This hour, we're gonna be in the book of Philippians again. We're gonna look at two verses. Philippians 1, verse 19 and 20. Paul's continuing his heartfelt prayer and his encouragement, his desire to the Philippians here, and he gives us a special, or I guess I should say he speaks something that every believer can relate to.

And it's found right, look at verse, it's in verse 20. But look at 19, for I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death." Now he goes on and talks about being betwixt two, about staying, which means in the earth, and departing unto the Lord in heaven. And Lord willing, next Sunday, that's what we're going to look at, because he actually says in verse 20, that he is, uh, his earnest, according to my earnest expectation. Well, that's the expectation of every believer to be conformed to the image of Christ. Whenever we see him face to face that he would return and retrieve his people.

And I was going to preach that this Sunday, but because it's all so far, you have to read so many more verses past that we're going to look at one word. You'll notice that word my is in italics, that word hope. That word hope, and I've titled the message The Hope of Every Believer.

What gave Paul hope in prison? Now we understand he's in jail for preaching the gospel, but what gave him hope? The same thing that always gave him hope, but what was it? It wasn't hope in himself, it wasn't hope of being set free, it wasn't hope in being delivered, but it was hope in Christ.

Every elect child of God has the same hope. And that is to be found in Christ. Oh, that I might be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but by the righteousness, which is by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's the hope of the believer to awake in his likeness, to be conformed to the image.

Now, if we were to write down every hope that we have in the Lord, first of all, I don't think we even could, but this morning I want to look at three of those hopes, the hope of every believer, these three. Number one is we hope in election. We hope in election. We hope in substitution. And number three, we hope in his faithfulness, his faithfulness, not my faithfulness, not your faithfulness, his faithfulness. So the first is election. Why do we hope in election?

Well, because it renders us powerless. reveals that God is all-powerful. That's what election means. God chose to save a people on His own, by Himself, according to His determinate counsel, according to His own will, according to His own purpose, all by His power. God chose to save a people. That's what election is.

It didn't have anything to do with those people necessarily and their in who they are, what they were, where they would be born, what life they would live. It had everything to do with grace. God chose out of grace. God chose because his great love, where he loved us.

When election is preached, it puts the full and entire responsibility of salvation upon God. That's why the believer hopes in it, because we don't want the responsibility of salvation upon us, because we know if we were to be given the responsibility of salvation, because we have been rendered powerless by our father Adam, we would have no way of obtaining salvation itself. We would fail. But if the full responsibility of salvation is upon the Lord alone, then that's good news.

That means he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. He will save those that he has purpose to save. That's why we hope in election. Election doesn't point to me and election doesn't point to you. But if we are to be saved, election reveals that the Lord is all in salvation. It points to him. It points to him.

Now, to be clear and fair, and I've said this before today to somebody already, am I saying that men don't have a responsibility? Men absolutely have a responsibility. The problem is, is they can't do what responsibility they have because they're bound to their nature. I'll be clear. I want to clarify what I mean by this. In the book of Romans chapter 10, I'll tell you what, let's just turn there. Romans chapter 10. Sometimes putting eyes on it is a little bit better.

Men have the responsibility to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But we have the, we're incapable of doing so. We have, we're, because of our nature, we have not the ability. Look at what he says here. Now this is used in false religion all the time. This is what men say. Here's what's your responsibility. If you want to be saved, this is all you have to do. Romans 10 verse nine. Look at this.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus shalt believe in thine heart, God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth under righteousness. and with the mouth confession is made into salvation. And they'll stop right there and that'll be the end of it. And they'll say, okay, did you do that? You're saved. That's what they do. They don't read the rest of it. don't read the rest keep reading.

For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you know what the Lord's people say to this? Amen. Absolutely. We agree with this 100%.

But we also say this verse 14, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? How shall he preach except they be sent? See, there's the problem with us. We have to hear from a gospel preacher. He has to be sent to do the preaching. Turn with me to John chapter one. Men like to use this verse as well. Look at verse 11. He came to His own, and His own received Him not.

