What ever happened to hope Part 2
“Hope The Anchor Of Our Soul”
Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV) Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12 LivingBible Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when dreams come true at last, there is life and joy.
Many people in our world have lost Hope. Like we said last week,
Man can live about 40 days without food, about 3 days without water, about 8 minutes without air but only about 1 second without hope.
The word HOPE means: A confident expectation of good.
We live in a world today that seems to have lost hope. People look at the weather and have lost hope, at politicians and have lost hope. They look at the economy and have lost hope, Marriages, raising Kids, even our young people have lost hope. Sad but so true.
What I have seen is that so many people wake up in the morning with a desire to have a great day and then life happens.
What I want us to see today is that this happens to even the best people that live and have lived.
The most important thing, is to NOT GIVE UP.
Abraham Lincoln Didn't Quit
Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn't quit, look no further .
Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.
He could have quit many times - but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country.
Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln's road to the White House:
1816: His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
1818: His mother died. 1831: Failed in business. 1832: Ran for state legislature - lost.
1832: Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.
1833: Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
1834: Ran for state legislature again - won.
1835: Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
1836: Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838: Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated.
1840: Sought to become elector - defeated. 1843: Ran for Congress - lost.
1846: Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job.
1848: Ran for re-election to Congress - lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected.
1854: Ran for Senate of the United States - lost.
1856: Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention - got less than 100 votes.
1858: Ran for U.S. Senate again - again he lost.
1860: Elected president of the United States.
What happen here. He keep his hope alive. He didn’t let go and Hope became an anchor throughout his life.
The Bible tells us that hope is the only thing that can hold us steady, in the uncertainties of life. In fact our Bible and our God says that we are to have a great hope and this hope will hold us steady no matter what life brings at us. God has given us the Anchor of Hope.
Hebrews 6:13-20 (NKJV) 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:19 (AMP) [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it—a hope] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil,
Hebrews 6:19 (NLTse) This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary.
Our hope in God is an anchor for the believer's soul. The word "anchor" (agkuran) refers to the anchor used by ships to hold the ship in a certain place.
The anchor keeps it from floating aimlessly about and being damaged or sunk by rocks.
God's promise of an eternal land (heaven) is what anchors the believer's soul and...
keeps us from floating aimlessly about.
keeps us from floating upon the rocks.
The anchor of hope is both sure and steadfast. It cannot slip and it cannot break; it will hold the believer no matter what storms or violence are launched against it.
I want us to look at an Old Testament saint who had a great day and then 1 person came and knocked him for a loop and that person is Elijah.
1Kings 18 Their a famine in the land.
(1 Kings 18:5 NKJV) And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.”
Ahab and Obadiah Split up to see if they can find water. Elijah meets up with Obadiah and tells him to get Ahab the king. Obadiah is afraid.
(1 Kings 18:7-19 NKJV) Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “ Is that you, my lord Elijah?”
8 And he answered him, “ It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here. ’”
9 So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, “ He is not here, ’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, “Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here” ’!
12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord's prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, “Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me!”
15 Then Elijah said, “ As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “ Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table
Elijah tells king Herod get all the prohets of Baal and lets see who is the true God.
(1 Kings 18:20-40 NKJV) So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
(1 Kings 18:27 LivingBible) About noontime, Elijah began mocking them. "You'll have to shout louder than that," he scoffed, "to catch the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking to someone, or is out sitting on the toilet, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!"
28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.
29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “ Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there
Next he tell the king that the famine is coming to an end.
1 Kings 18:41-45 (NKJV) Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again."
44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.' " 45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
Then the Spirit of the Lord came on him and he outruns Ahab chariot.
WOW! what a victory. How exciting to be used by God so powerfully. Here he is full of hope and expectation. Maybe revival will start in Israel. I’m God’s man and many other great thoughts. BUT THEN. How many know the BUT THEN.
But then, watch as the air gets sucked right out of his balloon.
In life you can be filled with hope, excitement and then 1 person or 1 situation comes and all changes.
1 Kings 19:1-3 (NKJV) And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
Then he wants to die.
1 Kings 19:4 (NKJV) But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
And this is how life and the devil works. All can be going great and then someone does something that tries to get you to be discourage and lose your hope. Don’t let it go because Hope is the ANCHOR OF YOUR MIND.
Hebrews 6:19 (NKJV) This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
It's what holds us together until Jesus returns.
We have a great hope in this life and beyond, and it gives us Great comfort, and its all because of Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NKJV) But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words
