Rev. David Holwick P
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 4, 1997
1 Peter 1:8-12
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I. The joy of our salvation.
A. Do you need to see to believe? 1:8
1) The trauma of senior high school romances.
a) They think it will last for a lifetime.
b) It usually doesn't last two months of college.
2) Out of sight doesn't have to mean out of mind.
a) "We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor 5:7
1> Hard for children - they want to see something.
b) Jesus and prayer for future disciples. John 17:20
1> Not see him, love him: second generation Christians
2> Not see now, believe: stylistic, or Second Coming
B. To know Jesus is to LOVE him.
1) Knowing Jesus should be like a romance.
2) Want to know him better, spend time with him.
3) There is a lot of dead faith out there - "I believe in God..."
C. Filled with "inexpressible joy."
You may be familiar with Peter Jenkins, author of the
best-seller "Walk Across America."
He decided to walk across the continent to find out what life
was all about.
It is a powerful image - even the movie "Forrest Gump" did a
parody of his epic quest.
The greatest thing to happen to him was something he did not
anticipate.
While travelling through Alabama he came across a huge revival.
He decided to attend, and what the speaker said grabbed him.
When the invitation was given to become a Christian, Jenkins
walked down the aisle.
He didn't understand all that these people were saying about
what had just happened between God and him.
He heard words like:
"Born again...," "Saved...," "The Lord led you here tonight...,"
"Praise the Lord...," "Ain't God good?"
In using those words it "seemed as normal in their vocabulary
as 'taxes,' 'commute,' and 'weekend' were to his family and
friends in New York and Connecticut."
Mary, the woman who first spoke to him, said "Peter, this great
elation that you're feeling now - You are feeling great
elation, aren't you?"
"Yes," Peter replied.
"At this moment it may seem like these great feelings are
going to last forever, but they won't," she told him.
"Being a Christian is not based on feelings.
You're on a mountain top now, but someday, sooner or later,
you'll be far away from these great feelings.
You may even wonder if all this ever happened.
"Your Christian walk is based on faith, not feelings,"
Mary explained.
Peter had never thought about that.
As he put it, "I was so thrilled that there could be good
feelings mixed in with faith that I really didn't care about
her opinions."
More than twenty years have passed since that revival.
"I was on a mountain top that night," Peter reflected.
"The feelings lasted a long time, but that mountain top hasn't
lasted all these years.
Maybe I've been on more mountain tops than some, but I've also
climbed, sometimes crawled, out of some awfully steep
valleys, too." #2731
D. We don't see him now - but someday we will.
1) For many, our first vision of Jesus will be at death.
2) For some, they will see him at Second Coming. (emph. here?)
a) Celebrated in communion: by eating bread and juice we
"show Jesus' death until he comes."
3) Meaning of "soul." 1:9
a) 'Embraced by the Light' and soul babies.
b) Soul represents whole person.
II. The heritage of our salvation.
A. Old Testament prophets. 1:10
1) They "saw" but didn't see all. (like us)
a) Wanted to know more.
b) Studying and insight are not enough. Truth must be
REVEALED to us by God.
1> Note "Spirit of Christ."
2) Many liberals argue prophets were little more than preachers.
a) They are said to speak to their own generation, period.
b) They did have a current meaning.
c) But they also predicted things that happened centuries
later.
3) Predictions of the sufferings and glory of Jesus. 1:11
a) Isaiah 53, Psalm 16...
Growing up Roman Catholic in Louisiana, Michael Girouard
believed the Bible was a fairy tale that could not be trusted.
Yet as a college student at Southeastern Louisiana University,
he began to read a Bible someone gave him.
"The claims of Jesus of being the only way to God amazed me,"
he said.
That salvation was a gift from God went against everything he
was taught as a child.
He had always been led to believe you had to be faithful in
church attendance and follow the Ten Commandments.
After finishing medical school he became a doctor.
But he continued to wrestle with the difference between his
upbringing and the truths of the Bible.
Girouard soon began to explore the scientific aspects of
the Bible.
He began to realize that the probability of all the Old
Testament prophecies being fulfilled was scientifically
impossible.
Something supernatural had to have occurred.
The probabilities that really interested him were the
messianic prophecies.
One man -- Jesus Christ -- fulfilled 332 of those specific
prophecies.
To fulfill just 48 of those, the probability would be one
chance in 10 to the 157th power.
Girouard noted if an event has a probability of just one chance
in 10 to the 45th power, it will never be observed to occur
naturally on the earth.
If it does come true, it exceeds the natural laws of science.
Based upon mathematics alone, he came to the conclusion that
the Bible was the writing of a supernatural being.
As a result of his research, Girouard became a Christian.
"Jesus said that he was the cure for death," Girouard said.
"He promised eternal life, and that was supernatural.
That was something I as a doctor hadn't been able to give to
my patients or to myself."
As he puts it, "I resigned from practicing medicine because
I wanted to save lives."
He is now a full-time minister and a popular speaker at
Christian and secular high school and colleges.
#3467
4) Prophets serve us.
a) They spoke of New Testament grace.
1> We can benefit from what they say.
b) Wrong to separate OT from NT.
1> Ledgewood Baptist covenant: "NT is our standard"
B. Preachers.
1) Preaching by the Holy Spirit from heaven.
a) Like prophets, we need God's help to communicate.
b) Unlike prophets, you're not supposed to stone us if
we get it wrong!
2) Our message is simple: gospel, good news.
III. The wonder of our salvation. 1:12
A. Prophets wondered enough to investigate details.
B. Angels long to look into it.
1) Not clear how their own salvation works.
2) But they rejoice in heaven when we are saved. Luke 15:10
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