1st Peter chapter number 1. I would like to read verses 3, 4, and 5, if you'd follow please. Verses 3, 4, and 5. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. This is Peter's eulogy and it is given to us to help us as we worship God. We are not meant to be spectators, outsiders looking in as Peter eulogizes God. He is doing that here. We are being led by his words, his good words, to participate with him. How gracious the Holy Spirit is to hold our hand and lead us into worship through these inspired words of God given to us for us to help us come into the presence of God and worship him. Here's a eulogy to memorize and to use as we are called to come and worship God. Peter's eulogy begins with God and like him we are to come with words. We are to come ascribing to God what we know about him, particularly about his nature that has been revealed to us through his word. So we ought to come with glorious words based on the knowledge of the person and work of God. And we are to praise God for who he is. We also come into his presence thanking him because of what he's done for us. And in our text as we studied so far there is a special emphasis on our salvation which leads us to consider the great gift of God's Son to us that he gave him to be for us our Lord Jesus Christ. It's also important for us to keep in mind Peter's opening comments that are given here for us before he leads us into worship. These words are exactly what we need to think about before we come into his presence. These opening words describe the people of God in the world as strangers in the world and the elect of God and how that in this world we are challenged to be obedient and it's not easy. And so we rejoice with the wonderful provision of a sacrifice that functions continually like the sprinkling of the blood to cleanse us from defilements so that we might continue in our communion and fellowship with God. These opening words in verses 1 and 2 are similar to the songs of degrees that consist of the pilgrim songs that they sang as they went to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices of praises and thanksgiving to their redeeming God. They were strangers and the elect called to come. And so our reflection on who we are in this world will help us like the songs of degrees prepare us to worship God. But here in verses 3 through 5 we are led by Peter. We are engaged with Peter. He is sort of our worship leader this morning as we study. He leads us in worship and our worship moves from the call to blessing or eulogizing the blessed God. We then celebrate the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ and we acknowledge that it is through him that God has poured out upon us abundant mercy. And Peter is especially focusing on the mercy of God that gave us spiritual life so that we as pilgrims in this world can live out our life with a living hope. Our new life has given us ears to hear about God's promises to his people. Our new life has given us spiritual eyes to see afar off the promises of God concerning his people. Last Sunday we took this phrase at the end of verse 3, Peter's statement where he says, by the resurrection or by the means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This phrase circles back to what he's just said. God's mercy has birthed us spiritually so that we would have a living hope which is based on the power that raised the body of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. There is no hope apart from that. It is critical to our thinking. As Peter is unfolding his praises in this eulogy, he wants us to remember that our hope rests on that reality. God raised Christ from the dead bodily. There is no hope. There is no inheritance. There is nothing for us if that is not true. And so with each phrase as we have taken them and broken them down, we are acknowledging what our God has done for us. And with these words that Peter gives to us, we are praising and thanking him through this eulogy that Peter is speaking on our behalf. I hope you're making this yours. I hope you're not a spectator to what Peter is doing here, that you're entering in with him in this eulogy of praise. Verse 4. This is new territory now. To an inheritance. Peter now leads us to praise God for the promised inheritance. He's just not dumping information on us. He's leading us to eulogize God for the inheritance, the promised inheritance. The pilgrim is to live with this hope. As we go through life and through this world, we live with the hope of a promised inheritance. We are to live our life in this world as we've considered in the past thoughts, mindful that we live with the hope of eternal life. That's a wonderful thing to live with the hope of, right? The hope of eternal life. We are mindful that we live with the hope of a bodily resurrection. But there's more. We live with the hope of an inheritance. This is a word that was commonly used in the Old Testament, especially when referring to the promised land. 220 times it's used, I believe, roughly in the Old Testament. Most of those references are in Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, all focusing on a promised land. God promised Abraham that his offspring would inherit the land that Abraham was pilgrimaging in during his life. Wherever his foot went, this is yours. It's to be yours. It will be given to your offspring. And so God gave it to the 12 tribes, the 12 sons of Jacob and their families when he brought them out of Egypt. They were now a small nation of 12 tribes, and they were led by Moses and later Joshua to receive the land of promise. Well, Abraham's promise was fulfilled. It's very clearly noted in the Old Testament. The promise to Abraham was fulfilled when Israel took possession of their land. That promise had been fulfilled. But Abraham recognized that the real land of promise was a heavenly land, not an earthly land. The earthly land he walked on was a type, a picture of a greater promise, which is clarified in the New Testament. And so when they in the Old Testament spoke of this inheritance, it referred literally to taking possession of the promised property. That's what the word embodies, that idea. For them, it was a plot or section of land that was divided 12 ways for the 12 tribes of Israel. That was their inheritance. The New Testament word, inheritance, that we have here in verse number 4, well, it means pretty much the same thing. However, the New Testament speaks of our inheritance as believers as something that will be given to God's people after the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it involves a