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Dec 29, 2013

Hope Pondered, Faith Discovered

Passage: Romans 5:1-5

Series: Special

Category: Hope

Keywords: hope, faith

Detail:

Hope Pondered, Faith Discovered

 

Introduction:

I have handed out a list of verses for all to read and to ponder over. Here is the morning assignment: From these passages of Scripture simply define HOPE!

“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You. Ps 39:7

My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah. Ps 62:5-8

“…to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”. Col 1:27

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:1-5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3

Results: What have you come up with?

  1. Hope is living and is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

  2. Hope does not disappoint, because it is made alive by the Holy Spirit living within us

  3. Hope is based on Jesus Christ, living within you

  4. Hope is from God, and God only! Why?

    1. He is my Rock

    2. He is my Salvation

    3. He is my Stronghold

    4. He is my Strength

    5. He is my Refuge

  5. Hope is [founded in] God and God alone

 

But what of reality?

What about the world we live in… how do I as a Christian walk the unbeliever, the struggling believer to the altar of hope… how do I as one who struggles with similar questions as they do invite these who struggle down the path to what is simply a “hope”

Listen!

We are surrounded by realities that shake our very beings… in a finely written sermon, Jeremy Houck spells out what we are up against: (Hope Remembered, Jeremy Houck, and Sermon Central.com)

Our new millennium has taught us that the promise of technology is hollow. The reliability of our government is questionable. The integrity of our financial system is suspect. The security of our nation is compromised. And our children are not safe.

These large scale, news worthy losses were accompanied by millions of small, unpublicized, but very personal devastations. A doctor writes "Diagnosis: cancer," on a lab report.

A judge signs her name to a divorce document.

A family business closes and locks its doors for the last time.

A medium-sized company down sizes too small.

A single mother hesitates before opening her mail box, certain that there will be more bills in the box than money in her account.

A troubled 15 year old writes a letter telling his family he can’t go any farther.

A husband and father thinks about praying, but doesn’t.

There is an old Arab parable that says: All sunshine and no rain makes a desert." If you never have any down times, dark times, gloomy times in your life you’ll be dried up. You’ll have no depth to yourself, no maturity. It takes good times and bad times to make a mature person. Life is a mixture of pain and pleasure, of victory and defeat, of success and failure, of mountain tops and valleys.

In a world so apparently defined by tragedy, loss and failure do the words faith, hope and love ring true, realistic or possible?

Or do they sound like so much religious denial in the face of overwhelming evidence that there is nothing to believe in, nothing to look forward to, and nothing that can be done?

The greatest devastation for any culture is not that it will be forgotten, but that it will become forgetful. We are wandering aimlessly in a deep state of amnesia. We have become so self-focused that we have forgotten…

 

What do we do? We HOPE!! Did you hear that, we simply HOPE!!

Let’s take a few minutes and listen to Jeremiah as he writes in Lamentations 3:16-20:

16-18 He ground my face into the gravel.
    He pounded me into the mud.
I gave up on life altogether.
    I’ve forgotten what the good life is like.
I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished.
    God is a lost cause.”

19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
    the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
    the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
    and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

Oh there is much more,,,,

God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left.

25-27 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
    to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
    quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
    to stick it out through the hard times.

Listen!

  1. Let’s be Clear of What Hope Isn’t!

Hope is not mere optimism (no Misunderstanding here)

Optimists live longer than pessimists

Optimists accomplish more, more fun to be around

Optimists handle failure and frustration better than pessimists

However, for all their similarities, hope and optimism are two entirely different animals…

Optimists think they can or that others will

Those with Hope, know God will!!

 

Hope doesn’t take its cue from circumstances

Optimists survey circumstances and find the positive… half full glass, flat tire

Hope on the other hand, doesn’t take its cue on circumstances… actually greater the pain, the more desperate the circumstance, the stronger, more confident hope becomes.

