WEBVTT 00:01.516 --> 00:04.156 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast. 00:04.836 --> 00:08.256 We're so glad you're here, and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.456 --> 00:12.036 builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.576 --> 00:15.176 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.176 --> 00:17.856 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.236 --> 00:20.376 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.091 --> 00:27.671 If you have your Bible, please open it with me to 1 Peter chapter 1, in a message I'm calling, 00:28.291 --> 00:35.191 Hope is Alive. Now, we're just going to jump into our verse here this morning. The Apostle Peter, 00:35.411 --> 00:39.811 who saw the risen Jesus alive, he writes to believers, 00:40.430 --> 00:42.390 in Christ, encouraging them. 00:42.390 --> 00:44.310 And he says in verse number three, he says, 00:44.870 --> 00:48.470 "'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:48.890 --> 00:51.450 "'who according to His abundant mercy 00:51.450 --> 00:55.190 "'has begotten us again to a living hope 00:55.190 --> 00:59.750 "'through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.'" 00:59.750 --> 01:04.050 This morning, we're talking about how hope is alive. 01:04.848 --> 01:08.308 But maybe that's not actually the case for you. 01:08.428 --> 01:12.028 Maybe for whatever reason, your hope seems to be fading. 01:12.168 --> 01:13.988 It seems to be dying. 01:14.148 --> 01:15.308 It's drifting away. 01:15.548 --> 01:17.328 You're losing hope. 01:17.328 --> 01:21.948 In many ways, we live in a generation of people who have lost hope. 01:22.533 --> 01:26.433 And that's actually creating a mental health crisis in our world. 01:26.893 --> 01:29.893 It's been said that a person can live a month without food. 01:30.013 --> 01:31.573 They can live a week without water. 01:31.573 --> 01:37.333 They can live five minutes without air, but not a second without hope. 01:37.636 --> 01:41.456 And that's a problem because for most people, hope is fading. 01:41.756 --> 01:47.896 And that's because they've put their hope in things that fade, in things that drift away. 01:48.376 --> 01:56.656 Most people live for the here and the now, for pleasure, for money, for recreation, for the weekend, for accomplishment, for fame. 01:57.656 --> 02:03.576 Maybe that's you today, and if it is, I can tell you right now, without even knowing who you are. 02:04.062 --> 02:06.242 You don't feel much purpose in life. 02:06.862 --> 02:11.822 Oh, you may create seasons of purpose when you have a goal that you're working towards, 02:11.842 --> 02:15.222 but when that season comes and goes, your purpose fades. 02:15.222 --> 02:18.882 And with your purpose fading, your hope fades as well. 02:20.110 --> 02:24.050 Sometimes we'll hear about a celebrity who's living the American dream. 02:24.190 --> 02:28.850 I mean, they've got money, they have good looks, they have influence, they have fame, 02:28.910 --> 02:33.990 and yet we hear about them sometimes taking their own lives in suicide. 02:34.230 --> 02:35.470 And we're all shocked by that. 02:35.590 --> 02:37.730 We think, they had it all, and yet... 02:49.777 --> 02:55.697 least for the believer, for those who have received Christ as their Savior, and God offers 02:55.697 --> 03:01.657 you a hope that is alive, but you must receive it in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ. 03:02.577 --> 03:07.097 Those of us who are believers, Peter says, we have a living hope. 03:07.297 --> 03:09.357 Now here's why our hope is alive. 03:09.557 --> 03:12.677 Our hope is alive because, first of all, God loves us. 03:13.705 --> 03:16.085 God loves you with an everlasting love. 03:16.525 --> 03:17.584 You say, Pastor, me? 03:17.585 --> 03:18.964 Yes, you. 03:18.965 --> 03:26.005 Every single one of us, He loves us with an infinite, infinite love. 03:26.105 --> 03:27.705 More than anyone who's loved us before. 03:27.825 --> 03:28.865 John 3, 16 says, 03:28.865 --> 03:38.165 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 03:38.225 --> 03:40.745 That is the message of the Bible in a single verse. 03:40.745 --> 03:41.362 Amen. 03:41.363 --> 03:46.423 That God loves you so much that he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins, 03:46.503 --> 03:48.663 and then he rose on the third day. 03:49.523 --> 03:51.683 Now, that's not what the world tells us. 03:52.163 --> 03:55.483 They tell us that God doesn't exist, that God doesn't love us, 03:55.483 --> 03:59.503 that we're cosmic accidents, products of blind chance, 03:59.563 --> 04:03.223 so that even our brain is simply a random collection of chemicals 04:03.223 --> 04:06.903 that has been formed by chance over billions of years. 04:07.807 --> 04:11.127 Now, if that's the case, we have no purpose. 04:11.127 --> 04:14.807 We have no significance, and we certainly have no hope. 04:14.807 --> 04:16.527 We came from nowhere. 04:16.527 --> 04:21.107 We're going nowhere, which means this broken world in which we're all living in is the 04:21.107 --> 04:22.567 best it's ever going to get. 04:23.855 --> 04:25.075 And that's the opposite of hope. 04:25.495 --> 04:27.695 Because hope is the belief in a better future. 04:27.915 --> 04:29.955 Our world, though, doesn't believe in a better future. 04:30.355 --> 04:35.255 And that's why our world is drifting more and more into despair. 04:36.115 --> 04:41.395 But the good news of the Bible is that our brains are not a random collection of chemicals 04:41.395 --> 04:43.895 that have been formed by chance over billions of years. 