new world, a new world, not this one that we're walking on. Yes, but it's not the same. It's going to be new. And like Abraham, we pilgrimage on this earth now, and wherever we walk and put our feet, we are reminded of this fact. God has promised a new world to us. Wherever we go, we don't take claim of it yet, but it is promised to us that we will inherit with Christ because we are eternally connected with him. And as you've heard good words about whatever the father has promised to his son, by way of inheritance, we will share together with him. He is our elder brother, the firstborn. And to him, the father will give all the inheritance, but because we are in Christ, we will share that with him. There are some nuances here that I want... I'm not going to go into detail here, but I want to mention to this subject that pertains to what we're talking about here, this inheritance, while we all share in the inheritance, and I'll develop that and show that in just a moment, there are also rewards that will be received according to how we've lived our life during the days of our pilgrimage. This is different than the pilgrimage and the inheritance that is given to them. God gives rewards, and they will be given according to how we chose to live during our days upon the earth. Those rewards will vary from person to person. The inheritance does not, but rewards will. When Peter leads us to bless God, who has given us the hope of an inheritance, he's referring to all the things, the stuff, the stuff that we will enjoy together in the new world with our resurrected body. We're not just floating spirits. God is creating a new world and a new body that can enjoy that new world with all of its senses, pushed to its maximum of enjoyment in the new world. That inheritance belongs to the strong in faith, and it belongs to the weak in faith. There is no difference. They all enter the new world. It is all theirs to enjoy. Every child of God since Adam is promised this inheritance, illustrated through types, but the ultimate inheritance for God's elect will come in the new creation of a new world. Just to kind of set this before you, Peter is going to deal with this in his second letter. Maybe we'll get to that before I dive in. Look at 2 Peter 3, beginning in verse number 10. Peter is waxing eloquent here as the Spirit leads him to deal with matters that are yet to come. And he says in verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up, consumed. It's a part of that period when he returns and brings all things to their conclusion. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what matter of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation, mannerisms, behavior, and godliness, knowing this to be true? It ought to change how we live. As a people, we ought to be looking for and hastening, desiring the coming of the day of the Lord wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, he repeats himself, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. It's all going to melt down into nothing. God is going to bring it back to its very basic elements and start over. He's going to start over. Nevertheless, verse 13, we according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth. We are God's people who have this promise of this inheritance, a new heaven and a new earth. But the difference is only righteousness dwells in that creation. There will never, ever be sin to do what it did to this world in that world. And so, wherefore, brethren, seeing that we look for such things, he's assuming we are looking for such things, that we ought to therefore be diligent that we may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless. So, the reality of these truths are not just for intellectual consideration. The reality of these truths are for your inspiration to live a more holy and godly life. If the things of God, the promises of God, of this glorious inheritance that he has for you, and we will all share in that glorious new world, doesn't matter where you are in your own journey and what faith you have or don't, strong or weak, whether you've struggled and given over to failures too frequently in your life, this is not the issue. We all inherit together the new world. Other factors come into play, of course, depending how we live, but this is an inheritance for all of us. In Sunday school, we read through Romans 8. Go back to that just a moment. Shane made some wonderful statements there, and I appreciate those things that were said. I want you to notice some things here that Paul mentions, beginning in verse 11, and we'll read down through verse 18. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, this spirit of God, this spirit of power that raised up Christ from the dead, it shall quicken also your mortal bodies by this spirit that dwelleth in you. Your bodies are going to be raised again. Well, brethren, therefore, I mean, therefore, that's Paul's application from what he just said. Therefore, we are debtors, not to the flesh. It will die. It will go into the tomb. It will dissolve. We are not debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh, for if you live after the flesh, you shall die. There is no hope of life for living after your flesh, to pursuing the interest of your flesh. There is no hope but death in that life. But if you, through the spirit of God, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. So notice, here is the evidence of the spirit of God being real in you. What is going on? You're putting to death what is sinful in your body. You're not ignoring it. You're not just entertaining it. You're actively addressing it. Mortify, put to death the deeds of the body. You shall live. For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. It's an important thing that characterizes the true children of God. They that are led by the spirit, they are the sons of God. This is an important thing to contemplate because it's going to involve the inheritance. Verse 15, for ye have not received the spirit of bondage against fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. The assurance comes, as Peter says later in his second epistle. It comes. Our election is assured by the way we live. The evidence that the spirit is in you is by his fruit being manifested through you. And so the spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Now, listen closely. And if children, then we are heirs. You see, he had to work up to this point. Are we really children? How do we know we're children? He didn't just start there. How do we know we're the children of God? Because if we're