Our Hope is Stable
for it is built upon the Solid Rock
My Hope
is Built
Play "The Solid Rock"
My hope
is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When
darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope
and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
|
THE BLESSED HOPE
a
lasting
HOPE
eternal life |
Titus 1:2
"in the
hope
of eternal life which God Who cannot lie promised
long
ages ago (see
note
Titus 1:2)
(cf Titus 3:7-note)
Why is this hope so certain?
Because "God, Who cannot lie promised long ages ago".
GOD is incapable of lying. Does this truth not encourage us?...the truth
that one day these bodies of corruption will be glorified, wholly
perfected experientially in Christ’s own righteousness, even as we are now
positionally in Christ.
Matthew Henry
said it well...
The ground of our
hope is Christ in the world, but the evidence of our hope is Christ in the
heart.
John MacArthur explains that...
The hope of eternal life is the
believer’s deepest longing for that which is affirmed and unalterably
guaranteed by God’s own Word. (cf
Jn 6:37-40)
1
Thessalonians 4:13-18
|
OUR
BLESSED HOPE
Caught up in THE COMFORTING TRUTH
of "the
rapture" |
But we do not want you to be uninformed,
brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as
do the rest who have no
hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will
bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus For this we say
to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain
until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen
asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the
dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
will be
caught up (harpazo)
(Latin = Rapere > Rapture) together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall
always be with the Lord Therefore comfort one another with these
words. (see notes
1Thess 4:13;
14;
15;
16;
17;
18)
While some of philosophers such as
Socrates sought to prove happiness after death the pagan world had no word
of assurance.
William Barclay comments on this
hopelessness that enveloped the ancient world writing that...
In face of death the pagan world stood
in despair. They met it with
grim
resignation and bleak
hopelessness.
Aeschylus wrote, “Once a man dies there
is no resurrection.”
Theocritus wrote, “There is
hope for those who are
alive, but those who have died are
without
hope.”
Catullus wrote, “When once our brief
light sets, there is one perpetual night through which we must sleep
On pagan tombstones we find grim
epitaphs carved with sad words like...
I was not
I became
I am not
I care not
In stark contrast we find that the book
of Acts glows with the specific
hope
of bodily resurrection (Acts 2:26; 23:6; 24:15; 26:6, 7). What a comforting
hope
is the bodily resurrection of the dead (saint) and the rapture of the
saints.
Someone has well said that
Goodbyes are the law of earth.
Reunions are the law of heaven.
And so in the bleakest times saints can
have the brightest hope. [See
Torrey's Topic
Resurrection with >70 Scriptures]
UNION with Christ here,
means REUNION with loved ones over There!
A believing soldier said,
When I die do not sound taps over my
grave, but reveille, the morning call, the summons to rise.
One summer a church camp staff staged
an elaborate
rapture
while the camp director was off the
grounds. When he returned, everybody was missing, clothing was on the
ground as though people had “passed through” it, a motorboat was circling
on the lake without pilot or passengers, and everything in the kitchen was
functioning without a cook. A carefully timed phone call from town (“Hey,
what’s happening? Everybody’s missing over here!”) only added to the
effect. “I’ve got to admit,” said the director,
“it really shook me
for
a minute.”
Just think of what disturbing effect
this comforting event for saints will have on a lost world! So let us
comfort one another with this blessed hope instead of arguing over when
it's going to occur.
The Grace of Hope
In
Ps 119:81,
the psalmist writes...
My soul faints
for Your
salvation,
but I
hope (yachal
- ponder the
19 great uses in Psalms)
in Your Word.
The psalmist was a man who was fainting
and yet what choice did he make? He turned to God. His source of hope
was God's Word of Truth. Spurgeon explains that the psalmist...
felt that salvation would come, for God
cannot break His promise, nor disappoint the hope which His own
word has excited: yea, the fulfilment of His word is near at hand when our
hope is firm and our desire fervent. Hope alone can keep the
soul from fainting by using the smelling bottle of the promise. Yet
hope does not quench desire for a speedy answer to prayer; it
increases our importunity, for it both stimulates ardour and sustains the
heart under delays. To faint for salvation, and to be kept from utterly
failing by the hope of it, is the frequent experience of the
Christian man. We are "faint yet pursuing" hope sustains when
desire exhausts. While the grace of desire throws us down, the grace of
hope lifts us up again.
