Thank you, Brad. I really like
that psalm, don't you? His mercy endures forever. It shows us that our salvation
is because of God's mercy. But notice everything in there
was attributed to God's mercy. Creation, providence, victory
over our enemies, everything. And that's the gospel. He gave
them an inheritance according to His mercy, and they praise
Him. That really summarizes the believer's
life in this world. God is merciful. We thank Him
for His mercy, and we're so thankful for that. Thank you, Brad. I
want to turn in your Bibles now to 1 Peter chapter 3 with you. 1 Peter chapter 3. I know that it seems like we
spend a lot of time in chapter 1. Not quite so much in Chapter
2 and now we've really taken a big leap and we're already
in Chapter 3, but it's because, well, I just wanted to. In Chapter 2, what we see is
that the Lord tells us that even though we've been saved and privileged
as God's elect people, that we've been redeemed by the blood of
Christ, and we've been sanctified by the Spirit of God, we're made
sons of God, we're a chosen generation, a holy nation, a temple for the
dwelling of God, and that we're so saved and built up by God
to show forth His praises. Even though all this is true
of us now in this life, we have many trials, And we're still
subject to the things of this world in ways that chafe our
flesh. So that we have to be subject
to the delegated authorities in this world. And that we have
to also suffer unjustly for our behavior. When we haven't done
wrong, we suffer for wrong. And that as wives, we're to submit
to our husbands. And as husbands, we're not to
consider our wives as somehow subordinate in grace, but equal,
co-equal, sharers of the same grace, partakers of the same
grace. We have, like Peter told that
collection of men, when they were questioning about circumcision,
he said, we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as they, the Gentiles. So a husband says,
I believe that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I shall
be saved even as my wife. We put our wives first. We should
always remember, I like what Todd Nybert told me, he said,
my wife is my moral superior. I have no problem with that statement.
She's my moral superior too. I'm not saying that to puff her
up in her own behavior, but just to acknowledge the fact that
what Peter says here in verse 7 of chapter 3, you husbands
dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the
wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together with
the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered. You know how
Jesus gave a much more honor to the poor than the rich, don't
you? And the weak instead of the strong,
and how he brought attention to the woman who cast in all
of her living, but it was only two mites when those who had
much cast in a lot. He always brought attention to
the meek and the poor and the weak and the hungry and the thirsty.
That's what he's saying here to the husband. Consider your
wife to be a treasure in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of her weakness, that is the vessel out of which God
is going to make known his grace. and your heirs together, co-heirs,
joint heirs with your wife, and it's God's grace that you are
like her, an heir of grace, isn't it? So don't treat her as your
underling or as your servant, but serve her, protect her, provide
for her. and comfort her with all the
things that God has said about a sinner and how we're saved
by the grace of God in this life He's given to us. So that's the
way that I'm drawing the first part of chapter three and chapter
two to a conclusion for us here as we look now at verse eight
of chapter three. And I wanna read through verse
15, 1 Peter chapter three and verse eight through 15. I've entitled today's message,
My Hope and the Reason for It. My Hope and the Reason for It,
which is what verse 15 gets us to. First Peter chapter three
and verse eight says, finally, be ye all of one mind, having
compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful. Be courteous,
not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, but contrary-wise,
blessing, knowing that you are thereunto called that you should
inherit a blessing. For he that will love life and
see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his
lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil, or to avoid
it, to hate it, to eschew evil and do good, let him seek peace
and ensue it, follow after it. For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers,
but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, and who is
he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is
good? But, and if you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy
are ye. And be not afraid of their terror,
neither be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness
and fear. Not arrogance, not in some kind
of a presumptive I think things are going to be good for me because
of who I am. No, none of that, but meekness
and in fear. So he says in verse 8, be all
of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren,
be pitiful, be courteous. In light of what God has done
for us, and in light of the sufferings that our brethren experience
in this world like we do, how are we to behave towards them?
We've considered our place under the delegated authority of God.