04:43.895 --> 04:49.995 No, we each, each and every one of us, we are carefully and wonderfully made by the 04:49.995 --> 04:50.694 hand of God. 04:50.695 --> 04:52.475 We were made for a reason. 04:52.475 --> 04:56.795 For a purpose, we are created by a God who loves us more than we can imagine. 04:56.955 --> 05:00.015 He created us to be alive, to live. 05:00.075 --> 05:02.995 I mean, really live, to live in harmony with Him. 05:03.195 --> 05:08.275 A blissful life of peace and unity with God who made us in all of His creation. 05:08.455 --> 05:09.595 But here is the problem. 05:10.495 --> 05:12.575 That's not what we're all living. 05:13.636 --> 05:14.915 Not at all. 05:14.916 --> 05:24.156 We're instead living in a world that's been broken and divided by sin so that we experience broken relationships and pain, loneliness, depression. 05:24.856 --> 05:25.856 We experience death. 05:26.528 --> 05:30.188 But the message of the Bible is for the child of God, hope is alive. 05:30.248 --> 05:33.248 That's what Peter tells us in 1 Peter chapter 1. 05:33.768 --> 05:39.508 Peter's writing to Christians who are enduring an incredible amount of suffering and persecution. 05:40.368 --> 05:47.808 The emperor of Rome, a madman by the name of Nero Claudius Caesar, has unleashed a 05:48.162 --> 05:55.982 horrid persecution upon Christians all throughout his reign, so that they were being thrown to the 05:55.982 --> 06:00.782 mouths of lions. They were being burned at the stake. Many of them were dipped in oil and lit 06:00.782 --> 06:06.002 on fire to light the pathways of Nero's garden. And Peter writes to these people who are suffering, 06:06.002 --> 06:10.402 and his main theme is that we have hope. 06:10.657 --> 06:14.737 Peter wants them to know that while this world could take your food, they were starving. 06:15.077 --> 06:20.097 While this world could take your livelihood, and the word for breath, they come from the same word. 06:20.237 --> 06:25.517 And so one way to think about hope is that hope is oxygen for the soul. 06:26.197 --> 06:29.237 And biblical hope is not some cockeyed optimism. 06:29.237 --> 06:34.337 No, it's a confident expectation that is based and rooted in the promises of God. 06:34.923 --> 06:37.463 But notice Peter didn't say here that we have a hope. 06:37.883 --> 06:40.323 He says we have a living hope. 06:40.783 --> 06:44.483 He's saying as Christians, there's a unique quality to our hope 06:44.483 --> 06:46.063 that the rest of the world doesn't have. 06:46.063 --> 06:48.383 Our hope is alive. 06:49.563 --> 06:51.263 You know, it's sad 06:51.863 --> 06:55.383 when people's hope die before they do. 06:56.363 --> 06:58.863 That happens all the time because our hope is only as good 06:58.863 --> 07:02.543 as the object in which it's placed, and most people are placing their hope in 07:02.750 --> 07:11.310 Temporary things, money, fame, good looks, and youth, wealth, health, all of that, it's going to fade. 07:11.370 --> 07:12.349 It's going to be taken away. 07:12.350 --> 07:18.350 And when it's taken away, people, most people, they drift into despair. 07:19.090 --> 07:27.050 Peter tells the Christian, do not despair because we have a living hope through Jesus Christ who has been raised from the dead. 07:27.470 --> 07:31.070 You see, our hope is alive because Jesus is alive. 07:31.150 --> 07:32.145 Amen? 07:32.146 --> 07:33.526 That's what Peter is saying. 07:33.606 --> 07:35.446 Peter is an old man by this point. 07:35.726 --> 07:38.286 He's still obsessing about the resurrection. 07:38.646 --> 07:45.326 He remembers that first Easter morning when the women, the ladies, they came and they told him that Jesus was alive, that the tomb was empty. 07:45.386 --> 07:46.726 So he goes running to the tomb. 07:46.886 --> 07:47.926 He finally arrives. 07:48.006 --> 07:49.106 He's out of breath. 07:49.186 --> 07:52.166 He stoops down and he looks and the tomb, in fact, is empty. 07:53.066 --> 07:58.186 And from that point on, Peter was obsessed with the resurrection. 07:58.766 --> 08:01.646 Peter was also obsessed with a little word. 08:02.639 --> 08:04.439 This little world living. 08:04.439 --> 08:06.879 He says here, we have a living hope. 08:06.879 --> 08:09.779 A few verses later, he talks about the living word of God. 08:09.779 --> 08:10.618 Then later in the book, 08:10.619 --> 08:13.959 he talks about how we are living stones. 08:13.959 --> 08:16.419 You see, to Peter, everything in the Christian life 08:16.419 --> 08:19.519 was alive because Jesus is alive. 08:19.519 --> 08:20.859 You know, sometimes people will ask me, 08:20.859 --> 08:24.599 well, pastor, what makes Christianity different 08:24.599 --> 08:27.059 than all the other religions out there? 08:27.059 --> 08:29.599 And there's a lot of answers that I could share. 08:30.145 --> 08:36.125 But the main thing that sets Christianity apart from all the other religions of the world 08:36.125 --> 08:39.385 is that our founder is still alive after 2,000 years. 08:40.625 --> 08:43.025 Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, is dead. 08:43.025 --> 08:43.830 He's dead. 08:43.831 --> 08:45.851 Muhammad, the founder of Islam, he's dead. 08:46.371 --> 08:48.491 Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, he's dead. 08:48.531 --> 08:49.370 They're all dead. 08:49.371 --> 08:50.451 You'll visit their graves. 08:50.551 --> 08:52.031 Their bones still remain. 08:52.191 --> 08:53.491 But Jesus is alive. 08:54.071 --> 08:55.611 The tomb is empty. 