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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening everyone welcome back to fug Baptist Church for the evening service U cam Porter is going to be preaching this evening for our call to worship I'll have you tur in your Bibles to Psalm 105 Psalm 105 we'll read the first six verses oh give thanks to the Lord call upon his name make known his deeds among the peoples sing to him sing Psalms to him talk of all his wondrous Works glory in His holy name let the hearts of those Rejoice who seek the Lord seek the Lord and his strength seek his face forever more remember His Marvelous Works which he has done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth oh seed of Abra Abraham his servant you children of Jacob his chosen ones amen for our first hymn this evening we're going to turn to 164 in the Himel 164 stand with me as we sing please us glor GL forever Holy Holy Holy Angels their to Christ the pr Holy Angel all my GL sing you may be seated let's turn to the Lord in prayer our gracious Heavenly Father we thank you for this opportunity we have once more to gather on your day in your house and to worship together as your people we thank you for the good that you have done in our hearts this day and we pray that you would continue to speak to us as our brother cam comes to preach the word I pray oh God that you would give him an anointing and unction from on high to speak clearly and boldly the the whole counsel of God Lord we pray that you would continue the good work that you've begun in this congregation thank you for the the youth the young people the children that are being reared under the sound of the Gospel we pray oh Lord that they would cling to that gospel that they would embrace it and that you in your mercy would draw them out of Darkness into Marvelous Light Lord we pray that there would be many generations from this place that can children in in centuries from now they can trace their Roots back to the work that you began here Lord we pray that you'd continue to work all across this land of ours pray again for our sister churches and church plants that you would encourage and build up those congregations Lord we pray for the the work in Kenya we pray that you would encourage the Brethren there pastor ogallo and his fellow ministers we pray Lord that you would cause them to be a tremendous light as they train and instruct preachers of the Gospel in that part of Africa Lord we pray you would continue to do a good work we know that Christ is building his church all over the face of the Earth we know that there will be in heaven on that great day of the marriage supper of the Lamb people from every tribe every Kindred every tongue and every nation worshiping because they've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb Lord we pray for those in our congre ation tonight that are struggling there are some that are ill and not able to be with us we pray that you would encourage them that you would strengthen them and give them physical health we pray Lord for those that may be struggling spiritually or emotionally Lord do your good work cause your spirit to be a comfort to your people this day we pray continue with us now I pray in Jesus name amen we're going to turn in our himels again to uh three 2 hymn 3:25 and stand with me again as we sing the king of is our Angels prising be on the ofly pr and for our s of to my ex be all and you may be seated for our evening scripture reading we've arrived at the last chapter of the book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 34 not only the end of the chapter but the end of the life of Moses the proph of the Lord Deuteronomy 34 then Moses went up from The Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo through the top of pisca which is across from Jericho and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan all napali and the land of Ephraim and manessa all the land of Judah as far as the Western sea the south in the plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees as far as Zoar then the Lord said to him this is the land of which I swore to give Abraham Isaac and Jacob saying I will give it to your descendants I have caused you to see it with your eyes but you shall not cross over there so Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord and he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab opposite bethor but no one knows his grave to this day Moses was 120 years old when he died his eyes were not dim nor his natural Vigor diminished and the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended now Joshua the son of nun was full of the spirit of wisdom for Moses had laid his hands on him so the children of Israel heeded him and did as the Lord commanded Moses but since then there has not Arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt before pharaoh before all his servants and in all his land and by all that Mighty power and all the great Terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel amen let's pray thank you Father in heaven for this record of this tremendous man of God blessed by you raised 40 years in the court of pharaoh sent off to the back country for another 40 years and then called miraculously by you to to lead your People Israel out of bondage in Egypt thank you for this man that the scripture tells us is was the most humble of all men and thank you that by your grace we know that we will see him one day in glory Lord I pray that you would continue to raise up men all across the face of the Earth to instruct and lead and guide your people we ask this in Jesus name amen for our final hymn before the preaching of the word we're going to turn to Psalm 119 L as in Lima 119 L and stand with me again as we sing all might my [Music] the good evening to everyone you can turn in your Bibles with me to First Peter the book of First Peter I'm going to read the