Kolchin, Mark: So Great Salvation Part 5 - The End of Our Salvation ~ 1 Pet 1

Well, as mentioned already, we are looking at our topic of the wells of salvation and looking specifically at the so great salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, uh, before we look at some scriptures, I have behind me, as you can see, this little blurry picture here. As many of you know, I worked for America's Kezic in Whiting, New Jersey, in Ocean County, New Jersey, uh, for a number of years, and I'm still associated with, uh, that tremendous organization. It's a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, recovery center is what they call it now, and, uh, it's a tremendous ministry. Many, many people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Brother Hubbard, who's in the audience here this morning and, uh, no stranger to this audience, uh, is very much acquainted with the ministry of America's Kezic, Bill Welty, and all the work that takes place on those premises. Many, many, many people have found their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as we were singing, my hope is in the Lord. And so I thought we would start this morning's message by hearing two testimonies from fellows who were at the very end of the rope, you might say. They were, uh, at the very, uh, end of, uh, their life, perhaps, and the Lord wonderfully rescued them through the ministry of America's Kezig. And I'd like to share, they're just brief, uh, testimonies, only one minute in length, and so we'll have that right now, and then we'll go on with our message. My name is, uh, Chet. I'm from Staten Island, New York. I've been at the Colony of Mercy for seven months now. Um, it's just an amazing place. Um, God has brought me here. Um, I was at the end of, you know, my life. I, uh, cried out to God, and I said, God, if you're real, I, I need something, you know, um, uh, something tangible because everything else, you know, was crumbling, um, and he revealed himself to me, and I winded up getting into the Colony of Mercy two weeks after I made that cry out to him, and it's been an amazing journey, um, just the people that he's put in my path. I, I never had brothers in my life, and now I have forty brothers, and, and we're able to, uh, communicate with one another, and that's something that, you know, I had trouble even in my whole life because I was like in a bubble because, uh, the enemy just had me captive to, uh, you know, to do whatever he wanted to do because it says in Ephesians two that we're, um, we're dead in our sin, and we're dead, spiritually dead, until we come to. Um, it's amazing that, uh, that I can't even communicate, you know, the love of God and and what he's doing in my life. It's just, it's amazing. He's restoring my family. Um, he's restoring everything. I I have, um, you know, just these new dreams and new desires that he's put in my heart, and I'm excited to see, you know, what he's gonna do in the future, and I'm I'm trying to trust in him in the moment. I'm actually in the process of looking into schools, uh, to become a pastor, and it's just, you know, I have, uh, another a month left, and, and I just, I'm, I'm in no choice, I'm in a position where I have no choice but to trust in him. It's, it's really amazing, and I'm excited to see what he's gonna do. Thank you. Hi, my name is Craig. I'm thirty four years old. Um, I came to the Colony of Mercy in May of this year, and I'm currently in the discipleship program. One of the biggest things that God has really done in my life here at the Colony is that he showed me that I don't have to live with the pain and the stuff that I did live with for so long. After receiving the Lord over ten years ago, you know, I, I almost got to a place of contentment saying, I guess this is just something I'm gonna have to live with. But coming here, it wasn't just dealing with the addiction, it wasn't just dealing with the things and the normal struggles of life, it was dealing with the deep, dark issues that I had inside. And coming here, it was nice to have a group of guys surrounding me, encouraging me to go further, to go deeper, and to have chaplains that would walk with me, you know, into those dark places and walk out and explain the word of God and bring me to a place where I could say, wow, I- I've truly experienced freedom. Well, you can tell by those two testimonies of the tremendous, uh, power that the Lord has in rescuing people from sin and misery. And, uh, our theme this morning is the hope of our salvation, and you can hear it and sense it in those wonderful testimonies, and that's just a few of many. I've heard, uh, over the years I've been associated with America's Kezek, uh, tremendous stories, uh, one, uh, just stands out so clearly in my mind. I heard one time a fellow give a testimony that he had been committed to an insane asylum, and the doctors didn't know how to handle him at all. And, uh, he had the opportunity to get to America's Kezek because of his chemical addiction, and while there, uh, he came to know Christ as his savior and wonderfully could stand in front of an audience of five hundred people and beautifully articulate the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with no hesitation. He could be a conference speaker, you would think. Uh, and this is a fellow who