Let's turn again to what we read in 1 Peter chapter 1.
1 Peter chapter 1.
And reading at verse 4.
Well, we'll read from verse 3, but it's verses 4 and 5 in particular.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
according to his great mercy,
he has caused us to be born again to our living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you,
who by God's power are being guarded through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Now, it's amazing when we can come to God's word
and we can compare and we can contrast
what this world's fame, fortune, glory, power is
and what the glory to come is going to be like.
I remember in school when, in English, there was a poem.
I'm sure you all remember that if you go back in your mind.
Thomas Gray's elegy written in a country churchyard.
And one of the verses went like this.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
and all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave,
awaits are like the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
And that is true.
Because at the end of the day,
whether a person is a king or a tramp,
at the end of the day, it is a grave.
The grave will take the king and take the tramp,
just the very same.
And that's what the glory of this world is,
irrespective of what a person amasses,
irrespective of what a person achieves.
It's all going to pass with the using.
Sometimes a person will have their glory,
their fame, their fortune throughout their life.
Sometimes it doesn't even last their lifetime.
But the one thing that is guaranteed,
it is only for this life.
Because everything in this world
is going to pass with the using.
But when we come to what Peter is writing about,
this great living hope that we have,
we see that we have this inheritance in heaven.
And that there's our glory awaiting us.
An eternal glory.
Not that we are eternal,
we will never become eternal.
Only God is eternal.
But we will live in eternity.
And we will receive all the glory
that Christ as mediator has won for us.
And I think in the apostle's mind,
because he is quoting from Isaiah
towards the end of the chapter there,
when he speaks there about all flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of the grass and so on,
that Peter is obviously,
he's writing to people who have an understanding.
It's got to remember the Christians
are all scattered abroad.
And he's writing to those who will have a knowledge
of God's history,
the history of God's people.
And you remember when God took his people out of Egypt,
he promised them an inheritance.
In fact, even before they went into Egypt,
he had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
that he was going to make a great nation from them
and that this land that they were in
would become their land.
So as they journeyed from Egypt to Israel,
to the promised land, the land of Canaan,
it was to be God's inheritance to them.
They were to enjoy an inheritance there.
And it was a land flowing with milk and honey.
And they were told there were wonderful things there,
but there was a warning with it
that if they turned their back upon God,
if they defiled the land through idolatry,
if they turned from God,
then God's judgment would come upon the land
and the blessings that they had would fade.
The great things that they had would perish.
The land would be defiled, everything.
And all that came to pass
because God's people turned away.
So I think something of this is in the mind of the apostle
as he is writing now about the new inheritance,
the inheritance that God's people
are going to enjoy forever.
And that's what's ahead of you and me
as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ
because he describes something of this inheritance
and we're told that it's imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.
And imperishable means simply that it can't corrupt.
And that's why Jesus says,
have your treasure.
He doesn't say you don't have any treasure in this world.
But where your main treasure is,
Jesus tells us,
where your treasure is,
that which is above everything else,
that's where your heart is.
And if your treasure is in heaven,
your treasure is in a place,
he says,
where thieves can't break through or steal,
where moths and rust cannot destroy.
So that your treasure is something
that as we read here is imperishable.
All earthly treasures
will either get lost, broken, decay,
or we have to leave them behind when we go.
Here is a treasure that is imperishable.
And it's undefiled.
Now, as we know,
we live in a world that is full of defilement.
But there, it is a world that is pure,
clean, and stained.
This world is polluted.
Everything about it,
sin is on everything,
sin is in everything,
everything is stained,
and marred,
and spoiled,
and ruined by sin.
And in a sense,
it's impossible for us
to really understand
what has been told us about our future.
Because we cannot imagine
what it's like
to be in a place
that is imperishable
or that is undefiled.
Because it is beyond anything
that we have ever encountered,
anything that we ever are.
