1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,360 Well, thank you Blue Grace for your ministry this morning at Grace. 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:11,920 And I want you to know that they've got tapes and CDs available out there. 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:16,800 Before the last person gets out that door, I want somebody to save me a tape and a CD 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,240 because I get tied up in here and I don't want them to disappear before I get there. 5 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:22,240 All right? 6 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:23,240 All right. 7 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:29,760 Thank you. 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:37,980 There's no legend that tells of an angel who was sent by God to inform the devil that 9 00:00:37,980 --> 00:00:42,560 God was going to take away from him all of the tools and methods that he was using to 10 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,320 defeat his children. 11 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:51,360 The devil pleaded with the angel just to keep one method. 12 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,000 He said, let me keep depression. 13 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:00,840 Well, the angel, thinking that was a modest request, agreed to it. 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:07,040 When he was gone, the devil laughed to himself and exclaimed, good, with that one gift, I 15 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:12,500 have secured everything. 16 00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:18,840 In his book, Depression, What It Is and What to Do About It, Roger Barrett describes this 17 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:27,160 condition as, quote, a miserable, wretched experience that leaves you exhausted, uninvolved, 18 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,240 and in deep, hopeless despair. 19 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:35,280 There seems to be absolutely nowhere to turn and not one single thing you can do to escape 20 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,640 these horrible feelings. 21 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:45,600 You feel doomed, trapped, and at the end of your rope. 22 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,040 Do you feel something like that this morning? 23 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:55,280 All of us, from time to time, deal with depression. 24 00:01:55,280 --> 00:02:00,840 For some of us, it is a severe trial. 25 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,640 One of England's finest preachers was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. 26 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:12,760 He died just over 100 years ago at the age of 58. 27 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,760 Many people still remember him as the prince of preachers, but few people remember that 28 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:24,280 Charles Spurgeon was given to bouts with severe depression. 29 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:31,060 One of his biographers wrote, what he suffered in those times of darkness we may not know. 30 00:02:31,060 --> 00:02:37,520 Even his desperate calling on God brought no relief. 31 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:48,960 Spurgeon said about those times himself, there are dungeons beneath the castles of despair. 32 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:56,640 There are dungeons beneath the castle of despair. 33 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:08,820 I believe that the greater enemy of mankind is not disease, but despair. 34 00:03:08,820 --> 00:03:16,960 Because you can live without tonsils, you can get by with one lung, you can have your 35 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:25,480 gallbladder removed, but no one can live without hope. 36 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:30,760 See Neil Strait wrote, take from a man his wealth and you hinder him. 37 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:35,480 Take from him his purpose and you slow him down. 38 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:40,700 But take from man his hope and you stop him. 39 00:03:40,700 --> 00:03:47,880 He can go on without wealth and even without purpose for a while, but he will not go on 40 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,600 without hope. 41 00:03:51,600 --> 00:04:00,560 You and I are living in a civilization that is collapsing into the ruins of secularism 42 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,040 and rationalism. 43 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:15,960 We live in a culture of despair and hopelessness and no one knows that better than our leaders. 44 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:24,320 No people can endure such hopelessness as is coming upon the western civilization. 45 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:31,520 The good news is that the more desperate and dark the world becomes, the brighter the Christian 46 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,720 message shines. 47 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:39,280 For our gospel is about hope. 48 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:47,680 The apostle Paul writes of it in Colossians 1 when he refers to the hope of the gospel 49 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,280 that you have heard. 50 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:56,200 He also calls it the hope laid up for you in heaven of which you previously heard in 51 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,780 the word of truth the gospel which has come to you. 52 00:04:59,780 --> 00:05:03,960 The gospel is about hope. 53 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:12,480 The New Testament idea of hope denotes an expectation of obtaining some good thing that 54 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,880 is desired. 55 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,800 Hope is an expectation of what is to come. 56 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,940 God's people have everything to look forward to because for God's people the best is yet 57 00:05:24,940 --> 00:05:26,840 to come. 58 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:34,400 That's why the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians about the hope of salvation. 59 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:40,280 Talking about the culminating part of our salvation when we are taken home to be with 60 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:42,680 Jesus. 61 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,600 The hope of our salvation. 62 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:52,400 However rather than looking at Paul this morning we want to look at Peter for our message on 63 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:59,520 hope and I invite you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15. 64 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:04,560 Peter wrote to suffering saints who were being persecuted for their faith and their godly 65 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,000 conduct in a pagan culture. 