1 Peter: Hope and Suffering

So we have been going through 1 Peter. We have been looking at different things in 1 Peter.

Last week we had interesting conversations. We talked about how God developed these relationships in our lives and in our world.

That we fit underneath those. We said there are institutions, our relationships.

We said there's our relationship with God, our relationship with our government, our king, our relationship with our family, our relationship with our church, and our relationship with work.

And all these things. Some people are kind of said they're like umbrellas that are underneath us or above us that protect us.

And we said with each one of these structures there's an authority set up in it.

And this authority structure is for the good of the people in it.

And so what we've talked about was that there are some people who have authority and some people are under authority.

And remember the idea of authority was always to protect and to respect and to bless and to serve those under the authority.

The people who had authority were always supposed to protect, bless, and serve those under the authority.

Because of the fall then we see people who have authority abusing the authority.

But that is not the way God meant for it to be.

We talked about the S word which people didn't want to talk about.

We talked about submission.

And what did that look like?

And we said that submission was an attitude of our heart.

And it was something that we had to deal with in our heart.

And it wasn't something we forced upon another person.

But it was something that they did within themselves.

And scripture continually pointed out that the person who submitted wasn't the inferior person.

That to submit was actually a position of power and of strength.

And we talked a lot about the women last week.

And so a lot of men were thanking my wife and all these things.

But I wanted to really briefly talk about the men because I want to come back to the men because it's so important.

Along this idea of authority and structure because we're going to move into it today.

Because the structures are going to get broken.

And bad things are going to happen today in the passage.

And we're going to talk about suffering.

But the passage last week said in verse 7 that the husbands in the same way are to live with their wives in an understanding way.

It meant according to knowledge.

According to study.

It means that as a man you're to study your wife.

To be a learner of her.

To know what she likes.

What she doesn't like.

To know how to encourage her.

You're to study her and to live with her as a weaker vessel.

It doesn't mean worse or inferior.

But it means delicate like a piece of china.

It's something that's very valuable.

And it says because she's a woman.

In Hebrew the word actually means.

One of the variations means she's your rescuer.

The man is a servant leader.

The woman is a servant follower.

But it actually in Hebrew when I do weddings sometimes I say that the word actually means that the woman is the rescuer of the man.

The man needed rescuing.

And God created the woman.

And so the guy is to take care of her.

And then he says this very interesting thing.

He says at the end of it he says or your prayers will be hindered.

And what he's actually saying there is that as our relationship with our wife goes guys.

So our relationship with God goes.

Did you hear that?

What Peter says and what Paul says and what the Bible says and what Jesus says is that.

As our relationship with our wife goes.

So our relationship with God goes.

Peter in Ephesians says that just as Christ loved the church so you men should love your wives.

And sacrifice for her.

And die for her.

And give yourself for her.

You should love your wife as you love yourself.

There shouldn't be a difference.

You're on the same team.

You're both wearing the same jerseys.

So I can't say to myself when a buddy asks me how are you doing?

And I'm saying I'm doing really good spiritually.

I'm going to BSF.

And I'm in Bible studies.

And I'm in accountability groups.

And I'm studying God's word every day.

And everything looks good.

I'm just really deep in God's word.

And then he goes well how's your marriage doing?

And you go well my wife and I aren't doing too good.

We just can't connect.

That's a total disconnect in the structure and in the authority.

A guy can't be doing good spiritually with the Lord and be in Bible studies and studying and memorizing and having accountability.

And then not being good with his wife.

Because if he is, the passage says that we read last week that that is a brokenness.

And his prayers are hindered.

And he can't even talk to God because he can't get his relationship right with his wife first.

Does that make sense?

And I'm very passionate about this because I struggle with this.

And when we do marriage counseling I'm usually pretty hard on the guy.

Because the scripture passage says because of this institution, this structure that when men get to heaven,

God's going to look at you and he's going to ask you what did you do with your family?

Did you protect it?

Did you bring it to a place of nourishment?

Did you allow your wife and your kids to flourish?

Did you take care of people?

Because you're the leader.

You're the servant leader.

You're the authority.

And that's your job.

God's not going to ask your wives that.

He's going to ask the men that.

