God's Assurance: Sustaining Faith and Inheritance

1) "1 Peter 1:5 holds a very special place in your life Pastor John uh it's a precious text about God's keeping power over his children uh of those who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time so precious this is the promise that you wanted as a banner over the life of your mom and so had a phrase from this text in the King James version etched into to her grave kept by the power of God Ruth Piper was kept by the power of God in this life until her tragic passing in an automobile accident at the age of 56." [00:00:04]

2) "We have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who by God power are being guarded through faith for a Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time and one of the wonderful things about this promise is that there is a double guarding or a double keeping first God is keeping or guarding an inheritance in heaven for us verse four we have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled unfading kept or guarded in Heaven by God for us so when we get there The Inheritance will be fabulous and not ruined or disappointing in any way." [00:02:02]

3) "The other keeping is that God is guarding us for it he not only keeps it the inheritance for us in heaven but he keeps us for it he guarantees that it will be there and that we will get there that's the double amazing thing in this verse why it's one of the favorites of many people including me by God's power you are being guarded or capped through faith for a Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in other words you're going to make it." [00:02:43]

4) "The key question is whether kept by God through faith means we sustain our own faith and then God responds by guarding or keeping us or whether God sustains our faith and in that way he keeps us and guards us in the first meaning we are the decisive cause of our ongoing faith and in the second meaning God is the decisive cause of our ongoing Faith now which is it and the answer to that question decides how we will answer this question how how can I be sure I will wake up a Believer tomorrow morning." [00:03:40]

5) "God will see to it that I believe tomorrow morning he will sustain my faith he's promised to sustain it keep it guard it he'll keep me believing in the other case the answer would be well I can only hope that my independent self determining will is not overcome tonight by flesh or devil or world since the decisive sustaining power must come from me I see at least five reasons for thinking that Peter intended to strengthen and encourage Us by teaching that God sustains our faith and that's how he guards us for final salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." [00:04:35]

6) "Suppose you we humans provide the decisive cause of sustaining your faith day by day that's what you provide my question is what's left for God to do to guard you for your heavenly inheritance your final salvation you might answer well um in response to my faith he defeats the destructive effects of Satan and and the destructive effects of suffering and the pleasures of this world that's what he does in response to my self- sustained Faith but think about it there's only one way that Satan and suffering and worldly pleasures can prevent you from attaining Heaven namely by destroying your faith which you've already accomplished so God does not need to provide that you've provided that." [00:06:00]

7) "Satan's accusations don't keep you out of Heaven pain the pain of suffering that doesn't keep you out of Heaven the allurements of the world don't keep you out of Heaven the only way Satan suffering worldly pleasures can keep you out of Heaven Is by causing you to turn away from Christ and stop believing in him as your Supreme treasure and that's what you yourself have already achieved by sustaining your own faith so if you say God prevents the satanic destruction of your faith after or as a result of your faith which you yourself have triumphantly and decisively sustained that's a contradiction God doesn't guard you from doing what you've already done that's a contradiction what you are really saying is that you yourself protected yourself from the faith destroying effects of Satan suffering worldly pleasure that is you have guarded yourself for The Inheritance through faith and God is simply not needed to get you there by guarding or sustaining your faith." [00:07:02]

8) "I conclude being guarded through faith by God's power means God's power sustains our faith and that's why Satan and suffering and pleasure do not succeed in destroying our faith God's power sustains our faith he keeps us for the final salvation by keeping our faith that's argument number one the other view doesn't make sense it's got to built in contradiction number two in verse 21 of this same chapter 1 Peter 1 it says Christ was forn before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God now I think through him you are believers in God means he is the cause and the sustaining power of your faith." [00:08:17]

9) "According to his great Mercy he caused us to be born again to a living hope now we know that faith is the Assurance of things hoped for faith is inseparable from Hope Flip Flip sides faith is Hope is faith in the future tense you might say so the way we became Christians was owing to no merit in our sin eles we didn't do anything we were dead we had to be born again God in his great Mercy caused us to be born again that is caused us to have spiritual life and that life manifests itself in Hope and Faith that's the way it remains all our lives I'm arguing our faith was brought into being by Mercy undeserved Mercy totally lops cited godward mercy and it is sustained by Mercy." [00:09:30]

10) "This interpretation fits with the promise of the New Covenant in which Christians now live this is who we are we are blood-bought New Covenant people and here's how Jeremiah describes the New Covenant which is the experience of Believers today Jeremiah 32:40 the Lord saysi will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me that's the promise of God's sustained Faith that's the heart of the New Covenant the heart of it God puts his fear puts faith in us so that we don't make shipwreck of our faith that's the promise and difference between the new and old Covenant." [00:10:39]

11) "In Luke 2231 there is a beautiful picture of how this Faith sustaining work of God happens happened then happens now because of Christ's intercession for us in heaven Jesus says to Peter the night before his crucifixion Simon Simon behold Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat what does that mean it means he's going to squish you through the strainer and sift out all your faith he'll leave you there and your faith will be stuck in the wires that's what he's trying to do tonight verse 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail in other words I have asked your father in Heaven to sustain your faith that's what I do and when and when you have turned again not if you have turned again when you have turned again he knows it's going to happen he asked God for it when you've repented then strengthen your brothers." [00:11:38]

12) "For those five reasons at least there are more I think we can Rejoice indeed I think we should leap for joy that not only is God keeping a treasure for us in heaven secure he is also keeping us secure for heaven by his power through Faith this is through sustaining our faith incredible source of security and joy thank you Pastor John and thanks for joining us today if you have a question to ask Pastor John find a link to email us and find our complete episode archive all at Ask Pastor joh.com every episode with audio and full transcripts available for you at that website." [00:13:08]