I want you to underscore four
words, 2 Thessalonians 2.16. Now listen to it. 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. Underscore those four words,
good hope through grace. Good hope through grace. Hope
is a word that we use frequently. I use it quite often, you do.
Just two or three examples, a man has asked, will your business
or your plant do well this year? We're concerned about Armco Steel
Mill. I ask some of the men occasionally,
do you think it'll do well? He says, I hope so. You say that
all the time. I certainly hope so. And then
you ask a woman or a man, will your daughter finish school this
year? Will your son graduate from college? I hope so. Now, will he graduate
from high school? We hope so, you know. I hope
so. I certainly hope so. And then
when a person has surgery, we see the family outside the room. Was the operation, was the treatment
a success? Well, we have a good hope. Good
hope. Doctor gives us a good hope.
There's nothing wrong with this work. Hope, H-O-P-E, hope. It's a good word. And it's a
good word to use in spiritual matters if you use it correctly.
It's a good word. It's a lot better word than know-so.
It's a whole lot better word. You'll find that the Bible and
the old writers, and especially the hymn writers, didn't use
know-so. They used hope. And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home. It's a good word. And I realize
in this day of fundamentalism, everybody's wrapped up in fundamentalism,
decisionism, religious presumption, religious presumption. Somebody
says, do you think I'm saved? Well, your mouth says you are,
but your attitude in life says differently. We're living in a day of religious
presumption. And preachers discourage this
word hope in reference to a relationship with God. Did you know that?
I was down in Nashville, Tennessee one night, and I ran into a very
popular entertainer. Called his name, many of you
would know him. I didn't know him, never met
him, but a friend of mine introduced me to him. Real popular entertainer. Has a lot of records out. Real
loud mouth fella, you know. And this friend introduced me
to this man, was coming back from a meeting, a Bible conference.
And this man said, y'all been to a revival? I said, well, we've
been to a Bible conference. I've been preaching at a Bible
conference. And he said, well, I'm going to buy you a steak
dinner. So we went over and sat down. He'd just come back from
the opera. It was late at night. And we went over and sat down.
The waitress came by. He won't let us know he was a
witness or something. And everybody in the restaurant,
he's talking so everybody could hear him, you know. Outside,
too, you know. And he said, when the waitress
came over and said, honey, are you saved? About that loud. I was embarrassed. I wanted to
turn my coat up, you know. But she says, I hope so. He said, now, honey, Jesus took
the hope out of it and made it a sure thing. Is that right? Well, that's our language today,
you know. You don't use the word hope. This dear lady didn't dare
use that hope in her reference to her relationship with... But
the Bible uses it. Could I show you four or five
times? If you will, turn in your Bible. And I'll tell you this,
considering the holiness of God... Now, look at this. Think about
this. Considering the awesome holiness of God and your sinfulness,
it's a pretty good word. Considering where he is and where
you are right now, it's a pretty good word. Hope. Hope. I want you to turn to some
scripture. Turn first of all to Romans 8.
Romans chapter 8. I think it's an excellent word,
considering all things, the greatness, omnipotence, holiness, immaculate,
infinite righteousness of God and the fact that We have no
righteousness about us, it's a good word. Romans 8, 22, listen. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and prevaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit.
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption
to wit, namely the redemption of our bodies. The full redemption
of body and soul, for we're saved by hope. We're saved by hope,
but hope that is seen is not a hope. For when a man see it,
what does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which
we see not, then do we with patience wait for it? What the Apostle
is saying here is this, the whole creation groans and travails
under the burden of sin, those trees out there dying. Vegetables
are dying. The flowers are dying. You're
dying. The whole creation groans and travails under the burden
of sin, under the curse of sin. This world's under the curse
of sin. And so do we. We're burdened and groaning and
travailing under the curse of sin, under the judgment of sin. I'm dying. And we're waiting for the redemption.
We're waiting for the resurrection. We're waiting for the new body.
We're waiting to be made like Christ. And while we're justified
and sanctified and redeemed by Christ, I'm not fully redeemed
yet. I'm not fully saved yet. I won't be fully saved till I
have a new body, till I'm like Jesus Christ, till I have no
tears, no sorrow, no heartaches, no burdens, no sins, no debt. That's when I'll be finally saved,
when I'm like Christ. I hope to be like Christ. And
this hope, now watch this, this hope is not simply a wish. It's
not simply a desire, but it's a desire based on faith in God's
promise. He said through Christ, I was
going to be like Christ. So my hope is not just a wish
or a desire, but it's a desire based on God's promise. And it's
a full expectation of the fulfillment of that promise in Christ Jesus.
