1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,760
I am sure you've got the PTL Friend,
not PTA, not PTO, your PTL friend.

2
00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,490
Anytime you say something good
happens, they're gonna respond.

3
00:00:08,490 --> 00:00:08,670
PTL.

4
00:00:09,794 --> 00:00:10,575
What does PTL mean?

5
00:00:10,575 --> 00:00:10,904
Church.

6
00:00:11,805 --> 00:00:12,674
Praise the Lord.

7
00:00:12,974 --> 00:00:13,965
Praise the Lord.

8
00:00:13,969 --> 00:00:15,945
And, and it's not that
they're disingenuine about

9
00:00:15,945 --> 00:00:16,665
that they, they mean it.

10
00:00:16,665 --> 00:00:20,025
Praise the Lord, PTL, but
it's kind of become a, a, a

11
00:00:20,025 --> 00:00:21,314
trope in Christianity, right?

12
00:00:21,314 --> 00:00:22,244
The, the PTL.

13
00:00:22,305 --> 00:00:22,545
Yeah.

14
00:00:22,755 --> 00:00:23,354
Praise the Lord.

15
00:00:23,354 --> 00:00:23,895
Praise the Lord.

16
00:00:24,945 --> 00:00:26,235
We should be praising God, right?

17
00:00:26,955 --> 00:00:28,845
In fact, we should be
praising God at all times.

18
00:00:29,384 --> 00:00:33,465
But there are times it's, it's hard for
us to feel like we should praise the Lord.

19
00:00:34,185 --> 00:00:37,724
In fact, there's times that even your
PTL friend is not gonna say, Hey, PTL.

20
00:00:38,535 --> 00:00:40,065
Like if you showed up and
said, Hey, guess what?

21
00:00:40,065 --> 00:00:41,294
I, I just lost my job.

22
00:00:41,745 --> 00:00:43,724
They're not gonna be
like, oh, praise the Lord.

23
00:00:43,964 --> 00:00:44,745
Praise the Lord for that.

24
00:00:45,495 --> 00:00:47,474
Or if you said, man, I, I, I
was at the doctor, I got my

25
00:00:47,474 --> 00:00:49,605
results back, and it's cancer.

26
00:00:50,504 --> 00:00:52,635
They're not gonna look at you
and say, man, praise the Lord.

27
00:00:53,029 --> 00:00:56,355
Or if you were to say, man,
my, my marriage is just

28
00:00:56,385 --> 00:00:57,584
really struggling right now.

29
00:00:58,244 --> 00:00:58,515
Oh man.

30
00:00:58,515 --> 00:00:59,054
Praise the Lord.

31
00:01:01,035 --> 00:01:04,065
Hey, we took our car in this last week
and, and it looks like the repairs are

32
00:01:04,065 --> 00:01:05,355
gonna be way more than we can afford.

33
00:01:06,015 --> 00:01:06,825
Oh, well, praise the Lord.

34
00:01:08,700 --> 00:01:11,490
We're used to praise the Lord,
following the, the good things.

35
00:01:11,490 --> 00:01:12,960
Hey, the scan came back, no cancer.

36
00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:14,010
Praise the Lord.

37
00:01:14,010 --> 00:01:14,789
Praise God.

38
00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:17,789
You know what things are are
going really well in my marriage.

39
00:01:17,789 --> 00:01:19,920
They were rough for a while, but
they've gotten so much better lately.

40
00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:21,090
Hey, praise God for that.

41
00:01:21,090 --> 00:01:21,870
That's such a good thing.

42
00:01:23,100 --> 00:01:24,539
My kids are doing well.

43
00:01:24,690 --> 00:01:25,289
Praise God.

44
00:01:25,649 --> 00:01:26,550
My daughter got saved.

45
00:01:26,580 --> 00:01:27,120
Praise God.

46
00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:28,980
Those are the things.

47
00:01:28,980 --> 00:01:31,170
Those are the times that we
think, man, yeah, praise God.

48
00:01:32,820 --> 00:01:35,039
And yet as we consider what Peter's.

49
00:01:35,475 --> 00:01:40,785
I'm gonna say here in verse three, right
after he's addressed our audience, the

50
00:01:40,785 --> 00:01:42,945
original audience says, elect exiles.

51
00:01:42,945 --> 00:01:45,824
Remember those that have been
driven away from their house?

52
00:01:45,945 --> 00:01:47,085
I mean, picture it for a second.

53
00:01:47,744 --> 00:01:52,904
If you, you will, if you wrote to a
friend and, and you had been driven away

54
00:01:52,904 --> 00:01:57,045
from your home, you'd had to give up all
your possessions, your relationships,

55
00:01:57,045 --> 00:02:01,005
your friendships here, you'd had to go
somewhere, you know, some godforsaken

56
00:02:01,005 --> 00:02:02,804
area like Oklahoma or something like that.

57
00:02:03,300 --> 00:02:05,700
They resettled you up in the
barren wasteland up there

58
00:02:06,390 --> 00:02:09,630
and, and, and you're away from
everything that you once held dear.

59
00:02:10,229 --> 00:02:13,710
And you call your friend and you say,
man, I, I, I was forced to move up here.

60
00:02:14,550 --> 00:02:15,720
I I didn't have a choice.

61
00:02:16,740 --> 00:02:20,490
Chances are your friend's not
gonna say, praise God for that.

62
00:02:22,290 --> 00:02:22,560
Right?

63
00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,310
After addressing his audiences elect
exiles, Peter says, praise God.

64
00:02:29,070 --> 00:02:31,079
Blessed be the godfather
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

65
00:02:31,079 --> 00:02:32,280
That's what that word blessed means.

66
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,450
It means to praise God And, and what's
important for us, and what I hope to

67
00:02:36,450 --> 00:02:40,230
show us this morning is that there's a
reason why no matter our circumstances,

68
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,950
we can always praise God that there
is a living hope that we have.

69
00:02:43,950 --> 00:02:46,800
There's a bit of news that's so good
that no matter what else is going

70
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:51,390
on in our lives, we will always
have reasons to say, praise God.

71
00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:54,990
It boils down to this, and this is
the general thrust of our sermon

72
00:02:54,990 --> 00:02:58,950
this morning, is this, there's no
better news than Jesus is alive.

73
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:01,020
There's no better news.

74
00:03:01,020 --> 00:03:02,040
There's no greater news.

75
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,430
There's no better news that that
could come circumstantially.

76
00:03:05,430 --> 00:03:08,070
There's no better news that could
come in the future as far as anything

77
00:03:08,070 --> 00:03:11,190
that you could imagine or dream or
hope that would rival, that would

78
00:03:11,190 --> 00:03:15,780
challenge the good news that Jesus is
alive, and it's this news right here.

79
00:03:15,780 --> 00:03:18,630
That means that no matter what
season we find ourselves in,

80
00:03:18,630 --> 00:03:20,550
we can always say, praise God.

81
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,150
Our passage opens in verse three.

82
00:03:24,150 --> 00:03:28,020
Peter writes this, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

83
00:03:28,620 --> 00:03:29,040
Blessed.

84
00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:30,930
It's the word EU in the Greek.

85
00:03:30,930 --> 00:03:35,370
It's where we get our English word eulogy
to speak well of someone to praise them.

86
00:03:36,180 --> 00:03:37,920
He says, praise be to God.

87
00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,320
Worship God exalt God the father.

88
00:03:40,950 --> 00:03:42,810
Of our Lord Jesus Christ.

89
00:03:42,810 --> 00:03:46,710
We get Peter's Trinitarian theology
coming through here right off the bat.

90
00:03:46,710 --> 00:03:50,700
His focus on what's known as the
imminent or the economic trinity,

91
00:03:50,700 --> 00:03:54,120
rather the economic trinity,
is how God relates to creation.

92
00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,770
It's how God shows his relations
within the Godhead with creation.

93
00:03:58,770 --> 00:04:03,210
That's why Peter calls God
the God of Jesus Christ.

94
00:04:03,675 --> 00:04:05,355
That may come across as odd to you.

95
00:04:05,355 --> 00:04:07,485
'cause you're thinking to
yourself, well, isn't Jesus God?

96
00:04:07,485 --> 00:04:11,355
So why is Peter referring to
God as the God of Jesus then?

97
00:04:11,775 --> 00:04:15,645
Well, it's because as we studied in
John's gospel, as salvation history

98
00:04:15,645 --> 00:04:19,125
worked out, Jesus submitted himself
to the will of the Father, right?

99
00:04:19,125 --> 00:04:22,425
Jesus subjected himself to
what the father desired of him.

100
00:04:22,425 --> 00:04:23,985
Paul writes in Philippians chapter two.

101
00:04:24,230 --> 00:04:26,930
By humbling himself to the point
of death, even death on a cross.

102
00:04:27,830 --> 00:04:31,280
And that's still happening right now
to an extent because Paul writes in

103
00:04:31,370 --> 00:04:34,940
one Corinthians 15 that there's a
day coming in the very end, in the

104
00:04:34,940 --> 00:04:39,290
culmination of all things, when all
things will be subjected to Jesus.

105
00:04:39,470 --> 00:04:42,770
And then Jesus will subject
all things then to the Father,

106
00:04:42,770 --> 00:04:44,600
including himself at that point.

107
00:04:45,170 --> 00:04:47,870
And so this is not about
an inferiority of Jesus.

108
00:04:47,870 --> 00:04:50,180
This is not saying that
Jesus is less than God.

109
00:04:50,534 --> 00:04:53,925
This is simply looking at the way
that God relates to himself within

110
00:04:54,015 --> 00:04:57,735
the Trinity as Father, son, and
Spirit as it pertains to us, you and

111
00:04:57,825 --> 00:05:00,975
you and I, and that has everything
to do with the mission of Jesus.

112
00:05:01,215 --> 00:05:04,095
And it's the mission of Jesus that
Peter has in mind here because

113
00:05:04,095 --> 00:05:07,005
it's the mission of Jesus that
culminated in the resurrection.

114
00:05:07,275 --> 00:05:11,595
That is the reason why we have
the, the cause to say, praise God.

115
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,520
Blessed be the godfather
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

116
00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,700
But remember, he's writing to people
that were scattered, that were removed

117
00:05:17,700 --> 00:05:21,030
from their homeland, that were taken
away from either Jerusalem or Rome

118
00:05:21,030 --> 00:05:24,780
or other territories, and made to
repopulate these five kind of in

119
00:05:24,780 --> 00:05:26,940
the sticks regions of Asia Minor.

120
00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:30,090
It's these people that he's
saying, Hey, praise God.

121
00:05:30,630 --> 00:05:32,940
It it's not the people coming
off the mountaintop experience.

122
00:05:32,940 --> 00:05:36,210
It's not the people that are feeling
secure and comfortable in their homes.

123
00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,790
It's people that are suffering.

124
00:05:39,210 --> 00:05:40,740
And he says, praise God.

125
00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:42,270
Why?

126
00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:48,390
What would cause them to want to
or to have reason to praise God?

127
00:05:48,750 --> 00:05:49,920
Well, he continues.