He's going to say did you serve yourself in your marriage?

Sexually, physically, your needs, whatever.

Did you serve yourself or did you serve your wife?

Because as the authority figure, you're to serve yourself.

And I talk to guys often.

I talk to myself.

You know, we have a way of kind of deceiving ourselves.

And we can say sometimes, yeah, I'm doing it all for my wife.

I'm doing it all for my kiddos.

I'm working hard.

I'm doing all these things.

In reality, if we're honest, what we're saying really is that we're doing it for ourselves.

And we're doing it for our egos.

And Peter says that's not good.

And that's not right.

And your relationship with God is broken.

Your relationship with your wife is broken.

So that's why we're promoting the love and respect class.

Because we want to encourage you guys to be a part of that.

Because we all need help.

Love yourself.

Love your wife as yourself.

Love your wife as Christ loved the church.

As your relationship with your wife goes, so goes your relationship with God.

Hopefully that's enough for us guys to think about.

And ladies, you can thank me later.

I hope.

You know, we're talking to this passage today.

And sometimes when I get to this passage today, it drives me crazy.

There are certain passages in the Bible that drive me crazy.

I don't think I've actually heard this passage ever preached again.

Just like last week.

There are certain passages you want to skip over.

You don't want to go to them because they make you struggle.

This passage today is on suffering.

Because it's what we've been following about.

That these structures are broken.

And we're struggling against our community.

We're struggling against our government.

We're struggling against God.

We're struggling against our marriage.

And in the midst of these things, suffering comes.

And you know, to be honest, I don't think people like talking about suffering.

I mean, people don't talk about it in the church hardly at all, do we?

I mean, we talk about, well, if you're suffering, come to Jesus.

And he's going to make everything okay.

We talk about that all the time.

And that's how most people come to church.

Is that, well, God's going to make my life perfect.

And I'm not going to make more suffering.

And it's going to be okay.

But that's not what he's talking about here, is he?

He's talking about we're suffering because we are Christians.

And we're walking with the Lord.

And that's scary for people.

Because we want to think, well, I come to Christ and everything's going to be okay.

And I'm never going to have troubles.

And nothing's ever going to be difficult again.

But Jesus, when he talks about these things, he says, that should be our current reality.

That if we're a Christian and we're in the world, we're a minority.

And this world is going to hate us.

Did you know that?

We talked about it the last couple weeks.

We've said, and I've tried to say it different ways and different focuses.

And let me try one more way.

I don't know if this will work.

But what he says, I've said that when we become Christians, God's spirit comes inside of us.

And it changes us.

And we begin to think differently.

And we begin to talk differently.

We begin to act differently.

We begin to spend our money differently.

We begin to treat our wives differently.

And Peter says that whole same thing again.

And he says it in his passage.

And he says that when we come to Christ, it's like this baptism.

We enter into Christ.

And we enter into his life.

And that's why we baptize people.

And what we see is that when you get baptized, that all of your life is changed.

The God's spirit has come in and he begins to change you.

And now, instead of being white, you're blue.

The spirit has come inside of you and he's changed.

I could have used any color.

It's the only one I found that maybe everybody could see here.

You know, another reason I don't like to talk about sufferings, especially as Christians,

is I don't think that I've ever really experienced it.

I mean, not the way that some of my friends have.

I mean, I've seen some friends.

When I first went to Asia, Graham and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, 11 and 6,

were ministering in a local village.

And they had set up a camp there.

And they went back every week to share the gospel to the people.

And one night as they were there, they were grabbed by an angry mob of people

who didn't like what they were sharing.

And they put them in their car.

And they burned them alive.

Because they were teaching God's word.

The next day they came and they found the bodies.

And Graham had his arms surrounding his son.

Because they were preaching God's word.

When I read passages like today, I'm like, wow, I've never suffered like that.

I've never struggled like that.

But Peter is writing to all of us, whether we have done that or not,

or will we do someday or some other way.

He's writing to all of us.

And he's saying, if we're changed, if God's spirit has come into us,

then we're going to have troubles.

We're going to have struggles.

And the passage says, these are things that we want to do.

These are things we have to do.

Not things that you shouldn't do.

