Hope

Oh, good morning everybody Sounds like I'm on So, I will say this, it's been a pleasure having Josh in class. He normally, you know, favorite teachers are those that don't assign a lot of homework, that give answers to the test, that let you play in the class and those kinds of things. So I'll take that to mind and take note of that and maybe we can adjust a few things and pursue that favorite teacher of yours. I also had the privilege of of teaching his his brother and class was a little bit different that that that year or those years actually. I had a couple years with him and so a few different assignments on his on his assignment list that have not been yours.

Well, it is a pleasure to be here and and so I I enjoy opportunities of sharing God's word. That's why I'm a Bible teacher but being behind the pulpit is a little bit different. So, if I come across as a little bit more of a teacher, I apologize for that. It's been a while since I've been behind the pulpit. It's Michigan and West Virginia actually had a few opportunities there as well, but it's been a number of years.

So if I come across more like a teacher, please forgive me. And we'll just we'll just push forward. So, as I was thinking, about what to preach about as I was praying through that so much comes to mind. So, I just want to introduce myself and go from there and then we'll move into some topics that I have that God has laid on my heart. First of all, who am I?

Other than being the Bible teacher, you read there in the bulletin that my wife and I, when we got married, we were in China for two years. We taught English as a second language in the Chinese school but we also taught in an international school. So, we taught every subject from math, science, English, and Bible classes even in that school and these were students that were from Australia, from Malaysia, from England, from United States, from Korea, from Vietnam, from all areas of the world and we had the opportunity to teach a full curriculum of academics to students from first through eighth grade and I had the opportunity of teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth grade math and science and bible classes and and then we moved to Michigan which is there in your bulletin. I grew up as a missionary kid in Brazil. Way down south.

And my parents worked with what is now called Ethnos three sixty. Used to be called New Tribes Mission. Way up in the interior of Brazil. My parents worked with the Baniwa Indians and we we ministered to the Baniwas near the Venezuela Columbia border. So, way up in the interior.

My life was entirely different than what my four boys grow up with and what Josh and Dave and have grown up with. I I often joke around with my sons. I said, you know, we never had these but beyond that which I know you also never had these until recently but life was just different, entirely different for fun, you know, we for me and it was fishing, it was hunting, it was going out in the jungle, was building for out in the jungle. And so it's just a completely different lifestyle. So, my parents were with new tribes for nineteen years.

So, when I was five months old, that's when my parents were moved down to Brazil. Spent a couple years in Manaus which is a city in northern part of Brazil in Amazonas in the jungle regions right there on the Amazon River and for this about two years, my dad had to go through language school. My mom already knew the language of Portuguese. Her parents had been missionaries down there and and so, after that point, then, we moved up into the interior. I grew up speaking three languages and I got them all confused.

I put them all into one sentence and my parents had to speak in tongues in order to interpret what I was saying. Baniwa in Portuguese and English all mixed together into one in one sentence and it was whatever came easiest. You know, whatever came easiest to that particular item or that verb or whatever it was, you know, that was the language I used. So, I was a confused little boy and I think I still am confused in a lot of ways but that's okay. The Lord is helping me a lot in those areas to kind of sort things out.

So, about 10 years old, my parents went moved to the school, the mission board school which is just just downriver from Manaus and that's where my mom taught English classes and my dad did a lot of maintenance and and supply runs and that kind of stuff at the school and so I basically am Brazilian at heart even though I'm white skin, blue eyes, and everything else. I look North American. I'm in in a lot of way at heart South American so, that's who I am. That's where I'm from where am I now? Well, I'm at Keswick.

You know, that's where we are and and so we've been there for five years. I've been teaching the Bible classes there for four years. The first year I was there, I taught Spanish class. So, that's where where I am. That's what I do.

What have I been involved in? Mostly teaching and up in Michigan, we had come in the plan was God always has a bigger plan, right? And you know this. God always has a bigger plan for our life than what we think. The plan was to come in to the church for two years and we would just fill in the youth pastor role there just for two years and then we would go back into missions or to teaching whatever the Lord directed our our path to be in.

