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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
Grace Under Fire - Living Well In A Culture Of Chaos
Dive into "Living Well in a Culture of Chaos" with Pastor Kelly Kinder, as he launches the "Grace Under Fire" sermon series. Kelly presents a stirring look into the life of the Apostle Peter, whose transformation from a denier of Christ to a stalwart of faith provides a template for navigating today's tumultuous world with divine grace.
In this opening sermon, we explore the intriguing identity of believers as 'elect exiles' and the tension it creates—being chosen by God yet often feeling on the fringes of society. This tension serves to strengthen our resolve and mold our character in the likeness of Christ.
Kelly examines the essence of Christian hope, drawing from Peter's first letter to illustrate how we are reborn into a living hope that far surpasses the temporary assurances of this life. This living hope is underpinned by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, promising an inheritance that is eternal and unblemished.
The sermon series confronts the majesty of salvation, inviting us to reflect on this grace that even the prophets longed to understand and into which angels desire to look. It's a call to root our lives firmly in the gospel, using our faith as both a shield against trials and a restorative force for our internal divisions.
Kelly's teachings guide us through the realities of new birth, the certainties of real faith, and the privileges of amazing grace. We are encouraged to see our trials as opportunities for our faith to be tested and refined, emerging more precious than gold.
"Grace Under Fire" promises to be a beacon of hope, inviting you to strengthen your spirit and inspire a faith that, like gold refined by fire, emerges stronger through adversity. Whether you're seeking understanding, comfort, or encouragement, this series offers a rich trove of spiritual wisdom for living well, even in the most challenging times.
Embrace this opportunity to fortify your faith with Pastor Kelly, as we learn to navigate the cultural chaos with the grace and assurance that come from a life rooted in Christ.
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If you want to open your Bible to 1 Peter, chapter 1,. We're at the very beginning of a new series. In 1 Peter we're calling Grace Under Fire. Grace Under Fire.
Kelly Kinder:And last week, as you know if you were here, mark introduced so well the man who penned this letter, the Apostle Peter, and the lessons that we can learn that he learned from his time walking with Jesus that were so transformative for Peter's own life. And so we've looked at the man, and now I want us to see we're going to look at his message what he has to say to us in this letter, peter's purpose. From the end of the letter he tells us in 1 Peter 5, 12, he says I have written briefly to you exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. Stand firm in it. Peter knows that too well, because there was a time in his life where he had once himself fallen and denied the Lord three times. You talk about a failure, but as someone once wisely said, failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. And so Peter had learned from his mistakes and he has got, I guess, at a place where he is a lot more mature and a lot more wise. He has turned the corner and he's changed in so many ways. So Jesus stuck to Peter and Peter stuck to Jesus, and when that happens, things can transform. Peter, for example, describes himself as a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. And so now, in this letter, a lot wiser, peter lays out for us and these readers the path for these people who are going to experience some growing pressure in some places. They never thought they would be suffering for things they never thought they would have to go through. And so this becomes a real, practical thing for us, a letter for us, and I have to ask the question what is the significance, then, of Jesus? He modeled his letter off the Jesus' own suffering. What is that significance of Jesus' suffering? How should we, as Christ followers, live out our faith in light of the reality of this resurrection? Because Jesus is alive, right. So get ready for a truth bomb. Let me just tell you, let me give you some other ways, that people have kind of felt the impact of this letter and maybe, hopefully, you will too.
Kelly Kinder:Some have accurately described 1 Peter as the most condensed New Testament resume of the Christian faith and of the conduct it inspires. Martin Luther described it as one of the noblest books in the New Testament and a paradigm paragon of excellence, on par with Romans and the gospel of John. Luther believed it contained all that we need to know, all that's necessary for a Christian to know to live this life, and so today we're going to see that it all starts with a solid foundation, and what we're going to see this morning, in chapter 1 through 12, is you have to get this in order to live life well. So let's open the first chapter and hear how to live well in a culture of chaos. 1 Peter 1,. 1 through 12.
