By Pastor Bob Rasmussen
If the events that have been occurring around me as of late tell me anything, it is that anything can change at any moment. There is nothing that is on this earth that is forever. Things, people, stuff comes into our life and some of it fades, some of it leaves, and sometimes some of those in our life, die.
And in this point of history in these last days, it is a world that is full of wickedness, and turmoil, and a growing disdain for God and His church, His people, for us.
It is coming to the point that we are mocked for our faith.
We are thought of as backwards thinking, because it goes against the grain of society, when we know that Jesus, that His Word is the only hope for our world.
They want us to keep our faith, our hope, quiet. Because it contradicts how they want to live.
So this morning I want to talk about hope, but not that kind of optimistic hope, that everything is going to be alright. Because sometimes things are not going to be alright. Sometimes things are just going to suck. But even in that suckiness, we can still have a hope that the world may not understand.
A hope that is rooted deeply in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Nothing that is here on this earth is forever. We see it over and over in our lives. Yet, we can have, and should have hope.
Where I would like to start that conversation is in 1 Peter.
1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,To those [elect—both Jewish and Gentile believers] who live as exiles, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia [Minor], and Bithynia, who are chosen
I love that Peter is writing to churches of that time that can speak to the churches of this moment of time in history. And he gets right to the point, you are exiles – that this, where we are right now as well. This life, this place is not really our home.
Like I said a little earlier, these last 10-15 years it just seems that there is open hostility to Jesus and His precious gospel that wasn’t around before. And even though in the United States, for the most part, we speak English. But when we try to have a conversation with other people about our faith In Jesus, it can be like we are speaking another language. And people are resistant to have that conversation, and we are even encouraged to NOT bring it up. To keep it to ourselves.
Yet, if it is Eastern philosophy, or Karma, or whatever new age or Tik Tock wisdom the world is leaning towards, that is just fine, say what you want. And we can feel like foreigners out there.
Diana and I traveled to Texas to visit Johnna and her family, and we had a really nice condo. Nicer than anything I think I have ever stayed in. But you know, it wasn’t home.
Any time I have traveled, I always look forward to get back home. You know what I mean?And in the environment that we are in, we can be like the odd man out. And this is not our home.
Things that we value, not many people value. There are ways that we want to live our lives, and that is perceived to be hostile. That we value that all life is precious, that we believe in the life of a child that is not born yet – and we feel that child should be protected, is seen as hostile?
An abortion for the unborn is done until 14-16 weeks. They use gentle suction to empty the uterus and usually takes 5- 10 minutes. A dilation and extraction is done for more developed pregnancies.
The doctor dilates the cervix and scrapes the uterus, removing the unborn child. If preformed after 16 weeks, the unborn child must be taken out piece-by-piece using forceps and other medical instruments. We’re the hostile ones? Are you kidding me?
And the world calls all of this progress, and we are the ones that are thinking wrong and incorrectly. Peter continues:
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be yours in increasing abundance [as you walk closely with God].
According to the foreknowledge of God – I love this!
God is not surprised that you and I are here in this moment!
And the great heroes of the bible, they were where God wanted them, and we are where God wants us in this moment – 2024! Jesus knows what He is doing!
The last 4 years have been wild. We had COVID, we had riots, we had lock downs, we had weird election issues. The economy has been brutal, whispers of war. Russia, China, Israel. Murder hornets…
And the world wants us to be quiet. But how about no, let’s get out in the world and speak what needs to spoken – the Word of God!
But to do that, we have to have that deep rooted hope that the Word talks about that will allow us to complete our mission here on earth.
There are 3 themes that I can discern in this book.
The first is that we have a living hope, the second is that we are to steward, we are to steward our sufferings well, and the third is that we are to orient our lives to a FUTURE hope.
3 Blessed be the God and 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,
What great words of encouragement! Sometimes we forget where he brought us from. We forget what He has forgiven! I don’t want to live there, but what God rescued me from is so awesome and great. I can’t thank Him enough!
We are adopted sons and daughters! Adopted into not just any family, but adopted into a royal family.And because of that, we have a living hope. Not some fluffy kind of hope, but a real hope rooted in the promises of Christ Jesus.
All that junk we have been through in the past, we have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus, and now it is part of our story for God’s glory.
And a hope by the resurrection of Jesus, glory to God, is focusing on the initiative of God – what He did, not what we can do or did
Regardless of the circumstances we are facing now, we are born into this living hope.
And all of this is based on the fact that Jesus is indeed alive, amen! That is the guarantee that our sins have been covered. Our guilt has been covered by the righteousness of our living God and now you and I are seen as spotless, as blameless in his sight, hallelujah and amen!
Everything that we have seen each other go through these last few years, it’s been a lot. Hasn’t it?Everything, everyone on this side of glory can perish, can fade, amen? We are all so very fragile, no matter how strong we were, or seem to be, or actually. It can all change in a second, amen?
4 [born anew] into an inheritance which is imperishable [beyond the reach of change] and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected and shielded by the power of God through your faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time
Here Peter is reminding us that contrary to the things in and around our life, that the hope that we have, will not fade – it is imperishable, undefiled and unfading.
We have a reservation in the greatest place in the universe!
