Hope In Troubled Times

HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES

1 Peter 1:3-9

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. You always need to be skeptical when you are offered a “free ride.” If it looks too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true. Example:

2. In Zimbabwe, a bus driver was transporting 20 mental patients from one mental hospital to another.

3. He saw an illegal bar on the side of the road and decided to stop for a few drinks. He locked his patients in the bus. After about an hour, he returned to find all the mental patients had escaped.

4. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone there a free ride.

5. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.

B. THESIS: WHAT IS HOPE LIKE?

1. In Suzanne Robbins’, The Hunger Games, there is a telling exchange between President Snow, who fears that Katniss Everdeen’s victory will foment revolution in far-flung districts, and the game-master Seneca Crane.

2. President Snow says, “Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, as long as it's contained.” Seneca Crane asks: “So?” and Snow replies, “So, CONTAIN it.” (Tim Safford)

3. That’s what the enemy wants to do – contain your hope. But God wants us to have Hope. What oxygen is to the lungs, hope is to the soul. We are a “Nation Holding Onto Hope.”

4. Today we’re looking at why Christians should have hope even in troubled times. This should give us optimism, transform our lives, and remind us of our inheritance.

I. HOPE IS A POSITION OF OPTIMISM

Optimism is defined as “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.” In other words, it’s a positive outlook based on the conviction that things are going to get better! We Christians have every reason for optimism. Why?

A. GOD IS A GOOD GOD

1. Moses described God as “compassionate and gracious… slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…forgiving wickedness…and sin.” Ex. 34:6.

2. The God of the Bible is motivated by love in all He does. He wants to save and bless all humans with eternal life.

3. He’s not like the gods of other religions -- motivated to uphold his greatness or punish without mercy. Instead, the true God voluntarily humbled Himself, took on human form, and suffered at the hands of His creatures, in order to save us. His over-riding motive is His LOVE. Praise God!

B. GOD IS WORKING FOR OUR GOOD

1. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Rom. 8:28.

2. God is NOT working for HIS own good, but for OUR good! What an amazing statement. If God be for us, who can be against us? If we are mistreated in this life, still God will turn it around in the next life.

3. The beggars in this life, the under-privileged, the hungry, the sad, the persecuted, the disadvantaged – all will be reversed in eternity. They will not be the tail, but the head in God’s order. [See the “Beatitudes,” Mt. 25:35-43, Luke 16:19-26]

C. HE’S IN CONTROL

1. “For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations” Psalm 22:28. “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings” Dan. 2:21, NASV.

2. The world will have chaos because there are many people who are sinning & violating the will of God. But despite that, God is still moving history in the direction He wants it to go. He’s in charge and intervenes when He sees it’s necessary.

D. HOPE IN TRIALS

1. The early church lived in times of grave persecution, yet Peter could say, “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” 1 Pet. 1:6,8-9.

2. When we rely on Jesus in trials, they serve to make Him all the more real and comforting. When everything’s going our way, we don’t really need Him, but trials cause us to grow more dependent on Him. Thank God for trials!

3. Trials have a beginning, a middle, and – thank God – an end. That truth alone gives us hope; our trials will only last a short season, then we will have them no more.