Turn back to Colossians chapter
1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 23,
is where I want to bring the message from. I titled the message, Hope. Hope. What a word. What a word. Hope. One of the saddest sights in
the world is a person who has lost all hope. I don't believe
there's any sadder sight than a person who has lost all hope. They become suicidal, have nothing
to live for. They can see nothing but darkness,
blackness. You can't hardly reach them.
When the hope is all gone, you just can't reach them. This is how people become homeless.
They've messed up so bad. They have fallen so hard. They have lost all hope. However, the person who has hope cannot
be defeated. You cannot keep them down. Rejoice
not over me, written in the Old Testament. Rejoice not over me,
O my enemies. For though I fall, yet shall
I rise again." Now, that's a person who has hope. You can't whip
me. You can't keep me down. Not because
of my strength, but because of my Lord. Turn over to Psalm 27,
and I'll show you a person who has hope, their attitude. Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies
and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled
and fell. Though an host should encompass
though in host should encamp against me, my heart shall not
fear. Though war should rise against
me, in this will I be confident." Now, that's hope. That is a person
who has a strong hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Though war
rise up against me, I'm not afraid. Though my enemies rise up against
me, my foes eat up my flesh, destroy me. I'm not afraid. I will not fear. A person who
has no hope, they're ready to die. I mean, they have no reason to
live. They're ready to commit suicide. But a person who has
hope, you can't keep them down. You can't keep them down. Now,
it says here in Colossians 1.23, if you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel." And this is what we're talking about tonight,
the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was
preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul,
am made a minister. What is the hope of the gospel? And we're to be able to tell
of the hope that's within us. What is that hope? What is the
hope of the gospel? Well, first of all, it's this. It is full salvation. It's not just missing hell and
going to heaven. It's not trying to miss one place
and go to another place. It is literally full salvation. Listen to these scriptures. I
wrote all these scriptures out tonight because it would take
too long to turn all these. In Colossians 2.10, which we're
already in Colossians, and ye are complete in him. That means you lack nothing.
You lack absolutely nothing in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have
everything required to stand in God's presence accepted. And ye are complete in Him which
is the head of all principality and power." You're complete in
Him, and there's no one above Him. There's no one who can trump
Him. If you're in Him, you have full
salvation. Look over here in Colossians,
look in verse 22. Look at verse 21, "...and you that were sometime
alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death,"
now listen to this, "...to present you holy." This is how he's going
to present you, holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. Is that not full salvation? holy,
unblameable, unreprovable in his sight." Now, brother, that
ought to give you hope. That ought to give you hope. And here's another gospel hope,
that God's people will persevere to the end. They will persevere. Listen to these scriptures. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish." He said, you know, our Lord said,
not a hair on your head will perish. That's how full and complete
God has saved you. And if you're saved, if He saved
you, not a hair on your head will perish. I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. You're going to persevere. You're
going to make it. You're going to make it. We may feel like
we are physically crawling to the finish line, but I guarantee
you, we'll make it to the finish line. Not one of them will perish. We will cross that line. Philippians
1, 6, being confident of this very thing. That's what faith
is. It's confidence in God. And that's
what begets hope. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. You know, I can't say that about
everything I undertake. There are things that I undertake
to do that I get tired of doing it. Or I say this is more than
I can do. You know, I took on too much
here. Not so here. Confident of this
very thing, that He which has started a work in you, He which
hath begun a work in you, the Holy Spirit, will perform it
until the day you are standing in His presence. Now that's eternal
security. Eternal security is not that
I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and now He's going to
keep me. No. He was keeping me before I ever
believed on Him. We are kept. We are kept from
the cradle to the grave. Here's another gospel hope. The
resurrection from the dead. Turn over to Acts 24. Acts chapter
24. But this I confess unto thee,
that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the
God of my fathers, believing all things which are written
in the law and in the prophets, and having hope toward God, which
they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection
of the dead. Do you have that hope? It says, both are the just and
the unjust. Well, who are the just? Who are the just? The just are all those who have
been justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. The just are all those
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they shall be resurrected. One day, one day, I'm going to
lay The Lord's going to lay this body in the grave. This body
here is going to go in the grave. But I tell you this, I'm going
to rest in hope. I'm going to rest in hope. Look
in Psalm 16. Psalm 16. Let's find this in
the Word of God. In Psalm 16, Verse 8, I have sent the Lord
always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall
not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad,
and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope,
for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer
thine holy one to see corruption." I know that scripture is speaking
of Christ. Are we not the body of Christ?
Are we not His body? If He's not going to be left
there, neither am I. The church is His body. He said,
my place is going to rest in hope. The Lord lays these bodies down.
