
I pray that this time wouldplease you and only you, and
serve only you and only you.
(04:42):
Pray that we would proclaim youwith every breath of our lungs
and serve you with every beat ofour hearts.
In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.
All right, and for those of youwho don't know how to pray and
again I'm not saying that I do avery good job at it, there are
some far better than I thesimplest prayer, a child's
prayer, is often the best Justapproaching God in humility and
(05:07):
telling him what you need helpwith, or just surrendering to
him.
You know, paul watched hisprayer, which I thought was so
profound, you know, you know,you know.
But there's also a structure tothis and we can look to Matthew
6, 9 through 13, again, like wedo every week, as a model on
(05:29):
how to pray, when our disciplesask Jesus how should they pray,
and this is what he said OurFather, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, andlead us not in temptation, but
deliver us from evil, for thineis the kingdom, the power and
(05:50):
the glory forever.
Amen, all right, so today'ssermon is I call, forged by Fire
, standing in Triumph, this is 1Peter, 1.
So Peter comes right afterJames.
We're going line by line, verseby verse, and 1 Peter is a
(06:10):
battle manual for believersliving in hostile territory.
In the early church, persecutionwasn't theoretical, it was
lethal.
Yet Peter, under theinspiration of the Holy Spirit,
calls us to hope, holiness andsteadfast courage as Christian
warriors.
We know Christ reigns as king,now subduing his enemies and
(06:33):
establishing his kingdomprogressively across the earth.
This letter fortifies us forthat mission us for that mission
.
There's a lot of people, or nota lot.
There's some who believe that 1Peter was written in response
(06:53):
to.
There was a horrific fire inRome in 64 AD and some
hypothesized that Nero said itand blamed it on the Christians.
So he burned down Rome and thenblamed it on the Christians.
And some believe that thisletter was in response to what
(07:16):
was about to happen and thepersecution that was about to
happen to Christians that theywere about to, in a very short
window, experience horriblepersecution and be put to death
that they were about to, in avery short window, experience
horrible persecution and be putto death.
A larger portion of thepopulation believes that Peter
is just talking aboutpersecution in general and in
(07:36):
other locations, because hedoesn't mention Rome
specifically.
So again, you decide.
Either way it applies.
Peter's teaching us how to dealwith troubling times and to find
joy in it.
So before I read the text, I'dlike to paraphrase John Calvin
(08:00):
God's eternal decree the bloodof Christ and the power of the
Spirit together form aninvincible bulwark of hope.
Peter is talking about hope nomatter what you're going through
, hope for your reward in heaven.
Okay, so let us march throughthese verses, each revealing our
identity, our calling and ourunstoppable inheritance in
(08:23):
Christ Jesus.
Our calling and our unstoppableinheritance in Christ Jesus.
Some other things that we canlook to other than the scripture
we're about to read is Psalm4611.
The Lord, our host, is with us.
The God of Jacob is ourfortress.
Even in times of lethalpersecution, god remains our
fortress.
And then Proverbs 21, 31.
(08:45):
The horse is made ready for theday of battle, but the victory
belongs to the Lord.
A reminder that we must prepare.
The final triumph is God's.
And then, to quote Augustine ofHippo, hope is two beautiful
daughters, and this floored me.
Their names are Anger andCourage Anger at the way things
(09:06):
are and Courage to see that theydo not remain as they are.
That's powerful.
So let's go to God's Word now.
This is the Word of God, peter,an apostle of Jesus Christ, to
those who reside as exilesscattered throughout Pontus,
(09:26):
galatia, cappadocia, asia,bithynia and Bithynia, who are
chosen according to theforeknowledge of God the Father,
who are chosen according to theforeknowledge of God the Father
.
God the Father, by thesanctifying work of the Spirit,
(09:47):
to the obedience of Jesus Christand the sprinkling of his blood
.
May grace and peace multiplywith you.
So Calvinists, don't have aproblem.
You know this is one of theirprimary.
You know scripture verses quotedFor those of us who are chosen
according to the foreknowledgeof God the Father.
(10:07):
We'll talk about that later.
I'm going to go through it.
I just want to point that out.
In verse 3, picking it upBlessed be the God and Father
and our Lord, jesus Christ, who,according to his great mercy,
has caused us to be born againto a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christfrom the dead to obtain an
(10:30):
inheritance incorruptible andundefiled and unfading, having
been kept in heaven.
For you, who are protected bythe power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to berevealed in the last time,
through faith for a salvationready to be revealed in the last
time, In this you greatlyrejoice, even though now, for a
(10:52):
little while, if necessary, youhave been grieved by various
trials, so that the proof ofyour faith, being made more
precious than gold, which isperishable even though tested by
fire, may be found to result inpraise and glory and honor at
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And although you have not seenhim, you love him.
(11:16):
And though you do not see himnow, but believe in him, you
rejoice with joy inexpressibleand full of glory, receiving as
the outcome of your faith thesalvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, theprophets who were prophesied of
(11:36):
the grace that would come to youmade careful searches and
inquiries, inquiring to knowthat time, of what kind of time
the Spirit of Christ within themwas indicating, as he was
predicting the sufferings ofChrist and the glories to follow
.
It was revealed to them thatthey were not serving themselves
(12:08):
, but you and these things whichnow have been declared to you
through those who proclaim thegospel to you by the Holy Spirit
, sent from heaven, things intowhich angels long to look.
Therefore, having girded yourminds for action, being sober in
spirit, fix your hopecompletely on the grace to be
(12:29):
brought to you at the revelationof Jesus Christ, as obedient
children not being conformed tothe former lusts which were
yours in your ignorance, but,like the Holy One who called you
, be holy yourselves also in allyour conduct.
Because it is written, youshall be holy, for I am holy and
(12:51):
if you address as Father theone who impartially judges
according to one's work, conductyourself in fear during the
time of your sojourn, knowingyou are not redeemed with
(13:16):
corruptible things like silveror gold.
Only five more verses.
He was foreknown before thefoundations of the world, but
appeared in these last times forthe sake of you who, through
him, are believers in God, whoraised him from the dead and
gave him glory, so that yourfaith and hope are in God, since
(13:42):
you have an obedience and truth.
Purifies your souls with thelove of the brothers, without
hypocrisy.
Fervently love one another fromthe heart, For you have been
born again, not of corruptibleseed, not of corruptible seed,
but incorruptible, that is,through the living and enduring
(14:02):
word of God.
For all flesh is like grass andall its glory is like the
flower of the grass.
The grass withers and theflowers fall off, but the word
of the Lord endures forever andthis is the word which was
proclaimed to you as good news.
I know that's a lot and we gotto break it all down, but I
(14:23):
wanted to put it all out thereto start with, and then I I
wanted to put it all out thereto start with, and then I can go
to my notes here.
So Peter 1, verses 1 and 2.
Elect exiles under the triune.
So Peter, who is Peter?
Well, we know Peter was renamedCephas or Rock, and he is not
(14:51):
coming to you in humbleness thistime, as in some letters, as,
like Paul, has come in humility.
He's coming in authority, he'sdefining himself right off as
the apostle of Jesus Christ.
The sent ones.
Okay, so those are our electexiles.
And the dispersions, as we heard, in Asia and Bithynia, galatia,
(15:17):
cappadocia, pontus.
So this sets the authoritativetone we receive in apostolic
directive from the veryfoundations of the church.
This is somebody who walkedwith Christ, knew him dearly,
who Christ appeared to,witnessed him go to heaven and
is the pillar of the earlychurch.
All right, who is he talking to?
(15:39):
The elect exiles.
Believers addressed here arescattered throughout Asia Minor,
facing social ostracism andofficial prosecution.
The term that he uses elect iselectoises.
Electoises is Greek.
I don't know if I said it right, but the original Greek word
underscores God's sovereignchoice.
(16:00):
We are chosen from before thefoundations of the world.
This again clashes with a lotof recent Christianity recent in
the past hundred years wherepeople believe they choose God
(16:22):
Time and time again, others whobelieve, like I do.
We see that God chooses us, andthis is Peter saying it right
to our face.
So the exiles, which meanssojourners or pilgrims, not
because earth belongs to Satan,but because the world's fallen
system is foreign to those loyalto King Jesus.
(16:43):
As we know and we saw in James,if you are friends with the
world, you're going to be anenemy of Christ.
We also see foreknowledge of God, the Father.
Foreknowledge does not merelymean divine foresight.
In Reformed theology itconnotes foreordination, god's
loving plan from eternity.
(17:03):
God chose you back at thebeginning of time.
This underscores God'sinitiative.
Our salvation and station inlife aren't accidents.
We serve at the pleasure of ourall-serving commander, jesus
Christ.
You were brought and paid for.
(17:24):
He chose you.
He breathed and paid for.
He chose you.
He breathed life into you.
He breathed eternal life intoyou.
So we also see the Spirit setsus apart, that it consecrates us
as holy warriors.
(17:44):
This is an ongoing process.
This is your sanctification.
The Christian life is aspiritual battle where the
Spirit actively mortifies sinand conforms us to Christ.
And then to the fifth point,which was the sprinkling of
blood, which is an interestingchoice of words there in verse 2
(18:05):
.
Father in the sanctification ofthe Spirit for obedience to
Jesus Christ, the sprinklingwith his blood.
Obedience to Christ is thehallmark of being his disciple.
Again, james talks about doingrather than just saying Okay.
So again, obedience in thesprinkling of the blood refers
(18:26):
to we were paid for and boughtwith Jesus's blood.
The sprinkling draws an OldTestament sacrificial imagery
where they would sprinkle theblood and splatter it on the
altar.
