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Okay, so keep your bibles open there, and I do want to welcome our first-time visitors, Jackie and Flo. It's a pleasure to have you guys here, hope you enjoy the service this morning. And we are starting a new book, we just searched, so we did go through our free sums, you may recall, over the last three weeks. And now it starts in a new book, we're going to be going through First Peter. Once we're done with First Peter, we'll be doing our free sums, then we'll be doing Second Peter. Okay, so there is a reason behind me doing these books, I did want to preach on these eventually, but I'll give you those reasons soon. Now if you look at verse number four, First Peter chapter one and verse number four, it says there, it begins by saying to an inheritance incorruptible, to an inheritance incorruptible. So the title for the sermon this morning is An Inheritance Incorruptible, An Inheritance Incorruptible. Now that should give you excitement to know that at the end of our lives here on this earth, when we're at home in heaven with God, that he has inheritance for us. Now some people live for the inheritance today on this earth. Some people live for the, what's mom and dad going to live me, I hope they pass away soon, because I want to inherit the house, I want to inherit their bank accounts. Yeah I mean look, there's blessings in a physical inheritance, but it is a corruptible inheritance. It's not going to last for eternity, you know, whatever money's in that bank account, it'll be wasted. There are always bills, there are always expenses to be paid, but the Bible tells us there's an inheritance, a spiritual inheritance in heaven that is incorruptible, it will never go to waste. It will always be there for all eternity, so you have a choice as a Christian, whether to live for the inheritance of this earth, or to live for the inheritance in heaven. Alright, now, let's start with verse number one. So for our visitors that are not familiar with what we do in the morning, we do go chapter by chapter through the Bible, verse by verse as much as possible, okay? And we are going through, we read through the King James Bible, it's the Bible that we use in this church, and if you're struggling to keep up, I'm not sure if you all have a King James Bible, if you're struggling, there are some free Bibles there on the shelves, so if it helps you to grab one of those, go ahead, you know, that's for you to take home as well. So verse number one, it says Peter, now of course this is first Peter, so who's the writer? Peter, okay? Peter the apostle, okay? Now it says here Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, now who is he writing to? He says to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. Now if you've gone and you've checked the cities on a map, this is modern day Turkey, okay? Or as it was known in those days, or even today, you know, Asia Minor, you know, Asia Minor. And so what I'm trying to say to you is that these cities are Gentile cities, all right? Now who has this been written to? If these are Gentile cities, well, you know, some people say, well, it's the strangers in these Gentile cities. You know, I've heard preachers say that first Peter and second Peter is not for you, New Testament Church. It's not for you, Australian. I've heard it said that it is for the Jews, okay? It is for the Jews, the Christ rejecting Jews, because they are strangers in these cities. You know, they've been driven out of Jerusalem, they've been driven out of Judea, and they've gone into these cities, and because they're not locals, they're strangers. Now do you think that's the truth? Do you think that's the case? Is it written just for stranger Jews that are out there in Gentile cities? Well, I'll prove to you very quickly that this is not written to strangers of a physical sense. It's actually written to, look, go to the next chapter, first Peter chapter two, go to first Peter chapter two, and look at verse number nine. First Peter chapter two in verse number nine. Let's see how the author Peter uses this phrase, the strangers, in verse number nine. It says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, okay? So he's writing to people of a holy nation, of one nation, and guess where they are? In other cities throughout the world, let's keep going, that ye should show forth the praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. That kind of sounds like Christians. That kind of sounds like someone that he's saved that's been called out of darkness into the light of Christ. Look at verse number 10, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God. Let's stop there. Who are the people of God in the Old Testament? The Israelites, the Jews, all right? And so when Peter says that you were not a people, but are now the people of God, who's the people of God in the New Testament? The New Testament saints, okay? Jews and Gentiles that have believed on Jesus Christ. Obviously this is not written just to Jews, let's keep going, but are now the people of God which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy, look at verse 11, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. So now we know the strangers and pilgrims are those that were once not a people of God, but are now the people of God. So who's this been written to? Just to Jews? No. To believers, to Gentile believers, right? Why are they strangers in these cities? Is it because they're from another nation? Well kind of because we're from the holy nation. They're from a spiritual nation, okay? So the stranger is not a stranger in a physical sense, it is a stranger in a spiritual sense. Now listen, I think most of you are Australian citizens, I think all of us are, okay? We would not be considered strangers in this nation in a physical sense, but listen, if you're part of the holy nation, the Israel of God, okay, you are spiritually a stranger, okay? Now please keep your finger there and go to Hebrews chapter 11. I just want to show you this. In Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 13, let's reinforce this a second time, Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 13, now we're looking at the Old Testament saints, we're looking at those that were living under the old covenant, okay, of God, and it says in Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 13, it says these all, speaking of the Old Testament saints, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, okay? So these Old Testament saints, even when they were walking the earth, they considered themselves strangers and pilgrims, okay? So what do we learn then? When we read 1 Peter, okay, and we see the strangers in these Gentile cities, who was it written to? For all believers, Jews, Gentiles, anybody who has believed on Jesus Christ, anybody that's been caught out of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ, anyone that has put their faith on Christ, this book is written to, okay? Now if I had the view that this is only for Jews, I wouldn't come here behind the pulpit on a church and preach it to you guys. What a waste if it's just for some other group, not for us. Now listen, all the Bible is for us, you know, from Genesis to Revelation, all of us, you know, the whole Bible can be taken to teach us things, to learn about God, okay? It's not for us to reject that chapter or that book, oh, I don't like Paul, Paul didn't like women, you