All right, take your Bibles, if you would, please, and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4. I'm going to look at one thought there this morning. I appreciate the opportunity to stand in this pulpit. I love this place. I love this ministry. And I'm very grateful for all that God has used this place and how God has used this place in my life. And I am so thankful for the blessings of God. I just have to ask a couple questions this morning. How many of you are enjoying the cold weather? Not very many of you raised your hands. I promise you this, it could be worse. I'll find that out on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. We fly out Friday night and get there Saturday morning back to Anchorage. Looking forward to getting back to our church and our church family. And you pray for them. They'll be having service here in about four hours. And so you pray for them as they're getting ready for the service this day. You say, who's preaching for you? I have no idea. I pretty much just told them that they could figure it out on themselves and take care. We'll get back when we got back. And they've been very gracious. And I appreciate those men who have stood in the gap there for us. and taking that position of preaching for us on these weeks that we have been gone. I ask you to help me enjoy the cold weather. I looked at my phone just a few seconds ago, it was 26 below zero, and Tok, which is about two hours from us, and Glen Allen, it's about eight below zero, and Anchorage got a foot of snow. Some places got up to 16 inches of snow this week and it's still on the ground. It will be there till either Jesus comes or spring. We're praying Jesus comes. But also Jonathan and the boys made it back. Thank you for those who've prayed for them. They made it back safely last week and we're grateful for their trip. Jonathan got back home and pretty much had to go right to work. Seward, where he lives seven hours from where we are, there in Seward, but he ended up with about 12 feet, 12 inches of snow. And so he had to go straight to plowing and He said he sat in a loader for about seven, eight hours straight just pushing snow. And he's enjoying life, so. That's what you get when you get paid the big bucks, I guess. But anyway, it's been good to be back here. Don't appreciate and don't enjoy the circumstances, but it's been good to be back with church family. people that we love and people that we know love us. We're grateful for you and for this ministry and Pastor Davis I know is gone but I'll just say this, thank him and thank for the opportunity to stand behind his desk, his pulpit and preach. And I do not take lightly the responsibility nor the opportunity that God has granted to me to speak in this place this morning. A few weeks ago we were standing at a graveside and I read these verses And I'll read them again, and I wanna draw one word out of these verses this morning. The Bible says, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. I wanna preach this morning on this subject, a hope that is alive. A hope that is alive. The Bible says in verse number 18, wherefore comfort one another with these words. The screen behind me says 1 Peter, we're going to go to 1 Peter, but I just wanted to share these verses with you. The Bible tells us again that there are those that have no hope. There are those folks that are in our life that have no hope of eternity. I'm grateful this morning. I am thankful today that I know without a shadow of a doubt that I have a hope that is not a think-so or a maybe-so. I've got a hope that's a no-so, that Jesus is my Lord and my Savior. And I am going to spend the rest of my life and the rest of eternity with him forever and forever. I'm grateful for that today. And if you don't have that precious hope, I want you to know today that you can possess a hope that is alive. It's real. Years ago, Dr. Billy Graham gave an illustration that I'd like to share with you. The illustration was this. of a man that had been marooned on a deserted island. He was the lone survivor and he took all that he could get out of that ship that had been shipwrecked and he stored all the goods, food and supplies and whatever goods and whatever things he could gather together, he stored them all in a hut that he had built. He'd taken material, and he'd constructed him a hut, and he'd put all the stuff that he had in that hut. And every day, he would walk around the deserted island, and he would be looking on the horizon for a ship. Days went by. Weeks transpired. Was not able to discover, not able to find a ship. One day, while he was out on his journeyings and his just travels around the island, he came back to find his hut. was in flames. All of his goods, all of his supplies, everything that he had stored away was now being consumed by the flames and was laying in ashes. Dr. Graham in his book, Hope for the Troubled Heart, tells that this man began to in frustration, curse, and just to be uneasily angered, because everything that he had was now gone. He had hoped away some things to get him through. Dr. Graham goes on to tell us that a few hours later, he looked across the horizon, he saw a ship making his way to that island. His anger and his frustration and his wrath soon turned to joy and excitement and thrill that he was going to be rescued. The ship