The Lord kept us there for ten years. So, we, my, my roles expanded within the church from youth pastor to associate pastor and we kind of filled a whole lot of of roles during those ten years and the Lord taught so much to me during those times. It's it's amazing how even a missionary kid who's you know, seen God work can be filled with pride and the Lord the Lord humbled me during those years and really taught me a lot. I came to know Christ when I was very young on the mission field. Professed my faith in him during those years.

My parents taught me the word of God and I grew in not just not just the word of God and knowledge of the word of God but in him and just watched him work in so many ways over the years. So, the question came to me as as pastor Rick Polar asked me to come and speak. What is what is one talk about? What is one share with a congregation that I don't really know? I know a couple people in the congregation.

What is the congregation expect to hear? From someone they don't know. What what topic? This is a big book, right? I mean, it's a big book.

Where do I start? Where do I go? Where do, you know, I only have 35 or so to cover whatever God has for me and so, as I was praying about it, the Lord, I think directed me to this idea of hope. Hope because our culture and our society is where it is today. It's increasingly sinful.

You know, talking about phones, social media has done it, done its damage, and it's continuing to do its damage. Congress, Senate, the administration of our nation has made decisions and are making decisions that are going to impact our lives, our future, our children's lives, their futures. So, hope. Hope because our once godly nation is falling apart from the inside. And and I know that as we go through life, whether we're young or old, we want to know that what we are doing is worthwhile.

It's worth it. That whatever we set our mind toward is going to be worth the effort and energy that we put into it. Hope because some of our churches are becoming drawn in by the passions of the world and not remaining separate unto Christ and unto God and unto his ministry. Hope because sometimes personally, we ask the Lord, we'd look to the Lord and say, how much longer? How much longer are you going to allow this to continue?

So, I just want to look at first of all at Hebrews 11 just kind of briefly touch on that. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith, right? It's a good book defining faith for us. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It's the conviction of things not seen.

That assurance of things hoped for. Romans five tells us that though suffering or through suffering, we gain endurance. That endurance develops character. Character produces hope. And that hope does not put us to shame.

Also in Romans four, it tells us that Abraham and Sarah hoped. And believed beyond hope. You know their story. They were 190 when they had their first child, their only child, their son. In Titus one, we are reminded that the hope of eternal life is a part of the Christian's life.

It was promised before the ages began. In Psalm 42, it offers hope to the one who is downcast. Why are you downcast, oh my soul? Hope in God. Psalm 119, multiple times, the Psalmist encourages us to hope in God's word.

In Psalm 19, it tells us that there is hope and discipline disciplining our child. So, do not withhold it. There are many other passages in scripture that speak regarding hope and and so I do want to direct our attention to organizing all of these points. And so in Romans 15 verse four, whatever is written in former days was written for our instruction and that speaks to the Old Testament. Through endurance and through the encouragement of scripture, we might have hope and we consider those things that were written of old whether it was regarding Abraham or perhaps of Moses or Joseph or David and the things that they went through just for example, Joseph's life.

Being jealous his brothers being jealous and hating him Being sold into slavery by those brothers. Being lied about and cast into prison by Potiphar's wife. Being forgotten by the cup bearer after he had interpreted his dream and the baker's dream. Being hopeful in the promises that God had given to him. Joseph persevered.

He endured and it threw all of that his character was developed. He has hope. You think of Moses enduring all those years with a nation of Israel. First coming into Pharaoh and being faithful and enduring all of the criticism by the Israelites who when he confronted Pharaoh with these plagues, the Israelites came to him saying, look at what you've done. You've caused more grief.

The work that we had was easier. Now, it's harder because of what you're doing and then finally, when they do get free, they get out into the wilderness and how many times does Israel complain? Grumble and complain. You brought us out in here to the wilderness to die. It could have been better for us if we'd have stayed in Egypt and been slaves but died there and eaten their food and so on.

