Open your Bibles if you would
tonight to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. The
name of the message is a good hope. A good hope. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And we'll read from verses 13
to 17 to read the context of what we're looking at. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13 to
17. A good hope, a good hope. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether
by word or our epistle. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope, your grace. Comfort your hearts and establish
you in every good word and work. Do you have something that you're
hoping for? We all have hopes, don't we?
We all have hopes. We all have hopes and aspirations. Everyone. I ask us tonight, we who are
here, and those who are listening in, and those who will listen
through downloading the message or on CD, what is your hope for
eternity? What is your hope for eternity? Every one of us is going to die.
Every one of us here in this room, everyone who's listening
or will listen, we are going to die. We are going to depart
from this world. One day, we will breathe our
last breath. And I ask you, what is your hope for eternity? What's your hope for eternity? Some hope in their works, thinking
that their good will outweigh their bad. That God will put
them in the scales of justice, and well, you know, I'm not too
bad. And they think that that their
good will outweigh the bad. I used to think that before the
Lord saved me. I must confess that I used to
think that way. Some hope in their church membership. The fact that they belong to
a certain church. There's many people in this world
who that's their hope. Some hope in their priests confessing
to them before they die and seeking absolution for their sins through
a confession to another sinful man. There's millions who believe
that. Some hope in their baptism. There's
a whole movement out there that believes you must be baptized
to be saved. Now, baptism is one of the ordinances
that the Lord gave the church, and it's very important. It's
a public confession of an inward conversion. But it doesn't save
us. But there's so many people out
there that believe it does. And even the Catholics believe
in baptismal regeneration. They believe that they were saved
at their baptism when they were just a little baby. Some hope in their experience. Well, I prayed a prayer 20 years
ago. I walked an aisle and shook a
preacher's hand and came up to the altar and cried it out and
gave it all to the Lord. And they trust in that experience. They trust in that experience.
But all of those things I just mentioned are false hopes, beloved.
They're false hopes. There is only one hope to rest
our eternal souls upon. One. And that is the Lord Jesus
Christ. The good hope spoken of here
The good hope through grace spoken of here, which we will consider
tonight, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the object of our hope. And the believer has this hope
through the grace of God. Through the grace of God. Not
by anything we've done. and not by anything we do. It's
pure grace, beloved. It's pure grace. It's God's grace
given to the sinner in and through Christ. Now let's consider the
verses before our text. Looking a little at each verse
and then focusing on verse 16, which brings forth the fact that
we have a good hope through grace. Again, grace which is given to
we who believe. in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a
gift of God. It's a gift of God, right? Not
of works, lest any man should boast. Look at verse 13. And remember Paul's writing to
the Thessalonians, believers. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. So Paul brings forth,
lest these believers should be discouraged and fearful of their
security in Christ because of his account of the Antichrist
and his followers, which came before this portion. Paul encourages
them in this verse and note, beloved, how his words are seasoned
with grace. His words are seasoned with grace.
I thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. So he calls
them beloved of the Lord. They're loved by God. And it's
only because of God's grace that we do not perish with the apostates
that were mentioned earlier in the chapter. It's only by the
grace of God that we are saved while others perish in their
sins. It's only by the grace of God. And praise God, it's only by
the grace of God that we love Him because He first loved us. In our natural state we never
loved God and we never would have unless by grace and by regeneration
we're born again of the Holy Spirit and now we love Christ.
Now we love Christ. God chose you from the beginning
to salvation. It says, Brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Paul comforts our dear brothers
and sisters with the fact that we who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ were elected to salvation in Christ before the foundation
of the world. God hath from the beginning chosen
you. This is wonderful. Because we
know scripture says we never would seek God. We'd never choose
God. But praise God, he makes his
people willing in the day of his power. And what do we do?
We run to Christ. We run to him. Because he had chosen us from
the beginning. In Christ, though, always got
to remember it's in Christ. We were elected to salvation
in Christ before the foundation of the world. And then it says,
through sanctification of the spirit and belief in the truth.
Through sanctification of the spirit and belief in the truth.
John Gill brings forth this. Either the Lord Jesus Christ
who is the truth of types and promises or the substance of
the truth of the gospel which speaks of Christ. So it's in
Christ. It's in Christ. It's the gospel
and it's Christ who is the truth. Truth incarnates. Belief of the
truth. We hear the word of God preached
and proclaimed in God the Holy Spirit when He regenerates us
all by His power and we believe what we hear. or give them faith
to believe. It's wonderful. The gospel, of
course, is all about Christ, who is the truth. Who is the
truth. In the gospel itself, remember
this too, the gospel itself comes from who? The God of all truth.