Kelly Kinder:Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, galatia, Cappadocia, asia and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you. Let's stop right there just a minute, because these first two verses that open the letter they tell us obviously where, who wrote it and to whom it was written, and we know the writer was obviously Peter, right, and he's an apostle. He says, though, of Jesus Christ and as one of the original 12 whom Jesus had chosen, peter is basically telling to his readers you know, you need to listen up because this is an authoritative word, it comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a merely human word, these are the words of God and so we need to take it that way. Jesus had a unique position to basically hear from a master teacher and his name was Jesus, and so we do too, because of what he shared. So the writer and then the readers, peter's writing to believers in a foreign land and he calls them if you'll pay attention to those two words elect exiles. These are elect exiles of the dispersion. So you just see those two words kind of back to back and they don't really make sense because in one sense, elect means that they've been chosen, exiles means they've been kind of put out of the normal comfort zone and sometimes we ask that question if I'm a Christian, why am I experiencing these bad things? And we're going to find that a little bit.
Kelly Kinder:What a conflicted identity that sometimes that is for us and as it was for these readers, in a couple of ways. Number one is that, in relation to the world, there's this horizontal dimension and he calls them there. He calls them exiles. Exiles, that's an interesting term and it really referred to someone who didn't hold citizenship in a foreign land. So you can imagine the people who experienced these people, who were foreigners in their own land, in that dominant culture. They were described as, in your version it might say diaspora the exiles of the diaspora, or exiles of the dispersion. You say what is that about? That word contains this idea of being scattered. And so Peter takes this metaphor and say that you're obviously you're scattered from places that you wouldn't say are really comfortable for you.
Kelly Kinder:And this is literally what happened to them. Because of their faith, because of their belief in Jesus, they were scattered, and they did so to avoid political, social, physical persecution that they were experiencing in that day. So their exiles, not only literally but also figuratively, Think about this Christians. When they did that, they were often viewed, as they are in our day, with suspicion, almost like subversives of the culture. It's like what are these Christians talking about? They're subversives and they were against the social structures, though often seen in the day. So Karen Jobes writes this. She says because of their Christian faith, they were being marginalized by their society, alienated in their relationships and threatened with, if not experiencing, a loss of honor and socioeconomic standing, and possibly worse. The Christians to whom Peter wrote were suffering because they were living by different priorities, values and allegiances than their pagan neighbors. Sound familiar If a church and a Christian lives that way in our society. We experience the same things and we are. You hear stories all around about that. But his words speak directly to their situation and it speaks to ours.
Kelly Kinder:So someone said, as Christians, we live in strange times, or the times we live in make stranger folks out of us, and that's the way the culture sometimes looks at the Christian Boy. What strange people. Odd so exiles or strangers in relation to the world, but at the same time elect. They're elect in relation to God, and this is the vertical relationship. So they're citizens, literally, of heaven at the same time, because they're God's chosen people.
Kelly Kinder:Peter says in chapter 4, verse 12, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. This is normal when you live like a Christian. So what was happening to these Christians that may have made it may not have made sense to them, just like. We wonder, like what in the world is going on? All this stuff, this pushback, this warfare between good and evil, what in the world is going on? But Peter tells them that their trials have maybe a deeper meaning than they might not have thought of at first. And he says basically, trials are actually a way of God's glorious dealings with his people. Do you get that? Trials are actually signs of God's gracious dealings with us who are Christians?
Kelly Kinder:And someone said one time, and I always remember this if I know the why I can deal with any what. If I know the why I can deal with any what. And really that's what Peter is getting ready to do. So if you're going through all kinds of trials sickness, disease, broken relationships, loss, betrayal, your dream has died all these are trials that at all times we experience different times in our lives. If I know the why I can get through any what and I always just think about this as I was preparing the message If you thought of your life as just this singular line from beginning to end, and all the things that you would say, these were negative, these were bad. I wish they hadn't happened to me and they were just kind of represented by dots alongside of that line. How many of those would you put along the line and say this is what God actually purposed in my life? That would be hard to do, but this is the perspective that Peter's trying to bring us to, and he tells them why.