128
00:05:50,610 --> 00:05:56,159
He says this, according to his great
mercy, he has caused us to be born

129
00:05:56,159 --> 00:05:59,790
again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the

130
00:05:59,790 --> 00:06:02,850
dead, according to his great mercy.

131
00:06:03,900 --> 00:06:06,150
God's mercy is part of who he is.

132
00:06:06,855 --> 00:06:09,375
By the way, mercy, if we
can remember this, grace is

133
00:06:09,525 --> 00:06:11,415
getting what we don't deserve.

134
00:06:11,775 --> 00:06:15,195
Mercy is not getting what
we do deserve, right?

135
00:06:15,255 --> 00:06:18,705
Mercy is God not wiping us
off the face of the planet.

136
00:06:18,915 --> 00:06:20,925
Mercy is not God sending
us straight to hell.

137
00:06:20,925 --> 00:06:24,315
The first moment that we
sin mercy is God's patience.

138
00:06:24,315 --> 00:06:27,825
It's described in the Old
Testament as his steadfast love.

139
00:06:28,065 --> 00:06:31,125
In fact, it's a word that's connected
to his covenant identity in the

140
00:06:31,125 --> 00:06:34,365
Old Testament with his people,
his hesed love in the Hebrew.

141
00:06:34,980 --> 00:06:36,990
His steadfastness, his mercy.

142
00:06:36,990 --> 00:06:40,230
In fact, when Moses asked
God, Hey God, can I see you?

143
00:06:41,070 --> 00:06:43,890
God says, Moses, I'm gonna cover
you in the cleft of this rock.

144
00:06:43,890 --> 00:06:45,870
And when I pass by, I'm gonna
declare my name before you.

145
00:06:46,050 --> 00:06:50,790
And here's what the Lord said The Lord,
the Lord a God in the first descriptor out

146
00:06:50,790 --> 00:06:53,159
of the mouth of our God, is this the Lord?

147
00:06:53,340 --> 00:06:55,110
The Lord a God, merciful.

148
00:06:56,580 --> 00:07:00,330
And so back in our text, it's
according to that great mercy.

149
00:07:01,290 --> 00:07:03,415
With without God's mercy,
we have no living hope.

150
00:07:04,005 --> 00:07:06,585
Without God's mercy, none of us are
here saying, praise God this morning.

151
00:07:07,425 --> 00:07:10,365
It's because of God's mercy that we
have this, according to his mercy,

152
00:07:10,395 --> 00:07:12,615
he has done what he has caused us.

153
00:07:12,645 --> 00:07:15,015
Again, notice that this
is God's initiative.

154
00:07:15,015 --> 00:07:18,315
God's the one doing the heavy
lifting of our salvation.

155
00:07:18,750 --> 00:07:20,849
He has caused us to be born again.

156
00:07:20,849 --> 00:07:23,099
We talked about that last week
with the work of the Spirit.

157
00:07:23,099 --> 00:07:24,840
The spirit sanctifies us.

158
00:07:25,050 --> 00:07:27,599
And the first part of our
sanctification is that positional

159
00:07:27,599 --> 00:07:30,060
sanctification, we call it regeneration.

160
00:07:30,180 --> 00:07:34,050
Being born again, Jesus and Nicodemus,
that whole interaction there.

161
00:07:34,409 --> 00:07:39,870
So God has caused us to be born again
to, and there's three things that He's

162
00:07:39,870 --> 00:07:43,620
caused us to be born again to in our
passage, verse three, a living hope.

163
00:07:44,505 --> 00:07:48,495
Verse four, an inheritance
and verse five, A salvation.

164
00:07:49,185 --> 00:07:50,505
So he is caused us to be born again.

165
00:07:50,505 --> 00:07:53,594
Verse three, to a living hope,
verse four to an inheritance,

166
00:07:53,594 --> 00:07:56,055
and verse five, for a salvation.

167
00:07:56,055 --> 00:07:58,455
That word four is the same Greek
preposition that's described

168
00:07:58,455 --> 00:08:00,895
as or translated as two in
verse three in verse four.

169
00:08:01,695 --> 00:08:04,635
So there's three things that
are part of us being born again.

170
00:08:04,635 --> 00:08:06,465
We've been born again
to these three things.

171
00:08:06,465 --> 00:08:09,285
And, and what we wanna do first
is, is talk about the first two

172
00:08:09,285 --> 00:08:10,695
of these in verses three and four.

173
00:08:10,935 --> 00:08:14,085
But before we even get there, what's
the foundation of this new birth?

174
00:08:14,775 --> 00:08:17,475
What's the, the whole grounds
upon which we have a living hope?

175
00:08:17,895 --> 00:08:20,985
What's the whole point of our,
our inheritance and, and why

176
00:08:20,985 --> 00:08:21,885
do we have an inheritance?

177
00:08:23,130 --> 00:08:25,050
The answer comes in his next phrase here.

178
00:08:25,110 --> 00:08:29,490
He's caused us to be born again to a
living hope through the resurrection

179
00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:31,320
of Jesus Christ from the dead.

180
00:08:32,730 --> 00:08:36,240
That's why if we go back here, there's
no better news than Jesus is alive.

181
00:08:36,390 --> 00:08:37,710
This is the linchpin.

182
00:08:38,070 --> 00:08:41,159
Without the resurrection,
everything else is moot.

183
00:08:41,549 --> 00:08:45,720
The resurrection is arguably the most
important component of the entire gospel,

184
00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,640
and yet it's oftentimes the one that
we neglect to share and talk about.

185
00:08:51,090 --> 00:08:52,530
More often than any other part.

186
00:08:53,340 --> 00:08:55,470
So often we'll share the gospel of
someone, Hey, Jesus Christ died on

187
00:08:55,470 --> 00:08:57,810
the cross for your sins and rose from
the dead so that you can be forgiven.

188
00:08:57,810 --> 00:08:58,590
Oh, we don't say that part.

189
00:08:58,860 --> 00:09:00,720
Jesus Christ died on the cross
for your sins so that you can be

190
00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:02,370
forgiven, put your trust in him.

191
00:09:03,810 --> 00:09:06,060
But if Jesus Christ never rose
from the dead, what does Paul say?

192
00:09:06,060 --> 00:09:06,990
Your faith is what?

193
00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:08,580
It's okay.

194
00:09:08,580 --> 00:09:09,150
We can talk.

195
00:09:09,330 --> 00:09:09,720
It's all right.

196
00:09:10,319 --> 00:09:11,220
Your faith is what?

197
00:09:11,610 --> 00:09:12,270
It's vain.

198
00:09:12,300 --> 00:09:12,810
It's futile.

199
00:09:12,810 --> 00:09:13,319
It's meaningless.

200
00:09:13,319 --> 00:09:13,980
It's pointless.

201
00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:14,905
In fact, Paul says, man.

202
00:09:15,705 --> 00:09:17,145
We're the most to be pitied.

203
00:09:17,355 --> 00:09:19,005
You guys could be at home asleep still.

204
00:09:19,305 --> 00:09:21,645
The donuts aren't that good to
show up on a Sunday morning.

205
00:09:21,645 --> 00:09:22,095
They're good.

206
00:09:22,245 --> 00:09:23,085
They're not that good.

207
00:09:25,455 --> 00:09:28,635
He says, we are most to be pitied
if the resurrection's not true.

208
00:09:29,475 --> 00:09:31,335
The resurrection is the
linchpin to all of this.

209
00:09:32,010 --> 00:09:34,410
The resurrection is the reason
why we have a living hope.

210
00:09:34,589 --> 00:09:37,170
Our living hope is living
because we have a living savior.

211
00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:40,860
The resurrection of Jesus is the,
the crux of the gospel and has been

212
00:09:40,860 --> 00:09:44,760
targeted by opponents of Christianity
for ages and withstood every

213
00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:45,810
single attack brought against it.

214
00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:49,439
Jesus didn't simply faint on the cross.

215
00:09:50,130 --> 00:09:52,260
The disciples didn't go to the wrong tomb.

216
00:09:53,069 --> 00:09:54,360
They didn't steal his body.

217
00:09:55,199 --> 00:09:56,670
They didn't slip a body double in there.

218
00:09:56,670 --> 00:09:58,425
A stunt double in for
Jesus at the last second.

219
00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:02,610
There wasn't a mass hallucination
experienced by hundreds and

220
00:10:02,610 --> 00:10:05,400
hundreds of people all seeing the
resurrected Jesus at the same time.

221
00:10:06,990 --> 00:10:10,170
You see, see, these are, are some of the
explanations that the world has thrown

222
00:10:10,170 --> 00:10:13,620
at why, uh, maybe we shouldn't believe
that Jesus actually rose from the dead.

223
00:10:14,700 --> 00:10:18,900
Now, the truth is we serve and worship a
living savior, so we have a living hope.

224
00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,560
I preached on this in greater
detail back in April of this year.

225
00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:24,540
You can go back if you are
interested in that sermon.

226
00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,600
It's called What To Do About Jesus
from April 20th of this year.

227
00:10:28,170 --> 00:10:31,620
I go into more detail on the resurrection,
some of the evidences there, the defense

228
00:10:31,620 --> 00:10:34,319
of the resurrection, that I don't have
time, unfortunately this morning, to

229
00:10:34,319 --> 00:10:36,689
unpack for us as much as I'd like to.

230
00:10:37,020 --> 00:10:41,160
But this whole passage hangs on
the reality of Jesus's resurrection

231
00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:42,510
and what it means for us.

232
00:10:43,620 --> 00:10:47,670
He's caused us to be born again
through the resurrection of

233
00:10:47,670 --> 00:10:48,810
Jesus Christ from the dead.

234
00:10:48,810 --> 00:10:51,569
Now, let's talk about some of those things
that he's caused it to be born again, to

235
00:10:51,990 --> 00:10:54,630
first, this living hope, a living hope.

236
00:10:54,630 --> 00:10:55,319
We just sang about it.

237
00:10:56,115 --> 00:10:57,795
We sang that we have a living hope.

238
00:10:57,795 --> 00:10:59,714
These elect exiles
weren't left to despair.

239
00:10:59,714 --> 00:11:02,865
They weren't left to sit there and, and
their hope wasn't contingent upon men.

240
00:11:02,865 --> 00:11:04,305
I hope I get to go home someday.

241
00:11:05,175 --> 00:11:08,025
Their hope wasn't, man, I
hope I can find a steady job.

242
00:11:08,324 --> 00:11:08,865
Their hope wasn't.

243
00:11:08,865 --> 00:11:10,995
I hope I can have a, a good marriage.

244
00:11:10,995 --> 00:11:11,535
Their hope wasn't.

245
00:11:11,535 --> 00:11:11,865
I hope.

246
00:11:12,375 --> 00:11:12,974
Whatever.

247
00:11:12,974 --> 00:11:13,905
Fill in the blank.

248
00:11:14,775 --> 00:11:19,064
Their hope was living and it, it
was living and it was sustaining

249
00:11:19,064 --> 00:11:20,265
because their hope was anchored.

250
00:11:20,265 --> 00:11:21,599
Not to this world, but
to the world to come.

251
00:11:22,860 --> 00:11:23,880
See, that's one of the problems.

252
00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,610
Church, when we have a a hope,
that's something that's temporal.

