An Unshakeable Hope

In preparation for this morning, I found a podcast, granted I didn't listen to it, but

a podcast called Hope is a Verb.

It seemed like a fairly prominent and popular podcast.

It was the first one that came up when I typed in hope into the search in my podcast app.

And what was really interesting about it was it was a series of talks by, I'm presuming,

key leaders in various fields who had the solution for something that seemed hopeless.

In one situation, it was the refugee crisis.

In another situation, it was the climate.

In another situation, it was the economy.

In another situation, it was politics.

Some of them were kind of a bit bizarre.

It was on teaching birds how to fly.

I didn't listen to it.

I'm not sure.

That might be a hopeless thing in some areas of the world.

I'm not exactly sure.

But nevertheless, the podcast, Hope is a Verb, what was interesting in this podcast was that

it recognized that there was very big, insurmountable or seemingly insurmountable problems that had

to be fixed.

Hopelessness was not an option.

But hopelessness is something that we all go through, that we feel very acutely depression

at times.

Maybe it's not at times.

Maybe it's more frequent than we'd like to admit.

What's interesting with this is that we live in, by far, the most affluent time in human

history for the most amount of people.

The most opportunities.

The most monetary opportunities.

To build ourselves up from nothing to something.

To travel the world.

To experience new things.

There is no shortage of opportunity and experiences.

And yet, even with all the opportunity to curate our own lives, we suffer from, collectively,

we suffer from hopelessness.

I'll go a step further.

I would venture to guess that if I was to take a poll, that almost everybody, if not everybody

in the room, has some kind of direct or a degree-removed connection to suicide.

The very thing that is, in a sense, the culmination or the end of hopelessness.

We have to ask a question then.

Why do we need hope?

Why is hope such a very important, dear, critical thing for us, for humans, for people in 2024,

but people across the world, across time?

Why do we need hope?

And if we need it so dearly, what is the nature of such hope?

And how can we find an enduring hope?

Because surely, if hopelessness is something that is a huge, monumental problem,

we don't want to get a hope that lasts for a moment or a few months until hopelessness finds

its way back into our lives.

We want a hope that is not fragile but resilient, a hope that is enduring.

If you were away last week or if you're visiting this morning, we have begun a series in the first epistle

or letter written by the Apostle Peter.

It's a letter written to equip us as God's people to live as sojourners or exiles or resident aliens

in this world, in Ottawa.

That call does not mean we are to live as people just passing through,

without care or concern with the situation or people or city around us,

but rather we are called as sojourners to be people who work and strive to see the good news of the gospel

transform our city in small ways and large ways.

As the grace and peace that is given to us in the gospel multiplies in our lives,

Peter tells us that we are then to extend it out.

If you remember last week, we were only in two verses, verses 1 and 2,

and the end of verse 2 ended like this,

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

So our section today, verses 3 to 12,

is in the original language one sentence,

and it explains and expands this idea of grace and peace being multiplied.

And it loudly proclaims there is such a thing as unshakable hope,

anti-fragile hope, resilient hope, enduring hope.

And that hope is only found in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

This unshakable hope is expressed in three ways.

Peter maps it out in three kind of movements in our section in verses 3 to 12.

The first is an imperishable inheritance.

The second is a joyful suffering.

And then finally, it's an eternal glory.

An imperishable inheritance, a joyful suffering,

and an eternal glory.

So first, an imperishable inheritance.

A bit too much alliteration, I think.

Verse 3 to 5.

Look with me.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'll just pause here.

Remember, this is one sentence, verses 3 to 12,

in the original language.

I was saying to Christine last night,

before we were heading to bed,

that even though this is written in Greek,

it is written by Peter, who was a Jew.

And you almost get the sense that

his first century Semitism is coming out.

It's bursting forth.

There's an excitement.

It's like he can't stop himself glorifying God.

It gets louder and louder and louder.

I'm not going to read it that way.

But you get this sense, this idea,

that Peter is just jazzed.

He is jacked up.

This is a hopeful man.

This is an excited man.

This is a man that knows, has seen Christ,

and it's bursting out of him.

So I'm going to read it in a regular tone.

But hear this excitement and joy

that Peter is writing with.

Blessed be the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to his great mercy,

he has caused us to be born again

to a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

from the dead,

to an inheritance that is imperishable,

undefiled and unfading,

kept in heaven for you,

who by God's power are being guarded

through faith for a salvation

ready to be revealed in the last time.

Peter continues his allusions

to the Old Testament

when he uses this term inheritance.