08:55.911 --> 09:01.371 Oh, the Romans and the Jews alike, they searched the world over trying to find the dead corpse, the body of Jesus. 09:01.451 --> 09:05.151 Because they knew if they could just find the body of Jesus. 09:06.022 --> 09:11.222 Christianity would die as quickly as it began, but here we are 2,000 years later. 09:11.482 --> 09:14.342 Why are we here? We're worshiping the risen Jesus. 09:15.102 --> 09:20.882 There was no body to be found because Jesus is alive, and therefore our hope is alive. 09:21.968 --> 09:25.128 Here's the thing though about hope. 09:25.128 --> 09:33.668 Sometimes our hope experiences some life only to come crashing back down. 09:33.668 --> 09:37.968 That was certainly the case with the Apostle Peter as a young man. 09:37.968 --> 09:40.668 Jesus found him there fishing on the Sea of Galilee. 09:40.668 --> 09:45.908 He said, follow me and Peter left his nets behind and he followed after Jesus. 09:45.914 --> 09:52.174 And as he followed Jesus, he listened to Jesus preach with such power and authority like no man had ever taught before. 09:52.174 --> 09:55.774 And Peter began to experience some hope. 09:56.434 --> 09:58.974 Peter watched as Jesus healed the leper. 09:59.574 --> 10:00.714 He made the blind to see. 10:00.814 --> 10:05.074 He watched as a paralyzed man was carried to Jesus on a stretcher by his friends. 10:05.374 --> 10:07.834 And Jesus looked at the paralyzed man and he said, Arise. 10:08.560 --> 10:10.600 Get up, take your bed and go home. 10:10.660 --> 10:13.360 And the man got up and he went home. 10:14.080 --> 10:17.800 Hope began to well up in Peter once again. 10:17.800 --> 10:18.840 Then one day... 10:19.293 --> 10:26.773 When they were on the mountainside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, a massive crowd of men, women, and children, over 5,000 in all, 10:26.853 --> 10:32.713 they gathered to hear Jesus teach because he was teaching with great power and authority, but they had no food. 10:33.473 --> 10:34.212 They were hungry. 10:34.213 --> 10:43.513 And so Peter watched that day as Jesus took a few loaves of bread and a few fish, and he broke them, and he multiplied them, and he fed the multitude in Peter's hope. 10:44.200 --> 10:45.339 It grew. 10:45.340 --> 10:49.340 And one day, their good friend Lazarus died. 10:50.480 --> 10:54.800 And they went to the cemetery where Lazarus was buried. 10:55.000 --> 10:57.800 Mary and Martha, his sisters, were crying. 10:57.960 --> 10:58.679 They were weeping. 10:58.680 --> 11:04.560 And Peter watched and he listened as Jesus stood at the entrance of the tomb and he raised his voice and he said, 11:04.920 --> 11:07.340 Lazarus, come forth. 11:07.336 --> 11:12.696 And this man who had been dead for four days got up, and he walked out of the tomb alive. 11:12.696 --> 11:15.696 And Peter's hope began bursting forth. 11:16.556 --> 11:17.675 And he confessed Jesus. 11:17.676 --> 11:21.136 He said, you're the Christ, the Son of the living God. 11:21.196 --> 11:27.096 It was at this point that I think Peter could not wait for Jesus, who was the Messiah, 11:27.336 --> 11:32.436 to overthrow the Romans, establish his eternal kingdom here on the earth. 11:32.536 --> 11:33.696 But then... 11:33.695 --> 11:41.635 Just a number of days later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus prayed all night, He sweat drops of blood. 11:43.715 --> 11:48.295 Jesus prayed, but then the soldiers came and they arrested Jesus. 11:48.555 --> 11:54.615 Peter watched as they bound the Messiah in chains and they drug Him off. 11:55.430 --> 11:57.390 And at that moment, Peter's hope began to die. 11:57.490 --> 12:00.190 He followed Jesus and the soldiers, but he followed at a distance. 12:00.610 --> 12:05.410 Jesus, he watched as Jesus withstood a sham of a trial, facing accusation, 12:05.550 --> 12:07.490 false accusation after false accusation. 12:07.690 --> 12:09.230 And Peter watched as a distance. 12:09.670 --> 12:12.930 So people that were close by, they said, hey, you have a Galilean accent. 12:13.290 --> 12:14.650 I think you were with Jesus. 12:14.730 --> 12:15.709 We saw you with Jesus. 12:15.710 --> 12:18.830 And Peter denied even knowing Jesus. 12:18.990 --> 12:20.630 His hope was dying. 12:21.350 --> 12:22.361 Pilate. 12:22.362 --> 12:26.802 Took Jesus and he had him scourged, beaten 39 times. 12:27.482 --> 12:30.862 His back would have, our Savior's back would have been opened up. 12:30.922 --> 12:33.642 His ribs, the lashes would have wrapped around. 12:33.742 --> 12:35.742 They would have been opened up to be seen. 12:35.842 --> 12:38.602 And a crown of thorns was shoved upon his scalp. 12:40.022 --> 12:45.222 He was led away through the city gates of Jerusalem to Golgotha. 12:45.222 --> 12:49.122 In Latin, it's Calvary, the place of the skull. 12:49.262 --> 12:51.222 And there Peter watched as a distance. 12:52.113 --> 12:57.233 As they crucified Jesus, they nailed him to a cross between two criminals. 12:57.493 --> 13:03.873 And maybe, as Peter watched closely, maybe he could read the lips of Jesus as he hung upon the cross. 13:03.953 --> 13:08.293 And he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 13:08.293 --> 13:09.353 Peter watched. 13:10.353 --> 13:14.313 He watched as Jesus breathed his last breath and he died. 13:14.413 --> 13:18.133 And they pulled his stiffening body off the cross and they wrapped it in linen. 13:18.573 --> 13:21.553 And Peter's heart, it sank in despair. 13:22.471 --> 13:26.631 He put all of his hope in Jesus, this man who he thought was the Messiah. 