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Hello, everybody. This is a bit weird to me because I am preaching this in my home because the recording from this last Saturday did not work, or rather, I forgot to record. I forgot to press the button. And so I'm going to get a flavor today of what it feels like for a pastor of a large church to preach multiple services, the same exact message. So I'm going to try my best to preach what I preached this past Saturday. Okay, let's pray. Father, we just pray that you would send the Holy Spirit. We invite you into this place. You are Lord of Lords, King of Kings. Jesus, pray that you would speak. I avail myself to you. We pray that the gospel would be preached in a way that is simple and understandable. Please meet everyone who hears the sound of my voice. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'm going to read from 1 Peter 1, 22 to 25. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere, brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass and all its glory, like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. Amen. The gospel is good news. Is it good news to you? Is it good news to you? And if so, why is it good news? It says, Blessed be the God and Father, this is verse three, of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy. He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In these short verses, we have the gospel clearly laid out, and it's in three parts. The first is pre-salvation before you met Christ, initial salvation, the moment that you actually met Christ, Jesus met you rather, and then final salvation, when you and I finally get to see Jesus fully face to face. And in between initial and final salvation is the Christian life, and it is characterized, as it says in the verses that we just read, verse three, characterized by a living hope. Pre-salvation, verse three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy. According to His great mercy. We do nothing to be saved. Absolutely nothing. We were sinners, we were lost, we were directionless, we were cut off from the lifeline and separated from God and on the path of utter eternal separation and destruction. And God saw us in this state, and according to his great mercy, he made the first move. He sent Jesus, the Son of God, to come to die on a cross for your sins after living a sinless life, so that his life could be a ransom payment for your life and mine, so that instead of us being punished, we could be saved by believing on the name of Jesus Christ. And all of this is because God is merciful. He is merciful. Verse 14, it says, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. Before you met Jesus, you were living a life for however you wanted, for pleasure, for fame, for accomplishments, for respect. And you were simply ignorant. I was ignorant. We thought this is what life is about. We saw people in the news, and we said, I want to be like that person. We saw people in the movies who are famous and rich. We said, I want to be that person. And we were living out of utter ignorance. And then verse 18, it says, knowing that you're ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. Another way to say futile is empty. The way you lived was empty. You just imitated others who went before you, our forefathers, people in society. And we thought this is how I should live, this is what I should pursue. And it was a dead end. It led to emptiness on the inside, a lack of satisfaction, depression, anxiety, stress, all because it was a futile way that was inherited from our forefathers, an empty way. But God who is rich in mercy, according to his great mercy. Verse 23, since you have been born again, Jesus came to you, and in that moment you're born again. In John chapter 3, there is a story of Nicodemus, and he is a scholar. He knows the scriptures from the Old Testament, backwards and forwards. His title is The Teacher. He is quite famous in the synagogues, and he knew a lot of the Old Testament. And yet he comes to Jesus at night because he is ashamed that as far as as although he knew so much, on the inside, he felt that emptiness that I just talked about. He felt the futility. Like, how come what I preach, what I teach, is not translating on the inside? And so he's coming to Jesus, an uneducated rabbi, at night for fear that others would see him, because he has genuine questions about life and salvation. And Jesus ministers to this man, and he starts with, you need to be born again. When Jesus meets you, you are by the Spirit born again. And if you remember, well, you might not remember, but if you see babies, you see at birth they are utterly helpless. And then physically, mom and dad are talking to them to them day one of birth, and they don't understand anything. All they know how to do is cry. And that's the same way in the spirit. When you're born again spiritually, you're an infant, utterly helpless. All you know how to do is cry. And that cry is, Jesus, I need you. That is what a true believer who is born again understands. This is not doctrine that I believe. These are not stories that I learned in church. This is, Jesus, I need you. And he met you, and from that moment on, your eyes were open to your utter need for Jesus. And then it says in verse 14, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but the precious, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. When Jesus met you, there was an exchange that happened. Your life was ransomed, it was purchased. Because God is holy and he cannot accept sinners into his presence. And we think I just need to live a good life. No, you need to live a sinless life in order to be accepted and to be saved eternally. And there's not one person who could live that way. If you're honest with yourself, you understand that I am broken, I am empty, I am inconsistent, I am a sinner. Imagine if all the thoughts that ever passed through your cranium were broadcast to the world, you would just