God Saves Us Into His Mission

I encourage you. I know you've had tea and coffee. Do you have tea and coffee again?

Johnny, no, that's it. Okay. Okay. Well, can I encourage you then as you're leaving

to go and browse the stand back there and pick up maybe a copy of our prayer news

or pick up a magazine, some fuel for prayer, and just use it maybe during this coming week to pray.

And also, too, we're producing new prayer cards for our new workers.

And one of our new couples who I might mention later on,

Joel and Katcha Marcus, who are working from the Cavan Church into the town of Belturbet.

We kind of use them as guinea pigs for our first prayer card.

We're checking the thickness of the card and all the rest of it.

So we've got new cards for them.

Now, you may never have heard of Belturbet here in Carrigaline. Where is that?

Well, it's just slightly west of the town of Cavan.

But the Cavan Church, Ivan Watson is a pastor there who Johnny knows well

and going out soon to Ghana again with.

And they've got a vision to see a church planted in the town of Belturbet.

And so you might take Joel and Katcha upon your hearts and prayers and pray for them.

Let's read together from God's Word, 1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

And we're going to read from verse 1.

It's on page 1217 if you have a church Bible.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit

to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

who through faith are shielded by God's power

until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

In all this you greatly rejoice,

though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold,

which perishes even though refined by fire,

may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him.

And even though you do not see Him now,

you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.

For you are receiving the end result of your faith,

the salvation of your souls.

Let's just pause for a moment and pray and ask for God's help as we look into His Word together.

Father, we thank You for this opportunity of meeting together here

in the name of the Lord Jesus this morning.

We thank You for the freedom we have in this land.

We thank You for Your Word in our own language, Lord.

We thank You for all the privileges we enjoy of fellowship with one another

and being able to gather together this morning to worship You.

We thank You for Your Word and we ask that by Your Spirit now He would be our teacher

and that You'd lead us into all truth, that You would speak to our hearts,

that You'd challenge us, that You'd encourage us,

that You'd send us out from this place this morning ready to serve You afresh

in the power and enabling of Your Holy Spirit.

We ask it for Jesus' sake.

Amen. Amen.

Well, here we are in 2019, and I don't know whether it's the same on RTE.

I kind of listen to RTE 1 when I'm going along in the car

to try and keep in touch with all that's happening here.

I watch then BBC News to see what's happening, if you like,

in terms of what's going on, because you get local news in the north.

And certainly nearly every day the headline is something to do with Brexit,

and how Brexit is going to affect the economy

and the housing crisis in Dublin and all that kind of stuff.

Our friend Mr. Trump appears every so often

on the wall between Mexico and here,

and whether it's maybe something to do with his involvement in Russia.

Our North Korean friend pops up every so often too.

And in our world, we have a mixture, don't we,

of, I suppose, terrorism going on in various places,

turmoil in terms of Brexit and the uncertainty of that,

and also technology being used in all sorts of ways for evil.

And to do destructive things in our world.

And people in our society, whether it's here in Ireland

or in other parts of the world, are living in fear

with all that uncertainty that's going on,

whether it's globally or locally.

And here in the Republic, certainly in recent times,

laws have been passed that are increasingly anti-God,

that are going to put pressure on us as believers

in terms of morality and the things that are acceptable to us

according to God's Word.

Our tolerant society is becoming increasingly intolerant

of the Christian worldview,

and certainly of what is found here in the pages of Holy Scripture.

The Apostle Peter writing this book around the year A.D. 61-62

is writing to believers who are under pressure,

writing to believers who are being persecuted,

or certainly are going to face persecution for their faith.

And it's seen really as something normal.

If you look over in 1 Peter chapter 5 for a moment,

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

and verse 9,

Peter writes these words,

we'll read from verse 8 just to get the context.

Be alert and of sober mind.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,

looking for someone to devour.

Resist him standing firm in the faith,

because you know that the family of believers throughout the world

is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

So in a sense, Peter is saying,

listen, this is happening to your brothers and sisters

in other parts of the world,

just like we know today,

whether it's North Korea, China, India, other places,

there's all sorts of terrible things being done

to people like you and I,

who simply name the name of Jesus and say,

hey, I'm a person who follows him.

And many of our brothers and sisters,

even today,

may pay the ultimate price

for naming the name of Jesus.

The Lord Jesus said in John chapter 15,

John 15 · chapter mention

they persecuted me,

they will persecute you.

Also in this world,

you will have trouble.