So, at one level,
while we accept and believe
and look forward to
and are persuaded of it,
yet it is hard for us to grasp
just what that really is.
And we also see that it's unfading.
It's like the picture of a flower
that's dying or fading.
And that will never happen in glory.
Because this is a,
the glory in Emmanuel's land
is a glory that will never run out.
Everything in this world runs out.
But the glory there is unending.
It's unfading.
It is forever and ever.
And that we're told,
as Peter tells us later on
in chapter 5,
that when Christ appears,
you will receive
an unfading crown of glory.
So, that's,
that's what's ahead of us.
And so, then Peter adds,
being kept in heaven for you.
So, that's one of the great
and wonderful things
that we, we have this reservation,
as it were, in heaven.
Now, you and I know very often
when we go to weddings
or things,
some, maybe some function like that,
very often your place is reserved.
Your name is at the table.
And that's your,
that's your spot.
It's been reserved for you.
Or maybe you're going away somewhere
and you're,
you, you, you, you pay for
and you reserve a place,
whether it's in a hotel
or on a train
or whatever.
That's your place.
It's reserved for you.
That's your number.
That's you.
Because it's paid for.
And that's what the Lord
is saying to us.
Your place is reserved
because it's been paid for.
And we know that Jesus
is the one who paid for it.
He paid the price.
We hadn't anything to pay.
We couldn't pay.
We didn't have
in any shape or form
what could pay,
what was required.
But Jesus did.
And he did so by
giving of himself,
giving his life,
giving his all for us.
And so the Lord
has reserved this place for us.
And the great thing
that we read here
is that not only
is the place
being kept for us,
because, you know,
it's one thing to know
there's a place being kept.
But then you say to yourself,
what if,
there's a place there,
but what if I don't make it?
It's all very well being told
there's a place in heaven.
But what if I don't make it to heaven?
Well, that's what the Lord
is telling us.
Not only is there a place
being kept for you,
but you and I in this world
are being kept for that place.
Works both ways.
And so that's a great encouragement
that we have here.
For you are being kept,
that's what it is,
are guarded.
It's the same word,
who by God's power
are being guarded through faith.
So this is a wonderful thing.
But, you know,
sometimes we read that
and what an encouragement,
because there are lots of
encouragements like that
in the word of God.
But, you know,
a lot of God's people,
I would say most of God's people,
possibly all of God's people,
sometime or other,
maybe frequently,
maybe seldom,
but they do.
They have their doubts.
They have their fears.
Despite what the word says,
we don't doubt the word,
not in any shape or form.
Never doubt the word.
Sometimes we doubt ourselves.
And so we've always got to remember
that God's word
is what we're to base things on.
But, you know,
sometimes we doubt ourselves
in different reasons.
For instance,
maybe you're a Christian
and you're looking back
over your life
and you say to yourself,
you know,
I came,
I went through
a really difficult time
and I ended up,
I was beaten,
I said to the Lord,
Lord,
you have to take over here.
I'm finished.
I can't,
I can't do any more.
And it's like you handed
everything over to the Lord.
Time has gone on
and you're still following
and you love the Lord
who you haven't seen.
But you sometimes say to yourself,
maybe,
maybe it wasn't a work of grace.
Maybe it wasn't a real work of grace.
Maybe it was just because
of that particular situation
and I felt I was
in distress and trapped
and I,
I looked to the Lord
and asked him to help me
and what if it wasn't
a real work of grace?
Sometimes
the Lord's people get troubled
by the likes of that.
but we've got to remember
that the proof is in the pudding,
the fact that you're still following
and that you want to follow
because you've got to remember
that most people
don't want to follow.
The Lord tells us
that the broad is the road
and many go on that,
narrow is the road
and few go on that
as he's comparing
and contrasting
how it is
with regard to salvation.
You're still following
because you want to.
That's where your heart is
and that in a sense
is an evidence
of the reality
of that work.
