Leading The Way

Guest (Male): Welcome to Leading the Way, featuring the Bible teaching of international Bible teacher and author of the book, an unholy alliance, Dr. Michael Youssef. For close to 40 years, God has grown the impact of Leading the Way to reach into and across six continents with the gospel of Jesus and in 28 of the world's most spoken and understood languages. You can experience ways that God is using Leading the Way when you go to ltw.org. Now today, Dr. Youssef reveals seven blessings of surrendering to God and leaning into the transformation offered through Christ. Blessings for life now and forever.

Here is Dr. Youssef beginning today's teaching.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Peter, the man who has experienced transformation of his identity. This man only identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. That is all that he is identity is concerned and begins his first few words of his epistle, the first epistle by talking about the seven fold blessings of a transformed identity, our identity that is being transformed. Blessing number one is the calling of God and our election, verses one and two. The second blessing is the blessing of the new birth. Verse three. The third blessing is the blessing of the living hope, verse three. The fourth blessing is the blessing of our solid inheritance, verse four.

The fifth, the blessings of God's protection, verse five. Number six, the blessings of suffering for the sake of Christ, verses six to nine and seventh, the blessings of the grace of God, verses 10 to 12. First, the man whom Jesus began to transform his identity, as we saw in the last message, from fishing and from knowledge and from self-reliance to reliance on Christ alone, begins his epistle with gratitude to God for that transformation. He begins with thanking God for his sovereign call and election, not only for him, but for all the believers in all of Asia Minor.

You see, in the Old Testament, Israel was God's chosen people, but in the New Testament, the Bible teaches very clearly throughout the scripture. In the New Testament, all the believers in Jesus Christ, the true believers, whether be Jews or Gentiles, whatever their background might be, they are now the chosen people. And you find this very clearly taught in the scripture. Ephesians 1 1 to 5, Titus 1 1 and 2, Romans 8, Revelation 5 9 and on and on and on. Here, Peter, the Jew of all Jews, calling Christians in Asia Minor, whether they're Jews or Gentiles, he calls them chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.

Now there are some people who claim to believe the Bible, they really have a hard time with this. Why? Why so many people who claim to be believers in Jesus, they claim to believe the Bible, but they refuse to believe this truth. I'm going to tell you exactly why and it's one word, pride. Pride. They want to take credit for their salvation. Some actually say that they are saved only because they have decided to follow Jesus, which is true from a human point of view. Others say that they are saved because they have superior intellect.

Yet others say that they're saved because of the amount of good works that they do. Well, how much good work is good enough for God? But all of that not only denies the Bible, denies the word of God, but they never become grateful people. They never become thankful people. Gratitude comes from acknowledging that God is the one who saves us from beginning to end, that he never starts something, never finishes it. When I began to study the scripture and learn this wonderful truth from the word of God that God is the one who sovereignly called me, God is the one who sovereignly chose me, God is the one who sovereignly saved me before the earth is foundation, that became my greatest identity transformation.

And yes, my pride fought this truth hard. My pride wouldn't easily accept this truth. My pride wanted to take credit for my salvation. My pride wanted to boast about my salvation. My pride wanted to get the glory for my salvation. And yet Peter in chapter one, verses one and two told us that our salvation eternally the work of the Holy Trinity, that God the Father chose you, that God the Son redeemed you and that God the Holy Spirit sealed you. Let me ask you this. When was the last time did you thank God for his election?

Second blessing is the blessing of the new birth. Verse three. God is the one who gave us the new birth. And this new birth or second birth or being born again, as Jesus puts it to Nicodemus, is different from our first birth. And that is why only those who have experienced the second birth, those who have been born again, those who have experienced this rebirth can comprehend what it means. That's why we try to argue with people who have never experienced it and we don't understand why can't they see it? They can't. Be patient with them.

Be very understanding. John Newton tells us in Amazing Grace, he said born again is basically I was blind, but now I see. That's the length of it. C. S. Lewis probably does the best job that I can find of anyone trying to explain this dilemma. He said imagine a sighted person standing next to a blind man out in the mountain. The sighted man will talk about how bright the sun is, how green the grass is, how blue the sky is. He said the blind man said, what are you talking about? He can't see it. See, that's exactly how it is and that why we need to be patient.

We need to be loving, we need to be concerned, we need to be understanding of people who have not experienced what we experience. The blessings of election, the blessings of new birth. Thirdly, the blessings of a living hope. Look at verse three with me. What is that hope? Is this not I hope so. I'm not really sure, but I have hopes. I am putting hope against hope. No no no no no. That's not what the word hope means here. The word hope means 100% certainty. There is no shadow of doubt about it. And we saw in the last message how Peter saw only hopelessness at the time of Jesus's trial and crucifixion.

And that is why he denied Jesus three times despite the fact that Jesus had warned him that this is going to happen. We saw how in his darkness he wept bitterly and how in his darkness his ears and his heart were pierced when that cock crowed. But after the resurrection of Jesus, and that's why he talks about the resurrection here. After the resurrection of Jesus, he became a new man. He became a new man. Now he will talk as a man who's been forgiven completely and restored completely. Now he is confident not in himself anymore, but in Jesus.

