Sunday Message for the Bilingual Brethren - 19 September 2021 : Living Hope

Text: 1 Peter 1
19 September 2021

DISPELLING WRONG KIND OF HOPE

1. Hope that is based on human ideas

a. Hope on things that are earthly
b. Hope that we think we are going to get better all the time
c. Sometimes, we hope that the sufferings in life will stop.

2. We become fixated on earthly ideas

3. The need to dispel the wrong kind of hope

4. The reality of the matter is that we may not get better.

5. The need to change our wrong kind of hope to the right kind of hope

HAVING THE RIGHT KIND OF HOPE

“Who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope…’   1 Peter 1:3

1. Hope in God

a. Hope in the Lord is a definite thing
b. What it is not
i. It is not fixated on earthly things.
ii. It is not a wish or to see how things go.
iii. It is not hoping for the best and expecting the worse.
c. It is a hope in God that will definitely come to pass
i. It is hope that comes about when we believe in God.
ii. It is hope that God places in our heart
d. It is hope in God as our heavenly father.

2. Hope in going to heaven

a. We can hope in going to heaven
b. There is life beyond death
c. It is believing that we have a home in heaven.

3. Hope in eternal things

a. We have an eternal inheritance specially reserved in heaven for us
b. We can be fully assured that we would have this inheritance.

HAVING A LIVING KIND OF HOPE IN GOD

“Living hope…”   1 Peter 1:3

“And rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”   1 Peter 1:13

1. It is alive and not theoretical

a. It is not a static and theoretical hope
b. It is a hope that is real and alive

2. A living kind of hope that can drive us on

a. It is a hope that is pulsating within us
d. It is a hope that drives us on despite challenges of life
e. It pushes us forward and it does not give up.

3. It is seeing the reality of it all.

a. Not focusing on earth
b. Focusing on going to be with God
c. The Lord is real and precious

4. This hope can begin now and continue to the day we die.

a. We fix our hope on the Lord’s grace till the day we die
b. From the beginning of faith to the end of our faith, we can have hope
c. We can apply our hope till the Lord comes

5. It is leaving things to God as we face death

a. If we live, we live
b. If we die, we die.

PERSONAL RESPONSES

1. Pilgrims’ perspective about life on this earth (1 Peter 1:1, 2:1)

a. We can change our focus of hope from this world to heaven
b. Living hope helps us to see beyond this earthly world
c. We are just pilgrims in this life
d. We are just passing through this world

2. Patiently waiting for the hope in going to heaven to be realised one day.

3. Pressing on with this living hope in our heart