But if you're in your place, we're just going to read the first six verses to kind of get a context and idea of what's going on.
And Peter says this in verse number one,
And really our text is going to be here tonight in verse 3, 4, and 5 especially.
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, 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.
Peter says this in verse 6,
Really, the entire theme of this book is this lively hope, this reason to rejoice in our Christian life.
And kind of these verses remind us that we have a hope that cannot fail.
There's a lot of things in life that let us down.
There's a lot of things in life that fail us.
And we think, well, this will never change.
This will never fail.
And lo and behold, it does.
But there are some things that will never fail.
And what Peter says is what you have in Christ, it's everlasting.
It's everlasting.
It's something we can hang on to, not just today, but for all eternity.
And that's what we're going to look at tonight.
So let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to bless our time.
Father, thank you for this time together.
Thank you for the songs that are reminded of the truth that we're going to preach about this evening.
And Lord, I pray that this would just be an encouragement to the hearer tonight.
Just as I was studying, and be reminded of all that you've done for us, Lord.
And we're walking through maybe difficult times in life.
And things that we're not sure of the outcome.
And we don't even maybe know the questions to ask.
But Lord, I pray you would help us just to take a step back and look and be reminded of these truths.
Lord, I do pray if there's somebody here tonight that is unsure of their salvation.
And still searching, Lord, that looking for hope in something.
That tonight would be the night they really come to the realization they need you as their Savior.
Lord, I pray you be with me now.
You would empty me of self.
Cleanse me of sin.
Fill me with your spirit, Lord.
I might be a help to your people.
We ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.
Thank you so much for standing.
May be seated.
Have you ever ordered something that didn't live up to the hype?
We've all been in that boat.
I mean, it can be something as simple as a restaurant order.
I mean, when you go, they always have the little inserts of the menus of their new items.
And, man, you look at the picture.
You're like, that looks delicious.
You see maybe an advertisement on TV.
I mean, even McDonald's hamburgers look gourmet on television.
But then you order it and you open up the box.
You're like, man, there's no substance to this.
Maybe some of you, I know Ms. Renee has done this a couple times.
She was sucked into Timu.
Anybody ever bought something on Timu?
I mean, it looks great.
Price is great.
You know, after you wait about 18 weeks for it to come to China, you thought you ordered a couch.
But it was actually just a picture of a couch.
And it just didn't match up to what you thought it was.
I mean, it looked good online.
But there was really no durability, no substance.
I mean, you read the reviews.
They sounded promising.
But it just wasn't what you thought it was.
And you sat there maybe after a little bit and you realized, man, this is, man, I got ripped off.
You know, that's why when it comes to a restaurant order, I just order the same thing every time.
Because I know what I'm expecting.
I just want to get what I, I don't want to, I don't want to branch out.
But really when we think about this kind of idea, the disappointment, it really comes from a simple problem.
It's a lot of expectation and it just turns out there's no substance behind it.
We have all these grand plans and all these great things.
And it's a great deal and it's a great price and all of the things.
But when it comes down to it, there's nothing behind it.
And I think if we're honest, that's a pretty good picture of the kind of hope that the world offers.
It's grand in its promises.
It looks really nice.
It's got bright lights and shiny things.
But when it really plays out in our life, we think, well, that was disappointing.
That really didn't live up to the billing.
That didn't really change my life.
And I think we realize that the world talks about hope constantly.
Hope in the progress we're making.
We look at mankind and think of all the progress that we have made.
I mean, the fact that we carry, we talked about a GPS.
We don't just have to have a GPS.
It's on our phone.
We carry a computer in our pocket.
I mean, that's really what it is.
I mean, that's an amazing thing to think about.
I just always wonder, like, if people from the past came to here and they're like, what is that?
You know, we can just get on the internet and look up anything.
But, yeah, we make all this progress.
But we're really not getting better.
It's really kind of making things worse in certain aspects.
There's hope.
We hear all the time on the news, hope of peace in the world.
Well, peace doesn't come from a contract that some nations sign.
It doesn't come from an idea.
Peace only comes, real peace comes from Jesus Christ.
And we place our hope in systems and in processes.
And we hope that things will eventually get better.
But it really doesn't matter if this generation or the prior, we can keep going back.
I think generation after generation has discovered the same thing.
That hope that rests on human effort and human ingenuity, it eventually collapses.
You eventually, we realize, well, this isn't what it was billed to be.
But as we've kind of introduced this thought of this living hope, I'm so thankful, and I'm sure that you are as well, that biblical hope is much different.
That it's not one of these things that over promises and under delivers.
No, biblical hope is this settled expectation that's not rooted in our circumstances.
No, that it is rooted in what God has done and what he has promised.
Because sometimes we look and we think, well, how do we know God's going to do this?
I know the Bible promises, well, we can just look at his track record.