The shed blood of Christ sealsour covenant with God, cleansing
us from guilt and ratifying ourrelationship with him.
Us from guilt and ratifying ourrelationship with them.
(18:46):
We can also notice Trinitarians, people who believe in a triune
God that Peter here is writing.
In that way, he's observing theTrinity the Father foreknows
and elects, the Spiritsanctifies and the Son sprinkles
us with atoning blood.
The entire Godhead is engagedin our salvation.
This is an unassailablefoundation of our faith.
(19:12):
So what's our application tothis?
We need to do an identity check.
Are you living as one chosen byGod, yet willing to stand out
as an exile and a culturehostile to biblical truth?
Many of us have experiencedcancel culture and had struggles
(19:34):
.
You know we're not likepersecution in Africa or the
Middle East or in other horribleplaces, but are you willing to
stand and be persecuted?
I know some who are not, whoclaim to be devout Christians,
who will post on social media tosupport LGBTQ Appreciation Day,
(20:00):
knowing that it totallycontradicts their faith and they
think they're a Christian.
It's cowardice.
It's denying God to his face,or denying God to man, and when
he comes to you, he will denyyou to your face.
No matter what you do.
We do not deny our Lord andSavior.
(20:22):
So the warrior perspective isaccept your commission from a
triune God.
You belong to his kingdom.
Every breath you take isdivinely ordained mission.
So now let's go to see whereelse can we find support for
this On Psalm 139.16, your eyessaw my unformed substance and
(20:46):
your book were written every oneof them, the days that were
formed for me, when as yetthrough was none of them, when
as yet through was not one ofthem.
A clear testimony to God'sforeordained plan.
Once you see Calvinism, or Godchoosing you, it's hard to unsee
(21:14):
.
I'm the most reluctantCalvinist there ever was.
I hate authority.
I don't like being told what todo.
I want to have a choice ineverything, but I can't deny
what I see.
And then, in Proverbs 69, theheart of man plays his way,
plans his way, but the Lordestablishes his steps,
reinforcing God's initiative inour lives.
Forcing God's initiative in ourlives In the wise words of John
(21:37):
Chrysostom he that chooses uswhen we are strangers will not
abandon us when we journey asexiles.
Now we go to verses 3 through 5,a living hope through Christ's
resurrection.
Blessed the God of God andFather, our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to his great mercy,he has caused us to be born
again.
(21:57):
To a living hope through theresurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, to an inheritancethat is imperishable, undefiled
and unfading, kept in heavenfor you by who who, by God's
power, are being guarded throughfaith for a salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time,for a salvation ready to be
(22:19):
revealed in the last time.
So, first verse Blessed be God.
The doxology again.
For those who don't know whatdoxology means and I didn't know
what doxology meant until I hadto do my homework it's Greek.
Doxology is doxa, which meansglory, and logia, which is
speech.
So glory, speech to God.
(22:39):
We are not merely analyzingfacts.
We are worshiping the livingGod who has acted mightily on
our behalf and then, as we see,born again to a living hope.
Living hope stands in a contrastto dead, worldly hopes that
crumble with time.
Our hope is eternally alivebecause it is anchored in
(23:00):
Christ's resurrection.
The new birth is a work ofdivine mercy.
He caused us to be born again.
We cannot resurrect ourselves.
God regenerates us and ourinheritance, as we see,
(23:22):
described by three adjectives inGreek incorruptible, undefiled
and unfading.
The inheritance belongs to theeternal kingdom.
No moth or rust or earthlytyrant, no devil can rob it.
Wrath or rust or earthly tyrant, no devil can rob it.
Guarded by God's power, god'spower ensures both.
(23:48):
The inheritance is safe and youare safe.
This double security the prizeis kept and the people are kept
is our battle guarantee.
We fight from a place of surevictory.
For those of us who arepost-mill, myself being one of
them, we do not cower waitingfor an escapist deliverance.
(24:09):
We don't believe that the mostspoiled, coddled generation is
going to be airlifted out rightbefore life gets hard.
We advance with confidence,knowing our ultimate inheritance
is guaranteed.
The resurrection provesChrist's lordship over sin,
death and everything in everyearthly dominion.
So how do we apply thisSpiritual warfare?
(24:35):
The resurrection is yourstandard standard.
When the enemy whispers despair, you wave the banner of the
empty tomb.
Heavenly minded, earthly good,because our inheritance is in
heaven.
We confidently labor on earth.
We are not retreating to thehills, we're pressing the
(24:58):
assault, certain of the finaltriumph.
This is my big problem withpre-mill.
Pre-mill, which is the rapturecrowd.
So often they just they'requitters.
They hide away.
They don't think they're goingto have any effect because
they're going to leave in thenext second, even before they
(25:21):
could breathe out the nextsecond.
Time and time again, you lookat them.
They're completely withoutorder.
There's no tactics in what theydo, it's just random, chaos and
inefficient and it's aself-fulfilling prophecy of doom
.
Whereas post-mill, 12knuckleheads which were the
(25:49):
disciples became over a billionChristians already.
Where can we find otherscripture to support this?
In Psalms 16, 9-10?
.
Therefore, my heart is glad andmy glory rejoices.
My flesh will dwell securely,for you will not abandon my soul
to Sheol, you will not giveyour holy ones over to seek
corruption.
This is a prophetic foretasteof Christ's resurrection, our
(26:11):
living hope.
And then in Proverbs 23, 18,surely there is a future and
your hope will not be cut off.
Our inheritance means secure,and our early church father
Athanasius, said he became whatwe are, that he might make us
what he is, and that's what thiswhole sanctification process is
(26:36):
.
God made you one way, wrote yourstory long ago, what you would
be to reach another class ofpeople, a certain group, me as a
former atheist, me as a formermilitary guy, former cop.
I resonate with certain people.
There are some people who Isound like probably rightly so
(27:00):
like fingernails on a chalkboard.
But to others I'm speakingexactly in their frequency that
they need to hear it in.
And he wrote that story so whenI got saved I'd stop being like
me and being more like him thathe would make us what he is.
(27:23):
So, verses 6 through 9, trialsin the forge of authentic faith.
To recap, in these you rejoice,though now for a little while,
if necessary.
You have been grieved byvarious trials so that the
tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that
(27:44):
perishes though it is tested byfire, may be found to result in
praise and glory and honor atthe revelation of Jesus Christ.
And I'll get to 8 and 9.
I'll read those second becauseI think it's great that Peter
acknowledged this and it'sbrilliant.
We were always told by PaulJames to rejoice in persecution.
(28:11):
We hold two realities intension genuine grief and
abiding joy.
Christian warriors do not denyhardship.
We rejoice in it, not becauseof it, though.
In today's prosperity gospel,if someone has any hard time,
(28:39):
they're rocked Because theythink they're supposed to have
this gentle ride here.
You know, sometimes you seethese stories of sick kids,
right?
You see these stories of sickkids who die early, or a godly
person who was called home andthe most godly good person that
(29:02):
you know gets cancer, and howthey handle that has far more
impact than if they had lived afull life with no trials, just
walking on the beach picking upshells.
(29:24):
God tests us so that otherswill see oh well, you drive a
nice car, you have a nice house,you have a great family.
Of course you're a Christian,right?
You don't have any hard days.
Well, we all know that's nottrue, right.
But when everyone knows you'regoing through a hard time and
(29:45):
you still have the joy of Christ.
I've seen this once before andit broke me in a good way.
So again, rejoicing in presenttrials.
When hard times come upon you,if they're of your own doing
(30:15):
well, there's a chance to digyourself out of a hole, right
Time to repent, turn and learnfrom it.
If they're not of your doingand they're a test from the Lord
, rejoice in them, because yourfaith is going to be made that
much stronger afterwards, ifnecessary, which is part of the
in the this is in verse six.
(30:44):
If you rejoice, though now fora little while, if necessary,
you have been grieved by varioustrials.
So the if necessary thererefers to trials serve a divine
purpose.
They are not random accidentsbut are precisely measured by a
wise God for our growth.
Isn't it great to know that ifwe suffer, it serves a purpose.
It serves a purpose.
It's not random chaos, but partof his divine plan for his
(31:12):
glory, and we can surrender tothat.
So test the genuineness right,as we see here in verse 7.
Ancient gold refinement usedintense heat to burn away
impurities.
Trials do the same to our faith.
(31:34):
True faith emerges stronger,shining, with the heavenly
luster that testifies to God'spower.
And now here is the part that Iwanted to read separately, and
this is 8 and 9.
Though you have not seen him,you loved him talking about
Jesus.
Though you do not now see him,you believe in him and rejoice
(31:58):
with joy that is inexpressibleand filled with glory, obtaining
the outcome of your faith thesalvation of your souls.
Why do you think Peter's sayingthat?
Who denied Christ three times?
Peter?
Who didn't believe that Jesuscame back from the dead?
(32:18):
Peter?
Who didn't believe that Jesuscame back from the dead?
Peter?
They thought it was over.
They thought the guy who theywitnessed do all these miracles
was over.
And now Peter is talking tothem.
Though you have not seen him,you love him.
Peter knew him and loved him.
(32:44):
Imagine the spiritual jealousythat Peter must have at these
people of greater faith thanhe's ever had.
Though you do not now see him,you believe in him and rejoice
with joy that is inexpressibleand filled with glory.
Peter had walked with Christ inthe flesh.
(33:09):
The readers of his letters havenot.
That's just just, I think.
I look at that as a salute anda praise.
And then the final salvationfor your souls.
The final outcome of genuinefaith is complete salvation.
(33:31):
Soteria from the Greek wordSoteria.