253
00:11:27,689 --> 00:11:31,920
We know it because that's how Apple
has built its entire existence, I

254
00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,069
hope, in a new iPhone, until you get
it and they're already talking about

255
00:11:35,069 --> 00:11:36,720
the next iPhone, two generations later.

256
00:11:37,319 --> 00:11:38,010
And then what are you doing?

257
00:11:38,010 --> 00:11:42,209
You're hoping in that one man, I, I, I
hope, I remember being a, a, a young man

258
00:11:42,209 --> 00:11:44,550
in, in high school and thinking, man, I
just can't wait to graduate high school.

259
00:11:44,550 --> 00:11:46,680
I just, my hope is I just
wanna graduate high school.

260
00:11:46,860 --> 00:11:49,140
In fact, I used to be, I used
to think, Jesus, I want you

261
00:11:49,140 --> 00:11:50,069
to come back, but not yet.

262
00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:51,600
Not, not until I get to
graduate high school.

263
00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:54,990
And then it was, man, I
just wanna graduate college.

264
00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:56,820
And then it was, I just wanna graduate.

265
00:11:56,820 --> 00:11:57,930
I, I just wanna get married.

266
00:11:58,620 --> 00:12:00,540
And then it was, I, I just
wanna graduate seminary.

267
00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,200
I wanna have my kids and y'all.

268
00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:07,110
There's still things in times that
today I am tempted to put my hope in

269
00:12:07,110 --> 00:12:08,610
things that aren't my living hope.

270
00:12:08,925 --> 00:12:11,070
I'm tempted to temp hope.

271
00:12:11,070 --> 00:12:13,140
Man, I, I, I hope God,
that you protect my kids.

272
00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,170
I, I hope that you know my, my kids.

273
00:12:16,170 --> 00:12:17,939
You don't come back Jesus
until you save my kids.

274
00:12:17,939 --> 00:12:18,870
Look, those are good things.

275
00:12:18,870 --> 00:12:19,800
I'm not saying those are bad things.

276
00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:25,560
But our living hope is a living savior
in the future that he secured for us,

277
00:12:26,070 --> 00:12:29,250
which is the second thing that we've
been born again, to not just this

278
00:12:29,250 --> 00:12:34,920
living hope, but to an inheritance
that's imperishable, undefiled, and

279
00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:36,990
unfading kept in heaven for you.

280
00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,580
It is imperishable this inheritance,
this future that we have, which

281
00:12:41,580 --> 00:12:42,990
means it's, it's incorruptible.

282
00:12:43,830 --> 00:12:45,630
It's incorruptible, it is immoral.

283
00:12:45,795 --> 00:12:50,295
One Corinthians 15 says that
we will be raised imperishable.

284
00:12:50,834 --> 00:12:53,805
Our inheritance is connected to
our eternal state and glorified

285
00:12:53,805 --> 00:12:55,365
bodies raised imperishable.

286
00:12:56,084 --> 00:12:57,045
But it's not just imperishable.

287
00:12:57,045 --> 00:12:57,974
It's also undefiled.

288
00:12:57,979 --> 00:12:58,810
It's unstained.

289
00:12:59,714 --> 00:13:00,944
It's absolutely pure.

290
00:13:02,204 --> 00:13:05,865
You get something new, you're gonna
immediately notice if there's any

291
00:13:05,865 --> 00:13:06,915
blemishes about it, aren't you?

292
00:13:07,964 --> 00:13:10,814
If there's anything wrong with that of
any defect, you're gonna think, oh man,

293
00:13:10,814 --> 00:13:13,245
this, this is so great except for this.

294
00:13:13,965 --> 00:13:17,235
Your eternal inheritance that's connected
to your living hope is gonna have nothing

295
00:13:17,235 --> 00:13:21,105
for you to point out to say, man, my
inheritance in Christ is great, except

296
00:13:21,105 --> 00:13:23,625
for you're not gonna have anything.

297
00:13:24,165 --> 00:13:25,995
It's gonna meet every
expectation that you have.

298
00:13:25,995 --> 00:13:27,885
It's undefiled and it's unfading.

299
00:13:28,635 --> 00:13:33,015
Jesus said, storm treasure for yourself in
heaven, where moth and rust can't destroy.

300
00:13:33,225 --> 00:13:34,335
North eves breaking in steel.

301
00:13:35,205 --> 00:13:38,625
In other words, work for treasures
that will never fade, that will never

302
00:13:38,625 --> 00:13:41,325
degrade, that will never be broken down.

303
00:13:41,820 --> 00:13:45,660
And that's our eternal inheritance
that we have in Christ.

304
00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,040
And it's being kept, it's being preserved
in that state, in heaven for us.

305
00:13:50,580 --> 00:13:53,550
So we've been born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of the dead.

306
00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,590
And this living hope is this inheritance.

307
00:13:55,590 --> 00:13:59,730
That's undefiled, that's unfading and
that's being kept in heaven for us.

308
00:13:59,940 --> 00:14:04,890
That's the, the, the mindset that
Peter's casting for the elect exiles.

309
00:14:05,100 --> 00:14:06,630
That's where he wants their minds.

310
00:14:06,630 --> 00:14:09,780
He's trying to cast their gaze
from the here and now to the

311
00:14:09,780 --> 00:14:10,355
then and there and saying.

312
00:14:10,950 --> 00:14:11,400
You know what?

313
00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,980
That's why we can say, praise God, man.

314
00:14:13,980 --> 00:14:16,470
You take me away from my home,
my family, my workplace, all

315
00:14:16,470 --> 00:14:17,580
that I've known for so long.

316
00:14:17,580 --> 00:14:20,670
It's gonna be hard for
me to say praise God.

317
00:14:20,850 --> 00:14:24,420
But the living hope Peter's saying,
the living hope that we have, that

318
00:14:24,420 --> 00:14:26,940
was good enough for the elect exiles.

319
00:14:26,940 --> 00:14:27,750
In the dispersion.

320
00:14:27,900 --> 00:14:28,800
It was good enough.

321
00:14:28,890 --> 00:14:31,620
Remember Paul and Silas and
Philippi when they're arrested

322
00:14:31,620 --> 00:14:32,430
and they're put in prison.

323
00:14:32,715 --> 00:14:34,725
You, you remember what happens there?

324
00:14:34,725 --> 00:14:35,895
The earthquake happens, right?

325
00:14:35,895 --> 00:14:37,395
And, and the Philippian
jailer gets converted.

326
00:14:37,665 --> 00:14:40,875
But before all that, and they didn't
know that that was about to happen.

327
00:14:40,875 --> 00:14:42,315
They didn't know what was coming next.

328
00:14:42,495 --> 00:14:45,855
What are they doing in the dark
depths of that prison cell?

329
00:14:46,725 --> 00:14:47,955
They're singing hymns to the Lord.

330
00:14:49,005 --> 00:14:51,825
It was good enough that Living Hope
was good enough for Paul and Silas in

331
00:14:51,855 --> 00:14:54,855
prison, and it's good enough for you
and me where we sit here this morning.

332
00:14:55,485 --> 00:14:57,555
Our first point along those
lines this morning is this.

333
00:14:57,555 --> 00:14:57,915
I hope that.

334
00:14:58,319 --> 00:14:59,310
I hope that fires you up.

335
00:14:59,310 --> 00:15:01,439
I hope that gets you
energized this morning.

336
00:15:01,740 --> 00:15:04,800
And along those lines, point
number one is this, energize your

337
00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,750
faith through your living hope.

338
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,110
Energize your faith
through your living hope.

339
00:15:12,689 --> 00:15:15,150
My car's a, an electric car,
which is a badge of shame

340
00:15:15,150 --> 00:15:16,079
for some of you in this room.

341
00:15:16,079 --> 00:15:17,069
I, I, I get that.

342
00:15:17,069 --> 00:15:17,640
I know that.

343
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,530
Don't come at me with
your big diesel trucks.

344
00:15:19,530 --> 00:15:20,100
That's fine.

345
00:15:20,579 --> 00:15:23,040
I didn't buy it because
it saves the environment.

346
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:24,660
I bought it because it goes fast.

347
00:15:26,655 --> 00:15:28,515
It's the fastest car I've ever had.

348
00:15:29,265 --> 00:15:34,035
And, uh, I, that gives me great joy
within the boundaries of the speed limit,

349
00:15:35,205 --> 00:15:39,285
because I know every time I pull up to a
stoplight, most cars that pull up next to

350
00:15:39,285 --> 00:15:41,025
me, I'm gonna torch that car off the line.

351
00:15:41,955 --> 00:15:45,285
I know it, I know it, and
it makes me feel good.

352
00:15:45,945 --> 00:15:46,605
I've driven cars.

353
00:15:46,605 --> 00:15:49,065
I, I, if I was gonna do that,
I had to turn off the radio.

354
00:15:49,065 --> 00:15:50,145
I had to turn off the air conditioner.

355
00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:51,600
You know what I'm saying?

356
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:51,810
Right.

357
00:15:51,810 --> 00:15:54,420
On the, on those types of cars, like
you had to make sure you were diverting

358
00:15:54,420 --> 00:15:56,310
all power to the, to the gas pedal.

359
00:15:56,310 --> 00:15:57,900
And even then it was a prayer and a hope.

360
00:15:58,170 --> 00:16:00,270
No, my, my electric car, it flies.

361
00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:02,040
And that's just in standard mode.

362
00:16:02,610 --> 00:16:04,050
It's got a sport mode too.

363
00:16:05,010 --> 00:16:08,190
And if I put it, so if I pull up next
to a young kid in a car and he's kind

364
00:16:08,190 --> 00:16:11,370
of flexing on me, I'll casually just
drop it into sport mode and take off

365
00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:12,930
all the regenerative braking on it too.

366
00:16:13,290 --> 00:16:16,770
And that's when like the imprint of
my back is in the seat when I get done

367
00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:18,060
hitting the gas pedal all on that thing.

368
00:16:19,035 --> 00:16:20,145
It flies.

369
00:16:20,205 --> 00:16:21,585
It goes so fast.

370
00:16:21,735 --> 00:16:25,545
You hit sport mode and it
energizes the whole thing, right?

371
00:16:26,055 --> 00:16:28,305
Y'all kick your faith into
sport mode because you're

372
00:16:28,305 --> 00:16:29,475
living hope in Jesus Christ.

373
00:16:30,675 --> 00:16:32,085
Like, this should fire us up.

374
00:16:32,085 --> 00:16:33,285
This should get us excited.

375
00:16:33,375 --> 00:16:35,415
Look again at what our
living hope consists of.

376
00:16:35,565 --> 00:16:39,045
It's an inheritance that's
imperishable, undefiled, and

377
00:16:39,045 --> 00:16:41,505
unfading kept in heaven for you.

378
00:16:43,305 --> 00:16:46,125
After Jesus rose from the dead,
he meets Mary in the garden

379
00:16:46,125 --> 00:16:47,445
there and he tells Mary this.

380
00:16:47,445 --> 00:16:49,905
He says, Mary, go tell my brothers.

381
00:16:51,765 --> 00:16:53,955
He doesn't say Go, go tell my my servants.