But again,
sometimes
people have their fears
and their doubts
because they say,
you know,
I can't pinpoint
to a day.
I can't pinpoint
to an hour
when I was actually saved.
I hear people
give their testimony
and it's so clear
and so vivid
and they can pinpoint
exactly to where
and when.
And you say,
but I can't.
I know that
there was a day
I wasn't following
the Lord.
But I also know
a day
where a period
in my life
where I came
to a persuasion
and as we've often said,
we're like the blind man
when asked what happened.
He says,
I can't tell you
but one thing I know
I was blind
and now I see.
So sometimes
we're like that.
But because we don't have
a clear testimony
of day or hour,
the devil can have
a field day
and bring you
to have your doubts
and to have your fears
and all these things
that go along with it.
And again,
sometimes a young convert,
a person who's become
a Christian
and to begin with
everything is so new.
You remember
what it was like?
Prayer was just so,
so amazing.
You were constantly
speaking to the Lord.
The word was so fresh.
Christian fellowship
was so wonderful.
You just,
you couldn't get enough.
And there was this
just vibrancy
and joy in your soul.
But as time has gone on,
it's like the sparkle
has gone somewhat.
And then you begin
to find that it's a struggle.
You weren't expecting that.
And there's battles
and struggles
and difficulties
and trials
and opposition
and things that you
weren't expecting.
Sometimes you begin
to doubt yourself.
You begin to wonder,
was it really,
was it really
a work of grace at all?
And then maybe
as an old Christian,
you look at yourself
and you say to yourself,
you know this,
I'm worse than I was
when I started.
And you begin
to look in
and you see
a darkness
in your soul
that's frightening.
You see
something of the corruption
of your own heart.
And you see
that you go
to the New Testament
and you see
how the Lord
is saying to us
how we should be
maturing
and becoming holier.
And you feel
you're anything but.
And you say to yourself,
I must be the most
immature Christian going.
I must be the most
unholy.
And you go through
all these thoughts.
And then the doubts
and the fears come in
and you think,
am I a Christian at all?
And then on top of that,
you look at people
and you know people
who started so well,
they were brighter than you.
And they made a great profession.
And now they've wandered off.
Well, the thing is
that we know
that some Christians
backslide.
But the Lord
won't leave them there.
He'll bring them back.
And even just now,
if they're in a
backslidden state,
whatever they might
appear outwardly,
there's no contentment
inwardly.
If they are the Lord's,
he'll bring them back.
But we also know
that there are some
who had an experience
and appeared very bright.
But they are nowhere
to be seen
with no interest
or desire
or anything
for God's place
or God's house anymore.
And that reminds us
of what Jesus said
with the stony ground here.
As you remember
in the parable of the sower,
sometimes the sea
went on to stony ground.
There was only
a little bit of soil.
Couldn't take root.
It sprung up for a little
but then it withered away
and died
because it couldn't take root.
And he said,
sometimes there are
hearers like that.
So when you go through
all these kind of things,
you say in yourself,
what if I,
what if,
what if I'm,
what if I,
there isn't a real
work of grace
that's taken place
in my heart.
And so many of the Lord's people
have doubts and fears.
In fact,
I would go as far as to say
that it's probably
only the Lord's people
that have doubts and fears.
Because the non-Christian
doesn't think like that.
It's only the Christian
that worries.
And I would say that's,
or else it's somebody
that the Lord has begun
to work in
that has a fear.
Because those who
aren't looking for the Lord
or thinking about the Lord,
they don't think like that.
But the Christian does.
And that's why you'll find
over and over and over
and again in the Bible
that the Lord
is encouraging us.
There are so many verses
all the way through
to assure us
and to encourage us.
And so here we're told
very simply
that we are being
guarded or kept,
that we are being guarded
every single day.
And it's not us
who keeps ourselves.
If it was up to us,
not one of us
would keep ourselves.
It is impossible
for you and for me
to keep ourselves.
It is the Lord
who guards us.
It's the Lord
who keeps us
every single day.
And that word
guarded here
is a military term
where a person
is guarded
or shielded
or protected
or kept.
Well, there are no guards
ever,
not at Buckingham Palace
or anywhere in the world
that have ever shielded
or guarded
like the Lord
guards his people.
And we read here
of how we are kept
by the power of God.
Isn't that wonderful?
The power of God.
However great
the power of sin within,
however great
the power of Satan,
however great
the power and lure
of the world,
these three powers together
are nothing
in comparison
to the power of God.
Because, you know,
it's that power
that,
it's that power
that drew you
in the first place.
You didn't come
on your own accord.
First of all,
you wouldn't want to.
Secondly,
you couldn't.
it is God's power
that first drew you.
And the power
that drew you
is the power
that keeps you.
It is the word.
And when you think
of this power,
we think of the creation,
we think of the universe.
Everything was brought
into being
by the word.
And this same word
that brought
the very universe
and holds the stars
in their place
that guides
and rules
everything
in this world
and has the very
jury,
the end of this world
in sight
and knows when it will be.
It's the same power
that is keeping you
and guiding you
and guarding you
every single day.
You are being kept
by this power.
And as I said,
it's unnatural
to follow Jesus
because when we
start to follow Jesus,
as we said,
we come into a place
where there is ridicule,
where there's opposition,
where there's enmity,
where there's hatred.
There's so much
that's against
the Christian.
You remember
when Jesus
was in this world
and he was ministering?
In the early days
of the ministry,
huge crowds
were following.
In fact,
they were so taken up
with Jesus,
they wanted to make him king.
But when Jesus
began to explain
to them
what discipleship
meant,
what happened?
They went away
in their droves.
Hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds
began to desert him
to the point
that Jesus
turned to the twelve
and said,
are you also going
to go away?
That's what it was like.
And so,
it is only
the power of God
that can keep us.
And you look back
over your Christian life
and you know that,
that you're here tonight
simply because
of the power of God.
The number of times
that you could have
made shipwreck
of your soul,
the number of times
that disaster
loomed large,
but you're still following,
you're still here.
And it's for one reason,
not you,
but the Lord
in you.
And that's a wonderful thing
because this power
is working,
the power of God
works in two ways.
The power of God
at one level
is shielding
and sheltering
and keeping you
and guarding you,
protecting you,
but the power of God
is also working in you.
That's what we're told,
that God works within us
both to will
and to do
of his good pleasure.
where the Spirit
is guiding us
and leading us
and teaching us
so that we're following
in the way of the Lord.
And so,
we see that
this divine power
that is influencing
and guiding us
through,
we see here,
who by God's power
are being guarded
through faith
for our salvation.
You see,
God's keeping
shows itself
in your faith.
faith is God's gift to us
where we receive
his power.
But then it says,
kept through faith
for our salvation
ready to be revealed
in the last time.
Now,
you and I know
there are three aspects
to our salvation.
There's what we term
justification
and we term sanctification
and we term glorification.
Now,
we know that
justification,
if you remember
your shortest caddiction,
that justification
is an act,
it's a one-off.
It's a moment
when we are born again,
where we are
made right before God
in his sight.
We are justified,
we are just before him
because of what Jesus Christ
has done for us.
And we can't become
any more justified
because in God's sight
we're as just
as Jesus,
as our mediator.
We would never dare say that,
but that's what the Bible
tells us.
That's what justification
has done for us.
We have been made
righteous
in the sight of God
through the righteousness
of Jesus Christ.
Sanctification is ongoing.
Now,
theologians talk about
what we term definitive
and progressive
sanctification.
and what they mean
very simply
and that is
a definitive
is a once,
just once and for all.
And in a sense
that's what happens
because to sanctify
is to set apart.
Set apart for something
to be holy.
And that's what God did
with you and with me.
