So 1 Peter 1, verse 3.
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 a 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.
In this you rejoice,
though now for a little while, if necessary,
you have 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 and glory and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Though you have not seen him, you love him.
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.
And concerning this salvation,
the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours
searched and inquired carefully,
inquiring what person or time
the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating
when he predicted the sufferings of Christ
and the subsequent glories.
It was revealed to them
that they were serving not themselves,
but you
in the things that have now been announced to you
through those who have preached the good news to you
by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,
things into which angels long to look.
Amen.
Well, history tells us that
a little more than 3,000 years ago,
there was a group of people
who were enslaved and abused
by one of the world's great ancient powers.
But they experienced a dramatic
and supernatural deliverance from these captors,
and many of you would know their story.
This once mighty and flourishing world power and nation
was brought to its knees and nearly decimated
in a way that can only be explained
as God's divine judgment.
And it was through this judgment
that God freed these slaves
who were led by an unlikely man named Moses.
And still, the days after their freedom,
they were quite difficult, weren't they?
The children of Israel immediately thrust
into significant hardship.
Leaving Egypt didn't seem any easier
than actually being in captivity in Egypt.
And though they were freed from slavery
and assured of God's protection,
I mean, what more assurance would you need
than to stand and to witness the plagues
that God poured down on Egypt?
To hear the wails of the firstborn children
who had been taken,
the homes of those who didn't have the blood
on the doorframe.
To witness that night walking
through the midst of the Red Sea
on dry ground.
What more assurance do you need
that God is on your side?
And yet, almost immediately,
that comes into question for them.
It doesn't come into question
because they doubted what they saw.
It comes into question
because their experience
was really, really hard.
And their wanderings in the wilderness
in the days leaving Egypt
becomes a serious testing ground
for their faith,
a serious testing ground
for God's promises.
And as you can remember
in reading your Bibles
or hearing the stories told
in Sunday school growing up,
what was their great sin?
It became murmuring.
They're murmuring and complaining.
Now, my brother and my dad
and my mom and my sister-in-law,
they've been to Israel many times before.
And I remember the first time
that my sister-in-law, Kathleen,
went there
as they were out in a wilderness area
which would have been part
of the nation of Israel's wonderings
during that time.
Her first reaction was,
no wonder they complained so much.
It wasn't that life was good for them
and they just were taking
a lot of things for granted.
And Noah's life was really, really hard.
And they began to question
God's faithfulness.
They began to murmur and murmur.
And that murmuring developed
into a kind of rebellion.
Multiple times,
some of them come to Moses,
as you can remember,
and they say,
we would have been better off
to just stay in captivity.
We'd have been better off
to just stay in Egypt
than to suffer the way
that we're suffering now.
And what should have been
a time of joyful praise,
of grateful trust
in the promise of God,
produced actually hateful complaints
toward God
and rebellion against Him.
Now, we take that picture
and that understanding
of what they went through
and we come to 1 Peter now
and we understand
as Peter is writing
to these Christians
in the early years
of the church,
we understand that life
in exile
always brings the temptation
to murmur.
It always brings
the temptation
to forget our privileged place
as God's people.
It always brings
the temptation
to turn away
from God's promises
and question
whether or not
He really will be faithful.
and how many of us
have been like Israel of old
and we've at least wondered
would it just be easier
to be in captivity
to this world
than to be a child of God
in it?
Now, how are we
to withstand such temptations?
As Andy read in Hebrews 4,
how are we supposed
to persevere
when life gets really hard
and the questions
about God's faithfulness
really become
forefront in our minds?
And as we've said
a few times
as we've been studying
through 1 Peter already,
what we really need
most of the time
is not for someone
to come along
and just fix
all of our problems.
What we need
most of the time
is not for God
just to take
all of the hardship away
and all of the pain away
and all of the suffering away.
Really,
most of the time
what we need
is for someone
to remind us
of the glories
of the gospel.
Someone to remind us
of God's genuine care
and love for his people
and to call us back
to a sincere
and joyful praise
to God.
And that's exactly
what Peter's doing
here in these first few verses.
He's reminding us
before he deals
with our suffering
and how to respond
to certain things,
he's going to get
to all of that
and it's going to be
really helpful.
