R295 Experiencing God by Understanding Who We Are

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today in the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton on this edition of The Encouraging Word. Experiencing God by understanding who we are.

Some self-reflection and understanding is something that all of us can benefit from, starting with the woman in the mirror, the man in the mirror, that we look at and say, Okay God, help me to know myself better so that I can serve you and live for you better. Today we'll head to 1 Peter chapter 1 with Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, evangelist, pastor, and today as he teaches us, we're going to gain insight on how we have a closer, intimate relationship with God by understanding who we are as his creation. Know that we're also available for you 24-7 on our website at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. Now, Dr. Don Wilton. The Encouraging Word. Would you turn with me in your Bibles this morning to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. I hope that you have a copy of God's Word with you and a pencil in hand. Experiencing God by understanding who we are.

Let me put that in the first person. How can I experience God by understanding who I am? If I was to ask you a question this morning, do you understand yourself?

I wonder what you would say. You know, some of us are very hard on ourselves and probably deservedly so, and some of us are very, very soft on ourselves. As the songwriter said, it's hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way. There is a lot to be said for motivational speakers who go around the world motivating people to do what they are able to do through a better understanding of who they are.

Sometimes a weak and poor self image is the greatest enemy that we have. Writing in the letter to the Hebrews, the writer to the Hebrews in chapter 2 put it like this. He said, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

Now he was writing to Christian people. And basically what he was saying to you and me is he was saying this. You will never experience God in all of his fullness if you don't understand everything that you are in him. If you don't understand everything that has been made available to you, if I could put it into layman's terminology, it enables us some time to say, Thank you, Lord, that I'm alive. Thank you, Lord, that I have something to eat. Thank you, Lord, that I have a roof over my head.

Thank you, Lord, that I live in America. Thank you, Lord, that I have such a wonderful church and I have friends and I have family. And the Bible says, my friend, if we are ever going to experience God, we must understand who we are in Christ Jesus, because the truth of the matter is that God has made available to us all the riches of his grace. And when you receive God into your heart through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, it is as it were that God says, Now that you have trusted Jesus Christ, now that you have been redeemed, washed and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, I'm going to heap upon you all the manifold blessings that I have in store, even for my own son, Jesus Christ, they are going to become yours. I'm going to give you a full and a meaningful life.

And in that you are going to be able to grow as a person in the way that I intend for you to grow as a person. You see, my beloved friends, ladies and gentlemen, this morning, it is very possible to be a born again believer and to know the Lord Jesus Christ and yet to go through life in reverse gear. To go through life not making available to yourself all the riches of God's grace. Now I've met many Christians like that.

I've met many Christians who do not avail themselves of the rich treasures of God's grace. Well, I want to look at first Peter this morning, just the first two verses look there with me and let's read it. First Peter chapter one, and verses one and two.

Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to God's elect. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts. The Apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, I believe touches on seven major things that God tells us about ourselves in these two verses.

Seven major issues, seven major availabilities, seven major gifts that God has given to us, seven facts that we need to hide in our hearts. And I'm convinced today, beloved friend, that until as believers we come to understand ourselves, not in terms of ourselves, but in terms of who we are in Christ Jesus, we are always going to shortchange our experience of God. Number one, number one, we are chosen by God. We are chosen by God. I want to start off in verse two. Look at verse two. Here the apostle says to God's elect, verse two, who have been chosen.

I love that, don't you? To think that God has chosen me and that God has chosen you. It's a very special thing to be chosen, to be singled out. And the Bible says that all people have been chosen of God, red and yellow and black and white.

All people are precious in God's sight. It's a wonderful thing to be chosen. We've got a lot of choosing going on right now in our schools.

People being chosen to be cheerleaders, being chosen to play on the varsity football team, being chosen to represent the school, being chosen to be a part of the school newspaper, being chosen to belong to this club. It's a great thing to be chosen, isn't it? I mean, it just makes you very special. There is nothing in the world that is more special than being chosen. And here the apostle Peter says, you have been chosen by God. Just think about that. Me, Lord, not me, Lord.

And everybody runs around to congratulate you. And the world and those that know you, they look at you and they say, it's impossible. How could God ever choose such a rotten scoundrel as that person? How could God ever do something in the life of someone who doesn't deserve that? And yet the Bible says that God, by His grace, reaches down from heaven.

And He has chosen me from before the foundation of the world. I want you to keep your finger right there in First Peter. Turn to Second Thessalonians.

I love to hear those pages rustling. Turn to Second Thessalonians chapter two. Now in Second Thessalonians chapter two from verse 13, the apostle Paul talking to the church at Thessalonica is dealing with a very important issue in the church.

You know what it is? Standing firm, taking a stand for God. Now that's not easy to do, is it?

It's not easy. It's one thing to be a Christian on Sunday morning. It's another thing to be a Christian on Monday morning. And the apostle Paul writing to the church at Thessalonica, he's saying to these people, I've got the key that is going to enable you to stand firm. Could I perhaps paraphrase in my own terminology what Paul was saying to these people? Paul was saying to these people, guess what?

I believe that God has shown to me the way in which you can experience God, not only on Sunday morning, but on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday. This is where God says you can stand firm. You can stand up for what you know to be true. You can take a stand for Jesus. You can live for him on the playing fields of society. And this is what he says in verse 13. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord. Why? Because from the beginning, God chose you.

You are special. I have enjoyed in years gone by working in Chicago and Los Angeles and New York City and Detroit and some of the great cities of America. I remember preaching up in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. And I got up there about five, about a thousand young people in the middle of my message, the door open and about 20 gang members from downtown New York City walked in.

They had boom boxes and radios and boy, they made the biggest noise I've ever heard, disrupted the whole thing and I was scared to death. And I remember preaching the word of God and I remember saying, as I looked at the leader of that group, I want you to know that God has chosen you, my friend. You see, the whole gang mentality means that you've been chosen to be a part of an inner circle. And by virtue of that choosing, you are represented by and protected by the group that has chosen you.

And that night in the Pocono Mountains in a place called Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, I'll never forget that gang leader getting up during that invitation and walking down that aisle and not knowing how to handle what was going on inside of him as tears began to stream down his cheeks and he didn't want anybody else to see and so he began to wipe his cheek away by hitting himself on the side like this, as though he was trying to be cool in front of his friends. And I remember that day how more and more of those kids and by the end of that service, 17 of those gangsters had given their lives to Jesus Christ and I remember how the Spirit of God came down upon that place and it was all because we came to an understanding, my friend, that if we are to ever experience God, we must understand that God has chosen us. Number two, we are known by God. We're not only chosen by God, but we are known by God.

Look at verse two, you have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. If you want to talk to someone about who knows who, talk to moms and dads. They know their children, don't they? In fact, I challenge anyone in this congregation to go and tell some parent about their children. Uh-uh, how are you going to meddle a little?

You know that. Or maybe you see a child misbehaving somewhere or you think that child's misbehaving. I challenge you to go to the parent and say your son was misbehaving. Even if he was misbehaving, parents don't like other people to tell them that. Go and talk to grandparents. I love grandparents.

Grandparents will tell you that one of the difficulties of being a grandparent is not the love that they have from their grandchildren, it's the fact that they have to be careful not to interfere with the parents in terms of knowing about those children. There's a kind of line that's drawn in the sand. Do you know the Bible says, my friends, that one of the greatest things about experiencing God is that He has not only chosen us, but He knows us. In John's gospel, He calls us His sheep and He says, My sheep know me by name and I know them and they hear my voice and we have an intimate relationship together so much so that if one of my sheep go astray, I'm going to put myself out to go and recover a lost sheep. He knows us.

