Our Heavenly Inheritance

We are going to start a series where we walk through the New Testament book of 1 Peter.  It is clear that Peter’s main concern is persecution because each chapter deals with it and many of the other subjects are an encouragement to those enduring it.  However, today we are going to be dealing with the inheritance that we have in Christ.

Who Is Writing

In order to set the stage, we want to recognize that this is a letter from the apostle Peter.  Peter was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus that lived with him wherever he went.  Within this group Peter was one of three who were closest to Jesus.  In fact, Peter is actually a nickname that Jesus gave to him.  Some try to make Peter out to be the head Apostle and first Pope, however, it is clear from Scripture that this is simply not true.  In Acts 15 we do not see Peter presiding over the council and decreeing God’s will ex cathedra.  Rather we see all the apostles speaking what God has been saying to them and coming to a consensus about what the Holy Spirit wanted them to do.  Also, though Peter eventually ended up in Rome and was put to death there, he does not appear as the first Bishop of Rome, nor was he the instrument to raise up a church in Rome.  This is not to diminish Peter, but rather to clarify who it is who is writing.  He is an apostle of Jesus; one who was sent by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel to the world alongside of the work of other apostles.

Who Received the Letter

This letter was written specifically to believers who had been spread out from Jerusalem due to persecution.  Believers went many directions to many places.  Here Peter describes areas that are in what we would call central and northern Turkey today.  Though some try to say these are Jewish believers, I don’t believe that is Peter’s point in speaking of the “dispersion.”  Most early Christians were Jewish by the fact that it started in Jerusalem.  So clearly there are many Jews in this group if not most of them.  The dispersion is not a reference to the overall Jewish Diaspora that had been going on, but rather to the issues of Acts 8:4 when persecution of Christians by fellow Jews caused them to disperse and scatter into the surrounding nations.  What Satan meant for evil God meant for good.  Thus the Gospel was spread beyond Jerusalem at a faster rate than would have occurred under the believer’s own direction.

Peter reminds them that they are “elect” (literally chosen) by God.  God chose them according to his foreknowledge.  God knows in advance what men will chose and how they will respond and He made a choice.  He did not choose to save the strongest or the wisest, but rather to save the humble.  Thus even the strongest and wisest can be saved, if they will humble themselves.  God did not choose our works of righteousness but rather chose a path of salvation that required men to confess their sin, humble themselves before God and put their trust in His righteousness, specifically in Jesus Christ.  Remember that God  has chosen you to salvation and to an inheritance not because of your great works, but because of simple trust in Him. 

They are chosen by God “in sanctification of the Holy Spirit.”  Sanctification is when we are set apart by God for his purposes.  That sanctification has aspects that are immediate and some that are ongoing.  When we believe in Jesus we are separated from the world as God’s children and recipients of his favor.  However, as we follow Him, the Holy Spirit enables us to be separated from the ways of this world and the image of this world.

Next they are chosen by God for Obedience and for Service.  Part of Obeying God is to first believe on Jesus and then to pick up our cross and follow him.  In other words we enter into a life of dying to things that Jesus may live in us.  Just as Jesus was obedient to go to the literal cross, so God will call us to do many things that are like a cross to our soul.  We won’t want to die to certain desires and fears, but to obey God we will eventually have to learn.  We may be disciplined at times, but as a loving Father, we need not worry that he seeks to disqualify us.  On the contrary, he died that we might be his children.  Trust him!  The reason I said we are chosen for Service is because of the imagery behind the “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus.”  It is pointing back to the Old Testament sacrifices.  Anything that was going to be used for holy purposes, whether it was an altar, clothing, or a person like the priests, had to be sprinkled with blood from a sacrifice.  It represented that it had been cleansed and set apart for God’s work.  That physical lamb that was slain and the blood that was literally sprinkled on things point to the death of Jesus.  So, how are we metaphorically sprinkled with the blood of Jesus?  This is done by the Holy Spirit when we believe on Jesus as our substitute.  He died for me that my sins could be covered.   I believe an then God applies the blood to cover my account.

