^Introduction

A Vision for a Worshipping Church

The goal of this morning’s message is set for us in the first phrase of 1 Peter 1:3:

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!…

The goal of this morning’s service is to paint a fresh picture of God’s infinite worth based on the facts about who God is as we find them in His perfect, inerrant and powerful Word. In order to do that, we are going to take a look at one of God’s servants, Peter.

Peter was one of Jesus’ disciples and after Jesus ascended to heaven, Peter was one of the most notable gospel preachers of his day. In Acts 3-9, we see that the Lord performed many miracles through Peter. Peter was used powerfully by God to open the door for the Samaritans and the gentiles to hear the gospel for the very first time.

What you might not know is that according to church history, Peter was a man who knew considerable trials and difficulties.

About 3-4 years after 1 Peter was written, Peter was placed into a Roman prison and was possibly held in the exact same dungeon in the exact same horrific conditions as the apostle Paul while he was awaiting his own execution. According to church tradition, Peter was forced to watch as his wife was crucified before him. It was recorded that while she was being executed, he encouraged her with the words, “Remember the Lord.” Peter reportedly said that he was not worthy of being crucified like Jesus and, Peter was crucified upside-down.

He was living a hard life… in a difficult time… under massive persecution. But in Peters mind, what trumps those circumstances is the magnificence of the God he’s serving. When Peter considers who God is and what God has done for him, his circumstances simply fade into the background and he finds himself consumed his the glory of God.

Most scholars agree that 1 Peter was dictated by Peter and was recorded by Silvanus. So I have to imagine the scene when Peter was expressing verse 3. I can’t help but to think that when Peter was writing this scripture about all that his close friend, Jesus Christ, had accomplished for him at the cross, he must have put his hands in the air and shouted out this phrase, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Peter begins this text with worshipping God. Peter is blown away by the realities of the incredible promises that God has made to the followers of Christ. Peter is not just nonchalantly teaching academic facts about religion in a classroom. Throughout this book, Peter shouts out praises to God

• 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
• 4:11 … To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.
• And again in 5:11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Peter is far from simply being fascinated with facts about theology. 1 Peter is a worship book. Peter is a worshipper. Peter writes about God with a sense of wonder and amazement and genuine heartfelt gratitude.

Expository Celebration

Peter wants us to worship with him as we consider these realities about God. That’s good…that’s the kind of church we want to be.

It’s our vision to be a worshipping church. It is incorrect to think about a Sunday morning service at Canyon as half worship and half teaching. We have a much bigger vision for this church than that!

• Our service begins at the door with worshipful greeting as we all begin to focus on God
• Worshipful announcements – As we recall what God has done and what God is doing
• Worshipful scripture reading – as we celebrate His written Word
• Worshipful prayer – As we are blown away by our access to an infinite, all powerful God
• Worshipful singing – As we pour our our hearts before Him
• Worshipful preaching (expository celebration) – A celebration of His Word
• Midweek – worshipful small groups

Our desire is that our time together will help to produce disciples with worshipful lives… Disciples who think about God with a sense of wonder and amazement and genuine heartfelt gratitude. Disciples who worship God all throughout their week regardless of their circumstances.

What truth about God brought about this sense of awe and wonder in the heart of Peter? An infinite God has a never-ending list of reasons to be praised. We are going to limit our list to just 5 that Peter shares with us in verse 3 and 4 – 5 realities about God that gripped Peters mind and heart

5 Compelling Reasons to Worship God (Verse 3-4)

#1 God’s Great Mercy

…According to his great mercy…

The first one is not just God’s mercy, but God’s GREAT mercy. How great is God’s mercy? Keep a finger in 1 PETER and turn with me over to Titus chapter 3 verse 4. Paul is writing here and He says:

⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, (That’s Jesus) ⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness (not because of anything we had done) , but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Let’s stop there. God did not save us because He knew we were going to be good some day or because He wanted us on His team. God looked at our lives and extended Salvation to us when we were TOTALLY undeserving. Not only does He offer salvation because of His great mercy, but He made some truly incredible promises to those who are willing to give up their lives to follow Christ. We’ll see one of these promises in the next verse. Read on to Titus 3:7

