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More precious faith than gold

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[ 1 Peter 1:4 ]

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

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The church was established after Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit came to earth. Many people believed in Jesus and had the joy of salvation. The gospel started from Jerusalem and began to spread throughout the earth.

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Satan did not like the spread of the gospel. So he tried to prevent the spread of the gospel by using the power of the world. Satan began to persecute those who believed in Jesus using the emperor of Rome, the most powerful nation at the time.

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The Roman emperor harassed believers in all sorts of evil ways. The believers in Jesus were forced to leave their hometown to escape the emperor's persecution.

They were scattered to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.

They found and settled out of reach of the Roman emperor.

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Wherever they settled, there was nothing abundant: food or clothing.

The apostle Peter wrote the Word of God to believers who suffer in the midst of suffering. This Bible is called 1 Peter and 2 Peter.

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The word of God delivered by the apostle Peter was a great comfort and strength to scattered believers. First, in the letter was the word of God's clear promise.

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The word of that promise is about the blessing of inheritance that He has given to the children of God who believe in Jesus and are born again (new life).

“and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,”(1Pt 1:4)

He said that this blessing of inheritance is kept in heaven, so that it will not rot, become dirty, nor become old.

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God promised to help believers to receive this blessing of inheritance. He promised to keep salvation out of any difficulties and to save us from being able to overcome Satan's attacks.

“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.”(1Pt 1:5)

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Praise and thanksgiving were filled with the hearts of believers who heard the word of this promise. The word of God's direct promise to protect them to the end was a great strength for believers who left their homes and kept their faith even in difficult situations.

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The second part of the letter was about the suffering and testing they were experiencing. He told them what it means for them. Suffering is a test, a process to see if believers really trust God.

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God test believers is like smelting with hot fire to filter out impurities from gold.

To get pure gold, you must put gold in a hot fire to remove the surrounding impurities.

Only after this process can you obtain pure gold.

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He said that the test given to those who believe in Jesus is a process that proves that his faith is as true as gold. It means that true faith is revealed through the fire of test, just as gold is obtained through the fire trial.

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God said that true faith is more precious than gold. No matter how strong gold wears down after a long time. But He said that true faith is more precious than gold because it does not change or wear out under any circumstances.

“These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”(1Pt 1:7)

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A person with true faith always lives in hope because he believes that the soul is saved. This hope is given to us when we believe in the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.

And he who has this hope will not lose joy in the face of any difficult situation.

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The early church believers had this hope so that they could preach Jesus more widely without losing faith despite the persecution and oppression of the Roman emperor.

The Roman Empire, which seemed to be eternal, was destroyed and no longer exists today. However, the church of God is still alive and still plays the role of preaching the gospel of God in the world today. This shows us that faith is stronger than the Roman emperor's persecution. God triumphed over Rome!

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Today we, like the early church members, have been saved by believing in Jesus.

As children of God because of Jesus, we are specially blessed to call God Father and pray. Always thank God for giving us such a great blessing! No matter what difficulties we face, we hope that as heros of faith, we will be all friends who live with faith and hope for salvation from God.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)