All right, go with me if you
would now to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And let's read what will be our
text, verses 16 and 17. 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. Those are two wonderful verses
of scripture. As soon as I read those, I saw at least seven messages
in them. I thought we could be here for
a while. We could look at our Lord Jesus
Christ himself. What a wonderful title for a
message. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself. We could look at the God who
loved us. We could have an entire message
on our everlasting consolation. We could look at every bit of
it being through grace, title it through grace. We could focus on comfort for
our hearts or being established in every
good word and work. But the one that caught my attention
and the one we're going to look at tonight is the one I skipped
in verse 16, our good hope. Our good hope. We have a good
hope. We have such a good hope. God has given us a good hope. We just read a moment ago, Peter
said, it's a lively hope. That means living. That means
it's alive. Our hope is alive. It's alive
and well. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians
that God has given us faith, hope, and love. Faith is in the ability of the
one who promised. Hope is in what he promised. And love started the whole thing,
love is the response to the whole thing, and love stays with the
whole thing all the way to the end and forever. So they all go hand in hand.
And so does everything that we just mentioned in these two verses.
They really can't be separated. They all go together. When God
starts the work, all of those things result in His child every
time. Every time. The God who loved
us has given us an everlasting consolation
and good hope through grace. The message of grace comes. And through that, he does comfort
our hearts. And he establishes us in every
good word and work. And I pray tonight he might establish
us in our good hope. I pray he'll give us a firm establishment
on our good hope, this wonderful hope that he's given us. Now,
let's begin with some questions about it, all right? Who is this
hope to? Anytime we look at the word,
we need to find out who is speaking, who is he speaking to, and what
does he say? Who is this hope to? Who is he
speaking to? He said in verse 16, now our
Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which hath
loved us. Loved us. Who are the us? We were here last Sunday night.
We recalled it this morning and we'll recall it again tonight.
And I just thought, the thought just went through my mind, these
things are not grievous. It is not grievous to say that,
to tell you the same. This is the safest thing on earth. Who is the us? Verse 13. It says
it's those that God from the beginning chose to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. That's who the us are. Verse 14 says it's those who
have been called of God by the message of the gospel to the
obtaining of the glory of Christ. Those who have obtained the understanding,
the knowledge of the glory of Christ, the glory of who He is
and the glory of what He's done. Verse 15 says, it's those who
stand fast and hold the traditions that God has taught us. That's
who He's speaking to. That's who God has given this
good hope to. All right, that's who it's to.
Now, what is hope? What is hope? If I have a good
hope, what does that mean? The definition of the word hope
is expected anticipation. The hope that we have in God's
word is not the kind of hope that we have in this world. Not
at all. I'm so grateful in the flesh. And in the things of this world
we say, oh, I hope this happens. I hope that doesn't happen. And what we mean by that is,
I'm just not sure. We'll just have to wait and see.
What if this was our message? Here's what it says, but I'm
just not sure. We'll just have to wait and see. What if that
was our message? This is what it says and this
is what we're hoping for. This is his wonderful plan for
our life and we're hoping for the good. What if that was our
message? We're just not sure. We'll just
have to find out. We'll just have to wait and see.
It's just uncertain right now. That's what hope on this earth
means. It's just kind of uncertain right
now. But I hope, this is what I want to see happening. That's
not the kind of hope God gives. That's not our good hope. God
has given us something to expect and anticipate. We have an expected
anticipation. All right, so who is it to? God's
chosen people. That's who this is to. God chose
a people. God has a people. What is hope? It's an expected anticipation. It's something to count on. It's
something to look forward to. It's something that's going to
happen. All right, now, why do we need it? Why do we need a
good hope? It's because we know what we
are in the flesh. God has revealed to us what we
are in the flesh until God comes to a person, until God comes
to a sinner and speaks to the sinner. Until he touches the
sinner like he touched Jacob. God wrestled with Jacob and he
touched his thigh and he humbled that man, he broke that man.
And he said, what's your name? And he had to say, sinner, my
name's Jacob. Until God comes to us, we don't
know what we are in the flesh. This is what people think. This
is what people naturally think. I'm a good person and I do good things and God
thinks I'm good. And as soon as God comes to a
person individually and speaks. directly to the soul of that
sinner and tells that sinner what he truly is in the flesh. Fear. Fear comes over that sinner. God has revealed to us what we
are in the flesh. We know that we are dead in trespasses
and sins. We know we are. When God comes
to a person, That's what he reveals to them. They think they're living.