⁷ so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Not just saved, but heirs of the kingdom of God… co heir with Christ. What a compelling reason to worship God! TURN BACK TO 1 Peter. In 1 PETER 1:3, Peter gives the next reason to worship our King

#2 God Initiated Salvation

…He has caused us to be born again…

New birth in Christ in God’s work. It is by His mercy and not as a result of anything that we had done. Romans 5:8 says, “⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Can a dead man bring himself to new life? No…Only God raises the dead! When we were spiritually dead, God initiated new life to begin in those who are redeemed. He has caused his disciples to be born again…

It’s God’s work. God prepared the way for salvation. God calls individuals to salvation. God communicates the gospel through faithful people and through His Word. God awakens spiritual life in those who are spiritually dead. God grants the faith necessary for an individual to trust in Jesus as Lord.

It’s totally God’s work. Theologians often refer to God’s initiation of Salvation as the doctrine of election. Some people try to figure out the mind of God make the doctrine of election controversial. Controversy was the last thing from Peters mind. As Peter thought about the fact that God chose him, do you what thought consumed him? …what feeling overwhelmed him? He tells us…

Worship……“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Every time a gospel writer refers to God choosing people for salvation, they say it as a positive thing. Election stokes the fire of worship in their hearts. They are simply saying, “Can you believe that God choose a man like me?” I’m overwhelmed that God chose a man like me and I have to join with them in saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” He goes on…

#3 God Raised Jesus from the Dead

… he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

Peter is praising God because of the living hope we have based on the living, resurrected Christ. Skip down to verse 20. This is talking about Jesus here:

²⁰ He (Jesus) was foreknown before the foundation of the world (He is the eternal Son of God) but was made manifest (to make visible or known what had been hidden or unknown) in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Who raised Jesus from the dead? Verse 21 says that God did it. Jesus came and lived and died and was risen from the dead to that those who are spiritually dead might come alive in Christ. There’s a new worship song on the radio that has a chorus that says:

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Peter is worshipping God because the sacrifice of Jesus that made a way for Him to be spiritually alive! BUT, being spiritually alive isn’t enough. Our God is not just good, but He is extravagant! He does not just offer Christ’s disciples entrance into heaven. As if that was not enough, he offers followers of Christ an inheritance. Read verse 4…

#4 God Promises a Future Inheritance

… ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…

Peter is speaking here to a heavily persecuted church. Some were facing death for their faith…others prison…some, torture…. others had lost family members. Peter is encouraging these persecuted believers to look past their troubles to their eternal inheritance. He’s telling them to push forward in their faith because the end goal is worth whatever price needs to be paid.

Paul, who was no stranger to severe trials, put it this way:

¹⁷ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 2 Cor. 4:17

A weight of glory beyond all comparison that is imperishable and undefiled. I found this picture on the internet. Show M&M’s. Do you recognize it? Laid out on this table are remnants from offices, building pieces and other pieces donated by survivors of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.  This M&M dispenser survived the crash untouched and it sits in front of a crumpled support piece from the pentagon. The Greek term for incorruptible reminds me of this artifact.

Some translations use just the term incorruptible. It is just 1 word in the Greek. In secular Greek literature, this word was used to describe a scene where an enemy had invaded and destroyed the land, but something in the midst of their destruction was left untouched. That something was “imperishable.”

Then it says it is unfading or undefiled. The Greek word means unsoiled or unpolluted or unstained with evil. Although evil is raging around the follower of Jesus, it in no way taints our inheritance. Our eternal inheritance remains totally untouched, no matter how evil the world around us becomes.

It give us the sense that we are strangers living in a foreign land. The forces of Satan are constantly attacking. Some are being killed. Possessions are being destroyed. However, one thing can’t be taken from the discple of Jesus… Our inheritance!

In Romans 8, Paul describes it like this:

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (nothing can take away what’s really important) ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing can separate us from it because God himself is protecting and securing our inheritance. Read on in 1 Peter to verse 5

#5 God Guards our Inheritance

… ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

God’s supreme power and omniscience and omnipotence and sovereignty not only keeps the believers inheritance secure, but also guards the faith of the believer during difficult times.