Kelly Kinder:Sometimes you say, well, why do people suffer? Well, it's right here. He says their circumstances are according to the foreknowledge of God. In other words, the Father has allowed it to happen. It's in his purpose and plan, in his larger purpose and plan. And then he says their suffering is in the sanctification of the Spirit. In other words, by these trials, the Holy Spirit is actually forming them into the image of Christ. They may not see it, but that's what's happening. And then their pressures are for, he says, obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood. In other words, they're learning to obey in a place that is hard. A lot of times we want to give up and quit or we act out because we hate the place we're living in. And he said we learn to obey by those things, and sprinkling with his blood just speaks of the fact that we have assurance that if all these things are happening to us, that we're in covenant with Christ.
Kelly Kinder:Listen to this verse Philippians 1.29 says For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. So Peter's trying to get us to understand. This is the path that Jesus walked and this is the path that a Christian will walk. But every place that Jesus walked and every place that we will walk, he will be with us. All the way Acts 14.22 says place that he will be with us. All the way Acts 14.22 says through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. See, I don't want to hear that, and sometimes I don't either. But if you're in a place of trouble or trial or hurting, hardship, suffering, today, let me just say don't waste your suffering. Don't waste your suffering. God, the Father, knew you'd face it. The Spirit of Christ is forming you in it and the Son will confirm His covenant love with you along the way. This is His purpose and His plan. So let's go on in this letter and see what he has to say. He says blessed be the God and father of our Lord, jesus Christ.
Kelly Kinder:Peter, with an outburst of praise right before he tells us. Everything he's going to tell us is basically saying let's worship God for our great salvation. Do you really know what you have here? And so he is praising God. Before he tells us what he's going to tell us, let's see what he says. 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'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 and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you've 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.
Kelly Kinder: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 preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things into which angels long to look. So let's ask God this morning to show us the truths of this passage and let's pray, father, we are so grateful for your word this morning. Lord, we're here ready to receive and Holy Spirit, I pray right now. By your power you'd open our eyes to these spiritual realities. Lord, we thank you for your goodness to us and your gracious and kind ways toward us, and we just give these things to you in Jesus' name.
Kelly Kinder:So here's the question what does a Christian response look like in a culture like ours? In times like these, how do you keep the faith in a hard place? Because I think we all see things kind of headed that direction and maybe experience a summit even now. Here's the thing you have to know what you believe before you can know how to live. You have to know what you believe before you can know how to live.
Kelly Kinder:So one of the books I read first time as I was a new Christian was someone put it in my hand. It was a little book called Know why you Believe by Paul Little. I still have that book and it made such a great impact on me. He has another book that follows up with it called Know what you Believe, know why and Know what you Believe. And those books transformed my life and they were basically what they were called apologetics. They were defenses of this faith that we call Christianity toward those who are outsiders, so we would know what to tell them. But I would kind of say this it was great to know that, but in our day we need an apologetic, a defense for ourselves. In this culture that we're living, we need to know what we believe and why we believe it.
Kelly Kinder:So, right here, at the beginning, the apostle Peter is giving the Christian. What I would just say is this just picture him flying at a 30,000 foot level. Looking down, he says I understand this. I want to tell you what I've learned from Jesus level. Looking down, he says I understand this. I want to tell you what I've learned from Jesus. And he's telling this as he shares this bird's eye view of who they are. That is their identity and what they have to believe in order to know how they have to live in the days ahead. So let's look at it.
Kelly Kinder:Verses 3 through 12 tell us what we must believe, and so I would just say think of this as the foundation. This is a theological statement that we're going to get before we see the rest of the story, how to live it out. So what you must believe, that's what we're talking, and there are three basic areas he goes through here. Listen to these the realities of the new birth, number one. The certainties of real faith number two. And then the privileges of amazing grace.