The God of all truth. It's wonderful. So it says here,
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.
And the elect of God must be born again. We must be regenerated.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit of God. We believe on
Christ because we're born again. We believe on Christ because
we've been given the gift of faith and the gift of repentance. We must be born. The Lord said,
you must be born again. What comes first, faith or regeneration?
Regeneration. You must be born again. And then
you believe. It's wonderful. That just goes
in line with Jonah 2. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
all his work. He's the author of our salvation
and he's the finisher of our salvation. So the elect of God
must be born again. They must be regenerated. And
this is a work of the Holy Spirit of God. Again, we believe on
Christ because we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We're born
again of the Holy Spirit. And there's also a threefold
sanctification of the believer. We are set apart by the Father
and made holy and unblameable by Christ. So the Father sets
us apart in Christ and then we're made holy and unblameable in
Christ. And then we're born again, regenerated
and sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God and by the Word of God.
So the truth here being the gospel of the grace of God, the good
news through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Now look at verse 14. Where unto
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now God calls his people how?
By the preaching of the word. by the preaching of the word,
by the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it's all for his glory. And it's all for his honor. And
it's all for his praise. And look at what he said here,
too, weren't you? He called you by our gospel is personal for
Paul. Is this not your gospel to you
who believe it's our gospel? Oh, my. This is the gospel of
my salvation. It is all in Christ. And because
of Christ, it's all in him. Oh my, to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 15. Therefore,
brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which he had been
taught, whether by word or epistle. Stand firm in the faith. Stand
firm in the faith, beloved. Hold fast to the truth which
has been which which has been taught to you by the Holy Ghost,
through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm. Stand
firm. It's the truth. The gospel of
God's free and sovereign grace. And we stand firm in that. We stand firm in that. Now let's
look at verse 16. Again, do you have hopes and
desires about certain things? We all do. We all do. Are there some things
which you hope for but you have not obtained? We all have that. Hope is defined,
I looked up hope in the English language first, in the English
dictionary, and it says this, the feeling that what is wanted
can be had or the events will turn out for the best, and in
a person or thing in which expectations are centered, such as the medicine
was her last hope. Well, our hope is centered in
Christ. Beloved is believers to look
forward to with desire and reasonable confidence. Well, we look forward
to when we'll be in the Lord's presence, don't we? with confidence,
not because anything in us, but because of who has saved us.
The Lord Jesus Christ is wonderful. What a hope we have. And then
to place trust, to rely upon. And this is what we do in Christ
as believers. We place our trust in Christ
and we rely upon Christ, don't we? We rely upon him. So tonight
I'd like us to consider the words in our text in verse 16. Good
hope through grace. Paul in the verses preceding
this verse had been dealing with the sad account starting in verse
1. I'm not going to read it all.
It would take too much time for us, but you can read it when
you're at home on your own time. He'd been dealing with some heresy
that had cropped up too. account of heresy described in
those verses. But note, he gives a brother and by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God caused to rejoice with these little
words here caused to give glory to God in the fact that the believer
has a good hope, how through grace, a good hope through grace. And this should, as Paul goes
on to say in the last verse there, it should comfort our hearts.
as believers, and it should establish us in what is set before us. It says comfort your hearts and
establish you in every good word and work. And it does. When we
ponder the good hope that we have in Christ. Oh, does it bring
me comfort? Is it so with you? It brings
us such comfort, doesn't it? When we contemplate the good
hope. And I pray that tonight that
as we look at this good hope that we have in grace, The good
hope that we have in grace or through grace will comfort our
hearts and establish us in every good word and work.
Now the word hope is often used by us and we do not even consider
it. Someone may ask us a question
concerning something in our lives or an outcome to a situation
and our reply may be, I hope so. We use it all the time. I hope so. Yeah, I hope that'll
happen. And so let us consider tonight
the good hope that we have through grace. Let us look at our text
again. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and has given us
an everlasting consolation, which is comfort. Consolation there
is comfort. He's given us an everlasting comfort. And where's
that everlasting comfort? Only in Christ. Only in Christ. And a good hope through grace.