Peter’s Desire For Them

Peter ends verse 2 by praying Grace and Peace for them and that it be multiplied.  Clearly our greatest need is God’s grace, peace with Him, and peace from Him.  Though God’s grace and peace are already potentially multiplied towards us all the time, we do need to rest in that grace and peace.  If we allow our confidence to be undermined then we can lose our grip on His blessings.  Thus Peter prays that it will be in constant renewal and supply.

Peter’s Praise of God

God’s plan for mankind is truly magnificent.  It is not the plan we would have made for ourselves, but it is amazing.  Thus Peter blesses the Father because of His abundant mercy, which is a mercy that is inexhaustible.  If every soul on the planet repented today, God would have enough mercy to draw them all in and more.  However his mercy is not just abundant in quantity.  It is also abundant in quality.  Thus the next phrase, “begotten us again,” is a reference to the new birth or spiritual birth of John 3:3.  Simple mercy would be allowing us to be His slaves.  As you increase that mercy we can rise from slaves to friends.  But God’s mercy is so great that he adopts us into his family and makes us his children.  He spiritually births us into his family.  No, we do not become gods as some may claim.  But our Father is God and His Spirit does live within us, which is an abundant mercy.  We also have a “living Hope.”  It is living because Jesus who was dead is now alive.  However, it is also living in the sense that the Hope is lively.  It can’t be put down or quenched.  When satan tries to convince us that there is no hope, the hope we have in Jesus jumps up and sends him fleeing.  In Christ our hope cannot be touched by satan.  Even his death words can’t destroy the living hope we have in Jesus.  Lastly it is a living hope because it is the hope of eternal life that we have in our own personal resurrection by Jesus.  Thus the resurrection of Jesus becomes the assurance or proof that the Father will do all he has said he will do.  Our hope is a hope of life eternal.

But notice the reason God has given us spiritual birth.  In verse 4 we are born for an inheritance.  A divine inheritance has been created for those who are God’s children.  This inheritance is “incorruptible.”  That means it can’t diminish or be lost in the stock market.  It can’t grow old and die.  It is imperishable.  The next word to describe the inheritance is “undefiled.”  It is a clean and pure inheritance.  God didn’t steal it from anybody and it is not ill-gotten gain.  It is a righteous and pure inheritance that does not “fade away.”  How?  It doesn’t fade because it is kept in heaven for you.  Here things fade and luster is lost.  But our inheritance is just as shiny as the first day God made it.  Nothing, not even satan himself, can get near it to tarnish it.  In fact in verse 5 Peter says that even we ourselves are “kept by the power of God.”  This is a military picture of a spiritual guard that is placed upon us as his children.  This doesn’t mean Satan can’t attack.  It just means that his attacks are only as successful as we let them be.  That is why he couples the guarding power to our faith.  When we simply believe God in the face of every lying demon of hell then Satan can’t touch us.  Like Job of old we can lose everything and yet not, because our faith is in God.  “Though God slay me yet I will trust him.”

God has revealed the plan of his salvation.  But the day is coming when the heavens will open and Jesus will return.  And , in that day, his salvation will be revealed in all its power and glory!  This is our heavenly inheritance that we have in Jesus.  Amen.

Peace Between Us

We have been looking at the topic of peace over the last two Sundays.  The first week we looked at the peace that Jesus gives to those who believe on him.  Last week we looked at the lack of peace that the world has.  Today we are going to deal with relationships between believers.  Why do believers sometimes not get along? 

This is the question that James dealt with in Chapter 4.  Although he is writing to Jewish believers who had been scattered abroad, it is a good word for all believers who find themselves in the midst of conflict or worse fights.  A conflict is not a fight necessarily, but it can become one quick if our hearts are not in the right place.  This seems to be the case in James 4.  These believers are not just having basic conflicts; they are having all out wars.  What that looked like is not spelled out.  But the words that are used to describe it imply it was pretty bad.  Let’s look at what James has to say.