Now he is transformed from hopelessness to hope. He is now transformed from no hope to a living hope which is brought about by the risen Christ, by the risen Christ. The resurrection is so important to Peter because he knows how it transformed him. Let me ask you this. What difference does the resurrection of Jesus make in your everyday life when you're facing problems at work, when you're facing problems at home, when you're facing problems in relationships, whatever you may be, what does the resurrection mean to you when you're in the midst of those circumstances? When was the last time did you actually, heartily, enthusiastically thanked God for the resurrection of Jesus at the greatest blessing of your life?

When was the last time did you say to yourself, the one who raised Jesus from the dead is working in me to will and to do? When was it that you reminded yourself as Paul said to the Ephesians that the very power that raised Jesus from the dead is working in every believer in the first century church. They talked about Jesus and the resurrection, resurrection and Jesus, Jesus and the resurrection. They talk about them synonymously. It's so much so that the pagan Greeks thought they're talking about two gods who are married to each other. And that's true.

You cannot preach Jesus without the resurrection. Blessings of election, blessings of the new birth, the blessings of living hope, fourthly the blessing of a solid inheritance. And oh, what an inheritance it is. I remember back and some of you do too when when Howard Hughes died at that time, he left one of the largest estates ever to that point and and the press was clamoring, talking to his lawyers and said, how much did he leave behind? How much did he leave? How much he leave? He said all of it. All of it. Our inheritance is not like that.

We're not going to leave it behind. In fact, our inheritance is waiting for us. The people of Israel inherited Canaan because it was promised to Abraham, which was called the promised land. And they came in and they divided into 12 sections so and yet that inheritance, that promised land at best saw its fair share of bloodshed and corruption and and pollution and all of that. But the inheritance that we have in Christ, that inheritance is free from the possibility of invasion for no one can take it from you. And that inheritance cannot be affected by the stock market.

It can never go down in value. That inheritance cannot be stolen because it is safe in the hands of Jesus. That inheritance, no one can defraud you of it because it's non-negotiable. That is the blessing of that great inheritance. That inheritance is not only non-negotiable, but its beauty can never be defaced. In the Greek language, there's something in the grammar and the syntax is called three negative compounds. When the three negative compounds strung together, in English it would be translated no, not, never, not on your life. I mean, it is so powerful. Have you ever got yourself on a spiritual high on three negative compounds?

I have. I can have one man revival on the three negative compounds in the Greek. Let me put it this way. That inheritance can never be taken away from you. It's yours. Your name written on it. The blessing number five, protection and security. Look at verse five. Here's what Peter's saying. He's saying the believer who's called, chosen, reborn, have living hope and solid inheritance, is shielded. He's shielded. He's covered up. The word here actually means kept safe, carefully watched. It comes from the military use of it. And now before I understood this absolute wonderful truth from the word of God about the eternal security of the believers, I want to tell you I was terrified.

I was terrified that I might die or Christ comes back while I'm doing something wrong. The preachers back in my days as a young even as a young Christian or before even I became a Christian and and they were always railed against the movies and rail against television. Some of you remember this. Remember Hellavision? And I remember the preachers would go like this and almost I feel the fingers pointing at me, you know. The movies. What if Jesus comes back and you are at the movies? What will you do then? God is my witness. I've been only dozen times all all those years been a dozen times the movies and they all be considered G rated now.

But I've always terrified that Jesus was going to come back before I see the end of the movie. Let's see how it ended. Please hear me right on this one. While the Christian life is a life of obedience, willing obedience, joyful obedience, loving obedience and holiness as we will see throughout the series of messages. Yet it is not a life of dread. It's not a life of fear. You can imagine the joy unspeakable that fell upon me when I began to learn these biblical truth that God is the one who shield me. God is the one who's guarding me.

God is the one who's protecting me. God is the one who's guaranteeing my salvation. God is the one who is my shield and my buckler. That God is the one who is my mighty fortress and that nothing and no one can take that away from me. To believe that you are eternally secure in Christ is not going to let you live in which way you want to say well God can catch me when he can. No no no no no sir. Let me tell you the true believers. When you learn the incredible security in Christ is going to put you on your face on your knees in gratitude and thanksgiving.

In gratitude and thanksgiving. Through the years, I've watched people who claim to be Christians and who fall into this era of thinking that they are saved because of their decision to follow Christ and only because of their decision that they live their Christian life believing that their eternity is dependent on their performance. They say that I am the one who got myself to Christ and I'm the one who must keep myself in Christ. Beloved, there is a world of difference between this and between willing obedience. The very difference is very different from joyful obedience. I can't wait to obey God.

I want to obey God. I seek to obey him with all my heart because he did all of the work. It's very different from delighted in obedience. Please listen to me. If you understood that God knew you, called you, elect you before the earth founded, and when you understand that he is your eternal hope, when you know that your inheritance is solidly founded upon Christ, then you will know that he is the one he's going to carry you all the way home. Nobody can touch me until that day. Nobody can touch you. No matter who, what, where and we are not here all the arguments.

