What he wrote is what I'm going
to talk about. Our hope. Our hope. Here in 2 Thessalonians 2 it
talks about a people that didn't receive the love of the truth.
And they were going to be damned and God sent them a strong delusion
that they should believe a lie. But Paul said in verse 13, he
says, we're not like that. We're not deceived. God has sent
us a strong delusion. And we love the truth. And he
says, we're different. God's made us different. Here's
how he made us different. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren. Here's the first thing that made
us to differ. Beloved of the Lord. God loved
His people in Christ for the foundation of the world. He loved
us. Beloved of God. When Paul wrote
to the Romans, he says, to them in Rome, Beloved of God. So he wasn't writing to every
Roman, he was only writing to those that God loved. And then
he goes on to say this, because God, because he loves you, because
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Well, how did he manifest these
things to you? Well, until he called you by
our gospel. Your election, God's love towards
you. Your sanctification belief for
the truth was by hearing the gospel. He called you by the
gospel. And here's what he called us also to, to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And one of these days
we'll be just like him. Therefore, brethren, stand fast.
Stand fast. And hold the traditions which
you have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. 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." Our hope. He said He gave us a good hope.
Do you have a good hope? Do you have a good hope? I read
about a hope that maketh not ashamed because the love of God
shed abroad in our hearts. That we have a hope in the glory
of God. And one of the most common expressions
in the human language is hope. I hope, I hope, I hope. It's very common. And the hope
that the scriptures gives us is not in the everyday vernacular
the way that people would use it. And if you say something
to someone today, they say, do you have a, about your soul,
do you got a good hope? Do you have a hope? Well, I hope
it'll be alright when I get to the end. I certainly hope so.
People say, I hope I'll be a better man someday. I hope, I hope we'll
all get to heaven. But why would anybody have a
hope? What is their hope? What's the
hope built on? You got to have a foundation. You've got to have
a foundation. And if you ask most people what
their hope is, they say, well, I hope I get to heaven. Why it
makes you think you'll get to heaven? Tell me the reason you're
going to think you're going to get there. You've got to have
a foundation to it. You've got to have a reason behind
it. But there's a lot of people, they hope and they go on living. They hope and they grow old.
And they hope and they die at last. And most people die without
a hope. Almost, it's rare to find anybody
that dies with a hope. It really is. But the scriptures
tells us that we're saved by hope. And hope that's seen is
not hope. So that's why we, with patience,
we wait. We wait. And I want to make sure
my hope is sound. I want a good sound hope. Don't
you? I want to know that my sins are
forgiven, and that's why I want to talk about hope. Let's make
sure that our hope is sound, that our sins are forgiven, our
hearts have been made new, that our souls are at peace with God,
and that our hope is good, that it's living, and that it won't make us ashamed.
And when he talks about making us not ashamed, he's talking
about making us ashamed at that day. You know, it's easy for us here
going to church and going to a place where everybody's supposed
to be believers and everybody's got religion. We certainly wouldn't
be ashamed in that. But when it comes to facing God
and facing God Almighty at the judgment and face ourselves and
we're getting ready to go into eternity. Now, would we not be
ashamed as we stand before God? And if you're ashamed of your
hopes now, You'd be ashamed to hope before the Lord. So I know
you won't mind. I know you won't mind this. Having
your hope examined. I know you won't. If it's good,
it won't hurt you. If it's bad, maybe God will make
you find it out. You willing to have your hope
examined? Huh? Willing to have your hope put
to the test according to God's Word? If you've got one, all it'll
do is just make it that much surer for you. If you ain't,
you've got a bad hope. Maybe God will teach it to you. The first thing I want to say
is that God has given us a good hope. And let me tell you something
about a hope. If you've got a hope that makes
not ashamed, it's a hope that you can explain. If you can't
explain your hope, you ain't got one. Let me show you what
I'm talking about. You keep this verse of Scripture. Look over in 1 Peter. Look over
in 1 Peter 3.15. It's a hope that a man can explain.
