The Hope That Lies Within

Well, I have a question for you. We're going to answer this morning to get started. We're going to answer one of life's giant questions. One of life's giant questions. Hang on one sec.

Half empty or half full? Half empty or half full? We've all heard this question before, and we understand that supposedly the way that we answer this question is supposed to tell us a whole lot about how we view life. It's supposed to tell us whether or not we're pessimistic or whether or not we're optimistic. And there's always some cutesy answers when you see these sorts of things. One of them says, well, obviously it's time for a refill of my wine. Or, who cares, fill it up.

Or, my personal favorite, pessimist optimist. I'm sorry, half full, half empty, half full. It doesn't matter. I'm drinking it with a crazy straw, which was my personal favorite on the cutesy answers.

But it turns out it's not just as simple as we might think. 50% optimist to pessimist. Recent studies have actually determined 80% of the human population are delusional optimists.

No, really. Delusional. Delusional optimist. I'm going to try to prove that to you today. So if you have a notebook out that you're taking notes in, I'm going to ask you three questions. And I'm going to ask you to write down the answers to these three questions, and then we'll talk about them at the end.

So here's what I'd like you to do. On the first one, what do you think your chances are, percent odds, what do you think your chances are of being diagnosed with heart disease?

First question, diagnosed with heart disease, from zero to 100%, what do you think your chances are?

The second question, what do you think your chances are of being a victim of violent crime? Zero to 100%, victim of violent crime. What are the percent chances?

And the last question, the percent chance of being in an auto accident. What is your percent chance of being in an auto accident?

Okay, now, in your head, not on paper for the next ones, because I don't want any incriminating shreds to remain.

Be honest with yourself. Compared to other people, are you funnier than most? Are you more intelligent than most? Better looking? More successful overall? More financially secure? More humble?

Now, interestingly enough, I'll give you the numbers on the first three that we asked. I'll give you the numbers. Your chance of being diagnosed with heart disease is 50%. That's the statistical odds, on average, across the United States of being diagnosed with heart disease. 50%. Being a victim of violent crime, 30%. Being in an auto accident, 25%.

Now, what the studies have shown is that most of the time, 80% of cases, these are our delusional optimists, which some of you may be part of that 80%. My wife, it turns out, is a pessimist. I tested this on her last night, and she came way higher than all of them on stuff.

But people rate themselves better off than they really are. So they'll say, oh, I only have a 10% chance of getting heart disease. And then you can even tell them, no, you have a 50% chance statistically, and they go, ah, well then I've got like a 15% chance.

It only alters it a little bit when you tell them the truth and when you tell them the reality. But they will, with certainty, declare that these kinds of things won't happen to them. However, interestingly enough, they feel that the chances of it happening to someone else are far higher than it is happening to them.

It's like a smoker that takes a look at the little surgeon general warning on the side of the pack of cigarettes and says, ah, it's not gonna happen to me. No, that's gonna happen to the other guy.

And they believe that when it comes to themselves, they'll avoid the harmful effects somehow and it'll all be okay. But that warning, that warning, though, that's for somebody else.

This phenomenon is actually referred to as optimism bias. It's called optimism bias. And it was first described by Dr. Talley Sheroux and it's since been studied, described far more fully, and they've even identified the small part of the brain responsible for its occurrence.

In fact, if you pass an electromagnetic wand over that part of the brain for about 30 minutes, it inhibits its function and totally changes the results. It's actually really fascinating.

But optimism is a really nice trait to have. Optimism is a nice trait to have. Optimism bias, though, is not always a good thing. Sometimes it leads us to take risks we wouldn't ordinarily take because we assume that we're gonna have a more positive outcome than the reality of things.

According to Dr. Sheroux, and this is her own words, optimism bias takes rational reasoning hostage, directing our expectations towards a better outcome without sufficient evidence to support a conclusion. And that's from her book, Optimism Bias, page 12, paragraph 3. In other words, while we may think that nothing bad is going to happen, often a number of evidences on the outside indicate otherwise.

Her findings seem to indicate, and this is her own claim as well, that optimism is hardwired into the human brain. And her reasoning is that it provides for survival, it provides for morale, in difficult and impossible circumstances.

Her research also indicates that optimism is difficult to counter, and it's difficult to remove.

I find that fascinating. I find it absolutely fascinating that the human body, the human brain, is hardwired for optimism, hardwired for hope, kind of that optimistic outlook.

But you know, despite being hardwired for hope, there's still a discrepancy sometimes between what we expect will happen and what really happens.

And when we consider why that is, I think it's easy to diagnose. If Dr. Chirot's research is correct, which I believe it is, humans are hardwired to be optimistic and put their hope in something.

They're looking for something to put their hope in. And in an increasingly secular society, in the absence of God, they will place that hope in their own personal abilities, in their government, in the fundamental, quote-unquote, good nature of man.

They'll put their faith in humanity. And as we recognize all too well, time and time again, all of those things fail.

And fail they have. We see it on the world scene. Failures of nations and powers to protect their own people. We see backroom deals going on between countries all the time.

Power struggles, wars, rumors of wars. We see it nationally with the racial tensions that we've seen just explode over the last year, year and a half.

Debate right now over abortion, over gay marriage, over a number of other politically charged issues. We see it locally, on our own backyard, with crime, various legislations.

Over and over and over again, along that entire continuum, we see people place their hope in man and get let down time and time again.

And we recognize, obviously, there is a better place to put our trust. We know that God is trustworthy. He's faithful. He keeps his promises.

But you know, that said, even with our trust placed in God, our trials and our struggles can wear on us so much that we can often lose sight of that optimism and lose sight of that hope and allow ourselves to become glum and, even in times, depressed.

But, brethren, we're called to so much more. Let's start today by turning over to Romans 5. Let's go to Romans 5 to begin with today.

Romans 5.

We're going to pick up the Apostle Paul's words here as he ponders this idea of where our hope is placed. Romans 5. We're going to pick it up in verse 1. We're going to read through verse 5 of Romans 5.

Romans 5, verse 1, says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope.

Now, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

The Apostle Paul, echoing teachings from James and echoing teachings from Peter as well, instruct us to rejoice in our tribulations, to rejoice in our trials.

As we face difficulties, rejoice in them, understanding that that trial will build endurance, that endurance will build character, and that character will ultimately lead to hope.

I haven't always been a great example of rejoicing in my trials. In fact, I tend to operate in a slightly more cathartic way, which is whining and complaining.

Very ancient Israel, but not quite the expectation that we see from the New Testament Christian. How many of you guys have seen the movie Rocky IV?

It's kind of a guilty pleasure. I love Rocky IV. It's my favorite Rocky movie.

In that movie, Ivan Drago, the Russian champion, the man who stands and says, I was bricule, right?

He goes up against Rocky, and there's one scene at the end of the movie, just before Rocky's triumphant return and his triumphant win, where Ivan has got Rocky on the ropes, and he is just pummeling him.

I mean, just pummeling him. And just one hit after another. Rocky can't even get his guard up. He can't even get his fists up.

Life, for Shannon and I, felt a little bit like that lately. We've had the last couple months have been, seems like one trial after another after another after another after another.

And just like Rocky, no time to breathe, no time to get the guard up. Just getting destroyed.

But Rocky stays on his feet. He stays on his feet. He takes his beating. He endures that pummeling. And he makes it to the end of the round.

Life, for us, the last couple months has felt, like I said, a lot like that. We've had health issues. We've had car trouble. We've had financial issues.

And it seems like, again, one thing after another. And my attitude is progressively getting worse and worse and worse, down to where my prevailing thought process was.

Okay, what next? Bring it. What next? What do we got?

And you know, it got to the point coming into the Holy Days as I started to begin preparing this message and started to kind of try to come up with a message it was going to be meet and do season.

I began to think about the Feast of Trumpets. And I began to kind of reflect on what kind of aspect can I bring out about this timeframe and about this time of God's Holy Day plan.

And I had a moment where I thought about all the troubles that I was having, all the issues and all the struggles. And I got that little voice in the back of my head.

You've probably had that little voice sometimes. But I had a little voice in the back of my head, and it sent me two scriptures, which absolutely refocused me.

I'd like to share those with you today. The first of those scriptures is Revelation 11, verse 15. Revelation 11, verse 15.

And again, these came to me as I was pondering what in the world am I going to talk about on trumpets? What aspect of trumpets can I bring out that is going to be something that is going to be beneficial, that's going to be helpful, that's going to be encouraging.

And then I start pondering some of my own difficulties, some of my own issues. And Revelation 11, verse 15, pops into my head.

Revelation 11, verse 15. Then the seventh angel sounded.