Endured forty years of that complaining. Or perhaps we consider David. David was the anointed king. Did not take the life of Saul who had pursued him to kill him. Twice, letting Saul go free.

Faithful to God's anointed as he writes or he as he tells his own men, how can I lay a hand against God's anointed And that's why he preserves Saul's life? And there are times in David's life where he was so discouraged and yet he got hope in the Lord and so, let me let me begin with this. The question of where do I find hope? Perhaps, we we could say, what do I find hope in or where do I find hope? Because here's the truth, so many of today's generation, we, they look for hope in social media.

They look for hope in acceptance. They look for hope in being being accepted or followed by the number of people that they have. Perhaps, we become discouraged because of the things that we we set our minds on or desire to find hope in and we realize that those two fall through whether it's materialistic or whether it's popularity or whether it's position and power or whether it's in our bank account or whether it's in accounts and so on or whether it's in in a particular job or even our families and we set our hope on those things and we miss what God has us. Colossians three tells us that we are to set our mind or our affection on things that are above. Colossians three teaches us to seek those things that are above.

So, let me begin with our actual Bible study part of it and let's go to Psalm 33. In Psalm 33 our Psalm has and I'm going to pick up in verse 12. Our Psalm has begins, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. The people whom he has chosen as his heritage. The Lord looks down from heaven.

He sees all the children of men From where he sits enthroned, he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. And then by contrast, we have this, the king is not saved by his great army. A warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation and by its great might, it cannot rescue.

And then we come back to the truth. Verse 18, behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those whose hope or who hope in his steadfast love that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help, our shield. For our heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name.

Let your steadfast love, oh Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Where do we find hope or where do we seek hope? It's in the Lord. It's in the person of Jesus Christ. It's when we set our eyes or it's when we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ.

When we turn our attention to those things. Yes, we live in this world and we must have an account. We must operate within this world as having a job and family and so on but it's fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ. It is pursuing with our heart and mind those things that are above. When I think of the example of David, when I when I consider how he was successful or why he was successful, it wasn't because he had military training.

I mean, the very first victory he had wasn't going out with the armies of Israel and attacking the Philistines. It wasn't him coming back in and everybody singing, Saul has killed his thousands and David is 10 thousands. In fact, his first victory wasn't even Goliath. Taking that stone and putting it in the sling and striking Goliath there. His first victory was when he was by himself taking care of the sheep and when a lion or a bear came to take that lamb, he didn't, he wasn't the coward and let that lion take that lamb and devour it as a meal or that bear take that lamb and devour it as a meal.

His first victory was when he was alone and nobody was paying attention but he was diligent to his task at hand. He was successful because he trusted in the Lord. He trusted God in his battle against Goliath because he had seen how God delivered him and the lamb when he went and took on the lion or the or the bear to rescue that lamb and in that lesson that he learned, he was able then to defeat Goliath and be successful and we see in Samuel, in first Samuel, how the reason God God gave him that victory. God gave him that success. As a result, Saul became jealous of him, became envious of him, but David was successful because of that.

It was because he set his hope in the Lord. It was because he set his desire and passion in him. So, the first answer to our question, where do we find our hope is in God? The person of Jesus Christ, the person, God. Secondly, we find our hope in the word of God.

Let's go to Psalm nine one hundred and nineteen. And there are several passages there that I want to direct our attention to and by the way, Psalm 119 as I'm sure you probably know is all about the word of God whether it's statutes, principles, laws, commands, or the word. It all references the word of God and how important it is to the Christian life. Psalm 119, let's look at verse forty three first. I and take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth for my hope is in your rules and that's kind of an interesting thought.

David's hope or the Psalmist hope in in Psalm 119, the hope is in the rules that God has laid out. Oftentimes, we think of hope as something, you know, a a gift, Christmas present, birthday present, or something like that but here, the Psalm ist is looking at the word of God and saying, the rules of God are my hope. Perhaps, in the context of this, I know that God is faithful. I know that he is true and I know that he's consistent. He is an unchanging God.

