Unshakable Hope: Embracing the Power of Living Hope 1 Peter 1:3-9

The Red Sickness

In Stephen Crane’s book “The Red Badge of Courage,” a young private in the Union Army named Henry Fleming struggles with what Crane refers to as the “Red Sickness,” which is cowardice. Crane delves into the thoughts and intentions of Henry Fleming as he grapples with conflicting feelings. On one hand, Fleming is drawn to the glory and heroism of war. On the other hand, he doubts whether he possesses the courage to face the challenges of battle and withstand being wounded. In the context of the book, a wound sustained in battle is considered a Red Badge of Courage. It signifies the bravery of a soldier.

In the first battle, Henry experiences overwhelming fear and a strong desire to flee, but he finds himself trapped by his own regiment. So, essentially, he closes his eyes and shoots, feeling like a mere cog in a machine without experiencing any real glory. Despite his unit holding their ground, Henry manages to find time to take a nap. Upon waking, he discovers the Confederate Army attempting to advance on their position. Just moments into the battle, when presented with an opportunity to flee, Henry gives in to the Red Sickness and runs away from the fight.

I can relate to the heart of Henry Fleming, and I think many of you can as well. Many of us long to see the glory and heroism of the kingdom of God advancing on the kingdom of darkness, but we worry about the Red Sickness. Do we have the metal to stay in the fight? Do we have the strength, joy, and assurance of our faith in Christ to such a degree that we can keep fighting when we are overwhelmed with fear?

Fear is real in ministry because Christian ministry is a war time strategy. We battle every day to gain ground on a very powerful enemy who has weapons not of this world to yield agaisnt us. Paul says,

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

In the very next verse he commends believers to put on the armor of God? Why do you need armor? You need armor to fight, to battle, to wage war against the kingdom of darkness.

One of the weapons Satan likes to use against us is fear. Francis Crawford Burkitt explains,

Fear is generated by unbelief, and unbelief strengthened by fear. Nothing can cure us of fear till God cures us of unbelief.

Francis Crawford Burkitt (Patristic Scholar)

It is a vicious cycle. Unbelief suggests that God is somehow lacking in his knowledge, wisdom, power, goodness, or love. If God lacks understanding, then he does not know all things. If he lacks wisdom, he cannot wield truth. If he lacks power, he cannot work all things for my good. If he lacks love, then he is not the loving Father the Bible says he is. The cycle of unbelief fosters fear, which takes root and grows into hopelessness, stifling faith. Stifled faith is dead hope. The result is you find yourself, Christian, suffering from Red Sickness, running hard and fast away from the fight.

Peter sensed that his readers may have been suffering from Red Sickness. So, he wrote them a letter to shore up their courage and help them remain steadfast in the fight. In the first couple of verses, he recognizes their situation. They are heavenly aliens in a Genesis three world. They are sojourners on their way home. These are Christians in the diaspora, on Exodus, waiting to enter the promised land of heaven. Because of this, life is hard.

On the one hand, they are called to be holy, holy, holy, for the Lord is holy. On the other hand, they are called to give a defense for the faith. That is, they are to be about the Great Commission, joyfully advancing the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home. This is not popular among their neighbors. The gospel is an offense to the lost. Peter’s readers suffer at the hands of the wicked as they do ministry. Peter wants to combat their fear and discouragement with hope. He wants to remind them of the living hope they have in Jesus, and that is what I want to do for you this morning as I cast a vision for our church.

Christian, embrace the power of His living hope so that you can find strength, joy, and assurance as you strive to joyfully advance the kingdom of God at FBCL.

Just like building a house, ministry at FBCL can feel like a never-ending project. There's always something that needs fixing, updating, or overhauled. On top of that, we have an enemy that enjoys tearing down anything and everything we have worked so hard to build. Living in an unfinished house can feel overwhelming, depressing and burdensome.

To help us this morning, Jesus, through the first letter of Peter, teaches us that our hope as Christians is not based on temporary circumstances but on the eternal promise of redemption and inheritance in Christ. It encourages us to shift our focus from the challenges of this world to the secure hope we have in the future glory that awaits us. In 1 Peter 1:3-9, we are reminded of the power of living hope that believers have through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which gives us an eternal inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

This morning, I pray the Lord inspires you to hold fast in our ministry at FBCL with His powerful and unshakeable hope. To do that, Peter gives us three perspectives on hope.