Now the word hope expresses a strong desire. When we hope to do something,
we desire to do it. Is it not so? We desire to do
it, don't we? When we're hoping for something,
we either can't wait until it happens or we desire for it to
happen. So it brings forth that connotation
of a strong desire, a person wants or desires to do something
very much, when they want or desire to do something, they
hope for that which they desire. And the Bible uses the word hope
frequently, and quite often it is used in reference to our relationship
with God and our eternal happiness and eternal glory which the believer
only has in Christ, our hope which we have in Christ, in Christ
alone. Our hope of eternal life is based
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It is found in Him. And the confidence
that we have for eternal salvation and eternal security is only
in and through Him. Only in and through Him. Because
salvation is only found in Christ. And our hope is in what He's
accomplished for us, isn't it? It is. What He's accomplished
for us in our place as our substitute. He paid the price for all my
sins. He did. Oh, what a hope I have
in him. And remember, this wasn't just
in his death, was it? But it was also in his life,
because the Lord didn't just die a substitutionary death. He lived a substitutionary life. He lived the life that we never
could before God's law. and before God's justice. And
he did it for his people. And he did it perfectly. And
it's accomplished. And so therefore, what a hope
we have. What a hope we have. It's wonderful. It's very comforting
for the believer. Very, very comforting. So again,
our hope of eternal life is based upon Christ and Christ alone.
He lived the perfect life in our place. He shed his blood
at Calvary's cross to satisfy God's law and justice in our
place, to redeem us, to purchase us from the slave block of sin. And we're only fit to be in God's
presence, clothed in his righteousness. because of what he's done. That's
the only reason that we are fit and qualified for heaven is in
and through Christ and Christ alone. What a hope. What a hope we have. We are clothed in his perfect,
spotless righteousness, which he gives to us. So our spiritual
hope is much greater and different than a hope or a simple wish
or a desire that we may have upon this earth. The spiritual hope spoken of
here is oh so much greater. Now the Greek word for hope in
our text brings forth is this, a favorable and confident expectation. A good hope, a good hope. A favorable
and confident expectation. a good hope, and we know that
that hope spoken of in our text is founded in Christ and Christ
alone, nowhere else. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
28. When I was looking at Vine today for the word hope, now
it doesn't say evil hope, but Vine was bringing forth how he
calls the refuge of lies that people trust in an evil hope.
because it's based upon a refuge of lies. Isaiah 28. Let's look at verses 16 to 19. And first of all, we see the
hope that we have, which is in Christ, because we know he's
our foundation stone, he's a tried stone. Look at this, verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a tried stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. So there is the object of our
hope. Speaks of Christ, beloved. This
speaks of Christ. He is. The foundation stone. He is a tried stone. He is the
cornerstone. He is a sure foundation. And he that believeth on him
shall not make haste. We flee to Christ. Judgment also
I will lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet. And the hail
shall sweep away the refuge of lies. Now this is the evil hope
that Vine talks about. It's a refuge of lies that people
have. Remember the things I mentioned earlier in the message at first
there? The different things that people trust in? It's a refuge
of lies. That's exactly what those things
are. A refuge of lies. And the water shall overflow
the hiding place. and your covenant with death
shall be disannulled, and your arrangement with hell shall not
stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall
be trodden down by it. The wrath and justice of God
will fall upon those who reject the cornerstone, those who trust
in a refuge of lies. From the time that it goeth forth,
it shall take you. For morning by morning shall
it pass over, by day and by night, and it shall be vexation only
to understand the report. So we see here in verse 16, the
hope that God's people have in his Christ. Behold, I lay in
Zion, that's the church, for a foundation, a stone that speaks
of Christ again, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a share
of foundations, one we can trust. And he that believeth shall not
make haste. And then we contrast that to
the refuge of lies, the false hope seen in verse 17, which
the unbeliever has entrusted in their own self-righteousness. Let us look at several passages
of Scripture in which the word hope is used. Turn, if you would,
to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. In reference
to the believer and his relationship with God and his expectation
of eternal life. Romans chapter 8, verse 24. We'll
read it in context and we'll see our first point. Our hope
is an unseen hope. Our hope is an unseen hope. Romans chapter 8 verses 22 to
25. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the
Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved
by hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? If you see something, you don't
hope for it, because you see it. Right? But if we hope for
that we see not, then we do with patience, wait for it. Here before
us in Scripture brings forth that our eternal happiness and
salvation is in an unseen hope. Something we can't see right
now, someone we can't see right now, the Lord Jesus Christ. But we who believe we'll see
him one day. He's unseen right now. And by faith, we look to
him, don't we? We trust in him. We trust in
him. Again, look at verse 25. If you
see something, you're not hoping for it because you already see
it. Right. Paul in verse 24, in the verses
before verse 24, is talking about the whole creation. He's talking
about the whole creation now. And not only they, for we know
that the whole creation groaneth and travails in pain together
until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have
the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves, groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our
bodies. All things in creation, including
animals, are subject to vanity and decay because of Adam's sin.