There were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

The second scripture that popped into my head was Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Turn over there, please. Revelation 21, verses 2 through 5. Revelation 21, verses 2 through 5.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.

As I contemplated the issues that I've been dealing with, and as I contemplated these two passages, I realized something.

None of those issues mattered. In the whole grand scheme of things, none of those issues mattered. The health issues, the money, the stress.

Because when it was all said and done, when it was all said and done, the seventh trumpet will sound. Jesus Christ will return.

The kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever.

He'll wipe every tear from their eyes and conquer death itself. And he'll do all of these things, and we know he'll do all these things.

Because he said he would.

You know, I know many of you are dealing with incredible, incredible trials right now. From health and other issues, financial troubles, struggles.

But hear what God tells us. Ultimately, none of this will remain. None of this will remain. New heavens, new earth, no more death, no more crying, no more pain, no more suffering.

The Day of Trumpets is one of the most pivotal moments in God's entire plan for mankind.

Without the events of this day, this time frame, none of the rest of it can happen. None of the rest of it can happen.

And if you look at the days and how they've occurred previously in the plan, taking a look at what God has already done in his plan thus far up to this point. Take a look at Passover, you take a look at Days of Unleavened Bread, Day of Pentecost. All of these holy days have some aspect of past or present fulfillment. Some aspect of past or present fulfillment. Passover, we have the sacrifice of Christ to atone for our sins. Days of Unleavened Bread, we have a past and a present fulfillment in working to remove the sin from our lives, becoming a new creation. Day of Pentecost has a past, present, and a future fulfillment with the giving of the Holy Spirit and the harvest of the first fruits. But when we get to the Day of Trumpets, we reach the first holy day in God's plan with a solely future fulfillment.

Return of Jesus Christ, resurrection of the dead in Christ.

There's no past fulfillment in this. It is in every way looking forward, earnestly anticipating the upcoming kingdom of God.

The Day of Trumpets represents hope for mankind.

Hope is defined by the online Merriam-Webster's dictionary as desiring with expectation of obtaining or expecting with confidence. The Greek word used in a number of places throughout the New Testament has actually a near-identical definition. The Greek word is L-P-S, and it means to anticipate, to expect, or to have confidence in. Let's turn over to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3, verse 13. I'm sorry, verse 14.

1 Peter 3. We'll pick it up in verse 14. Quite a familiar passage.

1 Peter 3, verse 14 says, But even... Oops, wait a minute. Let's see if I'm in the right place. Yep, I am. I have those moments sometimes. Even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed, and do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give. And that word, the Greek word there, is a polihia, basically a reason defense. To everyone who asks you for a reason, for the hope that lies within you, or the hope that is in you, with meekness and with fear.

We're admonished to be able to give an answer to any and all who may ask about the hope that lies within us. What we earnestly anticipate, what we earnestly expect, what we have confidence in. And that's the title of our message today. If you like titles, the title of the message today is, The Hope That Lies Within.

I'm going to have you take a moment before we go any further, and in that same notebook that you may have in front of you, or up in your head if you're not writing stuff down, would you please take a second and answer the question, What is the hope that lies within you?

In your own words, write it down. What is that hope? What is the hope that lies within you? I'm going to give you just a second to get that written down. As you're kind of thinking about it and as you're finishing up, I'm going to issue you a challenge.

I'm going to issue you a challenge. A little bit of homework, I guess. Today, before we leave, I'd like you to find somebody in this room and share with them the hope that lies within you. Tell them what it is that drives you. Tell them what that earnest expectation is, what that anticipation is in your own life, what you're expecting. Take some time to discuss it. Take some time to talk about it. Because when we boil down what our hope is, isn't it representative of the events of this time in God's plan?

Isn't it representative of the events of the Day of Trumpets? Aren't we in this present evil age banking on the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the saints, the establishment and the beginning of the kingdom of God? The events of the Day of Trumpets is the hope that lies within us. With the time that we have left today, we're going to further examine this and we're going to analyze the importance of the events that this day represents and try to establish what that means in our lives today.

There's three things we're going to focus on and three things that we're going to look at with regards to hope that kind of fit in with the Day of Trumpets. The first of those is, we hope in the Lord. We hope in the Lord. The second thing that we hope in is we hope in the resurrection to eternal life.

