This is the first sermon in a few, hopefully a few series that I want to do, a series of topics around the resurrection as we're headed towards Resurrection Sunday. And I am desiring that the Holy Spirit would kind of impress upon our hearts why we even celebrate. You know, we get cute and we go out to dinner and You know, I shave my head, David doesn't. I just messaged David. And he messes with everybody, so I got to get him. You know, he clowns everybody in this church, so I'm going to get him one Sunday. But, you know, we come to church and it's our routine. It's like, oh, it's Resurrection Sunday, and here we go again. And I am not always certain that I am in tune with everything that God wants me to know about the resurrection and why I should be celebrating in the first place. Amen. And so I just want to kind of touch on some things this Sunday and the next few Sundays to bring light upon why we should be overjoyed by the fact that Jesus is alive. Amen. He is alive and well. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's turn to 1 Peter, the first chapter, verses 1 through 3. Help me, Holy Spirit, as I lean on you to deliver your word. 1 Peter, first chapter, verses 1 through 3. If I can get through that, just that much. There's a whole lot here. The Word of God reads, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of blood, the blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, that's a lot right there. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, Holy Spirit, help me to expound on what all that means. I want to give you a title for this sermon, the anchor for our hope. The anchor for our hope. Let me just give you a little background. In first Peter, there are some people who are going through a lot of things and they're struggling with why they should have hope in the first place. They are now Christians and Christianity has flipped their world completely upside down. There have been losses, there have been trials, there have been persecution, there have been hurt, there's been pain. doubts and fear creeping in. And so what's happening is Peter, verse one, says he's an apostle, which means someone who was sent by who? Jesus Christ. Peter is sent to the strangers who are scattered all over in these various areas, Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. And what's happening is Peter is sent to the believers who have been scattered through these areas because they're what? Going through hell. They're going through all kinds of hell down here on earth. And Peter has been given the power or inspired by the Holy Spirit, rather, to write this letter to people because their hope is no longer in the things that they were in before. Oh. I used to have hope in this and hope in that. And I got saved, and I can't put my hope in any of those things anymore, because those things have now turned against me. Those people have turned against me. I thought that I would, you know, get a good education, get a degree, and I would be happy, and blah blah blah, and this is what you just do in life, and you know, now that I've got what I thought I was supposed to get, I got my paper on the wall, and a good job, and now I find that all of that stuff is completely and totally worthless. And all my friends that did it with me are looking at me like I'm crazy, because I believe in Jesus Christ. Hold my cell phone, baby. Don't give it to nobody. Catch, baby. You know, I believe in Jesus Christ. And they're like, what is all that? You're not down with the emperor no more? No, I'm down with the king of the universe. Who is the king? Someone who died. What? This is not making any sense. Family members are turning against you because you were this way and now you're that way. There's been losses. The world is upside down. Amen? Now, Peter's been given a list of things by the Holy Spirit to help the believers who have suffered these losses have hope in spite of these losses. Amen? If you're not going to get any encouragement because of where you're at, then you can get some encouragement by finding out who you really are. You hear that? Holy Spirit, give that to me. If I look around and everything that I see has me one step out of the depression box, you know, everything, everything I'm looking at is just like, oh man. then you can get encouragement from finding out who you really are. And so the Holy Spirit tells Peter, tell these folks who they are, so that they can endure where they're at. Ah, that's good. I couldn't even write that good. The Holy Spirit's talking like, say it like this, Jamie. Okay. All right, here we go. Number one, verse two. To the strangers, mm-hmm. In all these places, I want you to know that you are elect. What does that mean? Chosen out of the world to be people who belong to God. They're bi-residents. Get that? Some people live in two different coasts. You know, and they got property on both sides. I'm an East Coaster, I'm a West Coaster. I got two different properties. Saints