All For Glory

[0:00] Amen. Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's guidance this evening, if we could turn back to that passage that we read, 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1, and we'll just read again the first two verses.

[0:25] We're going to look at verses 1 to 9, but we'll just read verses 1 and 2. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you.

[0:56] When we consider the person who wrote this beautiful letter, we ought to think of it as a reunion.

[1:10] We're familiar with reunions. We see them all the time, or in the Gazette, the 40th and 50th reunions in which the class of 77 or 67, they reunite after many years.

[1:23] And I suppose that when a reunion, a 40th or 50th reunion, when it takes place, you meet with old school friends and acquaintances, and you see people that you haven't seen for years, and inevitably they've changed.

[1:38] The passing of time has caused them to be older, and they look different to the way you remember them. They're not the way they were in the past. And you know, that's what we see when we consider the letter of Peter.

[1:51] Peter has changed, because by the time this letter was written, it's been at least 20 or 30 years since we last saw Peter in the Gospels, and we're well acquainted with the Apostle Peter in the Gospels, having met him on a number of occasions during the life and ministry of Jesus.

[2:09] And I suppose that you could say when we consider the Gospels and then consider his letter, you could say, well, we were with Peter during all those high points and low points of his early life.

[2:23] We were there when Peter was called away from his nets to be a fisher of men. We were there when Peter rebuked Jesus for saying that Jesus was going to be crucified.

[2:33] We were there when Peter was rebuked by Jesus for speaking like Satan. We were there when Peter denied ever being with Jesus, denied knowing Jesus. We were there when Jesus washed Peter's feet.

[2:47] We were there when Peter looked into the tomb, the tomb of Jesus, and he saw that it was empty. And you could say that we were there when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and preached to so many people and over 3,000 souls were saved.

[3:03] We were there with Peter. And now after all these years, we are reunited with Peter in his letter. And when we read his letters, we see that Peter, he's a different man to the one we found in the Gospels.

[3:17] Because the way Peter writes his letters, it portrays to us that he was a man who had learned from Jesus. He has gained Christian experience. He has grown in grace.

[3:29] He has matured in his faith. And it's wonderful to see. It's wonderful to see and to know that the promise for Peter is the same promise for every believer.

[3:40] That he who has begun a good work in you will bring it on to completion in the day of Christ Jesus. But what we ought to see in this letter is that our reunion with Peter is for a specific purpose.

[3:55] Because Peter, he's now an established leader in the church and he's writing to these Jewish converts to Christianity. And he's writing to them because they are being persecuted for their faith.

[4:08] And as new converts to Christianity, these believers, they were confused and discouraged by all their persecution that they were encountering because of their faith.

[4:21] And this persecution, it wasn't just a little mob or a lobby group against the Christians. Their persecution was official. And it was an established law of the Roman Empire.

[4:33] It was the government that was trying to destroy the church. And these Christians, they had been driven out of their homes. They had been scattered and dispersed. Families had been separated as they were driven out into all these surrounding regions of Palestine.

[4:50] And that's who Peter says he's writing to. He says in verse 1, To those who are the elect exiles of the dispersion. In Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.

[5:00] They have become exiles. They're in foreign lands because of all their persecution. And these Christians in the early church, they were officially persecuted by the Roman Empire.

[5:14] And in particular, the Roman Emperor Nero. And if we know anything about the Emperor Nero, it's that he had this satanic hatred for Christians.

[5:25] To the point that if Nero ever found out that you were a Christian, he would have you captured and impaled on a pole outside his palace.

[5:37] And he would set you on fire. And you would be burning there as a lamppost in his garden. And that's the kind of persecution Nero was bringing upon Christians.

[5:49] And this persecution, it wasn't just with Nero. It was with succeeding emperors. It carried on for generations. And so to be a Christian in the first century, it meant that you were signing your death warrant.

[6:04] And so, what do you say? What do you say to Christians who've been driven away from their homes, and they're confused by all their circumstances, and they're discouraged with their situation, they're struggling in their faith.

[6:19] What do you say to them? What comfort can you give to them? How can you encourage them? Well, my friend, how do you encourage any Christian?

[6:32] You point them to Jesus. You point them to Jesus. And that's what Peter does. He writes his letter to encourage these persecuted Christians to stand strong and follow Christ's example because they have a living hope.

