All right, let's turn to Job
chapter 17. Job 17. I've had the opportunity
here recently to really think about something. Something very, very important. Very important. It's a question and it's a question
that we all need to ask ourselves. It's a question that one day
we are going to ask ourselves. Look at verse 15. It says, and where is now my
hope? Where is now my hope? What is my hope? What that means is, do I think
that I'm going to go to heaven to be with the Lord? And if I do, what causes me to
think that? That's what it means. What causes
me to think that? What is your hope? Many people don't know. They just don't know. Isn't that scary? Isn't that
something? But think about that. Think about that. You ask somebody,
what is your hope? Really? I mean really. Just stop. Stop living for a
minute. Dig deep. Get honest. What is your hope? Well, they'll say, I've been
to church my whole life. And I know, I mean, that's silly,
but that's what they're going to say. That's what they'll think.
I've been to church my whole life. Tons of people, millions
of people go to church their whole life. And then they go
to meet God, and then God puts them in hell. Isn't that terrible? Well, I've tried to be a good
person and do the right thing my whole life. I've tried to
live a moral life, do the right thing, be kind to my neighbor.
Well, in spite of the fact that the Scripture says there's none
good, no not one, many people spend their whole life trying
to be a good person, and then they go to meet God, and then
God puts them in hell. Isn't that awful? That's awful.
That sounds so cold and it sounds so hard, doesn't it? But is that
the truth or not? Is that the truth or not? We
are here for the truth. The truth of the matter. Everything
that I look to in this life for hope is going to turn out to
be no hope at all. Every single thing that I look
to in this world and in this life for hope is absolutely positively
going to turn out to be no hope at all. None. If my hope is in the fact that
I was baptized, there is absolutely no hope there.
Let me show you that in Acts chapter 8. This is vital. Isn't it vital? This is vital. Acts 8, look at verse 9. It says, But there was a certain
man called Simon, and that's not Simon Peter, that's a different
Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched
the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great
one. to whom they all gave heed, from
the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of
God. And to him they had regard, because
that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. But when
they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom
of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, They were baptized both
men and women. Then Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he
continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs
which were done." He believed and he was baptized. All right,
now look at verse 18. It says, And when Simon saw that
through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given,
he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that
on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. But
Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou
hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart
is not right in the sight of God." He was baptized. He was baptized. But he had no
hope in that. Now, the first time that baptism
is mentioned in the Word of God is in Matthew chapter 3. Okay? So if baptism is salvation, then
every person in the Old Testament went to hell. Adam, Abraham, Moses, David,
Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, If baptism is salvation, then
the thief on the cross went to hell. He was never baptized. So there is no hope there. There's
no hope there. Alright, now listen to this.
If my hope is in the fact that I confess Christ right now, There is no hope there. That's a strong statement, isn't
it? If my hope is in the fact that I confess Christ, there's
no hope there. Turn to Matthew 16. Matthew 16 and look at verse
13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say thou
art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of
the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say
ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He confessed
Him. Now turn to Matthew 26. Look at verse 31. Then said Jesus unto them, All
ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written,
I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I
will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto
him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, Yet
will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I
say unto thee that this night before the cock crow thou shalt
deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I
should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also
said all the disciples. Look at verse 69. Now Peter, bless his heart, Peter
sat without in the palace, and a little girl, a damsel, came
unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he
denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him,
and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with
Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath,
I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him
they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art
one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse,
and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately
the cock crow. And Peter remembered the words
of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice. And he went out and he wept bitterly. Peter confessed Him, but he had
no hope in that. If I'm relying on my confession,
I have no hope at all. I have no hope at all. If my hope is in anything that
I have done, anything, if my hope is in anything I have not
done, Our Lord said in Matthew 7, many
will say to me, we've done many wonderful works. But they're going to find out
there's no hope in that. Depart from me. I never knew
you. No hope in it. Everything that I look to in
this world for hope is going to turn out to be no hope at
all. None. It's going to let me down. It's going to bring me down.
And I'm going to get to the end. I'm going to get to the end of
this life. And I'll have absolutely no rest and I'll have no peace
because I've yet to find a real hope. That's the truth. That
is the truth. Does one exist? Does one exist? Is there a hope that will not
fail? Is there a hope that is ordered
and sure? There is one hope. One hope. Turn to Colossians
chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1 and let's
look at verse 27. It says, To whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you. The hope of glory. Christ in you. The hope of glory. There is one
