You're listening to a message preached at Front Range Baptist Church by Pastor Dean Miller. It is our prayer that this message will be a help and an encouragement to you in your spiritual walk. Now, here's Pastor Miller.

I heard about some college boys that went over to visit this widow lady, and uh she was uh she was uh in her home sick and dying, and the college boys went over and they read that verse to her, uh, I will, out of uh the book of Hebrews, I will never leave you or forsake you. And one of those one of those little seminarian boys, he said, he said, now in the Greek, this is in a tense that says, I will never, ever, no, never, ever, no, never leave you. And that little widow lady said, now for you, for you boys, you might need to say it three times, but for me, he only needed to say it once. I will never leave you or forsake you. And uh, I love that kind of faith. 1 Peter chapter 1, and we're preaching about rock solid. We're gonna go through 1 and 2 Peter, and we're laying a foundation for our faith. If you're gonna have a rock solid faith, it's got to be on a foundation. And last week we preached on 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 2, that our salvation is tied back into eternity in the elect foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit. Now, before you get uh up in arms about that and rev your theological engines, go back and listen to that message that salvation is of God. We, yes, we have a responsibility. Uh you say, is it is it uh is it God's election or is it our faith? Yes. God elects, we believe. With God, it is election and foreknowledge. With us, it's whosoever will may come. And we thank God for that. And so I want you to go back and listen to that message uh verse number two. Today we're gonna look at verses three through five. Look at with me, please. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse number 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I like that word lively. That's an old English word, lively hope. Uh, some will say living hope. And uh and there's a difference between lively and living. I can take you up to the hospital today. We can go visit the ICU, and you'll see a lot of people up there who are living but not lively. And we as Christians are to have a lively hope. It's to be an active hope. It's to be a hope that is seen, a hope that is lived out. So he said he's begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Father, bless the reading of your word. And now, as we take a few moments to preach it and to proclaim it and to give the sense and the meaning of it, I pray, Lord, that your spirit would work and be our teacher. He is the wonderful, wonderful uh illuminator of Scripture. And so, Lord, help all of us today to hear what the Spirit says in Jesus' name, amen. Notice those two words in verse 3 begotten again. He hath begotten us again. Look at those two words, begotten again. Another way to say that is we are born again. In fact, look over at verse 23 in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 23. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. Peter is laying a foundation for these believers who are scattered. Now listen, these are suffering believers, these are scattered believers, these are believers who are under heavy persecution. Many of these people got saved at Pentecost. Many of these were saved in the days of the early church. And in Acts chapter 8, when there was heavy persecution, they were scattered throughout all of Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bathenia, in other words, modern-day Turkey. These people are up there and they're living as Jewish people among Gentiles, but not just Jewish people. They are believers, they're saved people. So these are twice-hated people, and they are enduring heavy persecution. And the apostle Peter is going to give to them instruction through this book on how to stand in the trials. But listen, before you can stand in your trials, you better be sure of your standing in Christ. Because nothing else matters. Listen, if you do not have a standing in Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter how you endure trials, how you endure persecution, if you do not have a sure standing, I will tell you, you will fall. And uh Jesus is the foundation. No other foundation can be laid than this that is laid in Christ Jesus. And so you and I are built on the foundation of Christ. And uh and the apostle Peter is giving this to these scattered people as a place of assurance to your standing in Christ. The foundation of the Christian is an unshakable foundation in the new birth. Now, why is that important? The new birth. I remember in the 70s being born again. I was a kid, but being born again became kind of a cultural phenomenon. Many of you, how many of you are old enough to remember in the 70s the born again movement, the Jesus movement? It was on all the bumper stickers, born again. Now, as a little kid, like, hey, they're born again, hey, they're born again. Many of them were probably talking about something that happened during an LSD trip, but that it wasn't necessarily the new birth in Jesus Christ. But the born-again experience, the born-again life of the believer is absolutely essential. Listen to me. You are not saved by religion and good works