Our Living Hope
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 to an inheritance, that is imperishable undefiled, and I'm fading kept in heaven for you. By God's power being guarded. True. Faith for salvation. Ready to be revealed in the last time. In this, you rejoice do now for a little while. If necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. So, that the tested genuineness of your thing, more precious than gold, that perishes, though. It is tested by fire, may be found to the results and praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. And do you do not now see him. You believe in him with and rejoice with joy. That is inexpressible filled with Glory, obtain the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your soul. Let's pray. Heavenly Father. Blessed Lord, we thank you. Once again, we we are joyful this morning and the Apostle Peter says we bless you on Mighty God. Because you have been merciful, you caused us to be born again. You've given us a Living Hope through the resurrection of the Dead. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for all you've done for us for without you. We would have nothing in this life. It's a lord. We just pray to God that you would bless our service today and asked almighty God, that your holy spirit with anoint, my mind and my lips in my mouth that I speak. I would speak to your very words. Carry me along. Holy Spirit, help me, Mabel me to teach your people and more importantly, father. Give us 10 years to hear maybe hear from you today. Holy Spirit instruct our souls. We ask that you would fill as a Lord with a renewed sense in A Renewed vision for you, for your kingdom. And that we would be filled with hope and joy today in Jesus name. Amen.
It is a big holiday today, all across the world. Christians from every nation in the world. Very denomination are gathering together to celebrate Easter. For some Christians, it's one of the only times the year they'll come to church. But it is a day that everybody who believes in Christ to one degree or another acknowledges is a special day. And that is because it's the day that without without it, there would be no Christianity. Jesus would have been just another crucified. Prophet in Israel and it be nothing more to talk about. But clearly Christ has risen from the dead and we had it wasn't from the dead. And the apostles would have been disbanded and finished. But he indeed Rose and he visited them in for 40 days and 40 nights. He walk the earth and on the 40th, and he sent into heaven. Price rules, and He Reigns, and he is alive. We do not serve a dead savior. We serve a living God. Because we serve a living God in a living Christ. We have a Living Hope. You see, that's what Easter is all about. And that's what the resurrection is all about. It is about having newness of life and Hope. The Apostle Paul called it. The hope of the Resurrection in the Apostle Peter here in this passage calls it, the Living Hope. And when you think about it, if there's anything we need to hear about the dang, it is open. Because there's not much to be hopeful about. Like, look at my news report this morning on my phone as I normally do. I guess that's the version of the newspaper today. All I see is bad news. The war in Russia is brewing State, television saying World War 3 has already begun covid. Cases are on the rise. The economy is ready to collapse. If you follow the news, it could be very dark, very depressing, and very hopeless. Not only that, but just look around you on day-to-day life. They're sitting all about. Just seems the morality and continues to deteriorate in our nation and around us in society. Where there is much that happens that could discourage But this is all part of sin. When Adam sinned in the garden through Adam's team came into this world, a true sin comes suffering. and,
Part of me and Jeff. All the problems we have in this world are a result of sin. God's plan was that he created the world and it was very good. Everything. God made was good and everything was created the function perfectly, but when sin entered creation disrupted in distorted, everything, for those of you who are text Savvy, it's like getting a virus on your computer. It just messes everything up. Soon as the ultimate virus. It's the virus of creation and there's only one cure for it. There's only one antivirus program and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the good news that we have today as Christians. The good news is that there is hope. Christ died and rose from the dead to give human Humanity, human beings. Hope, In the Old Testament, the Saints look forward to the coming Messiah. It was the hope. They had the anticipation that God would send a messiah, a savior or deliver. The seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent and restore Humanity, back to Paradise. Even Jobe in all of his Affliction had the soap in jail of 1925. He's as I know my redeemer lives in at the last, he will stand upon the Earth and after my skin has Dustbin destroyed yet in my flesh. I shall see God.
And all of Israel had that hope, which was fulfilled in the Incarnation of Christ. But is real didn't know that their maker had come to meet with them game to redeem. Then he came to reveal himself to them, but they believed him. Not. But all who did believe in him and gave him the right to be the children of God. Now we are in the New Covenant. We are 2,000 years, post the death and resurrection of Christ. And we look backwards to look forward. It is looking backwards to the cross, looking backwards to the resurrection. That gives us hope for the future.