Last week, we took a look

in verses 1 and 2

about how Peter is,

he's using Old Testament terms

that we could double-click

or think of them as,

they have a hyperlink on them

and that if we were to click it,

we would see a whole page

with Bible verses

pointing to various stories

in the scriptures.

So in verse 1, for instance,

Peter is talking about

the elect exiles of the dispersion.

We found out that

he is really referring back

to this time in Israel's history

where they were scattered

across the known world

because of their unfaithfulness

with God.

A couple other allusions

that I won't get into,

but he's doing the same thing

in the text today.

And he is doing that

with the term inheritance.

What do I mean?

God promised the Israelites

the land of Canaan,

which would be the land of Israel,

as an inheritance

with a lasting right to ownership.

He promised them.

It goes back to Abraham

in Genesis 13

and it continues on

in the story of Abraham

and the story of Israel

all throughout Genesis,

all throughout the Old Testament.

It was a promise

that Israel gripped tight

as they wandered

through the desert

after God saved them

from Egyptian slavery,

that they were going

into the promised land.

It was theirs.

They had a home,

but really,

God was not just giving them

a physical place to live.

He was giving them Himself.

That yes,

they had an inheritance

of the land,

but really it was

the inheritance

that God would be their God

and that they would be His people

and that there was

this dynamic covenant friendship,

love, relationship

that's described

in some ways as a father

to a son,

as in other ways

like a husband to a wife,

but this deep personal connection

and that was Israel's inheritance.

However, Israel neglected that.

They forgot that.

They saw the land

as the inheritance alone.

The land's important.

We're not going to get into the land

this morning,

but the inheritance given to Israel

from their perspective

was the land

and they forgot about God.

They forgot about their true inheritance

and so their inheritance,

the land of Israel,

Israel was destroyed,

was defiled,

and faded.

Not because God's promises

were shaky,

but because Israel

was unfaithful

to what their inheritance

pointed to,

which was God Himself.

So God gave them over

to their enemies.

Reveal something very tragic

about human nature.

We desire life

and life abundantly,

but we are fine

to not have the life giver.

We desire a utopia,

a heavenly existence,

but not the purity

and righteousness needed

to enter into

such a blessed state.

We want a kingdom

that is strong and mighty,

but we're fine

to not have the king.

We have visions

of a heavenly life,

but we want to define

sainthood.

We do not bring

the culture of heaven

to earth,

rather we try to baptize

the culture of earth

to seem heavenly,

and friends,

such things

cannot be done.

In short,

we do not want

to submit our lives

to our maker.

Rather,

we want to become

the creator

and maker

and king

and God Himself.

Peter makes it

very clear

that if we are

to live faithfully

in Ottawa,

we must understand

that we are sojourners

and resident aliens,

that we will live

as people

with a different

value system

because we have

an inheritance

of God Himself.

We bend our knee

to the life giver,

the perfect one,

the heavenly Father,

the King of heaven

and earth.

To do otherwise

is to fall

into the same

sinful problems

that Israel did.

Unfaithfulness

to our God.

Remember,

Israel failed

to do this,

to recognize God

as their true inheritance

because they put

their hope

in and saw

their inheritance

in the gift

and not the giver.

Peter is telling us

that our living hope

is on the basis

of the resurrection

of Christ Himself.

Christ who rose

from the dead

and nothing else.

When we become

Christians

through faith

in the risen Messiah,

we become united

to Christ.

We become a part

of His mystical body,

the church,

but in a very,

very, very real way,

a part of Him.

We become united

to Christ.

so much so

that the Scriptures

say that His destiny

becomes ours,

that the glory

that He enjoys

we get to share in.

We become

people that get

to enter

into His presence

forever.

He rises

from the grave

so that death

doesn't have

the final word.

The Scriptures

say so will we.

He sits

at the right hand

of the Father

forever to,

forever enjoying

the fellowship

and presence

of the one true God.

So do we.

Because Christ

has done this

and because we are

united to Him,

we can be sure

that we will enjoy

this as well.

So then,

our inheritance

is never the things

that God gives us,

the blessings

in this life,

although they are

very important

and not to be

discarded or ignored.

But our true inheritance

is Jesus Himself.

And everything He gives us

is to help us

to understand

His love towards us

and understand

that He is equipping us

and building us up

to do the things

that He's called us

to do.

So our inheritance

is not in things

that can be defiled,

not in things

that can perish

or things that can fade,

but in the one true living,

ever powerful,

always strong,

victory is His forever God.

And that means

our inheritance,

we can be sure,

will never perish,

will never be defiled,

will never fade.

So all of a sudden,

if our hope is in that God,

our hope isn't subject

to the whims

and fortunes

of this world.