Heavenly Hope: Secured and Unspoiled (1 Peter 1:3-5)

If living hope was a house, it’s foundation would be the mercy of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Because God is merciful, you are born again (1 Peter 1:3)

1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

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…

What does it mean that God caused us to be born again? The term Peter uses is ἀναγεννήσας, which means to cause to be born again. Peter sheds a little more light on the idea in 1 Peter 1:23 when he says, “since you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.” The word “seed” points us to the role of the Father in producing children. Being born again is an act of God. It is God’s directive and initiative to produce children. How does he do it?

Jesus speaks of being born again when he speaks to Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus tells Nicodemus,

John 3:3 HCSB

3 Jesus replied, “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:5–7 HCSB

5 Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

Jesus is referring to Ezekiel 36:25-27.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

Ezekiel 36:25–27 HCSB

25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances.

Jesus is saying that only God can cleanse and give life to the heart by regenerating it. Paul describes our hearts as dead in your trespasses (Eph 2:1. By dead, Paul means we have no moral ability to please God on our own, just like a corpse has no ability to do anything for you. In verses Eph 2:4-5, Paul says God gives life to our dead hearts. He says,

Ephesians 2:4-5

Ephesians 2:4–5 HCSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, 5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

God is the one who brings about our rebirth. He is the one who infuses spiritual life into a dead heart. The heart can only acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord if it has been granted life by the Holy Spirit. Paul teaches us in 1 Cor 12:3

1 Corinthians 12:3 ESV

3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

How does God bring life to our heart? Peter says He does so by his word.

1 Peter 1:23 HCSB

23 since you have been born again —not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.

You have been born again through the enduring word of God. The word of God is the gospel message that is preached to your heart. Paul says

Romans 10:14 HCSB

14 But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

The preacher shares the good news of Jesus Christ, that God sent His Son to die on the cross in place of sinners like us. Through this sacrifice, He offers to make peace between us and God. If we repent of our sins, put our faith in Jesus's death and resurrection, and confess that He is Lord, we will be saved. We ask for God’s forgiveness, and He gives it to us through Christ. When we ask God to come into our hearts and live forever, He gives us His Spirit to be with us always.

If your heart is drawn to the gospel message, God is drawing you to Himself. If you feel repentance, faith, and love for Christ, it is because God has given you spiritual life. We cannot take credit for being spiritually born, just as we cannot take credit for being physically born. It is God’s initiative to give us life.

Why did He do this? Peter says, purely out of His mercy. Peter exposes mercy as the motive in verse 3, saying that God caused us to be born again out of His mercy. Mercy is God’s compassion for us. His justice demands that sinners be condemned to his wrath, rightfully so. Every one of us deserves God’s holy justice. But God, who is rich in compassion, extends mercy to us by offering his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and accepting his sacrifice by raising him from the dead. Matt Boswell and Matt Papa capture God’s mercy as the foundation of our hope when they sing,

What riches of kindness He lavished on us His blood was the payment, His life was the cost We stood 'neath a debt we could never afford Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Praise the Lord, His mercy is more Stronger than darkness, new every morn Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Because Jesus resurrected, you have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3)

1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

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,

You will notice the preposition “through” in verse 3. God caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection. The resurrection is the ground, or the “because” of our living hope. We are born again because of the resurrection. We have a living hope because of the resurrection. The resurrection is the thread that weaves through our salvation and our hope that binds them together and keeps them from unraveling. If Jesus did not overcome the grave, Paul says we are fools, the most pitied of all (1 Cor 15:12-19).

Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 15:32, “If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” There is no hope if Christ is not raised from the dead. Without the resurrection, there is no eternal salvation with no inheritance, and therefore there is no living hope.

But thanks be to God Jesus did rise from the grave. He has secured our salvation to give us an inheritance. What is your inheritance? I believe it is your eternal salvation with a portion in the new creation and all its blessing. I lean that direction because of how Peter describes our inheritance. First he describes it as eternal.

