Good to be together again. Always
a great blessing to gather together. We're going to continue our study
on 1 Peter chapter 3. The name of the message today
is a question. The name of the message today is a question.
And the question is, what is your hope? What is your hope? 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 14 to
17 we'll read. Now we covered verse 14 last
week, but to get the context, I'd like to read it along with
verses 15, 16, and 17. But if ye suffer for righteousness'
sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of the terror, neither
be troubled. But sanctify the Lord in your hearts, and Be ready
always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of
the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Having a good
conscience that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers,
they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation
in Christ. For it is better, if the will
of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing."
Now last week we looked at being of one mind in the body of Christ
and how we're to be of one mind And although we have different
personalities and we come from different walks of life, God's
people are to be of one mind. We have one object is Christ
is our worship, and we come together for the furtherance of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brother Tim and I were talking
about that this week, and that's why we're here. We're here for
the furtherance of the gospel. The Lord has saved us, and we're
brought together, and we worship together. Look at verse 8, it
says, finally be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of
another. Love his brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. So the
furtherance of the gospel is what we seek. We seek to uplift
Christ and to proclaim the message of salvation through Christ and
Christ alone. And we desire for it to go forth
from this work and we desire for Christ to get all the glory
and all the honor and all the praise, of course. And we also
looked at how we're not to render evil for evil. We're to avoid
evil and wickedness, and we're to render a blessing to those
who would do us ill. And we pray for those who persecute
us, don't we? We pray for those who persecute
us. And we're to seek peace, which is only found in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that the eyes of the Lord are
upon us. And if we suffer for righteousness' sake, we are to
not fear those who destroy the body, We're not to fear those
who can destroy the body, but he who can destroy both body
and soul in hell, which is God. And always remember that through
any kind of suffering we go through, the Lord will never leave us
nor forsake us. He's ever with us. He's ever with us, ever with
us, no matter what we're going through. And look at verse 14,
but if you suffer righteousness sake, happy are ye, and be not
afraid of the terror, neither be troubled. So if you suffer
for the truth, you believe, And for the humble spirit of Christ,
you demonstrate, and for return, we do not return evil for evil,
we return good for evil, beloved. And consider yourself blessed
beyond any unsaved man or woman, because the scriptures declare
this, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'
sake. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5, 10. Blessed
are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. These
are the Lord's own words. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. Matthew 5 verses 10 to 12. So don't be afraid of the opponents
of truth. Don't be afraid of them. Don't
be afraid of them. Don't be troubled by their hatred
for you. Don't be troubled by that. Because
they hated our Lord, they're going to hate us too. They're
going to hate us. But what a blessing. God's people
have. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
has purchased our eternal souls with his own precious blood.
And we know we're going to suffer for righteousness. There's no
way around that. So today we'll be looking at
verses 15 to 17 of 1 Peter chapter 3. And the question is, what
is your hope? What is your hope? What's your
hope for today? Examine yourself. What's your
hope for today? What's your hope for tomorrow?
What's your hope for eternity? What is your hope? The believer
in Christ answers, Christ is my hope. He's my hope for today. He's my hope for tomorrow. And
He's my hope for eternity. He's my all in all. He's Lord
of my life. He's my Savior, my Redeemer,
and my King. And now remember, these saints
who Peter's writing to, they're suffering. They're suffering
for their faith in Christ. And we looked at that a little
last week, too. Some are being persecuted unto
death. Others have been disowned by their families for having
converted to Christianity. And still others are suffering
persecution at home from family members. And we see here in verse
15 that they are to sanctify the Lord Jesus Christ in their
hearts and be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies
within them. Look at verse 15, but sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear. Now the word sanctified there
is a translation of the Greek word meaning to set apart, to
set apart. It was a word used in pagan Greek
religions of the act of setting apart a building or a temple,
thereby designating it for certain religious uses. And we see then
that the believer is to set apart in our hearts the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're to set him apart in our
hearts. The word Lord there means to He whom a person or thing
belongs. He's Lord. Everything belongs
to Him. Whether people acknowledge it
or not, everything belongs to Him. And it also goes on to say, about
which He has the power of deciding, Master or Lord. And the possessor
and disposer of a thing, same underlying meaning the owner,
one who has control of the persons, the master in the state, the
sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor is an example of
that. And that's what the Lord means there. And we know from
our studies in the past that Lord here is referring to Christ,
to Jehovah of the Old Testament. Now the word Christ in the scriptures
is the English spelling of the Greek word Christos, which in
turn is the Greek translation of a Hebrew word meaning the
anointed one, the anointed one. Which we know from our studies,
the anointed one in the Old Testament is the Messiah, is the Messiah. So this is speaking of Christ.
