[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 26th of April, 2020 at Pilgrim Reformed Church. This was an abbreviated service, also streamed live, due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our YouTube streaming channel is:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg. Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg. Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
This coronavirus has imposed an entirely new life on most of us. Businesses and schools have been closed. Mass events have been canceled, and since we don’t know what tomorrow may bring, most of these have not been rescheduled. We’re staying in our homes more than ever before, avoiding physical contact and maintaining social distancing. And it’s all part of this new life we find ourselves in.
But if we pause long enough to really think about it all, this is not the new life that truly has the greatest impact on us. This is simply a new twist on the life we already have on earth. The new life that matters most is the one which began when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master, believing in Him as the Son of God, following Him and obeying His voice! By this, we know that one blessed day we will be raised to new and eternal life with our Lord in heaven.
Last week we talked about how we have already been raised to new life, here on earth, by our faith. Now we’ll look at what the Apostle Peter tells us as to how to live this new life. Please listen and follow along to what Peter wrote in his 1st letter to those Christians who had dispersed around the known world, in chapter 1 verses 3 through 25, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…
But if we pause long enough to really think about it all, this is not the new life that truly has the greatest impact on us. This is simply a new twist on the life we already have on earth. The new life that matters most is the one which began when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master, believing in Him as the Son of God, following Him and obeying His voice! By this, we know that one blessed day we will be raised to new and eternal life with our Lord in heaven.
Last week we talked about how we have already been raised to new life, here on earth, by our faith. Now we’ll look at what the Apostle Peter tells us as to how to live this new life. Please listen and follow along to what Peter wrote in his 1st letter to those Christians who had dispersed around the known world, in chapter 1 verses 3 through 25, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance — an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.
10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when He told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and His great glory afterward.
12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, Spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days He has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
--1 Peter 1:3-25 (NLT)
Let us pray… Father God, thank You for making sure that Your word would be available and accessible to us through our Holy Bible. Thank You for the consistency of Your word, that it never changes just as You never change. We can always rely on You and Your word, even in the most difficult and trying of times. Thank You, Father, for the new life in Jesus You give us while we still walk through this world. Thank You for cleansing us of our sins. Please help us live righteously in Your eyes. Help us to remain strong in our faith no matter what tomorrow might bring.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and thoroughly understand the message we so need in this age. Speak to us of our new life through Christ Jesus and how we should live it. And speak to us of our eternal life to come. This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Comedian Flip Wilson once said: “If I had my whole life to live over again, I don't think I'd have the strength.” I can certainly relate to that. Life is tough and it takes a lot of effort just to get through it, even without the addition of a pandemic. But I think columnist Erma Bombeck left us with a thought more appropriate for these times we find ourselves in. She wrote: “Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.”
Seize the moment, and make the most of it. That can certainly apply to today, when many people think we are on a viral version of the Titanic, heading straight for an iceberg of health and economic impact.
There are a couple of ways to consider “seizing the moment”. I believe the world view would be to do whatever makes you feel good, take advantage of any situation to your best benefit. Then there’s God’s view. We should seize the moment to do what would please God before the opportunity passes.
I think that the Apostle Peter speaks to the times quite well, and how we can seize the moment. He tells us that by God’s mercy, we have been born again, given a new life, one filled with great expectation and a priceless inheritance. And God is protecting us by His power until our new eternal life begins.
But he also notes that we will still have to endure many trials, even in this new life, even under God’s protection. We still may fall prey to this virus sweeping the land. Or if we manage to avoid the virus itself, the economic restraints, the social distancing, just being stuck in our homes can lead to anxiety and depression. We have to look at all these as purifying experiences, just as gold is put through the fires to become more pure, more precious. The trials of our times will make our faith stronger, and that is far more precious than gold.
Of course, this new life also comes with responsibilities. Peter tells us to prepare our minds for action, yet exercise self-control. Be ready to seize the moment, but be careful in how we choose to act. Live as obedient children of our Father God, and don’t slip back into our old ways, doing things just to satisfy our own selfish desires. That’s the world’s view. Instead, we must remember that we will be judged or rewarded according to what we do during this new life we have been given, this new opportunity for living righteously.
This life, even though born again to new life in Christ, is still just temporary. That’s why Peter calls us temporary residents – this world is not our home. Out true home awaits us in heaven, when our eternal life begins.
So much of our scripture reading from Peter’s letter speaks to our trusting God, our faith in Him. By His mercy we are born again, and He promises we will be born yet again, this time to our eternal life. Through Christ we trust in God, who cleansed us of our sins, and we place our faith in Him because He raised Jesus from the dead.
The Apostle Paul concurs with Peter, especially the parts about trusting God and going through trials. Listen to what he wrote in chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans, verses 15 through 19…
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are.
--Romans 8:15-19 (NLT)
We should be careful, yes, and exercise self-control like Peter says. We should do what we can to protect our health and the health of others. But we should not be fearful. Instead we should take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself to serve our Lord in whatever fashion we can. We should not be fearful because any suffering we incur now, even in this new life, will seem trivial and be completely forgotten when we enter our everlasting life in heaven.
Let’s take strength from our faith, strength to get through the trials and sufferings of this life. We have been born again to a new life in Christ Jesus, but there are so many people who don’t know Him. Let’s do what we can to help them receive new life also, now and the forever that is coming.
Blessed be Jesus our Christ, the one true Son of God! In the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, thank You for raising Jesus from the dead. Thank You for giving us new life, too. We believe in Your promise to raise us from the dead to eternal life, because we believe in Your Son and obey His voice. Please help us stay strong in our faith. Help us stay focused on You and Your promise, not allowing ourselves to fall victim to fear. Help us understand that any trials we face will help us grow stronger, become more pure, if we keep the right attitude and remain faithful. Help us be more righteous in our actions and words. Help us in our service to You and to Jesus.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, You shed Your own precious blood so that we could be washed clean of our sin. By our belief in You and our obedience, God has adopted us as His and given us His Holy Spirit. Thank You, Jesus, for loving us this much. Please help us be more worthy of Your love and sacrifice. Help us make the most of this new life God has given us by better serving You. And help us through the trials we face each day, so that we may grow more righteous in God’s eye. This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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