Beloved, if you
hope in circumstances, you will be disappointed,
because they change. The
psalmist hoped in the God's unchanging Word and trusted in God's
faithfulness, and God comforted him. The psalmist clung to the comfort,
hope and faithfulness of God. He surely experienced the revival he
later prayed for asking God to...
Revive
(Imperative - command) me
according
to Your lovingkindness (Ps
119:88). (See
Spurgeon's encouraging note)
Surely God answered with a breath of
fresh, heavenly air and revived him. Thank God for His faithfulness. If
you are having a rough day, remember that you can depend on Him. He is
your God of Hope and all Comfort (2Cor
1:3), and He is ever
faithful to His promises. As you submit to His truth on hope, He will give
you the reviving power you need to rise above your circumstances and
continue. Your hope lies not within yourself or with your
circumstances. Look to the Lord and obey His Word. Then look ahead with
confidence to your future hope, for God's promises are sure and His Word
is true.
1
Thessalonians 1:3
"We give thanks
to God always for all of you making mention of you in our
prayers constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love
and steadfastness
(hupomone)
of
hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father"
(see note
1Thessalonians 1:3)
(See
sermon by John Piper related
to this passage)
What is the "root" or source of their
hope?
Their hope was in
Jesus, firmly built on "nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness".
And what
is the fruit of this hope?
Obviously the fruit is steadfastness or endurance which describes the
ability to bear up triumphantly in the face of much tribulation (thlipsis
[word study])
(1Thes 1:6-note)
and sufferings
(1Th 2:!4-note).
In other words, if something happens in your life that is difficult or
disappointing and you make the choice by grace to look with the eyes of
faith to Christ and His power and sufficiency and you refuse to give
in to complaining or bitterness, then your faith perseveres. The
Thessalonian saints'
hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ brought forth this fragrant fruit of steadfastness which
enabled them to bear up under the trials and tribulations. Furthermore,
when Christians live with an expectant hope, their lifestyle will give
clear evidence of the genuineness of their salvation, which Paul was
celebrating with the giving of thanks (1Thes 1:2-note)
John Bunyan said that...
Hope is the foundation
of
patience.
If you have genuine Biblical hope (not "I
hope so") and you really embrace this truth, it will be a stabilizing
force when people and/or circumstances come into your life and challenge
your patience. (See this golden thread of hope > tribulations [thlipsis]
> perseverance > proven character and back to hope which does not
disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. -- see Ro 5:1, 2, 3, 4, 5-notes
Ro5:1;
5:2;
5:3;
5:4;
5:5)
What was the truth about the Lord Jesus
Christ on which they based their endurance producing hope? Paul
gives us the answer in this same chapter writing that now as believers
they were
waiting
(present
tense
= expectant waiting was their lifestyle)
for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, Who
rescues
(delivers) us from the
wrath
to come. (see note
1Thess 1:10)
In
context, the steadfastness of hope of the afflicted Thessalonian
saints reflected their certainty that Jesus would return and deliver them
from the coming wrath described in Revelation 6-19:21. (See
Rapture)
It is noteworthy,
that the truth of Christ's imminent return to rapture His bride the Church is such an important
plank in the scaffolding of a believer's life of hope that Paul alludes to it at the end
of every chapter in 1 Thessalonians. This repetition clearly underscores
the encouraging and stabilizing effect of the hope of our Lord's return
and the saints Rapture.
One might wonder why the new believers at
Thessalonica were experiencing tribulation? Paul explains that they had
turned to God from idols to serve a
living and true God (see note
1Thes 1:9)
(cp 2Ti 3:12-note
where Paul says that all those who desire
to live godly in Christ Jesus will be [it's a "promise"] persecuted!)