Well, salvation is a presentreality.
It also unfolds in the fullnessof Christ's return.
God uses trials now to prepareus for his glory.
Then, okay, what's theperspective from the warrior
(33:52):
side of this?
What's our perspective?
Trials are training.
Accept them as your spiritualboot camp.
A soldier untested by conflictremains unproven.
Refuse, defeat.
Trials are not obstacles toyour destiny.
They are stepping stonestowards maturity and ultimate
(34:12):
victory.
Don't look at obstacles as awall.
They're a ladder.
They're a ladder.
So, application, endurehardships with resolve.
Let adversity drive you deeperinto scripture and prayer.
Cultivate joy in the fire.
This is almost impossible, butwe're called to do it and some
(34:39):
do.
Like I said, I've seen it onceand it was the most beautiful
thing I've ever saw.
This joy sets us apart frompanicked despair, from a panic,
despairing world.
People see your resolute hopeand wonder about the king you
serve, if you and that fire canfind joy.
This is why Christianityexploded in the Roman Empire
(35:00):
when people were getting fed tolions, when people were being
lit on fire in sconces on thestreet the Roman candles, when
they were having all thesethings and they went there with
joy.
When they were having all thesethings and they went there with
joy, they knew that their fakegods could not produce that in
(35:24):
them.
They knew Aphrodite or Apolloor whatever.
Zeus did not do that to them.
Yet these Christians hadsomething real.
Psalm 66.10 says For you, o God,have tested us, you have tried
us as silver has tried.
(35:45):
God's refining process is bothbiblical and benevolent.
Proverbs 17.3 says the crucibleis for silver and the furnace
is for gold.
And the Lord tests hearts.
Trials reveal the genuinenessof our devotion and love for him
.
And then Tertullian said theblood of martyrs is the seed of
(36:09):
the church.
Suffering for Christ yieldsexpansion and deeper faith.
Christianity explodes inpersecution.
It dies in comfort.
Let's go to verses 10 through12.
Prophetic longing and angelicwonder, wonder Concerning this
(36:38):
salvation.
The prophets who prophesiedabout the grace that was to be
yours searched and inquiredcarefully, inquiring what person
or time the Spirit of Christ inthem was indicating when he
predicted the sufferings ofChrist and the subsequent
glories.
It was revealed to them thatthey were serving not themselves
but you and the things thathave now been announced to you,
(37:04):
things into which angels long tolook.
Prophets searched and inquiredthe Old Testament prophets
Isaiah, isaiah, jeremiah, davidreceived glimpses of the Messiah
, his suffering and subsequentglory, and yet yearned to see
his fulfillment.
They were like scouts reportingfrom afar, awaiting the final
(37:29):
invasion of grace in ChristPeter.
The Spirit of Christ Peterclarifies.
The same Holy Spirit at work inthe prophets was testifying
about Christ.
God orchestrated Scripture'sunity across centuries.
66 books across thousands ofyears.
(37:51):
Books across thousands of years.
What's the post-millsignificance of this?
We live in an era the prophetsforetold, witnessing the
unstoppable advance of thegospel.
The baton is in our hands.
(38:12):
God's chosen means to spreadChrist's domination or dominion
is the preaching of the word andthe obedience of the church.
God's chosen means to spreadChrist's dominion is the
preaching of the word and theobedience of the church.
So if everyone says that we'relosing, how are we losing?
(38:33):
Twelve knuckleheads are nowbillions of Christians.
The conquering of this world bya Christ Savior doesn't go in a
straight line.
It goes like this you want toknow how the church is winning.
Where do you think everyhospital came from in the
(38:54):
beginning?
Church planted them.
Where do you think Harvard camefrom?
Church planted college,seminary, oxford, on and on.
The church taking ground.
Now, in our secular world, havewe lost some of that?
Have we dipped?
Yep.
Have our seminaries becomecemeteries?
(39:17):
Yep.
But we're still progressingupward.
We're still progressing upward.
So our application we mustmarvel at Scripture.
We hold in our hands whatprophets and angels could only
glimpse from a distance.
David didn't have this, mosesdidn't have this, joseph didn't
(39:46):
have this.
We can pick this up at any timethey would have died a thousand
times over for this and jointhe mission.
Scripture reveals God'sredemptive blueprint.
Our generation is called topush forward, trusting the
unstoppable victory of KingJesus.
So if you want to see theforetelling of Christ's
(40:12):
crucifixion, you can go back toDavid in Psalm 22.
David's prophecy prophesiesChrist's suffering centuries
before fulfillment.
It talks about piercing hishands.
It talks about dividing hisclothes.
It talks about it's so clear,father, father, why have you
(40:34):
forsaken me?
That's where that comes from.
That's Psalm 22.
Christ, when he says thosewords, is describing the scene
from Scripture in front of him,fulfilling prophecy after
(40:55):
prophecy after prophecy.
And in Proverbs 35, every wordof God proves true.
The prophets' words standconfirmed in Christ Jesus, or
it'd stand confirmed in ChristJesus.
(41:16):
Athanasius gave us some guidanceon this.
The Holy Scriptures have beenproclaimed by the Spirit of God.
Let us then rightly interpretthese sacred tests concerning
Christ.
Rightly interpret them.
13 through 16, a call to action, holiness and more time.
(41:36):
Therefore, preparing your mindsfor action and being
sober-minded.
Set your hope fully on thegrace that will be brought to
you at the revelation of JesusChrist.
As obedient children, do not beconformed to the passions of
your former ignorance.
Do not be conformed to thepassions of your former
ignorance.
But as he who called you isholy, you also must be holy in
all your conduct.
(41:57):
Since it is written, you shallbe holy, for I am holy.
So prepare your minds.
The Greek phrase literallymeans gird up, gird up the loins
of your mind.
Referencing now soldiers ortravelers would tuck their robes
(42:23):
in to move swiftly, to getready to fight.
This is mental discipline.
Christian warriors must notallow sloppy thinking or moral
compromise.
Clear biblical thinking isessential for spiritual battle.
Be sober-minded.
(42:44):
Sober-mindedness contrasts withspiritual drunkenness, being
alert versus careless.
The world tries to intoxicateus with idols, false doctrines
and secular illusions.
False doctrines and secularillusions.
Don't fall for them.
Set your hope fully on futuregrace.
We are forward-facing soldiers,eyes on Christ's final
revelation, anchoring ourpresent actions in the certainty
of a future glory.
(43:06):
And now the hard one, thehardest of the hard ones.
A life of holiness, the hardestof the hard ones, a life of
holiness.
The standard be holy, for I amholy.
Leviticus 11.44.
Holiness means separation fromsin and devotion to God.
This is the warrior's code ofconduct strict, uncompromising
(43:29):
loyalty.
Uncompromising loyalty.
How unfaithful and how disloyalare we to Christ?
We betray him with our tongueconstantly, our minds often, our
(43:50):
actions too frequently.
If we started looking at thatas betrayal, since all we all
want, every person wants loyalty.
It's the thing we want most,yet do we give it.
So our application mental checkare you girded up for spiritual
(44:14):
warfare or entangled in worldlydistractions?
Yes, both times.
Practical holiness.
Identify areas of moralcompromise, repent, then
discipline yourself like anelite soldier.
(44:38):
Psalm 119.9 says how can a youngman keep his way pure?
By guarding it.
According to your word, themore time in this, the less
you're going to do anything else.
Proverbs 4.23.
Keep your heart with allvigilance for from and flow the
springs of life.
(44:58):
Sobriety and vigilance go handin hand.
You can't be drunk and vigilant.
It doesn't work that way.
You can't be high and vigilantit doesn't work that way.
Ignatius of Antioch said it isfitting, then, not only to be
called Christians but to be soin reality.
(45:18):
For your holiness is a terrorto the evil one man I love
language like that so much ofthe church is hiding and in fear
, and here we have our holinessis terror, like an evil to the
evil one.
Wrap it up now 17 through 21.
(45:44):
Conduct in reverent fear,blood-bought and battle-ready.
So I'll pick it up in verse 17.
And if you call on him asfather who judges impartially,
conduct yourself with fearthroughout the time of your
(46:04):
exile.
Exile meaning your time here onearth, knowing that you were
ransomed from the feudal waysinherited from your forefathers,
not with perishable things, butwith the precious blood of
Christ, like that of a lamb,without blemish or spot.
He foreknew before thefoundations of the world but was
made manifest in the last timefor your sake, who, through him,
(46:28):
are believers in God, so thatyour faith and hope are in God.
Fear.
A lot of people have a hardtime with fearing God.
This fear is not a coweringterror at a monster, but a deep
awe and respect for God'sholiness and his role as judge.
We're not fearing some bad guy.
(46:51):
We're not fearing some bad guy.
We stand in awe and respect.
It anchors us in accountability.
We do not want to fightaccording to our whims, but
under the watchful eye of a justand loving Father Ransom from
our futile ways.
What are we talking about here?
(47:15):
Many of us come fromgenerational curses.
I come from many of themAlcoholism, lying, atheism,
unbelief, sexual promiscuity.
Our sinful traditions, paganphilosophies or personal vices
have been broken by Christ'sredemption.
(47:36):
It was broken and paid for bythe currency.
Was Christ's blood a sacrificebeyond measure?
You were paid for and bought atgreat cost, christ foreknown.
(48:00):
Again we see God's eternal plan.
The Lamb was chosen before theworld's foundation to redeem us.
There is no plan B.
In the kingdom, god does notfail.
Be in the kingdom, god does notfail.
(48:22):
Through Christ, we trust Godfully.