moored out there and they came to him in a little boat. And the first words out of the mouth of those gentlemen when they saw him, we saw your smoke signal. Here was a man that was looking and doing all that he could, but there was a smoke signal that he did not prepare that was sent up. He exercised a hope that is alive. This morning, I want to preach to you that message, a hope that is alive. Take your Bibles, if you would, please, and turn with me to 1 Peter 3. Dr. Graham writes that the greatest philosophical, the greatest spiritual, and the greatest medical need that all people have is a need for hope. I'll read that again. The greatest philosophical, spiritual, and medical need that all people have is a need for hope. Hope is mentioned some 180 times in scripture. It's used as both a verb and also as a noun. And I am grateful today that we are a people that have a hope that is alive. Our hope is not dead. Our hope did not die in the tomb when Jesus was laid to rest. Our hope is alive because he got out of that tomb on that third day. You and I have a hope that is sure. We have a hope that is steadfast. We have a hope that we should desire and long for. You know, there are people whose hope is a central part of their life. How many of you remember when you were young, you hoped that you got married? You hoped that you found that one that you were going to marry. The marriage hope is a marriage that you want it to be loving, you want it to be lasting. Children hope that they're gonna get picked first on the playground ball team. Or they hope that they're gonna do well in their classroom spelling bee. There are those that have hope in economics. I promise you this, when your hope is rested in money, you'll soon realize that it is not a hope that's gonna last. I am amazed at the price of a gallon of gasoline, not getting into politics, but just the price of a gallon of gasoline. I would have imagined that we would have been much higher in Alaska. We're only about 60 to 70 cents higher than you guys are here. And I'm grateful today that our hope is not in the economics of this world. There are those that hope in politics. If that's your hope, then God bless you. It's not my hope. I understand that the problems of this world are not going to be solved in our White House. They're not going to be solved in Congress. The problems of our world are going to be solved in God's house and with God's people. Don't forget that if God's people will call upon the Lord. he will hear our cries and he'll heal our land. There are those that hope in pleasure. They hope of a great exciting trip or they hope of a travel or good food. Anything that's gonna bring excitement to what is a dull and insignificant life. The only problem with our hope being based on pleasure is pleasure will always run dry. I remember years ago we took a youth group up to Maine. Some of you remember we took that trip. We drove 24 hours to Maine and we were helping a missionary there that started a church there in Portland, Maine, Brother Stober. We were up there and These young people wanted to go to this amusement park thing and so we traveled down the road a little ways to this amusement park that had a giant swing. Now how many of you enjoy heights? How many of you enjoy heights? God bless you. I am not that person. Myself and a couple of other teenage young men were there laying in that swing and as I pulled that swing back, And I'm going to go to the extreme saying maybe 600, 700 feet, evangelistically speaking. It's probably more like 100 foot, but I'm going way up there. They pulled that swing back and it was the task of one of the guys laying on the side to pull the little ripcord thing to send us down that swing. I was not enjoying myself, I was not enjoying the time that I was up there, but they just wanted to make me endure. And I remember, I'll call his name, Ben Spicer, laid up there with me with his hand on that little cable going, you ready yet? I was hoping to get back on the ground, amen? I did not want to be up there. That swing took off and we traveled the distance and came back and I've never been so glad to put my feet on solid ground. Pleasure runs out. money runs out. Politics runs out. But I'm grateful today that the hope of Christ never is extinguished. 1 Peter chapter 3, the Bible says to us in verse number 3, 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 3, Blessed be the God and our Father God, excuse me, 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. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, excuse me, chapter 1 verse. My fault, again we'll fire the guy who did the PowerPoint. First Peter chapter number one, I think I sent you verse chapter three. If I did, it's all right, we'll still fire you. Bible says in verse number four, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God. through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, 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 honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, 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, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, 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. 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. which, excuse me, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angel desire to look into. 