When Adam fell, death came into the world. Death came into the
world. Sin and death came into the world
by one man's disobedience. Sin and death came into the world. And death passed upon not only
the human population, but was passed upon the whole world.
So the whole world is suffering because of Adam's fall. And we see death all about us
in the trees, the plants, the gardens, everything. The creation
groaneth and prevaileth unto the day when Christ shall return. There'll be a new heaven and
a new earth where there'll be no death. In verse 23, it says that we who believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ are waiting and looking and hoping for the
resurrection and redemption of our bodies. Those bodies will
never die. They're never decayed. And think
upon this. They'll never be tainted with
sin. Never. Oh, what a hope we have, eh? In Christ. Once we are raised and Christ
comes and makes us like himself, we will never die. We'll never
sin again. And there'll be a new heaven
and a new earth in which there will be no death, no sin. And
God's people say, praise His mighty name. Oh, that'll be wonderful. Now this is an unseen hope, beloved.
But God has promised this. And this is something that will
take place. Something that we can be certain
of. But it's an unseen hope right now. But one day we will be like
Christ, sinless, sinless. Let's turn to Romans 5, two chapters
over. Our hope, do you know that our
hope is a growing hope? A maturing hope? It's a growing
hope and a maturing hope. This hope that we will be like
Christ, that we will one day be in his presence as a maturing,
growing hope. Look at verses one to five. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have, I love this part, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. The only way that we can have
peace with God is through Christ. There's no other way. There's
no other way. That's why all those other things
I mentioned are refuge's lies. Because there's no way to have
peace with God except through Christ. Except through Christ. By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations, also knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience what? Hope. Hope. And hope make it not a
shame, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
by who? By the Holy Ghost, which is given
unto us. Note we glory in tribulation,
we glory in troubles and trials, knowing that tribulations or
trials worketh patience and patience worketh experience. Now, I don't
know anyone who likes to go through trials and tribulations. If we
had a choice, we'd say no, no, right? But God has ordained that
we will go through trials and tribulations. And Paul says here, we glory
in troubles and trials, and we'll see why he does that. Now, the
word experience is proving through our trials.
It means that we're proved. We mature in Christ, we grow
in the Lord, learning to trust him more and more. Maturity produces
hope. Maturity in Christ produces as
our faith in Christ is proved, and how is it proved, beloved?
By trials and tribulations. It's proved to be real. And as it's proved, through tribulations, it worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. And as we mature in the Lord
Jesus Christ, as we grow in grace, we learn to rest more and more
upon our Savior. We are being taught to rest in
our Savior. And trials and tribulations works
hope in us. And think of this. Can we not
look back? You've heard me mention this
many times. Can we not look back and go, my goodness, how did
I make it through that? Well, the Lord carried me through
it. And then that gives us hope for what comes next. Doesn't
it? What a wonderful Savior we have. What hope we have as believers.
When we look and see that the Lord has carried us time and
time and time again through trials and tribulations, it gives us
hope through the trials of this life. So Paul is bringing forth that
through life we as believers will have trials and we will
have tribulations. There's no escaping it. In this
world, you will have tribulation. That's what the Lord said. And
every believer has trouble and trials. All that would live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And these trials, beloved, they
teach us patience. They teach us to be patient with
the providence of God, don't they? They teach us to rest in
Him. They teach us that He's absolutely
sovereign. And they teach us how lovingly
He carries us and keeps us. It's wonderful. And then, these
also teach us to be patient with others around us, too. To look
at everything through the lens of God's sovereignty. It's wonderful. And we learn patience through
trials and troubles. When a man or woman goes through
a certain trial, it reveals whether or not he believes God and the
promises of God. And we see here in Romans 5 that
tribulation produces patience, and patience, experience, and
experience, hope. We mature or grow in grace because
going through these situations gives us a better hope. A better
hope. All through our life, God gives
us successes and failures, doesn't he? And we can all say that he's
done that for all of us. And we learn patience. and we hope in Him. Beloved of God, we are constantly
being weaned off the arm of the flesh. We are constantly being
weaned from leaning on our own strength. It's our natural tendency. as believers, to lean upon ourselves. I got this, Lord, like Brother
Tim bought out and said, I got this, Lord. No, we don't. No,
we don't. And we're constantly being taught
that, beloved. We're constantly being taught,
being weaned off our own flesh, off the arm of the flesh, because
we constantly battle that, don't we? We constantly battle. The believer learns to depend
upon God. We learn to rest in Him. We learn
to trust in Him. As we grow in grace, as we grow
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the stronger our
hope in Christ becomes. As we mature in the Lord, our hope grows in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Think, beloved of God, have you
more hope now than when the Lord first saved you? Do you have
more hope in him now than when he first saved you? It's because you're growing in
Christ. It's because he taught you. And what has he taught us,
beloved? He's taught us about His faithfulness,
hasn't He? He's taught us that. He's the
one who keeps us. And He's taught us again, and
again, and again, through trials, tribulations, and troubles. And
as He's done that, our hope in Him has grown. Has grown. He is faithful to us at all times.
