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God opened up as it was as it was done excellently this morning so please turn with me in your Bibles oh by the way there is there's a Bible study this Wednesday I did forget to announce that this morning so there is a Bible study resuming on Wednesday unless you hear otherwise but we will assume that is the beginning then okay please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalms chapter 12 as our call to worship Psalm 12 Psalm 12 beginning at verse one man's treachery and God's constancy constancy to the chief musician on an eight-string harp a psalm of David help Lord for the godly man ceases for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men they speak idly everyone with his neighbor with firing lips and a double heart they speak may the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things who have said with our tongue we will prevail with our lips are our own who is our who is lord over us for the oppression of the poor for the sign of the needy now I will arise says the Lord I will set him I will set him in the safety for which he earns the words of the Lord are pure words like silver tried in a furnace of Earth purified seven times you shall keep them O Lord you shall preserve them from this generation forever the wicked prowl on every side when violence is exalted among the sons of men Amen well we certainly see two kinds of wisdom demonstrated in that chapter as we're reminded of this morning well let's go to to our first hymn please pick up your Trinity hymnal and turn to hymn number 12 hymn number 12 I'll ask you Stan [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] amen please be seated let's go to God in prayer and ask his blessing to be upon our meeting home here tonight thanks prayer our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we we do praise you Father that you're that you are with Zion and we are the Church of Zion we are part of that church Universal and so Lord we praise you that we are the the gathered together the elect here in this location is in this locale of Chilliwack and you have promised to present yourself amongst your people and and here we are Father gathered to worship you we pray that you would help us to to worship you remove from our from our minds and our hearts anything that would distract us from that from that act of worship we praise you for that we are not we are before an audience of one the high king of heaven here this night and so we pray that you would cause our cause our hearts cause our minds our attention to be taken up with the things that are out of eternal worth may we put aside the things for the week coming up or the week passed and cause us Lord to to to with resolute heart and mind to to worship you this evening and we praise you Lord that you are with your people your promise to Tabernacle amongst your people and so Lord how we pray that you would be gracious that you would Tabernacle amongst us here this evening give to us your holy spirit give to us your presence we do pray Lord that we would know of a truth that there is a God in heaven and we have much to do with that God we praise you Father for your son the Lord Jesus Christ and how grateful we are Father for the fact that we have an advocate with the father in the person of your son the Lord Jesus Christ this evening we do not need to enter by any other way than by the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for that precious blood that was spilt on our behalf that has gained us access into your throne room this evening and Lord it said it's through the Lord Jesus Christ that we desire to come before you this evening to worship you and to adore you how we praise you for others we consider the creation around us the the return of this summer heat that we're all enjoying and the the coolness of an evening and just the beauty of the mountains around us Lord how we praise you for your created order that all these things are sustained by your sovereign hand these things did not just happen they do not spin on their own the father you cause them and it's by your sustaining mighty right hand that you sustain them and keep them Lord how we praise you for the salvation is ours through Christ as we gather this evening we pray that much we made up the Lord Jesus Christ that we would desire to lift up the name of Christ and how we praise you for having having bared your rightie mighty arm in the salvation of sinners and Lord that was us we we were we were born in Adam and how we praise you that you that you redeemed us that you picked up picked us up out of that miry clay pit as it were and cleaned us off and gave to us nude fleshly hearts as it was as we were minded up this morning so that father we do with that heavenly wisdom we do we can speak and think of the things that are from above and not from this earth caused us this night father - to be sanctified and to be set apart in our most holy faith that we would do that we would put on the Lord Jesus Christ and put off the old man caused us in the week ahead Lord - to cling to you to keep seeking you - to to seek - to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel we do pray Lord we do pray your blessing upon other churches here in Chilliwack throughout the Lower Mainland and across our nation we know Lord that there is much to be discouraged about but there's also much to be encouraged about the fact Lord that we are we are able to meet in an unhindered manner we thank you for that we pray that those who govern over us who have authority over us would would continue to to allow the Church of Christ to meet unmolested on harassed in this nation of ours and and and and and in the United States to the south of us we we thank you Father for for allowing us that - to be able to meet so freely when we consider other parts of the world where they have to meet and sing with hushed voices we get to sing our praises and our glory to you with with with all the fiber of our being and we just praise you for that gift we pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless those who govern over us with wisdom and we pray they would put down evil punish evil and