And that is what we need to day to counter all the negativity and discouragement. This is how the Apostle starts and I want us to look at four different aspects of the Living Hope we have. First is Our Living Hope is based on the new birth. Our Living Hope is based on the new birth verse three 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. This is the first and most important thing. We have to realize that our hope that we have, is not something that we can generate that we can manufacture, but it is something that is given to us as a gift from God, the God of all hope. Blessed, be God. Does the resurrection gives us close to praise God? Because of the abundance of his mercy, God cause something to happen in our life. He caused a change and that change that he caused just called the new birth. He caused us to be born again. And I think this is so important because I think so many Christians are confused on this issue. They think that somehow, if you believe in Christ and Believe In The Gospel that will cause you to be born again there for your new birth. Your regeneration is self Claus. Let me make it very clear. The Bible says here, God caused us to be born. Again. The cost is God be affected the new birth. Everything originates with God, just as and it, let me just make this clear when we talked about the New Birth. What are we talkin about? We're talkin about regeneration of a Regenesis on new creation and just as God spoke 4th and the world came into existence. The Lord said let there be light. Said let there be trees and let there be birds and let there be fish. It was and so it is in the same way. God speaks Wharf to us and brings about a new creation change. You seen order for us to have a living hope? No, this isn't just any hope. It's a living. Hope the adjectives is a living. Hope you must be made alive.
It's not a dead. Hope, it's a Living Hope. Means there must be a fundamental change. You must be risen from the spiritual dead and it's through the resurrection of Christ through his physical resurrection that we experienced a spiritual Resurrection regeneration. What is the Bible? Tell us. And if he's used to 12, it says that apart from God. We are without hope and without God in this world, Ephesians 2:12. We are alienated. We're separated. This is what it means to be spiritually dead. I preached on his on Friday. Three spiritually dead needs to be separated, to be dead unto God. You're not alive. You're alive physically. And you could see and you can hear and you could comprehend. But you cannot make connections because the spiritual side of you is dead. It's dormant. It's done. You aren't, you are dead and unto the things of God unto the spiritual nature effusion to 143 tells us and you speaking of Christians were at one time. Did you were getting your trespasses and your sins? That's what's in the sink. Kills sin makes dead. And you once walked in no sense following the course. This world following the prince of the power. You are the spirit that's work at the sons of Disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body mind and were by Nature children of Wrath, like the rest of mankind, you see fundamental to our sinful nature. Is that, like, all men, we are children of Wrath. That means, our nature is one of rebellion. And that is one is under judgment. So in order for us to have a hope, we need to be made alive, the only hope, the only thing we could look forward to doing our Natural State apart from Christ is judgment and Wrath. That's the only future. Hope we have, which isn't hope at all.
God is the one who causes God is the one who intervenes it is, God who made and took the initiative. Not because we loved him. But because he loved us for God. So loved the world. He gave his only begotten son. That whosoever Shall Believe In would not perish, but have eternal life.
That's the life of God. Eternal life is spiritual life. God is the one who brings about this change. It's not that we believe in the causes us to be born again. God causes us to be born again. Unless we believe. Jesus said, to Nicodemus, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You cannot even see the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless, you are born again. You can't see. That means, you can comprehend. You can't have the vision of the kingdom of God. How could you enter it? If you can't see it, and you can't see it unless you're born again.
And so we see that this is fundamental and necessary to have this Living Hope all. So it is predicated on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We would not be here. Discussing the Newburgh. We would not be here, discussing life in the spirit, if Christ did not raise from the dead. It is the basis of of the second birth. It is the basis of a new creation. We are New Creation in Christ, Jesus, 2nd Corinthians, 5:17 tells us that means of support from our Union with Christ. There can be no Regenerist regenerating there, cannot be a new birth Christ. Resurrection is the power that enables us to live the spirit, the bill life in Christ.
And that's what gives us that hope.
