Salvation: A Vibrant Faith - 1 Peter 1:6-9

2:22Well, the book of 1 Peter is a book about how to live victoriously in a hostile world. And the first key to living victorious in a world that is anti-Christ or mounting pressures against Christ is to know your salvation. You must know who you are, and you must know your salvation. It's the place you start. And so far as we've worked through this first chapter in 1 Peter, there is a glorious alienation. Election. Looked at that in the verses 1 and 2.

3:05And then there is a living hope based upon the resurrection of Christ that comes out of verses 3 to 15. And then Peter adds to this in verses 6 through 9 a vibrant faith, a vibrant faith. So your salvation, there is a glorious election. There is a living hope, and there is a vibrant faith. If you'll notice in verse 5 that salvation comes through faith, the keeping power of God in verse 5 is accessed only through faith. And in verse 9, it declares that the outcome of your faith is the salvation of your soul.

3:52But the bottom line is: no faith, no keeping power of verse 5. No faith, no salvation mentioned in verse 9. Without faith, hear me on this. It is impossible for God to save a person. Without faith, God cannot save a person. So, what is faith? It's very important. And as we've been working our way through Peter, we've come across a lot of things. Lot of terms that we often import meaning into from our pre-understanding. What is faith? When Peter used that word, what triggered in his mind? What concept was in his mind when he used the word faith?

4:51Well, we also have the book of Mark, right? We've just spent years going through it, right? And the book of Mark is often referred to or has been referred to by the early church fathers as the memoirs of Peter. That it is actually Peter's gospel written through Mark. Mark was a close associate of Peter. In fact, you get to the end of book of 1 Peter. Look at verse 13. She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. Even at writing this letter, Mark is there. But as we surveyed, walked through the book of Mark, faith was a very important theme, was it not?

5:44There were those who had it, there were those who didn't. There were those who were struggling to have it. And in many ways, Mark's gospel chronicles Peter's journey of faith. And I'm just going to go. Back and spend a little time in Mark so that this concept of faith may not be something that we import, but something that we could get into Peter's mind and understand what was he thinking about faith. Well, at the very beginning of Mark's gospel in verse 15, remember Jesus came in to Galilee preaching the gospel and saying this: the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Be repenting and be believing in the gospel. The good news. This is what Jesus expected. The right response would be to his message that the kingdom of God has drawn near to you in the person of Jesus Christ. The right response is faith. Be believing. Be turning away and be turning to believe. It's the right response. He goes on to make it very clear that what faith is not. And in chapter 8, there is a group of Pharisees after everything that Jesus had done, all the things that he was doing. In verse 11, the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he said to them, Why does this generation seek after a sign?

7:27You see, faith is not. Sight. Those who have to have it proof, empirical proof, can't have faith. Now, that's not to mean that faith is void of rational evidences or is irrational. On the contrary, when the leper was healed and word got out that he healed a leper, that is rational evidence. But it takes faith for the paralytic to say, okay, let's go to him. Right? Faith not only understands what has been declared, what has been made known, but accepts its implications and lives accordingly.

8:23And there were three explicit people in the Gospel of Mark who had faith. And Peter is careful, or through Mark, Mark is very careful to chronicle these for us. You remember the first faithful ones, for the ones who were expressly stated to have faith. You remember in Mark chapter 2 and verse 5, there was the paralytic and his friends. And Jesus, when he saw their faith, said to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven. Get up, walk. Their faith. There's the first one. And you go on to Chapter 5, there's another person of faith, and that is this woman with the issue of blood. And here she is pushing her way through the crowd to get to Christ that she might touch him, touch just even the hem of his garment, and be healed. And Jesus stops everything. He says, Woman, go, your faith has made you well.

9:32Then, another person of faith, all the way in chapter 10, remember blind Bartimaeus on the road. And when he heard that Jesus was passing by, he began to cry out, saying, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And many were telling him, Be quiet. And he yelled all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. He wouldn't be silent. And at the end, in verse 52, and Jesus said to him, Go, your faith has made you well. So if we look at these three snapshots of faith, the common theme in all of them is they believed the information that they had heard about Christ, and they came to him. And they kept coming to him. They kept coming. They came. They kept coming. They wouldn't turn around.