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. Let's pray. Lord, we sure do love you. God, I love you and I thank you for your love for us. Thank you for this church. I thank you for the folks that are here. Lord, I thank you for this ministry and the impact that this place is having on the community and on the area that it is in. God, we sure do need you this hour. God, I need your help. I need your strength. Lord, would you please help us as we look into the word of God. Lord, that we might rightly divide the scripture today. Lord, there may be somebody here that does not know Christ. They do not have that eternal hope. God, I pray that you would help them. to recognize their need of Christ and to put their faith and trust in you. Lord, we do love you and thank you for your love for us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. When I traveled down here, I grabbed a Bible that is not my normal preaching Bible. It's just a Bible that was given to me. I love this Bible. I love the folks who gave it to me. I appreciate them. but I'm realizing that it's kind of hard to read the words. I'm going to have to borrow somebody's glasses here in just a second. But I am so grateful to have the Word of God before us. And as you look into the Word of God this morning with me, I want you to think, as far as introduction, I want you to think of what hope is. What is hope? Hope is an expectant. It's an expectancy You know, Paul writes a lot in the New Testament. He writes about our faith, and we're saved by faith through grace, and we're saved by faith. But in Romans chapter number eight and verse number 24, the Bible tells us that our salvation is of hope. We're told that we're saved by hope. You say, how is that possible that we're saved by faith, but we're also saved by hope? Because our hope is expecting what Christ is going to do for us. See, faith and hope are our two-stranded rope that string together, and they both take us to Christ. Faith helps us to look back and see what Christ has done for us, and hope is helping us to look forward, anticipating what Christ has for us in the future. I'm looking forward to what Christ has for me in the future. I'm hoping with great anticipation that greater days are ahead. We know they are. We trust that they are, but I am hoping, not the hope that is, well, I hope I get a new car, or I hope I win the lottery, or I hope I, but I am expecting greater days to be ahead of me. I am expecting better things for the future. So there's the foundation of our hope. Hope. It's foundational to our salvation. Again, Romans chapter eight tells us that we're saved by hope, but there's also the function of hope. If I am anticipating God, and I'm anticipating what God has for me, and I'm looking forward to what Christ has before us, you know what that'll do? That will prevent despair. There are a lot of people living in despair today. There's a lot of folks who are hurting. There's a lot of folks who are going through the trials of life, the temptations of life. And there's a lot of folks today that are dealing with just that thought of what does tomorrow hold? I cannot tell you what tomorrow holds, but I can tell you who holds tomorrow. And knowing Christ and putting my focus on Christ will help prevent despair that can lie ahead. But not only does the function of hope prevent despair, but I want you to also notice that it promotes expectancy. Expecting God and expecting to be face-to-face with our Savior very soon. This world does not have a lot to offer us. This world in its finite and very small capacities does not have a lot to provide. But I am so thankful today that my hope is not in this world, but my hope is in Jesus Christ. I am living in expectancy of the things that Christ has for a better day tomorrow. As you think about this idea of a hope that's alive, I wanna share with you three thoughts this morning, and I'll be done. The first thing I want you to see with me, if you would please, is this, a living hope, a true living hope in Jesus Christ, a hope that is not just a think so and hope this takes place, I desire this take place, but a hope that is expecting things to take place is a hope that's based on the resurrection and the crucifixion of our heavenly Savior. It's a hope that is based on the resurrection and also on the crucifixion. In 1 Peter chapter number three, or chapter number one, excuse me, I've got myself messed up. In 1 Peter chapter number one, the Bible says, 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, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Notice this, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Aren't you glad today? And if you're not glad, you should be glad that our hope is based on the resurrection and the crucifixion of our heavenly Savior. It's a hope that is based on the facts that Jesus Christ was dead, he was buried, and he got out of that tomb on that third and glorious day. And the Bible tells us that he's alive, and he's sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God, ready to make intercession for you and for me. Our Heavenly Father, our Savior, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is sitting down, and he's waiting to hear from us. Our hope is based on the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. Peter was not just praising any God, but Peter