and baptism and joining in a church. You're not saved because you're a good person. Jesus told Nicodemus, he's the one that introduced this term, Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3, he said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must be born again. Now that term literally means being born from above. Jesus explained it this way: that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Every one of you sitting in this room today had a flesh birthday. You have a birthday that you celebrate once a year. And that was the day that you were born. You became, uh you were born into this life. You're a human being with a body and a soul. But I got news for you. You were born in Adam and in the likeness of Adam, so you're only a body and soul. Uh when Adam was created, he was created in the image of God. He was body, soul, and spirit. His body put him in touch with the earth beneath him. He could see it, taste it, touch it, feel it. Uh his soul put him in touch with the world around him. And that is uh his emotions, his intellect, his will, he could communicate as a human being. But it was the spirit that put him in touch with the world above him. God could walk with him in the cool of the day, and he could fellowship with God. But the minute that Adam sinned, he died in the day he sinned. How did he die? He didn't die physically, he didn't die emotionally and uh and intellectually, he died spiritually, cut off from God. And then the Bible says in in uh in uh uh Genesis chapter 4 that then Adam had a son in his own likeness, born body and soul. A man is born with a life that can be in the natural physical world with natural senses, he can be in touch with the world beneath him. A man that's born with a soul, he can he can communicate and interact with the world around him. But I want to tell you something. Until a man has been born again, born from above spiritually, he cannot have fellowship with God. So a man must be born again. Born of the flesh and born of the spirit are two different things. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Verily, verily I say unto thee, you must be born again. Look at me. If you've never been born again, I don't care how long you've been in church, I don't care how good of a person you are, how much of the Bible you know, you can be a church member and that's it. But if you've never been born again, you must be born again. One old preacher always preached being born again, and somebody said, Why do you always preach on being born again? He said, Because you must be born again. It is a must. You will never, you will never enter into the kingdom of God unless you have been born from above. That is a spiritual birth that makes a man a new creation. And I love this because when you're born again, the Bible says this, the Bible says this in John chapter 1, but as many as received him, Jesus, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. The minute that you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he gives you a new birth. The Spirit of God comes in you and makes you alive, just like that, and now you have a new birth and you're a child of God. And notice the progression in chapter 1, verse 3. Look at this. We have a new birth in verse 3. Now we're in the family, so we have an inheritance in verse number 4, and we are kept by the power of God in verse 5. So there's a progression to our salvation here in this sense. When I get born again, I have a new birth. But that new birth puts me in the family, I get a new inheritance. And that new inheritance leads me into a new power and a new life. And I'm going to give those to you. This is a great security, by the way. We can, because we've been born again, we can have assurance and confidence in every circumstance of life because you've been born again. Look at, look at. You need to know that you know that you know that you've been born again. Jesus saved you and you can know it. You don't have to hope for it, wish for it, think about it, you can know it. Let me give you three things. I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit to write these on your heart. Number one, Peter's giving us a rock solid foundation. So, number one, we stand with a living hope. He's teaching these people if you're gonna stand in trials, you better know how to stand in Christ and where you're standing in Christ is. And what do we do what do we find? We find number one, we stand with a living hope. Our salvation brings to us a living hope. Look at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again. I want to tell you today that it is out of God's abundant mercy, according to his abundant mercy that he has given you a new life. And I love the fact that God said mercy. Why? Because mercy is something that is unearned and undeserved. Nobody is worthy of it. God gave you mercy. God had mercy on you and gave his son for you. You did not earn this, you did not deserve this, but God gave you abundant mercy to give you this new life and to bring you into his family. What a joy it is today that we have mercy. Abundant mercy, that word abundant speaks of unending, everlasting, undeserving, inexhaustible. It is an abundant mercy that you can never exhaust. I love that old writer, Thomas Brooks. He's an old Puritan writer from the 