66 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,400 Those people lived in a culture without hope much like our own. 67 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:20,680 But four times in this epistle Peter speaks of hope. 68 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,920 One of them is chapter 3 verse 15. 69 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,720 Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. 70 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:36,000 Always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope 71 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:42,020 that is in you yet with gentleness and reverence. 72 00:06:42,020 --> 00:06:44,840 The Christian you see has a hope within him. 73 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:51,200 You and I possess a unique hope, one that is highly valued. 74 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:57,240 So I say to you and to myself today let us be careful of ever underrating the worth of 75 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:03,080 the hope that Jesus Christ has brought to us. 76 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,800 I want you to notice with me how Peter describes the Christian hope. 77 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,320 As I say there are four times that he uses the word hope. 78 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:21,600 The first one is in chapter 1 verse 3. 79 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:30,440 He begins his book with this wonderful outburst of praise to God when he says, blessed be 80 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:39,280 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy has caused 81 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:46,880 us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 82 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:47,880 dead. 83 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:52,480 Now there are several descriptions of the hope of the Christian. 84 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,440 Paul calls it the good hope, 2 Thessalonians 2.16. 85 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,920 He calls it the blessed hope, Titus 2.13. 86 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:07,420 The writer of Hebrews calls it the better hope, Hebrews 7.19. 87 00:08:07,420 --> 00:08:11,760 Peter calls our hope the living hope. 88 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:19,960 That is because the hope that we have in Jesus Christ relates to life, real life. 89 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:24,240 You see our hope emanates from the new birth. 90 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:33,680 Notice that Peter uses that phrase now overused often in our world, born again. 91 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:38,160 We often attribute that phrase to John because it says in John chapter 3, you must be born 92 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:39,160 again. 93 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:44,480 But literally what John says is you must be born from above. 94 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:52,800 Only Peter truly uses the phrase born again twice in this verse and in verse 23. 95 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,980 And here he says we have been born again. 96 00:08:55,980 --> 00:09:07,640 That is God has infused new life into us resulting in a new nature and that is the sinner's need. 97 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:12,520 You don't help a blind man by giving him more light. 98 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:18,320 You don't help a dead man by giving him an expensive funeral. 99 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,040 What he needs is life. 100 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,440 What a blind man needs is sight. 101 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,160 And what the sinner needs is to be born again. 102 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,440 He needs life from God. 103 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,960 That is what the new birth is about. 104 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:37,400 And that new birth he says is made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 105 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:38,400 dead. 106 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,320 Notice he mentions the death of Christ, that he died. 107 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,980 And he makes it clear in this book that he died for our sins. 108 00:09:46,980 --> 00:09:51,080 He died in our place on the cross. 109 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:57,320 And then he was raised up from the dead as we heard sung about this morning in this beautiful 110 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,200 bluegrass music. 111 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:00,720 He was raised from the dead. 112 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,560 He is alive today. 113 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:07,120 And because of the resurrection you and I can be born again. 114 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:14,000 God can impart to us his very life and his nature. 115 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,800 The Christian hope flows from the resurrection. 116 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,920 It is a living hope. 117 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:27,640 All of us I think were touched this summer when we learned that Mickey Mantle had a serious 118 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:31,160 liver disease. 119 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:37,800 And then we found out that he had cancer of the liver and would die shortly. 120 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:42,920 What we have not heard reported in the general press I read in a Christian publication this 121 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,440 last week. 122 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:52,440 And while he was on his deathbed in Texas, one of his former teammates, Bobby Richardson, 123 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:57,320 who is now a preacher, went to visit him. 124 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:03,320 And Bobby Richardson explained to Mickey Mantle his need to be saved. 125 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:09,120 And Mickey Mantle prayed to receive Christ as his Savior. 126 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:15,360 Mrs. Richardson then asked Mickey, Mickey what are you going to say to God? 127 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,640 And he asks you why should I let you into my heaven? 128 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:24,600 You know what Mickey Mantle said? 129 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:30,280 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. 130 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:35,320 That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 131 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:37,640 He quoted John 3.16. 132 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,280 That's the right answer by the way. 133 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,680 You see Mickey Mantle found a living hope. 134 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:52,240 It's very sad that it came on his deathbed but thank God it came before he died. 135 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,600 Do you have this living hope in Jesus Christ? 