of God, believers are bi-residents. We live on the planet and we are citizens of the kingdom. Amen? Got two things happening at the same time. Bi-residents are traveling through this life as strangers, pilgrims. Amen? Alongside folks who are not really their people. So I live with, or next to, or around, or work with, or have folks that I'm close to, or associates, as you will, or even family members who are people that I associate with, but they ain't my people. Ooh. What are you saying? Because the Christians are elect. Are you hearing me? He said strangers who have been, you know, all over the place. David sent me a movie about aliens and how aliens are really demons. Okay? So the strangers here, if they're such thing as a real alien, guess what we are? The Christians would be considered aliens. Are you getting it? Hello, aliens. You look human to me, but we know you're not really from here. You get what I'm saying? Aliens really do exist. We're just called Christians. You got me, David? All right. Chosen because a long time ago, Before the foundation of the world, God said, this one, this one, and that one. Oh, and those three people over there, and this one over here, and that one over there. And none of us have been born yet. He's just been like that. And you're going to have an interesting time on this planet because you're going to have to get used to the fact that you are strange. You are strangers. You are aliens. You are by residents. You are chosen. You don't really belong here. Don't get comfortable. Don't expect everything to be like everybody else's situation. Your experience is going to be different than the other person's experience and your neighbor's. Right? Verse 2 says, elect chosen strangers picked out to be people of God according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. I love this because I've used, I've preached this before but there's so much more here because the Word of God is alive. I want you to not just think of this as God knowing before, or having foreknowledge of something before time in just that sense. That's true. But there's another part of it because there's a part of it that gives us another kind of application that it causes us to be able to stand and have hope. Watch this. God knew ahead of time that you would be saved. Not because of anything that had to do with you, but because of his own ability to guarantee whatever he decides to do. You might've doubted that you was gonna be saved. Oh yeah. People that knew you might've doubted you was gonna be saved. Right, Dave? You know, Jamie's gonna be saved? Come on, please. Rod is going to be saved. You're laughing. Beverly is going to be saved. Right? There are people that looked at us and was like, I don't know if you're going to make it, boo. Right? God, in his foreknowledge, decided before the foundation of the world that you were guaranteed salvation. God always does what is good. The fact that God had good reasons for saving you has nothing to do with your goodness, has something to do with Him being good and deciding that this would be good. Wow. Foreknowledge. Amen? The guarantee of salvation. According, chosen people, according to the guarantee that you would be saved by God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit. Come on, let's break it down. Chosen. Guaranteed salvation because God knew and he backs up what he's already decided through sanctification of the Spirit. We are chosen by the Father, but it's the Holy Spirit that moves on our hearts, that makes the Father's choice a reality. What do you mean by that, pastor? A man can choose a wife, but if she ain't into him, then she's not going to accept his proposal. I don't care how cute you think you are. She's like, I ain't feeling you, bro. Then no matter what, no matter what you have chosen for me, I'm not going out on the first date. It's just not happening. Don't pick me up at seven. No, no, no. So it has to happen. It's the Holy Spirit that moves on the unbelieving heart to get us to agree with what God has already chosen us to be. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So what are you saying? The Father planned it. The Holy Spirit makes the plan a reality. It has nothing, again, nothing to do with us. We didn't choose God, God chose us. We couldn't crawl ourselves out of our own closet, let alone sin. And probably because of what we're keeping in the closet. But here's my point. The truth is, is God had a plan and the Spirit does the work on the heart. So now you and I are children of God, not only because of what the Father decided and guaranteed, but because the Holy Spirit gets in the middle of that and says, you shall love God. You shall be one of his. I'm going to do a work on your heart. And that is how you are going to be a child of God. Through sanctification is a fancy King James word for the work of the Holy Spirit that he does. I hear the gospel. People hear the gospel all the time. It doesn't necessarily mean just