[6:49] And there is an inheritance awaiting them beyond the veil. What's so beautiful is that Peter opens his letter to these struggling Christians by reminding them of what the Christian life is all about.

[7:04] And he says to them that as Christians, they are being prepared for glory. As Christians, they are being prepared for glory. Because in these opening verses, he says that they were born for glory.

[7:19] He says that they are being kept for glory. He says that they are being tested for glory. And he says to them that at the last, they will be filled for glory.

[7:30] And they are the headings that I'd like us to use this evening as we consider what the Christian life is all about. It's all about being prepared for glory.

[7:41] It's all about glory. Born for glory. Kept for glory. Tested for glory. And then filled for glory. So we look first of all at born for glory.

[7:56] The Christian life is about being born for glory. We look at verse 1 again. He says, Peter, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.

[8:19] May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 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.

[8:35] And so when Peter reminds these struggling Christians that they have been born for glory, as you know, he's not talking about physical birth. He's talking about the spiritual birth.

[8:48] He's talking about the new birth because he says that when we are born for glory, we are born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

[8:59] Peter is saying that our new birth is all because of the resurrection. It's because of the resurrection of Jesus that there is new life and that there is a living hope.

[9:10] And that's because when we are born for glory, we have died to self. The old man is dead. Dead and buried.

[9:21] Yes, we have this continual struggle with sin and the flesh and the devil, but when we are born for glory, we have died to self and we have been resurrected to the newness of new life.

[9:34] We have come to experience a living hope through the resurrected and exalted Savior, Jesus Christ. And you know, is that not what the Apostle Paul also taught when he made his great confession of the Christian?

[9:50] And he said in Galatians 2 verse 20, those precious words, I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not die, but Christ lives in me.

[10:02] And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And in Paul's confession of the Christian, he affirms that as a Christian, the old self died with Christ.

[10:18] He says you were crucified, crucified on the cross with Christ, dead and buried. Nevertheless, you live. You're alive.

[10:29] Because the resurrected Christ, he lives in you. The glory of Christ lives in you. And because he lives in you, you've been born again to that living hope.

[10:41] And the life that you now live in the flesh, it's a life of faith. Faith, not blind faith, but faith in the Son of God. The Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.

[10:58] My friend, are you born again? Have you been born for glory? Because Jesus says to us in the gospel that unless we are born again, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

[11:12] We can't enter that final glory. And as Jesus stressed to Nicodemus, you must be born again. He said to Nicodemus again and again, are you born again?

[11:24] Have you been made brand new? Have you experienced the regenerating power of the new birth? Have you been given a new beginning? Have you been given a new heart? Have you become a new creation?

[11:37] Have you been born for glory? Have you been born for glory? And of course, we weren't always born for glory.

[11:51] But something changed. And Peter mentions that at the end of the chapter. Because he says that when we were given that physical birth, we were born with the glory of Adam.

[12:07] But the glory of Adam, he says, was death. Peter says down in verse 24 that all flesh is like the grass. And the glory of Adam is like the flower of the grass.

[12:21] And because it is the glory of Adam, the grass withers. And the flower fades. And death takes over. And yet Peter says that what makes the difference between someone who is born with the glory of Adam and someone who has been born again to the glory of the last Adam, Jesus Christ, what makes the difference, he says, is the word of God.

[12:46] The word of God makes the difference. Peter says in verse 25, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

[12:56] This word is what brought you to experience the new birth and a living hope. Because it's a living word. And it lives and abides forever.

[13:09] That's what he says back in verse 23. You've been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

[13:20] My friend, we are born for glory. And we are given a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And it's affirmed to us by the living word, which lives and abides forever.

[13:36] And what Peter makes clear to us, and to the Christians to whom he's writing, is that our salvation, our new birth, our new beginning, our new creation, our being born for glory, it's all a work of God.

[13:52] And he says, it's a work of the triune God. It's a work of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Because Peter reminds these confused Christians, confused, downcast, don't know where to go, and yet he says to them that their destination is glory.

[14:12] And it's not because of anything they have done themselves, but it's all because of the Trinity. The Trinity has done the work. Peter says to them back in verse 2, that they were born for glory.

[14:26] They're born for glory, he says, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for the sprinkling, and for sprinkling with his blood.

[14:37] My Christian friend, we've been born for glory, because God the Father chose us in Christ, from before the foundation of the world.

