Before I start with the message of the preaching, I would like to make a comment with reference to what has been happening and what happened specifically this Friday, where the President of the United States sent to say expresó su deseo de que las congregaciones, las iglesias nos podamos volver a reunir como comúnmente lo hacíamos, y exhortó a los gobernadores a que quitaran las restricciones y que pusieran a la iglesia en la categoría de esencial. And you know that the President gave that, it wasn't an executive order, but it was something verbal where he exhorts the governors to allow the churches to congregate. Then the court of the Ninth Circuit voted 2 to 1 that churches are not essential, they should not congregate, And I would like to talk briefly about this, but I want to make two clarifications. First of all, at no time do I pretend to be a person of influence. With this I mean, I am not a pastor like John MacArthur, John Piper, all these men that when they speak, they bring influence to many people. At no time do I pretend to do that. I'm not speaking for any other pastor. I speak as a pastor of the Bautista Emanuel Church and I speak to the members of the Bautista Emanuel Church. And I believe that any brother who is not a member of this congregation and is listening to the stream or will listen to it on another occasion, should first consult with his pastor and submit to what his pastors teach and say in their congregations. Having clarified this, I believe that the decision that the government has taken is a decision that reflects what Scripture says in Romans chapter 1, verse 21. In this passage of Scripture, we see that men, being sinners, have no understanding. Scripture says in Romans 1.21, that having known God, no le glorificaron como a Dios ni le dieron gracias, sino que se envanecieron en sus razonamientos y su necio corazón fue entenebrecido. Creo que las autoridades de esta nación, no todas quizás porque hay muchos que son creyentes, pero los que toman estas decisiones como poner a la iglesia bajo la categoría de no indispensable, and commit, in a sense, the great depravity of opening abortion clinics, dispensary places where they sell drugs like marijuana, and casinos for people to go and play gambling, and they consider it as something indispensable and they relegate it to the church as something not indispensable, I think it is a perversity and it reflects the darkened condition in which they find themselves. However, the Bible commands us to honor the authorities. And that is what we want to do. First, we had announced that we were going to congregate today, and well, due to the failure of the court, we decided not to congregate. We understand that until this moment it is the law of the nation and we are not going to rise against the authority. And we don't want to react with bitterness, because Scripture tells us to rejoice in the Lord at all times. Also, Scripture tells us that the Lord is sovereign, He is on His throne, and He does as He pleases, and there is no one to stop His hand. So, as believers, brothers, I exhort you to trust in the sovereignty of the Lord at this time, so that we can wait for his plans. We don't know them, but we wait for the Lord with confidence. And finally, I would like to make an exhortation to those of our brothers, especially members of the Church, who say that even if the Church reopens, it is not safe to congregate. And I would like to make an exhortation to those who think like that. Ustedes van a trabajar y se cuidan, se ponen mascarillas, usan guantes, se lavan las manos. Ustedes van a la tienda a hacer compras para los comestibles, para sobrevivir, se cubren, ponen mascarillas, se ponen guantes, se lavan las manos. Van a poner gasolina donde todo mundo toca con sus manos, la pompa, algunos con guantes, otros sin guantes, y se cuidan. Y cuando se trata de hablar de la iglesia, dicen que no es seguro. I get the impression that you are adopting the philosophy of the world, that the church, congregating, spiritual life, is not essential. And I exhort you to rethink, to change your way of thinking, whoever is thinking like that. Specifically, I know of three cases, and I exhort these three people to, if they think like that, obviously we cannot force them to congregate. But also, don't influence other believers with your bad way of thinking. I think they are being influenced by the world, and not by the common sense, that we can come to the congregation, cover ourselves with a mask, bring gloves, keep our distance, and do the same thing we do when we go everywhere. So, having said this, let's pray and trust in the Lord in the midst of all this time. Señor y Padre Nuestro, queremos ponernos en tus manos en esta hora al estudiar tu palabra. Quiero rogarte que tú seas con nosotros y que seas con nuestros hermanos a la distancia. Te suplico, Padre, que tú obres en medio nuestro en esta hora, al permitirnos leer, estudiar y entender tu palabra para traer aplicaciones a nuestras vidas. Gracias por tu misericordia, Señor, la cual nos muestras a cada uno de nosotros en esta hora, en el nombre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Queremos orar y darte gracias, Padre. Amén. Amén. Gabriel, ¿puedes acomodar esta luz, por favor? Let's open our Bibles, brothers, in 1 Peter 1, chapter 1, verses 18 to 21. And