because they heard the gospel they're going to get saved. What happens? The Holy Spirit gets into the process of what you're hearing and moves on your heart to where you go, you know what? That's true. I believe that. I am a sinner. I do need grace. I do need mercy. I'm not going to make it. I can't face a holy God. And so what ends up happening is the Holy Spirit makes that a reality, and out of that reality, we get saved. Why? Because the Holy Spirit does the work. All right? So for all these Christians walking around smelling themselves, with their nose in the air, thinking they're better than everybody else because we forgot where we came from. Honestly, the best position for us to be is on the ground in the dust with our face prostrated on the ground because the truth is, if it had not been for God's plan, if it had not been for the Holy Spirit, if it had not been for God's choice, if it had not been for Him causing me to love Him, I would be out there like everybody else, going with the program, Which way we go now, Satan? This way. Okay? That's the truth. All right. So here we go. Chosen according to the guaranteed knowledge of the Father who always gets what he decides through the work of the Holy Spirit, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Okay. Unto obedience. I have been chosen. Is that right? I have been guaranteed salvation. The Holy Spirit has worked through me for the purpose of obedience. Amen. Is it simple? We're just breaking it down. Okay? Just word by word. Obedience. The purpose for the changed heart saints of God is that we would obey God. Why? Children should obey their parent. If we are children of God, we should obey God. Don't have me go to the mall and you acting crazy and making me look bad. Right? We've all seen it. It's like, if I could just get my hand on that child for just 10 seconds, I would show him how to be good. Just give me, just give me 10 seconds. That's all I need. It should not be, I'll crack it up. It should not be that we are making God look that way. No, the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to cause us to love the Lord, be children of God. So what? We can obey God, not just call ourselves Christians and not do what God says. I know that's old school, but that's real. The Bible's all about that, okay? I obey God not because he's a tyrant or a control freak or has some kind of issues. I obey God because as a loving parent, you know, God wants all of his children to have the best. He's not cramping your style. He just knows you're going to choose with a sinful mind and mess up your life. So what he's saying is, I give you the Holy Spirit, which causes you to love and obey God, sanctification unto obedience. Come on, Holy Spirit. So that not, so I can go, God, you always telling me what to do. No, so God can be like, I want to give you my best. Isn't that simple? See how the devil gets in your mind when you're younger and you start thinking before you really start to believe, you're like, God just don't want me to have any fun. No, God does not put restrictions on us to keep us from what is good. He restricts us so that we will be free to obtain what is best. God does not put restrictions on us to keep us from what is good. He restricts us so that we will be free to obtain what is best. The world is a tricky place, saints, and Satan wants to give you fake promises and then hidden with hidden fine print that seems pleasurable at first but ends up in bondage. Uh-huh, you understand what I'm saying, Rick? So he says, Jamie, in Saints of the God, you are free to enjoy yourself. But he wants you to enjoy yourself in ways that are out of the context of what the Father has said. Tempts you to do things that you should not be doing at either the wrong time. I said it a long time ago. Let me just make it real simple for you. Can I go here? I'm getting permission. Satan wants the people who are not supposed to be having sex to have sex and the people that are supposed to be having sex to stop. Think about that. That's, what is that? Jamie, Saints, David, Barbara. Do you enjoy yourself out of the context of how God wants you to? What does that do? Satan does this because he doesn't love you. Amen? God gives you his way of doing things and restricts you so that you won't be all bound up and not free to receive all the blessings that God has for you because you're too tied up from all the past decisions of not doing things in the way that God told you to. You're making bad choices and not able to receive what God has for you because your hands are now tied from disobeying God. So the Holy Spirit comes in and not only shows you that you're perfect, I mean, that you're chosen, that you are a person who has a guarantee of salvation, that you are a child of God, but he also comes in and shows you how to obey God so that you can receive what God has for you. Because if you're already tied down with somebody else it wasn't supposed to be with in the first place. You