40 Matthew 28.16-20 Sermon Template
PREPARATION
I. Prayer
II. Devotion/Mediation
a. Tozer: A Solid Hope
b. The “new birth” (1:3) that we have experienced by the action of the enduring word of God introduces us to “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power” (1:4–5).
c. To the Father, the Stone is precious (2:4, 6). “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). According to Peter, everything about Jesus Christ is precious: precious blood (1:19), precious faith (2 Pet. 1:1), and precious promises (2 Pet. 1:4). Even the trials we endure are precious for his sake (1 Pet. 1:7). The better we get to know him, the more precious he becomes in our lives.
d. The word translated “precious” carries with it the idea of honor as well as value. To us who know and love him, Jesus Christ is worthy of all honor (Rev. 5:12–14).
e. Purpose in Suffering May 20 - “My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Yes, oh my soul, God is your portion! - Again Satan is busy with his suggestions to doubt my whole religious experience, and it seems as though they hardly were doubts, but the very truth. I feel like a poor miserable self-deceiver! But, oh my God, save me from entertaining these feelings for a single moment. Oh, be my Keeper, now, in this time of sore need! You are dwelling in my heart and I am wholly and altogether yours. I dare not doubt—I will not! Oh Saviour of the helpless. Save me!
f. I have been crying to the Lord and lately He has given me a text which greatly comforts and sustains me 1 Peter 1:6, 7. “Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” Since my Jesus is to get praise and honor and glory through this trying of my faith, I am willing, yes, even thankful for every moment of it! —Journal, June 21, 1869
g. PASS OR FAIL? When we speak of a trial or test, we will either pass or fail. Thus every trial God allows can turn into a temptation. Long after Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, he told them, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20). Every struggle and trial we experience is allowed by God to test us, to exercise our spiritual muscles, and to help us mature (cf. 1 Peter 5:10). But if you don’t commit the situation to God and stand in His strength, Satan will turn it into a temptation. He will entice your lusts and may draw you into si
h. Come! Come Quickly! Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. —1 Peter 1:8 The people of God ought to be the happiest people in all the wide world! People should be coming to us constantly and asking the source of our joy and delight—redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, our yesterdays behind us, our sin under the blood forever and a day, to be remembered against us no more forever. God is our Father, Christ is our Brother, the Holy Spirit our Advocate and Comforter. Our Brother has gone to the Father’s house to prepare a place for us, leaving with us the promise that He will come again! Don’t send Moses, Lord, don’t send Moses! He broke the tablets of stone. Don’t send Elijah for me, Lord! I am afraid of Elijah—he called down fire from heaven. Don’t send Paul, Lord! He is so learned that I feel like a little boy when I read his epistles. Oh, Lord Jesus, come Yourself! I am not afraid of You. You took the little children as lambs to Your fold. You forgave the woman taken in adultery. You healed the timid woman who reached out in the crowd to touch You. We are not afraid of You! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! 154
i. June 29:Normal Christians Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. —1 Peter 1:8 Is the Lord Jesus Christ your most precious treasure in this world? If so, you can count yourself among normal Christians.i s the moral beauty which is found only in Jesus Christ constantly drawing you to praise and worship? If so you are indeed among those whom God’s Word identifies as normal, believing, practicing Christians. But I can almost anticipate an objection. If someone is that delighted and that occupied with the person of Jesus Christ, is he or she not an extremist rather than a normal Christian? Have professing Christians really come to that time in their humanistic and secularistic leanings that they can sincerely deny that loving Jesus Christ with all their heart and soul and strength is normal Christianity? We must not be reading and studying the same Bible! How can anyone profess to be a follower and a disciple of Jesus Christ and not be overwhelmed by His attributes? These divine attributes attest that He is indeed Lord of all, completely worthy of our worship and praise. 105–106 Lord, I pray that You would restore in Your Church a belief that those who love You with all their heart, soul and mind are normal, and worthy of imitation. May we be overwhelmed by Your attributes. Amen.
