A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): The Lord numbers the very hairs of our head. His good thoughts toward us are more than the sand of the sea. This is what the apostle was praying for his readers to grasp. When you grasp this fact that you have a living hope and an inheritance that is lasting, it changes everything.

No matter what you're going through today, no matter what challenge you're facing, what experience, what hardship, your hope is living because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Your inheritance is lasting, incorruptible, undefiled, reserved for you in heaven, waiting for you. You're a joint-heir with Christ, and you are his inheritance.

Guest (Male): When life goes from bad to worse, you might be tempted to think you're really not saved. It's during those times of suffering we need reassurance of our sure salvation. First Peter provides just that. If you're truly a Christian, God wants you to know your salvation is secure and nothing or no one can take it away. Today on A Daily Walk, that encouraging truth comes to our attention as Pastor John Randall revisits First Peter chapter one.

John Randall: We are now joint-heirs or co-heirs with Christ, meaning this: everything that belongs to Jesus throughout eternity, he will share with us. We are joint-heirs. That is our inheritance. The Bible says no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and hasn't entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him. You have an inheritance that is lasting.

The greatest part of the inheritance that we receive is God himself. The very presence of God. Someone said, "What would the streets of gold be without God? What would the beauty of the gates of the city of God be like without its builder and maker?" Part of our inheritance is God himself, being in his presence. It's being in the presence of God that makes heaven, heaven.

God's going to wipe away every tear from our eyes, the Bible says. There's no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. The former things have passed away. In fact, Revelation 21:5 tells us this: "Behold," the Lord speaking, "I make all things new. Write these things, for the words are true and faithful." He said to me, "It's done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, and I will give the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts. And he who overcomes shall inherit all of these things, and I will be his God and he shall be my son."

What a blessing. The Psalmist declared in Psalm 16:5-6, "O Lord, you are my portion of my inheritance and my cup. You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance." We could go on for hours and hours. We don't have that kind of time. Speaking about the glories of our inheritance that is to come.

There's something I want you to think about just for a moment when it comes to talking about our inheritance. Have you ever thought, "Well, what's the Lord's inheritance? What does he get?" That's a good question. Ephesians 1:18 answers that question. It says this: "What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?" Paul tells the Ephesians what the inheritance of the Lord is, and the Lord's inheritance is the saints.

Think now. We get heaven. We're joint-heirs with Christ. And the Lord gets, he gets us. We are his inheritance. Really? Does that seem fair? Knowing what you know about you and what I know about me. Lord, how can this be? But folks, God wants us to know how precious we really are to him. God is invested in you. One day, he will benefit from the eternal dividends.

Having you there in his presence brings him glory, brings him delight. You, we are his inheritance. If you only knew this morning, I mean really knew, how much God treasures you, that you are more than worthwhile to him. This is why he sent his son to redeem us, to pay the ultimate price to secure the inheritance. He didn't need us. He wanted us because he loved us.

It might not seem fair. It might not seem right. But God loved us so much that he wanted to save us. It was while we were yet sinners. It wasn't like when we were reading the Bible daily or in fellowship or serving the Lord or praying at Planned Parenthood, standing for the preborn, that God said, "I love them." No, it was long before that. It was when we were dead in our trespasses and sins. God loved me at my very worst, and he loves us now.

In some incredible way, the body of Christ has become the source of God's wealth. In Psalm 8, the Psalmist declared, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you would visit him? You have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor and you have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands and you have put all things under his feet."

The Psalmist was in awe of the fact of God's concern and care and love for him. You remember when David was considering the overwhelming blessings of God that God spoke to him? David said, "Who am I? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far?" Folks, the Lord numbers the very hairs of our head. His good thoughts toward us are more than the sand of the sea.

This is what the apostle was praying for his readers to grasp. When you grasp this fact that you have a living hope and an inheritance that is lasting, it changes everything no matter what you're going through today, no matter what challenge you're facing, what experience, what hardship. Your hope is living because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Your inheritance is lasting, incorruptible, undefiled, reserved for you in heaven waiting for you. You're a joint-heir with Christ, and you are his inheritance.

