Please turn with me in your Bible to the first epistle of Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1, and we will read verses 3 to 9. While you're looking that passage, let me express my thankfulness to the congregation for the invitation to come to that conference. I'm really glad to be here. Thank you for the hospitality and for everything. 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 to 9. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again in living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor. at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you have not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we praise your name for who you are. You are our Lord, our Savior and Redeemer. And we praise you, Lord, because you did not leave us alone, but you gave us your word. We thank you, Lord, for this word tonight. And we pray that you send your Holy Spirit, that you enlighten our minds so that we may understand your word and that we may not be only hearers of the word but doers also. Bless us in Jesus name we pray. Amen. We are living in a world where people are searching for joy. People are searching for hope. They are asking themselves, where can I find joy? Where can I find hope in this world that is falling apart? In the last six or eight years in my ministry in Haiti, I have experienced how life can change very quickly from bad to worse. We have experienced a lot of problems, earthquakes, epidemic disease, hurricanes, and the consequences sometimes are devastating for people. You can see that there's a lot of trouble, and people are asking, where can I find joy? Where can I find hope? It's not the questions for our time, but that question has been there for a long time. The Apostle Peter, he's writing to Christians who had that same questions. Peter is writing to Christians who are facing difficult time in their life. The Emperor Nero, he hated Christians and he wanted to destroyed them. The church at the time of the Apostle Peter was facing hard persecution, and the Christians, they were in the midst of a big trouble. They were scattered throughout the Roman Empire. And Peter is writing this letter to them to assure them of the hope that they have in Jesus Christ. He is writing to them to tell them where they can find hope in the midst of their trouble. In the first two verses of the epistle, Peter sets the stage for them so that they may understand why they are suffering. He told them that they are strangers, they are aliens, they are exiled in this world. They are not at home, but they are temporarily in a foreign land. But they are blessed, he is telling them. They are blessed because they are not Christians by chance, but they are predestinated before the foundation of the world to be a people, a special people for God. They are blessed because they have the Holy Spirit. They are in Christ. And because of all these blessings, they experience favors from God. And he's telling them that though they have these troubles, they need to rejoice, though they have various trials in this life. to teach them that Peter is telling them three things to assure them of the hope that they have in Christ. He's telling them first the foundation of their hope, and second he's telling them the assurance of their living hope, and third he's telling them the fruits of their living hope. So let's see these three things tonight. The first thing he's telling them is the foundation of their hope. Peter is writing to these Christians and they are scattered abroad and they are facing persecution. And he wants them to know that they have a living hope, but mostly he wants them to know the basis or the foundation of their living hope. Why does he want them to do that? Because without hope, the Christian life is meaningless. That's why we preach the gospel in a world full of darkness. That's why we do evangelism. That's why we want to do missions because there's no hope for people in the world without Christ, without the gospel. The foundation of the hope is in Christ. You remember that Peter, later in that epistle, in 1 Peter 3, 5, he is telling those Christians that they need to be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in them. If someone asks them that question, why do you have that hope? Why do you have that joy? They need to be ready to give an answer. And Peter is telling them the basis or the foundation for their hope in Christ. In our first verse, in verse 3, he is giving them three reasons for their hope in Christ. And the first basis for their hope, he is telling them, is the new birth. He's telling them, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope. So what is the basis for our hope? It is because we have been born again. So if there's no new birth, there's no hope. If there's no gospel, There's no hope. And Peter is telling them, he's telling them that the solution for their problems is not more food, though it is good. It is not better education, though it is necessary. He's telling them that we have the same problem, and the solution for that problem is the gospel. The solution for that problem is Jesus. It is the new birth. So I can remember in Haiti, back in the village that I grew up, you could see how people, their life were changing because of the gospel. I remember a brother, he couldn't read. He had a lot of problem. But when you ask him, you can see that he was abounding in joy. But when you ask him why he is so joyful, he would say, Christ in me, the hope of