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." And they'll stop right there. All you have to do is receive Him. All you have to do is call upon His name, but they don't read the rest of it. Verse 13 says, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Do we see the problem? Why is election our hope? Because we see that it's according to God's will. And if I'm going to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, He's going to have to enable me and give me faith to believe. I don't have faith by nature, not this nature. This nature has no faith whatsoever. It has, well, I mean, you have faith sitting in a chair. That's not saving faith. This nature does not have saving faith. You can go ahead and turn back to Philippians chapter one if you want to. This nature does not have saving faith. Faith is the gift of God by grace, for by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourself. Grace is not of yourself. Faith is not of yourself. Salvation is not of yourself. This is why the believer hopes in election.

If God doesn't choose to elect a people, if God doesn't choose to save those people, every one of us are doomed. It's that simple. When Adam died in the garden, he didn't halfway die and condemn every single other man or woman ever born to death. He all the way died, spiritually speaking. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God because they're spiritually dead.

The believer hopes in election because it says God made the choice to actually save those who cannot save themselves. But isn't that what the Lord said? This is a faithful saying and worthy of all exceptation. Christ came, Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners. Those that stand and say, well, I made a choice or I did this or I did that according to Romans 10. Lord said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinner to repentance.

No, if we're looking at something we've done or something we're doing as part of our salvation, we have not apprehended that which we so desire to apprehend as the Lord's people, which would be Christ himself. That's who we're, he's the mark, he's who we're striving for. He has to give us the ability to apprehend. He has to give us the ability to believe. Otherwise we won't believe.

You know what the scripture says? Now, are these scriptures contradicting each other? No, because the scripture says, whosoever hath the ear to hear, let him hear. And then it says another place, the hearing ear and the seeing eye, they are of the Lord. Do we see that? Whosoever hath the ears to hear, let him hear. I had a woman one time, and I say this, I think about every time I quote this, but she put her finger in my face. She said, I have ears that work just fine. And I heard everything you said. I thought you didn't hear a thing I said, actually. Hearing here and the seeing eye, they come from the Lord. This is not a physical hearing. This is a spiritual hearing, brethren. If the Lord doesn't give us spiritual life first, then we're dead. And how can we hear anything if we're dead? The Lord must say, Lazarus, come forth. He didn't say, Lazarus, I've done my part. You got to do the rest. I know you're dead four days. I know you're bound. Just do your part. I did my part. That's not the scripture. No, that's not what it says.

Lazarus, come forth. And he came forth, bound hand and foot. He said, loose him and let him go. That is why we hope in election. The Lord didn't come to the graveyard and say, come forth because everybody in the graveyard would have bursted forth. No, he said, Lazarus. He called him specifically by name.

How many people do we see in scripture that the Lord passed by? You see the Bethesda pool, pool at Bethesda. It doesn't say that he healed anybody else at the pool of Bethesda, but that was the pool where the Lord, the angel of the Lord would come down and trouble the waters. And as he would trouble the water, the first person to jump in at that particular season would be healed. He walks up to this one man in particular, he says, sir, will thou be made holy?

He said, I have no man. And that's what we see in election, is we see God is completely sovereign and that we're completely sinners. We have no man. I have no way to help myself. Not a man to help me and not this man can't help me. I have no man. For when the water's stirred, someone jumps in before me. He came to that one man and passed by everybody else. Why? Because of election. Because of election.

Did he deserve salvation more than this person or that person? No. No, salvation's by grace. It's not about us deserving anything in ourself. The only reason we deserve salvation is because of what Jesus Christ has done. He merited it and gave it to us. That's the only reason. But in and of ourself, we don't deserve anything. Not anything good. Election declares the first cause of salvation.

God is sovereign. He walked right up to that man and said, will thou be made holy? He said, sir, I have no man. And he said, take up that bed and walk. And immediately, immediately, he gained strength. He got up. He got up. I love that we read most of the time when the Lord gave somebody physical healing that we read about, he gave them spiritual healing as well. It's like that blind man, he said, they accused the Lord that this man's a sinner that caused you to see because it was on the Sabbath. He broke our Sabbath. The man said, well, whether he'd be a sinner or no, I know not. This one thing I do know, whereas I was blind, now I see. That's the best confession a believer has, isn't it? I don't know how it happened. I didn't do anything. He healed me.

And it all started with election. It all started with God's choice to elect his people. election declares that he is sovereign, whosoever will be saved was determined before time and by his determinant counsel, by his own purpose and grace given to his people before the world ever began. What does the scripture say? Then he did foreknow, then he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Turn with me to Romans chapter nine. I actually didn't have us turning this many times, but that's just how it's, how we're being led to do so. Bear with me. 10, Romans 9, And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Why did he love Jacob? What was good in Jacob? Jacob was a trickster, a supplanter, a liar, a thief. Why would he love Jacob? Because of grace, because of his person and his character, because of his divine choice, because of election. That's why, why did he hate Esau? He left him to himself. It's that simple. He hated him because he didn't see him in Christ. He did not see him.

