Saved By Hope

Q: What does the Bible say about hope in salvation?

The Bible teaches that we are saved by hope, which is a confident expectation of future glory through Christ. Romans 8:24 states that we are saved by hope. This hope is not a present reality but a future promise of salvation and glorification. Paul emphasizes in his writings that believers are to patiently await the fulfillment of this hope, trusting in the grace of God who has saved us through Christ. Our hope includes an inheritance and the promise of being conformed to the image of Christ, which believers eagerly anticipate as they navigate trials and tribulations in this life.

Q: How do we know our names are written in the book of life?

Believers are assured their names are written in the book of life through faith in Christ and His redemptive work. Christ assures His disciples that their names are written in the book of life, indicating that the assurance of salvation comes through faith in Christ. This belief is rooted in God's eternal purpose as outlined in Scripture, where those whom He foreknows and predestines are guaranteed to be justified and glorified (Romans 8:29-30). Thus, the believer's confidence stems from trusting in Christ's finished work and the promises of God, knowing that nothing can change their status before Him.

Q: Why is perseverance important for Christians?

Perseverance is crucial for Christians as it demonstrates genuine hope and faith in Christ amidst trials. James 1:2-4 teaches that the testing of faith produces perseverance, which leads to maturity and completeness. In the Christian life, trials and difficulties serve to strengthen the believer's hope and trust in God. Genuine hope in Christ is always accompanied by a patient waiting on God's promises to be fulfilled. Those who endure and keep their eyes fixed on Christ reveal the authenticity of their faith, showing that their hope is not merely temporary but rooted in the eternal truth of the Gospel.

