Go with me, if you would, back
to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter 3. I have something that
I want to sincerely convey to you this morning. I have one
verse for a text. I ask our brother to read one
verse this morning. I don't want to just expound
a text. Not this morning. I want to express
something personal to you. After personal assessment, I
want to declare this to you, okay? Personally tell you something. Verse 15 in 1 Peter 3 says, but
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to
give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you. And he said, do it with meekness
and do it with fear. I have a hope in me. I have a
hope in me. I know that you have a hope in
you. I know you do. We all do, don't we? Hope means
expected anticipation. That's what it means, expected
anticipation, the kind of hope that the apostle is talking about
in this verse is not. Well, we're pulling for things
to go this way and they could go that way, but we hope. That's
not what he's saying. True hope is an expected end. It's an expected end. It's anticipation
of something that you expect to see happen. And I have a hope
in me. I do. I have a hope in me. This
is what I'm anticipating. I don't know how much longer
the Lord would have me to be on this earth. Maybe I'm 40,
maybe 40 more years, maybe 40 more minutes, maybe 40 more seconds. I don't know how long, but once
my time is over, I expect, I anticipate laying this body down and entering into glory. I expect to immediately see my
Lord Jesus Christ face to face. I expect to immediately see him
as he is. As soon as I enter into glory,
I don't believe for one minute that I'm going to have to wait.
We sing that song, I'll be looking for scars up in heaven. I love
that song, but I believe they'll be the first thing I see. And
I believe he's going to say, peace be unto you. I expect, I fully expect to see
His people. Every saint He chose to redeem. I expect to see His kingdom. I expect to see a place. I expect
to see His throne. I expect to worship Him at that
throne. I expect to bow down before that
throne. I expect to have no more sorrow,
no more tears, no more pain, no more end, no more night. I expect to live in a perfect
union with Him forever. That's it. forever. That is my expected anticipation. My guess is that's your expected
anticipation. The reason I say that I believe
that's your expected anticipation is because that's everybody's
expected anticipation. Everybody. Everybody. If I walked
into any Christian church in this city any denomination of
any place that preached this man, Jesus Christ. And I asked any member of that
congregation, what is your expected anticipation? What do you expect
to happen when all this is over? Any and every one of them would
say the exact same thing I just told you. I expect to drop this
body. I expect to see the Lord. I expect
to see the people in heaven. I expect to see a kingdom. I
expect to see a throne. I expect to have no more pain,
no more sorrow, no more tears. I expect to live forever the
same exact thing. Everybody can agree on the fact
that we are all expecting the same end. Everybody. Brother Darwin Pruitt
preached from this text at the conference in Rocky Mount. And
when he read this verse of scripture right here, one word spoke to
me. One word popped out to me. And that word is reason. Reason. Verse 15 says, But sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts And be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is
in you with meekness and fear. Be ready to give the reason. Everybody expects the same end. But let me tell you where God's
people differ from everybody else. everybody else in regard
to this hope. It's the reason for the hope. All right? The reason for the
hope. Now, if you ask men and women the reason for their hope,
they're going to tell you all kinds of things. I was going
to, you know, go through them. I'm not going to do that. I've
got too many of my own reasons to dwell on that. And that's
all I want to do this morning. I want to give you my reason
for the hope that is in me. That's what the apostle said
to do. Each one of us individually, you be ready to give an answer
for the reason of that hope that's in you, and I want to do that.
