Hopeology, Part 11

One of the great hymns of the faith is found on page 686 of your hymnal. If you don't have your hymnal in front of you, turn with me to 686 written by Isaac Watts in 1708. The hymns of faith have rich truths in them.

They help us understand what it is our faith is based on. That's what makes hymns so rich and deep. And Isaac Watts wrote this based on Psalm 90.

And in there he says, Our God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home. And he concludes in stanza number six, O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home. He was able to grasp the fact that our Lord is our eternal hope.

And because he is the God our help in ages past, he is explaining from Psalm 90 exactly how God's eternality is our hope. Because of what he's done in the past, he will do with us in the future. And it helps us understand, as he said, he is our guide throughout our lives, that he realized that God himself is ever present with us to refine, refine our present lifestyle.

And that's the point that we've been covering the last couple of weeks that hopefully we will finish today, because we need to understand how it is that God actually refines each and every day how we live. You know, we live in a world that, as Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope without God in the world. Before you were saved, you were without any hope.

You had no hope. Israel lived in the hope of their God. In fact, the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 14, and in Jeremiah chapter 17, that the Lord God is called the hope of Israel.

That that is a title given by God for himself. And so Jeremiah, under the inspiration of the Spirit, would write about the hope of Israel. And then over in Psalm 71, verse number 5, the psalmist says, Thou art my hope, O Lord.

God is our hope. And because he is, there is something that he is doing in your life every single moment of every single day. We've tried to help you understand that the hope that God gives is not stagnant, nor is it stale.

It is so significant that it actually is effectual every single moment of every single day. And so we're helping you understand how it refines your present lifestyle. We told you, number one, it redirects.

It redirects your affection based on Colossians chapter 3, verse number 1 and 2, right? We're to set our affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Because we have been risen with Christ, we seek those things which are above where Christ himself is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Knowing that one day he's going to return, we set our affections on things above.

Why? Because Jesus is coming. We know that he's going to appear. When he appears, we'll be like him, for we'll see him as he is, 1 John 3, verse number 1, which is the key verse for this point.

And everyone who has the hope of the return of Christ purifies himself as he himself is pure. And how does that happen? Well, it redirects our affection. If you go to the next slide, John, please, I'd appreciate that, that he redirects our affection above.

And not only did he redirect our affection, he energizes our attention. If my heart is changed, my mind is changed, and everything about my energies is focused on the Christ himself. It's all about the Christ.

And if he energizes my attention, he fuels all my ambitions. And we told you last week in 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 9, that Paul's ambition was to please his God. Well, if my affections are above and my attention is focused on the Christ, I can't help but be driven from the inside out to please him.

That's what I want to do. That's how God is refining my present lifestyle. That's how God is working in and through me.

He redirects my affection. He energizes my attention. He fuels my ambition.

Which leads us to point number 4. And point number 4 is this. He increases our anticipation. He increases our anticipation.

That's the next slide, John. There you go. You see that? If my affection is upward, if my attention is Christward, my ambition then is to please him, I can't wait to see him.

I can't wait to be in his presence. I can't wait to see him face to face. Because everyone who has this hope, the return of Christ, in him purifies himself, even as Christ himself is pure.

So in the process of God refining the inner man and working in my heart, there is this increased anticipation to see the Christ face to face. I would trust that with each and every passing Sunday that you come to Christ Community Church, that there is this increased anticipation in your soul to be in the presence of the living God. I would trust that's the case.

When the Lord taught his disciples how to pray, he gave them a pattern of prayer. And the pattern that he gave them is a pattern that helps you understand how it is we communicate with the living God. He said, when you pray, pray this way.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. What's the next phrase? Thy kingdom come. If God's name is hallowed in your life, if God's name is made holy in your life, the very next thing you want to see happen is God's kingdom to come to earth.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We want your kingdom to come to earth. We want you to come and set up your kingdom.

We want you to reign and rule. We live in anticipation, an increased anticipation of the coming of the Son of Man. So when Christ gave a pattern for prayer, he said, listen, if you understand my Father who is in heaven and how his name is to be hallowed, made holy in your heart, ah, you're going to pray for the kingdom to come.

You'll pray for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, everything about your prayer life is focused on God. First of all, that's the priority.

God and his glory before you ever talk about man and his needs. Interesting statement in First Thessalonians chapter one, it speaks to the fact that those in Thessalonica, Paul says, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for a son from heaven whom he raised from the dead. That is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.

