0470 The Hope Connection

Eph 2:11-13 -

“11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

12 That at that time ye 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:

13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Breakdown Of Passage

Vs. 11 - Gentile - EX - Gentile - What a Gentile is / is not

Vs. 12 Covenant - God never enters into a relationship with any human being apart from covenant. He is the covenant-making and the covenant- keeping God. He keeps covenant AND mercy!

Vs. 12 Without hope, and without God, in the world

To be without hope is to be without God. To be without God is to be without hope, in the world. This is Gods’ description of the lost.

EX - Dante’s Inferno - The Gates Of Hell - “Abandon Hope All Ue Who Enter Here”. - To be without hope can be hell on earth!

The Nature Of Hope

Hope is:

what connects us to God.

what connects us to the eternal realm of God.

what connects to the supernatural of God

Aspects Of Hope

Hope is related to the expectation receiving what is good! (Php 1:19-20)

Hope is the ability to see a positive outcome beyond your present circumstances.

Hope is the ability to dream.

Hope is the recognition of purpose for your life (Ps 139:16; Jer 29:11 AMP)

Eph 2:12 - Worldly Hope

There is a “worldly” or a “natural hope” in the world. But it is not a hope that is recognized by God because it EXTREMELY LIMITED!

Natural hope is limited to the ability of the world to solve its’ own problems WITHOUT GOD! And when the world is facing a problem that they cannot beg, borrow, steal, or medicate to fix, THEY’RE DONE! The limit of all natural hope is the natural realm.

I am amazed at the reaction of believers to COVID-19.

The limitation of ALL NATURAL HOPE IS DEATH! When death comes in, the hope of the world is gone!

EX - Fear, panic, and sorrow!

EX - Bill Baugh

Just like the world, they have equated the COVID-19 diagnosis. with a death sentence.

EX - We recognize the seriousness of COVID-19. - We have had it.

EX - Funerals. Loss of people.

Training In Hope Eph 2:12 -

May 1950—Kenneth E. Hagin told to ‘Go Teach My People Faith’

While ministering in Houston, Texas, Kenneth heard an audible voice from God saying, “Go teach My people faith! I have taught you faith through My Word. I have permitted you to go through certain experiences, and you have learned faith, both through my Word and by experience. Now, go teach My people what I have taught you.”

“You know that I didn’t afflict you, Cindy or anybody else with COVID-19. But I will use yours and Cindy’s experience to allow you to say things that you otherwise could not!”

The reason that many Christians react the way that they do to COVID-19 is because they have not developed their hope in God!

Learn to distinguish between FACTS and TRUTH!! DON’T GIVE THE FACTS ETERNAL STATUS WITH YOUR WORDS!

EX - Christians reaction to COVID-19, no TRAINING! (Not just TEACHING)- Reaction in crisis!

Our hope is in what separates the Christian from the world. It separates the believer from the unbeliever.

Our hope causes us to think, to act, and to react differently from the world, especially in times of challenge from the enemy!

A Study In Hope

Rom 4:17-21 -

The hope of the world is is based on INDEPENDENCE FROM GOD! Our hope is based on TOTAL DEPENDENCE AND TRUST IN GOD.

Rom 8:24-25 -

We hope FOR WHAT WE CANNOT PRESENTLY SEE!

2Cor 4:17-18 -

OUR HOPE GOES BEYOND THE DEATH LIMIT and reaches into the eternal realm of God for the miraculous.

Heb 6:17-20 -

We go beyond the veil (His flesh - Heb 10:20 = our flesh -(Eph 5:30-32). My hope takes me beyond the limitations of my flesh - the death limit (1Cor 15:19).

Mk 9:23 -

“Believing” is the process of faith and hope working together in the human heart (Rom 15:13; Heb11:1).

Jesus said that all things ARE POSSIBLE to him that believes. This is not strictly a statement concerning the power of faith. This is a mindset that is produced by hope (Our Hope affects the way think.). It is the CHOOSING to believe the POSSIBILITY OF WHAT THE WORLD CALLS IMPOSSIBLE!

What the world calls IMPOSSIBLE is boundary of their hope! But our hope is UNLIMITED IN GOD!

The Difference Between Hope and Faith - Hope says that it is POSSIBLE! Faith says the POSSIBILITY IS GUARANTEED IN WRITING (Heb 7:22).

Hope Raises The Dead

1Th 4:13-17 -

We do not sorrow as others which have no hope!

HOPE IS THE PRIMARY INGREDIENT NECESSARY TO RAISE THE DEAD!

EX - Kay Oliver

EX - (John Lake book)

EX - John Baker

Jn 11:38-44;

Vs. 43 - There was so much power manifest in that moment

Brought Lazarus' spirit back into his body

Healed him of the sickness that caused him to die

Picked him up bodily and set him in the doorway of that tomb.

What the power DIDN’T do!

It didn’t roll the stone away. Men did that!

It didn’t loose him and let him go. Men did that!

The stone represents all that is involved in the grieving process. (Lk 4:18) You must ALLOW the Lord to heal your

heart. The longer you wait to exit the grief, the heavier the stone gets.

Over the process of time, the Lord will strengthen you to roll the grief away and move forward

The loosing and letting go is not FORGETTING.

It is a RECOGNITION that the departed is not in your past. They are in your future.

It is not a leaving behind in the past, but a pressing toward a reunion that is sure, and certain, and soon!

If your dealing with someone who is sick or injured and the diagnosis is not good, BY YOUR HOPE, look beyond the condition and focus on HEALING AND HEALTH! If you are dealing with someone who has left this earth, BY YOUR HOPE, look beyond the Tom and focus on HEAVEN!