That's the hope we have. It's an unseen hope. It's an
unseen hope, but it's a hope based on His promise. Are you
going to be like Christ? I have a good hope. I have good
hope. God promised it. Christ fulfilled
it. That's my hope. I haven't seen it yet. I haven't
received it yet, but I hope so. And it's more than a wish. It's
more than a desire. You see what I'm saying, Jim?
It's a desire based on expectation. God's Word is true. I have a
good hope. Christ is the only Savior, I have a good hope. If
he's the right-handed God, if he intercedes for me, I have
a good hope. If it's by works, I have no hope. All right, turn
to Romans 5. Let's look at the word again,
the word hope. And I encourage the use thereof,
if it's used correctly. Look at Romans 5, verse 3. Now
listen to this. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulation, trial, Troubles, we glory in troubles, knowing
that troubles and trials work with patience. When the believers
tried, you see trials don't produce faith, they reveal faith. Trials
don't produce a trust in God, they reveal a trust in God. And
that's the reason faith must be tried. God said to Abraham, sacrifice
your son. When Abraham took the son up,
he said, now, I know that you love me. Well, God knew it all
along, but Abraham knew it then. Everybody else knew it. You see,
this trial revealed faith. Reveals faith. Doesn't produce
faith. It reveals faith. Tribulation worked it. All right,
watch this. Knowing that tribulation worked
with patience. Patience is a word for maturity.
Maturity. You can put that down in the
margin there. Tribulation worketh maturity. Patience produces maturity. Worketh patience and patience
experience and experience hope. Patience produces experience
and that maturity through that experience faith is strengthened
and experience worketh hope. As we walk with God through days
of trial, true faith is revealed. Spiritual maturity increases,
and with that maturity comes a good, a strong hope. That's a maturing hope. All right,
we have an unseen hope, and we have a maturing hope. As we,
tribulation works with patience, patience works experience, experience
works hope, a mature hope. As we grow older, hope ought
to be strengthened, and it will be. All right, now turn to 1
Peter 3. 1 Peter 1 verse 3. Here's another word about hope. 1 Peter 1 verse 3. Now listen to this. Here's a
living hope. 1 Peter 1 verse 3. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively or living
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The true
believer has a living hope. You see, the believer lives spiritually. He's made alive by the Spirit
of God in a new birth. His hope is not in rituals, his
hope is not in ceremony, his hope is not in the dead letter
of the law, his hope is not in symbols, his hope is not in creeds.
He himself is a living person. He has spiritual life. And not
only is he living, but his Lord is living. Christ said, because
I live, you live. So this is a living hope. Not
a dead hope, it's a living hope. All right, now fourth, we turn
to 1 John 3. 1 John chapter 3. This hope we're talking about
is a maturing hope, it's a living
hope, it's an unseen hope. And then here, it's a purifying
hope in 1 John 3. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, right now. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him. For we shall see him as he is,
and every man that hath this hope." What kind of hope? He's going to be like Christ.
How does he react to that hope? He purifies himself. He purifies
himself. God bestows his love upon us.
He calls us to be his sons. One day Christ will appear. We
shall be like him. And those that have this hope
in them, they walk with God. They walk with God in faith.
They walk with God in obedience. And like Abraham, they're looking
for a city. And that sight by faith and that
hope by faith causes them to be done with these things. It's
a purifying hope. It's a hope that has my attention.
Not a sideline. It has my attention. So I'm going
to show you one more. Now in 2 Thessalonians, my text.
Let's turn over there. Now, so the word hope in reference
to salvation is used frequently in God's Word. It's called an
unseen hope. I haven't seen yet what we're
going to be and have. I believe it based on the Word
of God. And that hope is stronger today than it's ever been. Stronger
because of the trials, working patience, patience, working experience,
maturity, and experience, working hope. It's a stronger hope. It's
a maturing hope. And that hope is a living hope.
I don't come down here to find it in this building. I don't
turn to my musty, dusty books and find it in a Baptist creed.
