Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Hopeful. How to Make the Best of Times Out of Your Worst of Times

BE HOPEFUL

Published by David C. Cook

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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version

of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New

American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by

permission; NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV . Copyright

1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All

rights reserved; and PH are taken from J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English,

revised editions J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co.

and Collins Publishers. Italics in Scripture have been added by the author for emphasis.

LCCN 2009923014

ISBN 978-1-4347-6743-1

eISBN 978-1-4347-0022-3

1982 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Hopeful by Warren W. Wiersbe published by Victor Books

in 1982 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 978-0-89693-737-6

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Jack Campbell, and Susan Vannaman

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: Veer Images
Second Edition 2009

To our daughters-in-law
SUSAN WIERSBE
and
KAREN WIERSBE

And to our sons-in-law
DAVID JACOBSEN
and
DAVID JOHNSON

Its great to have you
in the family!

CONTENTS

The Big Idea: An Introduction to Be Hopeful by Ken Baugh

A Word from the Author

1. Where Theres Christ, Theres Hope (1 Peter 1:1; 5:1214)

2. Its Glory All the Way! (1 Peter 1:212)

3. Staying Clean in a Polluted World (1 Peter 1:1321)

4. Christian Togetherness (1 Peter 1:222:10)

5. Somebodys Watching You! (1 Peter 2:1125)

6. Wedlock or Deadlock? (1 Peter 3:17)

7. Preparing for the Best! (1 Peter 3:817)

8. Learning from Noah (1 Peter 3:1822)

9. The Rest of Your Time (1 Peter 4:111)

10. Facts about Furnaces (1 Peter 4:1219)

11. How to Be a Good Shepherd (1 Peter 5:14)

12. From Grace to Glory! (1 Peter 5:514)

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Hopeful
by Ken Baugh

During a British conference on comparative religion, experts had gathered from around the world to debate those things that made the Christian faith unique. Slowly, the experts began eliminating one possibility at a time. Some thought it was the incarnation that made Christianity unique, but as they discussed this, it became evident that there are other religions that claim gods appearing in human form. Some suggested that the resurrection is the only unique element to Christianity, yet as they studied they found accounts in other religions of people returning from the dead. As time passed, the debates grew more heated.

C. S. Lewis, whom many believe to have been one of the greatest Christian thinkers in the twentieth century, strolled in. Lewis had heard the shouting from down the hall, and as he entered the room he asked, Whats all the rumpus about? His colleagues told him of their discussions as to what made Christianity unique from the other world religions. Lewis responded, Oh, thats easy, its grace. And after further discussion they finally all agreed.

Grace sets the Christian faith apart from every other world religion. What is grace? Simply put, grace is Gods unmerited favor. You cannot earn grace; you cannot do anything to deserve grace. It is simply God doing something for you with no strings attached. Gods grace is solely motivated by love: deep, abiding, unconditional, sacrificial love. Phillip Yancey puts it this way:

The notion of Gods love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma , the Jewish Covenant, and Muslims code of law, each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make Gods love unconditional ( Whats So Amazing About Grace , 45).

But just because grace is free does not mean that it is cheap. Grace may not cost you and me anything, but it cost Jesus His life. Jesus came to earth over two thousand years ago. As God in human flesh, He lived the perfect life and then died on a cross to pay the price for your sin and mine. We deserved to hang on that cross, not Jesus. It was our sin that separated us from a holy and righteous God, our sin that made us guilty and deserving of spending eternity in hell. But because Jesus loves you and me so much, He had mercy on us and took the death sentence upon Himself that we so rightly deserved. Thats grace. And because of Gods grace there is hope both for today and the rest of eternity. Living in this hope is the Big Idea throughout the letter of 1 Peter.

Of all the disciples, I believe that Peter understood the grace of God the most because Peter denied knowing Jesus not once, not twice, but three times. Peter thought he loved Jesus enough to die for Him, but when that love was tested and Peter was accused of being one of Jesus disciples, he failed and denied knowing Him. Jesus had warned Peter that this would happen: Todayyes, tonightbefore the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times. But Peter insisted emphatically, Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you (Mark 14:2931 NIV ).

Even though Peter did love Jesus, and even though he intended to stand firm in the face of persecution, he denied his Lord just as Jesus said he would. But in the midst of Peters great failure, he experienced the amazing grace of God. There is an interesting detail found only in Lukes account of Peters betrayal of Jesus. Its found in Luke 22:61 ( NIV ): The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. What do you think was in that look? What if you had been in Jesus sandals; how would you have looked at Peter? Would it have been a look of hurt or anger? Would you have given Peter the evil eye and said, Peter how could you? How could you do this to me? All of these would be natural responses, and if Jesus had looked at Peter that way, who would have blamed Him?

But heres the interesting thing: None of these natural responses were in the look that Jesus gave to Peter. The Greek word for looked in this verse carries the idea of interest, love, or concern. Jesus didnt look at Peter with disdain but with grace. It was like Jesus was saying: Peter, I love you, and Im concerned about you, because I know how broken you are going to feel now that you have rejected me. Peter denied his Lord, but later Peter experienced Gods grace.

For the last few years, I have participated in leading a tour to the Holy Land. One of my favorite spots on our tour is Mensa Christi, where Jesus restored Peter and commissioned him to full-time ministry. It is a powerful experience to sit there on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and listen to the water as it laps on the sand, feeling the sun on your face, knowing that at this very spot, some two thousand years ago, Peter experienced the amazing grace of God as Jesus restored him three times for each of his three denials. That day changed Peters life forever from a hardened blue-collar fisherman into an ambassador of Gods grace. And I believe as Peter penned the words of this first letter bearing his name, his intent inspired by the Holy Spirit was for every disciple who reads these words to experience the hope that comes through Gods grace. As such, I believe that every follower of Jesus Christ can live every moment of every day with hope if they remember three important truths.