If I want to know something about something, how something's done,
I'll find somebody that does. They can explain it to me or
they can get it done themselves. And if I was to ask you what
your hope is, Hope that God will accept you. Hope that you will
end up in glory. Hope that you will cross Jordan
and enter into that celestial city. You ought to be able to
tell me and explain to me what that hope is. Look what Peter
said here in 1 Peter 3.15. But sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts. And be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that
is in you with meekness and fear. Give a reason of the hope that's
in you. I tell you, man, surely, surely,
if my hope is sound, you ought to be able to give a good account
of it. You ought to be able to give a good account of how God
saved you. You ought to be able to give
a good account of telling you why God saved you. You ought
to be able to give a good account of where God sent you and on
what grounds or what foundation you have that God will accept
you when you get to the end. You must be able to. Surely,
surely you can do that. And I'll tell you something that
you don't have to have to have a good hope. You don't have to
have a great lot of knowledge. You don't have to have a great
knowledge of the Bible. That's not required. Great knowledge. I say a man must know what his
hope is. Can a man possess something so
real and so glorious as salvation and not know anything about it? Something so real and so vital?
Great knowledge is not required. Talking well. There's a lot of
people that can talk well. I mean, they can talk very, very
well about religion. They can talk very well about
books. They can talk very well about the different Spurgeon
or John Gill and quote a lot of scripture. Talking well isn't
necessary to salvation. The man who has a good hope,
though, ought to be able to tell us why he has a good hope. If
all he can say is like old Jack the Huckster. Jack, how do you
know you're saved? I'm a poor sinner, nothing at
all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. Is that all you got to
say about yourself? What about how you made it up?
Well, I'm a poor sinner, nothing at all. Jesus Christ is my all
in all. But if he can't tell nothing
about his hope, I'll put a question mark there. And in the Scriptures,
in the Scripture, men, Christians knew something about their salvation. They knew something about how
God saved them and they knew something about God and His glory.
Do you believe that? Do you believe you would have
went to Corinth and asked somebody... If you would have went to Corinth
and said, yes, I want you to tell me what your good hope is.
Stephanas, tell me your good hope. Priscilla, tell me your good
hope. And then if you would have went over to the Colossians,
you said, Ephraimus, Tell me how in the world you think. What's
your hope? And then go to the Philippians.
Go over to the Philippians. And ask them. Ask Tychicus. Tychicus, what's your good hope
over there? Ask the Philippians. Ask that Philippian jailer. First
convert in Philippi. That Philippian jailer. Give
me a reason for your hope. Oh, I know so much. No, no. What about a Thessalonian? Paul said, Brethren, knoweth
beloved your election of God. How do you know your God's elect?
What about an Ephesians? If you went to ask an Ephesians,
ask somebody from Ephesus, what's your good hope? Well, I know
that all spiritual blessings in heavenly places are in Christ. How do you know that? God told
me that. And I'll tell you what's up now. According at the end,
I know He chose me in Christ for the foundation of the world.
I know He loves me and made me holy and without blame before
Him in love. And I know that if I'm accepted,
He made me accepted in the beloved. Oh my, if you went to any of
those places, those believers couldn't have told you what their
hope was. Ignorance may suit a lot of people. It may suit
a Roman Catholic and it may suit an Episcopalian and an Anglican. But I tell you, it don't suit
me. It don't suit the Lord's people. And it ought never suit
God's people. He ought to know what he believes.
And if he doesn't, He's in a bad way. Let me ask you, can you
give an explanation of the grounds of your hope? In Bunyan's Progress, there was
a lot of people in there. And there was a fella named Ignorance.
And old Ignorance just walked along with everybody else. When
Ignorance got to his journey's end, there was a fella there
in a boat. And that fella in that boat,
his name was Bain Hope. And Old Vain Hope, Old Ignorance
got in Vain Hope's ferry and he ferried him across the river.
Didn't have a bit of problem getting him across the river.
