Trinity Baptist Church

 

They tell me that one of the common themes in suicide notes which people leave is the theme of hopelessness, that people who commit suicide have come to the point in their life where they do not see any hope. There is a sense of hopelessness in them. 

 

The dictionary definition of hope is desire for future good, the desire, the anticipation, the expectation of something good happening in the future. Everybody wants to have hope. Hope is when you are in a tunnel of problems and difficulties. Hope is that which points you to the light at the end of the tunnel. When you are at the point where you just don't feel you can go on any longer and you feel like quitting, hope is what keeps you going on the journey. When you are living with the consequences of bad decisions, hope is what points you toward recovery. It is so important that we have hope.

 

There is a difference between the way hope is used sometimes in conversation and the way people use it today and what the Bible has to say about hope. The way hope is used by some people today is that there is some element of uncertainty about it and it may or it may not be based on reality. I hope the Cowboys win the Superbowl. 

 

There is not certitude in there, and it may or may not be based on reality. I hope it is. I hope the weather clears. There is anticipation but maybe not certainty, and it may or may not be based on reality. 

 

There is a difference between that kind of hope and the hope that is mentioned in the Bible.

 

When the Bible uses hope, it is confident expectation based upon the reality of the promises of God. Those who know the Lord Jesus Christ have a blessed hope of future good. It is a certain anticipation. It is based on the realities of the promises of God.

 

I want to point out to you in this first chapter, verse 21, that faith and hope are tied together. In the last part of verse 21 it says, "That your faith and hope might be in God." Bible hope is connected to Bible faith. In the Bible, hope is the telescope which brings the assured promises of God into the life of an individual through the eyes of faith. It is hope which brings the promises of God into our present day experiences, and by faith we put our confidence and our anticipation and assurance on these wonderful promises that God has given to us.

 

Interestingly enough, it is Simon Peter who writes to us about hope. Paul was the apostle of faith. He writes about faith. John is the apostle of love. He writes about love. But Simon Peter is the apostle of hope. He's the one who writes to us about hope. I think it is interesting that he did. 

 

You may recall that Simon Peter before the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified denied that he even knew the Lord, and probably a sense of great hopelessness came upon his heart in the midst of that failure. But then he received the Word after the resurrection, "Go tell my disciples and Simon Peter that I will meet them in Galilee." His hope was rekindled in spite of his failure. 

Simon Peter, the apostle of hope, is writing to a group of individuals and he calls them the strangers scattered, and he mentions five countries that today are comprised of modern Turkey. He's writing to a group of Christian believers who are encountering the brunt of initial persecution and hostility to their faith. 

 

Many of them are wondering, "Is there any hope?"   They're wondering if there is any future beyond what they are experiencing. Some of them are sure to lose their lives because of their faith. The question which comes to their mind, undoubtedly, "Is there any hope for the future? Are the promises of God really true?"

 

It's not unlike what God's people are facing today. The onset of persecution on the part of many of those who name the name of Jesus Christ and the hostility of the culture and the difficulties and the problems many face so they also raise the question, "Is there any hope?"

 

Have you ever heard that adage, "Where there's life, there's hope"? There's an element of truth in that, but understood correctly when you study what the Bible has to say about it, you will find that where there is Jesus there is hope. 

 

First Timothy, chapter 1, says that Jesus Christ, who is our hope. There is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you know Christ, then you can know hope. If you do not know Christ, then you do not have hope. Ephesians 2, verse 12, talks about those who are without Christ, and it says in that verse that they are without Christ which means that they have no hope.

 

Simon Peter starts off this epistle of hope in a very interesting way. He starts off by making it very clear who we are as believers. If you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, these first two verses tell you who you are. It's very important to know who you are.

 

A young man had gone into a rest home to visit an elderly friend. He walked up to her and he said, "Do you know who I am?" She looked up and said, "Son, see that desk up there. Go up there and that lady will tell you who you are." Sometimes you can identify with that. 

 

We read about people who get amnesia and they can't remember. They go around saying, "Do you know who I am?" They do not know who they are. There are some of God's people who have spiritual amnesia, and they really do not know who they are in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why even those who name the name of Jesus sometimes don't have a lot of hope in their life.