There's a book, and it's written. And Christ said to his disciples,
your names are written in the book of life. And we pass from
death into life. We have eternal life through
faith. But we're not, now listen carefully
to what I'm saying. We're not saved to the full extent
of that Word. Not yet. No, not yet. You see, we're still in the flesh.
We're still in this world. We're still human beings. We
still have all of the infirmities and weaknesses and trials and
tribulations and feelings and ups and downs of the flesh. We're
still in this world. We're still in a conflict. I'm
not perfect. I'm not already glorified. We're
in a conflict. We're in a battle. We're in a
war. We've not entered into our inheritance. We have it, but
we're not yet entered into it. We're not yet conformed to the
image of Christ, are we? I hear a lot of preachers and
other people who talk like that. They've arrived. They've arrived. The battle's over. Everything's
settled. They've already arrived. They're
sure for heaven if it's already bad. Well, we're not already
bad. And this scripture says here
we're saved by hope. What we have, what we have is
a hope of salvation, not the reality. Is that not right? Is that not right? We're saved
by hope. We have a hope. Now, that's what
Peter said in 1 Peter, he said, Whom having not seen you love. Any of y'all seen the Lord? No. Nor have I. And have the Lord
ever spoken audibly to you? No, nor has he spoken to me.
Whom having not seen, ye love, though now ye see him not, yet
ye believe. And having a promise, ye rejoice. But we have a hope. We rejoice
in the hope of salvation. In 2 Thessalonians, it's called
a good hope. It's a good hope. It's a good
hope through grace. I have an inheritance. I hope
to enter into it. I'm going to be like Christ.
I hope to be conformed to his image. It's a good hope. It's
a good hope through grace. And Paul calls it a blessed hope,
a blessed hope. And Peter calls it a living hope.
And Paul in Romans calls it the hope of the glory of God. And
Titus, he calls it, the hope of eternal life, which God, who
cannot lie, promised before the world began. So what I'm saying
to you is we're redeemed by the blood of Christ. We're justified,
sanctified, redeemed, and accepted in the Beloved. But we have not
yet realized those gifts and those mercies. We have not yet
entered into that inheritance. We have a good hope. Now, what's
the next verse? Verse 24, we're saved by hope.
Hope that is seen is not hope. What does a man yet, when a man
sees, what does he hope for? But if there's hope for that
which we see not, then we will, what's this word? Patience. Wait
for it. Now, here's a key word. The key
word in verse 24 is hope. We're saved by hope. We have
a hope of life. Hope of an inheritance, a hope
of being like Christ. Now here's the key word in verse
2. And those that have that hope, with patience, they wait for
it. This word is always associated
with a genuine hope, a sincere hope, and that is patience. Patience. Waiting on God. If a man truly
has a blessed, good, living hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, he'll
have that hope six months from now, six years from now. If God
lets him live six decades from now. Patience. Patience of hope. That's what
he called it in 1 Thessalonians 1.3. Your labor of love, your
work of faith, and your patience of hope. I do want you to turn
to this scripture in James 5, James chapter 5. This word is
always associated with, identified with, a genuine hope. If a man's hope is in Christ,
he'll continue to look to Christ. Now, if he stops looking to Christ,
his hope wasn't in Christ. If he stops believing on Christ
and resting in Christ, then he never did actually hope in Christ. He was hoping in Christ plus
something. But a genuine hope always with patience. However long it takes God to
reveal it and allow us to enter into it. James 5, listen to verse
7. Now watch how often he uses the
word. Be patient, verse James 5, 7. Be patient, therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband,
when waited for the precious fruits of the earth, and had
long patience for it until he received the early and mighty
rain. Be ye patient, stagnate your hearts, For the coming of
the Lord draweth nigh, grudge not one against another, brethren,
lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before
the door. Take my brethren the prophets,
who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of their
suffering, affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them
happy which endure. You have heard of the patience
of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord. That the Lord
is very pitiful and of tender mercies. How many times does
he use that word in that passage? Five times. Patience. We're saved by hope. And verse
45 says that we hope for that which we see not, then do we
with patience. Wait for it. Job sat there. He looked like everything was
against. His relationship with God, everything
was taken from him, his health was gone, his friends were gone,
his living was gone, everything was gone, and he said, though
he slay me, I will trust him. I start out trusting him, and
I wind up trusting him. He is my trust. Those who are always changing
are not resting. Those who are always altering
their course, they don't have a hope. They're looking for one,
but they don't have one. A man who has a hope is resting.
The issue is settled. It's settled. Faith is settled.
It's a settled issue. And whether he's in prison, like
John Newton said, a prison, a palace would prove if Jesus would dwell
with me there. content with beholding his face,
my all to his pleasure resigned. No change of season or place
will make any change in my mind." And those who quit and leave
the gospel, they never had a hope. John said that. He said if there
had been of us, there no doubt would have continued with us.
So we're saved, redeemed by Christ, our name's in the book of life,
but we haven't entered into that rest. We haven't entered into
that inheritance, we haven't entered into that perfection,
we're not conformed to his image, but we hope, we have a good hope,
and we're with patience. Patience. Wait for it. Now, that's
the next verse. Patience. Wait on the Lord. Verse 26. Now, likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities. Now, here's two words in this
verse that are very prominent. One is infirmities. Infirmities. Paul uses a word that's always