children, then we're heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. So Paul works this out. To be an heir of Christ, to be the heir of God's promises, you must have the evidence that the spirit of God is in you because without the spirit of God, you are not God. And if you're not God's, there is no inheritance for you. So that's well argued out by Paul in many places, and this is a good example. Look at Galatians chapter number three. We are supporting this idea that there is an inheritance for all of God's people, whether they're strong in faith or weak in faith isn't the issue, but that they are God's people and there is evidence that they are his. To them, the inheritance belongs. In Galatians chapter three, in verse 29, he says, and if you be Christ's, you belong to him, then are you Abraham's seed. The very promise of God from the beginning to Abraham, Galatians argues out, is to one seed, not many seed. Isaac was the pattern, Christ is the fulfillment. He's the fulfilling seed. And if you are like Abraham, a child of faith, you are Abraham's seed. And if you're Abraham's seed, he says, you are an heir. You are an heir. That all the thing that God promised to Abraham concerning the land, this new land, even Abraham saw it in the distance. We are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. In chapter four, read earlier as well, but look at it again. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. This is the evidence of the spirit. He's leading us into this spirit and attitude of humility and prayer before God. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if you're a son, then you are an heir of God. There were strong believers in Galatian and there were some pretty weak ones struggling in confusion theologically. He didn't say, get all your thought theology right before you can be an heir. You're an heir. If you're a son of God, a child of God, you are an heir of his inheritance. The new world, the new heavens, they are yours. Everywhere we walk on this earth, it'll be melted down, remade. It is ours. It is promised to Christ and to us. Look at Ephesians quickly, chapter number one. We have this mentioned by Paul here in this great teaching on the doctrine of salvation in chapter one. And he says in verses 10 and 11 that in the dispensation of the fullness of time, and this is as God unfolds time in different ways and manners, as God brings time to its fullness, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, which are on earth, even in Christ. In whom? Christ. We also have obtained an inheritance. Because we are in him, we have a promise of an inheritance because it was promised to Christ, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will. So all believers, whatever their spiritual development might be, how many years they've been walking with God, in the end when Christ returns, all believers, all believers will inherit the new creation of God. This is yours. And you'll be given a new body with senses that are enabling you to know the sweetness and the fullness of what God has done for you. It'll be a rich experience that we will enjoy. But he also warns in numerous places that if you continue to live a certain way, then you are giving after the flesh, you are giving evidence that you are not the child of God and you will not be heirs according to his promise. So there are warnings to the churches. Just because you're sitting in the church doesn't mean you're automatically an heir. Doesn't matter how strong or weak you are in your faith, but it does matter whether the Spirit of God is in you and he's leading you to make changes in your life. That's the evidence that is required. There are a number of characteristics. I'll mention a few here. True heirs, ones who inherit the new promised land, the new world, who will ever forever live in the kingdom of God as it's offered up to him in fullness. The kingdom of God has had its expressions through the centuries and the millennium of time. But it's gonna culminate and it culminates according to 1st Corinthians 15, when Christ returns. He brings an end to all things and he takes the kingdom that he has been leading and ruling over, advancing in this world. He'll take that kingdom now purged, purged entirely from all of the tears and the things that defiled it. And he'll take that kingdom and he'll offer it up to the Father and so shall we ever dwell in the kingdom of God. He will be the dominion, influencer, overseer of the eternal kingdom forever. But to enjoy these things, we must demonstrate these qualities of being led by the Spirit, of being committed to the mortification of our flesh. And the reason is because every child of God has been given the gift of God's Spirit, right? Ephesians 1 14, God has given us his Spirit as the earnest of our inheritance. You have hope of an inheritance, it is because the Spirit is in you. He is the down payment, as it were. Do you want to know the inheritance belongs to you? He puts his Spirit in you to guarantee it. That's God's deposit on your life and he will come to claim it in its fullness, including not just our souls but our resurrected bodies as well. When you go to other passages in the New Testament, we are told that those who are members of the kingdom of God demonstrate diligence in their walk of faith. They are diligent, earnest, not slothful in their work and labor of love, fully engaged in our occupation to serve God and his people. This characterizes the true children of God who receive the inheritance. We are not indifferent. We don't go through life indifferent. We don't go through life carelessly. But there are seasons we do, and God has to correct those things in our life and bring us back to a clearer understanding. And even if we rebel and choose not to engage as we ought in this life, if you are a child of God, you will never ever be snatched from the hand of God. That's a promise that he has made to every elect member that was placed in Christ. Peter goes on to describe this. Go back to 1 Peter. We're just talking about this reality of an inheritance. But look at what Peter says regarding this inheritance, a few phrases that he chooses. He tells us to an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled. What is an incorruptible inheritance? An incorruptible inheritance, as we look toward and anticipate the new creation of God, that new inheritance, that new world, is not subject to corruption. It will never decay. We don't know anything like that. All we know is decay. But the world that will be created that we will inherit is incorruptible. It will never