A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Pastor John Randall on where hope is found even in suffering.

John Randall: Hope for the believer in Jesus Christ is an expectation of coming good. It gives us strength when we are weak. It gives us life when we feel dead. It gives us peace when we are anxious. It gives us courage when we are afraid. It gives us endurance when we don't think that we can go another step.

It's my prayer that the Lord would minister to us in such a way that we would find an increased hope in Jesus, no matter what comes, no matter what's on the horizon, things that we don't see. We know that God is already there. We have a hope that is certain and sure, and we can build our lives up on it. And that hope is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Guest (Male): Would this be described as a difficult time for you? Maybe you're one of the many who is really struggling financially right now. Or maybe your marriage is falling apart. Or you're really discouraged about what's going on in the world around you.

When times are tough, the book of First Peter is a great place to turn for hope and encouragement. And that's where we're headed today and in the coming weeks on A Daily Walk. Trials are a part of life and something we all encounter. We'll show you how to go through them while maintaining a godly perspective now with Pastor John Randall.

John Randall: The book of First Peter was a letter that was written to a group of believers, both Jews and Gentiles, that were scattered throughout Northern Asia Minor. And the reason for their dispersion is that the church was suffering severe persecution. In fact, one of the themes that surfaces in this epistle is that of suffering.

In Chapter 1, Peter speaks of suffering in the life of a believer. In Chapter 2, he points to Christ’s example in suffering. In Chapter 3, he writes of suffering for righteousness' sake. In Chapter 4, he writes concerning partaking of Christ’s suffering. And in Chapter 5, suffering for a limited amount of time.

Now, although the subject of suffering in this life is not the most popular to consider, it is certainly something that affects all of us to some degree. It's something that each person here can relate to on some level. There are people in this congregation who have suffered very painful and difficult things this last year, and for some, even this last week. In our human nature, it's difficult for us to sometimes process suffering.

For the non-believer, they tend to use suffering as evidence for God's absence or even lack of existence. They will say something like this, "If God is real, then where was God when this happened?" There is a quote that I found helpful in moments of suffering. It says this, "Though Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, it provides deep resources for actually facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair."

As a Christian, our perspective on suffering in this life is different from the person who does not know the Lord. We know that we live in a fallen world as a result of man’s sin. So much of the suffering that we see taking place is a result of the sins of men. Things are not the way God initially created them to be, nor will they remain this way forever. Ultimately, the Bible tells us they will be restored.

But until that day, we do suffer. We do go through difficulties, hardships, tragedy. A man by the name of Savonarola said, "A Christian's life consists of doing good and also of suffering evil." We know that suffering can also be used to bring people to the awareness of their need for God.

C.S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures. He speaks to us in our conscience, but he shouts in our pain. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world." We also come to realize that as Christians, again, we are not exempt from any of these things: hardship, pain, sorrow, difficulty, trials.

Jesus told us in John chapter 16, verse 33, he said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Paul wrote to Timothy in his second epistle, in chapter 2, and he said, "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the things of this life, that he may please the one who enlisted him."

Suffering that this life brings also allows us to identify with Jesus in deeper ways. The Bible declares that our Lord was a man of sorrows, and he was acquainted with grief. When we suffer in this life, it also makes us long for heaven, where there is no more suffering, no more sorrow, no more pain, nor tears.

The Apostle Peter not only wrote on the theme and the subject of suffering, but also another theme surfaces in this epistle, and it is the theme of hope. Yes, there is suffering in this life, but there is also hope. The Christian has hope in the midst of a hopeless world. There is a grace that has been promised to sustain us even in the most painful of circumstances. And through every hardship, there is hope that does not disappoint, a hope that is sure.

In fact, if you've read through the Bible, you may know that some estimated 182 times the word hope or the root word of hope is used. And it's divided equally, almost equally, between Old and New Testament. And biblical hope is closely connected to faith. At times, hope seems to be used interchangeably with faith because Christian hope is a matter of faith. Our hope is characterized by confidence rather than wishful thinking.

Faith is being sure of what you have hoped for. It's being convinced of those things that you haven't yet seen. And this hope that we have as children of God, listen, it’s not some vacillating optimism, but rather it's true assurance. Hope for the believer in Jesus Christ is an expectation of coming good.

It gives us strength when we are weak. It gives us life when we feel dead. It gives us peace when we are anxious. It gives us courage when we are afraid. It gives us endurance when we don't think that we can go another step. It's my prayer that the Lord would minister to us in such a way that we would find an increased hope in Jesus, no matter what comes, no matter what's on the horizon, things that we don't see. We know that God is already there. We have a hope that is certain and sure, and we can build our lives up on it. And that hope is found in Jesus Christ alone.