382
00:16:54,885 --> 00:16:57,885
He doesn't say, go tell those faithless
disciples that weren't at the cross.

383
00:16:58,995 --> 00:17:00,075
He says, go tell my brothers.

384
00:17:01,365 --> 00:17:02,955
Paul's gonna pick up on
this in Romans chapter 80.

385
00:17:02,955 --> 00:17:05,355
He's gonna say, Hey, guess what
y'all, we've received the spirit.

386
00:17:05,355 --> 00:17:10,095
Not a fear, but the spirit
of adoption as sons of God.

387
00:17:10,829 --> 00:17:11,608
And now guess what?

388
00:17:11,608 --> 00:17:14,339
Paul says, we are co-heirs with Jesus.

389
00:17:16,529 --> 00:17:17,398
Think about that.

390
00:17:18,719 --> 00:17:21,329
You and I are co-heirs
with the son of God.

391
00:17:22,229 --> 00:17:26,489
That means your inheritance, your living
hope, is a portion of the inheritance

392
00:17:26,489 --> 00:17:31,289
that Jesus Christ earned and merited for
himself through obedience to the Father.

393
00:17:33,269 --> 00:17:34,559
That should fire us up.

394
00:17:35,249 --> 00:17:36,324
That should get us excited.

395
00:17:37,620 --> 00:17:40,919
The resurrection is the most
central truth to Christianity.

396
00:17:41,009 --> 00:17:43,350
Our faith rises and falls
on the resurrection.

397
00:17:43,350 --> 00:17:46,019
Our living hope rises and
falls on the resurrection.

398
00:17:46,169 --> 00:17:49,499
Our ability to say praise God
regardless of our circumstances to

399
00:17:49,499 --> 00:17:53,129
sing in the midst of exile, rises
and falls on the resurrection.

400
00:17:53,969 --> 00:17:56,610
Peter would die for his
faith in the resurrection.

401
00:17:57,149 --> 00:18:00,330
The church was going to explode
on the scene and spread further

402
00:18:00,330 --> 00:18:04,019
and faster than anyone could have
imagined because of the resurrection.

403
00:18:05,384 --> 00:18:09,344
Paul was gonna go from persecuting
churches to planting churches because

404
00:18:09,344 --> 00:18:11,444
he encountered the resurrected Jesus.

405
00:18:11,564 --> 00:18:15,584
And for 2000 years, the church has
been preaching and proclaiming a

406
00:18:15,584 --> 00:18:22,574
resurrected Jesus and it's undefeated
Your faith rest upon a certain and

407
00:18:22,574 --> 00:18:26,894
sure living hope your Hindu neighbor's
faith doesn't have a living hope.

408
00:18:28,334 --> 00:18:31,364
They're hoping in a cycle of
regeneration so that they can

409
00:18:31,364 --> 00:18:32,539
escape that and reach Nirvana.

410
00:18:33,209 --> 00:18:37,169
And as my Hindu neighbor told me, they
have seven tra chances of that, and

411
00:18:37,169 --> 00:18:38,969
she's not sure which one she's on.

412
00:18:40,379 --> 00:18:41,969
That doesn't sound like much hope to me.

413
00:18:43,889 --> 00:18:47,100
Your Muslim coworker
doesn't have a living hope.

414
00:18:48,929 --> 00:18:52,229
He's sitting there hoping that in the
end that his good works on the scale

415
00:18:52,229 --> 00:18:57,570
of Allah are gonna outweigh his bad
works, and so desperate Are they?

416
00:18:58,004 --> 00:19:02,955
For any grasp at security that there
are some who are willing to get into

417
00:19:02,955 --> 00:19:06,135
planes and hijack them and fly them into
buildings and kill thousands of people

418
00:19:06,135 --> 00:19:10,905
for this empty promise that that will
guarantee their entrance into paradise.

419
00:19:11,655 --> 00:19:15,465
And they'd rather do that than
live in the uncertainty of, are my

420
00:19:15,465 --> 00:19:16,845
goodies gonna outweigh my bad dates?

421
00:19:17,294 --> 00:19:18,284
That's not a living hope.

422
00:19:20,324 --> 00:19:21,375
Your atheist friend

423
00:19:23,835 --> 00:19:24,824
doesn't have a living hope.

424
00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:28,169
They've put their confidence
in their own intellect.

425
00:19:29,429 --> 00:19:30,269
They have a God.

426
00:19:30,540 --> 00:19:32,249
Their God rests between their ears

427
00:19:34,679 --> 00:19:36,540
and they're doing everything
they can right now not to have

428
00:19:36,540 --> 00:19:39,060
to think about the brick wall of
death and what happens afterwards.

429
00:19:40,350 --> 00:19:41,340
That's not a living hope.

430
00:19:43,050 --> 00:19:46,530
You and I have a living
hope, a resurrected savior,

431
00:19:46,530 --> 00:19:47,219
and the question is, what?

432
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:48,600
What is that doing for us?

433
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,739
And we have to, to really
first ask, do we believe this?

434
00:19:54,374 --> 00:19:55,514
That Jesus is alive.

435
00:19:55,514 --> 00:19:56,864
Do we believe that?

436
00:19:56,864 --> 00:19:59,864
That he's sitting at the right hand of
the Father right now making intercession

437
00:19:59,864 --> 00:20:04,364
for us, such that if you and I sin, we
can confess our sins and know that he is

438
00:20:04,364 --> 00:20:08,774
going to plead his righteousness on our
behalf before the Father, do you believe

439
00:20:08,864 --> 00:20:10,634
that he's gonna come back for his church?

440
00:20:10,634 --> 00:20:12,284
If we do, are we live ready for it?

441
00:20:13,695 --> 00:20:16,904
Do you believe that He's
commissioned us to go and preach

442
00:20:16,904 --> 00:20:19,455
the good news that Jesus is alive?

443
00:20:19,965 --> 00:20:20,955
He's overcome death.

444
00:20:20,955 --> 00:20:21,854
He's overcome sin.

445
00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:27,959
Do you believe that he's better than
any earthly possession or relationship?

446
00:20:28,769 --> 00:20:32,850
Do you believe he is the
only way truth in the life?

447
00:20:33,090 --> 00:20:37,769
Do you believe that there's no other name
under heaven by which a man must be saved

448
00:20:37,979 --> 00:20:39,389
other than the name of Jesus Christ?

449
00:20:41,159 --> 00:20:44,039
See, these are all things that we
can extrapolate out of the reality

450
00:20:44,039 --> 00:20:46,709
that Jesus Christ is alive and we
worship and serve a living savior,

451
00:20:46,709 --> 00:20:47,850
and that should energize us.

452
00:20:48,090 --> 00:20:50,549
If we answer yes to these
things, it needs to show up.

453
00:20:51,620 --> 00:20:52,454
It needs to show up.

454
00:20:53,114 --> 00:20:56,264
It needs to show up in how we
live and how we're engaging

455
00:20:56,264 --> 00:20:57,254
with people in our community.

456
00:20:57,404 --> 00:20:59,594
It needs to show up by taking
these little cars that are inside

457
00:20:59,594 --> 00:21:01,694
our bullet and saying, Hey, I'm
gonna put this in my Starbucks.

458
00:21:01,694 --> 00:21:04,334
I'm gonna put this at the the
Christian Brothers Autocare Center.

459
00:21:04,334 --> 00:21:04,874
I'm gonna take this.

460
00:21:04,874 --> 00:21:06,374
I'm gonna give it to my
neighbor across the street.

461
00:21:06,554 --> 00:21:07,784
I'm gonna invite them to come to church.

462
00:21:07,784 --> 00:21:10,184
I'm gonna have a conversation
with somebody about Jesus.

463
00:21:11,949 --> 00:21:17,654
It needs to show up because it is the
living hope and the only living hope

464
00:21:18,254 --> 00:21:19,995
our sending pastor used to compare.

465
00:21:20,444 --> 00:21:24,314
The world that we live in to a sinking
ship and used to say of us that,

466
00:21:24,344 --> 00:21:29,804
that we know where the lifeboats are,
we know where they are, the world

467
00:21:29,804 --> 00:21:30,914
that, that we find ourselves in.

468
00:21:30,914 --> 00:21:33,164
Everybody still wants to sit in
the restaurants and sit at the

469
00:21:33,164 --> 00:21:36,495
bar and, and, and dance and, and
be in the pool, in the hot tub.

470
00:21:36,495 --> 00:21:38,144
Meanwhile, the, the ship is going down.

471
00:21:39,554 --> 00:21:43,095
And as Christians, you have the living
hope of knowing where the lifeboat is and

472
00:21:43,095 --> 00:21:44,564
there's, there's room on the lifeboat.

473
00:21:44,655 --> 00:21:48,554
And so your, your job and my job is
because we've got this living hope is

474
00:21:48,554 --> 00:21:52,304
to go the, to those that don't recognize
the peril and the danger that they're in.

475
00:21:52,304 --> 00:21:55,725
And to say, Hey, you need to
hope and put your trust in Jesus.

476
00:21:55,845 --> 00:21:56,669
You're at risk.

477
00:21:56,669 --> 00:21:57,885
Your life is at risk.

478
00:21:58,004 --> 00:22:00,254
The ship is going down, but
I know where the solution is.

479
00:22:00,254 --> 00:22:01,064
I know where the answer is.

480
00:22:02,804 --> 00:22:04,635
And so we do that with a somberness.

481
00:22:04,635 --> 00:22:05,115
Yes.

482
00:22:06,269 --> 00:22:09,269
But man, we also do that with a
great sense of, of excitement.

483
00:22:10,409 --> 00:22:13,080
It's a privilege to know the
living hope and to be able to

484
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:14,129
tell other people about it.

485
00:22:15,449 --> 00:22:18,090
To be able to tell other people, man, I've
got the best news you're ever gonna hear.

486
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:20,100
Jesus is alive.

487
00:22:20,759 --> 00:22:21,989
And lemme tell you why that matters.

488
00:22:23,279 --> 00:22:26,249
Remember, y'all we're the exiled
church, living in an area where it's

489
00:22:26,249 --> 00:22:29,639
so easy and so tempting to become
the vacationing church instead.

490
00:22:30,810 --> 00:22:33,479
And so this first point,
reminding ourselves of our living

491
00:22:33,479 --> 00:22:34,769
hope is so necessary for us.

492
00:22:35,985 --> 00:22:37,995
Because it reminds us
that our hope is not here.

493
00:22:39,374 --> 00:22:41,955
Our living hope is seated at the
right hand of the Father right now

494
00:22:42,074 --> 00:22:48,044
there, and he's preparing a place
for us and he'll come back for us.

495
00:22:49,874 --> 00:22:51,705
Some of y'all already have
your faith in sport mode.

496
00:22:52,784 --> 00:22:56,475
Others of y'all, you're in fuel efficiency
mode with regenerative breaking full on.

497
00:22:58,814 --> 00:22:59,715
I hope this morning.

498
00:23:00,284 --> 00:23:03,134
This reality, this reminder of your
living hope gives you reason, not

499
00:23:03,134 --> 00:23:06,074
just to say praise God, but to say,
man, I can't wait to go out and, and

500
00:23:06,074 --> 00:23:08,504
live my life like Jesus is alive.