These bodies are going to rest in hope. And one day, there's
going to be a resurrection. There will be a resurrection
and a new body will come out of that grave to fit that new man. Not this
old aching body, not this old decaying body, but a new one. A new one. We had that hope. That is a gospel hope. And then here's another gospel
hope. To be forever with the Lord. You know, when I was a lot younger,
sat on some of that Armenian preaching, the whole idea of
it was going to a place. The place was preached, not the
person. Not the person. But for the believer, it's the
person. He is heaven. Wherever he is, that's heaven.
Wherever God is, is heaven. That's paradise. That's where
God is. Look over in Revelations chapter
21. Now let me start reading it,
verse 1 through 4. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were patched
away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people." We're getting
a glimpse into the future here of what's going to happen. It's
like he's pulling the curtain back here a little bit and letting
us have a glimpse of what's coming. Behold, the tabernacle of God
with men, he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God, and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death." I heard Henry, I've said this
before, but I heard Henry say one time when he and I was walking
away from a funeral, he said, I'll be glad when we quit dying.
Well, we will. We have God's word on it. We're
going to quit dying. We won't bury anybody anymore. We won't have funerals anymore. No sorrow, no crying, neither
shall there be any more pain. Can you imagine? These are gone.
See, these are all the effects of sin. And there's nothing that
offends will enter into that new heaven and new earth. For the former things are passed
away. These things that we know now,
sin, sorrow, suffering, these things that we know, it's gone. And we have this hope, now this
hope that I'm talking to you about, that we have through the
gospel, it's not a fairy tale. It is
really an expectation. I expect this to happen. I expect
to see the Lord Jesus Christ. I expect to stand on a new earth
and see a new heaven and have a new body. I fully expect that
through the gospel. I fully expect it. Turn over
to 2 Thessalonians chapter 4. Well, that would be 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. Where am I at here? Verse 17. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and listen, and so shall we ever be." It
doesn't say, and so shall we ever be in heaven. So shall we
ever be with the Lord, with the Lord. Now, what is the foundation of
this hope? What's the foundation of it? First of all, the sovereign mercy
and grace of God. Listen to this scripture, Ephesians
chapter 1, verses 3 through 6. I'm going to read them to you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, According as He has chosen us at sovereign mercy. He chose us. The Lord said to
His disciples, you did not choose me, I chose you. Let's get that straight. Before
we go any further, let's get that straight. You didn't choose me, I chose
you. According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. That takes away all boasting,
doesn't it? He chose us before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy without blame before
Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ Himself according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace. wherein he hath made us," now
listen, you see, false religion gets it backwards, but the Scripture tells us like
it is, wherein he hath made us accepted. It's not me doing the
accepting, he accepted me. Now, we do receive Christ? We
believe on Christ? I'll tell you why we do, because
he made us accepted. And in time, he gives us a new
birth, gives us life, and we receive the Lord. We bow to him. We bow to him. Gladly, willingly
bow to him because he has accepted us in the beloved. It doesn't just say he made us
accepted. Listen, it does not say he made
us acceptable. It says He made us accepted in
the Beloved. Now, something can be acceptable,
and I don't have to accept it, do I? But now, if I accept something,
I receive it. And so, if He made us accepted
in the Beloved, He received us in the Beloved. That's more than
just acceptable. That's accepted. I'm His, and
He is mine. And then, what's the foundation
of this hope? the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
for us. Look over in Isaiah 53. Verse 4, Isaiah 53. Surely He hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him strict
and smitten if God inflicted. But He was wounded. Over in the
margin, it says, tormented, tormented. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid
on him. made the iniquity of us all to
meet on him," that's how it reads, made on him the iniquity of us
all. The foundation of this hope is
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. Another foundation of this hope,
the immutability of God. In Romans 11, 29, for the gifts
and calling of God or without repentance. Look over in Hebrews
chapter 6. It says in verse 17, wherein God, willing
more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability,
the unchangeableness of his confirmed it by notice that by two immutable
things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have
a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us. God changes not. I am the Lord,
I change not. That's why you sons of Jacob
are not concerned. It's not because you decide the
straight doesn't fly right. We still can't fly right. It's because He does not change.
His love does not change. His purpose, His will, they do
not change. And then, there's another foundation
of this hope. The infallibility of the Word
of God. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this till the Lord knoweth them
that are his." He knows them that are his. Let everyone that
names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Turn over to Psalm 130. Psalm 130, verse 5, I wait for the Lord,
my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. Where did you get your hope from?
In His word do I hope. Turn to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verse 114, Psalm 119,
114, Thou art my hiding place and my shield, I hope in Thy
Word. I hope in Thy Word. Look in verse
49 of Psalm 119. Remember the word unto thy servant,
upon which thou hast called me to hope." You know, you've sat
here and you've heard the gospel. Over the years, you've heard
the gospel preached from the word of God. And the hope that
you've been given by God has come out of His word. My word shall not return to me
void. It shall accomplish the thing
whereinto I sent it." Do you not take God at His word if you
believe that you do it? And that's caused you to hope.
