Hope In Christ. "Man can live without food for 40 days. Man can live without water for 3 days,

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1 Lake Cities Community Church Pastor Craig Schill Advent Week #1 HOPE December 2, 2012 Hope In Christ "Man can live without food for 40 days. Man can live without water for 3 days, Man can live without oxygen for only a few minutes. But man cannot live without hope not even for a few seconds. While I was in India I found myself thinking a lot about hope. And this quote was used by one of the speakers Dr. Thomas Idiculla an Indian born Harvard trained Christian psychologist who was giving a seminar on Christian counseling (at Mission India Theological Seminary where we were) He used that quote to introduce a discussion about the increasing problem of suicide in India because suicide is born out of a profound sense of hopelessness. If people have hope, they can endure almost anything, but without hope, all the riches in the world cannot provide a reason for living. And so we begin our Advent celebrating examining the most fundamental and the most profound thing Christianity offers to the world namely HOPE. And perhaps that is why, in the celebration of Advent, hope is traditionally the first topic considered in light of the Advent or coming of Christ that when Christ comes, Christ brings HOPE. So, let s prayerfully consider hope this morning. First, I want us to establish a definition of hope so we know what we are talking about, then second we will look at a key Scripture passage in Hebrews six that talks about hope and third we will consider some points of application. 1

2 DEFINITION In terms of a definition the Greek word for hope is Elpis. And in the world of learning Greek vocabulary, many students notice that elpis sounds a lot like Elvis. And so many student will remember that elpis means hope because many people hope that Elvis is still alive! (Little memory trick ) And that simple memory tool is also useful because it begins to show us what biblical hope is not. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. Often we casually use the word hope in the sense of probability or chance. I hope the my team will win their game today, I hope I get such and such for Christmas but this is not biblical hope. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. Just the opposite. A Greek Lexicon defines elpis this way: Hope is Looking forward to something with reason for confidence respecting fulfillment Notice there are two elements of biblical hope (1) it is future oriented hope is about the future and (2) there is a strong confidence in that future coming to pass. Expanded a little bit, here is my definition of hope: Biblical hope is a confident, joyful expectation of good things in the future because of our faith in Jesus Christ. We can have hope today, regardless of what is going on because our future is secure in Jesus Christ. PASSAGE HEBREWS 6 With that definition in mind let s turn to our passage, Hebrews chapter six. Brief context this book is written to Jewish believers who were undergoing great suffering for their faith. Because of their suffering, many were leaving the faith and denouncing Christ. The writer of this book therefore exhorts the believers to endure the suffering and one major reason offered for endurance was hope in Christ. That their secure glorious future was worth temporary suffering. 2

3 Our key verse is verse 19 of chapter six, regarding hope Heb. 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, This Hope has already been developed earlier in the passage, and it is not surprisingly future oriented. Verse 11 hope until the end (don t give up now!). Verse 13, God s promises to us are rooted in God s promise to Abraham. And God was faithful to fulfill those promises: Verse 15 Having waited patiently, he obtained the promise. And now, you also should endure hardship because Verse 17, you are heirs of the promise. In other words, God has made promises to you about the future that you can trust therefore endure hardship today. All of this confidence in God s promises leads the author to say: Heb. 6:9 Beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, This hope the author says, we have as an anchor of the soul. Rather than suffering causing you to drift spiritually to wander off course your hope in Christ should keep you where you are suppose to be, like a ship s anchor. That is the purpose of an anchor, to keep a ship where it is suppose to be. Spiritually hope keeps us from wandering off spiritually. Our church logo is based on this verse an anchor cross which was an ancient symbol of Christianity that our faith in Christ grounds us during storms of life. The point is that our hope for a better future is stronger than any temporary pain we might endure today. There is an old hymn titled, My anchor holds that reads, Troubles almost overwhelm the soul; Griefs like billows over me roll; Tempters seek to lure astray; Storms obscure the light of day: But in Christ I can be bold, I ve an anchor that shall hold. And our hope which is an anchor for us, next, a hope both sure and steadfast This comes back to the point that hope is not wishful thinking 50% chance that things might 3

4 work out but our hope is sure and steadfast. If God is real, and if He has made a promise about the future you can have 100% confidence that He will keep his promises to you because verse 18: It is impossible for God to lie. If God has promised a better future for you you can take hold of the hope before you. There was a small town that in order to celebrate their centennial decided to erect a memorial to past war veterans with an eternal flame, but the town fathers were concerned when the eternal flame warranty read, Our eternal flames are fully guaranteed for three years. God s promises concerning the future are fully guaranteed for all eternity. Let s just pause right now and reflect. Hope is both future oriented and confident. And that hope of future blessings gives us strength to endure present hardship. So let s just reflect on what kind of promises we have about the future. What do we have to look forward to? A few examples Scripture teaches us that one day, when Christ returns, there will finally be justice for all those wronged. In the future there will be real peace in the world, because Christ will govern with absolute fairness. In the future all things broken by the fall will be restored. The lion and the lamb will graze together. In the future we have eternity reserved with God, we will have reunions with loved ones that have died in Christ; with mothers and father, grandparents, sons and daughter that have gone before us. In the future pain and suffering will be gone. There will be no tears or weeping because all causes of tears and all causes of weeping will no longer exist. In the future our bodies will be glorified. We will walk and talk with God as did Adam and Eve before the Fall. In the future we will worship God and be in perfect 4

5 harmony with him and all His creation. When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we first begun And that hope of a glorious future sustains us and anchors our souls during these few years when national peace is not promised, but warfare is. When easy living is not promised, but persecution is. When our safety is not guaranteed, but calamity falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous. We endure the nights of sorrow because of our confident hope that the night will soon turn to day. APPLICATION Let s consider a few points of application as we close. If you are struggling with hopelessness and if the cares and burdens of this life have got you down. Let me encourage you to turn your eyes to Jesus Christ and remember that (1) all your burdens are temporary and (2) they will soon be replaced by eternal joy if you patiently endure and trust in Christ. Don t let your suffering lead you to sin, don t let your pain lead you to profane the name of Christ. Patiently endure a little longer. Reflect on, and study future times of blessing to help you survive hardship today. For others if you are full of hope and rejoicing in Jesus Christ this Advent season let me remind you that it is our responsibility to share this hope of Christ with others. In India, one thing that struck me powerfully were the orphans or otherwise destitute children that Laura and Taylor worked with. And I kept thinking, if it were not for this ministry and those who support this ministry where would these children be? Sometimes because you and I are so blessed, we have a hard time seeing hope clearly; but for these children without the hope of Christ many of them would be literally dead, or starving, or 5

6 outside the grace of God. So as you make your gift lists this year be sure to include gifts of hope to the least of these in both American and beyond. You just may save someone s life. You can live without food for 40 days without water for three days, without air for a few minutes but we can t live without hope not even for a second. And hope is what we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 6