It's not, I don't pull out a baptismal certificate and say, well, I
was baptized at such a time, made my profession. Sure, I'm
saved. I've made my profession. No, it's a living hope. I'm alive
and Christ lives in me. See what I'm saying? A living
hope. It's purifying hope. We care less and less for the
things of the world. Care less and less. They mean
less and less. We've been weaned from this world.
We have, we're like Abraham looking for a city. He that hath this
hope purifies himself. These things are laid aside and
cast off and there's less attention put on these things, these relationships
in this world, less attention, more on Christ. And then in our
text it says it's a good hope. It's a good hope. Verse 16, Now
our Lord Jesus Christ himself God even our Father which has
loved us and has given us everlasting consolation and a good hope When
is a man's hope a good hope? But I'll tell you this it's a
good hope when God's the author of it Look back at verse 13. God is the author of it It's
a good hope when God's the author. It's a good sound solid hope,
you know, I Wonder how many a lot of religious people preachers
on that pictures church officers and the school teacher larry
i want to have any religionist today and i know we've we've
seen the so nobody gonna hold my body there we get real worked
up you know and get carried away and have religious cheerleaders
knowledge that but how many people when you get out of this building
away from this atmosphere away from the church atmosphere way
from the preacher waiting all these religious uh... visual aids. When they get down
there by themselves, out in the yard raking leaves, you know,
or down there on the job where you work, when the sweat's dripping
and the cussing is going on around you and all this sort of thing,
or when you're out in the field hunting, or when you're out on
the lake fishing, when everything's quiet, there's no organ playing,
nobody's singing, oh how I love Jesus, none of these things,
no preacher around to talk religion, How many people right then have
a good hope? I mean a good hope. That's what
I'm talking about. And I'll tell you this, if it
ain't good there, you know he's popping off here. And he's popping off because that's
where you stay most of the time. You don't live here most of the
time. You don't live under Ohio Love Jesus most of the time.
When you're out there in one of those big wheels Greece is
all around you. You bust your knuckle with a
wrench. You got a good hope. A good hope. That's what I'm
talking about. That's where you live most of the time. Well,
I'll tell you this. It's a good hope if God's the
author of it. Now look at verse 13. He talked
about all this fundamentalism, false religion, and all this
carrying on in the name of God that's useless. And then he said
in verse 13, but we're bound to give thanks All the way to
God for you, brethren, because God loved you. You didn't love
him first, he loved you. He loved you. Here in his love,
not that we love God, he loved us and gave himself for us. Gave
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved of the
Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you. You didn't
choose him, he chose you. He chose me in Christ. To salvation. From the beginning, he chose
me to salvation through sanctification, the sanctification of his spirit,
the setting apart of his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit set us
apart. The Lord Jesus is our sanctification
and belief of the truth. God chose us. All right, look
at verse 14. God not only loved us and chose
us, but he's the one that called us. We call on God because he
called us first. whereunto he called you by our
gospel. The one gospel, you heard the
gospel, the gospel of God's glory, the gospel of God's grace, the
gospel concerning God's Son, the gospel of redemption, the
gospel which enables God to be righteous and justify us, that's
the gospel. He called you by that gospel.
He preached it to you, you heard it, responded to it, but he called
you by that gospel. You heard that gospel. Brother Barnard walked up to
a person one time, and he asked, are you a Christian? And the
person said, yes. He said, how long have you been
a Christian? The person replied, I've always been a Christian.
He said, that's too long. That's too long. There was a
time when we, God, before the foundation of the world, loved
his people, no question about that, and chose them in Christ,
and set them apart by his spirit. But there was a time when God
actually called you He didn't call your name, He called you
by His gospel. His gospel came, showing His
glory, and His holiness, and His righteousness, and your sinfulness,
and Christ is your substitute, and you say, hey, that gospel
meets my need, that gospel fits my need. I believe that gospel. I believe that gospel. I submit
to that gospel. I embrace that gospel. I walk
in that gospel. That's the gospel, not another.
And He called you by our gospel. What's this? To the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is the glory of
Christ? He said, Father, glorify me with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was. Glorify thy son. And the Father
glorified him and exalted him, and those who are in Christ are
going to share in that very glory, the glory of the right hand of
the majesty on earth. And watch it now. You don't participate in that
glory of Christ Jesus because you're a nice fellow. If you're
redeemed, you'll be a nice fellow. But you participate in the glory
of Jesus Christ, that glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
God called you through the gospel. He called you to the obtaining
of the glory of Jesus Christ by and through the gospel of
his son. The gospel is a proclamation
of the person and work of Christ. The gospel's not an invitation,
the gospel's not a proposition, the gospel's not a recipe, the
gospel's not a plan, it's a declaration, a proclamation of a work done.
