My Living Hope
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Intro:
Intro:
Good morning and thank you for joining us on this Resurrection Sunday, here on FB live at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. We appreciate you taking the time to hear God’s Word and my prayer is that you are blessed by it. As always, please take a moment if you haven’t done so already to like our FB page. Make sure you turn your notifications on that way you’ll receive updates and don’t forget to share this with your friends and family.
Also, I want to remind you all that we’ll be receving our Annie Armstrong Easter offering the whole month of April. You seek the Lord and give joyfully, as He leads you in the amount to give. Just make sure you distinguish between tithe and the offering.
Well, now that we’ve mentioned our announcements, let us jump into God’s Word and receive from Him today. You know it amazes me the changes that we’ve experienced in the last couple of weeks. Its incredible how things have drastically altered and how its likely that there are more changes ahead.
As I am preaching this message there are likely many that are struggling just to face the day. For one reason or another, they feel like there is little to no hope. They find themselves consumed by fear, uncertain what to do and living in a state of perpetual anxiety. Yet, these feelings are NOT just experienced or found in those that don’t know Jesus, but also those that do.
Reason:
Today, as we look to the Book, my prayer for the one that doesn’t know Jesus Christ is that through the preaching of His Word you come to know and experience the Hope that is found in Him. If you are a believer and you find yourself struggling to hold onto Hope, then I pray you’ll see how Hope is yours and where is it found. And if you’re here and you know where your Hope is found, then i pray you’re refreshed and reminded of its sweetness and you desire to share your Hope with someone else.
See the world and many within it, place their hope in possessions, people, promises and possibilities. However, time reveals all those things incapable and unable to sustain hope. For we know that possessions are lost, broken, stolen or forgotten. While people come and go, hurting and disappointing, breaking promises and possibilities produce pseudo results. When I think of the hope for many in this world, I liken to the stock market. See, the market is always uncertain. Given the right set of circumstances things can be find one minute and the bottom drop out the next. Therefore, peoples hope may be settled and secure for a moment, but given the right circumstances that call could change. Yet, there is a hope that has been presented to us, a hope that is NOT connected to this world and hope, that is living!
I have this hope and I pray you do too. If you do NOT then there is some great news that I can share with you, it can be yours today. You can find and have hope today that has its roots are built in heaven. This morning as we read from 1 Peter 1:1-13 I want to share with you 4 ways in which this Living Hope differs from a hope that is found in this world. First, this Living Hope is glorious. Second this Hope is guarded. Third, this Hope is trustworthy and finally this Hope is true.
Friends, I want to share with you this glorious truth from God’s Holy Word and I pray that you find this Hope today.
Read 1 Peter 1:1-13
Read 1 Peter 1:1-13
Hope that is glorious: v.3
Hope that is glorious: v.3
Looking to the first way in which this Living Hope differs from earthly hope, is that it is a glorious hope. Now, glorious is a word that we don’t hear used in the world much. If you know me, then you know that I like to research the definition of a word and there’s no better place to look than dictionary.com. So, according to dictionary.com the word “glorious” is an adjective and thus is used to describe something. It describes something as “beautiful, wonderful, delightful, maginficent or it is entitled to great renown.” So, hearing the definition of glorious, then I submit that we can confidently describe God and Jesus Christ His Son, AS GLORIOUS.
Yet, notice that the text provides reason for this description. Peter tells us this Living Hope is glorious because of its origination, transformation and the resurrection.
Origination:
Origination:
Sometimes people don’t like to make the first move. If you have strong willed child and you tell them to say sorry, often times what you’ll hear is “they didn’t tell me sorry first.” For whatever reason, there are many that will NOT move unless they see movement from other person first. As we reflect upon the Living Hope that is available to us, we come to the first reason that Hope is glorious and that’s BECAUSE IT ORIGINATION WAS IN GOD! What scripture is telling us is that we ONLY HAVE HOPE TODAY BECAUSE IT ORIGINATES IN GOD AND HE INITIATED THE WAY BY WHICH WE COULD RECEIVE IT!!! LETS BE CLEAR, NONE OF US WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO EARN IT, NOR WAS IT DESERVED AND DON’T BE FOOLED INTO THINKING YOU ARE ENTITLED TO IT. INSTEAD IT WE’VE RECEIVED THIS LIVING HOPE BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT MERCY. Listen to me, hope is NOT found in a doctors report, a large bank account, or possessions that go a mile high. REPORTS CHANGE, BANK ACCOUNTS CAN EMPTY AND POSSESSIONS CAN BE LOST BUT THE HOPE WE HAVE IS GLORIOUS BECAUSE IT IS GIVEN TO US BY GOD AND IT IS FOUND IN HIS SON.........DO YOU SEE HOW THE HOPE THAT GOD GIVES IS GLORIOUS BECAUSE IT ORIGINATES IN ONE WHO IS WORTHY BUT GIVEN TO ONE WHO IS NOT. PRAISE GOD!!!!
HE TOOK THE FIRST STEP AND EVERY STEP BETWEEN OUR SIN AND THE SALVATION THAT HE OFFERS AND THAT FRIEND CAN BE DEFINED AS MERCY.
Mercy means to show kindness or grace when you have the power, authority and right to pass judgment AND WHAT DID GOD DO? HE SHOWED US KINDNESS AND HE HAS GIVEN A GLORIOUS LIVING HOPE. However, this point is further emphasized through the words “he has caused”. Again, this is leads us back to the point that the only reason we have Hope today is BECAUSE IT ORIGINATES IN GOD AND IT IS HE WHO INITIATED THE WAY THAT WE COULD ATTAIN IT.
