Entrusting Your Soul to a Faithful Creator
First B Jackson
2018-10-21

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Where are the men? Where are the men? Alright. Men's fraternity every Wednesday at 6AM. Also, we'll be meeting in this room.

Right? Alright. Good deal. There in your bulletin, there's more information about more Bible studies, and they're spread all throughout the week and all throughout this valley and in the valley on the other side of the hill. So if you would, look and see in there and see if there's something that fits you, and then go for it.

Anything else? Is there anything else? Another nine. The other thing is Operation Christmas Child. Okay.

Operation Christmas Child. Do y'all know what that is? There is a general feeling of yes. Okay. If not, find somebody who did this and ask them.

And find that guy right there. There are boxes out there. They're little shoe boxes. We will fill them. You will fill them, but it's from 04/06.

That you are there

with that. Okay. It's no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Catch this part. This really stuck with me this week.

Praise God for the privilege of being called by somebody. Isn't that great? It is a privilege to be called by God's name. That's why there's that's why we ought not to be ashamed of the gospel of thee because

travail in a lot of ways. It's it's uplooking more at you and seeing your business and your holiness and wanting to reflect and translate that for the rest of this world and find ourselves rebuffed at every turn. And so, Lord, we want to come to you this morning and say, we continue to trust you. We continue, Lord, to believe, and we want for this message of hope to go forward. Without you, Lord, there would be no hope without you.

This life would be hopeless. And so, God, I pray that you would extend your kingdom, to apart as far as being written. James was about 49 AD, and first Peter was about 64 ish, '64 or so AD. And in that fifteen years, things had intensified as far as and followers of the way. There were more of them.

They were spread out further, and the the persecution was becoming a greater thing, not a lesser thing. And it would go on to become even greater than than it is at this time. It's hard to imagine because Nero was in charge when Peter wrote this book. But I've called this if I had to nail it down, I'd get it more encouragement to entrust ourselves the faithful creator in doing what is right. So it's about believing.

First, believe, and then it's about doing, following that up. A call to holiness is found throughout, and encouragement to endure suffering is found throughout this whole book. But this is more encouragement to continue or keep on entrusting our soul to get stricken in place. So here we go. Beloved.

Oh, I just love Peter. Beloved. We hear this a little bit in John. You hear John say this all the time. Beloved or dearly beloved my dearly beloved children.

But Peter, this great apostle, leader of the gang, you know, the of the 12. But he's had so many of those impetuous moments, jumping out of the boat, cutting off the guy's ear. All of those, and then the denials on the night of. But he's been restored by a loving, loving savior. And he was restored to work.

He was able to understand what it's like from sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Adjust your mind to that. Of Be of sound judgment, sober for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude multitude of sin. Be hospitable, a friend of the stranger, a loving to strangers, to one another without complaint, just as each one has received a special gift so ir I'm to own.

The variegated grace of God. There are different braces of God. Do you get that? Some of them are darker, and some of them are brighter and lighter. As good stewards of the manifold grace of God employed to serve on one another, whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the very utterances of God.

Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. And we talked about several times, and he wrote the charts. He was lighting his garden with Christians at garden parks. He's lighting the streets of Rome with Christians. It was an actual fiery ordeal in Rome, and it was reaching further and further out into the Roman Empire.

And he said, don't be surprised that the fiery ordeal among you I mean, if you just stop right there and think about the crucified Christ, and you're his followers. Depends on the context. It also depends upon the response often. The word, it's a trial. It's tempting to fail the trial.

Does that make sense? James one two through four, he did this last week. Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter variegated all types of various trials, knowing that you're knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect results so that you may be perfect and complete and lacking Now I wanna talk to you just a minute. I used to I've mentioned this every once in while that I was an art major way back then, and I've never done any refining of gold. I've never done that before, but I have done a lot of of of foundry work with bronze.

And so we use silicon bronze. Silicon bronze flows a little better than old fashioned bronze. So we that's what we would use. We'd heat it up to extremely high temperatures, and it would become liquid. And when it became liquid, the dross would rise to the top.

And when that dross would rise to the top, it would look all crusty and yucky and nasty. But the the rest below the surface is glowing hot, and it's been tested with fire. And it has all of the junk and impurity rises to the top. And you take a scooper, it looks like a slotted spoon, a little stronger, about this big. And you take it, and you just take the draw off the top, and you pinch it.

And you keep doing that until what is there is all pure. Silicon front in my case. This, he's he's compared to the goal already in this book because you're refining it, and the degree of heat that it goes to makes it even stronger and higher. There's also something about tempering steel. I think it'd be too much for me to try to describe tempering steel, but you get the idea that when you melt something, when you put extreme heat on it, and it gets more and more pure, and the impurities come up and they come to the top.

