Hope in the Church

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0:00 Well, we're not going to talk about three houses this morning though we could I imagine. We're going to finish up looking at this section maybe this might be our last week thinking about this advice from Peter. Remember we've been looking at this advice from Peter where Peter is talking to people like in extreme hardship of life telling them that no matter how hard your life gets you still have a living hope set aside for you that is unfading,

0:35 undiminished, imperishable, preserved for you in inheritance. It says that the hope of that inheritance the living the hope of that living inheritance can carry you through all things and we talked about how it's important for us to recognize and look square at the suffering and hardship we have though we are not under persecution like those first century believers who love hardship in life so it's not worth trying to convince ourselves that our lives are

1:05 easy or without pain to stick our head in the sand but instead to look at the suffering we don't have to be afraid of looking at the suffering because we have this living hope and Peter says in addition to remembering that you have the hope build in yourself a defense for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus and we talked about that Peter might be encouraging us to build a defense for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus for two reasons one we need the defense as life gets hard and the inheritance seems to stretch out way far in front

1:36 of us like maybe we'll never get there we need to be have a ready reminder a defense for the reality that that inheritance is in fact waiting for us undefiled unfading right though it waits for us it doesn't diminish we need to have a defense and also what we learned from Peter is that when the people of God give their defense to the world when you might explain to your friends why you would hold out hope that there isn't inheritance though the world is so hard

2:06 that the Holy Spirit works through that defense and might encourage others towards the same living hope that you have and so we've been looking at reasons that we hope things like the hope and significance in forgiveness in the judgment of God and the protection and provision of God hope in the reality of the through the spirit and this week I want to talk about I don't know why I chuckle but I want to talk about that I have hope in the church part of me is

2:38 gonna have a hope in the inheritance is the reality of the church that the church exists at all I thought about it first the first thing I way I thought about that this week was in prayer asking the conversation Lord what what really gives me hope that the inheritance is real we know me well enough maybe this is a surprise that one thing that came to mind was the apostles creed man the

3:09 fact that the apostles creed exists gives me hope that the inheritance is real I just I love the fact that the apostles creed has endured if you want something to study study the story of the apostles creed look at the early Roman form recognize that that the that the apostles creed was that the earliest forms of the apostles creed were were in use already in the second century baptism

3:42 of crazy you have records of it and then you can see second man references to cradle statements all the way back into Paul's lives in the Corinthians which we'll look at here a little bit but you can see that they were using cradle formations all the way in the first century Paul writes to the Corinthians maybe in 60 or 70 a.d. that's 30 years after the ascension of Jesus and then you remember the words of Jesus on the hill of Galilee to the 11 that said go into all nations baptizing and teach them to obey everything I've commanded you and

4:14 you can imagine that in an illiterate culture that they devised some nations of the teachings of Jesus and passed them down orally as traditions one to another and so the reason that I that the apostles creed is so cool to me is that it's evidence that that the church is not nearly people who have signed on the back of a book saying we agree with a set of principles of doctrines but it is a living breathing salable group of people right who are

4:51 keeping alive the teachings of Jesus from one generation to the next and that gives me sincere hope Peter got it if you look at first Peter chapter two he's instructing us how to live and then in verse Peter chapter two verse four as you come to him Jesus the living stone rejected by men but in the sight of

5:24 that chosen and precious you yourself like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priest if he's like layering metaphors on top of metaphors here but the first thing to recognize is that that in the in the area of the world where the way of Jesus was spreading remember that famous little section where where Paul says that he thought he might go over further into Asia and felt now I'm not gonna go that way I'll go over to Rome for whatever reason for whatever reason the way of Jesus spreads first right

5:57 around the Mediterranean and the culture right around the Mediterranean was one of God worship they had several different gods right that there were over different things but the way God built their reputation was these really grand temples which the way of Abraham I see you take a fit in that sort of but but the way that the people of Israel worship was kind of back within the location of the temple was on the wrong side of the desert for the cultured

6:28 group of the Roman Empire and so the big temples were like temples to a thing it temples in places like Corinth right an Ephesus where they had big temples and so as the followers of Jesus began to group together in these metropolitan areas and follow the way in Jesus immediately they started saying well then where is our temple to the risen Christ the King of Kings the one whose

6:58 reign we recognize and live under where is our temple and so Peter and Paul both talk about this idea that the people of God are the living temple of God and he says that Christ is the cornerstone the one that we measure ourselves off of as you come to him a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious you yourselves are like living stones being built up into a spiritual house the last thing to say about that is that he doesn't say here

7:29 you are the temple of God go off and commune alone this is you all are stones and together assembled together you make the temple of God when you when you fit nicely into each other according to the plumb lines of Christ when you when one imperfection is matched by the others so that those stones sit together nicely though they are rough and without mortar they lock up next to each other