entirety of chapter 1 and then we're going to have a look specifically at verses 22 to 25 so this is First Peter chapter 1 the word of God Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in pontis galatia caposa Asia and bethenia elect according to the forn knowledge of God the father in sanctification of the 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 and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in this you greatly Rejoice though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials that the genuiness 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 in full of Glory receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls of this salvation the prophets have inquired in search 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 therefore G 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 as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance but as he who called you as holy you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written be holy for I am Holy and if you call on the father who without partiality judges according to each one's work conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot he indeed was for ordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you who through him him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your Faith and Hope are in God since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the Brethren love one another fervently with a pure heart having been born again not of corruptible seed but Incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever because all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass grass withers and its flower Falls away but the word of the Lord endures forever now this is the word which by the gospel was preach to you amen well let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we rejoice in the revelation of Jesus Christ to us in your word we do pray that you'd help us now in this act of preaching uh preaching this this Central act of worship that you'd help us to uh be empowered by your spirit be illumined by your spirit to receive the words that you have for for us here and we pray that we would know more of our God that we would know more of our Christ uh we pray that you would help us in this act to to worship Father Son and Holy Spirit and uh Lord God that in all these things all these acts of worship you would be honored and glorified so do be with us now help your people here to be edified might Sinners even be saved and might we all leave this place because it's possible only with you singing the Praises of our great God and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our Our Savior amen well just a a little bit of an introduction to First Peter first Peter is writing here to primarily a Jewish Christian audience he's not leaving Gentiles out but the audience is primarily uh Jewish Christians we can see that in the first uh set of verses here to the pilgrims of the dispersion and then naming uh particular places um uh to uh to whom he is writing or where he is writing to elect according to the forn knowledge of God the father and sanctification of the spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of of Jesus Christ so he's writing to Jewish Christians and he's he's using along the way a lot of Old Testament citation and Old Testament illusion um in fact there's a there's a large there's a large Exodus Motif being employed here by the Apostle Peter he's bringing together uh Exodus theme themes along with the theme of The Suffering servant of Isaiah in order to set forth the Lord Jesus Christ um in his glory and Empower these Christians to live in uh uh surrounded by a gentile world uh to be holy because God is Holy to Adorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all things um we see here in the immediate context there is um an opening up of the Lord Jesus Christ as the as the Pascal lamb connected to that Exodus Motif we see this language of the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without blemish and and without spot that's the language of Exodus so similar to or in a greater in a much greater way if the Exodus uh of the Old Testament was a physical and a national Redemption of Israel from out of bondage in Egypt and a setting forth to them of the future inheritance that they would gain in the promised land here Peter is drawing attention to Jesus Christ as as the as that Pascal Exodus lamb but connected to a new Exodus where he brings these who were out uh in the bondage in bondage to sin in slavery to sin uh he brings them by virtue of the Perfection of redemption from out of that bondage and he sets before them The Inheritance that we read here in this doxology there's this language of in of an inheritance as we see in verse three 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 and that does not fade away the the previous inheritance of the Old Testament was one that was perishable um it was one that would fade away yet this Exodus wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ and The Inheritance granted is one that is imperishable and we'll see that a little bit with respect to our our text this evening which is verses 22 through 25 and here we have something of the Apostle Peter speaking um uh speaking regarding the love that we are to have with one another there's uh two uh two and with one another there's an admonition given here uh unto a fervent love with a pure heart that we as Christians are uh not to be found as those who hate each other but as those who love each other uh in opposition to the world around us in opposition to those outside of Christ it is to be a mark of the Christian that they do uh love one another and in the midst of doing this he the Apostle Peter brings forth something with regards to the the eternality the unchangeableness the abidingness of the Living Word which we'll take a occasion to consider as well so let's