The Source Of Strife Between Believers Is Within Me

James starts out by asking what the source of the quarrels is.  However, it is a rhetorical question.  James knows full well and expects that the believers should know as well.  Notice the words he uses to describe their conflicts: wars, fights, murder, and covet.  It seems hard to believe that they actually had wars and murders.  So I suspect that these are being used to describe the ugliness of what was going on and the spiritual damage it was doing.  The carnage of a war and murder in the natural was the best description that James could use to picture what was happening spiritually with them.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!  The source is conflicting desires in my heart.  The same is true for the other person, but you will notice in this passage that James focuses on the problem not “the other person.”  When there is fighting, I need to fix me not the other person.

So what are these conflicting desires or lusts that are at war inside of me?  These are the desires of your flesh.  Your mind wants to be noticed, right all the time, and preeminent.   Your mouth wants to talk, and eat good food.  We also have sexual desires, relational desires, etc…  All of these strong desires cannot be satisfied all the time and at once.  Thus they are continually at war to be on top.  That is, if we let it become like that.  We can bring those desires under control and have peace inside.  But when we fail to do so the inner war eventually erupts into war with others.

James points out that, instead of looking to God for their desires, they try to obtain them from others through force.  This spirit is not of Jesus.  He did not act this way.  He trusted God.  Yet, in verse 3 we see that even when one of them per chance prayed, their prayers were self-centered and pleasure focused.   In fact, literally James says that their prayers were sick, ill, and wrong.  The New King James Version translates it as “asking amiss.”  But the point is stronger than this.  Can I be honest with myself and recognize that my inner life can be a seething cauldron of conflicting lusts if I let it? 

This Strife Is Serious

Verses 4-6 lay out the seriousness of this situation.  It is not just a little problem.  James uses two word pictures to show this.  The first word picture is that of marriage.  Believers are wed to Christ and are called his bride.  However, when we fight with each other over the desires of our flesh then we are being unfaithful to Jesus.  James calls it adultery.  If you were guarding a faithful love towards Jesus then you wouldn’t be having such ugly conflicts.  Sure you will still have conflicts, but you would work them out without spiritually murdering each other.

The second picture is that of war.  In any war, you are on one side or the other.  Thus the unfaithfulness is demonstrated in a measure similar to Judas.  You may be with Jesus and be called one of his disciples.  But, have you become a betrayer and an enemy of God?  To be in love with the world more than in love with God puts us on the wrong side.  God is coming to judge the world that gives itself to self-pleasure and gives no thought for him.  No matter how religious our life looks like a love for the world will destroy us spiritually and make us enemies of God.

In verse 5, James reminds them that just as they have strong desires for fleshly things, God has strong desires too.  God strongly desires to have intimacy with both parties in the battle.  When we “shoot to kill” in conflict we step on God’s toes and put our finger in his eye.  Will he not deal with us?  Thus we need to drop pride and embrace humility.  If we don’t humble ourselves God will.  Isn’t it easier to humble yourself and receive God’s grace, rather than to persist in pride and get whacked?

The Submission Needed To End The Strife

In today’s world submission is worse than a 4-letter word.  James tells them they need to submit to God.  The word “submit” is the picture of a soldier who is not in formation or even AWOL.  Instead of doing what they are supposed to be doing, they are doing their own thing.  Submission is when we put our self back under the direction of another.  When we fight with each other we are rebelling against God and doing our own thing.  Instead of “resisting” (fighting) the devil, we fight against each other.  God has not called us to fight flesh and blood, but rather to take our stand against the devil and his schemes.

James gives several practical instructions.  First draw near to God.  Our unfaithfulness to God can only be fixed by turning back towards him.  Quit loving the world and start loving God again.  Don’t just say you love Jesus.  Jesus didn’t put himself first.  He submitted to his father in heaven.  Do you really love him?  Then draw near to him.

