WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.720 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.759 For more information on our church, please visit grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.679 If you have a Bible, I'd invite you to take it and open it up to the book of 1 Peter. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:12.400 The book of 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.400 If you don't have a Bible, there's one in your row. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.000 I'm on page 1014. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:17.039 How are we doing this morning? 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:17.679 We good? 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.559 I see that it's Mother's Day. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:22.960 You say, how do you know it's Mother's Day? 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.600 Because some of you, you're here because you ask your mom, Mom, what do you want for Mother's Day? 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.839 And she said, I want you to come to church with me. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.079 And so just bear with me. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.840 I'll get you, I'll get you out of here on time, and you can go to the Mother's Day brunch, and everything will be fine, okay? 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:40.719 Let me ask you a question: Is it dark in here? 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:42.479 Or am I dying? 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:48.880 I'm getting a little nervous right here, but have a little light out there because Lance is nodding off already, and I hadn't even started preaching yet. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:50.880 Somebody knows Lance. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:01:01.600 But before I go, I want to talk to you, before I tell you what I want to talk about, I want to ground what I'm going to talk about in reality because sometimes we preacher types can get in our own head and think, oh, yeah, this makes a lot of sense. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:06.159 And you talk about something, and you guys out there are like, what cloud is this clown living on? 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:07.519 And he didn't know what he's talking about. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:08.799 So let me ask this question. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:13.760 How many mothers here, you have hopes for your children that have yet to be realized? 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.400 Some of them were hopes you had the day they were born. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:23.359 They first put them in your arms and you looked at them and something just swelled up in you, or as I say, swole up in you. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:24.480 It's a word. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:30.879 Something welled up inside of you that you didn't have words for, but then later on you got words for it, and it's still there. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:32.000 It hasn't died. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:39.120 Your kids, it doesn't, regardless of how they live or what choices they make, that hope you have for them is still alive in you. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:45.040 If you're a mom and you have this hope in you that is yet to come to pass, but you still hold on to it for your children. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:46.959 Would you stand up right now? 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:49.280 Yes, stand up. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:50.400 That's what I said. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:54.959 Here's the deal, ladies. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:58.159 You all understand hope better than we men do. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:01.439 We hope about 30 minutes in the future. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:06.480 We hope that today comes and goes and we don't give you a dorky card. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.520 We hope that there's not too crowded at the restaurant. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:11.280 That's the kind of things we hope for. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:12.400 Women have this thing. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:13.840 Some of y'all got adult kids. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.240 You're not talking about like I got an eight-year-old. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.400 I'm 66, I got an eight-year-old. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.000 What's wrong in that picture? 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:25.599 But y'all got adult kids, and some of you right now are like, don't go any further, you're gonna make me cry. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:33.039 Now, by the way, before you sit down, if you're here today and your mom's standing, give her this for Mother's Day. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:37.439 Give her this present instead of that lame card you ran to H E B last night and got. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:41.039 After someone texted you and said, Where'd you get your mom? 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:41.680 Uh-oh. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:43.039 I'll be right back. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:44.319 We're out of milk. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:52.879 If you want to give your mom a gift, your mom's standing right now, before she goes to bed tonight, look her in the face and say, Hey, mom, what is your hope for me? 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.240 What is the hope you have for me? 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:58.000 You can be seated, ladies. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:02:58.800 Thank you so much. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.919 I want to talk to you this morning as we close out this series we're in about the hope of the resurrection. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:05.520 The hope of the resurrection. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:07.520 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:08.719 Peter writes these words. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:10.879 And by the way, remember who Peter was? 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:12.400 Hello? 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.120 Less than a stellar record, right? 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:20.159 Kind of afraid he can't, kind of freaked out when the when the when the when the pressure was on. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:22.960 1 Peter chapter 1, he writes these words in verse 3. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.840 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:46.560 According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a 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. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:04:06.800 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have 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. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:09.520 Though you have not seen him, you love him. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:22.879 And though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.160 We'll just stop right there. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:28.639 I want to talk to you about this characteristics of this hope of the resurrection. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:32.399 If this hope that is ours in the resurrection, what is it like? 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:34.720 Well, first of all, number one, it's living. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.040 That's what Peter says right there in verse 3. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.600 He says that, you know, praise, he's blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:47.680 And according to his mercy, he says he has caused us to be born again to a living hope. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.160 Born again into a living hope. 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:51.839 Now think about that just for a second. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.439 So this hope that we have because of the resurrection, by the way, N. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:55.680 T. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:56.720 Wright says this. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:02.560 He says you need to think about consistently about what you would lose if you didn't have the resurrection. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:10.639 Like, for example, if you took away the birth of Jesus out of the Bible, do you realize you would lose two chapters in Matthew and two in Luke? 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:12.240 And that's basically it. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:20.639 If you took the birth of Jesus, virgin birth out of the Bible, you would lose two chapters in Matthew and two in Luke. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.120 But if you took the resurrection out of the Bible, you would lose the entire New Testament. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:30.240 See, the Bible puts this amazing emphasis on the resurrection. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:32.399 And we talk about it once on Easter. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.160 I got asked two questions this morning. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:36.240 Hey, are we done with the resurrection? 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:37.759 That's what they said. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.319 And I was like, I'm gonna punch you in the throat, okay? 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:43.920 Uh secondly, uh, here's the other big question I could ask this morning. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.800 Hey, last week you wore jeans, and this week you're wearing slacks. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:48.000 Which one's it gonna be? 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:49.519 I dressed up today. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:51.759 This is not, I get this is dressing up for me. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.680 This is like I go to weddings like this. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.199 Because of my mom. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:00.079 My mom who says to me, Oh, you look so handsome when you wear slacks. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.759 And that's exactly what my mom sounds like. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:04.879 You think I'm kidding? 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:06.879 She smoked for like 50 years. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:11.519 She quit last year and she said, uh, or a couple years ago, she goes, I hope I can turn the clock back. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:13.120 I'm like, start with your voice, mom. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:14.399 That would be the first place. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:16.319 But but anyway, love my mom. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:17.279 Called her this morning. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:18.800 Did you wear slacks? 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.279 Yes, ma'am, just for you, I did. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:22.879 My mom grew up Lutheran. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:27.199 She's now goes to the Baptist church and she feels a little dirty whenever she goes in the Baptist church. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:32.560 Oh, oh, oh, I bet my great-grandmother's rolling over in her grave, and she said this. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:36.079 The Baptists are so much more casual than the Lutherans. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.680 I said, because we got it all figured out, mom, that's why. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:44.240 If you're visiting today, that's a joke, lighten up, okay? 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:45.360 Paul says this. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:50.160 He says, hey, he's he he says, Hey, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:59.600 According to his great mercy, he caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:02.720 This the first thing he tells us about this hope is it's alive. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:06.720 See, birth is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't exist just for itself. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.759 But rather, when something is born, it starts this child on its way to maturity. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:13.439 It's just a process. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:20.560 When your children were born, you have this hope in these and these desires for them and these prayers for them, and you think about them and you don't stop praying them. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:20.879 Why? 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:22.800 Because that thing's still alive in you. 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:27.680 The Bible says that the hope of the resurrection is number one, living. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:31.360 It's it's grounded and rooted in this reality called the resurrection. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:32.480 It's fully alive. 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:37.680 That means, by the way, it's not hoping for or hope, hoping so, uh hope so. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:48.079 It's I hope because it's not hope for or hope so, it's hope because, because of the reality, the certainty of the resurrection. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:50.000 So this hope in you is alive. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:08:03.199 It was born, you were born into this living hope, and by the way, it's born and it just gets older and more mature and better and better, which means that if you're over the age of 50, which is not old, by the way, amen? 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:05.360 That's midlife right there. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:16.319 If you're over 50 and you're a believer and you're a Christian, I don't mean you, I'm not saying you go to church or you think there's a higher power or a spiritual life force, but you have a relationship with the resurrected Jesus. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.800 Here's what that means: you should be the most hopeful person anybody knows. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:25.920 And I just did an experiment this week because we're not we're not prepared for hope in our world. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:31.279 I didn't realize I was walking through a store this week and I was humming and singing, and and this lady said, Boy, you're in a good mood. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.399 And I said, Actually, I'm really not, but I'm hopeful. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:36.000 And she, you ever say something? 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:38.000 People look at you like, I don't want this. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.559 I just, whatever you're selling, I don't want it. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:42.559 Just I was just trying to make small talk. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:43.200 Thank you very much. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:46.159 And I kind of looked at her and I said, You don't know where this is going right now, do you? 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.679 And she goes, Not really. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:49.440 Get ready. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.679 I've got some religious literature in my pocket, I'm gonna whip it out right here. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.039 I said, No, it's just I'm uh I'm hopeful. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:57.600 That's all. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:58.639 Just just hopeful. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:08:59.600 Hope's a bigger thing. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.200 It's kind of my meditation this week. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.600 Two days later, I'm in a conversation with some friends of mine. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:09.120 They're talking about, you know, the president flip-flopped, and then they come out and accuse Mitt Romney and blah, blah, blah. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.480 And I'm standing there, and I care about this much about politics, okay? 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:14.480 I'm not saying politics is not important. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.919 I'm just saying, I just I don't really keep up with it. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.759 And I just, and one guy said, Well, I guess we got the lusher of two evils. 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:25.519 And I said, Well, or maybe we got the evil of two lessers. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:26.799 I don't know. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.120 But they said, How do you feel about all this? 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:30.399 And I said, I'm hopeful. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:31.679 And I said, What do you mean? 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:36.799 And they said, I'm I'm I'm I'm hopeful, but I'm not hopeful that they said, So you think Romney's gonna win? 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:38.080 I didn't say that. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:41.759 I don't know that that's markedly better based on what that man believes. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:48.000 I think their beliefs are different, but he's got some spiritual beliefs that are so far from the Bible, it's not even funny. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:58.080 Just like it's far from the Bible that the president says, Well, because of my Judeo-Christian beliefs and that Jesus died on the cross, I hold a position that violates what the Bible clearly teaches. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.399 I'm not hopeful about that cat either. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:01.600 But I'm hopeful. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:04.159 See, it's not circumstantial, it's celestial. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:06.399 It's the only word I can think of starting with a C. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:08.480 That means it's heavenly. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:10.320 It's not found in this world. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:11.279 Let me tell you something. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:22.080 If you're over the age of 50 and you don't know Jesus, right now your life should be puckering up just a little bit because all you hope for is what you can finance, own, or possess, or explain. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.159 But my hope can't be explained. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:27.039 It's otherworldly, and I'll show you in just a minute. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:32.799 So much so it can't be explained that other people stop me and ask me about it. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.440 They don't say, hey, why are you so hopeful? 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.159 They do ask like, hey, why are you in such a good mood? 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:40.159 What, what, what's what? 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:44.399 But they don't realize that there's this hope in me that's fully alive. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.600 See, the first thing Peter tells us is that this hope is living. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:49.519 Secondly, he says it's future-oriented. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:50.879 Look at verse 4. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:11:06.159 Right there, he says that we've been given, we've been born again to a living hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to verse 4, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and un and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:07.279 Now just think about this. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:10.399 When he says this hope is future-oriented, what do you mean? 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:14.960 To describe this inheritance, Peter uses four descriptive terms. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:20.000 Three of them speak of its nature, and one of them speaks of the certainty of its attainment. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:21.600 Let me put them up on the screen for you. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:22.480 He uses three. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.879 He says, first of all, it's imperishable. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:26.559 It's imperishable. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:31.279 About four or five days ago, I was in Sam's and they had like a gallon of strawberries. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:33.039 And I just thought, that's a good idea. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:35.519 You can't buy anything less than the size of a gallon in Sam's. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:36.320 Have you noticed that? 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.120 By the way, if you're out of pickles, I got a five-gallon bucket of pickles. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:40.799 I'm just slowly working my way through. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:44.159 Jesus is not coming back till I get through those bad boys. 