That's where our hope is found. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. Our hope is in Christ. This epistle begins with the name of the author. It says, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ." And why do you open with the name? Why not say, "Dear so-and-so?" Why his name at the top? Normally, we put our name at the end. Because oftentimes they would unroll a scroll, and you don't want to get to the bottom of that thing and realize, "Well, who's it from? I don't know if I want to read it." Just from the very beginning, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Now if you know a little bit about Peter's backstory, he wasn't always an apostle. In fact, before he was an apostle or a disciple, he was actually a fisherman with his brother Andrew. And their friends James and John, where they fished on the Sea of Galilee. The Bible tells us that Andrew was the one who first met Jesus, and then Andrew went and found his brother and introduced him to Jesus.

And as the Gospel narratives unfold collectively, Peter emerges as this strong leader among the disciples. Sometimes he lacked discernment, even at times he was impetuous in his behavior. But one thing was certain about Peter, and that was he loved Jesus. We find that his name wasn't always Peter. In fact, in John chapter 1, verse 42, it tells us when Jesus looked at him, he said, "You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas," which is translated a stone.

Simon was his given name. But Jesus, when he met him, called him Cephas, which is the Aramaic equivalent of Peter, where the word petros in Greek comes from, meaning little rock. You’re a little stone. Although when Peter came to Jesus, he really wasn't that solid. But over time, this is exactly what Jesus would make him into. He would change him from who he was into somebody different.

You know, there are more than one occasion in Scripture where you find God changing people's names, altering them, changing them from what they started out to be and what God made them into. Whether it was Jacob or Peter, God changing their names, seeing something in them that they did not see in themselves.

One day, as Jesus was there ministering on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he looked at Peter and he said, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And Peter left everything and followed Jesus. Peter's victories are recorded in the Scripture, things that he did that were commendable. We think about him walking on the water. We think about his confession concerning Jesus being the Christ, being given the keys to the kingdom.

But also his defeats were recorded, some of his mistakes and his failures: debating about who's going to be the greatest, rebuking Jesus, denying Jesus. But Peter serves as a great example of the work that the Lord is committed to in our lives. Or when Peter was eventually filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, he became a mighty witness and the first one to share the gospel there on the day of Pentecost. And he went from being a disciple to an apostle.

Now the word apostle means one who is sent out to represent another. Today, there aren't any apostles in the truest sense of the New Testament like Peter and John and the rest of them who walked with Jesus. There were certain criteria that had to be met in order to be an apostle. There are no A-apostles, there's no B-apostles either. There were apostles back in the day, not in this sense. "Oh, I’m the apostle of whatever," people sometimes take that name for themselves, not in this sense. That ministry of the apostles ceased with the apostles.

But there are those that go out and represent the Lord. We are not apostles, but here's what we are: the Bible tells us we're ambassadors. We're ambassadors. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 20, it says, "Now then, we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you to be reconciled on Christ's behalf to God." We are ambassadors. We represent the Lord. We are sent out in this world in that sense.

As we consider not only the author of the letter, but who does Peter write this letter to? Again, it was made up of believers who were going through difficult days. They needed to be encouraged, they needed to find reason to go on, to persevere, and they needed reasons to rejoice in the midst of what they were having to endure. And so Peter will share even several things just here in the first couple of verses that would cause them to rejoice.

If you're enduring hardship today or you're in some season of suffering, this is going to be an encouragement to you. First of all, notice the recipients of this letter. He says, "To the pilgrims of the dispersion, and Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." The word pilgrims here, it's not talking about big hats and buckles on your shoes pilgrims. This is a word that actually means and describes those who were nomadic, those who did not belong. They were there temporarily, they were sojourning for a period of time.

These believers that Peter is writing to that were going through hardship, they could rejoice first of all because they were sojourners, that is, they were passing through. They were from the dispersion: strangers, resident aliens, if you would. I don't know if you know this or not, but let me just enlighten you this morning. If you're a Christian, this is not your home. This is not your final destination.

And we could say amen and praise God to that. You're on your way to heaven. You are a sojourner. You're passing through. You're nomadic in a sense. So don't get too comfortable down here. The Bible tells us in Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, remember our citizenship is, presently, in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Heaven is our home, and therefore you can rejoice because you're on your way there. You are a sojourner. You set your mind on things above where Christ is seated. In 1 John chapter 2, verse 17, the Apostle John said it this way. He said, "We know that this world, it’s passing away, but he who does the will of God abides forever."

You're a sojourner. You're passing through. The Bible says in Titus we look for our blessed hope and appearing of our great God and Savior. We are to live like the believers who lived before us. The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 11 that they waited for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham, this father of faith, just walking the length and breadth of the land, but ultimately was looking for something that was eternal.

