Bible Survey Part 16 - Our Living Hope in Christ

Where in a series entitled a Bible survey and were almost at the end we been going to the books of the Bible and the today were going to do first and second Peter so here we go. As soon as we say the name Peter were talking about one of the most well-known people.

Of course in all the Bible. Let's talk about his life for a minute, Peter was a fisherman who lived on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. And he was one of the first disciples that Jesus called, along with Andrew his brother, Matthew chapter 4 says Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew and they were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And immediately I love that word immediately they left their nets and they followed him. Now Peter became one of the 3 Inner Cir. disciples, if you will, along with John and James and Jesus took Peter, John and James to places where sometimes he didn't take all the rest of the apostles.

For example, Matthew chapter 17 says that Jesus took Peter, James and John up onto a high mountain. The Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus was transfigured before them, and a voice came out of the bright cloud that was there on the mountain, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Here him and this explains why Peter said second Peter chapter 1 he said. For we have not followed cleverly devised fables, when we made known to you the power in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter said this is no hopes. This is no con game, but this is not some some, you know, some kind of underground thing that were running here Peter goes on to say, but we were what's the next word eyewitnesses to Christ's majesty were they eyewitnesses to that on the mount of what Transfiguration right for he that is Jesus received honor and glory from God the father, who said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance from heaven. Peter said because we were with him on that holy mountain Nellis and if you're here and you've never trusted Jesus in a real and personal way. I'm here to tell you what Peter is saying here and that is that this is not a hoax. This is not a game is not a ruse, and it's not some kind of con. This is the real deal.

Peter actually saw the Lord Jesus transformed into something that was so bright in its light he couldn't even look at it. He was up there and saw Elijah and Moses appear you heard God speak from the crowd and he goes on to say in second Peter one.

You would do well to believe this because this is real. A man and I hope you will think about that you would do well to believe what the Bible is telling you and me about the Lord Jesus. Well after Jesus's resurrection. Peter became the leading apostle in the early church up until acts chapter 15, he's all over the book of acts, and then all of a sudden, after acts 15 Peter disappears. We don't read his name again anywhere in the book of acts, and you say yeah Lon. Why is that I don't know how am I supposed to know all I know is that his ministry continued till 66 A.D. when Emperor Nero killed both him and Paul and were told by the church father origin that Peter requested that Nero crucify him upside down because he did not feel worthy to be killed in the same position that the Lord Jesus had been killed and so Nero honor that request and kill Peter by crucifying him upside down. Now that's a short overview of Peter's life. Let's turn now to his letters. The two of them and ask three very quick questions. Number one, to whom did he write these letters well in first Peter one verse one is he tells us he says to God's elect who reside as pilgrims in the world, scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and definitively say thanks on a world that is no way in order to show you a map and as you can see all of these places were in central northern and western Turkey, modern-day Turkey. And so it's possible that this is where Peter spent the last years of his ministry in this area and by the way, pilgrims here has nothing to do with the Mayflower. We understand their rights. The pilgrims here mean believers because in first Peter two verse 11, he calls us pilgrims and aliens in this world because Philippians 320, our citizenship is in heaven. Praise the Lord were just a passing through this place and so that's why you use that word.

Now when question number two did Peter write these letters. We don't know for sure, but in second Peter chapter 1 Peter says for the Lord Jesus has shown me that I will soon be laying aside my earthly dwelling my body. I'm good be killed soon and since Nero killed Peter and 66 A.D. we think that second Peter was written very close to that date. 66 and first Peter was probably written just a little bit a few years before that. Finally, why did Peter write these letters well even though we wrote both letters to the same group of people. The purpose of each letter is different. Second Peter. The purpose of that letter is to urge these believers to stand strong against false teaching that is going to threaten the church even after Peter dies, look what he said. Second Peter two verse one. False teachers will arise among you, and bring in destructive heresies.

Therefore, since you know beforehand that this is going to happen be on your guard, lest you be carried away by their air roar and fall from your own steadfastness now.

The purpose of first Peter is different. First Peter was written to give hope to these believers who were undergoing deep suffering or their faith first Peter chapter 1 verse three Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter says, who in his great mercy has borne us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

In this hope. Verse six Peter says you rejoice, even though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials known as the stars were going to go and treating are two letters all you guys understand what they each were written for right good okay because now were going to ask our most important question is a in that little early in the message for that yellow.

I got a lot to tell you so. It's early but but hold on okay so that all of our campus visit Prince William at Bethesda. The loudness of down in the edge around the world. Here at Tyson ready for most important question here we go on to the railway.

Yeah you say Lon someone well you know is I've been telling you in all of these books that were studying a we could spend weeks, months in some of these books for sure. So I just have to go through each week and say Lord, what is it that you want to impress upon my heart and what is it then that you want me to try to take and impress upon the heart of of our people at McLean and this week I want to talk to you about hope and the reason I want to talk to about hope is because of what Peter just said first Peter chapter 1 verse three he said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in his great mercy has borne us again to watch, say, the next two words to what a living whole a living hope through guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and you over my mom who came to Christ at the very end of her life when she was an unbelieving woman she used to always say to me you know Ron, we just need to have hope and I would say mom hope and what she'd say. Well hope in the hope and I say what a mom that's silly. That's not real hollow.

That's just wishful thinking. That's just you crossing your fingers and, hoping in a wishful thinking way that nothing goes wrong that's not real hope friends listen to what the Bible says, though the Bible says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his mercy he has borne us again to a one count all a living hope not a wishful thinking hope not a dead hope but a living hope through look at this guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Now how cool is this that the hope we have is a living hope guaranteed by a living Christ.

How great is that a man I and this hope comes from three things the Bible says so. I want to share those with you number one this living hope comes first of all by believing the promises that God gives us as his children in Christ. Second Peter chapter 1 says God has given us his exceedingly great and precious promises you say like what well like Psalm 23 verse six surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life like Hebrews 13 five Jesus said I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake you. Like Romans 828 God works all things together for good to those who love him, and hundreds more promises like this in the Bible. Listen with all the promises that God has given us as his children in Christ there is no reason for any of us to ever be negative, pessimistic, or cynical about our life. You are two of my favorite characters in the Bible are Joshua and Caleb and just in case you don't remember their story.

Let's go back into the Old Testament and the Israelites had come out of Egypt.

They were headed for the land of Canaan and God gave them a promise. Here it is. Exodus 23 God says, for my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Canaanites and I will send my terrible war ahead of you and throw into confusion all the people you encounter and I will make them turn their backs and Ron from you what a great promise, will the Israelites to get to the border of Canaan and you know the story. I hope Doug Moses sent 12 spies into the land Joshua was one Caleb was one there were 10 others to check out the land, and they come back in 10 of the spies, not Joshua and Caleb say this, they say well we went into the land where you sent us.

Moses and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, the way God says but folks that word starts, more trouble in our spiritual lives in any of the single word, but they say the people who live there are strong and their cities are fortified and very large and we are not able to go up against them because they are too strong for Boswell Willow Wegman Whiteman Wegner time out here what God just say to them, didn't God say my terror will go before you and I will put them in confusion and they will run away turn their backs and run away from you.

Wasn't that the promise of God.

Yes. And here they say we are not able to gauge his damages done. Somebody is not believing the promise of God and so all the people lifted up their voices and wept and said to one another. Let's choose a new leader must go back to Egypt and then Joshua and Caleb said amen I love this, they said, do not rebel against the Lord like this and do not fear the people of the land God said he would send this terrible fourth, God said he would put them in confusion. God said he make him run away. They will be bread for us. We will eat them up. Their protection has been removed from them because the Lord is with us, man, do you hear the hope in these words and optimism in these words and the confidence that these men had aware that hope come from friends. It came from believing the promise of God. That's where it came from. Look living hope does not come from knowing that we have a promise from God living hope comes from believing the promise that God gives us a man. Men and I gotta tell you they pleaded with the Israelites.

They said look, based on God's promise.

If we believe it.

They said who there's every reason for us to have low if we believe that there is no reason for us to have despair and folks may I say to you that I don't care how dark the hour may get in our life sometimes and I don't care how difficult the trial may get. You have every reason for hope is a follower of Christ to you have no reason for despair. As a follower of Christ, either because you have the living promises of God just like Joshua had just like Caleb at and if you and I will only believe those promises then just like Joshua and Caleb are confident our whole optimism should always Ron hi men, not listen. So what if God sends trouble in my life and problems in the melodic. We got a promise for that Romans 828 God works all things together for good to those who love him. We got a promise the covers trouble. We just gotta believe it. So I don't see how God could possibly turn this into good. Well, you don't have to. You don't have to.