So, if he's going to hold me accountable to the word of God, he's going to hold everybody else accountable to the word of God and so there is my hope. There is my hope. I know that injustice will be dealt with. I know that righteousness God will reward. He is faithful to his word and so I have hope in his rules.

Moving on, we look at verse forty forty nine. Remember your word to your servant in which you have made me hope. Again, it is the word of God that he hopes in. Look at verse 81. In verse 81, it says, my soul longs for your salvation.

I hope in your word. Psalm 119 verse one fourteen. Again, you are my hiding place in my shield. I hope in your word. In Psalm 119 verse one sixteen, uphold me according to your promise that I may live and let me not be put to shame in my hope and then verse 147, I rise before the dawn and cry for help.

I hope in your word. So, and again, the Psalm has returns to the word of God. His word is to his servants. This is the encouragement we have from God. These words, these promises are written to us.

They're written for us. They're to provide the hope, the encouragement for our daily walk. So often, when a person becomes discouraged or disheartened, they turn to something that's easy, that's fun. One of the things that I will always remember about my grandfather and my mom and my dad but more so my mom was that when there were times of difficulty or discouragement, this was her comment. Well, I wonder how God's going to handle this one.

I wonder how he's going to handle this one and she always came back to the word of God. Well, let's see what encouragement we have there. You see, those little things and I know she got that from her dad, my grandfather. Those little things is what laid the pattern for me that helps to lay the pattern for my sons. It helps to lay the pattern for a Christian.

When we face these things, this is the only truth that will remain the truth. And if we turn anywhere else, anywhere else, then, we're going to have that false hope like the Psalm has says, the warrior doesn't have salvation in his own strength or the war hopes is a false hope of salvation. The true hopes of salvation is in Jesus Christ. It's in his word. His words give assurance of the hiding place that we have and of the shield that he is to us.

By contrast, right? So many search for hope in this world whether it's satisfaction of a job or possessions or their children or families. Those things will all fall short. They all will fall short. We naturally look for hope in things that are visible.

It's by nature. If we can see it, then I can place my hope in it but what is what is the truth is that we truly have the hope in something that is invisible and that is the person of Jesus Christ and we get our direction again where? From the word of God. So, those two things, where do I seek for hope? The person of Jesus Christ and in the word of Jesus Christ, the word of God.

The second question is, what do we hope for? What do we hope for? Well, there's some people that hope for world peace. That's not a bad thing. Okay.

Well, end racism. Social injustice, right? Those are the things that are being promoted. What do we hope for? Family peace, personal satisfaction, happiness, materialism, recognition, acceptance, power, all of these things.

You know, that's what that's what most people seek or hope for. Again, when we think of Colossians three, Paul gives the direction, set your mind or set your affection on things that are above. Set your mind on Christ. So, that's the where, right? Well, what are those things?

What are those things that we are to be are are to be seeking and among a lot of things that are in heaven, one being our eternal life, right? Is those are those things that are our crowns and the last song that we sang here before coming up was about the crown that we have that we will receive. Again, we we are we look for reasons. We look for motivation to remain faithful to me, remain righteous to the Lord. Is what I'm doing going to be worth it in the end?

Are all those scales that I do for for band practice? Is it going to pay off? Is it worth it? To sit behind, to sit behind the piano and do those arpeggios and all those scales to to to in sports to be running all those miles and miles and miles in preparation. Is it going to be worth it?

Is it going to be paying off? In God's word, in Christ, in our Christian life. Is it worth it? Is it going to be worth it? If I remain faithful to God.

And that's the question that often times, if we are not seeking for our hope in Christ or in his word, we can lose sight of. I want to direct our attention to five crowns that we will receive in heaven. The first crown we'll see is in first Corinthians chapter nine. In first Corinthians chapter nine verse twenty four and twenty five, it says this, do you not know that in a race, all the runners run but only one receives the prize. So, run that you may obtain it.

Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They do it. Here it is, to receive a perishable wreath or perishable crown, we an imperishable. The first crown I want to direct our attention to is that imperishable crown that we'll receive. We're competing.