But before he gets there,
the first thing
that he does
is he reminds us
of the glories
of the gospel,
of who we are
in Christ,
that we belong to him
so that we might turn
and worship him
in response.
And in the text
that's before us
in verses 10 to 12
where we focus today,
what Peter's doing here
is he's drawing
our attention
to the reality
of our great gospel
privilege.
Our great gospel
privilege.
Now,
the irony in this today
is that the concept
of privilege
carries a more
pejorative connotation
these days
than maybe
in Peter's days.
Today,
privilege is
not something
you're supposed
to be grateful for.
It's something
you're supposed
to feel shame for.
Your social image
in our culture
can actually be marred
not because of the way
that you use opportunities
or the way that you use
the blessings
that God gives you,
but it can be marred
just simply for the fact
that you have
those blessings
to begin with.
Now,
if we're going to
understand what Peter's
saying here,
if we're going to
understand and respond
appropriately,
we're going to have
to take those modern
notions and cultural
notions of privilege.
We're going to have
to set those aside.
That's a godless way
to understand blessing.
We're going to have
to set those aside
and come to this text
and begin to understand
exactly what Peter
means to say.
For him,
our incredible gospel
privilege
is not something
to be embarrassed about.
It's something
that should drive us
to exuberant
and joyful praise
even in the midst
of great hardship.
And of course,
that's the point
of this entire section,
our worship.
Now,
to do this,
what Peter does here
in 10 to 12
is he contrasts
our experience
of salvation
today in the new covenant.
He contrasts that
with two different messengers
that God uses
throughout history
and that we read about
in the scriptures.
One is the prophets
of old,
the prophets
of the Old Testament.
The second is the angels
who are in heaven.
Now,
what's common
between these two groups
of messengers,
God's messengers
to us,
is that they both,
according to Peter,
longed to know
and to experience
the fullness
of grace
that is available
to us
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Yet,
God used them,
we're told,
to serve us.
And what is it
that Peter's trying
to get across?
Well,
Peter's point
is to dispel
any notion
that the hardship
of exile
that we're all
going to experience
at some point.
He's dispelling
the notion
that the hardship
of exile
indicates
that God
somehow
doesn't actually
care for us
or doesn't care
for us
in the way
that the scriptures
tell us.
And Peter just
gives us
a really gentle
reminder
so that we might
properly praise
the Lord.
And we've got two
really main things here.
The first one is this.
Concerning this salvation,
we are more privileged
than the prophets
of old.
Concerning this salvation,
we are more privileged
than the prophets
of old.
Let's look at 10
to 12 again.
Peter sets the context
with the very first phrase,
doesn't he?
Concerning this salvation.
He's not talking
about more privilege
in every part of life
and every aspect of life.
He's talking about
the gospel
concerning this salvation
that he's been dealing
with in verses 3
down to 9.
The prophets
who prophesied
about the grace
that was to be yours
or we might read this,
the grace
that was to be ours,
they searched
and inquired carefully.
Inquiring what person
or time
the Spirit of Christ
in them was indicating
when he predicted
the sufferings of Christ
and the subsequent glories.
Now right off the bat,
we see that the salvation
Peter's been referring to
in this text
is not new.
It's not a novel idea,
is it?
No, the hope
of eternal salvation
through a Savior King,
a Messiah,
was anticipated
for centuries.
God progressively
over time
revealed more and more
of his saving plan
through the prophets
in the Old Testament
and we see that
ultimately revealed
in the gospel
and the person
and work of Jesus Christ.
The gospel of Jesus
that we know
and that we believe
and that we have experienced
today
was only shown
in part
to them
and yet
they intensely
longed
to see it fulfilled
in their day.
And Peter says
they searched
and they inquired
diligently,
they searched
and they inquired
carefully
what person
or time
the Spirit of Christ
in them
was indicating
these things.
And it's not that
they were concerned
merely with names
and dates
and you start
thinking about
anticipating
in time things today.
Everybody wants
to know a person,
everybody wants
to know a date.
Everybody wants
to be able
to put a name
to what these
future figures may be.
Everybody wants
to be able
to put a date
to when the end
will come.
That's not what
the prophets
of old were saying.
That's not what
Peter means to say
that they were
searching for.