8:03 when the stones come together they can be the temple of God and then he says this next thing you yourselves are being are like living stones being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ for it stands in Scripture behold I am laying a Zion stone and a cornerstone toes it in practice and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame but go down to verse nine but you are a chosen race

8:36 of royal priesthood a holy nation of people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous life Peter can write pretty if he wants he doesn't always but that's pretty I was sure he was quoting some process when when I read that but he is not he's just like I mean the holy priesthood royal that that's quoting something but the thing about proclaim the excellencies of him who called you

9:08 out of darkness into his marvelous life that's pure Peter man he that's beautiful like I think that's lovely the thing I want to look at though is this idea this royal priesthood holy nation holds your finger in first Peter and go back to Exodus chapter 19 Exodus all the way at the beginning Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Genesis Exodus Exodus 19 verse 4 remember what's happening here in

9:40 Exodus maybe God has brought them through the Red Sea miraculously he's defeated the greatest military power in the day drowning them in the Red Sea he then brings them back to Mount Sinai where he met with Moses to begin with and he's gonna commit in them now to begin to take hold of their inheritance he has been preparing for their entry into Canaan for a long time remember

10:15 generations before more than 400 years before he called Abram out of heron and said walk this way and I'll give you this whole land remember that more than 400 years before Abraham believing that God would give him the land even on the other side of death purchases the cave of MacPella and barriers he and his wife in the hope that the gods promises will not be stopped by death but that the tomb will be a foretaste of the goodness of God that they'll resurrect and be in their blessing right that the death does not

10:49 stop the goodness of God and then to protect them from famine and to wait for the Canaanites to implode on themselves he takes them down into Egypt and then Pharaoh's heart turns against him and they he enslaved the Egyptian so he brings them out and now he walks him up to Canaan and he's ready to make good on his ages old promise to give give them their inheritance what has been waiting for them ripening and you know they walk into walled cities they walk into fertile

11:21 vineyards they don't have to cultivate these vineyards they're already laden with grapes for wine this inheritance has not defiled or faded it is set aside and waiting for them and he brings them up to Mount Sinai and Exodus 19 now Moses has finally threw all the plagues and the sea and the pesky nations that hide on their tail right as they leave Egypt trying to plunder the slaves that are leaving he's been through a lot and gets them to Sinai some people think

11:54 that Moses figured once he on the Sinai his job would be done remember he was old already when he went back to Egypt and God gives him more work and then his exhausting work it's no wonder he gets frustrated and doesn't make it in but in Exodus 19 Moses has gone up to the top of Mount Sinai the top with God and verse four let's go there God speaking to Moses you yourselves have seen what I did to

12:25 the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant you shall be my treasured possession among all the peoples for all the earth is mine and you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation these are the words that you shall speak Israel God says I'm about to do this inheritance and if you be cool

12:56 you'll be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation meaning you will the priests are the ones who approach the God deal with the holiness of the God and then bring the holiness of God out to the people and so Israel has priests in it and then he says that all of Israel will be like a priest with a nation of priests to the world they'll mediate the holiness of God for the world a kingdom of priests who's able to commune have conversation with interact with the God

13:29 and then go down and tell the world hey here's what the God says want to meet him and they'll facilitate meetings between God and the people he says if you'll keep my covenant then you'll live in this land with this inheritance which you can keep and you'll be these types of people this is where God introduces a conditional covenant with people if you do this then you'll be this right of

14:01 course Israel fails I mean almost while he's giving them the conditional covenant they're down at the base of the mountain fairway right and God has this long suffering patients one of the prophets has got a slow to anger abounding in love when you read the story of Israel I've goodness he is so dangers it's like long suffering with them but the intent for God was to have a group of people

14:34 who experienced this inheritance promised for generations and inspired by living amongst celebrating and experiencing the inheritance they turned to the world and tell them look at this inheritance that we got would you like it good news I have a connection I'm a priest you can come with me and now walk you right into it the temple had a court for the nation like all of the world was intended to

15:05 come to the temple and encounter through the Israelites then the priests the relationship with God and Israel was intended to be a priest to the nation boom and so when Peter a good Hebrew kid trained in the scriptures probably didn't at some point kind of didn't pass the intellectual muster to keep growing in school that's why he was a fifther men with his parents if you were smart enough to keep going in school you did right so you didn't have to do the work but but Jesus picked him as one of his disciples Peter then becomes a

15:40 leader in the church and he writes a letter back and said something different so go back to where you had your finger if you kept it there I put my pen so I wouldn't lose it first Peter he says but you are a chosen race of royal peace a holy nation wait a minute there's no condition on Peter's pronouncement

16:16 the thing about Israel right is that those kings I mean a couple of them were good but God told me didn't need kings and we wanted kings like the rest of the world a lot of those things were jokers and before that the judges couldn't keep it straight like they just got power hungry and dishonest and the kings too and there's something about that that that position that inheritance that we had in Israel that was tied to our own holiness and as long as it was tied to our own holiness people's perception of God was tied to our behavior and so when