He's the God of all comfort, and He has proved it over and
over and over again to we who believe, to we who are His people. And has not our hope in Him grown?
Praises my name, it has. It has. Turn, if you would, to
1 Peter 1. The next point I'd like us to
look at is our hope. Our hope is a living hope. Our
hope is a living hope. 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. What a hope we have, beloved.
It's a living hope, because it's in Him who lives forever, the
Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, who saves us and keeps us, according
to verse five. He keeps us, and this hope is
given to us, how? Through grace, through grace.
It's an unseen hope. It's a maturing hope. And now
we see it's a living hope. It's a living hope. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according
to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to a living hope. And
look what falls by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Our hope is not in a creed or a catechism. Our hope is not
in a church or church membership. or in a priest, our hope is in
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Christ has begotten us
into a living hope. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And this again is not talking
about an old profession of faith made 20 years ago. No. No, it's
not talking about some experience someone had. Oh, no. This is a living hope. And it's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we have that hope right now as believers. Our Lord is the
one who was raised from the dead and came forth from the tomb.
It is he who hath begotten us into a living hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ was dead.
He died and was buried. And it is he who rose from the
grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father. Our hope,
beloved, is a living hope. He's a living hope. The spiritual
hope is according to the Word of God, and it's an unseen hope,
a growing hope, a maturing hope, and a living hope. And the object
of our hope is the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's all centered
in Him. Now turn, if you would, to 1
John 3. 1 John 3. It's a purifying hope, beloved.
This hope is a purifying hope. A purifying hope. Good hope through
grace is a purifying hope. 1st John 3, verses 1-3, Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. My, we
could just sit there, couldn't we? That we should be called
the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not. Beloved now, are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Note, beloved, now are we the
sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. We cannot fully grasp what's
being said here, beloved. I can't. This is amazing grace. This is amazing grace. I don't
know what this fully means, and we're sinners saved by grace,
but it goes on to say, when he shall appear, when Christ returns,
we shall be like him. Now we know this much that the
Word of God tells us, we'll be like Him, for we shall see Him
as He is. And in verse 3, John says that
every man that hath this hope, the hope in Christ, purifies
himself even as he is pure. What hope is he talking about
when he says, we will have this hope? Every man that hath this
hope, now we are the sons of God. Beloved of God, we are now the
sons of God. This is not something that's
going to take place later. We who believe are right now
the sons of God by faith in Christ. by the blood of Christ, by the
death of Christ, and being accepted in Him, we are adopted into the
family of God. We are the sons of God. And we're gonna be like Christ.
We have a hope that someday we will be raised from the grave
incorruptible. Just means we'll be sinless.
We'll be sinless. Immortal. We'll live for eternity, and
we'll be perfectly conformed to the image of the Son. I can't grasp that. In my little mind right now,
it's just overwhelming, isn't it? This is what the scripture
says. We're gonna be like Him. We're
gonna be sinless. And the doctrine of the second coming of Christ
of Christ who is our hope is a purifying hope in the lives
of the elect. This hope influences the believer's
life. You know how people say, well,
if I believe like you, I can go out and do whatever I want.
You don't know grace when you're saying something like that. My
goodness. Because this hope that we have
in Christ, we desire to walk in holiness,
don't we? Do you sin more than you want?
I sure do. My goodness. In this hope that
we have, we desire to walk in holiness and truth and integrity
and honesty. And this hope we have is in Christ. And it causes us desire to bring
glory to Him. To bring glory to our Master.
And it's the love of Christ. What constrains us from sin?
The love of Christ. The love of Christ. Now we've
looked at how this hope we have is unseen hope. It is as sure
as the promises of God, though, beloved, because it's in Christ and through
Christ who is God incarnate in the flesh. This good hope that
we have through grace is as sure as the word of God, beloved.
