journey on 2014: In this you rejoice

1 Peter 1

English Standard Version (ESV)

Greeting

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹ inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;


 ²⁴ for

“All flesh is like grass
    and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
    and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

 

Footnotes:

1. 1 Peter 1:13 Greek girding up the loins of your mind

Cross references:

1. 1 Peter 1:1 : See James 1:1
2. 1 Peter 1:2 : Acts 2:23; [Rom. 8:29; 11:2]
3. 1 Peter 1:2 : See 1 Thess. 4:3
4. 1 Peter 1:2 : Heb. 10:22; 12:24
5. 1 Peter 1:2 : 2 Pet. 1:2
6. 1 Peter 1:2 : Dan. 4:1; Jude 2
7. 1 Peter 1:3 : 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3
8. 1 Peter 1:3 : Titus 3:5
9. 1 Peter 1:3 : ver. 23
10. 1 Peter 1:3 : ch. 3:21; [1 Cor. 15:20]
11. 1 Peter 1:4 : Rom. 8:17
12. 1 Peter 1:4 : [ch. 5:4]
13. 1 Peter 1:4 : [Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:8]
14. 1 Peter 1:5 : Eph. 2:8
15. 1 Peter 1:5 : [ch. 5:10; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17; Heb. 12:11]
16. 1 Peter 1:6 : James 1:2; [ch. 4:12]
17. 1 Peter 1:7 : James 1:3
18. 1 Peter 1:7 : Job 23:10; Ps. 66:10; Prov. 17:3; Isa. 48:10
19. 1 Peter 1:7 : 1 Cor. 3:13
20. 1 Peter 1:7 : Rom. 2:7, 10; 1 Cor. 4:5; [2 Thess. 1:7-12]
21. 1 Peter 1:8 : [1 John 4:20]
22. 1 Peter 1:8 : [Heb. 11:27]; See John 20:29
23. 1 Peter 1:9 : Rom. 6:22
24. 1 Peter 1:10 : 2 Pet. 1:19; [Dan. 8:15; Matt. 13:17; Luke 10:24]
25. 1 Peter 1:11 : Dan. 9:24-26
26. 1 Peter 1:11 : Rom. 8:9; [2 Pet. 1:21]; See Acts 16:7
27. 1 Peter 1:11 : See Matt. 26:24
28. 1 Peter 1:11 : Isa. 52:13–53:12; Luke 24:26; Acts 3:18
29. 1 Peter 1:12 : Dan. 12:4, 9, 13
30. 1 Peter 1:12 : [Matt. 13:17; Heb. 11:39, 40]
31. 1 Peter 1:12 : Acts 2:2-4
32. 1 Peter 1:12 : [Dan. 8:13; 12:5-7; Eph. 3:10]
33. 1 Peter 1:13 : See Luke 12:35
34. 1 Peter 1:13 : ch. 4:7; 5:8; 1 Thess. 5:6, 8; 2 Tim. 4:5
35. 1 Peter 1:14 : ch. 4:2, 3; Rom. 12:2; Titus 3:3
36. 1 Peter 1:14 : Acts 17:30
37. 1 Peter 1:15 : 1 John 3:3; [2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Thess. 4:7; Heb. 12:14]
38. 1 Peter 1:15 : James 3:13
39. 1 Peter 1:16 : Cited from Lev. 11:44
40. 1 Peter 1:17 : Jer. 3:19; Mal. 1:6; 2 Cor. 6:18; [Matt. 6:9]
41. 1 Peter 1:17 : See Ps. 62:12
42. 1 Peter 1:17 : See James 2:1
43. 1 Peter 1:17 : ch. 3:15; 2 Cor. 7:1; [Rom. 11:20]
44. 1 Peter 1:18 : [Ps. 49:8; 130:8; 1 Cor. 6:20; Titus 2:14; 2 Pet. 2:1]
45. 1 Peter 1:18 : See Eph. 4:17
46. 1 Peter 1:19 : See Acts 20:28
47. 1 Peter 1:19 : See John 1:29
48. 1 Peter 1:19 : Heb. 9:14; [Ex. 12:5]
49. 1 Peter 1:20 : See Rom. 16:26
50. 1 Peter 1:20 : Heb. 1:2
51. 1 Peter 1:21 : John 12:44
52. 1 Peter 1:21 : [Rom. 10:9]; See Acts 2:24
53. 1 Peter 1:21 : Acts 3:13; Heb. 2:9; [ch. 3:22]; See John 7:39
54. 1 Peter 1:22 : Rom. 12:9; See Heb. 13:1
55. 1 Peter 1:22 : 1 Tim. 1:5
56. 1 Peter 1:23 : ver. 3; [John 3:3; James 1:18]
57. 1 Peter 1:23 : John 1:13
58. 1 Peter 1:23 : Heb. 4:12
59. 1 Peter 1:24 : James 1:10, 11; Cited from Isa. 40:6, 8
60. 1 Peter 1:25 : [Matt. 24:35]
61. 1 Peter 1:25 : Isa. 40:9

