Dale Partridge - Real Christianity #93： How to Have Hope in a Hard Situation

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Real Christianity. Today, we are talking about how to have hope in a hard situation.

00:00:07.500 Well, guys, welcome to the Real Christianity podcast. Excited to have you here.

00:00:12.540 Typically, this show is done with my wife and I, but since the coronavirus situation,

00:00:18.340 we haven't had as much opportunity for babysitting, and we are doing shows where I'm doing them and she's watching kiddos.

00:00:27.360 However, next week we will be back at it with just her and I.

00:00:32.860 We're going to try to do something with maybe the kids going to bed and filming a show at night.

00:00:37.220 Those are harder to do for us, but we really do know the importance of having her here as a secondary voice in the conversation that we have here on the podcast.

00:00:47.460 But thanks for joining us today.

00:00:49.620 If you're new to the show, we'd love for you to leave a review if you haven't done so already.

00:00:53.960 Those reviews are really powerful.

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00:01:12.800 for them.

00:01:14.360 Today's a really important show, especially in the midst of what might look like a hopeless

00:01:20.340 situation.

00:01:21.340 How do we have hope in what looks like these hard and difficult times?

00:01:26.280 And I think I'm going to give you guys some practical, biblical resources to pull from in your own life.

00:01:33.700 But before we get started, I wanted to mention just a couple things.

00:01:37.120 One is if you're a Christian and you're struggling with the sin of pornography,

00:01:42.380 I just released a powerful new program to help you break free for the bondage of porn.

00:01:49.620 And it's standinvictory.org.

00:01:53.020 Again, that's standinvictory.org.

00:01:55.740 Basically, it's a program that teaches us to stand in victory over sin that Christ has earned on our behalf.

00:02:04.260 And it's an extremely affordable, simple, straightforward course.

00:02:08.860 It's three 20-minute videos.

00:02:10.960 Each video is accompanied by three study guide PDFs.

00:02:15.200 It's for men and women.

00:02:16.440 and it has some virtual tasks that you can do

00:02:21.060 and some biblical study tasks for maintaining freedom

00:02:24.580 from pornography and other forms of sexual immorality.

00:02:29.020 You can watch the video about the course on the homepage.

00:02:33.280 It shares a little bit of my story

00:02:34.720 if you just visit standinvictory.org.

00:02:38.240 Again, it's a gospel-centered program.

00:02:40.320 Guys, if you are struggling with porn, guys or girls,

00:02:44.080 This is an important course to check out.

00:02:46.920 Another great thing that I've already had people do since we just rolled this out is if, say you've overcome pornography and you've broken free from pornography.

00:02:57.080 If you would like to sponsor somebody, you can do so by just going to relearnchurch.org forward slash donate.

00:03:08.260 And you can make a donation of any amount.

00:03:11.300 and then just write an email at support at relearn.org.

00:03:18.860 I know those are two different domains,

00:03:20.380 but we're switching over domains here.

00:03:22.380 But if you go to relearnchurch.org forward slash donate,

00:03:25.000 make that there and then send us an email

00:03:27.300 at support at relearn.org and just say,

00:03:31.380 hey, I just made a donation for this amount.

00:03:32.980 I'd like you to apply it to somebody

00:03:37.060 that might not be able to afford the program.

00:03:39.220 It's only $49 is what the program is, so you can sponsor two people for $100.

00:03:44.320 We're going to make that a little bit more fluid soon, but that's an option now,

00:03:48.920 and it would be a huge blessing to many people, especially in times like this.

00:03:53.920 The second thing I want to mention just before we get going into this podcast on hope

00:04:00.040 is I want to talk about that special released article that I did on St. Justin's website.

00:04:06.360 I also did it as a podcast last week.

00:04:08.340 If you have not listened to the podcast last week, titled, How the Coronavirus Might Change the Local Church Forever.

00:04:15.780 It's based on an article that I wrote. It took me about 40 hours to write.

00:04:20.460 And guys, I'm telling you, I, in the middle of that, I went and prayed several times.

00:04:25.180 I had to worship the Lord several times in the middle of writing this to get a firm and accurate perspective

00:04:31.000 of some predictions of what we might be seeing in the coming months to years in the shifts of the

00:04:38.180 local church expression. And so if you want to read that article, you can go to St. Justin's,

00:04:44.000 that's stjustins.org forward slash coronavirus. All right, guys, let's go ahead and get started

00:04:53.380 about this conversation today.

