A Great Need for Endurance...
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Introduction
Introduction
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So church, this morning I call you as the writer of Hebrews calls you… remember, remember today when you were first enlightened to the glorious truth of the gospel!
(Pray)
Being forgetful can have harmful repercussions. In the beginning verse of our text for this morning we find the writer
gghh
I have sang that song since I was a child. In the year 1873 Horatio Spafford received a telegram from his wife who had sailed to Europe with their four daughters that simply read, “saved alone.” The boat that Mrs. Spafford and the four girls were traveling collided with another ship in a tragic accident. This was salt into an already healing wound as the Spaffords had lost their son and their business just three years prior.
In describing the events that followed the loss of his daughters John Piper states, “"He (Spafford) gets on a ship and heads to be with his grieving wife and as he passes over the part of the ocean where the girls went down and were at the bottom, he wrote, 'when peace like a river attendeth my way or sorrows like sea billows roll,'"
This begs the question… what could possibly compel someone to write words like, “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
I believe, and I think the writer of Hebrews would also agree that what compels someone to have hope in the midst of such great suffering is the promise of a better possession than the enjoyments of this world.
This morning I want to expose to you the fact that we have a great need for enduring faith. We have a great need because we face a great dilemma. Life is characterized by suffering and if we are not careful our suffering will choke our faith. We have a great need church..
(pray)
We Endure Through Remembering
We Endure Through Remembering
The question we need to answer this morning is how do we become people who are not apathetic Christians but are active people who forsake it all for the gospel.
Verse 32
There is a sense of nostalgia in this verse 32. “But, recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle through suffering.”
However, there was a problem… Thomas Schriener states, “Their current suffering have given them amnesia about how hey responded earlier to the difficulties that beset them.”
When I was a child I spent everyday with my grandmother. She was some thing of a hero to me. Everyday after school she would pick me up and we would go back to her house where there was always loads of fun to be had. Not only that but she was a comfort to me in hard times. However, there came a time when we moved away. I missed my grandmother terribly. Night time was the worst but I soon found comfort in remembering those moments we shared together. Even today I find comfort during difficult times in remembering her.
It is a strange thing for the writer of Hebrews to call his readers to remember their suffering. By an large this is something most people want to forget. We rarely sit around coffee and tell stories about bad stuff that has happened to us. What is even more strange is that this was not a suggestion. This was a prescription and a command. It could be read this way, “You should be remembering!”
In other words, they have become tired, beaten and worn out. Their current sufferings have become a fog that has distorted their faith and has caused them to lose hope.
Just like those nights as a child in my room we can be comforted in our suffering by remembering what God has done for us in the past. As one theologian has said, “There is no better remedy for depression than to remember what God has accomplished for one in the past. One should always remember: God who has been faithful in the past will be just the same in the future.”
There is no better remedy for depression than to remember what God has accomplished for one in the past. One should always remember: God who has been faithful in the past will be just the same in the future.
What is the connection here between being enlightened “φωτίζω” and enduring “ὑπομένω.”
This is exactly what the writer of Hebrews is calling for in this verse.
We remember the faithfulness of God in our past sufferings and it empowers us to remain faithful in our present sufferings.
Crowson, M. (2000). The Epistle to the Hebrews (p. 125). Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications.
The former days spoken of here were not great ones for these early Christians. They were trying times that were characterized by great loss. However, those moments of persecution brought spiritual lessons to them that would not be realized until now. What a lesson for us to learn as well. in the midst of our suffering God is teaching us something that we will not fully understand immediately. The Christian life is not always easy. In fact, more times than not it is very trying if we are living obedient lives to God. However, in our most dark and hopeless moments God is near to us and he comforts us by reminding us of his faithfulness and love in past experiences.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
There are two things that were important for these believers to remember. The first is when they were “enlightened” and the second is the hard struggles they endured. What is the connection here between being enlightened “φωτίζω” and enduring “ὑπομένω.”
What is the connection here between being enlightened “φωτίζω” and enduring “ὑπομένω.”
There are two things that were important for these believers to remember. The first is when they were “enlightened” and the second is the hard struggles they endured. What is the connection here between being enlightened “φωτίζω” and enduring “ὑπομένω.”
There are two things that were important for these believers to remember. The first is when they were “enlightened” and the second is the hard struggles they endured. What is the connection here between being enlightened “φωτίζω” and enduring “ὑπομένω.”
Some translations us the word “illuminated.” I like that translation because is distinguishes the Christian from the unregenerate. The unregenerate sinner is blinded to the truth of the gospel. They have no hope or understanding of spiritual matters. As says,
ὑπομένω
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 1:18
It is because our hearts have been illuminated to the truth of the gospel we can have hope in our suffering and we can endure until the end. Consider
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
We are no longer in darkness! This light has shown in the darkness and now we see clearly the hope that is found in Christ! And what is the reward? The reward is a glorious inheritance that is to come.
It’s also the same word used in john 1:9 where it is said that Jesus has come to give light to our hearts. What does this mean? When Christ has brought light into the darkness of our hearts, by faith we have hope in a future inheritance.
The life of a Christian is of continuous growth and increased
The fact that our reward is future rather than present has great implications for our endurance. Endurance in this life requires patience. Faithfulness through persecution is not characterized by instant gratification.
However, there was a problem… Thomas Schriener states, “Their current suffering have given them amnesia about how hey responded earlier to the difficulties that beset them.”
In other words, they have become tired, beaten and worn out. Their current sufferings have become a fog that has distorted their faith and has caused them to lose hope.
This seems like
We need to hear what is being said here.
If we have endured before we can endure today.
But, is that not the atmosphere of our culture? Give me the reward now! Why wait when you can have all the pleasure you can ever want right now! Seize the day! But, not for us. No, today is not the day of the reward. As Christians we wait for a better day and for a better reward.
Church, the temptation is in front of us to throw in the towel for instant gratification. The seedbed of nominal Christianity misplaced hope. My prayer is that Riverside is a people whose hope is fully submerged in the promises of God.
In a way the writer of Hebrews is saying this, “Remember when you first became a Christian? How you stood your ground boldly? Do you remember the struggles? If you endured then you can endure now!”
We Endure Through Public Faith
We Endure Through Public Faith
What is keeping you from taking risks to participate in the mission of God?
Is your current suffering hindering you
I find it interesting that the writer of Hebrews is calling them to recall when they were “enlightened.” I don’t want us to miss something big here by reading this to say that they were to remember there endurance. That is a very small part of what they are to remember. No, they need to remember their “enlightenment.” This is the same word in the greek that is used in ,
Verse 33
“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints”
One of the reasons I think we can identify so closely with the believers in Hebrews is because of the content of their persecution. According to , they had not suffered martyrdom. The persecution they endured was insults, dishonor and disgrace. They were outcasts.
In other words, “Remember who you are, what you have been called to and who you belong to.”
The endurance came from this new reality that was given to them by faith. Therefore,
In our culture we know little of giving our physical lives for the gospel. However, we know very well the feeling of being the outcast of society. As the secularization of our culture increases the influence of the church decreases. At the same time it seems that as the influence of the church decreases so does the boldness of the church.
Vile and hateful speech being directed to us can be difficult to bear. The old adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me,” is a lie. Words hurt a lot. This is why James describes the tongue as a sharp sword.
Don’t miss that the writer of Hebrews commended them that they were “Partners with those so treated.” It wasn’t that they were simply enduring persecution. They were doing it together! I a way they were saying to their persecutors, “If you bully my friends you bully me.”
If you find your self to be an apathetic Christian could it be that it’s easier to have a private faith that avoids suffering?
Time and time again
If there is one thing I hope you take away from the example of these Christians in Hebrews is that they had a public faith. They did not try to hide their faith in the midst of persecution. They wore the banner of the gospel proudly and boldly! However, it was precisely because they did not hide their faith that the persecution came.
If there is one thing I hope you take away from the example of these Christians in Hebrews is that they had a public faith. They did not try to hide their faith in the midst of persecution. They wore the banner of the gospel proudly and boldly! However, it was precisely because they did not hide their faith that the persecution came.
If we accept the words of Christ as truth than we must expect the things he said would happen. In Jesus said,
And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Notice that the word endurance shows up here again. Also notice that Jesus does not say you “might” be hated. No, you will be hated. This should cause us to pause and consider what our lives look like. Of course I am not saying that you should leave here and make people hate you. However, if you are following Christ you will share in his suffering. If your Christianity is void of persecution I have to ask, is your faith public or is it private?