I want to give an answer to you, and I want to personally show
you through the scriptures why I expect what I do. Now, this is, I believe, a little
different format from what I normally do, but I feel very strongly
about this, okay? I want everybody to warm up their
turning finger. Kids, you might just have to
read your parents' Bible. But I want to show you, I want
to show you, I want to give you my, this is my reason, I mean
this, this is my reason right here, why I expect what I expect. Go with me if you would to Genesis
chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6 verse 5 says,
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. Can we enter into that? Verse
6 says, And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth,
and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord." Explain to me how a person finds
grace with God. Explain to me why a person finds
grace with God. I can't. I cannot. I cannot. I can tell you this,
though. Because the scripture says that
God is a God of grace, that's the reason I have hope. That's
the reason. That right there is the reason,
not because of anything else. Look with me if you would at
Exodus 33. Exodus 33 verse 17 says, And the Lord said unto Moses,
I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast
found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And Moses
said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And the Lord said,
I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee, And I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. God said he will show mercy. He said he'll show mercy. Does
that verse say that he'll show it to everybody? No, it does
not. But the fact that he will show
it at all gives me hope. That is the foundation of my
hope. He said, I will show mercy. His willingness in his heart
to show grace and show mercy. That is the reason I have the
hope I do. He's so willing. He said he delights
in it. That's the reason. I thought you were going to say
it's because you believed him. No. That's not the reason. He's faithful, right? I don't
look to myself for anything. It's because He said He will
show grace and He will show mercy. That's the whole reason. Look
with me if you would at 2 Samuel 23. 2 Samuel 23, verse 5 says, David said, Although
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for this is all my
salvation, And all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
David said nothing about my house is right with God. Nothing about
any of my family, nothing about this house where my soul lives,
nothing about my house is right with God. But he said he made
an everlasting covenant with me. And that right there is the reason
for the hope that's in me. That is the reason, that covenant. God said he's a God of grace.
He said he's a God of mercy. And he said he would make a covenant
with sinners in the blood of his son. And that covenant is
all my hope and it's all my desire. He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. That's all I have. I mean, that's
all I have. That's all I have. Turn with me over to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse 4 says, One thing
have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. That's
the anticipation. Alright, that's the anticipation. Here is the reason. Verse 5 says,
4 In the time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion. In the secret of His tabernacle
shall He hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock. When God's judgment comes, the
reason I expect, I don't doubt it, the reason I expect to safely
and freely make it through to the other side. The reason is
because Christ said He would hide me. All who run to Him,
every soul that is drawn by God the Father, He said He would
hide them in the secret of His own body, His tabernacle. He said He would take every one
of them and put them in Him and hide them. This is the reason
for my hope. This is the reason I confidently
stand up here and give you my expected end, my expected anticipation. It's because I'm hiding in Thee. That's all I have. That's it.
I'm hiding in thee. That song says, Thou blessed
rock of ages, I am hiding in thee. Look with me if you would
at Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 verse 1 says, Behold my servant, this is God
the Father speaking about God the Son. Behold my servant whom
I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put
my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail, nor
be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth, and
the isle shall wait for his law. God the Father sent his Son into
this world to accomplish our salvation. And God the Father
said, He shall not fail. That's the reason for the hope
that's in me. That's the reason. That is the
reason. You ask people all the time.
Or people ask the question all the time. You know. How does
a person get saved? That's what everybody's searching
for. Why is a person saved? That's the reason. That's the
reason. It is so, so revolving around
our Lord. It is so dependent on Him. That
is the reason. That's the reason. Look over
a couple of pages to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 verse 4 says, Surely
He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did
esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He was wounded because of our
transgressions. He was bruised because of our
iniquities. The chastisement that was supposed
to come to us was unleashed on Him and because of His stripes
we're healed. That's the reason. That's the
reason. That is the reason. I didn't
make a decision. I didn't make a decision. I did
not do anything. I didn't do anything to finally
clinch it. That is the hardest thing for
us to get out of our minds. All of us. I know it's 99.9%
Christ, but somehow I have to come into this picture. If it
involves me, at some point I have to get involved. I didn't do
anything. That's the reason. That is the
reason. Look with me, if you would, at
Lamentations 3. Just after Jeremiah, a few pages
over. Lamentations 3. Verse 21 says, This I recall
to my mind, therefore have I hope. This is the reason I have hope.