16:50 we are living like the rest of the world in Israel and people say look at the God of Abraham I did the Jacob it looks just like everybody else God couldn't have that our position as a priesthood a royal priesthood a holy nation fell apart because it was tied to our behavior and Peter says you now are built upon a new cornerstone Christ is the cornerstone the plum line along which in your particular there is no condition on your position as a priest for the world

17:23 because the work of Christ stands above and beyond any one person's ability to disqualify themselves from priesthood as long as you'd like to live in the nations you can God had to take Israel out of Israel because they were stullying his name he doesn't have to take us out of Israel because nobody looked at us and says yeah that's what God looks like they look at Christ and say yes this is what God looks like you want to know what love looks like you look at the cross you want to know a service of sight you look at the cross

17:55 you want to know what acceptance looks like you look at the cross you want to know what God looks like you look at Christ you want to know what like his the work of Christ does in people you look at me a priest broken fallible but the deans sanctified significance forgiven protective provided for I love the flip that Peter does I wish you would make a bigger deal out of it he just kind

18:27 of rolls right by it like it's no big deal and maybe because he assumes all these readers are intimately acquainted with the conversation of God with Israel and Mount Sinai recorded in Exodus 19 and again in Deuteronomy but we're not in a more better way we miss those little small little things I wish he made a bigger deal out of it that's why I'm hammering it here I love that Peter calls back to this mission of God all the way back from our people in Exodus and

19:01 points to us the reality that Christ accomplished it and if we need evidence that the work of Christ works here we are I was trying to remember who I was talking to about it I can't remember but we're talking about the catechism that the kids are going through do you know that the catechism they're going through Luther's catechism Luther wrote that in

19:34 1500s you know why he wrote the catechism in the 1500s he wrote first a large catechism in the 1500s because as he started to uncover again the gospel a part going dull pieces and all the other things the purgatory's and the stuff as he started to uncover again the gospel he went around the visit priests and he realized that most of the priests he encountered were largely illiterate second they had memorized the mass many of them didn't know what it meant

20:09 God bless them and so he started teaching basic literary finding one to a literate giving them the large catechism which was like let's just make sure we understand the apostles creed the Ten Commandments and the Lord's prayer just at least give that and then he wrote a small catechism that's the one they're going through that was intended for families to go through together large catechism for the priest to teach the families to how to go through their small catechism God bless them because people did not know that the Lord's prayer the apostle's free and the Ten Commandments they certainly weren't

20:42 reading the Bible most of the priests couldn't read the Bible what God the Catholic Church in trouble is Luther started reading the Bible they had sent him to the thought this guy might be smart enough to read the Bible he started reading going oh my god there's a lot in here that doesn't make its way down into the mass maybe we should translate this into the language for the people it's a miracle that the church endures a couple of us are listening to that podcast there are like it is not hard to find the leaders of churches

21:15 that are an absolute mess if we were under that old covenant we would be kicked out man there would be no kingdom of priest left because all of we have too many a-hases and evil kings in our midst right and we can we've all experienced the mess of the church and yet the faith endures the story

21:49 persist there's a story in our scripture of a period when we were in Israel where they're cleaning out all these shearapoles and an idol worship from the temple and they discover hidden back in the closet that's the end old a book and pull it out oh my gosh it is the book of the prophets and the writings they lost the Bible in the temple did not know what it was a young 16 year old

22:21 king letter revival in Israel said oh my gosh there's festivals there's feasts days in here we should be doing these it is this here work of God that the church has endured that the story persists that you and I had heard of me Amaya and can tell our children you are the inheritors of the great promises of

22:56 the God you are the priests for the world you have the provision the protection the significance the forgiveness the love of the God of the universe you move around in the world mediating the holiness of God talking about his excellencies and the marvelous light into which he has called you out of the

23:29 darkness of the world into the marvelous light you are the famed and famous the ransom and redeemed the infinite unending church of God by some great miracle of God we persist in faith amongst all the suffering that people asked me why I have hoped that the inheritance is real I tell them a story about the promise of God

24:06 that is true in small and large gatherings around the world through periods of persecution and hardship through periods of like incredible abuse and waste through periods of great miraculous revival and hope for simple days of my taking the practices and coming up with solutions for work dealing with death and loss and blessing

24:45 and joy the church of God you are the church of God and that gives me hope of his inheritance is real let me pray that we might be people that we might be the church live confidently as the church and have our hope renewed the sweet Lord make us your church we know that you have secure us in the confidence of what it means to be your church in the world what a demonstration of your grace love power

25:19 mercy is your church and then enliven us to seek to be your church well for each other for our friends for our city give us eyes to see the way to be your church well this week