our Bibles today to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And I'll begin reading in verse
13. 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 you 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 through grace, comfort
your hearts, establish you in every good word and work. I want to speak to us today about
a good hope. You notice in verse 16, the apostle
tells us that God loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation
and good hope through grace. A few weeks ago, I believe on
Sunday evening, I was preaching and for some reason the thought
came into my mind of a message which I read many years ago about
a good hope. And there were about five marks
that this message gave of a good hope. And at the time, a couple
of weeks ago, I could only recall one of those five marks. But since then, I've gone back
and reread that message and thought this morning that I would speak
to us on this very important subject, a good hope. I'm sure that every person in
this room today, we all have a hope. Hope of what? Well, you notice it speaks about
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 14, of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We all have hope that when the
Lord comes again, should he come right now? should the trumpet
sound and the Lord Jesus Christ descend from heaven with a shout
and the voice of the archangel. All of us sitting here this morning,
we all have a hope, a hope that we would go to be with the Lord.
Or when he comes for us, as he will eventually, He will come
to call us, take us out of this world. We all have a hope that
when that happens, that we will go to be with the Lord, to live
with Him forever and enjoy God. Everyone has a hope. The scriptures
speak about the hope of the hypocrite. Everyone has a hope. Every one
of us here this morning, we all have a hope that we will meet
God. We will enjoy God forever and
glory. But is our hope a good hope? That's the question. And I know
for many of us here today, our hope is a good hope. Would God,
for every person here, We all had a good hope. But I want to
mention this morning five marks of a good hope. And we'll judge our hope today
by these five marks. First of all, a good hope is
one that a person can explain. I want you to turn with me over
to Second Peter. Or 1 Peter, I'm sorry, 1 Peter
chapter 3. A good hope is one that a person
can explain. It's not enough just to say,
well, I hope everything will be all right. Well, I hope, I
hope I'll go to heaven when I die. I hope that. Well, a good hope
is one that a person can explain. Here in 1 Peter 3 and verse 15,
we're told, but sanctify, set apart the Lord God in your hearts
and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Be ready, always. The point I'm making is a good
hope is a hope that a person can explain. Now I'm not saying
this morning, and please do not misunderstand me, I'm not saying
that to be saved a person has to become a Bible scholar, has
to be a theologian, has to be able to discuss different points
in the Bible, difficult themes in the Bible. I'm not saying
that at all. But I am saying that a person
who has a good hope should be able to explain why he or she
hopes to be with the Lord. If a person could say no more
than these two things, I know that I am a great sinner and
I know that Jesus Christ is a great savior and he is all my hope. If a person could just say that,
But every person should be able to explain, and it shouldn't
be, well, I have a good hope, or I hope because I go to church.
The devil goes to church. Well, I hope because I was baptized. Simon Magnus was baptized in
Acts chapter eight, and Peter told him, thy money perish with
thee. No, a good hope is one that a
person can explain. Shouldn't be like the person
years ago who asked another one, what is your hope? And he said,
my hope is what my church teaches. What does your church teach?
It teaches what I hope. In other words, just arguing
in a circle, going around in a circle. Again, I'm not saying
that a person must be or must have deep learning and great
knowledge in order to have a good hope. But it should be one that
we can explain, that we can articulate to others. And JC Rao, whose sermon outline
I'm using, J.C. Rouse said this, a man may know
20 languages and have the whole body of divinity at his fingers
ends and be lost. A man may be unable to read and
have a very weak understanding and be saved. Surely, if a person
has a good hope, he can say more than, well, I hope to be saved.
Well, I hope to go to heaven. Well, I hope it's going to be
all right. But on what grounds? On what grounds? How is it that
you hope to be saved? What is the ground of your hope?
You remember in Pilgrim's Progress, all the various characters that
you run into, but there was one man by the name of Ignorance.
And Ignorance, if I remember right, he was in the way But
he didn't start at the cross. He came over the fence somewhere
along the way. And sure enough, he made it all
the way, according to Christian, he made it all the way to the
river of death. And when he got there, there
was a vain hope, a man by the name of vain hope, who ferried
him across the river. And there's the celestial city,
but he was not given admittance. Why? He had a hope, but it was
based on ignorance. It wasn't something that he could
articulate and explain why he hoped to be saved. You know, that caused John Bunyan
in that book, Pilgrim's Progress, it caused him to say this or
write this. Then I saw, in his vision, then
I saw that there was a way to hell even from the gate of heaven,
as well as from the city of destruction. Good hope is one that a person
should be able to explain, at least give some reason for the
hope that we have. Right now, in your mind, you're
thinking about this, aren't you? What's going through your mind? If you had to give a reason,
stand up right now and give a reason why you have a hope, what would
you say? What would be your response?