Kelly Kinder:Now, this is a really interesting sentence in the Greek because in verses 3 through 12, it's a single sentence, one long sentence in the Greek, and it's almost like Peter falls all over himself to try to get out the words of what he's learned. It's dense, it's highly compacted, and so we're going to try to unravel it this morning. And let's look at the first one. He writes first of all the realities of new birth, and he says there according to his great mercy, he has caused us. Who is the? He, god, the Father. He has caused us to be born again.
Kelly Kinder:We've heard that term born again but it's the most basic truth. Because Jesus is alive. We can be alive, spiritually alive, and some of you have come to that point where you have made a profession of faith, you've received Christ and you, by virtue of that, have been born again. That new life of Christ has come into you. If you don't have that experience, we'd love to share that with you. Maybe after the time today, come down and we'd like to share that.
Kelly Kinder:So this is the most basic truth, and Jesus said it. Listen to this. You can be born again. Is that right? Or you should be born again, is that right? No, he said you must be born again. You must be born again, and without this new birth, what I think Peter is wanting to see, because these are already believers that he's talking to Without this new birth, you cannot see correctly.
Kelly Kinder:So we have to have these solid foundations in our life before we can realize the power they can have for us to live this new life. He says in John 3, jesus speaking truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom. So that new birth is a spiritual birth which opens our eyes to spiritual realities. But if we're born again, guess what Paul says. He says we make judgments about all things. He says we make judgments about all things. To be born again means we receive Christ. And when we receive Christ we're given new eyes, spiritual eyes, to see reality and what's going on around us.
Kelly Kinder:And I'm sure Peter's readers might have thought well, I know all that, I know that, I know the gospel. But Peter's reminding them that they must really believe all that. You see, so many Christians I see who go through life worrying and wondering whether they, when they die, will have eternal life. They'll go to heaven. And if you lack assurance that you know him, guess what? You're a Christian in life. You're going to lack courage. You're going to be, you're going to be. You're going to lack courage, you're going to lack confidence in how to live out your faith.
Kelly Kinder:But the Bible says John speaks in his letter to first John. He says I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. Do you know that you have eternal life and do you know that you know it? You can. Well, he tells us those who are born again, those who are spiritually alive will know certain realities and the language here. I like to think of this. And as he gets to start his message here is like coming out of the womb spiritually and opening your eyes for the first time to some realities that you've never experienced before. And the first one, he says, is a living hope. A living hope, he says, born again. To what? To a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Kelly Kinder:You know, when you hear someone say they have hope, it's kind of interesting. They typically mean they desire something in the future that really they don't really know if it will happen at all, just kind of a I hope that happens kind of thing. I hope I get this new job. I hope I can get this new car. I hope I can find a place to live. I hope I can fix this relationship. I hope my pants fit after this meal. It's possible, but it may not happen, right. So that's the kind of hope that we think of.
Kelly Kinder:But Christian hope is different. Biblical hope is different. It not only desires something out there in the future, but it actually expects it to happen. Its expectation is grounded in something. It's grounded in God's power, and the greatest power that ever happened in history was Jesus was resurrected from the dead. It's based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So the problem today, I think, is that as we look around, there is so much hopelessness, so much discouragement, and people will talk to people and they'll say you talk about the future and they say what's the point? Or I don't expect anything to change, I don't expect anything to get better. You ask them what they're looking forward to in the future and they say, well, nothing really, nothing really. But the Christians should never think that way, and the reason is because we don't put our hope in our circumstances or in ourself. We put our hope in a person whose name is Jesus. A born-again person lives in the expectation of that living hope.