had been committed to an insane asylum. Only the Lord Jesus can give people hope and help like that, as you heard right there. And so that is why we, uh, don't apologize. Paul said, I'm not ashamed to tell about the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel because indeed we have a story to tell to the nations. And that's the story that we've been talking about in these messages that we've been looking at, the so great salvation that we have in Christ from Hebrews chapter two and verse three, that wonderful portion. And there the readers are encouraged not to neglect that so great salvation because of what indeed it can do in people's lives. I'd like to invite you right now to turn in your Bibles to First Peter chapter one. First Peter chapter one. And for our reading, we'll actually look at two passages this morning. First Peter chapter one and then First Thessalonians chapter five. So, uh, if you want to look at both those passages, that's what we'll be taking a look at. Uh, first larger portion here is in First Peter chapter one. Peter, of course, is the apostle writing, and he says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. There's wonderful verses from all these, reserved in heaven for us. Verse five, you are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the trial or genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy unspeakable or inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Now turn your Bibles to First Thessalonians chapter five, for a verse or two there. First Thessalonians chapter five, just a little further ahead in the Bible. First Thessalonians chapter five. And we'll look at verse five to start with, verse five. First Thessalonians chapter five verse five. speaking to believers, you're all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep at sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll stop our reading at that point. Wonderful words that we have in the scriptures here. And the focus, of course, is that little phrase, the hope of salvation, because we've been looking at the various aspects and features of our so great salvation, using Isaiah chapter twelve and verse three as the main verse. With joy you shall draw waters from the wells of salvation. And each time we go deep into that hidden spring, we find out wonderful truths that indeed gives our heart encouragement, refreshes us. It's the hidden spring, not something that the world sees. Had they, would they see it more readily, they would, uh, perhaps be more interested in it. But it's the hidden spring, and we find there some refreshing, uh, waters for us, for our souls. And we've been looking at our so great salvation and different features of it. In the first evening, the first message, we looked at the cup of salvation, the reminder for us that, uh, the Lord is the source and the substance of that, uh, salvation. We might have taken that cup of salvation for, uh, our own souls very early on in our experience, but then we keep going back, just like the psalmist said. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I shall take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. The ongoing commitment and obligation to express our thankfulness for all the Lord has done for us. Just in a meeting last week, we were reminded about those ten lepers that were wonderfully, uh, helped by the Lord, but only one came back to give thanks. We have a responsibility to come back always. And so we take the cup of salvation and pay our vows, as it says in the scriptures, in the presence of all his people. That's the cup of salvation. Uh, the next message we looked at, uh, this was last Lord's Day, the Day of Salvation. The Day of Salvation, that dramatic scene there in the synagogue in Nazareth when the Lord Jesus took the scroll of the book and, uh, was reading through Isaiah chapter sixty one and he paused mid-sentence, and with every eye fastened on what he would say next, uh, he declared these words, this day are these words fulfilled in your presence, in your hearing. Now, what he was trying to point out is that the day of salvation is current. Paul said that. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. That's another aspect of salvation, and that highlights the mercy and the grace and the long suffering of the Lord Jesus. And just like the Ark of Noah, where that door was open even seven days after that long period after it was built, the Lord in his long suffering, uh, was there for you and for me, that we might come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's still open. So if there are any in this audience who have not bowed the heart and the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, I would plead with you, I'd beg with you, like the Apostle Paul, that you be reconciled with the Lord. And so that's the day of salvation, still going on wonderfully, providing salvation, the offer of salvation for each one. Then in the next message, we looked at the captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus, and his role as our leader. Just like Joshua led the children of Israel into the land of promise to bring them into their inheritance, we have a captain as well, the captain of our salvation, who leads and guides his dear children along, leads us into our inheritance. And so we have no