We can look at it through the scriptures and see how God has come through for his people every time.
But I would encourage you, just look in your own life.
And you're going to find this, that God has never failed you.
God has never let you down.
The promises that he has made to you, he keeps.
Now, many of the promises sometimes, let's just, let's make sure we understand this, are conditional.
What God says, if you do this, then I'll do that.
But us as human beings, we say, well, I don't want to do that, but I still want the benefits.
And we say, well, I can't believe God didn't hold up his end of the bargain.
Peter's going to remind us throughout this book that God always holds up his end of the bargain.
That he always keeps his promises.
And the reality is, is we need a hope that is certain, that is settled.
Because it matters deeply to the believer.
Because we look at the world around us and it's always moving.
It's shaking at the foundations.
Christians.
But Peter's told us there in the first verse that we're strangers.
That listen, this world is not our home.
Yes, we live here.
We work here.
We raise families here.
We have all of these things.
But we are not living, we should not be living as Christians for the here and the now.
Because if that's the case, we are going to be highly disappointed.
We're going to be extremely frustrated.
And the closer we get to Christ and the more that we try to live our life for him, we're going to realize that our values, our priorities, our direction is completely different than the culture.
Than the society that we live in.
And we begin to look maybe a little bit strange.
And we begin to realize, well, maybe I don't just, I don't really fit in.
And that's okay.
Okay.
Peter's going to remind us that we should be a peculiar people.
That we're set apart.
That there's something different.
There should be something very different about the believer's life.
And he's writing to a group of people that were kind of living that firsthand.
They are scattered.
The persecution has come.
Rome is really kind of trying to purge itself of Christianity.
And they are the targets.
And they feel like, I don't really know what's going on.
And Peter's writing to them with this idea.
I want you to know this.
You're not hopeless strangers.
That you have something you can hold on to tightly.
And that's what we looked at a couple weeks ago in these first two verses.
That we have hope in what we have.
And in who we are.
We notice there in verse number two that we are chosen by the Father.
That God has ordained that.
God is drawing us to himself.
We are set apart by the Spirit.
And we're cleansed by the blood of Christ.
That is who we are.
Because we live in a world that is having an identity crisis.
They're pushing this identity crisis.
And this gender ideology.
And all these things.
And it's pushing all this confusion.
Nobody knows who they are.
And Peter wanted the believers to realize, no, you know who you are.
You are loved by God.
He came all the way from heaven to earth for you.
And he died for you.
And that is a settled reality.
And even when the world feels unstable.
Whether it's the first century or it's right now in 2026.
Our identity is secure in Christ.
And Peter is reminding him of that wonderful truth.
And in our text today, Peter kind of takes it one step further.
He's kind of introducing this thought.
That not only do we have hope in who we are.
We have hope in what we have.
In who we are and what we have.
Here's the wonderful thing.
It's all because of Jesus.
It's nothing that we've done.
It's not by works of righteousness that we've done.
No, it's by his mercy.
And by his abundant mercy, the Bible says here.
And by his grace.
So the natural question is what do we have then?
If our hope is in who we are.
We're elected by God.
We're sanctified through the spirit.
And we're cleansed by the blood.
We know who we are.
But what do we have because of that?
Number one, I think we see this.
We have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That's what he introduces there in verse number three.
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
And see, this would have been a powerful truth for Peter.
Because when you go back and we're kind of in the midst of the Gospels right now
and we look at the disciples there and we realize it took them a while to kind of figure out what was really going on.
Because Peter's original hope was in this, that Jesus was going to overthrow Rome.
I mean, Peter's hope when he kind of saw some of the things that Jesus was doing
and he kind of experienced some of the miracles, he's like, man, I'm on board with this guy.
Because they needed a political savior is what they thought.
Because in his mind and in the disciples' mind and really in Israel,
the greatest problem they were facing at that time was Roman oppression.
They were thinking to themselves, if we could just get Rome off our back,
we could really live life how it's supposed to be.
That God has promised that we are his children and we are his chosen nation
and we really need God just to deliver us, kind of like he did in Egypt.
Because if Rome was off our back, we'd have no problems.
And not only that, I think we see throughout the Gospels, especially in the disciples' life,
they were kind of wanting to be up on the stage.
They wanted those positions of power and authority.
And Peter's thinking, man, this is finally I'm going to get to be somebody.
Because it's kind of like the world really hadn't changed much.
You've got to be born sometimes into the right family, so to speak,
to have power and wealth as the world would look at it.
Well, Peter wasn't born into that family.
He was just a fisherman.
I mean, he was just kind of the low of the low.
He was just a hardworking, blue-collar guy.
And he thought, man, this is my inside track.
And he wanted that position.
He wanted to be on his right hand and his left hand.
James and John were the same way.
And when Jesus came and Peter began to see those miracles,
he thought, man, I'm all in on this.