We Endure Joyfully
We Endure Joyfully
Verse 34-35
These Christians publically lived out their faith and recieved the troubles that came with that but when we get to verse 34 we are truly face to face with the realness of their faith. Not only did were they persecuted but the suffered loss of their material possessions. Now, this is where most of us would says, “No thank you! I will keep my stuff.” It’s out tendency to, with white knuckles hold on to our stuff as hard as we can and as long as we can. But, not the Hebrews.
This attitude is completely against our nature. We want fun and stuff. We are joyful when there is plenty but we moan and complain when there is little. Does this not remind you of the Israelites once they realize that they have no water to drink in
This attitude is completely against our nature. We want fun and stuff. We are joyful when there is plenty but we moan and complain when there is little. Does this not remind you of the Israelites once they realize that they have no water to drink in
This attitude is completely against our nature. We want fun and stuff. We are joyful when there is plenty but we moan and complain when there is little. Does this not remind you of the Israelites once they realize that they have no water to drink in
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Do you see what is going on here? The Israelites are looking back not at God’s faithfulness but at the loss of what little comfort and material possessions they had. They surely are not looking forward to the promises of God that wait for them. Suppose they did turn around and leave Moses alone in the desert that day. What would have became of it? They would died in what seemed like comfort in Egypt because they did not endure through the wilderness.
I don’t want us to miss the attitude here. These individuals are joyfully giving up their possessions. It was thrilling, it made them happy!
So, how did these Christian in Hebrews chapter 10 have such joy in the midst of losing their stuff? Well, it says it
That’s a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream.”
For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
He goes on to say, “
John Piper once said,
“When you know that you have a better and a lasting persuasion, you are not paralyzed by loss. If that better possession is great enough, you will even be able to rejoice in loss.”
Is the possession you will inherit from God great to you?
This is important because if the inheritance is not great to you than you will not risk your life for it. You will not “count is all as loss” as Paul did. If your eyes are fixed on present pleasures and not on the future grace that God promises those who have faith, then you will not joyfully endure. It’s possible that you will not endure at all.
These believers knew that there was something coming that was greater than their possessions on earth. They knew that their heavenly inheritance was coming! This was not just any possession but an “abiding” possession. In other words, it was permanent.
These believers knew that there was something coming that was great than their possessions on earth. They knew that their heavenly inheritance was coming! This was not just any possession but an “abiding” possession. In other words, it was permanent.
The word in the Greek that is used here for abiding is the same word used in
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
This world and your stuff will soon be gone! The new and lasting city is on its way! This reminds me of
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Have you forgotten, the city that is to come? Have you placed for yourself treasures here on earth while your bank is empty in heaven? These treasure are not material.. no, that is no treasure at all. This treasure is eternal life! The treasure is eternal rest! This treasure is forgiveness of sin! This treasure is nearness and knowledge of God! This treasure is only had by being mastered by God himself!
Have you forgotten, like these believers ran the risk of doing, the city that is to come? Have you placed for yourself treasures here on earth while your bank is empty in heaven? These treasure are not material.. no, that is no treasure at all. This treasure is eternal life! The treasure is eternal rest! This treasure is forgiveness of sin! This treasure is nearness and knowledge of God! This treasure is only had by being mastered by God himself!
Consider
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
In the presence of God the is full and great JOY and pleasures FOREVER! This is good news and the best part about it is that you can have, in some way, this joy and these pleasure right now! But, it will cost you.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
You cannot hold on to your stuff in this life and expect to serve God fully. You cannot expect to be devoted to God and bloated with material possessions at the same time.
The writer of Hebrews was afraid that these Christians had forgotten about the city to come.
Thomas Schriener notes,
“They have put too much hope in the city of man and have forgotten about the city of God.” - Thomas Schreiner
Church, if we want to endure we mustn’t forget that a better possession is coming! If we want to have joy we cannot bank on our material possessions to bring it to us! Today, any number of you can walk into work tomorrow and lose your job. Will it steal your joy? We are praying that at RBC God will raise up missionaries and church planters.. will you give up your stuff and go?
One commentator notes,
“The Hebrews are advised not to waste all that has gone before for the sake of immediate expediency. Far too many people compromise their eternal destinies for the sake of momentary reward.”
Crowson, M. (2000). The Epistle to the Hebrews (p. 127). Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications.
I think that if all of us were asked this morning what we want most in life a great number of us would says happiness. How do I know this? Because our lives reflect that we want happiness. We pursue things that make us happy. It is really just plain human nature to do so. We do not go after things that make us angry or feel bad. Nope, we want to feel good. Happiness is not a bad thing. I would much rather be in a room full of happy people than a room full of unhappy people.