00:04:56.360 I think it's obvious that the worry is starting to rise

00:05:01.000 and life in quarantine is starting to become

00:05:05.380 a little bit more frustrating.

00:05:07.600 People love to control their lives

00:05:09.780 and especially they love to control their deaths.

00:05:13.800 And these current circumstances,

00:05:16.100 especially talking about an illness,

00:05:18.800 they begin to infringe on our desire

00:05:21.000 to do both of those things,

00:05:22.360 to control our lives and to control our deaths, and it's at the forefront of discussion and 0.76

00:05:27.840 conversation, and it is becoming very hope-stealing for many families and many Christians in the

00:05:35.980 church. And as you know, a few weeks ago, we released an episode titled, How Christians

00:05:41.320 Should Respond to the Coronavirus. That's episode 87, and in that episode, we discussed the sovereignty

00:05:47.800 of God over times like these. But today, I want to talk more about the practical theology that

00:05:55.280 may be helpful for those wondering how to manage the kind of minutiae of this, what I think is a

00:06:02.280 sociopolitical firestorm. It's not just about the coronavirus. It's about the social media,

00:06:07.920 and it's about the worry of the economy, and it's about the laws changing, about the threats of

00:06:12.420 government. It's about a lot of things. How are we to respond? Again, the sovereignty of God

00:06:19.600 must be the foundation of the discussion. So you got to go back and listen to that episode 87 if

00:06:24.460 you haven't. But how do we respond practically in our own life, in our own theology, from our

00:06:32.740 own perspective, in our own home, in our own hearts? And so I want to look at a few things.

00:06:40.380 First, I want to say this, though. Christians in this time, in this sociopolitical firestorm, in this time of uncertainty and confusion, should be the most level-headed and the most sober and the most self-controlled group on the planet right now.

00:07:00.680 we should be the ones demonstrating joy and peace not the depression or the worry or the anxiety

00:07:11.200 that's so commonly seen in moments like these in the culture now i'm not disregarding the

00:07:16.900 difficulty of the time that we're in this isn't easy but ultimately christians must be should be

00:07:24.540 the billboards of hope in our communities.

00:07:28.060 And I want to take a look at some scripture in 1 Peter

00:07:32.240 that in its biblical context is about how Christians are to respond to persecution with hope.

00:07:39.380 But I want to apply Peter's instruction in this passage

00:07:43.240 for responding to all trials with hope, including this one.

00:07:48.040 And I do think there is a strong biblical argument from James, from Peter, from Paul

00:07:53.560 about doing so.

00:07:56.000 But let's look at this passage in 1 Peter.

00:07:57.920 It's 1 Peter 3, 13-15.

00:08:00.400 A lot of you guys know this passage.

00:08:03.100 Verse 13, it says,

00:08:04.820 Now who is there to harm you

00:08:06.200 if you're zealous for what is good?

00:08:08.520 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake,

00:08:11.280 you will be blessed.

00:08:12.500 Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.

00:08:14.840 But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy,

00:08:18.420 always being prepared to make a defense

00:08:20.980 to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do so with gentleness and

00:08:27.540 respect. So one thing I want to point out is that basically the response of the gospel is a reactive

00:08:38.740 work, meaning that people are going to see something in you and going to ask you, and you

00:08:47.300 need to be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason, for the hope that's

00:08:51.740 in you. And so when people are not asking you questions about Jesus, it's an evidence that

00:09:00.900 basically you're not displaying anything that would drive curiosity. And that's a problem.

00:09:07.280 when you show hope in hard situations that will drive curiosity when the culture at large

00:09:18.620 no longer has questions for the church at large that becomes an even bigger question when the

00:09:24.280 church looks so much like the culture that the culture stops being curious about the church

00:09:29.640 that's a big problem that we have to deal with um but i want to talk about just this in a in a

00:09:37.140 perspective within the coronavirus, and I guess the underlying theological message here,

00:09:42.540 the lesson I would say is anyone can display hope in a hopeful situation. But through Christ,

00:09:50.060 we as Christians can display hope in what looks like a hopeless situation. And the principle

00:09:55.800 reminds me of Jesus's words in Matthew 546. He says, for if you love those who love you,

00:10:02.420 What reward do you have?