When scripture tells us to do things, it's not saying, well, if you do this,

if you like it.

But what God is saying, in the current reality of the world,

this is the best thing for you.

And if you don't do it, then you're not doing the best thing.

And so I want to talk really briefly just about suffering as Christians.

I want to talk about the passage that says there's two things that we need to be careful of.

There's two things we don't do, we should not do.

There's several things we need to do.

And then I want to talk about how we do it.

How do we have the power to do it?

How do we do it in the midst of suffering?

What does it look like for us?

Two things we don't do.

What we should be doing in suffering.

And then how do we do it?

What's the power of it?

What gives us the strength to live out our life after we've come into Christ?

And I don't know what your suffering is looking like today.

If it's like most people, it's probably taking place either in your home or your workplace.

I mean, it might not be like Graham's,

but the passage says that if you are a Christian,

if you're, play with me here,

if you're blue and you're living in a white world where everybody else is white,

you're going to look different.

You're going to cause people to be uncomfortable and things are going to happen.

I mean, maybe at work, maybe you refuse to gossip and stab others in the back.

Maybe you don't want to talk against people.

You don't want to climb over people.

You don't want to move up the order.

You have information on people that you could dish it out and they could be fired

or you could move above them.

But because of your faith, you've chosen not to.

You've chosen the Lord to be in charge of that relationship

and you've taken the hit.

In your character, maybe in your payroll, maybe in your position,

you've chosen not to do those things because as a new creation,

as a blue person living in the world that's not blue,

you want to honor the Lord.

I mean, some of us, we're going to suffer in work

because we're going to refuse to change the numbers.

Our boss is going to come to us and want us to cook the numbers

or change the numbers and we're going to say,

you know, I used to be able to do that, but now I just can't.

Because it's not what God has called me to do.

Some of us are going to suffer because we're going to be told and asked to sell product

or stuff that's junk.

I know that never happens in Hong Kong, but it happens in the rest of the world,

in the markets that you're going to be asked to sell junk and crap

and it's going to be worthless and you're going to know it's worthless.

And if you don't sell it in the bank or wherever you're at,

you're going to get in trouble.

And you're going to feel pressure and tension and suffering because of your faith.

And Peter talks about that.

Some of us are going to suffer and I know for sure several friends who have suffered

because they refuse to take clients to places that the world wants to go.

Their clients want them to take them to all these places

and they've decided in their life, that's just not who I am.

God's changed me and I'm different than that.

And they've suffered because they don't get the high paying clients anymore

because they don't want to go to the strip clubs.

And they've suffered for the gospel and for what it means to walk with the Lord.

You know, some of us singles in here, some of you singles in here,

you are suffering right now.

You're compromising.

I mean, you're suffering because you don't compromise.

You've refused to get into the dating scene.

You refuse to just marry somebody because now you have these different standards

and you have these values and you don't do the things that you used to do

in Leng Kui Fung or wherever you go to hang out.

And your peers and your friends think you're odd.

And they mock you.

Because you're waiting for someone who's like-minded,

who has the same values and the same heart.

Can I share something really important with you?

There's a lot worse things than not getting married.

I mean, the worst thing is when you marry the wrong person.

That's so much worse than getting married, not getting married.

And some of you singles in here, man, you're facing it.

And we talk and you just feel the pressure and you feel mocked.

And Peter's talking about that in the passage.

Some of you married, you're going to suffer.

You're married to your spouse whose only God is themself.

Some of us in here are married to spouses whose only God is themself.

And you're blue and you're walking with the Lord.

And it pains your heart to figure out,

how can I walk with the Lord and also love my spouse?

And we've talked about that last week a little.

You know, some of you students, you're going to suffer.

I mean, you're going to be in this academic situation

and your peers and your teachers are going to say,

study, study, study.

Don't take any breaks.

Grades are the most important.

And you're going to say, you know, I'm different now.

I've changed.

And I realize that I have this relationship with God

and I'm trying to honor Him and I'm trying to love Him.

And I can't skip church.

And I don't want to skip the community.

And I don't want to skip the fellowship.

And I don't want to skip reading God's Word.

And all of your friends and all your relatives

and all the people in your classes are going to say,

you're a fool.