1600s. Thomas Brooks said, There is more mercy in Jesus than there is sin in me. There is more mercy in Jesus than sin in me. And by the way, you better hope and thank God that that's true. Because there's a lot of sin in you. And there's a lot of sin in me, and we have an abundant mercy that is begotten us again. Now I love this because this is this is echoed in Titus chapter 3 and verse 5, when the apostle Paul said that we are saved not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy. He hath saved us. I love the fact that both Peter and Paul say according to his mercy. And why? I'm glad they didn't say that he saved us out of his mercy. No, he didn't save us out of his mercy, he saved us according to his mercy. Now you say, why, what's the big difference? Well, let's just say for a moment that you had some some serious debts. And you just happened to run into a guy named Elon. And you were talking to Elon about your financial standing and it's not so hot. Do you want Elon Musk, and he decided I'm gonna give you something? Now let me ask you a question. Do you want Elon to give you out of his wealth? Or do you want Elon to give you according to his wealth? Think about that. If he gave you five bucks, he gave that to you out of his wealth. But if he gave you according to his wealth, we and the money. I mean to tell you today that God did not just give you out of his mercy, God gave you according to his mercy. And it is abundant mercy, inexhaustible mercy, unending mercy. It is mercy everlasting. You see, the believer stands with a living hope. Why? The living hope, our source of our hope, is the mercy of God. Now I want to tell you something. Unbelievers do not have hope. Unbelievers do not have hope. This is what's going on out in the world today. They have no hope. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 12 that uh when we were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, without hope in this world. That's what he said. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 12, without hope. The Apostle Paul echoed that in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 when he said to believers who had just buried their loved ones, he said, sorrow, but we sorrow not as those who have no hope. I'm looking at a I'm looking at some believers today. Many of you have stood by the graveside of a loved one. Perhaps you've had the unfortunate um task of burying a spouse, or unfortunately a child, or a grandchild, a friend, a fellow church member. You've had to bury somebody, and I will tell you, you wept and you felt the grief at that moment at a graveside. But I will tell you what you didn't feel if you're a believer in Christ. You did not feel hopeless. In our sorrow, we have hope, but believers have no hope. Believers have unbelievers have no hope. Unbelievers have no hope. When they go to a grave, life is over, it's all done. This is it, this is the final resting place. I'll never see them again. They have no hope. Why? They're unbelievers. Unbelievers do not have a living hope. You and I, because of the mercy of God, have hope. Now, hope in our world today is wishful thinking. Like, I hope this happens. I hope, I hope that I win the lottery. I hope that uh I have a rich uncle. I hope. But I will tell you something. I hope in the Bible is not wishful thinking. I hope in the Bible is confident, concrete, and steel. It is assurance, it is something that you can bank on. I have a hope and a confidence in the mercy of God because of God's abundant mercy, He has given me a hope that's a living hope. And I have that hope. By the way, this is why unbelievers have no hope. And this is why, on a beautiful Saturday morning in Colorado, when people could go up and enjoy the beautiful mountains, they could go sit by a stream, they could go catch a fish in a lake, get on a boat, go on a paddleboard. They could go do something, anything. But what do people do? They get up in the morning and they get there, they get themselves dressed, and they get a little sign and they write on it, fascist. And they stand on a street corner. And they just went, huh? And people, they just suck everybody's exhaust and they wait for people to hung, huh? I'm like, you live in Colorado. Go in Costco and just buy an ice cream and then take a trip. Do something with your life other than but why what motivates them to go stand out? They're fascist. You know why? They have no hope. Their hope is in Washington. Now, I got news for you. The guy in the White House, I don't know if you guys know this or not, but they change that every four years. And there's been a lot of times I hope they changed it. A few years ago, we were all hoping. Can we change this? Now, I'm just telling you today, if your hope is in Washington, D.C., you're in trouble. If your hope is in Wall Street, if your hope is in money, if your hope is in the economy, if your hope is in anything other than Jesus, you have no hope. But see, those of us in Christ, we don't have a wishful thinking. We have a living hope, a confidence in Christ. And the source of that is mercy, the mercy of God. But what's the means of it? How do we get this hope? Look at it. Verse 3. We have been begotten again unto a lively hope. Watch this. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. What is the means of our hope? The means of our hope is the resurrection. Jesus Christ, listen, when he went into that grave, all hope went in there with him. The disciples forsook him and fled. The two disciples on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24, they were walking and they said, We really hope that he was the one. We really believed he was the one, but he died. Their hope was dashed. When Jesus went in that grave, hope went in that grave with him. But when Jesus came out of that grave, hope came out alive with him. Jesus came out living and alive. You say, but how do we really know that he's alive? Uh uh come on. I mean, think about it for a minute. Jesus predicted his death and his resurrection. He had eyewitnesses, individual eyewitnesses, groups of eyewitnesses, people who saw him alive. You can see the transformation of those people who knew Jesus Christ before and then after his resurrection. See Simon, who forsook him and fled. But now after he saw the resurrected Christ, he became Peter, who defended the faith and stood up boldly and proclaimed the gospel. These men's lives and women's lives were transformed and changed because of the resurrected Christ. Jesus' own brother, his half-brother James, who did not believe on him before he died. But after he met him after his resurrection, James became a mighty man and a pillar in the church and the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. James became a great and wonderful man. He wrote the book of James. He was one who's he said he called Jesus. I am, he's my, I am an apostle, a servant of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I mean, James was a man transformed. How do we know Jesus rose from the dead? Just look at the look at the eyewitnesses, look at the evidence. I preached a sermon years ago. God's funeral arrangements for his son. When you go into looking at everything that had to be done to get Jesus buried, everything that went into his burial was all part of the evidence of his resurrection. The Romans sealing the tomb with the Roman seal, them putting the Roman guards outside. I mean, they did everything they could do to make it absolutely impossible for that man to come out of that grave any other way than through resurrection. Jesus rose again from the dead. I could cite so many things today, but I mean, I'm a living testimony of the transformation of my life through the resurrected Jesus Christ. Lee Strobel, who was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York, for the Chicago Tribune, and an atheist. His wife came to faith in Jesus Christ, and he was angry about that and set out to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And uh he put all of his journalistic investigation power into this, and for weeks and weeks and weeks, he did nothing but try to disprove Jesus. And at the end of his study, Lee Strobel could do one thing. He could only bow before Jesus Christ and receive him as his Lord and Savior. Lee Strobel said these words. He said, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best attested to event of the ancient world. Look, people that think that you and I are walking, that we, you know, we just take a leap of faith into this blind faith of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at me. We as believers are not living in a blind faith, we are walking in the light. We are we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the evidence for Jesus Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection. And that is the means, listen to me, that's the means of our hope. Look, the fact that Jesus went into that grave and came out victorious over sin, over hell, over death, that is the means of our hope. You and I are standing today with a living hope. Why? Because of the mercy of God and by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I have hope. Not just in this life, but in the life to come. Let me give you number two. I said, number one, we stand with a living hope. Number two, we stand in a new inheritance. We stand in a new inheritance. Look at verse 4. He said that Jesus Christ raised from the dead to an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Now, what why is that so important? A new inheritance. Look, when Jesus was living, Jesus put us in his last will and testament. Read John chapter 17. And you'll find Jesus' prayer. Jesus puts us into his will. Jesus said these words all the That the Father hath given me, I give unto you. Jesus, everything that the Father gave to Christ, Christ gave to us. He made us heirs of all that he had. And then what did he do? Then he executed that will through his death. When Jesus died, we became the inheritors of all that was his. But according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he rose again from the dead so that he could be joint heirs with us. So what Jesus did in his life, he gave us everything that he had. Then he died to execute the will so that it would all be ours. So everything that was Christ was now transferred to us by his will and testament. So all that was Christ is ours. And he died. But then he rose again from the dead and said, Let's enjoy this together. I mean, could you imagine your grandpa giving you his boat? I mean, grandpa wills you his boat and grandpa dies. And it would be a wonderful