And he got out and he walked up to the Celestial City. And he wasn't allowed in. You
know why? He couldn't give an answer for
the reason of his hope. He was ignorant of everything
that he was asked. Didn't know nothing. Didn't know
anything. But, oh, beloved, listen. Behold,
the man that's got a good hope, he'll always be able to give
an account of it. That's why our Lord Jesus, He
talked to Nicodemus, and He says, Nicodemus, when He came to the
Lord by night, He said, Nicodemus, He said, except you be born again,
you can't enter the kingdom of God. You can't see it. Oh, Nicodemus
scratched his head and said, Oh, my. How can a man enter the
second time in his mother's womb when he's old? And you know what
our Lord said to him? He said, you mean you're a master
of Israel? You're a master of Israel? And
you don't know these things? You don't know nothing about
how man's regenerated? You don't know nothing about
that infant cast out in the field? You didn't know nothing about
Noah coming out of that ark, coming up on a new earth? You
didn't know nothing about that valley of dry bones that God
had to speak to and give life to? You didn't know nothing about
God having a miracle birth when Isaac was born? Child of promise? You don't know
nothing about any of those things? You're a master of Israel? You
say you know something? Oh, I tell you, that's what we're
sweating. Let me tell you something. A good hope, if you've got one,
comes from this blessing word right here. That's where it comes
from. Huh? Look over here in Romans
15. Look in Romans 15, just a minute.
That's where your hope comes from. It comes from the Scriptures. When you get a person who's got
a good hope, who's got a sound hope, he can turn to God's Word
and he can find Him a verse. He can find Him a verse. He can
find Him a blessed doctrine. He can find the truth and say,
there, right there's where my hope is. There it is, right there,
I found it in the Scriptures, there what it is. Look what he
said in Romans 15, 4. For whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. The Bible gives
us our hope. We got to be able to turn to
a verse of Scripture. Look at Psalm 119 with me just
a minute. Psalm 119. You ought to be able to turn
to the Scriptures. And I want you to look with me
in verse 49. You know, a man ought to be able to turn to the
Scriptures. You know, he said, be able to
turn in one of the verses of scriptures that God used to teach
me the gospel and open my heart to the truth. I remember it,
and he said, and I would say, the salvation of works or salvation
all of grace, and there's holiness something we do, there's holiness
something you do. And I asked those questions to
God, and I prayed and prayed and waited for an answer. And
you know what the answer God gave me? He never spoke to me
in my ear. He never gave me no visions. You know what it is? The verse of Scripture. He brought
it to my mind and I looked at it just like a light come on.
And I asked him those questions. Is salvation by grace or by words? Or is it both? Is holiness something
we do or holiness something you do? And this is the first Scripture
God taught me the gospel with and opened my heart with and
established me on what salvation is. God who has saved us and
called us with the holy calling, not according to our works. That
done that, that killed my works right there. But according to
his own purpose, he saves people on purpose. And grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Huh? Saved by grace, made holy in
Christ, and saved on purpose. Now, I can go right there. If
I lose my mind, that ain't going to make that verse any less than
what it was, really. That's what I'm talking about. If you've
got a good hope, you can go someplace in that blessed book and find
something that says, that's my anchor right there. And look
what he said here in Psalm 119, 49. Remember the word unto thy
servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Your word. Your word. Look over in verse
81. Verse 81 here, Psalm 119. Listen to this. My soul fainteth
for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. I hope in thy word. You know what he says when I
hope in your word? God, you made a promise. It's your word. You said this
is how. This is how I save sinners. This
is how I express myself. This is how I make myself known
to people. Through the word. And so God gives us his word
and he lays his word down and he tells us what his word is
and we say well that's what God said. So that's my hope right
there. Why did Abraham, what did he say? He said he gave glory
to God. And all listen, beloved. That's
why our Lord Jesus Christ, when He was saying, no man can come
to Me except those which your Father has given Me, they turned
around and multitude quit walking with Him. They all turned and
walked away from Him. And He looked at the twelve, and He
said, will you also go away? They said, where shall we go,
Lord? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. The Spirit The flesh profiteth
nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they're spirit and they're life. Can you go to the scriptures
and find you reason for your hope? Huh? It's not good enough to have
good feelings. Oh my goodness, I don't feel... You know, if
I went by my feelings, I wouldn't be here 75% of the time. If I
went and I felt good and felt like preaching, But it's not good enough to have
good feelings about the state of our soul. Feelings come and
feelings go. Feelings are deceiving. The only
thing that there is worth believing is the Word of God. That's it.
That's it. A fool trusts in his own heart.
Good feelings without some warrant from the Word of God, that absolutely
is not good enough. That don't make a good hope.
