Hello everyone!
I am trusting the Lord that you are being encouraged and strengthened as we examine in this new preaching series. I have certainly been encouraged as the Word of God speaks fresh, new hope into my soul as I meditate on so many passages about hope.
There are more than 140 direct references to hope in both old and new testaments! The Bible is a hope-filled book!
Below I have included an update list of what the Bible teaches about hope. Print them out and put them inside your Bible, or diary. I have learned so much about hope in this season of testing as I have discovered new things in Scripture and by experience walking with Jesus – and I am more joyful and confident in God than I have ever been in my life.
8 biblical insights about hope …
1: The Bible teaches that there are three unshakable, eternal realities of the Christian life from the moment we are saved – faith, hope and love. In fact, these three unshakable realities are like the laws of physics in the new creation of which we are now a part. Just as gravity is a law of physics in the natural world, so faith, hope and love operate as spiritual laws in the same way in the new created order – they cannot be violated.
2: Hope is produced in us as spiritual substance when we are born again of the heavenly Father – the biblical idea of hope is that it is not a naturally occurring phenomenon in this world of ours. The meaning of life is a relationship with God the Father and the source of hope is in him. It is not found anywhere else in the universe. What often passes for hope in this world is a kind of optimism/positivism, but that is not the hope that comes from God. Optimism can be disappointed, the hope we have in God is NEVER disappointed – it’s an unshakable, eternal reality – a certain thing!
3: Hope is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is truly raised from the dead then everything is possible, and hope springs to life in our hearts because of that when we believe on Him. This is a living hope. This is the critical reason that Bible-believing Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without that there is no hope.
4: Hope looks forward to Christ’s return. We’re not meant to have hope just in this life only. In fact, the apostle Paul said, 1Co 15:19 NRSV “If for [just] this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” We have hope that Christ is coming again.
5: We have hope because it finds it source in God’s love – it’s like the parent telling the child, “Great things are going to happen on our holiday.” And that’s only possible when the parent loves the child and is providing those good things; that’s what God does for us, and deep in our hearts we know it.
6: Hope motivates us to holy living. It does! We live this life in holiness and righteousness because we have a hope that anchors us in a future reality so unbelievably joyous and rich that we know it is coming. We know! And so, we are motivated by that hope to live our lives preparing for it.
7: Hope produces confident, radiant Christians who become light in a dark world. Oh, how we need that light in our COVID-19 world right now! Our world is in chaos. Fear and anxiety want to rule; people live in such utter hopelessness. What is needed is the radiant glory of a hopeful people communicating the good news of the kingdom of God – the Body of Christ blessing this world by how we live. Hope is a key characteristic of the people of God.
8: Hope is a crucial part of our salvation and it is the means of maintaining our salvation while we remain in this world. If we lose hope, we can fall from faith.
Is there any hope? Yes! Then I can hold on!
FINAL WORD … about conspiracies and so on …
As I mentioned in Sunday’s message there is a lot of conspiracy talk and speculation floating around various social media circles at the moment. Sadly, a lot of it is coming from Christians. I, personally, find that very disappointing. There’s all manner of conspiracy fears being promoted, such as: “the government is stripping away our human rights using the virus as a cover”; “don’t get a COVID-19 test done, they’re putting a microchip inside you”– these are a couple of the tame ones. Then there is Facebook comments like “COVID-19 is just a hoax”; “It’s no more serious than the flu”, and so on. The facts are COVID-19 has killed (as at time of writing) more than 645,000 people around the world so far. It is serious. Very serious in that, whilst many people globally have built up an immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new and much more powerful – and highly infectious - virus to which NO ONE has an immunity. No one. We simply don’t know how dangerous it is. And so, governments have been forced into taking drastic measures to combat and contain the disease. No one likes these measures – not even politicians! I don’t. It’s hard. It is not fun. The economy is being crippled, and more …
So to say that COVID-19 is harbouring a conspiracy or is a hoax being perpetrated on an unsuspecting public is ridiculous in my view. In a conspiracy someone is aiming to benefit. Who benefits here?
Honestly, a lot of the stuff I have seen lately is so far-fetched and extremely emotional as to bring the name of Jesus Christ into disrepute. I have seen so-called prophecies this last week from Christians who claim a prophetic gifting that are just out and out nonsense. We certainly should not treat prophecies with contempt – that is extremely unwise. But we do need to examine them carefully and hold on to the good and leave the rest. I am amazed that so many Christians are grabbing these ‘prophecies’ holus bolus and endorsing them or passing them on when they’re not (a) revelatory, or (b) confirmed in Scripture. There has been no proper weighing, in my view – and trusting believers everywhere are being deceived into fear. Fear is being incited and that, dear friends, is not the ministry of prophecy.
Other people are spruiking conspiracy theories based on I don’t know what. It is very disappointing that many Christians are promoting these on Facebook and other social media platforms to the point where they are personally maligning government leaders – and others are blindly following. How is this helping anyone? How does this bring hope? Yes, mistakes have been made, and there looks to be some covering up of that, but a conspiracy to oppress law-abiding citizens? I don’t think so.
I’ve looked at dozens of these theories and prophecies of late, and many are calling for the people to rise up and oppose the ones they think are conspiring against them. This is not what Christians do. I am grateful to the sensible few who are doing the right thing.
But NOT ONE of these ‘ranty’ statements and conspiracy theory postulations in any way encourages hope and grace – yet that’s what we’re called to do as God’s people. To be agents of hope and grace, not join the circle of stone-throwing condemners.
Wouldn’t it behove the people of God to use the hope and grace they have to bless others and intercede for our leaders who love their children, too? Wouldn’t it be far more God-glorifying to be such holy and upright people who walk in the overflow of hope so that Holy Spirit can use that overflow to bring hope into the dark places of our world?
The two things I have noticed most about the conspiracy theorists is that first they have reasoned themselves into a position of justifiable anger and rebelliousness – they feel entitled to do and say anything. Did not the prophet Samuel say, “Rebelliousness is as the sin of witchcraft”? The other thing I have noticed is that you will never find them at a prayer meeting interceding for our leaders and our nation – nope, they just tear down our leaders who desperately need our prayer support, not more cursing.
Friends, there is only one conspiracy we need to combat, and it is not of flesh and blood. Satan is at war against God and the church – and the world – inciting humans to think wrongly and do wrong. We know that. Don’t join him in that incitement. The weapons of our warfare have divine power – and all of them are used to bring demonic work undone (Eph. 6:10-20 & 1 John 3:8). We have the victory over him in Christ – already! Now, we apply it. Let’s not complain about what he is doing, let’s DEFEAT him!
And so we pray and intercede and plough our time into that, not wasting it in conspiracist gossip that gives the enemy more momentum and a foothold.
Join me for prayer every Thursday at 10:30 am, and every Sunday at 4:30 pm, and let’s do battle in the arena where apply the victory of the cross and seek the shalom of our city.
You are dearly, dearly loved.
(And I miss you all so much. Hold on, persevere – God is at work.)
Ps Milton