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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Remember the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? They were talking, they didn't know it to Jesus, who was alive, they didn't know it, and they're talking to one another. And this stranger, Jesus, says, what are you guys talking about? Oh, we're talking about this guy named Jesus.
And this is what they said. We had hoped. That he would be the one. What are they saying? Our hope is dead.
Whatever hope we had died when he died. When he died, The cord of our hope was cut.
So Peter had hope, his hope died. But then something happened. To revive Peter's hope and keep it alive forever. What was that? The resurrection.
It's what he says in verse 1. Blessed be the, or verse 3, 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 what? The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The dead. Boy, that would do it, right?
When the guy you hoped in died and he got back up, Your hope would go ballistic. Hope would make its debut. Because that means that all those promises he ever made were true. And boy, did he make a lot of promises. Here's a few of them.
I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. That's a big promise. There's another one. I'm the way.
The truth And the life. Big promise. Another one, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has. everlasting life. Another promise.
Because I live. you also will live. Huge promises. But when the guy who makes those promises dies, What do you say? You go.
Whatever. Right? But when he gets back up again. And when he resurrects from the dead, When he's alive again, it means every single promise he ever made about eternal life now makes sense.
Now that makes sense. And that's what I think Peter meant when he says, We have been born again, and the step that we take is a step of hope, and it's living hope because Jesus is a living Savior. And somebody will then say, well, how do we know he actually rose from the dead? That's just what his disciples say. They wanted to keep the story alive.
Every year at Easter time, a National Geographic channel, they have some little lame documentary that says something like that. And there have been books written about the research and the proofs of the resurrection. Let me just give you three quick lines of evidence. First of all, Jesus predicted his own death and his own resurrection before it ever happened. He told his disciples over and over again: before it ever happened, I'm going to Jerusalem.
They're going to kill me. Three days after that, I'm going to get back up. They didn't get it. They went, oh, that's very nice. Until it actually happened.
And he went, wow, he literally meant that. Line of evidence number two. Eyewitness accounts. Individuals as well as groups. People saw them one-on-one.
His disciples all saw them at one time, and the Bible records a group of, get this, 500 people saw him alive at one time. And so, if you ever say, well, it was just a hallucination, did you know that hallucinations don't happen to groups? the same thing that they saw. Josephus, the Jewish historian, even writes that his own followers saw him alive after his death because of a resurrection. A British lawyer by the name of Sir Edward Clarke said, and I quote: As a lawyer, I have made a prolonged study on the evidences for the events of the first Easter day.
For me, the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again. In the High Courts I have secured a verdict on evidence not nearly as compelling as that for the resurrection. Frank Morrison was another atheist who decided to write a book showing that Jesus was a farce. And then he studied the resurrection and he got converted. And he did write a book, but the first chapter of the book he wrote was called The Book That Refused to Be Written.
It was about his conversion. and the evidence for the resurrection. An atheist Lee Strobel, who has spoken from this pulpit.
Now a strong believer, at one time was the legal reporter for the Chicago Tribune, said, and I quote, The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best attested to event of the ancient world. The third line of evidence is alluded to here in verse three. the changed lives of the followers of Christ.
Okay. Before Jesus died on the cross, what was Peter doing? Denying Jesus. Denying him right before that whole crucifixion, he was, I don't know who he is, he was a coward. You open up to the book of Acts and Peter is like suddenly courageous.
He's bold. He's walking around Jerusalem preaching about Jesus in front of lots more people and at the point of his own persecution and possible death. What is it that could turn a coward? Like Peter, into a courageous preacher. The resurrection.
That's called a living hope.
So the new birth is a step Toward hope and our hope. is a living hope. But keep reading. Verse 4: Our hope is not just a living hope, it's a lasting hope. The second step is that the new birth is a step toward inheritance.
Verse 4. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. that does not fade away. Reserved in heaven. For you.
Now we know what an inheritance is. An inheritance is property or money or title. That you own upon the death of the previous holder who has made you an heir. And once that person dies, it's passed on to you if you were named an heir. Usually this is done by parents for children.
We are children of God. Jesus came from heaven to earth and died. Bequeathing heaven to you. It's your inheritance. Then he rose from the dead, and he became a joint heir with us.
Listen to the language of Paul, Romans chapter 8, verse 17.
Now, if we are children, then we are heirs. Heirs of God, Co-heirs with Christ. If indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share In His glory. For I consider that the present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in. Us.
So we're born. Step number one: hope, living hope. Step number two, lasting hope, what he calls here an eternal inheritance. Let me just say that. Only a hope that is a lasting hope is really hope.
I mean, if our hope is only like for right now, but not for later on. It's pretty hopeless. I remember when I first came to Christ, I heard a lot of these kinds of things. Oh, I'm so happy for you. What do you mean you're happy for me?
Well, what what whatever floats your boat? Whatever gets you through the life that you live, whatever gets you through today, if that works for you, that's really good. No, no, no, no. It's not just about hope now. I mean, it really begins after I die in eternity.
I have something that's an inheritance, that's incorruptible, undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for me. That's what I have to look forward to. That's real hope. Paul wrote this to Corinth, 1 Corinthians 15. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most.
pitiable. Contrary to a popular book that's been out for the last five years, your best life is not now. It's the title of a very popular Christian book, Your Best Life.
Now Really? Your best life? Is now?
Okay, here's Paul writing to persecuted Christians who lost their jobs, got kicked out of their families, and kept hiding, being scattered in different parts of the Roman Empire because they were Christians. He's going to say, your best life is now. No, he's going to say your best life isn't now. Unless you're an unbeliever. If you're a believer.
This inheritance, this earth, which is defiled and fading away and corruptible. This is nothing. You've got hope. of an inheritance And your best life is then. Not now.
In Second Peter chapter three. Which we'll get to probably in twenty years at our rate. Peter says, therefore Therefore Since all of these things These earthly things. will be dissolved. Shouldn't Think about that for a moment.
That new car you got, enjoy it because one day. It's going to be dissolved. That cool new home that you're redecorating for whatever you're decorating it for. Enjoy it, but It's going to go, it's going to burn, it's going to be dissolved.
Now, therefore, since all these things are going to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Have you ever answered that question? Since everything here is going to be dissolved, what kind of people should we be?
Well, certainly not materialistic people. Because everything materialistic is going to dissolve. Hopefully, spiritually-minded people. Who think beyond this life to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that doesn't fade away reserved in heaven for me. Don't you see?
That heaven was more than a destination for Peter, it was a motivation. See, when I die, I don't die. I know, it looks like I'm dead. He's mostly dead. When I die, I graduate.
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Now let's get back to today's teaching. It's interesting as I read the words of Jesus, he describes the future eternity. He's speaking about Real life. I know a lot of people like to say, well, this is the real world, man. Get real.
This is the real world.
Okay, this might be the real world. But then that is the really real world. Listen to Jesus' words. Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. It's a real place.
Where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If your best days are behind you, you are not saved. If your best days are yet ahead of you, you are. Your best life. Is then It's them.
There's a guy who opened a brand new business, and his buddy wanted to celebrate, so he sent him a congratulatory gift and a bouquet of flowers. The problem is, the bouquet of flowers had a card attached that said. Rest in peace.
So, you can imagine the shock of this new business owner looking at this bouquet of flowers. Rest in peace.
I just started this new business. What's the deal?
Well, the owner then called the flower shop and said, I think there's a mix up here. I think I got the wrong bouquet in the... The florists apologized profusely, said, Indeed, you got the wrong flowers, but just to brighten your day, just think: right now, somewhere in town, there's a funeral. And the bouquet of flowers, the card on those flowers says, congratulations on your new location. Yeah.
Now, I can't think of a better card to write for Christians who go to heaven. That's what we ought to put on all the flowers for the funerals of believers. Congratulations on your new location. Because if you're truly a believer, to be absent from the body is to be. Present with the Lord.
Not a bad gig.
So We get born. The first step we have is a step of hope. Second is the step of inheritance. Third is a step toward power, verse five. who are kept.
By the power of God. true faith For salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. This is power to keep you secure. The word kept means to be kept safe or safeguarded. And it's a strong word used of soldiers who, at the point of death, would keep something safe.
You are safeguarded by God. God will keep you. From Earth? to heaven. He has the power to do that.
He'll keep you safe. We live in a world that is increasingly unsafe, and people are sensing that, and there's an anxiety. I just sense a growing anxiety around a lot of people. With our economy, with what's going on in the Middle East, just these kinds of problems that. That rise to the surface cause A greater sense of unease, perhaps, than Than I've ever noticed before.
I know every generation says it's worse than the previous one, but I do sense this. There's a woman who sensed this. And she was worried about the growing crime rate and her own safety.
So she went and took a course, one of those concealed carry courses. horse and got her permit, bought a handgun, carried it around in her purse, loaded. And nothing happened for five months. But one night, five months after she got her permit, she walked out to a parking lot after going shopping. It was dark.
She went to her car. And there were four men inside of it. She said, get out of the car. They wouldn't budge. She pulled out her gun.
Get out of the car. Those doors flew open faster than you can imagine. Those guys ran into the night. Then she found her car. Same make, same model.
Three parking spaces away. Easy mistake. Oops. She was guarding the wrong car. Aren't you glad that?
God Who makes no mistakes is the one guarding your life. and keeping you safe. Safeguarding you. You are kept by the power of God. But I want to add to that and say, God will keep you.
But you have to want to be kept. Jude, verse 24.
Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you faultless before the throne of his glory with exceeding joy. But you have to want to be kept. And what does he keep you for? He keeps you for this, verse 5. You are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
Now, don't misunderstand that. That does not mean that you can't know if you're saved until you get to the very end, and God says, no. Or yeah. Doesn't mean that. It talks about the ultimate salvation out.
Now, let me explain something. The New Testament speaks of your salvation in three different ways, past, present, and future. You have been saved. By faith it's done. It's done.
You place your faith in Christ if you Confess that Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
So, you have been saved past tense from the penalty of sin, number one. Number two, you are being saved right now in the present tense. from the power of sin. The grip that sin has had on your life. You are in the process of sanctification.
We talked about that last week, that breaking free. A sin. But number three. You will be saved ultimately from the very presence of sin in the future. That's the day when you have a new body, a resurrected body.
The old nature is gone. You don't even have the capacity to cooperate with sin, you can't even get tempted. That's when salvation reaches its climax, its ultimate So, God has the power to save you, God has the power to secure you, and God has the power to send you. to happen. And all comes to the new birth.
One final thing as we close about this new birth. It's your only hope. For new life. Back to that conversation.
Well, I'm a Christian, but I'm not a born-again kind. Then you ain't one. Because Jesus said, unless a man is born again, he will not see the kingdom of God. He said to Nicodemus, the Pharisee, the religious guy, Nicodemus, marvel not that I say to you, you. Must.
B Born again. There's very few things in life that you must do. You must breathe. To survive. You must have fluids.
to sustain life. You must have food. to continue living. But if you ever want to see heaven, You must. Be born again.
Or you never will. And you are deceiving yourself. The whole way through. Simple formula, if you're born once, you'll die twice. If you're born twice, you'll die once.
I know you've been born once, I'm looking at you. That's physical birth. I grant you entrance into physical life. But Jesus said a man must be born a second time from above, again, begotten again. That's spiritual birth.
If you're born once physically, you're going to die twice, physically and spiritually, eternally. Separated from God. But if you're born twice, Physically, spiritually born again, you'll only die once. You'll only die physically, but never spiritually, so that when you die, we can truly say, congratulations on your new location. That's the formula.
Verse three underscores really how it all is possible. We close on this note. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is. Who according to his abundant what?
Maybe. Mercy. has begotten us again. Mercy. Mercy is God not giving you what you deserve.
Never ask God. to give you what you deserve. Can you see what a bad prayer that would be? God, I want you to give me what I deserve. You're gone.
God's mercy is abundant. I love the verse that says, God's mercies are new every. Morning. Yeah.
Cause I use them all up. I need a whole new batch every day. By God's mercy. you can have life. Do you need that mercy?
Some of you need a second chance. Or maybe a third chance or a fourth chance. After the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was asked how he would treat the rebellious Southerners. Who returned? He answered.
I will treat them as if they have never been away. You come to Jesus Christ. He will treat you like you never were away from him. He'll give you the full privileges of sonship, son or daughter. and make you an heir.
and a joint heir with his son. He'll treat you like his son. Jesus Christ. That's mercy. And it's abundant.
Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't miss your opportunity to request the Daily God Journal, along with the companion digital devotional, the Daily God Book. These resources are our thanks for your generous year-end gift of $50 or more to help Connect with Skip-Heitzig finish 2025 strong and reach more people with the truth of God's Word in the year ahead. Call 800-922-1888 or go to connectwithskip.com slash offer. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip-Heitzig Weekend Edition.
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