Unfinished Hope

“Finish the Fight”

Opening statement: There is a battle taking place for our hope.

If the enemy can remove the hope of Christ from our lives, he will position us for defeat.

Too often, Christians seek to perfect their fight against the devil, rather than gain their position in Christ.

Our position in Christ is founded in the accomplished work of Jesus on the cross.

Christ’s accomplishment establishes an abiding hope in assured victory.

When we focus on the devil and his schemes, we become pulled into his strategy of dislodging us from the hope of Christ.

God’s promises:

The hope of Christ is founded upon God’s promises.

What promise has God given you?

This will be the primary target of attack on your hope.

Loss of hope therefore is a reflection of the individual’s heart becoming disoriented from God’s promises and onto the problem at hand.

A shift in focus from promise to problem will result in questioning God.

A shift in focus often results in anger toward God.

Anger toward God is rooted in fleshly pride.

Worldly hope vs. Godly hope:

Hope, as the world describes, is more of a wish. “I hope things turn out for the best.”

Hope for the believer is a confident expectation in anticipation of Christ’s victory becoming manifested in their situation.

Text: Genesis 15:1-11

English Standard Version (Chapter 15)

15 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”

4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”

5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” O

9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.

11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Opening Observations:

The word of the Lord came to Abram

But Abram said

The word of the Lord came to him

And he believed

The sacrifice

When the birds of prey came, Abram drove them away

Lessons:

Our hope is founded upon “the word of the Lord”

The entry points of the battle are the questions that come to our mind in response to the word of the Lord.

A sacrifice of praise, prior to the answer, positions us to secure our hope in Christ.

“Birds of prey” will attempt to steal our sacrifice, and they must be driven away.

The delay of timing:

English Standard Version (Chapter 16)

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.

2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife

When the promise is delayed:

10 years pass

No physical evidence

“The Lord has prevented me”

“Abram listened”

The entry point for the loss of hope is delay.

“Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick.” (Proverbs 13:12a)

Deferred is to: “draw out, prolong, or be postponed.”

Most often, the loss of hope comes as a result of our disagreement with God’s timing.

The key therefore in finishing the fight of hope is to pray in full faith while releasing the timing of God’s provision into His hands.

How do we release the timing?

English Standard Version (Isaiah 40:28-31)

28  Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

29  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

31  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Fighting for Hope:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?”

Abram received the word of the Lord

The fight for hope requires a continual word from the Lord. (Romans 10:17) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Hope gives way when there is no fresh word from the Lord.

“He gives power to the faint”

Hope is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The work of “The Comforter” (John 15:26) “When the Helper comes . . . He will bear witness about Me.”

“They who wait for the Lord”

The battle is in the waiting

To “wait” is to set an ambush for God

An active anticipation of God’s arrival with the answer

The waiting will require “driving away the birds of prey”

The prey of criticism

The prey of fear

The prey of self-directed solution

Summary:

The battle we face is for our hope.

The battle centers directly on God’s promises.

Timing is the entry point of the battle.

How we fight for hope is through offering a sacrifice of praise while waiting in full anticipation of God’s arrival.

Prayer: