Beneficiaries of Great Sacrifice - 1 Peter Series Part 1 - Konrad Stauffer

Our faith must be tried, or it will—and it will be tried; otherwise, it is not true faith. Peter says that the test or the trial of our faith is more precious than gold. We can't do without that. Why do men refine gold? Why do they try it by fire? Is it not so that it will shine even more?

The tried faith is not only the lifeline that leads us out of the cave, but it is as good as in gold. When put to the fire, it releases all that is not gold that is in it. And all that is true gold becomes brighter. That comes—also comes out. As we are tried by fire, all of our true character comes out. We learn a lot about our true selves when we are tried, and then we can skim off that dross, and we begin to see the light and the glory that God wants out of us.

Good morning to y'all. It's good to be here again this morning, although I wish I was there and somebody else was here. But, um, we'll try to make the best of it. Um, as you can see, I have for a title, "Beneficiaries of Great Sacrifice," and that'll explain itself when we get towards the end of my message in the last part of the passage we're studying.

I decided to once again undertake a book study because I love book studies, and I'm looking at the first book of—book of First Peter, chapter one, and we're just gonna look at chapters one through, uh, verses one through twelve this morning.

Um, the message will probably be fairly short, so don't get too settled in. "Beneficiaries of Great Sacrifice." The first little subtitle I have for in this message is "Elect for Obedience to Jesus Christ." And we're gonna read the verses that, um, go along with that. First Peter, chapter one, verses one and two. "Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion of 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 the sprinkling with his blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you." Excuse me for referring to these people in a—in kind of, like you say, military language, but it's just a way for me to create a mental picture for myself. Um, Peter is speaking to these pockets of resistance, these exiles, these small churches whom I believe were living as strangers and pilgrims in a foreign land. He calls them elect exiles. And I'd just like to pause there to say that I looked up this word, elect, and our brother back there could probably give—expand it even further 'cause a lot is made with that word in our days, especially among the Calvinist circles and such like.

But as I looked at it, there's another meaning that oftentimes we don't even think about. It just says select. And I think about somebody being select. I think of select men, like in military service, like a commando unit or somebody that's been specially trained and sent out. And I think when he's saying elect here, he's talking about that kind of elect. They're people who have been chosen because of something, not just arbitrarily chosen.

I believe they were chosen because of their obedience to Christ and their commitment to his kingdom, these having allowed God's Spirit to lead them into all purity and righteousness. Peter's desire for these vigilant warriors of God's kingdom is that they may receive strength, favor, blessing from God the Father, their King. I have a couple of verses I'd like to read along with that. First couple of verses are in Colossians, chapter three, verses ten through fourteen. "And have put on the new man that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision, uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman. But Christ is all and in all.

Put on therefore as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another and forgiving each other. If any man have a complaint against any, even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye.

And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness."

Second Timothy two, verse eight through ten. "Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead of the seed of David according to my gospel, wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds as a male factor. But the word of God is not bound. Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." So Paul, in his writings, also refers to these elect would be the churches of Christ spread throughout the—the known world at that point.

The next part I wanna look at here is "Born Again to a Living Hope." In First Peter again, verse chapter one, verses three and four. "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 and to an inheritance that is not—that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you."

I'm intrigued by this phrase, born again to a living hope. The question arises, what does that mean? Maybe we should—should pause and think a little about what is a dead hope. What is a—a hope that isn't worth anything?

If a hope isn't living, then it is dead, having no substance. A dead hope is like a child who says, "I hope Santa Claus brings me a new bicycle for Christmas." That's a dead hope. It has no substance.

Or you, as you watch your teenager drive down the road in your car, perhaps a little recklessly and a little bit too fast, and you say, "I hope he doesn't wreck." That's a—a hope that's not living. It has no substance. It's a very nebulous kind of thing.

See the kind—see that the kind of hope—sorry about that. However, Peter says, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are born unto a living hope. And that's something that really speaks to my heart. "To an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you."

In Romans chapter five, verses one through five. "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only that, but we rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation awaits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation—for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope.

That creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." So we, as the children of God, have a big responsibility in our hands. All the creation is waiting with bated breath that we bring renewal and strength to God's—to this what God has created. "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, we have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoptions as—adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope is that—that is not seen—is not hope. For who hopes for what he—for who hopes for what he sees?" That's a question for us. To hope for something we already see is not really hope at all. So we need—we have to have some kind of vision in our mind. We'll talk a little bit more about that here. "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Next part I wanna look at is being guarded through faith to salvation.

First Peter, chapter verse chapter one, verse five. "Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. Sometimes faith is a little like being in a dark cave in the bowels of the earth, having lost your candle, and yet there is a string or a rope that has been placed there that you can—that you find in your hour of greatest need, and you get a hold of that string or that rope, and you get a hold of that string knowing that this will be—will be your salvation." Note I said will be, or maybe I should say it can be your salvation. "That guide rope will do you no good if you don't trust it, or get a hold of it and follow it until—or get a hold of it and follow it until it brings you out of the cave.

Getting a hold of that rope called hope, following it by faith leads us to the light and ultimately to our salvation.

Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Isaiah chapter twenty-six, verses one through four. I have a lot of scripture verses. I—I really love reading his verses, so you must excuse me. Verse one. "In that day shall they—they shall sing this song in the land of Judea. Behold a strong city, and he shall make salvation its walls and bulwark.

Open ye the gates. Let the nation enter that keeps righteousness and keeps—keeps truth, supporting truth and keeping peace for—for on thee, O Lord. They have trusted with confidence forever the great, the eternal God."

First Corinthians sixteen, verse thirteen says, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."

Second Corinthians five, verses four through seven. "For while we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened." There's that thing of groaning again. "Not that we should be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed so that what is more mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God who has given us the Spirit of—as a guarantee." So we—so we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are always away with from the Lord. "For we walk by faith and not by sight." There's that thing again where we're hoping and we trust in something. We have faith in something that is not seen at this point, but we know it's there.

Ephesians six sixteen. "In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one." I feel like a lot of the reasons why we see a lot of the falling away that we do in our day is because there's been a loss—simply just been a loss of faith. The shield of faith is no longer being used because there's no vision in our minds of the fact that there's something better than this. There's something bigger that we're building than just what's here and now. Our society has keyed us in such a way and tuned us in such a way to think of the here and now all the time.

So a lot of people have dropped that shield of faith, and they're—they're looking at what's right now. And so when Satan starts throwing his darts, his deceptions, we have no power to overcome that. We have nothing to counter it 'cause we have no inner vision or sense of—of reason to live or to move forward.

So the shield of faith is really important to us.

"The trial of faith, more precious than gold."

And I just want you to take a minute to just look at that. That's the way this version that I'm using puts it. I don't—can't quite remember how the King James and some of the others do, but the trial of faith, more precious than gold.

Back to verse six and through eight in First Peter. "In this, you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials." So these people are undergoing trials. They're going—undergoing a lot of persecution and stuff. "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." Our faith must be tried, or it will—and it will be tried. Otherwise, it is not true faith. Peter says that the test or the trial of our faith is more precious than gold. We can't do without that. "Why do men refine gold? Why do they try it by fire? Is it not so that it will shine even more?"

The tried faith is not only the lifeline that leads us out of the cave, but it is as good as in gold. When put to the fire, it releases all that is not gold that is in it. And all that is true gold becomes brighter. That comes—also comes out. As we are tried by fire, all of our true character comes out. We learn a lot about our true selves when we are tried, and then we can skim off that dross, and we begin to see the light and the glory that God wants out of us.

So this process is precious. The gold is precious, and the result is precious, but the process to us is precious also.

James one twelve. "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."

And then he goes on to say in verse nine, and Peter again, "Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." That's the end of the cave. We're finally through this life. We're finally through the trial, finally through these dark spots, and we come into the pure light and pure glory of the presence of God.

And then we're down to our last section here. Reapers of the benefit of the benefits of great sacrifice.

Peter verse ten through twelve. "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—who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

Things into which angels long to look." That's something that it's hard for me to believe with all that the angels see in heaven, all that they live with every day is seeing the glory of God's presence, seeing the sun, that they long to look into what God is doing with his people. There is something very special happening here with us if the angels wanna see what's happening, and they don't even understand it completely yet. They're watching this whole story unfold in our lives in God's—in Christ's church.

I'm impressed and touched to the heart each time I read this passage to think that God's own angels and his committed prophets, the one protecting the faithful, the other paving the road to salvation and life in God's kingdom. And then Jesus giving up his own life of his own free will, and then the apostles labored incessantly to lay a foundation for God's kingdom and the body of Christ. This and all these—this was done for us. We are reaping many of the benefits of these tremendous sacrifices.

Are you and I willing to work for something we don't see and may never see in our lifetime? They had a vision. They had an idea of something that they didn't really care that much if they saw it or not. They would have been delighted to see it in their day, but they were gonna do it anyways. Do we have that kind of vision?

Ephesians three verses one through eleven. "For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you." So just to pause there. Paul was a steward of God's grace. It was given to him to do something with it. And we're stewards of God's grace today too. And there's something we need to do with what he's given us.

"How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I've written briefly." When you read this, you—you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which is not made known—was which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it is now—as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

So that through that church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. Through the church, these mysteries or the manifold wisdom of God would be made known.

This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, or David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Women received—received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. Now just pause to say, I'd recommend you read the book, The Maccabees, 'cause this is—I'm thinking some of this is talking about that 'cause this—he's talking back in time. And I was trying to think, where in the Old Testament does it talk about these prophets or these people being tortured and and killed for their—for their faith?

There may have been a time, but I know that there were groups of believers, I mean Jews that were devout and holy people who did not want to give in to the edicts of the—of the emperor at that point. And they suffered these kinds of things.

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God has provided something better for us that apart from us they should not be made perfect. That's something hard for me to fathom, that these people had done so many things for God's kingdom, yet he still held back something. He was keeping something for the people in his body, the body of Christ today, the church.

And that's the end of my—that's the end of my sermon. I guess I'm hoping that it can be an encouragement to all of us to be willing to just keep moving forward, even if we feel like we're not seeing the fruit of our labors right in this time. It's good to see results, but if it means that you're just striving and being faithful, that's—that's—that's a very good start. I'd say we need to do that. My heart is grieved every time I see a person I've known in time past. I'm just thinking of someone I recently met, and it just grieves my heart when I look at this person today. I saw them as a—as a person that was really inspired, working with other people, and—and to see them today, it's just like, that's gone.

And that's so—that's so sad. And I don't wanna see that here. I wanna see us moving forward, having that vision in ourselves, having that faith like these people did, where they were willing to put up with anything to be a part of God's plan and God's kingdom.

If you have any thoughts or something you'd like to add to this, I really appreciate it.

I was really encouraged by what you said. I really enjoyed your message. I like the—the picture that you painted about our trials being precious and combining that with our faith being refined. And I see that a lot of times in my life, I look back, and in retrospect, I'm able to see how my trials were precious.

I hope—and so as I was listening to you, I was thinking about some of the trials that I know that I'm going through in life right now. And I hope that—or I'm encouraged by your message to, when—when I'm seeing these trials happening now, to not let it require a retrospective view. I hope that I can bring these thoughts into my view and realize that the trials that I'm facing right now are precious, and to have that view and to somehow be able to enjoy my faith being refined as it's happening, even though it's painful, and to be able to have these truths present with me as I'm going through my trials.

It was—thank you very much for the things you said. It was very helpful to me. You're welcome. It's—it just opened itself up in a new way as I was reading that passage again. When I read that verse, it kind of stood out to me, or at least that's how I understood it. So it's—so there's a lot of people today, and maybe even we can be tempted with this to—to want some kind of fresh revelation, some kind of new revelation, you know, to be spoken to directly or whatever. And so I was thinking about that when you were going over this part about the prophets and the angels.

He's talking about the prophets. They searched carefully and they inquired. They knew there was something coming. They knew there was something better coming, but they didn't get to see it.

And then we have the angels who said they—they—they somehow want to understand what's going on, and it's like they can't quite. They—they know there's something—they know there's something great going on, and they can't—they can't see it. But this has been revealed to us. This has been given to us through—through Christ and the apostles. And why would we—yeah, just I guess just another encouragement. Why would we look for something else? Why would we look for some kind of new revelation when we have been given this—this great salvation, this salvation that the prophets long for and the angels wish they understood? We've been given that. And that's a—that's a precious thing to hold on to and to keep.

So thank you. I certainly—I certainly know and trust that those people who did that are gonna be greatly rewarded in heaven. I really—I really believe that.