SF204 - HERE'S HOPE IN A HOPELESS WORLD (1 Peter 1 3)

@PAGE NUMBER = SF204

@TITLE = HERE'S HOPE IN A HOPELESS WORLD

@LEVEL ONE = INTRODUCTION

@ILL TEXT = One author expressed it this way: "Hope is an essential ingredient of life.  A man works in hope, he saves in hope, he dies in hope.  Every great religion, every political movement has offered hope.

@ILL TITLE = SOMETHING MONEY CAN'T BUY

@ILL TEXT = Money can't buy it, but you can't live without it.  Because hope is the stuff that dreams are made of.  It's that elusive quality of thought that makes the future look brighter.  And makes life worth living.

@ILL TEXT = With a heart full of hope you can endure any hardship.  Sustain any love.  Outlast any ups and downs.  Because hope builds character and brings people together.  And hope is the only known antidote to hopelessness.  (Home Mission Board)

@LEVEL TWO = Knowing this Peter places before us a "living hope"...

@LEVEL ONE = 1A.  LIVING HOPE MUST BE RECEIVED

@SCRIPTURE = "new birth" = caused to be born again.

@SCRIPTURE = John 3:3ff

@LEVEL TWO = 1B.  Recognize Our Need

@SCRIPTURE = "In his great mercy..."

@LEVEL THREE = Hope stems from the heart of God

@LEVEL THREE = 1C.  Mercy implies a need for forgiveness

@SCRIPTURE = EPH 2:4‑5<R>But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions‑‑it is by grace you have been saved.

@SCRIPTURE = TIT 3:5<R>He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

@PAGE NUMBER = Page 2

@LEVEL THREE = 2C.  Forgiveness demands repentance

@ILL TITLE = REPENTANCE IS FOR EVERYONE

@ILL TEXT = Larry Love put it like this: "Repentance is turning from all known sin in order to turn from all sin when it becomes known."

@SCRIPTURE = ACT 3:19<R>Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

@SCRIPTURE = ACT 17:30<R>In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

@SCRIPTURE = ACT 20:21<R>I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

@SCRIPTURE = 2CO 7:10<R>Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

@ILL TITLE = NO REPENTANCE, NO PARDON

@ILL TEXT = In his book The Root of Righteousness, A. W. Tozer told of a state governor who disguised himself and visited a prison. While talking with a personable young convict, he felt a strong desire to pardon him.  "What would you do," he asked casually, "if the governor were to offer you a pardon?"  The convict snarled, "The first thing I'd do is cut the throat of the judge who sent me here."  The governor was saddened as he broke off the conversation and left.  That convict stayed in his cell.

@LEVEL TWO = 2B.  Rely On His Provision

@SCRIPTURE = "through the resurrection..."

@SCRIPTURE = JOH 11:25<R>..."I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live enven though he dies..."

@SCRIPTURE = JOH 14:6

@SCRIPTURE = ACT 4:12<R>Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

@PAGE NUMBER = Page 3

@ILL TITLE = THE RESURRECTION REALITY

@ILL TEXT = An agnostic professor once said to a little girl who believed in the Lord Jesus, "There have been many who have claimed to be Christ.  How can you be sure who told the truth?  Which one do you believe?"  Without hesitation the youngster replied, "I believe in the One who rose from the dead!"

@LEVEL ONE = 2A.  LIVING HOPE WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

@SCRIPTURE = "into a living hope"

@LEVEL TWO = 1B.  Outlook

@ILL TITLE = ARE YOU A COMPLAINER?

@ILL TEXT = A farmer was known for his negative attitude.  A neighbor stopped by for a visit one day and, noticing the man's wonderful crop, said, "You must be extremely happy with this year's harvest!"  "Well, yes, it surely looks like the best I've ever had."  The farmer grudgingly continued, "But a bumper crop is awfully hard on the soil."

@LEVEL THREE = Instead of "Good Lord it's morning" you will say "Good morning Lord!"

@SCRIPTURE = PHI 4:13<R>I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

@LEVEL TWO = 2B.  In Look

@SCRIPTURE = ROM 8:37<R>No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

@LEVEL TWO = 3B. Up Look

@SCRIPTURE = TIT 2:13<R>While we wait for the blessed hope‑‑the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

@LEVEL THREE = Instead of dreading His coming we can't wait for it!

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@ILL TITLE = DYING GRACE

@ILL TEXT = It quoted Thomas Hobbes the atheist as saying, "I am taking a fearful leap into the dark!"  The French infidel Voltaire cried out, "I am abandoned by God and man; I shall go to Hell!"  Sir Francis Newport wailed in anguish, "Oh, that I could lie for a thousand years upon the fire that is never quenched, to purchase the favor of God and be united to Him again.  But it is a fruitless wish.  Millions and millions of years will bring me no nearer the end of my torments than one poor hour.  Oh, eternity, eternity forever and forever!  Oh, the insufferable pangs of Hell!"

@ILL TEXT = By contrast here are the last words of several believers: Dwight L. Moody said, "This is glorious!  Earth recedes; Heaven is opening; God is calling me!"  Elizabeth Foulkes, dying for her testimony, cried out, "Farewell, world; farewell, faith; farewell, hope.  Welcome, Love!"  Kissing the stake, John Noise exclaimed, "Blessed be the time that ever I was born for this day."  Then to his fellow martyrs he said, "We shall not lose our lives in this fire, but only change them for something better."  Sir David Brewster declared, "I will see Jesus ‑ see Him as He is.  I have had the light for many years.  Oh, how bright it is!  I feel so safe, so satisfied!"

@LEVEL ONE = CONCLUSION

@ILL TITLE = "JUST ASK FOR IT!"

@ILL TEXT = During the Spanish‑American War, Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross, was working in Cuba.  One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her and offered to buy food for some of his sick and wounded Rough Riders.  But she refused to sell him what he wanted.  Roosevelt could not understand.  He cared about his men, and he was going to pay for the supplies out of his own funds.  So he went to the surgeon in charge, who said to him, "Colonel, just ask for it!"  A smile broke over Roosevelt's face.  Now he understood‑the provisions were not for sale.  "I will ask for it," he said, and when he did, he got the food at once.