136 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,760 You see the Christian hope flows from the resurrection. 137 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,280 It's all about life. 138 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:09,360 The life that you can have in Christ through the new birth experience. 139 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:10,360 You say well so what? 140 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,160 So what if the Christian's hope flows from the resurrection? 141 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,680 Peter tells us in verse 6. 142 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:19,280 He says in this you greatly rejoice. 143 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:20,280 That's what I want to say to you. 144 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,080 Be glad. 145 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:23,400 Be glad. 146 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:28,440 You know this music that we heard this morning is happy music. 147 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,600 It's a music about hope and you know why? 148 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:37,680 It originated with people who had nothing of this world. 149 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:45,640 Therefore they really rejoiced in the hope that they had in the future. 150 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,840 And I say to you our hope rests upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 151 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:55,800 Let us be glad about that and rejoice in it. 152 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:01,340 Verse 13 gives us the second occasion for the word hope. 153 00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:06,400 Here Peter writes therefore gird your minds for action. 154 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:07,880 Keep sober in spirit. 155 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:13,560 Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus 156 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:15,900 Christ. 157 00:13:15,900 --> 00:13:21,000 Second thing we learn here about Christian hope is that it welcomes the future. 158 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,440 You see hope is future oriented by its nature. 159 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:29,200 We don't hope for the past. 160 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:30,760 We don't hope for the present. 161 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:32,220 It's already here. 162 00:13:32,220 --> 00:13:34,980 We hope for the future. 163 00:13:34,980 --> 00:13:42,440 The Christian's future is linked with the culminating prophetic event of the last days 164 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,280 and that is the coming of Jesus Christ again. 165 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,940 What Peter calls his revelation. 166 00:13:48,940 --> 00:13:54,400 Now we do not see him Peter says and certainly the world does not see him. 167 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,160 But Peter points to a day in the future when he will be unveiled. 168 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:04,500 He will be revealed to the world. 169 00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:11,980 You see Christian hope welcomes the future because it knows what the future holds. 170 00:14:11,980 --> 00:14:16,020 Some people try to go back to the future. 171 00:14:16,020 --> 00:14:17,800 Some people deny there is a future. 172 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:23,040 Others dread the future or try to create the future or run from the future. 173 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:30,960 But the Christian embraces the future because we know that the future comes to us from God's 174 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:32,960 hand. 175 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:38,720 That's why in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 the apostle Paul says that among other things 176 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,240 that I don't have time to mention this morning. 177 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:50,200 He says among other things the future belongs to you in Jesus Christ. 178 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,400 The future does. 179 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,800 The past does as well and the present. 180 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:59,000 But the future we don't know what it holds. 181 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,100 We don't know what tomorrow holds. 182 00:15:01,100 --> 00:15:03,840 But we know who holds it don't we? 183 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,840 Our hope embraces the future. 184 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,240 We're not afraid of it. 185 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:14,960 For whatever tomorrow holds we know that ultimately it brings us to the coming of the Lord Jesus 186 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:16,140 Christ. 187 00:15:16,140 --> 00:15:18,840 We anticipate what the future holds. 188 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,760 And so Peter says set your hope completely on that. 189 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,200 Plant it there. 190 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:36,360 Set your flag as it were on the future for God's plan will be unveiled as the future 191 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,280 is unveiled. 192 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:47,840 There's a third use of the word hope and it's found in verse 21 where Peter says, 193 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:54,040 chapter 1 verse 21 where Peter says, you who threw him are believers in God who raised 194 00:15:54,040 --> 00:16:02,200 him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. 195 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:07,320 The third thing we see about Christian hope is that it rests upon the eternal. 196 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,900 That's unique. 197 00:16:10,900 --> 00:16:20,380 Other kinds of hope rest upon books that have been written by men that come and go. 198 00:16:20,380 --> 00:16:25,520 Other hopes rest upon gurus that come into town for seminars and then leave and go somewhere 199 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:26,760 else. 200 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,580 But our hope rests upon God, says Peter. 201 00:16:30,580 --> 00:16:33,720 It rests upon the eternal. 202 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:42,120 We have absolute and complete security that what God has undertaken, he the eternal one 203 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,720 will finish. 204 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:49,920 In Hebrews chapter 6 there's a wonderful word picture of this hope. 205 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,240 I invite you to look at that. 206 00:16:52,240 --> 00:17:00,200 I'm going to begin reading in verse 18 of Hebrews 6. 207 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:08,880 The writer says, by two unchangeable things that is God's promise and God's oath, by 208 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:14,440 these two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have 209 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,840 strong encouragement. 210 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,680 If you're in those dungeons beneath the castle of despair this morning, look at what God 211 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:24,160 says. 212 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,020 We may have strong encouragement. 213 00:17:27,020 --> 00:17:34,880 We who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. 214 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:42,000 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which 215 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:48,240 enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. 216 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:54,600 It's a wonderful picture here of our hope, taking hold of the hope. 217 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,800 You fishermen, go out and find your favorite fishing hole. 218 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:04,060 And of course it's always got lots of fish in there. 219 00:18:04,060 --> 00:18:07,360 And so when you find that hole, what do you do? 220 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:13,320 You put the anchor over so that that boat will stay right there on top of that school 221 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,800 of fish that you're trying to catch. 222 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:20,360 You want that boat to be stable and steadfast to remain there. 223 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:24,120 The picture here is of an anchor that we have for our hope. 224 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:32,120 And he says that rope that we hang onto, Jesus has the other end of it. 225 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,280 There where the anchor is. 226 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:40,360 Jesus has picked up that anchor and he has taken it behind the veil into the very presence 227 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:48,640 of God and has hooked that anchor around the throne of God, the mercy seat. 228 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:55,320 You and I have a hope that is anchored not in the mud of some lake nor in the passing 229 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:57,600 teaching of some guru. 230 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:03,460 But our hope is anchored to the very throne of the eternal God. 231 00:19:03,460 --> 00:19:08,600 It is sure and unshakable. 232 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:14,160 Peter says our Christian hope rests upon God. 233 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:18,200 Some of us remember another old song that used to be sung. 234 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,520 It's not in our hymnal, the one we currently have. 235 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:29,000 But a hundred years ago, because traveling by water was a very common way to travel, 236 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,680 many of the hymns developed that theme. 237 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:35,880 You remember this one? 238 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:43,180 Though the angry surges roll on my tempest-driven soul, I am peaceful. 239 00:19:43,180 --> 00:19:50,320 For I know wildly though the winds may blow, I've an anchor, safe and sure, that can ever 240 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,920 more endure. 241 00:19:52,920 --> 00:20:00,600 Many tides about me sweep, perils lurk within the deep, angry clouds or shade the sky, and 242 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:02,520 the tempest rises high. 243 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:11,120 Still I stand the tempest shock, for my anchor grips the rock. 244 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:16,760 Troubles almost whelm the soul, griefs like billows o'er me roll, tempters seek to lure 245 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,980 astray, storms obscure the light of day. 246 00:20:20,980 --> 00:20:33,920 But in Christ I can be bold, I've an anchor that shall hold, and it holds, my anchor holds. 247 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:42,440 The Christian hope rests upon God, not upon a church, not upon some preacher, but upon 248 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:47,680 God, the eternal God. 249 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:53,400 Now in chapter 3 verse 15 we come full circle to the last occasion when Peter uses this 250 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,440 term hope. 251 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:01,040 And he tells us here that the Christian hope engages the world. 252 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:09,480 You see to live with hope in a fallen world, overcome with despair, is to live so distinctly, 253 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:16,460 so differently, as to create curiosity in the people who watch you. 254 00:21:16,460 --> 00:21:23,520 If your life shows a willingness to suffer mistreatment for Christ's sake, and to sacrifice 255 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:32,400 the immediate for the sake of gaining the eternal, you cannot help but be noticed in 256 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,560 a world that has no hope. 257 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:45,060 For in a world that has no hope, you get what you can while you can get it. 258 00:21:45,060 --> 00:21:50,540 But a person who works in an office, or a neighbor who lives down the street, or a friend 259 00:21:50,540 --> 00:21:58,760 in the school, who says I'm willing to endure hardship in this life for Christ's sake. 260 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:06,460 I'm willing to forego what would please me now in order that I may please God and gain 261 00:22:06,460 --> 00:22:08,340 what is eternal. 262 00:22:08,340 --> 00:22:13,200 I'll tell you that person is going to stand out. 263 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:14,480 That's the kind of people. 264 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:24,320 Peter was writing to, and so he said, always be ready to give a defense to everyone who 265 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:31,040 asks you an account for the hope that is in you. 266 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:35,360 Really what he says is be ready to give an apology. 267 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:39,120 We use that word to mean I'm sorry. 268 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:40,120 Will you forgive me? 269 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:42,440 That isn't how Peter was using it. 270 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:44,560 This Greek word refers to a defense. 271 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:51,320 It's the kind of a word that would describe the work of a defense attorney. 272 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:56,560 The Lord knows we've seen enough defense attorneys on television to understand what they do. 273 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:03,080 It's the work of a defense attorney who stands before the judge to defend his cause, his 274 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:04,080 client. 