responsibility for obedience to him. It's another aspect of our great salvation. We have a leader. It's not just that the Lord said, well, trust me for your salvation, and then I'll see you down the road. I'll see you down in heaven. He doesn't do that. No, he leads us. He takes us along, guides us and directs us and gives us responsibility and equips us and enables us to do work for him. That's because he's the captain of our salvation. He leads us and guides us along. It's another aspect of that great salvation that we have. And the reason why he does that is because we're heirs of salvation. Everyone who knows the Lord Jesus Christ, uh, has that wonderful promise that one day we'll s- be with him in heaven, and as First Peter brings out in the portion that we read, we have reserved for us an inheritance in heaven. That's a wonderful truth as well. You're not a pauper spiritually, but you have been given great promises, exceedingly great and precious promises, Peter said in his second epistle. And so we're heirs of salvation. We have wonderful resources at our disposal. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul said to the Ephesians, he says, that you might know what is the hope of your calling and the great, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of him, the power to of him who believes. And so we have that as well at our disposal. So that's the heirs of salvation. And in our last message, we looked at the shield of salvation, a portion taken, incidentally, from Second Samuel chapter twenty two. And the salvation is salvation from the Lord, and of course that brings out the shield of divine protection that is ours in Christ. And so there's so much more part of our salvation package that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mentioned to the audience last week that, uh, someone handed me a bumper sticker when I was a new Christian, and it said, uh, uh, the believers or the Christians' retirement benefits are out of this world. And, uh, yes, they are, but there's so much more to it that we can appropriate and appreciate here in this life. Well, in this message, we want to focus on the hope of salvation. And that was the purpose for having you turn to First Thessalonians chapter five, because it says here in verse eight, let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. Now, in Ephesians chapter six, Christians are encouraged to put on the whole armor of God, and it makes a reference to the helmet of salvation, amongst other things. There's a bless- breastplate of righteousness to protect the heart. There is the gospel, uh, shoes to, that we should be equipped to bring the gospel message out to the world around. There is a belt of truth for stability. There's the shield of faith, there's a sword of the spirit, all these different aspects of the armor of salvation, but there is also the helmet of salvation. And First Thessalonians chapter five qualifies what that helmet of salvation is. It's hope. The helmet as a hope of salvation. And what you witnessed before in these testimonies of men whose lives were on the brink, wonderfully rescued and pulled back from that precipice because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and his grace and his mercy and long suffering. There's not a person here in this audience who knows Christ that could not attest to the fact that God was gracious and long suffering with them. I'm right here, I stand before you as very clear testimony. God's grace and mercy and long suffering with me. And as we draw deep from those wells of salvation, we see the mercy and grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We heard it in song just a few moments ago, and that opening hymn, My hope is in the Lord who gave himself for me. That's a wonderful truth, and we should never tire of that. The, uh, psalmist said in Psalm forty five, My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. In Psalm one o seven, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. And First Peter chapter three says, uh, make sure that you give an answer for anyone who asks the reason of hope that lies within you. The reason of hope that lies within you. What is the hope? We often think, well, hope is something that we hope will happen. Well, that's not what the biblical definition of hope is. It's a sure thing. It's a certain hope. And that's what we have in Christ. And we make no apologies for this. We declare and lift the Lord Jesus up as the only hope for salvation, the only means of salvation. So many people, we see it drive up and down the road right here on the way to this meeting. There are religious groups that are meeting. What are they trusting in, in their way of salvation? Is it their good works? Is it their righteousness? Is their fastidiousness, their discipline, and spiritual religious things? Are they trusting in their own efforts? They're trusting in their own works to try to get them to heaven. God says, there is no one that does good, no, not one. For all have sinned, fallen short of the glory of God. All of us. God says all, that means everyone. There's only one means of salvation, and it's through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob, the great patriarch in Genesis chapter twenty eight, he was on the run for having made some very foolish decisions in his life, and