13:26.871 --> 13:29.951 And now Jesus was dead and Peter's hope was dead with him. 13:30.831 --> 13:33.951 Oh, but everything changed on the third day. 13:34.731 --> 13:38.151 That first Easter morning, Jesus rose from the dead. 13:38.351 --> 13:41.731 The angel said to the women who first went to the tomb, he's not here. 13:41.731 --> 13:43.871 Why do you seek the living among the dead? 13:43.951 --> 13:46.311 He's not here, for he is risen. 13:47.024 --> 13:48.464 He goes running to the tomb. 13:48.464 --> 13:51.164 Eventually he sees Jesus with his own two eyes. 13:51.264 --> 13:56.664 He touches the flesh of Jesus and Jesus in the love that only Jesus can do. 13:56.824 --> 14:01.664 He spoke wonderful words of forgiveness to Peter and Peter. 14:01.664 --> 14:03.584 In that moment, his hope was reborn. 14:03.584 --> 14:07.084 It was alive, never to die again. 14:07.864 --> 14:10.984 So now, decades later, 14:11.484 --> 14:15.904 as an old man, Peter's writing to Christians who are suffering terribly. 14:16.370 --> 14:18.670 Life is getting the best of them. 14:18.770 --> 14:19.569 They're suffering. 14:19.570 --> 14:20.189 They're dying. 14:20.190 --> 14:23.550 And all Peter can think about is how Jesus is alive. 14:24.190 --> 14:26.570 So he says throughout the letter, he said, you don't understand. 14:26.730 --> 14:27.729 I know it's bad. 14:27.730 --> 14:31.150 I know you're facing some fiery, horrible trials in your life. 14:31.250 --> 14:32.450 But don't you give up. 14:32.710 --> 14:34.050 We've got a living hope. 14:34.050 --> 14:37.330 Jesus was dead, but now he is alive. 14:37.990 --> 14:40.450 You see, the resurrection of Jesus, it changes everything. 14:41.530 --> 14:44.610 It changes everything within human history. 14:44.610 --> 14:46.410 All of eternity has changed. 14:46.410 --> 14:49.090 You see, God sent his son Jesus, 14:49.090 --> 14:51.050 his begotten, only begotten son, 14:51.050 --> 14:53.010 and he came into this world because why? 14:53.010 --> 14:54.730 Because he loves us. 14:54.730 --> 14:56.990 And we've been separated from him because of our sin, 14:56.990 --> 14:59.310 but God looks upon us and he loves us, 14:59.310 --> 15:01.750 and Jesus came and he lived the perfect life. 15:01.750 --> 15:03.550 You and I have all failed to live. 15:03.552 --> 15:05.912 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 15:06.032 --> 15:09.692 We've all failed a perfect, holy, loving God. 15:09.932 --> 15:11.071 And so Jesus came. 15:11.072 --> 15:12.112 He lived a perfect life. 15:12.312 --> 15:18.272 And then as the perfect substitute for you and I, he died on the cross for our sins so that we could live. 15:18.932 --> 15:22.152 He died on the cross for our sins, paying for our sins. 15:23.252 --> 15:24.191 Now here's the deal. 15:24.192 --> 15:25.016 Here's the deal. 15:25.017 --> 15:29.377 Had Jesus remained in the grave, we would not be here today. 15:29.977 --> 15:31.396 I can promise you. 15:31.397 --> 15:37.757 Had He remained in the grave, we would have no reason to believe that Jesus actually paid for our sins. 15:37.757 --> 15:41.877 We would have no reason to believe that the cross accomplished anything. 15:43.257 --> 15:45.197 Oh, but we know that it did. 15:45.605 --> 15:50.165 Jesus proved that on that first Sunday when he walked out of the graves. 15:50.665 --> 15:56.345 Friends, we do not gather this morning on behalf of one who is alive and is now dead. 15:56.445 --> 16:01.265 We gather this morning on behalf of one who is dead and he is now alive. 16:01.265 --> 16:05.285 Our hope is alive because Jesus Christ is alive. 16:08.150 --> 16:16.330 But did you know this morning, the truth of this passage also says that our hope is alive because we are alive. 16:17.990 --> 16:20.110 Now, I'm speaking spiritually. 16:21.802 --> 16:26.782 All of us are alive physically, but not everyone listening today is alive spiritually. 16:27.282 --> 16:30.622 I'm talking about those who God has given spiritual life. 16:30.702 --> 16:32.482 His Spirit has touched our spirit. 16:32.782 --> 16:35.302 We've experienced new birth in Christ. 16:35.422 --> 16:37.002 Let's read verse number 3 again. 16:37.002 --> 16:37.881 He says, 16:52.490 --> 17:00.369 This little word, begotten again, literally is born again. 17:00.370 --> 17:07.189 It's the same word that Jesus used in John chapter 3 when he was speaking to Nicodemus, the Pharisee who came to him at night. 17:02.102 --> 17:07.190 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 17:07.190 --> 17:08.579 And he told Nicodemus, he said, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. 17:14.379 --> 17:16.018 Nicodemus, a righteous, perfect, walking person in terms of that day and age. 17:16.019 --> 17:20.978 He was confused by that. 17:20.979 --> 17:25.558 He said, how can we go back into our mother's womb to be born? 17:25.559 --> 17:29.698 But Jesus was not talking about a person's first birth, their physical birth. 17:29.699 --> 17:35.358 Jesus was speaking of a second birth, a spiritual birth. 17:35.359 --> 17:36.406 Jesus said, you must be born again from above, from the Spirit of God. 17:43.766 --> 17:46.605 You see, the Bible teaches very clearly that all of us are born spiritually dead in our sin. 17:46.606 --> 17:53.445 Ephesians chapter 2, verse number 1 says, 17:53.446 --> 18:00.605 And you He made alive, who were dead in your trespasses and sin. 18:00.606 --> 18:04.504 Because of our sin, without Jesus, we're all spiritually bankrupt, dead. 18:04.505 --> 18:08.264 We're all spiritually dead, separated from the living God. 18:08.265 --> 18:12.424 There's only one way to be reconnected to him. 18:12.425 --> 18:15.184 There's only one way to be born again and to receive everlasting life, 18:15.185 --> 18:21.244 and it's by receiving the mercy and the grace of God 18:21.245 --> 18:27.984 that comes to us through a relationship with the risen Jesus. 