You wait for phrase used in scripture only once right here to talk about the imminent return of the Christ. His eminency always creates in me an expectancy that I might ultimately fulfill his ministry in and through my life. And if you read through the book of First Thessalonians, each chapter, chapter one, two, three, four, five, all end with something about the return of Christ.

Because the church in Thessalonica was a second coming church. They lived in the anticipation and increased anticipation of the coming of Christ. This is the byproduct of God's refining work in your heart.

You can't wait to see him. Peter says, first Peter one, verse number 13, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Fix your hope.

Make sure that everything that you drive for, desire, is on the expectancy of Christ's return. Jude says, when he writes in Jude, verse number 21, he says, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Peter says, fix your hope completely on his coming.

Jude says, anxiously, anxiously wait. Not that you're worried about his coming, but there's this anticipation of his coming. I can't, I can't express this enough that somehow there's something about the return of Christ that I eagerly anticipate.

I can't wait to see him. In fact, it would be Paul in the book of Philippians, in Philippians chapter four. Those very familiar verses to us, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.

Right? He talks about don't be anxious. In fact, that's the commandment scripture. Don't worry.

Don't be anxious. In fact, it's a commandment scripture. In fact, if you worry, you sin.

Did you know that? If you're filled with anxiety, you sin. How do we know that? Jesus said, don't do that. Don't do, do not, Matthew six, do not worry.

Take no thought for your life. That's hard for us to do, but don't worry about anything. Be anxious for nothing.

Don't do that. Why? Because it expresses, listen, it expresses your mistrust in the true and sovereign God of the universe. It expresses your inability to be able to live in light of his promises.

It expresses a desire that your hope is not in him, but in your circumstances around you, it goes against everything. God says that his word, he says, you need to trust me, believe in me, hope in me because I am your God. I am your protector.

I am your shield. I will watch over you. I can do better for you and your family in any situation you're in, then you can yourself.

So stop trusting in what you can do. Trust in what I can do because of who I am be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. That's a request and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, all human comprehension will guard your hearts and minds.

God promises. If you trust me and pray with thanksgiving, my peace will envelop you. But the key is verse number five.

In Philippians four, when it says, let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is next. The Lord is near.

Why is that? I don't have to be anxious because next on the horizon is the return of the Christ. Next in the event of God's sovereign timetable is his return. So because Jesus is coming and because there's this increased anticipation that Jesus is going to come and he who has this hope in him purifies himself as he himself is pure.

If you had that hope, there's this refining work that's taking place. There is this washing, this cleansing. There is this anticipation that's being increased day after day because Jesus is coming.

The Lord is next. Don't worry. The Lord is next.

Don't be anxious. He's coming. Pray with thanksgiving.

Let every request be known to God and watch how the peace of God just envelops your soul. But we have a hard time with that. I remember John the Baptist when he was in prison asked to send his disciples to see if Jesus was the expected one.

Psalm 18, Psalm 40 tell us that's another title for the Messiah. The coming one, the expected one he was called. In Greek he's called the Erechomai, the coming one.

And John the Baptist was a little disillusioned because he was in prison and if Jesus was the coming one, why is he in prison? Didn't understand the circumstances. So he sends his disciples to ask Jesus in Luke chapter 7, are you the one who is supposed to be coming? Because if you're the one who's supposed to be coming and you are here, why is John in prison? If you were with us in our study of Luke, you understand the scenario and all the events that took place. It's about the arrival of the coming one because the Jews lived in expectation of their coming Messiah, the hope of Israel.

One of my favorite authors is A.W. Tozer and in his book, Born After Midnight, he kind of answers the question why it is we as Christians are so lukewarm about his coming. In fact, that's the title in chapter 32 of his book, Born After Midnight. Why we are lukewarm about Christ's return.

He gives an answer. And so I want to give you what he says. I think it's quite enlightening.

He says the return of Christ as a blessed hope is as I have said, all but dead among us. The truth touching the second advent where it is presented today is for the most part either academic or political. The joyful personal element is altogether missing.

He had his pulse on the heartbeat of the people in the pew. The longing to see Christ that burned in the breasts of those first Christians seems to have burned itself out. All we have left are the ashes.

It is precisely the yearning and the fainting for the return of Christ that has distinguished a personal hope from the theological one. Mere acquaintance with correct doctrine is a poor substitute for Christ and familiarity with New Testament eschatology will never take the place of a love and flame desire to look on the face of our beloved Christ. If the tender yearning is gone from the advent hope, there must be a reason for it.