look at this then uh at these verses 23 or 22 through 25 and we're just going to notice three things along away those three things are the exhortation to Christian love the foundation for Christian love and the motivation for Christian love notice first an exhortation to Christian love and the first thing that we see here in verse 22 is the reason behind Christian love we see this in the language since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth this is the reason behind Christian love this language of sins is you know given the reason that or given the fact that given the fact that you have purified your souls in obeying the truth and the exhortation follows upon the heels of that so this is the reason behind Christian love now we want to jettison from our contemplations a couple things that this doesn't mean uh because when we just when we look at that this with fresh eyes and you know without perhaps our our our the the weight of Christian theology coming um instead of before us coming behind us we read this and we might think okay what what is Peter saying since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth now is Peter saying here that by the natural man's obedience to something whether it is the gospel summons or the law of God can the natural man somehow purify his heart by by obeying the truth and of course the answer is no a natural man does not have it in him to purify his own heart it is only God who can purify the heart through Jesus Christ the Savior uh and the the the shedding of that savior's Precious Blood um so it certainly it it certainly doesn't have in view the natural man being able to purify his heart by obedience to the truth it also certainly doesn't have in view obedience to the law as that which purifies the heart we're not to read this as or purify to purify the soul we're not to read this that obeying the truth has something to do with the law of God and then that purifying the souls is the result of having obeyed that law I what we are to see here there there is a there are there is a bookend of statements here by the apostle that helps us understand what's in view notice if we back up to verse 20 he indeed speaking of Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you notice who through him believe in God and then if we were to uh push forward to verse six of chapter 2 therefore it is also contained in the scripture behold I lay in Zion a Chief Cornerstone elect precious and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame therefore to you who believe he is precious so these book ends I help us so does the weight of Christian theology the biblical Revelation to Salvation by the Triune God who saves without a helper it informs us that what's in view here with the language since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth is that by virtue of our faith in Christ we Avail of his shed blood that shed blood which purifies the soul and so since we have we could say been purified by God through faith by virtue of the shed blood of Jesus Christ notice in the in the um in the introduction here to the recipients of this particular letter if we read it again uh at the outset of the letter Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in pontis galatia capid dohia Asia and bethenia elect according to the forn knowledge of God the Father father in sanctification of the spirit and now notice for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ so that's in view with regards to the purification of the soul the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ and just a a a point of um a point of theology here when we read for obedience and sprinkling I believe we're supposed to see there not our obedience that we've been Sanctified so that we would be obedient though that is a truth but here obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ captures those two things in justification the uh imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and the shedding of blood for the Forgiveness of sins but back to our text here so the reason behind Christian love is the availing of the shed blood of Christ through faith Augustine writes this and he's writing against the notion that it is somehow the natural man that exercised obedience and then has his soul purified and he's citing John 18:37 everyone who is of the truth um uh here's my V here's my voice but it is not all to whom it is given of the truth to hear that is to obey the truth and to believe in the truth while in no case certainly is there any preceding of Merit lest Grace should cease to be Grace Christ says everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice and in this way he is not of the truth simply because he heareth his voice but only on this account he heareth because he is of the truth that is because this is a gift bestowed on him of the truth and what else is this but that by Christ's gracious bestowal he believeth on Christ and so again in view here the reason behind Christian love is our availing of the shed blood of Jesus Christ through faith now in addition to this the reason behind Christian love we also see here the operation empowering Christian love so when we are called to exercise love to one another as Christians what is the operation empowering Christian love notice after we see the reason for it we read since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit this is a a repeated L A repeated language in the Bible with regards to to Christians when they're engaging in those those things uh those exploits for God we do things through the spirit we do things in the spirit we do things by the spirit as Christians we have been blessed uh been uh the the we are the Blessed uh undeserved beneficiaries of the gift of the Holy Spirit as we go about this lower Christian walk doing those things by faith in order to bring honor to God we always do these things by the spirit we do them through the