So these former
dead idol worshippers were now living God worshippers, and as such they
were "swimming against the current" of the pagan, godless society in the
first century. Yet despite affliction, they continued to manifest
“sheer dogged endurance.” (Phillips) To reiterate, these saints were
anchored in the truth of the blessed hope of Christ's imminent return (See
article by Dr Walvoord).
They were looking for Him, which worked out in their living for Him.
Dear set apart one, for what or whom
are you looking? It is a basic spiritual principle that what (or who) you are looking
for will radically effect what you are living for.
Romans 8:24,
25
Note a similar stabilizing effect of
hope...
For in
hope
we have been saved (past tense salvation = justification), but
hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also
hope for what he sees? 25 But if we
hope
for what we do not see (this refers to our future tense salvation =
glorification - saved finally from sin's presence and pleasure!),
with perseverance (hupomone
[word study])
(steadfastness) we wait eagerly (apekdechomai
[word study])
for it. (See notes
Romans 8:24;
8:25)
Christian hope is a confident expectation that God will do what He says,
but it is still something that will not be “seen” until the final day.
What Paul is saying is that because believers now have this sure hope,
they are "empowered" or enabled to wait for it with perseverance or
steadfastness. Listen to how the New Jerusalem Bible renders Romans
8:25...
having this hope for what we cannot yet
see, we are able (Ed note: we have supernatural power/ability) to
wait for it with persevering confidence.
Hope is the foundation, while perseverance is the result of
the firm foundation.
Hope means expectancy when things are
otherwise hopeless. (Chesterton)
Hope teaches endurance and an eager
anticipation of that which will become reality. (Simon J. Kistemaker)
William Newell explains that...
hope is expecting something
better! The very fact that we have not seen it realized as yet, begets
within us that grace which is so precious to God - patience. But
note, it is not patience in the abstract that is set forth here: but
patient waiting for the coming liberty of the glory of the children of
God. (Romans
Verse by Verse)
And so as believers, we can experience steadfastness in the midst of
life’s trials because we know ("we have a sure hope") Christ is coming
again and He will deliver us from the wrath to come and will
consummate our salvation
(For more discussion of past, present and future tense salvation see
Three Tenses of Salvation)
Hoping is
disciplined
waiting. (Hoffman)
A. T.
Robertson defines steadfastness as...
patience marked by
hope ...inspired by
hope ...and sustained by hope
in spite of delays and set-backs
God's good promises put
a rainbow of hope in every cloud and
a "pillow of grace" in every bed of
affliction!
|
THE BLESSED HOPE
worth boasting about |
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore (because of the truth in Ro
4:25-note)
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through Whom also we have obtained our
introduction
by faith into this grace in which we stand (perfect
tense = speaks of the
permanence of our standing!); and we exult in
hope
of the glory of God. And not only this,
but we also
exult in our tribulations, knowing that
tribulation
brings about perseverance (hupomone);
and perseverance, proven character; and proven character,
hope;
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." (see notes
Romans 5:1;
5:2;
5:3;
5:4;
5:5)
(Click
sermon by John Piper on Romans 5:1-2) (Devotional:
Is there any hope?)
PAST
Peace (eirene)
with God takes care of the past: God no longer holds our
sins against us.
PRESENT
Access (prosagoge)
by faith into this grace in which we stand” takes care of the present:
we can come to Him at any time for the help we need.
FUTURE
“We
exult in hope of the glory of God” takes
care of the future: one day we shall share in His glory, in
glorified bodies free from the presence and pleasure of sin, in perfect
communion with our Father forever. (cf 2Cor 4:16, 17, 18) This sure hope should serve
to stabilize our faith when tribulations roll over us like billowing
waves. At those times recall to your mind the sure promises of God which
"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the
glory of God". (2Cor 1:20KJV)
|
THE BLESSED HOPE
safely laid up in heaven! |
Colossians 1:5
Paul writes the
saints at Colossae that they have a "hope
laid up in heaven". (see note
Colossians 1:5)
The Greek word for
laid up (apokeimai)
means to put something away for safekeeping (same word in 2Ti 4:8-note).