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his
compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. God's mercy and his compassion
and his faithfulness start over at full capacity every single
morning. They cannot be exhausted. That's the reason I have the
hope that I do. That's the reason. They cannot be exhausted. Now
go with me over to John 19. John 19 verse 28 says, After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
he said, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon
hyssop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus, therefore, had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Salvation is not yet to come. Salvation is not something that
looks like it's going to pan out for us. Salvation is done. I mean, it's done. It is done. It is finished. That is the reason
for the hope that is in me. I'm so thankful for those three
words. What if God had not written those
three words? It is finished. I am holding
on to those three words for dear life. It is finished. It's finished. That's the reason. Look with
me at Romans 8. Now, we know Romans 8 so well,
but let's listen carefully to this. People struggle with election. They struggle with election.
I don't know why. I don't have any idea why. People
struggle with predestination. They struggle with all these
things. Whatever another person's reason is, is another person's
reason. This one is mine, okay? Romans 8 verse 29 says, For whom
He did foreknow, that means elect. Whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That
is the reason. That's the reason. God chose
who he would save. God predestinated every single
one of them to be brought to Christ and conformed to the image
of Christ. He justified them. He glorified
them. And nothing can separate them
from the love of God, which is in Christ. That is the reason
for the hope that's in me. Now, I've been giving you the
reason for my hope all this time. My hope. I've been saying my
hope on purpose. I want to say us. All right.
I've been giving you the reason for my hope. Let me show you
the reason for your hope. OK, turn with me, if you would,
to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, and
you, and you. Hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins? Wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air. the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
you are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. That's the reason. That's the
reason for both of us. Philippians 1 says, He which
begun a good work in you will perform it. It's finished. But he who started it is going
to perform it all the way up to the day that we see our Lord
face to face. He will perform it. That is the
reason for our hope. Now, we're going to go to the
back of the Bible so you know we're done. Go to 1 John 2. 1 John 2 verse 1 says, My little
children, these things write I unto you that you sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous. That's our reason. That's our
reason. That's why we expect what we
do. That's where the expectation
comes from. Did you know I sinned this morning? Do you know I did? I don't even know what it is.
I know plenty of the things I did, but I don't even know. I don't
even know what all I did. You know, I'm going to sin today.
and I'm going to sin tomorrow, and I'm going to sin the next
day, and for this morning, and then this afternoon, and then
tomorrow, and then the next day. This is the reason I still, after
that sin against God, this is the reason I still expect to
be with Him. After all that, this is the reason
I still expect to be with Him. It's because if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That makes me just sit down.
and plan on it. That's the reason. Look at 1
John 3 verse 2. It says, Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is. That's the reason. I don't see in myself what I
want to see, but I know based on His Word, I'm going to see
it. Verse 3 says, Every man that hath this hope in him purifies
himself, even as he is pure. 1 John 4, 19 says, We love Him
because He first loved us. That's the reason. That's the
reason. Last one, go to Revelation 22. Revelation 22 verse 17 says,
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. Aren't you so glad
for that? That God sends His Spirit first
to His child and He whispers so sweetly to the heart of that
child, Come. And in response, every single
one of them says, Come. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. And let him that heareth say,
come. And let him that is athirst,
now here's the reason that I have the hope in me, I thirst for
these things. And this says, God Almighty said,
let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. In all of that, what role did
our works play? In all of that, what role did
our works play? They did not have a role to play. They didn't have one to play.
They have no part in our salvation. They have no part in our expected
anticipation. Not one child of God will say
the reason I expect to be there and all that is because I...
Not one child of God. Not one child of God. Our hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
We dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on the
Lord Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock we stand.
All of the ground is sinking sand. Isn't that right? Isn't
that right? Verse 20 says, He which testifieth
these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come,
Lord Jesus. He's coming back for us. He's
coming quickly. That's the reason I have the
hope I do. Let's sing that song. Stand with me and let's turn
to 272.