Next is Cleanse your hands.  It is parallel with the third phrase, “purify your hearts.”  However the hands are a picture of our outer life.  It represents what we do.  To cleanse our hands is to change what we are doing with them.  Quit the outer displays of fighting with your brothers and sisters.  Then start on those things in the heart that are leading to these outbursts of wars.

Next he tells them to quit laughing and start mourning and weeping.  Not laughing is evil.  But rather it has to do with the situation.  When a war is going on, you don’t sit around laughing it up.  God is weeping when we fight.  Am I weeping about that?  Or do I only weep because I didn’t get what I wanted?

The final thing is that we need to humble ourselves.  Leave your exaltation and the satisfaction of your desires to God.  Trust him and he will exalt you at the right time.  Perhaps I can’t handle exaltation in this life.  If so then God may wait till the life to come to give it to me.  Am I fine with that?  Jesus was.  It is time for us to surrender our hearts desires to the Lord and fall in love with the heart and mind of Jesus once again.

Peace Between audio

No Peace For The Wicked

Though Jesus has given his peace to his followers, this does not mean that the earth itself will experience peace.  We have to bear in mind that this is a world in rebellion against God.  Yes, Jesus provides peace.  But it is peace with those who embrace him.  Just as Israel rejected Jesus, so the nations today reject Jesus.  There is no place for Jesus in their plans and the only reason their politics make room for him is to get his the votes of his people.  This is precisely why this world cannot create a lasting peace.  When you reject the Prince of Peace then you forfeit its presence.

The believers in the Greek city of Thessalonica were concerned about the timing of the Day of the Lord.  This was a technical phrase that the prophets used to refer to a day when God comes down to judge all the nations of the world and set up his own kingdom.  Paul had taught the Thessalonians that Jesus would return a second time and when he did he would judge the nations.  However in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul basically pushes past the question of when the second coming will happen and moves onto more important matters.  So here is the first main point.

The World Will Not Be Expecting It When God’s Judgment Comes

In verse one Paul quickly dismisses the timing issue.  In short we really don’t need to know what date Jesus is coming back.  However, in verse two he turns to how it will come upon the world, “like a thief in the night.”  Then in verse three he lays out more specifics of how it will come upon the world.  This world will be caught by surprise even though prophets, the church and Jesus have warned that judgment is coming.  In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus warned over and over again that his coming would be unexpected.  In fact, it won’t just be unexpected by the world but it will also come at a time that even Christians wouldn’t think (Mt. 24:36,44).  Thus he tells his followers to watch and always be ready so that the day doesn’t take them by surprise.  It will be a surprise in the sense of the timing.  But it shouldn’t be a surprise for believers in the sense that they won’t be ready.  Are you ready?

The reason the timing is not important is because it is better for us not to know.  If we knew a time then the generations before would be lazier and the witness of the gospel would be impacted.  God’s wisdom desires that each generation live ready for the coming judgment.

Paul gives a word picture of a thief in the night.  Jesus will come like a thief in the night.  Now Jesus is not a bad thief.  However in both situations if you are not ready then you stand to lose all that you have.  This world hasn’t given a second thought about the coming of Jesus.  It has plowed on amassing wealth, power, projects and knowledge.  However, when Jesus comes back all of this will be lost and for nothing.  Thus it will be like a thief.  His coming will ruin all their hopes.

We are receiving further warnings today.  First the gospel has practically gone to all the nations.  Also, we see a growing apostasy from the truth within the church.  Also, we see a continual increase of wickedness in all nations of the world.

The World Will Claim That Peace And Safety Have Come.

Everyone claims that they have the answer for peace.  The Muslims say that they will bring peace when the West is deposed and everyone agrees with them.  The West says that it will bring peace through its philosophical reasonings.  Whether religions or nations, there are many vying philosophies that claim to be an answer for mankind.  Will such a peace ever be created?  In verse 3 Paul points to the fact that the world will say, “Peace and Safety!”  Notice it is not clear whether they are saying it has been obtained or that it is within their grasp.  Perhaps like Neville Chamberlain in WWII they have achieved peace on paper.  Regardless, this declaration of peace and safety will trigger destruction.  Think of the sadness of this predicament.  The world rejects God in order to create its own safety and peace.  However,  just when they think they have achieved it, boom!  The rug is pulled out from under them, which leads us to the last point.