10:25You see, faith isn't this momentary mental ascent. Is a disposition that comes and keeps coming. So to say you have biblical faith and then you can't, then you lose it is antithetical to the very definition of faith. And certainly Peter's understanding of faith, faith came and it kept coming. And then there's one explicitly stated rebuke for a lack of faith. You remember in Mark chapter 4, you remember the disciples are out there on the sea. Storm comes up and they're afraid for their life. And they yelled to Jesus in verse 38. And they woke him up and they said, Teacher, do you not care that we are still perishing?

11:18And he got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Be still, became perfectly calm. And then in verse 4, he said to them, Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? Are you failing to understand the implications of what has been revealed about me? Yes, you've seen the miracles. You've seen my power. You've seen me call you. Now, have you failed to make the implications of what this means about your life? And he rebuked him. Do you still have no faith?

11:51And then there are two explicitly stated exhortations to have faith. Remember in chapter 5, as Jairus says, Approaching the house, and he gets news that his daughter has died. As Mark records the account, and here is what Jesus says: Do not be afraid any longer, only believe. And then you get to the end of Mark. The last exhortation to faith comes in chapter 11 and verse 22. And the disciples are seeing this fig tree that has been cursed. Peter, have faith in God. A week before Christ is to be crucified, here is his Lord saying to Peter, Have faith.

12:48Understand the implications of my life. Believe what you have seen and understand the implications that this has for your life and live accordingly. But then there is one statement in Mark that is absolutely shocking. Chapter 6. Jesus goes to his hometown, and he went out from there to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many listeners were astonished, saying, Where did this man get these things? And what is this wisdom given to him? And such Miracles as these performed by his hands. Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Joseph, and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to him, A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and his household. And then these shocking words. And he could do no miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed him. And he wondered at their belief. He marveled at their lack of faith. They saw the miracles. They say that. They heard his words, but they failed to accept the implications of those words. And they did not believe. But this phrase, he could not do a miracle there. Could not do miracles there. Could not do many miracles, except that he laid out his hands on a few. It's not that Jesus' ability was diminished. He was God. He was still sovereign. He was still king. He was Lord. All power and authority were his, and he could have the power to do whatever he chose.

14:50But they would not bring to him. They did not believe him. They would not come. To him, so that he could do many miracles among them. And this is Mark's picture: that intrinsic in faith is this idea of coming to Christ and to keep coming. And when you don't believe he is who he says he is, then you don't come. And there is no miracle of grace in your life. Faith implies a belief in God and a belief in his self-disclosure about himself.

15:40Faith implies not only just a belief in his self-disclosure, but the implications of that self-disclosure upon your life. Faith implies that you believe that God wants you to come to him. Why has he disclosed himself as the God of compassion, the God of mercy, if he does not want you to come so that you can experience that? If he has revealed himself as the God who can supply all your needs, guess what he wants you to do? Come to him with all your needs.

16:15But faith also implies a persistence in coming to him. Faith doesn't see the closed door up there at the house and say, well, sorry, you're going to have to stay paralyzed because there's no way to get to that door. Let's go home. No, it goes around, it goes up on the road. Roof, it digs a hole and it comes in and says, I will go to Christ. It's that woman who sees the crowd and says, There's no way to get to him. And plus, if I touch everybody, they're going to be ceremonial and clean. But I'm going through. I'm going to get to Christ. There's Bartimaeus over there, Son of David, have mercy on me, and I'm not going to be quiet.

16:56That's what's in Peter's mind when he talks about faith. Writer of Hebrews says it very well. In 11:6, he says, Without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. That's fundamental. And without this, you cannot experience his grace. He is the God of grace. And he wants you to come to him so that you will experience and know that he is the God of grace. Well, faith is the right response to God's grace. And without it, God cannot save a person. And it's not because salvation is a human work, but faith is that means through which the power of God is tapped. It is through the means of faith that it comes.