And I think, he says, I know what it is or what they are, for there are a number of them. One is simply that popular fundamentalist theology has emphasized the utility of the cross rather than the beauty of the one who died on the cross. The saved man's relation to Christ has been made contractual instead of personal.

The work of Christ has been stressed until it has eclipsed the person of Christ. Substitution has been allowed to supersede identification. What he did for me seems to be more important than what he is to me.

Redemption is seen as an across-the-counter transaction, which we accept. And the whole thing lacks emotional content. We must love someone very much to stay awake and long for his coming.

And that may explain the absence of the power in the advent hope, even among those who still say they believe in it. Then he says, another reason for the absence of real yearning for Christ's return is that Christians are so comfortable in this world that they have little desire to leave it. This is so good.

He's right. We are so comfortable where we're at. We just don't want to leave.

For those leaders who set the pace of religion and determine its content and equality, Christianity has become of late remarkably lucrative. The streets of gold do not have too great an appeal for those who find it so easy to pile up gold and silver in the service of the Lord here on earth. We will want to reserve the hope of heaven as a kind of insurance against the day of death.

But as long as we are healthy and comfortable, why change a familiar good for something about which we actually know very little? He is so right. I know this is lengthy, but bear with me. He says this, so reason, so reasons the carnal mind in so subtly that we are scarcely aware of it.

Again, in these times, religion has become jolly, good fun right here in the present world. And what's the hurry to get to heaven anyway? Christianity, contrary to what some had thought, is another and higher form of entertainment. Christ has done all the suffering.

He has shed all the tears, carried all the crosses. We have to enjoy the benefits of his heartbreak in the form of religious pleasures modeled after the world, but carried on in the name of Jesus. So say the same people who claim to believe in Christ's second coming.

History reveals that times of suffering for the church have also been times of looking upward. Tribulation has always sobered God's people and encouraged them to look for and yearn after the return of the Lord. Our present preoccupation with this world may be a warning of bitter days to come.

God will wean us from the earth some way, the easy way, if possible, or the hard way, if possible. A. W. Tozer, over 60 years ago, had his heart beat, had his finger on the heartbeat of the modern church. How much further are we away now than they were then? Well, you're so comfortable living here.

Who wants to leave? Things are good. But yet, when I go and I visit Gloria Avila, and she has been given just a few months to live, and you walk into her home, there's this radiant glow about her face, because she knows she's going to see Jesus. She knows it's going to be soon, and she lives in anticipation, in increased anticipation, not just of his return, but seeing him face to face.

My friends, there should be this longing in our hearts. I have so much to say and there's just no time to say it. You know, I guess the older I get, the more I realize that there's just no hurry to get through anything anymore.

So we'll be in Hebrews for centuries. Who knows? But the fact of the matter is, is that there's just this desire to see him face to face. Remember what Paul said.

Paul said it this way in 2 Timothy 4. He said, I have fought the good fight, and I have finished the course, and I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will reward to me on that day. And not to me only, but also to all those who love his appearing.

See that? Who love his appearing. He says to Timothy, make every effort to come to me soon, for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me. Demas wasn't looking and longing and loving the return of the Messiah.

He loved the present world. That's too bad, because that leads us to our next point. If truly there's this refining process going on, the Lord is going to redirect my affection.

He's going to fuel my ambitions. He's going to increase my anticipation. And I love this one.

He's going to nullify all worldly affirmation. He's going to nullify or negate this worldly affirmation. Paul said this in the book of 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. He says, for the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died.

And he died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. That is just so rich. When you understand the gospel and how the love of Christ compels us, it helps us understand that he who gave his life for us did so, so we should no longer live for who? Me.

But for the one who died for me. But we have such a hard time digesting that. We have a hard time grasping that.

We just love to live for ourselves. And yet the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse number 1 and following that, in the latter days men shall be lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

And while that's speaking of the end times and the characteristics of the world, we have found in the church that there are people loving themselves more and more and more rather than loving the Christ. And we love the Lord with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, all of our strength. In fact, Christ said, if any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

In other words, stop loving you, start loving me. Take up your cross and follow me. And yet that gospel can't be preached today because we don't want to deny ourselves.

We want to declare ourselves. We don't want to take up our cross. We want to throw our cross away.

We don't want to follow Christ. We want people following me. And so we have a hard time digesting the gospel and living out the gospel because we are so mesmerized with me.

It overwhelms me. And I told you I've been reading a book that I've read many times over by Charles Spurgeon called Sermons of Hope. And in there he says something quite convicting.

I think it would be good for all of us to understand it. He's writing on how this hope, 1 John 3, 1, about the return of Christ purifies the inner man so that he anticipates the coming of Christ. But in there, he says this.

He says, you will never be a holy man till you do not care what anybody else says except your God. You will not be a holy man or woman till you do not care what anybody says except your God. Now, for the most part, we can't digest that.

We want to be holy, but we are so consumed with what others say about us and think about us. But you can't be a holy man and be consumed or care about what anybody else says about you except what God says because what he says only matters. But see, that's not good enough for us.

That's not good enough for us. Hebrews 6, verse number 10. I think it was like 15 weeks ago.

We covered Hebrews 6, verse number 10. God is not unjust so as to forget your work of service or the ministry that you have done in his name. He's not going to forget, but we think he's forgotten or he doesn't care.

But we are so consumed with what others say and think about us. But when you had this hope in you that purifies yourself even as he is pure, it nullifies worldly affirmation. When you are being refined, you do not need affirmed.

You might want to be affirmed, but you do not need to be affirmed by the people of the world. Just what does God say? Spurgeon goes on and says this. He says, This is right before the Lord.

And though no eye sees me to commend me, and though every tongue should speak against me and blame me, I still will do what is right and will shun all evil. This is the man who purifies himself as he himself is pure. Spurgeon knew.

He understood. He was able to grasp it. We talked about Luke 9, 23.

How do you know you've literally denied yourself and taken up your cross and follow Christ? If you deny yourself, it affects your giving, your growing, your going, your grieving, and your gaining. If you've denied yourself, your giving patterns change. Did you know that? I want to give of my time to the Lord.

I want to give of my talents to the Lord, and I want to give of my treasures to the Lord. If you have truly denied yourself, taken up your cross, and followed the Christ, how do you know my giving patterns do change? Because now I'm giving for the glory of God and not for the glory of myself. Not only do my giving patterns change, but I'm giving for the glory of Christ.

My giving patterns change. My growing plans change. Now I want to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

I want to grow and be like him, because I don't matter. Only he does. If I denied myself, my giving patterns change, my growing plans change, and my going places change.

Where I go changes. I go into all the world and proclaim the gospel. I go into all the world and make disciples.

I go for a purpose. I go to honor God. I go to proclaim the gospel.

My going places changes, because I want to go to places that honor God, not dishonor God. I want to go to places where God has lifted up and glorified, not where he's going to be dishonored and blasphemed. If I've denied myself, my giving patterns change, my growing plans change, my going places changes, and my grieving process changes.

Because I've denied myself, I've taken up my cross and followed the Christ, I see only Jesus. And the more I see Jesus, the more I see my sin, and I grieve over my sin. I grieve over the sins of my soul.

I grieve over the sins of the world, and my grieving process changes. Knowing that, my gaining perspective changes. Philippians 1, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

I know that death brings gain, because I live through Christ. If God is doing a work, if God is purifying my heart, even as he is pure, do you think that the Lord cared what the world said about him? Do you think the Lord cared about what anybody said about him? I don't think so, because he always did those things that pleased the Father. It's all a matter.

Well, if I'm going to be like Christ, don't you think that's going to happen in my life as well? Don't you think the refining process is going to cause me to nullify all worldly affirmation, that it really doesn't matter anymore what the world says? It really doesn't make any difference what people in the church think or say. What does God think? What does God say? Am I pleasing him? Is that my ambition? That's what matters. And there's so much to say about this.

I'm not going to finish it today or the next two points, but you come back next week. I promise to finish point number nine so that we can embark on point number 10 the following week. We're not done, my friends.

I know you're hoping that I'm done with this, but your hope is in the wrong spot. Okay, we've just begun. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for this great and glorious day, the opportunity you give us. Our prayer, Father, is that we live for you, trust you, honor you. I pray for everyone in the room that they would have the hope that refines their present lifestyle, that they could see everything about their affections, their attention, ambitions, everything about what they anticipate would be about the Christ.

So they are so heavenly-minded, they're absolutely no earthly good, but they are good for heaven because they're your children who want to glorify your name. Be with us this day as we leave. Bring us back again next Lord's Day that we might worship you again.

Until you come, may we be found faithful. In Jesus' name, Amen.