No, they were
searching the scriptures.
They were searching
the Bible.
They were praying
and inquiring of God
not just to tell
them a name,
Jesus,
or a time,
first century.
No, they were
searching and inquiring
that all of these
things they were
foretelling would be
revealed in their
time, that they
would be fulfilled
in their time.
It was a great
longing that they
would see the glories
of the gospel
in its fullness.
And yet, they didn't
live in a time
of fulfillment.
It's a gracious
privilege that God
has allowed us
to live in the
time of fulfillment.
For it was
revealed to them,
as we read in
verse 12, it was
revealed to them
that they were
serving us as
they prophesied
God's word.
What has now been
made clear to us
in Jesus, they
only saw the
shadow.
Now, two things
stand out here
about this.
The first is this.
We see our great
gospel privilege is
that we have seen
the scriptures
fulfilled.
We've seen the
scriptures fulfilled.
Again, this text is
really important to
our understanding of
the reliability and
credibility of the
Bible.
I want you to
notice Peter's very
careful language here.
Notice what he
says.
The prophets who
prophesied about the
grace that was to be
yours inquired what
person or time the
spirit in them was
indicating.
And then we see
again in verse 12,
it was revealed to
them that they were
not serving themselves
but you.
What is Peter saying
here?
He's being very
careful with his
language.
The point here is
that this wasn't
their ideas.
This wasn't their
best guesses at how
things would unfold.
That's not what we
have in the Old
Testament.
No, specific emphasis
is given to the work
of the Holy Spirit in
inspiring the scriptures
through the prophetic
word here.
Notice Peter's language
again.
They searched and
inquired carefully
inquiring what person
or time the spirit of
Christ in them was
indicating these things.
It wasn't their
message.
They were receiving it
and then conveying it.
It wasn't their best
guess.
It wasn't their unique
intuitions.
They were God's
direct revelation
given through the work
of the Spirit.
So then the prophets,
they didn't create the
message, they just
convey it.
Therefore, what they
prophesied, we
understand to be God's
perfect and inerrant
word.
Now, Jesus helps us
here, doesn't he?
Or, excuse me, Peter
helps us again here in
2 Peter.
Just flip over a page
in your Bibles to
2 Peter 1.
And look at verse
19.
2 Peter 1,
verse 19.
He says, we have the
prophetic word more
fully confirmed.
So what the prophet
said, we have it
confirmed in the person
of Jesus Christ is what
he means to say.
And he says, you will
do well to pay
attention to it as a
lamp shining in a
dark place until the
day dawns and the
morning star rises in
your hearts.
And then he brings
clarification to how
the prophets received
this message.
Knowing this, first of
all, no prophecy of the
scripture comes from
someone's own
interpretation.
Now, what does Peter
mean?
He means to say that the
prophets in the Old
Testament, they weren't
just sitting around
thinking deeply about how
things might turn out.
And they just decided
one day, this is my
interpretation of the
world.
This is my interpretation
of world events.
This is how I see things
might progress so that we
might actually achieve
salvation in some sense.
Peter says, no, that's
not how this happened.
That's not how this works.
And he continues on,
verse 21.
For no prophecy was ever
produced by the will of
man.
But men spoke from God
as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.
Now, he's just echoing
what he's saying here in
his first letter, which
is what?
These prophets, they
prophesied about something
that God was doing in
them, something that God
was saying to them, and
they were conveying this
truth so that we
understand when we read
our Bibles, what we're
reading is not man's
word.
We're reading God's word
given through men.
That's how Peter is
helping us to understand
it.
But the trouble for the
prophets in the Old
Testament was that the
message they were given
wasn't complete.
It was shadows.
In the law, through
Moses, we have pictures,
mostly.
We get into the Psalms
and the prophets and the
other letters, and we
start to have specific
statements and prophecies
given to specific groups
of people, and all of
them are coming from God,
but all of them are in
shadowy form.
And these men were
trying to put it all
together.
They're trying to
understand it.
They want to see it
fulfilled.
They searched and
inquired carefully, but
then the Spirit reveals
that theirs was not a time
of fulfillment.
That's not true for us.
And that's Peter's point.
They were serving us in
the things that have now
been announced.
They were serving us in
the things that have now
been revealed in the
gospel.