spirit he is the one who empowers us and Peter is introducing this exhortation in order to to bring them confidence and in order to to bring them to the point where they know that when they are exercising love to a brother they they need not worry because they will have the the spirit with them that stir up good things for their fellows since you have uh purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit and then we see here the sober vantage point for Christian love insincere love of the Brethren this is something that's very important to to to see here is that you know unlike what what can go on around us uh and before us and surrounding us though it can creep into the Christian church as well we are to to be marked by a sincerity that is a lack of hypocrisy when it comes to our posture towards the Brethren this this language of sincerity is is is capturing um is capturing something where the Christian is absent of hypocrisy in his walk before the world but certainly in his walk towards the Brethren so this is this sober Vantage Point behind Christian love and then comes the exhortation proper So reading it again since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit and sincere love of the Brethren love one another fervently with with a pure heart so this is the exhortation proper here love one another fervently with a pure heart now it it ought not be the case that Christians should have to be reminded but out of the by virtue of remaining corruption the apostles in the scriptures and preachers in subsequent Generations by virtue of that often have to call us to certain things because we can fall away we can become unmindful we can forget and so this exhortation comes to remind that it is the Christian Case to love one another fervently and with a pure heart and this language of fervency is something that marks the Christian in their particular Community as unique from from any other community because we are a community of those purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ empowered by the spirit we have this this vehement this strong this intense love for one another we have been made we have been brought to that position and that subsequent action by virtue of the Perfection of the power of the Triune God and the saving excellencies of Jesus Christ and we are to therefore exercise that love with a fervency um that is unmatched in the world the language um uh the language here um of um uh the language here of one man is such that he describes this fervency of love and then gives a particular metaphor of where it seems to come from this is pool uh fervently or vehemently and intensely strongly the word seems to be a metaphor taken from abow which the more it is bent with the greater force it sends forth the arrow so love the more fent and strong it is the more abundantly it puts forth itself for the benefit of others that's hopefully how we can see the if we if we apply that metaphor when we approach the the activity of loving one another uh an Archer we are like archers pulling a bow back bending it to the fullness of its force of its Force so that that love the more fervent and strong it is the abundantly it puts forth that love to the benefit of others and what what is Christian love when we think of Christian love you know per Perhaps Perhaps uh you know we might think of a number of things but you know if you were quickly asked the question caught off guard with the question what what is Christian love what would come to your mind and and what would you say you know sometimes we can think of Love generally speaking or specific acts of love you know you know what does it mean do we send each other flowers do we send each other chocolates do we write each other a letter a day uh do we text each other you know morning noon and night um do we invite you know invite people over for muffin parties what what does Christian love look like well I think biblically speaking we're supposed to we're supposed to consider two things at least the character of love and what love is properly in its demonstration and activity and for the for the character of love you can turn with me to First Corinthians now you're probably familiar with this passage 1 Corinthians 13 it's often a passage that's read at at weddings when the the minister the wedding efficient is is marrying the husband and the wife this is often something that's read this particular verse in 1 Corinthians 13 but it's not of course a a wedding verse properly speaking uh but a verse that sets forth for us the character of Christian love not properly a uh a definition of it but what does what does love look like amongst Christians notice in 1 Corinthians 13:4 love suffers long and is kind love does not envy love does not parade itself is not puffed up does not behave rudely does not seek its own is not provoked thinks no evil does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth Bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things love never fails you know in receiving this exhortation um tonight by virtue of the exhortation originally written by Peter I if you're to if you're to entertain the question what does Christian love look like and if you're to seek to answer that question you know I've perhaps been lapsing or I haven't exercised the Christian Christian love as I ought to what ought that to look like what is that in demonstration what is the character of Christian love why we we see it here and and I think you know it's a wonderful list of things and we're certainly not going to open up each one but just the first one love suffers long and is kind you was thinking I was thinking today about the Christian's approach to other Christians sinning and the context of the church um Christians uh in view of our other brothers and sisters in the church sinning and I it's I often you know I I was thinking that of all people in the world it ought to be Christians who