I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And
I'd like to read verses 16 and 17. 2 Thessalonians 2. Verse 16, 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 and establish you in every good word
and work. I'd like to speak for a few minutes
on this subject. Do I have a good hope? Do I have a good hope? You know
when the scripture speaks of a good hope, this is what it's
saying. An upright, a distinguishing,
an excellent expectation and confidence in Christ. That's
what it means. It means a good expectation. I know this, we're all going
to meet God. I know this, many are going to
say in that day, We cast out devils. He's going to say according to
His Word, and here's the thing, He says, many, many will say
to me, I don't want to stand before
God and hear Him say to me, I never knew you. And a lot of them are
going to hear that expecting that when they stand before God,
they're expecting to hear the words, well done, my good and
faithful servant, enter in. This is serious. What is this good hope? Well, I can tell you this, that
the Scripture says, number one, I know it's a heavenly treasure.
Listen to this. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since
we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you
have to all saints for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,
whereof you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. So I know this. for God's people. I know that they've got a good
hope and it's reserved for them. It's kept in heaven. It's not
going to be lost. I know this. Secondly, it's the
soul's anchor. That by two immutable things
in which it's impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation. You know, a consolation is comfort
after you've been disappointed. You know, you've been hurt or
something. Consolation is when you've got
some comfort. So we've got a firm comfort after
we've heard the truth of what we are in Adam. I know what we
are. Soul of our foot, crown of our
head. There's nothing good there. And I know that. So I've got
to have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an
anchor of a soul, that which secures and holds. Thirdly, the believer's hope
is grounded in the resurrection of Christ. Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His
abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope, a living
hope, which means that there's obviously a dead hope. We've
got a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
What is the living hope that a believer has according to the
resurrection? God raised Him from the dead.
And if we be in Him, He gonna raise us too. We've got a living
hope in the resurrection. Fourthly, the believer's hope
looks for and anticipates Christ's coming. Looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. We've got a happy expectation
that the Lord is going to come back. I truly believe. We're
going to hear the trump of God. I believe that. He's going to
appear. I believe that. The dead in Christ
are going to rise first. I believe that. And we which
are alive and remain on the earth shall meet them in the air. We're
not going to prevent them. We're not going to go before
they do. They died in the faith. God says He's going to raise
them first. I believe that. I want Him to raise me. I want
Him to receive me. And the reason that a believer's
hope is called a good hope is because it's a person. This is our hope right here.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our
Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. So the good hope of
a believer is a person. Believers have a good hope. It's a confident hope of life
eternal. But let me ask you this. Doesn't
everybody and their brother in false religion. Now, I'm going
to tell you something. I know a little bit of what I'm
talking about right here. Because I came out, I told you
this, I came out of false religion. Many of you have always sat under
the gospel and that's all you've ever heard. But I can tell you
from experience, I know what it is to believe something contrary
to this scripture. To believe that my salvation
was dependent upon something that I did, that it was an offer
from God, and that all I had to do was do something, and I
saved. And I mean to tell you, I believed
it. I believed that. You couldn't
have convinced me otherwise. There's no way you're going to
convince me. And if you were to ask me, Marvin, do you truly
believe? Back then, you truly believe
you're a Christian? Yes, sir. Ain't no doubt about it. I'm
as sure for heaven as I'm already there. Why? Because I... Doesn't everybody have that?
Doesn't everybody have some kind of a hope? Yeah. I'm gonna give
you four quick, simple, to the point truths. concerning having a good hope. And I want to know. I want to
know what these are. I want to know them. First thing,
a good hope must be established upon the scriptures. Isaiah 8.20 says, to the law
and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word,
it's because there's no light in them. If the message that is preached
does not make salvation, and therefore the hope of glory,
to be all of grace, what does that mean? That means you don't
have anything to do with it. That's what I mean. If it's not
all of grace through faith, it's because there is no light in
them. All that they possess is darkness,
ignorance, superstition, and will worship. Now listen, I'm
telling you that a good hope is set forth in that it's established
on the scriptures. What do scriptures say? Not by
works of righteousness which we've done. Now do you know what? You know what that does as far
as works of righteousness? It just nullifies them. Matthew 15, 14 declares concerning
these that have no light in them. What are we to do with them? Those that preach that you've
got to do something, what do you do? Well, this is what the
Lord said. Matthew 15, 14. Let them alone. Leave them alone. They be blind,
leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch. Almighty God has set forth that
salvation is by grace. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, declared this, but though we are an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we've
preached. Let him be accursed. You know what that means, let
him be accursed? He's going to hell. That's what it means. I
know that as a general rule, everybody that dies, you go to
a funeral, everybody goes to heaven. That's what they say. It's not true. It's not true. Secondly, a good hope is one
set forth as being totally the work of God. Jonah 2.9, I will
sacrifice unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that
that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is not a cooperative
effort between God and man. Why? Because all a man would
do is boast. If we're going to boast, let's
boast in the Lord. If we're going to have confidence,
let's have confidence in the Lord. If there's going to be
any joy, let's have our joy in the Lord. Scripture says, Romans
9.15, God said to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have
mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Psalm 37, 39, But the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength. You know, if a person believes
that it's something that they've done, that is their strength. In their mind, that's their strength.
He is their strength in the time of trouble. Psalm 62, 2. He only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. Boy, that's some confidence.
I'm not going to be moved if Almighty God is my rock and my
salvation. Thirdly, a good hope establishes
salvation to be certain. That is, it endures. The Lord declared in John 10,
27, my sheep hear my voice, as I've told you before, if you
want to know the voice of the Lord, here it is right here.