They had the shadow, but
we have the substance.
Now, how can we know that
the prophets of the Old
Testament were true
prophets?
How can we know that what
they said really did come
from God?
How can we know that it
can be trusted?
Because we live in the
time of fulfillment.
Because we live in the
time in which Jesus has
come, and Jesus has lived,
and Jesus has died, and
Jesus has raised, and he's
ascended.
We live in the time where
we can see the picture
becoming very, very clear
in a way that they
couldn't.
And that's a great
privilege.
And Peter writes to these
Christians who were
struggling, and he says,
remember the privilege you
have.
You could have been
suffering at the time of
the prophets.
the faith was still
required the same.
God was still the same.
His promises were still
the same, but the
revelation was different.
There wasn't as much to
piece together yet.
Jesus had not yet come.
It would have been much
harder to live in that
time.
Think about your
privilege, he says.
You live in the time of
fulfillment.
But that's not the only
thing he says.
That brings us to this
second thing here.
We not only see now that
the scriptures are
fulfilled, but we see that
the gospel is now
revealed.
It's revealed.
Paul's language for this
often is mystery.
When Paul uses the
language of mystery, what
he means is something
that was concealed in the
Old Testament, something
that was hard to
understand and comprehend
in its fullness in the
Old Testament, that
mystery now being
revealed in the person
of Jesus Christ and his
life and his death and
his resurrection.
And what we're reminded
here is that the central
focus of all the
scriptures, whether the
Old Testament or the
New, is the good news of
salvation through Jesus.
You say, how can we know
that Peter's on about
that?
Well, just look at the
verse.
What is it that they were
inquiring about?
In verse 11, they were
inquiring what person or
time the Spirit of Christ in
them was indicating when he
predicted what?
The sufferings of Christ and
the subsequent glories.
What does Peter mean to
tell us?
Well, he's echoing a truth
that we see over and over
in the New Testament, and
that is all the scriptures
have one giant message.
It is a message of
salvation.
It is a message of
salvation through God's
King, through God's
Savior, through Jesus
Christ.
All of it pointing us to
him and to his message.
And that salvation message
has always been one of
suffering that precedes
glory.
And sometimes we think
that this idea of a
suffering Messiah, that it
is a New Testament
construct.
That no one even thought
about that until Jesus
actually comes and they
were just a huge surprise
that he was crucified.
And that just isn't true.
The Jews of the first
century, they were
interested in a suffering
Messiah, but that was
because of the hardness
of their heart.
It wasn't because of some
silence in the scriptures.
And we talked about this
a lot this summer as we
were working through the
Psalms.
Think about the pictures
and the prophecies of the
Old Testament.
From the very beginning,
Genesis chapter 3, 15,
the very first prophecy of
a Messiah, God himself
gives to Adam.
And what is it that he
says?
Or he gives it to Eve.
What is it that he says?
I will bring forth a
seed from you.
And he will crush the
head of the serpent.
But the serpent will
crush his heel, bruise his
heel.
Even there, just in
shadowy form, we have
suffering, not just for us,
suffering for the Savior
before we get the glory
that the seed of the woman
is meant to bring and to
display.
And we see it in the law.
We see it in the pictures
of the sacrifices.
We see it maybe most
clearly in the person of
David, the Old Testament,
and his sufferings.
And the way he even
understood his own
sufferings as pointing to
the sufferings of Christ.
We get to Isaiah 53,
which basically just spells
it all out for us,
doesn't it?
So when we get to the
Gospels and we find that
the Christ is suffering,
it shouldn't be a surprise
to us.
It certainly wasn't a
surprise to the prophets
that Peter was writing
about.
Because that's exactly
the thing they were
inquiring of God about.
When would this Messiah
come and suffer so that
his sufferings would then
bring glories that would
follow?
And Jesus helps us,
doesn't he?
Luke 24.
This is the resurrection
night.
Jesus appears to his
disciples in the room in
Jerusalem.
And what is it that he
says?
These are my words I spoke
to you while I was still
with you.
That everything written
about me in the law of
Moses and the prophets
and the Psalms must be
fulfilled.
Now when Jesus says the
law of Moses, the prophets
and the Psalms, he's
speaking of the whole of
the Old Testament.