Your living hope is eternal (1 Peter 1:4)

1 Peter 1:4 ESV

4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

In Greek, Peter uses a three-word alliteration to describe your inheritance. He says it is imperishable, referring to something that death cannot ravage; it can never be taken from you. Secondly, he says it is undefiled, meaning it is unstained by evil and perfectly pure. Finally, he says it is unfading, indicating that it is not bound by time or affected by time. In this world, creation ages with time, but heaven is not bound by time, nor will the new heavens and earth. That is the point of having eternal life; it is a life unbound by time.

These three words describe an eternal inheritance given by our holy and eternal father to his redeemed eternal children. Consider Abraham for a moment. He was promised land, seed, and blessing for his faithfulness, but he died before he could see his inheritance fully. God is giving us a new heaven and a new earth, with new brothers and sisters in Christ, just as He promised Abraham. The difference is we will see it fully realized for all eternity. We will enjoy its immeasurable blessings in the presence of God for all eternity. Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “When the Stars Are Gone” captures the eternal nature of our hope:

The stars shine over the mountains,

The stars shine over the sea,

The stars look up to the mighty God,

The stars look down on me;

The stars shall last for a million years,

A million years and a day,

But God and I will live and love

When the stars have passed away.

(Robert Louis Stevenson, as quoted in The Christian Reader, July–August, 1977, pp. 94, 95.)

Your living hope is kept in heaven (1 Peter 1:4)

Peter says 1 Peter 1:4

1 Peter 1:4 ESV

4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

There are a couple of things to not about this phrase. First, the use of the perfect tense indicates the inheritance already exists and is currently being kept safe. Second, God is the one who is keeping it for you. Nothing can take your inheritance out of God’s hands. It is guaranteed to you now, and for all eternity. In verse 5, he doubles down and says God is guarding your inheritance through your faith.

Your living hope is guarded by God through faith (1 Peter 1:5)

1 Peter 1:5 ESV

5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The word guarded refers to a military officer who is guarding his garrison. It means to protect someone from danger or to prevent them from escaping. By implication, it can also mean that God preserves us from losing faith. Furthermore, the present participle indicates the ongoing nature of protecting and preserving. The inheritance is kept for the believers, who, in turn, are preserved to come into their inheritance. God is acting in heaven to preserve the saints' future and on earth to preserve them for the present.

Because your living hope is founded on the mercy of God and the resurrection of Christ it is eternal, kept in heaven for you, and is being guarded by God who will preserve your faith so you can receive your inheritance, you hope is alive and well. Your hope is secured and unspoiled. It is a hope that can never perish and will always reside inside of you and work on your behalf, no matter how difficult the testing of your faith comes or the trials that envelop your ministry; know for certain your hope will be tested.

Hope Tested: Trials as Triumph (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Peter says 1 Peter 1:6-7

1 Peter 1:6–7 ESV

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.

Life is full of tension—there is joy and pain, sunshine and rain. Peter reminds his readers that although God’s elect is sure to have an eternal inheritance, it will not be won without sorrow. Joy and sorrow are inseparable, woven together like a fabric. Peter wants his readers to consider their future glory in light of their present-day adversity.

His readers were grieved by various trials that tested the genuineness of their faith. He compared their faith to gold that is refined from impurity by fire. Just as gold is made pure by fire, so your faith is made purer by various trials that God ordains for your life. What does Peter mean by various trials?

The term "trials" can encompass emotional anguish and physical pain. While Peter’s readers may be enduring physical suffering (1 Peter 2:20), they are also clearly experiencing defamation and verbal attacks (1 Peter 2:11-12; 3:9; 4:14). It is clear that Peter’s readers were suffering for Jesus’ name sake. But why the suffering? If you are bing faithful to God, why wouldn’t he spare your suffering? Because, says, Peter, the trial is a testing of purifying of your faith. The refining of your faith comes in how will you respond to the trial.

Imagine a devoted Christian who faces rejection and persecution at work for openly living out their faith. God is not surprised by the suffering. Jesus is not surprised by the rejection and persecution. It is par for the course for those who are faithful to Jesus. What heaven is paying attention to is whether the Christian will choose to stand firm and show Christ's love to those who mistreat them. Will they show courage and resilience in the midst of hardship as a powerful testimony to the transforming power of Jesus in their life? Or will they suffer the Red Sickness and reject the faith.