They think they're alive. And God comes, and the first
thing he says is, you're dead. You're dead. One man made the
statement, and I enter into it so much. He said a preacher years
ago said, I'm not trying to get men saved. I'm trying to get
men lost. I'm trying to declare the truth
in hopes that the Lord will reveal the truth to a sinner. So we
know what we are. We know we're dead. We know that
we came forth from our mother's womb speaking lies. We know that
God doesn't sweep that stuff under the rug. We know that sin is all that
we are and sin is all that we've done. Our best deeds are nothing
but filthy sin in God's eyes. We know that. And because of that, we know
what we deserve. We know exactly what we deserve. David said,
whatever judgment you make against me, you're right. We know what
we deserve. We know what the wages of sin
is. Eternal damnation and death.
Therefore, if God didn't give us this good hope, this ordered
and sure expected anticipation, we would absolutely drown in
utter despair. Every child of God desperately
needs this wonderful hope. The Apostle Paul said in Romans
8, we are saved by hope. We're saved from total despair
by this wonderful hope that God has given to us. All right, now,
what is it? What is it? What has God done
for us in the Lord Jesus Christ? What is our hope? What is our
hope? I have some scriptures that tell
us. The first one is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Go with me over to
one page over in my Bible. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Verse 8 says, but let us who are of the day
be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an
helmet, the hope of salvation. Our God has given us the hope
of salvation. Just think about that for a minute.
He has given us the expected anticipation of salvation, saved
from sin. I promise we don't enter into
that. Saved from sin. Saved from the curse of sin. Saved from the power of sin. Our Lord said, sin shall not
have dominion over you. Boy, it sure feels like it does
right now, doesn't it? Saved from the wages of sin,
the penalty of sin. One day real soon, because of
this good hope he's given us through his word, we're gonna
be saved from the presence of sin. If there's any hope for sinners
like us, we're gonna need two things. This is what we'll need.
We need mercy and we need redemption. We need forgiveness And we need
righteousness. That's what we need. Go with
me over to Psalm 130. Psalm 130 verse one says, out
of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait, and in his
word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities. He'll do it. That's what David
said. He'll do it. Let Israel hope
in the Lord. He'll do it. That's blessing my heart right
now. He'll do it. He'll do it. This right here is what gives
us such confidence and such expectation. He'll do it. He'll do it. It's not left up to me to do
it. It's not left up to me to do it. My forgiveness and my
redemption has been laid on His shoulders. Every bit of it. All the mercy that I need and
all the righteousness that I need has been required of Him. Not
of us. Hasn't been required of us. That's
what makes it not just a hope, but a good hope. Such a good
hope. That's what gives us such a strong
consolation. It's in no one else's hands,
but his. He'll do it. Isaiah 55 says,
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. called ye upon him
while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his thoughts of trying to save himself. Let
him forsake his way of trying to save himself and his thoughts
on how he can save himself. And let him return unto the Lord
and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly
pardon. That's good news, and he'll do
it. He'll do it. Any sinner who turns
to the Lord, who God calls us to forsake his own way and turn
to Christ for mercy and abundant pardon, he'll do it. He will
do it. Now this is one of my favorite
portions of scripture in the word of God, and I know I say
that all the time, and I mean it all the time, and I mean it
this time too. This is honestly, I get excited
every time we go here. Go to Lamentations 3. Lamentations 3. Verse 21 says, This I recall
to my mind, therefore have I hope. This is what gives me such expected
anticipation. Verse 22 says, It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail
not. They are new every morning Great
is thy faithfulness. What does that mean? Why are they new every morning?
Why are they new every morning? What is his faithfulness? Well, he said in verse one, this
is our Lord speaking, he said in verse one, I am the man that
hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. This is Christ
speaking. He said, I bore the affliction
of my people so they wouldn't have to do it. I bore their sin,
I bore the curse of it, I bore the power of it, I bore the wages
of it, I bore the presence of it. Verse two, he hath led me
and brought me into darkness but not into light. Surely against
me is he turned. He turneth his hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he
made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath
builded against me, encompassed me with gall and travail. He
hath set me in dark places as they that be dead of old. He
hath hedged me about that I cannot get out. He hath made my chain
heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, he
shutteth out my prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with
hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying
in wait and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside
my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He
hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath
caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. I was
a derision to all my people and their song all the day. He hath
filled me with bitterness. He hath made me drunken with
wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth
with gravel stones. He hath covered me with ashes.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot
prosperity. And I said my strength and my
hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering mine affliction and
my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still
in remembrance and is humbled in me. He said every time a sinner
who has received salvation from me lives out another sin that
I paid for. I paid for all their sins from
the cradle to the grave. I paid for every single one of
them. And as they finish out the course
of their life on this earth, every time they commit one of
the sins that I bore in my body on the tree, I remember my affliction
and I remember my misery. I remember the wormwood, I remember
the gall, and my soul is satisfied. And I make intercession to my
father on their behalf, and his wrath is appeased. Verse 24 says, the Lord is my
portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that
wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that
a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the
Lord. That's the mercy we need. That's
where it comes from, that's what secured it. Now here's the righteousness.