We're all competing. Every single one of us from the youngest to the oldest. We're competing for those crowns. That's the illustration that Paul gives us here in chapter nine and I know, I know there are days when you feel like, I can't take another step. I know that you've had those weeks or months or maybe sometimes those years where if you you know the the phrase when it rains, it pours.

Like you can't get a break. There are, you know, one thing happens after another and it seems like you can't get ahead. This past week was one of those weeks for us. Myself, yesterday, our hot water heater went out. In fact, it had been giving us trouble for a while and so we've been without hot water for a number of days but I just haven't had time to deal with it and and yesterday, it completely went.

So, we've been taking cold showers for a number of days which you know, I'm used to that. I grew up on the mission field. That's fine but not too many are used to cold showers especially when it's in the morning and you need to get ready for school or go to or whatever it is and so, yesterday, I spent all day not what what could have been or should have been like an hour or two and be done and move on. We get hot water turned into the entire day and it was twenty minutes here, an hour there, thirty minutes here, and and it kind of sporadically working my way through because I had the message to prepare as well and then I'm dealing with other issues that come up and so it was it was just one of those weekends. It was one of those days.

It was had been one of those weeks where it just seems like one thing after another has come and so, the imperishable crown is one of those things that if we set our mind on and say, okay, that's what I hope for. That's what I pursue. In other words, the things of life, don't let it overwhelm us. Don't let it get you down. Remember that we're running this race.

Remember that we there there are rules to a race. There there are disqualifications and there are rewards that come along the way and so Paul says, run as if to win, right? Don't give in. Don't disqualify, right? And sometimes God allows those things into life so that we don't get comfortable in our stagnant life, in our stagnant faith.

He allows those things into our life to stretch us, to challenge us, to push us forward, to continue on in our running so that we can be be able to receive that imperishable crown with joy. This is the thing that a Christian looks forward to in order to lay that crown at Jesus' feet in heaven. This is what is this is what we have to give him. Otherwise, we have nothing, right? Otherwise, we have nothing.

So, that's our first crown that I want to look at. The imperishable crown. This is the inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and does not fade away as Peter writes. Reserved for us in heaven. We won't see that crown until then.

Sometimes that's hard. Again, because we like to see things. We want that visible goal. Something that's attainable because we see it. But the imperishable crown, it's in heaven.

It's waiting for us there. It's not visible here for us to see. Number two, turn in your Bibles to first Thessalonians. First Thessalonians chapter two verse 19, for what is our hope? Our joy, our crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. The second crown here is that crown of rejoicing or that crown of boasting and Paul answers our question, what is our joy? What is our our hope? What is our crown of rejoicing?

Is it not you? And Paul is referring to those in the church of Thessalonica. He's referring to those that he's ministered to. He's referring to those that he had shared the gospel with and they had become Christians. He's sharing to those that are his crown.

In essence, the crown that we look forward to are all those that we've had impact in their life. All those that we've mentored, all those that we've discipled, all those that we have shepherded or guided or given counsel to. Those are our crown and so whether it's that physical crown or whether in this case, it's more of a symbolic crown, that crown that we look forward to in heaven are all those that we've had some influence or impact for the kingdom of God in. It has to do with evangelism. It has to do with discipleship.

Number three is the crown of righteousness. Turn to second Timothy chapter four. In second Timothy chapter four, we see this in verse eight. Henceforth, so, well, let me back up. If it starts with henceforth or therefore, I'm going to back up a little bit.

So, let's start with verse six, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

As you know from Romans, our righteousness is not from our works. We know that. Righteousness from works is dead, right? Righteousness from works doesn't attain the righteousness of Christ. It will not gain us entrance into eternal life.

The righteousness that we have by faith in Jesus Christ, that's the righteousness that we attain through him and gives us access into into heaven. The crown of righteousness by which we speak here is those, it's given to those as we see at the end of verse eight, to those who loved his appearing. Oh my goodness, that's that is a hope of mine. I think I shared this dream with your class that I had. This was actually just a couple months ago.