have the most patience in the face of sin not entertaining it not entertaining it or facilitating it and not thinking it a light thing and just you know just you know sitting there and taking it but knowing our own frames knowing who we were before Amazing Grace came knowing who we are now after Amazing Grace with that remaining corruption we are to be such who suffer long and are kind in the face of those who are uh who are struggling in the face of those who are stumbling in the face of those who are seeking to be repentant um but nevertheless perhaps are struggling along in a in a a particular manner of sin Christians are not to be the most impatient we're certainly to be the most patient and it's a it's a wonderful a wonderful list of things here that characterize what love is to look like for us it does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth Bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things the steadfastness of a Christian in love or the longsuffering uh suffer whatever that the longsuffering nature of the Christian in exercising Christian love is to be exemplary and if we if we think about the fact that the god of Heaven and Earth has longsuffering for his people we we see that we see that throughout the Bible the longsuffering nature of our Triune God the Perfection of his goodness exercised in this longsuffering reality with his people we sin every day against him and yet he is long-suffering we we are to be like our God as Peter says we are to be holy as God is Holy and to exercise a uh a longsuffering love towards our Brothers and Sisters in Christ so 1 Corinthians 13:4 to8 can give us it does give us the character or uh the character of love how it is demonstrated what it looks like and we have a definition in Romans 13 of what Christian love is you can turn to Romans 13 with me so when we're thinking about Christian love we can think about the character by which it is exercised 1 Corinthians 134 to8 and then love as the Fulfillment of the law of God in Romans 13 when you get to Romans 13 you can turn to verse 8 Romans 13:8 oh no one anything except to love one another for he who loves another has fulfilled the law for the Commandments you shall not commit adultery you shall not murder you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness you shall not covet and if there is any other commandment uh are uh are all summed up in this saying namely you shall love your neighbor as yourself love does no harm to a neighbor therefore love is the Fulfillment of the law now now this you know this might sound um a little it shouldn't but it kind of does at the at the outset or or or or superficially it shouldn't sound rote or mechanical or dry uh love is the Fulfillment f m of the law what better love can we exercise to one another than fulfilling the the law of God um the the the second table of the law summed up and you shall love your neighbor as yourself this manner of love love does no harm to a neighbor therefore love is the Fulfillment of the law and we can look at this in two ways we can look at this in in our actions to one another in in the local church the the second table of the law of God is how we are to function we're to to look at it in the realm of sexual immorality we're to look at it in the realm of not not being murderously angry at one another or angry simply with a brother uh we see this with respect to theft though that we know that's more than just you know stealing a Brother's Bible not bearing FAL W false witness not not lying not coveting these are the things that we can exercise to one another with respect to the exercising of love but I think we also ought to see the promotion of the entire table of the law as that which is love to one another what do we do in our lower sojourn here that could be seen as love to one another we we point each other daily or certainly every Sunday we point each other to the one and only living and true God or to have no other gods before him we encourage one another in the proper worship of that God and we can go through the the entirety of the of the law of God here but an active encouragement unto the Law's obedience not in order to be saved but having been sprinkled by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we encourage one another we love one another we point each other to the law of God as that which is the normative guide for Christian conduct so so what is love can we text each other every day um can we cheers each other with orange juice glasses at muffin parties absolutely but the exercise of Christian love is seen in that character that we beheld in 1 Corinthians 13 and in that proper definition and exercise of love that we see in Romans 13 um obedience to the law or fulfillment uh of the law of God that is how we can love one another and and on the point of encouraging one another in the proper worship of the Triune God a connected manner in which we can love each other is in encouraging one another in church attendance encouraging one another in the worship of of that God and encouraging one another in the participation in the Lord's Supper um bringing each other and hel holding each other accountable in a sense with respect to the proper worship of the Triune God where wherein we receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit what what a better thing to encourage one another in the things of God that we might Avail of the things of God so back to our text back to First Peter we've seen the exhortation to Christian love we want to notice now the foundation for Christian love so we see the exhortation proper love one another fervently with a pure heart and now we see the foundation for Christian love seen here having been born again not of corruptible seed but Incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever the first thing that we see here in the foundation for Christian love is the power of God in the New Birth