00:10:03.880 Do not even the tax collectors have the same?

00:10:06.800 Basically saying like, there's nothing special about loving the lovable.

00:10:11.680 What's special is being able to love the unlovable,

00:10:15.360 to have hope in the midst of hopelessness,

00:10:17.940 to have joy in the face of suffering,

00:10:20.000 to have light in the middle of the dark,

00:10:21.680 to have peace in the middle of the storm.

00:10:23.760 This is what Christians do.

00:10:26.000 This is what causes curiosity.

00:10:27.960 Always be prepared to give a defense or to give an answer for the hope that's in you

00:10:31.320 and to do so with gentleness and respect.

00:10:35.140 And so 1 Peter, that passage,

00:10:39.680 hope and suffering and uncertainty is evangelistic

00:10:42.380 because it's not natural.

00:10:44.340 It's supernatural.

00:10:45.940 It causes people to be curious.

00:10:48.000 It causes people to ask, why?

00:10:50.120 How can you have joy and not worry

00:10:52.800 in what to me feels and looks like misery?

00:10:57.760 Like how can you have hope in this situation

00:11:00.780 that looks so dark and hard.

00:11:03.140 I just lost my job.

00:11:04.440 I can't feed my family

00:11:06.920 unless I go get a second thing over here.

00:11:10.240 I don't know where I'm going to sleep next month

00:11:13.860 because my rent isn't going to get paid.

00:11:15.960 These are legitimate worries.

00:11:18.020 My grandfather is sick

00:11:19.840 and my child has a compromised immune system.

00:11:23.580 How can you remain hopeful?

00:11:26.620 Well, it's through Christ.

00:11:27.980 We know that.

00:11:29.300 And the answer centrally, I think, is founded upon the character of God.

00:11:35.440 And sure, as Christians, we know that we have purpose in our suffering.

00:11:38.940 We know that we have no condemnation at our death, which gives us great joy.

00:11:42.480 We know that we have eternal life through our faith, through our reliance and our trust in Jesus Christ.

00:11:49.220 Philippians 1, 23 through 24 says, by Paul, he says,

00:11:53.780 I am hard-pressed between the two.

00:11:55.860 my desire is to depart and be with Christ

00:11:59.380 for that is far better

00:12:01.280 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account

00:12:05.800 on the account of his ministry to do here

00:12:08.200 basically the worst thing that can happen

00:12:11.720 to us as Christians death 0.98

00:12:13.700 is actually the best thing that could happen 0.84

00:12:16.520 to us as Christians because we'll be with Christ

00:12:19.560 and our hope

00:12:21.980 fully rests upon

00:12:24.320 not just these promises, but God's word, and the two are one. But the bedrock of my hope

00:12:31.760 isn't only these verses about suffering and hope. The bedrock of my hope is in God himself.

00:12:39.920 And what I mean is that we have hope because God is a hopeful God. It's not only that

00:12:48.180 He says in scriptures, specifically he talks about hope, it's in everything that he is.

00:12:57.060 He's a hopeful God. God is a God of hope, and it's demonstrated in everything that he's ever done.

00:13:02.980 Hope is rooted in character. God is hope.

00:13:08.800 And when the hopelessness of our world is raging because of uncertainty and confusion and concern,

00:13:15.100 we as Christians have hope

00:13:18.020 not because we know exactly what God is doing

00:13:21.680 but because we know who God is

00:13:24.600 I'm going to say that again

00:13:26.040 we can have hope not because we know exactly what God is doing

00:13:30.240 but because we know who God is

00:13:32.500 we know the character of God

00:13:34.060 we know the history of God

00:13:36.300 we know the heart of God

00:13:38.340 we know God relationally

00:13:40.220 we don't need to have control

00:13:43.540 or have complete understanding or have the details of what's occurring in our world to have hope.

00:13:50.500 We don't need to chase prophecies and conspiracy theological theories and decoded political information.

00:13:58.240 Why? Because we know who God is.

00:14:01.180 We know who God is.