know, that's why there's some verses there that say women should not be pastors. No, all of the Bible is the Word of God, okay? Men who have been moved by the Holy Ghost to pen these words. It's a beautiful book that we hold in our hands. Back to 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1. So the reason I chose 1 Peter and 2 Peter is because it is written to strangers that are scattered, okay? And when I think about the makeup of this church, and I know that's a spiritual sense, but then I was also thinking about the physical sense as well for our church, and I was thinking about the makeup of our church, many of us are locals, many of us do live on the Sunshine Coast, but about 30% of us, maybe 40% of us live outside of the Sunshine Coast. I mean, some of you guys travel a fair distance to be part of this church, and I'm very grateful for it, I'm very blessed by that. It's a great testament of your love and faith toward the Lord God and his church. And so I was thinking about the fact that kind of we are scattered, right? It's not easy, if it's not church, it's not easy for all of us to get together. Because how far is, we go as far as Gympie and as south as the Gold Coast, I mean, if you were doing just that trip, how long would that take? Is it about four hours or something like that, right? A four hour trip? It's hard for us to get all together unless it's for church. And so there is that sense that we are kind of all scattered. But the other reason I chose this book is because, as you know, come October, your pastor and his family are going to move down to Sydney temporarily for 12 months to help Blessed Hope Baptist Church, and in a sense, the support of the family is going to be scattered away. You know, we're going to be even further than the Gold Coast, right? And so I was just thinking about the fact that we're all kind of scattered. But also, if you can please go to chapter five, 1 Peter chapter five and verse number one. The other reason I thought this was an adequate book to read through, not only was Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, but he's one man who held two offices, not just the office of an apostle, but he was also a pastor. And if you look at 1 Peter chapter five and verse number one, it says, the elders and elders is a word interchangeable with pastor or bishop. It says the elders, which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder. So there he is, I'm also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. And so what's great about the book of 1 Peter, he has the office as an apostle, which is a higher office than a pastor, okay, and he's writing to those that are scattered, so I can see that, and we're going to be scattered further come October. But also, he's writing as a pastor to other pastors, okay. So I just thought this was a great book to go through. I think there's going to be great truths, great things that we can learn from in 1 Peter that's going to help us during that 12-month period where, you know, your pastor and the family will be away for those 12 months. Don't forget, I'll be coming up every Wednesday, though, I'll be coming up once a week to see you guys. So I'm not completely scattered away, all right, amen. So that's the reason why I chose this book. Now let's go back to chapter one, 1 Peter chapter one and verse number two, 1 Peter chapter one and verse number two. Now it says here, now this verse here, verse number two is a verse that Calvinists, now we are a church that do not believe in Calvinism, okay, what is Calvinism? Basically it is this, that God before you were born, in fact, before you even created anything, he already chose who would be saved and who would not be saved. And boy, how many people are saved versus how many are not saved? I mean, those that actually believe on Christ, that know they are saved, they have eternal life, is such a small percentage, such a small percentage. And so Calvinism basically teaches this, let's say the percentage, and I think I'm being generous here, let's say it's two percent, okay, of the population that are saved, I think I'm being generous, okay. The idea would be, well God chose, before he created anything, two percent of all mankind, you can get to go to heaven and enjoy the blessings of the incorruptible inheritance and the other 98 percent, well I don't like you guys, I hate you in fact, so you can go to hell. That's Calvinism, essentially what it teaches, before you even were born, before God created anything, God selected, God elected, God chose you whether to be saved or whether to be damned in hell. Now that's a wicked doctrine, that is a wicked doctrine, that's not true. Now when you read verse number two, it can sound like that, okay, if your mind has been twisted to believe that way, let's have a read of it. It says here elect, now what does elect mean, it means chosen, okay, elect. So God did some choosing, okay, makes sense, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, so did God choose something before history, yeah, okay, what did he choose? Through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Now before we explain this in light of salvation as a free will, as you get to decide whether you want to receive salvation or not, let's understand first of all, and let me just confirm that verse number two is about the salvation of the soul, it is about that, okay, but let's understand what it says here, because it says here through sanctification of the Spirit, so we do know that to be saved you must be born of the Spirit, okay, and then it says this, unto obedience. Now those that want to teach a work-based gospel will say see, you've got to obey the commandments, you've got to obey the law of Moses to be saved, but is that what it says there, it doesn't say the obedience is to the laws of Moses or to the commandments of God, or does it just say obedience, it just says obedience, right, and then it says and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, so is it the blood of Christ that saves us, absolutely, so this is about salvation, but let's understand what the obedience is, now again we've got to keep the context, okay, we can stay in the same chapter, drop down to verse number 22, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse number 22, it says here, seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the commandments, ah, there it is, no, obeying the law of Moses, is that what you obeyed, no, obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with pure heart fervently, now you say well that's not saying that you've got to obey the gospel, it just says you've got to obey the truth, well first of all the gospel is the truth, okay, the gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the truth that you have to believe, you say but it doesn't say that you have to believe, well let's stay in the same book, let's understand what this obedience is that's being driven by Paul, go to chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse number 17, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse number 17, it says here, for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the commandments, that obey not the law of Moses, that obey not the gospel of God, how do you obey the gospel, alright, look at verse number 18, it says and if the righteous scarcely be saved, that's us, we're righteous, we've been saved, scarcely be saved, where shall