17:561 Peter 1:5. Let's go back there. Notice that. Key preposition. You are kept by the power of God through faith. Through faith. That is the means through which you are protected. So, what is faith? It's important to understand, right? Kind of seen what it is, and how do I illustrate it? Well, let's think about your house for a minute. If you want light in your house, you have to draw back the curtains, right? Lift up the shades, and light can come in, right? Is lifting up the shades the cause for the light coming in?

18:40No. But it is the means to let it in, right? Right? Let me say this. It's kind of hot in here, right? Let's let some cool air in here. You want to feel that air coming in? Well, you can't, but if you were standing here, you really could. Is opening this door the cause for air rushing in here? No, it's not. But it has to be opened up, right, and able for it to come in. That's what faith is. Let me let's let's uh let's let's turn this thing from heat, put it on air conditioning, and let's really get this thing cool, okay? It's hot up there, by the way. There's a cord that Goes from here back to a whole mechanical system that's pumping cold air in here. Is this the reason that all that, is this the cause for all that cold air coming in here? If you rip this thing out of the wall and you started pushing buttons, would it do any good? No, but it is connected to the power source, and without it, cold air is not going to come in here. Do you get the picture? I mean, you can think about the lights. If we ripped out the electrical light, the electrical circuit there, what would happen? It goes out. Rip out the wires, the light goes out. That wire is not the cause for the light, but it is the conduit through which it comes. That's what faith is. It taps the power of God, it taps into his grace.

20:29It's not the source of it. Faith is opening yourself up to God in your life. Faith is actively opening yourself, continually opening yourself up to God in your life and all that that implies. So as we look at verses 6 through 9 this morning, it's important for us to keep these thoughts about faith fresh in our minds. And I want you to see three elements of faith so that your faith will be a vibrant one. First one, let you look at the test of your faith. Look at verse 6. In this you greatly rejoice. In this referring back to what he has just said in verses 3 through 5 about the living hope being born again to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away, a perfect inheritance perfectly kept for you. And in this there is great rejoicing. And the ground for rejoicing is the salvation that is ready to be revealed. There is a future salvation coming, ready to be revealed, and in this you are kept. And that is cause for rejoicing and the foundation for Peter's rejoicing. But here's the reality. Keep reading in verse 6, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, your faith is going to be tested. Your faith in God is going to be tested, and it's going to be tested by various trials, and some of them are going to be distressing, very distressing. In fact, the word for distressing here implies more than just physical anguish, though that certainly is somewhat in view of what has taken place in the lives of these people who have been uprooted and have suffering various kinds of trials. But the picture here is more of that mental anguish, that consternation, that pain, that distressing pain. That distressing sorrow, that anxiety, disappointments, distressing, something that's weighing you down heavily.

22:41And various, the word for various means many colored, many colored, many sorts. What he's saying is: distressing trials are going to come to you in many forms, many shapes, and many sizes. And there are several kinds of tests that come our way, are there not? The Christian life is a life of testing, and your faith is going to be tested. There are all kinds of tests, various, multicolored tests that will come your way, and they will test your faith in God.

23:20There are those tests that are brought on by sin. Your own sin is going to usher in a whole slew of its own trials. I remember a Christian musician committed adultery and then blamed God. Said, I can't believe God. I'm actually mad at God. I can't believe He let this happen. Whoa. No, it's your sin that has brought that about. There are sins that we involved. Ourself, engage ourselves, whether it's sins of the flesh, sins of worry, sins of whatever that are brought about by sin. And the right response to these is a proper confession. Confess your sin, proper restitution. That's one you don't hear much these days. You wrong somebody, you make it right. And I'll tell you what, you start learning the pattern of that, the power of sin in your life will be broken pretty quick when you start making restitution.