00:14:01.900 I've seen so many people right now that are constantly pushing out all their different interpretive prophecies

00:14:08.440 on this passage and that passage, and I go,

00:14:10.820 okay, there's nothing wrong with looking at scripture and then looking at our times and

00:14:14.980 trying to make a confident, theologically accurate evaluation of what's possibly happening

00:14:21.800 right now. But people become obsessed. They want to know because they want control. They want to

00:14:27.220 understand deeply. And that's not necessarily what we need. We need to actually just rest

00:14:34.400 in what God is doing, even if we don't understand specifically what's going on,

00:14:39.140 because we know who God is.

00:14:42.660 And I want to give you an illustration that I heard from Paul Washer

00:14:46.920 that I think might help clarify the point that I'm trying to make.

00:14:52.180 Let's just say that you had a friend for like 20 to 25 years.

00:14:55.940 This is a long-term friend.

00:14:57.860 This is a brother in the Lord.

00:14:59.700 He's been with you thick and thin.

00:15:02.400 You've seen him faithfully serve others, his family.

00:15:05.120 You've seen him serve God for decades and decades.

00:15:07.520 let's just say that you haven't seen him for two years but he walks in your house and says hey

00:15:14.760 uh i need to borrow your truck and without a word you just toss him the keys to your brand new 1.00

00:15:20.340 sixty thousand dollar toyota tundra and your wife goes what are you doing you're not even going to 0.99

00:15:26.260 ask him why he wants your truck your answer could be well i i don't need to know what he's doing

00:15:32.820 exactly because i know who he is i know his character it doesn't matter what he's doing

00:15:39.760 it'll be honorable because he is honorable and i think that same principle is true with god we can

00:15:46.260 have hope in uncertainty and ambiguity not because we know exactly what god is doing

00:15:51.220 no it's because we know that the character of god is good and we know him so well that our hope is

00:15:59.920 founded in the reality that whatever he is doing is good and righteous and just and trustworthy

00:16:04.940 but most of all i want to talk about that you know we can trust that every single thing that

00:16:12.320 is happening in our world is working together for good for those who love god and are called

00:16:18.740 according to his purpose that's romans 8 28 and um i don't know who coined the term the great eight

00:16:26.740 but Romans 8 is probably one of the greatest passages of Scripture

00:16:32.000 to be reading right now in this season.

00:16:37.660 It's that passage that Paul writes those beautiful words,

00:16:40.860 for I consider that the sufferings of this present time

00:16:43.540 are not worthy of comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

00:16:49.120 He continues saying a few verses later in verses 28.

00:16:52.540 I just said it by memory a second ago.

00:16:55.160 I'm going to read it right here.

00:16:56.320 And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.

00:17:04.180 He goes on to say in verse 31,

00:17:05.440 What then shall we say to these things?

00:17:07.940 If God is for us, who can be against us?

00:17:11.200 He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all,

00:17:15.500 how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

00:17:19.520 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

00:17:22.580 It is God who justifies.

00:17:25.020 Who is to condemn?

00:17:26.320 Christ Jesus is the one who died, but more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

00:17:36.680 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

00:17:39.000 Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

00:17:44.060 No! In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

00:17:49.120 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present,

00:17:55.040 nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation

00:17:59.280 will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

00:18:05.060 Guys, this is a huge promise to stand on in times of uncertainty.

00:18:12.020 What a great hope that we have.

00:18:14.140 What a great opportunity to put these truths on display for the world.

00:18:17.760 Again, the great eight, just go and smother your brain in that passage of scripture.

00:18:25.580 If we're learning anything in this pandemic, we're learning of man's fear and man's fear of death and man's desire for control.

00:18:34.660 We're learning of man's lack of hope.

00:18:36.980 We're learning of man's need for information.

00:18:40.400 It's our duty to see this moment and offer the only solution to remove that fear,

00:18:47.200 which is the gospel of Jesus Christ,

00:18:48.820 to know that we have a sovereign God who is over all of these things,

00:18:53.540 who cares for us and is working all things together for those who love him.

00:18:58.380 When we rest in that, we can be hopeful in any situation,

00:19:01.760 regardless of our circumstances.

00:19:03.520 And that's the beautiful thing about the gospel.

00:19:05.820 I don't have conditional hope.

00:19:08.080 I don't have conditional joy.

00:19:11.940 I don't have conditional courage.

00:19:14.700 I don't have conditional obedience.