the, sorry, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear, so the ungodly, the one that rejects the gospel, that does not obey the gospel, hey they've got a bad end, hey but we've been scarcely saved, in fact salvation has nothing to do with our performance, it has all to do with what Jesus Christ has done for us, and so salvation is believing the gospel, how do you obey the gospel, you believe the gospel, that's what the obedience is, in context of what Peter is writing about, okay, so don't allow someone to show us his obedience, therefore it works, no it's not, salvation is by grace through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast, you know, Ephesians chapter 2, so let's understand that first of all, the obedience here, within the context of the book, even within the same chapter is obeying the truth, obeying the gospel, believing the gospel, alright, now Calvinism will say, well see God has elected you to obey the gospel, God elected you to be sprinkled by the blood of Christ, they'll say, God has elected you to be sanctified of the spirit and he elected others not to be that way, when you go back to verse number 2, 1 Peter chapter 1, verse number 2, and so this is not what this passage is teaching, okay, what this is teaching is that we are elect because we've been sanctified in the spirit, we are elect because we have been sanctified in the spirit, we are elect because we have been obedient to the truth, to the gospel, we are elect because we've been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ, that's why we're elect, when you read verse number 2, let's read it again, okay, so the election, we are elect because we've gone through the process, because otherwise Calvinism will teach you are the elect before you've gone through the process, because that's why you've been elect before the foundation of the world, you've been elect before you were born, you were elect before you could even believe the gospel they'll teach, no, okay, we're elect because we've gone, now that you understand that, let's go through it again, elect according to the full knowledge of God, so yeah, God's full knowledge is that we will be elect of God through the process that we're about to read, through sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace, we multiply grace, for by grace are you saved, remember, okay, so it's the process that allows us to be elect, not that you elect to go through this process, so you can see how the Calvinists really, you know, struggle with these verses, and I can understand where you maybe as a baby in Christ who doesn't know the Bible very well, can hear those arguments, read a passage like that and go wow, that sounds like we were chosen to be saved, no, okay, we're chosen because we've been saved, okay, let's look at verse number 3, it says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, have begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, so it says here that we've been begotten us again, what does that sound like, begotten us again, that sounds like John chapter 3, being born again, most of us are not familiar with that, right, being born again, well when it says here, begotten us again, that means we're being born again, right, so you've been born the first time from your mother, you know, you've had a fleshly birth, but there comes a time when you're saved that that points that you were born again, you will be begotten again, it says here, unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, so a lively hope, you're born again, you've been given a new life, okay, New Life Baptist Church, that's where we get the name from, okay, when you're saved, you get a new life, your spirit which was dead because of your sins is made alive because you believed on Christ and it's through the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, okay, we cannot forget that the resurrection is in fact the most vital part of the gospel, yes his death is important, yes his suffering is important, yes the fact that he took on the sins and paid for it all is important, yes his burial is important, but most important if he was not risen from the dead, we would not be able to, we would not have the complete gospel, you'd still be dead in your sins, right, by being resurrected from the dead, he showed not only that he died for those things, but he has victory over those things, he has victory over death, victory over hell, victory over sins, okay, it's through his power of victory that we can be saved, okay, praise God for Jesus Christ, without him, we would not have salvation. Verse number four, now this is the title for the sermon, it says two, so not only are we saved, right, but we're saved to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, listen, verse number four and number five tells us that when we're saved, when we believe the gospel, that we can never lose it, it's once saved, always saved, you say but what if I do some bad sins, listen, you can't be bad enough to lose it, because you were never good enough to get it in the first place, it was never based on your performance, it was always being based on what Jesus Christ has done for you and the power of his resurrection, you start thinking I've got to live up to certain standards to be saved, you're a fool, you're full of pride, you think you're good enough to go to heaven, what a joke, it's Jesus Christ, it's only through him, we're going to live in Christ and not boast in ourselves, okay, now listen, if God has given us an inheritance, let me explain to you why this is once saved, always saved, okay, once you're saved, now you have an inheritance incorruptible, all right, undefiled, it's going to be there in heaven forever, okay, and then it says that fadeth not away, now look at this, reserved in heaven for you, say well I can lose it, then it's not reserved for you, right, if you can lose salvation, like God's reserved, all right, this is, I'll use brother Jason, brother Jason gets saved, God says all right, here's an inheritance for brother Jason, all right, it's reserved for him, and let's say brother Jason could lose his salvation, right, and you would lose your salvation if you could, right, he loses it, and you know, he doesn't go to heaven, we get to heaven, we say what's that inheritance, oh that's for Jason, okay, when's he going to get, it's reserved for Jason, all right, where is Jason, right, I mean if it's reserved for him, it means he's going to receive that, you know, when you go to a car park, sometimes you'll notice, you know, sometimes I get frustrated, I'm looking for a place to park in some large shopping complex, and they'll say reserved for employees, right, that parking is reserved for employees, it's reserved for customers of that shop, I don't know if you ever get that frustrated, you're like oh man, I found a place to park, oh reserved for whatever, it's ah man, I can't park there, okay, you can't park there because it's for somebody, that person's going to park there at some point, right, and so if this inheritance is reserved for you, it means you're going to be there, that's why God's reserved it for you, okay, God's not going to allow that inheritance to go to waste, but then look at verse number 5, who are kept by the power of God, say when, no, I'm the one that's keeping my salvation, I'm cleaning up my life, I'm doing the best I can, look, I know I'm going to heaven because look how good I am, I'm going to heaven