Reasons to Rejoice

I Peter 1:1-6

Read text: v1-6

Initially, we might question the matter of rejoicing in the midst of trials and difficulties, but when we look carefully at what Peter says in this chapter, our hearts will rejoice.

Peter says at the beginning of verse 6, "Wherein ye greatly rejoice..." Have you ever watched a NCAA basketball tournament? I know that right now we are in the midst of the NBA finals, but they do not compare to the NCAA college finals. So many of the games come right down to the last second. When that final shot is made, the players start jumping up and down and screaming and cheering and hugging and just exploding in exuberance. The fans are going wild and the announcers cannot contain themselves. That is a picture of what Peter is talking about in verse 6. The word is an emphatic form of rejoicing. Because there is an element of shouting with joy. Jumping and dancing with joy. This is not just a smile on your face, this is hyper-active rejoicing.

Now what is Peter telling us we should be jumping up and down and screaming about? Look at the first word of verse 6, "Wherein". It seems like a pretty insignificant word. But the 'Wherein' we are to greatly rejoice is certainly not insignificant!

Verses 1-5 are the "wherein" and so from Peter's words we are going to look at several reasons to rejoice.

(1 PET 1:1-2) "PETER, AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST, TO THE STRANGERS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT PONTUS, GALATIA, CAPPADOCIA, ASIA, AND BITHYNIA, {2} ELECT ACCORDING TO THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, THROUGH SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT, UNTO OBEDIENCE AND SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST: GRACE UNTO YOU, AND PEACE, BE MULTIPLIED."

1. We are God's elect or chosen.

• The indescribable joy of being one of God's chosen.
• Loved by Him before the foundations of the world!
• Every time I even think about it, it makes me want to fall on my knees.

2. We are strangers in this world.

• That is a good thing.
• To be strangers in this world means that we have our citizenship elsewhere.
• Now we know that our citizenship is in heaven.
• (PHIL 3:20) "FOR OUR CONVERSATION IS IN HEAVEN; FROM WHENCE ALSO WE LOOK FOR THE SAVIOUR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST:"
• (EPH 2:19) "NOW THEREFORE YE ARE NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD;"
• Talk about a strong family!
• There is reason to greatly rejoice !

3. We have been sanctified by the Spirit.

• We have been made pure, made holy and clean by the work of the Spirit in our lives.
• Let me tell you being made clean is a wonderful thing.
• When I was in high school I worked the summers putting up hay.
• When working for other farmers in the area we put it up in bales.
• But my dad was something of an antique collector...we put up hay the old fashion way with pitchfork and wagon.
• Needless to say, after working in the field and in the loft with hay for 10-12 hours, I was covered with dust and chaff.
• There was never an argument about whether or not I would take a shower...only whether or not I would be first!
• It was a joy to be clean!
• Peter tells us that the Spirit of God has cleansed us and sanctified us...our joy should be great!

4. We have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus.

• What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
• (EPH 1:7) "IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE;"
• It is about forgiveness, when Christians sin.
• (HEB 12:24) "AND TO JESUS THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT, AND TO THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING, THAT SPEAKETH BETTER THINGS THAN THAT OF ABEL."
• There is reason to rejoice because of the new covenant that we have with God through the blood of Christ.
• (1 PET 1:3) "BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHICH ACCORDING TO HIS ABUNDANT MERCY HATH BEGOTTEN US AGAIN UNTO A LIVELY HOPE BY THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD,"

5. Jesus is Christ and Lord.

• Do you see the name used for Jesus here in verse 3? Lord Jesus Christ.
• 'Lord' = He is in control and in charge and responsible for us.
• "Jesus" = His proper name, it is from the Hebrew word Yeshua, which means "God is salvation."
• (MAT 1:21) "AND SHE SHALL BRING FORTH A SON, AND THOU SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS: FOR HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS."
• "Christ" means "anointed one." It is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah which means the same thing.
• Jesus is the Christ. He is God's chosen and anointed one. He is the King.
• And, so we rejoice because the Lord Jesus Christ is...what? He is ours.
• He is Lord, our Lord.
• He is Jesus, our salvation.
• He is the Christ, our King.

6. God the Father has abundant mercy.

• Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve.
• Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve.
• Mercy is not about not getting caught and getting away with something.
• It is about being caught red-handed. Given a fair trial and being found guilty.
• It is about being sentenced to death for our horrible crime and it is about Jesus Christ, who was perfect and guilty of nothing, serving out that sentence on our behalf, even though we didn't deserve it in any way.
• That is mercy, "abundant mercy."
• But God's abundant mercy is something to greatly rejoice in.

7. We have been given new birth.

• Did you ever wish that you could "start out all over again?"
• Life is like that a lot of times for us isn't it? We make mistakes and wish we could start over
• We wish we had that second chance.
• And, if through some means we are ever given that chance, we greatly rejoice.
• That is what God has done for us through the work of His Son and His Spirit. He has caused us to be born again. New life. An new start. We have been made into a new creation.
• God is the agent of change. And he has produced in Christians a new birth and a new nature.
• We rejoice in the new birth.

