Encouragement: Suffering with Living Hope
Encouragement for Foreigners: 1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted
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Message Two of Series: Encouragement for Foreigners- 1 Peter
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.
ETS: Peter wrote to encourage the chosen exiles to have proper perspective amidst persecution.
ESS: We can suffer strong in light of the living hope we have through Jesus.
OSS: [Supportive] I want the hearers to trust in the hope they have through Jesus and allow it to shift their focus during the difficult times.
PQ: How do we trust in the hope we have amidst great difficulty?
UW: ways
Introduction: 1 Thessalonians 3:13
HOPE:
“We can learn something about Christian hope from fishermen. In Pavlov’s Trout, Paul Quinnett writes: ‘It is better to fish hopefully than to catch fish. Fishing is hope experienced. To be optimistic in a slow bite is to thrive on hope alone. When asked, “How can you fish all day without a hit?” the true fisherman replies, “Hold it! I think I felt something.” If the line goes slack, he says, “He’ll be back!” When it comes to the human spirit, hope is all. Without hope, there is no yearning, no desire for a better tomorrow, and no belief that the next cast will bring the big strike.’ According to the Bible, the Christian life is also hope experienced. A hopeless Christian is a contradiction in terms.” (Craig Brian Larson, 314)
TS: As Christians, when it seems that nothing good is happening, we must hold on to the hope we have through Jesus. We must be like the fisherman who is confident that the “big strike” is coming. Let’s examine together a few ways that we can trust the hope we have amidst difficult times.
We trust in our foundation. (vv. 3-5)
Our foundation is our regeneration which God gave to us because of His great mercy (lit. because of His rich mercy God birthed us again…)
He did so with these goals in mind:
So that we might have living hope through Jesus’ resurrection.
So that we might have inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.
So that we might have salvation which is of the future, eternal salvation (eschatological)
Regarding the inheritance, Jobes cited Beare in his eloquent articulation: “The paronomasia of the three verbals is most effective; the inheritance is untouched by death, unstained by evil, unimpaired by time; it is compounded of immortality, purity, and beauty” (Jobes, 219).
Application: When we trust in this foundation, our present circumstances will no longer be matters that cause fear and anxiety. We will take captive the hope, inheritance, and salvation given to us.
2. We rejoice in our present circumstances. (vv. 6-9)
Our present circumstances may present great grief related to various trials, but our hope, inheritance, and salvation set us up with a solid foundation which influences how we endure.
We rejoice in these circumstances for the purpose that our faith may praise, glorify, and honor God at the revelation of Jesus (v. 7).
{powerful imagery of gold- it is fading away, being destroyed, perishing; fire, though, refines it, shines it up, makes it beautiful again}
We rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy (not gloomy, obligatory joy) because the goal of our faith is being obtained: eternal salvation .
(eschatological)
Application: We rejoice in our present circumstances because we know that ultimately, our eternal salvation, is our hope, not our current struggles (Rom. 8:18).
Regarding vv. 3-9, Jobes provided a great explanation and elaboration, “Those to whom Peter writes have been given new birth into a living hope and an inheritance that will be fully realized at the final revelation of Jesus Christ. Until that time, their Christian faith brings them into conflict with the values and priorities of the society in which they live. This conflict causes them to suffer grief in various kinds of trials, not in spite of being Christians but precisely because they are Christians. The fact that they suffer conflict with their society is evidence that their faith in Christ is genuine; otherwise, they would not choose to live in a way that causes suffering.”
3. We treasure our privileged status with God. (vv. 10-12)
Regarding this section, Jobes wrote, “The Christians to whom Peter writes are not to understand themselves as practitioners of yet another new religion in the world, founded on the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Rather, they are being privileged with the knowledge of the gospel that fulfills God’s mysterious plan as revealed to the prophets of the OT and that brings them into continuity with what God has already been doing through ancient Israel.” (Jobes, 132)
We are beneficiaries of the revealed Gospel which was a mystery for ages. Prophets prophesied about this mystery, and they searched and carefully investigated inquiring when it would take place. They longed to be beneficiaries of the fulfillment. WE are. Angels long to catch a glimpse of this Gospel. We have a glimpse of this Gospel, through the revelation of the Spirit.
Jobes stated that this sets Peter’s readers as privileged historically over the prophets and cosmically over the angels.
The introduction of OT truths (prophets) and the showing of continuity between the message of the Prophets and fulfillment of that message through Jesus serves as a foundation for what is going to come next.
Application: We treasure our privileged status with God because the hope we have is the reality that the prophets in the past and the angels of the world longed for.
Conclusion: Amidst difficulty and trials, we suffer with hope by trusting our foundation, by rejoicing in our current circumstances, and by treasuring our privileged status with God. This, after all, will influence the way we endure suffering.