Those were the three
Hebrew divisions of the
Old Testament scriptures.
He's speaking of them
all.
And he says, this is what
I've been telling you.
That everything about me
in the scriptures must be
fulfilled.
And then he opened their
minds to understand the
scriptures.
And he said to them, thus
it is written that the
Christ should suffer.
But then he says their
subsequent glories.
And on the third day, rise
from the dead so that
repentance for the
forgiveness of sins may be
proclaimed in his name to
all nations beginning from
Jerusalem.
What a great privilege we
have.
We live in a time when the
scriptures are fulfilled and
we can see it and we can
believe it.
We also live in a time when
the gospel has been revealed.
What is this good news?
What's all about Jesus?
And the privilege of it comes
to the forefront in verse 12.
All of this has been revealed
to us in what?
The preaching of the good news.
The preaching of the gospel.
And again, the emphasis is
given to the work of the
spirit.
The same spirit that inspired
the prophets also speaks
authoritatively through the
gospel message.
All kinds of strange ideas
exist about the work of the
spirit.
Peter here reminds us that the
primary work of the Holy
Spirit is to call attention to
Jesus Christ.
That's his purpose.
That's what he does.
He points us to Christ in the
prophets and he calls us to
Christ in the preaching of the
gospel.
So that when the good news of the
gospel is proclaimed, the Holy
Spirit works to bring life to dead
sinners.
And it's our great privilege to
live in the time of fulfillment as
the spirit works to reveal Christ and
to bring us salvation.
This is what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
15.
That great resurrection passage.
Remember what he said.
This is the gospel that we've
proclaimed.
That Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures.
That he was buried and that he rose
from the dead according to the
scriptures and has been seen by all
the witnesses.
And then he launches into that
amazing chapter on Christ's
resurrection which leads to our
future resurrection.
To eternal life.
All of it based in the scriptures.
All of it rooted in the work of the
Holy Spirit.
All of it provided so that you and I
might know Jesus and be saved.
What is his sufferings?
His sufferings is an atonement for
our sin.
What is his glories?
His resurrection to new life.
His ascension to the throne.
And eventually his future return.
But what's the point of all of it?
Why is Peter saying all of this?
He's telling us to take our eyes
off of our exile for a moment.
And before we begin to question
whether or not God really does love
us.
Before we begin to question whether
or not God really does care about us
even in our suffering.
He reminds us of all that God has
done so that we might have the
privilege and the clarity of the
gospel.
So that he might save us.
And Peter says
remember these things
and praise him.
So we see that we're more privileged
than the prophets of old.
There's just one more note to make.
We're also more privileged
concerning the salvation
than the angels in heaven.
And this is surprising isn't it?
We get to the end of this verse
and it kind of comes out of nowhere
doesn't it?
Who of us if you hadn't read
this passage before
would have ever expected
that suddenly Peter's going to say
you know what?
You're a little better off
than the angels too.
It's a surprise isn't it?
He doesn't explain very much.
We can get a little bit from it
doesn't we?
Can't we?
Just notice what he says.
Verse 12
It was revealed to them
they were serving not themselves
but you and the things
that have now been revealed
in the good news by the spirit.
things into which angels long to look.
Now we need to understand this rightly
by understanding what Peter isn't saying.
He didn't mean that exile
is better than heaven.
Right?
If the angels are in heaven
and we are in exile on earth
in this life
how in the world
are we more privileged than they?
Well that's not what Peter's talking about.
He certainly doesn't mean to say
that the angels are somehow disadvantaged
though they are in the very presence of God.
It's not a matter of
being advantaged or disadvantaged.
That would be a ludicrous idea.
This is why context matters
when we read our Bibles isn't it?
And what's the very first phrase
that Peter uses in verse 10
when he launches into this?
Concerning this salvation.
Concerning the fullness
of the experience
of the gospel of Jesus
that he told us
in verses 3 to 5
secures a future inheritance
that's imperishable
and undefiled and unfated.
That concerns a present joy
that we experience
even in the midst
of present grief.
That's what it's concerning.
He doesn't mean to say
that the angels are disadvantaged.
He's relating this specifically
to grace and salvation.