his mother said, I spend some time with my brother Laban and, uh, you know, go out there. So he started his trek and went out, uh, into the wilderness, and there he found a desolate place and put a rock by either by his head or used that rock for a pillow, and then had a dream, and that ladder was, uh, set up on earth from heaven, it says, in this dream that he had. And the angels of God ascending and descending upon that ladder. That's a tremendous vision. When he woke up, he says, surely God is, he didn't say was, is in this place. This is nothing other than a gate of God, and and and the ladder, this ladder is the is the is the presence of God in my in at this location. Well, you know, the Lord Jesus seized upon that, so to speak, in his earthly ministry, and when Nathaniel saw him, saw the Lord Jesus, the response of this Lord Jesus was, here on out you shall see the angels of God ascending and descending, using the same words upon the Son of Man. What does that mean? That means the only way to heaven is through the Lord Jesus. The Lord didn't say, I'm on that ladder. He said, I am that ladder. That's the only means to get to heaven. And so the hope of salvation is what, uh, the believer's salvation package is, the hope of salvation. Who is this hope? Well, let me read you a word from First Timothy chapter one verse one. It's not a place. It's not the promises. What does First Peter, uh, First Timothy chapter one say? Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope. Christ is our hope. One time I was talking with a fellow from our meeting who had lost his mother, and he was at the funeral service. He was a new Christian. And I said, Jack, how are you coming along? He says, well, my faith is getting me through. Now he's a new Christian, so I had to take into account. I appreciated what he had to say, but it wasn't really his faith that was bringing him through. It was the Lord who was bringing him through. A person. See, religion is a relationship when it's, when you know the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from that, it's just ritual. It's just, uh, keeping the rules. But when you know Christ, He is our life, and that's what this verse says in First Timothy chapter one. He is our hope. In another occasion, Ephesians chapter two, it says He is our life. And in Colossians chapter three, it says that, uh, or I'm sorry, Colossians chapter three, he is our life, and Ephesians chapter two, he is our peace. So there it is, the Lord Jesus is our hope, and he's our peace, and he's our life. He's everything to us. And that's what we can never cease to give thanks, as the scripture says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Well, what is this hope of salvation all about? How does this, uh, encourage us as we go through the hard times of life? Well, indeed, he is the hope, the Lord Jesus, but, uh, he is a living hope. We read that portion in First Peter chapter one. Let me read it for you again. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He is indeed a living hope. Why is he a living hope? Well, the pagan nations around the nation of Israel, they had their carved images. As a matter of fact, Isaiah would cite this. In Isaiah chapter forty six. he would almost scoff at those carved images. These pagan celebrations would have their carved images on the carts along the way. In Babylon, there were deities called Bel and Nebo, and they would be on the carts, and the people would be pulling these carts along, and then it might have hit a bump in the road, and these carved images, Bel and Nebo, would stoop, as it says in Isaiah forty six, fall down. And so the people that would be pulling these carts along would have to run over and pick up the carved images and put the carved images back on the parade. The carved images required the help of the people who were worshiping those carved images. Bel bows down in Nebo stoop. That's what Isaiah says. What kind of gods are these that they need help? And that's what people do. They they put their trust in these idols, whether that's an actual carved image or anything else. And it's a dead hope. Amen. But for the Lord Jesus Christ, he's a living hope. These fellows that you heard the testimony of, would they exchange anything and say, well, I'd rather be in some sort of ritualistic church where I can just go through my little, uh, list of do's and don'ts? No, not at all. They had their hope in a person, in the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave them life and liberty and rescued them. As we heard it in music, we heard it in testimony, it's what the hope of salvation is all about. It's a living hope, and it's a hope in a person. Now, one of my favorite portions in scripture is found in Genesis chapter twenty four, and we've mentioned this before, but it's a great, uh, scene there. Abram or Abraham is, uh, giving a command or directive to his eldest servant. His name is Eleazar, but he's unidentified in that portion, that there's a purpose for that even. And he says, I want you to find a bride for my son Isaac. And so it says in that chapter that this eldest servant went out with all his master's goods in his hands, proof that he belonged to a great master of great wealth. And he went to a certain area, and a woman came out, and we find out later she's identified as Rebecca. And she's, uh, helping him, and he begins talking to her. Now, all along he had this one directive and this one focus in mind to find a bride for the heir of all things, Isaac. And he begins this discussion with her, and he's showing these wonderful, uh, riches that belong to the house of Abraham. And over the course of time, you can read this on your own in Genesis twenty four, He convinces her of the value of joining him and going back to see that heir of all things. What it is, is a wonderful picture of the work of the Holy Spirit who does not call attention to himself. That's the reason why he's not identified in that chapter, spiritually speaking. That's why he's the unnamed servant. That's right. And with all the resources, all the goods, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. Whenever the word of God is opened up and Christ is exalted, everything steps aside. He's in the very midst so that people get the clear message that he alone is the means and the way of salvation, the hope of heaven. And the Holy Spirit's ministry is to take of the things of Christ and break them down in such simple ways that even a person with the smallest, least education, I can tell you a lot of the guys that go through the Colony of Mercy and Brother Hubbard and others, whoever have known of that ministry at Keset, will know there's guys who have been, uh, from abused backgrounds and horrible backgrounds and wouldn't have any education, and yet can understand very clearly the claims, the basic claims of scripture, and even more so as we act on these things, God give the heirs, gives the heirs of salvation wonderful enablements. So they're like a royalty. And then they come in and can understand, and then they can stand before people and declare the riches of God's grace. I was in a meeting one time back in Illinois, where they had Billy Graham come through a number of years ago. And at the time, you remember, the religious right was on the major, you know, s- surge in politics. And Billy Graham was asking, being asked rather, by the media and everyone else, because he could speak to fifty thousand people without batting an eyelash, no problem with him. So they figured here's a perfect candidate for president, a guy can sway the masses. I heard him say it. I was Fifteen feet from him. He says, if I were asked to do that, he says, I would lose my ability to speak. He understood, he quoted from John's, uh, from the Acts account. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they took note that they had been with Jesus. See, when you're in touch with the Lord Jesus, when you're in communion with him, when you love him and you're dedicated to him, you can stand, I'm sure, before millions. I haven't done it myself, but maybe none of you have done either, but that's what Billy Graham was saying. But if he was taken off of that directive in life and put on some other track, he said, I'd lose it, the ability to speak at all. See, that's what the Lord does. He's a living hope. And when Rebecca was ex- shown these things and explained these things, there was a- adversity. The own household said, well, let her stay here for ten days. You know, if you're ever on the brink of trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, you can count on it, that there's going to be adverse elements that are going to try to dissuade you. Well, I'll put it off. May a more convenient season. Let me think about it. That's what some people do. But it was put to her very clearly by that unnamed servant. What will you do if you have no business and interest in these things, then I will go my way. That's like the Holy Spirit speaking and tugging at a person's heart and saying, will you trust the Savior? That's what the Holy Spirit is, broods over the hearts of men and women, the consciences, and brings the glories of Christ out and then puts it to them, in essence saying, what will you do with this, the Christ? And so Rebecca, her whole destiny change. She says, I will go. And then this unnamed servant leads her through the wilderness on a great and no doubt arduous journey across arid environment to come in contact with the heir of all things, Isaac. Now, don't you think that there were times when she went on a journey and she says, when is this going to come to an end? When is the way going to be a lot easier? Over hills and mountains, perhaps, through ravines, hard and difficult times. It's a picture, in some ways, of the Christian life. The difficulties, the trials, the tribulations that we go through in life, family-wise, whatever it might be. But in the words of the hymn writer, when she got to sea and eventually came to that point, she wasn't looking for the riches, she wasn't looking for the house, she wasn't looking for the palace, she was looking for a person, and that person was the heir of all things. And as you a bele- as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, know the hope of our salvation. We're not looking for the place, even though he said, I prepare a place for you. That's ancillary, that's secondary. Uh, we're not looking for the fulfillment of the promises in a way, be- that's part of it, but we're looking for a person. Amen. The heir of all things, the one who loves us, and the one whom we love, having not seen, yet though we see him not, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. How grateful we are, and so one day we'll see him face to face if we know the Lord Jesus as Savior. We've heard about this, this own assembly here has gone through that experience so clearly, and we'll understand that even more so this afternoon in our service for Elise Clark. You know, I think it comes out so nicely in a portion in Hebrews chapter twelve. Now, you don't have to turn to it. If you'd like to, you're welcome to do it, but Hebrews chapter twelve talks about these wonderful blessings, and as is often the case in the scriptures, there's the, uh, groupings of seven to talk about the completeness of these blessings that we have in Christ. And the writer to the, uh, Hebrew believers says it this way, comparing and contrasting Sinai with Zion, the blessings that are in Christ. He says in verse twenty two, he identifies seven of them. The first one is this, but instead of all these dreadful things of an earthquake and, uh, beasts touching the, uh, Mount Sinai means thrust through with a spear and all the rest, the thunderings and the dark clouds, the things that even caused Moses, the man of God, to quake. Even those things that were before, he says, in contrast to that, this is what believers have been brought into. He says, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God. The heavenly Jerusalem. That's a good thing. The city of the living God, who wouldn't want that? Mount Zion, who wouldn't want that? The heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, that's wonderful. Numerable company of angels. You're on God's side. Oh, isn't this wonderful? To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, all those who by faith are sons of Abraham, who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have faith in God and, uh, wonderful promises, or isn't that wonderful? It's just is getting better and better. How great it is to be part of the family of God and be brought into all these things. But it says to God, the judge of all, that's great. To the spirits of just men made perfect, sin is banished and put away. That's great. All these are blessings, salvation blessings that we have, but what is the most important of all these things? Comes in verse twenty four. And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling speaks better things than that of Abel. It's to a person. He's a living hope. And so I hope I've impressed upon you this morning, if you are here, and these things, uh, sound different to you, that the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has a living hope. But not only a living hope, a sure hope, a steadfast hope. There's a verse in Colossians chapter one, two verses actually, verses four and five, which read this way. Since we heard of your faith, Paul again speaking to these groups of Christians, Colossians in particular, he says we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before the word of the truth of the gospel. The hope that is laid up for you, the reserved hope. He actually makes a reference to faith, hope, and love in that portion, as is often the case with Paul, brings out that wonderful triad. Someone said it this way, faith looks up, love looks around, and hope looks ahead. Faith looks at the past of what Christ has accomplished at Calvary. Love is our responsibility to reach out for others and reach up with help from the Lord, to the Lord. And then hope is what is in the future. It's a future hope, and it's sure, and it's steadfast. Jeremiah spoke about this great hope when he said, I know the thoughts. I love this verse. First heard it as a new Christian, a chaplain in school, read this, and I said, let me go find that verse and underline it. Listen to these words, Jeremiah twenty nine. I know the thoughts I think towards you, says the Lord. This is the God of heaven, the God of universe. He says, I know the thoughts I think towards you. Now, there is one person in this audience I wouldn't be bothered at all. There's one single person, I would declare this message to that one person. I know the thoughts I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. That's the hope in Christ, the hope in the Lord. The writer to the Hebrews again brings out these things. It's good to have the Old Testament and the New. Someone says the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed, right? We've heard that phrase before. And in Hebrews chapter six, once again, the writer is bringing out this. He says, in him we have a strong consolation. Oh, how we need this consolation in our day. You know, you can leave this meeting here and go home and turn on the news, and you'll hear another high school shooting. You'll hear another bag that blew up somewhere. You hear, and that was well timed, uh, and uh, hear all these tragedies that occur. And if you've ever noticed at the end of the newscast that the all the news, you know, we watch the news, right? Channel seven, or most people watch Channel seven, so you hear the news at the very end to do something to change the tone, they have to put some human interest story to try to put a little cherry on top of the, the mess that's underneath it. It's all bad news. And how do you find consolation in all that? Well, the only consolation we have is in God and his word. And this is what it says there in that portion again. This is this time is found in chapter six. Let me read you these words. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, those are the heirs of salvation, the immutability or the unchangeability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, a word and an oath, both those things. It's like double-knotted security. He says that by two immutable things, which is an impossible for God to lie, I'm glad for that, that we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope that is set before us. This hope we have an a- as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which enters the presence behind the veil. Would I change or exchange my hope in Christ for anything else? You could offer me a million dollars, two million, ten million, I don't care what it is. To know that our hope is steadfast and sure in Christ. What would give the hope to anybody who lost a family member like this group in here, in this audience this morning? But knowing the fact that their loved one is in with the Lord in heaven, enjoying the glories of heaven, and I can tell you, you know, it's it'll when you it'll be like Rebecca, it'll be worth it all when we see Jesus. Life's trials will be so small when we see him. Paul said it, our uh, afflictions, our light afflictions work for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory. It's tough through it. It's just like that wilderness going through those ravines and up the mountains. Life is tough, there's no question about it, but it's what we know we're going to, the hope of our salvation. And so Paul again brings out that point about the helmet of salvation. That helmet is the hope of salvation, the protection of the head. So anybody in battle, they can get so easily disoriented when they get a blow to the head. It disorients, distracts, causes us to lose our focus, and we get hit and bombarded with problems and bad news each and every day. And the Apostle Paul is exhorting believers, and the Word of God is exhorting you today to make sure that helmet of salvation is on, otherwise you'll be hit sideways, uh, and have a head blow and be disoriented and lose your focus and everything else. That's why we need our hope of salvation. It's almost as if, and he's talking to believers, of course, here, and he's not saying now you need to trust the Lord, because they already had trusted the Lord as their savior, but they make sure that their helmet is on and maybe on correct. It's possible to have your helmet on not the right way, and you could lose your focus. Or like me, when I was in Little League, I was a pitcher in Little League in my little brief career in baseball when I was about twelve years old, and I was a pitcher, and uh, I remember taking the wind up, and uh, you know, at twelve, thirteen years of age, you start getting some arm strength, so now you can start throwing that ball a lot faster than you were when you're eight years old. So I guess I might have been glorying in my newfound strength in the last year or two of my, uh, of that, uh, that season. I felt the strength coming in my arm. I could really throw that ball pretty fast. And I remember taking the wind up and getting all set, my baseball cap, my suit, my baseball suit was on, and I took that wind up and I put my hands behind my head like you do as a normal way when you throw the ball, but as I came back with my hands, it tipped my cap over my eyes. Pity the poor guys in line of a baseball pitch where you can't see where you're throwing. And sometimes we can have obstructions to the faith and the hope that is ours in Christ by being hit by various things, and we lose our focus, we lose our direction, we lose the sense of what, uh, our aim is. And that's why Paul said, Second Corinthians chapter five, we make it our aim, whether absent or present, to be pleasing to him, well pleasing to him. Need to have that focus. And so our hope of salvation is a living hope. It's a hope in a person. It's a sure hope. It's a purifying hope, the scripture says. First John chapter three verse three, anyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. We don't want to be ashamed, uh, before him at his coming, and so the hope of salvation, the hope of the Lord's return, that he may come even today, is a purifying hope. But in our final moments to remain, I want to bring out one other aspect. It's a comforting, comforting hope. The believers at Thessalonica, that same portion that we had turned to, if you, uh, would be familiar with the scriptures in the previous chapter, chapter four, the apostle is, uh, speaking to them about a concern that they had. Some had gone ahead of them, passed away. And the Apostle Paul had talked and taught them very clearly that the Lord could come back at any time, and some had passed away, some had died. And so they were very distressed, and they were concerned that somehow, in some way, they might have missed the Lord. And so he needed to encourage their hearts. And so this is what he said to them. He says, don't forget this truth. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain together with the Lord shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Our hope, which is Christ, a steadfast and sure hope, which is the anchor for the soul in the issues of life and all the problems, health issues, financial issues, political issues, national issues, whatever the problems it are, there is the anchor of the soul to the believer. It helps us out, and it gives us comfort and encourages us in all that we do. Mary and Martha, two sisters, had a brother by the name of Lazarus, and their account is recorded for us in a number of places in scripture, in Luke chapter ten and in John chapter eleven and also in John chapter twelve. And it said that Lazarus had been, uh, sick. He had been ill, and, uh, he died. And so Martha and Mary had to come to grips with this significant issue in their experience. And, uh, many of you know the story, of course, but you know Martha, she was always active, she was always doing things. Mary didn't seem as active, but she was active in another way, in an important way, of sitting at the feet of Jesus. Every time you see Mary, she is sitting at the Savior's feet. She's sitting or she's learning. She's doing something that is feeding her spiritual life. And we like to be active. All of us like to be active. What can I do? We want to be active. But Mary had chosen that good part of sitting at the feet of Jesus and letting him speak to her. This occasion, Martha was very distressed about the passing of her brother, almost to the point of anger. And she looked at the Lord and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. You know, that's the second guessing that all of us have about all the issues in life. Oh, if this, if, if, if this. And we all think we might have the better perspective, but God is wiser than us. The Lord is wiser than us. And the Lord said, your brother will rise again. And she was giving him hope, but she said, well, yes, I know. Yeah, you know, she was going through the, yeah, I understand those things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, kind of like that. And the Lord had to straighten her out, didn't he? He says, oh yes, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Do you believe this, Martha? You know, sometimes we can hear so truth, as someone said, so accustomed to it, it doesn't grip the soul. That's why we need to s- ponder these things. The Lord says, be still and know that I am God. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Sit still and know how the matter will go. We need to be in his presence, understanding and plumbing the depths of the wells of salvation, taking the time to understand and comprehend these things and enter into them. It's part of our salvation package, our great salvation. So the hope of salvation is not just that we'll be in a place prepared for us. It's not just the fulfillment of the promises, as we mentioned before, but it's seeing the person and seeing the people around us. And wonderful that you see all through the scriptures here that the Lord will gather people to himself. What does it say? Face to face with Christ my Savior, face to face, what will it be when with rapture I adore him, Jesus Christ, who died for me? When all my labors and trials are o'er, and I am safe on that beautiful shore, just to be near, the dear Lord I adore will through the ages be glory for me. And so, as Gary had mentioned, we had two messages in one today. I only took you a couple minutes over, but we have a special music number from Brother Bert, and then we'll close in a word of prayer that'll summarize the great hope of salvation that we have in Christ. That indeed we will say it'll be worth it all, the trials and difficulties and tribulations that we go through, because of our hope is in the Lord, the hope of our salvation. Brother Berg. Unknown waves before you roll. At the end of doubt and peril is eternity, though fear and conflict seize your soul. But just think of stepping on shore and finding it heaven, of touching a head and finding it gods, of breathing new air and finding it sliced y'all, of waking up in glory and finding it home. When surrounded by the blackness of the darkest night, oh, how lonely death can be. At the end of this long tunnel is a shining light, for death is swallowed up in victory. And just think of staring on shore and finding it heaven, of touching a hand and finding it God's, of breathing air and finding it celestial. Of waking up in glory and finding it home. Finally home. Let's pray together. Our Father and our God, we thank you again for your precious word. It does indeed give strong consolation. That is an anchor for the soul, steadfast and sure. We thank you, Father, for your grace and your mercy and your care for your own. Father, we thank you for the offer of salvation that you continually have offered to all, that they might walk through the door, that door of Christ, and find him, and by so doing, enter into life eternal. We pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit will continue to work in the hearts and minds of each one, to remind us of these wonderful truths, these precious jewels that are part of the salvation package that there is in Christ. And if any have never made that decision for him, that they will indeed say, I go. And so we thank you for your grace, your mercy, your love. We thank you for the promises of your word. And so we pray that you dismiss us now with your blessing, for we ask it in Christ, our Savior, our hope, our life, our peace, in whose name we pray. Amen.