We've considered the servants who are to be subject to their
masters, wives submissive to their husbands, and the husbands,
how they are to treat their wives. And now he turns to the body
of Christ. He says, all of you be of one
mind. How can we be of one mind? We're all different. We all like
different things. I don't like Brussels sprouts,
my wife does. But I'm talking about more important
things than our diet. Some of us, we're just different,
aren't we? Each one of us is different.
We need to tolerate those differences, but we're to be of one mind.
How can we be of one mind? Well, we can be of one mind because
as believers we have the same mind about the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the same mind about ourselves
in light of God's word. We are sinners and the Lord Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. Our salvation is in him alone. He is everything. God, He is
equal with God. He is all that God is. The fullness
of the Godhead is in Him. All the scripture says about
Him is true. We take God's word to be the
way things are. We have the same mind about the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have the same mind about ourselves
in our sin and our helplessness. We have no reason to boast. We
have only reason to boast in the mercy of God and in the cross
of Christ. We praise God with one another,
with one mind as sinners saved by his grace. So it's not hard
to have the one mind because God has given us this. So he
tells us to have what we already have, which is this one mind.
different than what he said in chapter one, when he says in
chapter one, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lust in your ignorance, but as he which has called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. We don't
become holy by our own performance. We're to be what we are by God's
doing. We're to be as God has made us
in Christ, holy and without blame before him in love. And we're
to carry out in faith what we've been taught by him, that we are
holy by the indwelling spirit of God in us. He's given us this
new nature, so we're to act according to that what we believe. And
so he's saying it here too, be of one mind. And then he goes
on, he says, love as brethren, be pitiful and be courteous.
Think of one another in a way of pity. Consider one another.
Be sympathetic. Be courteous. Don't wait for
others to make themselves friendly to you as if you are the center
of things. Extend yourself towards them.
Show kindness. Be tender towards them, is what
he's saying here, to one another in the body of Christ. Brethren
feel safe around each other. When they're in love, when they
love one another, brothers and sisters are safe. When you're
around your family, don't you just relax? You should. Maybe
your family has contention in it, but that only comes because
of pride. But when we love one another,
we put up with one another. We endure one another's differences
and weaknesses. In fact, we don't point out their
weaknesses, but we cover them up because we love them. and
we think about their troubles and we want to help them. That's
what we do for our brethren. We consider what we have to be
available to them when they have a need. So those are the way
brethren treat one another. So be pitiful, be sympathetic,
and be courteous, be kind, be tenderhearted toward one another.
Not rendering evil for evil. wrongs done to you day after
day after day and bring them up again. Don't look for a payback. Don't look for someone to give
you what they failed to give you before and expected of them.
Overlook it. Love, according to Proverbs,
says in Proverbs 10, love covers all sin. So not rendering evil
for evil or railing for railing, but contrary wise, blessing. knowing that you are there unto
called, that you should inherit a blessing. God has blessed us
in Christ, therefore we are to bless others, not out of what
we see they deserve, but out of what God has given to us,
the blessing of eternal life and eternal glory in Christ.
Verse 10. For he that will love life and
see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his
lips that they speak no guile. To refrain our tongue from evil
means to refrain it in every way, but especially in this way,
because this is what is at the heart of problem. This is what
is the heart of conflict and contention. Self-righteous pride. We think we deserve something
we don't have, so we covet. Someone else has it, or someone
else seems better or more talented than us, and we desire that they
not be so. We desire ill will towards them.
And so it begins with this arrogance that we're something important
and holding that attitude so that we don't refrain from talking
about ourselves in a way that exalts us ourselves. Don't do
that, he says. If you will love life and see
good days, refrain your tongue from evil and your lips that
they speak no God. How many times have you thought
back about something you've said and cringed? that you could be
so stupid. I'm just talking about myself
now. Let him eschew evil, despise it, turn from it, and do good,
let him seek peace and ensue it. We seek peace, don't we?