And then you have to deal with it. Does that make sense? To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, that's the heat that you're going through. Keep on rejoicing. It's a process.

It's a process of refining that you're going through. It will bring up junk when you're going through this process and stuff will surface, and you it will God has given us a way. He's given us a way of removing actual guilt and dealing with actual junk. Be of sin the double cure, save from wrath, and make me pure. Salvation and sanctification.

Okay? But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exaltation. To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. Do you think of Jesus in his suffering as rejoicing? Not generally.

I don't either. He's telling us, though, to keep on rejoicing. Now he's pointing to a whole lot of stuff. I'm actually taking some leaps from the text right here to other places because this theme comes up a lot. This theme of refinement of the fire comes up a lot to the degree that you share the suffering that caused.

You just keep on rejoicing. Some of the people that he was writing to would be martyred, and he himself was to be martyred. He knew that probably some of the people that he had written to had already you know, their friends had already been murdered. And so they could see this coming. To the degree that you share the suffering of Christ, he was murdered.

Murdered actually means a witness, So to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, it might be a knocking storm or it might be just a simple dismissive attitude towards you, or it could be as far as actual death. To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, you just keep on rejoicing. And that's actually a command. Keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exaltation. At the revealing, there is a time cometh when all will be revealed.

He's already mentioned this back in first Peter one in that great opening doxology. In this, you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various variegated trials. So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable even though tested by fire, Okay? If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you're blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rest on you. Have people been mocking God since the very beginning?

Yeah. Our federal head chose to take things into his own hands out of feet. If you're reviled for the name of Christ, you're blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests on him. God does know what's best. Does this sound like anybody if you're reviled for the name of Christ?

Your blood is from the spirit of glory and God rests on you. Matthew five eleven, Jesus said, blessed are you. Evildoer is lesser, but and then it gets to troublesome meddler gossip. Don't let any of you suffer because you are a murderer. He's saying, if you do the crime, expect to do the crime.

Don't do the wrong and expect that that suffering is something know, don't complain about the suffering if it's your own fault, basically. Are you with me? Let your suffering be because of the name of Christ. Okay? Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a troublesome meddler.

Actually, this is where Jesus would say falsely because blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil things. Now people might have said about these folks out in the far flung reaches of the Roman Empire that they were cannibals because they're eating the body and the blood of Christ. So cannibalism was one of the charges that they were and that's false. That's crazy. That's not real.

That Godlessness. Atheism is what they were charged with also too because they only believed in one God and not all of the gods of the Roman Empire, including the emperor as a god. So blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. If somebody has something to say against you that's real bad, let it be a lie. Okay?

Has murdered him. You know, someone who has lust in their hearts has already committed adultery. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great. Jesus would say, and then Peter says right here in four sixteen, but if anyone suffers as a Christian, as a follower of the way, as a follower of Christ, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this. No way I'm not ashamed.

Not ashamed. Not ashamed of the gospel. Not ashamed of Jesus Christ. If anyone suffers as a Christian, he's not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. The history, the hall of faith, their study of community Bible study, the study on Monday mornings and on Wednesday evenings, they're going through Hebrews.

And this is one of the culmination of this book. It's written one of the high peas, the triumphs of the faith. Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, conviction of things not seen. For by it, the men of old gained approval of the prophets who were before you. By faith, we understand that the world were prepared by the word of God.

By faith, Abraham, by faith, they pass through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down. By faith, Rahab, the harlot, did not perish along with those who were disobedient. And I love where it gets to the end in verse 32. It says, and what more shall I say?

For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword. From weakness, they were made strong. They became mighty in war. They put foreign armies to flight.

When they received back their dead by resurrection, others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others experienced mockings and scourging, yes, also chains and imprisonment. These are the prophets who were before you. They were stoned. They were sown in two.

They were tempted. They were put to death with a sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskin, being destitute, afflicted, ill treated. Men of whom the world was not worthy, they were wandering in the deserts and the mountains and the caves and the holes in the ground, and all of these having gained approval through their faith. Believe is first.

When you keep on entrusting yourself to your faithful creator, it's first. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way, they persecute the prophets who are before you. If any of you suffers as a Christian, it's not to be ashamed, but it's to glorify God in his name. For it's time for judgment to begin with the household of God.

Now earlier when I said that, it's time to be of sound judgment and sober, in James, he would say, look at yourself intently in the mirror as to how you are. One of the things about that refinement process is you have to be watching it. You know, the heat is there, and the metal is in the crucible, and it's there. And it's gonna do what it does when heat and metal combine. It's gonna melt, but you have to be watching and paying attention.