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Words: John­son Oat­man, Jr., in Songs for Young Peo­ple, by Ed­win Ex­cell (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: 1897).
Music: Edwin O. Excell (MI­DI, score).
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Refrain

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Refrain

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Refrain

Ephesians 1:3-6  (NKJV) Redemption in Christ

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
_______________________

HYMN HISTORY:   Rev. Johnson Oatman, Jr., was one of the important and prolific gospel song writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was born near Medford, New Jersey, on April 21, 1856. As a child he became acquainted with the hymns of the church through the singing talents of his father.
At the age of nineteen Oatman joined the Methodist Church and several years later was granted a license to preach in local Methodist congregations. Though he wrote over 5,000 hymn texts, Oatman was busily engaged throughout his life in a mercantile business and later as an administrator for a large insurance company in New Jersey. Other gospel favorites by Johnson Oatman include “Higher Ground, and “No, Not One!” (http://hishymnhistory.blogspot.com/2012/11/count-your-blessings.html)

I re­plied, “Bles­sed as­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine!”

we love because God first loves us! Blessed Assurance!

Hebrews 10:21-22 New International Version (NIV)

²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

__________________________An old hymn for today: Blessed Assurance. The whole day this hymn has been turned on in the watchman’s spirit and it is really wonderful!

Words: Fan­ny Cros­by, 1873: “My friend, Mrs. Jo­seph F. Knapp, com­posed a mel­o­dy and played it over to me two or three times on the pi­a­no. She then asked what it said. I re­plied, “Bles­sed as­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine!” “

Music: As­sur­ance, Phoe­be P. Knapp (MI­DI, score).

This hymn was sung in the Acad­e­my Award win­ning mo­vies Plac­es in the Heart (1984) and Trip to Bount­i­ful (1985).

---

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! 
 O what a foretaste of glory divine! 
 Heir of salvation, purchase of God, 
 born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. 
Refrain:
 This is my story, this is my song, 
 praising my Savior all the day long; 
 this is my story, this is my song, 
 praising my Savior all the day long. 

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight, 
 visions of rapture now burst on my sight; 
 angels descending bring from above 
 echoes of mercy, whispers of love. 
 (Refrain) 3. Perfect submission, all is at rest; 
 I in my Savior am happy and blest, 
 watching and waiting, looking above, 
 filled with his goodness, lost in his love. 
 (Refrain)

有福的 确据, 耶稣属我, 何等的荣耀 向我显明,
被救主 赎回, 为伸后嗣, 借宝血洗罪, 圣灵重生.

副歌: 这是我信息, 或讲或唱, 赞美我救主, 心里欢畅
常讲主慈爱, 并颂主恩, 赞美我救主, 昼夜不分.

完全顺 服主, 我灵欢喜, 天堂的荣耀, 显于我心
仿佛有 天使 由天降临, 报明主慈爱, 并住怜悯.

完全献 与主, 万事安宁, 荣耀的圣灵, 充满我心
时刻仰 望主, 儆醒等候, 不住地祈祷, 到主再临.

______________________Note added on March 24, 2013:

Something you need to know about the author of the hymn. She was born on March 24, 1820. She is remembered today (March 24, 2013) as the Lord’s Spirit replayed her hymn (which famous first line was engraved on her tombstone too). The watchman discovered this only just now about her birth date and the inscription! 

How awesome is our God! 

Isaiah 42:16 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.

Fanny Crosby 1820-1915, Born: March 24, 1820, Put­nam Coun­ty, New York. Fanny Cros­by was prob­ab­ly the most pro­lif­ic hymn­ist in his­to­ry. Though blind­ed by an in­com­pe­tent doc­tor at six weeks of age, she wrote over 8,000 hymns. In her life­time, Fan­ny Cros­by was one of the best known wo­men in the Unit­ed States. To this day, the vast ma­jor­i­ty of Amer­i­can hymn­als con­tain her work. When Fan­ny died, her tomb­stone car­ried the words, “Aunt Fan­ny” and “Bless­ed as­sur­ance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a fore­taste of glo­ry di­vine.”