How are we going to seek peace? Well, there's only one way that
we can have peace with one another. Conflict with others is the result
of conflict with God. And peace with others is the
result of peace with God. And peace with God must be the
starting point of our peace with one another. And that peace comes
in one way alone, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He made peace with God for us in his own blood. And God himself
provided that reconciliation in the death of his son. So despise
evil. and do good and seek peace with
all of the Church of God. Seek to grasp what Christ has
done and to lay hold on it in your heart so that you deal with
one another in peace. When you're at peace with God,
then you can be at peace with others. If you're not at peace
with others, it's because we're not at peace with God. And so
this is where this peace is coming from. It's naturally produced
out of faith in Christ, isn't it? He says in verse 12, For
the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are
open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against
them which do evil. And so you can see in that verse,
verse 12, there is a distinction between the righteous and those
who are not righteous. And we know that there's only
one righteousness, don't we? Psalm 71 verse 16 says, I will
make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. That's when
we get into trouble, when we start talking about ours. In
Romans chapter 10, the Jews refused to submit to the righteousness
of God. But every believer in believing
Christ submits to the righteousness of God, and that righteousness
for them is the fulfillment of the law, Romans 10 verse 4. So
he says here, there's this difference, God made the difference, and
God hears the prayer of those in Christ. He doesn't hear any
prayers of those outside of Christ. His ears are open to their prayers,
but the face of the Lord is against them, which do evil. And who
is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is
good? If you treat others the way God has treated you, are
people going to be harming you? No, because you're going to be
meek before men. You're not going to be arrogant.
You're not going to be seeking your own. You're going to be
seeking the good of others. Verse 14, but, and if you do suffer
for righteousness sake, happy are ye. So consider suffering
in this world as a blessing, because it enables us to experience
grace in the heart. We are actively depending upon
God out of our weakness, and God gives us that grace to rest
in Christ. And be not afraid of their terror,
neither be troubled. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego in Daniel chapter 3? They were in the land of Judah.
God brought the enemy, the Babylonians, against Judah and Jerusalem.
He took them captive. They were carried away. He made
them eunuchs. He made them his servants. And
then he required them to bow down to his image. And they drew
the line there. They said, no, we are not going
to bow down to your image. They were the servants of Christ.
In spiritual matters, we are the servants of Christ alone.
This is a very key point. We are not the servants of men
in regard to spiritual matters. So do not be afraid of their
terror because you serve the Lord Christ. But in matters of
physical things, yes, we're underlings at our job. We're underlings
in terms of government. We're underlings in our station
in life. And we find ourselves in these
situations, but don't be afraid. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
told the king, we're not careful. We're not gonna even hesitate
to answer you in this matter. Our God is able to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace, which you've heated up seven
times hotter than it ever was before. If he doesn't, we're
still not gonna bow down because we serve the Lord Christ. Don't
be afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. But, verse 15, sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts. What does it mean to sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts? We don't make God holy, do we?
We don't make our hearts holy for God. But to sanctify, which
does mean to set apart to God, to set apart as holy, which is
what holy means, we set it apart for God's use. He sanctified
the Lord God in our hearts can be done in one way. Now what
is that? If we understand that God is
holy, we will not dare do anything in our hearts except look to
the Lord Jesus Christ. We look to Him. Can we do anything
more? No. We look to Him for everything
in our salvation. We don't even look to ourselves
for the faith with which we look to Him. We don't take confidence
in our looking. We look to Him that God will
accept us entirely for what He considers of His Son. So sanctify
the Lord God. Regard Him as holy by looking
to Christ. That's what it means here. And
then he says in verse 15, 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. So there is such a thing as hope.
There is such a thing as hope. And we have a reason for this
hope. And that's what I wanna talk
to you now about with the rest of the time we have left, this
hope and our reason for it. What is our hope, first of all?
Someone's going to ask you, what is your hope? Now, hope means,
a scriptural definition of hope is an expectation of things to
come, a confident expectation of things to come. Hope is not
a wish. I sometimes hope that I'll be
able to pay my bills or that I won't get hurt. There's lots
of things we hope for. I hope I get feeling better.
