Sure Hope

To an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. kept in heaven for you.

Now, there's a lot of descriptions there, right? Imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and kept. There's a strong security being presented here. Christ is risen from the dead so that we have new life, and what he has risen to provide, an inheritance, it's imperishable. It's unfading. God keeps it not here, in the heavens, in the heavenly places where we receive heavenly blessings. This is the hope of the Christian life. This is the joy of the Christian life. The inheritance promised us. We need to see here, there's a forward looking, It's not just that we're saved to a new life now to enjoy, to walk in obedience, but it's something certain that is elsewhere, the heavens. That's why you're in exile. Your final inheritance isn't here. And it's in the future. I believe one of the reasons Peter's giving us such strong language about this inheritance that we are not yet in full possession of. Because assurance is so important for the Christian life. God desires for you to know that you belong to him. God desires for you to know all the promises he's given to you. God desires for you to have an assurance and a confidence in Christ and all he's accomplished. Because without assurance, it's going to be difficult to go through suffering well. Without assurance, it's going to be difficult to persevere in the midst of trouble. Well. The inheritance is eternal life to live with God. That's what Jesus had. That's what Jesus gives us. The inheritance to personally know him and love him and enjoy him and see him face to face forever. And notice he even goes further in verse five. That inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and kept, but then you, you are by God's power being guarded. God, the Holy Spirit seals you, the Father and the Son, they hold you fast, you're capped in his love. Notice how secure Peter wants us to understand our salvation is. But let's go one phrase further.

Who by God's power are being guarded through faith.

All right. God is guarding his elect exiles through their faith. If you're like me, all of a sudden, all that affirmation just felt a little uneasy. How much is my fickle faith determining my salvation? How much is my flakiness really determining how much is kept or guarded? That's why it's important to see it's not how strong our faith is, it's that our faith is in him who does guard. Look at the language, who by God's power are being guarded. This is such a wonderful assurance for us. It's not how strong you're able to muster up faith, it's simply that your faith would be in He who is strong enough to save you. It's not how strong you're able to hold on, it's that you actually commit to believe in Him who holds on to you. It requires your faith. Last week, folks were really asking a lot of good questions about election. What does that mean? Does that mean we don't believe? Well, no, faith is necessary. You're not saved without faith. But you're saved simply by believing in the God who's able to save you. As we think about the importance of faith here, that faith that is going to provide what has been guarded, the faith that salvation that is ready to be revealed the last time, there's something still coming. It should cause us to reflect, what kind of faith do I have? Is it a strong faith? Is it a mature faith? Is it a weak faith? Scripture has these categories. Something incredibly helpful for us modeled in the Gospel of Mark is a prayer that I want to encourage you with this morning. Where in scripture, it's recorded, a man responded to Jesus, he says, I believe, help my unbelief. What a prayer for us. What an invitation to pray in the midst of having a faith that we can feel be a little flaky. I believe, help my unbelief. In the moments of weakness, Feeling the faltering, feeling the pressure, feeling the fatigue. Help my unbelief is what we can pray. This morning, God has given us these great guardings, these great promises, and we need to have certainty in what he has done, what he has said, so we know where to place our faith. We're elect exiles. We're supposed to be growing and feeling the weight of that as we live by faith. One of the things we can think about here is if you're a laborer, a factory worker. He labors for years, putting away money for retirement. He's waiting for the day of getting his pension and he's working hard every day so that he can provide for his family and think one day I'm gonna cash out, I'm gonna go live that life I'm dreaming of. His whole hope, his whole faith is in this pension. Think about how fleeting that could be. how the dollar value will change, how the pension could disappear, how he might die before he ever gets a penny of it. A Christian, God has promised you something that's certain, that's imperishable, unfading. His promise never fails. We were created by God to know him and enjoy him, face to face and we now live as elected exiles because God has called us to that but we don't yet enjoy that. We don't get to see him in that way yet. That's why by faith we're called to trust him and live for him and long like that factory worker would but with all assurance. Making the investment by faith. One day get to see him as he is. We should long for that day. and invest in that day when salvation will be finally revealed at last. The next point, after assuring them in the faith that is secure, he explains there's a testing of faith. This is verses six to seven. Tested faith. Notice there is a transition.