And lastly, we hope in the glory of God. So we hope in the Lord, we hope in the resurrection to eternal life, and we hope in the glory of God. So let's start by talking about hoping in the Lord. What does that really get at? Foundationally, our hope starts there. Our hope starts there. That's the foundation. And the foundation of that hope is that Christ will return, that the Father will dwell with men, that it is most basic. Our hope just branches off from these foundational understandings.

Let's turn over to Jeremiah. We're going to go to Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah 17. And we're going to look at a really just beautiful analogy. Just a really beautiful analogy. Jeremiah had a way about him when it came to writing things down.

Obviously, he was inspired, but as with most things, there's a hint of the instrument that comes through. But Jeremiah paints a really beautiful picture in Jeremiah 17. We're going to pick it up in verse 7. Jeremiah 17 and verse 7. Jeremiah 17, 7 says, And with our hope placed in God, regardless of how difficult it gets.

We had an opportunity to go through parts of California this year and get an opportunity to see what drought really looks like. And one more year of that in California, and they're really in trouble. They're holding it off at this point. They're kind of working with it and they're mitigating it. But the very first river that we got to, we came up from the south. We actually started in the Mojave Desert. We drove up through central California. The first river that we came to that had any kind of water in it whatsoever was the Smith in Northern California. Everything else was bone. It was like a little trickle of water. It was bone dry for the rest of it. And we take a look at that and we think about that. The trees were doing okay, but we take a look at this analogy. And we see that the tree that is planted by the river's edge and by the water's edge, whose roots are down in that water and deep in that water, no matter how difficult life gets, they'll yield fruit in due season. Christ identifies Himself in a variety of places as living water. And this is a really beautiful analogy that's the foundation of our hope. It's put slightly different in the book of Hebrews. It's put slightly different in the book of Hebrews. Let's go over to Hebrews 6. Hebrews 6. We're going to take a look at Hebrews 6 verse 17. We'll see that it's a similar idea, but written in a slightly different way, different analogy. Hebrews 6 verse 17. Hebrews 6 verse 17 says, You know, we see God can't lie. The words that He gives us are assured. They're true. They're faithful. The plan of God will be rolled out exactly as He said that it will.

The encouraging and incredible events of the day of trumpets will happen. And because of the faithfulness of those words, we can have incredible consolation. We can have very strong encouragement. We see that Christ Himself is the anchor of our soul. He's a hope, both sure and steadfast. And He's that river beside which we're planted, what we're rooted to, the first of many to enter the forerunner into a new order of the priesthood.

But without Christ, without God, we're completely cut off from our hope. So imagine for a moment, we mentioned the analogy earlier of the tree planted by the water's edge. Imagine that same beautiful tree, deeply rooted by the riverbank. What would happen to that tree if the river were to dry up? If it goes away completely? What happens if years and years of drought strike? Without water. No water whatsoever in the connection to that life-giving fluid. That tree will die. Not right away. Not right away. But as time goes on, it will slowly wither, and it will die. Let's go over to the book of Ephesians. Let's turn over to the book of Ephesians. I'm going to go to Ephesians 2.

We're going to see this concept addressed by the Apostle Paul. Ephesians 2. We'll pick it up in verse 12. This idea of being disconnected from God. This idea of being separated from God. What that really means, and what that does for our hope. Ephesians 2, verse 12. Ephesians 2, verse 12 says, So just like that tree by the water's edge, if that water wasn't there, this is what we're talking about. Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise. Having no hope. Having no hope. And without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once afar off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from two, thus making peace. Verse 16, in that he might reconcile them both to God in one body, through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

And he came and he preached peace to you, who were afar off, and to those who were near. For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. He's referring specifically here to the Gentiles. Paul's making the point that at one point in time, you guys were separated. You were alienated from this covenant of promise. And because of that alienation and that separation, you had no hope.

So where does that hope come from? That hope comes from a connection to God. That hope comes from a connection to God. But he encourages them by telling him—it's very encouraging, Paul— but he encourages them by telling them, not anymore, not anymore. You who were once far off, you are now brought near. Through this sacrifice, through Christ's reconciliation, they now have access to God. And that connection and that access brings hope.

And it brings hope because they're now heirs to the promise. They're now heirs to the promise. Let's go to Galatians 3, just a few pages over. Galatians 3, not too far from where we are right now. Galatians 3, we're going to pick it up in verse 26 as we see. Paul, continue this idea. Galatians 3, verse 26, we're going to read through verse 29. Galatians 3, 26 through 29. Verse 26 says, For you are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many of you, as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and you are heirs according to the promise. We all come from very different backgrounds. We come from different generations. We come from different life experiences.