But that's not all. There's more. He tells us that our salvation is secure. Look at verse five. "Who are kept," and underscore that word kept, "by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." The word kept is a military term meaning that we are guarded. It carries the idea of setting up protective garrison around a city to keep it safe from any enemies that would want to come in. It is protected. It is kept.

Our inheritance is guarded in heaven, and we are guarded here on this earth. Our salvation, listen carefully, is secure in Jesus, in Christ. He is keeping me. The story is told of a man who left instructions that before he died, that when they placed him in the grave, that his tombstone, his epitaph would have one word: "Kept." Eternal security is based upon the faithfulness of God.

If God didn't keep me, I would not make it. If somehow my salvation was predicated upon my performance to keep me, I would never arrive. God keeps me. I am secure in Jesus. John chapter 10, verse 27, Jesus said this: "My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me." Make note of that. I know them, they follow me, they live close to me, they abide with me. My sheep do that.

He said, "I will give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand." Abiding in Christ, there's such security in just following Jesus. I don't have to worry about, "Oh man, I think maybe I lost my salvation."

This is a question that comes up. Let me just pause for a moment and just say this as it relates to eternal security, because people often will ask the question. Sometimes people come here for the first time, and the first question they ask is, "Hi, Pastor John, welcome. I'm going to ask you a question. Do you believe somebody can lose their salvation?" Welcome to church. I just wanted to say thank you for coming.

But it's a question on people's minds, and I get it. The question that I want to ask is, were they really saved to begin with? That's a question. If somebody says, "I gave my life to Christ," but you would look at their life and you'd think, "Man, everything about your life and the way that you live and what you pursue and what you chase after and what you're doing at the present time, living in a habitual state of disobedience to the word of God, makes me question whether or not you really knew what it meant to receive Christ."

To know Jesus is to follow Jesus. Doesn't mean you're perfect, doesn't mean you don't stumble, doesn't mean you're not growing. But it does mean that you don't live comfortably in sin apart from God. You wonder, were they ever really saved to begin with? I don't know. And here's the other thing to consider. It's not mine to decide. No one's going to be standing before you in heaven or me to say, "Let me see. Yeah, you can come on in. You? No, there's no way. I remember you. Get out."

There's no way. Nobody's going to do it. It's not based upon that. Listen, if you abide in Jesus, my sheep hear, they follow. What are you worried about? Nothing. I'm not worried. I am secure in Christ. But I'll tell you this, I would never want someone, there's too many passages in Scripture that talk about people who are living in some condition apart from God. I would never want someone to feel comfortable in that position.

If you're here today and you think, "Man, I'm sinning like I'm sinning. I'm sinning like I always do. I'm a Christian." I would say you are in a bad spot. You're deceived. You don't get it. You're not understanding. Are they truly saved or not? I don't even want to talk about that. That's between them and God. What I want to talk about is you're not abiding, you're not following, you're not hearing his voice, you're not living close to him.

Abide in him. You got nothing to worry about. You are secure. I don't have to get saved every other week because I think, "Oh, I lost it this week. I had a bad thought. I need to receive him again." Listen, you received him. Repent of your sin, come on back. The fact that you have conviction in your heart over sin that you committed or the fact that you stumbled tells me the Spirit of God is working in your life.

If you just went on living like nothing mattered and continued in that way, I'd wonder, do you really know him? To know him is to follow him, to love him. So I am secure. I just abide in Jesus. Here's what the Bible says. 2 Timothy 1:12, for this reason Paul said, "I suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him until that day."

Furthermore, Jude tells us in Jude chapter 1 in verse 24 and 25, "Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before his throne of his glory with exceeding joy to God our Savior who alone is wise be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever." He's able to keep me. I'm secure in my salvation. Oh, to be secure in Jesus, just to know that I am his and he is mine.

I'm secure. I'm not fearful of, "Oh, I think I lost it. I don't know if I still have it. I don't feel like I'm saved." Well then, go back to what God says in his word. He has saved you. He has called you. We are kept by the power of God, secure in our salvation. I love what the Psalmist said in Psalm 121. He said, "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth."