And keep an eye on it. And that junk will rise to the top. It just will, and that's where it's to be dealt with. Scooped and thrown. We used to throw it on concrete floor.

You just take a scoop of it and sling it on the concrete floor. God has made a way, and he's told us what it is. Through the cross of Calvary, through Jesus' perfect life, perfectly lived, sacrificially given his perfect account. He has made a way for you have to have an account balance of zeroes. Okay?

No sin debt. He's made a way for that. If you're confessing your sins, he's faithful and just to be forgiving your sins and cleansing you from all unrighteousness. He's given us a mechanism to make that happen. So the scooping the dross and scooping the jump that rises to the top, that's God's work.

That's what he does. But paying attention really is nice to know when it's coming up, that it's there. Because if you don't pull that off and you wanna make something of value out of it, if you wanna you can heat that up and all the gross rises to the top and you ignore it, completely ignore it. And then when it's time to pour in your let's just say we're making a bell or a bowl. It doesn't matter what you're making, but let's say bell.

It's gonna be sounded for God's glory. Okay? We're making a bell. And we've got a bowl, and it's prepared, and everything is open. There's an open void waiting for that brass or that brass to be torn into.

If you heat that and you heat it and all of the junk rises to the top and it's not ladled off and the dross is not removed. When you pour it in there, all that jump goes into that bell. And you know what? That bell is not gonna sound like a bell is supposed to sound. It's not gonna work.

It's not gonna work. So it's time for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Every time Peter says obey the gospel of God in this, he's talking about people accepting the gospel for what it is. It is the only way to be made right with God.

It's accepting Jesus' payment for your sin. It's accepting his power for your sanctification. It's time for judgment to begin. We are to look soberly at our own lives and at the lives of those within the church too. It is time for judgment to begin with the household God.

Accountability groups are very, very powerful, and that's where God activates a lot of change in our lives when we get together and say, you know what? This is not good about me, and I'll share it with you so that you will help me not to be doing this ever again. It's is time time for for judgment judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us first, then what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? This whole thing is about suffering as a Christian, not as an evildoer, not as a meddler, not as a murderer, not as a thief, not as the world does things.

Soberly pay attention and pray and judge rightly about your own life. He's gonna be pointing us towards in verse 19, he's pointing us towards doing good things, doing what is right. It's not that's not what to say, but but we're already in the household of God. God. Judgment doesn't mean passing.

If it is with difficulty that the righteous are saved, was it with difficulty that we were saved? Yes. You might think, well, it's kind of a magic thing that God did, and Jesus came and, yeah, he said all these things that were good. He didn't say any I I guess I would say that. And then he died, and then he raced again.

Big deal. He raced again. Suffered. He suffered this life for thirty years before he started ministry, and then he really suffered. There was a period of conflict and confrontation that just kinda grew until the point that they crucified him.

He suffered, really. God and man suffered. It was with great difficulty that he saved us, and that and we can be called righteous because he did say There are about two choices. It's it is either heaven or it is hell, and there's great difficulty to get us out of hell. He's saying rejoice because your reward is great in heaven.

He's pointing towards an incorruptible hope, but at the same time, he's saying there are going to be those who do not make it. Therefore, And I think of this a lot these days. For you've been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor with any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return, and while suffering, he uttered no threats, but he kept on entrusting himself to him who judges rightly. I like that.

He kept on entrusting himself to the judges rightly. There There is but one judge. How is it? Right? And so we have to answer to him.

So, therefore, since we have to answer to him, stay in contact with him entrusting soberly. Stay in contact with him of sound judgment and continually entrust your soul to a faithful creator. Those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. Continue doing what it is that God is leading you to do. Whatever that is that God is leading you to do, continue doing it and walking in it, suffering along the way.

That's the way that it goes. Continue that entrusting your soul to a faithful, free creator and doing what is right. I use this guy as an example a lot, Martin Luther King. And I I think that I've got lots of paper notes here this morning. I've listened to, I don't know how many times, probably 20 times, a sermon called, but if not.

