All of us need an anchor that will hold during the storms of life. The anchor we need is our faith. What have you put your faith in? How important is it to have faith? Where do we find faith strong enough to make it through the storms of life? Peter knows how important faith is and he gives us a great picture of a faith that we can anchor deep with; and a faith which will hold us during the storms of life.

In Part One of our teaching Peter gave us three reasons why it’s important to anchor our faith in Christ. They were that faith in Christ is imperishable, faith in Christ is uncorrupted, and faith in Christ is unfading. In Part Two, Peter said that tested faith is valuable, revealing, and is centered on our love for Christ.

So Peter had a faith in Christ that was timeless. His faith was valuable, revealing, and full of love. But how does that mean, what worked for Peter will work for me? Almost as if Peter anticipated your question, he writes about the faith of others.

The prophets of the Old Testament found their faith in God to hold. (1:10) God spoke to the prophets and told them that the Messiah was coming. He gave them a hope that the One who could deliver them was on the way. The message of the prophets can be summarized as, “Hang on. God is working and the Messiah is coming. Get ready, your deliverer is coming.” Doesn’t that sound like a message for people at the end of their rope, for people who don’t know where to turn? It is a message of hope and encouragement. It is a promise. How many people do you know that need to be encouraged not to give up. How many people are there that need to be told that help is on the way. Maybe you need to hear that God’s promises are for you. That is the message of the Old Testament prophets.

Peter points out that the true faith is not only tied to the prophets, but also the fulfillment of those prophecies. There is a faith in the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. (1:11)

Our faith is built upon the prophecies of the Old Testament, prophecies which said a Messiah is coming. Our faith is built upon Jesus. We believe that he is the Messiah, the embodiment of the Old Testament prophecies. We believe that He died on a cross for our sins and that he rose again. We believe that he is coming back.
If all of Christianity were to be destroyed, how could we recreate it in our minds? We could not. Our faith is not built upon philosophy, intellect, or creative speculations. Our faith is built upon the historical fact that Jesus, God’s only Son, died on a Roman cross, on a hill in Jerusalem. Our faith cannot be recreated, but thank God it is a faith which has stood the test of time, proven itself faithful when tested, and is the only true faith which holds in the storms of life.

Peter then talks of how the faith of the Old Testament and the Gospels is for these present days. (1:12)

Peter literally says, “Angels desire to look into these things.” Can you imagine what that must be like? Angels are leaning over the rim of heaven and looking down. They have seen what God did with the prophets. They have seen how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies with His birth, life, death and resurrection. The angels have seen Lucifer kicked out of heaven, the resurrection of Christ, the dead raised, the Red Sea parted, and demons exorcized. But what they desire to see, is what God is going to do now. The angels are watching us and they want to see what the next chapter will be like. How will our faith and God’s great actions meet? The time is now to live by faith.

All of us have faith, but will your anchor of faith hold in the storms of life? Is your anchor of faith a true anchor? Is your faith built upon the truth of scripture. Is your faith tested? Do you know how valuable, revealing and full of love, a faith in Christ is? Is your faith timeless, or will the newest fad or the latest philosophy cause you to tie to a new anchor? Only a faith in Christ is true, tested, and timeless.

It is not a question of if you have a faith. It is not a question of if the storms of life will come. The question is, will your anchor of faith hold through the storms? The time to anchor your hope and faith to Christ is now, before the storms show up. AMEN!!!!!

All of us need an anchor that will hold during the storms of life. The anchor we need is our faith. What have you put your faith in? How important is it to have faith? Where do we find faith strong enough to make it through the storms of life? Peter knows how important faith is and he gives us a great picture of a faith that we can anchor deep with; and a faith which will hold us during the storms of life.

In Part One of our teaching Peter gave us three reasons why it’s important to anchor our faith in Christ. They were that faith in Christ is imperishable, faith in Christ is uncorrupted, and faith in Christ is unfading.

Our faith must be anchored in the timeless nature of Christ, but I can hear the question. How do you know that a faith in Christ will hold up during the storms of life? Why should I trust Christ?

Because, this is no ordinary faith, it is a tested faith. Countless people have placed their faith in Christ and found the anchor holds. Peter survived some incredible storms of life, and he says here is what I found the faith of Christ to be when it is put to the test. Peter found out three things about a tested faith.

First, it is valuable. (1:7)

Here, Peter plays upon the image of a goldsmith. A goldsmith would melt the metal down until it became a liquid. All the impurities would come to the surface and the goldsmith would scrape them off and allow the metal to cool. He would then come back and repeat the process over and over. His goal was pure gold. How did he know when he had pure gold? When no impurities came to the surface or when he could see his reflection in the melted gold.

Peter says that our faith is like gold, as it is tested, it will begin to bring the impurities to the surface. When the impurities are removed our faith becomes more valuable. (1:7) Gold is the standard by which we define value. We say things like, “worth it’s weight in gold”, “and the golden age”. Our jewelry is made of gold and we trade with it. In Peter’s world and in ours, gold was considered one of the most valuable things a person could have.

While gold is valuable, it is secondary to our faith. Gold can perish, but our faith will endure. A faith in Jesus Christ will carry us through this life and even into the world to come. A faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of God’s only Son is far more valuable than gold. Our faith is in something eternal, not in something that can be destroyed.

Second, Peter says that our faith is revealing. (1:7)

The goldsmith knows that he has pure gold when he can see his reflection in the metal. Our faith should reflect Jesus and reveal Him to a world. As we grow in Christ, we learn more about Him and His love. It is only through a life given to Christ that we will begin to see Him as He really is.

As our faith grows, more about the deeper nature of Christ is revealed to us. The end result of a Christ centered faith is that our lives are shaped and molded by Him.

Our faith begins to reflect that deeper knowledge of Jesus, our lives will begin to change. When you and I live differently, because our faith is growing, those around us will see the difference. Quite literally, your life begins to reflect the image of Christ. Just as the goldsmith knew he had pure gold, when he looked into the metal and could see his reflection, Jesus desires His reflection in our lives. That can only happen in a refined faith that has been tested.

Finally, he says our faith is centered on our love for Christ. (1:8)

Peter talks about how we love Christ even though we have not seen Him. In Hebrews we have the definition of faith, “Now faith is the substance of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). The essence of faith is that it does not require our sight or proof. Peter says that real or genuine faith is loving a Christ you have never seen, but still know that He exists. Next time we will finish with Peter teaching on true faith.