Kelly Kinder:Peter mentions a second reality for those who see with these newborn eyes, a lasting inheritance. A lasting inheritance, he says to an inheritance that is imperishable, inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. Kept in heaven for you. And it was very likely that these readers to whom Peter had been talking. They had lost things like their family relationships as they moved away from where they were. They lost jobs, they lost positions, they lost their status, they lost privileges as they moved out of their comfort zone and lived out their faith. But Peter is reminding them that the new birth gave them something that no one could take away and it was eternal. That inheritance is described by Jesus as treasure in heaven. Do you have treasure in heaven this morning? That kind of thinking was what Peter has intended, and it was intended to encourage them. When everything else goes, when everything else is in your life, when the rug is pulled out from under you because of whatever reason, for whatever purpose that you're going through, you have something that will never be taken from you Eternal life.
Kelly Kinder:Peter mentions a third reality here of those who are living born again, a loving protection. Those who are living born again, a loving protection he says it in verse 5, who, by God's power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And I can't help but think of the person who suffered maybe more than beyond Christ. In the Old Testament we have this character named Job and Job, if you think about it, he experienced everything we would not want to experience. But in that behind-the-scenes conversation, before Job began to experience all his suffering, you have God and Satan in conversation, and God tells Satan he's going to limit what he can do to Job, because Satan has accused God of being kind of a hedge of protection around Job, and that was true. Still, as we Christians think about these things, we know that terrible things still can and do happen. We can suffer physically, we can suffer emotionally, we can suffer emotionally, we can suffer psychologically, and it's because, a lot of times, because of our faith.
Kelly Kinder:But Jesus, he gives us a pattern I think even in Matthew 6, how we look at these things, and he includes the words in that prayer, his pattern of prayer, and he says deliver us, god, from evil. And that may be including delivering us from the pressure that the world wants to squeeze in to conform us to its ways and thinking, to direct spiritual warfare from the enemy. Maybe. Deliverance from things that you struggle with, habits, hurts and hang-upsups that you have, that you just seem to struggle with, to be delivered from those. Deliver us from evil. But Peter says here that, no matter how his readers were alienated by all these things, including the culture, god was going to help them endure and stand firm in their faith. God was going to help them endure and stand firm in their faith, and so this is a good thing. So, peter, he's calling these Christians to see the realities of the new birth.
Kelly Kinder:He also says, in verses 6-9, the next major truth tells him about it the certainties of real faith. The certainties of real faith, he says in verse 6, in this you rejoice, though now, for a little while, if necessary. You have been grieved by various trials, so the end, this is what are they rejoicing in? Their salvation? This is a great thing, but it's how many of you know that sometimes all that can seem to go away when our trials face us, hit us face to face.
Kelly Kinder:He points us back to our great salvation, but he focuses now on the pain, and that's a different story. Sometimes, isn't it? What we have to go through hurts, and none of us want to hurt, right, peter? What do we need to know, then, to believe and make it through? And he tells us three things that I think are so valuable. Number one is that tested faith endures the fire, if it's real. Tested faith endures the fire so that he says, why are the suffering and the trials? So that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire and you see, the only way for you to know, and for me to know, if your faith is real is if it is tested by the fire. Tested by the fire, if it makes it through the fire, you're golden. And when you do, when you make it through the test and you look back on it, what do you have? You have something really valuable. I have heard over and over people who've gone through and have exited their time of struggle and trial in whatever physical, whatever problem they go through. They look back on it and they say I wouldn't trade that for a million dollars, for anything, because they gained something they could never have had unless they had gone through the suffering. We don't choose it, but in the middle of it, god did turn it around and make something of it Right, and so every Christian will be tested. Every Christian will be tested.
Kelly Kinder:Have you ever heard this expression to cook someone, this expression to cook someone's goose? To cook someone's goose? Actually, it was a reference of about a man who lived back in the 1400s. His name, his last name, means goose in Czech, and his name was John Hus, and his name was John Hoos John Hoos the goose. John was a pastor of Bethlehem Church in Prague, where he preached to over 3,000 people every week, and the Spirit of God was all over his ministry, and people came from everywhere to hear him proclaim the gospel.
Kelly Kinder:The Archbishop of Prague, though, didn't really care for what he was sharing. He told John you got to stop preaching, and these were religious kinds of people. But John refused. He kept on preaching, and he ended up being condemned and removed from his pastorate because of it. So guess what he did? He went out and he began to preach in the streets, and people still came to listen to him until the religious leaders decided to put an end to it all and they decided to put him to death.
