WEBVTT 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:36.320 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are electric exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cabadacia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with his blood. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.359 May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:44.960 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:01:02.479 He has caused us to be born again to living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:20.079 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.599 Though you have not seen him, you love him. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:33.920 Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:50.560 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:02:04.959 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:15.360 Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:16.719 And so reads God's word. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:40.400 And around the table, you've got somebody that you were at university with, you've got somebody that you you've become good friends with, and you now work with, you've with somebody that's been a long-standing friend, but none of the friends that you're with are Christians. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:48.719 And then one of the friends that you've known for a long, long time decides to announce to the table that they have met somebody. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.759 But the person that they have met is the same sex as them. 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:04.240 And the relationship has been really going really, really well, and they've decided that them and their new partner are going to get engaged and be married. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:10.159 And then what seems to crescendo around the table is congratulations. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:12.319 I'm so delighted for you. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:13.599 That's a wonderful thing. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:35.919 And you find yourself sitting at the table, not knowing what to do, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to engage, because you know in that moment what you really want to share, maybe what you really want to say, you know, is not going to be received well. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:50.000 Not only by your friend who brings that news, but also with everybody else around the table, even if the people around the table also in their own privacy agree with you. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.199 We are living in a hostile world, folks. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:01.680 As Christian people, it is becoming increasingly more hostile. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:12.400 And outside of the cultural badge, the cultural badge of being a Christian, or I guess in the Irish context, being a Catholic Christian, being a Catholic, I'm a Catholic, everyone's a Catholic. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:14.800 It's the same in Liverpool, everyone's a Catholic. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:24.800 But outside of that, people are increasingly seeking to disassociate themselves with the teachings of the Bible and those who believe that the Bible is the word of God. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:25.519 It's happening. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.199 People are being pushed away. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:42.879 And this disassociation is on a rapid trajectory to a common ground of misunderstanding, rejection, and the maligning of biblical perspectives and principles for life and flourishing around these things. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:59.120 Humanity, sexuality, sex and gender, marriage, the view of self, personhood, justice, authority, freedom. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:30.720 And this is being coupled with a decreasing interest and association and attendance, especially in the UK, in Christian churches, and the increase of atheistic associations or the exploration of more self-oriented philosophies and spiritualities that is making living for Jesus increasingly more difficult. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:31.680 Do you agree? 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:33.279 Yeah. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:48.399 And folks, unfortunately, this has led to the unwritten rule, and in some cases written rule, that it is a requirement to affirm all other ideologies and understandings of life and flourishing, whilst keeping your own, if you disagree with them, private. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:49.920 To apply for a job. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:53.759 To engage in business with other people. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:08.079 See, there are Christian people losing their jobs, losing business, being punished for showing love, and they are being cancelled, seen as irrelevant, wrong, bigoted. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:16.879 See, the culture that we are living in, especially in the West, is becoming increasingly hostile to the things of Jesus, to the principles for life and flourishing according to the Bible. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:35.439 And this hostility is felt head-on in the classroom, in the lecture room, in the offices, even amongst families, and is infiltrating the things we watch, the things we read, the things that we engage with on a daily basis. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.199 It's everywhere, it's absolutely everywhere. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:45.360 And I don't know about you, but I am 44 years of age, so I'm older than all of you, apart from Ben. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:46.319 Alright? 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.519 So I need to just put that in, apart from Ben. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:50.879 Is that right? 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:51.759 I think I'm right. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:52.959 Oh, I'm one other. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:57.279 Oh, but I won't ask, it's not right for me to ask a lady her age. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:06.000 I I don't know about you, but I'm increasingly feeling more like a stranger in this world. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:16.800 I feel increasingly more like that I am in the the minority of popular or public thinking. 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:24.000 I'll be honest with you, at the moment I even feel like that, even with my eldest daughter sometimes. 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:29.920 And trying to engage with that, and Ella's wonderful, and we've come through that. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:35.279 But even things that I say, I'm like, wow, I'm really on the wrong side of history here. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:36.959 In saying things. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:44.959 See, being a follower of Jesus, being part of the people of God does and will rub up against society, and that is hard. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:46.319 That is hard. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:54.480 And what we have in front of us here is a letter from Peter who describes himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.319 He was one of the twelve. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:04.480 And he's writing to a group of Christians that have been dispersed all over Asia Minor, which is now the modern day Turkey. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:08.639 And these people are experiencing similar things to us. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:10.160 Similar things. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:18.560 See, the issues may not be exact identically the same, but fundamentally the rejection for them is the same. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:28.800 See, we see in chapter verse 4 of chapter 2 that the rejection for these people is happening because the one they are building their lives on is being rejected by people. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:37.840 The one in which they are lit, they they, as living stones, are being built upon to form the house of God, is being rejected by their friends and their neighbors. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:48.879 The one who is the cornerstone in whom they believe and as a result will not be put to shame is rejected by all the people that they are doing life with and doing life amongst. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.200 And folks, that is the same for us. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.399 These people would have found themselves at dinner parties like the dinner party I've just shared. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:04.720 Maybe a different situation, but they would have sat there and going, if I say something now, I'm going to be pushed further to the margins of this social group. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:18.080 See, like the Christians then and the Christians now, the majority of people in our culture today see Jesus as a rock of offense, which Peter talks about in chapter 2. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:23.360 He is a stone of insignificance, verse 8 of chapter 2. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:34.960 And a stumbling block, a massive stumbling block to the culture's ideology of what it is to be human, what it is to engage in relationships, what worth is, what success is, what truth is, what self is. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:39.519 Jesus is a complete stumbling block to our culture's idea of those things. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:49.279 And we live in a culture that does everything it can to dumb down and drown out the existential questions of life, death, God, true satisfaction, and joy. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:50.399 Everything. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:53.039 See, the world doesn't want to hear or deal with it. 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:59.759 So those who are called to be his people and to proclaim the good news of Jesus are pushed further to the margins of society. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:08.960 We're being branded as archaic, bigoted, as people that don't fit, the people that don't belong, that are aliens and strangers in this world. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:09.919 You feel that? 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:11.279 Do you feel that? 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:18.320 The truth is, folks, and you may not like to hear this, we do not fit. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:20.240 We don't fit. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:21.919 We don't belong. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.559 Because we are strangers in this world. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:34.960 But the theme of one, Peter, is not one of encouragement to hide, one of protection, one to create a holy huddle in a cosy Christian subculture. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:47.200 No, Peter, we'll be reminding these churches of who they are and who they have been called to be, which remains constant, whatever the cultural tone and temperature we find ourselves in. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:11:06.080 All we're gonna do over the next session is we're gonna see who we are and what it looks like to live for Jesus in the midst of hostile culture, and how that is lived out as a Christian community, what it looks like in the context of these things, relationships, at home and outside of the church. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.360 Because bottom line is that's the crux of the issue. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:16.000 That's the crux of the issue because nobody likes to be rejected at any level at any point. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:21.039 Nobody does, and that rejection is a breakdown at some level of relationship. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.480 So, what does it look like for us as Christian people? 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:38.399 But what we have to be reminded of before we go, well, this is how I'm meant to live, we need to be reminded of again the very reason why we are able to live in this hostile culture. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:40.000 What is the hope that we have? 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:41.440 I was chatting to a sister before. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.960 I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning I was chatting to Eve or Evie or Evelyn. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:47.200 Alright, apparently she's got three names. 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:52.399 And she said to me, in Uganda, people know what hope is. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:55.200 People know what hope is. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:57.120 Hope isn't some fleeting thing. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:00.480 Hope is, I hope that the Lord provides food for me tomorrow. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:04.639 I know what hope is. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:05.759 So it's interesting. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:17.759 The US publication parade magazine reported the story of a self-made millionaire called Eugene Land, and he greatly changed the lives of sixth grade class in Eastern Harlem. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:18.399 Now, Mr. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.240 Lang was asked to speak at this class, and there were 59 kids. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:32.399 He was thinking to himself, what could I say to inspire these students, most of whom he knew and the statistics said would drop out of school at some point. 