 

 

Let's talk about who you are because that's the basis of your hope. In these first two verses he tells us first of all that we need to know who we are in terms as far as this world is concerned and we need to know who we are in terms of who we are far as God is concerned. You will notice in verse 1 he gives us our earthly position and he does it by two important words. He says, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered." 

 

 

 

The first thing you have to understand as a Christian is who you are in terms of your earthly position in this world, and the first word he uses is the word strangers.   The particular word that is used here means someone who is a temporary resident in a land to which they do not belong. You could use the word alien or the word exile. He is writing to them geographically, first of all, because he names these five countries. Peterson paraphrases it. He says, "To the exiles who are scattered to the four winds."

 

Believers are scattered everywhere. Some of you have come from many places and are now living in the city of Ardmore. There are born-again believers who are scattered everywhere. 

 

But it is not only true geographically, it is also true spiritually. You need to understand that spiritually speaking, you are an alien here. You are an exile here. You are a temporary resident here. This is not your permanent home.

 

In the book of the Revelation there is a rather interesting phrase. It is a phrase which says, "Them that dwell on the earth, the earth dwellers." That particular phrase is a statement of those who do not know the Lord. They are earth dwellers. In other words, they live in this earth. They live in this world, and this is the only world they will ever know. This is the only residence they will ever have. They are earth dwellers.

 

But the Bible says that born again believers are strangers, that is, we are aliens. We are temporary residents. We don't belong down here. Philippians 3, verse 20, says, "For our citizenship is in heaven."

 

When you come to know Christ as your personal Savior, your name is engraved on the official roll book of heaven. So heaven becomes your future home. That's why believers can sing the old gospel song, "This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I don't feel at home in this world anymore."

 

In the second chapter of I Peter, verse 11, he ties that word strangers with another word. In the eleventh verse he says, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims." The word pilgrims mean sojourners. This means then that we who are temporary residents here are on a journey. We are on the way to our future home. 

 

Those who are lost and do not know the Lord as their Savior are on a cruise to nowhere. But those of you who know Christ as your Savior are on a journey with Jesus. You're just passing through. You do not belong here. This is not your final home. 

 

Think about traveling. When you travel, there is much to do. There are places to see and there are pictures to take and trinkets to buy and there is food to taste. You're traveling in another land. You really don't belong there. In your hotel you have a suitcase, and it's not completely unpacked because you are aware that you're just there for a little while. You really don't mind some of the inconveniences and discomforts that you experience because you know it is temporary. You're just passing through that land. Soon you will be back home.

 

 

If you have that hope in the Lord Jesus Christ that you have a future home in heaven and that this world is not your home but that heaven is ultimately your home, where there is Jesus there is hope.

 

We're on our way. We're on our journey. We're strangers and pilgrims. We're just passing through. Not only does he say that we are strangers, but he says we are strangers scattered. The word scattered is made up of two words. 

 

Dia which mean through. We talk about dialogue. That means we talk through an issue. Then the word spora from which we get the word sperm which means seed. Diaspora, to scatter seed through. It was used of the Jewish dispersion as they were scattered into different parts of the world. It is also used in the Bible of believers who were scattered in various parts of the world. We are strangers. We are pilgrims. We are exiles. We are aliens and we are scattered through the world.

 

For instance, in Acts 8 we see the early believers in Jerusalem; and when persecution broke out, it says in verse 1 the second sentence, "And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad (same word) throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria." Then notice what it says in verse 4, "Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." God has a purpose in this scattering. 

 

God has a purpose in this journey with Jesus we are taking. 

 

 

God's purpose is that you and I be witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ and that we get as many people as we possibly can on this journey to glory with us. So God scatters us like seed.

 

We are not only aliens in this world, but we are to be ambassadors in this world. We are on a journey and we are inviting others to come and go on this journey with us. That's what real ministry is all about; telling people they can have hope in their life. 

 

That's the purpose of our life as born-again believers. "I'm a stranger here within a foreign land. My home is far away upon a golden strand. Ambassadors to be of life beyond the sea. I'm here on business for my king."

 

The first thing you need to know about yourself is that you have an earthly position. You are a scattered stranger.

 

In verse 2 he tells us the second thing we need to understand if we're going to have this joy in Jesus, not only do we have an earthly position but in verse 2 he tells us that we have a heavenly position. The first word in the second verse is elect. The word elect means to pick out. It means to choose. 