hope. Turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter
1. And let me give you a little secret somebody told me one time.
I think this is, I've never forgotten it. Whenever I think of Thessalonians,
Timothy, and Titus, I get them confused. I can't remember which
one's first, in the middle, and last. So here it is. Make sure
I got it right, yeah. T-H-T-I-T-U. Think about the alphabet. Thessalonians,
Timothy, and then Titus, okay? T-H-T-I-T-U. Alright, so 1 Timothy
chapter 1. Look at verse 1. Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and Lord Jesus
Christ, Which is our hope? I only got one answer. Which is our hope? Listen, don't
turn, listen to two verses. Proverbs 13 verse 12 says, Hope
deferred maketh the heart sick. But when the desire cometh, it's
a tree of life. When I don't know what my hope
is, I'm sick. But when I see that hope and
I have a desire for that hope, it's a tree of life. Listen to
this one. We read Psalm 42, 11. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? And why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God. Hope thou in
God. My hope is not in my baptism. I was baptized. And my hope is
not in my baptism. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's in His baptism. It's in His death and His resurrection. My hope is not in my confession. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's in His confession before His Father. My hope is not in
anything I've done. My hope is built on nothing less
than the Lord Jesus Christ's blood and His righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but by God's grace, I only, I wholly, I totally lean on the
Lord Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
and all other ground seeking sand. Turn with me over to Psalm
119. Psalm 119 verse 49 says, Remember the Word. unto thy servant, upon which
thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction,
for thy Word hath quickened me." Thy Word has caused me to hope. Look at verse 81. It says, My
soul fainteth for Thy salvation, but I hope in Thy Word. The Word
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 114. Thou art my
hiding place and my shield. I hope in Thy Word. 116 says,
Uphold me according unto Thy Word, that I may live, and let
me not be ashamed of my hope. All of my hope. is in this Word. It's all in this Word. We hope
in His Word. We have hope because of His Word. I just want to look a little
bit more at His Word, and then we'll close, okay? Turn over
to Lamentations chapter 3. It's between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Lamentations chapter 3. Lamentations 3 verse 21 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. That's it. What is my hope? It's this. My
Lord is merciful. My Lord is merciful. He's merciful
to sinners just like me. I hope in the fact that I need
mercy and He has plenty of it. He is plenteous in mercy. He will have mercy on whom He'll
have mercy. Verse 21 says, This I recall
to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. I hope in the fact that my God
and Savior Jesus Christ is absolutely full of compassion. and His compassions
fail not. They will not run dry. What's my hope? Jesus Christ
is merciful and His compassions will never end. That's my hope. Verse 23 says, They are new every
single morning. That's my hope. Great is thy
faithfulness. That's my hope. I'm worthless. He's faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. 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
a good thing. It's a good thing to hope in
the Lord. The reason is because it's a
sure hope. It is a sure hope. There is no maybe. There is no
possibly. There is only yay and amen. That's it. Yay and Amen. Turn
with me, I'm going to close quickly, but turn with me over to Ezekiel
37. Just a few pages towards Matthew. Ezekiel 37. Verse 11 says, Then He said unto
me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold,
they say, our bones are dried and our hope is lost. We are
cut off for our parts. Therefore, prophesy and say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord God. Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and
bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am
the LORD when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought
you up out of your graves. and shall put My Spirit in you,
and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land, then
shall you know that I the Lord have spoken it and performed
it, saith the Lord." I like that a lot. There's no ifs,
ands, or buts. It's ordered. It's sure. I have hope in that. I can hope
in that. If this said all that, and then
he ended with, as long as you, I have no hope. I have no hope. It's just a period. It's good
for a man and woman to hope in the Lord, because He shall not
fail. He's not going to. Alright, now
let me show you what this hope produces. Okay? Go to Acts chapter
2. Acts chapter 2, look at verse
25. It says, For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the
Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that
I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad. Moreover also, my flesh shall
rest in hope." That's what it produces. That hope, the one
and only hope in Jesus Christ, the God who shall, will bring
us rest and peace. Go over to Acts 24. Acts chapter 24, look at verse
14. But this I confess unto thee,
that after the way which they call heresy, that's exactly how
I worship the God of my fathers. So worship I the God of my fathers. Believing all things which are
written in the Law and in the Prophets. That's how I worship
God. Believing all things that are
written in the Law and in the Prophets and have hope toward
God. Believing all things that are
written in the Law and in the Prophets will cause us to hope
in God. Hope in God. Two more Scriptures,
I promise. Go to Romans 8. Romans 8. Verse 24 says, We are saved by
hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? I see my baptism, I was there.
I see my confession. I see my works. Verse 25 says,
But if we hope, for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
I haven't yet seen Him with my own eyes. I haven't seen Him
yet. But He's my hope. My only hope. Now Romans 15. Romans chapter
15. Verse 13 says, Now the God of hope fill you
all with joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. That is my prayer for us all.
That's my prayer for us all. The God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing that you may just abound in hope.
through the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Let's stand together.