501
00:23:11,235 --> 00:23:11,955
Look at verse five.

502
00:23:12,044 --> 00:23:14,745
It's not just that we've been born
again to a living hope, into an

503
00:23:14,745 --> 00:23:16,965
inheritance, but also to this salvation.

504
00:23:16,965 --> 00:23:17,564
Look at verse five.

505
00:23:17,564 --> 00:23:21,764
He says this, who by God's power are
being guarded through faith for a

506
00:23:21,764 --> 00:23:26,354
salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time, I I, I love this verse in Peter.

507
00:23:27,225 --> 00:23:30,884
He says right there, who,
who's the, who, the, the who.

508
00:23:30,884 --> 00:23:32,745
There are those that have been born again.

509
00:23:33,435 --> 00:23:39,554
If you've been born again, you are the
who, you who by God's power, are being

510
00:23:39,554 --> 00:23:44,084
guarded through faith for a salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.

511
00:23:44,084 --> 00:23:44,864
Let's talk about this.

512
00:23:44,864 --> 00:23:45,854
Let's break this down for a second.

513
00:23:45,860 --> 00:23:47,925
Number one, you're being
guarded by God's power.

514
00:23:47,925 --> 00:23:52,455
That, that there is no greater power
than that, that that's the top.

515
00:23:52,965 --> 00:23:54,830
You can't get better protection than God.

516
00:23:56,205 --> 00:24:00,615
You're being guarded by his power, his
dunamis, his, his ability, and it's

517
00:24:00,615 --> 00:24:04,725
unrivaled, and, and that that power is
really ultimately founded in and realized

518
00:24:04,725 --> 00:24:06,495
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

519
00:24:07,574 --> 00:24:09,735
The apostle Paul writes in
Philippians chapter three, verse

520
00:24:09,735 --> 00:24:15,524
10, he says that I may know him
and the power of his resurrection,

521
00:24:16,965 --> 00:24:18,284
the power of his resurrection.

522
00:24:18,794 --> 00:24:22,425
Why is the resurrection so closely
associated with God's power?

523
00:24:23,504 --> 00:24:26,715
Well, I think here in this context,
his power to guard our faith, it's

524
00:24:26,715 --> 00:24:30,284
so closely associated because the
resurrection was God's stamp of

525
00:24:30,284 --> 00:24:36,705
approval on Jesus' death saying payment
received, accepted, and applied in full.

526
00:24:38,084 --> 00:24:41,384
It it's the to telles die of Jesus
on the cross when he says it is

527
00:24:41,384 --> 00:24:46,215
finished, the resurrection is God the
father saying, yes, it is finished.

528
00:24:47,399 --> 00:24:53,189
It's his power of the resurrected Jesus
that's guarding your faith for a salvation

529
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:54,810
ready to be revealed in the last time.

530
00:24:54,810 --> 00:24:56,370
But what about this guarding?

531
00:24:56,999 --> 00:24:58,439
It's guarding in that word guard?

532
00:24:58,439 --> 00:25:00,030
It has two meanings.

533
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:04,620
It can mean guard from escape
and guard against attack, and

534
00:25:04,620 --> 00:25:06,060
I think both are present here.

535
00:25:07,199 --> 00:25:11,370
A lot of times those that believe
that you can lose your salvation might

536
00:25:11,370 --> 00:25:14,760
respond to a passage like Romans eight
that says that there's nothing on

537
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,969
earth that can separate you from the
love of God by saying yes, but you can

538
00:25:17,969 --> 00:25:19,800
separate yourself from the love of God.

539
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:25,080
And I think Peter's argument here is, no,
you can't because God's, if you're truly

540
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:30,449
in Christ, if you're genuinely saved, God
is guarding you from escaping his love.

541
00:25:30,719 --> 00:25:33,000
God is guarding you
from escaping his grasp.

542
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:34,560
In fact, you remember
what Jesus said in John.

543
00:25:35,669 --> 00:25:38,580
He said, all that the father gives me
will come to me and of them I will lose.

544
00:25:38,580 --> 00:25:39,510
None of them.

545
00:25:40,169 --> 00:25:44,370
No one can take you from the
grip of God, including yourself.

546
00:25:45,719 --> 00:25:47,580
And so you're being guarded
from escape, but second, you're

547
00:25:47,580 --> 00:25:48,689
being guarded from attack.

548
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,340
We're living in a world as exiles
that hates your risen savior and

549
00:25:53,340 --> 00:25:56,850
that hates your faith in him and
will do everything within its power.

550
00:25:57,345 --> 00:26:01,275
To come at you and to try to undermine
that faith and to try to rob you

551
00:26:01,275 --> 00:26:02,655
of the confidence that you have.

552
00:26:02,805 --> 00:26:07,335
Well, God is guarding you by his
power against those attacks as well.

553
00:26:08,295 --> 00:26:12,195
Your hope, your living hope in
Christ and all of this is happening.

554
00:26:12,195 --> 00:26:13,065
He's being guarding.

555
00:26:13,125 --> 00:26:15,645
He's guarding you through your faith.

556
00:26:16,845 --> 00:26:20,385
The faith that he gave you is the faith
that he will sustain within you as well.

557
00:26:21,915 --> 00:26:22,425
For what?

558
00:26:23,235 --> 00:26:26,685
While He's guarding us by his power
through faith for a salvation ready.

559
00:26:27,059 --> 00:26:28,409
To be revealed in the last time.

560
00:26:28,860 --> 00:26:30,059
That word ready means prepared.

561
00:26:30,809 --> 00:26:33,269
You remember Jesus with
his disciples in John 14.

562
00:26:34,620 --> 00:26:36,360
They're, they're saying, Hey,
Jesus, where are you going?

563
00:26:36,959 --> 00:26:39,959
Jesus says, don't worry about it
because where I'm going, I'm going

564
00:26:39,959 --> 00:26:43,919
to prepare a place for you and in my
father's house there are many rooms,

565
00:26:43,919 --> 00:26:47,969
so I'm going to prepare a place for
you and I'll come back for you as well.

566
00:26:49,245 --> 00:26:50,715
He says, I'm going to
prepare a place for you.

567
00:26:50,715 --> 00:26:55,544
Peter now is saying that God is guarding
us through his power, by His power

568
00:26:55,754 --> 00:27:00,435
through our faith for a salvation
prepared for us in the last time.

569
00:27:01,814 --> 00:27:03,074
It's ready for us.

570
00:27:03,104 --> 00:27:04,064
Jesus has gone.

571
00:27:04,064 --> 00:27:05,564
He's made it ready for us.

572
00:27:07,574 --> 00:27:10,695
I, I love verse five because verse
five is, is such a comforting verse.

573
00:27:11,475 --> 00:27:12,884
It soothes the doubts.

574
00:27:12,945 --> 00:27:13,905
It comes alongside.

575
00:27:13,905 --> 00:27:15,524
Doubts are gonna happen in this life.

576
00:27:16,754 --> 00:27:20,024
I don't know if there's ever been a,
a true, genuine Christian who's ever

577
00:27:20,024 --> 00:27:24,764
not at some point in time struggled
with assurance, but it's a passage.

578
00:27:24,764 --> 00:27:27,705
It's a text like this that can be such
an incredible comfort during those times.

579
00:27:29,804 --> 00:27:33,854
It's a reminder of our security
being in the hands of God and he

580
00:27:33,854 --> 00:27:35,205
can soothe our doubting souls.

581
00:27:35,205 --> 00:27:39,735
Your heavenly Father loves you and he's
given us a text like this to remind

582
00:27:39,735 --> 00:27:42,854
you and to comfort you because he
wants you to know that he's got you.

583
00:27:43,575 --> 00:27:46,665
Point number two this week is this,
soothe your doubts with your living hope.

584
00:27:47,955 --> 00:27:50,504
Soothe your doubts with your living hope.

585
00:27:54,254 --> 00:27:57,524
Moms, you know what it is
to soothe your children.

586
00:27:59,145 --> 00:28:04,274
In fact, even from the very earliest
moments of your baby's life, the

587
00:28:04,274 --> 00:28:08,145
hospital will take that baby and put that
baby's skin to skin on your bare chest.

588
00:28:09,705 --> 00:28:10,065
Why?

589
00:28:11,415 --> 00:28:12,705
Because that baby knows you.

590
00:28:14,054 --> 00:28:19,004
The baby knows that you are, its
source of comfort, safety, protection.

591
00:28:21,104 --> 00:28:23,774
A baby grows older and falls down
and skins its knees, and the baby's

592
00:28:23,774 --> 00:28:27,434
still gonna come to you because it
knows that you're gonna comfort that

593
00:28:27,434 --> 00:28:32,594
child, protect that child, soothe
that child, or your child's gonna

594
00:28:32,594 --> 00:28:35,324
come home from school because the kids
have made fun of them at school and

595
00:28:35,324 --> 00:28:39,054
they're gonna come to you to comfort
them, to protect them, to soothe them.

596
00:28:42,044 --> 00:28:43,875
When your kid gets hurt, they're
not just gonna run anywhere

597
00:28:43,875 --> 00:28:48,014
to anyone to soothe that pain.

598
00:28:48,855 --> 00:28:51,135
They're gonna come to you
because they know you love them.

599
00:28:52,215 --> 00:28:54,915
They know you'll be able
to, to comfort them.

600
00:28:55,784 --> 00:29:00,314
They know through experience what
your comforting touch is like,

601
00:29:00,314 --> 00:29:02,205
and they know that you'll be
able to calm them down no matter.

602
00:29:02,429 --> 00:29:06,810
IT Church, when your confidence
in your salvation gets wounded,

603
00:29:06,810 --> 00:29:08,370
are you running to your father?

604
00:29:08,370 --> 00:29:09,449
Who's guarding your faith?

605
00:29:10,979 --> 00:29:14,340
Are you coming back to the promises of
God's word that remind you that he's

606
00:29:14,340 --> 00:29:16,739
faithful and just to forgive us our sins?

607
00:29:17,639 --> 00:29:21,509
Are you coming back to passages like this
one that reminds you that he's protecting?

608
00:29:21,509 --> 00:29:25,649
He's guarding your faith by his
power for salvation ready to

609
00:29:25,649 --> 00:29:26,729
be revealed in the last time.

610
00:29:27,029 --> 00:29:29,249
Are you going back to John and see Amen.

611
00:29:30,239 --> 00:29:31,919
Those that, that come to the
father through Christ, he's

612
00:29:31,919 --> 00:29:33,179
not gonna lose a single one.

613
00:29:35,070 --> 00:29:39,570
Or are you running to your
good works to soothe you?

614
00:29:41,189 --> 00:29:44,850
Are you thinking, man, my, my doubts
rather than going back to God's

615
00:29:44,850 --> 00:29:47,550
word, I feel like I, I need to clean
myself up before I can do that.

616
00:29:47,580 --> 00:29:50,699
I feel like I, I need
to solve this on my own.

617
00:29:50,699 --> 00:29:52,050
And, and then I'll come back to the word.