And the word kuros in our text, which is Lord in our text, also
has an underlying meaning of master. Therefore, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the Lord and master of our lives, beloved. He's the
Lord and Master of our lives. We don't make Him Lord, like
some suppose they do. We don't make Him Lord. We acknowledge
His Lordship. He's already Lord. He's already
Lord. We just acknowledge His Lordship.
We acknowledge that He's our Master. That He's King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. And He's thus to be first in
our lives. And it's He who defends us. It's He who protects us. And
it's He who cares for us. when persecution comes. And so
Peter's getting their minds focused upon Him. And basically saying
the same thing as Paul said in Colossians about setting your
mind on things above. Set your mind on Christ. Sanctify
your mind and your heart. Set Him in the forefront of our
lives. And let us always remember that
God is essentially infinite and perfectly holy. And we don't
make him Lord, we don't make him holy, we don't make him perfectly
holy. He's already that way. None of our worship even changes
him. He's holy, perfect. And we proclaim and acknowledge
him to be our sovereign Lord in two ways. Externally, the
Lord is sanctified by his people. Externally, when they obey his
commands and when we worship together, and when we praise
and call upon him and declare publicly his glory. and then
eternally. And this verse exhorts us to
sanctify the Lord in our hearts. In our hearts. And whilst we
truly love, believe, praise, and worship Him in our hearts,
all outward forms and claims are just hypocrisy. You see,
so this is a sanctification of Him in our hearts, a setting
apart of Him in our hearts. And we can only do that having
a new heart, beloved. And God's the one who gives us
a new heart. So it's mockery to talk of God's sovereignty
and glory with my lips if I do not believe it. And bless God in my heart if
I don't believe it. And how searching this truth
is for the believer. This is a searching verse here.
For the believer. Because who's our hope? Who's
your hope? Is it Christ? Is Christ your
only refuge? Is Christ your only hope? And
when we remember who it is who keeps us, our sovereign almighty
God, during times of suffering, it'll give us strength during
times of anxiety, we all go through that. Strength during times of
sorrow, we all go through that. and strength through times of
suffering and persecution. And sometimes, now I got this
from a commentator and I think this is so true, sometimes during
those times we forget that God's sovereign. We do. I'm guilty. I know we all are. And Peter is here telling the
believers to sanctify in their hearts the Lord who controls
all things. Sanctify. Remind yourself of
who it is who's in charge of everything. It's the Lord. It's the Lord. And let us note,
not only are believers to sanctify the Lord in our hearts, but we're
always to be ready. We're always to be ready to give
an answer for the hope that lies within us. to those who persecute
us, and to those who are around us. Always be ready. It says, but sanctify the Lord
God in your heart, set him apart, 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. Every believer has a hope within
us. And that hope has one object, and that's Christ, and Christ
alone. Note where to answer our persecutors
or those again who ask us what our hope is. With meekness and
fear. Now meekness is being humble
and having a gentleness of spirit. It's a quiet strength. And it
comes from the Lord. We can't muster that up ourselves.