Some of us grew up in loving homes. Others of us in homes where love was scarce. Some of us were born into this faith and have had opportunities to live it since they were born. Others took a much more roundabout way of coming into the church. But we've all arrived at this calling. We've all had different struggles, different viewpoints in certain aspects of our faith. But when we put on Christ at baptism, we become unified in our hope. There's no longer Jew or Gentile, no longer bond or free, no longer male or female. We are one in Christ Jesus. And I think sometimes we forget that.

We focus so much on how we're different from each other. We focus so much on, well, you know, maybe they do this a little bit different than I do this, or this happens, or whatever. And we let those differences divide us rather than focusing on the things that unite and strengthen us.

We all put our hope in God. We all have faith and we trust in His plan. And that's the beginning of the foundation. The second thing that we put our hope in, second thing we put our hope in, once we put our hope in God, is we put our hope in the resurrection to eternal life.

Because of our hope in the Lord and our faith and our trust in Him, we also place our hope to that resurrection. You know, the events of the day of trumpets, the events of this time of year, the return of Jesus Christ, resurrection of the dead, they're comforting promises. They're very comforting promises, especially when you take a look at the world around us today and you see how dark it's getting out there. They're amazingly comforting promises to know that one of these days God hits the reset button and says, we're done here.

Reset. I'm bringing new stuff in. Because we're going to do this the way that it was initially going to be done. But these things are comforting. They provide assurances. They provide peace. And again, when we look at this ever-darkening world, we see the Holocaust that we're committing with our infants in our country. When we see all these other things, we need that reset button more than ever. You know, it's interesting, though, because with that reset button comes a little bit of frightening, right?

We know that things are going to get—we hear the old colloquialism that it's always darkest before the dawn. But we do live in this really incredible time in human history and in the Church. And I don't know if we've really thought about that all the way through, and I'd like to maybe do that. There are some really rough days coming. Don't get me wrong. We know that it's going to be potentially pretty ugly. But we may have the opportunity to witness firsthand the complete unraveling and deconstruction of Satan's system that has been on this planet for millennia.

And we'll get to see God put together his system of fairness and equity and justice and love. And we may get to see that firsthand.

I mean, it's going to be dark, but we may get to see that firsthand. That's an incredible thing. It's an amazing thing to be able to have that opportunity. But it is always darkest before the dawn. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4.

1 Thessalonians 4. Nope, not 2 Thessalonians. There we go.

1 Thessalonians 4. We're going to pick it up in verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13. Looking at, again, the hope in this resurrection, the hope in the promise that God has given us. 1 Thessalonians 4. And we'll start in verse 13 under a heading in my Bible of the comfort of Christ's coming. Because that promise is comforting. It's consoling.

It says, But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. Our understanding of what comes after this life and what comes after this time is so refreshing. And it's beautiful. It's the one beautiful thing that you can have in a time that is hard to find beauty in when you lose a loved one. That what we understand afterwards and what comes afterwards is incredible. He's telling the church, look, I don't want you guys to be ignorant concerning those who pass away. That we look at death as something like final, like everyone else who has no hope. They don't have hope in that resurrection. But our understanding of what comes after is beautiful. Verse 14, 4, verse 14, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. God has a plan. God has a plan. Verse 16, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ, will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Always be with the Lord.

Therefore, I love verse 18, comfort one another with these words. Comfort one another with these words. Because our hope in the resurrection to eternal life should be comforting. We should take a look at the world around us and see the things that are going on in our trials and our struggles. And it should be comforting because this life with all of its difficulties and trials and struggles and darkness isn't all there is. It isn't all there is. This isn't it.

How much different would our lives be if we didn't have faith in the hope of eternal life? If we didn't have faith in the hope of eternal life? How different would our lives be if this was all there is? How much more different would our outlook on life be? What would it look like if we didn't have a hope that lay within us? 1 Corinthians 15 puts it perfectly. Let's turn over to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. And we'll pick it up in verse 12.

1 Corinthians 15 and verse 12. The apostle Paul puts it perfectly. 15 verse 12. Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then your preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found to be false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. If Jesus Christ was not raised, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then our faith is in vain. We are putting our trust in a place that has no assurance.