24:33That's repentance. So, a right response is proper confession, proper restitution, and a proper lifestyle change. That's how you respond to this category of tests, knowing that He is the God who forgives, and He wants to move you on. But then there's another kind of test, and that is brought on by the consequences of your sin. Sometimes your sin is behind you, but you may still feel the consequence, or be even tried by the consequences of your sin. Spurgeon tells a story about a young man who had anger, an anger problem. And he says this, and I'll just pick it up here: to fall into sin is a serious thing, even though the guilt of it may be forgiven. A boy who had often been disobedient was made by his father to drive a nail into a post for each offense.

25:30When he was well-behaved for a day, he was allowed to draw out one of the nails. He fought against his temper bravely, and at last all the nails were gone from the post, and his father praised him. Alas, Father, said the lad, the nails are gone, but the holes are left. So even after forgiveness, it will require a miracle of grace to recover us from the ill effects of sin. So you're going to experience the consequences of your sins, even though you've been forgiven of your sin. And there's going to be a certain trial that could be associated with that. But then there are tests brought on by unmet expectations. God, we expected you to do this, this, and this for my life. I expected my life to go down this road. It's totally in a different direction. And God, I'm being tried right now.

26:26Then there are those tests on the opposite side of the tests that come by blessings and prosperity. Sometimes our greatest test is when God does prosper us. And some of the greatest testings of our faith happen in those circumstances. And then there are those tests that come along just because we live in a fallen world. Somebody else's sin, drunk driver hits one of your loved ones. You're in the midst of a trial brought about because you live in a fallen world.

27:00Disease, the body's wearing out, death of love. All this is something that comes about because you live in a fallen world. And these things just point us to a better world, don't they? But then there's those tests that are brought on by God for reasons we have no earthly idea. Right? You remember Abraham in Genesis 22? Now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. He said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. Wow. And I can tell you the night before Abraham was to offer Isaac, his only son, only beloved son, one and only unique son upon the altar. I can tell you there was no other time in history of such anguish, except probably Gethsemane. And he trusted God even in the midst of that. God had a purpose.

28:14The picture, the graphic, and by the way, for those of you who don't know, the angel stopped him from killing his son. But God was doing something, giving a picture of the sacrifice that he was going to do for your sin. Abraham just had to respond. And then there's Job. You remember Job? Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? Wow, you talk about getting the ball rolling in his life. For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. Here's God boasting about Job. And then Satan says this: Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every side?

29:09You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased. Of course he loves you because you've blessed him. You've bought his loyalty. Then he takes him on and says, You put your hand towards Job. Touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not touch his life. Go. And you work your way through the book of Job. He went through a whole lot of trial, never really understood, but at the end of the day, he never did curse God and die, like his wife wanted him to.

29:58You see, there's tests to the To come your way, many colored, very different. Some are not going to really even know why or what. But then there are those tests that come from being identified with Jesus. There are going to be those tests and trials that come upon you because you are identified with Christ. It may be because His morality, His standard of life, His entertainment values are different. Whatever it may be, there's certain things that come with just being identified with Christ and following His way of life. But then there are those that are going to hate you or despise you because you are identified with Christ. And that is what these people were facing here in 1 Peter.

30:50They had believed the gospel, and life had become very difficult for them because of it. And what Peter is doing is he is encouraging them to stand firm. And though we're not suffering to the degree like these were, I think we can certainly see the implication and the application to our lives. You know, there are two ways a wilderbeest bones can be picked clean in the African desert. One is a lion can get on top of it, tear it to shreds, lick the bones clean. That's kind of. The persecution that this church was going through. But then there are those wilder beasts that fall, and the ants can come and pick them clean in a matter of days. And I think to some degree that's what we're up against. It's not just, we're not just got this big monster coming to shred us to pieces, but it's those little tests of faith each day that erode our faith in God and try our faith in God. So a good question is: why does God allow or even design trials in your life? Why does He allow that to come? Why does He design trials to come and test your faith? Well, the answer is given in verses 7 and 8.