It's a quiet strength. And it comes from the Lord. And
fear here is answering with the fear of the Lord. With reverence
and awe for who our King is. Being careful that God gets all
the glory. And see, you listen to people in religion who supposedly
do soul winning or evangelism, and I'll tell you, I've been
there, and I've done that way, and they're seeking all the glory,
and I know they are, because I was there. But the believer
in Christ, we answer with meekness and fear, telling people of the
hope that we have in Christ, and giving Him all the glory.
giving Him all the glory for it and all the honor. And we're
thankful when the Lord opens the door, aren't we? Because
we get to proclaim our wonderful King. We get to proclaim what
He's done for us. And again, we who answer in this
way in meekness and fear, We answer this way because we're
true seekers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't want the glory.
We want Him to get all the glory. Now, here is the truth brought
forth in this verse that a believer has and an unbeliever does not. I've noticed in talking to various
people through the years that we live in a time when people
have no hope Now they, they, they, they hope for things that
they can produce or things that they, they put their hope in,
in things that, that they do. But I've noticed that, that there,
there's a sense of hopelessness amongst people when it comes
to eternal things. They're fearful. Some may be
fearful for their future. And some may be fearful of what
may happen in their lives. And there's no hope. There's
a state where they just become hopeless. Hopeless. And that's the state that we
were in. I can look back and I know that's the state that
I was in. I was terrified of death. Were you? I was terrified
of what might lay ahead. Now I don't think that way. What's
changed? Well, God saved me. I'm born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. Now I trust in Him. Do I still
get worked up about some things that happen? Of course, I'm human.
But I always bring my focus back to Christ. Back to who's in charge. But people, people are fearful. And they're hopeless right now.
And we were there because the scriptures declare this, that
at that time before we were saved, you were without Christ. Being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from
the covenants of promise, heaven, no hope. Paul writes that over
in Ephesians. And without God in the world.
So we know there's nothing new under the sun. So it shouldn't
surprise us that people are like this. Because there's nothing
new under the sun. People are the same. nowadays
as they were in Paul's days. And contrast this with the fact
that the unbeliever has no hope, contrast that with the believer
who has a hope within. We who believe, we who are as
blood-bought people have a hope within us. It says, but now in
Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. Remember it said, that portion
I read you in, In Ephesians, we were aliens from the covenant
of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no
hope and without God in this world, but now in Christ Jesus.
You who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. Now remember, Peter has been
bringing before these suffering saints in Christ the hope that
they have in them. is Christ, and he would encourage
them and strengthen them in this. And this is true of a believer.
When we hear the gospel preached and proclaimed, it tells us about
the one who is our hope. It tells us about our Savior. And it strengthens us, beloved.
It strengthens us to carry on. Turn to chapter one of this wonderful
book, and we'll see Peter bringing this truth home before the believers,
before the suffering saints he's writing to. And I'll read 1 Peter 1.3. One, three is where we're left.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again into what?
A lively hope. Beloved, we have a living hope,
a living hope, and that's Christ. By the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that faith is not a way reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Then look at verse 13. Wherefore,
gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be bought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. So note, we're to gird up the
loins of our minds. We're to gird up our minds. In
our text, we're to sanctify our heart. So we're to keep our eyes,
our spiritual eyes, and keep our minds focused upon Christ
and Christ alone. And look at who is our hope.
Look at verse 21 of this chapter, 1 Peter 1, verse 21. Our hope is Christ and Christ
alone and Christ is God. Who by him do you believe in
God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that
your faith and hope might be in who? God. Christ is God. Christ is God incarnated in the
flesh. Our hope is in God. Our hope is in our Savior. And
then in the book of Psalms it says this, in Psalms 33, 18,
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon
them that hope in His mercy. Do you hope in the mercy of God
in Christ? Do you hope in Him? Is He your
only hope? Is He your everlasting hope? Now again in our text, back in
Peter, for the fourth time, Peter brings forth before God's saints
the hope that they have in Christ. We looked at the other three.