PASSAGE
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Opening Illustration
B. A gardener took great pride in caring for his lawn. But one year it grew full of dandelions. He tried every method and product to get rid of them, but nothing worked. Exasperated, he wrote the Department of Agriculture explaining all he had done. “What shall I try next?” he wrote. “Try getting used to them,” came the reply.
C. Background Summary
a. Date of Writing
i. The time and the place of the writing of I Peter, granting its Petrine authorship, are closely connected. From 5:13 it appears that the epistle was written from “Babylon.”
ii. Peter wrote this epistle apparently just before or shortly after the beginning of Nero’s persecution of the church in a.d. 64. Since Peter referred to the government as still functioning (an institution which commends those who do right and punishes those who do wrong; 2:13-14), some believe that the church was not yet facing an organized Roman persecution. Evidently repressive laws had not yet been enacted specifically against Christians. It was still possible for Peter’s readers to “honor the king” (2:17).
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b. Author & Circumstances
i. This letter claims to have been written by the Apostle Peter (1:1). The author also calls himself an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ (5:1). He writes with the help of one Silvanus (5:12) and speaks of a dear one, Marcus, as being with him (5:13).
ii. I Peter clearly claims to have been written by the Apostle Peter, and there seem to be no considerations of content or style that refute such a claim. Indeed, it contains statements here and there which are strongly reminiscent of expressions of Peter reported in the Acts.
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c. Recipients & Circumstances
i. Written to the Christians in the five provinces of Asia Minor, the epistle addresses its readers as scattered sojourners and foreigners, a figure very familiar to dispersed and downtrodden Israel, but also entirely apt for Peter’s many Gentile Christian readers.
ii. And why this interest on the part of Peter? Many from these provinces of Asia had heard his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and many had doubtless gone back to their home territory as spiritual colonists. Paul had later carried on evangelistic labors in Asia, but to a limited extent only, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to work Asia intensively (Acts 16:6-8).
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d. Purpose of Writing & Circumstances
i. First Peter was written to Christians who were experiencing various forms of persecution, men and women whose stand for Jesus Christ made them aliens and strangers in the midst of a pagan society
ii. This epistle could be understood as a handbook written for ambassadors to a hostile foreign land. The author, knowing persecution would arise, carefully prescribed conduct designed to bring honor to the One they represented. The purpose then of 1 Peter was to encourage Christians to face persecution so that the true grace of Jesus Christ would be evidenced in them (5:12).
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e. Past/Present/future Events
D. Theological Background
a. Major Theological Theme:
b. Minor Theological Theme:
E. Proposition/Purpose Statement
F. Overview Outline
I. BODY
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
A. Born Again to a living hope
a. Peter begins with the theme that God is blessed or praised for the salvation he has given to beleivers. (O) (v. 3a)-
i. Blessing God is rooted in the Old testament and is a feature of old testament piety. (O)-
ii. The blessing or praise spoken of in this passage begins the section with joy which we see in the rest of the passage. (O)-
iii. Why should we praise God? Because of the new birth . (O) -
iv. When we are born anew, it is an act of God. (john3 :3,7) Just as a baby does not think about it’s birth, neither do we influence 6it. (I) -
v. Our new birth is a unearned gift of God. (I)
vi. Nicodemus was given new birth (john 3:1-21) (I)
vii.
