Hope
Romans 5:1 - 5
A man had not been feeling well and went to his doctor for a check-up. After the examination, the doctor left the room and had the nurse call the man’s wife into his office. She came in and the doctor said the husband was going to die, but there was hope.
He said, ‘Your husband needs constant care. If you cater to his every whim for about six months, he might live.’
On the way home, the husband asked her what the doctor told her. She said, ‘He told me you’re going to die, Honey.’
She took all hope away from him.
We as followers of Jesus Christ always seem to talk about having hope, but we don’t always show it in the way we live. And sometimes, we talk about it so much; we sometimes forget what having hope actually means. And in some cases, it gets even worse; we forget how much we need to have hope.
A man by the name of Hal Lindsey wrote this quote:
“Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air...but only for one second without hope.”
The dictionary defines hope as; to look forward to something good with great anticipation; and to confidently and fully expect to obtain that which we desire.
This world is looking for something to hope for. Something that in the future things will be better. The problem is they are searching in the wrong places or searching on the wrong things.
Many hope that money is the answer - but we see that some of the richest people are some of the most hopeless people. Many hope that alcohol will fill the gap - but they become alcoholics. Many hope that drugs will fill the gap - but they become addicts. Many turn to religion - but they soon realize religion is empty and they blame God. The list goes on...........
Satan is a great deceiver. He knows that all mankind is looking for hope and he will stop at nothing to bring false hope to everyone.
The world is looking for hope.
America is looking for hope.
The people in our community are looking for hope.
But what they are putting their hope in is not working - looks pretty hopeless doesn't it?
What does the Bible say about hope?
I use a Bible program called e-sword - I typed the word hope into its search engine and almost all the scripture came from Paul's writings.
As we have looked at before, Saul, a Jew, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, who later became Paul, put his hope in something that was no hope at all - The Law. The Law had one purpose and only one purpose - to reveal sin, to make us guilty, to show us how hopeless we are, to show us that none of us can measure up to God's standards. Hopeless.
Then Christ came and paid the price by His death, and gave us hope by His resurrection. The problem with Saul and many others - they didn't believe it. They believed a false hope.
The Bible gives us many references and promises about hope:
1Peter 1:3 - 4 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
What is our hope in this morning?
I believe there are 2 forms of hope - false hope and true hope.
Hope is something that drives us. Hope is something that keeps us going. Hope is something that is in the future that we are looking forward to.
Paul says this about hope:
Romans 8:24 - 25 Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
Paul was such an advocate for hope. I believe this because in all his letters he always mentions hope.
But Paul started out with a false hope. Just think about his life, for many years he had and believe in a false hope. He arrested and had many put to death who had placed their hope in the living Christ. He watched them die. He approved and watched Stephen murdered because he believed in Jesus Christ:
Acts 7:58 - 60 They threw him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They were stoning Stephen as he called out: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin!" And saying this, he fell asleep.
Paul heard the hope that Stephen had: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" "Lord, do not charge them with this sin!"
But Paul's false hope continued and he ravaged the church.
There is nothing Satan desires more than to have us believe in a false hope.
Many might remember this Charlie Brown cartoon:
Old Charlie Brown looks to Lucy and says, ‘It’s no use. Our team has no hope of ever winning a game.’ Lucy replies, ‘Well, Charlie Brown, you win some and you lose some.’ Charlie’s eyes brighten up and he says, ‘That would be great!’
She tells him that the team has a million to one chance of winning a game, Charlie replies it is more like a billion to one chance.
It seems Charlie had run out of hope, and without hope we are destined to have continuous failure in our lives.
It is like the two construction workers who ate lunch at the job site every day.
The one guy opens his lunch every day to a cold meat-loaf sandwich. And with each passing day, he complains more and more about having the same thing for lunch. Finally, his co-worker tells him to just tell his wife to make a different kind of sandwich. The first worker says, ‘I’m not married. I make my own lunch!’
Each day, the worker made his own lunch and each day he would complain about what he ate. So many of us do the same things with our lives. We choose how we live, and then we gripe because we have so many problems. Let me suggest that we make different choices for our lives. That will be the only way we see different results in our lives.
Your hope comes in the choices you make. In the Old Testament Joshua makes a choice that not only affected his own family but it also affected the entire children of Israel:
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua placed his hope in the Lord - the one and only true God.
Solomon, the man who was filled with wisdom from God says this about true hope and false hope:
Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.
Paul had a false hope until he met Jesus and his hope changed. His life changed. His outlook on life changed. His future changed.
In the book of Acts Paul and Silas are in the city of Philippi and there they confront a slave girl:
Act 16:16 - 19a Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. As she followed Paul and us she cried out, "These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the slaves of the Most High God." And she did this for many days. But Paul was greatly aggravated and turning to the spirit, said, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out right away. When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone,
This young girl was set free from the demon of fortune-telling, and her owner’s hope of profit was gone. I believe when our folks in this county are set free from their addictions and their hope is in Jesus Christ, that their owner’s hope of profit is gone - drug addiction will stop and that stronghold in our county will be over. Do you believe that?
In his letter to the church at Ephesus Paul writes this:
Ephesians 2:12 At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Paul told the people at Ephesus that without God you have no hope. Paul is telling each of us that without God you have no hope.
In 1 Corinthians Paul makes this statement:
1Corinthians 15:19 If we have placed our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
What is he saying? If our only hope is just in our lives while here on earth - he says we should be pitied more than anyone, in other words there is an eternity that everyone will live. The life we live on this earth is such a small thing compared to living with Him forever.
So many of my doctors say one of the reasons why I am healthy is because of my outlook on life. My hope doesn't rely on my health, my hope is in Him. Does that mean that I don't have bad days? - No, there are times I think about the things I can't do anymore, there are times that Satan tempts me to be depressed. There are times when it seems that hope is gone but it is at those times when He brings to my memory His promises: He promised me the He would never leave me or forsake me.
He promised me that all things work together for good to those who love Him and keep His commandments. He promised me that I can do all things through Him. He promised me that He would prepare for me a mansion. He promised me a place called Heaven. He promised me that I am a child of God.
My hope is in Him.
Romans 5:1 - 5 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
In closing I want to share just a few verses about the hope we have:
Romans 8:24 - 25 Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 1:1 - 2 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
Acts 24:15 And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.
David sums up hope in the 23rd Psalm:
Psalms 23:1 - 6 A Davidic psalm. The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name's sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff--they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live.
I read this in a Bible Commentary:
Despite its worldwide popularity, the Psalm is not for everyone. It is applicable only to those who are entitled to say, "The LORD is my Shepherd." It is true that the Good Shepherd died for all, but only those who actually receive Him by a definite act of faith are His sheep. His saving work is sufficient for all, but it is effective only for those who actually believe on Him. Everything therefore hinges on the personal pronoun my. Unless He is my Shepherd, then the rest of the Psalm does not belong to me. On the other hand, if He is really mine and I am really His, then I have everything in Him!
That's hope - where is your hope this morning?
Titus 2:11 - 13 For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We as His followers have this hope - He is going to return!
John 14:1 – 3 Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Where is your hope?
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