ain't free to get what God actually had for you. Think about it. Amen? You're too busy doing this when you should have been doing that. You done messed up. You know, there was an opportune time that God had for you to get something from him or whatever he had that was best. And now you blew that up because you were doing all this other stuff listening to Satan. God's saying, no, listen to me. I have a way that I want you to do even that, whatever that is. Are you hearing me? Okay? All right, so he restricts you. The Spirit causes us to love God enough to obey him so that we can receive the best from the Father. And the sprinkling of blood of Jesus Christ. Now, having the Holy Spirit, yes Lord, costs something. Okay? Having a relationship with God costs something. Somebody had to pay. Amen? Amen. In the old covenant, between God and the Jews, if the presence of the Lord was there, then there was a requirement of blood. God is holy, we are not. It costs blood to be in covenant with God. Some of you know your Old Testament. The cost of God living with people and being in the midst of people who are not holy costs blood. There must be forgiveness. Now, if that is true, how much more so and more precious is the blood of Jesus? Back then you had animals. Now we got the blood of Jesus, the one and only true son of God, the one that is begotten of the father. How much more precious is he in his blood? Amen. Who now paid the cost in his blood for us to be in covenant with the father. Amen? So the point is, don't take the sprinkling of blood that provides for a close relationship for granted. Amen? Amen. This is another added layer of understanding that causes us to be appreciative for what we now have. Now we're suffering, we're going through all kinds of stuff, we're dealing with all kinds of issues, and he's saying, change your focus not to what you're dealing with, but what I've already done. What have I already done? I've chosen you, I've given you a guarantee of your salvation, I've put my spirit in you, amen? He's causing you to obey, and he's letting you know that you've been bought with a price. You've been bought with a price. There's blood that is in between this relationship between you and God. The reason why you are able to have a relationship with God is because Jesus gave his life. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So I am appreciative of the blood that was shed for me that gives me a placement with God in the first place that I would never have. Amen. He gave his life, and now I'm in fellowship with Jesus. Amen. I'm in fellowship with the Father. The least we can do is obey God out of gratitude. So he said, unto the sprinkling of blood. What is he saying? When Moses was trying to get the folks right, he was sprinkling blood on them. This is what God said. You're going to do what God said? Yeah. All right, we're going to put some blood on this. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So every time we do think, say, enter into situations that we should not enter into, remember, you got blood on you. See, it's a certain kind of thinking. See, I can't just rush up in and say whatever I want to say and do what I want to say, do what I want to do when I reckon, wait a minute, I got blood on me. Did you hear? Oh, that cut it. Right? Okay. Sorry, Lord. I'm sorry. My bad. I'm going to go over here. I'm going to go over here because I ain't supposed to be over there. Why? Because I got blood on me. I just can't, you know, you can't be just doing anything and saying anything and thinking any kind of way. I got blood on me. The Holy Spirit causes this revelation. Are you seeing what I'm saying? Okay. Come on, Jamie. Give me Hebrews 9, 18, 23. I just want to read this because I just want to make sure that you understand this. Hebrews 9, 1823. I'm not going to class today, so I'm going to preach for three hours. I'm tired of preaching short. All right. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and the people. So there's blood on the law, amen, the commandments, and blood on the people, y'all tied. Okay, we are tied. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of ministry, everything. We have even our worship system. Blood, okay? And most of all, things are by the law purged with blood. And without, what, shedding of blood, there is no remission, no forgiveness of sins. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of the things in heaven should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. So here's the thing. The blood of God, the blood of Jesus, it's okay, it's okay. The blood of Jesus, I'm up here, just a baby. They gonna do what they do. The blood of Jesus is not something that's a new concept, people, okay? In order for us to be in relationship with God and have closeness with God, Our sins have to be purified. Somebody has to pay the cost. When you recognize that someone paid the cost for every single thing that you have done that is against God, you don't enter into things casually. Things just don't fly to your mouth when you're thinking about that thought. Jesus paid for what I'm about to say. Jesus paid for what I'm about to do, right? That's the thought here, okay? So, let's back up. They are scattered. He wants them to know that they are elect. They are saved according to the foreknowledge of God, amen, the Father, through the work of the Spirit, right? And of the sprinkling of blood by Jesus Christ. Have I got all that right? Yep, okay, all right. because people are discouraged about their circumstances. And what they're dealing with now that they're saved, Peter is saying, Jesus knows all about that stuff. He knows about your problems. He knows about your issues. He knows that you're suffering. He suffered too. He came here and dealt with our human plight. Amen? He understands that. Amen? He's in tune and in touch with what it's like to be a human being. Amen? And he's saying, if you're gonna have some hope, you gotta take your mind off all that stuff. And you gotta get it on the fact that you have a relationship with God based on a whole lot of work done on your behalf. Are you hearing me? Oh, come on somebody. Have you considered, saints, while you're dealing with whatever you're dealing with, what it took to make us right? Huh? Have you decided to focus on what's wrong in your life, according to you, and focus more on that than focus on what God has done to make you right? Ah. One way is going to cause you to worry, fret, doubt, fear, and be in anxiety attacks all week. The other way is going to get your mind off of that where you have hope. Oh, boy. Are you hearing me, saints? Where is hope? Now, he's not minimizing our suffering. Amen? He's not saying that he doesn't understand. What he's saying, wait a minute, there's something else you could be thinking about that's more productive Amen. To think about, when you start to focus on the fact, when you realize and you say to yourself, wait a minute, I know things didn't go well for me this week, but what did God do to make me right? See? That's the, when you think of the context of the letter, that's what Peter is saying. He doesn't get up and say, I'm sorry for you. He said, immediately he goes, listen, Get your mind on all these benefits that you have been given that have nothing to do with you. All these benefits that you never worked for. I don't know why my computer is just trying to talk to me. Girl, hush. The devil's trying to get at my message. Off. Okay, so here's the thing. So what I'm saying is there's all these things that I can think about that's wrong. but that doesn't give me any hope, right? My hope has to be anchored in what God has done right to make me right, amen? Then he says, grace and peace be unto you. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Grace here is not the unmerited favor. Grace here is the favor that is given to you to live holy. Because when you think of the context, go back. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you in peace. That's not some new greeting that he just started off. He's saying in context, wait a minute, all of that work equals the power and the ability to live a certain way and to think a certain way about yourself. Do you see it? All right. Unto what? To you. And peace. Peace of mind that comes from knowing that in spite of everything I'm dealing with, I'm saved. Are you hearing it? been purchased by God. There is blood on my life. The most precious currency in the universe was given to me so I can get back right with God and have a relationship with God. My goodness. And he said, now, that kind of thinking and that kind of power be multiplied to you. Over and over. May the power of holy living and may the assurance of salvation that brings peace be given to you abundantly. No need to have insurance or assurance of salvation because I had a dream or a vision. No, no, no. No, no. Just get in the Word, pray and ask God to help you to live holy, and you start to see yourself doing that, and then there goes your assurance. Not rocket science. Huh? Not super deep and spiritual. No, it's just, wait a minute, God, I need your grace and your peace. Huh? Yeah, and mercy's coming. That's right. We're going to hit that in just a minute. Huh? All right. Now, of course, we're not perfect. We are progressing in obedience, but there should be evidence that we are being perfected by the Holy Spirit. This is nothing new. We've seen this all over the Bible, and that the Holy Spirit is at work in you. Verse three, he says this, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his, as you said, Sister Beverly, his abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope. Amen? He has given us mercy. And that is turned into a begottenness again, which means that God, who is the giver of life, has given us the experience of life because life comes from him. But for believers, we not only have life, we have life again. We are born again. Into what? Unto a lively