You see me when we come to faith in Christ. Is Christ who lives in us. Now? We become new people. The old man dies. It's crucified with Christ. And we're a new person. And that new person is vivified its renewed. By the spirit of God, living in a sense of romance. 6311. If we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. And we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death, no longer has dominion over him or death, the death. He died. He died to send once and for all but the life he lives, he lives to God. So also you must consider a wrecking yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. Jesus. That's the power of the Resurrection. That's why Paul says, I can't all things in this life as worthless that I may know Christ and the power of his resurrection. The power of Christ. Resurrection is the power to live life, the way God intended it to live a life. The way that is free of sin, that is free of self. And that is free of the self-destruction. It is a life that glorifies God, and it could only be live in crisis, dwelling in you through the spirit. You seem Good Friday and Easter Sunday are not just two days of the year that we come to church and sing good songs, but it is the basis of who we are as Christians. Where you joined to Christ in his death and was joined him in his resurrection and this plays out every day of your life. And if you're not a believer in, if you're not born again, and you're not joined to Christ by faith that this spirit filled life cannot be accomplished. You may try to be as religious as possible. You may try to be a good person. But the more you try, the more you do it will never be enough because a part in the spirit of God. It is impossible. In some ways. There's no life more hopeless than the life. That is live, the religious life that tries to achieve righteousness. Apart from Christ. That is utterly hopeless. The like that tries to legalistic obedience and Truth religious observance and through trying to be a good person. Failure after failure, after failure is utterly hopeless. It is only on the finished work of Christ Alone that we can have a Living Hope.
Secondly, living. Hope for a better future.
A living. Hope for a better future. Speaking of your Eternal narratives, the word. Hope if you looked it up it mean Oxford dictionary says this hope is a feeling and expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Hope is always based on the future. Right. You're not hope is not looking backwards. Is not looking at the present. Hope always looks to the future with an expectation in anticipation of something, good happening, something better than what it is right. Now. The basis of Hope is that things aren't so good now and that things will get better. So, let me make this clear. If your hope is based on this world and on things getting better, you're going to be disappointed. Even if you got it all together, I got to tell you. I've seen it so many times. People think they have it together. They think their world is intact. They have a lot of money and wealth and they retire and they have the pension. They think. They think they're going to go to Florida and going to live the good life and then as soon as they get there, and I'm not saying the same by discouraging, buddy. But the truth is, I've seen it happen. Then you get a cancer diagnosis and this is not the two speaking. But I seen this happen to people. The point. I seen people who you don't build the house and moved to Texas in a big Gloria's house and a tornado ripped through and doesn't destroy anyone. The neighbor, but destroys their house. They thought they had it together. They thought they were in control and poop like that. Everything was destroyed.
You put your hope in these things of this world. Nothing's guaranteed. That's the whole point. Nothing. Your health is not guaranteed. Your future Prosperity is not guaranteed money coming in if you guaranteed your children doing the right thing or Not Guaranteed and nothing is guaranteed. There's some people who do really well but trust me. Nothing is guaranteed in life. And if your hope is only in this world and in this life and what this life offers you're setting yourself up for disappointment. God has something better than our hope is based on. If it's based on something that that is outside of this world. She tells us in verse for it, is it is to the hope is to and inheritance. That is imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you. It's an inheritance. The word inheritance has Echoes of the Old Testament. In Israel, came into Canaan. And when Israel, conquered pain and God said to them, I'm giving you the land of Canaan is an inheritance in which was promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob. What God promised is something he fulfilled his word. But if Kayden was all there was to to the promises of God in there. There's something missing. Because if you look at the land of Palestine and Israel, today, it is a mess that is not the ultimate Destiny. Fact, we're told in the book of Hebrews that the plan was much bigger, that Keenan was pointing to something bigger. If you turn in your Bible, Hebrews chapter 11,
It tells us in verse. 8 by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive an inheritance.
And he went out not knowing where he was going and buy thing. He went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land living in tents with Isaac and Jacob Ayers with him of the same promise. No. Notice verse 10. For he was looking forward to the city that house foundations whose designer and Builder is God.
Looking verse 15, if they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out. They would have had opportunity to return, but as it is, they desire a better country. That is a Heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for. He has prepared them for a city.
Our inheritance is not in this world. Our inheritance God is not promised to give us physical blessings in this life. But instead he is giving us an inheritance. He's reserved it. For us. I have in the inheritance that cannot be defiled. Then and destroyed and that cannot be faded rain. That, that cannot be subject to corruption and corrosion.
A Heavenly treasure.
It kept in heaven for you.
2nd, Peter 3:13 gives us the long version. In 2nd, Peter 3:13, he speaks of that time. He says according to the promise. We are waiting for the new heavens and a new Earth in which righteousness dwells stats are and that's what we've been marked out for.
Tells us in the scripture. It's a pained by faith. It's not thinking of our own that we weren't Christ has earned it for us and it is guarded by the power of God. The imagery here. Is God guarding a treasury. Imagine. Imagine. If you go to Fort, Knox will do. I don't think there's much gold there anymore. But if you go to Fort Knox and imagined the the guards that are guarding the federal Treasury, How much more the god of the universe is guarding. This treasure this inheritance? That's yours and it's mine. Here's the good news. God's already given us a deposit. How to re giving us a deposit. He tells us to the patient's one listen to this verse 13 14th in him. You also, what you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him. You were sealed with the promise, Holy Spirit. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it? To the price of his glory. I do real estate as a side business as some of, you know, and and you know, when someone puts an offer on the house saying, you'll buy the house is worthless. Signing a contract is is not worth the paper. It's written on. What matters to a seller is that? You put a deposit?
When you put 10 or 20% of the value of the home, as a deposit and stay, I promise to buy this house and if you don't, you can keep my money.
In the same way. God has given us a guarantee that I've given you my spirit. I've given you this Resurrection Life that you're living now that you're enjoying this eternal life and it's just a taste in the down payment and I am going to give you the full payment one day. We get the first installment when we go to heaven. Absent from the body present with the Lord, but it doesn't end there because God is going to raise our bodies Incorruptible like this his son, Jesus Christ. The first fruits of the resurrection and we will share in the resurrection with Christ and we will dwell in the new heavens and a new Earth where righteousness dwells forever. We had a pretty good future, don't we? We have a very good future. But sometimes that future is obscured by the temporal.
The question is, where is your treasure? Where is your treasure? Because so often is obscured because we're looking to the things of this world, for our treasure, for our satisfaction, for our pleasure. The Lord Jesus, warned us of this in a Sermon on the Mount. He said to us, do not Matthew 6:19, do not lay up for yourselves, Treasures on Earth, where moth and rust, destroy where, thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves, Treasures, in Heaven. Where neither moth? Nor rust destroy the thieves, do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there. Your heart will be also. Where is your treasure?
Where your treasure is will tell you where your hope is. If your treasure is based on the here and now your hope will be diminished.
But if your hope is on the inheritance that God has reserved in heaven for us. Then Our Hope can never be taken away from us. It can never be deferred. It can never be a disappointment cuz God will never disappoint us, man. May disappoint. You. You will disappoint you. I will disappoint you. But God will never disappoint.
Certainly, Our Living Hope gives us endurance in trials. How do you get your difficulties in life? You have hope? Believe things will be better one day. It's easy to get through the hard times. It tells us in verse 6, in this, you rejoice will, what is in this in this inheritance in this future? Hope that we have? Zoe nearest Bizzarro, here's the here's the you're not parentheses here, though. Now, for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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 the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So, what is the point here is that this inheritance is the basis of this. Hope you caught us to rejoice. Because guess what? In this life, you're going to be grieved. You're going to suffer various Trials. Of things are going to happen in your life that are going to fry, you and text, you and make life difficult for you. Anybody who says they have no trials. Hasn't lived long enough. Even though even those with a lot of money and a lot of success in a lot of power still have trials, that's part of life. The richest man in the world can avoid a cancer diagnosis? The most powerful people in the world can avoid having problems with relationships. Can't avoid having kids gone. Astray. Everyone has problems. There are various trials that come into our life that are going to test this and try us. But here's the good news. They're only as we're six says for a little while. Compared with Heaven, compared with our Eternal inheritance, which lasts forever.
The trials would go through a temporary that their short-lived. When you're in the trial, it feels like it's going on forever. Doesn't it? If you're in prison for a 20 year sentence for Crime, you didn't commit every day. Feels Like A Thousand Years. All right, when you're going through the trial, it just when Lord. When am I getting out of this? What the Bible tells us comparative to Eternity. It's only a little while.
Look for history, whatever suffering, our forefathers have went through was only for a little while.
Whatever you're going through today, whether it's suffering through a sickness or a loved one, who's sick? Maybe it's a marriage that struggling or children have gone astray means you lost your job that you have a new job. And you, you can't stand your your supervisor, or maybe you're at risk of, losing your home, or maybe your your health is deteriorating or whatever bird, and whatever, whatever you're suffering with. It's only for a little while.
We must have hope to realize that that as Paul says in Romans 8:18. He considers the sufferings of this present time. Not even worth comparing with the glory. That's to be revealed in US.
I like to use the illustration of keeping your focus on the destination. Not the journey.