Have you noticed that when you get something new, you’re like, ohh, I got a new phone. It’s all shiny, clean, and slick. And if you’re like me, a year later I’m on top of the ladder and I’ll drop it and I will be like, it’ll be OK.
Or you get a new car, it’s got that new car smell, and you wash it every week, and you’re super careful and a year later you’re just treating it like every other vehicle you have ever had?
I remember when they started to sell faded jeans. You know, we used to get jeans that were blue – I mean really blue! But after times, those jeans would fade with wear and tear. Time would have it’s way.
Mom Necklace Jewelry collection, 3rd bout of cancer – when the doctor said, “I don’t see you recovering” what good was that jewelry. For all of us, when those times in our life when at situation is that dire, what will our GOLD (throw), our phones, our 401Ks, any of it, what will it matter.
The glory of Jesus NEVER fades.
His love for you never fades.
Our inheritance is kept securely and will not waiver because our hope is not a hope of stuff, but of a person, the person of Christ Jesus.
Our hope is not built on our initiative or good works.
It is built on the initiative of Christ, who came willingly in this world, to live, die, be raised from the dead and ascended to heaven.
6 In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
Even now if for a little while- we’ll come back to that.
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
We say this often, because it is true. Giving your life to Jesus does not mean all your dreams will come true. Giving your life to Jesus does not mean you will get whatever you want.
The promise of the gospel is that if you give your life to Jesus, He will be more than enough for anything that you face in your life, amen? And what happens at the end of this life will be wonderful.
And the trials that Peter is talking about were a little different than what we might be experiencing. In those times, being a Christian was dangerous, amen? Back then, they were being thrown in prison, being burned live, fed to lions, all kinds of horrific stuff.
I’m grateful that does not happen now, but there does seem to be a palpable change in what we believe. What we believe, it is getting in the way of how people want to live their lives so they want it suppressed.
They would rather allow depravity and plain wrong thinking into all areas of our culture – completely contrary to the Word of God.
But back to verse 6
6 In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
Suffering can crush us. Suffering can make us bitter. Suffering can make us resentful, but if we can understand what God might be doing it can have the role of sanctifying or refining us, amen?
There have been times that I didn’t think I was going to make, that I wouldn’t be able to endure. But Jesus got me through.
Sometimes, when we go through the hard stuff, it burns away the false hopes in our life. The things we thought were important or would help us, fall away.
It can remind us that all our hope should be in Jesus, in the eternal hope of God. And it does remind me, thank God, that this is not my home.
You know, when Diana first started having symptoms of what she was going through, her legs would bounce uncontrollably. For hours. She would scream in pain for hours. I am not going to lie, it hurt and it made me feel so helpless. And I was a little mad at God, for a minute.
If I am not careful in the suffering, if I let the enemy lie to me and say things like, well, your wife is sick because you did this, your wife is sick because you did that. Maybe I did not read my bible enough.
And we can try to separate ourselves from God – like that is even possible. If we have received Christ, He dwells in us. But we must guard our hearts and our minds. This is the warning that we have here.
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
The glory that awaits is where our home is, and it is beautiful. This mess down here is not our home. But if I keep my mind and my heart focused on Jesus and His Word, I can get through whatever trial I am going through and He can make it work for good. And you know what, whatever we are going through, Jesus was there before, He is with you in it, and He is waiting after it. And it is not because of me, it is because of Him.
Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
“The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins” – Spurgeon
Someone once said this, the same sun that melts ice also bakes the clay. We need to guard our hearts, so they are not hardened like clay during a trial.
And when we are going through these things it is good to remember that Jesus can do what He does in those moments. That in times when we are down to the last, or at least we feel that way, He can come in and move in our lives.
Remember the beatitudes?
Matthew 5 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
It’s OK if you are not OK – Jesus will be with you through whatever you are going through. Rejoice, be glad – your reward is in Heaven. This is not your home. Amen?
Continuing in Peter:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
We know that God is faithful, we know that His promises are true.
As Jeff has preached, we are in the last days, so things will probably not get better. But we have access to a resurrected Jesus, alive to help guide us through whatever trials we may have to endure, with the hope of a sure salvation.
All my hope is in the future that Jesus has promised, and I cling to it tighter and tighter as I get older and see so many things in this life fade away.
But it does not mean that I just am supposed to hide away and wait, amen.
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Stick to your faith, do not bend to the ways of this world. Even as our government mandates and tries to force a set of beliefs on us, gird your loins and stand up and reject the wickedness. Raise your children and grandchildren with the Word of God. That is why I love what Connie and Diana are doing!
Give the world the hope of Glory that you have, so you can be a light among the darkness. If it goes against the Word of God, stand and do not faint.
In the Word of God, we have seen His glory revealed through his attributes, through His character, His perfections, His acts of kindness, mercy and judgment.
Whether the world likes it not, part of the glory of God is His judgment, He is Righteous. He has created a way to be forgiven and given an opportunity of a future glory – and the world can deny it all it wants to – but it is coming.
So I thank You Lord for the glory of Jesus, born and lived a sinless life, died and rose again, He is alive. And He is coming again!
Janesville Apostolic Ministries 
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