perish. Our inheritance is immortal as long as we exist. And as long as Christ exists, we exist. So our inheritance is an incorruptible, immortal inheritance. That world will never decay. Wow. What a change from the world we live in. But that's the promise of our inheritance. Our inheritance will be undefiled. It cannot be soiled. It is free from misuse. No one can take their share and use it selfishly. No sin will exist in the new world. Our inheritance is undefiled because there is no sin. Our inheritance fadeth not away, meaning its value and its luster. It cannot be exhausted. There is no shelf life to that inheritance. It fadeth not away. Can you imagine enjoying the same things? When I think of the new world and all that God is going to create and what we will enjoy in that new world, my mind cannot go very far down that road because of our own human limitations. But can you imagine what that new world and new heaven is going to be like? That it will never lose its luster to us. It will never fade in its value to us. That's the inheritance that the people of God will receive. And then he adds, reserved in heaven for you. The vault that has your name on the will is safely guarded. No one can break in and steal your inheritance. The promise is secured by Christ. It's reserved in heaven for you. Nothing can ever diminish or take from us our inheritance forever. What a blessed thought in light of the world we live in. And everything decays, gets misused, gets perverted. Its value diminishes, its joy is lost. But in this new inheritance of the new world that God has created by design and anticipation through Christ for us, I look forward. Do you think we'll all be standing there as it were we get for the first time to witness the Creator call the world into existence? The new world, the new heavens. We will see what no one ever saw from the beginning. Angels had not yet existed. They did not see the new world. And here we will observe God making our inheritance and completing it. But can I also add to this? There is nothing in this present world that you own materially, physically that you will take with you out of this world into that world. Absolutely nothing. No rank, no power, no savings account, no insurance policy. I mean, it's all nothing. You came naked into the world, you'll leave the same way without anything. But here's a remarkable thing as we think about the inheritance and rewards which will vary, not the inheritance but the rewards. We do have an opportunity in this life to transfer our earthly wealth into a heavenly currency. That is remarkable to me. Remember in Matthew 6 in the Sermon of the Mount, I look forward to our men getting to all these different passages. This is another one. Lay not up for yourselves was the words of Jesus to his disciples. Don't lay in store, don't hoard and pile up for yourselves, but rather lay up for yourselves. And he goes into explaining how we do that, and that is by serving God, not the world. Loving God, not the world. That's how we take the values of this world and transfer them into a heavenly currency yet to come. So there are certain things you can send ahead. Paul even describes how to do this. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 6. This will be our last reference, 1 Timothy and the last chapter, chapter 6. And so he says to, Paul says to Timothy who's pastoring at this particular time in the church at Ephesus, and he writes to him and challenges him to challenge, charge them that are rich in this world. So it's interesting that wealth is not a sinful thing. How we use wealth can be a sinful thing. God will give to the church people who have wealth. And so here he is telling Timothy to tell those members who have wealth in the church to be careful. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded. Think too highly of themselves because they have more than others. Nor trust in the uncertainty of riches. Don't put your trust in material things, but rather put it in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. God is not against the enjoyment of life. That's going to be enhanced a million fold in the life to come. But he's given us senses and the ability to feel and sense life and to enjoy it and its richness. But he warns them that they would take their wealth in that they do good, in verse 18, and that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to share, laying up in store for themselves. So here they are passing it on. They are able to take what they have by doing good with it. They are actually increasing the value of those things in the world to come. They are able to pass it on to another round, the new heaven, the new earth. Those things that you have done will be preserved for you in that world, laying up store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. Our worship of God includes our praise and our gratitude for the hope we have for such an inheritance as this. When is the last time you blessed God for your inheritance? Sometimes we forget about these things. We forget what he's planning for us. Peter is telling us here by this eulogy that we are to include this in our praise of God concerning our inheritance. Eternal life with a transformed body we will be able to enjoy the beauty and the pleasures of a new world. Do you bless God for that? You may have limitations in your body. It may be broken. Some people go through life with very broken bodies, unable to find joy and pleasure in almost anything physical or material. How their spirit of praise ought to be enhanced as they think about the inheritance to come that will be theirs in the new world. This is our inheritance. And with Peter this morning, we say, bless me, God. And God, help us to see what Abraham saw far off. And with this vision, be inspired to live, as Peter tells us, a more devoted life. May the vision of these things inspire us to be more devoted to how we choose to live our life. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word today. We thank you for its reminder to us that you have not only redeemed us, you've not only promised to give us eternal life, you've promised to give us bodies that are new and transfigured like your son. And you've promised to give us, all of us, an inheritance. The new world, the new earth, the new heavens that we will all enjoy for all eternity. Thank you, Father, for setting these things before us. We ask that you would give us the spiritual eyes to see these things and be motivated by them to live our life more fully and completely for your service. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.