If the dead are not raised, then we are still in our sins. Those who have died have perished permanently with no hope of a future. And this is all that there is. We would be pretty pitiable. But instead we can look on Scripture and we can see that God does not lie. We can see that His words are faithful and they are true. And we can put our faith in the resurrection to eternal life. And by placing our faith in that resurrection, we continue to place our faith and our hope in God.

And Peter talks about this in 1 Peter 1. Let's turn over to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 He talks about this idea that by placing our faith in the resurrection, by placing our faith in the resurrection, we place our faith and our hope in God. By placing our faith in the resurrection, we place our faith and our hope in God. Let's go to 1 Peter 1. We'll pick it up in verse 17.

1 Peter 1, verse 17 Maybe. Did I write down the wrong reference?

2 Peter 1, verse 17 Nope. Uh-oh. That's 1 Peter 1, verse 17.

That's not looking like it should. Different translation here. I'm looking at one ASV and then I'm looking at the other one. 1 Peter 1, verse 17 The most beautiful part of the plan of God that's represented by this timeframe is that the resurrection of the saints' picture is only the beginning. It's only the beginning. God's plan was never just for those that came to know Him in this life, but for all flesh who have ever lived. Even those that didn't know God, who had maybe no idea of what Christ had done for them, or maybe who at this time were Muslim, or Buddhist, or Hindu, agnostic, atheist, just or unjust. God loved the world, not just those He chose, not just the ones who heard His message in this life. 2 Peter 3, 9 tells us He's not willing that any flesh should perish, but that all should come to everlasting life. There's opportunities built in for them all. And He actually mentions this fact in His discussions, Paul does, in his discussions with Felix and Tertullian in Acts 24. And we won't turn there for sake of time, but He tells them that He serves the God of their fathers, that He believes the law, He believes the prophets, having hope towards God, that there will be a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust. Paul's faith in the resurrection, which is mentioned in numerous places, strengthened His hope in God. He saw the promises of God from afar off, not having received them in this life, but He had an eager expectation, an anticipation of the promise.

He had hope in God and to the resurrection of eternal life, which is the very events that this season represents. Let's go to Romans 8, 22. It records His thoughts on this topic. Romans 8, verse 22.

Romans 8. And we'll pick it up in verse 22. We're going to go 22 through 25.

Romans 8, verse 22. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one still hope for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Forerunner commentary has the following to say regarding this section. It says, Hope is important because it plays a major role in salvation. Hope is a powerful motivator. What we love, we pay attention to. And if we hope to get something from what we love, our hope will motivate us in that direction.

Hope influences us to either take or not take certain actions, depending on what we hope for. And we will generally do all that we can to make sure that what we hope for happens the way that we foresee it happening. Kind of that optimism bias concept in there again. We see we think it's going to happen this way and we really want to work to get it to that point. If we hope something does not happen, we generally do what we can to see that it doesn't happen. Hope motivates us to move in a certain direction and do certain things. But what if what we hope for is something that is beyond our immediate control? We will still pray that what we hope for will happen. If there's nothing else we can do, we will still pray. That's how powerful hope is. It'll make us do things, even subconsciously, bending us in a certain direction because our hope is so strong. At the very least, even if we do not pray, we will at least wish, fret, and worry about it until something is resolved.