I had fallen asleep on the couch. I and and it was a very vivid dream but the dream was this as I was coming around the side of a hill and I know we live in Florida. They're not too many hills but I I I lived in in West Virginia for a number of years. So, so maybe that's where I got the hill thing from but anyway, I was walking on this trail or road, small pathway on the side of a hill and I looked up and in the clouds, there was you know, how you see shapes and so on and the shapes of the and the shapes there, there was a face and the face was mumbling or saying something and as I paid attention to the mouth, it said, come up and I said, okay, I'm coming and from that moment, just for a split second, I thought, well, it's it's really happening. I'm going up.

I'm going to see Jesus right now. This is exciting and then I started looking around. Where's my wife? Where are my boys? Oh, no.

Something's wrong and then I realized, wait a minute, I haven't heard a trumpet. I haven't heard it yet. So, I went from the greatest of excitement and thinking, alright, this is it. This is the day. I'm going to see Jesus to I've gotta get up in the morning and go to work and do this and that.

You're right. Okay. Uh-oh man, it was it was from the highest to the lowest in a matter of instance but the crown of righteousness is given to those who love disappearing. Oh my. And and there are days that are more than others but how much I want to see Jesus come?

And I don't know if that's true for you or not but I hope it is. The crown of righteousness is given to those. It also at the beginning, Paul references the amount of suffering that he's gone through. I've poured out my life as a drink offering. And the time of my departure has come.

I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I have kept the face. So, the crown of righteousness is those that have loved his appearing, who have given themselves completely to the ministry of Jesus Christ, to his service, and those who have kept the faith. Alright, number four, go to first Peter five.

In first Peter five verse four, This is the crown of glory and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory and so, this is a crown given to those that are mentoring, discipling, some of those that are in leadership. If you go back to the beginning of the chapter, we see this, so I exhort elders among you. In other words, Presbyteros, right? That's the Greek word. In other words, talking to those that are the elders or the people that are older and also understood to be those that are pastors or shepherds whether it's discipling or teaching or mentoring, okay?

Peter is talking about those people and this crown is given to those that have been investing their life. Again, much like the other other crown that we talked about that investing their life in ministry and discipleship and mentorship. Number five, turn with me to Revelation chapter two. In Revelation chapter two, look at verse 10. So, the five crowns that we have, the imperishable crown, the crown of rejoicing, the crown which is similar to the crown of glory, the crown of righteousness, and now we come to the crown of life.

Revelation chapter two, look at verse 10. Do not fear what you are about to suffer and this is talking to the church in Smyrna. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and for ten days, you will have tribulation, be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. So, this crown specifically to those that have suffered for his name's sake, persecution, imprisonments, martyrdom. This is the patience of the saints, right?

It is looking to Jesus Christ. It is fixing our eyes on him knowing that there are crowns coming, knowing that there is eternal life coming, and being willing to endure the suffering of this world. Whatever it might be. Whatever it might be. And not allowing the pressure of whatever it is.

To overwhelm us and distract us from that goal of Jesus Christ. So again, where do we find our hope? It's in Jesus Christ, the person of him. It's in his word, directing our attention back to the word of God. Let the word of God be the first thing we do.

That in prayer, right? And then, what are some of the things that we hope for? Our crowns, alright? That's what we set our hope on. Somebody to close in prayer or you want to close in prayer or how do you want to handle that?

Okay. Alright. Let's go ahead and close in prayer. Lord God, we do thank you so much for today, for the opportunity of being here. Lord, thank you for your word.

Thank you for its guidance. Lord, thank you that it provides hope for us and directs our attention back to you. Lord, thank you for the the the hope that we have of receiving these treasures in heaven. Among those things, these crowns that we looked at today. Lord, thank you for that hope and Lord, as we live today, as we invest in others' lives, Lord, I pray that you would be glorified.

Lord, let none of that we do do for our own glory or our own benefit but Lord that you would be lifted up. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.