The gospel's not do, it's done. It's in Christ, that's the gospel. And he, look at verse 16, and
he loved us. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God our Father hath loved us and he's given us this comfort
and consolation and good hope through grace. He gave it to
us. So it's a good hope because God's the author of it. He loved
us, he chose us, he called us, and he gave us this hope. He
gave it to us. It's not something we whoop up,
it's something God gave us, a peace. I've given you my peace, I've
given to you. Come unto me and I'll give you
rest. It's a gift of God. And I tell you this, now listen
to me carefully, it's a good hope because God's the author
of it, and it's a good hope because it's by grace. Now my friends,
if our hope for eternal life and eternal glory is based on
ourselves, it's gonna fail. That's just gonna fail because
we're failures. Bob was talking a while ago about
our murmuring against God's providence and about our ungrateful hearts
and about our, you know, we just don't manifest that zeal for
God and that love for God and that submission to God all that
they do. We're going to fail. God demands
perfection. And Christ is the only perfect
one. If our hope is in our works, it'll fail. How much works? How
long do we work? What kind of works? But if this
hope is a gift, it can't fail. If it's a gift. If it's for sale,
how much? More than I can take. But if
it's a gift, anybody can receive a gift. Turn to Romans 8 and
listen to this. Romans chapter 8. I hope you're
hearing what I'm trying to say. Romans chapter 8. And there's
nothing wrong with saying, somebody says, are you saved? I've got
a good hope. It's an unseen hope because I don't look at a baptismal
pool or an altar or a baptismal certificate or a church membership.
I don't look at those things. I'm looking for a city I haven't
seen yet. I'm looking for a relationship
I haven't seen yet. I'm looking for a Lord whom I
haven't seen yet. But my hope's maturing. Got a
better hope now than I did 10 years ago. Through the trials
and experiences and the word of God, I'm growing in hope.
And it's a living hope. I'm not looking back to some
dead profession. I'm not looking to a time or
place. It's a living hope. Because my Lord lives. And it's
a purifying hope. I've got evidence in here that
I've got less interest with each passing day, less interest in
what's here and more interest in what's there and Him. And
it's a good hope. You know why it's a good hope?
Because it's my God's delta. It wasn't devised in some religious
synod. It wasn't devised in some man's... It was born of the counsels of
God from all eternity. It's a good hope of God's delta. And he called me one day. I heard
an old one-gallus hitchhiking evangelist called Ralph Barnett
one day stand over there in that building over on the hill and
say Almighty God does what he does on purpose. And for the
first time in my life I saw a sovereign living God and I saw myself as
a sinner and I saw Christ as the only Savior. He called me
by his gospel. Oh, I've been in church as long
as some of you have. I've been to preacher school. You think
you know something? Paul said you think you got something
to glory in? I'll give you my credentials. But I count it rubbish
that I may win Christ. That I may win Christ. And you
better too. The only good hope is a hope
that God's the author of and he called you by the gospel.
And don't tell me a man is saved by hearing a false gospel. I
don't believe a word of it. Another God and another Jesus.
That's right. And he gave it to us. And he
gave it to us by grace. Look at Romans 8. Romans 8, verse
28, listen, we know that all things work together for good
to them who love God, to them who are called according to His
purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He did predestinate to be conformed
in the image of His Son, that Christ might be the firstborn
among many brethren. The more of whom He did predestinate,
He called, and whom He called, He justified, and whom He justified,
He glorified. Now what shall we say to these
things? Well, if God be for me, who can take it away from me?
Who can be against me? He despaired not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him freely
give us all things? Who shall anything to the charge
of God's elect? Verse 34, who is he that condemns?
Verse 35, who can separate me from the love of God which is
in Christ? It's a gift. Now what you work for, you can
lose if you don't work enough. But a gift, free. All right,
look at verse 3 now. of 2 Thessalonians, back to the
text. 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 16. It's a good hope
because it's in the person and work of Christ. Look at here.
