Welcome to our Bible study program, In Search of the Lord’s Way. I’m Mack Lyon. These are “hard times” for Christians. I’m not talking about finances; I’m talking about Christian living. However, Christians have something others don’t have. That one thing is “hope.” Stay tuned.
Oh say, friend, it’s a genuine joy to have you with us for Bible study, In Search of the Lord’s Way to become and to be a Christian. I pray we’ll both be blessed.
Today our brother in Christ, Phil Sanders has prepared a message which he has titled Christ Is Our Hope. Hope is as essential to the spirit as oxygen is to the body. Christians have hope even in the darkest situations of life. Our hope is in Christ and His teaching. We’re here every week without any appeals for money because some churches of Christ love you enough and care enough about your spiritual welfare that they pay the cost. And they would love to have you attend one of their Bible studies and worship assemblies, too. Why don’t you just do that? If you need our assistance in locating such a church, contact us, will you? We would like that.
And if you would like a free printed copy of the message today, you can reach us for that either at P.O. Box 371; Edmond, OK 73083, or our website www.searchtv.org. There’s a lot more spiritual food there, too. And, we’re having more than a thousand visitors at that site every day. You may reach at our toll free telephone number: 1-800-321-8633. Ken Helterbrand’s going to lead us now as we sing, then Phil will be here to read Romans 5, verses 1 through 5 with you.
Our reading today comes from the book of Romans chapter 5, verses 1 through 5. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Our reading is from the New King James Version. Let’s pray together. O Lord, we are grateful for all the things that You do for us, for the good and for some times even the hard things. And Father, we are thankful for the love of Jesus that helps us each day; and it is in His name we pray. Amen!
Several years ago I took my very first jet flight. I boarded an old plane of a small company on a snowy, cloudy, December day. They had to de-ice that plane twice before we could take off. Well, I was cold; I was alone; I was more than a little nervous. And I heard the safety speech about the seat belts; and slowly the plane began to get off the ground; and up we climbed into the clouds. Well, I was not prepared for what happened next. I should have realized the obvious. We passed above the clouds into the brightness of the day. You see, the sun still shines above the clouds. Clouds move in and out with their rain and shadows. They can temporarily mask the sun, but they can’t stop it from shining. So it is with the Lord! When you are tempted to think that all is lost, it’s helpful to remember: the Father is still on the throne. Remember the blood of Jesus still cleanses sin. Remember the Bible stands and just as Jesus said “It is written.” The Lord Jesus is still coming again for His people. The gospel still has the power to save, and prayer still reaches the ear of the Heavenly Father.
Edward Mote’s hymn is true: “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. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.” You know someone has said that, “Hope is as necessary to the spirit as oxygen is to the body.” As Christians, we have hope even in the hardest of times. Hope in Jesus Christ is our confident expectation that God will meet all our needs in this life and then bless us with life in heaven. Oh, in Christ we have a wonderful living hope!
The inspired apostle Paul promised the church in Philippi in these words, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” That is from Philippians 4, verse 19. Now, when we become Christians through our faith, repentance, and baptism, we can count on our Father in heaven washing away our sins with the blood of Christ. By His grace we can count on being added to His church, becoming His children, and enjoying His favor. Christ is our hope and our rock. Jesus said in John 14, verse 6, “I’m the way, and the truth, and the life; and no one comes to the Father but through Me.” I tell you the whole world may change under our noses, but nothing changes the fact that Jesus is Lord and the way to heaven.
The early church went through some terrible times at the hands of the Roman Emperors. Early Christians faced gladiators, wild beasts; they faced prison; some of them were crucified, and this came from the hands of people who did not understand them at all. All their troubles, however, didn’t remove them from the love of God. Oh, I love what the Bible says in Romans 8 and verse 31 to 39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him (that is with Jesus) freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced, Paul says, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I love the Bible, and the Holy Spirit gave us this book to help us in so many ways. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, wrote in Romans 15, verse 4 that, “Whatever was written in earlier times (that is in the Old Testament) was written for our instruction, (that is to teach us something) that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” I tell you the Scriptures do indeed give us hope; they help us to see the problems of our lives and that they are not new. You know others have suffered through the same struggles that you and I face and they have succeeded with God’s help.
When you think of how sinful the world is today, remember Noah was righteous and saved his family. You know what; we can stand strong spiritually, too. We may not change the world, but we can touch those who are closest to us. Maybe you are a little like David and you have a 9 foot, 9 inch problem, like Goliath, but remember the power of God helped David to defeat Goliath. And God can help you overcome the huge problems of life, too. When you feel all alone, remember that God is still with you. God told Elijah, you remember, that seven thousand were with him and they were faithful and they hadn’t bowed the knee to Baal or the false gods. You know, there are still many faithful Christians living today who love the Lord and they strive every day to do His will.
When you think, oh, people can’t change; they will always be the same way; remember Jonah and Nineveh. Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. Nineveh was a wicked city full of iniquity, as bad as anything we have ever known; but you know what, whenever Jonah preached to them they humbled their hearts and they repented. Even hardened sinners can repent, if they so choose. People can change, and by the grace of God people can leave that old man of sin behind and they can become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
When you think that things are at their very worst, that they can’t get any worse than they are now, remember Job. He lost all of his children; he lost all of his possessions; he lost all of his servants in a single day. And even further, God allowed him to suffer a terrible and painful disease. He was terrible. Now if you see Job at this point where so many things are terrible in his life, you are going to miss something important; because the book of Job had an ending that was filled with hope. In the last chapter of the book, the Lord restored the fortunes of Job and increased all that he had twofold. Now it may be that the last chapter of your book hasn’t been written yet either. The Lord may have much more in store for you than you realize. When you walk through a frightening valley in life, remember Psalm 23 and how the Lord is, as David said, “with me. His rod and His staff, they comfort me.” Realize that you are not walking through that valley all by yourself. The Lord Jesus sees and knows every danger you have and, you know what, He is ready to help you and to protect you.
