Praising God Amidst My Problems, Part 1b

I want to talk to you about hope because you see the unbelieving world has no hope. They're hopeless. Edward moted, said it this way, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. When darkness seems to veil his face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, his covenant in blood, support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.

Hope. Hope is like turning on a light in a dark room. It gives you perspective, it gives you a sense of destiny. Hope is, is, is, is like introducing life. In a scene of death. That's what hope does. Hope brings joy to a sorrowful situation. And yet Paul would say in first Corinthians 15 verse number 19 that people with no hope are the most miserable people in the world.

Miserable people. If your hope is tied to what's around you, if that's what you trust in and you lose it, you're devastated. If your hope is tied to a loved one and that loved one is taken home and dies, you are devastated if that's where your hope is, is residing. If your hope is in your possessions and in your home and all that's there and it's burned to the ground, you'll lose it all, you are devastated. But our hope as believers is in God, who cannot die, who cannot change, who will not leave.

And as Hebrews 6 says, He is the anchor of our soul. The anchor of our soul. We talk about hope, we're not talking about some wishful kind of thinking. Well, I just kind of hope so. We wish it happens. We think it might happen. No, no. When the Bible speaks of hope, it speaks of confident assurance in truth. Knowing for certain that it will happen because God said so. That's our hope. Let me give you a few points about hope.

Hope is rooted in God. Hope is rooted in God. Romans 15, 13, our God is called the God of hope. 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse number 1, Christ Jesus is our hope. Colossians 1, 5, the gospel is our hope. You need to understand that hope is rooted in God. Hope is rooted in God alone. Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 43, Psalm 43, verse number 5. The psalmist said, Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you troubled within me? Hope in God. For I shall again praise him the help of my countenance and my God.

You see, we get disturbed when things don't go our way and our plans fail. And the psalmist says, Wait a minute. Why are you disturbed in your soul? Why are you so uneasy in your interbeing? Why? Hope in God. In other words, stop hoping in that which you can see. Stop hoping in that which is tangible. Stop hoping in that which is temporary and hope in the eternal God of the universe. The psalmist says, That's why my soul is in such distress. That's why my soul is in such despair. Because I'm hoping in something that will not last and I need to have my hope, my confidence, my trust in God.

Psalm 78 says it this way, verse number 7. Pick up the narrative in verse number 5. For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children that the generations to come might know even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to the children that they should put their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. When we look to the past and see what God has done, we learn to trust God in the future.

And so we need to realize that hope is rooted in God alone. And therefore, we need to trust him solely. Number two, if hope is rooted in God, hope is received by grace.

Hope is received by grace. The text is 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, verse number 16. Paul offers his benediction. Now, may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace. Listen, if hope is rooted in God, then hope is received by grace. This is why the believer has a confident assurance of his future and the unbeliever doesn't. The unbeliever has no hope. Or if they have a hope, they hope in that which is temporal. Job said it this way, Job 8, verse number 13.

The hope of the godless will perish. So true. The hope of the godless will perish. Over in, I think it is Job 27, verse number 8, it says this. For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God requires his life? Psalm 31, verse number 24. If I have put my confidence in gold and called fine gold my trust. In other words, if I hope in gold, if I hope in money, if I hope in that which is temporal, in transit. Verse 28, this too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, for I would have denied God above.

Job says, if I put my trust in anything other than the God of the universe, if I put my trust in gold, if I put my trust in money, if I put my trust in the stock market. I will have denied God. Denied Him. Because my hope is in something that cannot change, that cannot fail, that will not fail, that will always be there. And that's the God of the universe. And Paul says that we receive that hope because of the grace of God. That's marvelous. Hope is rooted in God, received by grace, listen, realized through the resurrection.

Hope is realized through the resurrection. And the verse for that is our verse in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse number 3. That we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Listen, we have hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You will note the cross behind me. There is no Jesus on the cross behind me because the emphasis in Christianity is not on the fact that He suffered and died. The emphasis in the Christianity is that He rose again the third day because if He didn't rise again the third day, it doesn't make any difference what He suffered for or what He died for.