18:27.985 --> 18:32.327 Peter said we've been born again to a living hope according to the mercy of God. 18:32.328 --> 18:35.107 not according to your baptism, not according to walking in the aisle, 18:35.108 --> 18:37.107 not according to your confession, not according to how you live, 18:37.108 --> 18:39.287 not according to how much money you give. 18:39.288 --> 18:41.427 No, he says, according to the mercy of God. 18:41.428 --> 18:43.607 It's all by his grace. 18:43.608 --> 18:46.687 You see, we're not born again by our own doing. 18:46.688 --> 18:50.647 It is completely the grace of God. 18:50.648 --> 18:53.707 Now, some people, and I imagine there's some listening today, 18:53.708 --> 18:54.740 have a hard time accepting that. 18:58.500 --> 19:01.139 Because our life is all about earning and doing. 19:01.140 --> 19:03.099 And so we think, man, I've got to make up 19:03.100 --> 19:04.579 for all of my sin, I've got to make up 19:04.580 --> 19:06.419 for all of my failures. 19:06.420 --> 19:10.879 And so we think we gotta do something 19:10.880 --> 19:14.719 to ingratiate us with God to earn God's favor. 19:14.720 --> 19:18.459 But Jesus said, no, you must be born again. 19:18.460 --> 19:21.119 And so let me ask you, what did you have to do 19:21.120 --> 19:22.429 and accomplish in order to be born physically? 19:22.430 --> 19:24.549 Think about it. 19:24.550 --> 19:25.409 As a baby, what did you accomplish to be born? 19:25.410 --> 19:28.749 You didn't do anything. 19:28.750 --> 19:30.969 You were born through the pain and the labor of your mother. 19:30.970 --> 19:32.689 And it's the same with our spiritual birth. 19:32.690 --> 19:36.249 We're not born of our own doing. 19:36.250 --> 19:37.282 We are born through the pain and the labor of our Savior Jesus. 19:40.522 --> 19:43.021 So to my brothers and sisters who are gathered with me 19:43.022 --> 19:45.121 and us today, your hope is alive. 19:45.122 --> 19:48.041 Why? Jesus has made you alive. 19:48.042 --> 19:52.781 You've been born again to everlasting life 19:52.782 --> 19:55.282 by the mercy and the grace of God through Jesus Christ. 19:57.802 --> 19:58.922 Folks, we have a hope that's alive. 20:01.822 --> 20:02.961 The question is, what are we hoping for? 20:02.962 --> 20:07.361 You know, faith, 20:07.362 --> 20:10.481 is often looking backwards in time or it's looking in the present. 20:10.482 --> 20:11.561 Hope is looking to the future, though. 20:11.562 --> 20:16.441 So what are we hoping for? 20:16.442 --> 20:18.621 Well, we find out in verse number 4 that we're hoping for an inheritance that Jesus has earned. 20:18.622 --> 20:22.721 We're joint heirs with Christ, the Bible says. 20:22.722 --> 20:25.781 An inheritance that's incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away. 20:25.782 --> 20:32.126 Reserved in heaven for you who are kept. 20:32.127 --> 20:36.926 By the power of God, through faith, we're salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 20:36.927 --> 20:40.993 I wish we had more time to unpack all the glorious details of this verse. 20:40.994 --> 20:42.633 But Peter is saying, he said, you and I as believers, we're rich. 20:42.634 --> 20:45.593 We're rich in Christ. 20:45.594 --> 20:46.133 All that is Jesus's is now ours. 20:46.134 --> 20:47.193 He's giving it. 20:47.194 --> 20:48.553 He's sharing it with us. 20:48.554 --> 20:49.693 We have this wonderful inheritance. 20:49.694 --> 20:50.794 It's incorruptible. 20:51.874 --> 20:52.873 It's never going to break. 20:52.874 --> 20:54.233 It's undefiled. 20:54.234 --> 20:54.793 It's perfect. 20:54.794 --> 20:55.893 It's pure. 20:55.894 --> 20:57.293 It does not fade away. 20:57.294 --> 20:58.434 It's untouched by death. 21:06.694 --> 21:07.698 And he says it's reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation. 21:08.898 --> 21:13.233 Now this word capped, 21:13.234 --> 21:17.333 It means to guard, to garrison, literally. 21:17.334 --> 21:21.693 It was used of soldiers who are guarding a city. 21:21.694 --> 21:23.833 You see, God is guarding us as his children. 21:23.834 --> 21:26.993 He's guarding our salvation. 21:26.994 --> 21:29.693 Now, notice Peter doesn't say which are kept. 21:29.694 --> 21:32.013 No, clearly he says who are kept. 21:32.014 --> 21:33.473 So God's not guarding our inheritance. 21:33.474 --> 21:35.373 That's not what this verse is saying. 21:35.374 --> 21:37.113 He's somehow guarding our inheritance. 21:37.114 --> 21:38.906 No, he says he's guarding us. 21:38.907 --> 21:44.266 Who are kept? 21:44.267 --> 21:45.507 You see, our hope is alive because we are safely kept by the hand of Almighty God. 21:46.847 --> 21:51.846 I'm speaking to believers here. 21:51.847 --> 21:53.846 I want to encourage our church family and those who are believers listening today. 21:53.847 --> 21:57.286 It may be that... 21:57.287 --> 22:00.626 That you've never really truly been born again. 22:00.627 --> 22:05.566 You've never experienced the life Christ has to give. 22:05.567 --> 22:06.887 But for those of us who have, we are now kept securely in the hand of God. 22:11.407 --> 22:17.206 Sometimes Christians worry about losing their salvation. 22:17.207 --> 22:20.046 They think that, well, this eternal life that I've been given can now be lost somehow. 