The Anchor of The Soul

1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB95

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We will begin a new three sermon series this morning titled: The Gift of Virtue.

Virtues are gifts from God that lead us to live in a close relationship with him. Virtues are like habits. They need to be practiced; they can be lost if they are neglected. The three most important virtues are called theological virtues because they come from God and lead to God.

These are part of the catechism of the Catholic Church. Catechism is the basic doctrines or tenets of what we believe. Every discipline of faith has them whether you realize it or not. These are understood as theological virtues b/c they are given to us by God; they literally are gifts given to us while we live in such a troubled place.

μενει (abide) literally means to endure. The implication is these three virtues do not go away or diminish; how could they? They come from God.

We will begin this series on the theological virtues with Hope.

Intro:

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2273 Any Hope of Rescue?

Someone has said that if you could convince a man there was no hope, he would curse the day he was born. Hope is an indispensable quality of life.

Years ago the S-4 submarine was rammed by another ship and quickly sank. The entire crew was trapped in its prison house of death. Ships rushed to the scene of disaster off the coast of Massachusetts. We don’t know what took place down in the sunken submarine, but we can be sure that the men clung bravely to life as the oxygen slowly gave out.

A diver placed his helmeted ear to the side of the vessel and listened. He heard a tapping noise. Someone, he learned, was tapping out a question in the dots and dashes of the Morse Code. The question came slowly: “Is … there … any … hope?”

This seems to be the cry of humanity: “Is there any hope?” Hope, indeed, is the basis of all human existence in Christ!

Text:

Romans 12:12–13 NASB95

rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

3

Many people today are hopeless.

Their perceived hope rises and falls w/ the economy, the political scene, their children, their health, and the list goes on.

The strength and validity of our hope is only as strong and true is that which we place our hope in.

If I place my hope in something that is weak and unstable, the my hope will be weak and unstable.

The kind of hope I’m talking about will give you hope even when there is no reason for hope.

Romans 4:18 NASB95

In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

As you can see from the text, God wants us to abound (περισσευω lit. to have a surplus) in hope.

In hope we:

Rejoice ()

Perservere

Hope

Exult ()

Hope is a continual looking to heaven and eternal life. Hope fills the heart of the believer.

C.S. Lewis on hope (Mere Christianity) - The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.

that Christ Jesus was our hope.

Two important questions about hope.

Lewis, C. S.. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics) (p. 134). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Lewis, C. S.. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics) (p. 134). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Two important questions about hope.

Two important questions about hope.

1. What is hope? 2. Where does it come from?

What is hope?

Most often hope is used in our English vernacular w/ the idea of wishing. Biblical hope is not wishing.

It is ελπις in the original.

BDAG - the looking forward to something. with some reason for confidence respecting fulfillment, hope, expectation

Louw/Nida - to look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial—‘to hope, to hope for, hope.

It is the idea of hope as in confidence in God whose goodness and mercy are to be relied on and whose promises cannot fail.

From now on, I want you to define hope as “an earnest expectation.”

Hope is a continual looking to heaven and eternal life. Hope fills the heart of the believer.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2273 Any Hope of Rescue?

Someone has said that if you could convince a man there was no hope, he would curse the day he was born. Hope is an indispensable quality of life.

Years ago the S-4 submarine was rammed by another ship and quickly sank. The entire crew was trapped in its prison house of death. Ships rushed to the scene of disaster off the coast of Massachusetts. We don’t know what took place down in the sunken submarine, but we can be sure that the men clung bravely to life as the oxygen slowly gave out.

A diver placed his helmeted ear to the side of the vessel and listened. He heard a tapping noise. Someone, he learned, was tapping out a question in the dots and dashes of the Morse Code. The question came slowly: “Is … there … any … hope?”

This seems to be the cry of humanity: “Is there any hope?” Hope, indeed, is the basis of all human existence in Christ!

Hope and faith work together

Hebrews 11:1 NASB95

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2. Where does hope come from?

A). The Promises of God.

See .

“I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.”

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,

And bin His word do I hope

.

Paul said to King Agrippa in And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

God has made many promises to us about our redemption, our glory, and eternity.

And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers

These promises become our hope b/c of the veracity of God.

B). The Person of Jesus

Paul said in that Christ Jesus was our hope.

He said in that Christ in us was the hope of glory.

Peter said in his first epistle that we have been born again to a “living hope” b/c of the resurrection of Jesus.

Heb 6:18-20.

In Christ, God demonstrated his love and gave humanity a glimpse into his promises to us in order that our hope would:

— Abound

— Be the anchor of our soul.

— Would not be disappointed ().

C). The Power of The Holy Spirit

Notice in v. 13 of our text that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit we abound in hope.

The Holy Spirit in us is the very foundation of our hope.

This is b/c he is the fulfillment of God’s promise that he would pour out his Spirit on all flesh.

says he is the pledge of our inheritance or the down payment.

Not Everyone Has Hope

Proverbs 13:12 NASB95

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

We live in a sin-sick world; a world wherein mankind has no hope.+

Ephesians 2:12 NASB95

remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

++

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NASB95

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.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NASB95

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.

The only hope for fallen man is Jesus.

W/out these three truths, you cannot and will not have hope.