He set us apart.
The moment that we're
set apart,
the moment we're justified,
we're set apart
from this world.
This world no longer
has a claim on us.
This world no longer
loves us in the way
that it loves its own.
We are set apart for God.
We have this inheritance,
but you know,
the other way around is
we are his inheritance.
Isn't that an incredible thing?
God tells us that
we are his inheritance.
His people
are his inheritance.
And so we wait
for the inheritance
that he gives us
to be with him forever.
So there is what we say
this definitive
sanctification
we're just set apart.
And then we talk
of progressive
sanctification,
which is simply
where God is at work
in us every day.
Making us,
shaping us,
remoulding us
more and more
and more
to resemble
our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
But then at the end
comes the other stage,
glorification,
where we will be changed.
It's quite an extraordinary thing
because we're told then
in the end
that we shall see him
as he is.
Now that would be enough.
That would be more than enough.
But it doesn't just stop there.
We shall see him
as he is
and we shall be like him.
Probably the most amazing
words in Scripture.
You know,
I'm sure
if you're like me,
the one thing
that you
you want
to see,
you want a greater
vision of Jesus,
a greater sight
of Jesus.
You're saying,
I wish I
but you know,
the Bible keeps telling us
as we have here,
you'll see there
in verse 8,
though you have not seen him,
you love him.
That's how it is.
As Jesus said to Thomas,
just because you've seen me,
you believe.
Blessed are those
whom having not seen
yet believe.
That's where we are.
So we long for the day
when we will be
in the presence
of Jesus
and we will see him
as he is.
How we've longed
for that
and we shall be like him.
Into this
unending glory
as it tells us
it's there
we will receive
the inheritance
which is imperishable,
undefiled
and unfading.
What a hope
the Christian has.
You know,
sometimes we can get
a bit down
because we live
in a world
which is becoming
growingly opposed
to Christ.
But then we go back here
and we read
what our future holds
and what's ahead
and we say,
oh my word,
it's wonderful
and there is
a growing desire
the further we go on
where the Lord
is preparing us
and I think
one of the things
is he loosens us
as we go along
he loosens us
a wee bitty more
and a wee bitty more
to this world
and our mind
begins to travel
more and more
our heart
begins to travel
where we're going.
That's how it is
because that's
where our inheritance
is
to be with him
forever.
Let us pray.
Lord, we give thanks
for the great encouragement
that your word
is to us.
We realise
as your word says
that we're just pilgrims
and strangers
here in our journey
to an inheritance
that is beyond
our imagining.
But it's all true
because your word
has made it clear
to us.
So we pray
that you will bless us
and bless each
and every one of us
here tonight.
Bless our homes
and our families.
We give thanks
for this church family
that we have here
and for the love
and care
that we have
for one another.
Pray, Lord,
for those whose hearts
are heavy and sore.
We again remember
Margaret MacLeod
from the Cairns tonight
and we pray for her
as her heart
and we remember
herself and Anne as well
and all her same
mourn Catherine's passing.
Remember all
who are nursing
broken hearts
and it might not be
in the immediate.
It might have been
a long time ago
but it's still so sore
to this very day
and so we pray
that you will be
be with every broken heart.
Be with those
who are sick,
those who are
so unwell.
Remember we did
McDonald in hospital
so unwell.
We pray for all
and we give thanks
Lord for answers
to prayer.
We were praying
there for
Isabel son Derek
recently
and we give thanks
for how well
he has got on
hearing that he
and Heather
have got home
and we pray
your blessing upon us.
We give thanks
for answered prayer.
We pray Lord
that we will always
give you thanks
for all your
mercies and goodness
to us.
So we ask that
you will be with us.
Be with the
psalmody class
afterwards
and thanks for
James
in leading this.
Take away your sin
in Jesus name
we ask.
Amen.
Let us conclude
singing from
Psalm 116.
Let us conclude
singing from Psalm 116.