22:20.047 --> 22:24.224 So sometimes they fret about it. 22:24.225 --> 22:25.924 I got to work really hard to make sure I keep my salvation. 22:25.925 --> 22:29.024 Well, let's think about that. 22:29.025 --> 22:31.404 How does a person keep their salvation? 22:31.405 --> 22:32.905 Well, we keep our salvation the same way we got it. 22:34.245 --> 22:35.853 So how did you get it? 22:38.353 --> 22:40.492 by the mercy and grace of God. 22:40.493 --> 22:43.692 Well, that's how you keep it then. 22:43.693 --> 22:45.312 Peter's saying, we don't keep our salvation. 22:45.313 --> 22:46.492 God keeps our salvation. 22:46.493 --> 22:49.272 That's literally what he says. 22:49.273 --> 22:52.372 We are kept, God keeps our salvation 22:52.373 --> 22:55.912 by the power of God through faith. 22:55.913 --> 22:59.352 God is holding onto us as his children by his grace 22:59.353 --> 23:00.413 and we're holding onto our Father by faith. 23:02.253 --> 23:05.712 When my kids were little, 23:05.713 --> 23:13.467 I remember holding their hands as we were crossing 23:13.468 --> 23:17.387 a busy street from time to time, and occasionally I remember a car just coming at us a little faster than anticipated. 23:17.388 --> 23:21.387 And so I'd speed up my pace, and sometimes their little legs couldn't quite keep up, 23:21.388 --> 23:23.728 and so they'd trip and they'd fall, and I'd end up dragging them along to safety. 23:27.188 --> 23:29.747 I'm sure from their little perspective, maybe they thought, 23:29.748 --> 23:31.448 good thing I was holding on so tight to Dad's hand. 23:35.928 --> 23:39.516 But the truth is, it wasn't the strength of their grip that held them up. 23:39.517 --> 23:46.296 It was the strength of my grip, their father, who held them up. 23:46.297 --> 23:47.396 You see, while we hold on to God in faith, sometimes our grip isn't as strong as it should be. 23:47.397 --> 23:48.616 Sometimes we trip. 23:48.617 --> 23:50.276 Sometimes we fall. 23:50.277 --> 23:58.836 Sometimes we face plant, don't we? 23:58.837 --> 24:01.109 But when that happens, make no mistake about it, we are held safely and securely by the strong hand of Almighty God. 24:01.110 --> 24:02.569 Look at Romans 8, verse 38. 24:02.570 --> 24:03.109 I hope you're encouraged by this. 24:03.110 --> 24:13.110 It says, 24:21.370 --> 24:24.370 Amen. 24:26.810 --> 24:28.763 Now here's the significance of Easter. 24:32.743 --> 24:33.863 Because Jesus lives, we live. 24:41.123 --> 24:43.982 Because Jesus rose from the dead, someday we will rise from the dead. 24:43.983 --> 24:47.523 That's why our hope is alive. 24:51.983 --> 24:53.873 After our Easter services this morning, our family is... 24:58.133 --> 25:02.232 back into a van and we're driving to Oklahoma for my aunt's funeral service. 25:02.233 --> 25:04.100 My dad's sister, my aunt LaDonna, passed away last week in her sleep. 25:09.240 --> 25:14.899 In many ways, my dad and my aunt LaDonna took very, very different paths in life. 25:14.900 --> 25:16.739 My dad, a number of years after, a number of years of rebellion, 25:16.740 --> 25:21.039 he went all in for Jesus. 25:21.040 --> 25:23.459 And we know about his faith and his legacy that he left behind. 25:23.460 --> 25:25.539 My aunt LaDonna didn't. 25:25.540 --> 25:28.939 She continued on that path of rebellion. 25:28.940 --> 25:31.819 And yet today, I've got this calm assurance 25:31.820 --> 25:36.606 that she right now is in the presence of Jesus. 25:36.607 --> 25:41.806 And I'm going to see her again because after decades of rebellion against the Lord, 25:41.807 --> 25:45.066 she accepted God's grace and put all of her trust in Jesus. 25:45.067 --> 25:46.906 Praise God for his amazing grace, right? 25:46.907 --> 25:48.110 Isn't that how we're all saved? 25:49.630 --> 25:51.569 We're not saved by doing. 25:51.570 --> 25:56.289 We're not saved by living a righteous life. 25:56.290 --> 26:05.209 We are only, all of us are saved by the mercy and the grace of God. 26:05.210 --> 26:07.769 I've been thinking a lot this week about my dad and his parents and his sister. 26:07.770 --> 26:10.209 All in heaven now together. 26:10.210 --> 26:12.429 That entire family unit. 26:12.430 --> 26:14.929 They've all run the race. 26:14.930 --> 26:16.090 Their purpose on earth is all done. 26:16.750 --> 26:17.759 And now. 26:20.859 --> 26:21.939 What they hoped for has become a reality. 26:25.379 --> 26:27.059 I'll tell you what, it's better than they could have ever imagined. 26:36.679 --> 26:38.414 I told you this before, but early on as my dad was dying, he was in excruciating pain one evening. 26:43.354 --> 26:47.833 We were gathered around his bedside, and Dad said something softly, 26:47.834 --> 26:50.893 kind of muttered some, mumbled some words, and I wasn't sure exactly what he said, 26:50.894 --> 26:54.553 so I asked if you could say it again, and the room went quiet, 26:54.554 --> 26:58.893 and he raised his voice with as much strength as he could muster, 26:58.894 --> 27:00.674 and he said, Jesus, Jesus is our only hope. 27:02.414 --> 27:04.300 Jesus is our only hope. 27:06.980 --> 27:13.199 I'm telling you here this morning, Dad was right. 27:13.200 --> 27:18.219 Someday, when all of us come to the end of our life, and we will all come to the end of our life in this world, 27:18.220 --> 27:22.559 it will not matter how much money we've earned, how much money is in the bank, 27:22.560 --> 27:26.599 the house that we live in, the car that we drive, the trophies that we've won. 27:26.600 --> 27:27.079 They won't matter at all because in that moment, we're going to leave them all behind. 