[14:49] We've been born for glory, because the Holy Spirit has sanctified us, and is still sanctifying us, and still impressing upon our hearts, this living and abiding word of God.

[15:01] And that's how we know if the Lord is working in our life, and in our heart. That's how we know if we've been awakened to the living and abiding word of God, because as we read it, as we hear it preached, as we listen to sermons, as we read our Bible, it's pressing upon us, it's challenging us, it's convicting us to live our lives for God's glory.

[15:27] That's how we can be sure if the Lord is speaking to us tonight. That if the Spirit is pressing the word upon us, He's telling us, and He's wanting us, to commit our life to Jesus Christ.

[15:43] Because Peter says that when we have been born for glory, we have the desire to live in obedience to Jesus Christ, and live under the fountain of His blood.

[16:00] What happened there? Do we carry on? Do we carry on? Oh, oh. Okay, there'll be, you can stay in the dark.

[16:16] We've been born for glory. That's the wonder of being in Christ. And when we're born for glory, as I was saying, we have the desire to live in obedience to Jesus Christ, and live under the fountain of His blood.

[16:36] And I always love those words of William Cowper. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.

[16:51] My friend, are you born again? Are you born again? Have you been born for glory? Because Peter affirms to us that when we are born for glory, he says, secondly, we are being kept for glory.

[17:11] We are being kept for glory. Born for glory, kept for glory. We look again at verse 3. He says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[17:22] 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, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded or kept through faith for a salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

[17:45] You know, it's often said that the first step of the Christian after being saved is that they're being kept. And that's what Peter is saying to us here, that when we are born for glory, we are being kept for glory.

[18:03] But what Peter expresses to us is that when we are born for glory, we receive an inheritance. But unlike most cases where we receive an inheritance when someone else in our family dies, Peter says that the Christian will only receive their inheritance when they die.

[18:22] We will only receive our inheritance when we get to glory. But what's so beautiful about these verses, verses 4 and 5, is that Peter says that both the Christian and their inheritance are being kept for glory.

[18:39] Both the Christian and their inheritance are being kept for glory. He says that when we are born for glory, we receive an inheritance that is so unlike any earthly inheritance.

[18:52] The inheritance in glory is an inheritance, as he says, that is incorruptible. It can't be stained or ruined. It's undefiled. It can't be cheapened or become impure or lose its value because it does not fade away.

[19:09] It doesn't grow old. It doesn't decay. It doesn't deteriorate in any way. It's an inheritance that is kept for glory. But Peter says to these suffering Christians, to every Christian, that it's not only the inheritance that is being kept for glory.

[19:29] He says, you are being kept for glory. There is an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, and it will be kept there, he says, unblemished, untarnished, completely immaculate, whilst you are being kept for glory.

[19:51] And you know, thinking about it, where did Peter get this from? Did he not get it from what Jesus said in John chapter 14 when he was teaching the disciples?

[20:03] You remember when Jesus spoke to his disciples in the upper room and he told them that, well, the way of the cross must be the way of the Christ. And Jesus also said that the cross would not be the end of the story because he would be exalted and he would ascend to his father's house.

[20:23] And Jesus said to all the weak and confused disciples there, he said to them, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

[20:34] In my father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. But I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.

[20:51] Jesus encouraged his disciples by affirming to them that he was preparing a place for them in glory, but that he was also preparing them for glory.

[21:02] And that's what Peter is encouraging us with here, that there is an inheritance which is being kept in glory for us and that we too are being kept for glory until we receive that inheritance.

[21:17] We are being kept. We are being kept. And this word, kept, it's a beautiful word. It means to guard or to watch.

[21:28] It's a military term. It carries with it the idea of a soldier or even an army guarding its territory in which the army keeps the area safe and they guard it with their life and they watch over it ever so carefully.

[21:49] And the reason they do that is because what they are keeping safe is precious. I don't know how many of you have ever been to London.

[22:02] I was there once. I would go again because there are many tourist attractions in London. But one particular tourist attraction is the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

[22:15] Because every day at a certain time of the day the soldiers who are on guard or who guard the Queen and the family they're changed. When the shift comes to an end the tired soldiers they are replaced with what you could call fresh soldiers.

