You can always have HOPE!
Romans 15:13 Now 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.
The title of my sermon has been the pun of joke that I have heard over the last 14 years. “You can always have Hope”. One of the benefits that you receive with a wife whose name is Hope. And that is what I want to share with you this morning, you too can always have Hope. Not that I am going to share my wife, nor that you need to have a relationship with someone who shares her name. But the Hope that I want to share with you is as our text states, “The God of hope that you may abound in hope”.
Hope is something that we all need. Nothing is more depressing than what you consider a hopeless situation. But I am here to tell you that there is no such thing as a hopeless situation with a God of hope.
We need to have the attitude of a young boy that I heard of. A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we’re behind."
"Boy," said the spectator, "I’ll bet you’re discouraged."
"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet!"
That young man had hope and so should we. Maybe you are here this morning and you think your situation is hopeless. Maybe it is a problem in your job, your boss may be overbearing. Maybe it is a problem within your family; a wayward child, a bad marriage, an aging parent. Maybe your problem is in your finances; a loss of a job, the bills coming due. No matter what situation you may be facing, both now and in the future, God promises us that there is HOPE!
Now I assume there might be some doubters here today, who claim to be realist? In their minds there is a time to just throw in the towel and give up. And I understand and I am not saying that you will get EVERYTHING that you hope for. Hope is not some wish list that we get to pick and choose. Everything has to be done according to His will. Who wouldn’t hope to win the lottery or come into some large sum of money? But maybe God knows that if He would allow that then it could make us lose sight that it’s all God’s money anyway and the money could hurt our relationship with Him. We could become more dependant on ourselves and less dependant on Him.
So this morning let me give you just a few of the things that we can ALLWAYS have hope in the right relationship with God. The word hope is found in the Bible 137 times in 128 different sections. So God has lots to say about this subject. The first thing we can have hope in is…
Hope for the Hurting
There are many people, maybe even some who are here who are hurting. Something or someone is causing you pain. Listen to what God’s words tell us…
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now 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.
It states that we have a peace and not just any peace, but a peace with God. It is not the peace that means the absence of war or fighting, But a peace of being reconciled to God and a peace of His promises.
There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them. It states in verse 2, that is we are a Christian, we can REJOICE, which in the Greek means to boast, and HOPE means “expectation”, of God to bring glory, no matter what situation we are in.
The word glory here is the same Greek word that is translated REJOICE in verse two. Christians can rejoice not only in their future hope, but also in their present troubles.
Tribulations refer here to physical hardship, suffering, and distress. Perseverance means endurance. Trails and tribulation produce endurance when we EXERCISE our faith during those difficult times. Everyone here should know that when you exercise, it means that you get stronger.
Perseverance produces character. As Christians endure tribulation, God works in them to develop certain qualities and virtues that will strengthen them and draw them closer to Him. The result is fortified HOPE in God and His promises. Especially the one that promises that He will not allow to take on more than we can bear.
Then verse five reminds us that the hope that Christians have of their future is that God WILL NOT disappoint them. The reason that we can be so confident is that God’s love has been poured out, The moment that a person trust in Christ, that person receives the Holy Spirit who constantly encourages them in their hope in God.
No matter who you are or what you are going through, your HOPE is in God. He is in control. He may not take you out of the situation but He will be there with you in the situation and if you allow Him, He will make you a better person through it.
The next thing we can have a hope in is a…
A HOPE for the Hopeless
There is nothing more depressing than a person who has lost hope.
A number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope!
Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for unthinking rodents, how much greater should is effect be on our lives.
There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them. And with God, you can always have HOPE!
Lamentations 3:19-24 Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers And sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"
It states in this verse, because of God’s mercy and compassions, you can have a “NEW MORNING”. Every day presents us with a new opportunity to discover and experience more of God’s love. As long as you put your hope in Him, you have the promise of a better day coming.
Hope is not a wishful thought, but a confident expectation in the Lord. The verb hope suggest the idea of a “waiting attitude”.
You simply have to wait for God to take care of the situation. Nothing is too big for God. No matter what situation that you are going through, God is bigger and will take care of it. You may think, you don’t understand what I am going through. I imagine the Children of Israel thought they were in a hopeless situation when they thought they were trapped at the base of the Red Sea. Jonah probably thought he was in a hopeless situation when he was in the belly of the fish. Daniel in the Lions Den, the three Hebrew children who were thrown in the fiery furnace, Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus had been dead for three days. They all were in what we would call “Hopeless situations”. And God time and time again showed Himself to be bigger than any problem we have.
The final thing that we can have hope in is…
A HOPE for the future
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
The confession of hope is the believer’s confident expectation of the future. If we do our part, He has promised to do His. Our part of the equation comes in two parts. The first hope for the future is…
a. For the Lost.
If you are here this morning and you have not placed your faith in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, there is no hope for you in that present condition.
Ephesians 2:12-13 that 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. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
The only way you can have hope is by entering into that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You don’t have to hope you are good enough to go to heaven. We can never be good enough to go to heaven. It’s not about coming to church, it’s not about a religion, it’s about a relation. You need to enter into that relation with Jesus today so that you can ALLWAYS have hope.
b. For the Saved.
Then for the saved, those who have entered into that personal relationship, you have a hope. A hope for a future with Jesus Christ forever. But you should not horde that hope, but rather share it with others.
Hebrews 6:9-12 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
“BETTER THINGS” are promised for those who work and labor till the end. It talks about not becoming sluggish. Don’t be lazy or stingy about sharing the hope that only Jesus can give. YOU can ALLWAYS have HOPE!
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