618
00:29:53,009 --> 00:29:56,009
Or are you running to the pleasures of
this world to soothe yourself instead

619
00:29:56,009 --> 00:29:57,070
of running to the promises of God?

620
00:29:58,439 --> 00:30:02,669
To distract yourself from the thought
of, well, man, I, I feel unsure.

621
00:30:02,669 --> 00:30:06,840
I feel doubts about where I'm at,
and, and so let me just go distract

622
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,179
myself with the pleasures and sins
of this world so I don't have to

623
00:30:09,179 --> 00:30:11,310
actually think about those things.

624
00:30:13,020 --> 00:30:15,510
Are you running from him into the
dark alleys of shame, guilt, and

625
00:30:15,510 --> 00:30:20,070
condemnation that lurk everywhere
and the enemy more than willing to

626
00:30:20,070 --> 00:30:21,600
direct you right down those alleys?

627
00:30:22,919 --> 00:30:26,429
Church come to God because God soothes
us, comforts us, helps us overcome.

628
00:30:26,955 --> 00:30:31,544
Our fears and anxieties through our living
hope as the exiled church, the enemy

629
00:30:31,544 --> 00:30:32,895
is going to attack you in this area.

630
00:30:33,405 --> 00:30:36,435
He's gonna introduce doubts he's gonna
cause you to question whether or not you.

631
00:30:37,004 --> 00:30:38,355
I don't even know if I'm a Christian.

632
00:30:38,445 --> 00:30:38,685
I don't.

633
00:30:39,105 --> 00:30:39,885
Would a Christian say that?

634
00:30:39,885 --> 00:30:40,695
Would a Christian do that?

635
00:30:41,445 --> 00:30:45,135
And while there's good
self-reflecting, introspective

636
00:30:45,165 --> 00:30:47,175
practices, this can go too far.

637
00:30:47,625 --> 00:30:49,304
When we don't run to the promises of God.

638
00:30:51,824 --> 00:30:53,834
The resurrection demonstrated
once for all that the payment for

639
00:30:53,834 --> 00:30:56,415
your sins was received, accepted
and applied to your account.

640
00:30:56,909 --> 00:30:58,679
Through your faith in Jesus.

641
00:31:00,449 --> 00:31:04,350
When I go to the auto mechanic, I, I
always know it's never gonna be just what

642
00:31:04,350 --> 00:31:06,719
I brought my car in to have dealt with.

643
00:31:06,719 --> 00:31:06,989
Right.

644
00:31:06,989 --> 00:31:10,679
And, and, and there's the pin in your
stomach when you watch them walk in the

645
00:31:10,679 --> 00:31:13,379
door and you're sitting in the waiting
room and you're just kind of hoping that

646
00:31:13,379 --> 00:31:14,580
they're gonna come for somebody else.

647
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,350
And then they lock eyes with you
and they're already, you know, kind

648
00:31:19,350 --> 00:31:22,320
of looking down as though they know
that this is about to wreck you.

649
00:31:23,445 --> 00:31:26,475
And then they make your, their way over
and they sit next to you and they say, so

650
00:31:26,475 --> 00:31:28,274
we, we, we did what you asked us to do.

651
00:31:29,504 --> 00:31:31,875
But you're like, I knew it.

652
00:31:32,084 --> 00:31:32,655
I knew it.

653
00:31:33,135 --> 00:31:35,324
And, and, and what they've done
is they've found more things

654
00:31:35,324 --> 00:31:36,135
that are wrong with your car.

655
00:31:36,135 --> 00:31:38,564
And they're gonna say, and, and
so now you owe this much more.

656
00:31:40,425 --> 00:31:42,675
If I was to take my electric
car and they'd come to me and

657
00:31:42,675 --> 00:31:43,754
be like, it needs an oil change.

658
00:31:45,344 --> 00:31:47,774
Some of y'all like, woo, you're
gonna be driving home going, wait, it

659
00:31:47,774 --> 00:31:49,274
doesn't have oil on an electric car.

660
00:31:50,564 --> 00:31:51,074
Um.

661
00:31:52,425 --> 00:31:55,155
Listen, y'all, sometimes we, we
walk through life as Christians

662
00:31:55,155 --> 00:32:01,695
with that same pit in our stomachs,
waiting for God's spiritual mechanic

663
00:32:01,695 --> 00:32:04,335
to come to us and sit down with us
and say, Hey, I, I've got bad news.

664
00:32:04,725 --> 00:32:06,825
Yeah, I know you put your faith
in Jesus and everything and that's

665
00:32:06,825 --> 00:32:08,085
great, but, but you owe more.

666
00:32:08,250 --> 00:32:13,665
And that is antigo that undermines.

667
00:32:14,235 --> 00:32:17,385
What God has done that, that,
that denies your living hope.

668
00:32:17,594 --> 00:32:21,314
In fact, listen to what the Apostle
Paul says in Romans 8 33 through 34.

669
00:32:21,314 --> 00:32:22,274
It's up here on the screen too.

670
00:32:22,364 --> 00:32:25,245
He says this, who's gonna bring
any charge against God's elect?

671
00:32:25,965 --> 00:32:27,225
It's God who justifies.

672
00:32:27,465 --> 00:32:29,504
Who is there to condemn Christ?

673
00:32:29,504 --> 00:32:33,824
Jesus is the one who died more
than that, who was raised.

674
00:32:33,824 --> 00:32:35,235
Did you catch that from Paul Christ?

675
00:32:35,235 --> 00:32:39,350
Jesus is the one who died more
than that, who was raised.

676
00:32:40,455 --> 00:32:44,834
Who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed is interceding for us.

677
00:32:45,644 --> 00:32:49,455
So God's saying, okay, listen, you
may feel like you're sitting in the

678
00:32:49,455 --> 00:32:51,014
courtroom right now, but guess what?

679
00:32:51,014 --> 00:32:52,455
There's no prosecuting attorney.

680
00:32:53,564 --> 00:32:56,894
'cause the only one that could be the
prosecuting attorney is the one that

681
00:32:56,894 --> 00:33:00,764
you're defense attorney through the
cross and through his resurrection.

682
00:33:02,654 --> 00:33:07,514
And so church, when you encounter
your doubts, your fears, your anxiety.

683
00:33:09,075 --> 00:33:10,274
Run back to your living hope.

684
00:33:11,595 --> 00:33:12,645
Run back to your living hope.

685
00:33:14,565 --> 00:33:17,385
Yes, there's something that needs
to be done with the sin, with

686
00:33:17,385 --> 00:33:18,615
the thing that causes the doubt.

687
00:33:18,615 --> 00:33:23,445
We need to figure that out, but it doesn't
need to become the crushing weight that

688
00:33:23,475 --> 00:33:27,284
that denies the sufficiency of Jesus'
death and resurrection on your behalf.

689
00:33:28,965 --> 00:33:30,435
Soothe your doubts with your living hope.

690
00:33:33,135 --> 00:33:34,125
Next Peter goes into.

691
00:33:35,070 --> 00:33:39,810
Trials that are, again, a part of what it
looks like to live is the church in exile.

692
00:33:39,810 --> 00:33:40,620
Look at verse six.

693
00:33:41,729 --> 00:33:43,769
He says In this, in, what is this?

694
00:33:43,769 --> 00:33:45,509
It's, it's everything
we've been talking about.

695
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,279
You're living hope in this.

696
00:33:47,279 --> 00:33:48,209
You rejoice.

697
00:33:48,824 --> 00:33:52,154
Now for a little while, if necessary,
you've been grieved by various trials

698
00:33:52,334 --> 00:33:56,144
so that the tested genuineness of your
faith, more precious than gold, that

699
00:33:56,144 --> 00:34:01,124
perishes, though it is tested by fire, may
be found a result in praise and glory and

700
00:34:01,124 --> 00:34:05,024
honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

701
00:34:06,945 --> 00:34:09,614
We are going to encounter trials
and, and Peter's writing to these

702
00:34:09,614 --> 00:34:12,525
elect exiles knowing that they were
going to encounter trials beyond what

703
00:34:12,525 --> 00:34:15,165
they had already suffered, beyond
what they had already encountered.

704
00:34:15,165 --> 00:34:17,775
And he's writing to them to say,
Hey, you know, that's coming,

705
00:34:18,135 --> 00:34:19,695
but you can even rejoice.

706
00:34:19,844 --> 00:34:22,304
And, and even in the midst of your
trial, you can know that these are

707
00:34:22,304 --> 00:34:25,755
not just accidents that are randomly
happening to you, but, but God's

708
00:34:25,755 --> 00:34:27,105
got a reason for these things.

709
00:34:28,665 --> 00:34:32,895
He says in, in this, you rejoice
though for a little while that phrase

710
00:34:32,895 --> 00:34:34,905
means in comparison to eternity.

711
00:34:34,905 --> 00:34:35,415
That's coming.

712
00:34:35,850 --> 00:34:38,670
In comparison to what our living
hope is, anchored to our living

713
00:34:38,670 --> 00:34:40,980
hope remembers not about the here
and now, but the then and there.

714
00:34:41,730 --> 00:34:45,090
And so our living hope is about casting
our gaze from the temporal to the eternal.

715
00:34:45,090 --> 00:34:52,260
And so for a little while, like Paul says,
the light momentary affliction, I get it.

716
00:34:52,260 --> 00:34:54,840
It doesn't necessarily feel like a
little while when you're in the midst

717
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:56,040
of the valley of the shadow of death.

718
00:34:57,600 --> 00:34:59,850
It doesn't feel like a
light momentary affliction.

719
00:35:01,455 --> 00:35:02,895
And that's kind of Peter's point here.

720
00:35:02,895 --> 00:35:05,985
He's reminding us that there's gonna
come a day when we're looking back at

721
00:35:05,985 --> 00:35:08,085
our life going, it was a little while.

722
00:35:09,465 --> 00:35:12,884
It was a light momentary
affliction because of what

723
00:35:12,884 --> 00:35:14,145
our living hope has for us.

724
00:35:14,535 --> 00:35:16,515
And this, you rejoice though if
necessary for a little while.

725
00:35:16,515 --> 00:35:17,384
He says There next.

726
00:35:17,415 --> 00:35:18,675
If necessary.

727
00:35:19,755 --> 00:35:20,565
If necessary.

728
00:35:20,715 --> 00:35:24,795
Your trials are not just a, the
result of a, a cosmic toddler with

729
00:35:24,795 --> 00:35:27,645
a magnifying glass up there just
wanting to zap fry little ants down

730
00:35:27,645 --> 00:35:28,455
here and be like, look at them.

731
00:35:28,455 --> 00:35:28,995
They're suffering.

732
00:35:28,995 --> 00:35:29,635
Ha ha, ha.

733
00:35:31,154 --> 00:35:31,545
No, no, no.

734
00:35:31,545 --> 00:35:34,305
God's brought them into your life
for a purpose and a a reason.

735
00:35:34,305 --> 00:35:35,415
They're necessary.

736
00:35:36,945 --> 00:35:38,745
They're necessary for what?

737
00:35:39,285 --> 00:35:41,654
Well, they're necessary
for where he is gonna go.