What would be my response? The second thing about a good
hope, it is one that is drawn from the scriptures, from the
word of God. In Psalm 119, in verse 81, the psalmist wrote,
thou art my hiding place and my shield. I hope, I hope in
thy word. Look with me in Romans chapter, Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15. The scriptures here, obviously,
that Paul references has to be just the Old Testament. Now we
have both the Old and the New Testament. But notice what he
says about the scripture in verse four. For whatsoever things were
written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now I'm confident
this morning that many of us here in this room have a good
hope. And I'm also confident that everyone
here who does have a good hope, if I were to ask you, give me
one scripture, what is the scripture that you really base your hope
upon. What is the scripture? Now, I'm
sure that every person in here would have one particular scripture,
but it wouldn't all be the same. We'd all have a different scripture.
I'm talking about our conversion experience. We'd all have a different
scripture, no doubt. Someone might stand and say,
well, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life. That's it. Someone else might
say, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Oh, that
came alive to me. Another might say, my sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto
them eternal life. Oh, God bless that to my soul. Someone else might say for the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Another might say, oh, what the
apostles told that Philippian jailer resonated in my soul. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Every person here who has a good
hope would have a scripture, surely have one scripture particularly,
not just one, but one especially. And that's the one you, it just
gives you confidence and blesses you. And when you have doubts
and fears and questions, you go back, you run back here to
this place. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which is lost. Oh, I remember that scripture. I remember that when God quickened
that scripture to me. I can remember that just like
it was yesterday. Been a long time now. Someone else might say this is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's me. That's me. Oh yeah. Another would say, whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Wherein sin abounded, grace,
God's amazing grace, did much more abound. For the blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Story goes, years ago in
England, they had workhouses. And if a person grew old and
had no way to support himself, they would go into one of these
houses and they provided a bed and meals and people could do
what little work they could do. But the story goes of one man
who entered into one of those and his granddaughter, this man,
of course, had never learned to read. But his little granddaughter,
she started visiting him and came with the Bible, started
reading the Bible to him. And one day she came to that
first chapter of 1 John and she read, the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanseth us from all sin. What? What? Would you read that again? The blood of Jesus Christ, his
son, cleanseth us from all sin. Does it say that? Does it really
say that? Read it again. The blood of Jesus
Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. He said, daughter,
put my finger on that verse. Put my finger on that verse and
read it again. Yes, a good hope is a hope that
is bottomed or based upon the word of God. Robert Trail, one
of the old English preachers said, and I quote, the hope of
eternal life is a hope of the greatest blessing that can be
conceived. It is a hope bottomed only on
the pure word of God. When you examine your hearts,
you find some hope of being saved, and that in the day of the Lord
you shall stand with peace and confidence before your judge. Why so? Wherefore do you hope
for this? Is it not because God has said
it? Is it not because God that cannot
lie has spoke it? If you expect to be saved upon
any other ground but because God has said it, you must change
your mind ere you be saved. For you are off the rock. You're
off the sure foundation that all God's Israel must rest upon. The word of God. And on this
point, before I move on to the third, do you see why preachers
often remind us of the importance of reading the Word of God, of
hearing the preaching of the Word of God, of meditating upon
the Word of God. I was thinking this morning,
you know, it's not the words of the preacher that God uses. God uses his own word, his own
word, the Word of God, in converting and saving his people. The third thing about a good
hope, it's one that rests entirely on Jesus Christ. I could have said that first,
couldn't I? But a good hope is one that rests entirely upon
Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 1, the
Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. A person with a good hope bases
it upon the person of Jesus Christ, first of all. Who he is. Who he is. That he is God and
he is man. He is the God-man. And that he
is the one mediator between God Almighty and men. There is no other. The church
is not a mediator. The priests are not mediators.