Oh, how He loves us. Please forgive the interruption and please don't go away. Dr. Don will be back in just a moment for the completion of today's message, Experiencing God, by Understanding Who We Are. I pray that you would know that the reason we stop is because Dr. Don insists, I let you know we're here for you. As we study God's Word, as we gain insight to ourselves, we also sometimes gain insight to areas that we need prayer for. We would love to pray with you and for you, not just during the broadcast, but any time, day or night, at this number, 866-899-WORD.

Jot it down, store it in your cell. We'd love to connect with you at 866-899-9673 or online at tewonline.org. That's T-E-W for The Encouraging Word, online.org. Now let's dive back in today's great teaching with Dr. Wilton, Experiencing God, by Understanding Who We Are. Then I want you to note in the third place, He has redeemed us by His blood. We are redeemed by His blood.

We're looking at experiencing God by understanding who we are. Number one, we are chosen by God. Number two, we are known by God. Number three, we are redeemed by His blood. What a wonderful thing to think that God by Jesus Christ, here in verse two, has let us know beyond any doubt whatsoever that we belong to Him.

Look at verse two, To God's elect to have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father for obedience to Jesus Christ and the sprinkling of His blood. If you turn over the page in my Bible, you're going to get up there to verse 18 and 19. The Bible says, For you know that it was not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, that you were redeemed from the empty way of life, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without defect. You may say to me today, Well, pastor, if I am redeemed by His blood, how does that enable me to experience God?

Well, turn back with me very quickly. Turn back with me to 2 Thessalonians again. 2 Thessalonians, I beg your pardon, Hebrews, not 2 Thessalonians, Hebrews chapter 10, just two books before where we are, Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 22. Have a look at what the Bible says about being redeemed by being sprinkled by the blood of the Lamb. Let us draw near to God, there it is experiencing God, the writer to the Hebrews is talking about our perseverance, our living with God, our being drawn into the heart of God. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, here it is, having our hearts sprinkled, that is with the blood of the Lamb, redemption, to do what? There is a twofold purpose in being sprinkled and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Number one is to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. There it is in verse 22.

Number two is to have our bodies washed with pure water. Now, there are two things that happened here when we are washed and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. First of all, we are set free from a guilty conscience. Now the Bible says all of us have a guilty conscience. All of us are sinners. I've done this before. How many of you have ever sinned before? Raise your hand. Come on, your hand's not up, you're sinning right now.

Why is that just some cute statement that I'm making today? No, the Bible tells us. The Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. How do we escape? How do we find relief? How are we set free from our guilty conscience? By the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We cannot experience God unless we've been set free.

But there's a second thing here. The Bible says we are not any cleansed from a guilty conscience, but we have our bodies washed with pure water. Now, purity and pure water right throughout Scripture is a symbol of the holiness of God. And so what is happening here is that the writer to the Hebrews is saying that we are not only set free from our sin in time now, but we are continually washed by the purity and the holiness of God throughout the fabric of the lives that we live. It means that our daily experience is an experience of God.

Why? Because we are redeemed by His blood. We experience God by understanding who we are. Well, who are we?

Who am I? Who are we? Number one, we are chosen by God. Number two, we are known by God. Number three, we are redeemed by His blood.

Number four, this is precious. We are sanctified by His Spirit. Look at verse two of 1 Peter. Verse two of 1 Peter. You have been chosen according to the full knowledge of God the Father.

Here it is. Through the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Now, what does that mean, folks? You see, the sanctifying work of the Spirit is the ongoing process by which you and I are set apart to the work of God's grace. I want you to turn back to 2 Thessalonians.

We turned there initially. 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. Have a look at that verse again. Let's take a closer look at it. He says here, But we ought always to thank God for you. Why? Brothers loved by the Lord because from the beginning, number one, God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

You know what that is? That is present, continuous, ongoing, never-ending tense. With apologies to English teachers here this morning. It is present, ongoing, never-ending, continuous tense. You see, the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God is the ongoing cycle of the sanctifying movement of God in my life from the moment I'm born again until the time that I'm seated at the feast table of the King. It means that every day and every moment of my life through the indwelling of the Spirit of God, I am sanctified, I am set apart, I am made special, I am refined into and unto God. I am made more like the Lord Jesus Christ every moment that I live because I am a recipient of the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God. Turn back with me very quickly to 1 Corinthians.