Our fear is tempered by loveand our love is fueled by awe.
Application, blood-boughtidentity.
You are not your own.
You serve under theblood-sprinkled banner of the
cross.
Conduct worthy of the price.
Psalm 2, 11 says Serve the Lordwith fear and rejoice with
(48:52):
trembling.
This reverent fear is theposture of a loyal subject
Proverbs 14, 27,.
The fear of Yahweh is thefountain of life To turn aside
from the snares of death.
Fear anchored in God islife-giving, not crippling, and
Martin Luther said this.
No one can imagine or estimatewhat it cost our dear Lord and
(49:14):
Savior to redeem us from sin,from the devil, from death and
hell.
Okay, last three versesBrotherly love through the
enduring word, having purifiedyour souls by obedience to the
truth for a sincere brotherlylove.
Love one another earnestly,from a pure heart, since you
(49:36):
have been born again, not ofperishable seed but of an
imperishable, but animperishable through the living
and abiding word of God.
For all, the flesh is likegrass, but the word of the Lord
remains forever and his word isthe good news that was preached
to you.
Purified soul and brotherhoodis love.
Holiness always manifestshorizontally as well, leading to
(50:02):
genuine sacrificial love forfellow saints.
The spiritual war is not wagedby lone wolves.
You will fall, you will fall,and you will fall if you are
alone.
We conquer by an unbreakablearmy of believers, united in
truth, born again through theimperishable word.
(50:26):
The word of God is living andabiding, carrying a creative,
regenerative power.
The more you read this book,the more times you read this
book, the more you regenerate,the closer you get to God.
Magic is the wrong word.
It's miraculous.
Human glory faints like grass,but scripture stands in charge.
(50:49):
Kingdoms rise and fall.
The word continues to conquerhearts and nations.
And then, finally, the wordpreached, the good news is the
unstoppable gospel, the means bywhich the kingdom of Christ
expands.
For a post-mill worldview, thepreached word is an unstoppable
force bringing every knee to bowto Christ over time.
(51:12):
Unstoppable force bringingevery knee to bow to Christ over
time.
So, application, army of love,fight your battles in unity with
the church.
Let brotherly affection markyour fellowship.
Stay in the word.
If the word endures forever,feed on it daily.
The neglect of scripture isspiritual suicide in this war.
Let me say that again.
(51:32):
Neglect of scripture isspiritual suicide in this war.
Let me say that again, neglectof Scripture is spiritual
suicide in this war.
Psalm 133.1 says Behold howgood and pleasant it is when
brothers dwell in unity.
True unity in the church is aforce multiplier.
And then one of my favoritesProverbs, 27.17, iron sharpens
iron.
(51:52):
One man sharpens another.
We cultivate each other'sstrength and brotherly love.
Jerome said ignorance ofscripture is ignorance of Christ
.
We must root our fellowship andgrowth in the imperishable word
.
So conclusions Stand victorious.
(52:12):
First, peter reveals our holyidentity and glorious destiny.
We are elect exiles drafted bythe King of Kings.
We possess a living homesecured by Christ's resurrection
.
Our trials refine us, notdestroy us.
We stand on the shoulders ofprophets and under angelic
observation, fulfilling God'sredemptive plan in history.
Holiness is our call.
(52:33):
Reverend fear our posture.
Fear of the Lord.
If you fear the Lord, you needfear nothing else.
Brotherly love cements ourunity and God's word is our
immortal weapon.
So your final charge is thisEmbrace your election, rest in
(52:54):
God's sovereignty, but nevergrow lazy.
Every soldier answers the callto arms.
Cling to the resurrection whenthe darkness taunts, you
reminded that Christ crushed thegrave.
Endure the refinery.
Wear your scars as marks ofgrace.
No training is wasted.
Pursue holiness.
Draw your lines in the sand.
Let no sin cross.
(53:14):
God demands no less than fullloyalty.
Love the brotherhood.
Lock shields with your fellowwarriors.
The enemy cannot break a unitedfront.
Proclaim the word.
Preaching the gospel is theunstoppable siege engine of
Christ's kingdom.
The earth is Yahweh's, as wellas its fullness, the world and
(53:37):
those who dwell in it.
Psalm 24.
He reigns now and we press hisvictory forward until every knee
bows to him, with Peter as ourapostolic field commander and
the Holy Spirit as our power.
Go forth, soldier of Christ,unwavering, unashamed, starting
the final triumph from Jesus'mighty name, solely to Gloria.
(53:59):
Glory to God alone.
All right, we're going to do theLord's Supper, okay.
(54:25):
Okay, here comes the hardestpart.
There we go.
Okay, we do the Lord's Supperevery week, so remember this is
(54:46):
for baptized believers.
If you're doing it at home,make sure that you understand
the consequences.
1 Corinthians, 11, 27 through32.
Whoever, therefore, eats thebread or drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner willbe guilty concerning the body
and the blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself,then, and so eat of the bread
and drink of the cup, for anyonewho eats and drinks without
(55:08):
discerning the body, eats anddrinks, judgment on himself.
All right, so go ahead andclose your eyes.
First, let's remember that thisis a victory celebration that
Christ came and fought for ushere on this earth, by serving
(55:33):
as the perfect sacrifice.
Born of a virgin conceived bythe Holy Spirit, through the
Holy Spirit, lived a perfectlife, was crucified on the cross
, bore the wrath of God and paidfor our sin, rose from the
(55:55):
grave three days later andascended to the right hand of
the Father where he serves asking and judge over the entire,
all of existence.
He won, and that is why we dothis.
But we also do this now tojudge, as we were warned in
Corinthians.
Are we judging accurately?
(56:16):
Search yourself out now.
What sin do you have?
What impatience, whatunkindness, what disbelief.
Where have you been a traitorto God?
Where have you stabbed him inthe back, whereas he has been
(56:37):
eternally loyal to you?
Where have you failed him?
Repent now.
Lay it down in him now, beforewe drink, be cleansed of it.
Leave it behind Now.
As they were eating, jesus tookthe bread and, after blessing it
, broke it and gave it to thedisciples and said Take, eat,
(56:59):
this is my body.
Go ahead and eat.
And he took a cup and when hehad given thanks, he gave it to
them, saying Drink of it, all ofyou, for this is my blood of
the covenant, which is pouredout for many, for the
forgiveness of sins.
Go ahead and drink.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou for your word, we thank you
(57:20):
for your son.
We thank you for Peter, who attimes in the Bible was a
knucklehead but who continued onand endured to be a great,
mighty man of God.
Lord, we thank you for yourpatience with us.
We thank you for your supremelove that, even while we still
betray you on a daily basis andwe fall short, you still love us
(57:44):
.
Forgive us, lord.
Help us to do better.
Help us be more patient, moreloving.
Give us discernment.
Give us the strength to resistour temptations and our sins and
our vices.
Help us be shining lights toothers in this world.
(58:10):
Be shining lights to others inthis world.
I pray a prayer of protectionand peace and blessing over this
congregation and fellowship now, here in person and elsewhere
around the world and theinterwebs, the persecuted church
(58:30):
for our troops overseas, ourfirst responders at home and our
veterans of yesteryear.
I pray for the world that wedon't go into World War III.
I pray for our leaders,including President Trump and
others, that they would beuseful tools for our Lord and
Savior, that he would use themto do great, just things, things
(58:56):
that would glorify Jesus andonly Jesus.
Lastly, I pray for my belovedAmerica.
I pray that she would humbleherself, turn from her sin, hit
her knees and seek your face,and that you would see her and
heal her, so that we could onceagain be one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty andjustice for all.
Now I call this fellowship toattention, to put on the full
(59:19):
armor of God, Strap on theshield of faith, pick up the
sword of the Spirit and toboldly step forward to join the
shield wall locking shields toour left and right, marching
forward to take ground for Hiskingdom, for His glory forever.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Go ahead and rise.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
(59:40):
May the Lord make his faceshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
May the Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
God bless.
Hello everyone, happy Lord's Day to you.
Welcome to Christian WarriorMission, a home church,
community ministry and farm thatforges Christian Warriors.
For today's challengesAnnouncement Hopefully we'll
have our first Christian WarriorTalking Forever this Wednesday
at 9 o'clock.
Last time, and then we had afamily emergency.
(00:28):
Everyone's all fine, but one ofthose family things that when
they pop up you got to go all inon, and so we did that as a
family and we're doing that.
So we asked for prayers Again.
No one's hurt, no one's sick,no one's whatever.
No one's hurt, no one's sick,no one's whatever, just maturing
processes.
So let's just put it that wayand we ask your prayers on that.
(00:55):
Another reminder the only otherannouncement I have which is
amazing that I only have two isour first men's fellowship fire
will be Friday, march 21st at 7pm up at Warriors Rest Fire Pit.
Please always be on ourFacebook event page.
Really appreciate it if youguys let us know so we know how
many people we're looking at.
We appreciate everyone who'scoming to that and no matter if
(01:20):
it's one or 20, we'll have agreat time.
All right, so without furtherado, I want to talk a little bit
about I believe Trump's Stateof the Union hat.
Was that this week?
Yeah, president Trump's Stateof the Union One of the best
(01:45):
speeches I've seen.
You know, I think Reagan didsome better ones or did a better
one, but that was top five,absolutely amazing.
And what we saw there was asecular president who I don't
think is Christian, gettingthings more clear than most
pastors do in America, at leastthe beta church, where you know
(02:11):
they believe in 126 genders,rainbow flags, the whole thing.
So our president got up thereand said there are two genders
and that our kids are madeperfectly by their creator.
We're not going to tell kidsthere's something.