And so these believers that Peter is writing to,

they're facing persecution.

They may be lost their homes,

they may be split up from their families.

Certainly they're going to face persecution

in the years to come.

Under Nero and Rome,

in AD 64 and following,

many believers were fed to the lions.

Many believers had oil poured over them

and there were huge as human lamps

to light up Nero's garden parties.

Many of them were literally led

like lambs to the slaughter,

dressed in maybe sheepskins or goatskins

and fed to wild dogs and wild animals

just for the fun and the sport of it.

So the context in which Peter is writing this book into

is the people who are being persecuted,

people who are suffering,

people who are under trials.

Look at verse 6, he says,

and this you greatly rejoice,

though now for a little while

you may have had to suffer grief

in all kinds of trials.

So their trials are real.

Their grief is real.

God doesn't promise us as believers,

as the false teachers and prophets

that you'll find on certain TV channels,

tell you,

come to Jesus

and he'll take all your problems away

and you'll be happy

and wealthy

and all will be good.

The Lord Jesus never promised that.

In fact,

the very opposite we just read a moment ago,

they persecuted me,

they will persecute you also.

But into this context of suffering,

of grief,

of trials,

of persecution,

Peter writes to these believers

and he reminds them of certain things.

He reminds them, first of all,

that they're living

under the mercy of God.

Look at verse 3.

Praise be to the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ

in his great mercy.

He has given us new birth

into a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

from the dead.

In his great mercy.

Look at chapter 2 for a moment.

Turn over to chapter 2

for a moment.

And verse 9.

Words I'm sure

that we're familiar with.

But you are a chosen people,

a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,

God's special possession.

Or I think as the

older NIV translation said,

a people belonging to God.

That you may declare

the praise of him

who called you out of darkness

into his wonderful light.

Once you were not a people,

but now you are the people

of God.

Once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

And brothers and sisters this morning,

whatever difficulties

and trials

and problems,

and we all have them.

We stayed here this morning

and we formed ourselves

into a circle.

I'm sure we could go around the circle

and we could all name them.

Whatever struggles you have,

and maybe we're not facing

the persecution yet

of these early believers

facing,

or what our brothers and sisters

are facing across the world,

but whatever difficulties

or trials

or things that are causing you

grief this morning,

can I remind you?

Remind yourself.

We this morning

are living

under the mercy

of God.

In his great mercy

he has given us new birth.

Theologians debate

and there's,

I don't know,

endless books being written

on the sovereignty of God

versus, you know,

the human decision,

all this kind of stuff.

But this morning,

here's what we can rejoice in.

Not fully ever understanding it,

I certainly don't.

But here's the thing,

God in his grace

and mercy

has saved you this morning

and he saved me.

And as I go on longer

as a believer,

the thing that I suppose

I ponder on more

is not the hows

and wherefores

of all of that,

but the wonder,

why did God

ever save me?

And the more I go on

as a believer

and the more I understand

the holiness

and the so

different God is

to us

and I see my sin

as God sees it

and I get a glimpse of it,

how utterly rotten

and sinful

we really are.

The wonder

that God

should ever

set his love upon us.

The old song,

I think,

said,

oh,

the wonder of it all.

The wonder of it all.

Just to know

that God

loves me.

And here we are

this morning,

brothers and sisters,

a people living

under the mercy

of God.

Look what he says

in verse 2,

have been chosen

according to the

foreknowledge

of God the Father

through the sanctifying

work of the Spirit

to be obedient

to Jesus Christ

and sprinkled

with his blood.

The work of God's

grace and mercy,

the triune God.

Somebody once said this,

the Father sought us,

the Spirit brought us,

and the Son bought us

by his precious blood.

Determined before

this world was ever

created,

in the mind of God,

Father,

Son,

and Holy Spirit,

God setting his love

and mercy

upon you and I,

not for any good

that we have ever done

or could ever do

as we've reflected

in our songs

this morning,

but because he chose us

in love

and in grace

and in mercy,

were a people

this morning

who belong

to God

and Peter says,

praise thee

to the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what causes

this morning

as we have done already

to glorify him,

to praise him,

to thank him.

Father in heaven,

thank you this morning

that despite all

the things that are

going on in my life

and the difficulties

and the pressures

and the problems,

you've saved me

by your grace

and in your mercy.

Living under the mercy

of God,

he also reminds him

that there are people

who have a living hope

in a risen Savior.

Look again at verse 3.

Praise be to the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy,

he has given us

new birth

into a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead.