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:46.000 It's gonna be a while, okay? 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.440 Because you get in there and you just get overwhelmed with Sam's mentality. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.519 Yeah, they don't sell one loaf of bread, by the way. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:52.240 Have you noticed that? 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:53.200 You gotta buy two. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:54.720 You can't buy one bag of chips. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.000 Well, you could, I guess, but they make a bag for two to go in. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.840 Come to my house right now, there's eight bags of chips on top of my refrigerator. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.679 My wife said the other day, how are you gonna stay in shape eating all them chips? 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:07.120 Zip it. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:11.840 It's Sam's fault. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:13.679 They sell too much. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.679 I grabbed that thing of strawberries, took them home, put them in the refrigerator. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:18.960 It wasn't, it didn't seem long. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:24.240 Just a couple days later, I opened them up and I got it out, and for some reason I set it upside down on the counter. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.200 I think I had other things in my hand, and it flipped over is what it was. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:29.679 And on the bottom of them, they'd already started to rot. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:31.919 I was so mad at those people. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:33.440 I was like, what are you thinking? 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:34.799 And I thought about this. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:37.919 The Bible says this inheritance we have is imperishable. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.960 That means it is incapable of spoiling. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.519 Second thing he says about it is undefiled. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:46.159 That means it's morally and religiously pure. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:47.519 It's undefiled. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:50.559 Nothing can defile this inheritance that you have. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:58.320 Now, when you think of inheritance, he said this is heritage, this inheritance, excuse me, verse 4, he says it's kept in heaven for you. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.559 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:07.440 We've been given this inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading is the third word. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:08.639 It's undefiled. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:11.600 Nothing can get in and dilute it, okay? 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:13.759 Thirdly, he says it's unfading. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:20.159 That means the flowers you get today, as beautiful as they are, the clock is already ticking on them. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:21.440 You realize that? 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:23.759 And by the way, it took me a while to figure this out. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:26.399 Flowers don't get you out of every situation, men. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:34.320 Sometimes you want to get something that lasts, because those flowers, because you hand to them and your wife is all like, oh, that's sweet. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:36.639 Well, she's thinking in her mind is what an idiot. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.200 Why don't you get something that doesn't fade and die, okay? 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:42.000 And just remind me that this has got to go away. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:42.879 Like this week. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:45.440 I I was taught a lesson by Kathy. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:52.399 She's my administrative assistant and great lady, uh, our friend Ross King, his father passed away. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:55.919 And I say, I want to send a the church to send some flowers or something like that. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:57.279 And she said, What about a plant? 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.799 Because I don't think you want to be reminded that here's something else that's gonna die. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.200 Yeah, I was just thinking that. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:07.279 Glad you said that. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:10.000 And so there I was at the funeral waiting. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:15.919 I drove up for the funeral on Thursday, and it was a big, beautiful peace lily from Grand Park Way Baptist Church. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:19.039 And I just thought, boy, I'm glad it's just a subtle thought I had. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:22.000 I'm glad there's people in the world that are so much smarter than me. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:24.000 Because she said, you know what? 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:30.159 I've been to funerals, and you get flowers, and then a week later, when they start to die, you're like, Does everything die? 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:32.320 But this never dies. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:36.399 It's unfading, it's imperishable, it's undefiled. 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.200 And the fourth thing that's that that that describes it. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.240 And here's the certainty of uh of its reality. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:44.559 If you possess it, look at the fourth thing he says about it. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:46.399 He says, It's kept in heaven for you. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.840 It's imperishable, it's undefiled, it's unfading. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.879 And forthly, it's kept in heaven for you. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.399 If it's kept in heaven for you, that means you're not keeping it. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.639 Some of you need to take a deep breath and relax. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:09.120 You kind of act like you're on this obstacle course on your way to heaven, and you're gonna dodge and dart, and you're gonna get there, and then you're gonna be like, hey God, look what I did. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:14.080 This inheritance is so sure, it doesn't depend on somebody as uncertain as you and me. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:16.320 Aren't you glad? 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:19.200 Notice this, by the way. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.919 Look at verse, he's reading there in verse 4. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:29.279 He says, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:30.399 Look at verse 5. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:33.679 Not only is this your inheritance kept in heaven, but you're kept. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:36.399 I didn't want to talk about this, but I can't help but tell you. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:37.279 Look at verse 5. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:46.799 He says, kept in heaven for you, verse 5, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.960 Your inheritance is being kept, but you're being guarded. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.679 Now, again, moms understand this more than anybody. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.879 When I was in high school, I was not a preacher. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:14.879 And many a nights I got home, 245, 417, and I knew front door, four steps, hang a right, put your hands out on the hallway, and my bedroom was the second door on the left. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:16.799 And that's the way I found my way to the bedroom. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.279 I won't go into detail, okay, beyond that. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:26.720 But most of the times I would come in four steps, turn her right, my mom's bedroom was right there, and I could hear my mom praying. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:29.440 And she would say things like, Thank you for bringing him home. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:30.960 Thanks for watching over him. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:32.960 And I remember thinking, my mom's crazy. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:34.879 She's in there talking to herself. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.600 After I became a Christian, years later, see, now you what I'm getting at. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:44.960 And I because years later I said to my mom, I said, We were having lunch, I said, By the way, mom, do you do you used to talk in your sleep? 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:50.080 And she said, No, she was not a mom, a mother never rests until all her children are home. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.000 You can't say that to me, mom, because all of a sudden I felt so ashamed. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:59.759 Like, you mean you you were waiting, she said, every night. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.279 I didn't go to sleep. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.600 I waited up every night. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:16.160 See, when the Bible says that your inheritance is kept in heaven for you, he says that who you, by the way, you, you persons who are guarded by God's power. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.359 You're you're you're being guarded through faith for a salvation. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:20.240 What do you mean? 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:27.519 The the the mental image in the Greek language is the picture of a garrison of soldiers surrounding a fort so nobody can get in. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:40.559 So, moms, when your kids are out and it's you curfews midnight or one and it's 2.15, and you're thinking, Do I wake up my sorry husband who's passed out of sleep over there in that bed? 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:50.559 You need to remember to appeal to a higher power because if your children are believers, then the Bible says right there in plain English that God's power is guarding them. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:56.480 And my mom used to say, I would just pray to your guardian angel to keep you safe and bring you home. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:00.799 I remember many a nights, and I even know how we left the club and ended up home. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:04.000 I remember we'd leave the club and go out to eat and then go home. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.279 I'd be like, What? 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:06.640 We did what? 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.640 And afterwards my mom would say, Yeah, I was just praying. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.799 Your inheritance is being kept, but you're being guarded. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:19.839 Third characteristics of this hope of the resurrection is that it causes joy. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:20.960 Look at verse six. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:25.039 Now, if you're a thinking person, you're like, he said five, we're on number three. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.200 Man, we might beat the Presbyterians to the good restaurants. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:31.440 Look at verse six. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:34.640 He says, In this you rejoice. 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:36.400 In this you rejoice. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:39.359 You can't take sentences out of the Bible and them make sense. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.119 You have to read them in their context. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:42.880 So let's back up to verse five. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:50.240 He says, Who, by God's power, being guarded through faith for a salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.359 In this reality, you rejoice. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:58.720 Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:18:59.839 Let's just stop right there. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:02.880 Third characteristic of this hope is that it causes joy. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.319 That's why it begins verse 6 and says, In this you rejoice. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:07.920 What does it look like to rejoice? 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:09.599 Have you rejoiced lately? 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:12.559 That's one of those words you read in the Bible. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:14.240 You ain't got no definition for. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.519 How can you know you're doing it if you don't know what it is? 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.359 And has anybody asked you, hey, have you rejoiced lately? 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.759 No, I gave that up when I became a Christian. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.519 And sadly, most of you did. 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.640 There's not that much joy just kind of spilled. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:41.680 He says, in this, in this, the thought that you your inheritance is kept in heaven, it's unfading, it's imperishable, it's undefiled, it's kept for you. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:45.039 You who are being guarded by God's power. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.960 When the thought of this, in this you rejoice. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:54.960 See, see this kind of hope, by the way, when he says in this, he's not talking about your inheritance or your salvation. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:56.799 He's talking about your hope. 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:04.319 I won't get into the details of the syntax or the Greek and everything, but in the Greek, it doesn't make sense for it to be anything else but the hope. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:17.200 In this, in this hope that you have, that you were born into, this living hope because of the resurrection, it causes you to have this sense of joy, which is not a feeling, it's an understanding. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.839 It's this reality that kind of adores your life. 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:20.640 Don't turn there. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:22.720 But uh, think of Acts chapter 16. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.960 Paul and Silas have been beaten and they've been locked in stocks. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:33.119 Uh, and it's the Bible says about midnight they were praying, and what's the next line? 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:39.359 Say it again singing hymns to God. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:46.640 About midnight, they'd had the snot beat out of them, and they were praying and singing hymns to God. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:53.920 See, that's that's the kind of hope that the resurrection affords you and I. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:00.559 It's not, I hope they weren't there kind of going, I hope, I hope, I hope our parents got hold of a good bondsman, a bale bondsman, we get out of here. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.920 No, they were praying and singing hymns to God. 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:06.799 Why? 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:08.640 Because this joy. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:13.200 Because this hope causes them to have a joy that the world doesn't quite understand. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:18.480 Fourth characteristic of this hope of the resurrection is that it transforms trials. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:19.920 Look at verse 6 and 7. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:21.599 He kind of gets into it there. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:26.400 After he says, In this you greatly rejoice, in this hope that is yours. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:30.160 Though now then he by the way, it's not pie in the sky. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:42.559 If you're here today and you're not a believer and you think this is all just just kind of vertical optimism, it's just kind of this morose, stupid, non intellectual, you people don't get it. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:43.920 No, we get it. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:45.440 No, and the Bible gets it. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:46.480 Look what he says. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:22:07.839 After he talks about joy, he says this hey, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have 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. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:17.200 When we say it transforms trials, there's four words I want to put up on the screen right out of the Bible that you can need to kind of see and maybe take a pen and just kind of mark. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.480 The first phrase is just that right there for a little while. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:21.839 For a little while. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.279 Look at what he says. 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:31.119 The Bible's not unaware that hardship is going to find all of us. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:34.559 He says, though now for a little while. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:36.079 You say, what is he talking about? 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:42.880 When compared to our future, right now is always described as for a little while. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:45.599 Do you hear me this morning? 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:51.279 When compared to our future, that's why you got to have understand the hope of the resurrection. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:23:00.160 Because if all there is is right now, you're going to be mad till the day you die, and you're going to die on your deathbed, an angry, withered up, bitter soul. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.480 You're not going to have this juicy heart. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:06.960 It's going to be shriveled up like a raisin because you just feel like you're being cheated. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:13.359 But if you have the hope of the resurrection in your life, you just remember for a little while. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:21.680 So Paul says in Romans A, the sufferings that we're enduring right now, they're not even worth comparing to the glory that's going to be revealed. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:28.000 See, there's always this sense of the Bible always puts right now in its perspective for a little while. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:32.960 When you think about trials, don't forget those four little words for a little while. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:35.920 Second phrase I want you to see is if necessary. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:37.440 If necessary. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:43.279 Look there in your Bibles, verse 6, though now for a little while, and then if necessary. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:46.000 If necessary. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:47.119 Now look at me. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.079 I'm going to say something. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:50.720 This is going to come from the heart of a man that loves you. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:52.640 All of you, look at me. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:56.720 Sometimes it's necessary that you endure a little hardship. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:59.680 And that's not me telling you that. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:01.759 That's your father telling you that. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:02.960 Do you realize that? 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:09.119 Because see, if you turned on your TV this morning, you could find 10 TV preachers that'll tell you, no, God doesn't want you to suffer. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:11.039 He doesn't want you to put you to do anything. 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:14.559 What kind of father makes his kids uncomfortable? 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:17.680 Sometimes. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:19.279 And I don't know when. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:24.000 So if you come to me and say, hey, I'm going through this thing, I'm not going to say, oh, that's what happened. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.920 But I can tell you, on the authority of the Bible, with absolute certainty. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:35.039