Put Your Hope in God
And so often when we use the word "hope" in casual conversation, it has a wavering, uncertain sound. (cf Lk 23:8, Acts 24:26 - neither Herod's nor Felix's hopematerialized). Most people live in hope that things will improve for them and that they will finally be satisfied. One of the frightening observations of our day is that there are so many, particularly the young, who have no hope. Suicides are on the increase annually, and a recent poll said the majority of teens in our day have no hope for the future. And so we see so many of our young living recklessly hoping to find satisfaction in the present moment. Our society is characterized by a pervading sense of hopelessness. Unfortunately the Church is not immune to this hopeless feeling. Many who claim to be born again believers in Jesus Christ are searching for fulfillment in life. The truth of Scripture is that we were not made for the present, and the present was never intended to satisfy us. "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1Co 15:19)
For centuries, anchors have been a symbol of hope. This emblem was especially significant to the early persecuted church. Many etchings of anchors were discovered in the catacombs of Rome, where Christians held their meetings in hiding. Threatened with death because of their faith, these committed Christians used the anchor as a disguised cross and as a marker to guide the way to their secret meetings. Located beneath the ancient city, 600 miles of these tomb-like burial chambers served as a place of refuge during perilous times of persecution. Thus, the anchor—found even on some tombstones today—has become the symbol of guaranteed hope for the eternal security of true Christians. (Biblical Counseling Keys on Hope: The Anchor of Your Soul)
Ray Stedman - "One of the great reasons the church is so confused in this day, one of the reasons the church says so little of true significance to the world, is that it has neglected and abandoned, by and large, the hope of the coming of the Lord. There are very few sermons preached on it. There is very little said about it. There is no time given to a consideration of what this hope means and why it is set forth so frequently and so clearly in the Scriptures. Great sections of the Scriptures that deal with the hope of our Lord's return are simply ignored by Christians."
WHAT IS THE BELIEVER'S
"BLESSED HOPE"? |
In a word the answer is a Person...JESUS! His return and the expectation associated with that certain future event constitutes the foundation of every believer's blessed hope. You do believe He is returning don't you? Scripture does not "stutter" but repeatedly alludes to His Second Coming (scholars have estimated that 1 in 20 NT passages allude directly or indirectly to the Second Coming.) Clearly God desires for His children to live with an assurance of His "coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory" (Mt 24:30), a coming that will bring blessing to His own!
The blessed hope is the absolute certainty that God will do good to us in the future and includes the idea that we are looking forward with expectancy and eager anticipation to the visualization and culmination of this great hope.
Joseph Addison wrote that the blessed hope...
"not only bears up the mind under sufferings but makes her rejoice in them."
"This confident hope gives us the encouragement and enablement we need for daily living. It does not put us in a rocking chair where we complacently await the return of Jesus Christ. Instead, it puts us in the marketplace, on the battlefield, where we keep on going when the burdens are heavy and the battles are hard. Hope is not a sedative; it is a shot of adrenaline, a spiritual blood transfusion."
A study of concentration camp survivors found that those prisoners who were able to hold onto their sense of hope (‘things are going to get better’ or ‘we’re going to get out of here one day’ ) were much more likely to survive. Hope then is not optional but for these prisoners proved to be a matter of life and death.
Dr. Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist, observed that a prisoner did not continue to live very long after hope was lost. But even the slightest ray of hope—the rumor of better food; a whisper about an escape—helped some of the camp inmates to continue living even under systematic horror (Man's Search for Meaning) (George Sweeting)
Faith and hope are inseparably linked.
We believe and so we hope
We believe and so we hope
Hope is a confidence born of faith. When we have faith in God, we claim His promises, and His promises in turn give us hope for the future. This hope is certain because God promised it and He never fails to keep His promises (see Josh 21:45,23:14, 1Ki 8:56, 1Co 1:9, 1Th 5:24-note, Heb 6:18-note). And so our blessed hopeis an exciting expectancy because our sovereign God, El Elyon, controls the future. When Jesus Christ is your Savior and your Lord, the future is your friend. You don't have to worry!
W H Griffith-Thomas says "Hope in the NT is a Christian grace wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit." (And I would add it is fertilized and fostered with the Word of Truth)
Peter emphasizes that this is a living hope not a dead hope. Compare Peter's teaching to James who describes a dead faith (Jas 2:17-note, Jas 2:26-note) which he says is useless (barren, fruitless, unproductive) (Jas 2:20-note). It follows that a "living faith" and a "living hope" is fertile, fruitful, productive.