It is foundational

that we understand

that our hope,

if it's in Christ,

is rock solid.

It's an inheritance

that is imperishable.

And it's in the future,

and it's kept for us

to enjoy now in part,

but it's kept in the future

for when Christ returns.

It says this

in verses 5 and 6.

Who by God's power

are being guarded

through faith

for salvation,

ready to be revealed

in the last time.

We have a true

and future inheritance,

for we have Christ Jesus,

and He gives us

His indwelling Holy Spirit

and the ongoing gift

of active faith

in our lives.

And that's the bit

we see in verse 5 here.

So that our inheritance

is guarded

through faith.

That is,

God gives us

strength to believe in Him

and to trust in Him

so that we will endure.

So it's not that

God just saves us

so that we can trip up

and fail

and lose our salvation

and constantly try

to get it back

and lose it

and get it back

and lose it.

But God,

if we are truly His,

if we are truly in Christ,

He empowers us

with His Holy Spirit

and with the gift of faith

to trust in Him

that we will

inherit the things

that are kept for us

in the future.

And this faith,

how does He help us?

How does He grow our faith?

How does He bolster our faith?

All too often,

it is through trials

and suffering.

And it seems more bleak

than hopeful,

but believe me,

this suffering

and the trials

that God uses

to strengthen our faith,

it doesn't lead to despair

but to true joy.

And this brings us

to our next point,

a joyful suffering.

Verses 6 to 9.

Look with me.

Starting in verse 6.

In this you rejoice,

though now for a little while

if necessary,

you have been grieved

by various trials,

so that the tested

genuineness of your faith

more precious than gold

that perishes

though it is tested by fire

may be found

to result in praise

and glory

and honor

at the revelation

of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen Him,

you love Him.

Though you do not

now see Him,

you believe in Him

and rejoice with joy

that is inexpressible

and filled with glory

obtaining

the outcome of your faith,

the salvation

of your souls.

If being in Christ

is so great

and our inheritance

of heaven

can be experienced

in part now,

here on earth,

why are we subject

to such suffering?

Why?

How is this coherent

with an unshakable hope?

let alone a joy

that is inexpressible.

If you have suffered

in a real way,

whether it's a loss

of somebody,

whether it is persecution

for doing something

that God has called you

to do,

if you have suffered,

it is hard

to feel joyful.

It is hard

to be excited,

to think about,

man,

this is a really

hopeful situation.

often times

we try to

avoid

and forget

or move on

as quickly as possible

from our suffering

and our trials

and yet,

Peter here is saying,

listen,

with the trials

comes joy,

comes inexpressible joy

and it is

something that is

a part of this

unbreakable hope

that is yours

in Jesus.

Jesus.

Our faith is in Christ.

He is our Savior.

He is our Lord.

We are saved by Him,

through Him,

and for Him.

He is the object

of our faith.

But how do we know

that we are really

trusting Him?

How do we know

if our faith

isn't really

in something else?

You see,

adversities have

a very profound

way of making

our faith known

as legitimate

or illegitimate.

For it shakes

all that can be shaken

so that the things

that cannot be shaken

may remain.

This is the end

of Hebrews 12,

the wonderful chapter

in Hebrews

on faith.

Trials and sufferings

are ways of testing

the sturdiness

and the trustworthiness

of things.

An earthquake

shakes the very foundation

of a structure,

but if that structure

is integral

and strong,

it will hold.

Some of you

who have been

with us

from the very beginning

of the church plan,

you'll remember

Sean and Amy Turner.

They were with us

for a season.

Sean was a padre

in the armed forces

and also a pastor.

They left to

pastor a church

in West Guilford,

which is in the Muskokas.

Lovely couple.

But one of the things,

Sean,

who is a padre,

he did a tour,

a humanitarian tour

in Haiti

after the earthquake.

And he saw

how

the buildings

were essentially,

he described them

as paper mache.

They had no foundation.

They were rickety.

They were made

with very,

very poor quality materials.

And when the earthquake

hit,

everything crumbled.

And people died.

A lot of people died.

And that really

shook Sean up.

He struggled

with seeing

the lack of care

for human life.

I mean,

part of it is

Haiti's absolutely

dirt poor.

But nevertheless,

these paper mache

homes

just crumbled

as soon as

adversity came

and as soon as

these earthquakes

shook them up.

You see,

if we put our faith

in fragile things,

even though they

appear sturdy,

soon as trials come,

the things that we

have put our hope

in will fail us

and we will be

left wanting.

We will be

searching and

grasping for

something that

will give us

stability.

And we might

find stability

in something that

might be just

a degree or two

stronger than the

thing that just

crumbled,

but is bound

to crumble

with the next

trial and

temptation.

The question

that Peter

asks us

is,

what is your

hope in?

What is your

hope in?

What is my

hope in?

But really,

the question is,

who is your

hope in?

Christ wants

to purify

your faith

because it is

the gift

that he has

given you

so that you

will trust in

him,

that you

will endure

so that you

will receive

your inheritance

that is

imperishable.

So what

does he do?

He allows

trials and

sufferings and

temptations to

happen in your

lives,

not to punish

you or to

hurt you,

but to purify

you,

to show you

that this area

is weak.

so come to

me.

You're trusting

in your

money,

so we're

going to

have you

struggle with

finances for

a season,

so you can

trust in me.

You are

putting all

of your

hope in

your family,

this is your

prized possession,

even over

Christ.

Tragedy hits

or a struggle

happens,

and you

realize that

my faith is

not in

Christ,

so he

helps us.

And it's

not some

sadistic

God who

is trying

to punish

you,

but he

wants to

purify you

and help

you.

Why?

So that you

will have

joy.

Because even

the best

gifts in

this life,

if they are

treated as if

they are the

gift giver

themselves,

will not bring

us complete

and ultimate

and godly

joy.

And they

will not

stand up

under the

trials and

the adversity

of life.

Our

suffering is

turned to

joy because

our faith is

put in the

rock-solid

truth of

the Savior

who, for

the joy set

before him,

endured the

cross.

We read in

Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

for our

salvation he

endured the

cross.

Why?

Because he

loves us.

He took

upon himself

our punishment

so that we

wouldn't have

to taste it.

And that

love to us,

expressed in

the joy of

laying down

his life,

will result

in our

joy as

we then

suffer for

him.

That he

has bought

our lives

at the

expense of

his very

life,

at the

expense of

his spilt

blood.

So then

we are

his,

and when

we suffer

rightly for

Christ,

this is not

to get in

his good

graces,

but it's

of course

to purify

our faith,

but it's

also,

also in

addition to

that,

a tribute

to him.

What gift

can we

give God

that he

doesn't

already have?

The answer

is nothing,

but what do

we give

him?

We give

him

ourselves.

We say

thank you

Lord for

what you

have done.

I am

your servant,

I am

here.

I am

here.

Our

faith is

proven

true,

and it

is refined

as we

suffer

rightly

for

Christ,

resulting

in our

love of

him,

and the

eternal

joy that

he gives

us,

even though

we have

yet to

see him.

And that's

the bit

here in

verses

8 and

9.

Though you

have not

seen him,

you love

him.

Though you

do not

now see

him,

you believe

in him

and rejoice

with joy

that is

inexpressible

and filled

with glory,

we can

be sure

that we

will obtain

the outcome

of our

faith,

especially

as it

is God

who gives

us the

faith,

and God

who is

refining

us in

that faith,

and the

promise is

salvation

of our

souls.

That is

the goal

of our

faith,

that we

would trust

in the

one who

laid down

his life

for us

and kept

our

unshakable

inheritance

for us

to the

end of

the age.

And that

does something

remarkable,

something that

is

not

found

in our

best

thought

leaders,

our best

gurus,

our best

philosophies,

that takes

our

suffering

and makes

it not

suffering

so that

the end

of suffering

is suffering

and death,

but rather

that it

transforms

suffering

into glory.

It means

that suffering

is no longer

vain if we

suffer for

Christ.

It will

result in

something

incredible,

the salvation

of our

souls.

So how

will that

come to

be?

Through the

suffering of

Christ himself

that would

lead to his

eternal glory.

This is the

final point.

Look with

me at

our

unshakable

hope in

verses 10

to 12.

Concerning

this salvation,

the prophets

who prophesied

about the

grace that

was to be

yours searched

and inquired

carefully,

inquiring what

person or

time the

spirit of

Christ in

them was

indicating when

he predicted

the sufferings

of Christ and

the subsequent

glories.

It was revealed

to them that

they were

serving not

themselves,

but you,

that is us,

in the things

that have now

been announced

to you through

those who

preach the

good news to

you by the

Holy Spirit

sent from

heaven,

things into

which angels

long to

look.

this passage

tells us

that the

entirety of

scripture points

to Christ,

all of it.

All of

scripture points

to Jesus,

the Old

Testament,

the writings,

the law,

the prophets,

all find

their promise

in the

fulfillment

in the

gospel of

Christ,

which is

God's

glory.

But if

you notice

that here

in verse

10 and

11,

suffering

has to

precede

glory,

that there

is no

glory without

suffering.

There is

no other

way.