The World Will Instead Experience Ruin And Destruction

The collapse of the imagined peace will be the destruction of the nations and all their great plans.  This destruction will be a mixture of man-caused things and God-caused things.

Here Paul inserts another word picture.  A pregnant woman who begins to have labor pains has been lived and watched ever since the beginning.  Paul says that the destruction will come like labor pains upon a woman.  Thus the suddenness is more about the beginning rather than the duration.  It begins suddenly but lasts longer than a second.  Second of all, the pains increase with intensity as they decrease in the amount of time in between them.  So the pains come quicker and quicker and become harder and harder.  However, the world is not giving birth to something good.  It is giving birth to its own destruction and judgment.  Does it not seem, in this day and age, that major disasters and pains on the earth are coming quicker and quicker?  Does it not see, today, that they are also becoming worse and worse?  Isn’t it time to rebel against the rebellion before it is too late?

Isaiah 57:19-21 says, “’I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,’ says the Lord, ‘And I will heal him.’  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.  ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’”

The message of Christ is peace, just as the angels proclaimed at his birth: “peace on earth goodwill towards men.”  However, this peace has been rejected by the world and cast aside.  Thus God offers peace to him who is near and him who is far off.  Basically that means anybody.  But to the wicked, those who reject this offer and persist in their own way, there can be no peace.

If you desire peace today then you are going to have to save yourself from this wicked generation.  You are going to have to leave the rebellion behind, walk away from the revolution, and turn back in repentance towards God.  The last words Paul gives are serious: “They shall not escape.”  Think about the futility of that statement.  No matter what this world tries it is all impotent to change the future we are headed towards.  Peace will only come when Jesus is ruling on this earth.  The fact that he isn’t here yet means that grace is still available for us and for the lost.  Do we even care?  Just know this.  Jesus cared and if we love him we will care too.

No Peace Wicked audio

Peace in Troubled Times

Historically there have always been times of fighting, whether between nations, clans, or individuals.  Even when one place is relatively peaceful, there is somewhere else where trouble has broken out.  It is important for us to also realize that the peace we may have in our little world is not guaranteed tomorrow.

In John 14 Jesus knew that he and his disciples would be going through some difficult times.  He was preparing them for the inevitable times of turmoil and trial ahead.  We really need to pay attention to what Jesus says here because it is the same thing that will enable us to make it through the difficulties of our day.

Ultimately this passage is about the peace that we can have in Jesus no matter what is going on around us.

The Peace Of Jesus Is Our Inheritance

In verse 27 Jesus says that he is leaving his peace with them.  This picture of him going away but leaving something behind is that of a death and inheritance.  When a person makes a last will and testament, they describe who gets the things that they leave behind.  Hebrews 9 makes use of this metaphor by telling us that it was necessary for Jesus to die in order for his “will” to be carried out.  We are the recipients of the riches of Christ because he has died for us.  Jesus did not die intestate.  That is, he did not die without a will.  Part of that inheritance is his peace.  However in the case of Jesus, he is alive to ensure that his will is correctly carried out.  Now it is important for us as believers to realize that the peace of Jesus is a very real thing.  He has given it to us so that we might not be troubled by this world.  If we don’t have peace then we need to look into the reasons why.  It cannot be that somehow the Holy Spirit is keeping it from us. 

Now the language used of this peace is very personal.  Jesus said “my” peace.  This was the peace that he personally experienced and enjoyed.  It was a peace that was based upon the foundation of the intimate relationship Jesus had with the Father.  Because he has loved us and drawn us into an intimate relationship with himself, we can enjoy the same peace that Jesus had.  The Father loves the Son and the Son loves us.  Therefore the Father also loves us and we should love the Father.  This is the source of our peace.  However, it is also the peace of Jesus because it is the peace that he has created.  When Jesus died for our sins, he made peace between us and the Father whom we have offended with our sins.  Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

It is also true that because we have peace with the Father and thus an emotional peace, so we can be at peace with other believers.  We have nothing to prove because we both are acceptable to the Father.  We can rest in His love and acceptance in Jesus.