I hope I get a good night's sleep tonight. That's kind of a wish,
isn't it? That's not the hope that's spoken
of in scripture. Hope in Scripture means that
which we expect with confidence that we do not yet have, but
God has promised it. Therefore, we're confident that
we will receive it. That's hope. And so let me give
you these three things that Scripture teaches us is our hope, our hope. First of all, I have this hope,
and you do too as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that
I will stand in the last day before the judgment seat of God,
I will stand justified, perfect, without sin, clothed in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my hope. I expect that. Secondly, I expect this also. In the course of my life, from
my birth to my death, that God has predestinated all things. He has ordained everything in
my life, everything without exception, for my good and for his glory. And he's going to work everything
in my life for my good and his glory. That's my hope. I don't see it with, I can't
tell you how it's all working out, but I have this expectation
and I'm confident of it that God is going to do that with
this end in view to conform me to the image of his dear son.
And the third thing I have is my hope. This is the third aspect
of our hope. This is what our hope is, is
that I will receive the inheritance the reward God has given His
Son for His Son's obedience in becoming sin for us, in being
numbered among the transgressors, and in making intercession for
the transgressors to bring them to God. He has rewarded His Son
with all things. He has given Him everything,
has left nothing out, and I expect and anticipate with confidence
that God will give me, with Christ, everything. Life, death, things
present, things to come. The world, everything will be
given to the believer with Christ. Those are my hope. These things
make up our hope. That we will stand before God
without sin, perfect in Christ. That everything in our life is
working together for our good according to God's eternal predestinated
purpose to conform us to the image of his son. And that all,
at the end of our lives, we will be raised up brought into glory,
into the very presence of God in all of His glory, and be given
a place with God in Christ to enjoy Him forever. We will see
His face. We will know Him as we are known,
and we will be made like Him. Now that is my hope, and that's
the hope of every believer. We have this hope. And so when
someone asks us, we can say, yeah, I have a hope, and here's
my hope. And then the next thing we want
to answer here from this text of scripture is, what is the
reason? Why do you have this hope? Do
you just presume on this? Are you presuming on this that
you're overly optimistic? Is it a misplaced presumption?
Do you have this expectation because you're so proud that
you think that you were somehow chosen for something good in
you? Of course not. No, not at all. So I want to
now go with you to give you the reason for my hope. These three
things in scripture. And the first reason we have
for our hope is, and this is so important, especially today,
I wrote a little article in the bulletin today called, Sanctify
Them by Thy Truth, Thy Word is Truth, Thy Word is Truth. In
the world today, it's no different than it has been since the creation
of time. I mean, since Adam sinned in
the garden, that God looked down upon the children of men and
he said that every imagination of the thoughts of their heart
is only evil continually, in Genesis 6, verse 5. So that men
imagine things. They identify themselves as things
that are not true, don't they? And this is a claim that men
have that there's something that they're not. and they use their
own interaction with others in the world to substantiate their
claims. I find another sinner who hates
God just like I do and serves myself and worships myself like
I do, and we find a camaraderie here. Sin loves the fellowship
of sinners. And so, idolaters love idolaters,
and haters of God love haters of God. We do not want to accept
God as he's made himself known. We don't want his word. We don't
want him to rule over us. We don't like his truth. According to Romans chapter 1,
we have this attitude that we do not like to retain God in
our knowledge. So therefore, we find that men
deal with things called relative truth. You have your truth, I
have my truth. So we're cool, right? You can
believe what you want about me. I certainly believe what I want
about you. And that makes it so because I think it's so. That's
the imagination of our vile hearts. But that's not the way things
are. What then is the way things are? What do we believe? What
is the reason for our hope? It's the word of God, the truth. There is such thing as an objective
truth. It's what God thinks, what God
says. Jesus said, I am the truth. So
the first reason for my hope is the scripture. The Lord Jesus
Christ has recorded his word in scripture by his own spirit. Jesus says in Matthew 24, 35,
heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass
away. Never. Forever, O Lord, thy word
is settled in heaven. Thou hast established the earth,
and it abideth that continue this day according to thine ordinances. Psalm 100, Psalm 89, or I think
it's 119, verse 89. So the first reason for my hope
is scripture. So let's turn to the scripture
to substantiate my hope. Look at Colossians chapter one,
and verse, Colossians chapter one when you get there, and look
at verse 20. or actually verse 19, it pleased
the Father, Colossians 119, it pleased the Father that in Christ
should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, God the Father did this, Christ did it
on the cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him
I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven,
he's gonna set everything right by his cross, and you that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled." Notice who's doing the work here,
God the Father by Christ. And how? In the body of his flesh
through death. And here's the result, to present
you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Now
that's God's word. He's saying here that those God
has reconciled to himself by the blood of Christ's cross,
by the death of his son, God has made them in his sight to
be holy and unblameable and unreprovable, without sin, perfect. In Hebrews
10, 14 it says, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are set apart by God, who would be made holy by the offering
up of his Son. God did this. And since God did
it, it's done, it's perfect, it's eternal, it cannot fail. There's no lies here. God has
said this, and this is objective truth. It doesn't depend on my
experience. It depends on God. He has recorded
it in his word. It cannot change. It won't fail.
