Thank you very much, Mark. What tremendous hymns we sang this morning. It's always encouraging and sets our mind right on the Lord's promises and what he's done for us.

I ask you also to pray for Joe this morning. Joe just told me his grandpa's in the ICU and in the hospital. So pray for Joe and his grandpa as well.

We're working our way through these really tremendous verses, the opening verses in the letter of 1 Peter, Peter's first epistle. These verses tell us all about our great salvation. And that's why we're on a third part of our message, our great salvation. They're words to encourage the believer in Jesus Christ about the security of salvation through faith in him. These truths are meant to give us assurance of who we are and what we have in Jesus Christ.

The Jewish believers to whom Peter writes were experiencing persecution for their faith, suffering, and trials, and pressure because of their identification with Jesus. They needed to understand the purpose of these trials and the reason for them. And more than that, they needed to understand the greatness of their salvation and their eternity in comparison to the temporal sufferings that they were experiencing. And so Peter tells them about God's plan. He tells them about God's purpose. And he tells them about God's promise in Christ.

Last time, we saw the plan of God from eternity past to save those who believe, his electing, choosing us for salvation from the foundation of the world, and then bringing that plan to pass through the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

You remember in Acts 2:22, it says, "Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be held by it." 

It was by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God that he conceived and brought to pass our salvation fully and finally in Christ. And in Christ, God has for us a purpose in this world. He died for us in order that we, having died, might live for him. We are now his witnesses of the saving power of the gospel in this world. 

This is a major theme for Peter when we get into chapter 2 and really through the end of the letter. We are witnesses by our words, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus to every creature. And we are witnesses by our lives as we live in the various relationships of this life among the pagans. We suffer in this world. We experience trials and tribulations and persecution because of our identification with Jesus. But we will see that even in this, God in his sovereignty has a purpose. And even in this, an affirmation, an assurance of our salvation. 

God has a purpose for us in this time, but also God has a promise for us in Jesus. We struggle and agonize and suffer in this world as we live and strive to be witnesses for Jesus among the lost. But our focus, our hope, is resting fully on the revelation of Jesus and our glorification together with him. Peter says the end of our faith, our salvation, is sure by the word, by the promise of God. 

In John 14, Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." What a promise.

Peter says it this way. He says, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you've been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, listen to this, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 

And in verse 13, he exhorts us, "Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

God's plan for our salvation was predetermined before the foundation of the world. God's purpose is a privilege for us as we live a life of witness and testimony in the midst of this suffering world. God's promise is eternal life now and in heaven with him when Jesus comes to take us to be with him forever. We have a great salvation. And Peter wants us to fully understand and appreciate who we are and what we have in Jesus.

Let's look at our text, 1 Peter 1. "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

In this, you greatly rejoice. So now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom having not seen, you love. Though now you do not see him yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Of this salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who is in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into.

Well, I've given you four points this morning on your outline. First, God's purpose in trials. Second, the end of your faith. Third, witnessed by the law and the prophets. And fourth, security in salvation.

Well, first we see these important words in our text concerning God's purpose in trials. He says in verse six, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials." And here's the purpose word, right? Everyone knows the purpose word, that, so that, the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

We rejoice, even though now for a little while, if need be, we've been grieved by various trials. These are interesting phrases that Peter uses. We start with the first words in this. And a little Greek grammar helps us out here. We might think that Peter's specifically referring to our salvation in the previous verse, and it's true that we rejoice in this, we rejoice in our salvation. But here in this case, we see that the term translated in this is neuter in gender, but salvation is feminine. 

And a simple rule of Greek grammar is that the gender must agree with the antecedent. So Peter here is specifically pointing us to the time. He's telling us in this, in what? In the time. In this you greatly rejoice, the time of the glorious revealing of the sons of God, the coming of Christ.

Verse 13 again says, "Rest your hope fully on what? On the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The last time, the final salvation of your souls. And Peter's been talking to us about our inheritance. He's been talking to us about our union with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection, our new birth, our living hope, and Paul fleshes this out a little more for us in Romans 8, our inheritance, the truth that we're co-heirs with Christ.