Because you love God more than academics.

And that's what Peter's talking about.

When we walk with the Lord, we're going to be mocked

because we're different.

Our friends are going to call us religious.

And the passage gives us some warnings here.

It says, if we walk with the Lord,

if we're walking in a world that's broken

and not baptized in God's Spirit,

if we are, there's a high probability

that a couple things are going to happen.

And he says, be careful of these things.

There are warnings.

Because on this faith journey,

you and I are going to have it happen to us.

And we're going to make mistakes.

I'm not saying be perfect.

I'm just saying be careful.

Because I make these mistakes.

And that's why I'm sharing these things.

Because I make these mistakes all the time.

Verse 14 says,

when we suffer as a Christian,

we will be tempted to fear men

more than we fear God.

We're going to be tempted to be in awe

of status and power

and wealth and influence.

We're going to be tempted to see the things

that we can see with our eyes.

And we're going to be tempted to fear those things

more than we fear in awe of God.

The passage is a quote from Isaiah 8.

And it's an amazing passage.

It's a very relevant passage for today.

Isaiah 8,

the people of God are not in good shape.

I mean, it's bad.

The leaders are all corrupt.

There's this massive army from the north.

And they're about to invade.

I mean, it's bad news.

The Assyrians for hundreds of years

have taken over cities.

And every time they take over a city,

they chop everybody's heads off

and they just leave them at the front gate

and said,

if you defy us,

this is what's going to happen to you.

So everything in the people of God's eyes,

they look around and they say,

terrible, terrible, terrible,

no hope, impossible.

What are we going to do?

I mean, they don't even pray

because it's so bad.

And then the king, Ahaz,

who is totally corrupt

and his authority structure is about him,

he says, well, let's do this.

Let's go to Egypt in the south

and make an alliance with Egypt

and maybe Egypt can come up

and they can help us defeat our enemy.

And God is watching all this

and he says, no.

And he sends Elijah to him.

He sends Isaiah to him.

And Isaiah goes to him and says,

hey, guys.

He doesn't say, hey, guys.

But in Hebrew,

he says the equivalent of,

hey, guys.

Don't do it.

God is with you.

No matter what you're doing,

no matter how you're suffering,

God is before you.

Don't fear what you see with your eyes.

Fear and awe God

who you know with your heart.

God even tells Isaiah,

hey, you guys can ask for a sign.

Ask for any sign.

I'll do it.

I want to show you that I'm there.

I'm your God.

I'm going to do it.

And the people are so distraught.

They're so fearful.

They don't even ask for a sign.

And God says, okay, I'll give you a sign.

There's going to be a child, a virgin.

She's going to be born with a child.

His name's going to be Emmanuel.

It's God with us.

We read a passage every Christmas.

The passage is about God's people

who are in terrible trouble

because they're suffering

because they're Christians.

And they're wondering,

is God there?

Does he hear me?

Does he know?

Is he listening to me?

And the passage in Peter says,

yes, he is.

And yes, he does.

And he's already gone before you.

And don't give in to the fear.

Don't give in to the suffering

because God is there

and he's working in your life.

He's working in your marriage.

He's working in your work.

He's working in your families.

He's working in your classrooms.

He's working with your professors.

God's already in control

of all those things.

Are you going to trust him with that?

Are we going to release it

and pray to him

and be blue in the world

that isn't like blue people?

Or are we going to fear?

Verse 15 says,

don't fear.

It actually says,

sanctify the Lord.

The word there means

to hold Christ up,

to set him apart,

to trust him.

It means to remember

all that Christ has done before you.

Chapter 4, verses 1,

it says, arm yourself.

The idea is to put on armor,

but what it means is

to remember all that Christ has done.

When you're in the pain,

when you're in the suffering,

when you're fearful,

when things look out of control,

when it looks like there's no hope,

arm yourself.

Remember what Christ has said.

Remember what Christ has done.

Remember what he's been for you.

Cling to those things.

Remember those things.

Hold him tight.

Trust him in your journey,

especially when you start to suffer.

A question for us might be,

what do we suffer?

What do we trust when we suffer?

When suffering happens in our life,

what do we run to?

What do we cling to and say,

well, I just have enough of this.