because I'm the pastor of this church, look how much I'm doing for God, no, I'm not being kept by the power of any man, we're being kept, our salvation is kept by the power of God, alright, through faith, again faith, believing the gospel is what saves us, and then it says this, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, so I've already preached on this not too long ago, yes, when you believe you are saved today, but we haven't experienced full salvation yet, and so when it says here ready to be revealed in the last time, that's speaking about Christ being revealed, and the fact that we're going to receive new resurrected bodies, the resurrection, okay, we're not going to live for all eternity in these bodies, these bodies are corruptible, they're going to perish, they're going to end up in the grave somewhere, right, but God will come back one day and give us a new, brand new resurrected body, that would be the salvation of our flesh, okay, the salvation of our flesh, so, you know, that's what it's referring to there, the fact that, you know, there's this promise, there's a reservation there, thank you son, and our full salvation will be received when Jesus Christ comes back and gives us those new resurrected bodies, let's keep going, verse number six, wherein ye greatly rejoice, now verse number six is interesting, it has this interesting truth of a Christian life, okay, because when you got saved, I'm sure you were happy, I'm sure you were relieved, oh man, it wasn't works, it wasn't through church, it wasn't my baptism, it was just my faith on Christ that saved me, praise God, now I know I'm going to heaven, now I know my sins have been completely paid for, if Jesus paid for it all, I don't have to pay for anything, praise God, that's a great truth, right, and so it says we're in, we're in the truth that God has reserved us a place that we have salvation, the fullness of salvation to come, we can rejoice in these things, but then there's the other truth of the Christian life, it says, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, so this is the Christian life, there's times of great joy, yes, I'm saved, I'm going to heaven, and then when you're saved and you're trying to live godly, you know, and all of a sudden you're back to your old sins, you're back to those temptations, you're failing, you haven't picked up your Bible for weeks, you're not serving God the way you ought to, well, you're not going to lose your salvation, we know that, but there's a heaviness, a heaviness, a sadness to know that Lord, I wish I could do more for you, but I'm not achieving what I want, you know, and that's just the reality of the Christian life, reverend, and that's why we need the fullness of salvation, that's why we need that new resurrected body that doesn't struggle with temptations and sins, okay, that's the exciting time, but now we know during this time, during these, I don't know, 70, 80, 90 years, God willing, you know, 100 years that God may give you in this life, you're going to be constantly struggling with manifold, manifold means many, many temptations, many struggles in our lives. Verse number eight, whom having not seen ye love, okay, so we've not seen Christ, but we love him, we love what he's done for us, right, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, alright, now I hope you can say to yourself honestly, salvation, knowing Christ, even though I've never seen him, I wasn't here 2,000 years ago, but I know Christ, in fact, I know, I can say to you, I know Christ as well as I know any of my children, as well as I know my wife, as well as I know any of you, I know he's real, you know, I've spent time in fellowship with him, I've spent time in prayer, I've spent time in reading his word, and look, I don't know exactly what he looks like, what he looked like when he was walking 2,000 years ago, but spiritually speaking, my spiritual eyes, I know Jesus Christ, I know he's my saviour, and when you're walking with Christ, you can have this joy, this joy unspeakable and full of glory, I'm sometimes amazed, you know, I don't think I actually live with fullness of joy, I'm usually quite a happy guy though, right, in general, but I've seen some Christians that it just seems like every day they just got a big smile on their face, every day just rejoicing in Christ, you know, I look at that and go, man, I want to be a little more like that, okay, and it seems like no matter what hardship, no matter what trial they go through, they just go through it with a happy face, now maybe they have that just to be a blessing to others, maybe at home, I'm sure at home, right, when they're alone, I'm sure they're shedding some tears, I'm sure they're going through some hardships, and I know they're going to God and saying, God, can you help me, and God is stepping through, God is helping them, God is giving them that joy, and listen, that's how we can live our lives, even though we struggle with manifold temptations, even though we're yearning in his body to serve God more, we can go through life with full of glory, full of joy, alright, verse number 9, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, and so what it's saying here, the end of your faith, what this means is the end result of your faith, so you have placed your faith on Christ, and the end result of that faith is the salvation of your souls, okay, verse number 10, of which salvation, the prophets, now it says here the prophets, speaking about the Old Testament prophets here, okay, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, alright, now let's stop there for a minute, those that teach that the Old Testament saints will save some other way, this is another great passage to show them, okay, no, it's like, oh, they knew nothing, they knew nothing of Christ, they knew, how could they place their faith on Christ, how could they place their faith on, well they didn't know the name of Christ but they knew the name of Jehovah, okay, and God Almighty before that, okay, how could they call upon the name of the Lord not knowing about Jesus Christ, and yet the Bible's clearly telling us here that the prophets of old prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, hey, they wrote about your salvation, they wrote about the grace of God that would come upon us, did they know about it, absolutely they knew, but when you see the first half of that sentence, it says of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, so they didn't have the full revelation, they didn't understand it completely, they didn't know the name of Christ, maybe they weren't even sure exactly when he would come, but they knew, they had their faith on Christ, they knew this was the salvation, this was the grace that God will offer man, and their faith was upon that, that's how they got saved, they knew the gospel, they knew it the same way we know it, we just know it, it's been a lot more revealed for us, you know, we can look back, especially now, 2000 years into the future, we can read the New Testament, we can read the Old Testament, and we have, you know, the longer we've gone in history, the greater the blessing is that we can read of the prophets because we have a greater understanding, okay, we even have a greater understanding than many of the disciples that walked with Christ, you know, some of them struggled, scratching their head, you know, is Jesus going to die, is he going to come back, what's