 

Do you remember when you were in elementary school and they were choosing up teams? Do you remember how tense that was when you were in the middle and the two captains were choosing? Do you remember how you felt when you were hoping you would be chosen? Maybe you had the experience, as did I, that sometimes you didn't get chosen. 

In fact, they would even get in a fuss about which one had to take you! Do you remember when somebody picked you, how special you felt? "I have been chosen." 

 

The word elect means to be picked, to be chosen. We are special. What Paul is trying to say to you and me on this journey with Jesus into hope is that you and I are not only strangers, temporary residents down here, but in terms of God, we are very special to God. You are important to God.

 

It says we are special and then he gives us a lay out of the work of the Trinity in our salvation. In verse 2 every person of the Trinity is mentioned. God the Father, then he talks about the Spirit, God the Holy Spirit, then he talks about Jesus Christ, God the Son. He is going to begin to talk to us about how special we are to God and what God has done in order to make it possible for us to be saved. He's going to talk about the work of each person of the Trinity in our salvation.

 

When you study the Bible here's what you'll find. You will find that the Bible presents salvation from two sides. Sometimes the Bible talks about salvation from God's side. In other places it talks about salvation from man's side. It talks about God's responsibility in our salvation. 

 

It talks about our responsibility in our salvation, and it is a mistake when you emphasize one to the exclusion of the other. They are both taught in the Bible. We're dealing now with God's side of salvation, what God has done in order to save us and give us this hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

You may ask, "Preacher, do you understand all of this?" I don't understand it all, and don't you expect to understand it all. We're about to get into the deep recesses of the work of God Himself.

 

They say that the average one of us has about an 8-ounce brain. Maybe for some of us it's less. Maybe for some of us it's more. But the average is about an 8-ounce brain. Do you think that an 8-ounce brain is going to be able to comprehend and contain the God of this universe? There are mysteries in the Bible, there is truth to consider in scripture that is far beyond the ability of our little human brains to comprehend. When I get into those places in the Bible, I just rejoice in what God has done for me. 

 

I don't have to understand it all to enjoy it all. I don't understand everything there is about music, but you don't have to understand chords and triads and key changes to enjoy the beautiful music that we hear.

 

Notice the work of the Trinity in our salvation. First of all there is the work of God the Father. He says that we are chosen. We are selected according to the foreknowledge of God. That is, we are elected by the determination of God the Father. 

 

Foreknowledge is our English word prognosis. A doctor examines you and then he gives you a prognosis. The word literally means to know before. He says to you, "If you don't quit eating so much, you're going to get as big as an elephant." That is a prognosis, knowledge beforehand. 

 

The Bible talks about the foreknowledge of God that God knows beforehand. There is nothing that God doesn't know. 

The foreknowledge of God means that God sees everything in present time. Nothing comes as a surprise to God. God knew it ahead of time, and the Bible says that you and I are saved by this foreknowledge of God which includes not only the fact that God knows it, He is omniscient in that He knows everything, but that God also made a determination beforehand in the counsels of eternity that He was going to pick you out, that He was going to choose you and that you are very, very special to Him.

 

Take a young lady on her wedding day. Is that not a special day? I have never seen an ugly bride. I've seen one or two who barely made it, but I have never seen an ugly one. They're dressed so special and they've got their make up just exactly where it's suppose to be, and she's just glowing and so beautiful and gorgeous and wonderful. Why is she that way? She knows that of all the girls in the world, he choose me and I am special to him.

 

There is no room for a child of God to feel insignificant, unimportant, or hopeless because if you are saved and if you have come to Jesus Christ as your Savior, God has said, "You are so special to me that before you were even born I set My love upon you and I determined that you would be one of My children." 

 

That simply means that you can't do anything bad enough not to be saved and that means that you can't do anything good enough to be saved. It means that God picked you out before you were even born, and God determined in His grace and in His love that you would be one of His children.

 

You say, "Preacher, that brings up a problem." I thought you were going to say that. "How can I know I'm one of the chosen?" It's very simply how you can know you're one of the chosen. If you realize that you are a sinner and you realize that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and if you will come to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and personally invite Him into your heart to be your personal Savior, you can know that you are one of the chosen.