How much more safe could our "hope" be
than with God in heaven?
Our earthly world may totter and shake
but our
STABILIZING HOPE is knowing
that our treasure is safely stored away
where neither moth nor rust destroys,
and where thieves do not break in or steal (Mt 6:18, 19, 20-see notes
Mt 6:18;
19;
20).
Peter similarly explains that by virtue
of our "living
hope"
we are promised
an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away,
reserved in heaven (1Pe 1:3, 4-notes)
|
THE BLESSED HOPE
the HELMET of protection
THE HOPE
of
salvation |
1Thessalonians 5:8,
9,
10,
11
"But
since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of
faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not
destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we
are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore
encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are
doing. (See notes
1Thessalonians 5:8,
9,
10,
11)
(For sermon by John MacArthur click
1Th 5:8a or
1Th 5:8b)
Hope is a sturdy helmet that protects the
mind. The unsaved fix their minds on the things of this world, while
dedicated believers set their attention on things above (Col 3:1,2-see notes
Col 3:1;
3:2).
Paul is not saying that you are to hope
that you'll be saved but is referring to the
hope that salvation gives. Unsaved people
are without hope (Ep 2:12-note).
This helps explain why they live as they do:
“Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!”
In addition to the
stabilizing effect of this truth Paul desires that those on the road to
ultimate salvation (click
for study of future tense salvation)
should behave differently (encouraging and building one another up)
from those on the road to destruction (see next column - Sanctifying
Effect of Hope)
|
THE BLESSED HOPE
AN ANCHORING Hope |
Hebrews 6:18,
19,
20
in order that by two
unchangeable
things, in which it is
impossible for God to lie we may have strong encouragement we who have
fled for refuge in laying 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. (See notes
Hebrews 6:18,
19,
20)
Related Resources...
Click
F B Meyer devotional
Our Daily Bread -
The Unseen Keel
Sermon
by John Piper
Ray Stedman
Anchor of the Soul
Devotional
In the time that
the NT was written the anchor was often used as a symbol of
hope.
The words
sure and steadfast are important. The first describes the anchor as
firmly settled on the ocean bottom. The second describes the quality of
the anchor's construction. This anchor will not tear from insubstantial
moorings, nor will it break because of internal flaws.
As a ship is safe when at
anchor, our life is secured by hope which binds us to Christ, our
great High Priest who has entered the sanctuary
We have an anchor that keeps
the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love. --Owens
|
THE BLESSED HOPE
waitING
for Jehovah --
new strength |
Isaiah 40:31
Yet those who
wait (HOPE) for the
LORD will gain new strength. They
will mount up with wings
like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not
become weary. (see
in depth commentary)
The Hebrew verb
wait
is derived from a root word meaning to wait for or look for with eager
expectation and thus incorporates the ideas of hope and confidence.
Waiting with
steadfast endurance is ultimately an expression of one's trust or faith.
It is walking by faith, not by sight. It is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not yet seen. This attitude manifests itself
by enduring patiently in
confident hope
that God will decisively act for the salvation of
his people (eg, Jacob facing death expresses His hope in the Messiah in Gen
49:18 confidently declaring "For Thy salvation [Yeshuah =
related to word that speaks of the "Deliverer" Jesus] I wait [qavah
= Piel stem = intensively, intentionally - to wait
for or to hope = depending on and ordering activities around a future
event], O LORD".)
The picture of the Hebrew word
gain ("gain new strength") is that of making an exchange.
What is the "exchange"
which Isaiah is describing?
Those who wait for or hope for God, will exchange
His strength for their
weakness, the same principle that Paul came to learn after
entreating the Lord three times to remove the thorn from his side! 2Cor
12:9,10 (note
v9;
note v10). He learned Christ's power
was perfected in his weakness. As he said in Philippians, he learned the
secret that he could do all things through Christ Who strengthened him.