This is not talking about two nations right here. This is talking about two people. It's also talking about two nations. It's talking about spiritual, it's spiritually talking about the church and the world, but you understand what I'm saying. It's not talking about the blood nation.

What shall we say then? Verse 14, is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid for he sayeth to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth." Why? He's God. He can do that. And there's nothing we can do about it. And only the Lord's people rejoice in the fact that he can do that, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Everybody else gets mad about it. Now here's what men will say, verse 19. Thou will say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? So in other words, well, it's all his fault. That's what the flesh says, it's all his fault.

When Adam got caught by the Lord in the garden, what did Adam say? Lord, I repent, I am wrong, have mercy on me, the sinner. No, he said, the woman that you gave me. That's exactly what he said, wasn't it? That's what he's saying here, he's saying, Lord, it's your fault. If I am thus, it's all your fault.

Men don't take accountability for their sin. They have to be given a new man, a new creature inside, a new nature that says, I'm guilty. Because this nature will not say that. This nature will not make that declaration. Verse 20, here's the answer. Nay, man, nay, but oh man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say unto him that formeth, why hast thou made me thus?"

We forget that we're made from dust, don't we? Boy, we do. I know I do. I just don't think about it. But our literal makeup is dust. From dust thou art, to dust thou shalt return. We're dust. We're creatures of dust. Who is Well, that's a terrible example. How can dust reply against God? Think about that.

That's the same as us replying against God saying, well, that's unfair. No, it's God's sovereign right and choice and he is always right. Verse 21, hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel into honor and another under dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endear with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had aforeprepared unto glory?

There's the election right there. Even us, whom he hath called not of the Jews only, but also the Gentiles." So he's literally telling us, it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile, it's God that did that before. Before he afore prepared unto glory. This is why we love God's election, because it can't be altered. It can't be changed. It can't be thwarted. It can't be challenged. Men hate it, but God's people love it.

It's the hope of every believer that God chose to save, not based upon me, but based upon the merits and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Election declares that my works had nothing to do with my salvation. Has everything to do with God and his choice in the salvation of his people. Only one choice that had to be made was made and it was God's choice to make it. That's what election declares. Men hate that. Why can't Why can't I choose? Well, because they that are in the flesh cannot please God. It's God's choice to make.

Scripture tells us clearly, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy. Not by works of righteous, what does that mean? That means that it's not a work of righteousness which I have done, for my righteousness is all filthy rags. but according to his mercy, he saved us. And that salvation started with the covenant of grace, beginning with election. That's why we hope in election. Religion says you have to do your part. God's election says, I'm going to save you and you're going to be saved. And God's people love it that way.

You remember David had sinned with Bathsheba and the judgment came upon him by Nathan the prophet. You remember what David said? I have sinned against the Lord. And what did Nathan say to him? The Lord says unto thee, fear not for I have put away thy sin. That all started with election. There was nothing good in David was there?

Brethren, this is why election is our hope, because we see salvation is of the Lord. We're completely sinful, unable to choose God, because we have a sinful nature. But here's the good news. I've already quoted this multiple times, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love where he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you're saved. God's elected a people unto himself and Christ redeem those people. It brings us to our second hope of every believer, substitution. I love substitution. I love election. I love substitution. You can't have one without the other. I love it. We hope, what? That he literally took our place. He literally took our punishment. He literally bore our sin in his body on the tree. He literally suffered in our room instead. He literally stood before God as our head representative and God laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

And by the transaction, it was so much more than that, but that's the best word I can come up with to call it. By that transaction, God hath made us the righteousness of God in him. That's substitution. He took the blame, my blame, he owned the guilt. And yet the sinless lamb of God, who knew no sin was made to be sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He took the curse, my curse and your curse, the curse of Adam was made a curse. You know, I love that word made because it, men take that word and they run with it and they try to make it out to be something that is, but he says it twice.

