WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.160 Shall we pray? Loving God, we just thank you 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:07.160 that we get to gather together to worship you 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:11.339 and to just sit under your word and to hear what 00:00:11.339 --> 00:00:17.640 you have to say to us today. Speak to us and 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:21.300 set our hearts aflame again with love for you. 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:26.160 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.940 be thinking a little bit about hope you'll see 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:32.679 on the screen. Our city needs hope. I wonder 00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:38.759 what you are personally hoping for today. Perhaps 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:41.340 a breakthrough, a change in a medical issue. 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:44.579 Maybe you're praying for peace. Maybe you're 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:48.939 hoping for sleep, to feel less anxious, to get 00:00:48.939 --> 00:00:52.140 that essay done, to have some certainty about 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:55.950 the future. Hope and uncertainty nearly always 00:00:55.950 --> 00:00:59.070 go hand in hand, don't they? And yet the hope 00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:02.619 that we have as Christians is different. Because 00:01:02.619 --> 00:01:05.879 it's based on the truth of scripture, the promises 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:09.900 of God, the certainty of following God who was 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:13.700 before the earth existed, as we read in 2 Peter, 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:16.859 and the guarantee of the resurrection, that the 00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:19.780 resurrection of Jesus springs. And so our hope 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:23.200 as followers of Jesus is twofold. It's eschatological. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:28.340 It's about the now and the not yet. We have a 00:01:28.340 --> 00:01:32.719 hope. of the glorious future, that promise of 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:36.319 heaven, eternal life. At some point, God's redemptive 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.599 plan for you and me and the whole of creation 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.799 will come to completion. Jesus will return like 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.659 a thief in the night. The heavens will disappear 00:01:46.659 --> 00:01:49.180 with a roar, we read in verse 10. The elements 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:52.459 will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:54.879 in it will be laid bare. And all that's wrong 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.019 and evil in the world will be exposed. There'll 00:01:58.019 --> 00:02:02.260 be a new heaven and a new earth. Verse 13, and 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:04.599 when that happens, scripture tells us that all 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.219 who love the Lord Jesus will be renewed and restored 00:02:07.219 --> 00:02:10.439 and invited to this eternal banquet with the 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:13.039 King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Isn't that 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:16.280 brilliant news? What a great expectation and 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.199 promise we have. But as Christians, our hope 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:23.169 is also a present reality. The hope we have as 00:02:23.169 --> 00:02:27.629 Christians is now. Yes, we get to live with the 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:30.550 hope of eternity with God when we die. But as 00:02:30.550 --> 00:02:33.849 whole life disciples of Jesus, we also get to 00:02:33.849 --> 00:02:37.370 live in the now. We get to live out the reality 00:02:37.370 --> 00:02:43.069 and the promises of God now. We have a hope now 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:46.310 of the now and the not yet. And that's what we're 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:48.789 going to explore further as we dig a little deeper 00:02:48.789 --> 00:02:52.280 into this passage. So firstly, we have hope for 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:55.740 the future, the not yet. I wonder whether sometimes 00:02:55.740 --> 00:03:00.520 it's Christmas, Christmas, it's on my mind already, 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:04.580 Vicarland. I wonder whether as Christians, we 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:07.699 sometimes focus a little bit too much on this. 