notice the language here having been born again not of corruptible seed but Incorruptible so the foundation for the exercise of Christian love is the reality of regeneration the reality of the effectual calling we are only Christians or we are Christians first by having been brought from deadness and sin to life in Christ where Christian first Christians first by having been brought by amazing and Victorious Grace from out of darkness and into Marvelous Light and Peter here uses the language uh of his master having been born again remember the the the the uh discussion or the uh exchange with Christ and Nicodemus where Jesus uses that language Peter learned of his master well that you must be born again before you can see the kingdom of God Paul uses some language of being made alive um we see other language used in the scriptures but what we see here is divine power the power of God in the New Birth having been born again he's already used this language notice in in verse three once again 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 that blessed hope that we have in God that is unlike any so-called hope in this lower world it is a a living hope he's begotten us again to a Living Hope and as Peter as Peter has is using here in this uh in this epistle the language of the Old Testament he uses this language here having been born again um recall that when Pastor Butler was preaching through the gospel he is preaching through the Gospel of John but when he was preaching in John chapter 3 um he made a link between Nicodemus is lack of knowledge uh connected to the the lack of appreciating the weight uh of Ezekiel 36 and the announcement of the New Covenant where God would put his Spirit within his people and cause them to walk in his statutes they would receive the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit that's the language that we see in the Bible with respect to Regeneration the the washing and renewing of the Holy Spirit the the cleansing the purification the the being made alive the being born again it is only possible for a Christian or for one to love another Christian in a manner that is Christian if they have been born again the the power of God in the new birth and this connects another Old Testament connection here is it's connecting the promise of the New Covenant to the Christian reality of being born again the promise of the New Covenant not only in Jeremiah but in Jeremiah this promise that uh um that in the F uh that in the future the the New Covenant real would be such that everyone in the Covenant would be one who has been born again of God so we have this power of God in the new birth and then notice we also have the instrumentality of God in the New Birth having been born again not of corruptible seed but Incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever so this is the instrumentality by which the power of God works in order to bring a dead sinner to life in Christ now just before we we we spend um a little bit on this the going back to corruptible and Incorruptible there there's a comparison obviously being made there between things that perish and things that that don't perish I think what what we're to see here that I is a connection really between um what Christ talks about in The Gospel of John um and uh the new birth uh natural birth and and uh and spiritual birth corruptible we've already seen used previously at Verse 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things and here we see that we have not been born again by corruptible seed the what's in view here is obviously divine power the power of the spirit in bringing forth dead Sinners to life in Christ there's a distinction being drawn a distinction that will Amplified a little bit when we get to the citation of Isaiah 40 but notice again the instrumentality of God in the New Birth it is by the word of God when we ask how how a sinner is ever saved the sinner is always saved by virtue of the power of God working through the ministry of the word that's how Sinners are ordinarily saved and brought into the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ the preaching of the word Goes Forth ordinarily within the context of the church it can it can obtain outside of that in the mission field uh in the home with a parent reading the word uh to the child and that sort of a thing but ordinarily speaking it obtains within the ministry of the church and we always have the case that it is the word of God brought it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ declared and that's joined by the power of the Holy Spirit The Incorruptible seed working with that word of God that brings forth a sinner from deadness and darkness to life and light and so the instrumentality of God in the new birth and this is a this is this is why it is so absolutely vital that we pray for the ministry of the word that we pray for um the the the free uh the free delivery of the ministry of the word not only in our own Nation but in Nations beyond that the word of God might be able to be freely proclaimed that Sinners might hear and that joined by the power of the Holy Spirit they would be brought to that blessed place of owning their savior so the foundation for Christian love is the new birth wrought through the proclamation of the word now we would want to note and we will shortly that the word of God which lives and abides forever because this language is repeated in the citation of Isaiah 40 could also o have in view of course the Living Word as it pertains to Jesus Christ uh the mediator of the New Covenant so we move on then for uh to lastly the motivation for Christian love so we see the exhortation to Christian love proper love one another fervently with a pure heart we see the foundation for Christian love being the new birth that is wrought through the proclamation of the gospel and now the motivation for Christian love at verse 24 because