The hope of the gospel. I think one of the saddest sights
in the world is a person who's lost all hope. You ever seen
someone that or known someone? I have seen it. I've known it.
You can't reach him. You can't reach him. When a person
has lost all hope, it just seems like you can't not get But you give that person, I've
seen that same person, get a glimmer of hope and it put a snap in
their step. Joy, a reason to get up in the morning,
a hope. How powerful is that word? How
powerful is it to have a real, genuine hope? How powerful is
it to have a real, genuine hope of being saved. When all this
is over, and in a little while, all this is going to be over
for us. Even for the youngest one here, if they live to be
old, it's just a little time, it's just a vapor. That's all
it is, just a vapor. Paul says here in Colossians
1.23, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you
have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven, whereby Paul made a minister. My first question is this. What
is a gospel hope? What is it? I'm gonna give you
a few things of what I believe it is. First of all, a gospel
hope is a hope of full salvation, of full salvation. It is written
in Colossians 2 verse 10, and you are complete. I've written these things down.
And you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality
and power. In Christ, I stand in God's presence
Absolutely complete. I don't have to add anything.
I don't have to produce anything. He has done it all. I stand complete. You who believe the gospel, you
stand complete in Christ. Listen to this in
Colossians 1.22, in the body of his flesh through death, I
read this to you, to present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight. That's how Jesus Christ is presenting
his people. You, me, who believe the gospel,
I know what I am. At least I think I do. You know,
we think we're so sinful, but we're a lot more sinful than
we think we are. I've lived long enough to learn that. I'm a lot
more sinful than I think. But he is presenting every one
of God's children holy. How is God described? Holy, holy,
holy. And that is exactly how he's
presenting us. Holy, unblameable, unblameable. Satan is called the accuser of
the brethren. But he can't make it stick. I am, in Christ, unblameable. Unblameable and unreprovable. Can't even be reproved. In his
sight and the way I stand in God's sight is exactly the way
it is. That's the way it is. The way
I stand in God's sight. Now brethren, that's full salvation. That's full salvation. And here's
another part of a gospel hope is that his people will persevere
to the end. He won't lose a one of them.
Listen to this in John 10, 28. And I give unto them eternal
life. Now he's not talking about the
length of it. He's talking about the quality
of it. Eternal life is the life of God in the soul. and I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. You're not gonna perish. Christ
promised that you'll not perish. I give to them eternal life,
they shall never perish, and neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. In Philippians 1.6, being confident, of this
very thing, Paul writes to the Philippians, being confident
of this very thing that he, which has begun a good work in you,
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He'll not give
up on me. He's going to have everyone for
whom he died. He'll not quit the work once
it's begun. Isn't that good news? The hope that I'm speaking about
here, the gospel hope, is not a wish. It's not a wish. Now listen, this may sound like
a bold statement, but I have God's word on it. I expect to
be saved. I expect to stand in God's presence,
forgiven, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. Why do I expect
that? Because guess what God's word
says. I have his word on it. This is not just wishful thinking.
This hope is an expectation of God doing just as he said he
would do. As he said. As he said. Being confident. Confident. That he which hath begun a good
work. Who's that? That's God. That's God. He will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ, till the day you stand in the presence
of Christ in glory. Isn't that good news? That's good news. Here's another
hope. Here's another gospel hope. It's
a hope of the resurrection from the dead. I have performed Several, many,
over the years, I've performed a lot of funerals. I have performed
funerals of believers. I have full confidence they believe
God, and I have performed funerals of those who had never confessed
Christ. But I have a hope that those
believers that I have buried, that I have conducted their funerals,
And I have a hope that someday I'm gonna die and I'm gonna be
buried. I'm coming out of that grave. There's gonna be a new body coming
out of that grave. What I'm talking to you about this morning is
real. This is not like Greek mythology. This is real. This is real. Paul said, look
over in Acts chapter 24. Look in Acts chapter 24. Paul,
in verse 14, in Acts 24 verse 14, Paul says, but this I confess
unto thee, that after the way which they
call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets,
and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that
there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and the unjust." Now, there'll be a resurrection of the unjust,
and they shall perish. But there's a resurrection of
the just. And so shall we ever be, it says over in Thessalonians,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I have a hope, I have
an expectation of that happening. I have an expectation that when
they lay this body in the grave, that one day it's coming out
of it. It's coming out of it. You know,
the salvation is a salvation of the body, soul, and spirit.
It's a salvation of the whole person, of the whole person. And I have a hope, a gospel hope, is to be forever
with the Lord. I'm going to read you this over
in Revelations 21. I've got it written down here.
Revelations 21, verse 3 through 4. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. This
is the future. We're getting to read the future
here. I'm reading to you what's coming. And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death.
Brother Henry said to me one time, we were walking away from
a funeral, and it was at the graveyard, and we were walking
away, and he looked at me, he said, I can't wait till we quit
dying. I can't wait till we quit dying.