Kelly Kinder:And on July 16th 1415, hus was burned at the stake while singing an old Latin chant Christ thou, son of the living God, have mercy on me. So he's singing as he's burned to death. I remember watching a film one time about his life that the days before he actually went and was at the stake ready to be burned before his life was taken. That scene showed him in his cell, in his dark cell, that they were keeping him and he had a little candle on a table, and you see John Hus in that scene taking his hand and putting it over the flame and just kind of seeing what it would be like to experience the fire. Here's what I know Is that God's grace will be with you when you go through the fire and you will get it when you need it and not before. God's grace will be with you in your suffering.
Kelly Kinder:And Peter goes on to say faith has been shown, proven by testing, is more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire. It's more precious than gold. Gold is put in the fire and the fire is so hot that gold just melts away. He says your faith is more valuable than that. It's more valuable because gold. There are some tests that even gold can't endure, but faith that endures is something that is precious. He uses that word precious. Real faith is precious.
Kelly Kinder:Do you realize that one day, when Christ returns, everything that exists will burn up? That's not been made to last, everything when Christ returns? Malachi says it like this but who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal. Paul writes it like this his workmanship will be evident, because the day will bring it to light, it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man's work. So your faith, if it endures, will last forever.
Kelly Kinder:Tested faith will go through fire and come out on the other side, and so we have to know Peter kind of gets this to us what we're getting when we go through the darkness of trials. It's not just the pain that we get, we get the fruit of it, the benefit of it. He offers one more another thing. He said Christian suffering has a purpose, and what is it that we may be found? It may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's why we need to know what we believe, because it will settle us and ground us for the days to come.
Kelly Kinder:Sometimes, in the fire of our suffering, we're so close to the flames that we can't see the bigger picture. You know, when we were first married, one of the first things we did, we went to a little shop and I don't remember maybe it was at the mall and together my wife and I picked out a picture and I liked ships and boats and the sea, and so we picked out a boat that still we have the picture today. It's kind of crude, an oil painting, and the picture is of a boat, a ship, out on the ocean. The ocean is in turmoil, the waves are high and it looks like the boat is in trouble. And for years that hung on our wall and what we looked at was the boat and we never saw. In the distance there was a lighthouse, because we were looking at the boat and Peter is trying to get us in the same way to say look beyond the boat and the storm that you're in and look to the light that I offer you in the gospel. It will give you and will get you where you need to be.
Kelly Kinder:Remember Joseph. Joseph was in a pit and then he got thrown into prison and ultimately he wound up in the palace. And it wasn't until Joseph realized, through all that suffering, trouble and trial. It was only then that he could see God's hand in it all. Unfairly treated, unjustly accused, he said to those who had hurt him, his brothers, he said you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. What a perspective. And it's the perspective we all have to have as we go through things we don't particularly care for God's going to use it and make good out of it. I ask you, do you have a theology of suffering? Do you have a perspective of how God works in your suffering?
Kelly Kinder:Peter's trying to tell us that whenever we go, whatever trial we go through, it's scoring points for us in heaven. Paul says it like this for this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. So Peter says if you do this right, if you think of this right, if you're grounded in the gospel, it results in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, and remembering that will carry us through all the distresses we may be experiencing in this life. In fact, I will say this this is the consistent pattern in the New Testament Suffering is followed by glory. You say, where did Peter get this? Well, he just watched Jesus suffering, followed by glory. And Jesus passed on to him these truths, not just for Peter's readers, but for us too.
Kelly Kinder:And then the third thing he says we can see fruit even now Verses 8 and 9, though you have not seen him, you love him, though you do not see him now, but 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 soul. Peter is saying that we don't have to see to believe. There are some things that are more real than what we can see with our physical eyes, and if you want to know that your faith is real, you don't have to look any further than the fruit that's coming out of your life. He mentioned some love for God, love for others. You see that in your life, trust that obeys, no matter what you might feel that it's hard, joy that rises above your circumstances, that inward sense of things are okay, and I'm a contented person, yeah, yeah, we walk by faith and not by sight right.