was praising the one true God who revealed Himself with an act of redeeming sinful man. The reason God saves sinners was due to His great mercy that He bestowed upon us. He was compassionate with us when we were undeserving If you have received the gift of salvation, can I tell you today that you are undeserving of that salvation? But God, who is so great in mercy, bestowed that mercy upon us. Our gift of salvation, our salvation, the salvation that you and I possess, is a salvation that is secure because of the gift of God. Our hope in salvation, our hope in our salvation is secure. The skeptics have to understand that when God changed the world through salvation, The Bible is very clear that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was from the dead and the resurrection of Jesus was of the dead is what justifies or gives us the confidence in life that we can go and live with Christ for eternity because we have the hope. The skeptics will say, hey, that's just a myth, it's just a fairytale. But the Bible is secure and the Bible is sure, the Bible is a stable book that gives us a hope for tomorrow. Today I have a living hope. You say, brother Jason, how do you have a living hope? Because my savior is alive. My savior is not dead. Death did not destroy Jesus. Death did not leave him in that tomb. He got up The resurrection gives us hope because it guarantees our salvation. Notice what the Bible says in verse number four, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. Now notice this, that fadeth not away. There is an inheritance that is secure forever. My salvation is a secure salvation. It's a salvation that I know will stand the test of time. There are those out there that want you to believe that you can lose your salvation. There are those that are out there that say, hey, your salvation is just for a moment. My salvation is not just for a moment, because the Bible tells me it fadeth not away. That gift of Christ, that gift of God does not fade away. It will last through eternity. And it's reserved for us. Verse 18 of our Scripture says, For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. This morning I ask you a very simple question. If your hope is gonna be alive, what are you hoping in today? What are you trusting in today? My hope is alive because it's based on the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as my savior lives, I can live. My hope is alive today, but also my hope, my living hope, a hope that's alive is sustained by joy. It's sustained by joy. Notice with me in verse number six. wherein ye greatly rejoice. Chapter one, verse number six, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, 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 honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. whom having not seen ye love, and whom though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. I want you to think about your hope that's alive this morning. It's not only it's alive in the resurrection because of the resurrection, but it's sustained by the joy of Christ. It's sustained by the joy of Christ. I remember this. I'm going to share this illustration earlier, but I remember when I was growing up, our church got a pastor, Dr. J.B. Godfrey. He's a dear friend of mine. He just was at our church in Alaska. the week we flew down here. Brother Godfrey and his wife, Miss Linda, came to our church after spending 20 plus years in Africa as missionaries. Brother Godfrey put on the church sign. Grace Baptist Church preaches the book, the blood, and the blessed hope. I'll never forget that sign. I'll never forget, preaches the book, the blood, and the blessed hope. Because folks, that's all we need. That's all we truthfully need in our lives. But our hope that's alive, it's a hope that's alive based off of the resurrection, the crucifixion of Christ, but it's also fulfilled and sustained by the joy of the Lord. The more that we go through life and the more that we deal with the things that we deal with, We're gonna face temptations, we're gonna face trials, we're gonna face afflictions, but we can rest into this that Christ is the true reason for our rejoicing and the true reason for our joy. Our joy is based on the certainty of inherited salvation, even though at the end term, we may be experiencing great hardships. We have secured salvation, we've inherited, it's been given to us, so great salvation There's a lot of folks dealing with hardships. There's a lot of folks dealing with trials and troubles and temptations in this day. But I'm grateful today that my joy is based on my relationship with Christ and the certainty of that. There's two reasons, verse number seven. that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than that of gold, that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and the glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." When we respond rightly to trials, when we respond rightly to troubles, when we respond rightly to temptations, these trials, these temptations, these troubles strengthen and purify our faith. They strengthen our faith and they purify our faith. And hard times reveal that our faith was a real saving faith. And holding on to the faith despite the troubles and despite the difficulties and despite the problems reveals that it is worth and the importance of who Jesus