275 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:12,840 And what he says is that you and I are to be ready to defend our profession of hope 276 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:13,840 in Jesus Christ. 277 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,720 So that whenever somebody says, why do you live that way? 278 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:22,640 Why did you make that choice? 279 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,040 Why do you have those values? 280 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,560 You're ready to say something. 281 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,720 You're ready to make your defense to them. 282 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:36,880 And to say I believe in Jesus Christ. 283 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,360 I have a hope that is living. 284 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:45,080 I have a hope that is anchored to the eternal. 285 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,720 You see that kind of a hope engages the world. 286 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:48,720 And so what? 287 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,280 Well Peter says share it. 288 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:52,840 Let others know about your hope. 289 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,280 Don't hide it under a bushel. 290 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:56,680 Stand at that flagpole. 291 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,640 Go to that prayer meeting. 292 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:05,240 Don't be ashamed to bow your head in prayer over your lunch. 293 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:10,560 If you're with somebody else, say to them, it's my custom to pray before I eat. 294 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,560 May I pray for both of us? 295 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:18,320 You know I've never had one unsafe person ever turn me down on that. 296 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,280 Probably because he's afraid I'm going to ask him to lead in prayer for both of us if 297 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:27,120 I, he says no. 298 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,640 We've got not to be ashamed of the values that we have. 299 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:31,640 Because they're right. 300 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:32,640 They're eternal. 301 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,400 They're what's pleasing to God. 302 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,920 And that stands out. 303 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:43,800 So if you're a Christian today, and I hope you are, if you've been born again and you 304 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:50,000 have new life from God and a new nature within you, the hope that you have is a singular 305 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,000 hope. 306 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,200 There's nothing like it in all the world. 307 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:54,840 You can go to any religion you want to. 308 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,080 You can go to any philosophy you want to. 309 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,400 You'll not find a hope like the one I've just described to you. 310 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,000 So we ought to rejoice in our hope. 311 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:04,840 We ought to revel in it. 312 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:06,280 We ought to celebrate it. 313 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,280 We ought to treasure it. 314 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,240 And we ought to plant our flag. 315 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:18,160 We ought to fix our hope on the grace that is to be brought to us when Jesus comes. 316 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:24,560 We ought to live out our Christian hope with godly conduct because we are related to the 317 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:25,560 eternal God. 318 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:31,440 We ought to share our Christian hope with courtesy and respect and gentleness and with 319 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,160 a clear conscience. 320 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:44,000 But I recognize that there are likely some here today whose hope is dimmed. 321 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,120 And when we talk about the Christian hope, you're saying, well, that hope is not very 322 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:51,120 bright in my own life right now. 323 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:57,080 And let me say to you that it's time to recover what's dimmed. 324 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:03,200 It's time to turn up the lamp. 325 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:11,500 If the struggle you're facing is slowly replacing your hope with despair, or the process is 326 00:26:11,500 --> 00:26:18,440 long and you're losing your song in the night, you can be sure that the Lord has His hand 327 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:19,440 on you. 328 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:23,960 Safe and secure, He will never abandon you. 329 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,360 You are His treasure. 330 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:30,720 And He finds pleasure in you. 331 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:42,280 He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. 332 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,800 There were dark days in World War II in Britain. 333 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:54,280 I can't imagine living in that period of time in London, the city burning down, hiding deep 334 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:59,280 below the streets from the bombers of Germany. 335 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:10,000 Despair overwhelmed the British people, except for one man whose name was Winston Churchill, 336 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,560 who was the Prime Minister of England. 337 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:21,280 And largely single-handedly, that man lifted the British people out of gloom and despair, 338 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,000 gave them hope that the war could be won. 339 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:31,040 And he spoke to them time after time saying things like, never give up. 340 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,240 Never give up. 341 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:41,500 And the British people who were so low and the hope was so dim for their nation, listen. 342 00:27:41,500 --> 00:27:44,780 And they got a hold of it. 343 00:27:44,780 --> 00:27:48,940 And hope resurfaced and they won the war. 344 00:27:48,940 --> 00:27:54,060 I don't know how dim your hope may be today, but we have a Savior. 