He had to rise again. And that's why as I called my father-in-law today, who as many of you know, was in the monastery and a devout Roman Catholic before he gave his life to Christ. And he told me before he came to Christ, there was no hope. He had no hope. None. But when he came to Christ, he realized that the resurrection of his Lord Jesus Christ gave him hope. That if he put his faith and trust in that one who died for him and rose again, he'd live forever. Because He is alive. We are alive. We will live forever.

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall never die. Whoa, what do you mean never die? I thought the Bible says it's appointed in a man wants to die after that the judgment Hebrews 927.

How can you say I'll never die? I will never be separated from God ever. Because death is defined by separation. Christ says he who believes in me because I'm the resurrection life shall never be separated from me.

Never. And that's our hope. Our hope is rooted in God. It's received by grace. It's realized in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And that's why Jesus isn't on a cross in our church. Because he rose from the dead. Because that was a victory over sin, Satan and death. That's what gives us hope. That's what motivates us for another day. We need to understand that in order to live above our problems. But number four, hope is reinforced through the scriptures. If my living hope is rooted in a living God.

If my living hope is received by the grace that's given to me from that God. And if my hope is realized in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the God of the universe. Then that hope is reinforced through the scriptures. If you're sitting here and I say, you know, I don't have that kind of hope. I know that Jesus died for my sins. I gave my life to Christ. But you know what? I don't have that kind of confidence. I don't have that kind of assurance. I don't have that kind of hope. It's reinforced through the scriptures.

Romans chapter 15. Verse number four says it this way. For whatever was written in earlier times is written for our instruction. That through perseverance and the encouragement of scripture. We might have hope, assurance, confidence. Listen to the psalmist in what he said. Psalm 119. Remember the word to thy servant in which thou hast made me hope. This is my comfort and my affliction. That thy word has revived me. What was the psalmist comfort amidst his pain? What was the psalmist comfort amidst his affliction?

It wasn't his neighbor. It wasn't his church. It wasn't his pastor. It was the word of Almighty God. Your word has given me hope. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't call somebody or talk to your pastor about your problems. Don't even say that. What I'm saying is that the psalmist said it's thou hast made me hope in your word. Now listen to this. Psalm 119. Verse number 116. Sustain me according to thy word that I may live. And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.

The psalmist says, if your word sustains me, I won't be ashamed. If your word causes me to live, I won't be ashamed. I'll be strong. And that's what we need to see. That hope is reinforced through the scriptures. And that's why we need to be people, men and women of the word, in the word. Memorizing the word. Studying the word. Applying the word. Why? Because it gives me hope. It gives me courage and confidence. It gives me perspective. It gives me outlook. It gives me a promise of tomorrow. It gives me a perspective of my God and how he's involved in all my pain, in all my problems.

It's reinforced through the scriptures. Number five. Hope is reaffirmed by the Holy Spirit. Reaffirmed by the Holy Spirit. Romans 15, verse number 13 says this. 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 Spirit of God causes us not to have hope, but to abound in hope. To jump for hope. To have so much hope that we can't contain it all. The Spirit of God is that which reaffirms our hope in our lives. The ministry of the Spirit of God is such a unique ministry.

Because he causes us to understand the confidence of our God. And remember, the Spirit of God works in conjunction with the scripture of God. Never forget that. So you can't ever open your word, or read the word of God, or go to church and expect the Spirit of God to cause you to abound in hope. It doesn't work that way. Because the Spirit of God works through the pages of God. The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. We have a living hope. And we have a living spirit within us.

And the Spirit of God works in conjunction with the word of God and causes the hope within us to abound. And that is exciting. But number six, hope. Our hope is a rampart against Satan and his evil devices. Our hope is a rampart against Satan and his evil devices. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Paul says this, verse 8. But since we are of the day, that is we are believers, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. You see, the armor of God is a rampart against Satan's devices.

And the helmet of salvation is our hope. Because Satan attacks you through doubt. Isn't that true? That when we go through hardship, what are we thinking? We're thinking, where's God? God doesn't care. God has turned his back on me. It must be because of some sin I've committed that God has turned his back on me. That God's no longer watching over me. That God would allow this to happen to me is unheard of. He must not be a God of love. He must not be a God of compassion. He must not care about my soul.