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:38.559 So he wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:42.720 So he was scrapping for his notes and he decided to speak from his heart. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.080 He thought, forget this. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:47.200 And he said, This stay in school. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:54.080 And if you stay in school, I'll help pay the college tuition for every one of you. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:55.360 That's what he said. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:59.279 At that moment, the lives of these students changed. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.240 For the first time, they had hope. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:07.919 One student said, I had something to look forward to, something was waiting for me. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.360 It was a golden feeling. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:14.320 And folks, 90% of that class went on to graduate from high school. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:15.440 Isn't that amazing? 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:16.639 Hope. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:25.279 The Oxford English Dictionary says hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:30.240 Now it said that a human being can live three weeks without food. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:32.960 For myself, it's probably gonna be three months. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.879 I've been building up for that time in my life. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:46.879 Three weeks without food, three days without water, but we can't survive one second without hope. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:53.919 See, someone can live in squalor with hope, but can't live a castle without hope. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:00.399 People can find themselves in the hardest of circumstances and get through because of some sense of hope. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:10.960 Hope is vital to the human experience, it is vital to the human psyche, and we long for a reason to exist and a reason to be. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:22.240 But the problem that comes with even hope is that the things and people that many of us put our hope in are temporary, they're finite and they don't fully satisfy. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:37.279 And we are being bombarded by things, people and potential experiences, which are all pitching to be the source of our hope, all promising so much, but in reality, the state of hopelessness seems to be ever increasing in our culture. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:38.159 Do you see that? 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:42.879 There are so many things that are saying, hope in me, hope in this, hope in that. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:47.200 We can access it straight away in the palm of our hands, hoping this, hope in this. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:50.240 I can find my satisfaction in this if you do this. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.440 But hopelessness seems to be ever increasing in our culture. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:59.600 Sean said to me a number of months ago, we live in the saddest generation, surrounded by the happiest photos. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:10.080 The hope of our world is fueled by the finite desire of the photo, but the sadness of our generation is obvious. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:11.759 It's obvious. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:15.759 This need for hope was the same for the Christians that Peter is writing to. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.399 Peter, in this letter, folks, is reminding them that their lives are to be fueled by hope. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:24.320 But he describes it as verse three, a living hope. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:32.720 A hope that is seen and experienced not only by them, but also by all those whom they are living amongst. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:48.240 If you look at verse 15 of chapter 3, it says this in your hearts honour Christ the Lord is holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:49.200 Do you see that? 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:56.080 The living hope that we have as Christian people is not only a hope for us, but it's a hope for all those people sitting around that table. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:18.559 But this hope is not finite, it's not temporary, it's living, and in his letter of encouragement to suffering Christians who are in desperate need of this reminder, of this hope, he reminds them, and I hope reminds us in showing us that this hope, number one, is anchored in the past. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:26.720 See, it's anchored verse 3 in the grace and mercy of God. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:36.799 We are God's people, verse 2, because of the foreknowledge of God, the sanctification of the spirit, and the sprinkling of the broad of blood. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:43.679 We saw that we we see that we are God's people because of Father, Son, and Spirit, the work of God. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:44.720 You see that? 00:16:45.039 --> 00:17:00.799 So it's according to his grace and mercy, and what happened in the midst of his grace and mercy, that the Father, Son, and Spirit has called, knew us, predestined us before the foundation of the world, set his affection on you and called you to be part of his family. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.039 It's all according to his grace and his mercy. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:11.759 So whatever comes next, we need to realize that what has been done for us, what we have been given, is not of ourselves, it is all according to the grace and mercy of God. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:12.480 Amen. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:13.680 That's good news. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:15.359 That is good news. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:21.359 It's according to the grace and mercy of God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.200 Let's never forget that, folks. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:24.559 We can be so quickly. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:26.720 How do we navigate the issues of our culture? 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.000 Well, how can we navigate through the hostility that I'm experiencing? 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:35.759 And what Peter is saying to these Christians, remember the hope that you have that is anchored in the past. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:40.480 The mercy and grace of God that is seen in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:44.720 The hope that we have is a living hope because our Jesus Christ is alive. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:45.519 Amen. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:46.960 He's alive. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:53.279 See, this hope is anchored in the truth that Jesus Christ died for sin and he conquered the grave. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:59.119 This hope is not baseless, it is grounded and secured by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:04.000 And this truth is the reason why we can say we have been born again. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.200 That's why Peter says it. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:06.480 We've been born again. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:08.960 Jesus died, our old selves died with him. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:14.079 He rose from the grave and we follow him in the triumph and victory of the cross and the grave. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:15.359 We have been born again. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:19.279 We are right before God, no longer enemies, but we are children of the living God. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:20.240 Isn't that amazing? 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:21.200 Start again. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.119 Doesn't matter what you've done. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:29.119 There is no sin that you can imagine that is stronger than the love of God found in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:30.640 That's good news, isn't it, folks? 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:32.079 Good news. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:40.319 And this description of birth helps us understand that this hope is given to us. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:41.759 It's not earned. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:46.799 And it also helps us understand the blessings of this hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:51.039 Now, every single one of you in this room were all born. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:51.599 Okay. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:56.880 If you didn't know that, we're all born. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:04.799 And when we were born, we came into this world via agencies and procedures totally outside of our control. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:05.599 Agreed? 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:07.599 You had no choice. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:08.960 You had no choice. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:12.559 If I didn't have a choice, maybe this hair color might have been a little bit different. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:13.039 Okay? 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.480 Maybe this physique might have been a little bit more different, but I didn't have a choice. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:20.240 It was by agencies and procedures totally outside of my control. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.440 We had no involvement. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:25.359 As with the birth of my four children, they had nothing to do with it. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:26.880 Nothing to do with it. 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:29.759 They cause a lot of issues, but they had nothing to do with it. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:33.519 We were created and we have been brought into this world. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:39.839 See, this rebirth also, being born again according to God's grace and mercy, comes about through the resurrection. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:42.720 That new life has been won for us. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:51.039 That the old life is gone, and the hope of heaven, eternal life, a hope that is infinite, is alive because Jesus is alive. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:51.839 Amen. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:53.599 Folks, I want to encourage you. 00:19:53.759 --> 00:20:00.720 Paul says through his letter in Ephesians to remember that at one time you were separated from Christ. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:09.119 At one time you were aliens from the commonwealth and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.039 You were strangers to the promises that God made to his people Israel. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.799 You had no hope because you were without God in this world. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:25.279 But now in Jesus Christ, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:27.519 Now you have hope and now you have a home. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.240 Amen. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:45.039 We have been removed from the realm of hopelessness into a realm of living hope because the mercy and grace of God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have living hope that is not foundationless. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:51.680 It is a hope that is anchored in the past according to the mercy of God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:58.720 I stand in Christ with my sins forgiven, and I have Christ in me who is the hope of heaven. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:03.200 So when you are sitting around that table, you remind yourselves of that truth. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:19.359 Whatever happens now if I speak, and even if I don't speak, I have a living hope that is grounded in the past through the mercy of God, through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and because He is alive, I also have a living hope. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.079 Amen. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:23.920 Number two, it's a living hope that anticipates a glorious future. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:25.359 Do you see that, verse four? 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:28.240 And this living hope is an inheritance. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:33.200 We have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, verse three, to an inheritance. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.319 Something is going to be given to you. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:38.240 You don't earn an inheritance. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:41.599 An inheritance has been left for you by someone else. 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:48.559 So the living hope we have is that there is an inheritance that won't perish, that won't be defiled, that won't fade away. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:49.759 It's safe. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:52.960 Its worth will not diminish. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:57.279 But it's not like an inheritance that others leave, like normal inheritances. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.759 There is no guarantee that what will be left. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.359 Left will have the values it may have now. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:04.559 It will fade. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:07.440 So I was born into a home that didn't have any money. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.880 Sean, on the other hand, was born into a home where there was a bit more money. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:14.559 Sean used to go on abroad holidays when she was a kid. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:20.240 I'm like, she lived in a nice little neighborhood. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:21.680 Anyway. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.559 And I got to marry, and I am waiting for that inheritance. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:35.440 I've been tempted to look at the bank account to see what might be left. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:36.720 But they're not serious. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:38.079 It's really, really funny. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:41.440 So Sean's women have got a bit of money, they're spending it on holidays. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:44.480 I'm right, okay, they're not spending, it'll soon be gone. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.200 I'm trying to say them that traveling at their age is not a good thing. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:52.720 Trying to care for them, trying to look, but the reality is this, they've got so there's something gonna be left for Sean. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.559 And by the fact that we are one flesh, and there will also be a gain from that. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.799 But the reality is this with the stocks and the shares, that might not be there. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:04.160 It's not guaranteed. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:13.039 It is slowly fading because they're spending it, but it's also slowly fading because the cost of living it's slowly fading because you know what I mean. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:17.440 You know, he had£40,000 worth of shares in Rolls-Royce and they crashed overnight. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.839 40 grand gone like that. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:21.039 That was a sad day for me. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:32.480 But I know this inheritance that Peter is talking about and reminding of us will never fade. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.680 It's kept in heaven for you where Marth and Russ cannot destroy, and it's kept for you. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:38.799 That's wonderful, isn't it? 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:42.079 This is not this just this open inheritance, it's kept for you. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:45.119 For you, for you, for you, for you. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:46.319 It's for you. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:58.480 God by his mercy has you have this living hope to an inheritance that won't fade, that it's kept in heaven and it's being kept for us, and God Himself, verse 5, is guarding us through faith. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:03.359 He's guarding us through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:13.440 This means, folks, that our faith in Jesus is being guarded, sustained, preserved by the power of God, which means this: you who are in Christ will get there. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:14.319 Amen. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:16.000 You will get there. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:17.279 That's been kept for you. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:18.480 You are being guarded. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.200 This living hope, being born again, you're guarded. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:24.799 Like I said before, there's no sin that is that you can imagine. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:29.119 It's not just about what you have done, it's also about what you do and what you could do. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:32.400 Can never separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:34.480 This inheritance is for you. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:39.680 Being kept for you, and this means because God is guarding it, you will get there. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:47.359 But we will get there not because of our faith, but rather because of the one in whom we have faith in. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.359 So we have an inheritance that is unfading. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.720 Being kept in heaven for us, and by God's power will get us there. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:57.440 So the question is, what is this inheritance? 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:04.640 When you look through the Old Testament, when inheritance is mentioned and spoken about for the people of God, it's often related to promised land. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:10.720 Land of flowing milk and honey, a home, a place where God's people live in the midst of God's presence, a physical land. 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:12.640 And folks, that's the same for us. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:20.720 In his second letter, Peter says in chapter three, we are awaiting a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:39.839 Our inheritance inheritance is this the fullness of our salvation in a new creation, which will be our home, where there will be no pain, no suffering, no hostility, where righteousness dwells and righteousness reigns. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.839 It will be a world that every single one of us wants. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:46.400 Whether you're a Christian or not. 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:49.200 It's the world that each of us wants. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:26:04.640 Yes, folks, we have been saved, and there is a present reality and experience of that, but there is also a future reality of that salvation where we will know the salvation we have in all its fullness. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.000 Paul says we see now dimly. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:14.319 But when he appears, we will see in full. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:15.119 What a day. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:20.319 See, as Lewis says, back in the day when technology was different, now we see black and white. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:23.519 But in the new creation, we will see in technical. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:25.039 You know what I mean? 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:26.160 It's 8K now, isn't it? 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:28.000 It'll be something like, you know, whatever K. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:29.359 Whatever K. 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:34.240 There won't be enough numbers for the clarity and the fullness of what we will experience. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:44.319 This living hope, which is anchored in the past, that anticipates a wonderful, secure, assort future for us, and as God's people, this is what verse 6 we rejoice in. 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:44.799 Amen. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:46.720 This is what we rejoice in. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:55.519 We rejoice in knowing that through faith we stand in Christ with sins forgiven, and that we have Christ in us which gives us a hope for heaven. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:59.200 I encourage you folks at that table. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:22.240 You need to remember this that you are loved, you are forgiven, you are treasured, you are protected, you are guarded, and you are guaranteed an inheritance that will be untouched by death, unstained by evil, unimpaired by time, and it is the promise of eternal life. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:27.119 Folks, we have a hope that is living. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:32.880 And it's in this Peter says they rejoice. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:36.480 This is where joy is found. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:52.720 It's this that when Sean and I walk through and what we walk through with Ella, it's that we find not in the circumstance of Ella's issues, but the joy of the living hope that we have because of Jesus Christ and what is to come, and we hope that for her as well. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:28:00.160 And this hope that is anchored in the past, that anticipates the future, also, number three, enables us to live in the present. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:02.480 It is a hope that is active in the present. 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:15.039 So Peter says, verse six, that it is this living hope that you rejoice in, whilst you walk through the reality of this world that is not your home, which is often characterized and expressed by what does he say? 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:16.319 Various trials. 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:18.880 That's our reality, various trials. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:27.519 See, the reason why the human psyche needs hope and reason to live is that we have an ingrained desire for something more than this, don't we? 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:36.400 I've done, I can't tell you how many funerals I've done, and in every funeral I will say this to the people sitting there, whether it's a Christian funeral or not, this feels abnormal, doesn't it? 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:38.880 Because it is. 00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:41.759 This is not what God intended. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:47.039 Death is death has come in, seeking to destroy. 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:50.000 This is not a normal part of life. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:58.799 So the reason why people need hope, because this is his ingrained desire for something more than this, and it's hope that helps us move forward in the midst of that. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:05.599 What Peter is doing, folks, is reminding us that we have a living hope, a hope that brings joy even in the most difficult of circumstances. 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:14.799 And it's this joy that enables to walk through the grief of trials, it enables us to walk towards whatever day Jesus calls us home or whatever day he returns. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:16.480 Let me give you an illustration. 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:18.559 It's superficial, but it helps. 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:19.119 Okay. 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:23.599 I don't know if you're working, but just say, you know, you're working and you don't really enjoy your job. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:24.240 That's life. 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:24.799 You know what I mean? 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:25.440 Crack on. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:26.240 You know what I mean? 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:27.200 You don't really enjoy it. 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:28.400 You know, can I just say this? 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:32.400 You know, we live in a generation, I don't enjoy my job, I need to move on to the next job. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:34.160 Because I need to be self-satisfied. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:36.799 You go back 50 years, people just got a job and they work. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:39.200 All right, so let's call it what it is. 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:40.480 You know what I mean? 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:44.400 All right, just throw down a bit of generational wisdom. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:52.079 But you're in your job and you don't like it, but you've but you've booked a holiday, a last-minute thing, for four weeks' time. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:53.119 Wow. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:55.839 That changes how you do your job, doesn't it? 00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:00.400 Oh, I hate my job, but in four weeks' time I'm gonna be on the plane straight to Benedome. 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:01.920 It's gonna be amazing. 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:04.240 But it changes, doesn't it? 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:09.039 I can get through these four weeks because of the hope that I have in what the holiday will be. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:19.440 I'll be there on the beach with my pina collada, enjoying the sun, reading the books that I want to read, listening to what I want to listen to, enjoying time with my family. 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:23.759 I'm able to get through this, and then you get to your last day, and it's Friday, and you don't really care. 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:30.559 You're mate, I'll do whatever email, I'll send all the email, I'll do whatever I want because tomorrow I'm getting on Ryanair and I'm going to Benedome. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:35.519 But you can get through, can't you? 