Now we go back to our text. He brings forth for the fourth
time the hope that the believers have in Christ. Only this time
they are to be ready to proclaim this wonderful hope. that they
have in Christ when someone asks the reason for our hope. But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready to give an
answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that
is in you with meekness and fear. Now let us remember that the
Old Testament, the prophets of old proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ.
The prophets in the Old Testament, they proclaim Christ, beloved.
It's He alone who is the hope of Israel. Turn, if you would,
to Jeremiah, chapter 14. Do you know He alone is the hope
of Israel? And this means His elect, spiritual
Israel. He's our only Savior, beloved.
He's our only Savior. And for Sunday morning message,
we're going to look at... He Himself says, look unto Me
and be ye saved. He's the only one true God. One
true God. Look at Jeremiah, chapter 14. Verse 8. Oh, the hope of Israel,
the savior thereof in time of trouble. Who's the hope of Israel?
Who's the hope of God's people? And we know Israel's a picture
of the church, right? Who's the hope? of spiritual
Israel. Who's the hope of the elect of
God? Christ, and Christ alone. We have no other hope. He's the
hope of Israel. He's our Savior. There have been
times of trouble, and what great trouble we were in. The law of
God had a claim upon us. The justice of God must be satisfied. And it's satisfied in our substitute,
beloved, our great savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you
would, to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Ephesians,
when I read in Ephesians, we looked at our natural state,
how we had no hope. And now we have a hope. We have
a hope in Christ. We have a hope in Christ and
Christ alone. Look at Romans 8, verse 24 and
25, for we are saved by hope. Christ is our hope, beloved.
But hope that is seen is not hope. So if you see something,
you're not hoping for it, are you? But if you don't see something,
you're hoping for that, aren't you? We've never seen Christ,
have we? But he's our hope as believers.
He's our hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see
not, then we do with patience wait for it. Oh, Sister Gail
and I were talking, what a day that'll be when we get home to
glory, when we see the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope. Oh,
what a day that'll be. That'll be wonderful, beloved.
It'll be wonderful. In note verse 24 of Romans 8,
we're saved by hope, that's Christ again, Christ. He's the hope
of Israel, which we saw in Jeremiah 14.8, and He's the Savior of
His people. He's our hope, beloved. He's
our hope. How blessed we are as God's people
when we read the scriptures and behold the Lord Jesus Christ
set forth in a great variety of figures, types, and pictures
all through the Old Testament. And how blessed we are to see
the fulfillment of those types, shadows, and pictures in Christ
who is the substance. Those were just but shadows and
pictures and types. And Christ is the substance.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the grand and great hope of the Old
Testament believers before his incarnation. They all, like Abraham,
saw his day afar off, beloved. They saw his day afar off, and
they rejoiced and were glad. They hoped in Christ, the Messiah.
And amongst all the discouraging circumstances they went through,
and we can read about those things in the Old Testament, can't we?
that they had to encounter, just as we do today, beloved, and
just as the saints who Peter was writing to, we rejoice in
Christ, who is our hope. We look to Christ, who is our
hope. Jeremiah was commissioned to
tell the church, hope in the end, saith the Lord, that the
children of Christ should come to their own border. We are to
hope, we are to hope, Hope in the end. And our hope is Christ. When we leave this wilderness
of this world, we will behold face to face Christ, who is our
hope. The one we've hoped in. The one
we've rested in. We'll see Him. And what hope
is there in the end for God's blood-bought people? We pass
through death's door to be in the presence of the Lord. What
a hope we have. What a hope we have. We who are
his people, we may face persecution and we may suffer here while
we go through this land and this wilderness of this world, but
beloved, we are heading to a land. We are heading to a land where
there's no more sorrow. There's no more sorrow. There
is no more suffering. There is no more pain. There
is no more tears. And where we will be in the presence
of He who has redeemed us with His own precious blood. And it
is at that time, when we pass through death's door, that our
faith will become sight. Will become sight. And we will
see He who is our hope. We'll see Him. We'll see Him,
beloved. and we will praise the mighty
name of Jesus, who is our hope and rest for eternity. We'll
give him all the glory. We'll praise him. We'll praise
him, beloved. Christ is therefore called... Christ is therefore the only
hope of the redeemed, and he's set forth as such, because his
people are called in the book of Zechariah, the prisoners of
hope. Prisoners of hope. Paul calls himself the Lord's
prisoner and says, It is for the hope of Israel I am bound
with chain. For the furtherance of the gospel,
he was in prison. And in scripture, Christ is described
under the strong metaphor of an anchor to the soul. He's both
sure and steadfast. What a hope we have, beloved.