And he saw Jesus preaching.
He saw the crowds coming.
And I think Peter would have got caught up in that a little bit.
I think we all would have.
Wow, look at this.
And like, hey, are you Peter?
Yeah, I'm Peter.
One of Jesus' disciples.
I think when you really study the Gospels,
the disciples' heads were going real big sometimes.
Jesus was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Because the closer he got to the cross,
Jesus started speaking about suffering and death.
And when you really, Peter's like, hey, man,
we're not about that right now.
Like, I'm just going to let you know.
If you're for that, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen.
And Jesus said, I'm going to suffer and I'm going to die.
And Peter's basically like, over my dead body, you're going to do that.
He does that.
And Jesus says, get thee behind me, Satan.
See, because Peter thought that that's where the hope was,
that as long as maybe the political powers were more on their side
and more in their favor,
and he had a little say in what the culture did,
that, man, that's where the real hope is.
And so Peter resisted this teaching of Christ,
that he had to suffer, and that he had to die,
and that he was going to raise again,
and yet Jesus was crucified.
And it shook them to the core.
And they were scattered as sheep having no shepherd,
because they, as the Bible prophesied,
and they basically holed up in the upper room,
and they locked themselves in.
What are they going to do?
Because they knew who they were, sinful men,
and they probably should have been on that cross,
and yet the most perfect person that's ever walked this planet
is the one that nailed to the cross.
They're thinking, man, they're definitely coming for us.
They were afraid.
And the Bible says that.
They were scared for what the Jews were going to do to them.
And Peter even came to the point where he said,
I don't even know that guy.
When he realized it was going down a road that he wasn't ready to walk,
even though he promised he was,
they said, hey, aren't you one of his disciples?
I don't know the guy.
I've never met him.
He began to curse and say, I have nothing to do with him.
And basically what happened is their hope appeared to die.
But then came the morning,
and Mary was going down to the tomb,
and she got there, and she thought it was a gardener out there.
She said, if you just tell me what they did with his body,
I'd love to know that.
And he said, Mary, and she knew exactly who it was.
You know what she did?
She ran back and she told the disciples.
And guess who came running?
Peter and John.
Now, I love that part in John chapter 20,
where Peter, John, I mean, John is competitive.
I love John.
In all Scripture, he says, listen,
I want everybody to know I'm faster than Peter.
I'm sure they're having a race in heaven right now about it.
And he outran Peter to the tomb.
Peter was struggling a little bit, but they got there,
and the tomb was empty.
And they began to kind of question what's going on.
They go back to the upper room,
and lo and behold, here comes Jesus.
He said, peace I give unto you.
Not peace that the world offers.
See, because that's where Peter's hope was.
It was in the peace that maybe the world is doing.
And if we can just get some things in our life together,
and we can just kind of get better politically,
everything's going to be better.
Jesus said, that's not where hope comes from, Peter.
And what happened is their understanding,
and especially Peter,
he's riding from a place of experience.
Their understanding of hope was completely transformed.
Because that's what the resurrection does.
The resurrection changes everything.
And Peter didn't just hear about it.
No, Peter experienced in his life.
Because when Jesus Christ walked out of the tomb on that third day,
listen, hope was no longer tied to circumstances.
Because that's where Peter lived.
And I think if we're not careful,
that's where we live a lot of times too.
That our hope is based on this,
and it's based on that.
No, hope became alive,
and it became active,
because it was anchored in victory over death,
and hell, and the grave.
And all the messages that Peter had heard,
and all the miracles that he had seen,
he began to realize,
this is what it means.
That this is why he came.
And here's the great news.
That hope wasn't just for Peter,
and for those apostles there,
in the early church.
No, it's for us too.
That that hope is alive.
Listen, as much as we give Peter a hard time,
our hope's not political.
It doesn't mean that we shouldn't vote,
and we shouldn't have a voice.
But listen, we're not basing everything that happens,
who's in the White House in this country.
It's just not the truth.
Because if you're hoping for that,
and I think we've seen that happen,
even in different generations,
and somebody didn't get elected,
man, it's devastating.
But that's not where we're supposed to look.
Our hope is not in this culture getting better.
Because it's not.
We talked about it in Sunday school.
In fact, the Bible tells us,
it's going to get worse and worse.
That's not a reason to despair.
It's just a reminder that we have a job to do,
and we have a joy that transcends the circumstances.
Because it's not circumstantial.
See, simply put,
what Peter's reminding these early believers,
in verse number three,
that their hope is rooted in the fact that Jesus is alive.
That's where it's found.
And the same hope is found today.
And I think we just need to be reminded of that.
Because just like they would have,
there's times,
and maybe you're in it right now,
I don't know,
where life feels unstable.
Where it feels like everything's moving.
And if you anchor your confidence in the wrong things,
you're going to be really disappointed.