 

You say, "Prove that to me." In John 6 there is a beautiful verse of scripture which puts God's responsibility and man's responsibility in the same verse. In verse 37 we find the words of Jesus which say, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me (that's the divine side of it); and him that cometh to me I will in no wise case out." Do you see what He's saying? If you will come to Jesus, He said that He won't cast you out. 

 

Who can come? The Bible says in John 3, verse 16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." God said that whosoever will may come and if you come, He says, "I won't cast you out. I will take you in." You are one of the special, chosen ones of Jesus. 

 

We're saved by the determination of God the Father. We're also saved by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. He says, "Through sanctification of the Spirit." He's talking about the work of God the Spirit in your salvation, the sanctification. The word means to set apart. It's talking about that special work of the Holy Spirit who gets us ready to be saved. 

 

It is the Holy Spirit who arranges the circumstances of your life and makes you aware of your need for the Lord Jesus Christ and creates the atmosphere which prepares you to invite Jesus into your heart and into your life. You're not here by accident today. You're not watching by television by accident today. You are here by divine appointment. You are here by the determined plan of God and by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

 

I came to Jesus when I was an 18-year-old boy. It was during a revival. That's one of the reasons I like revivals so much. I was sitting on the first row and the evangelist spoke that night. As he spoke I was aware in my own heart and in my own life that I was a sinner. He made it very clear to me that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. There came to be a desire and interest in my heart in giving my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. What I didn't know at the time, but I now know, is that what was going on was the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, the setting apart of the Holy Spirit, the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. 

 

The Holy Spirit is the great sheriff of heaven who arrests us and brings us into the presence of the King. If you are in this building today and you know that you need Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the heavenly Father has sent the Holy Spirit and He has wrapped Himself around you in conviction and has given you an opportunity to be saved.

 

The third is, "Unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 

 

 

We're saved by the determination of God the Father. We're saved by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, and we're also saved by the application of the blood of Jesus.

 

In the Old Testament when they killed sacrificial animals, they would take that blood and pour it on the altar which was a picture of covering sin. Then they would take an instrument made out of hyssop branch and they would take that blood and apply it to the people. They would sprinkle it on the people.

 

When Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary's cross, it is because the shedding of His blood that you and I can have forgiveness of our sins. Hebrews 9, verse 22, says, "Without shedding of blood is no remission." This means, then, by the shedding of blood there is remission.

 

I read about a wounded soldier. The chaplain came to him and said, "Son, can I do something for you?" The wounded soldier said, "Sir, I need someone who can undo some things for me."

 

You may be here saying, "I need someone who can undo some things for me. I've made a mess of my life. I've made poor decisions. I've done things that have stained my heart and trouble my soul. I need someone who can undo some things for me." I have good news for you. The blood of Jesus Christ was shed for your sins and the blood of Christ is powerful enough to cleanse you from all of your sins. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

 

Not only is there the shedding of the blood but there is the sprinkling of the blood. 

That blood shed had to be applied to the people. You and I, by faith, apply the blood of Christ, appropriate the blood of Christ for our sins.

 

There's an old gospel song we used to sing that has a line like this, "But this one thing I know, that when the crimson flow fell to the earth below, it fell on me. My eyes were open wide. I saw Him crucified. It was for me He died on Calvary." When by faith you receive what Jesus did on the cross for you, the precious blood of Christ is applied for your forgiveness and you become one of God's children.

 

Here's what it's all about. The Father foreknows us. The Holy Spirit sets us apart. The blood of Christ cleanses us. As far as the Father is concerned you were saved when He determined in eternity that you would be His chosen. As far as God the Son is concerned you were saved when He shed His blood on the cross of Calvary. As far as God the Holy Spirit is concerned you are saved the moment you repent of your sins and receive Jesus as your Savior.

 

There's one word here I skipped over on purpose. In verse 2 in the heart of the verse you will find the word obedience. It literally means to hear under. It is the idea of submission. It is the idea of surrender. When you hear about Jesus dying on the cross for your sins, if you will obey that message and surrender your life in submission to that message, the Bible says, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." No Jesus, no hope. Know Jesus, know hope. Where there is Jesus there's hope.

 

Let's bow our heads in prayer.