reward good and and we do pray for those amongst amongst the in in governing circles those who are Christians those who are believers that Lord you would strengthen them cause them Lord - to be resolute and in using those positions of influence and power in the legislature in the courts as influences for good and and not for evil Lord how we pray your blessing to be upon upon the the missionary enterprise as well we think of missionaries in in in far-off countries those in Pakistan and and throughout the Middle East and in in Vietnam and and China we the Hamiltons in China Lord we we know that each each and every missionary is known to you how we pray that you would have your hand upon them continue to encourage them may they know that the prayers and thoughts of the saints back home are concerned for them and desire to see them marching forward and and and that they would see their gospel Labor's that rewarded from on high we pray Lord that they would not lose heart they would not grow faint and weary in well-doing in the proclamation of the gospel but rather that you had bless that word and and we know that salvation is of the Lord and so Lord we look to you and believe you to be the one to to save Lord we pray for any and all who are sick amongst us those who are awaiting operations in the coming week or are not feeling well Lord how we pray that wisdom would be given to to those who who are who need to make decisions and as those decisions are made we pray lo that your will would be done that you would sustain and give life and health and strength we do pray we thank you for the for for Lindsay and Jordans new little one that was born just this week and we give you praise for for such a gift as life and Lord we pray that you would just be pleased to bless that little one and mother as well and cause them to to be strengthened from day to day and that that that they would move forward seeking to to nurture that little one in the things of the Lord Lord we pray your blessing upon pastor Butler as he travels home even now on the road we pray that you give Him safety along the road and reunite him with his family once again safer this evening we pray your rich blessing to be upon him and and upon his family we think of those who are leaving departing for our church this week in the coming days we pray lo that again safety would be afforded to them as they travel and as they get as they become connected with new churches the Lord you'd bless those connections and them as they as they seek to seek to become a part of new local churches or at how we pray your blessing upon cam and Tracy bless this vacation time for them and may they just know much strength from you and and just much help and much aid and we do pray Lord that you return them home to us safely and back to usefulness here in our local church and Lord we just commit ourselves now into your hands as we would commend pastor Lindblad into your hands and as he brings the word soon we pray your blessing upon he and upon his father back in Kirkland Washington father we pray that he would know that same strength that same aid from the Holy Spirit to that to give him what he stands in need of we thank for the good work that that he is having in Cuba he and other men from Reformed Baptist churches we just continue to pray for that work in Cuban Lord that you would just nurtured along and bless the men who are being trained in the in the knowledge of the Word of God and in good doctrine we pray Lord they would be able to implement those things that you would cause there to be a just a clinging to to the good and and departing for the things that that will do them no good and we pray that you would just continue to bless the church and multiply it there and not say not say in that nation of Cuba so Lord we just look to you now for this next hour we pray that you would be pleased to meet with us and cause us to to have a single single I upon upon the High King of heaven whom we adore and want to worship here this evening and it's in Jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me and you're in your Psalter that's the red book to Psalter the xi xi psalm psalm chapter 11 and we will sing the whole the whole song please stand [Music] please turn with me your Bibles to to Micah Micah chapter 5 obviously just say to the scene once again Micah's we were reading through it certainly a low state in in the nations in the nation's history but what is perhaps of most interest is the fact that God is in this chapter warning of coming judgment on on Israel Israel's enemies as well as Israel itself yet he he reminds the the writer Micah reminds the people in the opening verses that there is good news that the Messiah is coming and that Jesus is our Shepherd and as we read this read this chapter yes there's there's there's much to be concerned about there's much to to to stand back that we're be repulsed by this this coming judgment but right there in the middle of this book the promised Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ is promised as not just a great king but he's also a shepherd I think the idea that that motif that Shepherd motif ought to be a comfort to the Christian you know we ought to find comfort in just the idea that the Lord is my shepherd and what does the Shepherd do he's got one concern in life and that's the concern of his his sheep which we are so beginning at verse one of Micah chapter 5 now gather yourself in troops o daughter of troops he has laid siege against us they will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek but you Bethlehem Ephrathah though you are little among the thousands of Judah yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from of old from everlasting therefore he shall give them up until the time that she who is in labor has given birth then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they shall abide for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth and this one shall be peace when the assyrians sorry when the Assyrian comes into your land and when he treads in our palaces then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princely men they shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria and the land of Nimrod at its entrances thus he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like Dew from the Lord like showers on the grass that tarry for no man nor wait for the sons of men and the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many peoples like a lion among the beasts of the forest like a young lion among the flocks of sheep who if he passes through both treads down and tears in pieces and none can deliver your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries and all your enemies shall be cut off and it shall be in that day says the Lord that I will cut off your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds I will cut off sorceries from your hand and you shall have no soothsayers your carved images I will also cut off and your sacred pillars from your midst you shall no more worship the work of your hands I will pluck your wooden images from your midst thus I will destroy your cities and I will execute vengeance in anger and fury on the nations that have not heard so it's it is wonderful to know that that that that Shepherd that Lord Jesus Christ is going to have universal sway and that's what's spoken of in that saying the first five verses is that that the fact that God is sovereign and we not not to be anxious irregardless of the circumstance around us that there's a God in heaven who does what pleases him he is sovereign absolute sovereign he's God's everyone every ruler of this earth is ruler God put them there and God has purposes for each and every one well that's just pray and we'll commit the preaching the preaching time to the into the Lord's hand as well and then we'll stand for our last last him our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father it is again with with great joy that we we come into your presence into your holy presence as we open up your Holy Word and how we pray Lord that your blessing would be upon this word we know Lord to be that it is a word from God and so we pray at you give us reverential hearts and minds to receive that word but probably not read this and here at preached here it opened up as any other book but rather it is the very word of God himself and how we pray we would listen to your to your servant that you would bless him with with the Ministry and aid of your Holy Spirit and cause us Lord this night to - - to hear of the Lord Jesus Christ that as the word has opened up that you would be well pleased to glorify your son the Lord Jesus Christ again remove any obstacles from our own hearts and minds that would that would stop up truths from from from getting into our hearts and minds and we pray though that your blessing might be upon this time that's in Jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me and your hymn books the larger hymn book to him number 631 631 and I'll ask you to stand [Music] live from Kirkland Washington have you witness as well as Joe his wife and three children you've not had a chance to meet them and I would encourage you to meet them very friendly friendly family and we appreciate the effort and first Peter chapter 1 and i'll read verses 3 through 12 first peter 1 verses 3 through 12 like to again extend greetings from Trinity Reformed Baptist Church of Kirkland and extend my hearty thanks for your warm welcome pun intended we we don't get heat like this in the Pacific Northwest very often but when we do we like to complain about it I suppose but I'll be that as it may thank you for having me and my family here we are delighted to worship with you and to enjoy fellowship with you together in our Lord Jesus Christ again first Peter chapter 3 or excuse me first Peter chapter 1 and verses 3 through 12 and this evening will focus specifically on verses 8 and 9 this is the reading of God's Word blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time wearing ye greatly rejoice though now for a little while if need be ye have been put to grief in manifold trials that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold that perishes though it is proved by fire may be found into praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom not having seen ye love on whom though now you see him not yet believing you rejoice great with joy unspeakable and full of glory receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them to whom it was revealed but not unto themselves but unto you did they minister these things which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven which things angels desire to look into may God add his blessing to the reading of his holy word let us again bow before the Lord our God seeking his blessing upon his word let's pray our Heavenly Father your word is a light unto our feet your word is a lamp your word illumines all that we need to know it gives to us truth and we are grateful for this word we pray indeed that your spirit would work through the word to bring us to life to bring light to our darkened Minds grant us we pray that we might know the mind of Christ as it has made known in your word we pray in his name amen we sang from Psalm 11 the very last verse tells us that the upright shall behold his face the hope of the Christian your hope if you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ is that you will one day behold the face of your God more specifically your hope is that you will be made like unto Jesus Christ body and soul and then you will see Christ you will stand before him face to face true Christian hope then is the sight of the Savior now that's something that lies in the future though that's something that is still ahead of us at the consummation at our saviors return when he uh sure's in the new heavens and the new earth but that does not mean that we as Christians are presently now as we wait for that day it does not mean that we are bereft of hope it does not mean that we are devoid of the sight of salvation in 1st Peter chapter 1 and verses 8 and 9 the Apostle Peter speaks of just these realities he reminds us that even though we at present do not behold our Savior with our eyes we do not behold him with the eyes of our glorified body we do not behold him even yet with our glorified intellect even though