We need mercy and we need righteousness. Go with me to Romans chapter
10. Romans 10 verse 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. everyone that
believeth. When God gives a sinner faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that brings all the righteousness
that that sinner needs, every bit of it. They see and believe
He is my righteousness. That's the notification. That's
when the light comes on. A while back I was preaching
for one of the other congregations in another state and there was
a young man there who was in the process of coming out of
false religion. And he had heard of these things
and he was coming to know these things and just starting to get
a grasp of these things. And the religion he was in was
a heavy, heavy bondage religion, a bondage to the law of establishing
your own perfection, establishing your own rightness before God,
a continual progression in holiness and sanctification, they call
it. The Lord was opening His eyes
to these things, and we were talking about this, having a
conversation about it, and I, in the course of the conversation,
quoted 1 Corinthians 1.30. He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He's all the wisdom I need. Well,
what do you think about this, and what do you know about that?
I don't know. I know I'm just a sinner and
nothing at all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all. He's my wisdom.
He's all I need to know. He's my righteousness. How perfect are you to stand
before God Almighty? Well, look at Him. He's my righteousness. He's my holiness, my sanctification. And as I quoted this, that fellow
was sitting there just chewing on it. And he said, isn't that
so relaxing? I said, it sure is. It is so
relaxing. Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. All he needed. That's relaxing. That's just relaxing. Go over
to Galatians 5. Galatians 5 verse 1, it says,
stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold,
I, Paul, say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he's a debtor to do the whole
law. That means if you're going to pick one, you better pick
them all. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever
of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace. For
we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. We're waiting for this expected
anticipation of absolute perfection before God by faith. Hebrews 7 verse 19 says, for
the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better
hope did. Hope in Christ made everything
perfect. Perfect. Look with me at 1 Timothy
chapter 1. 1 Timothy 1 verse 1 says, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior
and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. We have a good hope. What is
it? Christ is our hope. The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. He is the God who loved us. He is our everlasting consolation. He is grace. We talk about grace. He is grace. He is the comfort
of our heart. He is our good word and word. Our hope is completely wrapped
up in Him. Completely. Therefore, this is
the anticipation that we expect. Because our hope is totally wrapped
up in Him. This is our hope. This is what
we expect. Alright, now turn over to Titus.
Two books. I'm going to read two verses
in chapter 1 and two verses in chapter 2. Titus chapter 1. Verse 1 says, Paul, a servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith
of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness
in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began. Now look at chapter 2 verse 13,
looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself
for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." What
is our good hope? What is our expected anticipation? His glorious appearing. We all know that he's coming
back. We anticipate His appearing, but if God says it's going to
be a glorious appearing, we need to expect glorious. We need to
start expecting that. That needs to be included in
our anticipation. We know He's coming back, but
when it happens, we need to be ready for glorious. He is going
to be glorious. He's going to be glorious. And it's even hard to say this.
I have to say it on the authority of God's word, but so will we. We're going to be glorious the
moment he comes back. Paul told the Philippians at
that very moment he is going to change our vile body that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. In the twinkling
of an eye it's going to happen as soon as we lay eyes on him.
John said, Beloved, 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 then he said, Every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. That means every man that has
this hope is going to receive the end of his hope. Every man
or woman. David said, I am going to be
so satisfied when I awake with his likeness. I'm going to be
so satisfied. That's a good hope, isn't it?
That's a good hope. What a wonderful hope. All right,
with that being said, let's close with this verse. Close with this
exhortation. Go with me to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 verse 13 says, Wherefore,
gird up the loins of your mind, Be sober and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. Just get ready. Expect it. Anticipate
it. Get ready. Thank God for hope. Thank God. All right, let's all
stand together.