He was made a curse for us. And then he says, he that knew no sin was made to be sinned. You know, that's the same exact word as the water was made wine. How was the water made wine? How was Christ made sin? Can you, if we can, you understand, we can't explain these things. We just believe them because salvation, completely rests upon the substitution of Jesus Christ. We being sinners was made righteous. How can a sinner be made the righteousness of God? How can water be made wine? How can Christ be made sin? It's the act of God in his sovereign purpose of redemption for his people. This is why substitution is so glorious.

As it says, we had nothing to do with it. It was us in him. And he is our hope of glory. Oh, he lived the perfect, sinless, undefiled life that we could not. He fulfilled the laws demands perfectly before God. He stood on trial where we should have been standing and brethren. Everything God required, he provided in the person of his darling son, that you and I might be set free from the bonds of sin and death, released from the claim that hell had upon us because he endured the hell that we should have had on the cross. He saved his people, the ones that God elected, that God had elected from their sin.

He drank the cup, the punishment that was owed us. You ever thought the vast punishment that we deserve, and we only know a fraction of the sin that we, the punishment for our sin that we deserve, don't we? Just a fraction, just a glimpse. Because we're still in the flesh, we can't understand how loathsome our flesh, our sin is to God. He endured the full wrath of everything we would deserve, so there would be nothing for us to endure. It's all been put away. They're gone. That's something you and I could have never done.

Our hope in substitution is that when he was hanging there on the cross, we were hanging there in him. Our hope is that when he died, we died in him so that death has no more hold upon us. Our hope is that when he was buried, we were buried in him. And our hope is that when he was resurrected, we were resurrected in him. and presented to the Father as perfectly righteous and now seated in him at the right hand of the Father in the heavenlies. This is what the scripture says, all substitution. Do we see that? He took our sin and made us the righteousness of God in him. And in time, he regenerates us and lets us know all about it. Isn't that glorious?

This is why substitution is the hope of the believer, brethren. And the last hope of the believer is his faithfulness. All of this was because of his faithfulness, but so many times we need to be reminded that it's not our faithfulness that's accomplished anything pertaining to salvation. It's his faithfulness alone. His faithfulness alone. Scripture tells us great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. His faithfulness is how God saves sinners. And his faithfulness is why God saves sinners.

Turn with me to Lamentations chapter three. It's right after Jeremiah. Verse 22, or this verse 21. Lamentations 3 verse 21. This I recall to mind and therefore have I hope. What's the message this morning? The hope of every believer. This I recall to mind and I have hope.

Not in myself. 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. This is the hope of the believer. Great is the faithfulness of our God. He is faithful unto himself. You know what the scripture says? If we deny him, he cannot deny himself. Even if we deny him, he is faithful. If we deny him, yet he cannot deny himself. Look at verse 24.

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. What are you hoping in this morning? Our faithfulness to him, our service to him, or his faithfulness to usward? There's the hope.

Not my faithfulness, his faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. John saw him in Revelation, and you know what he said his name was called? Faithful and true. That's his name. Think about that. I wrote an article. I believe it's in this week's bulletin that says the name of the Lord is a high tower. The righteous run into it and is safe. Why? Because his name is faithful. His name is faithful.

Brethren, we're so unfaithful, aren't we? We're unfaithful to him. We're unfaithful, we're far from true, but we see that the Lord is full of truth and full of grace. And the good news is when we see ourself that we're full of sin, scripture says where sin doth abound, grace did much more abound. You say that I'm unfaithful. You say that I'm a sinner, you say I'm guilty, where sin, I'm a sinner, where sin doth abound, grace does much more abound. Why?

Because he's faithful. Because he's faithful. And the scripture says he's faithful to save them to the uttermost that believe. He's faithful. 2 Timothy 2.13, if we believe not, that's the verse I was trying to quote earlier, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. If we believe not, yet he about it. We find ourself in a moment of unbelief. He still abides faithful. He still abides faithful.

I've already used this allegory once this morning in this message, but I'm gonna use it again because I had it written down for this one. I got ahead of myself. David was the example. David's the example. What hope did David have? in salvation based upon what he had done.

I would remind you he was an adulterer, he was a murderer, he was a thief, and he was acting like nothing had ever happened. So he was a liar. He was acting like nothing ever happened. Nathan came with the judgment. He told him, he says, you're the man, David, that's committed all these trespasses. You're the man that's committed all this sin. You're guilty. You're guilty, David. And David said, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan says unto him, fear not. The Lord hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not surely die. Why? Great is thy faithfulness. Even though David was full of unbelief, even though David did all these horrible things, yet the Lord abided faithful.