thing to have grandpa's boat, but wouldn't it be something else if you were out on the lake one day cruising around the lake on grandpa's boat and you looked over on the shore and there was grandpa? And grandpa was waving you down and said, Hey, I just came back from heaven so I could ride the boat with you. Now that would be something. First of all, that wouldn't be Gramps. And I'd be driving that boat as fast as I could go. Away from whatever that was. But let me just tell you something. This is what Jesus did. Jesus said, All that the Father has given me, I give to you. Jesus died to make us the inheritors of all of his riches and his wealth and glory. But then he rose again from the dead to enjoy it with us, to be a joint heir with us. I get all of his riches with him. Now see, if I had an everlasting hope, but I only had that hope in this life, the Bible says I would be of most men most miserable. But I have an inheritance that I'm going to have for eternity. And let me show you this inheritance. Number one, it is incorruptible. What does that mean? It can't decay. It never ages. You can inherit something from your parents, but I will tell you something, that thing will decay. Your parents might give you their car, but that car is going to break down. Your parents might give you that, your grandpa might give you that boat, but that boat's going to get a hole in it. The engine's going to need to be rebuilt. The upholstery's going to fade. That boat, that boat is not always going to last. That is not an incorruptible, that is not an incorruptible inheritance. But what Jesus gave us is incorruptible. It never decays, it never ages. Not only that, it is undefiled. What does that mean? That means no rust, no moss, no, no, uh, no, no moths. Nothing comes through to corrupt it. It will not disappoint. It is an inheritance that will never fade, it says. It never fades away. What does that mean? The excitement of it never wanes away. Its beauty never diminishes. What Jesus gave you is going to thrill your soul forever. Do you know that you're not going to get to heaven one day and sometime in the ages to come be in heaven and go, what's next? You're never going to be born in heaven. The Bible says, in his presence is the fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore. I want to tell you, it is exceeding abundantly above all that you could ask or think. It is an inheritance that is incorruptible. It is an inheritance that's undefiled. It's an inheritance that fades not away. And I love this. It's reserved in heaven for you. That word reserved means that it is safeguarded, it is shielded. It is reserved. God, listen, and it's not here on earth. It's reservation is in heaven. I travel quite a bit, and I can tell you that several times in my travels, I have gotten to a car rental place after a long flight, and I stood in line, and I got up there, and the lady had her long fingernails clicking on that keyboard. Can I help you? And I said, I'm here to get my car, I've got a reservation. We don't have any more cars. You're a car rental place, right? And I need to rent a car. And I have a reservation. But we gave your car away. I don't think you know how the reservation process works. Because when I made the reservation, you just keep a car here for me. And when I get here, you give me the keys, and I get to drive away. Sir, we know how it works. I don't think so. I've been at a hotel before. Walk up and say, hey, I need to check into my room. Oh, sir, we're at capacity. We had to give away your room. Well, what do you mean you gave away my room? I have a reservation. I have a confirmation number. We're so sorry. Oh, you're about to be sorry. Aren't you a pastor? Yeah, but let me just tell you something. Nobody knows that. And if we're all forgetting stuff, I'm about to forget some stuff. You ever been there? You ever made a reservation and then you got there and they didn't have the reservation? I want to tell you something. When you get to heaven, there's a reservation for you, and they didn't forget. When you get to heaven, your name is written in the book. When you get to heaven, they're gonna say, Welcome. The Lord's gonna say, Enter into the joy of your Lord. This is yours. This is home. It's reserved, it's safeguarded, it's protected. You say, Well, what is this inheritance? What is that? Inheritance, listen, it's defined for us in two verses. Look at verse five. He said in verse five, who are kept by the power of God through faith and to salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Look at verse number nine. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. What is our inheritance? It is salvation. Our inheritance is salvation, it is deliverance, it is all that God has given to us in Christ. This inheritance is salvation, and that salvation is reserved for you. And I love this. Just like we talked about last week in verse number two, that it was the Father that uh that that elected and foreknew us, and the Spirit of God that that uh sanctified us, and the Son who sprinkled his blood. Just like the Trinity was involved in my salvation, God thought it, and Jesus bought it, and the Holy Spirit wrought it, and thank God I got it. The whole Trinity was involved in my in my salvation. Not only is the Trinity involved in my salvation, but my salvation has a triune nature of itself. In other words, my salvation has a past. I was saved. I was saved on a on a night in August. I was saved. But I am being saved presently. The Holy Spirit is sanctifying me and making me more like Christ. I am being saved. But listen to me, I will be saved. When I walk into glory, I am saved. My salvation has a past and a present and a future. It is eternal, it is just like the Lord. And I want to tell you that that inheritance, I am standing in that inheritance, I am saved. Let me give you the last thing and we'll go home. Number three. Not only do we stand with the new birth and we stand in a new inheritance, but watch this, we stand on the power of God. We stand on the power of God. Look at verse number five. Who, speaking of us, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Listen, I am kept by the power of God. I am standing on the power of God. The word kept is a military term. It means to guard, to surround with soldiers. It means to protect. This is what God told Adam in the Garden of Eden. He said, Adam, I'm giving you this garden. I want you to tend it. That was the producing, that was that was the providing that Adam was to do through the garden. He was to provide food as a man who's to be a provider. But not only that, he said, I want you to tend it and keep it, to protect it. To protect it. The Bible says in the book of Philippians, chapter 4, that the peace of God keeps my heart and mind. It protects my mind. It protects my heart. I am guarded by the peace of God. Well, in this power, in this in this passage of scripture, my salvation is protected and kept by the power of God. What does that mean? It means this today, church. It means that I am not keeping my own salvation. I'm not keeping myself saved. It is not by my strength, it is not by my own consistency, it's not by my emotions. Thank God it's not by my emotions. People who think that salvation is an emotional experience, listen, if you ride your emotions, you're on a roller coaster. How many of you have ever woke up in the morning and you didn't feel saved? Have you ever had days you didn't feel like reading your Bible? You ever had days you didn't felt like you didn't feel like praying? Here's one for you. You ever had some Sundays where you didn't feel like going to church? Look at how you guys are looking at me right now. You're looking at me with this, like, uh, not us, Pastor. We I mean you're very judgy right now. I feel judged. I'm just telling you, there are days I wake up, I don't feel saved. There are days when I wake up and I don't feel saved that my wife doesn't think I'm saved. There are days I wake up, I don't feel like reading my Bible. I don't feel like praying. This might surprise you, and you can keep judging me. There are Sundays I don't feel like going to church. But our salvation isn't based on our emotions and our feelings. If it was, we would be altogether unstable. Because our emotions, listen, I can feel saved at 12 o'clock and I can feel unsaved by 12.05. I am not keeping myself saved through my consistency and through my emotions and through my effort. Listen, listen, I am being kept by the omnipotent power of Almighty God. I am kept by the power of God. Jesus said in John chapter 10, my sheep hear my voice and they learn of me. Listen, here's what he said. And I give unto them eternal life, and no man shall pluck them out of my father's hand. Somebody one time said, Well, you can pluck yourself out. Well, then you're not a man. Because the Bible says, no man can pluck you out of the Father's hand. Look, I am kept by the power of God through faith. I'm not kept by the power of Dean through good works. I'm not kept to the power of Dean through striving. Listen to me very carefully. What Peter's simply saying is this you cannot lose the salvation that God is keeping for you. Church, listen, if you could lose your salvation, you would. Some of you can't stop losing your car keys. Some of you lose your cell phone all the time. You better thank the Lord you have Siri on your phone. Because sometimes you're looking for your phone. Hey Siri. Mm-hmm. Oh, there it is. Look, I'm just telling you, our hope is in the power of God. You know what, Noah? Noah is a great example in the Old Testament. Noah built the ark. God was going to judge the world. The things that were written in the Old Testament were written for our learning. God said, Noah, I want you to build this ark. He built the ark, and then God said, Now go in the ark. Or didn't he? God didn't say go in. God said, Come in. He was already in there. God said, Come in the ark. So Noah and his family came in the ark. And then God shut the door and shut him in. Now you know what God didn't do? God didn't put eight nails on the outside of the ark and say, okay, Noah, here, get your whole family. Everybody grab a nail. And he that endures to the end shall be saved. Can you see Noah out there hanging? Hang in there, kids. Noah, listen, Noah wasn't hanging on to the ark, the ark was hanging on to him. Noah went into that ark and sat down in the comfort and the confidence of God. And God kept him in. God shut him in. You know who's keeping me saved today? The Almighty, omnipotent hand of God. We are kept by the power of God through