this is the next portion that we will be studying because last week we focused, if you remember, we focused on verse 17. Before going to study these verses 18 to 21, I would like to talk a little about the context that we have been studying. In the first two verses of this passage, the apostle Peter addresses the believers, and notice in verse 1 that he calls them expatriates, in verse 2 he calls them chosen, and they are a group of believers who are suffering persecution because of the Gospel. Then, in verse 3 to verse 12, the apostle Peter gives a celebration of joy, of eulogy, of praise to God because of the greatness of our salvation. The scripture says here in verse number 3, It says in verse 4 that He gave us inheritance. It says in verse 5 that He keeps us. It says in verse 6 to 8 that He allows us to be tested. It says in verse 10 to 12 that the eternal message of the Gospel was inspired by the Spirit and helped the prophets to investigate what person and what time would come and be the Messiah, and that the apostles, full of the Holy Spirit, spoke the Word, preached the Gospel, and that we have believed. And brothers, verse 12 ends by saying, things that angels long to see. In these verses, number 3 to 12, the apostle Peter is giving what is called indicatives. He is saying what God has done in our favor. He is talking about the great salvation that God has given us. Now we have entered a different section in verse number 13 to verse number 25 where the apostle begins to give commandments. They are imperative commandments, they are not suggestions. They are commandments that believers must obey in virtue of the great salvation they have received. And we find the first commandment in verse number 13 where in the middle of the verse it says, And wait completely for the grace that will come to you when Jesus Christ is manifested. That is, let us put our eyes on the grace that will manifest in the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, do not put your eyes on this earth, put your eyes on what will come. And this is a reference to the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse number 15, we are told to be saints. It says in verse 15, the second half, Be ye also saints in all your ways of living. For as long as God has saved us, now we must live separate lives from sin, separate from the world, and separate for God and for the pious life. And in verse number 17, we find the third commandment that we studied last week, where it says, And if ye invoke by the Father one who, without the exception of people, judges the work of each one, listen to this, here is the commandment, lead in fear all the time of your pilgrimage. Believers must walk with a reverential fear of God, or a merciful fear of God. And this is where the commandments come from. Then, in the following verses, 18 to verse number 21, The apostle will give us the motivation, the knowledge that should motivate us to live lives with reverential fear of God. Note in verse 18 to 19, we find the means of our redemption. First, it says, In second place, in verse number 20, it talks about the anticipated knowledge of the coming of Christ. And in verse number 21, the characteristics of those we expect in the Lord are described. So let's begin to see these three motivations that will help us live lives of reverent fear of God, or pious lives that fear God. Notice, brothers, that in verses 18 and 19, Peter says the following, Sabiendo que fuiste rescatados de vuestra vana manera de vivir, la cual recibiste de vuestros padres, no con cosas corruptibles, like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without stain and without contamination." So, brothers, what we can observe in this verse is that, first of all, we see the means of our redemption. Do you see the first word, brothers, in verse 18? It says, We, as believers, must know that God has redeemed us. And here the apostle Paul exhorts the believers to know the great price that has been paid for the rescue of their souls. This is what he wants them to understand. The rescue of our souls cost a great price. The believers to whom Peter is writing here in this epistle, he writes to them and says, you were slaves of sin, but God in his mercy rescued you from your vain way of living. And this, brothers, is the condition of every man. Every man and every woman who is not in Christ Jesus is lost, is a slave to sin, and only the Lord Jesus Christ can redeem them from that condition. Peter says, knowing, knowing. This is the word that is used to talk about knowledge that is evident, knowledge that is intuitive. And this is not something that we learn by ourselves and through men. This is something that has been revealed to us in Scripture. The Word of God has inspired the pious men, and God exhaled His Word. They wrote it, they preached it to us, the Holy Spirit now comes to illuminate our understanding and we know that this is a knowledge that is acquired by Scripture, by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and it can be understood only in this way. So, this is what Peter wants the believers to know. In a way, it is a celestial knowledge. because we could never have known it if it weren't for the Holy Spirit that has come to dwell in our hearts. And this knowledge has come to us by the word of God." So, Peter wants the