I can maintain it.

Is it enough salary?

Or enough drugs?

Or enough connections in the business world?

Or enough better grades?

What is that?

And here, Peter is saying,

sanctify Christ.

Remember in his heart what he's done.

Put him on as your honor.

Trust in him in your faith journey.

Remember that he's working through those things.

Verse 15 goes one step further,

and he says,

hey, and as you're doing that,

be ready to share

what's going on in your life.

He says,

be ready to share the hope

of Christ in your suffering.

As you're struggling,

and as these things are hitting you,

the word's actually there.

It doesn't say you.

It says you all.

So it's a southern Hebrew person writing

in our southern Greek person.

But he says,

as a community,

when there's suffering all around us,

all of us be ready to apologia,

to make an excuse,

to present the hope,

to apologetics,

to share why we're blue.

And what does it mean to us?

Be ready to do that,

because people around us

need to hear hope,

especially in difficult times.

They need to see what's going on.

And it happens all the time, right?

It happens in our homes.

It happens at work, doesn't it?

I mean, my kid comes home,

and they say,

well, you know,

my teacher says it's stupid

for me to believe in God,

and that if I do,

I'll never get past the MIT

or Harvard interviewer.

That a belief in God

and academics is inconsistent,

and I'll never get into that school

you want me to get into,

so what do I do?

What do we say to the kid?

Maybe you should listen to your teacher.

Well, that's just how we live.

Peter says that we should be prepared

to share that hope with our kids

and to talk to them

about why we're changed

and what it means in our lives.

I mean, in work,

you're going to get made redundant.

You've been playing by all the rules.

You've been the model person

and Christian employer,

employee in the office,

and all of a sudden,

the note comes down,

and you're made redundant,

and you've gotten fired,

and people above you

who are not nice,

people who don't play that by the rules,

who cheat,

who stab you in the back,

they're still there,

and they're still moving.

How do you react to that?

When one of your friends

comes up to you and asks you,

well, how are you doing

from the office?

What do you say?

You say, well, you know,

stuff happens.

Or, yeah, I don't know.

But what Peter says is no.

You use this suffering

to come into people's worlds

and you share with them

the hope that you have

why you entered into

a relationship with Christ.

What does it mean in your life?

And why you do it?

You know, I've seen

so many people's lives

changed by people in the church

who've had terrible things

happening in their work,

and they've refused

to go after the people.

They've refused

to bury the people.

And some of them

have been fired

and they went to other jobs.

And I've seen people

actually seek them out

in their new job,

especially when

the people's lives

got difficult

and trouble

and suffering were happening.

And they sought them out

and said,

dude, when you did that,

that was amazing.

I knew you believed

in this God thing.

Can you tell me more about that?

What does that look like?

I need that.

I need that hope

because right now

I don't have any hope.

Now, if these things

that I'm sharing with you,

they seem like,

well, that's the right thing to do,

but I just can't do it.

Well, you know,

we're having classes

starting in two weeks

about how to do that.

Chris is gonna be teaching

about how we live out our life

and how we understand God's word

and what does it look like

to present the hope

in our workplace

and how do we respond

to our kids

and how do we respond

to our friends

if you're still struggling

with that

because I think we all do

at some stage in our life

because we just do.

Come join the classes

and be a part of that

because that will help you

on your journey.

Verse 16 says,

keep a good conscience.

As you're suffering

and as these things are happening,

the conscience was this window

to the soul

in Hebrew culture.

It was where the filter,

where God's light came through

and it touched our heart

and where God's light

came out of our heart

and touched the world around us

and sometimes our consciences

are dirty.

It's the filter

before which we turn

right and wrong

and sometimes in our brokenness,

we've made so many wrong choices

that we've never just realized

that we don't understand

what right is anymore.

and sometimes the things

we think are right

are wrong

and Peter's warning us

and he's saying,

hey, be careful

and repent

and clean up your conscience

and make choices

with each other

within community

and don't allow your conscience

to become dirty

because then when you suffer,

it's because you're

suffering as a jerk

or you're suffering

because you're lazy

or you're suffering

because you are backbiting.

But what Peter says

is we want to suffer

because we're walking

with the Lord.