[22:31] And there's this great spectacle to see when the Queen's Guard they're changed in the courts of Buckingham Palace. Of course the reason the soldiers are changed at all is not only to give some of them a break it's also to ensure that the Queen has the best protection.

[22:49] It's to ensure that the soldiers are awake and alert and they're ready to keep the Queen safe at all costs and they are to guard the Queen with their life and to watch over her ever so carefully because they believe that she is precious.

[23:07] She is of royal descent and she has a royal inheritance. And you know my friend that's what Peter is reminding us here that as those who are born for glory we are of royal descent and we have a royal inheritance and both we and our royal inheritance they're being kept for glory.

[23:31] Kept for glory. But the wonder of what Peter says is that the Christian and the Christian inheritance they're being kept not by our own strength not by our own determination not by our own our own resolve or even by this guardian angel.

[23:48] No Peter says that the Christian and their inheritance it's far more precious to God to be kept by anyone else. The inheritance and the Christian are so precious that God keeps them himself.

[24:09] He says you are kept by the power of God and the power it was that same power which exalted and raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

[24:21] That's the power he is keeping his people with. You are being kept by the power of God through faith. And that's what we were singing about in Psalm 121 where the psalmist he was encouraging us to lift our eyes beyond the hills lift them beyond the hills to the Lord and to the maker of heaven and earth because he is the one who keeps and he is the one who guards and he is the one who watches over his people and that his protection is such that he keeps us even while we're sleeping because he slumbers not in our sleeps.

[25:01] He's the keeper of the Lord's people and he promises to keep our going out and our coming in every single day of the journey. My friend when we keep our eyes upon the Lord when we keep our focus upon the Lord he promises to keep us we are being kept and I always remember asking an older Christian the simple question I've probably told you this before the question how are you and she didn't give me the answer I expected it's not the I'm fine that we all say or the not bad or plodding on all she said was I'm being kept I'm being kept and it's so true we're being kept despite our circumstances despite our illnesses despite our concerns whatever we may be going through in our life every Christian can say tonight I'm being kept I'm being kept and what are we being kept for?

[26:07] we are being kept for glory kept for glory and so when Peter writes his letter to these struggling Christians he reminds them of what the Christian life is all about and he says to them you're being prepared for glory because you have been born for glory you are being kept for glory but you are also being tested for glory and that's what we see thirdly tested for glory he says in verse 6 in this you rejoice though now for a little while if necessary you've been grieved by various trials 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 honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ there was a minister called the Reverend

[27:09] Dr James Gray and he was an American preacher and teacher in the middle of the 19th century in fact he later became president of the Moody Bible College a college which was established by the great evangelist D.L. Moody but when it came to the trials of faith and the difficulties of the Christian life James Gray always wanted the Christian to lift their eyes beyond the trial and look look to what is to come in glory and in order to emphasise his teaching James Gray he wrote a poem entitled Who Can Mind the Journey When the Road Leads Home and I just want to quote a couple of verses from the poem because he wrote he says O pilgrim as you journey do you ever gladly say in spite of heavy weather and roughness of the way that it really doesn't matter all the strange and bitter stress heat and cold and toil and sorrow will be healed with blessedness for the road leads home sweet sweet home

[28:17] O who would mind the journey when the road leads home then he says there's comfort on the journey there's also guide and chart there's wisdom for the asking and there's solace for the heart there is no need of turning to the left or to the right and no fear fear need stir the bosom at the coming of the night for the road leads home sweet sweet home O who would mind the journey when the road leads home and you know that's what Peter is saying to us here in these verses that as Christians we should rejoice that's hard we should rejoice though because we have been born for glory we're being kept for glory but as he says for a little while in this life we are also being tested for glory and Peter says that we will be tested by various trials and these trials won't be easy just because you're a Christian doesn't mean that life is rosy and you'll always have a smile on your face no says Peter the trial of your faith it will grieve you it will cause you pain they'll bring heartache and sorrow into your experience and they'll leave you maybe with many questions but these trials they're not there to make you fall away from your faith they are there to test the genuineness of your faith because Peter says that if we are born for glory and if we're kept for glory then we need to be tested for glory and as one commentator said a faith that can't be tested is a faith that can't be trusted a faith that can't be tested is a faith that can't be trusted and that's what