glory. Christ in me, the hope of glory. So he had a living hope. And that hope started with the new birth. In Haitian Creole, we say that if there's life, there's hope. But the true life is the life in Jesus Christ. The true life is the life that the gospel only can bring and that life brings the true hope that we share in Christ. So the foundation, the first foundation for the hope that we have in class is the new birth that we have. Because I am a newborn person, I can have hope. I can rejoice in the midst of all my problems, in the midst of my troubles. I can rejoice. And that new birth is permanent. That hope is permanent. Nero cannot remove it. Persecution cannot change it. The troubles of life cannot change that hope. That hope that we have in Jesus Christ. And that hope is from the gospel that we have. Peter is giving a second basis, a second foundation for the hope. that we have in Christ in verse three. So the first foundation he gave is the new birth, but the second foundation, he says that it is by the great mercy of God. It is by the great mercy of God. And that's the second foundation for our hope. So Peter is saying that I don't deserve that hope. I don't deserve that new birth. I don't deserve that joy. I did not pay for it. I did not do anything for it. It's by the grace of God. So Peter's hearers, I'm sure they understood that. They know that God's mercies endure forever. That's mercy from God. So do you know that everything that you have is by God's great mercy, that we don't deserve anything, that we don't deserve that joy, that hope. It's by the mercy of God. So we praise him. And Peter is asking his hearers to praise that great God because of his mercy. And he's telling them a third foundation right in verse 3, for their living hope. And that third foundation is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So how does that new birth happen? It's through the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The Holy Spirit raises us up and unites us to Christ. And because of that, we have life. He hides our life in Christ and we have hope in Him. So we have a new hope because we have a new birth, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And with that new birth, with that resurrection, we have hope in Him. And Christ, nobody can destroy that hope that we have in Him. It is anchored in Christ, in his resurrection. So what's the basis for our hope? What's the reason for the hope, for the joy that we have in Christ? It is because we are a new person. It is because we have been born again. It is because God has mercy upon us. We do not deserve it. And it is because Christ has raised up from the dead. So Peter is giving to this Christian the basis or the foundation of their hope. But the second question that we have in this passage is, what is the assurance of our living hope? What is the assurance of our living hope? And we see that in verses 4 through 8. So how do I show that I have a living hope? In other words, what makes my living hope a living hope that I can be sure of? In verse 4, Peter says that it is an inheritance. And inheritances are important. You don't work for them, you just get them. If one of my is looking for a great inheritance to be able to pay some debts. And he knows that it is a grace and this is the same thing. An inheritance that we have from God and that inheritance is a grace. But what makes the inheritance that we have, that my friend has, and the inheritance that we have in Christ? Peter used three words to describe that inheritance. And the first word that he used, he said that it is unperishable. It is an unperishable inheritance. It cannot perish. It cannot disappear. It cannot be broken. I remember before the earthquake in Haiti, the earthquake was in 2010, and it destroyed the city of Port-au-Prince and some other cities in Haiti. And there was a young girl in the church who attended the church. She was an orphan, orphan, no mom and no dad. But the only good, the only thing that she had was an inheritance from her mom. And that was a small house, 300 square feet, very small house. But he could rent it and get some money, and he expected to use that to make a living. But the earthquake happened, and what happened to that inheritance? It destroyed the house, and no inheritance at all. But with the inheritance that we have in Christ, Peter is telling to these Christians that it cannot be broken. It cannot be destroyed. It cannot disappear. That's why the only hope, the only true hope that people can have is the hope of the gospel. That's why we put so much time, so much effort and mission to bring the gospel to people so that they know that the only hope that they have, the unperishable hope, is in Christ. And the second word that Peter used to describe that hope, he said that it is undefiled. It's not only our inheritance on this earth can be destroyed, but also the can undergo the effects of sin, and they can become old and disappear. But the inheritance that we have in Christ, it is undefiled. It is new forever. It cannot go. And he used that word to say that, a third word to say that it will not fade away. It is forever new. And he said that we have that assurance that it is kept for us in heaven. A third question in this passage before us is what is the fruits of our living hope? How do we experience that hope now? And Peter, in this passage, is giving us several answers to describe that. And the first thing Peter said to us as fruits of our living hope, in verse 5, he