Theme verse: I Corinthians 13:13a (nasb)
"But now faith, hope and love abides these three;"
In a time of great uncertainty, it is a necessity that we be people of hope. In recent years, we have had a good deal of teaching on faith and some on love, but the missing commodity in the church is an understanding of HOPE.
It behooves us to look to the Lord in these days and call forth solutions to life's problems. We must focus our gaze, not on the revival of evil, but we must set our gaze up higher and be a prophetic people with answers for today's dilemmas. It is time to be Hope Ambassadors.
In my own life, I tend to be a parabolic prophetic person. As most of you know, I have gone through a severe "Job-like season" in the last decade of my life and ministry. I have been grappling with difficult things and complex questions. This has forced me to go back to the foundational bedrock of my faith. I declare that God is good all the time and that all things work together for good. Because these two foundational truths are laid firm in my life, I believe, that the greatest level of purpose and impact is yet to come.
As I have found it necessary in my own life, so I believe it is necessary in many lives. It is time for teaching on good mental health in the body of Christ! Yes, the world and the church are both waiting for Ambassadors of Hope!
Definition of Terms
Webster's Dictionary states that "hope" means to cherish a desire with expectation of fulfillment.
Vine's Expository Dictionary of Greek Words states that "hope" is a favorable and confident expectation, the happy anticipation of good.
Scriptural Foundations of Hope
Ephesians 6:17 states as a vital part of the full armor of God, we are to put on the helmet of salvation.
I Thessalonians 5:8 gives us a commentary on this verse and tells us this is the helmet of the "hope of salvation".
The Roman helmet that Paul the apostle makes reference to covered the ears and even the front of the forehead (or the mind). We are to filter what we hear through a positive expectation of good and thus be able to think on whatsoever things are true, honorable, right, pure, of a good report and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). As a man thinks so is he (Proverbs 23:7). Therefore, it is imperative that we put on our HELMET OF HOPE.
Two Pictures of Hope
Hebrews 6:17 – 20 (nasb)
17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hope therefore is:
- It is a place of refuge for mankind likened unto the Old Testament Cities of Refuge where people could flee and take hold of the "horns of the altar".
- It is an anchor of the soul – the mind, the will and the emotions.
A ship passes its anchor through the unstable element of water to the stable element of the Rock below. The world in which we live is like the water – unstable, impermanent, insecure, ever-changing and tossed around in its form. But hope in Christ Jesus is an anchor that passes out of eternity into time and fastens us to our foundation of bedrock below – to the Rock of Ages.
Hope is a Person!
Colossians 1:27 (nasb) – to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the Hope of Glory.
Titus 2:13 (nasb) – looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.
The Benefits of Hope
Romans 8:24, 25 (nasb) – For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
We are saved by hope. We do not quit. We persevere because we are convinced by a greater reality than our temporary surroundings!
Romans 15:13 (nasb) – Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in the hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Through faith, the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to abound in the amazing power of hope.
Colossians 1:27 – When you have "Christ in you" you have the Hope of Glory – a sure expectation of unending ages of glory in the presence of God.
Ephesians 2:12 (nasb) – 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.
The condition of the lost: without God, without Christ, and without hope.
Ephesians 1:17 - 19 – We can be filled with the Hope of His calling in Christ Jesus. You are a person of destiny. Be filled with the positive expectation of good in your life. Something good is just about to happen!
Ways to Obtain Hope
Romans 15:4 (nasb) – For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Yes, through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we have great hope! Learn from our forefathers in the faith, and let hope arise!
Lamentations 3:21 - 23 (nasb) – This I recall to my mind, and therefore I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."
Right now, recall the history of the Lord in your life. Declare the testimony of His goodness over your own life and that of your family. Recall. Remember. Declare the truth that He has never left you or forsaken you. Great is His faithfulness!
With Great Expectations!
James W. Goll |
