A Future and a Hope -The Hour of Visitation

The Hour of Visitation

INTRO: Everything in this imperfect fallen state has an expiration date attached to it. Some people live out their lives placing their hope in temporal things such as people, places and things. Hope in the temporal yield temporal results, because a perfect, eternal hope cannot come from an imperfect world. The only way hope has any real impact is when we anchor it to the One who has real power. Jesus embodied hope for our earthly lives, and He promised a hope filled existence in Heaven for eternity to those who would trust and follow Him.

If our future is not secured and satisfied by God then we are going to be excessively anxious. This results either in paralyzing fear or in self-managed, greedy control. We end up thinking about ourselves, our future, our problems and our potential

The word "hope" in ordinary English vocabulary is generally distinguished from certainty. We would say, "I don't know what's going to happen, but I hope it happens."

When you read the word "hope" in the Bible (like in 1 Peter 1:13—" Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Hope is not wishful thinking. It's not "I don't know if it's going to happen, but I hope it happens." That's absolutely not what is meant by Christian hope.

Christian Hope is anchored in the Word, Jesus the Christ

The biblical definition of hope is "confident expectation." Hope is a firm assurance regarding things that are unclear and unknown. Hope is a fundamental component of the life of the righteous. Without hope, life loses its meaning.

The righteous who trust or put their hope in God will be helped, and they will not be confounded, put to shame, or disappointed. The righteous, who have this trustful hope in God, have a general confidence in God’s protection and help and are free from fear and anxiety.

SCRIP: 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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jere 29:11-13

The Hour of Visitation is a time when God draws near to humanity, inviting us into a deeper relationship. It is a moment when our prayers are amplified, our worship becomes a gateway to the heavenly realms, and miracles begin to unfold. But how can we access this sacred hour and experience its transformative power?

PRAY:

I. Hope for Today

(MSG) “11 I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

Matthew 6:34 NKJV

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

International House of Worship, what is your purpose, what is your HOPE

If I were to ask you individually “What is your purpose in life?” I would probably get several different answers. Those answers would be good, but they are all secondary purposes. The question is what is your primary purpose in life? In other words, what is your reason for living? Everything in creation has a divine purpose.

Every individual every ministry that God has created has a primary purpose. Our lives will be without meaning - we’ll be failures - unless we find out what is our purpose is.

God has HUGE plans for your life. This Scripture is taken from a letter to the exiles in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzer had sent a group of Israelites from Jerusalem to be held captive in Babylon. These are God’s people that were prisoners of war, but Jeremiah prophesied to them that God had a plan, a better plan than being prisoners. You may not be in a place of prosperity now and you may think God has NO plans for you, but He does. And it’s not just any old plan, it’s a plan to give you a good and prosperous future.

No matter where you’re at in life. No matter what stage you’re in. You may be getting ready to graduate high school, you may have just started high school. You could be in middle school. And you may think, “I’ve got my whole life ahead of me. I don’t need to know what I’m going to be doing in the future.” You may think you don’t need to know yet, and that’s your choice, but the cold, hard truth is that God has a plan, and with knowing more about God’s plan, you’ll be able to make quality decisions that will get you to where you need to be.

John 14:27 NKJV

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

II. Hope for Tomorrow

ILL: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.(Matthew 6:31-32)

One day a man went to his doctor for his annual physical. A couple weeks later, he went back in order to hear the results. His doctor said, “Well, I have some bad news and some even worse news. Which do you want to hear first?” The man became somewhat anxious, but stated that he would like to hear the bad news first.

“Well,” the doctor said, “The bad news is that you only have 24 hours to live.” At that point, the man jumped up, completely flabbergasted and distraught. He paced through the doctor’s office and lamented, “Twenty-four hours to live? I can’t possibly get my affairs in order that quickly. I can’t believe this. This is just completely incredible. Doc, are you sure? I mean, what could possibly be worse news than this.”

The doctor then sadly stated, “The worse news is, I was supposed to tell you this yesterday. Sorry about the scheduling mix-up.”

This is the day the Lord has made;We will rejoice and be glad in it. Ps 118:25

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (James 4:13-14)

Christ offers us His Companionship

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20

Christ has offered to be your companion through all of life. He is with you during the good days and the bad days of life. He stays with you when the seas of life give smooth sailing and He is with you when the waters are rough and skies stormy. He is there when we seek Him and He is there when you don’t seek Him.

Christ never leaves you, ever. He never has and He never will. He is with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, every year that you walk this earth. Christ is always there when you need Him and always ready to help you through life.

III. Hope for Eternity

Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.(Romans 8:23-25 NASB)

Mark 16:1-14 The Risen Hope, I do not know how many of you are sitting here with daily issues of life and afraid of what is happening to you. Resurrection is hope for today eternity.

Jesus had been teaching his disciples that he was going to die. They did not understand that. His disciples rightly knew the prophets that their Messiah was a king and he was going to establish a kingdom.

They understood that. What they did not understand is the great teaching of the OT that the Messiah first would come to die. Somehow Jesus’ disciples just could not get a grip on that truth.

As Jesus began to teach them, their hearts began to be troubled. So in John 14, there at the last supper Jesus said to them let not your hearts be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Then they went from that last supper:

Judas betrayed Him Jesus taken captive Peter denied Him All other deserted Him

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1-3 NKJV)

By living on earth, dying on a cross, and resurrecting to life again, Jesus Christ accomplished complete victory over all Gods enemies. This is the day that the Lord had made—the day that found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ!

Today, believers in Jesus can rejoice and be glad because we live in a brand-new day of triumph. Death and hell have been conquered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 1:18). Everyone who believes in Him will never die but, instead, be given life eternal (John 3:16; 11:25–26).

Conclusion:                                                                   In 1815 England engaged in the Battle of Waterloo with Napoleon Bonaparte. The whole city of London was anxious to know how things were going on in the battlefield. All were wondering if England could defeat Napoleon and there was no way of knowing the news.

Anxious to know the outcome, one man climbed on top of a great London cathedral with interceptors to catch the battle signals. When he received a message he waved his flags accordingly to give the people of London a report on the battle. Finally he got the outcome of the battle and he sat there on the roof and inscribed the message into the flag.

The people were anxious to read the result. When the people of London looked up to see the writings on the big flag they could barely see through the fog. The message they were able to see was, “England defeated.” They could not believe it. Their hearts sank. But then there was a break in the fog and they saw the rest of the message which said, “England defeated Napoleon.” The entire nation of England rejoiced.

When Jesus died the message that came to the disciples heart was, “Jesus defeated.” When you fall down the message that Satan puts in your mind is that ‘You are defeated.’ But 3 days later, the fog cleared, and the message they received was, “Jesus defeated Satan.” See the entire message that God has for you.

You have hope for today, hope for tomorrow, and hope for the future. You may have fallen or you may have failed, but the victory that God has purchased for you still applies, and you don’t have to feel defeated…you can get back up and have a fresh start!

Jesus is our risen hope. When we think about hope we think about something that might come to be or might not come to be. I hope I will get an admission. It may or may not. That is the not the meaning of the hope in the scripture. When the word hope is used in the NT, it speaks of something which will come to pass but it speaks of looking forward to it with anticipation because it is absolute certain.