associated with believers, and that is infirmities, weaknesses,
immaturity. He says our infirmities are so
great, if you look at verse 26, we don't even know what to pray
for, as we are. We don't even know
what to pray for. That's how weak we are. That's
how fleshly we are. But we've got some help. As another
word there, infirmities and well health. We're not left alone.
The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities. The Holy Spirit himself makes
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be weathered. The
Holy Spirit helps us. The Apostle Paul was an honest
preacher. He was well acquainted with infirmities. He said himself, I'm the chief
of sinners. He said, I'm not worthy to be
called an apostle. He said, who's weak that I'm
not weak? He said, the things I would do, I do them not. The
things I not do, I do. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death? The honest man, infirmities,
weaknesses. I want you to turn to another
passage. Hold Romans 8 there and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. Listen to this. This is Paul
talking. This is the great Paul, the apostle. This is the great
preacher. This is the founder of churches. This is the man
of great revelations. This is the man who knew God.
This is just going on and on and on. But he says in 2 Corinthians
4, 7, but we have this treasure in an earthen vessel. This is
what I'm saying. I have a good hope. God's given
us faith in Christ. We have eternal life in the Son
of God, but this is a hope. We haven't entered into it yet. It's not a reality. We're not
saved to the full extent of that word, so we're going to patiently
wait until in God's own time we enter into the presence of
God. And in the meantime, We're going
to wrestle with and be troubled with infirmities. It's not going
to be an easy trip, as to which many of you can bear witness. It's not going to be an easy
trip. Why? Verse 7, 2 Corinthians 4, we
have this treasure in earthen vessels. It's a treasure, but it's in
a clay pot, and clay pots bake. Toll pots are not very valuable. It's the treasure that's valuable,
not the pot. That the excellence of the power
may be of God, not of us. And we're troubled on every side. Are you? We're distressed. We're perplexed. But we're not
in despair. We've got a good hope. A good
hope through grace. We're persecuted. But we're not
forsaken. We're cast down, but we're not
destroyed. You see what he's saying? Now
then, he comes up to verse 27, and he said, And he, the Holy
Spirit, that searcheth the heart, Romans 8, 27. He knows the mind
of God. The one that makes intercession
for the saints according to the will of God, he knows the mind
of God, and he helps us. He's our helper, he's our comforter.
Now verse 28, and this is that familiar passage of scripture.
Everyone is so familiar with it, it's going to take on a new
meaning this morning. And we know that all these things
work together for good to them who love God, who are called
according to his purpose. Now let me review just a moment
so we can come into this. Paul says we're saved by hope.
God has loved us and chosen us and sent Christ to die for us
and the Holy Spirit has given us faith and we've taken our
eyes off of all of the things of this world and turned them
on Christ. He's our hope. We're saved by hope. This is
not a reality. Someday faith will give way to
sight. Hope will give way to reality. But right now, I'm in
the flesh. I'm in a clay vessel, earthen
pot. I'm subject to all the things
that I was subject to before God revealed Christ to me. Full
of infirmities and weaknesses. I don't even know what to pray
for as a whole. Boy, I worship God as a whole.
Even my righteousness is a filthy right. But I tell you, the Holy
Spirit's going to help me. He's my helper. He's my comforter.
He's going to keep me and help me. He's going to make an accession
for me. And I'm going to patiently wait
on the fulfillment of that hope. And now what's this? Because
we know that all these things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
All things. Now all believers, all people
who are going to be like Christ, everybody here who has that hope,
that good hope, in Christ Jesus. It's going to be like Christ.
We're going to enter into it someday. But go back over our lives, and
all of us take a different route. We're born to different parents.
We're born under different circumstances. Some are born prosperous, some
are born poor. Some are born with great beauty,
some not so much. But we're all from thy birth. Let's just take Take my life,
for example. I was born down in Alabama years
ago, and then the Depression hit, and my dad lost his job
in a steel mill. We moved to the farm, and all
those years of depression and poverty and all, and I grew up
in a religion and was taught the Bible and made a profession,
all this sort of thing. And then the war hit when I was
about 15 years old, and I joined the Navy and went away. and had
a lot of unhappiness and all these things, you know, and then
it came back home. Just take your life. And then
you're married, you're family, and you come on down to this
day. And you take your own personal life. It's been up and it's been
down. It's been happy and it's been
sad. It's been joyful and it's been sorrowful. It's been seemingly
out shunned on a rabbit chase and other times in a good path.
It just takes your whole life, even your works and your sins
and your failures and your thoughts and your mistakes. And some of
you have known death in the family, some of you divorced, some of
you all these different things. But let me tell you something.
What I'm saying is this. Those that have this hope and
are waiting on this hope of the fulfillment of God's salvation, everything in your life, good,
bad, past, present and future, everything is working together
for that hope, for your good and God's glory. I don't care
what it is. I don't back down on a thing.
I don't care where it happened. I don't care by who it happened,
I don't care how it happened, I don't care when it happened,
I don't care what happened. God Almighty, if you're one of
his children, it's ever been for his glory and your good.
And then he says down here, verse 29, for whom he foreknow, he
predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son. I'm
not telling you that, but God's predestinated it. I have a hope
that he might be the firstborn among men and women. Moreover,
whom he predestinated, he called. I don't know when he called you
or how he called. I don't know why either, because
it seemed good in his sight. But I don't know how, but he'll
call you. And whom he called to justify,
whom he justified to glorify. Now, what's your assent to these
things? Well, I tell you what, I've said them every time. And
you have too. I wish that hadn't happened.
But if it hadn't happened, You wouldn't be where you are. You'd taken another road. Isn't
that right? Now, am I wrong about this? It had to happen. You say that it was bad. Well,
all things, as Elder says, all things work together for good
to them who love God. All the good things work together
for good. No! All the things I like work together for good.
No! All things, in heaven and earth, All things past, present
and future. Once somebody says this, well,
I'll tell you, I wish I had it do over again. I don't. I don't wish I had it do over
again. One time was enough. One time. It was his time, it
was his purpose. If I'm his child now, He says, all things work together
for good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose, for whom He foreknew, He predestinated, called, justified,
and glorified that Christ may be the first. Now, what do you
say to this? I wish it hadn't happened? No, sir. If I had to
do it over again, I'd do it differently? No, I wouldn't. If I had to do
it ten times, I'd do it the same way. Why do you have to be mean? You ever said that? Why me? Well,
because you're one of God's own. And Almighty God is going to
trim and cut and take off everything that doesn't look like Christ.
He's going to make us like Christ. That's right. He's going to make
us like Christ. Steps of the man of God are ordered
by the Lord. So when we glance back and when
we glance ahead, let's just rest in this, in his will, in his
will, in his purpose and for my good and his glory. "'Twas
grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.'"
Is that right? All right, we'll go to the next
one now if we got that. There's no use going unless we're,
that's a good hope. Look at the next verse then. He addresses our conscience.
Verse 32 says, He has spared not His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all. How shall He not freely with
Him give us all things if Christ died for you? Well, you have
the promise of God. You have the inheritance Christ
bought. He didn't fail. But who shall
owe anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Now let me point out something
here. I said this to my Sunday school class this morning. I
look out over this congregation, and the people here, the people
assembled here, are outwardly moral, honest people. In this congregation, there's
not anybody here this morning I wouldn't trust with any possession
I own. You're moral people, you're honest people. You don't walk
in immorality. You don't walk in drunkenness
and dishonesty. You don't walk in lies and evil
practices at all. Assembled here today are some
of the most outstanding, outstanding citizens of this town, of this
nation. Then what is their problem, Preacher?
Why do all of them say, I'm a sinner? You know, the average religious
don't understand this. Why do these people, they're
not immoral, they're not drunkards, they're not openly liars, they're
not lascivious people, they're honest people who walk in integrity.
Why do they say we're sinners? Well, let me see if I can explain
it. First, there are people who know something about the holiness
of God. that the rules and regulations
of decency and citizenship are not the character of God. He's
holy, perfectly, immaculately, infinitely holy. You understand
that? Secondly, we have people who
understand that sin is not just an act, it's an attitude. Sin
is not just a deed, it's a principle. Sin is not just an outward Well,
sin is an inward nature, and a man can sin without doing anything
openly bad. You understand what I'm saying?
A person can sin. Christ said, you've heard it
said by them in old times, I shall not kill. I say to you, to hate
in your heart, to be guilty, I already murdered. He said,
you've heard it said by them of old times, I shall not commit
adultery. I say unto you, to look with
lust is to be guilty already. So we understand that pride is
a sin. Envy is a sin. Jealousy is sin. Malice is sin. Covetousness is
sin. Ingratitude is sin. The thought of foolishness is
sin. God looks on the higher. And a man can sit in a wheelchair,
paralyzed from his neck down, and drink nothing but milk, and
stare straight ahead, and be blind, and still be one of the
most wretched rebels that God ever let live on the earth because
of his attitude. You see what I'm saying? Not to love God perfectly is
sin. Not to love my neighbor as myself
is sin. It's a violation of the law.
And to be guilty of one part of the law is to be guilty of
all the law. A man's not a thief because he steals. He steals
because he's a thief. The sin before God is enacted
before the deed ever transpires. That's what we understand. It's
not what I've done. It's nearly so much as what I
am. Does that make sense, what I'm saying? I heard a preacher say recently,
he said, I put my life up against anybody's here, outwardly, moral
and honest, and I agree with him. But I tell you this, I don't
know your heart, and so I can't say I put my heart up against
yours, because I do know mine. I do know my thoughts, I do know
my I do know all of these things that go on within me. And so
what we do, we charge ourselves before God with sin. Is that clear what I'm saying?
I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. And so I've got to have some
comfort from Him. So there it is right here. Paul
said, Who shall owe anything to the charge of God's elect?
God has justified us. God has justified us. Who can
condemn it? Christ has died. Yea, rather
He's risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
makes intercession for us. Do you see where I'm going this
morning? I'm not in heaven yet. I'm not conformed to the image
of Christ yet. I'm still in an earthen vessel.
I have a good hope, a good hope, a blessed hope, the hope of life. But I'm encompassed with infirmities,
without and within. I've got this treasure in an
earthen vessel. I wrestle against principalities
and powers, and tossed to and fro, and I don't know what tomorrow