Or this wouldn't have happened to me. The hope of salvation is the helmet of the armor that is our rampart against Satan's devices. To help us understand amidst the doubt, the discouragement, and the depression that comes our way, that Jesus Christ rules and reigns and is supreme. My defense is the hope of my salvation. The hope of what God promised me in believing that my God is in control. Number seven, hope reproduces joy. Are you following this through with me? Hope is rooted in God. Hope is received by grace.

Hope is realized through the resurrection. Hope is reinforced in the scriptures. Reaffirmed by the spirit of God is a rampart against Satan and his devices. And hope is that which reproduces joy. Hope reproduces joy. That's how we can be born again by the mercies of God to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because hope is that which produces joy. You say, how can someone going through such pain, hardship, difficulty, and turmoil rejoice in God? It's because the hope of God, which is a living hope, reproduces joy.

You say, well how do you know that? The Bible, Psalm 146, verse number five. How blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob and whose hope is in the Lord his God. That's the joy. Here is the blessed man. Who's the blessed man? The blessed man is the one whose hope is in the God of Jacob. That's the blessed man. Psalm 71, verse number 14. As for me, I will hope continually and will praise thee yet more and more. The psalmist says, the more I hope, the more I praise. The more I hope, the more I praise.

It continues on and on and on. When I stop hoping, I stop praising. When I keep hoping, I keep praising. It reproduces joy. Jeremiah chapter 17, verse number 7. Blessed is the man whose hope is in the Lord. Who trusts in the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream. And will not fear when the heat comes. But its leaves will be green. And it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. Folks, let me tell you something.

That's joy. Why? Because the man who hopes in his God is the man who trusts in his God. And the Bible says that when the heat bears down on that individual.

When it gets so hot in that persecution that you're facing. What happens? The tree sprouts green leaves. Why? Because the roots just go down deeper. And you grow bigger. You grow stronger. And that's what the joy is all about. Hope in God reproduces joy in your life. If you have no joy in your life, it's because you have no hope in your life. That's the conclusion. Number 8. I'm just getting started. Hope removes the fear of death. Hope removes the fear of death. Colossians 1, 22 says, He reconciles you to present you holy and unblameable, unreprovable in the sight.

If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled. And not being moved away from the hope of the gospel. Which you have heard and which was preached to every creature that is under heaven. Of which I, Paul, am made a minister. To whom, verse number 27, God would make known what is the riches of his glory. Of the mystery among the Gentiles. Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Let me tell you something.

We have an assurance of glory. We have a confidence of a future glory with God. Therefore, hope removes the fear of death. Why? Because we know for certain that death just transports us from an earthly life to a heavenly life. To an ungodly life to a godly life. To an unholy life to a holy life. To a life with the eternal God of the universe. Hope removes the fear of death. Number 9. Hope refines our present conduct. Hope refines my present conduct. First John 3, verse number 3.

Says that every man who has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. What's the hope? The hope of the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord. And that hope refines my present conduct. See, the coming of Christ is just not a theological reality. It's an ethical and moral truth that transforms my existence. Believing that He could come at any moment causes me to live in anticipation of that coming. And therefore, it refines my present conduct. Hope, listen, revolutionizes my relationships with others.

True hope revolutionizes my relationship with other people. Colossians chapter 1, verse number 3. Paul says, we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints. Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of which you previously heard of the word of truth, the gospel. He says, because of your hope that's laid up in heaven. You have a love for all the saints. Because of the hope you have in God.

It has transformed, it has revolutionized the relationship you have with other people. You love them. You actually love the unlovely. You love the unlikely. You love the ugly. You love them. Because you have a hope laid up in heaven for you. And I'll close with this one. Hope is realized at Christ's return. Hope, our hope, will finally be realized at Christ's return.

And Paul said it this way in Titus 2, verse number 13. Looking for the blessed hope. And the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus. Who gave himself for us. That he might redeem us from every lawless deed. And purify for himself a people for his own possession. Zealous for good deeds. Our hope will be realized finally.

At the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. That is just the description of God's wonderful provision for you. That's how you can praise God amidst your problems. How? How? I got hope. I have a living hope. A hope that's rooted in God himself. That's received through the grace that God gives me. That's realized through the resurrection of Jesus Christ my Lord. And reinforced through the word of God. That's my hope. I had that hope. Do you have that hope?