said, if you have that hope, you will have faith. If you have that hope, you will have faith. Because of that hope that we have in Christ, we believe in him. We cling to that faith once delivered to the saints. You hear the word and the Holy Spirit gives you grace to believe unto salvation. So the ultimate goal for our hope is the salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. But he said that that faith is tested through sufferings in verse seven. Now Peter is telling us that why they are suffering. He's telling them why they are going this testing. It is because they are in exile. They are strangers because that whom in this earth This is not our permanent home. And so it's a test of our faith. Our faith is tested, he said, through fire of persecution of problem. It's not sweet. It's not easy when strong tests are happening in your life. And you're asking why. It's a test of your faith. And Paul says that the trial of your faith produces patience. And this patience makes your hope stronger. So hope produces faith. A second thing that Peter said them as the fruits of their faith, he said, if you have hope, you will have love. We have that in verse eight. If you have hope, you will have love. Love for the brethren, love for one another. So not only we believe in him, we're resting in him but we love Him and we love one another. We love Him. We love Jesus without seeing Him. We believe in Him without seeing Him. It's the best of our hope, not by sight, but by faith. So that's the fruit of our hope. He's telling them a third thing. He's telling them, if you have hope, you will have great joy. He said that in verse six and part of verse eight. These brothers and sisters, they are in persecution, but they rejoice because they received the salvation of their soul. So the basis of that joy is because we are saved. And he's using the present tense. It is now. that we are saved so that the fruit of their hope are in Christ. Those who are saved, they have a hope, and they have a bright future, and they have that joy in Christ. And he's telling them of all that, if you have hope, that hope does not banish sorrow. He's telling that in verse 6. If you have hope, that doesn't mean that you won't have sorrow. This Christian life is joy in the means of sorrow. There will be trials in this life. So this is the Christian life. These brothers and sisters, even though that they are now for a while going under persecution, though Peter said it is necessary, they have been distressed by various trials. And sometimes there's reason for sadness in this life. But he's telling them there are better reasons for joy, to rejoice. It is like the Apostle Paul telling the church in Rome in Romans 8, verse 18, Paul is telling them, for I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed to us. There will be sufferings in this Christian life. But don't let these things take away your joy. Rejoice in Christ. They are there for a short time. Hope is coming. more hope in the future. So that's why Peter is not complaining with those Christians. He's not asking why those things happen in their life. He knows that there will be sorrows, sometimes deep sorrows in life. And we are experiencing that in our life, in the mission field, a lot of Troubles coming, but we know that it's a short time and we rejoice in Christ. And you know why? Because Peter is telling these brothers and sisters, it is because we are being kept in Christ. That's what he said in verse five. He said that we are kept for salvation through faith. in Christ. It is because we have an inheritance and he's telling them that this inheritance is kept for them in Christ in heaven and we are kept for that inheritance. That's amazing what Peter is telling them. And this is why we stayed steadfast among these troubles, because we do not keep ourselves, but we are kept by the grace of God. And this is our great doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. If we kept ourselves, we would be in trouble. But He kept us and He will persevere us to the end. The sorrows of this life, the many troubles, anxieties, those problems, they cannot remove us from the love of Christ because we are kept in Him. And Peter is using there a military term. He really says that we are shielded. in Christ. He is a shield around us. to keep us to the end. He's watching over us. He's on the horizon watching for any attack, any arrow. He's the omnipotent God who is the living God who is guarding us. He's watching over us to protect us against the enemy. Though the devil may prowl around like a roaring lion around us, But if God is for us, who shall be against us? The hope that we have in Christ, that hope is secure because of the mercy of our God, because of the inheritance that we have in him, because of his love. And for that, we rejoice. And the proper response to that is to have joy in Christ. in Christ and to bring glory to him all our life and to teach people to preach the gospel so that people may know that joy in Christ and that may serve him all their life. So because we have a living hope, we are guarded and we are shielded forever and we will live for him forever. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your Word. And we pray, Lord, that you help us to keep your Word in our heart so that we may live for you. We may have joy, Lord. We may have a living hope and live our hope and bring fruits of the Holy Spirit and to live for you. and for you alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.