that is true we do know something now of the sight of salvation we know something of the sight of salvation by way of faith and such as that faith that it breeds within us it gives rise within us to love for Christ it even enables us presently to enjoy Christ and to enjoy that salvation which Christ has purchased for us all of this even though we do not at present lay hold of our Savior by way of sight Peter has declared to us in this context that by virtue of Christ's resurrection our heavenly father begat us again unto a Living Hope and he has made us heirs of the inheritance of salvation verses 3 and 4 Peter also goes on to tell us that our God keeps the inheritance for us and he keeps us for the inheritance the inheritance is reserved in heaven for us and so we ourselves as well are preserved to receive that inheritance at the revelation of Christ and it is because of all of this that is it is because of this salvation that is ours this inheritance that is ours that we rejoice even now as we presently endure a manifold trials Peter says we rejoice in this that we possess the shore and the certain hope of salvation now having made this point succinctly and sufficiently Peter goes on in verses 6 and 7 to contend that the spiritual refinement of faith by trial is no obstacle to joy in Christ in fact he tells us if affliction should come upon us in God's wise Providence that affliction will work in such a way as to prove our faith as to demonstrate that it is in fact genuine and it will show in fact that our faith is of more worth than all the riches of this world and that our faith is in fact unto the praise and the glory and the honor of our Savior upon his return now running throughout all of this instruction thus far in his first letter and running in fact on in two verses 8 and 9 and beyond in verses 10 through 12 there is a contrast that colors that that shapes everything Peter says here about salvation and about our reception of salvation and our experience of salvation there's a contrast here that that shapes everything Peter says about the Christian life and it is a contrast between this present age and the age to come we might say it is a contrast between now and then and it's important to recognize that this contrast is not a material contrast that is it's not a contrast between earth as matter and heaven or the new heavens and the earth as immaterial that's not what the Scriptures teach at all rather the contrast is between a present age in which God's people live between the cross and the consummation a present age which is not our final home a present age which is marred and marked by sin a present age which is not the way so to speak it was supposed to be and the age to come which is the age that God has promised to bring about an age in which there is no sin an age in which there is full and unfettered fellowship between God and His people the contrast then is between what is presently passing and what is in the future ultimate and eternal and in this context and with this contrast Peter places the eternal and heavenly inheritance of salvation that is to be revealed at the last time he speaks of that on the one hand and places it side by side with the sufferings that are ours in this present time he places side by side that is the sure expectation of salvation the hope of salvation that is ours now with the full and final realization or revelation of salvation that will come when Christ comes again another contrast or another way to look at this contrast is as it reflects or speaks of our faith Peter places side-by-side the present trial of our faith and the future triumph of our faith and this same kind of contrast or juxtaposition appears in verses 8 and 9 Peter says that at present we believe in Christ at present we love Christ this is what is true of us now as Christians living in this passing age and thus now at present we do not see Christ but we will see Christ we will behold him we will receive the end of our faith the salvation of our souls even the sight of Christ one thing is clear about this context Peter is talking about the ultimate distinction between now and then between this age and the age to come between a time for Christians that is marked by faith and love and hope at present and in the future will be marked by sight and as he reaches the pinnacle of what he has to say here in verses 3 through 9 that contrast that juxtaposition is in full view you see in this context Peter speaks very practically of such virtues or graces as hope faith love even rejoicing and he does so all against the backdrop of what lies ahead for us of what lies ahead for us at the revelation the appearing of Jesus Christ and in this way then Peter defines for us both our present and our future sight of salvation he tells us the way in which we apprehend Christ now at present in this time of manifold trials and he also tells us of how we will apprehend Christ then that is at the revelation of Christ on the last day we want to look at these two verses this evening and we want to understand what the apostle here says regarding this present site of salvation in distinction from our future site of salvation first of all then notice with me what the apostle teaches us regarding the present site of salvation of the believer and we ought to notice from the very outset that both our present site and our future site that is our apprehension of salvation both now and on the last day has everything to do with Jesus Christ will fill this out more fully in just a moment but the object of faith now the object of love now the object of our rejoicing now is Christ and the object of our sight in the age to come is nothing other or no one other than Christ and Peter here speaks very clearly of the way in which we presently apprehend Christ he has just mentioned in verse 7 that tried faith that is faith that is proved as though it is gold going through a furnace for refinement that faith will triumph at the revelation at the appearing of Jesus Christ and what this means then is he goes on to speak in verse 8 is that whatever this future appearing of our Savior had whatever that means it has implications for the present we as Christians