faith. That's why Paul said in Philippians 1, he that has begun a good work in you will perform it under the day of Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul said, Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Neither height, nor depth, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come. Listen, nothing in all of these things we are more than conquerors. Why? He has saved us. Now, you say, okay, well, where does faith come in then? Because he says, We are kept by the power of God through faith. Now, where does faith come in? You see, faith is our response to the preaching of the gospel. In fact, in 1 Peter chapter 1, in verse 12 and in verse 25, the gospel was preached. In verse number 21, you see that it was believed on. So the gospel is preached and we believe on it. There's faith involved. Yes, there is all of the work of God in salvation, and then we believe in it. We rest in it. We take hold of it by faith. Faith is, but listen, faith is not the power that keeps you saved. I am so tired of this idea of this word of faith movement that spread for a long time, and many people just, well, if I just believe enough. If I believe enough. Listen, Jesus never said if you believe enough. He said if you have a mustard seed of faith and you put that mustard seed of faith in the right object, you're saved. Look, you're not saved by the amount of faith, you're saved by faith in the right object. Listen, I know people have a huge amount of faith in the wrong thing. There are people who put all their faith in Muhammad. And they're sincere enough to blow themselves up. They're sincere enough to wage holy wars, they call them. They're sincere enough to offer their own life and suicide. They're sincere, but I want to tell you something, they're sincerely wrong. Our salvation is not measured by the amount of faith we have. Our salvation is measured in the faith in whom. Paul said this. Paul did not say, I know how I believed. Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is able to keep that I've committed unto him against that day. Listen to me very carefully. I'm telling you right now, you bring a little mustard seed of faith and you place it into Jesus Christ, and you get all the riches of God in him. You get this living hope, you get this new inheritance, you get the power of God keeping you through an exchange of faith. Faith is not the power that keeps us, faith is simply the hand that rests in the God whose power keeps us. Let me say it this way: Faith takes hold of him who is holding you. Faith is what takes hold of God. The God who is holding me. As the world changes and circumstances change, we're gonna change. But God never changes. I like what Dr. James Gray wrote in a song. He was talking about the road of salvation leading home. And he said in that song that I can stand the journey if the road leads home. Hey, I can stand the journey if the road leads home. I'm gonna go through in this life many toils and dangers and snares. I have already come. Tis grace has brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home. I can go through all the fiery trials if I know I'm going home. That's what Peter is anchoring them to is that you're gonna suffer today, but it's gonna be followed by eternal glory and blessing tomorrow. I'm gonna finish with this text. I want you to listen to it. I'm gonna read it, and you do your best to just listen along. This is the Apostle Paul explaining this in 2 Peter chapter 4, or 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Listen to it. Listen to it. But we, those of us that are saved, have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. Why? We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair. We are persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of the Lord Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be that the might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you, now listen, we have we having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, therefore have I spoken. We also believe, therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus from the dead shall raise us up also by Jesus, and shall present us with you, for all things are for your sake, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound into the glory of God, for which cause we faint not. But though our outward man perisheth, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding weight of glory. For while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. What is Paul saying? Paul is saying this I'm gonna go through a lot of dangers and toils and trials and tribulations. But the same God that raised up Jesus is gonna raise me up at the end. I'm gonna have glory with him, and I get all of this in this earthen vessel. In this body right now, I have a living hope. In this body right now, I have access to a new inheritance, and I'm being kept by the power of God, delivered into eternal hope and glory. That's what it means to be born again. That's what it means to be born again. The new birth puts mercy behind me, hope within me, heaven before me, and the power of God around me. Are you born again? Have you been born again? If not, you can be today. And if you are, anchor down in that salvation in Christ and stand in hope in this world. Father, I pray today.