Jesus said it will endure forever. That's objective truth, isn't
it? That's the truth. That's the reason for my hope,
because God has said it. The Lord Jesus Christ has recorded
it in his word. Now look also at Romans chapter
8. where God has recorded the other
part of our hope here in Romans chapter 8. That everything in
time, in my life, all of creation as Brad just read in Psalm 136,
creation and providence, the life of God's people in the wilderness
of this world, bringing them to their eternal inheritance,
overcoming their enemies. And giving them this praise in
their heart, His mercy endureth forever. Everything is designed
for this purpose God has. In Romans chapter 8 and verse
28, we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, that's the result of God's work in us, to them who
are the called according to His purpose. They are the called
of God. according to God's purpose, and He gives us that purpose,
verse 29, for whom there are definitely people God knew, whom
He did foreknow. God knows them. He says in Romans
chapter 11, whom He did foreknow. Those are the elect of God. He
knew them before. Known unto God are all his works,
and the foundation of God standeth sure. The Lord knoweth them that
are his. He loved them with an everlasting
love. This knowledge of God is eternal. It has no beginning. It is as
early as God, and it has as much duration throughout eternal ages
as God is God. He doesn't change. He knows them.
And he also did those he knew before and loved before in Christ. He predestinated them to be conformed
to the image of his son. That was the reason, I mean,
the purpose was to be conformed to the image of his son. That
he might be, Christ, might be the firstborn among many brethren,
equal brethren. Now there's the second part. The word of God declares this,
that we were chosen, loved before, predestinated to be conformed
to the image of his son. Is God going to fail? It says
in Psalm 3311 that he does all his thoughts. In Isaiah 1424,
the Lord does everything that he thinks. No one withholds him
from his purpose. He has done whatsoever he pleases.
Psalm 135 verse 6 and Psalm 115 verse 3. Our God is in the heavens. He had done whatsoever he has
pleased. He rules in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. Daniel 4, 35. All
these things are true of our God. He cannot fail and this
is what he says in his word. He's going to do it. In Isaiah
46, he says, have I not spoken it and shall I also not do it? The Lord will bring to pass his
word. So since it's God's work and God's word, it will be done.
We will be conformed to the image of his son. And he's using all
things in our life as the crucible of our faith, to refine our faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, to give him praise that his mercy
endures forever. So you see these things are evidently
true. And then also, finally, in 1
Peter, back in 1 Peter, I'm gonna have you flip to a few scriptures
here, because this first part is saying that these things are
established by the word of God. Look at 1 Peter 1, verse 3, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living or lively
hope. by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. And this is what it was to, that
hope, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for you. All right? So that's our
hope. We are kept by the power of God.
Everything is working to our good. That's our hope. The reason
for it, God said so. Do we need other reasons? Not
really, but in looking at this, we're going to look at other
reasons. But before we do, back in Romans 8, I want to read this
to you because it's important we understand this about hope.