They're made wrong, they'retrapped in the wrong body.
They were made perfect just theway they are by God.
(02:33):
So I wish more pastors wouldsay that and we'd have a lot
less issues in this country, Ibelieve, if we had our clergy
and our men of God speaking thatclearly, which we do here, and
there are others, but far toomany don't.
All right, so that's all I'mgoing to talk about.
(02:53):
We're going to read the newbook today.
We wrapped up the book of James.
We're starting 1 Peter today,so let's go to prayer.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your word.
We thank you for your word.
We thank you for your body,lord.
We thank you for our countlessblessings and we thank you most
(03:13):
of all for your divine grace inchoosing us when we were still
your enemies.
Lord, you chose us before wechose you.
Lord, thank you for calling ushome.
Thank you for writing our nameinto the book of life and
choosing us before thefoundations of the earth.
(03:36):
Lord, we're going to talk aboutthis today in the sermon.
Give me the words, your words,not mine.
Lord, help me communicate whatyou would have us know about.
1 Peter, 1.
Lord, we thank you for yourcommon grace, your creation,
this universe, the sun, the moon, the stars, everything on this
(04:00):
planet, the mountains to theoceans, and everything in
between, all the creatures,plants.
Lord, we thank you for therelationships in our life and
everyone who's in them.
Lord, help us not to take anyof them for granted.
Lord, we thank you for thesebodies that you gave us, the
trillions of cells that have towork near perfectly to even be
(04:22):
here.
Thank you for giving us anotherday working there perfectly to
even be here.
Thank you for giving us anotherday.
So now, lord, we ask for you tofill this room with the Holy
Spirit, to open ears and give usdiscernment to find your truth,
the only truth that matters.
I pray that this time wouldplease you and only you, and
serve only you and only you.
(04:42):
Pray that we would proclaim youwith every breath of our lungs
and serve you with every beat ofour hearts.
In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.
All right, and for those of youwho don't know how to pray and
again I'm not saying that I do avery good job at it, there are
some far better than I thesimplest prayer, a child's
prayer, is often the best Justapproaching God in humility and
(05:07):
telling him what you need helpwith, or just surrendering to
him.
You know, paul watched hisprayer, which I thought was so
profound, you know, you know,you know.
But there's also a structure tothis and we can look to Matthew
6, 9 through 13, again, like wedo every week, as a model on
(05:29):
how to pray, when our disciplesask Jesus how should they pray,
and this is what he said OurFather, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, andlead us not in temptation, but
deliver us from evil, for thineis the kingdom, the power and
(05:50):
the glory forever.
Amen, all right, so today'ssermon is I call, forged by Fire
, standing in Triumph, this is 1Peter, 1.
So Peter comes right afterJames.
We're going line by line, verseby verse, and 1 Peter is a
(06:10):
battle manual for believersliving in hostile territory.
In the early church, persecutionwasn't theoretical, it was
lethal.
Yet Peter, under theinspiration of the Holy Spirit,
calls us to hope, holiness andsteadfast courage as Christian
warriors.
We know Christ reigns as king,now subduing his enemies and
(06:33):
establishing his kingdomprogressively across the earth.
This letter fortifies us forthat mission us for that mission
.
There's a lot of people, or nota lot.
There's some who believe that 1Peter was written in response
(06:53):
to.
There was a horrific fire inRome in 64 AD and some
hypothesized that Nero said itand blamed it on the Christians.
So he burned down Rome and thenblamed it on the Christians.
And some believe that thisletter was in response to what
(07:16):
was about to happen and thepersecution that was about to
happen to Christians that theywere about to, in a very short
window, experience horriblepersecution and be put to death
that they were about to, in avery short window, experience
horrible persecution and be putto death.
A larger portion of thepopulation believes that Peter
is just talking aboutpersecution in general and in
(07:36):
other locations, because hedoesn't mention Rome
specifically.
So again, you decide.
Either way it applies.
Peter's teaching us how to dealwith troubling times and to find
joy in it.
So before I read the text, I'dlike to paraphrase John Calvin
(08:00):
God's eternal decree the bloodof Christ and the power of the
Spirit together form aninvincible bulwark of hope.
Peter is talking about hope nomatter what you're going through
, hope for your reward in heaven.
Okay, so let us march throughthese verses, each revealing our
identity, our calling and ourunstoppable inheritance in
(08:23):
Christ Jesus.
Our calling and our unstoppableinheritance in Christ Jesus.
Some other things that we canlook to other than the scripture
we're about to read is Psalm4611.
The Lord, our host, is with us.
The God of Jacob is ourfortress.
Even in times of lethalpersecution, god remains our
fortress.
And then Proverbs 21, 31.
(08:45):
The horse is made ready for theday of battle, but the victory
belongs to the Lord.
A reminder that we must prepare.
The final triumph is God's.
And then, to quote Augustine ofHippo, hope is two beautiful
daughters, and this floored me.
Their names are Anger andCourage Anger at the way things
(09:06):
are and Courage to see that theydo not remain as they are.
That's powerful.
So let's go to God's Word now.
This is the Word of God, peter,an apostle of Jesus Christ, to
those who reside as exilesscattered throughout Pontus,
(09:26):
galatia, cappadocia, asia,bithynia and Bithynia, who are
chosen according to theforeknowledge of God the Father,
who are chosen according to theforeknowledge of God the Father
.
God the Father, by thesanctifying work of the Spirit,
(09:47):
to the obedience of Jesus Christand the sprinkling of his blood
.
May grace and peace multiplywith you.
So Calvinists, don't have aproblem.
You know this is one of theirprimary.
You know scripture verses quotedFor those of us who are chosen
according to the foreknowledgeof God the Father.
(10:07):
We'll talk about that later.
I'm going to go through it.
I just want to point that out.
In verse 3, picking it upBlessed be the God and Father
and our Lord, jesus Christ, who,according to his great mercy,
has caused us to be born againto a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christfrom the dead to obtain an
(10:30):
inheritance incorruptible andundefiled and unfading, having
been kept in heaven.
For you, who are protected bythe power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to berevealed in the last time,
through faith for a salvationready to be revealed in the last
time, In this you greatlyrejoice, even though now, for a
(10:52):
little while, if necessary, youhave been grieved by various
trials, so that the proof ofyour faith, being made more
precious than gold, which isperishable even though tested by
fire, may be found to result inpraise and glory and honor at
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And although you have not seenhim, you love him.
(11:16):
And though you do not see himnow, but believe in him, you
rejoice with joy inexpressibleand full of glory, receiving as
the outcome of your faith thesalvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, theprophets who were prophesied of
(11:36):
the grace that would come to youmade careful searches and
inquiries, inquiring to knowthat time, of what kind of time
the Spirit of Christ within themwas indicating, as he was
predicting the sufferings ofChrist and the glories to follow
.
It was revealed to them thatthey were not serving themselves
(12:08):
, but you and these things whichnow have been declared to you
through those who proclaim thegospel to you by the Holy Spirit
, sent from heaven, things intowhich angels long to look.
Therefore, having girded yourminds for action, being sober in
spirit, fix your hopecompletely on the grace to be
(12:29):
brought to you at the revelationof Jesus Christ, as obedient
children not being conformed tothe former lusts which were
yours in your ignorance, but,like the Holy One who called you
, be holy yourselves also in allyour conduct.
Because it is written, youshall be holy, for I am holy and
(12:51):
if you address as Father theone who impartially judges
according to one's work, conductyourself in fear during the
time of your sojourn, knowingyou are not redeemed with
(13:16):
corruptible things like silveror gold.
Only five more verses.
He was foreknown before thefoundations of the world, but
appeared in these last times forthe sake of you who, through
him, are believers in God, whoraised him from the dead and
gave him glory, so that yourfaith and hope are in God, since
(13:42):
you have an obedience and truth.
Purifies your souls with thelove of the brothers, without
hypocrisy.
Fervently love one another fromthe heart, For you have been
born again, not of corruptibleseed, not of corruptible seed,
but incorruptible, that is,through the living and enduring
(14:02):
word of God.
For all flesh is like grass andall its glory is like the
flower of the grass.
The grass withers and theflowers fall off, but the word
of the Lord endures forever andthis is the word which was
proclaimed to you as good news.
I know that's a lot and we gotto break it all down, but I
(14:23):
wanted to put it all out thereto start with, and then I I
wanted to put it all out thereto start with, and then I can go
to my notes here.
So Peter 1, verses 1 and 2.
Elect exiles under the triune.
So Peter, who is Peter?
Well, we know Peter was renamedCephas or Rock, and he is not
(14:51):
coming to you in humbleness thistime, as in some letters, as,
like Paul, has come in humility.
He's coming in authority, he'sdefining himself right off as
the apostle of Jesus Christ.
The sent ones.
Okay, so those are our electexiles.
And the dispersions, as we heard, in Asia and Bithynia, galatia,
(15:17):
cappadocia, pontus.
So this sets the authoritativetone we receive in apostolic
directive from the veryfoundations of the church.
This is somebody who walkedwith Christ, knew him dearly,
who Christ appeared to,witnessed him go to heaven and
is the pillar of the earlychurch.
All right, who is he talking to?
(15:39):
The elect exiles.
Believers addressed here arescattered throughout Asia Minor,
facing social ostracism andofficial prosecution.
The term that he uses elect iselectoises.
Electoises is Greek.
I don't know if I said it right, but the original Greek word
underscores God's sovereignchoice.
(16:00):
We are chosen from before thefoundations of the world.
This again clashes with a lotof recent Christianity recent in
the past hundred years wherepeople believe they choose God
(16:22):
Time and time again, others whobelieve, like I do.