In this you rejoice. though now for a little while if necessary.

Whew, that's a lot of qualifiers.

In this you rejoice that you've been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Notice there, there's still a time aspect to what's gonna come at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is the same as we've seen in verse five, to be revealed in the last time, something that we're waiting on. In this, you rejoice. And it's not a command to rejoice. There's other places where there's a command to rejoice. He's not commanding, he's actually saying this is what you do. He's writing as if this is what a Christian does. We rejoice. Let's think about all these qualifiers. for a little while if necessary. Now, the now could be in light of eternity. I believe most likely it's now as in it's a little while here and now. The testing doesn't last forever here on this earth most of the time for most people. He's trying to help us understand that there is going to be times of suffering and we shouldn't always think that's the way it's always going to be. The other qualification If necessary. If necessary, you are to rejoice in trials. That is, if the trial is necessary, you are to rejoice in it. There are times where trials are necessary. And we'll get into why that would be, but it doesn't say there's always going to be a trial. It also says the trial's just not kind of haphazard. If a trial comes in this way, It's necessary. It's good, it's right. As we think about that great mercy, I want you to remember the declaration also that's just helpful is his mercies are new every morning. That great mercy is new every morning. I believe that's helpful here as we think about trials that come for a little while and are necessary. They're new every morning and, well, one morning God's gonna relieve a trial. have hope that he is the one who brings the trial and he relieves the trial. More than that, that his mercy is more than sufficient to get us through that trial. The beautiful truth of Christianity in the midst of suffering is that it's never meaningless. Suffering is never meaningless for those who God loves and love God. Now why would God allow, permit, cause various kinds of trials? Verse seven, so that. Rejoice that trials of various kinds might come, and what they're doing is necessary only for a little while, and the purpose so that the tested genuineness of your faith, so that your faith would be made genuine through a test. Rejoice that a trial would make your faith more genuine. If we just pan out, James 1 says almost the same thing.

When you're faced with various trials, rejoice.

