[0:00] Good morning again. Welcome here this morning. We have many friends and visitors out this morning as well. A special welcome to you. It's a joy to be worshiping our Lord together with you.
[0:18] As we had in the special number this morning already, that God is good and He is faithful. And still today He is at work drawing souls to Himself. And we praise Him for that.
[0:50] So this morning, yes, we have five young believers ready to be baptized, to follow through on their commitment to Christ, to be obedient to Him and to take the step of baptism.
[1:10] And they'll be sharing their testimonies, sharing how God has transformed them and how He has worked miracles in their lives.
[1:23] And even to be born again, that is a miracle as well. It is unnatural to be born again. It goes against our natural state of being.
[1:39] But God has the power to transform us, to change us, as we put our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
[1:53] So, these five candidates, they have done this. We have spent the last three, just over three months together with them, going through the baptism classes, getting to know them.
[2:07] And we are confident in them as well. And it will be a pleasure to hear their testimonies.
[2:22] So they will share the mighty work that God has done in them in giving them a new nature, a new life. They have been born again. To born to a nature that loves God, that worships Him and seeks to do His will.
[2:44] This morning, they are making a public stand for Christ. And with stepping out in obedience to Jesus' command to be baptized upon the confession of their faith.
[2:59] And so we want to do that this morning. We'll start off this morning with a brief message.
[3:12] Just to briefly look into the book of 1 Peter in chapter 1. Thank you, Martin, for reading that text for us.
[3:26] Just to pull a few thoughts out of there. I don't have a lot of time to dig in very deep. But to bring out some encouragement out of this passage.
[3:43] It's a wonderful thing to be born again. To be regenerated to newness of life. And God has wonderful promises for those that do respond to His calling.
[3:58] Who accept that free gift that He offers. And so this morning, we want to meditate on some of these promises.
[4:12] And so the Apostle Peter shares in some of the promises that are given to us. That we have received. And the three that I just want to touch on a bit this morning are the promise of an inheritance in heaven.
[4:31] As well as a promise of trials. And a promise of great joy. So I've titled the message this morning, Promises of Faith.
[4:44] So looking first of all at the promise of an inheritance in heaven.
[4:57] Looking at the first couple of verses. 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.
[5:08] 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.
[5:19] Who are kept by the power of God. Through faith for salvation. Ready to be revealed in the last time. So it begins here.
[5:32] Giving praise to our God and Father. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The glory always goes to God.
[5:48] It has to. So why do we bless and glorify God? It says, Who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope.
[6:07] Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And so on in the next verses. The chance, the opportunity, and a new birth.
[6:21] A new life. It's all because of God. He created us. He gave us breath. He gave us life. And He knows our need.
[6:36] How lost we come into this world. And He has a plan for that. A plan that was prepared for eternity past.
[6:48] Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 says. That He, God, chose us in Him, Christ.
[7:01] Before the foundation of the world. The plan of salvation was prepared already. Even before God created the world.
[7:12] Before He created Adam. Before sin entered in. God knew what our state would be.
[7:24] That we would be lost. In an inherited sin nature. God was prepared for that.
[7:42] He had a plan. He was ready. What was the plan?
[7:54] When the time was right. He would send His only Son down from heaven. To come to this earth. As a human.
[8:05] Just like us. And have Him experience everything that we experience. And then. He would be killed.
[8:19] Killed as a sacrifice. As an atonement. As payment. For my sins. For your sins.
[8:31] For the sins of the whole world. Jesus came to earth to die. And He was buried in a tomb.
[8:47] But that tomb could not hold Him. Because that wasn't part of God's plan. God resurrected His Son.
[9:00] Raised Him to life. Life incorruptible. Life everlasting. Life everlasting. We also have that life.
[9:14] If we are in Christ. If He reigns in our heart. As Lord and Savior. As our text tells us.
[9:27] We are begotten. We are born again. To a new life. A life. A life. That will go on.
[9:38] Forever. As well. We are promised. An inheritance. One. That will last.
[9:51] We may receive inheritances. Here on earth. But they consist. Of material things. Things that rot.
[10:03] That rust. That have an end. The inheritance that God gives us. Isn't like that. It will last forever.
[10:17] Forever. And it waits for us. In heaven. In glory. Our text tells us too.
[10:28] That this inheritance. Is reserved for us. And so. Reserved for us.
[10:38] Means it is. Appointed for us. Let's turn to. To Matthew chapter 24.
[10:56] Matthew chapter 20. 25. Sorry. Matthew 25. Verse 34. Jesus speaks.
[11:11] And he says. Then the king will say. To those on his right hand. Come you blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom. Prepared for you. From the foundation. Of the world.
[11:23] And so. It's speaking here. Of the sheep. And goat. Judgment. Those on the right hand. Who are the sheep. Or Christians.
[11:35] We will inherit. The kingdom. God has prepared for us. Jesus. Will invite us.
[11:47] Saying. Come. The inheritance. Is yours. The father has prepared it. Just for you. And that is.
[12:00] A wonderful promise. A sure promise. Continuing on. In our text. In verse 6. In this.
[12:11] 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.
[12:22] Than gold. That perishes. Though it is tested. By fire. May be found. To praise. Honor. And glory. At the revelation. Of Jesus Christ.
[12:32] Christ. We are. Promised trials. Trials. In this life.
[12:44] We all. Go through trials. Whether. We are. Christians. Or not. Trials.
[12:55] Are common. To mankind. Kind. What do trials do? Trials.
[13:07] Test us. They shape. Our character. Father. In God's word.