Don't lose 1 Peter. 1 Corinthians 1. And when I go and preach in evangelism conferences and when I preach to preachers, I love preaching on this verse.

Listen to what it says. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 18. The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Corinth, he says, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

Present, continuous, never-ending tense. But unto those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Why did the Apostle Paul say that?

Why does the Apostle Peter say what he says about the ongoing sanctifying work of the Spirit of God in 1 Peter? The reason is very simple, my friends, because we are sinners saved by the grace of God. And our Christian life is a journey. It is an experience.

It is experiencing God in all of his fullness and all of his grace. Yes, there are many times that I wake up in the morning and I have not been obedient under the heavenly vision. I have not lived for God. I have let him down. I have problems at home.

I have problems at work and everything is going wrong. And yet as the moment I wake up, I'm reminded that I'm in him and because I am in him, I am a participant in the ongoing sanctifying work of the Spirit of the living God. And by that fact, I have wonderful hope and wonderful joy as I experience God in my daily living. Number one, we are chosen by God. Number two, we are known by God. Number three, redeemed by his blood.

Number four, sanctified by his Spirit. Number five, we are called to obedience. We are called to obedience. Verse two, can you believe all of this comes out of one verse, folks?

It's just remarkable. Verse two, he says to God's elect, who have been chosen through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ. You see, the apostle, my friend, was saying that we are not called to obedience to our own preference. We are not called to obedience to our own way of doing things. We are not called to obedience to what I think or what you think. We are called to obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. And friend, when we come to grips with the fact that God expects us to do what God wants us to do, that's when we begin to uncover and unlock the keys to kingdom living.

That's when we begin to understand what it means to live and to experience God. Number six, we are designated as strangers. We are designated as strangers.

Look back at verse one, if you don't mind. Here the apostle says, I am Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, writing to God's elect, strangers in the world. Strangers in the world. Now that word stranger is the same word from which we get the word alien.

It means, quite frankly, beloved friends this morning, different. But number seven, we are scattered as witnesses. We are scattered as witnesses to God's elect strangers in the world scattered throughout the world. You see, this morning we are the gathered church.

Tomorrow morning we become the scattered church, don't we? What Peter is saying is that we will experience God, my friend, when we represent him scattered throughout the world. That is Dr. Don Wilton, and that question, are you ready to respond to him, is something that he believes in passionately. Because when we hear the word of God, when we hear God speaking through his word, and today through his messenger, Dr. Don Wilton, we cannot be the same. God's word changes us. And I pray that you would open your heart to that simple question.

Dr. Don's going to fill it out even more in these next moments. But just be ready to respond to God. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin.

I confess my sin to you. And I invite you to come into my heart and into my life, I pray. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you just gave your life to Jesus Christ, welcome to the family of God. Maybe you rededicated your life. Welcome home.

It's time to build some new relationships, some new structure in your life that will help you grow in your faith. Dr. Don has wonderful resources. If you just gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life that he wants you to have for free, you just need to call 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. We also have a tremendous number of resources on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. And the one that everyone is asking about is this one, Saturdays with Billy. On our new website, you can reserve a copy of Dr. Wilton's brand-new book, Saturdays with Billy. In Saturdays with Billy, Pastor Don shares heartwarming stories of his times with Mr. Graham. Just as Billy's words change Don's life, they can change our lives today, a testament to a man who leaned on God's grace into eternity.

Discover their powerful friendship at www.tewonline.org. Our time's gone, but oh, tomorrow, a powerful message from Dr. Wilton called Experiencing God by Living a Holy Life. Let's encourage each other to holiness. In a world that is seemingly running headstrong away from holiness, tomorrow we'll gain insight from God's Word from the book of 1 Peter right here with Dr. Don Wilton. I hope you'll join us.