However, happiness will profit nothing for our endurance. Happiness will not help you when you lose your job especially if your job is what brings you happiness. Why? Because happiness comes and goes as often as the sun sets and rises. However, joy lasts forever.
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
But, joy! Joy will cause us to endure and how do we have
When Christ comes we will experience true and lasting Joy! Loss of property cannot steal it and and increase in material possesions cannot enlarge it!
Therefore, we have confidence, verse 35 in this great reward! We have confidence because it cannot be taken away from us!
The sufferings of this life cannot steal the reward of the next.
What is our confidence? Nothing other than the person of Jesus Christ. He is the founder and perfecter of our faith (), He is Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (), He is the one who made the purification for our sin (), who is the exact imprint of God (), He is faithful over the house of God (), He is the rest for God’s people (), He is the great High Priest (), He is the High Priest of a better covenant ().
Jesus! Jesus! Jesus is our confidence and Jesus is our reward and we receive this solely by loving Christ above everything this world has to offer. Consider the list in your handout. Does anything you can possibly possess in the world compare to the reward you have in Christ. You cannot earn it! No, the reward found in Christ is not a paycheck. You receive it by faith! In Christ alone our hope and our confidence is found.
R Kent Huges notes in his commentary on Hebrews that something we focus so much on falling rather than walking the tight rope. What does he mean by this? We are far to preoccupied with the risks involved from following Christ that we either 1. Never take the risk or 2.
What is the application here? We are protected from throu
What is the application here? You will joyfully endure by being confident not in your earthly possessions but in the work that Christ has finished for you and in the city he is bringing with him.
Church, do not throw away your confidence! Your reward is great!
You suffering in this life is short-lived compared to eternity. Consider the words of Paul,
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
We Endure By the Will of God
We Endure By the Will of God
I think we have established that our need for endurance is great. Our final reward will not be obtained unless we endure. Remember, the one who endures until the end will be saved. To say it another way, the one who endures until the end will receive the reward.
I think we have established that our need for endurance is great. Our final reward will not be obtained unless we endure. Remember, the one who endures until the end will be saved. To say it another way, the one who endures until the end will receive the reward.
You may have, like these early believers started your Christian journey with excellence. However, this morning you find yourself caught up in the pleasures of the world. Your task is being hindered and your growth is being stunted by the sufferings and belongings of this life. An excellent beginning will profit us nothing unless we endure and finish our mission.
Milton Crowson once said,
“Christianity is not something to be picked up, put down, and picked up again. Every promise of God requires obedience to God if the blessings are to be received.”
If we are to endure until the end we must do the will of God. Being doers of God’s will is what characterizes us as Christians.
As states,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
How do we receive our reward? By doing the will of God. This is not sometimes or even part of the time. ποιέομαι! It’s whatever we do!
What ever task we have, we do it as one who is serving the Lord and not one who is serving man.
ποιέομαι
The greatest threat to our mission is that we follow the wrong leader. The greatest threat to our mission is to become a church and a people that follows the world under the disguise of following God.
In a Hymn written by Charles Spurgeon the great preacher declares,
In a Hymn written by Charles Spurgeon the great preacher declares,
“The time is short, O who can tell
How short his time below may be?
Today on earth his soul may dwell,
Tomorrow in eternity.
“The time is short; sinner, beware!
Nor squander these brief hours away;
O flee to Christ by faith and prayer
Ere yet shall close this fleeting day.”
Church, our time is short. The days are numbered. This promise is not one that we will receive in this life. No, the promise comes when we by faith have finished the task and endured the struggle. As verse 36 notes, it’s after we have done the will of God that we receive what is promised.
So, what is the will of God for man? I think the Westminster confession of Faith describes God’s will for man well. The confession asks, “What is the chief end of man? The answer… Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever.
C.S. Lewis says it another way,
“In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.” - C.S. Lewis
As a student pastor I get asked often, “how do I know what God’s will for my life is?” My answer? To be satisfied in him.
God’s desire is for us to glorify him and we do so by being satisfied in him.
This is how these early Christians endured! Believer, God’s will for your life is to endure until the end. He have confidence because,
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
“Whateer my God ordains is right,
Here shall my stand be taken
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken
My Fathers care
Is round me there
He holds me that I shall not fall
And so to Him I leave it all”
You may have came here this morning worn out, tired and scared. Rest assured, after you have done the will of God and endured until the end you will receive your reward. Believer, soon Christ is coming!