He says,

just as Jesus suffered physically

and he triumphed spiritually,

so will his people.

I don't know how it works, guys.

But there's just something

about God's spirit

that when it enters into us

as his people,

sometimes it just thrives

on holy suffering.

And you see it

in people's lives, man.

I've seen it in pastors in China

who've been in prison

for 30 years

and they come out

and there's just a difference

in their life.

I've seen it in holy marriages

where women have been suffering

for years and years

and all of a sudden

the guy comes to Christ

and there's just a difference.

I've seen it in holy workplaces

where people have been suffering

and suffering

and doing the right thing

and God has been meeting them

and they change

and there's something

that God uses

in the midst of physical suffering

as Christians

that changes us

if we allow him to do that.

Peter warns us one more time.

He says,

in the midst of the suffering

in verses chapter 4,

verses 2 through 4,

in the midst of the suffering,

in the midst of all these things

going on,

we are going to be tempted

to go back to our old life.

We're going to be tempted

to identify with our old life.

We're going to want to indulge

in the things of the world.

We're going to want to do

all these things

that we didn't do

before we were baptized.

We're going to want to do that

because it's going to be,

the draw is going to be

so passionate and so hard

and he says,

don't do that.

It's one of the reasons

we stay in community

in a church

because we realize

in a community

it's harder for us

to get broken.

And what Peter says here

in his passage

is that you just look

at a person's actions

in the midst of suffering

and our actions

are always going to point

towards what our hope is.

And he uses an example

of Noah.

And you know the story.

He tells the story

in verse 20.

He says that

in the book of Noah,

God looks at the world

and the world's

out of control.

There's no one

whose heart is after the Lord.

And it says

a very interesting thing.

It says God found favor

on Noah.

Not because Noah

was a great man.

Not because Noah

was doing everything good.

We're told later

that Noah is a pagan.

But for some reason

God finds favor in him

and through mercy

and grace

he comes into Noah's life

and he gives Noah

a plan and a purpose

and he says,

I want you to build an ark

because I'm going to do

something amazing.

And as you build this ark

it's going to be a testimony

to all the people around you.

I mean all the people

around you are against me.

They hate me.

They don't want to have

anything to do with God.

They want to be the God.

But I want you to build

this ark

as a testimony

and an obedience.

And so Noah starts to build

and 120 years later

he finishes it.

120 years later.

Can you imagine

120 years of mocking

in the workplace?

I mean some of us

don't want to stay

for six weeks of mocking

in the workplace

or in a family

or in a marriage.

But for 120 years

Noah is faithfully

carrying out

what God's called him to do.

He's suffering.

He's being persecuted.

He's building an ark.

Everybody's hostile to him.

And what verse 4 says

in chapter 4

is that if you

don't run to the people

everyone's going to mock you.

I always thought

that was so interesting to me.

This happened to me

as my junior year in college.

I came out of my room one day

and we just had

this crazy party.

I don't want to say too much

because kids were

but they were just

it was just

it was just

Sodom and Gomorrah

would have loved our party.

There were naked bodies everywhere

and people had vomited

all over the apartment.

My roommate was still drunk

and he's trying to clean up

the vomit

and it was so bad

that instead of

cleaning the vomit up

he just took out

a pair of scissors

and he started cutting holes

around the carpet

and he'd take the carpet

and just throw it out.

And so the next two months

you walk into our house

and there's just holes

all over the carpet.

And I walked out of this

into my room

and I'm like

what am I doing here?

And when am I going to grow up?

When am I going to start living

like the person

God has called me to be?

When am I going to be different?

When am I going to take care

of myself?

And I stopped doing those things.

And you know what?

My friends got angry at me.

They mocked me.

They said I was stupid

for not doing drugs

and drinking

and getting out of control

trying to take care of my body.

They thought that was terrible.

They were angry.

I mean they were angry

because I wanted to walk

with the Lord

and be different.

And the passage says

the same thing happened to Noah

and the same thing

is going to happen to you

and to I.

The ark was this

physical evidence

of Noah's faith to God

and this ark

showed everyone

that Noah was serving

something different.

and every time

people saw the ark

they had to make a choice.