In Romans 8, it says in verse 24, for we are saved by hope. We're saved by hope. But hope
that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? In other words, if we have it
in experience, we're not hoping for it, we have it. It's pretty plain, isn't it? Hope is not the experience of
the reality. Hope is the anticipation of it
in confident expectation. We don't have heaven in experience. We don't see Christ with physical
eyes. We don't see him in our present
body. We don't have our resurrected body, but we expect it, don't
we? We haven't yet stood before God
in the day of judgment, but we will, and we will be cleared. So that hope that we have is
something that we do not yet have in experience, although
we have it by God's promise. And that's the difference between
faith and hope. Faith is our present grace that
God has given to us to actually possess in our present experience
what we only, what we haven't yet received in that experience.
So it says this in Hebrews 11, faith is the substance of things
hoped for. It's the evidence of things not
seen. We don't have, when I look at
myself, I don't see that I'm perfect. You don't either. You don't see me as perfect,
and you don't see yourself as perfect. You don't see your justification
before God in the evidence of your life, do you? We see ourselves
to be like the Apostle Paul said. I'm sold under sin. It seems like my mind is carnal.
I'm carnal, and sin has dominion over me. It doesn't have dominion,
but sin is constantly with me. It seems like it has dominion
over me. To appearances, to evidences, we don't have what we hope for,
but we're confident of it, aren't we? Right, we're confident of
it because, first of all, because God has said it. And we're saved
by hope or in hope. We're saved in this hope. This
also is a grace of God. Look at Galatians chapter five.
And this grace comes to us not by our own working it up, but
by the grace of God's own Spirit. In Galatians chapter 5, he says
this, in verse 5, we through the Spirit, there's where the
strength comes from, that's where the ability to hope and believe
comes from, we through the Spirit wait. for the hope of righteousness
by faith. You've seen dogs. We did this
with our dog. We'd hold their food above their
nose and say, wait, wait. And they're just drooling. That's
tortures. God has told us, wait. And that
waiting proves that he has given us this firm persuasion that
what he said is the way things are and has also given us this
hope, this confident expectation of his performance of it. So we wait and we hope for the
hope of righteousness by faith. This is all the work of God's
spirit, okay? We don't have it, we expect it,
we will have it. and all these things we've mentioned,
to stand before God, perfect in Christ, that everything in
our life is now working for our good and God's glory, even when
we suffer for righteousness' sake and have to live like Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego in all of the torturous anxiety under
the dominion of a wicked king. and we shall inherit eternal
glory, even though it seems like we're the off-scouring of the
world, we're going to be with Christ and receive all that God
has given him, according to Isaiah 53 and verse 12. He stood for
us, he answered for us. Now, what's the second reason
for my hope then? Well, remember, I'm not gonna
take time to read this because it's a familiar story. You remember
the account Jesus gave of the good Samaritan. in Luke chapter
10, there was a man traveling from Jericho and he fell among
thieves. They stripped him, they beat
him, and they left him wounded, half dead. He couldn't get up,
he couldn't help himself, he was going to die. A priest came
by and passed along the other side of the road. A Levite came
by, he also passed alongside but didn't help him. Finally,
a Samaritan man came by and he saw him and he went to him where
he was and he poured his wounds oil and wine and then he put
him on his own beast, took him to the inn and paid the innkeeper
to take care of him and said, when I come back, I will repay
you if it costs more than I've given to you. Now that parable
is meant to teach us the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the good Samaritan. He was considered a Samaritan
by the scribes and Pharisees that he was unclean. Say we not
well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil? In John chapter
eight, no, I'm not a devil. I don't have a devil, but they
didn't see that. So this was the account of Christ
coming to his people. And this is the second reason
for my hope. My hope that I have is the reason
for it. The second reason is that the
Lord Jesus Christ comes to me where I am as a sinner without
conditions that I must meet. Okay, this is very important
that we understand this. And this is substantiated by
scripture, don't you know? In Romans chapter four, he says
this. To him that worketh, verse four,
to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but
debt. If you try to work in order to make yourself acceptable in
the eyes of God, to obtain an inheritance, to work out all
things, if you try to do the things that God alone can do,
then it's gonna be considered a debt. as if God owes you, and
then you will be held accountable for the debt you owe God. You
don't want to live like that. But, verse five, to him that
worketh not, he doesn't, he knows he's a sinner, he knows that
God is holy, he can't produce what God requires, not one thing. He's failed already. He's under
the judgment of God, he's guilty, and he's unable to do anything,
but he believes on him, God, who justifies the ungodly, He
ascribes to God the entire work of his justification. He credits
Christ with all the merit, all the obedience, all the blood,
all the answer given to God. That man is justified, like the
publican, Jesus said. This man who owned his sin and
asked God to consider Christ's propitiation for him, that man
went down to his house justified. He did not consider his own righteousness,
like Abraham in chapter four, Romans. Didn't consider his own
body, which was dead, verse 19 of Romans chapter four. He did
not consider his own body. He was not weak in faith, but
he was fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was able
also to perform. And so, like him, we who believe
Christ, knowing that God delivered him up for our offenses and raised
him for our justification, we have what we believe, that in
Christ we're justified by his righteousness, by his blood.