In a few

months,

most of

us,

I think,

will tune

in to the

Olympics in

Paris,

and we

will see

unbelievable

athletes that

have given

their lives

to their

craft,

and some

will stand

upon the

podium,

hopefully

they're

singing

O Canada

with the

gold around

their neck,

and they

will receive

glory,

but none

of them

that receive

that glory

will be on

the podium

without going

through suffering

beforehand,

inflicting

upon their

body pain

two a days,

maybe three

a days,

a hardcore

diet,

aching

muscles,

treatments,

all for

what?

For glory.

Regardless

of what it

is,

glory does

not precede

suffering.

Suffering

precedes

glory.

This is a

very good

corrective for

us.

We live in

an instant

gratification

culture.

it demands

glory without

sacrifice and

pain.

We don't

want to

wait.

We don't

want to

work super

hard,

or if we

work super

hard,

we better

get what

we deserve.

But by

and large,

we avoid

sacrifice and

pain.

And yet,

the scripture

tells us that

the entirety of

the Old

Testament points

to Jesus

and his

glory,

glory,

but that

there is

no possible

way for

him to

enjoy his

glory without

sacrifice.

That means

there is no

possible way

for us to

be made

right with

God,

to have

the curse

of Eden

reversed,

except for

Jesus to be

sacrificed upon

the cross.

There is no

other way.

There is no

other possible

scenario where

God, the

Son of

God,

could achieve

our salvation

apart from

him taking

on human

flesh and

living a

sinless life

yet being

tempted fully

in every way

that we are

tempted yet

without sin

to die on

a cross as

a criminal

even though

he committed

no crime,

to die in

our place,

to be buried,

to rise again

after three

days,

to appear

to many,

to ascend

into heaven,

to be

glorified,

the name

above all

names,

at the name

of Jesus

every knee

will bow,

every tongue

will confess

that he is

Lord of all.

There is no

other scenario

that that could

have happened

apart from

Jesus'

suffering.

And all

of a sudden

we begin

to see

that our

hope

that is

unshakable,

that we

experience

is rooted

in suffering.

And we

experience a

bit of that,

of course,

and it's

the trials

that make

our faith

strong,

it's our

tribute

given to

God,

but ultimately,

ultimately,

our unshakable

hope

is in the

suffering

and death

and then

resurrection of

Christ.

and it

is done.

Jesus

did it

all.

The way

he suffered,

the way

he died,

he defeated

death once

and for all.

So we

put our

faith in

that,

we can be

sure that

there wasn't

a corner

of the

legions

upon the

armies,

the battalions

of sin

and evil

and death,

some corner

in some

part of

the world

or the

galaxy

that wasn't

conquered,

that wasn't

destroyed,

that wasn't

defeated.

That there's

no part

of our

lives

that is

just too

much for

Jesus

to fix.

That there's

no part

in this

church,

no sin

that we

have committed,

no problem

too great

that Christ

hasn't overcome.

when we

talk about

an unshakable

hope,

we are

talking about

a person

and that

person is

Jesus

Christ.

Our

suffering,

therefore,

is nothing

compared to

his suffering.

He has

taken suffering,

he has taken

death,

he has taken

evil and he

has turned it

upside down so

that the end

isn't death

or the

complete utter

blackness,

but rather

life and

life to

its full.

Friends,

our hope is

unshakable

because it's

in Christ,

for he

promises an

inheritance

that is

imperishable,

undefiled,

unfaded.

Our hope

is unshakable

because Christ

allows trials

to purify

our faith

so that we

can trust

in him

resulting

in true

joy.

our hope

is unshakable

because Christ

suffered so

that he would

be eternally

glorified,

opening up the

door for us

to enjoy

eternal glory.

Friends,

as we

journey through

1 Peter,

but also

journey as

resident aliens,

as exiles,

as sojourners

here in Ottawa,

let us never

forget where

our hope is.

The trials,

temptations,

the fury

of hell

can come

at us,

but because

our hope

is in Christ,

it is unshakable.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

thank you

for your

son.

Thank you

that his

gospel

is

100%

good news,

that his

victory

was 100%

of victory

over everything

that was evil

and sinful

and that

would cause

death and

that we

can put

our hope

in him

and that

he won't

let us

down,

he won't

prove false,

he won't

perish again.

Lord,

help us to

be people

that walk

in that

reality.

Lord,

we will

undoubtedly

falter,

our faith

will get

shaky,

but we look

to you to

strengthen

our weak

knees,

so to

speak,

so that

we can

walk out

this life

and eventually

enjoy the

outcome of

our faith,

the salvation

of our souls.

We pray this

in Christ's

name.

Amen.