Because of what it does, it produces steadfastness. I wanna help us understand something here. Rejoicing has to be the most counterintuitive activity in a trial. Right? Am I the only one? But according to God's word, rejoicing is the most productive thing you can do in a trial. Rejoicing is counterintuitive in a trial But what God says is good in a trial. Bear with me, let's just think about the opposite, the flip of that. Complaining, grumbling, isolating is the most intuitive thing we do in a trial. And I believe God would say that's the most counterproductive thing you can do in a trial. God's word is helpful in leading us through a trial and rejoicing is an unnecessary good ingredient. Faith in the midst of a trial, it's helping us see how God is genuine, how God is good, how God is taking our faith and molding it, refining it, purifying. We gotta get past the idea that faith is just some kind of wishful thinking. or some mere intellectual agreement, or some just resonating with an idea. No, faith is our love directed in trust towards God. Faith is us directing ourselves to him who's come to us. On the way in, I saw five runners in the rain. They have a lot of faith in running. You can't accuse them of being fair-weathered. They're faithful. Christian, the reason trials come is for God to remove how we can be fair-weathered, fickle, flaky. God desires us to have a genuine faith, a more genuine faith, a stronger faith, because it means we know him and love him more. Trials press in. The trials, the tests that God is referring to here, that Peter's referring to, they purify us. Well, what does that mean? Peter's glad you asked. He gives you an explanation. The testing of your faith, he then declares, your faith which is more precious than gold, that it perishes though it is tested by fire. So there's quite a few things that are running side by side here. The testing of your faith, he isn't saying it's exactly like gold being refined, but he seems to have that in the back of his mind. In order to refine gold, you heat it up to over 2,000 degrees. Seems hot. melts the gold, and then you have a salt that you have the other imperfections, you have the other impurities, the other less valuable materials, and they're pulled out, and that's how it's purified. It's tested to be more genuine. The process is difficult and even dangerous for us, but gold is valuable. And the more pure it is, the more valuable it is. And so we would want to purify gold because of its value. Notice what Peter directly says. Your faith is more precious than gold. Your faith is more precious than gold. That gold is gonna perish. It will be finally tested and destroyed. in the heavens when the salvation of God comes. God values your faith like we value gold. We should value our faith more than we value gold. The beauty of what faith is in that we're learning how to direct our lives toward God. The trial, the trial squeezes in. The trial helps show the impurities, the imperfections, so that we can recognize them and repent. So we can have a stronger, more direct focus on God. Here we are, school's beginning. You're supposed to rejoice in tests. Isn't that fun? Y'all don't seem to think that's too fun. I like to tell my students and my children, A test is a wonderful opportunity given to you by someone to show what you know so that you might actually learn what you still need to know. It's a wonderful opportunity. A test is never a destination. We think wrongly. We think a test is this destination where that is my grade, that's the final word, that's all I know. No, a test, you get to see what you know, but you also get to see what you don't know. So you learn. You should rejoice when given a test so that you can say, I want to know what I can articulate and what I think I know, but also know what I need to know. Disciples, God brings about tests, not as a destination, necessary for a little while so that we would be able to see what we yet do not know or have not learned. The test, it refines us. What are the things we're more committed to than God? What is it we trust more than God? What is it we love more than God? That's one of the things tests do from God. He redirects our worship. But he also refines our faith by removing doubt, removes distraction. When trials come, they squeeze. They're not pleasant. They show imperfections, which gives us the opportunity to repent and trust God more. I've been a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ for 27 years. 27 years of stumbling, bumbling, failing, slow to learn, test failing. Two things really amaze me. 27 years ago, I believed, and in the moment of that faith, every sin of my entire life is forgiven. That's the gospel. In the moment, because of what Christ did on the cross, every sin in the absolute powerful action of God is completely removed. The second thing is how God patiently and graciously shows us sin to repent of. How kind he is not to show us every sin or how deep our sin goes. He's so powerful and gracious, he removes the guilt of sin in an instant with absolute power. And then he holds our hand like a gentle father. To gradually over time. Show us more sin. For our good. He doesn't lay it all on us at once. He helps us see it gradually so we repent and grow and repent and grow. How kind. What great mercy. He in no way says you're forgiven and just keep sinning. He also doesn't say you're forgiven, now stop it all. Absolute power to remove all the guilt. Absolute grace and mercy to walk with us. Notice there's a result in verse seven.

So the tested genuineness of your faith, it may be found to result in praise and glory and honor of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

He's coming back when that salvation is to come, when that revelation happens, and that last day when Christ returns, the result is praise, glory, and honor. Here's where we gotta think. The most obvious reading of this text, I believe, is saying that the person of faith His faith will result in him receiving praise, glory, and honor. The praise, glory, and honor here, the most basic reading, the first way you would read this is that humans, from God, because of faith, receive praise, glory, and honor. Now, I pause there, because that gives me pause. because God alone is worthy of glory and worship and honor and praise. Is there a way, is it possible that humans can rightly receive praise, glory, and honor? Well, let's just go down the list. Honor, that's the easy one, yes. It's one of the Ten Commandments, honor your father and mother. It's right that there will be honor given to humans. God gave us the status of being his image bearer, there's an honor. All right, glory. We are told we're changed from one glory to another glory. There's a way in which God created man to be glorious in this creation for his glory. Okay. Praise, this could be a way in which there's an applauding, there's a lifting up because of faithfulness and goodness. I do believe these three can it be appropriately applied to humans, to those who have believed under the heading that He who is worthy of all glory, praise, and honor has created us with these communicable attributes. And it is His grace alone that blesses us that we would be refined by Him to have a faith in Him that would result in us receiving praise, glory, and honor, that we would then, in return, give Him all true praise, glory, and honor. Now, if you don't feel comfortable with that, that's fine. But we actually see almost the exact same declaration made in Romans 2, 7 through 10 from Paul. This is important. Man doesn't just finally receive all glory. Now, I believe here the idea is that there's a, there's a reckoning before Christ when he returns. And those who have been given that resurrected life of Christ are going to have to give an account of what we've done with that life. And there's going to be some who are going to have to give an answer for unfaithfulness. I believe here this language is so loaded and powerful because those who have shown themselves faithful and been faithful,