He's like an anchor. Sure and steadfast. So in short,
Christ is the only hope of eternal life. To which we are begotten
by His resurrection from the dead. And in Him we rest in hope,
looking for that blessed hope in the glorious appearing of
our great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And we
look for Him. We look for His appearing. In
the scripture plainly proclaims that Christ is our blessed hope,
isn't He? He's our blessed hope. Over in
Titus it says, looking for that blessed hope. That's Christ. We look for Him. and the glorious
appearing of our great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. The
elect of God in the Old Testament. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
16. The elect of God in the Old Testament and in the New have
only one hope. We only have one hope. The hope
of the Old Testament saints is the same hope we have. There's
no dividing between the Old Testament saints and the New Testament
saints. They look to Christ. We look back to what He's done,
but we still look to Christ just like they did. There's no one
being saved one way and the other being saved the other way. We're
either saved by grace or we're not saved at all. That's it. They were saved the same way
we were, looking to Christ. Look at Psalm 16, verses 8 and
9. I have set the Lord always before
me, because He is at my right hand. shall not be moved." Now
remember, he's sanctified. He's set the Lord always before
him. He's looking to him. Notice that. He's not looking
at the circumstances, because that's when we all get in trouble,
when we look at the circumstances. And we know that even from reading
David. He'd go, oh, all my enemies are coming at me. And then he'd
remember the sovereignty of God. Oh my. Therefore my heart is
glad, and my glory rejoitheth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. Hope. Who's our hope? Who's your
hope? Christ and Christ alone. We rest
in hope. We rest in Him. Christ then is
the only true hope the scriptures speak of. And it's very evident
that every other hope not founded in Christ is a false hope and
a refuge of lies. Every other one. I don't care
if it's religious or if it's something man's cooked up in
his mind. Every other hope, other than Christ, is a false hope
and a refuge of lies. Now, those who are lost hope
in the things of the world. And what does Scripture say of
those hopes? It says they're a refuge of lies. Turn, if you
would, to Job chapter 8, verse 14. I want us to look at this
verse. Look at this verse. Job chapter 8, verse 14. The hope of the hypocrite is
like a spider's web. Think of this, the hope of the
lost in general is like a spider web. Look at this in Job 8.14,
the hope of the hypocrite said Job shall be cut off and his
trust shall be as a spider web. Spider's web. Now to an eye a
spider's web is beautiful, isn't it? Looks beautiful. When you look at that spider
web and you say, oh, look at that. Sometimes those things
are so intricate. They're just stunning. They really are. Beautiful. They're woven. It's
the work of that little spider, right? You're working like crazy.