going on, right, and so there's always been this sort of understanding of the grace of God to come through the sacrifices because, you know, the sacrifices are from the very beginning, the shedding of blood, we saw that salvation is a sprinkling of blood of Jesus Christ, okay, so that understanding's been known throughout history, but we can look back and we fully understand it, and we say, yeah, well, of course, because all those sacrifices were a picture of what Jesus Christ would do for us, okay, and we can call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, let's keep going, verse number, sorry, 11, searching what or what manner of time, so these are talking about the prophets still, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, now look at this, which was in them did signify, was the Spirit of Christ in the Old Testament prophets, that's what it says, oh, they knew nothing of Christ, well, they had the Spirit of Christ in them, how can you say they know nothing of Christ when Christ himself is working in their lives, okay, so that Spirit of Christ is in them, look at this, did signify when it, now that it there is the Spirit, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, so the Old Testament prophets know about the sufferings of Christ, of course, did they know about the glory to follow, that he be resurrected, that that's the salvation process, of course they knew about it, they had the Spirit of Christ working in them, and they penned those words in the Bible, so if someone comes up to you and says to you, man, the Old Testament saints, they were saved some other way, they were saved by works, they were saved by some other gospel, that's a false prophet right there, and the Bible is very clear, they had not only the knowledge of Christ, but they had the Spirit of Christ working in them, okay, now, when it says here in verse number, oh, actually let's look at verse number 12, verse number 12, unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things, let's stop there for a minute, what does it say when it says they did minister the things, it means they served these things, the Old Testament prophets, who did they serve, now look at it again, verse number 12, unto whom it was revealed, and not unto themselves, but unto us, did they minister the things, the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah, Ezekiel, right, who else, Jeremiah, who else, David, all the prophets, everyone that's written the Bible in the past, you know who they wrote for, for you, for you, that's what the Bible says, okay, now again, yeah, did they profit from it in their time, absolutely, okay, but did they all have copies of the Bible, all 66 books of the Bible in their hands, do you think that, you know, do you think they would come to the synagogue and when the Bible would be read, everybody had a copy in their hands to just follow along, no, the only copy they had was the one they would read at the synagogue in public, people would come to the synagogues, I want to hear the word of God, I haven't got a copy in my house, so they would go to the synagogue to hear the Bible being read, how much more profit do you have, reverend then, you know, the Old Testament prophets prophesied wrote for you, so you can learn, oh, just the New Testament's for the Christian church, no, the whole Bible, all the prophets are for us, they were thinking about us when they wrote the Bible, they were there to serve us, to minister unto us, let's keep going, verse number 12, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into, and so notice there, that the things of old, of the Old Testament prophets have been reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel, or the gospel that we believe today wasn't in the Old Testament, that's why they wrote the Old Testament, to teach us about the gospel, so we can be saved today, now look, thank God we have the New Testament, because it's much clearer, you know, normally when you go and preach the gospel to someone, you're using the New Testament aren't you, because it's much more clearer, we understand it, it's for us, it's for our prophet in our day, alright, so please don't ever get to the point where, I'm just going to read the New Testament, because God seems a lot more loving, in the Old Testament he seems a bit aggressive and angry, no, it's written for you, okay, don't forget the God that you worship is a God of great love, but he's also a God of great wrath, okay, and his great love has been shown to us by the sacrifice of his son, the free gift of salvation, received by faith, completely paid for, no wonder he has great wrath for those that reject Christ, makes sense to me, I don't know about you, but if I offered my own son as a sacrifice to my enemies, and you reject that, man, just at a human level, that would anger me to no end, how much more the righteous anger of God who gave a perfect sacrifice in Jesus Christ. Verse number 13, well actually let me just, at the end of verse number 12 there's an interesting sentence right at the end, it says which things the angels desire to look into, so we benefit from the word of God more than angels, you know, the angels in heaven are going, man, you know, what's this word of God, what's this sacrifice that has been offered, you know, what's this plan of salvation, we want to understand it as well, even the angels want to understand the writings that have been written unto us for our prophet, it's amazing to think about, you know, we may not realise that because our Bibles just collect shelf on our bedside tables, but we've been given a great treasure, a great treasure, please appreciate this great treasure that you have. Look at verse number 13, wherefore, alright, so now that we've outlined the truth here, now that we've outlined the doctrine of salvation, how we received it, how it's been given to us through the Old Testament prophets, etc, well now in light of this, how should we live our lives, right? Verse number 13, wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now what is the revelation of Jesus Christ? Revelation is just the revealing, right? The revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ, so it's all about His second coming, that's why the last book of your Bible is called the Revelation, because it's about revealing Christ when He comes back a second time, it's about revealing the end time events, alright? And so, the instruction is, now that you are saved, hey, gird up the loins of your mind, get your mind straight, you've been brainwashed by this world, you've been brainwashed by the wickedness of this world, if you think abortion is right, you've been brainwashed, alright? If you think marriage is okay between two men or two women, you've been brainwashed in this world. No, the Bible says, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, be sober, hey, if you're an alcoholic, get rid of the alcohol, if you use drugs, marijuana, cocaine, get rid of those things that make you lose sobriety, okay? No, we ought to be Christians and say, okay, we've been saved, praise God, He's given me a great treasure, now I'm gonna make sure that my mind is aligned with the mind of Christ, it's aligned with the mind of God, okay? That's what we ought to do. Now, whether you do or not, doesn't change the fact that you're going to heaven, okay? But, that's the expectation, that's what God wants from us, that's why He's given us a lively