And Peter is writing to these people that are literally running for their life.
They had to leave everything they know,
just so they wouldn't be killed.
Just so they wouldn't go through intense persecution.
And he's saying,
listen,
you need to make sure that your hope,
it's not a dead hope,
it's a lively hope,
is anchored in what's not going to change tomorrow.
Because, you know,
there's going to be things in life that seem like,
this is a sure bet.
You ever had somebody do that?
They call you,
hey man,
I got a great investment option.
It's a sure bet.
Well,
guess what?
Those sure bets don't always work out.
But this one does.
And he's reminding them of that.
Because there's going to be opportunities that we've maybe anchored our hope into something,
not maliciously,
not going against the Word of God,
but we just think,
well,
at least I have my health.
But you know what?
Sometimes,
you're going to get that doctor report.
And you can't anchor it into that.
There's going to be moments in life for that job situation
that you were using
and you were planning
and you were trying to plan your future
and have some retirement.
It might seem uncertain.
There's going to be moments in life
where relationships feel strained
and the bills keep stacking up
and our tendency is to anchor hope in the outcomes.
And we think to ourselves,
if this works out,
then I'll be okay.
If this pans out or this happens,
then everything's going to be okay.
And if this changes,
then I'll have some peace.
Peter's saying,
listen,
don't do that.
Hey,
life's hard enough
and we don't need to anchor it
in things that can change like that.
Because some of those things,
I mean,
they can be perfectly fine
and then by tomorrow they're gone.
But Peter reminds us
our hope isn't what might happen.
Our hope is in the fact
that Jesus is alive right now.
That's where our hope is.
I mean,
John dealt with the same thing.
The world's in upheaval.
He's been outcast on the Isle of Patmos
and they tried to boil him alive.
That didn't really work.
So they're just going to
throw him out on the island
and hope he dies.
And you know what Jesus told him?
You read the first chapter
of the book of Revelation.
Here's the hope that he gave him.
I am he that was dead,
was alive and was dead,
but I'm alive forevermore.
That's what he wanted John to realize.
That all the things
that he was about to tell him
in the book of Revelation,
all the things that the fact
that he's coming again,
like what Brother Jared
sang this morning,
are rooted in the fact
that he is alive.
Maybe this week
or next month
or sometime this year,
that anxiety is going to rise
in your life.
That doubt is going to come
knocking at your door.
And we need to be reminded
that our hope is alive.
That Jesus is alive.
I know we talk about it all the time,
but we need to take it
from this church
to where we live.
Because you're going to run
into things in your life
and you're going to think,
well, what am I going to do?
Well, I may not have
the answer for you right now,
but I know this,
Jesus is alive.
And this is not some cheesy thing
to say.
It's the truth.
And that's what he wanted them to see.
We need to be reminded
that we need to think
on these things.
Yes, it might look bleak,
but we're not living
for the here and now.
We're pilgrims,
we're strangers in this world,
that we're just passing through
as the old hymn says.
And don't misunderstand.
This is not the power
of positive thinking.
Like, I think you should be positive.
Nobody wants to just be around
a person who's like,
blah, blah, blah all the time.
No, this is not just,
well, if you think good thoughts
and good things are going to happen.
No, this is resurrection truth
that's in the Word of God.
That that's what made the difference.
What made the difference
when they're all locked up
and they're in the upper room
and they're scared of their mind?
When they're in the upper room,
Jesus showed up.
That's what made all the difference
for them.
And so because Christ is alive,
Peter now turns our attention
to what this living hope
guarantees for the future.
So it's not just about
what we have right now,
that God has a greater plan
even to the future for us.
Look at the first part
of verse number four.
Because Jesus Christ is alive
when the resurrection
from the dead,
here's what we have.
to an inheritance
incorruptible
and undefiled
and that fadeth not away.
When you think of an inheritance,
earthly inheritances
are fragile.
You know, they can be spent.
They can be corrupted.
They can be devalued.
They can be lost.
They can be taken away.
They can be wrapped up
in litigation for years.
That's just kind of how
our world works.
And really,
it can just be done with quickly.
You may not even have
an inheritance.
And even worse,
and we're going to see
later in this book,
that those who are strangers
to God,
the only inheritance
they have is judgment.
That's what's coming.
I know that's not popular
to preach,
but the Bible says
that it's appointed
to men once to die
and then after this
to judgment.
But the beautiful thing
is if you know Christ
as your Savior,
Jesus paid the penalty.
That we're not,
I'm not going to stand
before the Lord
and weigh my good works
and my bad works.
No, I'm going to stand
before Him redeemed,
washed in the blood
of the Lamb.
And what God reminds us here
is that He has an inheritance
for His children.
And that it's a wonderful inheritance.
It's nothing like the inheritance
that we have here
on this earth.