That's what Romans 4 is saying. And so I have this hope. God
comes to me, where I am as a sinner, without conditions placed on
me, in order to give me what He promised, which is a holy,
unblameable, unreprovable, faultless standing in His presence, because
it's all by the blood of His Son. That's my hope, and that's
the reason for it. In Romans chapter 5, he says,
when we were yet without strength, verse 6, when we were yet without
strength, Christ died for us. That's the reason for this hope.
When we were ungodly, Christ died for us. Verse 8 of Romans
5, God commended his love for us, toward us in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Being much more than
being now justified by His blood. You see, don't try to wiggle
or insert yourself into the equation. Like someone said, I love this,
the equation has only two factors in it, what Christ did and what
God thinks of it and responded to it. That balanced the scales. It overbalanced them in our favor
because Christ's offering of Himself to God was more than
all the law could require. and fulfill the righteousnesses
everlasting for an innumerable number of people. And that's
amazing grace, isn't it? So there's the scriptural affirmation
that God comes to us where we are as sinners. If you tell me,
me personally, that I must do something before God can do something
for me, you've taken away my hope. You've destroyed all hope
I have if you put one condition on me that I must fulfill in
order to have what I hope for. God does all in Christ. Christ is all. That's the unity
that we have, the one mind that we have, okay? So that's the other reason for
our hope, that God comes to us as sinners. we were dead in trespasses
and sin. Even when we were dead in trespasses
and sins, for his great love wherewith he loved us, he made
us alive together with Christ. Isn't that what Ephesians 2.4
says? 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, for by grace you are saved. That's
it. That's my hope. That's the reason
for it. It's by grace alone in Christ
alone. Not from me in any way. God does everything from first
to last in my salvation. Jonah said, salvation is of the
Lord. Romans 11 verse 5 and 6, he says,
if it's of grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace
is no more grace. You are not under the law, you
are under grace. Not under the law, you're not
living by the principle of you keeping what God requires. It's
not what God thinks of you. It's what he thinks of his son.
It's not your personal obedience, it's his obedience. It's not
what you did in your sinning, it's what Christ did in his dying.
All these things add to the weight of the reason for our hope. God
has spoken it. And now we see He laid it all
on Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ obligated
Himself by the will of God to bear full responsibility for
all of my salvation. He became my surety. He became
my surety in this covenant of grace where He said, I will be
surety for Him. I will bear the burden forever
if I bring Him not back to you. As Judah told his father Jacob
concerning Benjamin, I will answer for him. I'll answer every accusation. I will fulfill every righteousness. I will satisfy all of the justice. I will do it myself. And he will
be silent before his accuser, before the law, and I will answer
for him. Now, all of this is by grace,
as I say. from scripture, Christ is all
sufficient in it. We own him, we have this one
mind, he is all. God says it this way, the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in him bodily and you are complete in
him. What better news is there to
a poor sinner who can do nothing, who is guilty and condemned before
God? This grace comes to us right
where we are. And the other reason for my hope
is this, is that in this hope that we have, that we will stand
before God, perfect in Christ, and that everything in life,
though we suffer in this world, we are the sons of God, is working
together for our good to conform us to Christ's image, and that
we will stand before Him, conform to His image, and behold His
face in righteousness. The other reason for my hope
is this, that this hope I have gives all of the glory to God
in all of his character, in all of his perfections to the highest
possible degree. The death of Christ so glorified
God in all of his perfections that nothing will ever or could
ever exceed it. And this is the reason for my
hope. God has glorified himself in his son. Over and over in
scripture in the New Testament, Jesus says, Father, glorify yourself. Then in John chapter 17, he says,
glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. I have
glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. And now give me the glory that
I had with thee. before the world was, John 17. It's because God is glorified.