holds, whether I'll be able to put my name on a piece of paper
tomorrow. I don't know. The infirmities and weaknesses
and all these things. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. The world, in whom and from whom,
Am I going to have a hope? From Him who purposed my redemption,
who purchased my redemption, who applied this redemption.
But what about my conscience? Doesn't God know my heart? Yes
He does, but He's justified us. Christ died for us. Not only
that, he said Christ died, Christ is risen again. Christ is even
at the right hand of God. He makes intercession for us.
So lift up your heads, lift up your hearts, lift up your faith. Quit looking in here. Ever look,
you look in here, take ten up to him. Rest in him. Mighty fortress
is our God, a bulwark never failing, John. My hope is in Him. It's not in me, it never has
been. Not in you, it's not in the signs of the times or anything
else. My hope's in Him. And there's
not going to be a judgment. You know the reason that a lot
of good, talented, able men don't run for public office? I think
I know. I've heard people say, well,
there's not much to vote on. It gets worse every year. I'll
tell you why. I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. It's not because there's no money
in it. There's plenty of money in it.
You don't even need anything, just ride a chair, get, you know. But I'll tell you why they don't
run. I'll tell you why some of you men right here wouldn't run
for public office in this town. The media. has begun to dig up
the past. That's right. They dig up people you've forgotten. Words that you've said you've
forgotten. Places you've been you've forgotten. They'll dig up your past, they'll
dig up everything they can find on you, and they'll display it
openly, publicly, publicly in the paper, publicly before the
people, and people can't stand that. And I don't blame them.
I don't blame them. And I tell you this, like David said, Lord, if you
should mark iniquity, who's going to stand? What if God starts
digging it up? He's a lot more observant than
the media, keeps better records, got better witnesses. So if you
start thinking in that vein about not only your conscience, but
start thinking about the Lord God's going to bring every secret
word, every deed, every person. No, he's not either. No, he's
not. There is no judgment to them
in Christ Jesus. And if you've got a sin in your
past life of which you're so greatly ashamed, you know what
I say to you? Forget it. If you're a believer,
You got hope in Christ? Because God said, I don't remember
their sins anymore. It's not on the books. It's not
before you. It won't be brought into judgment
because Christ paid for it. And God Almighty doesn't even
know it. I'm telling the truth. So that's
why we said, who can lay anything to charge of God's elect? Who
can condemn you? This is a good hope. This is
good news. I'm glad of it. I'm thankful. It's a good hope. That's what
this is all about. Now look at the last statement.
Now quit. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Who
can separate us from the love of Christ? Not our love for Him,
His love for us. I believe we love Him. But he
loved us. Shall tribulation, shall trials,
afflictions, and burdens separate us from the love of Christ? Shall distress, distress of mind,
soul, and body? I haven't been in any great distress
in the sense that some of you know something about. I have
a dear friend who's been in a terrible sickness and on a certain kind
of medicine, and he said, I entertain suicidal thoughts. But that's
not going to separate us from the love of Christ. No, it's
not. Well, shall persecution from
the world or false religion, shall famine, either food, material
or spiritual? No. Some of God's people have been
through that. No, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all
the day long. We are counted as sheep of the
slaughter. God's people have been put to death. The world
looks on them as only sheep to be slaughtered. Get them out
of the way. No, listen, verse 37. In all these things, in all
these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved
us. He loved us. Does that apply to every human
being? How could it? It applies to the ones he's been
talking about. Who can separate us from the
love of Christ? His particular love, His discriminating
love, His redeeming love, His saving love. We love him because
he first loved us. Here in his love, God loved us
and gave his son to be a perpetuation for our sin. The same ones for
whom Christ died are the ones God loved. Christ loved us, and
none of these things are going to separate us from the love
of Christ. These things are only going to make us better. Make
us better. Be made better by these things.
Now look at the last two lines. I'm persuaded. Are you? Are you ready? Are you persuaded? Abraham was persuaded to what
God said he'd do. There was a fellow who was encountered by one of these
preachers, one of these denominational preachers, put a lot of emphasis
on what denomination you're in and so forth and so on. Anyway,
he came to this fellow and he said, and what's your persuasion?
Then I said, I beg your pardon? He said, I said, what's your
persuasion? Then I said, I'm persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor heart, nor death, nor any other creature
can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ my
Lord. That's my persuasion. That's good hope. Comforting hope, isn't it? only
hope. It's a blessed hope. It's a living
hope. It's a hope of eternal life.
It's a hope of the glory of God. If I've been used of God this
morning to give you some encouragement and comfort in that hope, I rejoice. I rejoice. I rejoice. All right, let's turn to a hymn,
if you will, What number, Mike? 44? That's a good one. And can
it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Let's
stand while we sing 44.

Saved By Hope

What does the Bible say about hope in salvation?

How do we know our names are written in the book of life?

Why is perseverance important for Christians?

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Saved By Hope

What does the Bible say about hope in salvation?

How do we know our names are written in the book of life?

Why is perseverance important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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