There shall be no more death. I'll never conduct another funeral.
Never again. Neither sorrow nor crying. We know what that's about, don't
we? We know what sorrow's about. We know what crying's about.
You ever laid awake all night and cried? I know I have. I know
you have. Cried yourself to sleep. Cried
you couldn't cry no more. No more. No more crying. Neither shall there be any more
pain. That becomes even more precious as I grow older. I feel
more pain now than I ever felt in my life. Physical pain. But neither will there be any
more soul pain. No more pain over
sin. Why'd I do that? Why'd I say
that? Why'd I think that? Gone. Gone. Listen, for the former things
are passed away. They're passed away. Look over
in 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter four. 1 Thessalonians four, look in the
16, for the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout. First Thessalonians 4, 16, for
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be. with
the Lord. No separation. No separation. You know, it says when he's coming
in another place that he'll come with 10,000 thousands of his
saints. Wherever he goes, they go. There's
never a separation again, ever. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. This is our comfort. The Word
of God is the foundation of our comfort. God's given us a spirit
of comfort, the Holy Spirit. He's called the Comforter. He's
given us His Word. My soul, you'd think we'd saturate
ourselves in it. You'd think so. Now, I've given you a gospel
hope, but what's the foundation of this hope? If we have a hope,
if I have a hope, If I have a hope, an expectation of being with
the Lord forever, of being fully saved, being complete, being
presented before God's presence, holy and unblamed, what's the
foundation of that? Well, not necessarily in this
order, but I'm gonna give you a few things. First of all, the
sovereign mercy of God. I didn't create this hope. I
didn't establish this hope. I didn't even help establish
this hope. God's sovereign mercy. He gave it to me. He gave it
to me. Ephesians 1, it says, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. When did that happen? Before
the world began. according as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. God took care of
this matter of my salvation before he ever created the first thing.
He took care of this matter of all his elect before he ever
created the first thing. that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ himself, according to the good pleasure."
Not according to what he foresaw. According to his good pleasure.
It was God's... I know we can't grasp this. It was God's good
pleasure to make you, me, his people. It was God's good pleasure to
bruise his son. In Isaiah 53, it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. And the reason it pleased the
Lord to bruise him is you're the result. Trophies, I'm looking
at trophies of God's grace. You ever win a trophy? You ever
win one? I won a few of them in wrestling.
Set them up on the shelf. Thought that was just something.
I don't even know where they are now. They're gone, gone,
gone. You're trophies of God's grace. The battle's been fought, the
battle's been won, the victory's been won, and you are the trophy,
and Christ is the victor, and we're victors in Him. And listen,
according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted. in the beloved. He didn't make
me just acceptable. He made me accepted. He received
me in Christ before the foundation of the world. Now, brother, that
gives me a good hope. Look over in 2 Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians chapter 2. The first Thessalonians, I'm
sorry, it's the first Thessalonians. Wait a minute, let me get my
Thessalonians straight here. Second Thessalonians, chapter
two, in verse 16. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our father, which has loved us and has given us
everlasting consolation and what? A good hope through grace. That's the foundation of it.
Here's another foundation of it. The work of the Lord Jesus
Christ for us. It says in Isaiah 53, he was
wounded our transgressions. He was bruised,
tormented for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid upon him and by his stripes we are healed. The substitutionary work of Jesus
Christ for us is a foundation of our gospel hope. It's the
foundation of And then here's another foundation
of that hope, the immutability of God. God said this over in Malachi,
he said, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
and you can read it like this, you sons of election are not
consumed. I'm the Lord, I change not. The
foundation of this hope is the immutability of God. He changes
not. It says in Romans 11, 29, for
the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He doesn't change his mind like
we do. He's of one mind, the scripture
says, and who can turn him? Who can turn him? And then here's
another. Here's another foundation of
that hope, the infallibility of the word of God. If God has given his word, he'll
do it. Call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and what will happen? Thou shalt be saved. Thou shalt be saved. David said
over in Psalm 130, Lord, I hope. He said, I hope. He said, first,
he said, there's forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
feared. I hope in thy word. Where'd you
find out about the forgiveness of God? Where'd you find out
that God's gracious to sinners? Where'd you find that out at?
You found it out in the word of God. That's where you found
it at, in the word of God. Look over in Psalm 119. Psalm 119, look in verse 49. Remember the word unto thy servant
upon which thou hast caused me to hope. The infallibility of the word
of God is a foundation of our hope. God has caused me to hope through his word. Come to me,
all you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. All
that the Father giveth to me, this is one of my favorite scriptures
because it just fits me. It's one of those scriptures,
especially after I first heard the gospel years ago. I hung
on to it. I hung on to it. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And he that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. That's good news. That's something
for a sinner to hang on to. Lord, you said, you said, if
I come to you, you wouldn't cast me out. You said that. And I
take God at his word. I take him at his word. And that gives me, that's a foundation
of my hope. That's the foundation of my expectation. That's the foundation of it.