Now what the angels have in common
with the prophets
is that they too long to see
and understand
the fullness of the gospel
but in a different way.
The prophets longed
for greater knowledge
and for the fulfillment.
That's not the same
for the angels.
They have the knowledge.
They have the intellect.
They know it.
They've seen the fulfillment.
They don't need that part.
What is it that they lack?
They lack the experience
of the grace of God
and salvation.
That's the thing
that fascinates them.
They possess knowledge
of the gospel
but they cannot experience
God's saving action
as you and I can.
They haven't sinned
therefore they need no redemption.
They haven't been an enemy of God
therefore they don't need
to be made children of God
like happens in the new birth
that Peter talks about
in verse 3.
They don't experience
a present grief
as we experience
therefore there's
not really necessary
to bring to mind
their present joy.
They have nothing
for which to contrast with
in their very experience
and it's in this way
that Peter says
they're fascinated
by the gospel
and the saving
and redemptive effects
of God's love
in our lives.
And yet it's our
great gospel privilege
to not only understand
the message
but to truly experience
its saving power.
That's what Paul reminds us
of in Romans 1.
He's not ashamed
of the gospel
for it is the power
of God unto salvation.
We can see it revealed.
We can see it fulfilled
but we can also experience
the fullness
of its saving effects
because the same spirit
who worked to give
the message to the prophets
the same spirit
who sends the angels
on their way
in the New Testament
and in the Old Testament
to give their message
from God
is the same spirit
who works in the preaching
of the gospel
to bring you
from death to life.
To break up
the hardness of your heart
as Andy prayed earlier
to break up
the hardness of your heart
so that you might
believe the gospel
and be saved.
And Peter says
we ought to remember
this privilege.
But you can't remember
something you haven't experienced
and we have to at least
ask that question.
Have you experienced
the saving power
of God
in the gospel?
I don't mean
have you subscribed
to a kind of religion
or Christianity
certain kind of practice
or certain type
of denomination
whatever it may be
but have you been
born again?
Do you have
the present joy
that was spoken about
in verses 6 to 9
that can really
only come
because of something
God is doing
in you?
Have you experienced
the saving effects
so that you can
actually praise God?
Have you come
to faith in Christ?
As we close
this portion
of Peter's letter
we need to acknowledge
that if we're going
to thrive in exile
which is what this letter
is about I think
it's going to require
that we remember
the glorious grace
of God
in our salvation
and that we spend
our days of exile
in sincere
and joyful worship
and part of what
it means to do that
is to express
humble gratitude
at our great
gospel privilege
can you imagine
if Israel's response
was different
coming out of Egypt?
Their circumstances
would not have changed
had they come
out of Egypt
and just decided
you know what
this is really hard
but we trust the Lord
and we're going
to praise Him
because He has
made us His home
and He has redeemed
us with a
tremendous salvation
out of Egypt
you know that
wouldn't have changed
their circumstance
they still
would have had to
go through
the wilderness
they still
would have been
tested over
and over
at the waters
of Meribah
the various times
when they were
thirsting to death
and hungry
but they would have
entered the rest
that's Hebrews 4
what Andy read to us
but instead of
trusting God
they rebelled
we don't want to
live that way
right?
the temptation
that comes along
with exile
is to turn away
to give it up
to not believe
the gospel
of Jesus
is something
the prophets
long to better
understand
and to see
fulfilled in their
days
it's something
the angels
in heaven
long to know
by personal
experience
and then there's
us
by God's grace
we are privileged
to have both
the fullness
of revelation
and the experience
of salvation
so that we can
praise God
in a way
not possible
for them
and to
recognize this
should dispel
any thought
in the wilderness
that God
doesn't love you
that he doesn't
care about you
or that he's
not watching
over you
or that he
doesn't care
about your
suffering
of course he
does
and how do you
know
because of this
great salvation
that you have
been privileged
to know and
experience in your
life
so what do
we do then
we endure
and we
persevere
but if we're
going to do it
in a way that's
thriving rather
than merely
surviving
we're going to
have to worship
and worship
is always about
Jesus
and what he
has done
for us
and so we
bless our
God and
Father
of the Lord
Jesus Christ
for this great
salvation he's
provided
and
he's
going to
to
him
to
him
to
him
to
him
to
him