This Salvation (1 Peter 1:10-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                            Date:  12-06-03

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: This Salvation

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 1:10-12

            1.  Message of the verse:  “10 ¶ As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”  (NASB)  “10 ¶ This salvation was something the prophets wanted to know more about. They prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you, even though they had many questions as to what it all could mean.  11 They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They wondered when and to whom all this would happen.  12 They were told that these things would not happen during their lifetime, but many years later, during yours. And now this Good News has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”  (NLT)

            Peter now looks backwards into the time of the OT, when the prophets of the OT wrote about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the salvation that He would provide through His suffering, and the glories that would follow.  These prophets did not understand what they were writing about, however they did know that the Messiah would come.  Jesus’ apostles did not even understand about this, even when He told them plainly that He had to go to Jerusalem and be sacrificed for the sins of the world.  The reason that they did not understand Him was because the Holy Spirit had not been given to them yet.  In verse 12 Peter tells he readers that the OT prophets knew that they would not see these things in there own life time, but would happen many years from then.  He then goes on to tell them that they had already heard the Good News of Jesus Christ dying for them, and this was given to them by the preaching of a Spirit filled preacher.  He then goes on to talk that the angels were eagerly watching these things happen.  I am sure that this is referring to the good angels who did not leave with the bad angels, but stayed true to God.  There is no redemption for those evil angels, however there is for sinful man, so these good angels have know idea what it is like to go from being a sinful person to one who has been born from above, now having the new nature and the Holy Spirit living in them.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to focus in on having the Holy Spirit living within me as a result of the new birth.  There have been many times in my life when I was reading the stories in the OT and thought that some of these people had things better that the NT believers had it.  This is not necessarily true, and in most cases is not true at all, for having the Holy Spirit within me allows me so many benefits that were not given to the OT believers.  The Holy Spirit gives me understanding as I read His Word, which was unlike the apostles of Jesus Christ had when they were walking with Him before they received the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit gives to me verses of Scripture when I need it, like last Sunday when I had the great privilege of leading Mary Catalusci to a saving knowledge in Jesus Christ.  As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, I want to be ready to tell others about the grace that is available to them when the Holy Spirit gives me opportunity to talk to someone.  I want to lay hold of Christ Jesus for what He has laid hold of me for.

The Word of God was instructive, and refreshing to me as I read it this morning.

Loving Him (1 Peter 1:8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                            Date:  12-02-03

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Loving Him

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  1Peter 1:8

            1.  Message of the verse:  “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”  (AV)  “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”  (NLT) 

             Christianity carries with it a present dynamic that can turn suffering into glory today.  This statement is one that is worth listening to and to think about, for indeed this is not something that seems even possible.

            Peter gives us four directions for enjoying the glory now. 

1. Love Christ (1:8).  This verse tells me that even though I have never seen Christ in person that I love Him, and that is true.   “John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”  “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”  (Romans 5:5)  This verse in Romans tells me why I love the Lord, and it is because He first loved me.  I was not capable of loving God before He first loved me.  In order to experience this glory when we go through trials believers are to lift our hearts t o Christ in true love and worship.  Dr. Wiersbe says “that this will take the poison out of the experience and replace it with healing medicine.  If we love ourselves more than we love Christ, then we will not experience any of the glory now.  The fire will burn us, not purify us.” 
2. Trust Christ (1:8).  True Bible Faith means we are to surrender all to God and obey His Word is spite of circumstance or consequences.  Faith and love go together and strengthen our hope.  Romans 8:28 tells us that we know that God causes everything to work together for good, we don’t always see it though, that is where faith comes into play.  God has taken care of our biggest need when we were His enemies, so if we trust Him for salvation then we can trust Him to get us through the trails we encounter.
3. Rejoice in Christ (1:8).  It is true that believers cannot rejoice over trials and circumstances that are no to their liking, however they can rejoice in them, knowing that they worship an all wise, all knowing God who will never leave them nor forsake them.  The verse goes on to say that this joy is “unspeakable and full of glory.”  I have seen first hand that in the midst of trials God has brought unspeakable joy into my life, an amazing demonstration of His grace and mercy.
4. Receive from Christ (1:9).  Believers experience glory the moment that they are saved, for they are born for glory, they are also kept for glory, and while they go through trials God is preparing them for glory.  When they love Him trust Him and rejoice in Him they can experience glory here and now.  Getting back to verse 9 it teaches about our salvation, and there are two parts of salvation.  Verse 9 could read, “presently receiving for yourselves.”  Dr. MaCarthur writes this about verse nine:  “In one sense, Christians now possess the result of their faith, a constant deliverance from the power of sin.  In another sense, we are waiting to receive the full salvation of eternal glory in the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23).  “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As stated above God has blessed me first hand in our investment trial by moving a wonderful family in next-door, and He has given me the privilege of seeing seven of them come to know Him in a personal way through Jesus Christ.  God has been true to His Word and it has truly brought a “joy unspeakable and full of glory” to my heart.