Today is Resurrection Sunday.

Every Sunday

is Resurrection Sunday.

The Lord Jesus conquered death

again as we reflected

in our songs this morning.

He conquered the grave.

He's alive forevermore

and he's defeated death

in all its three-dimensional ugliness.

Physical death,

spiritual death,

eternal death.

He conquered it all

when he died upon that cross

and rose again.

And he lives today

in the power

of an endless life.

Death has been defeated.

And brothers and sisters,

you and I are going to live forever.

Not in this cursed,

fallen world,

but in that new heaven

and new earth

where there will be

no more suffering,

no more sickness,

no more tears,

no more pain,

no more death,

no more separation,

and God himself,

John writes in Revelation,

will wipe every tear

from our eyes.

We have a living hope

because we have

a risen Savior

who's alive

and ever lives

this morning

to make intercession for us.

Isn't that amazing?

Isn't that incredible?

The Lord Jesus

this morning

interceding

on our behalf

before the Father

in heaven

today.

We're living

under the mercy of God.

We're a people living

with hope

and a risen Savior.

If we look again

at verse 4,

an intimate inheritance,

he says,

that can never perish,

spoil or fade.

This inheritance

is kept in heaven

for you

who through faith

are shielded

by God's power

until the coming

of the salvation

that's ready to be revealed

in the last time.

Not only are we

people this morning

living under the mercy

of God

with a living hope

and a risen Savior,

but we have

a lasting inheritance.

I heard Michael O'Leary

on the radio

the day after

Tony Ryan died.

Now you've all

have probably flown

on a plane

with Tony Ryan's name on it.

Well,

at the beginning

of his second name anyway.

If you've flown,

we used to call them

Ruin Air

when I was in

the airline business,

but we called them

Ryan Air, right?

Tony Ryan.

And this is what

Michael O'Leary

said about Tony Ryan

the day after he died.

He was talking about

how Tony was a great man

and always thinking

about new projects,

always planning

for the future,

always working out

new strategies,

new markets,

where he was going

to go next,

etc.

And the thought

that went through

my mind was,

I wonder how much

planning Tony Ryan

has done

for where he is now.

He's gone to meet

his maker.

And I don't know

where Tony Ryan stood,

but what I can say

on the authority

of God's word

this morning,

if Tony Ryan

died without a saviour,

then all the money

he had,

all the cars he drove,

his big mansion

in County Wicklow,

would have no use to him

if he was without Christ

and without hope.

Somebody asked a question

after a wealthy person died,

how much did he leave?

And the answer was

he left everything.

He left it all behind.

Brothers and sisters,

this morning,

we may not have

that much here

on this earth,

but we have

an inheritance

in heaven.

And ultimately,

that inheritance

is not in things,

but it's in a person.

We have

the Lord Jesus.

He is our joy.

He is our salvation.

And one day,

we are going to see him

face to face.

That salvation

will ultimately

be revealed.

Paul says,

the coming of the salvation

is ready to be revealed

in the last time

when Jesus

comes

again.

and we are shielded

by God's power.

Come with me for a moment

to John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

Again,

familiar words,

familiar passage,

but good to be reminded

this morning

that we are safe,

not in ourselves,

not on what we do,

not in our church attendance,

not in our involvement,

but we are safe

because of Jesus.

We are safe in him.

Verse 27 of John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

My sheep listen to my voice.

I know them

and they follow me.

I give them

eternal life.

It can never be bought.

It can never be merited.

It's a gift.

And they shall never perish.

No one

will snatch them

out of my hand.

My Father

who has given them to me

is greater than all.

No one can snatch them

out of my Father's hand.

I and the Father

are one.

And Peter reminds

these believers

that they have,

they're living their lives

under the mercy of God,

that they have this living hope

in their risen Savior,

that they have a lasting inheritance

in the Lord Jesus Christ,

that they're being kept

by the power of God.

God is keeping them

through their trials,

through their difficulties,

through their problems.

They're being kept.

They're being shielded

by God's power

until Jesus comes again

or calls them home.

And then he says

in verse 6,

and this is where I want

to challenge us all

this morning.

He says,

in this you greatly rejoice,

though now for a little while

you may have had to suffer grief

in all kinds of trials.

These have come

that the proven genuineness

of your faith

of greater worth than gold

which perishes

even though refined by fire

may result in praise,

glory, and honor

when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Though you have not seen him,

you love him.