Feelings does not make a good hope. It doesn't do it. And it's not enough to have a
good opinion of yourself or other people's soul. That's a good
opinion, won't say it is. Somebody may tell you, boy, you've
lived a good life. You've been an awful fine fellow,
you know. And people say this all the time.
He has such a good heart. He's got such a good heart. He's
never done anybody any harm. Not been bad as most. Those are
miserable, miserable comforts to face God with. That's a miserable
comfort. I'd hate to face God with. I'm
as good as anybody else. I'd hate to face God as if you
know I ain't done nothing to harm anybody. And you know when
somebody dies, I don't care how sorry they was, somebody's always
got this, they just turn into a saint the minute they die. I mean just as quick as they
die, they become the best person there ever was. They become the
sweetest, they become the best hearted, they become the most
generous, they become the most kind. Snap their wife around,
kick the dog if he's in the doorway when he's going in. God upset
if the meal wasn't on the table at the right time, but when he
died he was such a fine fellow. Oh listen, you can have a good
opinion of yourself, a good opinion of somebody else, but good opinion
is not a good hope. It's not a good hope at all.
Oh, miserable comforts. And you can have a good opinion
of others or yourself without the word of God's Word, it won't
make a good hoper. You know, Hopeful and Faithful
and Christian, they all began to travel together. They met
one another when they was on their journey in Thunderstorm
and Fire. And old Hopeful, that was his name, Hopeful. Old Christian
asked him, he says, Hopeful, what's your hope? He wrecked
in his bosom and he pulled out a warrant. And you know what
his warrant was? The Word of God. You know, if the law goes to
get a warrant, they won't come into your house and search them.
They got to get a warrant. They got to get proof, got to get evidence
that they've got a right to come into your house. He wrecked in
there and pulled out the Scriptures and he had his warrant. He had
his evidence. He had his truth. It was the Word of God. Old Christian
looked at him, faithful looked at him and said, We've got the
same blessed hope. A man who knows the soundness
of his hope, he can find it in God's Word. His heart hangs on
some portion of scriptures. I remember Bruce Crabtree telling
me years ago, and he was in trouble with his soul, he was having
such a hard time, and he says, you know, he fell out of bed
one night and he began to pray, Oh Lord, Oh God, do something
for me, please have mercy on me. And he found a verse of scripture,
Psalm 136, I believe it is, and it says, Oh Lord, plead my cause. And he found that and he began
to say, Lord, You plead my cause, You plead my cause, You plead
my cause. And once you say, God, you plead
my cause, that's exactly what you'll do from the faith. If
you ever have a good cause, you'll say, Lord, you take up my case
from here on in. Oh my, it's like a dying thief
in prison I read about one time. A fella come in and read scriptures
to him. You read to him about that thief
dying on the cross. And how the Lord told him you'd
take him with you into paradise. And that old prisoner dying in
prison, that old dying thief that was in prison, he said,
are there any more thieves in that book that you're reading
from? He was looking for some holes. He said, man, I'm a dying
thief. That thief was saying when he
dies, is there any more of them in there? He just said, Zacchaeus
is one. But oh, he says, the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sins. And beloved,
all Christians, all believers, this is their experience. Unlearned,
poor, and as many as they are have all
got a hold of something in this blessed book. And this causes
them to have a hope in God's precious Word. And that's why
I read to you this morning, the hope that maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost. And the hope that maketh not
ashamed is never ever separate from God's Word. That's what
our Lord told me. He said, search the Scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life. For they are they
which testify of me. Oh my, that's why the Lord told
the Pharisees, you do her neither knowing the scriptures, nor the
power of God. And let me tell you something.
