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 note
Titus 3:7)
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)
(see note
1Thes 1:6)
and sufferings
(see note
1Thes 2:14).
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 (see note
1Thes 1:2)
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 notes
Romans 5:1;
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 notes on
2 Ti 3:12
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)
(steadfastness) we wait eagerly (apekdechomai)
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
Romans 4:25)
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 4:16-18) 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
1:20 KJV)
|
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
2 Timothy 4:8).
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 (see notes
Matthew 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 (See notes
1 Peter 1:3-4)
|
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 (see notes
Colossians 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 (see note
Ephesians 2:12).
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.
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! See
2Cor 12:9-10. 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.
(see notes
Phil 4:12;