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:11.099 Controversial, maybe. When our oldest son, Zach, 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:14.039 was a baby, I, like many of you who might have 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:16.439 children, went through days and months where 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:19.900 I just couldn't wait for him to push on to the 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:22.439 next stage, whether it was sleeping through the 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:27.490 night or... being potty trained or feeding himself 00:03:27.490 --> 00:03:31.050 or learning to read or not screaming when we 00:03:31.050 --> 00:03:33.789 dropped him off at school. And then suddenly 00:03:33.789 --> 00:03:37.610 in the space of about two minutes, he's 21 and 00:03:37.610 --> 00:03:40.669 he has a beard and he's a beast of a man. And 00:03:40.669 --> 00:03:44.539 I go, wow, where did that time go? I'm guilty, 00:03:44.659 --> 00:03:47.139 like maybe some of you are, of rushing through 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:50.060 things, powering on to the next stage, always 00:03:50.060 --> 00:03:53.000 looking forward to the what next. And sometimes, 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:56.180 therefore, I miss out on the present. And I enjoy 00:03:56.180 --> 00:03:59.479 what's happening now. In his second letter to 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.460 the Christians in Asia Minor, Peter speaks into 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:05.689 this. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he'd said, 00:04:05.770 --> 00:04:08.550 hadn't he, that he would return to judge the 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:11.389 living and the dead. And so people were looking 00:04:11.389 --> 00:04:14.870 forward, waiting for that promise to be fulfilled. 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:19.790 Many expected Jesus to return imminently and 00:04:19.790 --> 00:04:23.470 unexpectedly. And yet there were at least 40 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:28.949 years from that moment and still no Jesus. And 00:04:28.949 --> 00:04:31.310 this had become great fodder for the sceptics. 00:04:31.329 --> 00:04:34.370 Look at verses three and four. Where is this 00:04:34.370 --> 00:04:38.389 coming that he promised, they're asking? Jesus 00:04:38.389 --> 00:04:40.129 said he was going to return and he hasn't turned 00:04:40.129 --> 00:04:44.129 up yet. And how does Peter respond to this? By 00:04:44.129 --> 00:04:47.670 reminding them not to second guess God, to not 00:04:47.670 --> 00:04:51.329 rush through the present, verse 8. Do not forget 00:04:51.329 --> 00:04:53.810 this one thing, dear friends, with the Lord, 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:56.750 a day is like a thousand years and a thousand 00:04:56.750 --> 00:05:01.660 years is like a day. Who knows the timing of 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:04.540 the Lord, Peter is saying. We don't need to stress 00:05:04.540 --> 00:05:07.639 over when Jesus will return, but let us keep 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:10.420 hold of that big picture that God does keep his 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:14.040 promises. We can put our hope in him and he will 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:17.920 do what he will do in his timing. And isn't that 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.699 something that many of us need to be reminded 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:24.180 of time and again as we journey through life 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:29.560 as Jesus' disciples? As we sit hoping. waiting 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:32.639 for God to answer the prayer, for our friend 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.800 or our family member to be healed or to come 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:39.660 to faith. As we pound in frustration on God's 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:42.500 door saying, come on, why are you not changing 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:45.399 this situation I'm in? Where is the breakthrough? 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:49.160 We need to remember this truth that God isn't 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:52.500 slowing keeping his promises, but he will do 00:05:52.500 --> 00:05:56.500 what he will do in his timing and for his bigger 00:05:56.500 --> 00:06:00.100 purposes. And what are these bigger purposes? 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:06.339 Look at verse 9. Instead, Peter writes, he is 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:09.300 patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:13.800 but everyone to come to repentance. God is patient. 00:06:14.779 --> 00:06:20.490 Why? Because he loves us. He loves his creation. 00:06:20.670 --> 00:06:23.329 He doesn't want anybody to perish. He wants everyone 00:06:23.329 --> 00:06:26.670 to have the chance to respond to Jesus's invitation, 00:06:27.230 --> 00:06:30.670 follow me. And that's where we get to join in, 00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:34.529 isn't it? Matthew 28 is explicitly clear that 00:06:34.529 --> 00:06:38.649 if we are disciples of Jesus, our job is to go. 00:06:39.529 --> 00:06:42.649 To so overflow with the love of Jesus to those 00:06:42.649 --> 00:06:45.209 around us that everyone gets the chance to hear 00:06:45.209 --> 00:06:49.670 and to respond. Some of us will do that by preaching 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:52.889 or being evangelists or being youth workers. 00:06:53.170 --> 00:06:56.569 But we don't have to stand and preach everywhere 00:06:56.569 --> 00:07:00.149 we are. We just have to be God's people to take 00:07:00.149 --> 00:07:03.029 opportunities when they appear to share the love 00:07:03.029 --> 00:07:05.850 of God, sometimes in very practical ways or by 00:07:05.850 --> 00:07:09.519 sharing our story. of how jesus has changed our 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:14.399 lives back to the passage we're at verse 10 and 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.370 this is where it gets a little apocalyptic Now, 00:07:17.410 --> 00:07:21.389 I was a teenager in the 80s and 90s. And for 00:07:21.389 --> 00:07:24.389 those who missed out on this spectacular era, 00:07:24.529 --> 00:07:28.329 which is most of you, you will have sadly missed 00:07:28.329 --> 00:07:31.370 out on a whole genre of Christian films about 00:07:31.370 --> 00:07:33.750 the end times. You can probably find them on 00:07:33.750 --> 00:07:37.170 YouTube or somewhere. If you imagine, think fire. 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:41.360 coming down to burn up the earth, teenagers hanging 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.620 around together and suddenly the Christians are 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.060 taken and everybody else is left behind. Think 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:49.500 Marvel Endgame, if that's your bag. I think these 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:52.819 films were basically designed to petrify us as 00:07:52.819 --> 00:07:55.759 teenagers into following Jesus. Funnily enough, 00:07:55.779 --> 00:07:58.600 I'm not quite sure they achieve their aim. But 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:03.509 here in verse 10, Peter brings clarity. The day 00:08:03.509 --> 00:08:06.110 of the Lord will happen when we least expect 00:08:06.110 --> 00:08:10.230 it. Like a thief, he uses Jesus's words, who 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:13.209 comes unannounced. But rather than a complete 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:17.069 annihilation of the earth, Peter chooses his 00:08:17.069 --> 00:08:20.910 words very carefully. Everything will be found 00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:24.730 out, or as the NIV translates it, will be laid 00:08:24.730 --> 00:08:30.110 bare before God. And this... Phrase translated 00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:34.809 as laid bare implies that God will peel back 00:08:34.809 --> 00:08:39.809 the curtain and will reveal everything for what 00:08:39.809 --> 00:08:47.830 it really is. Everything will be laid bare. I 00:08:47.830 --> 00:08:51.149 really love N .T. Wright or Tom Wright. I'm a 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:54.549 bit of a creepy. I once sat at a seminar with 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:59.090 him and. I was just hanging on his every word. 00:08:59.129 --> 00:09:01.649 So I do know his books pretty well. And in his 00:09:01.649 --> 00:09:05.070 book on heaven, Surprised by Hope, Tom Wright 00:09:05.070 --> 00:09:08.730 says this. The point of redemption is that it 00:09:08.730 --> 00:09:11.669 doesn't mean scrapping what's there and starting 00:09:11.669 --> 00:09:15.610 again from a clean slate, but rather liberating 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:20.409 what has been enslaved. When everything is laid 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:24.330 bare, evil and injustice will be exposed and 00:09:24.330 --> 00:09:29.070 removed. And as we see in verse 13, a new heaven 00:09:29.070 --> 00:09:32.149 and a new earth will emerge. It will be filled 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:35.809 with justice where those who are right with God 00:09:35.809 --> 00:09:41.870 will dwell. So hope is not an ethereal concept. 