(Php 4:12,13-see notes
Ph 4:12;
13)
In summary, Biblical hope has a
strengthening effect.
|
THE BLESSED HOPE:
PREACH
HOPE
TO YOUR SOUL |
Psalm 42:5-6
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And
why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall
again praise Him For the help of His presence. 6 O my God, my soul is in
despair within me. Therefore I remember Thee from the land of the Jordan,
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar." (Click notes by C H Spurgeon
on
Ps 42:5,
42:6) (Devotional
by F B Meyer) (Devotional
Finding New Hope)
When should we
"preach"
the blessed hope to our soul?
Read Psalm 42:5-6 again.
Hope
in God does not mean, cross your fingers and
hope it comes to pass. And it does not mean that God might work for his
servant. It means to be confident that God will! Be strong in God! Be
courageous in God!
Commenting on Psalm 42:5
Spurgeon directs us to...
Note well that the main hope and
chief desire of David rests in the smile of God. His face is what
he seeks and hopes to see, and this will recover his low spirits,
this will put to scorn his laughing enemies, this will restore to him all
the joys of those holy and happy days around which memory lingers. This is
grand cheer. This verse, like the singing of Paul and Silas, looses chains
and shakes prison walls. He who can use such heroic language in his gloomy
hours will surely conquer. In the garden of
hope grow the laurels for future victories, the roses of coming joy,
the lilies of approaching peace.
Warren Wiersbe writes...
You have a secure future in Jesus
Christ. The best is yet to come. Hope in God and start praising
Him. The psalmist said, I shall yet praise
Him. But don't
wait! Start praising Him now. I've discovered that when I get discouraged,
the best thing to do is praise the Lord immediately. Praise is the
greatest medicine for a broken heart. The psalmist praised God for the
help of His countenance. No matter how you feel or whatever your
circumstances, if you'll look to the face of God, you'll discover that
He's smiling on you.
How do you cope with discouragement?
Certainly, if it is caused by guilt from unconfessed sin, you need to
repent and ask forgiveness. Generally, the cure for being down is to
hope in God and praise Him. Your hope in Him is well
founded, for He is ever faithful to His Word. Are you discouraged? You may
not be able to change your circumstances, but you can praise God. (Warren
Wiersbe. Prayer, Praise and Promises Ps 42:1).
Preach to your soul
a sermon about
the full
assurance of
hope
until the end (see note
Hebrews 6:11)!
Hope is the
absolute assurance of a future good and is God's medicine for a soul in
despair.
The Greek or
Septuagint - LXX
translation of Psalm 42:5 uses the Greek word meaning very sad, deeply
grieved or afflicted beyond measure.
Let's look at the
derivation of the English words despair and disturbed.
Despair is
from Latin de + sperare - hope. Together these root words
convey the literal meaning of "no hope" or of "utter hopelessness"
Disturbed is
translated in the
Lxx
by the Greek word which means to be continually thrown into
utter confusion, greatly vexed or profoundly disturbed.
Put the meanings of these two words
together and you get a glimpse into David's mental/emotional state. And
yet there is a "way of escape" and it is to preach hope to your soul.
When we lose hope, we lose joy in the present
because we have no confidence for the future. Many of us have been in
hospital rooms when the surgeon has walked in and said to a patient's
loved ones, "I'm sorry. We did the best we could. There is no hope." The
faces of the loved ones fall. Sadness fills the room. We live on hope
which springs eternal in the human breast. But for God's children hope is
more than a feeling down inside. Instead, it is a firm confidence that God
is in control, and for that reason we have nothing to fear.
Have you ever preached a Biblical "hope" to your
soul? In one sense, that is ultimately
what this entire study on hope is about - that we might be equipped with
the Biblical teaching on hope. Thus equipped we can better "preach" to our
soul and can better bear one another's burdens.
The anticipation of
heaven (our hope) has been described as "the oxygen of the human soul."
Job Understood
Job understood the value of the
spiritual principle of preaching to his own soul for even in the
midst of his affliction and lack of understanding about the "why" of his
situation, he knew His God and thus was able to confidently cry out...