But now Paul gives a warning here. He gives a warning. And he says, go back to that
Colossians 23. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel. Be not moved away from it. There's
always warnings lest we presume. I don't want to presume upon
the mercy and grace of God. I don't want to do that. I don't want to miss Christ because
I just presumed upon God's mercy. How can one be removed from the
gospel? First of all, love of the world. love of the world. Demas, Paul spoke of Demas. Colossians 4, 14, he commends
Demas. Philemon 1, 24, he commends Demas. And then in 2 Timothy 14, you
know what he says? Demas hath forsaken me. That wouldn't happen, that wouldn't
happen, would it? You know, the Lord says, one
of you is going to betray me. You know what the disciples said,
one by one? Lord, is it I? One by one, they
said, Lord, is it I? Demas hath forsaken me, having
loved this present world, and is departed to Thessalonica.
Whatever was there in Thessalonica, he loved more than he loved Christ. Matthew 22, he also that receives
seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care
of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and
he becomes unfruitful. I can't even express the deceitfulness
of riches. They'll make you think you're
somebody. They'll make you think you're the smartest thing in
the block. God said, I make rich and I make
poor. I told that to a rich man here not too long ago. He was
talking, and I said, you know, the Lord said he makes rich and
he makes poor. He lifts up and he brings down. He can, it's just a, like that,
God can make a man rich, and just like that, he can make him
poor. Another way is this, another
way to be removed from the gospel is this, false teaching, false
teaching. I can't express to you what a
privilege it is to be able to listen to a man that preaches
the gospel, that stands here, preaches the gospel. But it's
also one of the most dangerous things that'll ever happen if
a man goes, if a man stands and preaches and he's lying on God.
He takes the scriptures and he twists it. Twists it. Paul said the Galatians. I marvel. I marvel. that you're so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel,
which is not another, but there'll be some that trouble you and
would pervert the gospel of Christ. The scripture says that if it
were possible, that the very elect would be deceived. If it were possible, it's not
possible, but if it were, they'd be deceived. And then here's
another way, intellect. Intellect. 2 Timothy 3.7, ever learning, ever
learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Nicodemus, the Lord spoke to him about the new birth and he
said, Nicodemus, You are a ruler in Israel, a teacher, an instructor,
and you don't know what I'm talking about? You know how many people stand
in a pulpit this morning doing this? Using the name of Jesus, Paul
said they'll come preaching another Jesus, another gospel, which
is not another. You know how many this morning
are taking the same Bible I'm using? using the same name Jesus
Christ that I'm using, but preaching a totally different gospel and
a totally different person. I said to a man some time ago,
he and I discussed in the gospel, this man's Armenian as could
be. And I finally at the end of it, I said, you and I don't
believe the same gospel. We don't believe the same God
and we don't worship the same Jesus Christ. I know he didn't
understand me. I could tell by the look on his
face he didn't understand me. I know that when I first heard
the gospel from Brother Henry, my pastor, years ago, when I heard him on television,
what he was preaching matched what I was reading, and it matched
what I was reading about. I kept telling the person where
I was going, there's something missing, I don't know what it is, there's
something missing. You know what it was? It was Christ. It was
Christ, he was missing. They were using the Bible, they
were using his name, but they wasn't preaching him. Be careful of that. And here's
another way, persecution. Matthew 13, but he that received
the seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word,
and a noun with joy receives it, yet hath he not root in himself,
he doesn't have Christ, but endureth for a while, for when tribulation
or persecution rises because of the word. By and by, he's
offended, he's offended at God. I'm your child, why is this happening
to me? I'm standing up for you, Paul's in prison. He's offended. Things are taken away from him,
he's offended. I thought, he's offended. Now last of all,
I'll hurry up here. I'm gonna give you this. I'm
gonna give you this for comfort. Why the believer cannot be moved
away from the gospel. The believer now cannot, he cannot ever be lost. He or
she cannot ever be lost. Cannot be moved away from the
hope of the gospel. First of all, God the Father
chose him, God the Son redeemed him, and God the Holy Spirit
sealed him. That three-fold cord cannot be broken. It can't be
broken. And secondly, God's glory is
at stake. He said, I'll not give my glory
to another. Says in Isaiah 43, even everyone
that is called by my name for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him. Yeah, I made
him. He's mine. He's mine. I'm not going to lose him. He's
mine. And last of all, to whom shall we go? Peter said, Thou
hast the words of eternal life, to whom shall we go? My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. The hope of the gospel is a hope
of full, complete salvation in Jesus Christ, to stand in His
presence, holy, unblameable, unreprovable in His sight, and
I fully expect that to happen. I fully expect it. I had a new
body come out of that grave and to stand before him in a new
body looking just like me. Job said, I'll see him with my
eyes and not another. My own eyes. I'm going to look
in his face. Look in his face. I hope to do that. I have an expectation of doing
that. A gospel hope is an expectation
of God doing just as he said he would.