Turn over to Romans 8 with me at verse 14, please. Romans 8, 14, Paul says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together."

Notice the same themes as 1 Peter 1, salvation, relationship with the Father, and inheritance, co-heirs with Jesus, suffering with him so we might be glorified together. Now I want you to pay close attention to what Paul says next in perfect line with Peter, Romans 8, 18. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now, and not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."

Look at verse 24. "For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." Paul says we are saved in this hope. Saved from what? Saved from doubts and fears and discouragement. 

We are strangers and pilgrims in this world. We're living among the pagans. We experience trials and tribulations in this old, cursed world, and persecution for our faith in Jesus, but in all of this, we greatly rejoice. In what? In the promise of eternal life, in the grace that we will receive at the revelation of Jesus, in the glorious revealing of the sons of God.

John says the same thing in 1 John 3:1. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

I also wanna just touch on the two phrases in verse six of our text, where he says, "though now for a little while," and "if need be." The phrase little while is crucial to Peter's intent here. He's telling the believers to get a proper perspective. This life is temporal. We're but a vapor, James says. The older one gets, the more he realizes the great truth of this statement. But eternity, well, that's forever. 

Look to your reward, not to your temporal and passing struggles in this world. The words if need be are also very helpful, because God in his grace as a perfect and loving Father knows exactly what we need and when we need it. Every day of this life is not a dark and dreary day. The sun shines on us very often, and God knows. He knows what we need. He says, "if need be." He gives us what we need. We can trust him. If trials and troubles come, we can count it all joy, knowing the greater purpose of God in and through it. We can know that God works all things together for our good.

I think of this often in the wintertime here in these north woods. When I was studying for this message last week, I came in from doing morning chores, and it was 15 below on the farm, and there was a little west wind biting at my face. I told the cows and the pigs that it was only gonna last a couple days, and that it would warm up a little and get nicer. They were snuggled in their beds, frost on their faces. The cow's eager to come in to get milked and get a little treat, feel a little warmth for a bit, and I thought about how good 10 above was going to feel on Tuesday. 

Just get through these next couple nights. These cold, starry nights are a trial of sorts, but they sure help us to appreciate the sunshine and the above-zero temperatures. The trials help us to appreciate the days when it is God's will for us to experience ease and comfort. Our ultimate hope is in the midst of all these tribulations is our glorification and the eventual revealing when we come back with Jesus, and all the world will see him and His glory. 

But even more than this, God has another purpose, now here in this place, in this time for our sufferings, and these sufferings are an assurance of our salvation as well. Look at verse 6 again in our text. "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Notice again the purpose word in verse 7, "that you've been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Turn over to Romans 5 with me, please. Romans 5 at verse 1. 

Romans 5:1, "Therefore, having been justified by faith," that's what Romans 3:21 through the end of chapter 4 are about, being justified by faith. "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." We were His enemies, now we have peace, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 

And not only that, but we also glory in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Paul tells us that our tribulations are working. We're rejoicing, not only in our hope of glory, but in our tribulations in this time.

James 1:2 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials." How are we going to count it all joy when we fall into various trials? I've spent the last week on the phone with government officials because I sent my passport applications in 10 weeks early and they didn't get it done, so I was on the phone with them for a week. 

Then they finally got it done a week ago Friday, they sent it two-day error and it's still not here because the post office hadn't got it. So now, today I'm going to drive to Kingsford, Michigan to meet a truck coming from Milwaukee at 6 and hope the passport is on that truck or else we're not going to go to the Bahamas in the morning. 

It's a trial, not a big deal, first-world problem, right? So how do I deal with that? Do I count it all joy? Do I know that God's in control? Do I know that God does what is best? Maybe that plane's going to crash. Maybe like Mark said, you need to be put in a certain place because you're going to go and preach the gospel and he's going to use that. 