We see that God chooses us, andthis is Peter saying it right
to our face.
So the exiles, which meanssojourners or pilgrims, not
because earth belongs to Satan,but because the world's fallen
system is foreign to those loyalto King Jesus.
(16:43):
As we know and we saw in James,if you are friends with the
world, you're going to be anenemy of Christ.
We also see foreknowledge of God, the Father.
Foreknowledge does not merelymean divine foresight.
In Reformed theology itconnotes foreordination, god's
loving plan from eternity.
(17:03):
God chose you back at thebeginning of time.
This underscores God'sinitiative.
Our salvation and station inlife aren't accidents.
We serve at the pleasure of ourall-serving commander, jesus
Christ.
You were brought and paid for.
(17:24):
He chose you.
He breathed and paid for.
He chose you.
He breathed life into you.
He breathed eternal life intoyou.
So we also see the Spirit setsus apart, that it consecrates us
as holy warriors.
(17:44):
This is an ongoing process.
This is your sanctification.
The Christian life is aspiritual battle where the
Spirit actively mortifies sinand conforms us to Christ.
And then to the fifth point,which was the sprinkling of
blood, which is an interestingchoice of words there in verse 2
(18:05):
.
Father in the sanctification ofthe Spirit for obedience to
Jesus Christ, the sprinklingwith his blood.
Obedience to Christ is thehallmark of being his disciple.
Again, james talks about doingrather than just saying Okay.
So again, obedience in thesprinkling of the blood refers
(18:26):
to we were paid for and boughtwith Jesus's blood.
The sprinkling draws an OldTestament sacrificial imagery
where they would sprinkle theblood and splatter it on the
altar.
The shed blood of Christ sealsour covenant with God, cleansing
us from guilt and ratifying ourrelationship with him.
Us from guilt and ratifying ourrelationship with them.
(18:46):
We can also notice Trinitarians, people who believe in a triune
God that Peter here is writing.
In that way, he's observing theTrinity the Father foreknows
and elects, the Spiritsanctifies and the Son sprinkles
us with atoning blood.
The entire Godhead is engagedin our salvation.
This is an unassailablefoundation of our faith.
(19:12):
So what's our application tothis?
We need to do an identity check.
Are you living as one chosen byGod, yet willing to stand out
as an exile and a culturehostile to biblical truth?
Many of us have experiencedcancel culture and had struggles
(19:34):
.
You know we're not likepersecution in Africa or the
Middle East or in other horribleplaces, but are you willing to
stand and be persecuted?
I know some who are not, whoclaim to be devout Christians,
who will post on social media tosupport LGBTQ Appreciation Day,
(20:00):
knowing that it totallycontradicts their faith and they
think they're a Christian.
It's cowardice.
It's denying God to his face,or denying God to man, and when
he comes to you, he will denyyou to your face.
No matter what you do.
We do not deny our Lord andSavior.
(20:22):
So the warrior perspective isaccept your commission from a
triune God.
You belong to his kingdom.
Every breath you take isdivinely ordained mission.
So now let's go to see whereelse can we find support for
this On Psalm 139.16, your eyessaw my unformed substance and
(20:46):
your book were written every oneof them, the days that were
formed for me, when as yetthrough was none of them, when
as yet through was not one ofthem.
A clear testimony to God'sforeordained plan.
Once you see Calvinism, or Godchoosing you, it's hard to unsee
(21:14):
.
I'm the most reluctantCalvinist there ever was.
I hate authority.
I don't like being told what todo.
I want to have a choice ineverything, but I can't deny
what I see.
And then, in Proverbs 69, theheart of man plays his way,
plans his way, but the Lordestablishes his steps,
reinforcing God's initiative inour lives.
Forcing God's initiative in ourlives In the wise words of John
(21:37):
Chrysostom he that chooses uswhen we are strangers will not
abandon us when we journey asexiles.
Now we go to verses 3 through 5,a living hope through Christ's
resurrection.
Blessed the God of God andFather, our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to his great mercy,he has caused us to be born
again.
(21:57):
To a living hope through theresurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, to an inheritancethat is imperishable, undefiled
and unfading, kept in heavenfor you by who who, by God's
power, are being guarded throughfaith for a salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time,for a salvation ready to be
(22:19):
revealed in the last time.
So, first verse Blessed be God.
The doxology again.
For those who don't know whatdoxology means and I didn't know
what doxology meant until I hadto do my homework it's Greek.
Doxology is doxa, which meansglory, and logia, which is
speech.
So glory, speech to God.
(22:39):
We are not merely analyzingfacts.
We are worshiping the livingGod who has acted mightily on
our behalf and then, as we see,born again to a living hope.
Living hope stands in a contrastto dead, worldly hopes that
crumble with time.
Our hope is eternally alivebecause it is anchored in
(23:00):
Christ's resurrection.
The new birth is a work ofdivine mercy.
He caused us to be born again.
We cannot resurrect ourselves.
God regenerates us and ourinheritance, as we see,
(23:22):
described by three adjectives inGreek incorruptible, undefiled
and unfading.
The inheritance belongs to theeternal kingdom.
No moth or rust or earthlytyrant, no devil can rob it.
Wrath or rust or earthly tyrant, no devil can rob it.
Guarded by God's power, god'spower ensures both.
(23:48):
The inheritance is safe and youare safe.
This double security the prizeis kept and the people are kept
is our battle guarantee.
We fight from a place of surevictory.
For those of us who arepost-mill, myself being one of
them, we do not cower waitingfor an escapist deliverance.
(24:09):
We don't believe that the mostspoiled, coddled generation is
going to be airlifted out rightbefore life gets hard.
We advance with confidence,knowing our ultimate inheritance
is guaranteed.
The resurrection provesChrist's lordship over sin,
death and everything in everyearthly dominion.
So how do we apply thisSpiritual warfare?
(24:35):
The resurrection is yourstandard standard.
When the enemy whispers despair, you wave the banner of the
empty tomb.
Heavenly minded, earthly good,because our inheritance is in
heaven.
We confidently labor on earth.
We are not retreating to thehills, we're pressing the
(24:58):
assault, certain of the finaltriumph.
This is my big problem withpre-mill.
Pre-mill, which is the rapturecrowd.
So often they just they'requitters.
They hide away.
They don't think they're goingto have any effect because
they're going to leave in thenext second, even before they
(25:21):
could breathe out the nextsecond.
Time and time again, you lookat them.
They're completely withoutorder.
There's no tactics in what theydo, it's just random, chaos and
inefficient and it's aself-fulfilling prophecy of doom
.
Whereas post-mill, 12knuckleheads which were the
(25:49):
disciples became over a billionChristians already.
Where can we find otherscripture to support this?
In Psalms 16, 9-10?
.
Therefore, my heart is glad andmy glory rejoices.
My flesh will dwell securely,for you will not abandon my soul
to Sheol, you will not giveyour holy ones over to seek
corruption.
This is a prophetic foretasteof Christ's resurrection, our
(26:11):
living hope.
And then in Proverbs 23, 18,surely there is a future and
your hope will not be cut off.
Our inheritance means secure,and our early church father
Athanasius, said he became whatwe are, that he might make us
what he is, and that's what thiswhole sanctification process is
(26:36):
.
God made you one way, wrote yourstory long ago, what you would
be to reach another class ofpeople, a certain group, me as a
former atheist, me as a formermilitary guy, former cop.
I resonate with certain people.
There are some people who Isound like probably rightly so
(27:00):
like fingernails on a chalkboard.
But to others I'm speakingexactly in their frequency that
they need to hear it in.
And he wrote that story so whenI got saved I'd stop being like
me and being more like him thathe would make us what he is.
(27:23):
So, verses 6 through 9, trialsin the forge of authentic faith.
To recap, in these you rejoice,though now for a little while,
if necessary.
You have been grieved byvarious trials so that the
tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that
(27:44):
perishes though it is tested byfire, may be found to result in
praise and glory and honor atthe revelation of Jesus Christ.
And I'll get to 8 and 9.
I'll read those second becauseI think it's great that Peter
acknowledged this and it'sbrilliant.
We were always told by PaulJames to rejoice in persecution.
(28:11):
We hold two realities intension genuine grief and
abiding joy.
Christian warriors do not denyhardship.
We rejoice in it, not becauseof it, though.
In today's prosperity gospel,if someone has any hard time,
(28:39):
they're rocked Because theythink they're supposed to have
this gentle ride here.
You know, sometimes you seethese stories of sick kids,
right?
You see these stories of sickkids who die early, or a godly
person who was called home andthe most godly good person that
(29:02):
you know gets cancer, and howthey handle that has far more
impact than if they had lived afull life with no trials, just
walking on the beach picking upshells.
(29:24):
God tests us so that otherswill see oh well, you drive a
nice car, you have a nice house,you have a great family.
Of course you're a Christian,right?
You don't have any hard days.
Well, we all know that's nottrue, right.
But when everyone knows you'regoing through a hard time and
(29:45):
you still have the joy of Christ.
I've seen this once before andit broke me in a good way.
So again, rejoicing in presenttrials.
When hard times come upon you,if they're of your own doing
(30:15):
well, there's a chance to digyourself out of a hole, right
Time to repent, turn and learnfrom it.
If they're not of your doingand they're a test from the Lord
, rejoice in them, because yourfaith is going to be made that
much stronger afterwards, ifnecessary, which is part of the
in the this is in verse six.
(30:44):
If you rejoice, though now fora little while, if necessary,
you have been grieved by varioustrials.
So the if necessary thererefers to trials serve a divine
purpose.