27:27.080 --> 27:34.484 Amen. 27:34.485 --> 27:39.224 The only thing that will matter is do we know the living Jesus as our Savior? 27:39.225 --> 27:41.325 Have we experienced the love and the mercy and the grace of God? 27:42.885 --> 27:45.725 Let me ask you. 27:49.265 --> 27:52.205 Has your hope faded in this life? 27:53.905 --> 27:56.663 If it has, 28:03.163 --> 28:05.322 I want to encourage you that the reason it has is because we weren't made for this life. 28:05.323 --> 28:07.683 This is not our home. 28:09.603 --> 28:14.242 C.S. Lewis, I want to end by this. 28:14.243 --> 28:15.623 He wrote in Mere Christianity, listen carefully to these words. 28:15.863 --> 28:20.542 He says, 28:20.543 --> 28:22.391 Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these desires exists. 28:22.392 --> 28:24.211 A baby feels hunger. 28:24.212 --> 28:26.091 Well, there's such a thing as food. 28:26.092 --> 28:27.711 A duckling wants to swim. 28:27.712 --> 28:29.671 Well, there's such a thing as water. 28:29.672 --> 28:31.311 Men feel sexual desire. 28:31.312 --> 28:36.911 Well, there is such a thing as sex. 28:36.912 --> 28:43.531 If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, 28:43.532 --> 28:44.572 the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. 28:48.452 --> 28:50.471 See, we've all been made for another world. 28:50.472 --> 28:54.747 The question is, 28:57.247 --> 29:00.406 Do you know Jesus as your Savior? 29:00.407 --> 29:02.966 That is the dividing line of all of history. 29:02.967 --> 29:04.467 That's the most important question of life. 29:08.067 --> 29:10.726 Let's bow together in an attitude of prayer, if you will, both here and at Olive Drive. 29:10.727 --> 29:15.626 This is a holy moment in the life of our church. 29:15.627 --> 29:17.427 I ask that we remain focused on what the Lord's doing at this moment. 29:20.967 --> 29:23.013 Some of you listening are wrestling with eternity right now. 29:23.533 --> 29:31.852 You're wrestling. 29:31.853 --> 29:34.313 You know that what you've been living for in life, it doesn't satisfy the deepest longings of your soul. 29:36.733 --> 29:38.172 So you're struggling to give that up. 29:38.173 --> 29:40.072 You've been hoping for those things. 29:40.073 --> 29:45.792 You've been placing your hope in sin. 29:45.793 --> 29:47.732 You've been placing your hope in accomplishments or money or all of these things. 29:47.733 --> 29:49.772 And it's not delivering. 29:49.773 --> 29:50.032 It's not satisfying. 29:50.033 --> 29:51.228 It's not satisfying. 29:54.428 --> 29:55.768 And yet you find yourself right now struggling to give it up. 29:59.248 --> 30:01.068 To let go of those hopes and to cling to Jesus. 30:04.008 --> 30:07.148 And I think that's because those things are all you've ever known. 30:10.648 --> 30:12.710 The problem is you are far too easily satisfied. 30:18.110 --> 30:24.709 God offers you something so much greater than you could ever imagine. 30:24.710 --> 30:25.730 And so please know today that I don't want to force you to give up your sin today. 30:32.490 --> 30:33.690 I don't want to force you to give up your fading dreams that will soon die. 30:35.130 --> 30:38.049 Instead, here's what I want to do. 30:38.050 --> 30:39.963 I want to offer you something better. 30:44.303 --> 30:47.202 It's like if you have a dog that has a dirty, nasty bone in its mouth. 30:47.203 --> 30:49.242 You can try and try as you may to try to take it away from him, 30:49.243 --> 30:50.702 but he's not going to give up that bone very easily, is he? 30:50.703 --> 30:52.302 He may growl at you. 30:52.303 --> 30:52.902 He may even bite you. 30:52.903 --> 30:59.262 So what do you do? 30:59.263 --> 31:00.343 Well, one way to get that bone out of his mouth is just to put a big old stake right in front of him. 31:02.803 --> 31:04.962 Tell you what, he's going to drop that bone in a hurry. 31:04.963 --> 31:06.777 He's going to grab on to that stake. 31:10.377 --> 31:11.457 Maybe you've been holding on tightly to some nasty bones, 31:13.757 --> 31:16.916 some faulty hopes and pursuits, 31:16.917 --> 31:20.596 hopes that are being corrupted by this world. 31:20.597 --> 31:24.996 Why don't you put down all those hopes and why not put your hopes and your dreams 31:24.997 --> 31:27.656 in someone who's incorruptible, who's undefiled and who never fades away? 31:27.657 --> 31:29.297 And his name is Jesus. 31:31.337 --> 31:32.597 Put down that bone and pick up the stake. 31:33.897 --> 31:35.576 Just a moment. 31:35.577 --> 31:39.191 We're going to invite you to do just that. 31:39.192 --> 31:40.251 We're going to have an invitation both here and at Olive Drive. 31:40.252 --> 31:40.891 We're going to stand to our feet. 31:40.892 --> 31:44.231 I'm going to pray. 31:44.232 --> 31:45.771 As soon as I pray, we're going to stand to our feet as a congregation. 31:45.772 --> 31:46.932 And we're going to sing. 31:49.392 --> 31:55.551 And we're inviting you at that moment to come forward. 31:55.552 --> 31:56.778 We're going to have pastors and other prayer partners, other leaders at the front of our worship services. 32:00.858 --> 32:01.897 And we're going to invite you to walk down one of these aisles or walk down one of these staircases and say, 32:01.898 --> 32:07.117 you know what, it's time. 32:07.118 --> 32:08.337 It's time that I stop pursuing those hopes that lead nowhere. 32:08.338 --> 32:14.877 It's a dead end. 32:14.878 --> 32:18.277 I want to pursue Jesus so my hope can never be taken away, so my hope remains alive. 32:18.278 --> 32:21.937 I want to invite you to give your life to Jesus today. 