You might have
a great inheritance
and you hear people
about that and like,
oh, they had a great,
a long lost great uncle
that gave him $20 million.
I'm like,
where's that uncle
in my family?
Come on, you know.
Come on, Lord.
I'm looking for that uncle.
All mine are just weirdos.
Probably like your uncles.
But what Peter's reminding them,
and he kind of uses these words,
what he's doing is
he's really kind of
giving some clarity
and some depth
to what our inheritance is.
It's incorruptible.
It cannot decay.
It doesn't rot.
It doesn't wear out.
Because here on earth,
man, you get your inheritance,
you use it up,
it's done.
That's not how this works.
That's not how salvation,
it's not how it operates.
Everything in this world
breaks down,
but this inheritance doesn't.
What God gives His children,
that hope,
that promise,
that security,
that if we call on His name,
that He will save us
from our sins,
and He has gone
to prepare a place
for us in heaven,
that will not change.
And Peter wanted them
to know that.
Not only is it incorruptible,
it's undefiled.
It's untouched by sin,
by corruption,
by impurity.
Listen,
nothing sinful
ever contaminates
what God is preparing.
When we get to heaven,
you know what's going to be?
Perfect.
Which is going to be amazing.
I mean,
like right now,
some of you are probably hot.
Who's hot right now?
Who's cold?
See,
we can't even agree on that.
I mean,
we're going to all be like,
man,
this is perfect temperature.
I mean,
look at these streets of gold.
I mean,
everything's going to be perfect.
Why?
Because we're going to be there
with the perfect Lamb of God.
Because that's who He is.
It's going to be untouched by sin.
I'm so excited for that,
but I can't even fathom that.
Because everything that we have,
even good things in our world,
are contaminated.
We feel the effects of sin,
of the curse,
in our world today.
We have so many blessings,
but even in our blessings,
we still see sin
and how it destroys things.
He reminds us,
not only is it incorruptible
and it's undefiled,
but it doesn't fade.
It doesn't ever diminish
in value
or in glory.
Things we have here,
man,
you get something new,
you try your best
to take care of it.
I mean,
kids these days,
I like that.
You know,
my kids told me,
Dad,
when you get these shoes,
you've got to put these little things
in there so it doesn't crease.
That's why all these kids,
you ever wonder why they walk
like penguins?
Because they've got big plastic things
in their shoes.
They're like this,
I don't want my shoes to crease.
You know,
and when you get something new,
you want to take care of them
and you want them to be nice,
but after a while,
when you step in that puddle
or you step in the mud,
you're like,
well,
I guess I gave it a good try
and then you just kind of,
listen,
that's not what God gives us.
He doesn't give us something
that looks real good
for a couple days.
It's not like,
you know,
you love that new car smell
but now if you go in your car
it smells like french fries.
That's not the inheritance
that God gives.
It wasn't good at the beginning
and it just starts losing its value.
It kind of fades away
and now you're like,
ah,
I just ran into a pole.
No big deal.
We'll get a new one.
That's not how God operates.
What Peter is saying right here
in verse number four
at this first part
is whatever you might think
an inheritance is
and whatever you experience
and maybe whatever you've received
here on this side,
this inheritance that God gives
is nothing like that.
Like,
he's trying to give some examples.
He's trying to kind of nail it down
but I think Peter struggles
like all the biblical writers
and like we do as well.
We can't even fathom
how good what God is going to give us.
I have not seen,
ear hath not heard,
neither has it entered
into the heart of man
the things that God
has prepared for them
to those that love him.
There's going to be a day
when we do see it.
We think,
okay,
well preacher,
what is this inheritance?
Well,
scripture tells us
a few things about it.
Number one,
he tells us
that we're going to be,
that we're going to receive
a glorified body.
Because the Bible tells us
when we see him,
we shall be like him.
You know,
I was talking to Brother Jared,
he was moving some things
around his house
this past week
and he said this,
like we all say,
I guess I'm just not as young
as I used to be.
You know,
we start feeling it
and our bodies start wearing out
and our bodies start decaying
and they start,
they're just not doing the things
that they used to do.
Listen,
we're going to get
a brand new body
that's going to be able
to last for all of eternity.
I mean,
we're going to need that
because you know what
Jesus promises,
eternal life.
That we get to experience that.
That he offers it so freely.
Scripture reminds us
that inheritance,
it includes
unbroken fellowship
with Jesus.
Think about that.
I'm sure you're like me,
there's been times in my life
I thought,
man,
I wish I could just see Jesus
right now face to face.
I just want to ask him this.
There's coming a day
where you can.
The Bible tells us
in the book of Revelation,
there's going to be no need
for the sun
in that city.
Why?
Because he's the light
of the city.
That he's going to be there,
he's going to dwell among us
and he will be our God
and we shall be his people.