And even though you do not see him now,

you believe in him

and are filled with an inexpressible

and glorious joy

if you are receiving

the end result of your faith,

the salvation of your soul.

In this you greatly rejoice.

You're filled with an inexpressible

and glorious joy.

So here's the challenge

to us all this morning,

brothers and sisters.

Whatever our difficulties,

whatever our problems,

whatever our struggles,

whatever grief we're going through,

whatever we're facing

in this world,

despite it all,

and God doesn't take

those problems away.

But when we reflect

on all that we have

in the Lord Jesus,

that we're a people

who have been forgiven by God,

that all our sins

have been washed away,

that as far as the East

is from the West,

so far as he removed

our transgressions from us,

that he's written our name

in the Lamb's Book of Life,

that he's given us

eternal life,

that we're going to be with him

in glory forever,

one day when he comes again

or calls us home,

that we have an inheritance,

that we belong to him,

that can never be taken away.

We're in the Father,

we're sealed by the Son,

we're sealed by the Spirit,

the Son of the Father

have us in their hands,

we can never be snatched

out of their hands.

Brothers and sisters,

this morning,

that should be filling us

with an inexpressible

and glorious joy

despite our circumstances.

Now, it's not a false

outward smile,

it's not a pretense

that we have no problems,

it's saying that

in the midst

of our difficulties,

in the midst of our trials,

in the midst of our suffering,

as Peter writes

to these believers,

that they can still have

a deep inward joy,

that goes out into a world

of darkness,

and hopelessness,

and pain,

and suffering,

and says,

we can declare his praises

even in the midst

of our difficulties.

Like he says,

and we read earlier

in chapter 2,

declaring his praises,

who's called us

out of darkness

into his wonderful light.

We can go out

on mission

and tell people

the wonder

of our God

because of who he is

and what he's done

in our lives.

And even those

trials

and persecutions

and problems

that come our way,

God has a way

as only God can

of using them

to hone

and shape

and make our faith

even more precious

than it is now

because only he

has the power

to do that.

He can take trials

and difficulties

and use them

for our good.

Look at Romans chapter 5

Romans 5 · chapter mention

for a moment

as we come to a close.

We're probably all very familiar

with verse 1.

Therefore,

since we have been justified

through faith,

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have gained

access by faith

into this grace

in which we now stand.

And we boast

in the hope

of the glory of God.

But look what he says

in verse 3.

Not only so,

but we also glory

in our sufferings

because we know

that suffering

produces perseverance,

perseverance character

and character hope.

And hope does not

put us to shame

because God's love

has been poured out

into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit

who has been given

to us.

None of us want suffering.

None of us,

I'm sure tonight

are going to pray,

Lord,

send persecution

to Ireland.

We just long

for a bit more,

right?

We're not going

to pray that,

are we?

But in the midst

of our trials,

in the midst

of our difficulties,

in the midst

of our sufferings,

God can even use

those things

to deepen

and sharpen

our faith

and make it

even more genuine.

He says in verse 7,

these have come

that the proven

genuineness of your faith

of greater worth

than gold

which perishes

even though refined

by fire

may ultimately result

in praise,

glory and honour

when Jesus Christ

is revealed.

Brothers and sisters,

this morning,

if we're living

under the mercy of God,

if we're living

in that great hope

of knowing

that we have

a risen saviour,

of knowing

that we have

a lasting inheritance,

of knowing

that we're being kept

by the power

of God,

then this morning

we can rejoice

in Him

and we should be

people of joy

and we should be able

to go out

into a world

full of pain

and difficulty

and speak to them

of our saviour

who's given us

this joy,

point them

to Him.

And the glorious thing is

in the midst of our pain,

in the midst of our trials,

in the midst of our difficulties,

get to the end

of 1 Peter,

you come to chapter 5

and verse 7

where he says,

cast all your cares

upon Him

because He cares

for you.

And I ask you this morning,

do you have

this joy?

Are you rejoicing

in the fact

that you're part

of the people

who belong

to God?

Are you going

to go out

tomorrow

not in your own strength,

not

conjuring up

something within you

but in God,

with God's strength

and by His grace

and the enabling

of His Spirit

to go and declare

the praise of Him

who called you

out of darkness

into His marvelous light?

You see,

mission

is not going

and telling other people

how wonderful we are.

It's going

and telling people

who Jesus is

and what He has done.

And our circumstances

can either make us

bitter

or better.

Remember the servant girl

Naaman's time?

We don't even know

her name.