738
00:35:41,654 --> 00:35:44,865
The, the, the proving of our faith,
the tested genuineness of our faith.

739
00:35:44,865 --> 00:35:46,875
But that's part of the
comfort that we can have too.

740
00:35:46,875 --> 00:35:49,455
Knowing that God always has a reason,
always has a purpose for the trial

741
00:35:49,455 --> 00:35:50,625
that you're going through right now.

742
00:35:52,335 --> 00:35:55,875
He says for a little while, if necessary,
you've been grieved by various trials.

743
00:35:56,745 --> 00:35:57,855
I love that he puts that in there.

744
00:35:58,290 --> 00:36:00,690
Many different kinds of trials.

745
00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:04,320
I love that because there's, there's
no two kinds of trials in this

746
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:05,550
room that are exactly the same.

747
00:36:06,390 --> 00:36:09,090
Your experience is gonna be different
than every other person's experience in

748
00:36:09,090 --> 00:36:13,830
this room, but every trial brought into
the life of a believer has a purpose,

749
00:36:13,830 --> 00:36:15,090
and that's where it goes in verse seven.

750
00:36:15,810 --> 00:36:16,650
That purpose is what?

751
00:36:16,650 --> 00:36:17,400
So that.

752
00:36:18,134 --> 00:36:22,335
The tested genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold, that perishes,

753
00:36:22,335 --> 00:36:26,895
though it's tested by fire, may be found
to result in the praise and glory and

754
00:36:26,895 --> 00:36:29,924
honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

755
00:36:30,525 --> 00:36:35,835
God tries our faith in order to give us
a greater assurance in our living hope.

756
00:36:35,835 --> 00:36:39,674
In other words, God tries our faith so
that when we come through the trial,

757
00:36:40,154 --> 00:36:44,625
we can have a greater con confidence
in our standing with him than we

758
00:36:44,625 --> 00:36:45,600
did on the front end of that trial.

759
00:36:47,655 --> 00:36:50,955
He brings it in that the tested
genuineness of our faith may result

760
00:36:50,955 --> 00:36:53,805
in the praise and honor and glory
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

761
00:36:53,805 --> 00:36:58,725
By the way, y'all, that's your praise and
honor and glory as you hear the savior

762
00:36:58,725 --> 00:37:03,915
say, well done, good and faithful servant
as you've come through the life of exile.

763
00:37:03,915 --> 00:37:06,315
And yes, that praise is ultimately
gonna red down back to the

764
00:37:06,315 --> 00:37:08,355
glory of Jesus, but that's him.

765
00:37:08,355 --> 00:37:12,225
Commending your endurance, commending
your faithfulness, and that is the

766
00:37:12,225 --> 00:37:14,175
reason why the trials are necessary.

767
00:37:15,810 --> 00:37:20,520
Listen, y'all, the, the living hope
that we have is not earthbound, and

768
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,630
that's what Peter's admitting to
people that knew that all too well,

769
00:37:24,930 --> 00:37:26,700
these exiles that he was writing to.

770
00:37:27,930 --> 00:37:30,660
And in a room like this, I'm sure
that you know that all too well.

771
00:37:30,810 --> 00:37:34,770
Also, this life is not
about your best life now.

772
00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:39,060
This life is about living faithfully now.

773
00:37:40,215 --> 00:37:43,185
And you're able to do that as you endure
these trials, uh, in accordance with

774
00:37:43,185 --> 00:37:47,715
your living hope, the resurrection of
Christ, all that it is secured for you.

775
00:37:48,225 --> 00:37:51,855
And as we get into this, uh, uh, another
thing to consider is that when you

776
00:37:51,855 --> 00:37:55,815
encounter these trials, the enemy's gonna
be there with his temptations, with his

777
00:37:55,815 --> 00:37:59,355
lures, with his other ways out, for you
to escape the trial, for you to escape

778
00:37:59,355 --> 00:38:02,685
the pain, and for you to, to upend what
God is trying to do through the trial.

779
00:38:03,900 --> 00:38:05,820
Your living hope will reinforce you.

780
00:38:05,820 --> 00:38:09,270
Your living hope will restabilize
you so that you're able to endure.

781
00:38:09,270 --> 00:38:11,280
Our final point this morning
is this, reinforce your

782
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,590
resolve by your living hope.

783
00:38:14,430 --> 00:38:16,380
Reinforce your resolve
by your living hope.

784
00:38:18,870 --> 00:38:22,050
How many of y'all have heard that God will
never give you more than you can handle?

785
00:38:23,730 --> 00:38:26,010
How many of y'all have felt like
God has given you more than you can

786
00:38:26,010 --> 00:38:28,830
handle to all of us in this room?

787
00:38:29,940 --> 00:38:32,490
The Bible never says God will
give you, will never give you

788
00:38:32,490 --> 00:38:34,980
more than you can handle that.

789
00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:38,790
That's a, a misapplication of when Paul
says that you will never be tempted

790
00:38:38,790 --> 00:38:39,990
beyond what you're able or beyond.

791
00:38:39,990 --> 00:38:41,220
That which is common to man.

792
00:38:42,870 --> 00:38:45,180
God often gives us more
than we can handle.

793
00:38:46,410 --> 00:38:49,140
In fact, one of the main reasons he
does that is because of what we're

794
00:38:49,140 --> 00:38:50,820
looking at in this passage right now.

795
00:38:52,740 --> 00:38:58,830
Because when we weather by his power with
our hope in the living hope that we have

796
00:38:58,830 --> 00:39:02,340
the resurrected Jesus Christ, the future
inheritance that we have, what will happen

797
00:39:02,340 --> 00:39:06,270
is we're gonna come through that trial
stronger than we were at the outset.

798
00:39:06,570 --> 00:39:09,150
We're gonna come through that
trial with our faith more

799
00:39:09,150 --> 00:39:10,980
assured than it was beforehand.

800
00:39:12,210 --> 00:39:15,780
In fact, there probably is nothing
that gives you more assurance of

801
00:39:15,780 --> 00:39:18,060
faith than weathering a trial.

802
00:39:21,075 --> 00:39:22,725
Sermons can't do it the same way.

803
00:39:22,785 --> 00:39:26,445
Books can't do it the same way,
but weathering that trial, staying

804
00:39:26,445 --> 00:39:30,795
faithful to God through your living
hope will result in a great confidence,

805
00:39:30,795 --> 00:39:32,565
which is more precious than gold.

806
00:39:33,705 --> 00:39:38,385
When the Hoover Dam was built, it was
built with enough concrete to pave,

807
00:39:38,985 --> 00:39:42,015
to pave a road from San Francisco
all the way to New York City.

808
00:39:43,065 --> 00:39:44,805
That's how much concrete
is in the the Hoover Dam.

809
00:39:45,705 --> 00:39:46,305
It's a lot.

810
00:39:47,730 --> 00:39:52,410
But it's not just concrete in the
Hoover Dam because concrete is good

811
00:39:52,590 --> 00:39:54,720
at withstanding against compression.

812
00:39:54,930 --> 00:39:55,260
Right?

813
00:39:55,770 --> 00:39:59,460
But concrete's not real good at
withstanding against what tension.

814
00:40:00,450 --> 00:40:04,950
And, and so in order to strengthen that
Hoover Dam to be able to withstand all of

815
00:40:04,950 --> 00:40:08,520
the pounds of pressure that we're gonna be
up against it on just our consistent basis

816
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:13,890
from the, the Colorado River, they had
to put inside of the concrete what rebar.

817
00:40:14,745 --> 00:40:16,455
Rebar, it's called reinforced concrete.

818
00:40:16,845 --> 00:40:21,045
And the reason that people put these
strands of rebar within the concrete

819
00:40:21,255 --> 00:40:25,575
is that rebar reinforces the the
concrete against tension, so that

820
00:40:25,755 --> 00:40:28,755
if a crack happens in the surface
of the concrete, that crack is not

821
00:40:28,755 --> 00:40:31,215
gonna spread through the whole thing
and cause the whole thing to crumble.

822
00:40:32,175 --> 00:40:35,235
Without the rebar, the concrete is not
as strong as it would be otherwise.

823
00:40:37,005 --> 00:40:40,035
Church, the trials you endure
are the strands of rebar that God

824
00:40:40,035 --> 00:40:41,685
continues to add into your faith.

825
00:40:43,380 --> 00:40:46,710
To strengthen your faith so that
your faith will continue to hold up.

826
00:40:48,150 --> 00:40:50,700
I mentioned earlier temptations will
often accompany our trials and they

827
00:40:50,700 --> 00:40:54,780
will the temptation to try to get out
of the trial earlier through a sinful

828
00:40:54,780 --> 00:40:59,880
pursuit, or maybe it's to escape from
that reality and, and numb the pain

829
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:03,540
through indulging our sinful flesh and,
and just not having to think about the

830
00:41:03,540 --> 00:41:04,830
trial that we're going through right now.

831
00:41:06,585 --> 00:41:09,225
We do this, we short circuit, we upend.

832
00:41:09,225 --> 00:41:13,635
We pervert God's purposes for those
trials in our lives, which are to

833
00:41:13,635 --> 00:41:17,745
strengthen our faith, which are to
cause us to have a greater resolve.

834
00:41:19,035 --> 00:41:21,735
This is what James meant in James
one, two through four when he said,

835
00:41:21,735 --> 00:41:23,205
count it all, join my brothers.

836
00:41:23,205 --> 00:41:26,805
When you meet trials of various
kinds for you know that the

837
00:41:26,805 --> 00:41:30,675
testing of your faith produces
endurance or produces steadfastness.

838
00:41:31,785 --> 00:41:38,145
And let James says, let that steadfastness
have its full effect that you may be

839
00:41:38,145 --> 00:41:39,915
perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

840
00:41:40,125 --> 00:41:42,345
Let Steadfastness have its full effect.

841
00:41:43,065 --> 00:41:47,985
When, when we seek to get out of the trial
early, we're not letting steadfastness

842
00:41:47,985 --> 00:41:49,575
have its full effect in our life.

843
00:41:49,965 --> 00:41:53,475
We're short circuiting we're, we're
upending what God wants us to do.

844
00:41:54,615 --> 00:41:58,665
And so when you're faced with
that temptation to evade the trial

845
00:41:58,665 --> 00:42:00,945
through something that you know
is wrong and sinful, but you're

846
00:42:00,945 --> 00:42:03,525
thinking this is just gonna gimme
a temporary repre reprieve from the

847
00:42:03,525 --> 00:42:08,145
pain or the stress or the anxiety,
you know, because of the resurrected

848
00:42:08,145 --> 00:42:12,075
Christ, you don't have to go there.

849
00:42:13,065 --> 00:42:14,115
You can stay faithful.

850
00:42:15,285 --> 00:42:17,205
In Romans chapter six, Paul explains that.

851
00:42:18,420 --> 00:42:21,360
He says that, that we've been united
to him in a death like his, and

852
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,100
also in a resurrection like his.

853
00:42:23,100 --> 00:42:26,130
He says, starting in verse six, he says
this, we know that our old self was

854
00:42:26,130 --> 00:42:29,880
crucified with him in order that the body
of sin might be brought to nothing, in

855
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:34,470
other words, rendered powerless, so that
we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

856
00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:36,900
For the one who died has
been set free from sin.