Have y'all heard that one? Blake? Daniel three, the king's golden image. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was 60 cubits, its width was six cubits, and he set it up on the Plain Of Dura in the province of Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar, the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Then satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the rules of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up and stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. You heard me many times just saying his name. Then the herald loudly proclaimed that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the sultry, the backpipe, and all kinds of music, you are all to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. Therefore, at that time when the peoples all heard the sound of the horn of flute, flute, lyre, tragon, sultry, backpipe, and all kinds of music, All of the people, nations, and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

For this reason, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against Jews. They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, oh king, flip river. It's what they said at the time. You, oh king, you have made a decree to every man who hears the sound, the horn, the flute, the black, the track, and the softly, the backpipe, and all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast in midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shabbat, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, oh king, have disregarded you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up. And then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then these men were brought before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar responded, said to them, is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lire, the dragon, the soft tree, and the backpipe, and all kinds of evil, to fall down and worship the image that I have made very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. And what God is there who can deliver you? What can you put?

But if not so God can deliver you from whatever the trial that you're going through is, whatever the the temptation that you're going through is, God can deliver you. But if not, you still don't have to succumb to it. Does that make sense? You still don't have to turn that temptation into a fall. Praise God that he showed Peter that even when you do fall, he can turn it into a benefit letter.

This self turning man that wrote this letter he was this great preacher in the eighteen hundreds in England and just a fantastic orator. And by the time he was 22, first of was saved. He he had fear death. He was damned, and he felt like that all the time. And he wandered in.

He knew the gospel. He'd been in church his whole life, but he wandered into a church as a Methodist church. He was not Methodist. He's a purity. He wanders in, and the preacher just kinda boldly proclaimed.

Call on the name of the Lord and you'll be saved. Anybody who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And he said at once, I accepted it for what it was. So that was when he was around 15 or 16. And then six years later, he's 22 years old.

He's preaching he's preaching in Surrey Gardens Music Hall, and there were some folks in there that thought it would be funny to yell fire. Fiery ordeal. Right? They thought it would be funny, just pranksters, and they yelled out fire, fire in there. Enough of them spread out far enough that people tried to get out of the Surrey Garden to do the call.

And seven people were killed, and twenty eight were severely injured. And all those people had, ostensibly, had had come there to hear him. He says, preacher, young guy, 22 years old, and he was preaching on the goodness of Christ, and then seven people were immediately dead, twenty eight severely injured. Injured. And he his wife said, boo.

His wife said, my beloved's anguish was so deep and so violent that reason seemed to totter in her throne. We sometimes wondered if he would ever preach again. Severe illness, fierce opposition, and bereavement all made their mark on this great preacher's life. So much that today, he would almost certainly be diagnosed as clinically depressed and treated, medicated. But he says, the sympathy of Jesus is the next most precious thing to his sacrifice.

Again and again, he returned to this thing. Being myself he he preached this. Being myself, more than usually compassed with infirmities, I desire to speak as a weak and suffering preacher of that high priest who is full of compassion. And my longing is that any who are low in spirit, who are low in faint and despondent, and even at the point of total despair, may take heart to approach the Lord Jesus because Jesus is touched not with a feeling of your strength but with your infirmities. Down here, poor, feeble, nothing's affect the heart of their great high priest on high Depend upon him, he says, you will either serve Satan or Christ, either self or savior.

You will find sin, self, and Satan, and the world to be very hard masters. But if you wear the liberty of Christ, you will find him so so lowly apart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains. There never was his life among the choices of princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle.

When the wind blows cold, he always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, and that's the suffering that we're talking about. Okay? If Jesus bids us carry a burden, he carries it also.

If there's anything that is gracious and generous and kind and tender, yes, lavish and super abundant in love, you always find it I'm gonna let Carl and the band come back forward. We're gonna sing the closing song. The altar is always open, but I'm open it up today. If you would, just call out upon God. If it's because you don't or never have known him or trusted him before, then come and see me, please, right now or at some point this week, next week.

But if you just need to come and pray and say, Lord, I am cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. And then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason, because the king's command was urgent, the furnace was so extremely hot, the flame of fire slew those men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell into the midst of the furnace, a blazing fire still tied up, and Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste and he said to his high official, was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire? And they replied to the king, certainly, oh, king.

And he said, look, I see four loose and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, Nebuchadnezzar was talking about gods. But he says, you come out servants of the most high, capital g, God, and come here. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, prefects, governors, and king's high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had they even the smell of smoke. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, blessed be the God the king's command, yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except small g, except for their own capital g, God.

Therefore, I make the decree that any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, shoving corn, lend from them. Good luck as always. And their houses reduced to rubbish in as much as there is no other god who who is able to deliver in this way. Then the king called Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon. It matters what you do under trial.

It matters what you do under temptation. I pray that you'd be able to withdoer, withstand, or endure. As James said, blessed is he, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has sped the test, he will receive the kind of life which God has promised to those who love him. Go and be blessed in Jesus name.

Amen.