Faith is primarily relating you to what God has done in the past. Hope relates you to what he's going to do in the future and love relates you to what he's doing in the present, but faith, hope and love are the three dimensions of your individual salvation. The trouble is today, faith, hope and love abide, but of these the most neglected is hope. And that's a tragedy and that's why I made the video, the final facts, because I find as I move around the country, the future is not being talked about. It's all the Kingdom now, it's all here and now, it's all how to live in the Kingdom now, how to have your marriage in the Kingdom now and your business in the Kingdom now. And so there's been very little talk about heaven and hell and the return of Christ and the Day of Judgment in many new fellowships, so we made that video to try and restore this dimension of hope, because hope is an anchor.
And with that shockwave went a little letter from a man called Peter to get people ready for the shockwave of persecution that he knew would spread. Peter himself was to die in that shockwave. He was to be crucified. As Jesus had predicted, fancy living for 30 years knowing that you'll die by crucifixion, that's not a very pleasant thing to have at the back of your mind. When he came to be crucified in Rome during that neuronic persecution, he requested especially that the cross be inserted in the socket in the rock upside down because he didn't feel worthy to be the same way up as Jesus.
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And therefore in a sense, 1 Peter is really for Christians who are suffering. It's relevant everywhere, Christians are fearful and wondering what's going to happen now, as in fact they are in many, many parts of the world. And the surprise is he doesn't tell them how to escape it, but how to endure it. Not how to get out of it, but how to stay in it for Jesus and how to conduct themselves when it comes. How to live in an increasingly hostile world, an increasingly anti-Christian society.
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When Jesus found him, he could be easily swayed like a reed in the wind but when Jesus left him, he was solid rock. I suppose the most moving occasion was after he denied him three times and then met him on the shores of Galilee after the resurrection and some bishops need to know that Jesus fried fish after his resurrection. That was real enough and Jesus cooked breakfast for the disciples and there was Peter and suddenly Peter found himself looking into a charcoal fire.
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You know what he said? He said, Peter. I can cope with you, provided I'm sure of one thing. Do you love me? Do you love me? So Peter emphasises that in his letter. He says, though you haven't seen him as I have, yet you love him. That's the most important thing that's going to matter in the future to you. Do you love him? See, Jesus can cope with you as anybody can cope with you, provided they know that you love them. Husbands and wives find out the worst about each other. They can cope with that, provided they can be sure of their heart. And Jesus says, Peter, do you love me? He asked him three times and somehow that put Peter back on the rock.
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You're a misfit, you're a stranger, you no longer belong here, you actually belong somewhere else. And though you will spend the rest of your years here in the world, you no longer belong to it. You are actually part of a new species, you're no longer Homo sapiens, you're Homo novus, you're new men. Amen. You're no longer in Adam, you're in Christ, there's a new species of human beings on earth.
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Therefore Christians expect trouble. And Jesus was so honest, he said, in the world you'll have big trouble. But he said, cheer up, I'm on top of it. And I said to a friend of mine recently, how are you? And he said, I'm very well over the circumstances. And I thought, only a Christian would talk like that. You see, Jesus is over the circumstances, be of good cheer, I've overcome the world, I'm on top of it and you're in me, so we're on top of it together. But he always promised us big trouble.
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Let's be honest, let's promise people, come to Jesus and you're in for trouble, but cheer up, he's on top of it. That's the real good news and we ought to be honest with people.
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Now that is the situation in which suffering arises. We are different, we are misfits and as long as there is peace and prosperity, everything's okay, but when things get tight, when crises come, it's the misfits who get it first. And now that for example Germany has high unemployment up to 50% in East, who's getting it? The Turks, the aliens, the other workers from elsewhere who were welcome when Germany was prosperous and had work for all, but now there's pressure. So when there's trouble, Christians can expect to have more than their fair share of it because we don't belong, we're different, we're not one of the crowd, we're not one of the club.
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But he has two other themes, one is salvation and he reminds them of the salvation which is the foundation of their attitude to suffering and then the practical side of his letter. better, is how to deal with suffering. And the most amazing advice is learn to submit to it. Don't fight it. Don't try and get your own back. Accept it. Now that's unusual advice and he applies that word submission in a number of areas. It is not blind submission as we shall see, but it is learning to have a submissive spirit.
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And what Peter is saying, that must be your attitude. Now of course that's absolutely against all human instinct, isn't it? That's the very opposite of how we normally respond to injustice, because normally when a thing is unfair we say so. It's one of the earliest things children learn to say, it's not fair, and their face screws up when they say it. And you see that same expression on picket lines, don't you, outside a factory on strike. You see that same injustice, and the response of the flesh to injustice and wrong suffering is that. It's the clenched fist, to stand up for your rights. And yet what Peter is saying is, in the Kingdom you have no rights. And Christians need to prepare for suffering by learning to give in, to accept it.