need to understand that it is our future that defines our present and it is our future in Christ that defines our presence in Christ in the age to come upon the appearing of Jesus Christ our apprehension of Christ will be characterized by sight we will behold Christ with glorified eyes and with a glorified intellect again this is what it means for example when the psalmist says in Psalm 11 that the upright shall behold his face or even when David speaks of that one thing that he desires to inquire in the temple of God to behold the beauty of the Lord Psalm 27 this is precisely what John says in first John chapter 3 in verse 2 that the promises of God to be realized on the last day are that we shall be glorified in the image of Christ and we shall behold Christ we shall see him as he is at present however as we live between Christ's resurrection and his return as we live between his ascension and his appearing again we do not in fact we cannot have such immediate physical and intellectual sight of Jesus Christ at present we apprehend Christ not by sight but by faith we apprehend him that is by knowing what the Scriptures teach of Christ by believing what the Scriptures teach of Christ and by trusting in Christ unto salvation and notice the centrality of Peters teaching here the centrality upon faith whom not having seen he loved on whom though now you see him not yet believing he rejoiced greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory and again even in verse 9 receiving the end of your faith twice Peter mentions and in both contexts or in both mentions it's clear that this faith is foundational to those other Grace's he mentions foundational both to faith and to joy or excuse me faith foundational for both love and joy and that also faith has everything to do with even what we shall receive in the future not only does this yet believing that Peter speaks of contrasts with sight but it underscores the fact that apart from faith there will be no love there will be no joy apart from a saving interest in Jesus Christ apart from receiving the benefits of Christ resting in Christ and his benefits that is apart from faith in Jesus Christ there will be no love for Christ there will be no joy in Christ and there will be no sight of Christ but Peter's point is much more to the the end of saying that precisely because you are trusting in Christ precisely because you are resting in Christ and in Christ alone for the totality of your salvation even though you don't see him you will love him you can rejoice in him and the end of that faith that you presently have will be sight the fullness of salvation Peter wants to emphasize faith in order yes to cause us to ask whether or not this faith is our faith to cause us to ask whether in fact we do trust and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ but also to encourage us to remind us that if by that empty hand of faith laying hold of Jesus Christ if that is true of us weak though that faith may be even though we do not yet behold our Savior with our very eyes we have an interest in him and not just any interest in him but an interest in him that enables us to go on in life having all of our affections set upon him and having all of our joy grow up in him and because of him Peter wants us to understand then the centrality of faith but he also wants to understand that wants us to understand that this faith which defines our present apprehension of Christ also gives rise to these other Grace's also serves as the foundation and the fountain of such Grace's as love and joy and the reality is that just as faith looks to Christ so does love so does joy notice how Peter speaks of it here whom not having seen ye love who's Peter talking about Christ again he's just made mention of the revelation of Jesus Christ at the end of verse 7 and it is this same Christ that we do not see but yet whom we love Christ is the present object of not only our trust and our confidence but Christ is also presently the object of our affection the soul that is the mind and the heart though it presently does not lay hold of Christ in his fullness or in the souls fulness the soul yet through faith has an apprehension of Jesus Christ that enables the soul to rest upon him and to have every affection for him to love him in the fullness of his office of Savior and mediator and all of this even though he is not presently seen by us Christ is the desire of our hearts he is the beloved bridegroom upon whom his bride looks with all of the possible affection that she can muster isn't that astounding in our context the the bride has the advantage of getting to know her bridegroom and have actually seen her future husband in the the course of their courtship and engagement but that's not the experience of the Christian and the church with their heavenly bridegroom and yet by the grace of God we not only believe upon him but we love him and we love him because we know what the scriptures say of him and what the scriptures say of him is true they tell us that Jesus Christ has done everything necessary for our salvation who wouldn't love that prophet who makes known the will of God sufficiently perfectly so that we his people might know God and know him whom he sent even Jesus Christ and so have eternal life who wouldn't love such a prophet who wouldn't love such a priest who not only makes the perfect sacrifice but is himself that sacrifice for the sins of his people and who wouldn't what Christian wouldn't knowing and believing that Jesus Christ is the king of grace who will usher his people who will Shepherd his people all the way unto glory who wouldn't knowing that love him with all of their mind and heart and soul and strength and Peter says this is what is true of you even though you don't see your prophet your priest and your king believing upon him you love him and not only that but believing upon him you rejoice you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory you enjoy Christ you enjoy him in such a way it with such magnitude that the joy is unspeakable I take that as not that you can't speak about it but that it's hard to put into words to capture the fullness of it and it is a joy and