32:23Your faith will be tested, but God wants you to see the proof of your faith. The proof of your faith. Look at verse 7. So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you have not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you rejoice greatly with joy inexpressible and full of glory. Very clearly, Peter is saying: the proof of your faith is valuable. Proof is valuable. And that's a term that's used to describe the purity of a certain metal. It's a measurement of the genuineness, a measurement of the purity. I like the way the ESV translates it. It's your tested genuineness. That's the proof, your tested genuineness. Faith that has been tested and found to be genuine is very valuable. Look back. It's more precious than gold. Now, think about that. That's that age-old standard, right, of wealth, right? Now, if I came up to you and said, How would you like to have a bag of gold or a horrific trial in your life?

33:43It'd be pretty easy, right? I'll take the gold, right? That's the way we are. We want the gold. But here, the scripture is saying, no, gold is perishing. Gold is not worth near the proof of your faith. The proof of your faith is very valuable, and that's why trials come. But it has value. Faith has value for the future. Look at verse 7. Even though tested the proof of your faith, though it is tested, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor. At the revelation of Jesus Christ. You see, when Jesus is revealed to this world for who he really is, those having faith are going to receive praise and glory and honor from God. It's not those who have the gold, it's those who have faith. Gold doesn't buy you the praise and glory and honor from Christ at the day that he is revealed. Only tested faith does. And this is what he says. This is that God's joy over his people. You remember the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, 14? Let me just read to you a part of that. Parable of the talents is like a man, verse 14, he goes on a journey who calls his own slaves and he entrusted his possessions to them. And then he comes back. He gave one five and one two talents. And then he comes back. And in verse 20, Matthew 25, read these words. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more. Listen to what his master said. Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. I am excited for you. Enter into the joy of your master. And then, here comes the second one. Also, the one who had received two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained. Two more talents. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful in a few things, and I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. This isn't one excited master over the faithfulness of his slave. I've had six kids, and I have experienced six times babies' first steps. Okay? Those of you who are parents, you know what babies' first steps are like, right? They finally get one day and they're ready to take that step after several hard seat drops and they'll take that step and mom will just start kind of, you did it, you did it, you did it. Kids just, ah, Jewel's coming down, doesn't know what he's doing or why, but just takes another step and he knows he's doing something right and he looks at mom and he looks at dad. It's like, yeah, one.

37:02That's what heaven's like. Right? When it, that's the father, that's the joy of the master looking like, yes, you did it. You went through this trial. Yes, take another. It's proven. You see that? So faith brings the glory, the honor, and the praise of heaven. But faith also, not only is it good for the future, but it's good for the present because it brings joy into heaven. Present. Look back at verse 8. And though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. How do you love somebody you've never seen? Peter's audience had never seen Jesus, yet they loved him.

37:50They believed, and they loved him based upon the apostles' testimony. You remember Jesus' words to Thomas? He said, Blessed are you because you have seen me and you have believed. But blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. You see, we here today, we have never seen Jesus. How do you love somebody you've never seen? Only by faith. Only by faith. We believe the testimony of Scripture about Christ. And we believe the implications that this has for our life. That is faith.

38:31You see, genuine faith loves Jesus. And proven faith is in the present. Or a proven faith testifies that we love Jesus. You see, joy cannot be put into words that this does. Look at the word inexpressible. Genuine faith loves Jesus. Genuine faith tells us that not only do we love Jesus, But also that we are loved by Jesus. And this joy that this audience had was inexpressible. That is, it cannot be expressed. Have you ever had that joy that just cannot be articulated? It's so overwhelming. And that is what he is talking about here. They are rejoicing over proven faith. You know, a lot of college students here, right? A lot of parents of college students, a lot of parents of students. Do you really get excited knowing that you know the material?

39:39Or do you get excited when you get that A back on that test that says you know the material? It's a big difference. Because, yeah, we may think, yeah, I've got a pretty good mastery on this material. But it's when you get that A plus that comes back to you. And it's like, not only do I know that I know, now I really know that I know, but also the professor knows that I know. And here is a testament that I really know. And that is exciting.