[30:06] Jesus was drawing attention to you remember when he told the parable of the sower everyone loves the parable of the sower but it's in the parable of the sower that Jesus asks the question what is your faith really like what effect is the imperishable seed really having upon your life and he asks well has the seed fallen by the wayside has the seed fallen onto the rocky ground has it fallen among the thorns or has it fallen into the good soil what is your faith really like and what effect is that imperishable seed having upon your life and Jesus said about the seed that fell onto the rocky ground that it's like those when they hear the word they receive it with joy but it has no root and they believe for a while but when testing comes they fall away and what Jesus and Peter are reminding us is that as Christians who are going through the trial of our life we are being tested for glory but if we abandon our faith when the going gets tough and say it's too much to bear then it only proves that it's not genuine faith after all my friend

[31:25] Peter is saying to us that the trials of our faith they are not there to make us run from Jesus they are there to make us run to Jesus when we are tested for glory it's not to see if we can depend upon our own strength and our own self it's to ensure that we are depending completely upon our saviour and Peter says that being tested for glory it's not only necessary it's precious it's precious and it's more precious than gold that perishes he says later in the chapter Peter will tell us that we have been redeemed not with corruptible things not with perishable things of this world such as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ but here Peter says that our faith when it is tested for glory it's precious it's precious in fact in fact the language which Peter is using in verse 7 it illustrates to us the work of a goldsmith in which the goldsmith he would heat the gold ore in the smelting furnace in order to remove all those cheap impurities and it said that a goldsmith in the eastern culture they would hold the smelting pot in the furnace for a very very long time and he would hold it there until he could see his own face reflected in the molten gold and you know it's a beautiful illustration of what the Lord does with his people in which the Lord puts us through the trials of our faith he holds us in the fire and he keeps us in the furnace of testing he keeps us there until we reflect back to him the glory and the beauty of Jesus

[33:33] Christ and Peter is saying to us tonight this is what the Christian life is all about it's not easy but it's all about being prepared for glory and we are being prepared for glory when we are tested for glory and you know if there was anyone in scripture who was tested for glory it was Job he was tested on every side he lost his home his business his health and even his family and yet the genuineness of his faith it shone through when he acknowledged about the Lord he knows the way that I take when he has tried me I will come forth as gold my friend what was so evident about Job's life was that he looked not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen because Job discovered that the things which are seen they are only temporary but the things which are unseen they are eternal and that's what the

[34:41] Christian life is all about it's about looking to the things that are unseen and eternal because we are being prepared for glory and as Peter says the Christian has been born for glory they are being kept for glory they are being tested for glory but lastly they are being filled for glory filled for glory he says in verse 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 obtaining the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls and in these words Peter describes the feelings that every Christian has towards Jesus because every Christian can say that although we have not seen Jesus in the flesh we love him we love him because he first loved us we love him because of who he is we love him because he has demonstrated his love towards us by dying on the cross we love him because he gave himself for us we love him because he was condemned in our place we love him because he speaks so tenderly and so compassionately to us in his word we love him because he promises in his word never to leave us and never to forsake us even in the darkness and the hardness of trials we love him because despite all our failures and all our shortcomings and all the mess that we make in our own life he still loves us we love him because as Peter says even though we do not now see him we rejoice with that inexpressible joy because we have the promise the promise that we will be filled for glory filled for glory and what

[36:38] Peter is saying is that even though we live by faith and not by sight and even though we're looking to the things that are not seen and are eternal and even though we have been born for glory and kept for glory and tested for glory he says we love Jesus because we know that when we trust him we are in safe hands and that he will bring our salvation to its completion he will bring it to its end because our salvation it doesn't end at conversion our salvation doesn't end when we sit at the Lord's table for the first time our salvation doesn't end when we commit our life to Jesus Christ it doesn't end when we tell our testimony no that's only the beginning because the New Testament teaching of salvation is that we are saved we are being saved and we will be saved our salvation it in it's all encompassing our past our present our future and that's what

[37:39] Peter has been alluding to throughout this entire section that our salvation will not be complete until we receive our inheritance and glory and he says that we don't receive our inheritance at death no Peter says that we will receive our inheritance at the revelation of Jesus Christ we will receive our inheritance when this Jesus whom we have not seen yet we love him so so deeply it will be finished we will receive our inheritance when he is revealed to us at the resurrection of the dead and this is why Peter says that we have been born for glory because we have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead this is why we he says that we are being kept for glory through faith so that we will be revealed on the great day of resurrection this is why Peter says that we are being tested for glory so that we might be found unto praise honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus

[38:44] Christ and this is why Peter says that we are being filled for glory because on that great resurrection morning when all the dead in Christ shall rise from their graves when they're called out he says we will receive the outcome of our faith which is the completed salvation of our soul my Christian friend the completion of our salvation will be when our body and soul reunite on that great resurrection morning and at that moment when the union is completed we will be like an earthen vessel filled for glory filled for glory and we will receive our royal inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled that does not fade away we will receive every spiritual blessing that has been promised to us in

[39:45] Christ and you know the promise of the completion of our salvation it means that we can trust Jesus with everything we can trust him with our life and all that it has for us every tear every sorrow every heartache every joy every blessing every curse we can trust him with our life and we can trust him with our death and you know I keep coming back to it time and time again because they are just so wonderful these catechisms which speak about the death and resurrection of the Christian they remind us that when we entrust ourselves to Jesus he will take care of both our body and our soul the catechism says to us that well when the Christian dies at death the souls of believers they are made perfect in holiness they do immediately pass into glory and their bodies their precious bodies they still belong to Jesus still united to Jesus they will rest in their graves until the resurrection morning but at that glorious resurrection morning when Jesus stands over every grave and calls them out when our salvation is complete he said the catechism says that every believer who died in Christ will be raised up in glory openly acknowledged and acquitted on the day of judgment made perfectly blessed and go in go in to the full enjoying of God to all eternity at the completion of our salvation we will be filled with glory and when we see him we shall be like him and see him even as he is we will see and we will be like the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth and you know it's no wonder

[41:53] Peter is saying to these struggling Christians struggling with life struggling with persecution struggling with the world it's no wonder he says to them blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ because in him we have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places my friend Peter is reminding us tonight that although we may be weak although we may be confused although we don't understand it all although we're struggling he says the Christian life it's all about being prepared for glory because the Christian they are born for glory they are kept for glory they are tested for glory and at that great and glorious day they will be filled for glory and when we listen to what Peter is actually saying you know we have to ask who wouldn't want to be a

[43:08] Christian who wouldn't want this life who wouldn't want to be a Christian because the Christian life it's all about being prepared for glory so if you are not a Christian I would encourage you to close in with this Christ to make him your Lord and your saviour because when you do you will be born for glory kept for glory tested for glory and at the last with every other Christian around you filled for glory may the Lord bless these thoughts to us let us pray oh Lord our gracious God we give thanks for oh every promise and every privilege that we have in and through thy son

[44:18] Jesus help us Lord not to lose sight of them this world has many temptations many distractions many sorrows but Lord we thank thee that thy word reminds us that what we are being prepared for is what I have not seen nor hear heard nor have it entered into the heart of man what God is preparing for those who love him but Lord we bless thee as Paul writes that these things have been revealed to us by the spirit and that thou wouldst reveal these things to us again tonight bless us Lord we pray on the journey that we would keep going on keep going on from strength to strength looking to Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith cleanse us we pray go before us in the week that lies ahead oh a week that is unknown to us unknown to us what it entails but we thank thee that we are able to entrust every hour to thee do us good and we ask for Jesus sake amen we shall conclude by singing the words of psalm 84 psalm 84 in the

[45:37] Scottish Psalter page 339 psalm 84 a beautiful psalm and the great promise to the pilgrim in verse 7 singing from verse 7 down to the end of the psalm the promise to the pilgrim to the christian so they from strength unwearied go still forward unto strength until in Zion they appear before the lord at length and it's so wonderful what he says in verse 10 for in thy courts one day excels a thousand rather in my god's house will I keep a door than dwell in tents of sin these verses psalm 84 verse 7 to 12 to god's praise o dear from strength unwearied go still forward up to strength till they 2019 before the

[47:15] Gabriella for me on Thee on the face so I am vontade For in thy courts one day Excells a thousand brother In my courts have swayed Like he adore Thine dwell in tents of sin

[48:22] For God the Lord's a sun and shield He'll Christ and glory give And will without no good from them That are brightly to live O thou that art the Lord of hosts That mine is truly blessed Who by your sure confidence

[49:27] Only alone doth rest The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God the Father And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you all Now and forevermore Amen Amen