Believer, God’s will for your life is to endure until the end. He have confidence because,
“Long Thy people have been pining
For Thy peace and rest, and Thee,
Soon, in heav’nly glory shining,
Their Restorer shall they see.
Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Haste the joyous jubilee.”
We Endure Patiently
We Endure Patiently
v. 37-38
T
As we turn now to the closing verses of our message we find the great hope of all for believers. Christ is coming again. Persecution and suffering may be oppressive and difficult but they do come to an end.
Patience in suffering is difficult. Mostly because we want to know when it will end. If we could just know the hour this pain on earth would be must easier to bear. However,
What is important for us is not when it will end but the certainty that it will!
Is this not good news? You have come here this morning with individual pains, oppressions and doubts. Is it not good news that one day, if you have faith in Christ those will be no more? This should give us our endurance! When I think about this I think about a marathon runner. They are tired about half way through the race and giving up seems so much easier than to keep running. Eventually the run decides that temporary rest is better than finishing the race. However, they are reminded that there is a finish line and after the race they can rest!
Church, there is a finish line and there is eternal rest that waits for you at the end of the race! Do not give up half way through. Continue to trust, obey and believe.
“Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay.”
But, move on to verse 38.. “But my righteous one shall live by faith.” This small verse really sums it all up. Notice how it does not say, “My righteous one shall live by being more righteous.” No, it says by faith.. but what does that mean? By faith?
Do you know the difference between Christians and a marathon runner? We do not run the race by our own strength.
I know this verse is used grossly out of context but it’s appropriate here. We all know it,
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
To clarify, all things here does not me “anything.” This text is referring to the sufferings of this life that are the result of being obedient to God. You can endure the race because it is Christ who strengthens you!
This is how you live. And I am not talking about merely “living” this is how you make it to eternity! The righteous do not live by trying to be more righteous. They live by faith and it is the outworking of their faith in Christ that gives them life!
In ver 38 we have a warning that I want us to hear. “If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
It is faith that endures that saves you, not just a one time decisions, not just baptism, not just Bible reading or praying. It is faith that endures. In fact,
Faith that does not endure was no faith at all.
Does this mean that we will not have times where our faith is weak? I sure hope not. My faith has been weak often. Enduring faith is beat up, bruised and tattered. However, if you have truly repented of your sins and turned to Christ you will endure until the end. In fact, we are promised that we will. Look at
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
The reason I say that faith that does not endure is no faith at all is because the Bible itself says it.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
It’s clear that Paul is telling the corinthians that if they fall away and do not endure its not because that lost their faith.. it’s because they never had it. They believed in vain.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
However, for those who God calls he is faithful to. He sanctifies you, keeps you blameless by the obedience you receive by faith in Jesus. And, at the coming of Christ, when he comes again you WILL be present as righteous and blameless before God.
Therefore, as we wait.. we wait patiently and endure to sufferings of this life, by faith in order than we may receive our glorious and eternal inheritance.
Conclusion
Conclusion
v. 39
Church, remember today the faithfulness of God to you. The secret to perseverance is no secret at all. You must have faith. Jesus says in
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
If we have placed our faith in Christ
The righteous will live by faith! Therefore, we persevere in faith, we remember in faith and we move forward by faith.
For those of you this morning that have put your faith in Christ I can say with the writer of Hebrews, you are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have preserve their souls. I rejoice that one day you will meet God after you have endured this life and hear those words, “well done my servant.”
For those of you this morning that have put your faith in Christ I can say with the writer of Hebrews, you are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. I rejoice that one day you will meet God after you have endured this life and hear those words, “well done my servant.”
However, if you have found your self this morning to be counted among those that have “shrunk back” may the warning of verse 38 bring healing conviction to your soul. It’s not merely that you lose the reward, you will lose your life.
Parents, as the student pastor of Riverside Baptist church I implore you to examine your life. Currently, we are experiencing what is expected to be the largest generation known from those born after 1999. The scary part about this is that they are the most non-Christian generation the country has ever known. They will truly be the first post-Christian generation.
I would appear that this did not happen over night
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
Those are hard words to speak, much less to hear. But, may it be a blessing to the eternal destination of your soul to hear them
What path will you choose today?
I will close with the words of Paul from
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.