Therefore, this Living Hope is not only glorious because of God’s great mercy, it glorious because of the Transformation.
Transformation:
Transformation:
Consider the world around you. The sunrise we witnessed this morning, the rain that is coming for the rest of the day. Consider the masterful craftsmanship of the inter-workings within you and realize that God is the creator of all. However, even though we were created in perfection, we chose to disobey God and thus sin entered the world.
Yet, “God, 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.” When the Bible mentions being “born again” we know that that means to be born of the Spirit of God. That is NOT a natural birth as Jesus revealed to Nicodemus BUT rather the Spirit. That transformation occurs when an individual, repents of their sin, believes that Jesus paid their sin debt on cross, was buried and rose on the third day. If a person believes this, then the BIble tells us they are saved and that point hte Holy Spirit comes to live within them. This radical transformation can only be articulated in way that recognizes the profound change that has occurred and therefore the Bible calls it being “born again”.
If you are a believer, then you’ve experienced this transformation and with it, the infilling of the Holy Spirit. You see things differently, act differently and there is now a desire there to know and serve the One who saved you.
Yet, this Hope is glorious because of the Resurrection:
Resurrection:
Resurrection:
The Bible tells us here that the ability for us to be “born again” or saved, originated with God but notice that it tells us that it came through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Today is Resurrection Sunday because we believe that Jesus Christ got up from the grave!!! Yet, it is important to understand how He got there.
The Bible makes it clear that we are children of wrath, none being righteous and the penalty for sin was death. God is holy and He will NOT overlook the sin of man. Rather He will deal justly with it becasue He is just. However, as we’ve already mentioned, He is mericful and so God caused our salvation to a “living hope” through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. See it was on that cross that God poured out the full extend of His hatred toward mans sin. God punished Jesus so all who believe could stand clean......that is mercy BUT THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRIFICE WE CAN NOW HAVE A LIVING HOPE BECAUSE CHRIST HIMSELF IS ALIVE!!!!
THE TOMB STANDS EMPTY. DEATH WAS DEFEATED AND LIVE IS AVAILABLE FOR ALL WHO WOULD BELIEVE. WHAT A GLORIOUS HOPE THIS IS BUT IS ALSO ONE THAT IS GUARDED.
Hope that is guarded: v.4-5
Hope that is guarded: v.4-5
A parent has many roles, many duties and one of those is to protect their children. You have to constantly be on guard when you have kiddos, even when they’re asleep! Friends, our Living Hope is such a percious thing, we are so easily tempted, quick to doubt and uncertain, that God understood He had to do something supernatural with it.
The Bible tells us that this “Living Hope” is an “inheritance” that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” Now, when the Bible mentions “inheritance” it the same OT word used for the “Promised land” and therefore, what Peter is saying to us is that our “inheritance” is more than place, more than a possession BUT rather something that is “imperisable, undefiled, and unfading”. All of those things speak to a hope that will NOT last BUT NOTICE HOW HE CONTINUES....
OUR HOPE IS “KEPT IN HEAVEN FOR YOU, WHO BY GOD’S POPWER ARE BEIGN GUARDED THROUGH FAITH FOR A SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME.” SO, INCASE YOU DIDN’T REALIZE IT IS GOD WHO SEALS AND SECURES YOUR SALVATION! HE SAVED YOU, HE IS SAVING YOU HERE AND NOW, AND ONE DAY HE’LL SAVE YOU FOREVER MORE!
If you’re like me and you’ve ever struggled with your salvation, then be encouraged by this text. IF YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, THEN IT IS SETTLED AND IT IS GUARDED BY HIM THROUGH FAITH! SO DON’T STOP BELIEVING, TRUSTING AND PLACING YOUR HOPE IN HIM.
PRAISE GOD HE GUARDS OUR HOPE, HOWEVER NOT ONLY IS OUR HOPE GUARDED BY GOD, IT IS TESTED AS WELL.
Hope that is tested: v.6-7
Hope that is tested: v.6-7
Trials that were promised:
Jesus tells us that there will be trials. Thats NOT a possibility BUT A REALITY. Beware of the preachers that peddle that the believer is NOT supposed to suffer because how does that person respond to John 16:33 when Christ Himself tells us “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Furthermore, how does that individual respond to the walk and life of hte Apostles. Many were beaten, rejected, humiliated, imprisioned AND HAD THEIR LIVES TAKEN, ALL SO THEY COULD SHARE THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST. THEIR HOPE WAS NOT IN MAN OR THIS WORLD, THEY RECOGNIZED THAT THEIR HOPE OF WAS GLORIOUS, GUARDED AND THAT IT WAS BEING TESTED.
They were aware, fully aware, that their walk was a being tested SO THEY COULD HAVE PEACE, KNOWING IT WAS TRUSTWORTHY. Warren Wiersbe says “a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.” And yet I would add a HOPE that cannot be tested and tried, is one that CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
For the trials that were promised are NOT without purpose, rather they are intended to produce.....
Trials that are producing:
Trials that are producing:
When it comes to gardening, you konw that the ground must be broken up in order for the seed to get to the place where it can produce. Seeds that are NOT placed in good ground, ground that is fertile and broken up, are carried away, choked out or dry up in the sun.
Trials can either be stumbling blcoks or stepping stones.
Hope that is true: v.8-13
Hope that is true: v.8-13