THE LIGHT OF HOPE
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. You always need to be skeptical when you are offered a “free ride.” If it looks too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true. Example:
2. In Zimbabwe, a bus driver was transporting 20 mental patients from one mental hospital to another.
3. He saw an illegal bar on the side of the road and decided to stop for a few drinks. He locked his patients in the bus. After about an hour, he returned to find all the mental patients had escaped.
4. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone there a free ride.
5. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.
B. THESIS: WHAT IS HOPE LIKE?
1. The coming of Hope is like lighting a candle in the darkness.
2. “Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in [sees] an endless hope.” George Beenken.
3. “What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope [is] for the [soul] meaning of life.” Emil Brunner.
4. Today’s headline of the Houston Chronicle (reflecting on the 5 policemen killed in Dallas) was “A Nation Holding Onto Hope.”
5. We all need hope. Tonight I’m touching on how Hope is like a light. It should give us optimism, transform our lives, and reminds us of our inheritance.
I. HOPE IS A POSITION OF OPTIMISM
Optimism is defined as “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.” In other words, it’s a positive outlook based on the conviction that things are going to get better! We Christians have every reason for optimism. Why?
A. GOD IS A GOOD GOD
1. “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Ex. 34:6.
2. The God of the Bible is motivated by love in all He does. He wants to save and bless all humans with eternal life.
3. He is not motivated, as Allah, to uphold his greatness at all costs, but voluntarily humbles Himself to subject Himself to mocking and torture by His creatures in order to save them. His over-riding motive is His LOVE. Praise God!
B. GOD IS WORKING FOR OUR GOOD
1. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Rom. 8:28.
2. God is NOT working for HIS own good, but for OUR good! What an amazing statement. If God be for us, who can be against us? If we are mistreated in this life, still God will turn it around in the next life.
3. The beggars in this life, the under-privileged, the hungry, the sad, the persecuted, the disadvantaged – all will be reversed in eternity. They will not be the tail, but the head in God’s order. [See the “Beatitudes,” Mt. 25:35-43, Luke 16:19-26]
C. HE IS IN CONTROL
1. “For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations” Psalm 22:28. “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.” Dan. 2:21, NASV.
2. The world will have chaos because there are many people who are sinning & violating the will of God. But despite that, God is still moving history in the direction He wants it to go. He’s in charge and intervenes when He sees it’s necessary.
D. HOPE IN TRIALS
1. We don’t need to fret about the prosperity of the wicked (Ps. 73:3-20). There is and will be injustice in this world, but we must know that God will set it all straight.
2. Jesus said, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort” Lk. 6:24. “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you” James 5:1.
3. Those who are so famous & elite now will be despised in eternity. Be glad that’s not you!
4. Even in trouble, we have “hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” Heb. 6:19. We have the promises of God’s Word to cling to.
5. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” Rom. 15:4.
6. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” Phip 4:19.
II. HOPE SHOULD TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
A. MY LIFE’S NOT BEYOND REPAIR
1. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” 1 Pet. 1:3.
2. Peter mentions “new birth.” Why? Because into the world of despair has dawned a wonderful event -- the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead!
3. With Jesus’ resurrection has come New Life! We were all born physically into this earthly realm, but Jesus said we must all be born a second time – into the spiritual realm!
4. Peter said, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever” 1 Pet. 1:23.
5. The Apostle John said, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God” 1 Jn. 3:9.
6. HUMOR
a. Two ladies were trying to impress each other with how spiritual they were. Finally, one of them left.
b. The remaining one turned to her husband who’d been sitting there quietly and said, “She’s a good Christian, but I live closer to the Lord!”
c. Her husband looked over his spectacles and said, “Neither one of you are crowding Him any!”
d. We all need to be closer to God.
B. GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE
1. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jer. 29:11.
2. We are optimistic of a positive future because God is bigger than our circumstances and can take us places we could not go on our own.
3. How exciting that our futures are wide open!
III. A HOPE THAT INSURES YOUR INHERITANCE
“…and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you” 1 Pet. 1:4.
A. HEAVEN IS REAL
1. “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16.
2. Many times during His earthly life, Jesus said, “I will rise again.”
3. IT HAPPENED! Jesus rose victoriously over death, hell, & the grave on the third day.
4. The great shout heard in heaven was, “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed!” Rev. 5:5.
5. The Bible teaches if we trust Him as our Savior and obey His teachings, we receive eternal life.
B. JESUS TOLD US ABOUT HEAVEN
1. He told us about the Eternal City, New Jerusalem, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp….On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there” Rev. 21:22-25.
2. Jesus said, “BECAUSE I LIVE, YOU SHALL LIVE ALSO!”
3. The Bible says, "To be an absent from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord."
4. The Bible tells us that Heaven is a Real Place. It’s described as ‘Paradise.’ It’s a place of real cities, streets,
mansions, mountains, trees, rivers, and lots of people and angels there. Best of all – God’s there!
5. Heaven is a place of reunions. One day, we’re going to go there and we’ll be with all our missed loved ones again, forever!
C. REQUIREMENTS TO GO TO HEAVEN
1. ONLY THE REDEEMED
2. “BORN AGAIN.” Each of us need to experience personal transformation by faith in Jesus!
3. THE FAITHFUL
D. HUMOR
1. In a foreign exchange program, a Russian Rabbi came to visit America. His host took him to a Chinese restaurant.
2. It happened to be Christmas time, and the waiter, at the end of the meal, brought each of them a Christmas ornament. On the bottom, it said, “Made in India.”
3. The host observed the Rabbi wipe a tear. “Were you offended at being given the Christmas ornament?”
4. “No, I was shedding a tear of joy to be in such a wonderful country in which a Buddhist gives a Jew a Christmas gift made by a Hindu!”
5. We may have multi-culturalism, but we know there’s only One Savior of the world – Jesus Christ!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city's hospitals.
2. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child's name and room number and talked briefly with the child's regular class teacher.
3. "We're studying nouns and adverbs in his class now," the regular teacher said, "and I'd be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn't fall too far behind."
4. The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain.
5. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I've been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn't accomplished much.
6. But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize.
7. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don't know what I mean. We've been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back, responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live."
8. Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization.
9. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?" Bits & Pieces, July 1991.
B. THE CALL
1. Have you been struggling to keep going? Have you been discouraged and felt like giving up?
2. Have you accepted that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?
3. How many would say, “I’d like prayer for some situations in my life? Have prayer warriors go to their seat & pray for them.
4. Do you have the hope of eternal life? Would you like to have it? If so, raise your hands. (Prayer)