First of all, verse 14 says, He called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
16, Now our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father who hath loved
us and given us everlasting consolation and a good hope through grace
comfort your hearts. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. Our good hope is by the person
and work of Christ. He is my righteousness. He is
my sanctification. He is my wisdom. He is my redemption.
You see that? It's not what I'm doing for him,
it's what he did for me. That's so. And that's why it's
a good hope. God's the author of it. God chose
us, loved us, chose us, called us, gave it to us. And it's great! I don't deserve it? What is man?
I read that. When I consider the heavens,
the work of our hands, what is man that thou art mindful of
him? Who am I, David said, that you should show such mercy to
me? Well, I deserve to go to heaven. No, you don't. No, you
don't. Without the grace of God, you'd
be a disruptive force in heaven. It's a good hope because it's
in Christ. And we'll ask one question, and close. Is my hope
a good hope? Come at me. And I'll tell you,
life is too short, death is too certain, eternity is too sure,
eternity is too long. For any of us here, this preacher,
and I'll tell you this, the place most people are hiding from God
is in the church, in religion, and in the pulpit. And we just,
we're traditionally brought up in religion, we're resting in
old profession, we're just, surely I wouldn't go to hell. What an
awful thing to even suppose. Surely when I stand at the judgment,
God's going to receive me. Now what hope do you have for
that? What is your hope? What is your hope? Well, I'll tell you, my hope's
a good hope if, and I'll give you six things, and you need
to look at these and you need to think about them, if, if you
don't want to turn to these passages, you write them down and turn
to them later, my hope is a good hope if I can give a good reason
for it. That's right, Bob, if I can give
a good reason. You see what I'm saying? Cecil
Roach sitting there, one of my supporters and friends
and backers and teachers and elders for all these years. But
Cecil, that won't hold up to judgment. It won't do it. It just won't do it. With it.
And you know it. What's your reason? Look here
at 1 Peter 3, 15. But sanctify the Lord God in
your heart. That's sanctify God. Give Him
the glory. Give Him the praise. Now He's
going to have it. And be ready. always to give an answer to every
man that asks you a reason of the hope that's in you. And do
it with meekness, meekness, humility, and fear. And I'll tell you this,
you say, what's your hope? All right. My hope is that God
will have mercy on a sinner like this sinner. My hope is that
God in his eternal covenant way back before the world began included
me. My hope is that when Jesus Christ
hung on that cross and walked this earth in holiness, that
he died for me and obeyed the law in my place. My hope is that
when God the Spirit came and preached the gospel to me, that
I heard that gospel and believed that Christ and rested in that
hope of him and him alone. And right now my heart has not
deceived me, but I believe that Jesus Christ loved me and gave
himself for me. That's my hope and that's the
reason. You say, but surely, didn't you forget you preached
36 years? It wouldn't matter if I preached one minute or 36
years. It's got nothing to do with it. But you and Doris have
given your money and your time into this church, and you travel
all the time, you're waiting home all the time, preaching
somewhere all the time. Surely that counts for something.
Nothing. Nothing. I'm telling you, nothing. Satan's pretty busy too, and
all his Emissaries and preachers are busy too. Busyness ain't
got nothing to do with it. It's the blood of Christ. It's
the righteousness of Christ. I'm telling you the truth. That's
my reason and only reason. Secondly, your hope's a good
hope if it's based on the Word of God. Romans 15, 4, listen
to this. Romans 15, 4. If it's based on
the Word of God, you better buy you a Bible and you better start
reading. My Lord said, this book will judge you. These words. Romans 15, 4. For whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope. That's pretty clear. I believe
it because God said it. It's right here in the Word. And we just, I went to a church
and they got upset with me. I said, you folks are not reading
the Bible. There's no Bibles in these services. The pastor
doesn't even read the Bible. There's no Bible read or taught
here. What's wrong with you? The Bible, that's the foundation
of our hope. We've got to get acquainted with
the word. What does God say about himself? Not what these preachers
are saying about him. What does God say about himself?
And then thirdly, it's a good hope if it rests entirely on
Christ living in me and me in Christ. Turn to Colossians 1.27.
Listen to this. Colossians 1.27. Colossians 1.27. Listen to this.
This is so clear. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you. Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. Christ in you, not you in the
church, not you in religion, not you in efforts and works.