all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass withers and its flower Falls away but the word of the Lord endures forever now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you we see here first the the passing nature of man at least the passing nature of Man All Flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass withers and its flower Falls away we have this we have this brought forth as the necessity for what we read previously the the necessity of the new birth there is this because Connection in a sense between the Frailty of man between the the sinfulness of man between the the passing transient nature of man with respect to his sin and that necessitating the New Birth the because all flesh is as grass because uh because the grass withers and the flower Falls away we have this reality where this could speak to the necessity of the new birth um because of the nature of man in his sin and in his iniquity could also see here though with regards to flesh is this flesh which is as grass and this flesh which uh or that grass uh metaphor is that which Fades away we could see that this could connect to what man lusts over worldly things in fact previously in the passage uh previously in the letter here we see at verse 14 as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your your ignorance you know the things of this lower world will fade away the things of our worldly lusts will fade away the things of these lower worldly pleasures will fade away they're not Eternal you know the uh the the the Dead uh people in idolatrous Generations past who were buried with their Treasures um they didn't really get to bring those with them they are perishable things they are corruptible things in contrast to those things that that are imperishable in contrast to those things that are Incorruptible turn to Hebrews 11 for a moment because we want to see here perhaps a weight of the meaning being connecting back to when Peter uh prior to our verse under investigation spoke concerning the former conduct or spoke concerning the fact that those Christians had not been redeemed by corruptible things like silver and gold and notice in in Hebrews 11 we have this wonderful language as it pertains to a contrast between the Treasures of the world those things that fade away and those Treasures of Christ which Do Not Fade Away in Hebrews 11 at verse 24 speaking of Moses Paul writes by faith Moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he looked to the reward isn't that a wonderful testimony a wonderful account of of Moses in his um in his particular episode choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin the all all flesh is as grass and the glory of man is as the flowers of the field the the glories of men the treasures of men the pl the the passing pleasures of sin the lusts according to our previous ignorance those things fade away but that which does not fade away is seen here esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than than the treasures in Egypt all of the things that we can lust over in this lower World fade away but that one thing that we ought to love that Chief object what should be the chief object of our affection does Not Fade Away Jesus Christ Our Savior also what could be in view here too and not that they're mutually exclusive is flesh as it pertains to the Mosaic institutions there's a contrast being drawn here between that which Fades away the the language of the book of Hebrews with respect to the old Covenant and that which endures forever notice for example in Hebrews chapter 7 Hebrews 7 we have this language concerning the abiding nature of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews chapter 7 at verse 16 speaking of the priest according to the order of melchisedec who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment but according to the power of an endless life we see that language being used here if you find your way back to the first Peter passage the fleshly Commandment could be seen here as all flesh is as grass and then the unchanging priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ but the word of the Lord endures forever but all of that to say what we have here set before for us is the transient nature of man the transient nature of Earthly things the transient nature of those things that are of this lower World which is now contrasted with the Blessed abiding reality the unchanging nature of the word notice again as he's citing Isaiah 40 All Flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass withers and its flower Falls away but the word of the Lord endures forever this wonderful transition to the abiding nature of a glorious thing but the word of the Lord endures forever if we connect ourselves to the things of this lower world if we connect ourselves to fleshly things if we connect ourselves to the former lusts as in our uh as in our ignorance or we should say in this case for the demonstration present lusts as in a present ignorance we will fade away along with those worldly and lower things in this blessed contrast then if we hitch ourselves to if we're connected to if we find ourselves believing in the Lord Jesus Christ we have this reality but the word of the Lord endures forever and a as we move to a close here the unchanging nature of the word is seen so we have the transient nature of man the passing nature of man but by blessed contrast the unchanging nature of the word and we should consider three things as we look to close here and the first is the word as it pertains to the person of the son but the word of the Lord endures forever he is a priest forever according to the order of melchisedec we have this bringing out by the Apostle Peter of the precious blood of Christ as of lamb without blemish and and without spot and there is an Abiding and unchanging nature to the Redemption wrought by Jesus Christ in contrast to the passing pleasures of sin we