You are not God you not run in the universe. The fact that you can't see it that make any difference at all key as God sees and I have to tell you in the darkest days when my daughter Jill was younger and I mean we's we really we really despaired for her life sometimes to whether not she was going to make it I'll tell you what my wife and I and I can say this honestly as bad as it was never lost hope because of one simple thing we would come back to Romans 828 and we would challenge each other.

Okay will have two choices here.

We can believe Romans 828 we can doubt that's it.

Those are our choices and we agreed were not going to doubt what God promises. So even though we can figure out 1 Earthly Way that all of this tragedy in all of this pain could turn out for good working to trust God anyway. Well now today this access ministry. There's breakout.

There's breakaway. There's soaring over seven summer camp. There's Jill's house is in our adult day program for a people who the aged out of school and have disabilities, friends, all of that happen because of Jill being in our life. Did God take Jill's life and turned it into good.

We couldn't see that in Job always doing so much better in our help.

We could see that God knew it. And he promised us look you can see it. Don't worry about it.

I love the old country song that says don't worry about the future. God's already there by his heart he got this worked out all you gotta do is trusting that it will bring the living hope to our lives.

Number two. Living hope.

Second of all, is based on God's sovereignty, knowing God is sovereign over our life.

Psalm 135 verse six is whatever the Lord pleases.

He does in the heavens on the earth in the season, and in their death. Okay, that's pretty sovereign giving that but sovereignty just doesn't mean that God is sovereign over the details of the universe, it means he's sovereign over every detail of your life in my life. Look Psalm 139 says all the days ordained for me everything in my life was written in God's book before there was a one of these things in time and space and this is why Jesus said even the very hairs of your head are number some angel up there keeping track of and when one comes out. He subtracts one when to come out it takes to all for some of us is works not so hard anymore. You know hello this is why when our car breaks when we lose our job when we get transferred suddenly when we miss the promotion, we suffer financial loss when our children are having problems in school. When the watcher breaks and the sink clogs up for some tragedy strikes our life. We as followers of Jesus can face those things with hope because we know those things are not accidents and they are not coincidences and they are not random say they are merely part of the good and perfect plan of a sovereign God for our life and he's got it all under control and when we believe that it brings hope to our life.

Yes, amen. All right.

Finally, this living hope word comes from the certainty we have of heaven tailors go back to our memory verse say it with me and this is the record that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He who has the son has eternal life, and he who does not have the son of God does not have eternal life. These things I write to you who believe in the name of the son of God, that you may what that you may what say it again, that you may what that you may know that you have one eternal life. You think God wants you to know you have eternal life. After you read that verse.

Of course he does.

I met people when I say to them. I know I'm going to heaven.

They say that is the most arrogant thing I've ever heard come out of anybody's mouth in my life. You know you're going to heaven. How arrogant I thought arrogant I say I tell them it's not arrogance.

I mean, I have two reasons one the Bible tells me so and to I'm not going because of me. I'm going because of what Jesus did for me.

Never friends. God doesn't wanted to be a secret that you're going to heaven. God want you to know you're going to heaven and be confident you're going to heaven to be as confident of that.

As you are, your name, God doesn't want you to wake up. On the other side of the grave in heaven and go out.

What is the prize know God wants you to know right here that is your destiny as a child of God.

Absolutely.

Now what's heaven like what's heaven like well Revelation 21 says God shall wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more death or grieving or crime or paid for the old order of things has passed away. Thank God for that. The old order of things stinks so good as God let it go get it out of here Friday night two nights ago I was at the Jill's house gala we had in there was a video that was played about a family who has two children that had they been told about terminal and they're just trying to capture every memory they can with these two young children and Jill's house for using jewels out for these children and and I mean I was sitting there just weeping like a baby. I mean it was it was tragic. I mean, you should see me that it was really I was a mess and as I sat there as a mess. I thought to myself, you know what thank God, Lord, that there's heaven.

Thank God that one day I'm going to be in heaven and Mott.