40:12Right? Well, there's no rejoicing in just thinking you know the course material. It's when you get that affirmed test back that says you do. The same is true about faith. There isn't joy in just thinking you have faith, there's joy. Joy comes when your faith is proved in a trial. Right? Joy doesn't really come when we just, yeah, I think I have it. Yes, I think it is, yeah, there may be some degree, but it's when it is proven. And I can know the only reason I know I'm here today is because God has done X, Y, and Z in my life.

40:51And he sustained me through the darkest hour of my life. I know that. You see, in Acts 5, the disciples were brought before the council, and they were flogged. They were flogged and ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus. And they went away. In Acts 5, 41, they went on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. Only one explanation for that kind of rejoicing. They know their faith is genuine. And they know the revelation that is coming. You see, it's also important to make a note here, I think, that yesterday's faith does not bring today's joys.

41:41McLaren said that. I think he's right. Yesterday's faith does not bring today's joys. I don't know where you are in life right now or what you may be going on, but yesterday's faith isn't going to give you current joy. You need to look through the lens of faith today at your situation. To have this kind of joy, faith comes, it keeps coming. So, proof of your faith is valuable. Proof of your faith is valuable. So, vibrant faith, look at the test of your faith, the proof of your faith. I want you to see the outcome of your faith. Not only does faith result in a present joy, it also results in a present salvation. Look at verse 8: Obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your soul, the salvation of your souls. Verse 8: This salvation, the love of Jesus, the rejoicing proof, the idea of obtaining participle there. Literally, you are presently receiving for yourselves the salvation of your souls. So, the present joy, but the present salvation that you are obtaining, the outcome of your faith, and that is the salvation of your souls.

42:59And the outcome is the end, the conclusion. There is a present salvation in view. There is also a future salvation view in this passage, but right here, verse 9: the present salvation is in view. What salvation is received here and now? Well, you can, at this moment, in Christ, know the absolute, complete, and final, and comprehensive pardon of sin. Sin. The crushing weight of the guilt of sin is removed now for those who have faith. Deliverance from the imprisoning bondage of sin is available now. You don't have to serve sin.

43:48Release from sin's dominion is ours. Conquest over evil is given to us now. Our personal sins can be conquered. No one has to sin because of his constitution, and no one has to sin because of his surroundings. Holy living is possible, and you can obtain a high degree of it right now in Christ. There's also the deliverance, that personal, that present salvation, that deliverance from that awful sense that God has distanced himself from us. Have you ever had that? God, where are you? And in the presence, right now, we can have that broken fellowship, that sense of a distant God be removed, and fellowship with God at this very moment is available as part of our present salvation.

44:51There's a deliverance from our hopelessness, from despair, to joy. No joy can even be present in the Midst of the worst of sorrows, because we have received a present salvation. And this is what faith does: the outcome of faith, peace, contentment, and joy, even in difficult situations. So much of heaven can be enjoyed right now. There is a present salvation. But you know what? You're going to have to believe who Jesus is. Some of you haven't. Some of you have put your faith in him.

45:38But let me tell you what you have to see. You have to see Christ, the King, seated on His throne, reigning in power. And then, do you know what you need to do through the eyes of faith? You need to approach Him with your sin-stained, filthy hand, and walk up into the presence of the King and put your hand upon His head, just like the priest would put His hand upon the Lamb and say, Take all my sin.

46:17And you bear the penalty for it. Are you bold enough to go before the King of kings and the Lord of Lords and place your filed hand upon his head? Because he's not only the King, He is also the Lamb. And upon him you are to place your sin and ask for his forgiveness. It's with the eyes of faith. Peter says in 3.18, for Christ also died for sins once and for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

47:00Verse 21. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, not that kind of baptism, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers and has been subjected to him. So he is the Lamb, but he is the resurrected king. And we can go to him. And he has revealed himself as such, so that you will go to him and that we will keep going to him. Let's pray.

47:39Father, we thank you. Be with us now as we continue to pray through these things. Draw us by your Spirit. Bring to mind the things that we need to deal with you on. In Jesus' name.