b. By the Mercy of God (v. 3)
i. Titus 3:5
ii. God has given unmerited favor toward sinners in their hopeless conditions. (I)
iii. writer of Lamentations contended that it is by God’s mercies that we are not consumed. Peter later declares that without God we were without mercy, “but now have obtained mercy” (1 Pet. 2:10). (O)
iv. Grace vs. Justice and Mercy Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Justice is getting what we do deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve.614
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vi. When Jerome Groopman diagnosed patients with serious diseases, the Harvard Medical School professor discovered that all of them were “looking for a sense of genuine hope—and indeed, that hope was as important to them as anything he might prescribe as a physician.” After writing a book called The Anatomy of Hope, Groopman was asked for his definition of hope. He replied: “Basically, I think hope is the ability to see a path to the future. You are facing dire circumstances, and you need to know everything that’s blocking or threatening you. And then you see a path, or a potential path, to get to where you want to be. Once you see that, there’s a tremendous emotional uplift that occurs.” The doctor confessed, “I think hope has been, is, and always will be the heart of medicine and healing. We could not live without hope.” Even with all the medical technology available to us now, “we still come back to this profound human need to believe that there is a possibility to reach a future that is better than the one in the present.”
vii. What is living Hope? This hope and assurance center about the fully attested and often proclaimed fact of Christ resurrection (I)
viii. What is a living hope? It is one that is genuine and vital in contrast to one that is empty and vain. (I)
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x. Living means that beleivers hope is sure, certain, and real as opposed to the deceptive, empty, false hope the world offers. (I)-
xi. Living hope is based on a living resurrected Christ (1 Peter 1:21) (I)
xii.
xiii. Peter uses the word living 6 times in his letter. (O)
xiv. We can learn something about Christian hope from fishermen. In Pavlov’s Trout, Paul Quinnett writes: It is better to fish hopefully than to catch fish. Fishing is hope experienced. To be optimistic in a slow bite is to thrive on hope alone. When asked, “How can you fish all day without a hit?” the true fisherman replies, “Hold it! I think I felt something.” If the line goes slack, he says, “He’ll be back!” When it comes to the human spirit, hope is all. Without hope, there is no yearning, no desire for a better tomorrow, and no belief that the next cast will bring the big strike. According to the Bible, the Christian life is also hope experienced. A hopeless Christian is a contradiction in terms.
xv.
xvi. Peter reminds us the source of our benefit is God. (O)
a. Through the Resurrection of Christ (v. 3)
i. The word “hope” is a uniquely Christian word. It makes no sense without the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This quality of hope is more than wishful thinking. (O)
b. Born to an imperishable inheritance (v. 4)
i. Peter continues to describe this new hope more fully. (I)
1. This hope is a physical hope that will be realized in the new heaven and new earth. (2 Peter 3:13) (I)
2. Our living hope rest on the blood of Christ (I)
i. What is the result of this salvation? A New Inheritiance (O)
1. Peter builds a picture of spirtual wealth. (O) The inhertiance is what is in store for the beleivers. (I)
2. This inheritance is no longer in the land that God had promised his people in the old testament but in the home that lied ahead for beleivers (I)
3. The sure hope is of a future inheritance. God uses the same word used to refer to Israels promised possesion of the land (Num 26:54, 56; 34:2; Josh 11:23) (I)
4. A Christians inheritance cannot be destroyed by hostile forces and it does not spoil (A)
5. This inheritance will never perish, spoil or fade. (A)
6. Inheritance is kept in heaven where God guards it. (Gal 5:5) (O)
7. Indestructible (O)
8. Undefiled (O)
9. Does not fade or deteriorate (O)
10. reserved in heaven (O)
11. Readers had accepted that they may lose their early possessions (O)
12. Peter knew suffering. He was not speaking to rich and comfortable people but to those who are experience difficulties. (A)
13. Many who suffer do not find relief or justice. The worlds philosophies are empty. (A)
b. Salvation is guarded by God’s Power (v. 5)
i. Peter now begins to describe our inheritance in terms of salvation (A)
ii. What is salvation? Salvation is being rescued from God’s judgement on the last day. (1 Peter 4:17) (I)
iii. Our inheritance(salvation) is shielded by God’s power. (I)
iv. Shielded is an Idea presented is one of being protected by a military garrison (Phil 4:7) (I)
v. Kept is the same word used in Phil 4:7 (I)
vi. Our salvation is kept through our faith (Heb 10:38,39) (I)
vii. Inheritance will be revealed when we are in God’s presence. (I)
1. Our salvation is in two installments.
2. Each believer has salvation now but will not reveal it’s full significance until the ultimate complettion of in the last time.