So if you are suffering at the present time, if you are weary from this world, remember that you're on your way to heaven. And therefore, you could say with the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8, verse 18, when he said, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." You just can't put them in the same scale. It's just not worthy of comparison what's coming versus what is. Therefore we are sojourners, we are passing through.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, in verse 16, Paul said, "Therefore, or because we have this knowledge, we don't lose heart. Even though the outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day." You can rejoice, you can have hope because you know that this is temporary. You are sojourning. And folks, it really is temporary. Life is a vapor. 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years, maybe. In comparison to eternity, it's like a drop in the bucket. It's like a drop in the ocean compared to what's coming: the glory of being with Jesus for eternity. Eye hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard, it hasn't entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him.

What a glorious future. Therefore, because you're a sojourner, you can rejoice and be glad. But the second thing he points out and why we can have hope and rejoice in the midst of suffering is because of our salvation. "I don't really have anything to praise God for today." Really? "Yeah, I just don't really have anything." How about your salvation? How about you're saved? "Yeah, that's probably good."

That's really good. Like, you're not going to hell. Wow. That's amazing. Salvation is something that sometimes we forget how priceless it is. The psalmist would say, "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation." Knowing that I am saved, knowing that I am no longer in darkness, no longer dead, no longer lost. I mean, all of that, no longer blind. That should produce within my life a sense of gratitude because I am saved when before I was not saved.

Now, there are three aspects that Peter mentions concerning our salvation, three things he points out. First of all, he tells us we're chosen by God. In verse 2, he writes and says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." Now the word elect means chosen by God. God in his grace and his mercy chose us to be part of his family. We've been adopted into the family of God. The word literally means those who are the called-out ones, the chosen ones.

Now God's choosing was based, the Bible tells us, Peter mentions it here, God's foreknowledge. Paul mentions this also in Ephesians chapter 1, in verse 4, when he says, "Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to the adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."

What a wonderful thing this morning to realize that God chose us. Even though he knows everything about us, he still chose us because he loves us. And again, this should spark within us gratitude and thankfulness as well, that God actually wants us to be part of his family and to spend eternity with us. Now, when did God choose us? The Bible says, before the foundations of the world, which is just mind-blowing. Before he said, "Let there be light," and it came into existence. Before he ever placed the stars in space and put the earth in... all of it, before any of that happened, before that, he chose us to be part of his family.

I love what D.L. Moody said. He said, "I am glad that God chose me before the foundation of the world because he surely wouldn't have chosen me now." And I am glad for that as well. Briefly, let me say that some get hung up on the whole idea and the concept of God choosing people. For some it presents tension, debate, points of reason.

And much of the debate stems from finite men and women trying to comprehend the infinite God, which is impossible. But people try. There are things about God's character, about God's nature, about who he is, I don't fully understand. I don't fully understand it. In fact, the Bible tells me I'm not going to completely understand it in this life, that some of God's ways are past finding out.

"Well, we're going to find it out." Not here. "No, we figured it out." Did you? "We did. We have five things that we feel that this puts God into..." I don't know, that's not going to do it. God's way beyond your five things. Like, you're going to somehow in your finite mentality bring the infinite God... it's impossible.

And one of those things has to do with God's perfect foreknowledge, God's predestined, God's choosing. I've come, again, to the conclusion that I cannot understand how this works completely. I don't fully understand the sovereignty of God, his foreknowledge in choosing, and man's responsibility to choose. But the Bible teaches both. God knows all things. He knows who is going to be saved, he knows who is going to be lost.

And there are those that say in their own estimation, "Well, that must mean then that God chooses some people for heaven and he chooses and even creates some people for hell." Folks, that's not what the Bible teaches. That is false. I stand against that wholeheartedly based upon Scripture.

The Bible teaches that God has perfect foreknowledge, he is sovereign, and yet he gives man a choice. How does that work? I don't know. It just teaches both. And so when I come to it, I teach what it says and I accept it. The fact that God foreknows those who are not going to be saved and chooses them doesn't stop any person from coming to God.

In fact, God desires, did you know this? The Bible says, God desires all people to be saved. Will all people be saved? No. But that's God's desire. That's why Jesus came. "Whosoever will," the Bible says, "let him come." The Lord never turned any person away who came to him. Again, quoting D.L. Moody, he said, "The whosoever wills are the elect, and the whosoever won'ts are the non-elect."

Guest (Male): And there you have the first of many studies from First Peter. In the weeks ahead, we'll look at each verse with Pastor John Randall here on A Daily Walk. Would you like to hear the message again? Just go to adailywalk.org or look for us wherever you get your podcasts. Another convenient way to listen to Pastor John is through our mobile app. Be among the thousands that are being encouraged in their daily walk by downloading that today. Find our app by searching for Calvary South OC.

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We'd also like to encourage you to start watching the A Daily Walk devotional. Grab your Bible and join Pastor John for an encouraging daily devotional each day at adailywalk.org. We'll continue Pastor John Randall's new study of First Peter next time on A Daily Walk. Come back for that as we talk more about election and free will.

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