believers, whom he is writing to, to know that God He already set them free. Let's look at the verse. It says, knowing that you were rescued, this word is rescued, or redeemed. And we were redeemed, it says, of our vain way of living, vain way of living. Now the question we ask ourselves is, what is it that we should know? And what we should know, that is obvious, that we were redeemed, that a price was paid for our rescue. It is important to understand that this word, to redeem, means to let go of something that is tied, especially to free the prisoners. It is the action of paying a ransom for those who are captive, those who are tied up, and set them free. So when Peter is saying that we were redeemed, or that we were rescued, he is making a reference to God's action in the past to free us, to redeem us, for the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what Titus 2.14 says, "...who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a jealous people of good works." So the purpose of our redemption, of our liberation, that we go from slaves to free men and women, is that we abandon our old sinful lifestyle and walk in a new way of life. That is, in a way of life that is pious. The verse says here, let us be jealous of good works. And this is what we see here in the context. Go with me to verse 14. In verse 14, Peter says, Do not conform to the desires you had before, being in your ignorance. These desires have to do with the desires of the flesh, the desires of immorality, hatred, everything that is mentioned in lists like in Galatians chapter number 5, where the apostle Paul speaks, where he says, And manifest are the works of the flesh. So, we were set free, to no longer live as subjects or slaves of these works of flesh. And this is important. When the Apostle Peter is writing, it is important to know that in the context of the world in which he is writing, which is the Roman Empire, There were approximately six million slaves, which were bought and sold, and people bought them because in many cases it was a very important business. If a person wanted to free a loved one, or redeem him from slavery for himself, he had to pay the stipulated price for that slave. And many people did it. They bought a relative who was a slave, freed him, and then set him free. And that is precisely what God did with us. The flesh here, brothers, God has set us free from the flesh, from sin. So Peter says that Jesus Christ redeemed us from our vain way of living. Notice that the word he uses there, for vain, means hollow, without purpose, without meaning. It's something that has no eternal benefit. It's something that is practiced in the moment, and that's all it is. An example of this is when immoral, drunk men go on the weekend to get drunk, to practice any kind of immorality. That perverse act doesn't last long and brings consequences. The only thing it does is destroy the body, it has no physical benefit, it has no benefits for society, and much less benefits for eternal life. That's a vain way of living, senseless. The flesh is what does this. This way of living is against the imagination. Look at what 1 Corinthians 2.14 says. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, But the natural man does not perceive the things which are of the Spirit, because for him they are madness, and he cannot understand them, because they are to be discerned spiritually. This is the vain life, the one that cannot understand or understand anything that has to do with the life of God. In Psalm 36, verses 6 and 7, the scripture says, Certainly, like a shadow is man, certainly in vain he yearns for many riches, and does not know who will collect them. Notice that this is vanity. This is the vanity of which the scripture speaks, of which the world is conformed. In Romans 1.21, the verse I read a moment ago, it says, Having known God, they did not glorify him as God, nor did they give him thanks, but they were blinded by their reasoning, and their stubborn hearts were darkened. They have a reasoning that is vain, that is hollow, that does not produce. Look, brothers, this is the reasoning of our government these days, or of all the people who are in authority, that if they want to save the flesh, they will lose their soul. They do everything possible to be in a physical well-being, and that's fine, that's correct. But when they are negligent in their spiritual life, and they say that congregating is not necessary, that's a vain thought, it's absurd, and it has no benefit. That's why it's useless save your life, reach an age of 80, 90 years and be physically well, but in the end, you lose your soul. And for that reason, we believe and consider that congregating, being together, having communion, is essential for our lives. Because it is not a thought that has been born in our mind and our heart, but it is the thought and the will of God. Scripture says that the primitive church will persevere together in the teaching of the apostles, in the breaking of the bread, in the communion with each other, and in the prayers. And there the key is the word together. And the Lord, inspired by the book of Hebrews 10.25, says, let us not cease to congregate as some have it as a custom. And the idea of congregating is to come and be together. So that's a reasoning. that must be attacked with Scripture. And