The Word of God was refreshing and also challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Even though I do not feel well, (I think I am coming down with the flue), I do trust the Lord, for He is in control of all things. 

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 3:12b

            12b.  …but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

Christians are Being Prepared for Glory (1 Peter 1:6-7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                            Date:  11-30-03

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Christians are being prepared for glory 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  1Peter 1:6, 7

            1.  Message of the verse:  “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  (NASB)  “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  (NIV)

            In these two verses Peter is talking about trials, the kind of trials that all of us as believers well go through.  These various trials that believers go through are “some of God’s tools and textbooks in the school of Christian experience.”  Peter shared several facts about trials.

1. Trials Meet Needs.  God can use trials to discipline the believer who has sinned.  Psalm 119:67 “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.”  Trials can prepare us for spiritual growth or prevent us from sinning.”  (2Corthians 12:1-9)  Even though we do not always the need that these trials are meeting, the important thing is to trust the Lord through all trials we go through.
2. Trials are varied.  The word in the AV used is manifold, which means various colors or various sorts.  The same word is used in 4:10 to describe the grace of God.  “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  Dr. Wiersbe commenting on this section says, “No matter what ‘color’ are day my be, God has grace sufficient to meet the need.”  We may gain victory in one kind of trial, but not in another trial right a way.  It is good to remember that God is the One who matches the trials with our needs.
3. Trials are not easy.  The believer knows the anguish of trials, when he goes through them.  Paul said that the believer should not grieve like the people of the world who have no hope, but when believers grieve they do so with the assurance by the Word of God that there loved one is in heaven.  However we still grieve, and we still hurts, and we should not deny that it is painful for if we do we are fooling ourselves and then it will take longer for God to bring about His healing.  We a person is saved by the Lord he must acknowledge that he is a sinner before he gets the cure and it is the same when we are going through a trial, we must acknowledge that we are in the trial and that it hurts, and then the Lord will come to our aid.
4. Trials are controlled by God.  “When God permits His children to go through the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat.  If we rebel, He may have to reset the clock; but if we submit, He will not permit us to suffer one minute too long. The important thing is that we learn the lesson He wants to teach us and that we bring glory to Him alone.”  Peter makes this clear with the illustration of a goldsmith putting gold into the fire to remove the cheap impurities from it.  If he would leave it there too long then he would damage the gold, but if he takes it out at the right time the gold will be beautiful, “so our Lord keeps us in the furnace of suffering until we reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:18, and 18 gives insight into the sufferings of the believers:  “17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.  18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  This glory will not fully be revealed until Christ comes at the rapture of the Church. 

Trials are given to us to test the sincerity of our faith.  If you look at the parable that Jesus spoke about the “seed” that is planted in different you can get an idea about trials and testings.  Dr Wiersbe writes, “the person who abandons ‘his faith’ when the going gets tough is only proving that he really had no faith at all.

Job is an example to us all when he wrote, “But He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”  (Job 23:10)

As I have studied this passage and the related study material I have been using it has been convicting to me, it has been refreshing to me, and it has also been challenging to my soul.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To have a sensitive heart so that I will get hold of Christ that He may show me what He has gotten hold of me for, that I will remember to worship the Lord throughout the day.

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 3:12b

            12b. …but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.    

Kept by God's Power (1 Peter 1:5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                            Date:  11-29-03

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Kept by God’s power

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 1:5

            1.  Message of the verse:  “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  (KJV)  “…who, in the power of God are being guarded, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time,”  (YLT) 

            The word “kept” has this meaning from the Greek:  “to guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.”  The verse says that we are kept by the power of God through faith.  Dr. Macarthur says this concerning the phrase “kept by the power of God”  “Supreme power, omniscience, omnipotence, and sovereignty, not only keep the inheritance (v-4), but also keep the believer secure.  No one can steal the Christian’s treasure, and no one can disqualify him from receiving it.”  He goes one to write about the phrase “through faith:”  The Christian’s response to Gob’s election and the Spirit’s conviction is faith, but even faith is empowered by God (see note on Eph 2:8,9).  Moreover, the Christian’s continued faith in God is evidence of God’s keeping power.  At the time of salvation, God energizes faith, and continues to preserve it.  Saving faith is permanent; it never dies.”  The phrase “unto salvation” need to be explained a bit, for indeed the completeness of our salvation does not occur at the point of being saved from sin.  For example I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior on Jan. 26, 1974, but my salvation will not be complete until I am with Jesus Christ at the rapture of the Church, even if I die before the rapture, however the certainty of my salvation is not in question for it is God who has made it certain.

      There is a quote for Dr. Wiersbe’s book “Be Hopeful” that I wish to use at this time.  “If suffering today means glory tomorrow, then suffering becomes a blessing to us. The unsaved have their “glory” now, but it will be followed by eternal suffering away from the glory of God (2 Thes. 1:3-10). In the light of this, ponder 2 Corinthians 4:7-18—and rejoice!”

The Word of God brought assurance to my soul as I read it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Seek help from the Lord to get along with my wife better.

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 3:12b

            12b.  but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.