hope, not a useless, dead hope. religion that can't help you endure, that won't help you to get through the trials and the pains and the temptations and the issues that you're going through. It's a living, lively hope. I can't see everything that you are offering, God. I don't see it right in the natural, but I can see it through what you're doing in me. Because hope has given me the ability to keep pressing. It's given me the ability to keep trusting you no matter what I'm dealing with. It's given me the, you know, the ability, even though times are past rough, times are almost impossible. But you are over the impossible. With God, all things are possible. So I know that there There's this hope that's in me that causes me, in spite of what I'm dealing with, to have this guarantee where I can get excited about God, and I can go, you know what? It's all bad, but I have Jesus living inside of me, and I'm gonna be all right. I'm gonna be all right. It's hope. It is based on abundant mercy. Abundant mercy. Ephesians 2, 1 through 4. Come on, somebody. Real quick. Preach Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2, 1 through 4 says, once you were dead because of your disobedience and because of your many sins, you used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. Why do they refuse to obey God? Because they can't do nothing else without the power of the Holy Spirit. Neither could you. Right? Neither could you. Huh? He's the commander of the devil who is at work. See that contrast between the Spirit's work and the devil's work? He is the Spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us, verse three says, used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger. Ooh, we were subject to anger. Lamentations, I'm gonna go through this probably in a couple weeks. Lamentations three and one talks about the fact that we were subject to God's wrath, his wrath. We deserved it. What got us out of the wrath? Mercy. Mercy. Mercy, huh? What? Verse four, but God is so rich in mercy. Some people are rich in money. God is rich in mercy. Look about that. Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Amazon, whatever that guy's name is. Jeff Bezos, Bezos, however you pronounce that. Rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich. Like, man, if I could just get some of that money. Guy's like, I got something better than that. I'm rich in mercy. I can save you and your rich, sinful self. Because you can't take none of that money with you, but you're going to need my mercy. Yes, you are. God is rich in mercy. And that even though we were dead in our sins, he gave us life when he, here it is. Here it is. Here's the point. Here's the point. Here's the resurrection point. When he raised Christ from the dead. It's only by grace that you have been saved. Go back to 1 Peter 3, I mean 1 and 3. Why don't you see this? 1 and 3, okay. Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again, given us life again, new life born again unto a lively hope, amen, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why did he say that? Here's my point before we move on to the next week. All of those blessings that we were talking about, election, foreknowledge, sanctification work of spirit, the sprinkling of blood, being paid for and bought by a price, with a price, the precious blood of Jesus Christ, all those things Those things can just be theory and a list of things that Peter is giving you to try to make you feel good, like you got something. He's saying the activation of those things, where those things become real to you while you're dealing with whatever pain and issues that you're dealing with, he's saying, now, this is how you know you got it. What are you saying? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. He's saying that is the foundation of your faith. That is what helps you to believe that no matter what you're dealing with, remember this, Jesus said he was gonna die. He said he was gonna be persecuted, right? He said he was gonna get up and he did it. Why do I have hope that I'm elected, chosen, have the spirit working in me? Huh? Why do I have hope that I have a guarantee of salvation? Huh? Huh? Why do I have hope that I've really been bought by a price, with a price, the blood of Jesus Christ over my life? Why do I have hope that I have obedience and graced with a certain amount of obedience? Huh? Why do I have hope that I have peace of mind, grace and peace be unto you? Why do I have that? Why do I have that? Why do I know I have that? How do I walk through my week and get through my week? I remind myself, you know what? Jesus said, I'm going to get up. And he did. He did. So what does that say to me? That says that no matter what I'm dealing with, I'm going to get up. I'm going to make it. Because all of his promises are guaranteed. If you can defeat death, you can defeat anything. Are you hearing what I'm saying? If Jesus can get through that, then he can bring me through anything. That