32:21.938 --> 32:23.037 It's not that you've got to clean up your life and then come to Christ. 32:23.038 --> 32:24.588 No, you come as you are. 32:26.468 --> 32:29.867 Why? Because it's by His grace. 32:29.868 --> 32:32.387 You just come as you are, and God will meet you here, 32:32.388 --> 32:35.827 and He'll forgive you as you trust Him as your Savior. 32:35.828 --> 32:36.868 I want to invite you to do that here in just a moment. 32:40.028 --> 32:42.307 Maybe you say, I want to be baptized like many others in our services, 32:42.308 --> 32:43.807 being baptized this morning. 32:43.808 --> 32:45.967 Or maybe you say, I want to join this church. 32:45.968 --> 32:48.307 Maybe you don't need a pastor, you just need a master. 32:48.308 --> 32:49.698 God's touching your heart, you've been discouraged. 32:50.498 --> 32:53.297 and you need to pray. 32:53.298 --> 32:56.057 Maybe you're a Christian, but you're constantly discouraged. 32:56.058 --> 32:58.677 Maybe you're experiencing a midlife crisis, 32:58.678 --> 33:01.977 whereas you age a little bit, 33:01.978 --> 33:03.357 you're realizing that life's passing you by, 33:03.358 --> 33:04.997 and you're starting to panic 33:04.998 --> 33:06.877 because your hopes are beginning to fade. 33:06.878 --> 33:08.557 Those things that you thought you were going to accomplish, 33:08.558 --> 33:10.117 those things that you thought you were going to experience, 33:10.118 --> 33:12.297 you're not experiencing yet, 33:12.298 --> 33:13.498 or maybe you experienced them, they didn't deliver. 33:15.018 --> 33:16.857 And so your hope is beginning to fade. 33:16.858 --> 33:18.335 Listen to me very carefully. 33:26.115 --> 33:27.634 If your primary focus is on this world, the older you get, the more discouraged you'll be. 33:27.635 --> 33:29.015 Every time. 33:37.355 --> 33:43.834 But if your primary focus is eternal, the older you get, the more encouraged your hope will be. 33:43.835 --> 33:51.381 See, as Christians, our hope is as bright as the promises of God. 33:51.382 --> 33:56.681 I want to encourage you today, if you're a Christian, but maybe you've let yourself start 33:56.682 --> 34:01.961 being focused on things of this world. You've got your eyes off Jesus, and that's why you're 34:01.962 --> 34:04.521 feeling a sense of despair that God does not mean for you to feel. I want to invite you 34:04.522 --> 34:08.167 to get your eyes back on Jesus. 34:09.047 --> 34:11.666 who is our living hope. 34:11.667 --> 34:13.986 Let's bow together as we pray. 34:13.987 --> 34:14.846 Father, we thank you so much 34:14.847 --> 34:16.266 for the living hope 34:16.267 --> 34:17.666 that is found in your son, Jesus. 34:17.667 --> 34:18.786 I pray right now 34:18.787 --> 34:20.046 that you would do a work 34:20.047 --> 34:22.366 that far surpasses 34:22.367 --> 34:24.106 all that has been said today, 34:24.107 --> 34:25.946 that goes way beyond 34:25.947 --> 34:28.026 the audible ear, 34:28.027 --> 34:29.246 that goes way beyond 34:29.247 --> 34:30.766 the spoken word, Lord, 34:30.767 --> 34:32.186 that you would take your word 34:32.187 --> 34:33.706 and the truth of your gospel 34:33.707 --> 34:34.686 and you would bring life 34:34.687 --> 34:35.406 to men and women, 34:35.407 --> 34:41.587 boys and girls. 34:41.588 --> 34:44.167 Lord, that you would touch them in a place that only you can, in a deep place of their heart, of their soul. 34:44.168 --> 34:50.747 That you would clear their mind in this moment. 34:50.748 --> 34:52.787 That you would give them a hatred of their sin, Lord, that they could just turn from it and see it for what it is. 34:52.788 --> 34:53.948 That it is an empty road, that it is a dead end. 34:55.008 --> 35:01.227 Lord, would you touch them? 35:01.228 --> 35:04.547 Would you open their eyes that have been closed tightly and blind to the reality of you and your love? 35:04.548 --> 35:07.687 Would you soften their heart that has been hardened because of their sin? 35:07.688 --> 35:12.667 Would you, Lord, do something mighty and wonderful? 35:12.668 --> 35:14.267 Please, Lord, would you work in our midst as only you are able to do? 35:14.268 --> 35:17.027 Draw people, please. 35:17.028 --> 35:18.552 Lord, draw people by your Spirit. 35:21.772 --> 35:23.751 Help them, give them the courage that it's going to take to step out and come 35:23.752 --> 35:25.751 and to give their lives to you. 35:25.752 --> 35:26.711 We pray in Jesus' mighty name. 35:26.712 --> 35:28.531 Amen. 35:28.532 --> 35:30.351 Thanks for listening today. 35:30.352 --> 35:33.731 We hope you enjoyed this message. 35:33.732 --> 35:36.491 And if you did, we would be so grateful if you left us a review. 35:36.492 --> 35:39.351 Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 35:39.352 --> 35:43.091 if you would like to be notified when a new sermon is released. 35:43.092 --> 35:46.971 If you feel the Lord calling you to take the next step in faith 35:46.972 --> 35:51.033 through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait. 35:51.034 --> 35:54.593 reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 35:54.594 --> 35:56.973 That's podcast to 88988 or connect with us 35:56.974 --> 36:00.113 on one of our social media platforms. 36:00.114 --> 36:02.673 You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org 36:02.674 --> 36:04.913 to find even more great resources. 36:04.914 --> 36:07.613 No matter where you are in your journey, 36:07.614 --> 36:10.593 know that we love you, we're praying for you, 36:10.594 --> 36:20.594 and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.