Untitled Sermon (64)

I hope this edition of Coffee and the Word finds you well. I hope that it is what you need to hear today. My hope is that you will be lifted up and inspired to face the day with determination of heart, serving God boldly. I hope your hope is founded on solid expectations.

Good morning and thank you for joining us at this time. In case you did not catch the point of my opening statements we are going to talk today about hope. That word is found 121 times in the KJV of the Bible and 53 times just in the New Testament. But like Inigo Montoya in the movie “The Princes Bride” said: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” What I mean is often we use the word “hope” the same way we use the word “wish”. It is something you want to happen but there is no true expectation that it will; you just hope it will. That is the way it is used most of the time in the English language so when we read that word in the Bible we assign it the same meaning. But that is not the case. Biblical hope is a much, much surer thing. It carries a meaning of “confident expectation of something coming to pass”. So when Paul writes to Titus in Titus 1:2 2in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, He is saying that there is a confident expectation of eternal life based on God’s words not mans. Our hope, Christians hope, is not focused on us or even on what we hope for, it is based on God. Hope is also not based on how much hope we have, (keep your hopes up it will happen). Hope is based on God and His very nature. We have a confident expectation that He who began a good work in us will complete it because He said He would.

Can hope ever be a bad thing? Well, hope itself can’t be bad but we can have our hopes dashed. If we put our hope in people, or events, or organizations or the future then we could easily be disillusioned and lose hope. Faith and hope have a very close connection. Faith is believing that God can and will do what He says He will do and hope is the confident expectation of what He will do. Faith is the firm foundation, hope is the confident expectation, put together they are the proof of what has not yet been seen with the human eye; or at least that is how the writer of Hebrews described it. With that being the case what is it that hope can do for us as believers?

1. It keeps us looking forward rather than at any struggles. Titus 2:13-14 13looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

2. Hope gives us focus of future glory. 1 Peter 1:20-21 20He (Jesus) indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

3. Hope gives us a reason to be thankful. Ephesians 2:12-13 12that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

4. Hope makes us aware of our righteousness in Christ. Galatians 5:5 5For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

5. Hope gives us joy and peace. Romans 15:1 13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That is what hope will do for us believers, if our hope is in God but how do we get or build hope. I’m afraid you won’t like this one. Romans 5:3-4 3And not only that,but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4and perseverance, character; and character, hope. I told you that you would like that. But Paul makes it very clear that hope is built on the foundation of struggles. When we struggle and persevere it builds in us character. The character that it builds is a reflection of the character of God Himself. That character instills in us hope in God. But there is good news and it comes in the next verse Romans 5:5 5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

When we struggle, when we have trials, we can rest assured it is God building in us more hope in Him.

Well I hope that you have learned that hope is not just a wish but it is a confident expectation that God is going to complete His work in you. Let’s pray.