THROWING IN THE TOWEL...
ESTABLISH A PERIMETER... HOPE, HOPE AGAIN, HOPE AGAINST HOPE
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr Kyfingers@aol.com
The church is doing many worldly things in the name of the cross. Several churches have taken out
the pulpit and put in the BIG SCREEN FOOTBALL GAMES. Other churches have removed the pews and
place dirt down and had a RODEO in the sanctuary. Other churches have place WRESTLING RINGS in
God's Holy Place and "CHRISTIAN WRESTLER" hit chairs over each other's heads in the NAME OF JESUS.
Still other churches have placed model run-ways and dance stages for vulgar displays of the flesh.
YET I HAVE GREAT HOPE...
HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED WOMMEN AND MEN SPEAK TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES?
Let me tell you a few WOMAN PHRASES:
1.FINE: A woman says: THAT'S FINE... It does not mean what us men thinks it means...
Women use the word FINE to end a conversation or argument when they KNOW THEY ARE RIGHT
and you are wrong. If a woman says: FINE, just shut up and walk away while you can...
2. WHATEVER: Whatever is a word a woman uses when you are in BIG TROUBLE... run!
3. NOTHING: When a woman says NOTHING do not believe her under any circumstances. When she says
NOTHING she really means something, start worrying immediately.
4. GO AHEAD: The language women speak GO AHEAD does not mean you have permission. IT IS I DARE
YOU TO EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Do not do it.
5. THAT'S OK: Usually a woman will think long and hard before saying: THAT'S OK. She is thinking HOW
LONG WILL I MAKE HIM SUFFER FOR THIS ONE?
I. WHEN EVERYTHING IS HOPELESS... WE HAVE HOPE...
KJV
Romans 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations;
according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
NIV
Romans 4:18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations,
just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
LB
Romans 4:18 So, when God told Abraham that he would give him a son who would have many
descendants and become a great nation, Abraham believed God even though such a promise just
couldn't come to pass!
MESSAGE
Romans 4:18 When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the
basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father
of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!"
PERIMETER:
The outer boundary of an enclosed area...
HOPE:
Promise... Expectation and desire combined, ... To feel confident...
To give cause of hope...
More than a wish or dream
I have often said: WHEN YOU BUILD A FENCE TO KEEP OTHERS OUT, YOU ARE
ALSO TRAPPING YOURSELF IN...
A BRIDGE OF HOPE WHERE THERE WAS NO HOPE...
A man won several million dollars in a lottery. He and his brother had not spoken since their parents
death. Their farms were their parent's farm divided down the middle. A creek divided their land into
their INDIVIDUAL farms. The new millionaire decided he and his wife would go to Hawaii a for the HONEY
MOON.
Before the millionaire left he called his old hard hearing UNCLE. He told his Uncle I don't care what
it cost build a high privacy fence, A SPITE FENCE, near my house between his brother's and his farm.
The Uncle promised to have it finished before his return.
SO THE UNCLE PURCHASED WOOD AND BUILT A BEAUTIFUL BRIDGE LINKING THE TWO HOMES
TOGETHER. The rich brother returned to see a BRIDGE instead of the SPITE FENCE.
When he got home his brother greeted him with a large fruit basket and said I put up your hay and fed
the chickens while you were gone. I love THE BRIDGE and we will honor Mom and Dad and be brothers
the rest of our days...
The rich brother called his Uncle and said: WHY DID YOU BUILD A BRIDGE AND NOT A FENCE?
The old Uncle said: I did what you told me to do. Do you like it?
SEEMS THIS FAMILY JUST NEEDED A BRIDGE OF HOPE...
II. LET US THROW IN A TOWEL... THE PERIMETER IS ESTABLISHED...
LET US MEET A NO NAME LADY IN THE BIBLE... NO NAME LADY IS LIVING IN EXTEME
HOPELESSNESS, SHE IS WATCHING PEOPLE. SHE IS BITTER AND GIVES UP...
THERE IS A VERSE THAT MENTIONS A GREAT HOPELESSNESS, BUT THE SAME VERSE TELLS
OF GREAT HOPE... TODAY MAY BE DARK, BUT GOD HAS A NEW PLAN...
A. LET US GO BACK TO A VERY DARK DAY IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH...
B. THE ARMY GOES OUT OF THE CAMP SHOUTING IN GREAT VICTORY...
30,000 MEN DIE & THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF GOD IS LOST...
C. THE FAMILY IS PICKING OUT 4 CASKETS... 3 CASKETS AND THEN A NEGATIVE NO HOPE...
1. ELI; 2. HOPHNI; 3. PHINEHAS --- 4. A NO NAME WIDOW.
1 Samuel 2:34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas;
in one day they shall die both of them.
D. PHINEHAS WIDOW SAW THE SIN AND CORRUPTION AND SHE LOST ALL HOPE, SHE WAS THE
PREACHER'S WIFE, BUT SHE WAS DISGUSTED WITH THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD.
E. NO NAME WIDOW, PHINEHAS WIFE, --- NO LIFE AT ALL IS LEFT IN HER HEART...
THE GLOOM AND DESPAIR DID AN EMOTIONAL, MENTAL, SPIRITUAL NUMBER ON HER UNTIL
ARE HOPE WAS GONE...
F. NO NAME WIDOW IS CRUSHED AT THE GRAVEYARD, SHE REFUSED HOPE...
SHE ACCEPTED THE DECAY AS A NORMAL PROCESS...
1 Samuel 4:19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she
heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she
bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.
III. YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT THROWING IN THE TOWEL...
WE ARE STANDING AT THE GRAVES OF MY HUSBAND, MY FATHER IN LAW, & MY BROTHER IN LAW,
I GUESS WE SHOULD JUST DIG ANOTHER GRAVE... LET'S PUT THIS NEGATIVITY ON MY SON...
1 Samuel 4:21 And she named the child I-chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark
of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
[22] And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.
A. POOR OLD PHINEHAS' NO NAME WIDOW, REFUSED TO SEE ANYTHING BUT THE NEGATIVE...
B. SHE CURSES HER SON ...ICHABOD --- THE GLORY IS GONE... FOREVER GONE..???
IV. POOR NO NAMED WIDOW, WHY DID YOU ESTABLISH A PERIMETER OF NEGATIVITY?
WHY DID YOU THROW IN THE TOWEL... GOD HAS A PLAN IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM...
WHY NOT LET GOD ARISE... THE ENEMY BE DEFEATED? GOD HAS A SAMUEL...
A. GOD HAS A PLAN... NO NAME WIDOW... GOD IS NOT FINISHED...
B. NO NAME WIDOW --- YOU HAVE SEEN THE ANSWER... YOU KNOW SAMUEL...
SAMUEL IS THE PLAN OF GOD... THERE IS HOPE...
1 Samuel 3:3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and
Samuel was laid down to sleep;
C. SAMUEL WILL WALK IN INTERGITY, THE ARK OF GOD WILL RETURN...
D. NO NAMED WIDOW YOUR SON COULD HAVE BEEN BEEN PART OF THE RENEWAL AND THE GLORY...
E. WILL YOU ARISE AND BE A SAMUEL OR WILL YOU BE AN ICHABOD...
V. MOM WANTS TO THROW IN THE TOWEL --- LIFE HURTS...
OFTEN TIMES LIFE HAS A DARK SIDE AND A BRIGHT SIDE? HOPELESSNESS? OR HOPE?
A MOM WAS IN GREAT PAIN, SHE WAS HURTING AND SHE DECIDED TO NAME HER SON
A NAME TO REMEMBER THE SADDEST AND PAIN... THE DAD THOUGHT NO YOUR NOT GOING
TO PUT THIS HEAVINESS ON OUR SON...
A. Jacob came from a dysfunctional home. He and his brother ESAU fought. Esau promised to kill him.
B. THERE WAS A NIGHT OF WRESTLING WHEN GOD CHANGED JACOB TO ISRAEL...
PRINCE WITH GOD AND MAN...
C. THE WAS MANY NEGATIVE BATTLES IN THIS HOME AS LEAH AND RACHEL WERE MARRIED TO
THE SAME MAN.
D. LEAH gave ISRAEL 11 sons...
E. RACHEL had one son named JOSEPH...
F. RACHEL IS AN OLDER WOMAN AND IS CARRYING A BABY...
THE DELIVERY IS VERY DIFFICULT...
Genesis 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name
Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.
G. RACHEL WAS IN TRAVAIL --- SORROW --- PAIN --- THE FLESH WILL ALLWAYS MOURN OVER
STORMS, TROUBLES, TRIALS, OBSTACLES,
H. RACHEL NAMES HER SON: BEN-ONI --- THE SON OF GREAT SORROW AND PAIN...
I. ISRAEL NAMES HIS BABY: BENJAMIN--- THE HOUSE OF BREAD --- THE SON OF MY RIGHT HAND,
GOD'S GIFT --- JESUS IS AT THE FATHER'S RIGHT HAND...
VI. LIFE IS 10% WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU, IT IS 90% WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU...
LIFE WITH OUT JESUS IS AN HOPELESS END, LIFE WITH JESUS IS AN ENDLLESS HOPE...
A. CAN YOU SEE PHYSICAL PAIN AND EMOTIONAL PAIN CAN LEAVE DEEP SCARS THAT CAN
KILL THE SPIRIT MAN.
B. TROUBLE SEEMS TO BUILD UP TO MORE TROUBLE.
THE PAIN OF SICKNESS... Have you ever fallen to the floor?
THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF FINANICAL WOES...
THE PAIN OF REJECTION...
THE LAST ENEMY IS DEATH...
C. Ever have the enemy HOUND YOUR MIND... WHAT IS THE USE?
VII. IN SAMSONS PROBLEM WAS HIS ANSWER IN A TIME OF HUNGER, SAMSON FACES A YOUNG
LION FACE TO FACE... HE DID NOT THROW IN THE TOWEL, HE FOUGHT...
A. Samson had enemy all around him trying to defeat him.
One day Samson was traveling and a YOUNG LION stepped out of the SHADOWS,
the enemy planned to scare Samson to run in fear...
B. FEAR COULD NOT BE ALLOWED, FEAR IS A TYPE OF DOUBT.
C. SAMSON FACED HIS LIONS...
Judges 14:8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion:
and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.
[9] And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he
gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of
the lion.
D. LATER SAMSON WAS HUNGRY AND SO WAS HIS MOM AND DAD, LITTLE DID HE HIS
HOPE WAS IN THE DEAD CARASS OF THE LION... by facing his lion--- he had food...
VIII. THE ANCHOR IS A SYMBOL OF HOPE...
EVERY SERIOUS BOAT OR SHIP ON THE WATER CARRIES AN ANCHOR...
NO BELIEVER CAN CONTINUE IN THIS RACE WITHOUT THE ANCHOR OF HOPE...
A. In Biblical times ROMAN SHIPS carried several anchors.
Some anchors are on the stern, but some are on the prow.
B. Anchors have at least TWO FLUKES --- teeth like...
C. ANY WATER WORTHY VESSEL, ANY CAPTAIN KNOWS YOU CAN NOT ALWAYS GO FORWARD...
FOR TIMES YOU CAN NOT MAKE PROGRESS --- YOU NEED AN ANCHOR...
Hebrews 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil;
D. THE ANCHOR IS A METAPHORE TO KEEP ONE and to stay STEADFAST IN TIMES OF STORMS
and TRIALS.
E. THERE ARE SEASONS THAT WE WILL KNOW DOUBT AND SELF DOUBT--- WE NEED A
SURE ANCHOR.
F. BY TRUSTING GOD OUR ANNCHOR HOLDS...
IX. WE MUST BECOME A PRISONER OF HOPE... BE A JAILBIRD... LOCKED UP WITH HOPE...
A. YOU CAN NEVER HOPE --- IF YOU CAN NOT BELIEVE...
B. Today well lived will make tomorrow a VISION OF HOPE...
C. WHEN YOU SAY A PERSON IS HOPELESS --- YOU ARE SLAMMING THE DOOR IN GOD'S FACE!
KJV
Zech. 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render
double unto thee;
NIV
Zech. 9:12 Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as
much to you.
LB
Zech. 9:12 Come to the place of safety, all you prisoners, for there is yet hope! I promise right now,
I will repay you two mercies for each of your woes!
D. MAKE NO LITTLE PLANS, MAKE BIG PLANS: AIM HIGH IN HOPE AND WORKS...
X. YOUR PAIN AND SORROW ARE TOOLS TO FIND THE REAL HEART OF GOD.
SUFFERING IS THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUILDING SAINTS.
ALL SPIIRITUAL WISDOM IS SUMMED UP IN 3 WORDS:
1 Cor. 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1. FAITH
2. HOPE
3. LOVE
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Have you ever been thirsty and found a DRY WELL?
Have you ever looked for light to find darkness?
Have you ever cried for PEACE, to find more and more trouble and strife?
Have you ever looked up at the mountain to find it is 1,000 feet higher?
Have you ever looked for the bright sun to shine and warm your bones, to feel a cold north
wind blowing?
Have you ever climbed the mountain like Moses did to see into the PROMISE, to find fog,clouds?
IN THE FAINTING OF YOUR HOPE, YOUR TESTINGS, YOUR TRIALS,
YOU WILL FIND FAITH WORKS... FAIITH --- HOPE --- LOVE ---
THE CONTRARY WINDS WILL BLOW YOU TO THE HEART OF GOD!
DIAMONDS AND GOLD ARE ALWAYS FOUND IN DEEP VEINS OF MUD, IT IS VERY RARE TO FIND.
SPRING RAINS BRING BLOSSOMS--- THAT YIELD TO FRUIT...
Jesus was the son of God, a real King, but he submitted to become a carpenter.
Jesus knew streets of gold, yet He knew dusty feet and sandals.
His hands helped create all CREATION, yet he yielded his hands to wash feet.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Pass my work's name on...