I don't know, but I trust God. How can I count it all joy? Because I know that the testing of my faith produces patience. James says, "Let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." In James, the language is a picture of the refining fire whereby the dross is removed from the precious metals and the purity of the metal is brought forth.

In the Romans passage, it is the picture of a press such as with olives or grapes. The idea is that the trials squeeze us, place pressure on us, and the result is the essence of who we are on the inside coming forth just as it is with the olive oil. Trials cause the lost man and Adam to do what? Curse God. They don't want trials. They spend their whole life trying to avoid trouble. But trials and suffering draw the believer closer to God in humility and a need for Jesus. 

When the press squeezes the olive, the pure oil comes forth. And so we as new creations, as new men in Christ, alive in our spirits with new hearts, born again, regenerated on the inside, when the trials of life squeeze us, that truth comes forth. It comes out. And our outward actions are conformed to the inner truth of who we are. 

And our suffering in the way of persecution proves the genuineness of our faith as well. For we suffer because the world hates Jesus, and because we are His. Peter wants us to have this assurance and hope. Paul says all who desire to live godly in this ungodly age will suffer persecution. So we see God's purpose in trials. 

And as we've discussed, we see the end of our faith, eternity, salvation, glorification, revealing. Next we see, witnessed by the law and the prophets. Look at verse 10 of our text. "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow."

To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into.

When we're interpreting and applying the scriptures, it's so important that we keep in mind the audience and the intent of the author. Remember, Peter's intent in this first chapter is to give the believers assurance of their salvation and security in Christ, so that they might know who they are and what they have in Jesus. So that they might have a right perspective on the world and on their struggles.

In verses 10 to 12, Peter says that the Old Testament law and prophets, the scriptures of old, are all about this great salvation. In other words, we have assurance because the Word of God and the men of God who wrote those words spoke of and foretold the salvation that we now are experiencing through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Turn to Isaiah 53 with me. Just a preeminent example of this. Isaiah 53:1. "Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him there's no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him."

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 

He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people he was stricken. And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Peter tells us that the prophets of the Old Testament wrote the words of God, but they did not always understand what they wrote. So they sought diligently and studied to understand who and what time they were prophesying about when He would come. In verse 11, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating. 

There are two fascinating verses at the end of Hebrews 11, that great chapter on the heroes of faith. Verse 39 says, "In all these," speaking of all those heroes of the faith, "all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise." They didn't see it in their lifetime. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. 

In John 5:39, Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but these are those which testify of Me." All of the Scriptures from the beginning speak of Jesus, and the fulfillment, the consummation that came at the cross, when God accomplished our salvation through Christ, when He fulfilled the prophecies and promises of the Old Covenant, and when Jesus rose from the dead and was seated at the right hand of God. Now we're just waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. 

The victory is won. It's finished. Those Old Testament saints didn't see the promise. The prophets didn't see what they wrote about. That was fulfilled in our time. They were made perfect in us, in our time, in the fulfillment of the New Covenant. The saints of the Old Testament, the great believers in God and His Word, never received the promises, but they were made perfect. They were made complete in Christ to us, these prophets of old wrote, to this New Covenant time, where in Jesus all the promises are yes.

So what Peter is saying is that the very words of the prophets, the Old Testament, all the way back to Genesis 3, speak of the great salvation we have in Jesus. Now this is a great affirmation. We this is a great assurance of our salvation and a comfort to us in trying times. The Bible is what, written over 1,500 years, 40 different authors, all that time and consistency with all these prophecies about Jesus and Jesus fulfilled those, that's assurance. 

And this is the work of God from before creation. It's the plan of God carried out in Christ to redeem lost men. Even the angels desire to look into this great salvation. The angels who fell do not have the opportunity for redemption. Their fate is sealed. 

But men, lost men and Adam, for them God has graciously designed a way of redemption, of salvation. And Peter says the angels intently look into this. The word means to stoop over and look intently at. They're looking at the entire plan and purpose of God carried out on the earth, at the cross, in the church, justification, sanctification, glorification. They long to look and understand, like the prophets, to see what God is doing in the affairs of men. 