My wife will be there and Jill will be there in many of these other children and parents will be there. Thank God there's a place where the word disability doesn't exist where there are no wheelchairs and there are no braces and there are no feeding tubes and there are no crutches and there's no anticonvulsant medicine, and there's no cerebral palsy and there is no Down syndrome and there are no seizures.

Thank God for a place my friends where chromosomes don't break in genes don't mutate. Praise God there's a place like that and thank God there's a place for my daughter one day will be able to speak again and be able to tell us how she feels in and say thank you to all the people who helped her in this world and say daddy I love you man.

If that'll bring you hope. I don't know what will.

And God want you to know that's ahead for you.

That's ahead for you if you know Christ and because of what we just read in that verse are memory verse friends.

This is not a hope so hope this is not hello Laura hope about what you can. This is a know so you know Christ you have the son of God in your life you have eternal life.

You are going to heaven.

This is your citizenship. Philippians chapter 320.

This is your home and friends that is living hope, that is, living hope in you.

So how do I know that's true. What is the verse we read, say first Peter 13. It said that this is Darren T by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, you got a living Savior who says I'm going to be there to take you to heaven already risen from the dead. And that's what's going to happen to you to man. That's living hope so let's summarize what were talking about today is the hope of the gospel. Colossians chapter 1, and what is the hope of the gospel braced on number one, it's based on believing the promises God has given us in the Bible. Number two. It's based on understanding the God is sovereign over our lives, working out his good plan and number three having the certainty that we are going to heaven when we die and knowing that every bit of this is guaranteed by a living risen Christ. Now back living hope you clap about.

That's worth all right while and I love what Peter says about this whole here's what he said. First Peter 315. He said be always ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope that some within you. It's a good thing for us to be able to give an answer about our hope in Christ to be able to defend the gospel preach the gospel explain the gospel answer objections the gospel that's good but that's not what this verse is emphasizing it saying be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you friends the hope that we have in Christ should lose out of our life and whose out of our church family in such a way that people when they encounter us or when they walked through the doors of this church. They are so blown away by the hope that they see in us that they ask about. That's what Peter saying and I say that I want to be our goal that we will.

Romans 1513 that William wound up in this hope in that we walk around in such a way that people say my gosh in light of all that's going on, where's your hope come in from and then we are ready to answer them. We'd lose with hope. We just need to still have hope, squeegee, and out of us everywhere. Yeah so I want to challenge us not to be like the 10 spies for goodness sake, let's be like Joshua must be like Caleb and let's say man we got no reason to be discouraged, not with the living hope we God's yeah all right now is one of the thing and that is the Peter said we need to bless God for this hope member. The verse it says bless praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when his mercy has borne us again to a living hope was the last time we blessed God and thanked him for this, hope, and praise them for giving us this, living hope the Bible says we should so that's what were going to do right now. Stand up with me, and let's bow our heads for a minute and let's bless God for giving us this living hope.

Thank you for let's thinking that he did this in his mercy because we didn't deserve and let's thinking that this is not a dead hope we have but a living hope on both sides of the great and finally, let's thank you that all of this is certified, authenticated and guaranteed to us by Jesus rising from the dead. A minute now, let's sing about but to put the verse up. What is it say my what my hello and that we were talking about, my hello. Our number try to start us on some key that's close and then y'all y'all adjusting we go from there. I ready here we go. Mar hope is built on nothing less then Jesus blood and righteousness.

I dare not draws the Swedish array but a holy lesion on Jesus name all in Christ. So some live rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is saying being said, and a man a mess that now father dismissed today with the great blessing that you gave Aaron to pray over the people of Israel. You told him to pray like this give our record colonized by use morale, may the Lord bless you and may he keep and preserve you dire on know I plan they left RV sooner, may the Lord because his face to shine upon you, may he be gracious to you sought and I plan they left the same low-cost fellow. May the Lord turn his face, not his back toward you and may he give you peace. Lord peace comes from hope and thank you that the hope we have in Christ, the hope of the gospel is a living hope living here and living on the other side of the great living hope we bless you for that tonight and praise and thank you for your mercy and giving it to us, may we abound or in this whole both as a church family and his individual followers of Christ, so much so that people ask us where our hope comes from and we can tell, comes from the risen Christ, and we pray these things in Jesus name what God's people say amen