Kelly Kinder:So all these are things that are great evidences of real faith and by them we know we are obtaining the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls. And you know that doesn't make our current situation, our current circumstances doesn't make them go away. It doesn't make them less painful, but it should encourage us that we can make it. We can make it standing in all kinds of trials. And so if we rejoice and have this attitude, we're to have this attitude in the midst of our troubles. Listen to what James says Count it all. Joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. Count it all. Joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, produces steadfastness. You can stand up in the middle of it and you'll last.
Kelly Kinder:Oh, he goes on this last thing he talks about here living well, in a culture of chaos is to consider this gospel in verses 3-12, and the privileges, the privileges of amazing grace. That's a key word, privileges. And he talks about this. He says, concerning this salvation, the prophets and this is what the prophets sought, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully. I mean. They were painstaking, trying to figure out what God was giving and what it meant, 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, readers of Peter, and you, trinity, and every Christian in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. The prophets didn't know who it was or when it would happen when they gave their predicted prophecy about Christ's suffering. Someone, I think, has compared their task as almost like taking an arrow and shooting it in the air, with the prophecy and that arrow landing somewhere out there, and it just so happens to land at our feet hundreds of years later. And so what a privilege it is the arrow of God's grace landing at your feet.
Kelly Kinder:All the prophets knew what they were searching for. They only knew this it was for you, they were serving you, and that ought to make us feel humbled and blessed and thankful for this great salvation that we have. Jesus said. I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. This is what the prophets sought Let me end with this and it's what the angels desired. This is so cool Things into which angels long to look. And this is an amazing verse.
Kelly Kinder:The phrase there long to look, the angels long to look. It's a single word in the original it means to bend down and look in from the outside. It was used when Peter ran ahead of all the disciples at the day of the resurrection. And he runs ahead of everyone and he gets to the tomb and he bends down to look in to see is there anyone there to peer inside? So the picture here is of the angels bending down over the rails of heaven to see what only you can know the great salvation, looking and peering from the outside in about the wonders of salvation. Why would the angels marvel at our salvation? Because angels aren't saved. Only humans can be redeemed. They can only wonder by looking from the outside in and looking on as outsiders about what we've been given. What a privilege. Listen. If the angels get excited about this salvation, why don't we? We should be so amazed by this salvation that we don't take it for granted. It is an immeasurable privilege.
Kelly Kinder:The writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 2, verse 3, asks how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? John Piper, commenting on that verse, says Is there a sense of greatness in your mind about your salvation or do you neglect it? Do you respond to the greatness of your salvation or do you treat it in the way you treat your last will and testament or the title to your car or the deed on your house. You signed it once and it is in a file drawer somewhere, but it's not a really great thing in your mind. You rarely think about it. It has no daily effect on you. Basically, you neglect it.
Kelly Kinder:But, my friends, we can't afford to Looking at what may be coming and looking at what we go through on a daily basis. We need to see the great privilege of our amazing grace, god's amazing grace. We need to see what the angels saw. Well, these are the foundational truths we have to believe if we're going to know how to live. And the question is can the gospel fix what's broken? Can the gospel prepare us for what's next or what's next in your life? Yes, that's the right answer. Yes, but only if.
Kelly Kinder:Right answer. Yes, but only if we believe it and stand on its realities, its certainties, its privileges. You say how do you do that? Hang on, that's for the weeks to come. So, father, we're thankful. We're thankful for who you are and what you've done for us and lord this great salvation that has come to us and like an arrow shot from generations and hundreds of years ago, has landed at our feet, would help us not to take it for granted, but to discover the truths that it shares with us about life and eternity, and about you, jesus. We'll apply these truths to our lives. We pray In Jesus' name, amen.