have the abiding pleasure of the Lord Jesus Christ we have the abiding excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ he is the Eternal Word with respect to his Divine uh person uh divine nature but he is is also that priest forever according to the order of melkisedek with regards to his mediatorship the veracity of or the Perfection of the Excellency of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in our Redemption abides forever the word of the Lord endures forever the the Apostle Peter finishes off not finishes off but near the end of this particular epistle in in chapter 4 at verse 11 if anyone speaks let him speak as the Oracles of God if anyone ministers let him do it with the ability uh which God supplies that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the Dominion forever and ever amen there is obviously the abiding uh the abiding nature of the word of God the forever nature of the word of God we also would consider this the but the word of the Lord endures forever with regards to the inspired word of God of course we have that that that wonderful uh hymn by uh by Martin Luther one of the stanzas speaks with regards to the language I always thought this would be a good for you know a wonderful verse for uh for the persecuted to to lay hold of the the body they may kill God's truth abideth still we have the abiding nature of the word of God you know All Flesh flesh is as grass you know the the transient nature of man even of course in our in our lower mortal bodies will come to that point of death we have the glory set before us the glory of Jesus Christ Our Savior we can say the persecuted Christian can say under threat of death the the body they may kill God's truth abideth still a and and that brings us that that captures in view certainly the abiding word as it as it pertains to Jesus Christ but the inspired word of God and perhaps more to the point the promise of God the unchanging promise of God that in his revelation of Jesus Christ in his revelation of Salvation by So Glorious a God and So Glorious a savior that promise that everyone who believes on him shall have everlasting life is an abiding truth it's not transient it doesn't EB and flow but rather it stands forever the word of the Lord endures forever whatever the whatever the Lord pleases he does in the earth and in all places whatever the Lord speaks he brings to pass whatever the Lord purposes he brings to pass and so when Christians hear the promise that whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ they shall be saved that is Hope above hopes that we have in our God in a word that endures forever whatever the Lord God speaks will come to pass Divine promise unchanging Divine promise the word of God that is the truth of God which abides forever uh all all words will perish in the end but one word abides and it is that word which the Lord God gives and this last phrase hopefully we can see ourselves as those who have availed of this blessed reality now this is the word by which the gospel was preached to you you know you can recall perhaps the fact that you one day had heard the gospel and had come to the realization that you are now christs you were the blessed and undeserved recipient of the Proclamation of the word the proclamation of the Gospel by a minister by a parent by someone and you were bought from brought from that place of former lusts brought from that place of ignorance brought from that place of corruptible imp perishable things to now this place where Jesus Christ is your yours that Eternal imperishable that Eternal Incorruptible the Blessed reality that we have the promise of Salvation in him that was preached to you and that is an imperishable thing as we as we go into this week we ought to be such who contemplate these high and holy things of of Glorious salvation having been born again not by virtue of our actions meriting that regeneration but according to amazing and Victorious Grace in Divine timing according to divine plan he brought us forth from darkness and deadness to light and life that we can Behold our savior the Eternal Word the priest who abides forever that one who has gone before us Jesus Christ the righteous one he holds in uh in our F future for us the inheritance that is laid up for us what a blessed thing as we go into a week um where we may be surrounded by misery we may be surrounded by miserable people we may be surrounded by uh uh roundabout by a world that hates us by by people who hate us by uh those who are opposed to the truth and yet we can lay hold of that imperishable truth we can lay hold of that imperishable God that Incorruptible Christ the power of the Holy Spirit the glory of the gospel and all of this ought to energize us to love one another fervently with a pure heart from that vantage point of so great a Salvation from that vantage point of so great A Savior and from that vantage point of so great a Triune God were to seek by God's grace to love one another fervently with a pure heart let's pray pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your truth we thank you for your word we do pray that you would help us uh in this church to love one another fervently with a pure heart we pray that we would be those who would be longsuffering who would be kind we pray uh we would be those who rejoice in the truth uh one with each other do help us uh to be unified by your spirit and the things of Christ in this local body we thank you uh for the truth that we have and we thank you for Jesus Christ Our Savior uh we thank you for the blessing of Salvation by so great a God and we do pray that you'd help us to be animated uh by that same Grace that saved us in order to serve one another and to bring honor to you in this lower world we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our Savior amen we'll have a brief time of prayer and then you're dismissed once the piano has finished e e e e