345 00:27:54,060 --> 00:28:01,320 We have a Savior who is able to lift you from the slew of despond. 346 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:09,120 He is able to lift you out of the discouragement and the depression that you feel. 347 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:14,840 He is able to cause that hope to burn brightly again in your heart. 348 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:19,560 Peter says, sanctify Christ as Lord. 349 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:23,920 That is, set him apart as Lord in your hearts. 350 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:30,280 You know, when we do that, our hope cannot be dimmed. 351 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:35,400 We may feel like it's dimming, but it isn't dimming, because Christ the Lord is reigning 352 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:36,400 there. 353 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:43,520 I read something this week about a man I've admired for years that I never knew. 354 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,920 His name was Reuben Archer Torrey. 355 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:52,320 He was president of the Moody Bible Institute for a number of years. 356 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:57,400 He was also one of the founders of Biola in California. 357 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,640 As a young man, he had no faith in God, though. 358 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,540 He did not believe in the Bible. 359 00:29:03,540 --> 00:29:07,860 His mother was a devout Christian, and often she would pray for his conversion and witness 360 00:29:07,860 --> 00:29:09,000 to him. 361 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:13,720 One day he said to her, I don't want to hear about my sins or your prayers. 362 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:20,880 I'm going to leave and not bother you anymore. 363 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,800 He did not heed her pleas. 364 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,380 He did not listen to her cries. 365 00:29:28,380 --> 00:29:31,960 He paid no attention to her tear-filled eyes. 366 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:39,200 As he went out the door, she frantically cried after him, Son, you are going the wrong way. 367 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:44,240 But when you come to the end of your rope and everything seems hopeless, call upon your 368 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:54,160 mother's God with all your heart, and he will surely help you. 369 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,860 Torrey left home and went deeper into the ways of sin. 370 00:29:58,860 --> 00:30:01,680 One night he was alone in a hotel and unable to sleep. 371 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:07,480 His problems were pressing upon his mind. 372 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:13,760 Then he remembered a gun that he kept in his dresser drawer and decided that he would kill 373 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,920 himself. 374 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,960 He was so miserable. 375 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:25,800 But just as he reached for the weapon, his mother's last words came to his mind. 376 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:27,400 The Holy Spirit convicted him. 377 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:32,880 He fell down on his knees beside that chair and cried out, Oh God of my mother, if there 378 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,960 is such a being, I need your help. 379 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:41,640 If you will help me now, I will follow you. 380 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:47,040 And just in a moment, the darkness of his soul left and his heart was filled with peace. 381 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:52,940 He became an outstanding evangelist in the last part of the last century, the early part 382 00:30:52,940 --> 00:31:01,100 of this century, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ with thousands coming to faith. 383 00:31:01,100 --> 00:31:07,840 If today you are in that despair, will you get on your knees and cry out to God and receive 384 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:13,960 Jesus Christ, set him apart as Lord in your heart, believe that he died for your sins 385 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:20,280 and rose again, and he will bring to you a living hope. 386 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,240 Let's bow together as we pray. 387 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:29,720 Father, my prayer is very simple. 388 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:38,200 It is that each of us may know this hope that is in Christ before we leave here. 389 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:42,920 Father, there may be some who need to receive Christ as Savior. 390 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,520 I pray that they will today open their hearts and believe on him and be saved. 391 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:52,640 I pray that they may experience the new birth. 392 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:59,320 I pray for those of us who have experienced that new birth, but in whom hope has faded 393 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,660 for whatever reason. 394 00:32:01,660 --> 00:32:09,360 Would you restore us today to the brightness of the Christian hope that we have? 395 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:17,560 May our lives tell the difference and use us, I pray, in this dark and hopeless world 396 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:24,040 to bear the message of the gospel of hope. 397 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,720 With our heads bowed, if there is some response in your heart that you need to make to the 398 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,240 Lord, will you do it right now? 399 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:36,320 Asking Christ to come into your heart to save you, will you believe on him? 400 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,960 Or as a Christian, will you do what Peter says here? 401 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:48,560 By the Lord Jesus, as the Lord of your life, the Lord of your heart, live it out. 402 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:58,360 Oh Father, I give thanks for the hope that is in Christ. 403 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:05,040 I pray that as we go from here this day, our lives may burst with celebration of the hope 404 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:13,720 that we have in him, for the hope that is laid up before us, the hope of glory. 405 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,200 Would you stand with me please? 406 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:26,440 And now may the God of hope fill our lives with that hope, to the glory of Jesus Christ 407 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:34,200 so that we may live that hope before a despairing world and point them to Jesus. 408 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:39,840 In his name I pray, amen.