I know this truth has led me to a life of gratitude and thanksgiving. Let me to a life of willing obedience. Let me to a life of thankfulness. Let me to a life of contentment regardless of my circumstances. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. You'll be surprised what the Lord has done. The blessings of election, the blessings of new birth, the blessings of living hope, the blessings of solid inheritance, the blessing of protection and number six, the blessing of suffering for Christ. Look with me please at verses 6, 7, 8 and 9. There's so much confusion on the subject of suffering.

It really is among Christians. They really do. There are some who see all sorts of suffering as suffering for Jesus from a flat tire to a bad hair day. They think they're suffering for Jesus. Well, the truth is the reality is these things happen because we're living in a broken, sinful and a world that is fallen. And these things happen. And that's very different from suffering specifically for the sake of Jesus. And that's what Peter's talking about here. He's talking about suffering specifically for the name of Jesus. Listen to me. I'm not minimizing any of the suffering with the natural suffering or suffering for I'm not minimizing any of that.

Don't misunderstand me. But I want to bring clarity. What Peter is referring to here is having to suffer specifically for the sake of being a believer in Jesus Christ. If you lose your job because of your faith in Jesus, if you bypass for a promotion because of your faith in Jesus, if you are ostracized because of your faith in Jesus, that's suffering for Jesus. But if you lose your job or bypass for promotion because you're being lazy or unfaithful on the job, that's not suffering for Jesus. By the way, suffering for Jesus does not mean that it doesn't hurt.

It doesn't mean that at all. It hurts. It's painful. It costs. It's troubling. Paul said to Timothy, everyone who seeks to live a godly life will suffer. But suffering for Jesus when it does come is going to provide you with the blessings that you would have never ever ever been able to experience any other way. God will use your suffering for Jesus to bless you in a unique way. God will choose your suffering for Jesus to refine you like gold. God will use your suffering for Jesus to bring you closer to him like you've never been before.

Take it from Peter, the man with a transformed identity. Before the resurrection, he tried to escape suffering by denying Jesus three times. But after the resurrection, he would consider suffering for Jesus to be an honor, to be a privilege, to be a source of great joy. And history tells us that when he was being crucified, he said I don't want to be crucified like my Lord. Crucify me upside down. Mercifully, Peter said those times of suffering for Jesus have limited duration. Thank God for that. Those times of suffering for Jesus will not go on forever.

Also those times in the middle of those times, you experience joy unspeakable, joy you've never known before. Blessing number seven, finally, is the blessings of God's grace. Well, there are few things that will make me fall apart emotionally while I'm preaching in public. As a man, I don't like to be out of control for my emotion. I love to been in control of my emotions. God and I dealt with that long time ago. Chief among them is the subject of the grace of God. It overwhelms me. Grace that is totally undeserved. Grace that is an unmerited favor from God.

That grace overwhelms me. Peter said the Old Testament prophets therefore told of that grace. The Old Testament prophets, they long to see this grace which so many Christians take it for granted. The Old Testament prophets, they hope to experience that grace. The Old Testament prophets, they peered into its horizon but never experienced it. But we do. We do. How can anyone take that grace for granted? In the New Testament, we are privileged to experience that grace. Not only that, he said but the angels in heaven desire to look with wonder upon that grace. But you see the angels could not experience it because they were not sinners and need God's redemption.

After Lucifer and third of the angelic being was thrown out, these angels are not sinners, need redemption. But me, a hell deserving sinner, you, a hell deserving sinner. We have been redeemed by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and by his precious blood.

Guest (Male): In case you're new to Leading the Way, each episode features Bible teacher Dr. Michael Youssef passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth. Leading the Way strategically reaches across six continents and in 28 of the world's most spoken and understood languages. Want to hear more content from Dr. Youssef and the team, then check out the audio archives or watch the video content when you visit ltw.org.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Most of the in time books, where they take a verse from Daniel and a verse from Revelation and then they build up a case or a system. I personally believe that we must let the word of God speak for itself. I decided to write a book. When I looked around, I saw all the books on the in times that they leave out what Jesus said about the in times. Who knows more than our Lord Jesus Christ about what the in times are and what signs to look for and how to prepare and how to live when you see these signs.

Every Christian generation must look to the coming of Christ. Our generation is no exception. And so I explain all of that in what Jesus himself said about the in times. I am all about Jesus. And what Jesus said is what really matters to me and I know it matters to you. And so I'm clarifying and going straight into the heart of Jesus and what he said about it.

Guest (Male): For centuries, people have theorized when the in times will come upon us. For decades, books have been sold predicting when the end will come. In his book, Is the End Near? what Jesus told us about the last days. Dr. Michael Youssef unpacks the words of the Lord Jesus himself in Matthew 24 and 25. Rest in knowing that he holds all things in the palm of his hand. Don't let fear of the future shake your faith. Know what Jesus said. Get the truth about the in times. For your gift of any amount, you can receive your copy of Dr.

Youssef's book, Is the End Near? and we'll also send you a copy of the Is the End Near? Study Guide along with access to a four-part video series from Dr. Youssef. Learn more at ltw.org.

Guest (Male): This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world.