They are not random accidentsbut are precisely measured by a
wise God for our growth.
Isn't it great to know that ifwe suffer, it serves a purpose.
It serves a purpose.
It's not random chaos, but partof his divine plan for his
(31:12):
glory, and we can surrender tothat.
So test the genuineness right,as we see here in verse 7.
Ancient gold refinement usedintense heat to burn away
impurities.
Trials do the same to our faith.
(31:34):
True faith emerges stronger,shining, with the heavenly
luster that testifies to God'spower.
And now here is the part that Iwanted to read separately, and
this is 8 and 9.
Though you have not seen him,you loved him talking about
Jesus.
Though you do not now see him,you believe in him and rejoice
(31:58):
with joy that is inexpressibleand filled with glory, obtaining
the outcome of your faith thesalvation of your souls.
Why do you think Peter's sayingthat?
Who denied Christ three times?
Peter?
Who didn't believe that Jesuscame back from the dead?
(32:18):
Peter?
Who didn't believe that Jesuscame back from the dead?
Peter?
They thought it was over.
They thought the guy who theywitnessed do all these miracles
was over.
And now Peter is talking tothem.
Though you have not seen him,you love him.
Peter knew him and loved him.
(32:44):
Imagine the spiritual jealousythat Peter must have at these
people of greater faith thanhe's ever had.
Though you do not now see him,you believe in him and rejoice
with joy that is inexpressibleand filled with glory.
Peter had walked with Christ inthe flesh.
(33:09):
The readers of his letters havenot.
That's just just, I think.
I look at that as a salute anda praise.
And then the final salvationfor your souls.
The final outcome of genuinefaith is complete salvation.
(33:31):
Soteria from the Greek wordSoteria.
Well, salvation is a presentreality.
It also unfolds in the fullnessof Christ's return.
God uses trials now to prepareus for his glory.
Then, okay, what's theperspective from the warrior
(33:52):
side of this?
What's our perspective?
Trials are training.
Accept them as your spiritualboot camp.
A soldier untested by conflictremains unproven.
Refuse, defeat.
Trials are not obstacles toyour destiny.
They are stepping stonestowards maturity and ultimate
(34:12):
victory.
Don't look at obstacles as awall.
They're a ladder.
They're a ladder.
So, application, endurehardships with resolve.
Let adversity drive you deeperinto scripture and prayer.
Cultivate joy in the fire.
This is almost impossible, butwe're called to do it and some
(34:39):
do.
Like I said, I've seen it onceand it was the most beautiful
thing I've ever saw.
This joy sets us apart frompanicked despair, from a panic,
despairing world.
People see your resolute hopeand wonder about the king you
serve, if you and that fire canfind joy.
This is why Christianityexploded in the Roman Empire
(35:00):
when people were getting fed tolions, when people were being
lit on fire in sconces on thestreet the Roman candles, when
they were having all thesethings and they went there with
joy.
When they were having all thesethings and they went there with
joy, they knew that their fakegods could not produce that in
(35:24):
them.
They knew Aphrodite or Apolloor whatever.
Zeus did not do that to them.
Yet these Christians hadsomething real.
Psalm 66.10 says For you, o God,have tested us, you have tried
us as silver has tried.
(35:45):
God's refining process is bothbiblical and benevolent.
Proverbs 17.3 says the crucibleis for silver and the furnace
is for gold.
And the Lord tests hearts.
Trials reveal the genuinenessof our devotion and love for him
.
And then Tertullian said theblood of martyrs is the seed of
(36:09):
the church.
Suffering for Christ yieldsexpansion and deeper faith.
Christianity explodes inpersecution.
It dies in comfort.
Let's go to verses 10 through12.
Prophetic longing and angelicwonder, wonder Concerning this
(36:38):
salvation.
The prophets who prophesiedabout the grace that was to be
yours searched and inquiredcarefully, inquiring what person
or time the Spirit of Christ inthem was indicating when he
predicted the sufferings ofChrist and the subsequent
glories.
It was revealed to them thatthey were serving not themselves
but you and the things thathave now been announced to you,
(37:04):
things into which angels long tolook.
Prophets searched and inquiredthe Old Testament prophets
Isaiah, isaiah, jeremiah, davidreceived glimpses of the Messiah
, his suffering and subsequentglory, and yet yearned to see
his fulfillment.
They were like scouts reportingfrom afar, awaiting the final
(37:29):
invasion of grace in ChristPeter.
The Spirit of Christ Peterclarifies.
The same Holy Spirit at work inthe prophets was testifying
about Christ.
God orchestrated Scripture'sunity across centuries.
66 books across thousands ofyears.
(37:51):
Books across thousands of years.
What's the post-millsignificance of this?
We live in an era the prophetsforetold, witnessing the
unstoppable advance of thegospel.
The baton is in our hands.
(38:12):
God's chosen means to spreadChrist's domination or dominion
is the preaching of the word andthe obedience of the church.
God's chosen means to spreadChrist's dominion is the
preaching of the word and theobedience of the church.
So if everyone says that we'relosing, how are we losing?
(38:33):
Twelve knuckleheads are nowbillions of Christians.
The conquering of this world bya Christ Savior doesn't go in a
straight line.
It goes like this you want toknow how the church is winning.
Where do you think everyhospital came from in the
(38:54):
beginning?
Church planted them.
Where do you think Harvard camefrom?
Church planted college,seminary, oxford, on and on.
The church taking ground.
Now, in our secular world, havewe lost some of that?
Have we dipped?
Yep.
Have our seminaries becomecemeteries?
(39:17):
Yep.
But we're still progressingupward.
We're still progressing upward.
So our application we mustmarvel at Scripture.
We hold in our hands whatprophets and angels could only
glimpse from a distance.
David didn't have this, mosesdidn't have this, joseph didn't
(39:46):
have this.
We can pick this up at any timethey would have died a thousand
times over for this and jointhe mission.
Scripture reveals God'sredemptive blueprint.
Our generation is called topush forward, trusting the
unstoppable victory of KingJesus.
So if you want to see theforetelling of Christ's
(40:12):
crucifixion, you can go back toDavid in Psalm 22.
David's prophecy prophesiesChrist's suffering centuries
before fulfillment.
It talks about piercing hishands.
It talks about dividing hisclothes.
It talks about it's so clear,father, father, why have you
(40:34):
forsaken me?
That's where that comes from.
That's Psalm 22.
Christ, when he says thosewords, is describing the scene
from Scripture in front of him,fulfilling prophecy after
(40:55):
prophecy after prophecy.
And in Proverbs 35, every wordof God proves true.
The prophets' words standconfirmed in Christ Jesus, or
it'd stand confirmed in ChristJesus.
(41:16):
Athanasius gave us some guidanceon this.
The Holy Scriptures have beenproclaimed by the Spirit of God.
Let us then rightly interpretthese sacred tests concerning
Christ.
Rightly interpret them.
13 through 16, a call to action, holiness and more time.
(41:36):
Therefore, preparing your mindsfor action and being
sober-minded.
Set your hope fully on thegrace that will be brought to
you at the revelation of JesusChrist.
As obedient children, do not beconformed to the passions of
your former ignorance.
Do not be conformed to thepassions of your former
ignorance.
But as he who called you isholy, you also must be holy in
all your conduct.
(41:57):
Since it is written, you shallbe holy, for I am holy.
So prepare your minds.
The Greek phrase literallymeans gird up, gird up the loins
of your mind.
Referencing now soldiers ortravelers would tuck their robes
(42:23):
in to move swiftly, to getready to fight.
This is mental discipline.
Christian warriors must notallow sloppy thinking or moral
compromise.
Clear biblical thinking isessential for spiritual battle.
Be sober-minded.
(42:44):
Sober-mindedness contrasts withspiritual drunkenness, being
alert versus careless.
The world tries to intoxicateus with idols, false doctrines
and secular illusions.
False doctrines and secularillusions.
Don't fall for them.
Set your hope fully on futuregrace.
We are forward-facing soldiers,eyes on Christ's final
revelation, anchoring ourpresent actions in the certainty
of a future glory.
(43:06):
And now the hard one, thehardest of the hard ones.
A life of holiness, the hardestof the hard ones, a life of
holiness.
The standard be holy, for I amholy.
Leviticus 11.44.
Holiness means separation fromsin and devotion to God.
This is the warrior's code ofconduct strict, uncompromising
(43:29):
loyalty.
Uncompromising loyalty.
How unfaithful and how disloyalare we to Christ?
We betray him with our tongueconstantly, our minds often, our
(43:50):
actions too frequently.
If we started looking at thatas betrayal, since all we all
want, every person wants loyalty.
It's the thing we want most,yet do we give it.
So our application mental checkare you girded up for spiritual
(44:14):
warfare or entangled in worldlydistractions?
Yes, both times.
Practical holiness.
Identify areas of moralcompromise, repent, then
discipline yourself like anelite soldier.
(44:38):
Psalm 119.9 says how can a youngman keep his way pure?
By guarding it.
According to your word, themore time in this, the less
you're going to do anything else.
Proverbs 4.23.
Keep your heart with allvigilance for from and flow the
springs of life.
(44:58):
Sobriety and vigilance go handin hand.
You can't be drunk and vigilant.
It doesn't work that way.
You can't be high and vigilantit doesn't work that way.
Ignatius of Antioch said it isfitting, then, not only to be
called Christians but to be soin reality.
(45:18):
For your holiness is a terrorto the evil one man I love
language like that so much ofthe church is hiding and in fear
, and here we have our holinessis terror, like an evil to the
evil one.
Wrap it up now 17 through 21.