I understand the counter-argument. They say, no, by being together there are more possibilities to contaminate you. Yes, when you go to the casino you don't have the possibility to contaminate yourself with those you are with. When you go to the bank and you are breathing the same air as those in the bank, you don't have the possibility to contaminate yourself. wherever you go, you'll find people. Now, it's important to understand, it's a vain reasoning. Now, let's look at the means of liberation. Verse number 18 says, first it says it in a negative sense, it says, which, it says, he told us of our vain way of living, which you received from your parents. Obviously, this is inheritance. Here, the idea is to receive a pagan ideology, a way of life that does not recognize God, a way of life that is alien, far from God's will. This is the inheritance of our parents. But later, here in the verse, it says, not with things incorruptible as gold and silver. In other words, God did not rescue us with the metals that man considers more precious. But notice the qualifier that Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gives to these metals. It says, not with corruptible things, that is, with things that are decomposed. Here the apostle Apostle Peter shows the superior value of spiritual realities when he says that the most precious and most valuable metals for man were not used to rescue us. Something more valuable and more precious was used, because that is what Scripture says, that it is with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that the metals of this world are perishable, they are uncertain, they are not safe. But this is the word he uses there, verse 18 says, It says, not with corruptible things. And this is in contrast to what it says in the context. Go with me to the context, to verse number 4. In verse number 4, where our inheritance is described, which is kept in heaven, it says, for an incorruptible inheritance. incontaminada e inmarcesible reservada en los cielos para vosotros." So here we see a contrast between perishable things and eternal things. So what was used to free us, brothers, It was not simply gold or silver. We will see in the 19th verse that He did it, says the 19th verse, but with, that is, in a totally opposite, contrary way, with the precious blood of Christ. This is what was used. Charles Spurgeon, in his commentary to the Epistle of Peter, says the following, as His redemption cost so much, ¡Aprécila altamente y no regrese al pecado del cual has sido tan redimido! ¡Teme que no lo hagas! Recuerda que la herencia tiene un gran poder sobre ti. Las tradiciones de tus padres te harán retroceder imperceptiblemente a menos que mires en contra de ellos. but you have been so gloriously redeemed with the precious blood of Christ that you should not go back." Charles Spurgeon understood this verse very well. This is Peter's argument. Peter's argument is that we should know, know what God has done for us so that we do not go back to our old desires, so that we live lives with our eyes set on the Lord and live lives with reverent fear of God. Otherwise, this would not be done. Now, notice the description that Peter gives about the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 19 says, "...but with the precious blood of Christ." It was not with the blood of Christ, but with the precious blood of Christ. Esta palabra preciosa tiene que ver con aquello que tiene valor, que tiene realmente hermosura, que su hermosura no caduca, que nunca acaba. Tiene que ver con una hermosura perfecta que no mejora y tampoco decae. Algo que es en sí mismo precioso. And this is what Peter is saying here. Verse 19 says, "...with the precious blood of Christ." And then he describes, it's a reference to the Old Testament, he says, "...like a lamb without a spot." Speaking of the requirements that God put for the sacrifices, that the lamb had to be of a certain age, and he had to have perfection in him. Those little animals that triumphed at the sacrifice, the High Priest passed by touching them all over the body to see if there were no balls, to see if the legs, the hands were in exact condition, how the animal stood, the beauty of the animal, to be able to offer it as something worthy to God. Brothers, the sacrifice that was offered to God for our redemption Es más precioso y más valioso que el oro y la plata de todo el mundo. Es la preciosa sangre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Esto es lo que dice ahora aquí Pedro. Noten lo que dice en el capítulo 2, en el versículo número 24, dice este versículo aquí, Quien llevó el mismo nuestros pecados en su cuerpo, sobre el madero, para que nosotros, estando muertos a los pecados, vivamos a la justicia, y por cuya herida fuisteis sanados. It was the precious blood of Christ. It was Christ himself who offered himself. And this emphasizes the phrase that we see as that of a lamb without a spot. And also, if one could make an argument that this is a reference to the book of Exodus, for example, chapter 12, verse 5, to the book of Leviticus, the first chapters where the order of the sacrifice is given, to the book of Numbers 6, 14, 28, 3, and verse 9, this is a direct reference to our Lord Jesus Christ. Not to the sacrifices of the Old Testament, but it's a reference to Jesus Christ. Notice what the scripture says in John 1. In John 1, in verse 129, it says, the precious value of Christ. And he considered him as a perfect lamb, as a pleasant sacrifice to God that God himself had provided for himself. In verse 31 he says, I did not know him, but so that it would be manifested among him, I came baptizing in water. And it was John who gave testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, He says, clean yourselves of the old yeast, that ye may be no more without yeast, as ye are. For our Passover, which is Christ, has already been sacrificed for us. So Peter is making a reference, not to the sacrifices of the Old Testament, but a direct reference to Christ. That is why he uses the word, how, he says. similar to, but not a lamb. Jesus Christ is similar to the lamb that was sacrificed in the Old Testament, that it was necessary that it was without stain and without contamination. Christ truly was without stain and without contamination. The Hebrew writer in chapter 4, in verse Quince, si es que no me equivoco, no tengo mis notas, pero vamos a ver si la memoria no falla, hermanos. Dice, versículo 14 y 15. He says, therefore, having a great High Priest who transgressed the heavens, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, let us retain our profession, because we do not have a High Priest who cannot be compassionate of our weaknesses, but one who was tempted in everything according to our likeness. And then he adds, but without sin. Jesus Christ was without sin, brothers. And this is what Peter wants, that the believer understands that the price that was paid for our redemption was not gold, was not silver, because they are corruptible things. A price was paid which is highly invaluable. There is no way to value the person of Christ. He is the most precious treasure. He is the most beautiful. And for that reason, we love Him, we follow Him. And for that reason, we want to congregate together on Sundays, so that together as believers, we give Him honor, we give Him glory, because He deserves it. because He redeemed us, because He saved us. However, our government cannot understand that, because they have not experienced the great experience of redemption. And our prayer is that God, in His mercy, saves them, redeems them, so that they can see the high value of honoring and glorifying our precious Savior. So brothers, let's go now to our second point, talking about the nature of the Redeemer. Going back to chapter 1 of 1 Peter, in verse number 20, we see the nature of our Redeemer. He is not an ordinary common man. He is the God who inhabited eternally in the presence of God the Father, of God the Holy Spirit, in an eternal coexistence of love, of understanding, and that's what verse 20 says, already destined before the foundation of the world. This is a reference, brothers. Here, now Peter tells us that this lamb of God was already known in advance. That is, God planned to save the sinners before the fall of Adam and Eve. At the moment when God created the heavens and the earth and put a man and a woman and gave them the commandment to multiply and to judge the land, to govern the land. And he gave them an order not to eat from the tree of the science of good and evil. And the woman fell into transgression first, then Adam. They sinned against God. God is not reacting to that event. That event was already foreseen by God. The solution was already given from eternity. That's why the 19th verse says, no, the 20th, already destined from before the foundation of the world. That is, before the fall of man and woman came to this earth, before sin entered the earth, Jesus Christ was already determined. God, in his will, had already decided to send the Messiah, the Redeemer. In this section, brothers, here Peter describes more completely the singularity of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The first aspect is his predetermination. Jesus Christ was predetermined before the foundation of the world. He was already known. He had literally been known. This verse, Peter, clearly indicates that God planned to send his Son as the Redeemer incarnate before the foundation of the world. Notice verse 20. It says, But it was manifested in the later times for the love, listen to this brothers, for the love of you. That is, for the love of believers. Jesus Christ manifested for the love of believers. Jesus Christ died for the believers. Jesus Christ died a sacrifice to save us. Scripture teaches us this. This is extremely important to understand because the Father, as I said before, did not react at the last minute. Before the fall, rather, He predetermined to send His Son as Savior. In Acts 2.23, in His first preaching, Peter says to Him, Note, brothers, that it was not by the Romans nor by the Jews. It says, given by the certain counsel and anticipated knowledge of God, you burned and killed by the hands of Iniquus, crucifying him. Is it true? God used human elements. God used sinful men. Who will be judged for this crime? They crucified the Lord, but God had determined it. This was anticipated knowledge of God. I already knew, nothing fell here by surprise. And later, in Acts 4, 27 to 28, Nos dice, hermanos, y ellos, habiendo el oído, alzaron unánimes la voz a Dios y dijeron, Soberano Señor, tú que eres el Dios, que hiciste el cielo y la tierra, el mar y todo lo que en ellos hay, que por boca de David, tu siervo, dijiste, ¿por qué se amontonan las gentes y los pueblos piensan cosas vanas? Y se reunieron los reyes de la tierra y los príncipes se juntaron en una contra el Señor y contra su ungido, Because they truly united in this city against your holy son Jesus, whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, listen to this brothers, to do as much as your hand and your counsel had before determined to happen. So Peter, having preached this message, here he repeats in his epistle the same thing, has been destined since before the foundation of the world, but manifested in the later times for the love of you. For this reason, our heading in this section, brothers, has to do with with the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. What do we see here, brothers? The nature of the Redeemer is that He is God and that He is the Redeemer Messiah. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ is not. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not a lunatic like David Koresh. He was not a madman like the one in Miami who was called Jesus Christ Man and then died of alcoholism with a liver cirrhosis. Jesus Christ was truly the Messiah. Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God, who in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He incarnated and became Man to live a perfect life. y morir por nuestros pecados, como dice el versículo, por amor de vosotros. Jesucristo murió por amor, y lo hizo por amor, hermanos, de cada uno de nosotros. Es imperativo, hermanos, que cuando uno estudia la Escritura, understand that the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ was to achieve our redemption. If we study Scripture and we make of Jesus Christ a great teacher, a great political leader, or a man who is known in history, a man who made a mark in the world, but Jesus Christ is not the Redeemer, is not the Promised Messiah, then the student of the Bible misunderstood the Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, our Redeemer. The expiation done because of our sins It is rooted in the eternal purpose of the Father to understand and know that man would incur transgression and in that way send the Messiah and die for our sins to redeem us from all evil. Notice what the Lord Jesus Christ says in John 6, verse 38. These are his own words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Because I have descended from heaven. This speaks of his deity. no para hacer mi voluntad. Esto habla de que no vino por sí mismo, sino que fue enviado, sino la voluntad del que me envió. Y esto habla de su subordinación al plan eterno de Dios, como lo dice Pedro. This is what the verse tells us. This is the second motivation, brothers. The first motivation is that Christ redeemed us. God paid a high price for our sins. We don't live the same way we did before because we were rescued from that vain way of living. Let us drive with reverent and pious fear before God. Let us understand that He who offered Himself for our sins is the Eternal God, the Son of God, He is the Redeemer of the world, He is the Promised Messiah. And finally, brothers, let's look at the characteristics of the redeemed. Notice verse number 21. If you are a person who has been truly redeemed, not that you are a professor who lives according to what you think, but a true redeemer of God, verse number 21 says, and through whom you believe in God. Notice that here the verb is in a continuous present tense. It's a tense verb. It says, believe. We don't believe once and we stop believing. We believe forever. As John chapter 3, verse 16 says, in such a way did God love the world that everyone who believes in him, who is constantly believing, So, the first characteristic of the children of God, of the redeemed, is that they have believed and continue to believe. They will remain believing until the end. This is the characteristic. Now, notice that they don't just believe, the verse says there, and through which you believe in God, Resurrected Him from the dead. We believe that God resurrected the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and that He has given Him glory. That is, that He is seated at the right hand of God. He exalted Him in heaven to receive Him and to receive His sacrifice. It says there, so that your faith and hope may be in God. There we have the second and the third characteristic. They are men and women of faith. The book of Hebrews gives us a list of men and women who are the heroes of faith. The book of Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is the element that makes a true believer be there. And finally, hope is what makes us wait for the coming of Christ. So we have three elements. They have believed, they have faith, and they have hope. The end of this verse, number 21, brothers, reveals the double blessing, or rather the triple blessing, a superior blessing of the redeemed, that because of the faith and hope of the believers, we are in God. So here, faith, brothers, helps the believers to trust in God. We trust in God for the grace that he has given us. The grace that we have received in him is necessary for us to fight and to persevere in faith and in hope. And these are the qualifications. Look at what Scripture says about this. Right here in 1 Peter chapter 5, in verse 