They had to say

am I going to go

this direction

or am I going to go

that direction?

Every time

for 120 years.

And people got angry

at that

and probably Noah

didn't even have to say anything.

and they just saw an ark

and they got angry

at that.

But what we see

in this passage

is that Noah's

what he did today

wasn't just focused

on today

but it was focused

on a future event.

That he wasn't just living

for today

or next week

but his hope

was focused

on a future.

What Peter says

is if we live

like we're supposed to

you and I

are going to look

just like Noah

in our workplace.

You and I

are going to look

just like Noah

on the university campus.

You and I

are going to look

just like Noah

in our marriages

and in our families

and our family reunions.

We're going to look different

and people are going

to be angry

and we're going to suffer.

And the passage

said God uses that

he's going to change you.

He's going to change

the people around you.

So the question

I want to end up with

the question I just

want to ask us

before we finish

this time here is

what does the ark

look like

that you're building

with your life?

If you're a child

of God

and God has come to you

and he's given you

his spirit

and he's asked you

to change

and do stuff

and be different

what is the present

thing that you're

building with your life

that is a focus

on the future hope

of reality?

If people were to look

at your marriage

and your life

and to see how you're

living what does that

ark look like?

What is that hope

pointing towards?

What is it pointing

towards?

The question

that Peter

asks us

and the Bible

asks us

is if

it's pointing

towards something

besides the ark

if it's pointing

towards something

besides Christ

is that really

going to be enough?

Is that really

going to be enough

to save you?

Is that really

going to be enough

when the difficult

times hit?

Is that really

going to be enough

to sustain you?

What do our

present actions

point to

as our future hope?

How?

How do we do this?

How do we get the

power to do this?

I love war movies.

I haven't seen a good

war movie in a long

time.

The last good war movie

I saw was

Saving Private

was Band of Brothers

and I watched it

with Kip

and we talked about it.

But there's one

that sticks out

in my mind

because there's

certain scenes

that I kind of

burned into my

head

and it's

Saving Private

Ryan.

Actually I don't

watch it very much

because it's so

intense.

Some of the scenes

are so intense

I just can't

handle it.

I just keep

thinking about

my son

and would I

have him

fight in a war?

I just can't

handle it.

But the most

intense scene

in Saving Private

Ryan

is the first

scene.

And it begins

on a beach

in Normandy

in modern day.

And this little

old man

is walking

up to the

graveyards

and his wife

is behind him

beside him

all his grandkids

and his kids

behind him.

And he's

walking through

this cemetery

and he sees

Star of David

something else

a cross

and he stops

at the grave

where the person

who saved his

life

because the story

is about

this one guy

who gets

parachuted behind

lines

he gets lost

he has

three brothers

and all three

of them die

and so the military

says you've got

to find his kid

because we're not

letting four boys

die on the same

day.

So they send

all these guys

to save

Private Ryan

and in the end

they all get

killed.

And in the last

scene of the show

the guy's looking

at him

and it's Tom Hanks

he's about to die

and he says

to Matt Damon

Private Ryan

he says

don't waste this

do something

incredible

with your life.

And I watched

that first scene

and he looks

around and he

looks at his wife

and he goes

was I good?

Is that worth

it?

Did I make

a difference?

I mean that

to me

that's the whole

movie right there.

And you know

what the passage

says?

You and I

come to a cross

where it says

the just

died for the

unjust

so that we

might go

to God.

The passage

says that

any other

arc

that you're

building your

life on

right now

success,

fame,

relationships,

marriage,

kids,

schools,

academic,

whatever that

arc is

you're building

and you're

saying this

is going to

get me

through the

flood,

this is going

to help

me through

life,

I'm going

to survive,

this is going

to be great.

The passage

is saying

that every

other arc

that you're

building on

if it's

not on

Christ,

you're

doomed.

And

everybody

looking at

your life

and if

your kids

follow that

same building

plan,

they're

doomed.

But we

have an

arc

that we

can cling

to.

His name

is Jesus.

No matter

what you're

suffering,

no matter

how difficult

your life

is,

no matter

what the

pain and

the sorrow

and the

frustration

and the

anger

and just

the humiliation

and the

stupidness

you feel,

no matter

what that

is,

the Bible

says that

Christ has

already

experienced

those things,

he's already

felt those

things,

he's already

gone through

those things.

he's waiting

to take you

through those

things.