hope, He's given us a new man, a new spirit to live after Him, alright? Let's not allow it to go to waste, Romans chapter 12 verse 2 says, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, that's why you need to gird up the loins of your mind, that's why you need to clean the junk that's in your mind, and brethren, you still have junk in your mind, I still have junk in my mind, we're still trying to cleanse ourselves mentally, using the word of God as the water that washes us, alright? And we've got to stop thinking like, remember, what are we called in verse number 1? Strangers, alright? The fact that you think differently, the fact that you believe differently than what you've been told in this world, the world's just going to look at you and go, you're a stranger, you're a weirdo, yes, that's good, because I'm part of a holy nation, that's my, that's my, what's the word I'm looking for? Well, that's my home, alright, let's leave it there, that's my home, let's keep going, verse number 14, what else should we do? As obedient children, should we be obedient children to our Heavenly Father? Absolutely, not fashioning yourselves again to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He which have called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. So what else? Clear up our minds, alright, let's get the mind of Christ, but now that you're saved, we need to turn from our sins, no, no, you've got to turn from your sins to be saved, wrong, alright, wrong, how can you turn from your sins when you're not even saved and you don't have the power of God? Listen, now that you are saved, now that you have received Christ, He gives you the ability, the power, the strength to turn from the former lusts of your ignorance, the sins that you struggle with, alright, why? But as He which have called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, all our behaviour, all of our interaction ought to be holy, what does holy mean? Separated, different from the world, it's like come to church to be holy, praise God, but then you've got to work to be holy, you go home and you'll be holy in your home, you'll be holy in your family, you'll be holy in all the interactions that we have, all manner of conversation, the Bible says there, we need to be striving for holiness in all areas of our life, not just in church, why do people say church is full of hypocrites, I don't go to church anymore, full of hypocrites, yeah, because people would come to church holy and then they'd see them on Monday, just like the world, not a stranger, just exactly living in wickedness, in sin, in filth, filling their minds with all perverted kinds of things, and they say well the church is full of hypocrites, I don't want to be there, that's a wrong approach, you should be in church whether or not, you know, it's God's command for you to be in church, you know, not to forsake the assembly of yourselves together, but I understand where they're coming from, I understand the concerns, because God has instructed us to be holy in all areas of our life, okay, now it says in verse number 16, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy, so like I enjoy doing, let's go back to see where it is written, alright, so keep your fingers there, go to Leviticus chapter 11, go to Leviticus chapter 11 verse number 44, Leviticus 11 44, let's have a look at where this was written, and what is the context of this being written, because I think it does flesh out a little more here, in Leviticus chapter 11 verse number 44, now the context of this is the dietary restrictions, if you guys know the Old Testament, the Jews, or the Israelites I should say, were permitted to eat certain animals, but there were other creatures they were not permitted to eat of, you know, they were not allowed to eat pig, for example, pork, alright, they were not allowed to eat shellfish, things like that, okay, and so God explains them, there's a difference between what is clean, that you can eat, and what is unclean, and then in Leviticus 11 verse 44 it says this, for I am the Lord your God, ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy, neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, that's the animals that are unclean, look at verse 145, for I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God, ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy, okay, so what did we learn there? Two things, he says look, I want you to eat differently from the world, there are animals that I will consider unclean, and by the way, that's an Old Testament teaching that's been changed in the New Testament, okay, we can eat of anything we like in the New Testament, but the spiritual application is there, why was that there? To teach us that we need to be separated, that we need to be holy, and then he goes about Egypt, he says look, I've delivered you out of Egypt, what does Egypt represent? It represents the world, it represents sin, it represents false religion, they had all these false gods in Egypt, and he says no, I want you to be holy, you've been pulled out of Egypt, be a different people, okay, and so the lesson for us brethren is that we need to be different from this world, we need to be different from the wicked, and just accept the wickedness, accept the filth, accept the sin, no, that's not us, we need to differ from that, and so yeah, that is wicked, the Bible calls that out, that's a disgrace to God, and we ought to strive to be holy, does that mean you're going to be living without sin for the rest of your life? Of course not, you are going to struggle, you already saw the manifold temptations, okay, we already saw that, okay, this is not, you know, I'm not saying here that I'm perfect, you know, before this day ends, I would have committed a sin, maybe you already have, I don't know, okay, but when we sin, we go to the Lord, we confess those sins to the Lord, and say Lord, please forgive me, help me to do better next time, okay? Verse number 17, go back to 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1, verse number 17. Verse number 17, it says, And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. I love that, I love that God the Father is not a respecter of persons, okay? He doesn't look at the Queen of England and think she's better than you, okay? He doesn't look at those that own banks and have all the wealth in this world and say well they're better placed, I'm going to let them go to heaven because look at everything they've done. They don't look at, you know, God doesn't look at somebody who may be beautiful or handsome in this world and say, well that person is better. No, no, no, God would judge us according to every man's work. He says, is that how we go to heaven? By our works? No. Salvation, no. Salvation is by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Believe in the Gospel, okay? But we talked about an inheritance to come, alright, the incorruptible inheritance. God is telling us here, there is great reward for you in heaven if you do the work of God. If you live separately, if you live holy lives, if you overcome sin in your life, you do the will of God, he's going to reward you for it, okay? There's a great reward to come in heaven where it's incorruptible, it will last forever, you'll have it for eternity, okay? So you either live for the pleasures of this world, which is your option, you can do that if you want, okay? Or you live for the glory of God, you