THE GUARANTEE OF GOD'S KEEPING POWER
1 Pet. 1:1-12
Morning Meditation 7/14/17
"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and 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. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into."
Verse 5 is the verse on which this meditation is based. There is surely no more comforting truth in the Bible than God guaranteeing to keep His children from the present moment of time until they arrive safely in heaven. Some people are turned off by this doctrine. It is because they don't understand grace. I have heard many say, "If I believed that I would just go out and do what I wanted to and have a great time in the world with the world in the world's way and I would still go to heaven!" They think that is a good argument. I won't even dignify that silly reasoning with an answer.
I will tell you this. I am saved, safe, and satisfied and secure. I am doing exactly what I want to do. I am retired from the pastorate. I am not retired from the ministry. I preach Mission Conferences in this country and out of it. I sit probably 10 to 12 hours a day when I am home on the computer writing meditations that go out to over 40 countries. But there was a period of time I did go out in the world. I can assure you that I was saved and very unhappy. When God saves you and you and go back to the world and can be happy, you got salved instead of saved.
But God didn't confer with us when He made His plan or wrote His Word. So it is not what you or I think about it. It is what the Bible says. There are several truths in this verse I will share with you. First of all,
THE PROMISE OF HIS KEEPING
Peter says, "Who are kept by the power of God." The word "kept" translates "phroureo " and means"to guard, protect by a military guard to prevent hostile invasion." This is a promise and believers live by the promises of God.
Jesus told His disciples in John 10:27-29, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." It is very obvious in this verse Jesus is teaching His keeping power of His disciples.
How many times have I heard, "Bro. White, I would be saved. But I just know I could not live up to the standards. I would lose it." Well, I don't expect an unsaved man to understand spiritual truths. Neither do I want to leave the impression that it is ok to sin after you are saved. But I usually tell a person that he is thinking like an unsaved person. I tell them that God will turn the light on for them the moment they are saved. And beside that, God moves into the life and regenerates his dead human spirit and then the Holy Spirit indwells him for the rest of his life. He has God's power to live right.
The Bible says in Ephesians 1:13-14, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" A seal is the sign of ownership. And the seal is the Holy Spirit Himself. He is "the earnest of our inheritance." The earnest is a part of the whole thing. In other words a believer has a part of his final redemption within him as a pledge from God he will get the rest. God even tells us how long we are sealed, i.e., "until the day of redemption." And this is referring to glorification.
In the light of the Holy Spirit's indwelling Paul says in Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." The Holy Spirit is in us to do a job. He is there to enable us to be holy. He monitors our thoughts our words and our actions. When we violate His leadership, He is grieved. But what I want you to see are the words, "Ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." We are permanently sealed.
We have already passed from death to life and are not subject to future condemnation. This is brought out in John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." The word "hath" translates "echo" to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have (hold) possession of." It is a present active indicative verb. This means that we have in the present tense continually in our possession, we hold in our possession." What do we have in our possession in the continuous present? "everlasting life." If God gives us everlasting life and we have it as a present possession, if we don't have it forever, this passage means nothing at all. Next let's look at,
THE POWER OF HIS KEEPING
Our verse says, "Who are kept by the power of God." The word "power" translates, "dunamis" and means, "strength power, ability; inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth." What kind of power does God have in His very nature? He can speak and worlds appear. Peter is definitely saying that God keeps us by His power.
Hebrews 7:25 says, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." You will notice the words "save to the uttermost" are dependent on, "he is able." The word "able" translates "dunamai" and is the same word defined above. It is a present middle indicative verb. The present tense means he is doing it now. The middle voice is where the subject (Jesus) acts in His own behalf. He is the Actor in the keeping. And He keeps us for Himself. So the security of the believer is in the hands of the Lord. It is not up to us to hold out faithful until the end as some say. We certainly should be faithful all our lives after salvation. And we will be chastened if we are not. But our security is not at stake because we are kept by His power. How long does the verse say He saves? The answer is to the "uttermost." The word "uttermost" means, "completely, perfectly, utterly."
Jude 1:24 says, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy," The words "Now unto him" are speaking of Jesus. The words, "that is able to keep you from falling" means that it is He who does the keeping. The word able is the same word that we have been defining. Being kept is not in our power. We would utterly fail. Our keeping is clearly taught that it is in His power. Next let's look at,
THE PURPOSE OF HIS KEEPING
1. We need to be kept from the power of the flesh within. We need to be kept from indwelling sin, for we still possess the old Adamic nature and this nature is unchanged, powerful and very assertive. Paul said this about himself in Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."
Paul had sin operating in his flesh at the time he was a Spirit filled Apostle. He says this in Romans 7:16-17, "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
He repeats this in Romans 7:20, "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Paul does not identify with the sin nature that is within but says it is still there. He says, "it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
This sin that dwelled with him in the same body caused him to cry out in Romans 7:24-25, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." We need to be kept because of the power of sin within.
2. We need to be kept from the power of the world without. We are in danger of being allured by its attractions and its evils. John warned against this in 1 John 2:15-17, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." First John was written to Christians. If it were not possible to be lured back into the world and the love of it, there would be no need for this warning.
3. We need to be kept from the power of the Devil around us. He is a powerful foe and is always seeking our downfall. Sometimes he comes as an angel of light. This it brought out in 2 Corinthians 11:14, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." If Jesus is the light of the world, and he is, Satan appears at times as Jesus. He is a master deceiver. The Bible is the only thing that protects one from him. He will use the Bible. He did with Jesus. But he will always pervert it. Sometimes he comes to us as a roaring lion. This is brought out in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" We need to be kept because of the power of the Devil around us.
4. We need to be kept because of the conflicts of the mind that we encounter often. Our mind needs fortifying and freed from doubt, despair, depression, and discouragement. This is brought out in Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Paul also brings this out in Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
5. Our will needs to be kept because we are powerless to will ourselves into the will of God. Paul deals with this in Philippians 2:12-13, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The word "worketh" translates "energeo" It is the word from which we get our word energy. It means, "to be operative, be at work, put forth power, to work for one, aid one. This means that God is energetically involved in energizing our wills to do His will.
6. Our whole spirit, soul, and body needs to experience the keeping power of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
THE PERCEPTION OF HIS KEEPING
God want us to know that we have eternal life. This is assurance. 1 John 5:13, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
This verse says we can know that we are saved and have eternal life. How do we know" By believing on the name of the Son of God. If you have faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour, He does the keeping. His guarantee of keeping gives the believer assurance.
2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" This is a verse that deals with assurance. You will notice Paul does not bring keeping God's commandments, or, living a moral life as the basis for assurance. The one ground of assurance of salvation is to know that "Jesus Christ is in you."
Paul brings the matter of assurance out again in Ephesians 3:16-17, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love," He is speaking to people who are already saved in these verses. Paul is dealing with the matter of assurance based on Christ dwelling (being at home and in control) in your hearts by faith. This happens in answer to prayer that results in being strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.
THE PEOPLE HE KEEPS
Back to our text: 1 Peter 1:5, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." The people God keeps are those who have faith in Jesus the Son of God. Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.."
Romans 10:9-13, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
These are definite promises to those who trust in the Lord for Salvation. When a person believes in Christ, he is kept by the power of God unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last day.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
