Sermon Tone Analysis

“*GREAT EXPECTATIONS*”

(A Sermon from I Peter)

 

Westgate Chapel 8~/6~/06                                            I Peter 1:3-9

 

PROPOSITION:  That the great salvation into which the Chosen People have been born again includes the expectation of inheritance, of testing, and of fellowship with God.

!

i. introduction

!! -     WELCOME to God’s Word this morning.

!! -     IN the next few minutes we will be dealing with elements of eternity.

!! -     IN Luke 21:33 Jesus said,

!!!       “*Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away*.”

(Luke 21:33)

!! -     PRETTY incredible, isn’t it!

!! -     PLEASE turn with me to I Peter 1:3-9.

!! -     TWO weeks ago, we looked at verses 1 and 2 about being God’s elect….that

He votes for us.

!! -     BUT, before we move on with the next seven verses, let me briefly remind you of the context of this epistle.

!!! ~*     Peter is sitting in Rome, seeing the first signs of persecution against Christians all around him in the empire.

!!! ~*     Reports are coming in, to the apostle, of believers suffering and laying down their lives for their faith.

!!! ~*     Nero has come to power in Rome, and a showdown between darkness and light is imminent in the known world.

!!! ~*     Eighteen months after writing this epistle to the church of Jesus in Asia Minor, Nero makes the persecution of Christians official policy and Peter is one of the first to be hung on a cross for his faith in Rome.

!!! ~*     Peter writes this epistle to…

!!!! •     brand new believers

!!!! •     separated from their families

!!!! •     a long way from home

!!!! •     very much in the minority

!!!! •     cut off from the mainstream of their culture

!!!! •     unsettled about the future

!!!! •     disquieted about what they had been hearing from Rome

!!!! •     frightened.

!! -     SO, early in his epistle, Peter tells them what to expect of this new faith in Jesus.

!! -     AND they are great expectations!

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ii.

expectation of an inheritance

!! -     THE first two verses of chapter 1, are just the greeting that introduces the letter.

!! -     THE content of the letter begins with verse 3.

!! -     AND from verses 3-5, we learn the first of three things we can expect from being the people God votes for….His elect.

!! -     LET’S read it together,

!!!       “*Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead*, 4     *to /obtain /an inheritance /which is/ imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,* 5     *who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time*.”

(1 Peter 1:3-5)

!! -     THIS God we worship has…

!!!       “…*caused us to be born again*”

!! -     WE are incapable of saving ourselves.

God initiated our salvation.

!! -     THIS is what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3,

!!!       “*I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again*.”

!! -     YOU and I are born once, when we arrive into this world, out of our mother’s womb.

!! -     BUT because we are descendants of the first Adam and have a sinful nature, our spirit is not alive to Christ and spiritual realities.

!! -     WE must be born again…by the Holy Spirit in order to see, to enter into the kingdom of God.

!! -     AND that happens when, in faith…

!!! ~*     we repent of our sins

!!! ~*     we receive God’s gift of forgiveness through Jesus’ work on the cross

!!! ~*     we surrender our whole lives to Jesus Christ and live for Him from that day on.

!! -     NOW Peter tells us several things about being born again in these three verses…

!!! 1.

It is IN God’s great mercy that He has given us the gift of new birth.

!!!! •     Mercy is the source of our new birth.

!!!! •     Mercy, is God “bringing in the outsider and the unworthy to share in His salvation and the glorious riches of Christ.”

!!! 2.   It is INTO a living hope.

!!!! •     Hope is the quality of our salvation.

!!!! •     We do not live in despair for today or tomorrow.

!!! 3.   It is THROUGH the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

!!!! •     Resurrection is the means of our salvation.

!!!! •     It is the proof that Jesus conquered sin, Satan and the grave.

!!!! •     In I Corinthians 15:14 Paul says,

!!!!!       “…*if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain*.”

(1 Corinthians 15:14)

!!! 4.   Lastly, it is INTO an inheritance.

!!!! •     The ultimate triumph of your salvation.

!!!! •     Your inheritance is Jesus Himself.

!!!! •     You get to share in His glory.

!!!!!       “*When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory*.”

(Colossians 3:4)

!!!! •     You get to live in a place He has gone to prepare for you (John 14:2).

!!!! •     You get to be like Him.

!!!!!       “*We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is*.” (1 John 3:2)

!!!! •     Peter says that this is an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

!!!! •     And it is kept in heaven for you.

That word kept means “reserved.”

!! -     NO wonder Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:9,

!!!       “*No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him*…” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV)

!! -     THAT is what the believers in Asia Minor can expect for following Christ….this

inheritance.

!! -     THEY might have been…

!!! ~*     poor by earthly standards

!!! ~*     weak in political influence

!!! ~*     disenfranchised by society.

!!! ~*     frightened about the future.

!! -     BUT they were born again INTO an inheritance kept in heaven for them.

!! -     BUT heaven was a loooong way off!

!! -     HOW did they know any of them would make it all the way to heaven?

!! -     DID anyone know what they were facing right in front of them?

Much less heaven!

!! -     LISTEN to verse 5. Peter tells them that born again followers of Christ are those…

!!!       “…*who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time*.”

!! -     YOU can count on the inheritance that God has prepared for you.

!! -     THE word, protected, is a military word.

In the Greek language, it literally means surrounded.

!! -     AND the word translated “by” is mistranslated.

It is really “in.”

!! -     YOU are surrounded IN God’s power and that is how you are going to make it to the finish line and receive your inheritance.

!! -     AND faith believes it and faith already sees yourself surrounded by it.

!! -     IT is the same faith that allowed Elisha to look at the same hills that his servant saw full of Aramean horses and chariots and instead see those same hills full of chariots of fire from the Lord.