I don't like flying in airplanes. Quite frankly, I love. But I love getting playing getting it where I want to go quickly. I love the fact that I can hop on a plane and in 4 hours being Florida. I don't have to drive 18 hours in the car. I love that. But I don't like actual flying. My wife will tell you that I, I don't like, when the plane soaring at thirty thousand feet above the air. We hit a pocket of turbulence and everything's moving up and down, and sideways. And I'm not sure what is going on. I just close my eyes and pray.
But it's only a little while when I land them. Happy. The turbulence of life or short-lived. Keep your eyes on the destiny. Also, just remember this trials are necessary Peters telling us that it proves your faith. Your trials. Do they prove your Christian or not? Trials will do one of two things in your life. They will either drive you further away from God, or they will draw you closer to God. That's the effect of Trials. That's why they're called traps, that there is a trial of your face. I believe, I believe. In God. I Believe In Christ. Amen. Praise God. I can't tell you how many times in my life, I've seen people rejoice in God, and praise God. And and in Delight in him. It just have an exuberant spiritual life and then a little difficulty comes in, and they're gone. The Lord spoke about in the parable of the scenes is a seed, planted on shallow soil and soon as the difficulties of Life come in and where there's a way cuz there was no root.
How many you like that? You see the tested genuineness of our faith is Tried by fire?
Before the Lord enter into his public Ministry. He was tested for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness by Satan.
Just remember this. if our Lord suffered in this life, And the path to Glory was suffering. It will be no less for the children of God. We cannot think that a servant is greater than his master. But there's a purpose and all that. The purpose is to glorify Jesus Christ, whatever, trials coming to your life, whatever you indoors designed more and more to conform you to the image of Christ. Life is not going to be easy. Life is not going to be easy. There's no Christian Utopia in this world. You are going to encounter difficulty in trials and suffering, no matter where you go or what you do.
One of the things in and this is again not to to discourage anyone or to put anyone in a bad light now. I'm think I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, but I'm thinking in general. I went to a pastor's. Our Pastors conference recently. There were a group of pastors. One of the topics of discussion was how every Church in the area is just losing members left and right. And it was losing members why they leaving at 8 at leaving cuz the doctor know, are they leaving? Because we're not preaching the gospel. No, are they leaving closest in know? They're leaving New York. Nobody wants to live in New York, no more. I can understand that. I get it. I totally get it. Don't think that you're going to go to Florida or Texas or wherever you go, and it's going to be it's going to be a land of milk and honey. Do not think that is going to be Israel and you're leaving Egypt. And you're going to cross, the Jordan River has a because even when Israel got into the land of Canaan, they had nothing but problems.
You're always going to have trials, you're always going to have difficulty. There's always going to be persecution. There is no where you can escape it. Eventually, I don't care where you're running America, eventually. This whole nation is going to be secularized and Godless. You can't stop that trend. It's a generational thing.
Because of this, we can Rejoice Romans 3, 5 3 through 5 says we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that our suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces watch, hope and hope does not put us to shame. This is the Living Hope over which God causes to be born. Again. Jesus Christ of this, boils down to the person work of Jesus Christ. Being born again. It's not just having a New Life. It's having the Life of Christ because you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. The light that you need is eternal life. And Jesus said this in John 17:3. This is eternal life that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you sent. You cannot have this Living Hope and less, you have the life of God, the Life of Christ eternal life, and you could only have it for a personal relationship with Christ. That is what it is all about. That's what the resurrection is all about. Jesus rose from the dead. He's alive. He's not dead, He's Alive and he cause he's alive. You can have a relationship with him. And that relationship is expressed through the spirit living in US, knowing his presence in a very, real way experience in his presence, in a real way, praying and receiving answers to prayer and seen God move in your life and seen sanctification in your life and growing and learning. And depending on him day by day knowing that, Jesus Christ is very real to the heart of the believer. Doc's, eternal light. That's the kind of like that, no matter where you are to slipe, whether you are bound and have a lot of whether you have little inner pore pockets and content in all circumstances.
Because we have Christ, the greatest Treasure of all. You see Jesus being risen from the dead assurances, that he is real in our lives that he manifests himself and reveals himself to us through his word, through the ministry and through the dwelling presence of the spirit. That is why Peter can say though. You have not seen him you love him. And do you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy and expressible and filled with Glory. That's the relationship. I can't see Jesus. Now. I can't see him anywhere, but I love them. I can't see if I believe in him.