live for the will of God knowing that, hey, I want to lay up treasures in heaven, you know? And so that's the reality here, that we're going to be judged by our works and what's going to get us driven to do the work? At the end of verse number 17 it says, past the time of your sojourning, here in fear. You know, knowing that we're going to be judged by God should bring a good dose of fear into your life. Man, I don't want to go to heaven, face God, and God says, well, you know, you believed on Christ, welcome to heaven, what did you do for me while you were on the earth, by the way? Nothing really. Did you preach the gospel to anybody? No, I just, I thought it was Calvinism, I thought you already decided who's going to be saved, why should I preach the gospel, right? I mean, to be egg on your face, it would be embarrassing to face God, it's a fearful time to face God. And look, I want to be able to face God and say, well, God, look, man, you had some great men out there, some very faithful men that did great things for you, I was able to accomplish this, but at least I have something to show the Lord, okay? I'd rather have something to show the Lord than nothing, you know? And it's a fear of facing God one day that should drive us to be holy, alright? To do the work of God. Verse number 18, it says, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, now what are these corruptible things here? Because we saw the incorruptible inheritance, so it's comparing other things, corruptible things as silver and gold, okay? So wealth, and then it says this, from your vain conversation, remember conversation means behaviour, vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, okay? So what is corruptible? What are things that you were not redeemed with? You were not redeemed with any kind of earthly wealth. You were not redeemed by vain traditions of your fathers, okay? And some of you guys would know this as false religion, some of you have come, you know, were born into, I'd say, a Catholic family or something, right? Or some false religion, you had some false ideas that were traditions passed on from your parents, from your family, that did not save you, okay? All that saved you, we'll have a look soon, alright? So we're not redeemed with corruptible things, look at verse number 19. But, so how were we redeemed, and what is not corruptible, what is incorruptible, but with the precious blood of Christ, and as a lamb without blemish and without spot. Hey, that's how we were redeemed, by the blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot. You know what that's teaching us? It's the blood and the body of Christ. His body, the lamb that was sacrificed, that had no sin, that had no blemish, that was sacrificed for you, that's how you were redeemed, that's what's incorruptible. Not these corruptible things that saved you, it was Jesus Christ, his body and his shed blood for you. That's how you were saved. And listen brethren, it says there in verse number 19, but with the precious blood of who? Christ, Christ. Now I was out door to door soul winning with brother Tim yesterday, so he can testify of this, right? We knocked on the ladies door, she seemed interested, telling us, oh man, I've studied all religions, I've studied all the cults, and she says, you know, why are you guys stuck with a 2000 year old book? Why don't you move on? You know? And she was talking about Christ, and you know, I was trying to grab my head about what she was trying to say, and what I eventually said to her, was, are you saying you're Christ? And she said, yes, I'm Christ. You know, why Jesus came is so we could be Christ, right? And she said, and if you're not Christ, then what are you? You're anti-Christ, she said. And listen, at that point, I was already filled with righteous anger, okay? To say that she's Christ, hey, is she the one with, is it her precious blood of Christ? Did she die on the cross for me? Was she a lamb without blemish and without spot? I said to her, I said to her, no, you're not anti-Christ, you know what anti-Christ means? It means in the place of Christ. You're putting yourself in the place of Christ, you're the anti-Christ. Tim can testify, listen, I don't know if that was the right approach, but I was just, you're trampling all over the Christ who died for me, and then I said to her, you did not die for my sins. I said, you did not raise the dead to life. You have not made the blind to see, right? You have not made the lame to walk, you are not a crock on a Christ, are you? You know, listen, the Christ that we believe in, the Christ that has redeemed us, is the Christ that died for you, that shed his blood for you. Other people claim to be Christ, what have they done for you? They've got their own sins, and they need Jesus Christ. They need to be saved with real Christ, alright? She was the anti-Christ, trying to claim that we're anti-Christ. It's crazy, some crazy beliefs that we come across, alright? Verse number 20, verse number 20. Who verily was foreordained, that's Jesus was ordained, foreordained, before the foundation of the world that was manifest in these last times for you. Oh, why did God create the whole world when he knew Adam and Eve would sin? Listen, God already knew, yes, and he already had a plan. Before the foundation of the world, he said, I'm going to send my son to die for them. He's going to be the sacrifice, I'm going to love the world so much, and send my only begotten son to die for them. That was the plan, that was foreordained before the foundation of the world, alright? The Bible says in Revelation 13, 8, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, speaking of the anti-Christ there, whose name are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, then it says this, slain from the foundation of the world. Jesus was slain 2000 years ago, no, according to God, he was slain from the foundation of the world. It was already planned that Jesus would die. And so even though it took place in our history 2000 years ago, God already knew before that, that Jesus Christ would die, and his blood was already covering every sin, every man, all the way from Adam to the last man that takes a breath on this earth, okay? So salvation has always been the same, from the very beginning, even before the foundation of the earth, salvation was always the same, that Christ would be the saviour. Verse number 21. Sorry. Yeah, verse number 21. Who by him do believe in God, now, yes, salvation is believing, it's faith, we believe in God, and people say to me, oh yeah, I'm going to heaven because I believe in God. But the God they speak about is a very general God. Like, who is God? Like, who is the God that you're speaking about? Which is the God that we believe in? Who by him do believe in God, this is the God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. And so our faith has to be in the God of the Bible, it has to be in the God that sent his son to die for us, that rose him from the dead, okay? When we say faith in God or faith in Christ, faith in Jesus, we're speaking about the God that sent Jesus Christ down the cross. People sometimes at the door say, yeah, you know, I don't believe in, you know, Jesus or the God of the Bible, but I believe in some God. You know, there is a God out there. No, the God you must believe in to be saved is the one that sent his son. To die for you, alright? Verse number 22. Seen ye have purified your