Christ truly is. This church has seen its fair share Folks going through troubles and folks going through hurts and heartaches. There's been a lot of prayers that have been offered. Gifts have been given. Food that's been prepared. Kind words have been spoken. Love has been expressed. And all of those things it reveals. and it strengthens our hope in who Christ is. Because I can promise you this, the food, the gifts, the prayers, the kind words, they're not going to be given from the world's crowd. But when God's people love on God's people, when God's people share the burdens It reveals to the congregation, it reveals to the church, it reveals to the community that God truly is who God says He is. And it is an expression of our joy. It strengthens our faith. We would like our faith to, we'd like our joy to be sustained and preserved. Hope in Christ. Hope in Him. Live a life that's abundant in hope for what God is going to do. And lastly, this morning, a living hope. The confidence of our living hope resides and rests in the Word of God. It's based on the resurrection. It's based on the crucifixion. It's sustained by joy and our faith, but it is confident to rest on the reliability of the word of God. The Bible says in verse number 10, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify when it was testified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should be followed, unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, Notice this, 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. These first disciples saw Christ in the Old Testament. which was their Bible, and before the New Testament was written, it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and they believed the prophets of the Old Testament. They pointed to the death, they pointed to the resurrection of Jesus as a relevation of God's grace for sinners. Much of the Old Testament prophets and much of the Old Testament scriptures are related to our day. If the Bible is not reliable for everything we believe about God, about our salvation, about our morality, if it's not reliable, then everything we believe should be questioned. But I am here to tell you today that it is reliable. Living hope is based on the resurrection. It's based on the crucifixion. Why? Because not just one man, not just two men, but over 40 men were inspired by God and moved by God to pen the words of our inspired scripture. One year, a single publisher, Thomas Nelson, used 15 tons of paper, two million square inches of gold leaf and 100,000 zippers and a million square feet of leather to make Bibles. The wonder of the world is the Bible. In nations that are forbidden, it's clutched like a treasure. The Bible is truly the Word of God, and our lives depend upon the Word of God. I don't remember exactly where I saw this, but I do remember watching the video. There was a group of folks in some distant land that did not have a copy of the Word If they did have a copy of the Bible, it was not in their language and they could not read it or nor understand it. So a truckload of Bibles was shipped and that truckload of Bibles arrived in the village of whatever community, whatever town, whatever place it was at, but they were dropping off these boxes of Bibles. And I remember them taking a Bible And in their custom, they took that Bible, and the first thing they did was they clutched it to their chest, tears streaming down their face, rejoicing they had a copy of the Word of God in their own language. And then they began to do something that I thought was very astonishing. There was a truckload of Bibles that had just arrived, but they began to take and to tear pages out, and to pass pages to each individual person. because they loved the Bible. They longed for the Word of God. They had found the Bible to be reliable. They had found God's inspired words to be sure and pure words, and they longed for those words and they desired that they would have the opportunity to read and to heed those words. This morning, church, my faith is alive. And it's based on the reliability of the word of God. I don't need to listen to any daytime talk show hosts to tell me what I need to do. I have God's preserved, inspired word. I understand that Pastor Davis has a statement he makes. So what? If my hope is alive, if my hope is going to be alive, it's based on the resurrection of crucifixion. It's sustained by joy and preserves my faith. Living hope is confidence, and confidence rests on the Bible. But living hope, I believe, should be full of hope. Verse 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 by the revelation of Jesus Christ. What can you and I do living in 2021, sitting on the side of I-77 and I-81 and on the side of Peppers Ferry Road, what can you and I do? Gird up your loins of your mind. Be sober. And keep your hope till Jesus comes. Because we know he's coming. And he's coming back soon. I'm looking forward to that day Christ comes, even so come Lord Jesus. I have a question for you this morning. Is your hope alive? Is your hope well alive? Is it based on the scripture? Does it build confidence in the scripture? Does your hope today, does it bring you joy? I'm looking forward to seeing my Savior. I'm looking forward to seeing our families and our friends that have gone on before. And I've got a hope that one day I'll see them again.