[13:19] We read. Of. The peace. The rest. That we receive. When we come. To faith. How it's a peace. That endures.
[13:31] That's with us. All our days. Do we have peace. When we go through trials.
[13:41] In our life. What is the purpose. Of trials. In the life. Of a Christian.
[13:56] There will. Be trials. We can be sure. Of that. But. So trials. In the. Christian life.
[14:09] Come. To test us. Specifically. To test. Our faith. Are we.
[14:20] Really. Grounded. In Christ. Do we. Really. Trust him. In all things. Do we. Fully. Rely.
[14:31] On his. Strength. Or. Do we. Sometimes. Think. That. We. Possess. Enough. Strength. On our. Own. To overcome. Certain.
[14:41] Of these. Trials. Trials. Are not. All that. Fun. In the. Moment. But.
[14:55] As. Christians. We. Are called. To. Rejoice. To. Count it. All joy. When we. Experience. Trials.
[15:05] Tribulations. Persecution. There's a. Reason. For that. We. Turn. Back. To. James. Chapter. One. James.
[15:18] One. Verses. Two. And. Three. He. Writes. My. Brethren. Count it. All joy. When you. Fall. Into. Various. Trials. Knowing. That. The.
[15:28] Testing. Of. Your. Faith. Produces. Patience. Trials. Test. Our. Faith. And.
[15:39] They. Produce. Patience. Another. Word. Some. Other. Words. The. Same. Same. Meaning. As. Patience. You know. They. Produce. Endurance.
[15:50] Or. Perseverance. In. Us. They. Are. Key. In. The. Christian's. Life. And. So. It.
[16:00] Is. Important. That. Our. Faith. Be. Tested. Our. Walk. With. The. Lord. Depends. On. Faith. It's.
[16:11] All. About. Faith. We. Must. Have. Faith. And. We. Need. That. Faith. To. Grow. And.
[16:22] So. Trials. Are. Sent. Our. Way. To. Test. The. Genuineness. Of. Our. Faith. And. The. Depth. Of. Our. Faith. Whether.
[16:36] We. Are. Newborn. Christians. Or. We. Have. Walked. With. The. Lord. For. Many. Years. The. Trials. Come. Our. Way. There.
[16:48] Is. Always. Room. For. Our. Faith. To. Grow. It. Is. Important. That. It. Grows. And. As. It. Grows. More.
[16:58] And. More. We. Praise. We. Honor. We. Glorify. Our. God. For. His. Love. And. His. Faithfulness. To. Us. So.
[17:11] When. Trials. Come. Let's. Learn. Not. To. Fear. Them. But. Rather. To. Keep. Focus. On. The. Lord. And. And.
[17:21] Allow. Him. To. Do. His. Perfect. Work. In. Us. And. Grow. Our. Faith. In. Him. With.
[17:32] Can. Rejoice. In. All. Things. Verse 8 of our text. Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see him.
[17:45] Yet believing. You rejoice with joy inexpressible. And full of glory. Receiving the end of your faith. The salvation of your souls.
[17:57] As believers, what is our greatest joy? Is it not in knowing Jesus Christ personally, that I am His and He is mine, and that I am secure in Him?
[18:17] Amen. How can we put our faith in someone we've never seen, we've never laid eyes on?
[18:35] The evidence that there is a God is everywhere. Creation, the order of it, God declares that there is a divine creator.
[18:49] Genesis 1.27 says that God created us in His own image. Though our sinful nature has driven us away from Him, He is still our creator.
[19:06] He has created all of us. And mankind always has and always will worship something.
[19:19] It's how we've been created. It's in our DNA. God desires to have relations between us and Him restored.
[19:34] And He waits for the moment that we come to the end of ourselves and we call out to Him to save us. We have to let go and to reach out to Him in faith.
[19:52] And in that moment, He enters our lives and fills us with His Spirit. That relationship that He intended with us is restored.
[20:07] The peace, the joy, the rest we experience is so complete. And so, we don't need to see Him to put our faith in Him.
[20:24] The signs of His existence are there. The peace and forgiveness are there if we but call out to Him. For many of us here this morning, we've already experienced this.
[20:46] We've chosen to put our faith in Christ Jesus. And in a moment, we'll hear the testimonies of these candidates, of how they too have come to find rest in the Lord.
[21:01] What is this rest a result of? Assurance. Assurance that in Christ, we are complete.
[21:17] We are safe. We are assured that there is an inheritance. That our souls are secure in Him.
[21:28] He has proven that He is faithful. He will perform what He has promised. Jesus has told us that He has gone to prepare a place for us.
[21:46] And He will come back to receive us to Himself. So, we rejoice in the promises of God.
[22:02] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we bow before You this morning. Lord, we thank You for Your faithfulness, Your grace, Your mercy.
[22:17] Lord, You have shown in time past that Your promises are true, that You perform them. And Lord, we can rest assured in that.
[22:32] And we know that You are preparing a place for us, that You tell us that our souls are secure in You, that You have bought us, that we are Your possession, and that no one or nothing can take us away from You.
[22:52] The peace, the rest, the assurance in that. We thank You for it. Lord, we can trust that You will do as You say. And so, just give us strength and help us to do our part, to walk in faith, to keep our eyes on You.
[23:11] Lord, I just pray once again for the baptism candidates this morning, as they come up in a moment and share their testimonies.
[23:22] Lord, just again, give them strength. Give them courage. Just give them peace, a peace that You have already given them.
[23:36] Just again, fill them up with Your Spirit and give them a boldness to proclaim You, how You have worked in their life.
[23:48] Just praise and thank You for this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.