Christ in you, the living, reigning, eternal Christ in you. Christ
in you. That's the hope of glory. I travail,
Paul said, to Christ be formed in you. You know, and I know, most religion
today is social contact, is social interest and social promotion
and social contact and having a good time and all get together
and there's no division. We don't want any division. God
loves everybody and everybody loves everybody and everybody
loves Jesus. We're just drowning in this love of something called.
That's right. But it's Christ in you. That's
the hope of glory. If any man love not our Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed, the Lord's coming. That's what
it says. And fourthly, In Romans 15, 13,
listen to this. Romans 15, 13, now listen to
me. It's a good hope if, you can
give a reason for it, if it's based on the word of God, if
it rests entirely on Christ living in me, and fourthly, if it's
a good hope, it'll bring me joy and peace and rest. Yes, it will. Yes, it will now. Can a tired
man lie down and not feel rested? Can a thirsty man drink water
and not be refreshed? Can a hungry man eat food and
not be satisfied? Can a naked man be clothed and
not be warm? Can a man come to rest in Christ,
trust in Christ, and not have peace? Yeah, he'll have peace. His conscience will be quiet
and his heart will be at rest. He won't be at peace with the
world, but he'll be at peace with God and peace with himself. Yeah, listen to Romans 15.3,
listen, 15.13. Romans 15, now the God of hope, the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing. That you may abound
in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Hope, hope, hope,
hope, hope. God of peace fill you with joy
and peace, where? In believing, in believing. And you abound in hope. I tell you, you know why they
keep coming down the aisle, keep rededicating? There's no peace.
They keep coming back to where they tried to find it the first
time. They can't find it the second time, or third time, or
fourth time. Can't find it. You'll find it in Him. He is
our peace. In the fifth place, turn to Romans
4. It's a good hope. Romans 4, verse
17, if. It's a good hope. if it believes God
and acts on faith. A while ago I said, you think
I so-and-so saved? Well, he says he is. But he doesn't
act like it. Abraham said he was, and he acted
like it. Now what's this? Romans 4, 17. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations, before whom he believed, even
God. who quickeneth the dead, and
calleth those things which be not as though they were, who
against hope believed in hope." There wasn't a thing in this
world that gave Abraham naturally, physically, any hope that Saul
would have a child. Not a thing. But against all
this natural obstacle and natural human reason and wisdom, it said,
no. He hoped in God, who said yes.
who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the
father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so
shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,
he didn't even consider these obstacles. He didn't even consider
the deadness of his body, nor the deadness of Saber's womb.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. He was
strong in faith, giving God the glory, and being fully persuaded
of what God promised he was able to perform. And therefore, it
was imputed to him for righteousness. Now, this wasn't written for
his sake alone, that righteousness was imputed to him, but for us
also, to whom that same righteousness would be imputed if we believe
and act like it. And if you do, you will. See,
the Lord Jesus is not an insurance policy. He's not somebody you
put on hold. He's not a fire escape. He's
not a sideline. He's either Lord of all or he
ain't Lord at all. That's just so. And that was
what Abraham did. Abraham journeyed in tents. I'm going to talk about that
tonight. He never drove his stakes down anywhere or established
his roots. He is a pilgrim and a sojourner
on his way to glory. as a son over his own house,
whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing
of this hope, firm unto the end. I'm going to talk about the end
tonight, and for some of us it's close. Are you going to hold on? Are
you going to cross the finish line? Are you? Is my hope a good hope? Did you
get those reasons? It is if I have a good reason,
Christ. It is if it's based on this word,
because his word shall not fail. It is if it rests entirely on
Christ and Christ alone, Christ in me. Not the finished work
of Christ. See, I'm trusting the finished
work of Christ. I beg your pardon. There's no way you can trust
an abstract like that. That's over and done. You've
got to trust a living person. Him who did the work. I trust
Christ. He's still working for me. He's interceding for me.
It's a good hope if it brings me joy and peace. Because Christ is peace. The
heart of the wicked is like a troubled sea. Christ is our peace and
rest. It's a good hope if it acts in
faith. walks in faith. It's a good hope if it continues. All right, I want us to sing
the closing hymn number 51. Number 51. See, this is what I'm going to
preach on tonight. I'm picking up this last point. Those who
are in Christ will die in Christ. Those who are in faith will die
in faith. Where you are Like Ruth said, your people are my
people, your God's my God, where you live, I live, where you die,
I'll die, and where you're buried, that's where I'll be buried.
I'm going to be right beside you, waiting His coming in vain.