00:09:42.029 --> 00:09:47.710 Hope has a name and his name is Jesus. Those 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:50.690 of us who have salvation in Jesus do not need 00:09:50.690 --> 00:09:54.259 to fear, do we? We can look forward, we can hope 00:09:54.259 --> 00:09:57.460 for this day of the Lord when goodness and beauty 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:00.559 and redemption and joy will be made complete, 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:04.580 when righteousness will flow like a never -ending 00:10:04.580 --> 00:10:09.659 stream. But what does that mean for us now? I 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:13.379 wonder whether one of the most prolific distortions 00:10:13.379 --> 00:10:16.840 of Christianity over the ages is that it's all 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:19.820 about being saved so that we can go to heaven 00:10:19.820 --> 00:10:23.549 when we die. I'm sure I'm not the only person 00:10:23.549 --> 00:10:26.389 here who has thought at some point in their life, 00:10:26.570 --> 00:10:29.730 well, I've given my life to Jesus, I've repented, 00:10:29.830 --> 00:10:31.929 I've been baptised, so now I get to live how 00:10:31.929 --> 00:10:35.570 I want because I know Jesus will forgive me and 00:10:35.570 --> 00:10:40.399 my place in heaven is guaranteed. In his first 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:44.500 letter, Peter encourages us that God has given 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:47.500 us, and it says this in 1 Peter 1, 3 to 4, God 00:10:47.500 --> 00:10:51.000 has given us a new birth into a living hope through 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.480 the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 00:10:53.480 --> 00:10:57.259 and into an inheritance that can never perish, 00:10:57.299 --> 00:11:02.299 spoil or fade. We have living hope now and for 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:06.389 eternity, the now and the not yet. It's also 00:11:06.389 --> 00:11:10.169 certainly and wonderfully true, says John Ortberg 00:11:10.169 --> 00:11:14.769 in his book Eternity Now. He says it's also certainly 00:11:14.769 --> 00:11:16.909 and wonderfully true that the message of Jesus 00:11:16.909 --> 00:11:20.230 and his early followers is not just, even though 00:11:20.230 --> 00:11:22.549 it is, about forgiveness of sins that allows 00:11:22.549 --> 00:11:24.769 us to escape that bad place and go to a good 00:11:24.769 --> 00:11:28.429 place. It's a newness of life. To be sure, this 00:11:28.429 --> 00:11:30.629 new life includes forgiveness, but it includes 00:11:30.629 --> 00:11:34.879 so much more. Let's not miss out on the so much 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:38.860 more of the gospel. Jesus is good news for you 00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:42.080 and for me and for this world we live in. The 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:46.419 work of the cross is good news now. But do you 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:48.679 know that Jesus spent most of his time on earth 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:51.120 not teaching people how to get a pass to heaven 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.299 for the future, but how to be disciples now, 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:56.960 to build the kingdom of God and bring in the 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:59.799 kingdom of heaven now. He demonstrated and taught 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.700 what it looks like to love God and to love the 00:12:02.700 --> 00:12:05.639 other, how to actually live in the fullness of 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:09.559 life that the cross has bought for us now. Yes, 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:13.139 we have a future safe with God for eternity. 00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:17.299 But as Christians, we get to live in hope and 00:12:17.299 --> 00:12:21.120 get to be hope now. And doesn't this world need 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:25.559 it? And so there's hope for the present. Eternity, 00:12:25.559 --> 00:12:30.820 if you like, is now. So this life is not a heavenly 00:12:30.820 --> 00:12:33.379 waiting room, as we know, which we have to patiently 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:36.279 endure until we're called to step into what we've 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:38.879 been waiting for, heaven. In the words of Dallas 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:43.919 Willard, eternity is now in session. Are we living 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:48.360 like it is? We get to live in. And we get to 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.980 live out eternity, the hope and joy and peace 00:12:51.980 --> 00:12:55.539 of the gospel of Jesus now. And how do we do 00:12:55.539 --> 00:13:00.279 that? Verse 11 tells us, by living holy and godly 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:03.820 lives. And that is the call on our lives as disciples 00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:07.320 of Jesus, to be holy and godly. That means living 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:11.039 lives that are orientated towards God, with Jesus 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:16.039 at the centre. Lives where God is our hope. God 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.700 is our rock and our fortress and salvation. Lives 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:23.100 