(45:44):
Conduct in reverent fear,blood-bought and battle-ready.
So I'll pick it up in verse 17.
And if you call on him asfather who judges impartially,
conduct yourself with fearthroughout the time of your
(46:04):
exile.
Exile meaning your time here onearth, knowing that you were
ransomed from the feudal waysinherited from your forefathers,
not with perishable things, butwith the precious blood of
Christ, like that of a lamb,without blemish or spot.
He foreknew before thefoundations of the world but was
made manifest in the last timefor your sake, who, through him,
(46:28):
are believers in God, so thatyour faith and hope are in God.
Fear.
A lot of people have a hardtime with fearing God.
This fear is not a coweringterror at a monster, but a deep
awe and respect for God'sholiness and his role as judge.
We're not fearing some bad guy.
(46:51):
We're not fearing some bad guy.
We stand in awe and respect.
It anchors us in accountability.
We do not want to fightaccording to our whims, but
under the watchful eye of a justand loving Father Ransom from
our futile ways.
What are we talking about here?
(47:15):
Many of us come fromgenerational curses.
I come from many of themAlcoholism, lying, atheism,
unbelief, sexual promiscuity.
Our sinful traditions, paganphilosophies or personal vices
have been broken by Christ'sredemption.
(47:36):
It was broken and paid for bythe currency.
Was Christ's blood a sacrificebeyond measure?
You were paid for and bought atgreat cost, christ foreknown.
(48:00):
Again we see God's eternal plan.
The Lamb was chosen before theworld's foundation to redeem us.
There is no plan B.
In the kingdom, god does notfail.
Be in the kingdom, god does notfail.
(48:22):
Through Christ, we trust Godfully.
Our fear is tempered by loveand our love is fueled by awe.
Application, blood-boughtidentity.
You are not your own.
You serve under theblood-sprinkled banner of the
cross.
Conduct worthy of the price.
Psalm 2, 11 says Serve the Lordwith fear and rejoice with
(48:52):
trembling.
This reverent fear is theposture of a loyal subject
Proverbs 14, 27,.
The fear of Yahweh is thefountain of life To turn aside
from the snares of death.
Fear anchored in God islife-giving, not crippling, and
Martin Luther said this.
No one can imagine or estimatewhat it cost our dear Lord and
(49:14):
Savior to redeem us from sin,from the devil, from death and
hell.
Okay, last three versesBrotherly love through the
enduring word, having purifiedyour souls by obedience to the
truth for a sincere brotherlylove.
Love one another earnestly,from a pure heart, since you
(49:36):
have been born again, not ofperishable seed but of an
imperishable, but animperishable through the living
and abiding word of God.
For all, the flesh is likegrass, but the word of the Lord
remains forever and his word isthe good news that was preached
to you.
Purified soul and brotherhoodis love.
Holiness always manifestshorizontally as well, leading to
(50:02):
genuine sacrificial love forfellow saints.
The spiritual war is not wagedby lone wolves.
You will fall, you will fall,and you will fall if you are
alone.
We conquer by an unbreakablearmy of believers, united in
truth, born again through theimperishable word.
(50:26):
The word of God is living andabiding, carrying a creative,
regenerative power.
The more you read this book,the more times you read this
book, the more you regenerate,the closer you get to God.
Magic is the wrong word.
It's miraculous.
Human glory faints like grass,but scripture stands in charge.
(50:49):
Kingdoms rise and fall.
The word continues to conquerhearts and nations.
And then, finally, the wordpreached, the good news is the
unstoppable gospel, the means bywhich the kingdom of Christ
expands.
For a post-mill worldview, thepreached word is an unstoppable
force bringing every knee to bowto Christ over time.
(51:12):
Unstoppable force bringingevery knee to bow to Christ over
time.
So, application, army of love,fight your battles in unity with
the church.
Let brotherly affection markyour fellowship.
Stay in the word.
If the word endures forever,feed on it daily.
The neglect of scripture isspiritual suicide in this war.
Let me say that again.
(51:32):
Neglect of scripture isspiritual suicide in this war.
Let me say that again, neglectof Scripture is spiritual
suicide in this war.
Psalm 133.1 says Behold howgood and pleasant it is when
brothers dwell in unity.
True unity in the church is aforce multiplier.
And then one of my favoritesProverbs, 27.17, iron sharpens
iron.
(51:52):
One man sharpens another.
We cultivate each other'sstrength and brotherly love.
Jerome said ignorance ofscripture is ignorance of Christ
.
We must root our fellowship andgrowth in the imperishable word
.
So conclusions Stand victorious.
(52:12):
First, peter reveals our holyidentity and glorious destiny.
We are elect exiles drafted bythe King of Kings.
We possess a living homesecured by Christ's resurrection
.
Our trials refine us, notdestroy us.
We stand on the shoulders ofprophets and under angelic
observation, fulfilling God'sredemptive plan in history.
Holiness is our call.
(52:33):
Reverend fear our posture.
Fear of the Lord.
If you fear the Lord, you needfear nothing else.
Brotherly love cements ourunity and God's word is our
immortal weapon.
So your final charge is thisEmbrace your election, rest in
(52:54):
God's sovereignty, but nevergrow lazy.
Every soldier answers the callto arms.
Cling to the resurrection whenthe darkness taunts, you
reminded that Christ crushed thegrave.
Endure the refinery.
Wear your scars as marks ofgrace.
No training is wasted.
Pursue holiness.
Draw your lines in the sand.
Let no sin cross.
(53:14):
God demands no less than fullloyalty.
Love the brotherhood.
Lock shields with your fellowwarriors.
The enemy cannot break a unitedfront.
Proclaim the word.
Preaching the gospel is theunstoppable siege engine of
Christ's kingdom.
The earth is Yahweh's, as wellas its fullness, the world and
(53:37):
those who dwell in it.
Psalm 24.
He reigns now and we press hisvictory forward until every knee
bows to him, with Peter as ourapostolic field commander and
the Holy Spirit as our power.
Go forth, soldier of Christ,unwavering, unashamed, starting
the final triumph from Jesus'mighty name, solely to Gloria.
(53:59):
Glory to God alone.
All right, we're going to do theLord's Supper, okay.
(54:25):
Okay, here comes the hardestpart.
There we go.
Okay, we do the Lord's Supperevery week, so remember this is
(54:46):
for baptized believers.
If you're doing it at home,make sure that you understand
the consequences.
1 Corinthians, 11, 27 through32.
Whoever, therefore, eats thebread or drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner willbe guilty concerning the body
and the blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself,then, and so eat of the bread
and drink of the cup, for anyonewho eats and drinks without
(55:08):
discerning the body, eats anddrinks, judgment on himself.
All right, so go ahead andclose your eyes.
First, let's remember that thisis a victory celebration that
Christ came and fought for ushere on this earth, by serving
(55:33):
as the perfect sacrifice.
Born of a virgin conceived bythe Holy Spirit, through the
Holy Spirit, lived a perfectlife, was crucified on the cross
, bore the wrath of God and paidfor our sin, rose from the
(55:55):
grave three days later andascended to the right hand of
the Father where he serves asking and judge over the entire,
all of existence.
He won, and that is why we dothis.
But we also do this now tojudge, as we were warned in
Corinthians.
Are we judging accurately?
(56:16):
Search yourself out now.
What sin do you have?
What impatience, whatunkindness, what disbelief.
Where have you been a traitorto God?
Where have you stabbed him inthe back, whereas he has been
(56:37):
eternally loyal to you?
Where have you failed him?
Repent now.
Lay it down in him now, beforewe drink, be cleansed of it.
Leave it behind Now.
As they were eating, jesus tookthe bread and, after blessing it
, broke it and gave it to thedisciples and said Take, eat,
(56:59):
this is my body.
Go ahead and eat.
And he took a cup and when hehad given thanks, he gave it to
them, saying Drink of it, all ofyou, for this is my blood of
the covenant, which is pouredout for many, for the
forgiveness of sins.
Go ahead and drink.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou for your word, we thank you
(57:20):
for your son.
We thank you for Peter, who attimes in the Bible was a
knucklehead but who continued onand endured to be a great,
mighty man of God.
Lord, we thank you for yourpatience with us.
We thank you for your supremelove that, even while we still
betray you on a daily basis andwe fall short, you still love us
(57:44):
.
Forgive us, lord.
Help us to do better.
Help us be more patient, moreloving.
Give us discernment.
Give us the strength to resistour temptations and our sins and
our vices.
Help us be shining lights toothers in this world.
(58:10):
Be shining lights to others inthis world.
I pray a prayer of protectionand peace and blessing over this
congregation and fellowship now, here in person and elsewhere
around the world and theinterwebs, the persecuted church
(58:30):
for our troops overseas, ourfirst responders at home and our
veterans of yesteryear.
I pray for the world that wedon't go into World War III.
I pray for our leaders,including President Trump and
others, that they would beuseful tools for our Lord and
Savior, that he would use themto do great, just things, things
(58:56):
that would glorify Jesus andonly Jesus.
Lastly, I pray for my belovedAmerica.
I pray that she would humbleherself, turn from her sin, hit
her knees and seek your face,and that you would see her and
heal her, so that we could onceagain be one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty andjustice for all.
Now I call this fellowship toattention, to put on the full
(59:19):
armor of God, Strap on theshield of faith, pick up the
sword of the Spirit and toboldly step forward to join the
shield wall locking shields toour left and right, marching
forward to take ground for Hiskingdom, for His glory forever.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Go ahead and rise.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
(59:40):
May the Lord make his faceshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
May the Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
God bless.
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