The Hope That Is Within You
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 1 Peter 3:15 kjv
When Peter wrote this he had the words of Isaiah in mind. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. Isaiah 29:23 kjv
The confession of the hope Peter is speaking of must not be marred by self-exaltation or ill placed confidence, for one will suffer when one’s faith is put on trial. Therefore to sanctify Christ is certainly not to make Him Holy but to glorify Him in the hours of our trials.
The Word of God abounds with the assurance of His presence during the darkest hours of our lives. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2
I was a child some eighty-five years ago when my father would pack us all in a horse drawn sled and drive us to church on a stormy Sunday. Tucked away in blankets I never feared that he would fail us
Hope is the confidence we have in God that everything that He has revealed to us in His Holy Word is truth. Our daily prayers, our daily fellowship with one another, our singing hymns together may be the hollow sounds of clanging symbols if God’s love does not dwell in our hearts. Jesus told Pontius Pilate He came into the world to witness to truth. “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” John 18:37
Only the calloused heart does not fear danger, illness, death or the dreadful silence that follows the loss of a loved one. Peter is telling us that when the Lord dwells in us, our hope is placed completely on the God who created us, who redeemed us from the perils of sin and is the same God whose love dwells in us.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 1 Corinthians 13 :8-10
All that we seemingly possess: knowledge, skills, abilities, positions and possessions will be lost. The hope that is within us fits us for the anguish that is approaching when we die. The truth that God loves us and came to make His dwelling place in us is the sure and living hope that prepares us for the future with Him in heaven.