Jesus warns those in the church about how you respond to various trails and it relates to your faith in the parable of the sower. Jesus says there are those who first receive the word with joy, but then fall away;

Luke 8:13 ESV

13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

Pay attention to how they receive the word with joy, but when they are tested they fall away. This is a warning from Jesus that how you respond to trials indicates if you have genuine faith. Peter says those whose faith is genuine will respond with joy at the trial, and their faith will be purified. John Ripon wrote the hymn, “How Firm A Foundation.” In his last stanza he sings,

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply:

The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

Considering this, trials for the sake of the kingdom are an opportunity to develop deeper and stronger faith, which endures until the end. Embracing your living hope in Christ transforms your perspective on suffering. Once seen as an unbearable burden, suffering is now viewed as an opportunity for spiritual growth and a deeper realization of our future glory with Christ. Your trials turn into triumphs as your hope is tested. Robert J. Morgan wisely notes,

A faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted.

Robert J. Morgan

I would add, a faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted leads to a hope that cannot be living.

Our faith at FBCL is being tested and will continue to be tested. We are making good and wise changes to our constitution and bylaws. We will better employ better leadership, clarify membership, strengthen discipleship, and protect us from evil in the coming days. Change is scary, and we will need to trust the Lord’s will as we move forward.

We have also embarked on a Kingdom-risk journey by initiating a school for the most vulnerable. We have prayed for God to send us the children who are often overlooked and not wanted. He has answered our prayers with a resounding "yes." Some of our students are unable to attend their local school districts for various reasons, so we have welcomed them and their complex struggles into our community. We have chosen to carry this burden, even though it comes at a significant personal cost, trusting that the same gospel that transformed our life will also transform theirs. This will demand great sacrifices of our time, comfort, and resources. There will be days when the light of the gospel clashes with the darkness of sin, and we will shed tears over our ministry. At other times, we will be utterly exhausted.

To fuel the fire, we will not be a typical Christian school that is a refuge for Christian children from the public school. Therefore, many professing Christians will not send their children to Litchfield Christian. They do not want their children to be around our students. Some have, and more will, question the purpose of our ministry. Craig Keener wisely says

If God is calling and empowering you to do something for him, you can expect to be tested, and you can expect testing commensurate with the seriousness of your call.

Craig Keener

In these moments we must fix our eyes on Christ the most. Your faith in Christ and joyfully advancing his kingdom will be crucial in the face of these challenges. Our hope will be tested, but with God honoring Christ exalting Holy Spirit empowered faith, we trust that our trials are an opportunity for Kingdom triumph- for the genuineness of our faith and the advancement of the gospel, and we know through Christ we will prevail, and in this we rejoice.

Hope Alive: Love Unseen, Joy Unbounded (1 Peter 1:8-9)

Peter ends this section

1 Peter 1:8–9 ESV

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.

Peter slaps a big exclamation mark on his thoughts about suffering various trials. You love Jesus by faith. You believe in his resurrection. Your faith is genuine. Your faith is motivated by love for the Messiah that comes from the eyes of your heart gazing upon his glory, not the eyes of your head. Your love for Jesus will help you keep the right perspective in sight when you suffer trials. Keep your eternal, heaven kept, God guarded inheritance in sight as you walk through the testing of your faith. As you do this, inexpressible joy will fill your heart now, and when you persevere until the end and you see him face to face.

Christian, Jesus is your Red Badge of Courage. He was wounded for your transgressions. He went to the cross to take away your Red Sickness. There is no need to fear. Your hope is alive. It works for you to give you joy, especially when the ministry of the church, community, and home is ramped with various trials. Christian, regardless of the trials and struggles you face, you can find strength and comfort in the living hope you have in Christ. Your living hope encourages you to anchor your faith in the resurrected Savior and find joy in the assurance of your salvation.

Your living hope is secure and unspoiled, grounded in the mercy of God and the resurrection of Jesus. It’s eternal, kept in heaven, and guarded by God now and waiting for you when you go home to be with the Lord. Your living hope is tested and proven by the trials God brings into your ministry. Your living hope works to help you persevere until the very end. Your hope is alive because your Savior is alive, and His joy is unbound in your heart. Brothers and sisters, put of fear and hopelessness. Embrace the power of your unshakable living hope so we can continue to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home.