shrivel up and die in shame. If all the things you did in secret from adolescence all the way to the current day, if that was made known to the world, we would all die in shame because we all know we're broken. We all know that we're sinners. But Jesus, who lived a sinless life, paid the price that you could not pay. He paid the debt that you owed while he bled on a cross, and he suffered the penalty that we deserved. And for those of us who meet Jesus, we've been ransomed. And you've been bought by the price of Jesus' own life. That is initial salvation. And then all of that is moving toward final salvation. It says in verse 5, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. A salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. What is this speaking of? This is speaking of the salvation of all people living and dead. At the moment that Jesus arrives on this earth and he returns a second time. And this time of salvation, this final salvation, will it be determined by the time that Jesus returns, when it's going to be judgment for the world, and everyone will be judged, whether it be whether he or she is saved or not, or when we die and we see him face to face, the same thing, it will be determined, are you saved or not? This is final salvation, that at some point in human history, when things are wrapped up with the second coming of Jesus Christ, salvation for the world or separation eternally in hell will be determined by the coming of Jesus Christ. This is final salvation. And then it says in verse 6 in this ye rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. So the outcome of our faith, the goal of our faith, the person who believes in Jesus and follows Jesus, the goal is final salvation. And so you could say, Well, I'm saved. It may be true, you may be saved today, but can any of us guarantee final salvation? No. It is yet to be determined. Will we hold on to Jesus all the way to the end? That is somebody who receives final salvation. And in between initial and final salvation, there's this thing called the Christian life, which is characterized by a living hope. Verse 3. Let's go back there. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We all put our hope in something, and our hope is either alive or dead. Meaning it fades or it grows. If it is, and this there's a there's a theme in this first chapter of imperishable things and perishable things. If it is perishable, it is fading. If it is imperishable, it never fades, instead it grows. And a living hope it either grows because it's alive or it fades because it's dead, because it's a dead end. What are you putting your hope in? I asked my son, my youngest son, who just got into some colleges, how long did the hope last? Because he's been working his whole academic life up until this point, 16 years of his life, for this moment, for the college admission. I asked him, how long did that hope last? And he said, a day. Isn't that true to life? You work so hard, you put your hope in something, you you strive and strain and toil to get that thing, and then once you get it, the hope fades because it's a dead end. It's not a living hope. People hope in so many things, but in the end, because it is not a living hope, it's a dead end, that thing that you put hope in will fade, and then you'll be chasing after the next thing. Verse 20, it says, He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. So what is living hope? It depends on what you're hoping in. And the scripture tells us a living hope is a hope that is in God. In God, it is imperishable, it never perishes, it never fades, it only grows. And so for the person who meets Jesus one time, that hunger like a baby grows because you might have gotten fed yesterday. Jesus met you yesterday, but the baby wakes up. He's hungry again, he's got to get fed again. And so, as a Christian, the parallel is we met Jesus yesterday. But did you meet him today? It's a relationship that grows. You want to meet him, and then one day you'll be totally satisfied in his presence at final salvation because the Jesus that you loved, you will see him face to face. And he will be yours forever and fully. Finally, verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Hope your set your hope fully on Jesus Christ today and fully on the grace that will be revealed to you on that final day when you see him face to face. That is a living hope. That is a living hope. Jesus, I met you today. Jesus, I want to meet you tomorrow. I want to meet you every day for the next few decades, and one day, finally, you'll be here. You'll be mine. I'll be with you forever. This is for the Christian living hope. It never fades, it's imperishable, it grows day by day. Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that Jesus died on a cross. His body was beaten and his blood was shed. The wrath of God was poured out on him. The penalty of sin was upon his body. And you did this so that we could be spared. So the penalty of sin could be paid in full, and Jesus could take our place, and we place our faith in him the moment that Jesus came to us, we were born again. And spiritually, Lord, we want to grow spiritually by hungering and thirsting for Jesus Christ. As a newborn infant craves spiritual, uh physical milk. Lord, may we as spiritual infants, as spiritual men, women, and children crave the pure spiritual milk of Jesus Christ. I pray that we would not put our hope in anything in this world because everything in this world is a dead end. Only in you is there a living hope. And we put our hope squarely and fully upon the person of Jesus Christ, and we pray that we can have hope that grows until final salvation when we have you fully and we see you fully, and we get to be welcomed into the kingdom. Thank you, Lord. Please br uh bless everyone who hears this sermon. We pray for the gospel to be truly good news personally to everybody who hears. Thank you, Lord. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen.