“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”
for the hope that is in you,
“In you” – the in-you confidence. “Hope” in the Bible is not a wish about the future but a conviction and confidence about what God will do. When people who bad mouth Christians see what their hope does for them, they will marvel at their stability.
Col 1:5, “Because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”
Col 1:23, “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Col 1:27, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Tit 1:2, “In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”
Tit 3:7, “That having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Heb 6:19, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”
1 Pet 1:2, “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.”
The Bible depicts non-Christians as having “no hope.”
Eph 2:12, “That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
1 Thes 4:13, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.”
PRINCIPLE:
Christians have confidence in time and eternity.
APPLICATION:
Confidence comes to the Christian when he becomes a Christian. He has stability about time because he knows he has an eternity.
We will never do a good job witnessing until we are confident about our place in God’s program. Christ is our hope, not our religion or good works. How the world needs to hear this!
Do you pass the suffering test? In case you flunked the test of suffering, you will face another exam by God. If we pass this test, we qualify to witness. One of your friends says, “Why do you not fall apart like you used to do?” Confidence brings stability in the adversities of life.
If you have not believed that Jesus paid the price for your personal sin, you can have confidence that you will have eternal life if you believe that Jesus died for your sin.
John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
