Can You See It?

Kenneth Albert

Living Expectantly • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

1 Peter 1:3–12

2 Peter 3:14

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Okay, as I have been hinting at and referring to over the last couple of weeks, our theme for this year is “Living Expectantly.”

And I want to start that series this morning. So turn with me over to 2 Peter Chapter 3

2 Peter 3 NKJV

Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

And our key verse for this series of messages is found in verse 14 - Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.

Another translation says, And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight.

So living expectantly is the thought that we are living our lives in a way that expects that these things that Jesus said would happen, will happen, no matter what the timeframe around us has dictated to us.

Peter, says, therefore brothers, look forward to these things.

And that’s what we want to look at - what things Peter is talking about. To find this out, all we have to do is look back at Peter’s writings. Because it all has led to this statement here.

The first thing that Peter talks about is our glorious inheritance, or what Jesus has secured for us in eternity.

1 Peter 1:3–12 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

1 Peter 1:3-

You know what happens with new stuff? It gets old.

Girl with a diamond ring

A new car

a new house

It gets old and loses it’s polish.

The things of God never lose their polish. and they don’t get old.

Our hearts get old toward them.

Our hearts are never satisfied. Our hearts are always looking for the next greater thing.

We have the greatest things in God, but our hearts never seem to know it.

That’s what this living expectation is all about.

Church we have an inheritance that is next to nothing.

No, it’s not a million dollars

It’s not a house on an island somewhere or a timeshare in some place tropical

It’s not a limousine or a company

But our inheritance is heaven. It is a mansion in eternity. Trust me there is nothing that you can acquire on this earth that will ever compare to it.

And Peter says, beloved (brothers and sisters) let’s get excited about these things. Let’s look forward to these things. Let’s live according to the expectations that these things are right around the corner.

The first part of this glorious inheritance is a living hope.

We Have a Living Hope

I remember a message about his not too far back.

A living hope is a hope that does not and cannot die. Because it’s living. It’s growing. It’s maturing.

And that’s what we need to do in this hope. Live in it. Grow in it and mature in it.

It is a sure hope.

It is our confession of faith. To live in this hope is to speak out what we believe and follow those words with a life pattern.

It is not a hope found in possessions

It is not a hope found in what we do

It IS a hope found in who we are. We are the children of the living God.

Comeon church, that should excited you today.

It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that seals this hope.

When the people saw Jesus alive. When Thomas got to put his fingers into his wounds

This thing was done. Satan knew it, all of hell knows it, now we just got to know it.

It is an eternal hope.

Verse four tells us that is not fading away as the hope of this world is.

These words here in verse 4 are very important words.

Descriptive words that tell us just what we have been given.

imperishable - untouched by death or immortal

undefiled - unstained by evil or pure

unfading - unimpaired by time - again not fading away.

Then why does our trust in that hope fade and ebb away from time to time? Because we allow this temporal world to dictate to the eternal rather than the opposite taking place.

It is an enduring hope.

It continues through the junk of life.

Listen church, satan is always going to attack us, this world is always going to lure us and the battles of life will continue to come at us.

But our God and all that he has given to us are much stronger and greater than those.

So here is our challenge, brothers and sisters. We have a living hope. Will we live in it?

Are we excited about what it means that our hope is alive, that it is sure, that it is eternal and enduring.

Will we let it penetrate every area of our lives with the joy and hope and love that Christ gives to us?

And when we are going through the tough stuff, will we remember that our hope is forever?

The second part of that inheritance is a genuine faith.

We have a Genuine Faith

Peter says here in verse 6 that you know this especially if you have been grieved by various trials.

So it’s a faith that shines through the darkness of life around us.

He says, if you’ve been through such things and your faith has brought you through, then you know that it’s priceless

And it never loses that value. It’s not like Gold that’s up one day and down the next.

We see here that it’s not even just about the faith, but the fact that it’s genuine.

Some people have a blind faith - they don’t see what they have their faith in, but it works

Some have a bold faith - it’s strong when they need it

Others have false faiths - But ours is genuine.

Genuine means the real thing. It can’t be faked. It can’t fail

And it’s genuine because it’s in the genuine God of the universe.

It’s based upon his strength

It’s based upon his word

It’s founded on what He has done in our lives and in our world.

It’s tested by fire. In other words, it is proven

It’s been through the tests of life and has stood firm

It’s effective

It’s powerful.

It shines - anything tested by fire shines.

It’s found in Christ.

And it’s demonstrated in your love for this savior that you’ve never seen.

It’s demonstrated in that though he is not with you physically right now, you know that he is very much by your side and living through the Holy Spirit on the inside.

It’s demonstrated that though you may not see how he is working in your situation, in the very midst of it, you believe in what he has done and you are able to have and joy that flows in these times.

You sing songs in prison

You pray in the darkness

you lift your hands and worship when despair is at the door

My brothers and sisters, this is living expectantly.

How can the enemy win in any situation when these things are happening?

How can he have any victory in your life when you hands and hearts are raised toward heaven?

We have a living hope

We have a genuine faith

And the third part of our glorious inheritance is

We Have an Awesome Salvation

All three of these are so closely intertwined here.

You cannot have salvation without a genuine faith - you need to be able to believe that Jesus can do what He said he could. You need to be able to believe that what he did on the cross, paid the price of your sin.

And you cannot have hope without the salvation.

As the song says, My hope is found on nothing less, than Jesus’s blood and righteousness.

Peter says here that it is a salvation that has been prophesied about through the ages, but not totally understood.

He says, it is a salvation that makes angels marvel.

Why? That the God and creator of the universe would leave his home above, take on the form of lowly flesh and die for that which has rebelled and spit in his face.

Why? Because He loved us so much. He loves you so much.

Church family, when we talk about salvation, we are speaking about so much more than just fire insurance.

we are speaking about a commitment that God makes to us - a covenant

We are speaking about a process of renewal and restoration

We are speaking about a future open to us that we otherwise would never get to see

We are speaking about a change that we could never facilitate

We are speaking about an eternity that we would never get to see.

I want to tell you this morning - get up every day and rejoice in that your name is written in the lambs book of life

Rise up and greet the day as an overcomer (more than a conqueror)

Live expectantly daily, in what this salvation means.

Recognizing eternal opportunities

Praising God in faith in the midst of reality

Living as a child of God and no longer a ruffian of hell

Looking forward to the promises

Amen

Let’s Pray