that point every day in every part of who we 00:13:23.100 --> 00:13:26.679 are to Jesus. Lives where the Holy Spirit is 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:30.679 daily renewing and restoring us because we cannot 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:34.799 do holy and godly living on our own. Lives which 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.980 bring in God's kingly rule now of love and joy 00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:43.059 and peace and justice and hope to the communities 00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:47.259 God sends us to be in. Lives which are distinctly 00:13:47.259 --> 00:13:50.480 different and counter -cultural. Lives where 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:55.500 we take risks for God. So eternity is now. The 00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:58.000 call on our lives is to live for Jesus now and 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.779 proclaim forgiveness, freedom and fullness of 00:14:00.779 --> 00:14:06.279 life now. And all of us, whatever our age, whatever 00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:08.899 our gender, whether we're struggling in some 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:13.179 way, none of us are too inexperienced or too 00:14:13.179 --> 00:14:17.629 broken. to live out this hope in Jesus in good 00:14:17.629 --> 00:14:21.970 times and in the waiting times and in the suffering 00:14:21.970 --> 00:14:26.830 times. A few months ago, I was away at a conference 00:14:26.830 --> 00:14:30.269 with a church leader, a mate of mine, Tim, and 00:14:30.269 --> 00:14:33.389 he came to that conference completely exhausted. 00:14:34.169 --> 00:14:37.350 He'd come from the bedside of his severely disabled 00:14:37.350 --> 00:14:41.470 son who had been in hospital for weeks and weeks. 00:14:41.669 --> 00:14:44.110 And during that particular period of time, it 00:14:44.110 --> 00:14:46.970 was about four months, from one day to the other, 00:14:47.029 --> 00:14:49.950 they hadn't known if their son was going to live 00:14:49.950 --> 00:14:53.929 or die. And as we stood next to each other during 00:14:53.929 --> 00:14:58.049 the time of worship, I was bowled over by the 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:03.070 hope and the faith that Tim had in Jesus. as 00:15:03.070 --> 00:15:07.230 in the midst of this waiting, the hopelessness, 00:15:07.250 --> 00:15:13.370 the suffering. He was worshipping Jesus. He had 00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:16.309 his hand raised and he had tears streaming down 00:15:16.309 --> 00:15:19.909 his face as he sang with boldness and confidence 00:15:19.909 --> 00:15:23.610 these words, Alleluia, praise the one who set 00:15:23.610 --> 00:15:26.830 me free. Hallelujah, death has lost its grip 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:30.350 on me. You've broken every chain. There's salvation 00:15:30.350 --> 00:15:37.370 in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. And 00:15:37.370 --> 00:15:41.590 so in this short passage of scripture, Peter 00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.789 has given us a snapshot, hasn't he, of the big 00:15:44.789 --> 00:15:50.830 picture. That our hope is in a future spent with 00:15:50.830 --> 00:15:55.620 God in eternity. but also a reminder that eternity 00:15:55.620 --> 00:16:00.240 is now. And because of Jesus, together as the 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.919 people of God, we get to join in with what God's 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:07.360 doing in this world. We get to join in and bringing 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:10.179 in his kingly rule through our lives, through 00:16:10.179 --> 00:16:14.259 our work, through his church today. Hope has 00:16:14.259 --> 00:16:18.899 a name and his name is Jesus. And that is the 00:16:18.899 --> 00:16:23.350 name that we take out into this world. Good news 00:16:23.350 --> 00:16:27.750 for the present. Good news for the future. Let's 00:16:27.750 --> 00:16:43.649 pray. God, we give you all the glory. We give 00:16:43.649 --> 00:16:46.490 you all the praise and we give you all the honour 00:16:46.490 --> 00:16:50.470 that you are the one who has set us free. that 00:16:50.470 --> 00:16:53.049 you are the one who has redeemed the whole of 00:16:53.049 --> 00:16:55.629 your creation through the cross and resurrection 00:16:55.629 --> 00:17:00.990 of Jesus. And God, we are broken and vulnerable 00:17:00.990 --> 00:17:06.109 people. And we need your Holy Spirit to fill 00:17:06.109 --> 00:17:10.509 us every day, to be able to live a life of holiness, 00:17:10.650 --> 00:17:15.109 to fulfill the calling that you have put on each 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:20.630 of our lives to be your disciples. to bring eternity 00:17:20.630 --> 00:17:27.250 into the present. Give us the honour and privilege 00:17:27.250 --> 00:17:31.250 of seeing your will done, your kingdom come on 00:17:31.250 --> 00:17:35.250 earth as in heaven. In Jesus' name, amen.