Thus our peace is not based upon currently visible circumstances.  In that moment Jesus was being betrayed by Judas and would soon be railroaded in a kangaroo court and unjustly executed.  However, in spite of all this, it would be possible for the disciples to have peace because their acceptance by the Father hasn’t changed.  No matter what the present earthly reality is it cannot change the heavenly reality that God loves you and has adopted you into his family.  If He allows something to happen that is unpleasant then we can trust that he is working it out to a greater good.  Just as Jesus was put to death on a cross and yet great good has come out of it.

The Peace Of Jesus Is Not Of This World

Just as this peace is not based upon the circumstances of this world, so too, it is not given by this world.  No governmental army has obtained it for us and thus no governmental powers can take it away.  O, we can lose our peace, but it is not because of the circumstances.  It is because we have quit trusting and believing.  This world obtains peace through the objects of its desires: wealth, power, fame.  But all of these can be taken away in a heartbeat.  Don’t let fear rob you of your inheritance of peace.  Always remember that the things that make for your peace are not of this world and thus nothing in the world can take it away.

The Peace Of Jesus Should Affect Our Hearts

Jesus uses several terms that speak to how his peace is meant to affect our hearts.  The first word is troubled in verse 27.  Our hearts can be troubled, stirred  up, agitated by the events of this world.  Jesus knows what it is like to be troubled.  In John 13:21 Jesus was troubled as he approached his coming betrayal.  It troubled his heart that he had loved Judas and yet Judas was about to betray him.  Nevertheless, “Thy will be done.”  Jesus had peace because he was secure in his relationship with his father in heaven.  Are you secure in your relationship with Jesus and thus the Father?  Don’t let your heart be agitated and stirred up into turmoil in this area.

The second word is Fear.  Often it is fears that agitate and trouble our heart.  Fear not only steals our courage but it builds a spirit of timidity within us when trouble threatens us.  Jesus does not desire you to be ruled by fear and a troubled heart.  Instead he has far better things in mind.

The third word leaves the negative and moves to the positive, “Joy” (in verse 28).  Jesus points to our relationship with him.  If you love me you would rejoice.  Our joy is directly tied to our love of Jesus, not our accompanying Jesus.  Judas was with Jesus but he had no peace, nor joy.  The other disciples however came to know the peace and joy of Jesus.  When Jesus was resurrected it was meant to assure our hearts that we can be confident in God’s love of us.  This is a cause for great rejoicing.  Each day we can walk in the joy that the same power that resurrected Christ from the dead is working on our behalf as well.  Wow!

The fourth word, in verse 29, is faith.  Jesus told them in advance about his going away and available peace so that when it happened they would believe.  The word “believe” is the verbal form of Faith.  If agitating and troubling things come into your life then realize that God is going to use it to bring a greater joy to you.  Even death itself becomes a toothless enemy when you are loved by the Lord of Life.  Who, by the way, has personally guaranteed that he will resurrect your body in a glorified form.  Jesus said that if he went away then he would surely return so that we can be with him.  These are the things we can believe in because of the resurrection.

Let me close by pointing out four barriers to our peace.  If we are ignorant of what Jesus has done and made available for us then we can miss out on the peace he intends us to have.  However, if we do know but don’t believe then our unbelief will rob us of that peace.  Another barrier is sin. Our own sin robs us of confidence in God’s love and the sin of others often offends us.  Offended people do not like to let go of the offense.  As long as you cling to the offense you will lack peace.  Lastly the deceptive thoughts, ideas, and doctrines of the enemy can delude us and lead us away from the true peace we are meant to have in Jesus.  So be at peace in Jesus it is the inheritance that he has left for YOU!

Peace in troubled times audio