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The first thing we need to be absolutely sure of when the going gets tough is we need to be sure of our salvation. If you're not sure about that, boy, you're going to be in trouble because that's the firm foundation and so he says there are two aspects to your salvation you must be absolutely sure about now. First the individual aspect and second the corporate aspect. Now both are part of being saved. We're saved as individuals but we've been saved into a family and that family is going to stand you in good stead when the pressure's on. You won't be able to cope by yourself. You need to be part of a fellowship that's going to stay together.
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That's the symbol of hope, it's an anchor that holds you when the storm comes, when you know how it's all going to end. That holds you firm when you're in crisis, when the storm hits you, if your anchor's down and your hope is sure and you know that Jesus is coming back for us, you can face anything. But we've been so concentrating on faith and love that we haven't been teaching people how to hope. And 1 Peter is the epistle of hope, he concentrates on hope in both his letters, more than faith and love. But what he says is God has given you a living hope by the resurrection from the dead. Even if they kill you, death won't touch you. You've got a living hope for the future and the hope of a new body and a new life beyond the grave. You can face death if you know that.
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See, when your hope is sure, it's quite a challenge isn't it? When your hope is sure, even death doesn't. They just rush you into the presence of the Lord.
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Do you know the real difference between a Christian who's got hope for the future and one who hasn't? A Christian who hasn't is willing to depart and be with Christ but wanting to stay here. But a Christian with real hope wants to go but is willing to stay. See? And I remember the last letter I wrote to David Watson, I just shared that with him and it made quite a difference to him. He mentions it in his little autobiography, Fear No Evil, and it was, David, are you willing to go but wanting to stay or wanting to stay, wanting to go but willing to stay? And Paul said, I'm wanting to depart, but if he wants me to stay around here a bit longer, I'm willing to stay. Quite a difference, isn't it?
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He's also given us a tested faith and he said, don't worry, your faith is like gold to you, but gold is always refined by testing the fires, test it and it comes out more pure. And you know in the old days when they purified gold, they had a big vat and the man would keep stirring it over the fire until he could see his own face perfectly in it and then he stopped refining it. And your faith will go through that, be tested. And we've got a joyful love, even though we've not seen him, we love him and we're filled with a joy unspeakable.
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He said, you're a living temple. He said, Christ is the cornstone and you are living stones and you are the temple of God. You need to remember that, that together as Christians, we are God's dwelling place on earth, his holy temple and people touching us are touching God's holy temple and we are a royal priesthood. We're all priests.
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And bear in mind that towards those who persecute you, you are a priest. You're the one who can go to God on their behalf and bring a word from God to them. You are their priest, even though they're throwing stones at you or calling your names, you are their priest, the only priest between them and God they may ever have.
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Be absolutely sure you've got the individual side of foundation, the faith, the hope and the love and the corporate side that you belong to this people and know you do, that you're a living stone and a priest and you're part of a new holy nation that God is calling out from the earth. Then you're ready to face the suffering.
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It says three things about it. Number one, don't ever deserve it. Now if you go to prison for crime, don't think you're suffering for Jesus. Very important point. Often you know we offend people with our manner or with our awkwardness and then we say of course it's the offence of the Gospel, it's nothing of the kind. Make sure that the only offence is the offence of the Gospel. Make sure that if you go to prison it's not because of something wrong you've done. It's a shame when Christians suffer for doing wrong things. He said suffer for doing right, not wrong. It should never be deserved. That's an important point.
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Then he said the second thing when you suffer, it should never be revenged. Don't ever retaliate. Now the instinct is to hit back. Someone told me when he read the Sermon on the Mount, it says, turn the other cheek. He said, I would turn the other cheek. turn the other cheek and I'd bring the right knee up sharply. That is the instinct of us, isn't it? When someone insults you, well I just won't talk to them again. When somebody hurts you, well I'll just wait a chance to do something back. That's instinct, revenge is instinctive to hit back. He says don't ever do that. Jesus when he suffered did not retaliate.
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Repay evil with good. Give them good, not evil. Bless them, he says, bless them. That's exactly what Jesus said. Bless those who curse you. That's the best way to get your own back. It heaps coals of fire on their head. Bless those who curse you.
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And thirdly and finally, don't let it get you. They're trying to weigh you down. Don't let it be successful. It may harm your body, but it can't touch your spirit. And body and spirit are key words at that point. What happens to your body doesn't really matter, it's what happens to your spirit that matters. Don't let them get through to your spirit. Let them do what they like with your body, but keep your spirit intact.
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