I want to bring the message this
morning from 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 1. Title of the message,
Jesus Christ Our Hope. Everyone has a hope that they
hold to for when this life is over. I've been to several funerals
over the years and they all have, they've all had a hope. They
talk about what a good mother she was, what a good wife, or
what a good neighbor These are things that people use to give
the family hope and themselves hope. But when a real believer
dies, a true believer dies, you do not have to bring up his past
or his person. You just bring up his Lord, for
Christ is our hope. He's our hope of glory. Christ
is the only hope a man or woman has. God will not recognize anything
or anyone else but Christ. There is only one name given
under heaven whereby we must be saved, and that name is Jesus
Christ. When I die, you don't have to
bring up anything about me. You don't have to say, well,
he was a good man or good this or good that. You just say this,
that Jesus Christ is the only hope he has. Now it's sad but
true that all men cannot say that Jesus Christ is all their
hope. They will say, And he's part
of their hope, or most of their hope, but he's not all their
hope. You can just listen to him talk.
Many hope in their morality to get them to heaven. This is why
it's so hard to find a sinner. For most people believe that
they are not that sinful. When you tell them there is none
righteous, no, not one, they think you're talking about their
neighbor or someone else. The Pharisee said that. He said,
God, I thank you. I'm not like other men, especially
that publican. That rich young ruler said this,
all these things have I kept from my youth up. Spurgeon said
a sinner is a sacred thing for the Holy Spirit hath made him
such. It takes a work of God to make a man say Lord be merciful
to me the sinner. Then many hope that because of
the church they attend they will be saved. Nowhere in the scripture
do we find where God saved a man because he joined a certain denomination.
There were many who joined up with the apostles and were not
saved. Demas, Paul said, Demas hath
forsaken me, having loved this present world. Then many believed
that because of their heritage they will be saved. The Jews
said, We be Abraham's seed. Yet that in and of itself did
not bring him salvation. It says in John 1.13, Which were
born, not of blood, not of heritage, nor the will of the flesh, nor
the will of man, but of God. And I can go on and on with the
things that people use for a hope of salvation. Their feelings. Something they did years ago.
A preacher talked them into a profession. They went up to the front of
an altar in a church and repented. At least they think they did.
Many things. But these things are not our
hope. The only hope a sinner has is Jesus Christ himself. Now what is our hope of eternal
life? And Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1.1 that Jesus Christ is our
hope. He doesn't say he gives us a
hope, though he does, but that he is our hope. Now how is it
that Jesus Christ is our hope? This is the question that I ask
myself in you. And let's look at the answers.
First of all, he's my hope in who he is. He is God manifest
in the flesh. Now when we say that He's God,
we are saying first that He is eternal. The Son of God has no
beginning of days nor end of life. He's uncreated. He is self-existing. And being God, He's sovereign. It says in John 5.21, Now listen
to the word of God. For as the Father raises up the
dead, and quickeneth them, Even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will. He giveth life to whom He will. It's His to give and He gives
it sovereignly. He said in another place, He
calleth to Him whom He will. He will not be worshipped until
He is worshipped as the sovereign Christ. Only at a sovereign throne
will men worship all others they'll bargain with. Being God, He's
pure and holy without sin. He is absolute purity. He is the embodiment of purity.
The seraphims cry day and night, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty. That's Jesus Christ they're speaking
of. That's the Son of God they're speaking of, who knew no sin.
And being God, He has all power. The Jesus being preached today
has no power. This Jesus Paul said they will
come preaching another Jesus. This Jesus who wants to save,
this Jesus who wants to do something if you let him, is not the Jesus
Christ of God. It's not the Jesus Christ spoken
of in the Bible. That's another Jesus. That's
a weak, pathetic person that can't do anything. But the Christ
of God, the Jesus Christ of God that's written of in the Bible,
has all power in heaven and earth. He upholds this world by the
word of his power. This world is upheld, it exists,
and continues to exist by the word of the power of the Son
of God. He's the one, the Son of God,
who is Jesus Christ, is the one who said, let there be light,
and light sprang forth. Now brethren, that's power. That's
power. All principalities are subject
unto him. Just read Ephesians 1.21, read
Colossians 2.15. He says to the evil spirits,
come out, and they must come out. You do not read anywhere
in the gospels where they argued with him and said, no, we are
not coming out. No, every one of them came out when he commanded
them to come out. He says to the wind and the sea and the
waves, be still, and they're quiet. He says to Lazarus, come
forth, and death must give up its prey. He says to one man,
take up thy bed and walk, and he leaps to his feet and he walks.
My friend, he's God. And being God, he's all wise.
Whatsoever he does, he does in infinite wisdom, unmeasurable
wisdom. Christ is said in the Scripture
to be the wisdom of God, and he's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. And being God, he's omniscient,
he's everywhere. David said, where whither shall
I flee from thy presence? If I make my bed in hell, thou
art there. If I go to the uttermost parts of the earth, thou art
there. There's no place where he's not. There's no place where
a man can hide from him. And therefore, being God over
all, blessed forever, Gives virtue to his sufferings and efficacy
to his sacrifice and blood. Listen, if he were not God, I
don't need him. He would do me no good. He can
do nothing for me. The help that I need, the salvation
that I need, only God Almighty can accomplish. But he's God. He's God. And that's why His blood speaks
better things than that of Abel, because it's the blood of God.
Read Acts 20, 28. It's the blood of God. And then
secondly, He is our hope in what He did. He stood as my surety,
immediator, and eternity past. Not just for me, but for a multitude
of sinners given to Him by the Father. You know what this says? Here's what this says. God stands
between me and God. I would not have any hope if
the only thing and the only one that stood between me and God
was my works, my heritage, or just another ordinary man. God
stands between me and God. But not only does he stand there
as God, but he also stands there as a man, one who knows my need,
one who knows my infirmities, one who is identified who has
identified with me in every way in my manhood. In short, he knows
both me and God perfectly and is therefore able to render both
satisfaction to God and supply my need. And here's what he did. In the fullness of time, at the
appointed time, he was sent by the Father into this world to
live for his people. to be a substitution for his
people, to be a representative of his people. And he lived for
them, and he died for them. He came to render full obedience
to the law of God as their representative and substitute. He kept the law
perfectly and fought word and deed. He loved God supremely
and his neighbor as himself, and he did it as my substitute
and representative. And not only me, but for all
his elect. And after he accomplished a righteousness
for them, He went to Calvary. He was put to shame. The shame
that they deserved, He bore the shame. The death they deserved,
He died. He was stripped and striped in
their place. It says in Isaiah 53, He was
wounded for our transgressions. It does not say He was wounded
for transgressions. It says He was wounded for our
transgressions. They belong to somebody. And
if God punished Him for them, He's not going to punish them
for them. He not only suffered at the hands
of men, but at the hands of God's justice. And he satisfied God's
justice. He was forsaken by the Father
that we would not be forsaken. Ah, what agonies he suffered
as our substitute, as a substitute of sinners. He said, Behold,
is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow? Then he was buried.
What am I saying? You remember the scapegoat that
was taken into the wilderness, burying the sin of Israel away?
Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree. And in doing so,
he bore them away. He took them into the wilderness
of the grave, never to bring them back again. And then he
was risen. Risen for me. Risen, it says
in Romans 4.25, risen for our justification, delivered for
our offenses, but raised again for our justification. And when
he came forth from the grave, it shows that God the Father
accepted him and all that are in him. All that are in Christ
are fully justified from all things. And then thirdly, he's
my hope in where he is, seated at God's right hand, seated at
the right hand of power. What are we saying when we say
that? Here's what we're saying. It is really finished. Of all
the furniture that was in the tabernacle, there was not a seat
to be found because the priests never finished their work. But
when Christ finished his work of redemption, he sat down. He
sat down at the right hand of God. He sat down at the place
of acceptance. If the father had not accepted
him and his work, he would not have allowed him to sit down.
The father says to everyone whom he is displeased with, whom he
is against, he says, depart from me. But he said to the son, sit
down on my right hand, I'll make your enemies your footstool.
And then it's a place of power. From his lofty throne on high,
he rules the earth and skies. He said in Isaiah, saying to
Zion, thy God reigneth. We have a sure hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Those who have fled to Him, not
another Jesus, not just pitiful Jesus, but the sovereign Christ
of God. Now last of all, what is the source of encouragement
to hope? His Word. His Word. Psalm 135. I wait for
the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His Word do I hope. God
has given us many promises in his word that encourages hope
in him. He that cometh to me, I will
know wise cast out. He is able to save to the uttermost
them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make
intercession for them. He said in Matthew 11, Come unto
me all you that labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest.
Now seeing that it is written that Christ died for sinners,
gives this poor sinner hope. Is there a sinner out there listening
to me? There is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is the only
hope a sinner has. And O child of God, hope thou
in God, for with him is plenteous mercy. Go read Psalm 130. Just go read Psalm 130. All right. May God bless his word. Until
next time.