It prevents men from boasting. It puts this praise in our mouth,
His mercy endureth forever. It's all of God. It's of Him. And we can take no credit, and
we're glad that it's that way. The world wants its own relative.
standard of truth, yours and mine. God says no. The believer loves to have it
that way. Let God be true, but every man
a liar. Let the truth of Christ and Him
crucified, that it glorifies God and honors all of His perfections,
be the way things are. I'm happy with it. I have nothing
to contribute to this. Christ gets all of the credit. And that's the reason I have
confidence. If it's all Him, I'm completely
persuaded that God has already enthroned him in glory and rewarded
him with his great honor and privileges that he has. I'm persuaded
of that without a shadow of doubt. So why would I not be persuaded
that he would save me according to his word because of him, for
his sake? We therefore come boldly into
his throne of grace through the blood of Jesus alone. These are
the reasons for my hope. But I'll wrap this up now because
I know that we're running out of time. But let me say this,
this other part of my hope and the reason for it. I am a sinful
man, full of sin, and my body is dead because of sin according
to Romans 8 verse 10. How in the world then does my
hope teach me how God is going to save me if I'm dead in sins,
Deliver me from the wretched man that I am. and deal with
this body which is dead and sin. What hope do I have? And this
is the answer to that. We read it in 1 Peter 1, verse
3, that blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus told Martha and Mary and
his disciples, I am the resurrection and the life. The reason for
my hope is that Christ himself is my resurrection and life,
and he's already been raised, and he lives, he cannot die,
and he lives in me. Therefore, not only did he answer
God for my sins and justify me in his presence by his precious
blood, But He also gave me His Spirit to live in me and made
me alive in my spirit. And because His Spirit now is
in me, when this body dies, I shall not die, but I will be with Him
in glory. And then on the last day, according
to the will of God the Father, He will raise me up. He says,
I came to do my Father's will, and this is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He has given me, I should lose nothing
but raise Him up at the last day. And he says that those who
have been given this grace from God, this salvation, believe
his Son. Jesus said, this is the work
of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent. Everyone who
seeth the Son and believeth on him has everlasting life. That's the will of God, John
6 verse 40 and John 6 verse 29. And he also said this, he said,
whoever hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation, but is already
passed from death to life. We've been raised. He has raised
us together with Christ. This is my hope. This is the
reason for it. Death could not hold those for
whom Christ died because He overcame death. He put away our sin. He
answered God to God's great pleasure and God will raise us up with
Him. If God has so given His Son and delivered Him up for
us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? What confidence we have What
expectation we have because all of our hope is in Christ. 1 Timothy
1 says, Jesus Christ who is our hope. The God of hope fill you
with joy and peace in believing. What we have now is faith, but
what we expect is eternal glory. Standing before God in the righteousness
of Christ without sin, without blame, without fault, without
shame. boldly coming before God, all because of Christ alone. And that's the way we live our
lives now. We live our lives by the faith of the Son of God
who loved us and gave himself for us. What hope we have. Let's
pray. Father, thank you. Thank you
for the mercy you have towards us. You created this world. You
brought us into this world. You first placed us in the Lord
Jesus Christ and preserved us in him. You made us to yourself
a people. You chose us and set us apart
for yourself and made us a holy nation all by the Lord Jesus
Christ, our precious savior, our high priest. Perfected us
forever by his one offering and sanctified us in him. And then
you gave us His Spirit that we might see His obedience and His
blood as all of our obedience, all of our cleansing for our
sin before God in Him. What grace is this, Lord? Help
us to forever sing His praises. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right.