She was captured,

taken from a homeland.

She was effectively

a slave.

She had every reason

to be bitter

and angry

with God,

with her circumstances,

what was going on

in her life.

But rather than allowing

that to make her bitter,

it made her better.

And even

to the leader

of her enemies,

she was given

the grace

to point Him

to the one true God

who could ultimately

see Him healed

and restored.

We have

mysteries in Spain.

The Reed family

who live up in Barcelona.

It's in the news a lot.

Andrew Reed's involved

in training pastors

in Spain.

The Federation of Churches

we are linked to

in Spain

called the Federation

of Independent

Evangelical Churches.

Only about a third

of those churches

have their own pastor.

But two thirds don't.

A lot of those pastors

have not been trained.

They've just,

I suppose,

they may even be

just the pastor

because nobody else

wants to be the pastor.

And Andrew Reed's involved

in training men

in pastor ministry,

training men

and preaching

across the land of Spain

in partnership

with Langham,

partnership

and other agencies

as well.

So pray for them

as they seek to equip

men and women

in Spain for preaching.

Right down the very

south of Spain

we have a couple

called Andrew Rosali Elliot.

Rosali is from Brazil

and they work

in a place called

Algatherus

which is a big port

in the south of Spain

and a lot of their

work is involved

in reaching people

from a Muslim background

and they have a

children's club

in different ways,

homework clubs

and different things

of reaching

into that area.

and they're seeking

to reach into

a new town

in Spain

called Medina Sidonia

so it's a bit

like Caratul

an area in Spain

a town in Spain

but 45 minutes away

from where

the church is

in Agatherus

and where that town

is in Medina Sidonia

there are four other towns

you're standing

on the hilltop

in Medina Sidonia

there are four other towns

you can look down

and see

where there's no

Bible believing church

as well

so from that place

they'd love to see

more churches

being planted.

Sometimes God

brings people

into mission

in different ways

we had a couple

and they're young

their name is young

they don't look old enough

to be legally married

in my opinion

they're so young looking

but they came to me

about a year ago

and said

Mervyn we've been

really burdened

for Spain

we've been there

on teams

served God there

we don't want to go

as missionaries

we don't want to

cause Baptist missions

or anything

we want to go

we want to go

as tent makers

and so in the goodness

of God

they moved to Spain

he got a job

teaching French

in Gibraltar

so only God

can do that

have somebody

go to Spain

but actually

teaching French

he teaches a bit

of Spanish as well

and his wife

is a physiotherapist

she got a job

in Gibraltar as well

so God's provided

for them

they set up home

in Agathiris

their hope is

they're being involved

in the church

but they also want

to reach out

into a new community

where there's no church

and so be part

possibly of a new

church plan

in that area as well

we also have

a mystery couple

at the other end

of the age spectrum

or a non-identified couple

as we're calling them

who have taken

early retirement

but because of their involvement

in other parts of the world

in the past

they've asked us not to

put their names out there

in the public arena

so you won't find their names

in the magazine

or prayer news

or anything

but there are a couple

who came and said

listen

we don't want to just sit

and vegetate

in our local church

there's too many people

in it already anyway

we want to go

and serve God

somewhere else

and so

they sold up

moved to Spain

they don't have any Spanish

so you can pray for them

as they go through

language learning

but they just begun

to get to know people

meet people for coffee

and so forth

and here's the way

God works

in his grace

and his sovereignty

the only place

they could find to rent

in Medina Sidonia

there was no other place available

all the estate agents

said we don't have

plenty of stuff to sell

nothing to rent

one place available to rent

and they moved into

an upstairs flat

they got to know

their landlady

came down

to speak to her

one day

and discovered

that their landlady

had a bible

on her shelf

and she actually

reads it as well

and something like

20 odd years ago

a man from Puerto Rico

gave that lady

he'd lived in that flat

in the past

and he'd given that lady

a bible

and so

that couple

had begun to meet

with the landlady

and her husband

because she's interested

in knowing more

about the bible

now again

only God

can take people

from Ireland

to an inland town

in Spain

lead them to a place

where maybe

the only person

in the town

maybe not

but the only person

certainly

who had a house

available to rent

and the lady

had already been in touch

with a believer

would you pray

that the light

of the gospel

as they seek to shine

the light

of the gospel

as they seek to bring

that living hope

of a risen saviour

to the people

in Medina Sidonia

that God would work

through them

and in them

for the furthest

of his kingdom

and the glory

of his name

thank you John

level

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