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:38.160 Because what is to come? 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:43.519 It is the joy of having living hope that enables to live even through the grief of trials. 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:51.519 But what I love here is Peter, he then says, but these trials won't last forever, folks. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:56.559 In this huge royal stow, now for a little while. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:00.319 That's not to be said unused glibly. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:02.160 Oh, it's just a little while. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:03.599 No, no, a little while. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:07.759 In light of eternity, in light of this hope, these trials are just for a little while. 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:10.799 See, it's hard, but it's hopeful. 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:19.920 Because it is, these trials that we're experiencing, this hostility that we may be experiencing, is a short time in relation to eternity. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:27.920 In 2 Corinthians, Paul says, For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:30.480 Beyond all comparison. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:37.039 He says these trials are for a little while, and then he also says, verse 7, that these trials prove the genuineness of faith. 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.759 So that you'll test the genuineness of your faith more precious as gold that perishes. 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:49.519 Though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory in honor of the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:32:01.759 Folks, when you go through deep days, realize that it will prove the genuine nature of your faith and will result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus returns. 00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:04.640 That's our testimony. 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:14.400 See, it can be hard to comprehend, but as believers, our trials are not a result of fate or impersonal forces. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:19.839 The trials are from God, and the trials prove the genuineness of our faith. 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:26.799 See, within the New Testament, we see regularly suffering as the road believers must travel to enter the kingdom of God. 00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:28.720 You see that in Acts, we see that in Romans. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:29.759 I haven't got time to read them. 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:30.720 We've seen that in James. 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:36.720 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:42.640 And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:49.519 Walk through these trials because one day you are going to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:56.880 Folks, those who truly believe will persist in faith and continue to trust God when difficulties occur. 00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.039 So these trials are for a little while. 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:05.119 These trials show the genuineness of faith, and these trials should not be wasted. 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:09.599 Round that table, that's a trial, should not be wasted. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:16.880 The suffering that you may feel, whether that's a family member or yourself, they should not be wasted. 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:21.119 First and foremost, they should not be wasted because they're not being wasted by God. 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:28.480 Our pain will not be wasted because in and through it, God is completing his work in us, it says. 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:44.319 God is pruning us. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:49.519 Trials give us the opportunity to see and hold on to the living hope that we have. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:55.440 They give us the opportunity to rejoice in the truth of what God has done for us in Christ. 00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:56.960 Don't waste them. 00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:01.839 They're an opportunity for you to get on your knees and to hold on to this living hope. 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:09.599 See, our response to trials as Christians when we rejoice in the midst of them is noticed, and people ask questions as well. 00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:12.480 What is this hope you have? 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:17.519 In some way, they are asking, how can you have joy and peace in this? 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:22.239 I heard a story about a man, and with this I'll come to a close. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:24.960 I heard a story about a Christian man in hospital. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:26.239 This man was called Mr. 00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:27.760 Clark, and he was riddled with cancer. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:37.920 He was a Christian man, and whilst he was there in the hospital, and these nurses came, and this one particular nurse was it was her first time to care for Mr. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:39.599 Clark on duty. 00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:40.960 And when she went in, Mr. 00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:51.440 Clark, he was really, really ill, but he was singing and he was sharing about Jesus, and she came out and she wrote on his notes at the bottom of his pet this morning. 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:51.840 Mr. 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:55.360 Clark is inappropriately joyful. 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:01.280 Inappropriately joyful. 00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:03.519 Reminds me of an elder of our church. 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:07.119 He was 96, and Ron loved the Lord. 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:10.000 And he'd been an elder of a previous church that had closed. 00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:13.679 We arrived and replanted a church in 2009. 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:17.840 He was 89 at the time, and there were 15 people by God's grace. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:19.840 Jesus has done amazing things. 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:26.960 And uh, I was in hospital with him, and as he was dying, he was listening to his music, we were singing hymns, I was reading psalms, he was full of joy, he was sharing the gospel. 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:31.119