He's the

only arc

that can

save us.

Which arc

are you

trusting in

today?

Today?

How you

react to

suffering

points to

it.

If you

go back

to your

old ways

when suffering

hits,

it points

to it.

My prayer

is that

all of us

in here

would consider

Christ

and realize

that he

is the

only thing

that will

sustain us.

That's a

message

that everyone

around you

needs to

hear.

And they're

going to hear

that message

and see

that message

not just

by your

words,

but by the

arc that

you build

with your

life.

You're

going to

know what

you hope

in and

what you're

focused on.

Okay?

Father,

we just

thank you

for this

day.

We thank

you for

your mercy

and your

grace.

We are

so humbled

that we

have a

God who's

gone before

us.

We have

a God

who's

submitted.

We have

a God

who's

humbled.

We have

a God

who's

gone to

the cross

so that

we as

broken,

selfish

people

might be

saved.

Lord,

I know

that there's

some of us

in here

right now

who are

building

arcs

that are

not of

you.

There are

arcs of

their career,

their ability,

themselves.

Sometimes we

just do it

because that's

what we saw

our parents

do.

And that's

what they saw

their parents

do.

Sometimes we

do it because

that's what our

peers do and

the people that

we look up to,

that's what they

do.

And so we

figure if they

do it,

it must be

right.

But when I

pray for them,

I pray for

them who

are building

an ark

and a hope

on something

different,

that they

would consider

the claims

of Christ,

they would

realize that

they have a

God who

came to

them,

for them,

to die

for them,

who suffered

everything

and was

exalted to

the right hand

of God the

Father in

heaven.

He crumbled

physically and

on this

world so

that we

might be

exalted

spiritually

with the

Father.

I pray,

Lord,

that they

who are

building an

ark on

something else

will not

leave here

this day or

this week

without considering

what they're

doing and

is it true

and worthy

and will

it really

save them.

Lord,

I pray for

those of us

who've been

baptized,

we've been

washed with

your spirit,

we've been

cleansed,

we're being

changed and

we're being

made different

but sometimes

we suffer

because of

this in

our workplace

and in

our homes

and wherever

you have

us and

we fear,

we wonder,

are you good

and will you

take care of

me tomorrow

and will you

take care of

me next week?

Yeah,

I know you're

going to take

care of me

for eternity

but what about

next week?

We fear

your goodness

as we look

at men

around us

in their lives

and I just

pray for us,

Lord,

I pray that we

would remember

the lessons

of Noah

who continually

focused on

you and

what you've

already done.

I pray for us

as a church,

I need people

around me,

especially when

suffering happens

and difficult times

hit,

I need people

who continually

remind me of

the hope that

we cling to.

I hope that we

all have people

who remind us

and show us

and help us

cling to Jesus

in the difficult

times and in

the hard times

and in times

of suffering,

especially as we

suffer as

his followers.

Lord,

may we be a

people who

confess and

repent and

turn away from

our old life

of debauchery

and things that

you've already

said,

the time is up,

it's time for you

to grow up,

you've done that

enough,

now walk with

me.

you've feared

this person

and you're in

awe of what

they have

and what they

can do

and how they

do it,

but that time

is up now,

be in awe of

God.

Lord,

help us to be

in awe of you

and to walk

with you as

your people.

Lord,

let's pray for us

as a church

that we would

be a different

church,

that in the

midst of

suffering in

Hong Kong

and the pain

and the

brokenness

that we see,

that we would

be able to

speak a message

that's different

than all the

other messages.

It's not a

message of

education

or structure

or new

governments,

but it's a

message of

your son,

Jesus,

who's come

to heal

our brokenness

and to fix

all those

broken things.

May we lean

on him

and trust

him and

point people

around us

to him

because we're

not just

building an

ark for

today or

tomorrow,

but we're

building an

ark for

eternity

and it has

to be able

to get us

there.

Lord,

we love

you and

we desperately,

desperately need

you.

We pray these

things in your

son,

Jesus'

holy name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.