The Bible says very clearly that Jesus is our hope (1Timothy chapter 1 and verse 1)! He is our hope in every aspect of our lives. Now, when people draw near the Lord, their lives are filled with peace and meaning. When life tumbles in, they can find solace and comfort in the Lord. God’s prophet Jeremiah watched Jerusalem, his world, just tumble in. Now Jerusalem fell, you remember, to the Babylonians first in 607, then in 597, and later in 587; and when they had that third time coming in they destroyed everything. He wrote in the book of Lamentations, a book of mourning, about his city. But in chapter 3, verses 21 to 24, he makes this marvelous statement, “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD’S lovingkindnesses never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’”
My friend, everyday God gives us life and the things that we most need to sustain life. We breathe God’s air; we eat God’s food; we drink God’s water. God is so good to us. And even when ugly and hurtful things happen to us, God knows how to use those hurtful things for our good. The Bible says in Romans 8 and verse 28, “And we know (it doesn’t say we think or we feel; it says that we know) that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” God can use our defeats, our disappointments to shape us and to mold us, so that we become better people.
There might have been times in your life when God said no to you. Well, there are times God says no to our prayers; but when He does so, He does so for our best interest. The Bible records when God said no to an apostle; yes, to an apostle. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 7 to 10 says: “So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being elated. (He said) Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he (that is God) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, (he says) I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
God sees our needs even before we do. He knows what’s best for our character and what will help us spiritually. He gives us great hope by forgiving our sins. Sometimes I hear people think there is no way that God would ever forgive me of all my sins. I hear people say that; but, my friend, if you are thinking that, you would be mistaken. You see before the apostle Paul was an apostle of Christ, he was the persecutor and chief of sinners, Saul of Tarsus. By inspiration of the Holy Spirit he wrote in 1 Timothy 1, verses 15 and 16 that, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” Now if the blood of Christ could wash away the sins of the worst sinner of all, it will also wash away your sins.
If I could stand on the highest hill in America and could say one thing, I would say, “You can go to heaven, no matter how many sins you’ve committed, because the grace of God is greater than our sins, and the Lord gives us this opportunity and the ability to change.” Now, this change is repentance, and repentance is an opportunity full of hope. You don’t have to be stuck in your old life. The Lord can help you to turn your life around; and this ability to change comes from our faith in the Lord and in His teaching that is through the Word, the Bible. The more we read and understand about the Lord, the more we love Him. The love for God that’s in our hearts gives us strength to make lasting changes.
God can break us free from the enslavement that we have to sin. The Lord Jesus said in John 8 and verse 34, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” Oh, enslavement to sin, yes it kills our hope and I tell you what that enslavement has filled our prisons and our cemeteries, but the Scripture also says more. The Lord says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8, verse 36). God can set us free from the enslaving hold that sin has on our lives. Hope means I don’t have to be entrapped by my past sin. God can turn my life around and strengthen me to become the person that He desires.
Hope also means this, that life is not all there is; that there is life beyond the grave far better than our lives here. The Scripture says in 1 Peter 1 verses 3 to 5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Some people think it’s impossible to be a Christian, but the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 11, verses 28 to 30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Oh, my friend, you can go to heaven; you can bear the easy yoke of Christ and bear His light burden. Christianity is a livable faith. But you must take up that yoke and follow Christ with faith and love.
Our hope is not dead; it’s alive and well! Do you have that hope? Is your life right with God? Have you been washed in the blood? You are washed in the blood, when you by faith in Christ and love repent of your sins, confess the name of the Lord, and are baptized into Christ. It’s in the act of baptism that God washes away your sins and adds you to His family the church. And when you have the hope of God in your life, because He has washed away your sins and added you to the book of life, you can have confidence to face every trouble and trial that life hands you. Wouldn’t you like to have your sins forgiven today? Why not place your hope in Christ today by being baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins? Let’s pray. O Lord, may each one find hope in your Son, Jesus who died for us and was willing to pay the price for our sins. Help us, Heavenly Father, to put our souls, our lives, and all into Your hands. This we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen!
Oh say, friend, that was a “hope-inspiring” message, wasn’t it? There’s no reason for a person to live hopelessly. It’s as Edward Mote says in the chorus of his old hymn that Phil mentioned: “On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.” Oh, I pray that you enjoy that hope, and if you don’t I pray you’ll confess Jesus Christ, then obey Him in repentance and baptism for the remission of your sins as people did in Acts 2:38.
If we may assist you in this or any good way, or if you would like a free copy in printed form or on a CD or audio cassette tape, our address is In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Our e-mail address is searchtv@searchtv.org. Our website is searchtv.org; and our toll-free telephone number is 1-800-321-8633. Say, why don’t you just get ready and attend a church of Christ today if you still have time. They’re the ones who make our weekly visits possible with absolutely no appeals for you to send us money. Well, we plan to be back next week at this time. We hope you can too. God bless you now. We love you.
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