Hope is not simply wishing (dreaming, fanciful, delightful, movie based)



  1. Let’s be Clear What Hope Is!!

Hope is basing your Confident Expectation for the Future on the Faithfulness of God’s Action in the Past! (Listen to the following passages of Scripture)

(2 Examples: Psalms 136 and 2 Chronicles 20)

Look at Psalm 136. This is a text book example, literally, of how hope for the future is maintained by remembering the past. This is an antiphonal Psalm. The leader would say the first part and the congregation would respond. Listen to the hope found in these lines.

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His loving kindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods, For His loving kindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His loving kindness is everlasting.
To Him who alone does great wonders, For His loving kindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His loving kindness is everlasting;
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His loving kindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the great lights, For His loving kindness is everlasting:
The sun to rule by day, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
The moon and stars to rule by night, For His loving kindness is everlasting.
To Him who smote the Egyptians in their first-born, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
And brought Israel out from their midst, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His loving kindness is everlasting;
To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His loving kindness is everlasting;
But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His loving kindness is everlasting.
To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His loving kindness is everlasting;
To Him who smote great kings, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
And slew mighty kings, For His loving kindness is everlasting:
Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
And Og, king of Bashan, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
And gave their land as a heritage, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
Even a heritage to Israel His servant, For His loving kindness is everlasting.
Who remembered us in our low estate, For His loving kindness is everlasting,
And has rescued us from our adversaries, For His loving kindness is everlasting;
Who gives food to all flesh, For His loving kindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His loving kindness is everlasting.

Listen to the Prayer of Jehoshapat:

Then Jehoshaphat took a position before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at The Temple of God in front of the new courtyard and said, “O God, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven above and ruler of all kingdoms below? You hold all power and might in your fist—no one stands a chance against you! And didn’t you make the natives of this land leave as you brought your people Israel in, turning it over permanently to your people Israel, the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived here and built a holy house of worship to honor you, saying, ‘When the worst happens—whether war or flood or disease or famine—and we take our place before this Temple (we know you are personally present in this place!) and pray out our pain and trouble, we know that you will listen and give victory.’

10-12 “And now it’s happened: men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir have shown up. You didn’t let Israel touch them when we got here at first—we detoured around them and didn’t lay a hand on them. And now they’ve come to kick us out of the country you gave us. O dear God, won’t you take care of them? We’re helpless before this vandal horde ready to attack us. We don’t know what to do; we’re looking to you.”

13 Everyone in Judah was there—little children, wives, sons—all present and attentive to God.

Hope requires a Memory

It looks backward to see forward

It sees and experiences the past in the present

It lives through the past to anticipate the future

Listen!! It Remembers the Promises!! Hope Does… A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim.

  • God’s presence -- "I will never leave thee" (Heb. 13:5)

  • God’s protection -- "I am thy shield" (Gen. 15:1)

  • God’s power -- "I will strengthen thee" (Isa. 41:10)

  • God’s provision -- "I will help thee" (Isa. 41:10)

  • God’s leading -- "And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them" (John 10:4)

  • God’s purposes -- "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. 20:11)

  • God’s rest -- "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28)

  • God’s cleansing -- "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)

  • God’s goodness -- "No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly" (Psalm 84:11) ...

Hope visualizes a New Reality (Hebrews 6:19)

“…so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

In the catacombs of ancient Rome, archeologists have discovered a number of early Christian symbols. One of them is the Icthus or a fish. One is the shepherd. And there is one more common symbol. The anchor.

Now why do you suppose they would have an anchor as a common symbol? Maybe it’s because of Hebrews 6:19; "But we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."



Listen Very Carefully!

But what of reality?

What about the world we live in… how do I as a Christian walk the unbeliever, the struggling believer to the altar of hope… how do I as one who struggles with similar questions as they do invite these who struggle down the path to what is simply a “hope”

I would like to suggest something that isn’t expected.

When we settle the WAR within, the BATTLES around us seem so small!!

Have you taken the first step in your life towards settling the issue of HOPE…

Christ awaits your decision!