That has caused you to hope. There are several scriptures.
I wrote down several scriptures. I think those will do. If you have two or three scriptures,
if you don't believe that, fifty more will help. If you don't believe the first
one, you're not going to believe the second one. Because the Word
of God is the Word of God. Believe in a person, Him. I tell you what else is the foundation
of this hope? The very being of God. Who He is. Who He is. Now, back over in
Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. If you
continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel. Don't be moved away from it.
There's always a warning, lest we presume, isn't there? Always
a warning. How can one be removed from the
gospel? How can one be removed from this
hope of the gospel? Love of the world. I want to
show you something. Look over Colossians chapter
4. Colossians chapter 4. Let me see here. Colossians 4.14. This is the agitation at the
end of it. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. Look over at Philemon. Look at verse 24. Well, let's
go to verse 23. There salute the Epipharis, my
fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas,
my fellow laborers, they're my fellow laborers. But now turn
to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy. Here is a man who labored with
the apostle Paul, 2 Timothy chapter 4. Look in verse 9. Do thy diligence
to come shortly unto me, for Demas hath forsaken me, having
loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica. He's two different epistles.
He commended Demas, the apostle Paul. Call him a fellow laborer. And
then he said, he's forsaken me, having loved this present world. In Matthew 22, I mean, well,
in verse, I didn't write it down what it is, but listen. He also,
it's about the parable of the sower. He also that receives
seed among the thorns is he that hears the word and the care of
this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and
he become us unfruitful." Warnings, lest we presume. How
can one be removed from the hope of the gospel? False teaching. Love of the world? False teaching.
Galatians 1. A marvel that you're so soon
removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. Can you believe that? A marvel. Paul said, I marvel that this
has happened. He's just stunned. He said, Christ was so evidently
preached and set forth among you. And I am absolutely stunned
that you turned from the gospel. That wouldn't happen to me. Best you presume. I'm not trying to scare anybody.
I'm just telling you the truth. Here's another way. Intellect. Intellect. You know, I've noticed
this as I've grown older. The more intelligent a person
is, it seems the further away from the truth they get. This know also that in the last
days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unfaithful, unholy, without natural affection, truth-breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God. having a form of godliness, denying
the power thereof, from such turn away. For of this sort are
they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women,
laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, ever learning,
ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth." Ever learning. but never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth. The more intellectual they get
with it... Jason gave me a thing he pulled off the internet last
night. Somebody had written this. He said, I want you to read this.
I read that. And I got down to the end of
it and I said, I'll tell you what. I said, if I stood in the pulpit
and I just spoke like this, I said, nobody would understand what
I said. It was someone trying to be very
intellectual about something and missed it. That's what I
thought. Trying to be so intellectual
about it and yet they completely missed it. The wisdom of this world is foolishness
with God. And then persecution. Let me
move on here. I'm about done. Matthew 13, but he that received
the seed into stony places, the same as he that hears the
word in a noun, with joy he receives it. He's like that shooting star
you saw out there, Dale. With joy he receives it, yet
hath he not rooted himself, but dureth for a while. For when
tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by
he is offended. And he gets out of town. He gets offended at God. Why do you let this happen to
me? How can one be removed from the
hope of the gospel, love of the world, false teachers, intellect,
and persecution? And they'll skip town and turn
up real. Now, here's the last of all. I'll keep this short.
Why the believer cannot be moved away from the hope of the gospel. I have to end with that. First
of all, God the Father chose him before the foundation of
the world. What are you going to do that
God doesn't know about? You know, there's no surprises. And he chose me
anyway. God the Son redeemed him, purchased
him. You're mine. You are mine. And God the Holy Spirit sealed
him. He's going to keep you until the day of Jesus Christ. This threefold cord cannot be
broken. It cannot be broken. And secondly,
God's glory is at stake. You've got to turn over to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43. Look in verse 5. Fear not, for I am with I will
bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west.
I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not
back. Bring my sons from far, and my
daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one that is
called by my name. For I have created him for my
glory. I have formed him, yea, I made
him. God's glory is at stake. I created
you, now listen, I created you for my glory. And you know what he said in
another place? I'll not share my glory with
another. Nobody else is going to have you. He said to Israel
that he was a jealous God. Nobody else can have you. You're
made for him. made for Him, His glory. And then last of all, to whom shall we go? He said to His disciples, will
you also go away? They said, to whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life, and you know that. You who believe,
you know that. To whom shall we go? My hope
is built on nothing less In Jesus' blood and righteousness. Hope.