well done, good and faithful servant

, there's a praise, glory and honor given there. We should be living for the future. We should be living with the idea that the testing will result in God giving us honor that we're gonna turn back around and give to him. Our third point, waiting faith, verses eight and nine. Notice here there's a time stamp again. Though you have not seen him, there's an implied yet.

Though you do not now see him, you believe in him, and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

You've not seen him face to face. You do not now see him. Notice the implied, you will. You will, that's what he's promised over and over again. That's sure, that's unfading, that's being kept for you. You will see God face to face. Notice here it's, though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you have not now seen him, you believe in him. This is where Hebrews 11.1 definition is so important for us.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen.

As elect exiles, we have such a hope that is still yet to come. Even though you haven't seen him as he is, even though you have not now seen him, we love him. Which shows it's not a blind love of faith. We know him, we love him, we trust him, we're following him. And not only that, and rejoice. There's that word again. The believer rejoices with a joy that is inexpressible. And notice they're filled with glory, believers are. Now, joy that is inexpressible. I think that's all we're gonna say about that. But we're living here in the resurrected life of Christ, longing for a joy to come, rejoicing now with a joy still inexpressible because it's a heavenly joy. We live here and now and we're waiting for the future. We're elect exiles. Rejoice in the outcome of your faith. Verse 9, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. What assurance Peter has given us here. God has caused you to be born again. According to his great mercy God has caused me born again and the inheritance you have is imperishable He has kept it for you in heaven You are being guarded by God you in in just for sometimes a little while when necessary are going to have tested Have your faith tested to be more genuine for for for your good at the revelation of Jesus Christ You're the the focus is on waiting Waiting There's a true present experience a Christian should have now. It's a joy. And there's more joy to come. We have to stop being secular. Secular just means you live right now in the time. We do have to realize everyone born in the Western world, the Western society. We're secular. This is your default mode. This is your factory setting. It's the water you swim in. You don't even know it. We're trained and raised to be secular. But God made you elect exiles longing for the world He's promised to come. I say it's your factory setting because we all just live in the here and now. Everything about us and everything about our culture is about here and now and what we're gonna get now. The best we can do is hope maybe for some retirement that's still in the now. Christian, to be faithful like the exiles is to believe we can live faithfully now as we long for the promises still to come. This text, preparing us to be elect exiles, is focused on our faith for what is to come. Verse five, a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Verse seven, a faith that may result in honor, praise, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse nine, obtaining the outcome of your salvation. We're awaiting people. I should be living expectantly, expectantly, because we're investing so heavily in the things of the faith, expectantly for what Christ will do and finish and give when he returns. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you did not leave us alone to remain dead. We thank you that you've given us such an assurance of new life, that Christ has been raised from the dead, and you have given us his own resurrected life to know for all eternity, to know you for all eternity. Help us, Lord, to know how to persevere through the trials. Help us, Lord, to learn that we can rejoice in trials because of what you're doing in and through them in our own hearts. Help us, Lord, to be awaiting people, longing to see you, to know you, and to have the final obtaining of your great salvation. In Christ's name we pray, amen.