is my guarantee that his promises are true. He said, I'm going to get up. And he did. Nothing stopped him. The grave could not hold him. Huh? He conquered death. The resurrection is proof that there is life after death. The resurrection is proof that you can, in spite of what is holding you in whatever sin that you feel has you in its grip, resurrection life is in you if you are a believer. If you are not a believer, you have your own power, which Satan is cracking up at, which your sin will eat for breakfast every time. But if you have the life of Jesus Christ in you, who is the overcomer, then no matter what you're dealing with, God says, that thing's going to be broken. Why? Because I'm living in you, the Holy Spirit's living in you. That thing will not rule you forever. You're going to be free. Free to what? Receive whatever God has that is best for his children. You will obey God. Yes, you will. Resurrection life is living inside of you and me. No matter what you're struggling with, I'm telling you, God is bigger, God is greater. Huh? You know, I'm struggling with this, I'm struggling with that. And pastor, you know, Jack Daniels just be calling me because that's my only way out. Now, some people are laughing, but some people are really going through this. I have a friend of mine who's very dear to my heart. Some things happen in their life and they can't get past it. Some serious pain. And what they do from time to time, when that pain rises up and pressure comes, just like the people who were dealing with stuff in 1 Peter, they don't have an outlet. What do they do? They run to the drink. Some people run to drugs. Some people run to sex. Some people run to shopping. Huh? Some people just can't stop. I just need something, right, to make me feel good. Well, those things are counterfeits, as Pastor Rick always teaches us. That is not what God is offering. He's saying, listen, listen, I've given you my spirit, and my spirit can overcome even that. Amen? Amen. So I know it's hard. I know there's betrayal, there's heartache, there's discomfort, there's issues. But the resurrection is so powerful, people. that it gives us hope to get through what we're facing now. You know you're going to get a new body and everything. Yeah. Jesus, Jesus' resurrection wasn't like Lazarus' resurrection because Jesus rose from the grave and then could walk through walls. You know, Jesus' resurrection, he was like, you know, I'm going to eat fish and I'm going to walk through a wall. That's how bad Jesus was. I'm just telling you, there's an upgrade coming. You know, there are times when I lift up my little baby Grace, she's getting tall, and I feel a little something. You know, I'm not 20 anymore. I may not look like it, but I'll be 52 this year. I know, it's like, what were you thinking? I'll be 52 this year, and every now and then I feel a little something. And sometimes I get a little sad, like I wasted my life. I should have done more. It's almost over, I can feel it. Right? Because that's how we get some time. Carla back there laughing. But here's the thing. The resurrection is real, saints. We're going to get new, brand new, upgraded bodies. I know this is simple, but what will we be able to do? Have you ever thought about it? See, this is how you can have hope. an anchor for your hope. This is how you can have joy in what you're dealing with. Why? Because Jesus is alive and well. He stayed here for a few days and walked around and did stuff just so folks would be like, he's alive and he looks really good. He looks way better than he did. You know what I'm saying? He got a few holes in him just to prove a point, but you know, this is really me. You know what I'm saying? Look what I can do now. Walk through a wall. You follow what I'm saying? That's what we have coming to us. I know that's simple to you, but that's the kind of hope. Whenever things get bad, as they do, remember, Jesus promised he was going to get up. He actually did get up. And all the promises and all the benefits that come from us being saved, Peter was saying, I know you're doing this stuff, but get your mind off of that. Those things are distractions from your joy and your hope. Get your mind off the distraction and get... Hope is available, saints. I know I'm talking too much, but hope is available if we get our minds off the distraction. See, I'm talking to me now. I'm going to have to let go of all the other stuff I'm thinking about in order to have some hope. Otherwise, I will have no anchor. You know what an anchor does? It holds you. When, oh, praise the Holy Spirit, the wind comes, the rain comes, the storm comes, and I'm just, I'm just, I'm right there. Huh? That's what the resurrection does. No matter what happens, I ain't going nowhere. I'm staying with you, Jesus. You know, it gets kind of rough, but I'm going to make it. Why? Because my anchor is holding me. Huh? My acre is solid. And what is it based on? The one thing that we can never know. He got it.