The Pope is not a mediator. The Virgin Mary is not a mediatrix. No, no. There's one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And why should we hope in Him,
the fact that He is God, because of His work, not only His person,
but His work of substitution? That the law that God requires
us to obey and we have disobeyed, He obeyed fully, perfectly in
our stead, in our place. But not only that, but He suffered. the wrath of Almighty God for
the sins of his people. The law that we had broken, his
justice demanded satisfaction, and he rendered that satisfaction. And how is it that the sufferings
of one man could satisfy for the sins of so many? Because
he's God. Because he's God. Yes. He said, I'm the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. That's
what we're talking about, isn't it? Meeting the Father, going
to be with God, our Father. No man can come to Him except
he come in Jesus Christ. No other way. My hope, the hymn
writer wrote, we sing this hymn many times, my hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus Christ and his righteousness. Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the Swedish frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name. A good hope is one that rests
entirely on Jesus Christ. A fourth thing about a good hope,
and let me just go back a minute. Every hope that is not founded
on Christ is founded on sand. That's the way our Lord showed
the example in Matthew chapter 7. The wise man built his house
upon the rock. And the foolish man built his
house upon the sand. And every man who does not build
upon Christ builds upon the sand. And you know what happens when
the floods came, when the rain came and the wind and the waters
rose, the man whose house is built on the sand, it washed
away. Won't it be sad? Won't it be sad for a person
to come down to the end of his life and come to meet God and
be trusting in something other than Jesus Christ alone? A fourth point, a good hope is
one that is felt inwardly in the heart. Romans 5 and verse
5, the apostle says, the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Now, I won't
say much about this because I know that feelings are subjective. And it is given that feelings
vary. Different personalities have different feelings. I understand that. But at the
same time, if a person is never moved, if your heart is never
softened by the truth, that can't be well. That cannot bode well
for a person. who hears the truth, who hears
the gospel, who hears about Christ and his love and his sacrifice,
and the heart isn't moved in any way. Never raised up, never brought
down. How many times do God's people,
when they set in a service like this, and they hear the gospel,
and they know the gospel, they believe the gospel, they rejoice
in the gospel, and yet their tears fill their eyes. Now I'm not, again, I know, as
Martin Luther wrote, feelings come and feelings go, and feelings
may be deceiving. I understand that. But hear me
now. If a person truly has a good
hope, There's some feeling. There's some feeling for Christ.
There's some love. A person and his feelings resemble
more a dead log than an old hard log just floating down the river. That's the feelings a person
always has. There's something bad about that,
something wrong. Well, here's my last point, my
last mark. A good hope is one that is manifested
outwardly in the life. First John three and verse three,
everyone that hath this hope in him purifies himself even
as he is pure. A good hope will influence a
man's character and his conduct. The gospel believed and received
makes a difference in the way we live, makes a difference in
the way we think, makes a difference in the way we act. Consider what
Paul wrote to the believers in the church at Corinth when he
said, such were some of you. And there's a list of evil things
that some of them had done, but no longer. If any man be in Christ,
he is a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. Doesn't mean that we live without
sin. I'm not saying that. I wish we
did. I wish I could. We have an old
nature. I understand that, that we're
going to keep as long as we're in this world. But a person who has a good hope,
their life changes. For one thing, they love the
gospel. They love to hear the gospel.
They love to support the gospel. They love to share the gospel. Tell me the old, old story that
has done so much for me. You know, John Bunyan. I mentioned
him and his pilgrim's progress a while ago, but he wrote a book,
and someone said the title may have been Jerusalem Sinners. Jerusalem Sinners. What in the
world does that mean? Jerusalem Sinners. That means
the very people in Jerusalem who cried crucify him, crucify
him, and went out there to the cross and made fun and jested
about what was taking place there on the day of Pentecost. Yes,
some of those even wicked, evil Jerusalem sinners were saved. But when a person is saved, there's
a difference. One old English preacher made
this statement. I've read it many times. When
God saves a sinner, even his dog will know it. Yeah, even his dog. Of course,
they didn't treat their dogs like people do today. But he
said even a man's dog, he'd be a little bit kinder to his dog
even. Yeah. Let me close by pressing
this question upon you and upon me. What is my hope? What is my hope? Is it a good
hope? Is it? Can I give a reason for
my hope? And is that reason drawn from
the word of God? And is that reason based entirely
upon the person and work of Jesus Christ? And does it resonate in my heart? Do I rejoice in the things of
God? And has it made a difference
in my life? I've heard, I've read rather,
more than heard, but preachers, men who preach the
word of God for years and years, when they come to die on their
deathbed, that most, or many of them I should say, you know
what they regret as far as sin is concerned? Sins of omission. More than sins of commission,
sins of omission. Things they should have done. Don't let that happen to you.
I pray it doesn't happen to me. God lays something on your heart
to do, do it. Do it. He lays something on your
heart to say, say it. To give, give it. Amen. OK, we're going to.