7, brothers, verse 7 says, "...throwing all your anxiety upon him, Because He takes care of you. So our hope, our faith, our belief is in Him. In Him we deposit ourselves. In Him we hope. There is all our anxiety about Him. Why? Because He takes care of us. The redeemed believe in God. They completely throw themselves into God. In Psalm 5, verse 11, Psalm 5, verse 11 says, But rejoice, all who trust in you. Give voices of rejoicing forever, for you defend them. In you rejoice those who love your name. You can see there, brothers, an echo of what Peter says in verse 21. And through him whom you believe in God, There is that faith, that hope to believe in God. In the book of Psalms 31.1, it says the following, brothers, I have trusted in you, O Jehovah, never be confused. Set me free in your justice. And I want to finish with Psalm 56, verse 11. Psalm 56 verse 11 says, aguardando la esperanza bienaventurada y la manifestación gloriosa de nuestro gran Dios y Salvador Jesucristo. Hermanos, el mensaje de la semana pasada se basó en el versículo 17, y ahí tenemos el mandamiento donde dice, conducíos en temor todo el tiempo de vuestra peregrinación. O sea, si invocamos a Dios como Padre, conduzcámonos con temor reverente, piadoso, delante de Él, ¿Cómo lo haremos? ¿Qué nos motiva a hacerlo? La motivación está en saber que fuimos redimidos, y que fuimos redimidos, hermanos, de una vana manera de vivir, a la cual no debemos devolver, porque fue una herencia pagana de nuestros padres. De paso, quiero mencionar algo que viene a mi mente, no está en mis notas, pero es algo que he observado en este versículo. Noten el versículo 18, dice, la cual heredaste de vuestros padres. Ya no tenemos que seguir la forma pagana de vida que heredamos de nuestros padres, ahora tenemos que seguir a nuestro padre. Versículo 14 dice, como hijos obedientes. Versículo 17, y si invocáis por padre, ahora la paternidad ha cambiado. Abandonamos nuestra antigua paternidad de nuestros padres de esta tierra, who taught us to live pagan lives. And obviously, I'm not saying that our parents were perverse, but they didn't know God. I'm talking about those who didn't know God and their ways of living. They worshiped deities that are not God, idols. They lived under the desires of their flesh, dead, without God, without hope. And that is the condition of all those who have not yet become. incluyendo mis padres, que si ellos no se arrepienten de sus pecados y vienen al Señor Jesucristo para que los redima, para que los salve, ellos no tienen esperanza, y de la misma manera toda persona que está en esa condición Now we are in God, in Christ. God is our Father. We must be obedient to Him. And the motivation is that He revealed to us, redeemed us from our bad way of living. And He didn't do it with the most precious metals of this earth. He did it with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He did it, we must understand who Christ is. Christ is the eternal God. Quien es el Mesías que se hizo hombre para vivir una vida perfecta y morir por nuestros pecados para redimirnos de toda iniquidad y llevarnos a Dios. Without Jesus Christ, there is no way to heaven. The philosophy of men is that all paths lead to God if you speak your religion with sincerity. That is a lie of Satan that wants to enslave men. The truth is what the Word of God says. Jesus Christ leads us to God. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And apart from Jesus Christ, no one will experience salvation. That is why, brothers, we have these motivations here. And these motivations must be rooted in our minds, in our hearts. We must know this. This is what we must know. That we were redeemed in a pagan way of living, inherited by our parents. That we didn't pay any price, we paid the precious blood of Christ, the Son of God. Who is the promised Messiah and who died for us to take us to God? That is the motivation that should move us to live pious lives before God. If we don't understand this, there is no way to live with reverent fear before God. Nada nos puede persuadir. Esto es lo único que nos puede persuadir. No nos puede persuadir ni el infierno, porque muchas gentes van caminando al infierno, no tienen temor, saben que existe el infierno, pero van en dirección a él. Tenemos que ser hijos obedientes, agradecidos a nuestro Padre por el gran sacrificio con el cual nos redimió. Amén. Vamos a orar, hermanos. Nuestro Padre, que estás en los cielos, oramos a ti en el nombre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo en esta hora, dándote gracias por tu palabra. And above all, Lord, knowing that the commandment that you order us to live, where we must lead ourselves with fear before you, is based on the fact that you have redeemed us. Nos has rescatado de una vana manera de vivir, no con los metales preciosos de este mundo, sino con algo que es más precioso y infinitamente invaluable, que es la sangre preciosa de nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Quien es Dios, quien es el Mesías prometido, quien es el Salvador del mundo que murió por nuestros pecados para llevarnos a ti, que a él Se siempre la honra, la gloria y la alabanza por la eternidad. En el nombre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo oramos, Padre, y te damos gracias. Amén. Yo les bendiga, hermanos, y vamos a concluir con un canto.