souls, now we covered this already, in obeying the truth, and we saw that's obeying the gospel, through the spirit and feigned love of the brethren, that ye, sorry, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Okay, so this is another response that we should have as saved people, is that we should love one another fervently. Fervently. That we should have a true love for our brothers and sisters in the Lord, okay? And it says, verse number 22 says, unto unfeigned love of the brethren. Unfeigned. What's feigned? It means fake. Alright? So can we show fake love to the brethren? We can. That's what it's saying. We can. We can be fake in our love toward one another. But that's not what God wants for us. He wants the love between us, between brother and sister, to be unfeigned love. Okay? He did not save us just to fake love. Oh, God bless you brother, who cares if you're suffering, God bless you. No, no, we ought to care for each other, right? Pray for another. Think about each other. You know, if you can help in some way, help one another. You know, we ought to have a love for one another. The Bible also says in, you don't need to turn there, 1 John 3.14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, that's salvation, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. You know what the Bible's teaching us here? The natural consequence of you being saved, is that you're going to grow in love for your brothers and sisters in the Lord. If you can say, I love my brothers in this church, I love my sisters in this church, I may not always get along with so and so, you know, and that's just life, you don't always get along with everybody, but even though I don't get along with them, I do love them, I do want the best for them, I want them to serve God. I want them to serve God. If you have that, hey, that's another just assurance that you're saved. You got the new man, okay? That's the natural consequence of you being saved, that you will grow in love for your brethren. And listen, if someone is in this church, it's not that it happens, it's never happened, and that person just hates everybody, just hates all their brothers in the Lord, hates all the Christians in church, hates them all, you know? That's just, you know, that's just confirmation, they're not even saved. They may have claimed to be saved, but if they're just full of hate, hate toward their brothers and sisters, they're not saved, okay? Because they haven't got that natural consequence from their salvation. We'll give us number 23. Being born again, and we saw that, you know, being begotten us again, we'll say it again, being born again, not of corruptible seed, so what was the corruptible seed? We saw, right? We keep the context, wealth, no, we weren't born of that, we weren't born of some false tradition, some vain tradition, some false religion, no, we weren't born again of those things, but we're born again of incorruptible, what was incorruptible? The blood of the body of Christ, alright? By the word of God, so it's the word of God that tells us about what Christ has done for us, alright? Which liveth and abideth forever. The word of God liveth and abideth forever. You know what the Bible's telling us? We can be sure that the Bible we hold in our hands is perfect, it's preserved, it's going to abide forever. You know, we may live in a time one day, I don't know, in the future where people hate the Bible so much, where it might be illegal, and it is illegal, it was illegal, it's been illegal in history to have a Bible, okay? And they might strive to burn them all, destroy all the Bibles out there, and yet God tells us through His power that this word will live and abide forever. Alright, now if the prophets of old taught us about Jesus in His word, and we know this is going to abide forever, do you think the gospel's going to change in the future? It cannot change in the future, because this word will live and abide forever. Okay, so even in, let's say the word keeps going for another 500 years, you know how people are going to get saved in 500 years time? By believing on Jesus Christ, by the word of God, understanding, reading it, hearing it, hearing it preached, understanding the gospel, understanding what Jesus Christ has done for them. They're going to be saved in the same way, okay? Now I'm going to move on. Actually, yeah, I'm going to move on. Let's go to verse number 24. Verse number 24. Actually, no, I will read the passage, because it gives the context here. So when we talk about incorruptible and corruptible, alright, we talk about how we were saved, what was incorruptible, what Jesus Christ has done for us, his body and his blood, but also what we need to understand, being born again, it said there in verse number 24, being born again, when you're born again, you're born of the Spirit. You're born of the Spirit, right? Your first birth was born of flesh. The Bible says in John 3.5, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And we've all had that birth. Then it says this, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Have you been born of the Spirit? Have you been born again? Okay, have you been born incorruptible? Alright, and then it says, verse number seven, marvel not. He says, don't be surprised. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. That's how we're saved. We're being born again of the Spirit. An incorruptible birth, okay? Now when you understand that, and you also understand that the future salvation to come of our bodies, you know, in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 42, it says, so also is the resurrection of the dead, it is sown in corruption. That's this body, corruption, you know? It is raised in incorruption. So even though we've been born again of incorruptible, okay, we still have the corruption of this flesh. That's why we're struggling. That's the manifold temptations that we go through, right? But there's coming a time when this corrupted body will die and we're going to be resurrected, raised in incorruption, okay? Now the reason I say that to you is because when you read verse 24, it all comes together, right? Verse number 24, it says, for all flesh, that's the corruption, is as grass, and the glory of man, that's what man is able to achieve, look how glorious man is, as the flower of grass. The grass with roof, and the flower therefore, sorry, thereof, falleth away. Listen, anything you achieve in this life, it's corruptible. It's just going to be like grass. It's here one day, it's burnt the next, all right? You know, why are we going to live for grass? I'm going to live for the streets of gold, all right, in heaven. Or you can live for grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, right? And the flower, yeah, the flower can look beautiful when a plant gives forth a flower. You say, well that's wonderful, well that's the glory of man. Yeah, it can be beautiful, man can achieve great things, but one day that flower itself will perish, okay? No, we're trying to live for the incorruptible, the incorruptible inheritance which is in heaven, okay? Look at verse number 25. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you, okay? So once again, it abides forever, 500 years from now, they're going to be saved the same way you got saved, someone preaching you the word of God, understanding the gospel, placing your faith on the gospel of Jesus Christ. All right, that's chapter one, let's pray.