"He won't allow your foot to slip. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade and your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil. He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever."

The emphasis is this: God keeps us. He is faithful. If you get off track, if you start to wander, he'll use the rod and the staff to chasten you, to comfort you, to bring you back in alignment with himself. You're secure in your salvation. You don't have to fear. You know, someone said there's going to be a lot of surprises when you get to heaven. One surprise will be the people you thought would be there that aren't there.

The second surprise will be the people that you didn't think would be there that are there. And the greatest surprise of all is that you'll be there. It's true. So my point: just keep walking with Jesus. Just stay close to the Lord. Nothing to worry about. He is faithful. He will keep you. Stay close to him. You have a living hope, a glorious inheritance, a security in your salvation. Nothing can take that away from you.

And yet, we live presently in this world, don't we? One day, we're going to wear the crown of glory, but in this life, we wear the crown of Calvary. This was the future of the church that Peter was talking about. But now, he addresses what they were enduring in the present. "Oh, what a glorious future." Well, let's talk about what is happening right now. Someone said God has never promised that we would miss the storm, but he has promised that we would make it to the harbor.

There are some storms that you encounter, and Peter says it here. "In this," notice in this, "you greatly rejoice." In what? In your future, in the security of your salvation, in the living hope, in the inheritance that is reserved. Praise God for what's coming. But then he goes: "though now," presently, "for a little while." How long's a little while? A little while. "If need be, you've been grieved by various trials."

Why? That the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, it may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen yet you love. Peter says this future is so glorious, you can't even comprehend it. However, in the present moment, they were being persecuted. They were going through trials. Peter tells them that.

When the Bible speaks of a trial, it speaks of a test with the purpose of approving. When you go through a trial, when your faith or my faith is put to the test, will we continue to trust God? Will we continue to believe in him? Will we continue to walk in obedience to his word? These are the tests. Will we allow our faith to be refined in order that it might bring glory to the Lord?

Peter reveals a few things about our trials. Quickly, he says first of all, and I'm very thankful for this, they don't last forever. Hallelujah. He says, "for a little while." I don't know how long that is. But we've said it before, I'll say it again: you are either in a trial this morning, you are coming out of a trial this morning, or you are about to go back into a trial this morning. It's just part of the life of the Christian.

That's just how we live in this world. But we also find not only do they not last forever, but the second thing: they meet needs in our lives. It says, "if need be." Do I have need for a trial? Is there a need for that? Yes, sometimes there is. God uses trials to teach us things about us, about himself, about his faithfulness, about his word. He disciplines us so that we might be refined.

Sometimes trials are for correction. Other times, trials are for preparation for something that's around the corner that we don't know about. God is taking us through something, refining us in this moment because he knows five months down the road from here, this is what you're going to encounter. He knows that on November 5th, this is what you're going to see. I'm just preparing you for what's about to happen.

So just get ready. I'm refining you to trust in me now, believe in me now. That's what God uses trials for. You know, when a soldier goes to boot camp, any military people in here today? You served in our military? Let's give it up for these guys. I appreciate you guys. And I know some of you guys, and I don't think any of you were like, "Boot camp was the best. I mean, it was just so great. I loved it. My best thing about it was just getting beaten down and yelled at by the sergeants every day."

No, it's something that's happening and they're doing it because they're preparing you because you might be on the battlefield six months from now and you've got to be ready. You've got to know how to handle yourself. So this is troublesome, this is difficulty, but it's preparing you for something that you'll be prepared for. God uses trials. J.C. Ryle said this: "Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from this world, to send us to the Bible, and to drive us to our knees."

God uses it for that reason. Maybe that's where you are today. Maybe God has allowed something. Peter tells us here, these trials, they don't last forever. They do meet needs in our lives, and they also vary. He said you are grieved by various trials. The word various means many-colored. It's just different, different shapes, different sizes. What's a trial for you may not be for me. What's a trial for me, you'd say that's not a problem.

But all of us, these trials that God allows for the purpose of approving us and refining us are varied. And they also have a purpose. For it says here, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to the praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The genuineness of our faith is more precious than gold.