Bible tells us in Hebrews 11 for faith, is the Assurance of things hoped for The conviction of Things Not Seen.
Our whole faith, our whole existence depends on loving and believing in him whom we cannot see cuz we are convinced and short of it by the resurrection of the Dead.
It's not Blind Faith. It's a settled conviction cuz we have Reese. The resurrection of Christ in our lives because of this. We have joint expressible. Let me see this. Nothing in this world will give you Joy more than knowing Jesus Christ. People search, their lot of depressed, people in this, what you do, for the most developed and wealthiest country in the world. We have the highest rate of people who are depressed and are on anxiety medication. As someone recently who works in a very wealthy School District. Told me Pastor, Bob. You can't believe how many of the students are on antidepressants.
Money doesn't make you happy it helps, but it does not bring joy. True Joy, Truelove asking, Joy can only be given from God. It could only come to relationship with Christ. And that is joy. That is Express. Old is no words to it. It's Indescribable. It's the kind of joy that the Simon Says in Psalm 16:11. You make known to me the past of life and in your presence, there is fullness of joy. And at your right hand are Pleasures forever, more. That's why when we look back in history, those who've been martyred for their faith and even today those from. Or if they can do so with joy because go ahead, take my life, take everything. You can take rice for me. That's all I need.
This is the gospel message. And the result is this verse 9, you obtain the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. This is what it's all about. We couple of Holy Week with this. It is the gospel message turning your Bibles to 1st Corinthians 15.
In 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 1. Now, I would remind you Brothers of the Gospel. I preached to you, which you received in, which you stand by which you are being saved. If you hold fast to the word, I preached to you unless you believed in vain. Ride the liver to you as of first importance. When I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures that he was buried. He was raised on the third day. In accordance with the scriptures. We appear to see fits into the twelve and appeared to more than 500 Brothers. At one time. Most of whom are still alive, though. If Summit phone sleep and then he appeared to James and all the apostles, the last of all its 1 in timely born, he appeared also to me, Brian, the least of the Apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I've persecuted the Church of God by the grace of God. I am what I am. And his grace towards me was not in vain. Paul, the least of the Apostles reminds us. What is a first importance? That is the gospel Christ died for us. He was buried. And he rose again. And because of that, when you put your trust in Jesus, you receive the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls, that is your Living Hope. See the body can go through all kinds of things. But all three matters is your soul saved saved. From what? There's only one thing you could be safe from and I Circle right back to the beginning before you were born. Again. You were all by Nature children of Wrath. Our sins deserve one thing and one thing only God can judge me. I don't care how good of a person or how religious you think you are. The Bible says, no one is righteous. No not even one and the person who thinks they are. So righteous. Isaiah 64:6 says, your righteousness is like the filthy undergarments of a woman.
They're dirty rags in God's sight.
The only righteousness, that's good enough for you, to get to heaven, is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
2nd Corinthians 5:20, gives us that great gospel promise. He made him who knew no sin to become sin. For us, that through him. We may become the righteousness of God. Do You Believe In Christ today? Have you trusted in him? Is this real to you? I tell you one thing life without hope is misery. You want to know what depression is depression? Is people who have no hope?
Only Christ can give us that. Hope that Living Hope you need to be born again. If you're not born again, you're not believing in Christ. That I pray that you would humble yourself before God and begging Lord. Save me, make me bored again. Give me a new heart. You can pray that God. Give me a new heart. Take the Stony heart of the hardened heart out of me in the heart of sin. Take away. Give me a heart of Flesh. Lord.
She only when you know Christ you're born again, and you know, you're saved. Can you have a true and Living Hope but spray Father in Heaven. Thank you for this word. Thank you for The gospel. Thank you for the living. Hope we have a crazy. Is any here? Who do not have that? Hope from the youngest to the oldest? Oh Lord, those who've been remembers for those who are not members. Those who are visiting for those near. And those far for those who were listening online for those who were here in person old Lord Lord. We pray that you give a new Hearts. Make them born again. father, for those of us who've been discouraged and weary
Lorde living in such dark times. I pray that this Easter Sunday, we would have a hope that hope in the future inheritance. We have instilled in us may have been baking for mines help us to keep our minds fixed above.
Not on things below. Help us to walk in that hope to live in that hope and just spread that hope in Jesus name. Amen.