Well, such is the righteousness of the carnal man, the religious
hypocrite. Oh, it looks beautiful to the natural man. They say,
well, if anyone's saved, surely it's that guy there, right? Surely it's him. But this is what man's self-righteousness
is. It's like a spider's web. And as quickly as a web is brushed
aside by a broom, such is natural man's hope either
in his strength, his self, righteousness, his intellect, or the religious hypocrites whose
works they like to boast in, but they're exposed by the law
and justice of God that their hope will be like a spider's
web. It'll prove to be a refuge of lies, and it'll be brushed
aside, consumed by the wrath of God. That's what other people's
hope is. If they're hoping in anything
else but Christ, their hope is like a spider's web. It's a refuge of lies. And this hope
that Peter's writing about that makes us not ashamed, it's shed
abroad in our hearts, beloved, by the Holy Spirit of God. And
who's its foundation? Christ. Christ is its foundation. Christ is the foundation of our
hope. He is our hope. Christ in Christ alone. So when
a person talks to us and asks why we believe, in Christ and
Him alone, and why we trust in Christ and Him alone. Tell them
you believe because in Christ all my sins are pardoned. All
my sins are pardoned. And we believe that our name
is written in heaven because of what He's done. Because of
His choosing that He chose me. And I believe, the believer,
we tell them of the hope we have of no condemnation. Because the
law and justice of God's already been satisfied in our Savior,
in Christ who is our hope. We hope to be eternally with
Christ and we're to always be ready to give those who ask us
an answer. And that answer comes from Scripture,
doesn't it? Comes from Scripture. See, because
we can answer a thousand words from ourselves, they won't do
nothing. But the Scripture's quick and powerful and sharper
than a two-edged sword. And it cuts to the soul, beloved.
It cuts to the soul. And we give them the answer of
that Christ is our hope because he is our righteousness before
the law. And he's our justifier by his
precious blood. And he is now the mediator for
me before God's throne. What a hope I have. Do you have
this hope? Oh, what a hope, what a hope
the believer has in Christ. Let's look at verses 16 to 17,
and we're close with those. Having a good conscience, that
whereas they speak evil of you, and they will, as of evil doers,
they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation
in Christ. For it is better if the will
of God be so that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil doing.
If we profess before men that we are the sons of God, if we
claim to be a part in the family and body of Christ, then let
us make sure that we have a true inward communion with him. Again,
it's an examination. That we are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, and the scriptures declare that it is with the heart
that the man believes unto righteousness, and men may persecute you, they
may revile you, they may ridicule you, but if your relationship
with Christ is genuine, you will be vindicated. You will be vindicated. Note in verse 17, for it is better
if the will of God be so, that she suffer for well-doing than
for evil-doing. Verse 17 here reminds us that
all things are ordered by the will of God. All things are ordered by the
will of God. And we know this from the book
of Daniel, where it says that none can stay his hand, right?
He does whatever he pleases in heaven and upon the earth. He
does whatever he pleases. So remember this, all things,
even the suffering and afflictions of his people, which is the reason
these afflictions should be born with patience, is by the will
of God. So think back when people were persecuting you, and think
of this when it comes, because it comes for all of us, that
it's by the will of God. And you know what persecution
does for the believer? I've noticed this in my life,
and tell me if it's not so with you. It drives us right to Christ.
It drives us right to Him. We flee to Him, don't we? We
go right to Him. Lord, help me! We do. It drives us right to
Christ, beloved. And knowing that it's His will
that we go through these things can give us great comfort in
all things. Again, even the suffering and
afflictions of His people, of God's people, is by the will
of God. So if it's the will of God for
us to suffer, it's certainly better than suffering for evil,
isn't it? To suffer for righteousness. It's certainly better to suffer
for righteousness than to suffer for evil. These all men shall
know who remember this. All men do not know God, but
there one day faces judgment. We who know him, we we have a
hope that they do not have. We have a hope and our hope is
the Lord Jesus Christ. And one day we shall see him
face to face. Heavenly Father, we thank thee
for your goodness and mercy and grace. Oh, we thank you. We who
believe know that the only reason we have this hope, our hope in
Christ, our hope in you, Lord, is because you have drawn us
and you have bought us to thyself. You have given us a new heart
and we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God and now we worship
thee. Oh, Lord, what a hope we have in thee. We who were hopeless
now have a hope, a rest, which is you and you alone, Lord Jesus.
We love you because you first loved us in Jesus' name.