Though He slay me, I will hope (yachal
- to wait, to tarry, to hope - which is in the Piel stem can express an
"intensive" or "intentional" action) in Him. Nevertheless I will argue (as
one reasons in a legal case) my ways before Him. (Job
13:15)
Job makes a decision of his will, not
based on the way he feels, but on his confidence in God to "preach to his
soul" that he would wait eagerly and expectantly for a future event. From
other declarations, we see that Job understood the hope of the
resurrection (read
Job 14:14;
Job 19:25, 26),
and thus he knew the afflictions would pass. And yet the reality is that
he is still "in the now" and this truth does not keep him from discussing
his present state with God.
Beloved, are you experiencing
despair? Have you ever considered "preaching hope" to your soul?
This is not "magic" (but it is supernatural!) nor "self effort", but is a
casting (cp Ps 55:22
-
note)
of one's self upon the shoulders of the Almighty One,
El Shaddai,
the God of all comfort. How? One suggestion is to consider reading through
and meditating on (pondering, interrogating, musing) the Psalms listed
below which all use one of the Hebrew words for hope. Man lives by every
Word that proceeds from the mouth of God so come to His table with a
tender heart that trembles at His word and eat His words, "chewing the
glorious, life giving cud", allowing the Spirit to renew your mind and to
transform your thinking from glory to glory.
When trouble seeks to rob
your very breath,
When tragedy hits hard and steals your days,
Recall that Christ endured the sting of death;
He gives us hope, and merits all our praise.
--Gustafson
|
the POWER OF RECALLING
THE BLESSED HOPE
TO one's MIND |
Lamentations 3
The Context:
Jerusalem lay in ruins. God's glorious Temple ravaged and defiled. Thus
it is not surprising that Jeremiah found himself weak, hopeless (Lam
3:18), soul sick, afflicted, bitter and bowed down (Lam 3:18, 19, 20). Is there any "balm in Gilead" for one in so great a
despair and depression? Yes there is always hope in Jehovah. (Reason
To Hope)
(Hope
In The Sad Times)
What was the "balm"
of Gilead
for Jeremiah's lament?
This I recall to my mind (heart), therefore I have
hope. (Lam 3:21)
What (Who) does
Jeremiah "recall"?
Lamentations 3:22 The
LORD'S lovingkindnesses (PLURAL) indeed never cease, for His compassions
never fail 23 They are new every
morning.
Great is Thy faithfulness.
(cf Ps 130:7)
24 Jehovah is my
portion,
says my soul, therefore
I have
hope
in Him
25 Jehovah is
good to those who
wait for
(hope in) Him to the person who seeks Him. 26 It is good that he waits
silently (which speaks of a trust in Him) for the salvation of the Jehovah
(See a similar "antidote" for despair in
Jer 31:15-17) (See C H
Spurgeon's sermon on Lamentations 3:21=
Memory—the Handmaid of Hope)
Jeremiah made a definite choice of
his will to shift his focus from himself and his circumstances to the
glorious unfailing
attributes
of God.
Is
this not still the way of escape out of despair and hopelessness created
by circumstances that would otherwise overwhelm us
(cf 1Co 10:13 2Co 4:16-18 Ro 8:18 Jas
1:2, 3, 4 1Pe 1:6, 7)?
George Matheson commenting on
Lam 3 writes...
What a singular combination--hope
and quiet waiting! It is like a union of poetry and prose. Does it not
seem an incongruous mixture of sentiments! We associate hope with
impulse; quiet waiting is surely the want of impulse! Hope is a
state of flight; waiting implies repose. Hope is the soul on the
wing; waiting is the soul in the nest. Hope is the eagerness of
expectancy; waiting is a condition of placid calm. Is not that a strange
union of feelings to put into one breast! No; it is a sublimely happy
marriage--the happiest conceivable. There is no test of hope like
quiet waiting. If you want to measure the strength of a man's
hope, you must measure the quietness of his waiting. Our hope
is never so weak as when we are excited.
Charles Spurgeon aptly noted that...
Any man can sing in the daylight. When wealth rolls in abundance
around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plentiful harvest . .
. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but the one
who is skillful sings from his heart. No man can make a song in the
night of his soul. He may attempt it, but he will find that a song in
the night must be divinely inspired.
Keep in mind that although HOPE can
have a stabilizing effect on our soul, it is possible for one's hope in
Christ to be destabilized (examples below) especially when one
puts their trust (hope) in other things, usually things which are seen.
For example, compare
Colossians 1:23
(note);
1Ti 6:17, Heb 6:11, 12
(note),
1Pe 1:13
(note),
which warn us not to waver in regard to hope, not to fix our hope on
riches, to be diligent and not sluggish, and to
fix our hope
(aorist
imperative
~ an urgent command to do this now) completely on our future grace. It
follows then that we need to nurture this precious plant called
hope by frequent "watering" with the
Word, Scripture
Memorization,
Biblical
Meditation,
prayer (notes)
and prompt obedience (see
obedience of faith
) to the truth in
order that we might
Grow
(word
study)
(present
imperative =
command to keep growing - we never outgrow the need to grow in the
infinite riches in Christ)
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him
be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2Pe 3:18-note
cf 1Pe 2:1, 2, 3, -notes
1 Peter 2:1,
2:2;
2:3)
To emphasize the need we all have for daily intake
of the Word, remember that loss of hope (with varying degrees of
destabilization, despair, depression, disillusionment) is the lot of all
mankind. Scripture teaches us that even some of God's most anointed have
fallen into the tenacious grip of hopelessness and despair.
Elijah after a
great victory over the idolatrous priests of Baal and Jezebel's threat
to kill him, lost hope and pleaded with God to take his life (1Ki
19:4).
Study similar
examples of loss of hope in the lives of
Moses (Nu
11:15),
Jeremiah (Jer
20:18, La 3:18, 19, 20),
Job (Job
6:8, 9),
Jonah (Jonah
4:3, 8).
Loss of hope is a reality every person may
experience regardless of their level of spiritual maturity. And so it
behooves all believers to continually go back to God's Word to remind
our soul of the ultimate Source of hope found in Christ alone (1Ti 1:1). (Consider studying the
Psalms below
which speak of hope, waiting patiently, looking expectantly)
John Newton author of "Amazing Grace" wrote
a friend this encouragement
May the prospect
of this BLESSED
HOPE
set before
us revive our fainting spirits, and make us willing to endure hardships
as good soldiers of Jesus Christ! Here we must often sow in tears, but
there we shall reap in joy, and all tears shall be wiped from our eyes
for ever.
Your hope for the future is founded on
the immutable character of God and the precious and magnificent promises
in God's Word. Do you have confidence in the future? Make a
mental list of His provision on your
behalf
during the past year--answered prayers, met needs and other blessings.
God's faithfulness in keeping His promises in the past gives you
confident hope for the future
This
glorious
hope revives our courage for the way,
When each in expectation lives and longs to see the day
When from sorrow, toil, pain and sin, we shall be free,
And perfect love and joy shall reign throughout all eternity --John
Fawcett.
How are the
frequent Christian "triad"
of faith and
hope and love related?
"But now abide faith,
hope,
love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1Corinthians
13:13)
W H Thomas Griffith has this interesting analysis of the great
"triumvirate" of faith, hope and love writing that...:
Faith rests on the past, love works in
the present, and hope presses toward the future; or, faith looks backward
and upward, love looks outward, and hope looks forward. These three
constitute the true, complete Christian life and not one of them should be
omitted or slighted. We are only too apt to emphasize faith and love and
forget hope but, inasmuch as hope is invariably connected with the coming
of the Lord, "that blessed hope" (Titus 2:!3-note), it is
a vital part of our Christian life. Faith accepts, hope expects; faith
appropriates, hope anticipates; faith receives, hope realizes; faith is
always and only concerned with the past and present, hope is always and
only concerned with the future. We know that faith comes by hearing; we
shall find that hope comes by experience. Faith is concerned with a person
who promises, hope with the thing promised; and faith is the root of which
hope is a fruit."