That that is what is included
that this citizenship
in God's eternal kingdom
and I love how
the Apostle Paul puts it,
he tells us that
one day this corruption,
this mortal body
is going to put up
incorruption,
this mortality,
immortality,
and death will be
swallowed up in victory.
Thank the Lord for that.
In fact,
Paul says,
thanks be to God
which giveth us
the victory
through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Because sometimes
it just feels like,
man,
everything is wearing out,
everything is falling apart.
It might be our body,
it might be our life,
it might be relationships,
it might be finances,
it might be health,
but here's the great reminder,
it's not to minimize that
and act like it's not a big deal,
but there is something coming
that's much better.
That God is going to make,
I love Revelation 21,
he will make all things new.
Really what he's going to do,
he's going to bring it back
what he intended it to be.
You study the Bible,
it starts in a garden
and it ends in a garden.
He's bringing it all back together
and it has that picture
of this garden there
and Revelation 21 and 22,
we see a beautiful thing.
And just I want us to put ourselves
in Peter's original reader's position.
We've alluded to it already,
but they're not a large group.
They're small and they're scattered.
They don't really have
a beautiful church building
like we do to come enter into.
They have small house churches
and meeting where they can.
They're spiritually weary.
These early believers
would have been marginalized
and really pressured
to maybe denounce Christ
or not speak openly
about their faith in him.
And at times,
I would imagine
they would have wondered,
has God forgotten me?
Is this really,
is this really what I should
give my life for?
Is this worth
what I'm experiencing right now?
And Peter doesn't scold them here.
He doesn't really minimize
their suffering at all.
No, what do you think,
I think what he's doing here,
is he's just lifting their eyes up
and he's reminding them
of the future God has promised.
Listen, I know it's tough.
That's what he says in verse 6.
Maybe right now you're in heaviness
through all kinds of difficulties in life.
But just look up a little bit.
I just want to remind you
of the hope that you have in Christ.
And the same is true for us today.
I mean, there's days in life
where it just feels like
it's never going to end.
There's moments in our journey
where it just feels long.
And I just want to remind you
that God often strengthens his people
not by removing hardships,
but reminding them of what lies ahead.
Because here's the truth.
Some of you have prayed for some things
and nothing has changed.
That's just the reality of it.
There's things in my life I've prayed about
and I thought,
Lord, would you just please answer that?
Or would you please remove this?
Would you please just make this
a little bit easier?
That's not always what we need.
God knows what he is doing.
And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God
and to those who are called
according to his purpose.
And maybe we're walking through difficulties
and God is using it
to make us more like him
and to help us to be more dependent on him.
And Peter's just reminding us,
yes, pain is real,
but it's not permanent.
That's not the inheritance that we have.
This isn't all that we have.
He's reminding these early readers
that yes, the struggle you're going through,
it can be heavy.
It can just be overwhelming at times,
but it's not the end of the road.
The end of the road is much better.
It's incorruptible.
It's uncorruptible.
It's undefiled.
It doesn't fade away.
Because this world is hard,
especially for those that are living
really contrary to it
if we're following the scriptures.
But he said, that's okay
because it's actually not your home.
He's gone to prepare a place for us.
I had a preacher friend of mine
give me this advice,
and I think it's a good one.
Not to minimize our situation,
but when life feels overwhelming,
just kind of pause and ask yourself,
will this matter in eternity?
That's a good thought
because I think some things
that we are so focused,
and sometimes we get hyper-focused,
at least I do,
I ask myself,
will this matter in eternity?
And it's going to change our perspective.
And we can,
once we realize that,
then you know we can be reminded?
We can thank God.
We can just praise His name
for what we already have.
This isn't like maybe it's going to happen.
No, it's secured.
We're going to see that in a second.
That you're going to have a new body,
a perfect home,
no more sorrow,
no more pain,
no more death,
no more grief,
and we will have everlasting life
in the presence of our Savior.
Peter says,
that's what you can hope on.
I love how one preacher said it.
He said,
hope grows when eternity gets bigger
than today's trouble.
I like that.
But it's easy to focus on what's here and now.
And these people would have understood that.
And Peter just wanted to get their eyes off the world
and back onto Jesus
and what He offers.
And to make sure they don't doubt it,
even for a moment,
Peter now drives this thought all the way home.
And we see that at the end of verse number four.
And that fate 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.
See, we have a reservation
and a preservation
that God has promised us,
that it's in Christ,
and our inheritance,
it's reserved in heaven.
You know, every once in a while,
I haven't gone many places
where you have a reservation
because usually it's outside of my budget.
But when I have a reservation,
I feel super important.
Like reservation Bittner,
party of two.
Because we definitely can't take the kids
when we have a reservation.
You know, we're not going to do that.
We're not going to waste money.
We're not going to have chicken strips
at a fancy place.
You know what I mean?
We're going to eat something really nice.