Our hopes, whether we are conscious of them or not, are constantly playing on our mind. He goes into a little bit of the definition of hope, just that it's defined as a longing, a desire, an expectation of fulfillment. It can be passive or intensely active. It can be for evil or for good. And it's vitally important that we have the right hope. Because the Bible says that along with faith and love, it is one of the three timeless and enduring eternal values. There will never be a time where hope is not on our minds. Think about that. It's that important. By definition, for us to hope in something, it has to be something we haven't seen. It has to be something we haven't seen. It has to be faith-based. It has to be a promise that is a far off, so to speak. Because that hope that lies within us is based on what God is doing in our lives. It's based on the promises that He's given us about what comes next. The final thing that we can hope in is we can hope in the glory of God. Because we hope in the Father, because we hope in the resurrection to eternal life, we also hope in the glory of God. Let's take a look at Paul's letter to the Church of Colosseum. Colossians 1. I love it. I even wrote it out like the way that I wanted to say it is, Colosia. I wrote it out like... what's the word for that? Phonetically? I wrote it out phonetically, so it's like the vestibule where I can't say it. I don't know why I can't say Colosia, but I can't. Yeah, I just did it. If I don't think about it, it's easy. As soon as I start thinking about it, it's like, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh. Colossians 1. I can say Colossians no problem. That makes perfect sense. But Colossians 1. Here, I'm talking, not flipping through the pages here. It caught me monologuing. There you are. Colossians 1. And we're going to go ahead and pick it up in verse 24. Historically, we know the letter to Colossia was written while Paul was imprisoned in 62 AD. About the same time as the letter to the Philippians and to the Ephesians. So if we pick it up in verse 24 of Colossians 1. It says, I now rejoice in my sufferings. So he wrote this while he was imprisoned. I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the church, of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, the mystery of which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mildly. You see, Christ in us is referred to as the hope of glory. And God has given all of us a down payment. When we become baptized, God gives us a down payment of his Holy Spirit. He gives us a little bit of his mind and of his power that works with our carnal human nature to help us to grow spiritually, how to help to bring us as sons and daughters into the family of God. Romans 8, 28, and 29 gives us the overall outline of his entire plan. Romans 8, 28, and 29, you'll be hearing more about this at the feast. Romans 8, 28, and 29.

But this gives us the basic outline of what God has done and what God is planning with his people. Romans 8, 28 starts out and says, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. The called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, brothers and sisters. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. God has called us according to his purposes. We are all here because we have a part to play.

God saw something in us, whatever that thing may be, and called us according to his purposes, to put us in the place where we could do something. He's in the process of justifying us, and those whom he justifies, he will also glorify. We've been called, we've been baptized, we work with the Holy Spirit in our life so that we might be glorified. That Holy Spirit in our lives has begun a process of leading us, developing us, changing us. And at times, as you all well know, you can definitely understand all too well, the spiritual life can be tough. The spiritual life can be tough. Sometimes it seems like we don't make much progress. It seems like we struggle just again and again and again. Yet, we're admonished to have the hope of glory. The hope of glory. That when we're down, when our trials are tough, when it seems as though we're spiritually spinning our wheels, or we're hit with trial after trial after trial, like Ivan Drago's fists, what gives us the hope of glory? What gives us the hope of being glorified? Philippians 1 gives us the hope of being glorified. Philippians 1. Philippians 1, verses 3 through 6. One of those, again, letters written during the time frame when Paul was imprisoned. And it's an extremely encouraging letter. Philippians 1, verses 3 through 6. Philippians 1, verses 3 says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. When I think about you, I thank Him for you. Always, in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. So what gives us hope in glory? Right here, verse 6. Being confident, being assured, expecting, anticipating, having hope, being confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Let's read that again.

So how are we justified in this life? Let's turn over to our final scripture today. How are we justified in this life? Titus 3. Titus 3. So how are we justified in this life? What does it look like? Somebody took the book of Titus out of my Bible last night. It cut it right out. There we go. Found Timothy. I can find Titus. Titus 3, and we'll pick it up in verse 4. Titus 3 and verse 4.

Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, verse 7, that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We're justified by His grace. We're made heirs according to the hope of eternal life, and we can place our hope in the glory of God, knowing full well that we didn't do any of this on our own. We didn't do any of this on our own. Our salvation, that precious gift of the first resurrection of eternal life, is a gift given to us by God in His mercy. We've been chosen, we've been called, we've been justified, and provided we allow God to continue working in our lives, we will be glorified. We can put our hope in the promise of the glory of God. Brethren, it doesn't matter how dark or how difficult our life may get. It doesn't matter how many trials or tribulations we may face in this physical existence.

The beautiful truth of this time frame, the Day of Trumpets and the plan of God, is that this physical life, with all of its aches, all of its pain, all of its tears, all of its sadness, is not all there is. Because of this precious truth, we can have hope. We can place our hope in our Heavenly Father, knowing that His Word is truth, all that He has promised, and all that He has spoken will come true.

Because of that truth, we can place our hope in the resurrection of the dead and the kingdom of God. Because of the resurrection in the kingdom and God's plan for us, we can place our hope in the glory of God. We can have an earnest expectation. We can have an eager anticipation and a hope for something better, something more. We're admonished to be able to always give an answer for the hope that lies within us. And with great joy, I can give you my answer. This world is going away. Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the sound of a trumpet. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. And God will dwell with them. They will be His people, and He will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no sorrow, no more death. For the Lamb is victorious.