I'll tell you another thing about a good hope. It's a hope that
rests entirely on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you've got a good
hope, it rests entirely on the Lord Jesus. Huh? Ain't that why
Paul said, look over here and go to your right. over here,
yeah, right there, we are looking, 2nd Timothy, no, no, 1st Timothy
here, verse 1, 1st Timothy, 1st chapter, verse 1, we are right
there, you are right there, when you take a sense of things, take
a sense of the Lord, look what Paul said here, 1 Timothy 1.1
Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our
Savior and Lord Jesus Christ our hope. Did you hear what he
said? Lord Jesus Christ our hope. Our
hope. Christ in you the hope of glory. You see, there's only one Redeemer,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one Savior, and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. Only one mediator between God
and men, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one way
to have peace with God, and Jesus Christ is that peace. He made
peace by the blood of His cross. And Paul told them in Ephesians
2, he said, Christ is our peace. He's the one who wrought out
salvation. He's the one who made reconciliation. And if righteousness comes by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If righteousness comes
any other way, if you're accepted of God any other way that you
think, then you've missed it. There's only one way to be accepted
of God. And that's in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, come unto me. Are you
heavy? With your sins, are you heavy
with your religion? Are you heavy with good opinion
of yourself and you're just tired of carrying it? Come unto me
if you're heavy. Come unto me if you're heavy
laden. And you know what he said? I'll
give you rest. And then you take my yoke upon
you and you'll find rest. I'll give it to you and then
you'll find it. you'll find that it's in me.
The man who has a good hope cast himself with all of these sins
With all of his life, with everything that he is and everything that
he done, he cast it on the Lord Jesus Christ. And say, Lord,
it's in your hands to do with. Oh Lord, I got nobody else to
turn to but you. Nobody else can save me but you.
Nobody else can cleanse me but you. Nobody else can keep me
but you. Nobody else can save me but you. I'm telling you, you cast everything
on him. You cast it on Christ. And it's His atonement, tested
on Christ because He went to the cross and He put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. It's Christ and His righteousness. We don't have a righteousness,
but what He gave us. It's Christ and His work. He's
the one that bore our sins in His own body on the tree. It's
Christ alone who made satisfaction for our sins to God Almighty. It's the Lord Jesus Christ and
His intercession. Oh my, if He didn't intercede
for us, you and me and you wouldn't last no longer than a snowball
in the blast furnace. Now ain't that right? If the
Lord didn't intercede for us. Right this minute in time. Forever
and ever. He's got to always intercede
for us. He's got to intercede for every
imperfection that you and I have. He's got to intercede for us
when we're weak. He's got to intercede for us
when we're strong. If we get strong, He's got to intercede
for us to break them down. If they're too down, He's got
to intercede for us to bring us up. If we go over here, He's
got to intercede for us to bring us back this way. If we're over
there, He's got to intercede to bring us this way. He's going
to intercede until He keeps us right where we ain't got no place
else to go but to Christ. Ain't you grateful He's interceding
for you? And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is the foundation of the confidence of any believer's soul. There's
no other foundation can be laid than that which is laid, which
is Christ. Church membership is no foundation for a hope.
There's nothing solid there. That's no foundation for hope. Nothing solid there. Well, we
take the bread and the wine. That's no foundation of hope.
None whatsoever. Well, I was baptized in water.
That's no foundation of hope. Christ Himself is the only true
foundation of a hope. His work is perfect. We're complete
in Him. And on Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sink and
sand. And look over here at 1 Peter.
Let me show you this. And this is from Isaiah 28. Look
in 1 Peter 2 and verse 6. This is out of Isaiah 28, and
1 Peter says this in 1 Peter 2.6, talking about a good hope,
a sure foundation. He's the solid rock. God has
picked me up out of a horrible pit and set my feet upon a rock
and established my goal. Look what he said here in 1 Peter
2.6. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scriptures. You see where
Peter's going for his hope? And what he's going to tell folks
what a foundation is? He said, I've got to have a foundation
to face God with. I need a foundation for my salvation.
I need a foundation on which I can face this world with. He
said, so it's contained in the Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion
a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and listen to this now, and he
that believeth on him, shall not be confounded. Don't be confused. Living people, dying people,
there's no way in the world we can make too much of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We can't make too much of Him.
We can't make too much of His dying love. We can't make too
much of His life. We can't make too much of the
cross. We can't make too much of His
bearing on sin. We can't make too much of Christ.