00:19:17.260 I have all of those things in all times because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

00:19:22.980 And I don't mean just go love people with these, demonstrate these truths.

00:19:28.740 I don't just mean kind of be the good neighbor.

00:19:31.120 Those are important things.

00:19:32.180 But I want you to actually proclaim the actual gospel message.

00:19:36.280 I want you to actually read Scripture and proclaim the truth of Scripture maybe on the Internet,

00:19:41.560 maybe to your friends, maybe in an email, maybe to a neighbor, whatever it takes.

00:19:45.800 But we talk so much about gospel preaching, and the Great Commission is not the great suggestion.

00:19:53.260 You know, the Great Commission doesn't mean you just go love your neighbor.

00:19:57.240 That's not the gospel. Love your neighbor is not the gospel.

00:20:01.080 Christians love their neighbor because of the gospel,

00:20:03.160 But the reality is you still have a responsibility to go share the actual gospel message,

00:20:08.700 to talk about the hope that comes in scripture,

00:20:11.380 to look at the doctrines and the truths that we see in the good book

00:20:14.500 and remind people of those things and talk about why you have hope

00:20:18.900 and why they might not have hope in those times.

00:20:22.460 And so that's my prayer for you in this matter,

00:20:26.620 that the Lord gives you a moment to serve him in proclamation,

00:20:31.900 in actual discussion, in the demonstration of these truths

00:20:36.300 to the point that people actually come and look at you

00:20:39.040 and ask you and are curious about your life

00:20:41.440 and about your family and about your business

00:20:43.760 and about your ministry because you look different,

00:20:46.860 you act different, you think different,

00:20:48.680 you are different because you're redeemed.

00:20:53.440 Let's pray and I'll do a last short announcement

00:20:56.680 and then we'll close out.

00:20:59.180 Father, we thank you for your truth.

00:21:01.560 Lord, we thank you that you're a hopeful God and that you have given us the passages of Scripture that we might lean in to that truth and that you're good and you're just and you're trustworthy.

00:21:13.040 And because of those things of who you are, we don't need to know the details of every single thing, Father, but we can trust and we can be faithful to the commands that you have given us in Scripture.

00:21:23.860 Father, I ask that you would bless every single person that's listening right now with an opportunity to display and to demonstrate and to proclaim the gospel.

00:21:32.540 Father, that you would use these men and women to widen the border of your kingdom, Father.

00:21:39.040 We pray for courage.

00:21:40.420 We pray for boldness.

00:21:41.260 We pray for conviction that would bring your church to a place of demonstration that people would be looking and saying,

00:21:48.840 Wow, you guys are different.

00:21:50.440 There's something different.

00:21:51.340 And they're not going to see us.

00:21:52.620 they're going to see Christ in us, Father.

00:21:55.000 Lord, I pray for that in Jesus' name.

00:21:57.420 Amen.

00:21:58.880 Guys, thank you for listening to this episode.

00:22:01.180 I hope it's helpful and fruitful.

00:22:03.040 I ask that you guys would continue to pray for our ministry

00:22:07.220 and supporting our ministry.

00:22:09.580 We're continuing to launch new ministry-funded projects

00:22:13.300 that we can continue using as products

00:22:15.540 to keep the ministry going.

00:22:17.500 We ask that you would continue to pray for our ministry.

00:22:20.320 there is a lot of work coming for us

00:22:23.660 because as the church is changing

00:22:25.740 and more people are interested in house churching

00:22:28.300 we are in a unique position to serve the church in that way

00:22:32.660 again just pray for us in that capacity

00:22:34.720 and pray and consider supporting us

00:22:38.080 if the Lord so allows you and permits you to do so

00:22:41.380 again if you are struggling with the sin of pornography

00:22:46.680 remember that we launched that new course

00:22:48.860 which is a new product that funds our ministry, standinvictory.org.

00:22:53.480 You can check that out.

00:22:54.600 And if you wanted to read the article about the local church,

00:22:56.620 again, that link is stjustins.org forward slash coronavirus.

00:23:01.260 All right, guys, next week we will be back with both Veronica and I

00:23:04.440 on a great topic for real Christianity.

00:23:08.560 Until next time, take care.

Dale Partridge - April 15, 2020

Real Christianity #93： How to Have Hope in a Hard Situation

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