That's our hope. That's our hope, his faithfulness, not my faithfulness to him. I remember in false religion, somebody got a plaque that said 23, 25 years of service or something like that. And they put it on the side of the pew. I'm not making fun of anybody good for them for sticking with it that long or whatever, but it's his faithfulness. I don't want to be recognized for my service to him. I want him to be recognized for his service to me.

Great is thy faithfulness. Is David's hope that he should clean up his life and I can do better, I can fix it, I'll do this and this? No. Great is thy faithfulness. That's his hope. That's David's hope. Is that your hope? Two kinds of people in this world, the people that look at themselves and what they do for God, and the people that look to what Christ has done as all their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. There's only two. They're the goats and the sheep. They're the elect and the lost. God maketh us to differ. So what is our hope? Great is thy faithfulness. We hope in the Lord's election. We hope in the Lord's substitution, and we hope in his faithfulness. Now, in closing, I want to say this.

In the book of Matthew 26, Lord's in the garden, and Judas comes, kisses him on the cheek, because he said, whosoever I kiss, he's the one you want. He went and kissed the Lord on the cheek, and the Lord looked at him and said, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? And the chief priests and everyone that was there that were present, the Lord told them, let these go. Let these men go. And he said, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am.

And they fell backwards. And it was obviously the Lord's purpose for them to get back up and still try to lay hands on him. But that was kind of crazy, in my opinion, looking at it. I mean, if you just got knocked over backwards by a man speaking to you, I think I would tuck, tail, and run. But we know it was all the Lord's providence, their pride. They hated him that much. They were blind to pride. That's all there was. And the Lord asked him again, whom do you seek? And he said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I've told you already, I that speak unto you am he.

Let these go. And that's the whole reason he did that, is so the disciples could leave. But it's interesting, because it actually says these words, and all his disciples left him. All his disciples left him. Courageous Peter, who just chopped off the high priest servant's ear, right there on that spot, whenever they tried to take him, the Lord healed the ear, and says, nope, put up your sword.

Courageous Peter, who says, I'll go with you all the way, even to death. These might forsake you. I'll go with you all the way to death. Lord said, get behind me, Satan, for Satan hath desire to sift thee as wheat. But fear not, Peter, I have prayed for you that your faith failed not. That was the difference. That was the difference. He said, before the cock crows three times, you're going to deny me. That's exactly what happened, wasn't it?

Courageous Peter, who was the only one willing to step out of the boat and walk on water, all of a sudden he's scared. All the disciples forsook me. John, that leaned upon his breast and said, Lord, who is it? Who is the one that's gonna betray you? He got to hear the Lord's heartbeat, I love that. He forsook him, he forsook him. What about James, his brother?

Remember, Zebedee came up and said, Lord, bid it, make it so whenever my two sons come into your kingdom, and you come, don't let one sit on your right hand and on your left, they're worthy of that position. Lord says, that's be given no one but my father. All the disciples forsook him.

They had cast out demons. They had raised people from the dead in the name of the Lord. They had done all these miracles. They saw the ministry of Christ, all the miracles that he had done, and all forsook Christ. If their election had been predetermined that based completely upon their faithfulness to Christ, would this not have been enough evidence to turn their election into reprobation? If their standing with God was dependent upon their faithfulness to Christ at any time, would this not have completely demoted their standing with God and sent them to hell immediately? Absolutely. So what was the hope?

Great is thy faithfulness, even if we deny him, even if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. You know what that means? Everybody that's in him in substitution, he cannot deny himself, he cannot deny his people. They're one. We're one with him. Would this single instance of this disciples not be sufficient to turn his love to hatred if it was based upon them? Yeah, would, wouldn't it? He says, I loved you with an everlasting love. That means it's unchangeable. Why?

Because he's faithful. He's faithful. So what is our hope? The faithfulness? Of Christ, the election of God, the substitution of our Lord and Savior and rank and bringing about salvation, his regeneration by his spirit, him keeping us because he is faithful. That's the hope of every believer. Is that your hope? That's my hope. He did all the redeeming, all the saving all by himself. It is finished. Because he is faithful, this is the hope of every elect child of God. Let's pray. Father, cause us to hope in you alone, not ourself, not what we see, cause us to believe, help our unbelief, in Christ's name, amen.