And that's why we sing that old hymn, Tell me the old, old story. Tell it to me over and over and
over again. Tell it to me. And let me tell
you this. A good hope is felt inwardly
in the heart. I mean, this is a heart work. Salvation is a heart work. Ain't
that what I said? Hope maketh not ashamed because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us. Look over here in Romans. Let
me show you this. Romans 12. Talking about a hope. Something that's done in the
heart. Romans 12. The man who has a good hope is
conscious of it. You can't have a good hope and
not be conscious of it. Look what the Apostle said, rejoicing
in hope. You can't rejoice in something
you ain't got. Can you Brad? Rejoicing in hope. Patient in
your triumphs. And always pray. Continue in
a minute. Just pray just like that. Oh
rejoicing in hope. Oh my. The man who has a good
hope, he's conscious of it. He knows, he knows he has a well-grounded
expectation of good things to come. Now let me tell you something,
his state may go up, may go down. Our state changes. Our state
of being changes. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes
you feel bad, sometimes you're healthy, sometimes you're sick,
sometimes you feel real, real strong in the faith, other times
you're extremely weak in the faith. Other times you have great
joy and hope and other times your joy just seems like it's
gone and you struggle in everything you do. Sometimes you pray with
great earnestness and other times you can't pray at all. The one
thing that doesn't change is our standing before God never
changes. You're righteous and never changes. Your acceptance in the beloved
never changes. Your feelings go up and down.
Your state changes all the time. You can be up today and be in
the bed this evening, hardly able to get out of bed. That's
your state. But if you're up or whether you're
in bed, your standard stays exactly the same. Ain't you glad that
is? Ain't you glad that is? And I know that feelings, and
I said you know that feelings is not salvation. But because
feelings have been perverted and abused doesn't mean that
they aren't real. That there are some real feelings.
And the word tells us and describes lots and lots of feelings. Peace,
that's a feeling ain't it? Is peace a feeling? You can't have peace and not
feel it. Peace is wonderful. It's a wonderful,
peaceful feeling. I mean, peace is just wonderful.
It's something you can feel. And oh my, what about rest? You
can feel rest, can't you? You say, boy, I need to rest.
And so you say, well, I'm gonna rest. And rest is a feeling. You know whether you've rested
in Christ or not. You know whether you sit down
and repose your soul in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight. You know
whether He's got confidence that He can take you and keep you
and you rest in Him and you cease from your work. You know whether
you cease from your work and you know whether you repose your
soul in Christ tonight. Rest is a feeling. Joy. Joy is a feeling. That's why
I laugh a lot when I'm preaching. That's why I laugh when other
people preach because it fills me with such joy. I mean, somebody
go to preaching to me and take the scriptures from me and open
up the scriptures to me and I tell me something that I've heard
ten thousand times. But it still causes me joy. I just enjoy it so much. Confidence. Confidence is appealing. Paul
said, I've been confident of this one thing. Confidence is
a feeling. And the witness of the Spirit,
how can you have... He said, the Spirit of himself
bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God.
David said, I fear no evil. That's a feeling when you don't
fear no evil. You don't fear any evil. Do you
fear evil when you face God? Do you fear evil? When you know
that you're saved by grace through Christ and His blessed blood.
And a lot of people enjoy assurance. I enjoy assurance. Paul himself
said he had assurance. You know what he said about it?
He said, I know whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed.
And not only that, but I'm persuaded. I've been convinced beyond a
shadow of a doubt that what I've committed unto Him, He's able
to keep it. Against that day. So what He
said, I give everything into your hands, and when that day
comes, Lord you'll keep it, you'll keep me, and when that day comes,
everything that I give to Him, He'll save it. There he is. I've got it all. I've got it
all. I've got his soul. I've got his head. I've got everything. I got it. I took care of it. And my sheep, I packed them all
the way on my shoulders till they got to glory. Oh my! Paul said, I'm persuaded that
nothing, nothing shall be able to separate us from the love
of God that's in Christ. Nothing! And I tell you what, we feel
this in our heart, we believe it in our hearts. You know that's what I'm talking
about. Can a man pass from death to
life and not have a feeling? Lazarus come forth from the dead,
didn't feel a thing. That's what he makes six dozen
days. When I pass him, guess I'm the
life, I might know nothing about him. I know that people's always
talking about, you know, he's a born-again Christian, he's
a born-again... There ain't no kind of... Every
Christian, every believer is born-again. God makes no distinctions
in them. If you've got a new heart, you
know you've got a good heart. If you've been made partakers
of the divine nature, you know you have. If you've been raised from the
dead and walking in Christ right now, you know that. And if you
don't know that, you're in trouble. Huh? Oh, Lazarus come out too. They take the grave close up
and he said, what in the world happened to me? I don't know. No, that's not the way it works.
No, no. And let me give you my last point.
A good hope is manifested outwardly in this life. If you've got a
good hope, Christ is your life. Most all of us here, Us here,
Christ is our life. Our life revolves around the
gospel. Our life revolves around one
another. Our life revolves around the scriptures, around Christ,
around the gospel, around one another. Our whole lives do that.
Our lives are affected by what we believe. Where we go, the
company we keep, the conversations we have, the way we look at the
world, everything is because of this gospel in us and that's
why our Lord Jesus Christ you know he told us over and over
and over he said what shall I render unto the Lord for all of his
benefits toward me faith if you got it, it works and it works
by love unto you therefore which believe Christ is precious and if we walk in the light as
he is in the light we have fellowship one with another We can't walk
in darkness and be in Christ. Faith without works is dead as
the body without the spirit. And I hope that doesn't make
a man honest, honorable, truthful, sober, diligent, unselfish, loving,
meek, kind, and faithful in all the relations of his life that
didn't come from above. I mean, God saves us and changes
us. And beware of a gospel that never
changes you. Oh my, that's what we're talking
about. Grace and salvation that doesn't
make a man honest, doesn't make him honorable, doesn't make him
truthful, doesn't make him sober, diligent, unselfish, loving,
He's kind, faithful in all the relations of his life. God didn't
give it to him. And I know these things ain't
perfect in us. But boy, like I heard a fellow
use an illustration one time, he said, you started to head
to Mississippi. Started in Missouri, runs into Mississippi. And you
come down through there, and you go down to Mississippi, and
you'll be going down, and it may go a mile this way. And then
it'll go straight this way, and then it'll go back this way.
We go that way, and this way, and that way, and this way, but
it's going to end up in the Gulf. And that's the way our life is.
We start, and we... But the general tenor of our
life is going down that river. We're going in that direction.
Ain't that right? It's not perfect in ourselves,
and that's why we need the gospel. And that's where we get our good
hope at, is in Christ, in the gospel. And look with me now
back over here to 2 Thessalonians, and I'm through. Where in the
world did we get this good hope at? Where did we get our good
hope at? Well, look what he says there in verse 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given
us, everlasting consolation and a good hope. How did He give
it to us? Through grace. And guess what it does? This
grace and this good hope and this everlasting love that God
gave us, it comforts our hearts. And He establishes us. He does. Well, we examine our hope today.
If you got a good one, if you got a good one, if you do, God
gave it to you, Christ gave it to you, and He gave you everlasting
consolation, and He gave you that good hope, and He gave it
through grace, and He taught it to you through the gospel. Amen. Our Father, oh, blessed, blessed
Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for this blessed, blessed
hope you've given us, this good hope, this sure hope. Oh, thank you for it. And it's
a hope that makes not ashamed. We're not ashamed. We're not
ashamed as we stand before you. Not ashamed of our hope, not
ashamed of The scripture is not ashamed to confess our Lord Jesus
Christ as our only hope and plea. Wherever we're at, and especially
Lord when you take us from this world to the next, we'll not
be ashamed because of what you did, what you did. And God help
and have mercy and give a good hope to those who don't have
one. Give a good hope to those who don't have it. We ask in
Christ's name. Amen. 272 in the hymn book. 272 in the hymn book. Let's stand together. Now listen. If the Lord ever gives you a
good hope and ever brings you to where you trust in the Lord
Jesus, you do what I say this morning. Cast all on Him. You
come tell me. I'd love to know about it. You
don't have to tell the church. You don't have to make a profession
openly unless you want to. But if you feel like you've got
a good hope and you won't tell it and you want to confess the
Lord Jesus, you tell me. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' love and righteousness. I cannot trust the sweetest faith,
but I hold it in God Jesus' name. When darkness fails, His love
prevails. Our resonance of change is raising
Every eye and story in the light. I said, all other power is sinking
sand, all other power is sinking sand. He is hopeless, God, and
his blood runs out for me and I will make blood. All around I saw His face He
is all my hope and strength Oh, Christ the solid rock I stand
Oh, underground it's sinking sand All around it's sinking sand When He shall come with the prophets
sound, O may I then be lifted by His righteousness, O Lord. And we know by spirit