God’s protection is important to these believers because they were going through some really difficult times. They were like strangers travelling through enemy territory. Peter used the word “trials” here rather than tribulations or persecutions because in this passage he is dealing with the general problems that Christians faced when they are surrounded by unbelievers – when they are living out their faith in hostile territory.

Peter is rejoicing in all the riches he has in Christ. He is encouraging us to direct our attention upward in difficult times.

Read on to verse 6.

Life Application

⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

You will face trials that will test the genuineness of your faith.

Here are 4 facts about trials:

#1 Trials meet needs

The phrase “if necessary” indicates that there are special times when God knows that we need to go through some trials. There are 2 types of trials that God often uses in the sanctifying process of believers

• Trial of correction (Ps 119:67) – this is a trial that disciplines us when we are staying from God’s will in order to lead us to repentance
• Trial of perfection (2 Cor. 12:1-9) – Trials can prepare us for spiritual growth or can serve to protect us from entering into sin

#2 Trials are varied

Peter uses the word “various.” It’s a Greek word that can mean “various colors” or “of various sorts.” He uses the same word in 1 Peter 4:10 to describe God’s “various” grace.

Monday, the trials might be the blues. Tuesday might look black as night. Trials come in various sorts and various colors, but God’s grace is also varied and totally sufficient to meet us in our time of need.

#3 Trials are not easy

Peter is never flippant as he speaks about trials. He is sober-minded. He acknowledges that the trials often produce profound grief. The same word for “grieved” is used to describe what the Lord felt in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:37) and to describe the sorrow of the saints over the death of a loved one (1 Thess 4:13). At Canyon, we don’t expect people to put on masks as they are going through difficult circumstances. One of the roles of the body of Christ is to:

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

We would never want to be flippant when we are walking another disciple through a difficult time. We want Canyon Bible Church to be a place where people can be real with one another. Do you know that very first thing we want to do for you when you are faced with a trial? We want to pray for you! If you are facing a trial, please let us know so that our intercessory prayer team can lift up your needs before our King!

#4 Trials are controlled by God

Trials don’t last forever. The passage says, “for a little while.” When God permits his children to go through the furnace, he keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat. Peter illustrates this fact by referring to a goldsmith. On Friday, gold prices were $1,226.10 per ounce. No goldsmith would waste even a drop of that precious ore. As he is refining it, he would keep it in the smelter long enough to remove the cheap impurities. Then he would pour it out to make a beautiful item of value. It has been said that the eastern goldsmith kept the metal in the furnace – watching it intently – just long enough to see his face reflected in it. Likewise, the Lord keeps us in the furnace of suffering just long enough to reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus.

Just as an assayer tests gold ore to see if it is pure gold or counterfeit, so trials test our faith to prove its sincerity. Faith that fails during testing cannot be trusted! However, disciples of Jesus who go through trials and come out the other side more pure and more Christ-like possess a treasure that is more valuable than anything else in the entire world – that treasure is saving faith!

That kind of faith results in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ – or at the time when Jesus appears.

In Colossians, Paul calls it a crown of righteousness. Disciples with genuine, tested faith, stand before God and are rewarded by God for Christ’s righteousness in them. God grants them salvation. He does the hard work of sanctification and then He gives his disciples the crown for all that He accomplished in them. That is our living hope and our source of inexpressible joy

⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 Teaching Outline

5 Compelling Reasons to Worship God (Verse 3-4)

#1 God’s Great Mercy – 1 Pet. 1:3, Titus 3:4

#2 God Initiated Salvation – 1 Pet. 1:3, Rom. 5:8

“⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

#3 God Raised Jesus from the Dead – 1 Pet. 1:3, 20-21

#4 God Promises a Future Inheritance – 1 Pet 1:4, 2 Cor. 4:17, Rom. 8

¹⁷ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 2 Corinthians 4:17

Romans 8:35-39

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (nothing can take away what’s really important) ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

#5 God Guards our Inheritance – 1 Pet. 1:5