857
00:42:37,140 --> 00:42:40,800
Now, if we have died with Christ, we
believe we will also live with him.

858
00:42:41,250 --> 00:42:44,670
We know that Christ being raised
from the dead will never die again.

859
00:42:44,910 --> 00:42:48,090
Death no longer has dominion
over him for the death he died.

860
00:42:48,090 --> 00:42:49,620
He died to sin once for all.

861
00:42:49,620 --> 00:42:52,500
But the life he lives, he lives to God.

862
00:42:52,500 --> 00:42:53,380
And you're thinking to
yourself, yeah, but.

863
00:42:53,765 --> 00:42:55,175
But that's a future resurrection.

864
00:42:55,295 --> 00:42:58,865
And Paul says it's a future reality
that has present implications

865
00:42:58,865 --> 00:42:59,885
because he continues on.

866
00:43:00,005 --> 00:43:06,245
So you must also consider yourselves dead
to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

867
00:43:06,750 --> 00:43:08,430
Your Lord, verse 12.

868
00:43:08,430 --> 00:43:12,510
Let not sin, therefore reign in your
mortal body to make you obey its passions.

869
00:43:12,810 --> 00:43:15,900
Don't present your members to sin
as instruments for unrighteousness,

870
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:18,810
but present yourselves to God as
those who have been brought from

871
00:43:18,810 --> 00:43:23,550
death to life and your members to
God as instruments for righteousness.

872
00:43:23,550 --> 00:43:26,880
And so again, church, when you're
tempted to short circuit the trial

873
00:43:26,970 --> 00:43:31,440
by pursuing sinful escapes, no, you
don't have to because Jesus is alive.

874
00:43:32,820 --> 00:43:33,930
You have a living savior.

875
00:43:34,515 --> 00:43:35,835
You have the spirit dwelling within you.

876
00:43:36,165 --> 00:43:40,185
You've been born again, and you have
the ability now to withstand and resist.

877
00:43:40,185 --> 00:43:41,565
I had a mentor in college, tell me this.

878
00:43:41,565 --> 00:43:46,035
He said, pj, don't sacrifice eternity
on the altar of immediate gratification.

879
00:43:48,525 --> 00:43:50,025
Withstand endure.

880
00:43:50,295 --> 00:43:55,035
Hold up under the tension and know
you can because of your living hope.

881
00:43:57,735 --> 00:43:58,575
Maybe it looks like this.

882
00:43:58,575 --> 00:43:59,535
Your kid is sick.

883
00:44:00,900 --> 00:44:03,420
And your favorite Instagram influencer
just told you that it's because

884
00:44:03,420 --> 00:44:04,680
you've been using the wrong detergent.

885
00:44:06,450 --> 00:44:07,260
You laugh.

886
00:44:09,090 --> 00:44:09,780
You laugh.

887
00:44:10,830 --> 00:44:13,290
So you begin to spiral on that.

888
00:44:14,550 --> 00:44:15,300
You begin to doubt.

889
00:44:15,300 --> 00:44:17,340
You begin to, to, to fall into despair.

890
00:44:17,340 --> 00:44:20,490
And this is a, the, the, the trial
is man, your, your kid is sick.

891
00:44:22,890 --> 00:44:25,020
You have a living savior who
knows that, who loves you, who

892
00:44:25,020 --> 00:44:25,990
loves your child more than you do.

893
00:44:27,630 --> 00:44:30,780
You have a God, Psalm 1 39, who
knit that child together in your

894
00:44:30,780 --> 00:44:32,190
mo, in it's his mother's womb.

895
00:44:33,270 --> 00:44:36,000
You have a God who has determined the days
of that child's life from beginning to

896
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:37,620
end before one of them even came to pass.

897
00:44:39,060 --> 00:44:41,160
You have a a God that's
saying, do you trust me?

898
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,615
But you also have your flesh over here
that's saying, this is your fault, and

899
00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:49,680
you have the flesh over here that's going.

900
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:53,430
Why don't you jump onto the endless
doom, scrolling in real after real

901
00:44:53,430 --> 00:44:55,320
and find out all the other things
in your house that are giving.

902
00:44:55,875 --> 00:44:59,415
Your family cancer and causing diabetes
and everything else like that, and, and

903
00:44:59,415 --> 00:45:03,495
get rid of it all because you, you are
single-handedly killing your whole family

904
00:45:05,655 --> 00:45:07,605
and you're being crushed under
the weight of that anxiety.

905
00:45:10,065 --> 00:45:11,115
What do you do in that moment?

906
00:45:12,225 --> 00:45:13,185
Well, your living hope,

907
00:45:15,500 --> 00:45:20,775
I hope I pray, causes you to
remember someone 39 causes you to

908
00:45:20,775 --> 00:45:23,835
remember, man, that, that God has
given you the task of loving your

909
00:45:23,835 --> 00:45:24,940
child and nurturing your child.

910
00:45:25,590 --> 00:45:29,490
Doing the best that you can, but
also remembering that you are not

911
00:45:29,490 --> 00:45:31,470
sustaining his life, Jesus is.

912
00:45:34,980 --> 00:45:38,190
And to remember that God has
called you not to be anxious,

913
00:45:38,970 --> 00:45:40,380
but to bring your request to him.

914
00:45:43,650 --> 00:45:44,430
Different scenario.

915
00:45:45,509 --> 00:45:48,120
Maybe you're in a marriage where
you just feel like your spouse

916
00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:49,470
doesn't pay enough attention to you.

917
00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:54,210
If you're in a marriage and, and man,
you feel like more, your marriage is

918
00:45:54,210 --> 00:45:59,610
more like roommates than it is husband
and wife, and so you are all of a sudden

919
00:45:59,640 --> 00:46:01,950
tempted to look at greener pastures.

920
00:46:03,660 --> 00:46:05,850
In fact, you notice greener
pastures all the time.

921
00:46:05,855 --> 00:46:08,340
You, you look around a room like this
and you see other marriages, and you

922
00:46:08,340 --> 00:46:10,620
think to yourself, man, why can't
my marriage be like that marriage?

923
00:46:11,220 --> 00:46:12,750
Why can't my spouse be like that spouse?

924
00:46:12,750 --> 00:46:14,250
Why can't my husband be like that husband?

925
00:46:17,445 --> 00:46:20,685
Then you begin to to fantasize even about
what it would be like to be with someone

926
00:46:20,685 --> 00:46:25,305
else, someone who met your needs, who
cared for you, the way that you need to

927
00:46:25,305 --> 00:46:29,775
be cared for, the way that you want to be
cared for somebody who could hold a job.

928
00:46:33,195 --> 00:46:35,325
The trial is you've got a hard marriage.

929
00:46:37,785 --> 00:46:41,115
The temptation is you can get outta that.

930
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:45,270
Your needs that aren't being met
by them, why don't you go find

931
00:46:45,270 --> 00:46:50,400
them, be met by somebody else, a
person, a website, a phone call,

932
00:46:53,730 --> 00:46:56,820
and where we're at here in this final
point is realizing, man, God has, has

933
00:46:56,820 --> 00:47:03,420
brought the trial to show the tested
genuineness of your faith so that in

934
00:47:03,420 --> 00:47:05,340
that moment where you're going, man,
my marriage isn't where I want it

935
00:47:05,340 --> 00:47:07,440
to be, but I gotta remember, man, my
marriage is more about the glory of

936
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:08,910
God and Jesus than it is about me.

937
00:47:10,275 --> 00:47:13,575
I gotta remember that God has called
me to be this type of husband, this

938
00:47:13,575 --> 00:47:18,375
type of wife, and I have to remember
that this marriage is meant to remind

939
00:47:18,375 --> 00:47:21,585
me of the greater relationship that I
know that is certain, that I know that

940
00:47:21,585 --> 00:47:25,395
I have, and that is my relationship
with God through Jesus Christ and his

941
00:47:25,395 --> 00:47:26,924
love for the, the church, his bride.

942
00:47:33,045 --> 00:47:38,444
When you fight like that, it's showing
off the genuineness of your faith.

943
00:47:40,095 --> 00:47:44,895
The tested genuineness of your faith and
it's more valuable than anything else

944
00:47:44,895 --> 00:47:46,455
you might pursue to escape that trial.

945
00:47:47,235 --> 00:47:50,444
If the trial costs you, your comfort,
your satisfaction, your security,

946
00:47:50,444 --> 00:47:54,765
your job, your marriage, look at what
Peter says about that tested faith.

947
00:47:54,765 --> 00:47:56,505
Still, it's more precious than gold

948
00:47:59,174 --> 00:48:01,875
because it anchors you even
closer to your living hope.

949
00:48:02,955 --> 00:48:05,775
Again, if, if we are the exiled
church, we should expect.

950
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:07,770
Life to be less than ideal.

951
00:48:07,770 --> 00:48:11,250
More often than not,
this is what Jesus said.

952
00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:15,090
He told his followers, I'm sending you
out a sheep in the midst of wolves.

953
00:48:15,870 --> 00:48:19,620
If you haven't watched National
Geographic recently, wolves and sheep,

954
00:48:19,860 --> 00:48:21,240
they don't hang out together very often.

955
00:48:21,900 --> 00:48:24,060
Wolves tend to unli sheep.

956
00:48:26,940 --> 00:48:30,635
Jesus also said this, they're, they're
gonna hate you because they hated me.

957
00:48:33,180 --> 00:48:34,050
What else did Jesus said?

958
00:48:34,050 --> 00:48:36,360
He said, you know what family member
is gonna betray family member?

959
00:48:39,390 --> 00:48:41,460
He said, you're gonna be
hated, not just by a few.

960
00:48:41,460 --> 00:48:43,770
You're gonna be hated by
all for my name's sake.

961
00:48:46,950 --> 00:48:51,145
So you can think about it this way,
church, we're going to encounter

962
00:48:51,145 --> 00:48:55,320
trials, and that trial is gonna
say more about your soul than it is

963
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:58,680
about your body or your possessions,
or anything else that you have.

964
00:49:00,330 --> 00:49:02,940
Will the tested genuineness of
your faith show up because of your

965
00:49:02,940 --> 00:49:04,470
confidence and trust in Jesus?

966
00:49:06,300 --> 00:49:10,350
The living hope that you have, the
resurrected savior reinforces your resolve

967
00:49:10,710 --> 00:49:14,310
by this living Hope so, praise God.

968
00:49:16,050 --> 00:49:16,500
Praise God.

969
00:49:16,500 --> 00:49:20,040
Because Jesus is alive and, and
because Jesus is alive, you'll never

970
00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:21,600
lack a reason to say praise God.

971
00:49:23,670 --> 00:49:25,920
So I hope that that truth
will energize you this week.

972
00:49:26,910 --> 00:49:31,680
I hope that that truth will soothe your
doubts this week, and I hope that that

973
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:35,130
truth will reinforce your resolve for the
trials that God may be bringing your way

974
00:49:35,430 --> 00:49:37,230
If you aren't already in one this week.

975
00:49:38,370 --> 00:49:40,050
Will you stand with me
as we pray together?