Living hope is hope that like a living faith that is "fertile, fruitful, productive" which "has power and produces changes in...how we live" (Piper) In other words, a living hope gives a motivation and power to produce changes in one's life. A living hope is dynamic, energizing and capable of stimulating a strong confidence in God, which in turn has the power to affect one's daily outlook and conduct. Right (righteous)doctrine should always lead to right (righteous) thinking which in turn should work itself out in right (righteous) conduct. Correct creed begets correct conduct.
Has this Biblical "living hope" had a supernatural effect in your life? Or are you living as if you had a "dead hope"? If the latter, then beseech God that "the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling" (Ep 1:18)
The best that the world can say is,
Where there’s life, there’s hope.
Peter teaches that the truth is exactly the opposite for where there is genuine Biblicalhope, there is real life and the potential for abundant, victorious life!
Peter shows us how it it possible to obtain this Godward hope - we must be born again. Without the new birth one cannot experience this new quality of living hope. The Spirit quickens the heart, giving spiritual life so that faith is born and a living hope springs forth from what was once dead, dry soil.
Living hope is an
integral component of saving faith.
Because of this life giving hope no believer need remained trapped in their past (no matter how awful) but can be confident of their future. In other words, if you have a living hope you can cope with a painful past because you have the certainty of a glorious future:
We desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the fullassurance (word study of related verb) of hope until the end (See Piper's sermonsHeb 6:1-12, Heb 6:9-11 Heb 6:9-12)
In context Hebrews 6:11 refers to the fact that God will remember the service which saints have rendered to other saints (see note Hebrews 6:10). Remember that as saints we serve not to "earn heaven" but because we already "have heaven" (see related discussion Eph 2:10-note). Note that full assurance is God's will for us.
Based on this verse John Piper defines hope as " full assurance, or strong confidence that God is going to do good to us in the future" (The Power of Hope)
But those who wait (Qavah ) for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power (idea of Hebrew word "gain new" = substitute or exchange their strength for His strength). They shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint or become tired. (Isaiah 40:31-note,Amplified Version).
wait -
Word Definition [ Brown-Drivers-Briggs' | Strong's ]
Hope is waiting in confident expectation for God’s promises in Christ, summed up in the gospel. Hope is fundamental because the gospel concerns God’s culmination of his redemptive work, “the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed” (1 Pet. 1:13 NRSV), the “hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Most of that for which we trust in Christ remains yet future (Rom. 8:24b), for the Spirit’s present blessings are “firstfruits.” God alone controls fulfillment, so hope is waiting for God to act, graciously and powerfully, on our behalf as in the past. Christians hope “by faith” (Gal. 5:5). Faith trusts in God’s promises, while hope expects what is to come. God’s reliability and his promise should foster lively, growing assurance, despite delays and doubts.
8 “O Hope of Israel,
Its Savior in time of distress,
Why are You like a stranger in the land
Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?
Note "hope" is even used as a "Name" for God
Summary of Biblical Images of Hope...
Hope is a door (Hos 2:15), “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb 6:19NIV) and a helmet (1Th 5:8). Hope is “stored up for you in heaven” (Col 1:5RSV). It is something inside a believer (1Pet 3:15 RSV) and something into which one is born (1 Pet 1:3). Those who hope for the Messianic Age are “prisoners of hope” (Zech 9:12RSV). There is a sense too in which many of the Bible’s apocalyptic visions of the future are images of hope for the believer-something tangible toward which believers look as an eventual reality and around which they orient their present lives. (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery)
And what is the key to realization of the beneficial truths in Romans 15:13? In Believing.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints
We could paraphrase it like this: Put your confidence and your trust in God’s Word so fully that joy and peace abound and the Holy Spirit is released in your life with extraordinary power and hope.
BLESSED HOPE
AND THE
ROLE OF PRAYER
AND THE
ROLE OF PRAYER
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Devotional) (Resources by F B Meyer) (Prepare To Live)
Source: God of Hope
Power: Holy Spirit
Prayer: For filling
Result: Overflowing hope |
And what is the key to realization of the beneficial truths in Romans 15:13? In Believing.
John Piper has several comments on Ro 15:13...