But you go in there,
you're like, man,
I feel super important.
You know, and people are like,
who's that guy?
Like, I just called the number on the website.
That's all I did.
Listen, we have an inheritance
reserved in heaven.
The idea is that it's already secured.
It's guarded and advanced.
And here's the beautiful thing.
It's not dependent on your performance.
The Christian life is not based on
how well you perform.
You know, we should serve the Lord.
We should get involved.
We should do things.
But that's not,
we're not doing it
so we can get something better.
No, it's already reserved.
That's for everybody.
That God has made that available.
And this is not a hopeful guess
about the future.
No, Peter's reminding you
this is a settled reality.
It's going to happen.
Why?
Because God himself
has taken the responsibility.
He's the one that's guarding it.
He is responsible for your inheritance.
And the Holy Spirit, the Bible tells us,
is his down payment.
That's why the Holy Spirit,
the Bible says it's our earnest.
You know, you buy a house,
you put earnest money down.
You know what the earnest is?
The Holy Spirit of God.
And you know, I love the wonderful life
and George Bailey's uncle,
he loses the deposit.
Doesn't work well for it in the movie.
Here's the wonderful thing.
God doesn't lose a deposit.
We're sealed is what it actually says
until the day of his appearing.
And it's just a great, great reminder.
And the deeper truth is this,
is our salvation,
it's not on probation.
I'm so thankful for that.
God's not watching you,
seeing how it's working out.
He didn't give you a little bit of salvation,
and depending on how good you do this week,
and how good you do this day,
then you get just a little bit more.
No, I'm thankful he gives us the whole thing.
But he said,
it's yours.
And here's the,
even a greater truth,
he's committed to fulfilling it.
We know that he which hath begun a good work in us,
Philippians 1, 6,
he will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ.
That he is willing,
and he is responsible for it.
So our inheritance is reserved by him,
and it's kept by his power.
That word kept,
it has this idea,
to guard,
to protect.
We're familiar with the verse in Proverbs,
keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life.
Solomon's saying this,
listen,
guard your heart.
Protect it at all costs.
Because what you allow in,
is going to affect how you live your life.
And that same word,
that same thought,
is this inheritance,
that's undefiled,
and it's incorruptible,
and it doesn't fade away.
It's not our job to keep it.
God said,
I'll take care of that.
I'll protect it.
I'll guard it.
Listen,
when we're placed in the Father's hand,
nothing can pluck us from it.
Nothing can take us out.
And notice what Peter does not say.
He doesn't say we're kept by our consistency.
Sometimes,
sometimes we're pretty consistent in our Christian life.
And if we're just going to be honest,
sometimes we fall off the wagon.
Sometimes we're disciplined in the things we do.
Sometimes we think,
I can hold on.
Listen,
it's not in your consistency,
your discipline,
or your ability to hold on.
No,
it's in this,
God's power.
That's how you're kept.
That's how you're going to make it.
And that same power that spoke the universe into existence,
that raised Jesus from the dead,
that conquered sin,
and death,
and hell,
is actively keeping you right now.
What a thought.
That's what Jude tells us at the end of the book of Jude.
We are kept by His power.
And if God saved you by His,
listen,
don't miss this,
if God saved you by His power,
He will not lose you because of your weakness.
That's a wonderful truth.
We can't lose something we didn't even earn.
We didn't find salvation.
No,
God found us.
It's by His power that we're saved.
And when we think about it,
faith is the means.
It's not the how-to.
We're kept through faith.
See,
see,
faith is not the strength that holds salvation together.
Faith is saying,
listen,
I trust God to do it.
That our trust is in Him,
and Him alone.
We're not saved because our faith is strong.
We're saved because God is strong.
I'm thankful for that.
I mean,
because there's days,
even in my life,
where I mean,
I know that I'm saved.
But there's also times the devil gets in there and says,
how can you be saved when you're that weak,
when you mess up,
when you fall?
I just remind him,
it's not my job,
it's his.
And I place my faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary in the empty tomb.
That's what the Bible says.
Because if we're basing it on emotions,
it's not going to go anywhere for us.
Your salvation is not based on emotions.
It's based on the truth of the Word of God.
And that's what Peter is driving home.
See,
when faith feels weak,
and there's going to be times where it does,
his grip isn't.
He's not losing the hold of you.
He didn't forget to guard you.
No,
he does that.
When you stumble,
his power doesn't falter.
When you're weary,
he doesn't let go.
That he always holds on.
And I think what Peter's doing is something we need to be reminded of.
I think why this book is so uplifting and encouraging.
So I think a lot of times in my own life,
I don't need a lot of new information.
I just need to be reminded of what we already have.
I need to be reminded of what God's already done for me.
See,
your hope doesn't rest in how tightly you're holding on to Jesus.
We should strive to be close to him and to be near him.