an enjoyment that is full of glory interestingly Peter goes on to speak of the spirit of glory resting upon us I think precisely what he has in view here is that this is a joy that is born of the Spirit of Christ working through the word to bring us into fellowship with Jesus Christ and so what we have here is a movement of joy that comes from Christ and turns back to Christ and has everything to do with Christ and that's why we rejoice greatly believing upon Christ resting and the benefits of Christ even though we don't see him faith has apprehended him in such a way that we take great joy take great comfort take all of our consolation in Christ who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven became incarnate and suffered was crucified died and was buried descended into hell and rose again on the third day and has ascended into heaven sat down at the right hand of God and their rules and reigns and one day will come again to judge the living and the dead this is the Christ in whom we greatly rejoice now now presently rejoice there is a contentment with Christ that marks you dear believer here and now that enables you to take all of your delight find all of your joy all of your comfort in Christ even with the world burning down around you so to speak even with the world assaulting you even as Peter will go on to say later even with the evil one seeking to devour you you rejoice greatly why not because you have seen Christ but because you through faith arresting in Christ trusting in Christ you by the grace of God alone through faith alone have received a saving interest in Jesus Christ and for that reason you rejoice in Jesus Christ this is our present apprehension of Christ the present as it were sight of Christ and let us never forget let us never forget that not only do faith and love and joy all focus upon Christ that is the object of all three is Christ we are we believe on Christ literally Peter here says believing into Christ and not only is it the case that we then love Christ as he's revealed in the scriptures and rejoice in Christ as he's revealed in the scriptures let us not forget again that the focus here is Christ but let us also never forget as the Scriptures teach both here and elsewhere faith and love and joy and even hope itself are all gifts of divine grace as Peter speaks of them here they are spoken of in this context in which he begins blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a Living Hope according to divine mercy by the virtue of Jesus Christ the father has made us alive he's begotten us again he's made us new creatures and as such he has given us faith faith is not a work stirred up by us and as such he has given us faith but also he gives us love he implants love he cultivates love and he gives us this joy now yes it is true we believe we love we rejoice these are all actions on our parts but they are all actions created as it were by God and nurtured by God our salvation and even our present apprehension of Christ is all a gift of Jesus of the grace of God and it all focuses upon Jesus Christ here then is the present site of salvation Christ by grace is believed upon Christ is loved and Christ is enjoyed but notice also what Peter says regarding the future site of salvation he tells us in verse eight that now we do not see him but there is a time coming verse nine when we shall receive the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls we shall receive the end of our faith faith has a terminus faith has a Telos faith will come to an end and the end to which it will come is Peter says the reception of salvation and it's not that Peter is here saying that we have not received salvation what else would it mean to be begotten again into a Living Hope if not in some measure to have already received salvation no what he's referring to here is that ultimate final that full disclosure that ultimate that final that full realization and revelation of that salvation which Christ has already merited by his satisfaction and obedience and he says that we will receive that full that final that ultimate salvation as the end of our faith as the final resting point of faith it's important to notice something here there there are those who want to talk about that we are saved by faith now and then because their Scripture speaks of a judgment according to works on the last day that we will then be saved in some measure by our works and so you have folks that throw out on various platforms of social media that to speak of salvation by faith alone is somehow not biblical well that's hogwash the end of our faith is what salvation yes there is a judgment according to works but is a judgment that will confirm that such works were born of faith that they were in fact the demonstration of a genuine faith in Jesus Christ it's not that our works will somehow be placed in the balance and whether there's enough there or not will make it into heaven no nothing of that is taught in Scripture and it's not taught here we will receive the end of our faith all of our life trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ Peter says you will come to that last day and your faith will not be disappointed in the least because the faith by which you apprehended Christ throughout your life will terminate insight in the full possession of that salvation that you laid hold of by faith here and now at present we know salvation by faith and so at present we love Christ and we rejoiced in Christ even in the midst of our darkest trials but the future reception of salvation the full the final the ultimate reception of salvation is characterized by sight by the sight of Jesus Christ by the soul and Peter speaks here of the soul not merely in terms of that immaterial part of the human frame but he speaks here of the soul in a way in which the scriptures often do as life that is of the fullness of life and so he's not just speaking of the salvation of the immaterial part of us as human beings but he's speaking of the full salvation of yourself and the full salvation of ourselves entails being glorified in the image of Christ's body and soul and it entails then beholding Christ with glorified body that is with glorified eyes and beholding Christ with a glorified soul with a glorified intellect site this will be the immediate physical and intellectual apprehension of Christ our glorified mediator and we will see him in that way precisely because we have been made like him in body and in soul and Peter speaks of this Future Sight with certainty there is absolutely no doubt that if you have trusted in Christ unto salvation if by faith you have been brought into Christ United to Christ if you've presently apprehended him by faith you will receive the end of your faith you will be made like Christ you will see Christ you can take that to the bank and the check of divine promise will not bounce to put it somewhat lamely but truthfully you can take the promises of God's Word to heart and even though at present there is much in the way of struggle there is much in the way of affliction there is much in the way of trial and temptation believer know this your faith will reach its divinely appointed end you will see Christ none of your hopes will be dashed you can hear every message that the world promises you can hear every philosophy that the world sets before you to provide some kind of human utopia and none of it will deliver ever but God will never fail to deliver he will never fail to deliver because he's already delivered in Christ all of his promises are yes and amen in Jesus Christ and you dear believer your life is already hid with God in Christ yes you don't see that but you know it truly by way of faith a faith which gives rise to love for this Christ and joy in this Christ there is a certainty here to this site but it is a certainty that is given to those who believe and so even here impressed upon us is the necessity of saving faith in Jesus Christ John Owen said no man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter who does not in some measure behold it by faith here in this world grace is a necessary preparation for glory and faith for sight where the soul is not previously seasoned with grace and faith it is not capable of glory or vision nay persons not disposed hereby unto it cannot desire it whatever they pretend they only deceive their own Souls and supposing that so they do most men will say with confidence living and dying that they desire to be with Christ and to behold his glory but they can give no reason why they should desire any such thing only that they think it's somewhat that is better than to be in that evil condition which otherwise they must be cast into forever when they can be here no more if a man pretend himself to be enamored on or greatly to desire what he never saw was nor was ever represented unto him he does but dote on his own imaginations and the pretended desires of many to behold the glory of Christ in heaven who have no view of it by faith whilst they are here in this world are nothing but self deceiving imaginations behold the glory of Christ now by faith would you see Christ when he comes again to dwell in the new heavens and the new earth with his bride forever will you be those who behold him who see him the only way that that will be true of you is if you believe upon Christ my friend there is every good reason to run and to flee to Jesus Christ not merely as an escape from the horrors of divine judgment not merely as an escape from the horrors and the pangs he'll but there is every good reason to flee to Jesus Christ and to lay hold of him why because he is the only one beautiful the only one glorious the only one to whom it is worth running in the least think of all of the things that you place your affection upon all of the things that are your desire in this life and none of them are like unto Christ none of them is a Savior who delivers from sin and from condemnation from sin and corruption and none of them is a savior who delivers you safely into the presence of your creator and grants you unending eternal fellowship with him none of them is like unto Christ in fact there is no one like unto Christ and there is no one but Christ who can grant you fellowship with the triune God and he grants that fellowship now by faith and he will bring that faith to its appointed end and he will cause you to see him he will cause you to see your God the Christ believed upon the Christ loved the Christ enjoyed now will be the Christ seen faith will reach its end love will be perfected the enjoyment of Christ will be pure and untainted by sin you shall receive you shall see your Redeemer dear believer on the glorious day of his appearing you will be perfectly conformed to his image so that you will see him immediately and directly and if that doesn't strengthen your faith now if that doesn't warm your love now if that doesn't even cause you to rejoice now I don't know what will but it should and it does trust in Christ remember then as well the end of your faith the sight of Christ and let that be even now a strength unto your weary soul let that be a comfort in the midst of trial indeed let it be your hope that you will see your Savior let's pray our Father in heaven we do not see Christ but by your grace we believe upon him we love him and we greatly rejoice in him what grace what kindness you have shown to us you not only give us faith in Christ but you give us all things in him you give us joy in the midst of all of the trials associated with life in this fallen world given all of the struggles that we have with our remaining sin given all of the assaults of the evil one you nevertheless give us joy and joy because of Christ and joy in Christ and what is more you promised to give us the end of our faith in the sight of our Savior we pray that this grace would stir us to love stir us to hope and stir us to even greater faith let us not be unthankful o God let us not be look upon you as if you are a miserly God but let us see how great are your gifts towards us in Jesus Christ and so let us be spurred on to love and to good works and all this not for our glory but for the glory of our Savior in whose name we pray amen they ask you to stand for the benediction [Music] here this word by which we are sent out not empty but full beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen you you