3. Peter uses the clause when Christ is revealed twice, in verse 7 and verse 13.
1. Attention
2. Explanation
3. Illustration/Application
i. No greater hope to those in persecution than the knowledge that God’s power guards the beleiver and preserves their inheritance of salvation.
ii. Should compel us to be ready to give a hope to those who ask for reason
iii. ˆThis description reminds me of an experience I had recently in visiting Milan, Italy, to view The Last Supper, the great masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci. Thousands of dollars are being spent in an attempt to restore some of the fading colors. Even the greatest of masterpieces ultimately fade. But the heavenly inheritance that our Lord provides for us will never fade.
iv. My friend, do you think He can keep you? Oh, I am weary of the emphasis being put on the work of the flesh. We are being told that if we follow some little set of rules, we can become “adequate Christians.” I wonder if the fellows who are giving all these messages have reached some celestial level which the rest of us have not been able to attain. They ask, “Are you sufficient, are you satisfied?” My answer is, “No—I am pressing on the upward way, I am pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I am not satisfied. I have not found life sufficient.” My friend, let me add a strong statement that may startle you: You cannot live the Christian life! Perhaps you are asking, “Do you really mean that?” Yes, I do. I would challenge you to show me a verse or any Scripture where God has asked you to live the Christian life.
v.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:6-9
A. Our Present Joy
a. Peter was encouranging his readers to act on their faith (O)
b. Joy is independence of circumstances. (O)
i. Trials bring greif but cannot dismish the deep abiding joy with is found in living out the hope that is in Christ Jesus
c. What is that act? That act is to rejoice. (O)
d. Knowledge doesn’t present by itself joy. (O)
e. In the face of persecution, knowledge alone cannot give comfort. (I)
f. You can know the bible and theology and doctrine by heart but with out faith, it has not purpose. (A)
g. Living hope result in a present joy. (A)
h. Our responsibility is to response to faith (I)
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j. Our faith and helps to overcome the world (1 John 5:4) (A)
k. This faith enables beleivers to suffer grief and persecution and yet rejoice. (A)
l. Rejoice in Trials (v. 6)
i. Our Joy is independent of our circumstances
1. Paul and silas could sing with Lacerated backs
ii. This joy is not just an intellectual anticipation of future possesions but a gift given to us today by the Holy Spirit.
iii. Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22)
m. Trails test faith (v7)
i. The word trial is closely related to the idea of approval.
ii. What is the result of trials?
1. Refines faith
2. Trials prove the reality of your faith
3. Stress deepens and strengthens faith
4. Proved genuine means to test for the purpose of approving. (james 1:3,12)
5. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. A man whom many believe was the greatest American president is a good example. When he was 7 years of age, his family was forced out of their home, and he went to work. When he was 9, his mother died. He lost his job as a store clerk when he was 20. He wanted to go to law school, but he didn’t have the education. At age 23 he went into debt to be a partner in a small store. Three years later the business partner died, and the resulting debt took years to repay. When he was 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him, and she turned him down. On his third try he was elected to Congress, at age 37, but then failed to be re-elected. His son died at 4 years of age. When this man was 45, he ran for the Senate and lost. At age 47 he ran for the vice-presidency and lost. But at age 51 he was elected president of the United States. The man was Abraham Lincoln, a man who learned to face discouragement and move beyond it. Did you know that it was Abraham Lincoln who, in the midst of the Civil War, in 1863, established the annual celebration of Thanksgiving? Lincoln had learned how important it is to stop and thank God in the midst of great difficulties.
iii. Peter comtranst faith to Gold
1. Even refined gold perishes (1 Peter 1:18, James 5:3)
2. In light of eternity, Gold is worthless.
3. Faith purchases and eternal inheritance
iv. What is the result of genuine faith
1. Has ultimate value
2. brings praise, glory and honor to the name of Christ in whose name we bear.