Trusting the God of hope (Ed: He is the source of hope but it could also mean He Himself is hope, hope being characteristic of His nature) gives joy and peace. And the reason it does is because our confident hope is that God is at work right now and tomorrow in the everyday affairs of our lives so that only what is best for us happens to us....
Notice that it is in or by believing that we are filled with joy and peace. And it is by the Spirit that we abound in hope. When we put those two halves of the verse together, what we see is that through our faith (our believing) the Spirit fills us with his hope and thus with his joy and peace. And, of course since hope is such an essential part of being filled with joy by the Spirit, what we have to believe is that God is, as Paul says, the God of hope. We have to rivet our faith on all that he has done and said to give us hope....
We could paraphrase it like this: Put your confidence and your trust in God’s Word so fully that joy and peace abound and the Holy Spirit is released in your life with extraordinary power and hope.
So how does hope work in the Christian life? We start with the God of hope. He fills us with joy and peace. How? “In believing.” In believing what? In believing all that Christ has done and all he promises to do for us. In other words, our joy and peace rise with what we believe the God of hope is for us in Christ. Joy and peace are sustained by hope. But then the verse says that God fills us with joy and peace “so that you will abound in hope.” So here we have more hope coming from the fruit of hope. Hope brings about our joy and peace. And our joy and peace bring about more and more hope....
“Abound in hope.” That means overflow in hope. Brim with hope. Be full of hope. Hope pushing out all contrary emotions—discouragement, depression, fear, anxiety, grumbling, bitterness. Hope does not coexist well with these things. And when it is abounding, and overflowing, they push these contrary emotions out.
As someone has well said
Believe your beliefs, and doubt your doubts; most people believe their doubts, and doubt their beliefs. God is a God of hope. Believe this beloved!
Note that the fruit of our blessed hope is Christian love. The Colossians have love because of the blessed hope laid up for us - because they have set their hearts earnestly and intensely on the future prospect of sharing the glory of God, of seeing the risen Lord, of being freed from sin and sickness, and of living in joy for all eternity -- when Christians set their hearts with deep longing and strong confidence on these things, yes, they become heavenly-minded but not so much that they are of no earthly use? Paul says that this heavenly minded hope produces a genuine agapelove.
John Piper explains that our blessed hope which is a...
Strong confidence in the promises of God and a passionate preference for the joy of heaven over the joy of the world, frees a person from worldly self-centeredness, from paralyzing regret and self-pity, from fear and greed and bitterness and despair and laziness and impatience and envy. And in the place of all these sins hope bears the fruit of love.
Piper adds that
The link between the objective hope laid up in heaven and the active love for the saints on the earth is the subjective experience of hope welling up in our hearts.
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might havehope;.
Comment: Notice that the studying the OT is a source of hope. How much have you studied the OT? Don't ignore God's veritable storehouse of hope hidden in the pages of the OT. As John Piper says "The full assurance of hope comes from meditating on the promises of God’s Word." (ref) And again Piper asks "How are we to hope in God if we don’t know His promises?” The answer isRo15:4...We do know the promises of God—the whole Bible—the Scripture—was written to give us hope. Take up and read!" (Our Hope: The Appearing of Christ)
Beloved, if you are battling against discouragement & hopelessness I strongly recommend you read this message where Piper illustrates the truth of Ro 15:4 from the life of missionary Henry Martyn who died at age 31!)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
. . .there is a future for the person of peace. (Psalm 37:37)
There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. (Proverbs 23:18)
Jesus said, "Behold, I am coming soon!" (Revelation 22:12)
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5)
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade -- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:11)
The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.(Psalm 147:11)
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. (2 Timothy 2:8-12)
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:5-8)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:8-11)
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.(Colossians 3:4)
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
Do not be arrogant nor put your hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but put your hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope -- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11-13)
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. (Hebrews 6:10)
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:10-11)
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews 7:24-25)
Blessed is the person who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12)
By faith Moses . . . persevered because he saw him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:24, 27)
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth . . . they were longing for a better country -- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21)
. . . we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:2-5)
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. (James 5:7)
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith." (Hebrews 10:25-28)
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed... Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 57-58)
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:10-11)
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (Romans 16:20)
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:9-10)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.(Galatians 2:20)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Jesus said, "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him . . . (Revelation 1:7)
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
No comments:
Post a Comment