But it's based in the truth that Christ is holding you.
He will hold you fast.
He's the one that's doing the work.
And sometimes in our lives,
we mess up and we think,
man,
well,
I failed again.
And man,
I should be better by now.
And we should have that.
We shouldn't be comfortable.
We should always be striving to be more like him.
But what Peter's answering,
he's reminding that we're not kept by our own consistency.
We're kept by his power.
And I'm not trying to be,
you know,
depressing.
But when you fall short this week,
yeah,
I said this week,
because it probably is going to happen.
Might happen tomorrow.
Might happen tonight.
Run to God,
not away from him.
And when you run to him,
you can say,
Lord,
thank you for keeping me.
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for saving me.
Thank you for guarding this inheritance,
for protecting it,
for keeping it.
Because when we see that,
we're reminded over and over and over in Scripture,
it's not performance-based.
It's not by works of righteousness,
which we have done.
For by grace are you saved through faith.
And it's a gift of God.
Why?
So we don't boast about it.
We're not going to get to heaven and say,
look at all the things I've done.
There's a lot of religions in the world
that are basing on what they do.
No,
it's here,
we say it all the time.
It's based on what he's done.
That's what Peter's reminding us here.
Because there's going to be a day
where salvation will be fully revealed.
Because right here and then now,
we're saved from sin's penalty.
And our hope is based,
and we know on the Word of God
that one day we're going to be in heaven with him.
And we're being saved now,
even from sin's power,
that Romans chapter 6 reminds us over and over again
that we don't have to serve sin anymore.
That God's changed our life completely,
but one day,
one day,
we're going to be saved from sin's presence.
Praise the Lord for that.
I mean,
because I'm sure you're like me,
and there's times where,
Lord,
I'm not going to ever do this again.
I'm not going to think this,
or look at that,
or do this.
And you know what we mess up?
There's going to come a day
where we don't have to fight that anymore.
That we're going to be there,
and he's going to throw Satan
into the lake of fire,
and all sin will be gone forever.
Praise the Lord.
That's what he reminds them.
It's going to be revealed in the last time.
See,
nothing can stop God
from completing his work.
Nothing.
The enemy has tried
and tried
since the beginning of time.
And what he tried
for a long, long time
was to stop the line of Christ.
When you really see a lot of that,
and you see
even the persecution of the Jews
all the way back in the Old Testament,
and they're trying to wipe him out,
it seems like everybody
wanted to wipe the Jews out.
Why?
Because the enemy
wanted to wipe out the seed.
Well, Jesus came,
and he died,
and he rose again.
He can't alter the plan,
so now what he's done
is he's just trying
to get us sidetracked.
And off course,
and these lies
that float around,
well, you know,
God just loves everybody.
No, he does.
But he also died for everybody.
Because all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God.
And it's not based on
what we've done,
it's based on
that we have to come
to that realization
of what he did for us.
And Peter just wanted
to remind these people
that their inheritance
is secured in heaven,
and their lives
are guarded on this earth
because God said so.
That's where it comes from.
And it doesn't matter
if it's for them,
the same is true for us.
You know what we should do
about that?
Greatly rejoice.
Be excited about that.
You can have hope
going in tomorrow.
You might be walking
through the most difficult valley
of your life right now
and still have a living hope.
Because your hope's not
based on the circumstances.
It's not based on
all the things the world says.
It's not based on your job.
It's not based on your 401k.
It's not based on this.
No, it's based in Christ
and Christ alone.
So the question tonight is this.
Where is your hope resting?
On your strength?
You know, you can make it
on that for a little bit,
and then it's going to fail you.
It's going to wear out.
Based on your consistency
or how well you think
you're doing?
No, what Peter wanted them
to know and wants us to know
is he said you should live
like somebody who's kept by God.
You have a secure future.
You have an inheritance
that's incorruptible.
It's undefiled.
It fades not away.
Because there's times in life
it feels like you're just
barely hanging on.
Peter says you're not
barely hanging on.
You are held by God himself.
That you're in his hands.
Maybe you're here
and you've just kind of
been battling
and you're struggling
with your salvation.
Listen, the hope that Peter's
talking about in this book,
it's not for everybody.
It's for God's children.
You can't have this
without knowing him.
See, without Jesus
there's no living hope.
There's no secure inheritance.
There's no assurance
of being kept.
But through him
sins are forgiven.
Hope is given.
And eternal life is there.
What Peter's pointing
everybody to is
just make sure
we're trusting
in the right things.
Not in what we do
but what he's done.
As we close out tonight
I just want to leave you
with this.
Just take this into next week.
Because Jesus lives
my future's secure.
And because he's keeping me
right now
I can live with hope
today.
You're going to face
something this week
that's going to challenge
that thought.
But be reminded
we have a hope
that can not fail.
Praise the Lord.