This salvation is real. It's genuine. It's ours in Christ and all that goes with it. So we see God's purpose in trials. We see the end of your faith. We see witness by the law and the prophets. And all of this teaches us about our security in salvation. Peter is talking all about that in these first 12 verses. 

We've been predetermined, chosen. The Holy Spirit has sanctified us, set us apart. Jesus Christ has sealed that covenant with His blood. We've been born again, regenerated to a living hope, and now we have an inheritance. And that inheritance is ours now and forever, and it's kept by God in heaven, reserved for us. It doesn't fade away. No one can assault it and attack it. The moth and rust can't come in and destroy. He promises us that we're going to receive the end of our salvation. There's going to be a glorious revealing. These are truly profound words. 

And they should give you confident assurance, my brother, my sister in Christ. He designed the plan of salvation. He's given us a purpose in salvation, and we have many great and precious promises in our salvation in Christ. 

I want to just look at one more passage as we close, and we could turn to many passages that give us assurance, but Romans 5, verse 1 again, please. Romans 5:1, and listen to these words. This is really one of the greatest eternal security passages in the Bible. He says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith." Who's that talking about? Believers, right? Those who have believed Jesus. Not those who are depending on their works or their religion or anything else, but those who have turned to faith in Jesus, like Mark read about in 2 Corinthians 3. 

When the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is lifted. Those who have been justified by faith. So everything that comes after this is for those who have been justified by faith. This is for believers. He says, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. Perseverance character and character hope. 

Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Now look at verse 6. "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man, someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

"Much more than having now been justified by His blood," look at this promise, "we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation."

Paul writes, "Christ died for the ungodly." Who goes to heaven? Not good people, right, ungodly. Some people think they're good. No one's good. The ungodly who understand that they're not good and that they need a Savior and believe Jesus. Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrated His love at the cross while we were still sinners, while we were against God, while we were His enemies, Christ died for us. 

Paul says, "Much more than having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Jesus saved us by His death in our place for our sins. We've been saved from the wrath of God to come because Jesus took that wrath for us and satisfied the justice of God. 

We are not saved from trouble and sickness and poverty and all the carnal things of this world of this time. We are saved from the wrath of God for our sins. Jesus saved us, and now we know that we have eternal life because we believe Jesus. We trust in His one-time death on the cross in our place for our sins, and we hold fast to the promise of God through faith in Christ. 

We are secure in Jesus. In 1 John 5:13, John says, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." God wants us to know that we have eternal life, that we are secure in Christ forever. 

When I was a religious man, that was called the sin of presumption. Well, St. John didn't understand that. He says we can know that we have present possession, eternal life today and forever. And Peter wants these precious believers, these suffering, persecuted believers to have confidence in their salvation. He wants them to have confidence in the plan and purpose of God, and even in their tribulation, knowing that it is proof of their salvation, that it's refining them, growing them, drawing them closer to God, and producing perseverance and character and a witness in this world.

My friends, we have nothing to fear in this life, in this world. We are here as strangers and pilgrims. We are ambassadors of God in a foreign land, heralding a message of good news, of salvation through faith in Jesus. But our citizenship in heaven is secure. Our life, eternal, is there, kept by the power of God, waiting to be revealed in the last time. My brother, my sister, do not hope in this world. Do not rest in the things of this world. 

But listen to Peter, and rest your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Christ, salvation as sure as the Word of God. Let's close in prayer.

Father, we thank You so much for Your truth, Your Word that encourages us and teaches us and sets our minds straight. Help us to think Your thoughts, help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Help us to understand that Jesus led us all the way. Help us to understand that we can have peace, that we can know that we have eternal life and that our hope can be fully, completely in Your promise, in Your grace that's to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

And help us to understand that we're witnesses in this world, that's why we're here. Help us to tell people about Jesus and live a life worthy of our calling. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.