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vi. The end result, not the process is the focus
1. It’s okay to greive when suffering enters our lives. But in the midst of our pain and grieving, God has promised that he will be our comforter and encourager. Grieving is a time of healing for our souls. We grieve when we encountr trials or tempations or suffering. But Jesus identifies with us and our infirmities. He was tempted in the same way in which we are tempted. Hebrews 4:14-16 says 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (A)
vii. The demonstation of the eternal quality of their faith, shown by their testings far exceeds the gleam of refined gold
viii. Two reward of suffering
1. The reward of christ Coming
2. Christ is revealed through suffering (Gal 3:1)
n. Trials cause us to rejoice in Christ (v8)
i. This is the enod fht ejoy that results from faith.
ii. Our faith is not on abstract knowledge but on the person and work of Christ.
iii. Peters love overflows has he speaks of the love and beleive in Christ that those who have never seen Christ face to face. (John 20:29)
iv. Even though we have not seen Christ, we still love him.,
v. Christ realized through faith is the beleivers joy
vi. Love Christ with out seeing him (v8)
o. Receiving the end of our faith, salvation (v9)
i. Why can we rejoice?
ii. We can rejoice be we are receiving the promise what was promised. that is salvation.
iii. What is the goal of faith? Salvation
iv. If you love and beleive in Christ, Salvation is now a past actions (he has given us new birth), it’s present, through faith we are shielded by God’s power and future, it’s our inheritance which is still to be revealed.
v. Each day brings us closer to that final day when our faith will become sight in spite of presecution.
vi. This is the idea that Christ is our salvation and he is what we are receiving.
1. Attention
2. Explanation
3. Illustration/Application
a. This hope should encourage us us to put our faith into practice (A)
b.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:10-12
A. Salvation Revealed
a. However, the major challenge will be to recognize the temporariness of the relevancy and urgency of this morning’s headlines. By tomorrow, new developments will replace those things which seem so urgent today. Within a week, most of the news will be out of date. And if you save that newspaper for several years, it will have historical value and your grandchildren will enjoy reading about the good old days, but it will have little contemporary news value.
b. But the message of salvation is always relevant and urgent. It is appropriate for every generation, every culture, every person. It is a heavenly message brought by the Holy Spirit and will never become outdated.
c. In fact, it is such a marvelous message that even the angels of heaven desire to look into it. Can you imagine that? The angels in heaven are in the presence of the glory and majesty of God. Yet they long to look into this message of salvation.
d. The writer of Hebrews summarizes the situation well when he poses the question, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Heb. 2:3). For all who receive this great salvation it is blessed; it brings joy unspeakable and full of glory; and it promises life eternal.
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f. Old Testament Prophets didn’t understand fully (v10-11)
i. Living hope of new birth comes from not only our future inhertance but the also from faith in the written word of God.
ii. Our faith is not based on only the mere writing s of men, but on the word of God.
iii. Litterly, they sought out and investigated (matt 13:17)
iv. They were intrigued
v. The Holy Spirit predicted the suffering of Christ (is 53; and glory to come (Is 11).
vi. Peters readers were reminded that Christ suffering was followed by glory and they too would experience this glory after suffering (1 Peter 5:10)
vii. Salvation through suffering was a mystery to them (Col 1:26,27)
g. Old Testament Prophets waited for the fullfilment (v12)
i. Peter encouraged his readers that the prophets understood they were not writing for themselves but for those who would live later and would follow Christ. (Heb 1:14; 2:3)
ii. The angels in heaven are in awe and wonder at this living hope.
iii. Sometimes God chose to reveal mysteris beyond the comprehension of the writers (Dan 12:8,9)
1. Attention
2. Explanation
3. Illustration/Application
I. CONCLUSION
A. Restate all the points in a concluding manner
B. Restate proposition/purpose statement in a concluding manner
C. Final Illustration/Final Application
D. Prayer