This is what God has to say. Paul the Apostle said, we beseech
you in Christ's stead. If the Lord Jesus cried, well
when He did, when He came into the synagogue and opened up the
scriptures, this is what He said right here. He quoted out of
Isaiah. Almighty God has to say one thing,
these scriptures. This is the voice of the Lord.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. So my question is this, can a
regenerated sinner ever be lost? According to God's Word, they
can't. Not a regenerated sinner, no. The Lord has declared here
that He's got sheep. Sheep that were given Him by
the Father before the foundation of the world. They were chosen
unto salvation. And He's going to save them.
2 Thessalonians 2.13, we're bound. We're indebted. We are indebted,
the Apostle said, to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren. At all times, we're indebted
to give thanks because God hath from the beginning chosen you. to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Paul is saying we're bound
to pray for you. We're bound to pray for you.
Indebted to God. We're indebted to God to pray
for you. Why? Because first of all, for
the sheep. God came into the world. The Word was made flesh. And
when he came into the world, whenever Mary was told that she's
going to have a son, and she shall bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. I remember whenever I was in
false religion, and I truly believed that God had done all he could
do. He died on the cross. Shed His blood for everybody. And since He shed His blood for
everybody, what else can He do? He's done everything. I mean,
He gave His life. What else can He do? And I would be praying
to the Lord. I heard Brother Henry say one
time, well, if God's done everything He can do, why are you praying
to the Lord? The Lord's already done everything
He can do. Pray to those that He's waiting on them. Pray to
them. Pray to them. You're praying
to the Lord to draw them. He's done everything He can do.
He's waiting on them and their free will. Now, Paul says we're
bound to give thanks because God chose you to salvation. God
chose you to salvation and shall I not pray for you? Call His name Jesus for He shall
save His people from their sins. We're bound to give thanks for
you for it was for them alone that He died in perfect obedience
to God's law. And that obedience that He wrought
as a man is imputed to everyone that believeth. He was made sin. for us. Who knew no sin? We might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Paul said, we're
bound to give thanks for you. We're bound to pray for you.
Indebted to pray for you. Why? Because the Lord prays for
His people. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which Thou hast given me, for they
are Thine. Is there a believer? that comes
to your mind that you don't pray for? And the Lord prayed for
them? The Lord prayed for them. And
are we not going to pray for them? We're bound to give thanks. If you want to know, this is
a good hope. This is a good hope right here. We're bound to pray
for one another. I'm bound to pray for you because
it was for them He died. I lay down my life for the sheep.
Shall I not pray for those that Christ died for? I pray God have mercy. Fifthly,
for them, He ever maketh intercession, wherefore He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for them. He prayed for them all
on this earth. He's now at the right hand of
the Father, ever living to make intercession. Paul said, I'm
bound to pray for you. This is a good hope. And for
them, he's coming back. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I'd have told you. I go to prepare
a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I
am, there ye may be also. Paul said, I'm bound to pray
for you. God's coming back to get you. God's going to have
you with Him eternally. We're bound to give thanks. And
then lastly, a good hope is one that is revealed by God's means. I know it's the gospel. That's the only message. The
gospel of God's grace is the only message that the Spirit
of God is going to bless, to the salvation of a sinner. Someone might tell you, well,
you can be converted, even if you were under false religion,
you can be converted. You know, if you're sincere,
that's not true. Romans 1.16, Paul says, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ is the message
of sovereign grace. I can tell you this, God's electing,
predestinating grace. Someone says that you can be
saved. That's not true. It is the power of God unto salvation. There's one message that God's
going to bless. The message that gives all the honor and glory
and praise to Christ. What about all these other messages?
The Spirit of God's not going to bless them. And unless God
calls out of darkness those that preach it and believe it, the
Scripture says, Galatians 1.8, let them be accursed. According
to God's Word, a good hope for needy sinners is revealed this
way, through the preaching of the Gospel. The preaching of
the Gospel. Preaching. Not by arguing. Not by debating. Religion today
tries to cater to every foolish desire of man. They've got all
kinds of programs for all the age groups. They've got just
things and mess and stuff, and they're the gimmicks. You know? They just say, let's just get
them in here, and if we could just somehow get them in here,
somehow, you know? No. No. This is the way that
God's going to save His people. Through the preaching of Christ. First Corinthians 121, for after
that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. What the world
calls foolishness. This is what the world says.
You mean this is all you got? I'll have people call me, you'd
be surprised. What do you have for kids? Same
thing we got for adults. Preaching. That's it. Oh, y'all
don't have any, then y'all don't have, no. No. No, this is what we have
right here. No, we don't have any after-school
programs and we don't have any... Those things are all fine and
good, but not here. Not here. If this is the only thing that
God's gonna bless, then what is all the other stuff? What
good is it? It's just a waste of time. It pleased God. by the foolishness of preaching
to save them. The preaching of the gospel of
Christ. Proclaiming the needs of society
may appeal to the emotions, but it does nothing as far as establishing
a good hope in Christ. Listen to this last verse. It's
Romans 10, 13 to 15 in closing. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him
of whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent,
as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. A good hope, I have a good hope,
is my hope established on the scriptures. If what someone believes
can be refuted by these scriptures, then it's not right. This is
what's going to stand, God's Word is going to stand. A good
hope is established on the scriptures. It's totally the work of God. It's certain. It's going to endure. He said, I give unto them eternal
life and it's revealed through the preaching of the gospel. I pray that the Lord bless it
to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.