8. We have a living hope.

• Our hope is alive!
• We don't have a worthless empty hope in something that won't happen or might not happen.
• Our hope is in something that will happen.
• A hope that is alive and a living hope.
• Jesus is the living, eternal hope of all those who are his.

9. Jesus Christ is risen.

• Remember those glorious words the angel spoke to the women who were going to visit Jesus' tomb.
• (MAT 28:6) "HE IS NOT HERE: FOR HE IS RISEN, AS HE SAID. COME, SEE THE PLACE WHERE THE LORD LAY."
• Paul reminds us of the importance of that resurrection.
• (2 COR 4:14) "KNOWING THAT HE WHICH RAISED UP THE LORD JESUS SHALL RAISE UP US ALSO BY JESUS, AND SHALL PRESENT US WITH YOU."
• Jesus Christ has risen, and it is not enough that we celebrate that truth on Easter.
• We need to rejoice daily in the risen Lord!
• If Christ didn't rise from the grave, we would have no hope.

10. We have an inheritance.

• Christians have been made sons of God; we are part of his family now.
• (ROM 8:17) "AND IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS; HEIRS OF GOD, AND JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST; IF SO BE THAT WE SUFFER WITH HIM, THAT WE MAY BE ALSO GLORIFIED TOGETHER."
• Christians have been made God's children.
• We are his sons, and as his sons we receive and inheritance.
• What is that inheritance?
• (COL 1:12-13) "GIVING THANKS UNTO THE FATHER, WHICH HATH MADE US MEET TO BE PARTAKERS OF THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS IN LIGHT: {13} WHO HATH DELIVERED US FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS, AND HATH TRANSLATED US INTO THE KINGDOM OF HIS DEAR SON:"
• Our inheritance is the kingdom of heaven. It is eternal life.
• It is eternity with Jesus in heaven.
• Could there be any more wonderful inheritance?
• As God's sons, we have an eternal inheritance.

11. Our inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and will not fade away.

• Do you get the idea that Peter is trying to tell us something about our inheritance?
• Unlike earthly inheritances which can decay and spoil and fade away, our inheritance as sons of God is eternal in nature.
• Not just once we get to heaven, but from the moment we are called sons.
• Look at what Paul says about the surety of our inheritance in Ephesians 1:13-14.
• (EPH 1:13-14) "IN WHOM YE ALSO TRUSTED, AFTER THAT YE HEARD THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION: IN WHOM ALSO AFTER THAT YE BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED WITH THAT HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE, {14} WHICH IS THE EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION, UNTO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY."
• The seal of the Holy Spirit in us means that our inheritance can never be lost or stolen or given away. · It is guaranteed; we WILL receive it.

12. Our inheritance is kept in heaven.

• What safer place could there be?
• It is like a deed to a house which was haphazardly kept in a drawer and eventually lost.
• But there was still the original kept in a bank vault safety deposit box.
• Our inheritance is kept in heaven for us, and that will never be lost or stolen or torn.
• In that, there is reason to greatly rejoice.

13. We are shielded by God's power.

• Not only is our inheritance sealed and sure and unfading and safely kept in heaven but we also, while living on earth, are protected.
• The word "kept" = is a military term which means "to guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight."
• There are two aspects of our protection.
• One, God won't let anyone steal us away from him.
• (JOHN 10:28-29) "AND I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE; AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH, NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND. {29} MY FATHER, WHICH GAVE THEM ME, IS GREATER THAN ALL; AND NO MAN IS ABLE TO PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY FATHER'S HAND."
• God's chosen can never be stolen. Not now, not ever. Why? Because God is powerful, and he is greater than all. There is no stronger army that will come along and capture us.
• The second aspect of God's protection is that He keeps the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.
• We are under God's protection, and just as he won't let another army in, he also won't let us out.
• If he did, he would not be a God who keeps his promises. God has promised us eternal life and he is not about to let someone else or ourselves destroy his promise.
• God makes good on His promises, in spite of us sometimes.
• What a thing to rejoice in!

14. Our salvation is secure.

• God keeps our inheritance secure.
• For how long?
• Until judgment day when Christ will cover our sins and we enter heaven for all eternity.
• If we are protected until that day by the power of God, then how sure is our salvation? 100%.
• Ask yourself the question, "How long will my children be my children?" They may disobey you. They may leave home? They may disappoint you? But they are still always your children. Such is the case with those God calls His children.
• So it is that we have reason to rejoice!
1. 1. We are God's elect or chosen.
2. 2. We are strangers in this world.
3. 3. We have been sanctified by the Spirit.
4. 4. We have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus.
5. 5. Jesus is Christ and Lord.
6. 6. God the Father has abundant mercy.
7. 7. We have been given new birth.
8. 8. We have a living hope.
9. 9. Jesus Christ is risen.
10. 10. We have an inheritance.
11. 11. Our inheritance is incorruptible.
12. 12. Our inheritance is kept in heaven.
13. 13. We are shielded by God's power.
14. 14. Our salvation is secure.