It's unseen and it's a maturing hope as the years go by, as we
grow in grace, As you go through trials and God deals with you
in His providence and in His purpose, our hope is strengthened
and our hope matures. And it's also a living hope because
it's in Christ. We look to Him as opposed to
a dead hope that the unsaved. because they look to themselves.
We look to Christ. And this good hope we have through
grace is a purifying hope. It influences and affects a man's
conduct and character and conversation. It's a good hope. It's a good
hope. You know why it's a good hope? Do you know why the believer's
hope is a good hope? Because God gave it to us. because God
gave it to us. God gave us this hope through
grace, didn't he? Through grace. This is what our
text says. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ and the
Father who loved us with eternal love has given us a good hope
through grace. A good hope through grace, through
his mercy. in His grace which has been bestowed
upon us. And how does it come to us? In
and through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. No other way. And this hope is the gift of
God. And our Lord doesn't give anything but good gifts. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. Jesus, and we know that
every good gift and perfect gift cometh from God comes from above. And every spiritual gift that
we have is a good gift, beloved, is a good gift. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is
a gift of God, right, is a gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. Why is our hope a good hope?
Because God gave it to us. He's the one that loved us when
we didn't love him. In our natural state, beloved,
we did not love God, and we love him because he first loved us. He not only loved us, but he
chose us in Christ in eternity. You have not chosen me, the master
said, but I have chosen you. What peace that speaks to my
soul. What hope that gives to me when
I hear those words. Because I know I never would
have chosen him. Unless he had chosen me. And
God chose us in Christ, when? Before the foundation of the
world. He chose us from the beginning unto salvation. Look at verse
13 again in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief in the truth. He not only loved us from eternity,
He not only chose us in Christ from eternity, but He called
us, beloved, by His irresistible, eternal, merciful grace. Paul said, When it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb to call me by His grace. Oh my. Turn if you would to Ecclesiastics
chapter 3 and then put your finger in Romans chapter 15. Ecclesiastics
chapter 3 and Romans chapter 15. Paul said again, it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb to call me by his
grace. We who believe are the called
of Christ Jesus. We call on God But we call on
Him because He has called us by His grace. We flee the Christ
because He has called us by His grace. He not only loved us and
chose us in Christ God, God not only loved us and chose us in
Christ and called us, but beloved, He keeps us, He keeps us by His
power. And you know, look at this in
Ecclesiastics 3, verse 14. I know that whatsoever God doeth,
it shall be, what? Forever. Forever. Oh my. What security the believer
has in Christ. If I'm saved in Christ, it's
forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken away from it. And God doeth it, that man should
fear before Him. I know that whatsoever God doeth,
it shall be forever. As I was looking at that, I thought,
what a blessed verse for eternal security in Christ. It's not
based upon. If God saved me, it's forever,
and he has by his grace. Oh, my, what comfort, what a
hope we have, beloved. Now turn, if you would, over
to Romans chapter 15. And we're almost finished. Over here in Romans 15, 13, God
is spoken of as the God of hope, beloved. He's the author of our
hope. Think of this. He's the author
of our hope. The good hope which we have through
grace, He's the author of it. The good hope which we have through
grace, He's the sustainer of it. And the good hope that we
have through grace, He's the giver of it. And it's all in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this. Romans 15, verse
13, now the God of hope fill you with all joy. May we leave
here tonight, beloved, filled with joy. Because the God of
all the God of hope has saved us. Now, the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace and believing that you may abound in hope,
and we do, don't we? We abound in hope when you think
of it. What we have, the salvation that we have in Christ, we abound
in hope, beloved. Others hope in themselves, and
it's a refuge of lies, but what a hope we have in Christ. It's
an abounding hope. Oh my, it'll fill us with joy
when we think of it. And look at this, though. Through
the power of the Holy Ghost, salvation's of the Lord, beloved.
It's all He's doing. It's all He's doing. The God
of hope. Again, He's the author of it.
He's the sustainer of it, and Christ is the subject of it,
and He's the giver of it. This hope we have in Christ is
the anchor of our souls amidst the storms of life, amidst the
trials and troubles which come our way. So let us conclude with
this. Again, do you know why our hope
is a good hope? It's because God has given it to us. It's
because God has given it to us. God Himself. God our Father. The God of hope has given us
a good hope through grace in Christ, in Christ alone. Love it. That's a good hope.
That's a good hope. Praise his mighty name.