There is a purpose in this trial. Peter uses an illustration here of a goldsmith refining the ore of gold. And when he is refining it, the heat is turned up. And as the heat is turned up, what happens? All of the impurities begin to rise to the surface. The hotter it gets, the more impurities come to the surface. And then the goldsmith refines the gold. He removes the impurities or the dross, as it is referred to, and he continues that process until he can see his reflection in the gold.

And so the Lord allows trials, doesn't he? The heat's turned up. Like, man, Lord, it's getting hot in here. What's going on in my life right now? I thought this was what's happening. And you know what happens? I don't know if this happens with you. Well, I'm pretty sure it does. Here's what happens: impurities rise to the surface. You ever had a trial and then you didn't know what was inside you until you hit that?

You're like, "Oh, I didn't know I still knew that word." Maybe you didn't say it, but you thought it. It was like, stop right here. Holy Spirit was like, "Sanctification filter, filter." Or you got angry, or you got bitter, got unforgiving. You wanted to drive up right next to that person on the road like, "Hey, you see this cross sticker on the back of my car? Doesn't mean anything. Pull over."

Where did all that come from? It's in there. Suddenly, God begins to bring it to the surface. You're like, "What is that?" Don't worry, that's just dross. Let me remove that. I'm doing this in your life. I'm allowing your faith to be refined and tested so that when it's all said and done, it may be found to the praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is the purpose.

And then he says this: "whom having not seen you love." I mean, let's just stop there for a minute as we conclude this morning. Whom having not seen you love. I've never seen Jesus face to face. And even the characters that play Jesus in films, no. People have the pictures of Jesus in their home. No, that's not what he looks like. I mean, it's what we think he might look like.

Blonde hair, blue-eyed Jesus? No, I don't think so. Dark skin. It's funny what these people come up with. But you have these pictures of Jesus. I remember growing up with the picture of Jesus and just seeing that's what he looks like. If I showed you the picture right now, you'd be like, "Oh yeah, we had that picture. In fact, we have that picture right now. It's signed." You don't have that.

But we think that, you know. But even though I haven't seen him physically, I love him. I've seen him here. Isn't it amazing? You've never seen him and yet you believe and you love Jesus with all of your heart. You ever really just thought about that? I've never seen him, but I love him. And what's it going to be like when you see him? Job said this, Job 23:12, and we shall conclude.

He said this: "He knows the way that I take, and when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." Yeah, I'm being refined. Yeah, God is using things to make me more like Jesus. But here is my hope that is living, my inheritance that is lasting, my salvation that is secure. And one day, I'm going to see Jesus face to face. That, friends, is reason to rejoice today.

Guest (Male): Yes, indeed. Good reason to rejoice in the Lord. You're listening to A Daily Walk and a message from Pastor John Randall called Our Living Hope. And I'd imagine some of you would like to hear this message from First Peter again. Maybe you joined us late. Go online to adailywalk.org and have a listen whenever it's most convenient. We're also on oneplace.com. Another way to listen to Pastor John's teachings is through our mobile app. It's free. Do a search for Calvary South OC.

We are super excited about this month's offer. It's a book from our friend in the ministry Bill Stonebreaker titled Spiritual Warfare in Marriage. Having a good and godly marriage doesn't come easy, and we have an enemy that seeks to kill and destroy it. In this helpful book, Pastor Bill shows us how to win the battle for a good marriage. We're making it available to our A Daily Walk listeners for the cost of five dollars.

You can order online at adailywalk.org or call us at 877-242-0828. And anything given above that amount will be put to good use and help people all over the world grow in their daily walk as they listen to these daily studies, in some cases actually enter into a relationship with Christ. Again, you can donate online safely and securely at adailywalk.org or call us at 877-242-0828.

We say it often around here at A Daily Walk because it's true: we want to hear from you. It lets us know where the ministry is having an impact, and we also love praying for our listeners. Write to Pastor John by email today at adailywalk@gmail.com. That's adailywalk@gmail.com. Well, our time together sure goes by quickly, doesn't it? We'll pick up where we left off in our through the Bible study next time. This has been A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall, where you'll never have to walk alone.