Is My Hope a Good Hope?

I'm speaking today on the subject,
Is My Hope a Good Hope? Is My Hope a Good Hope? And I'm
reading from my text from the book of 2 Thessalonians, chapter
2, verse 16. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting comfort and a good hope through grace, and a good
hope through grace. Now, I hope is a common expression. Everybody uses that term, I hope,
and it's used frequently in religious circles. For example, you hear
people say, well, I hope that I'm saved, or I hope to be a
Christian someday. Or you hear people say, well,
I hope everything will be all right with me in the judgment
And then you hear them say, well, I hope that we'll all meet in
heaven. But many times they have no reason
for this hope. And we can ask this question
when somebody uses this term. I hope that I'm a Christian.
On what is that hope built? On what is that hope based? And
many times they cannot tell you. Hoping men live on. Hoping men
grow old. hoping men die, and hoping they
even face God in the judgment. And they cry, Lord, we prophesied
in your name, and in your name we cast out devils, and in your
name we've done many wonderful works, only to hear the Master
say, Depart from me, I never knew you. Now, this is a serious
subject that we're talking about today, and it demands our utmost
attention. Is my hope a good hope? The Bible has a lot to say about
hope. In Romans 8, verse 24, Paul wrote,
For we are saved by hope. And then in Romans 5, verse 5,
Paul writes again, Hope maketh not ashamed. The man who has
a good hope will not be ashamed in this life, he will not be
ashamed at the judgment, he will not be ashamed in eternity. Hope
maketh not ashamed. And then in 1 Peter 1, verse
3, the Apostle Peter says, God hath begotten us again unto a
living hope, a living hope. And then in our text, Paul writes,
God hath given us a good hope. Now, I want to examine my hope.
I have a hope. You do. You use the term many
times. You've used it many times. I
hope that I'm a Christian. I hope that I'm saved. I'll be
in glory." Well, let's examine our hope. You examine yours and
I'll examine mine. The Bible exhorts us to examine
ourselves, whether we be in the faith. Peter said, give diligence
to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things,
you shall never fail. If our hope is a good hope, examination
won't hurt us, but it will help us. it'll strengthen us, it'll
establish us. If our hope is a good hope, it's
not going to hurt to examine it. But if our hope is not a
good hope, if it's a bad hope, then it's time that we found
a better hope. If in examining our hope today,
while we're talking about this scripture and this subject, is
my hope a good hope? If while examining my hope, if
I find out it's a bad hope, then it's high time that I found a
better hope. I'm going to give you five marks
of a good hope. We're saved by hope. And I'm
going to give you five marks of a good hope, and you can answer
the question for yourself. I want you to. I don't know whether
or not you know the Lord, and you don't know whether or not
I'm saved. Of course, I'm a preacher and a pastor of a church and
have been pastor of the same church 25 years. But I can be
pastor of a church and not be saved. Judas was an apostle and
was not saved. I can be a member of the Church
and not be saved. Simon Magnus was baptized and
made a profession of faith, but his heart wasn't right with God.
Paul said, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world. All men have forsaken me, Paul said, only Luke is with
me. And again, John said, they went
out from us because they never were of us. So you examine your
hope while I examine mine. I'm not preaching just to you,
I'm preaching to myself. Here are five marks of a good
hope. 1. A good hope is a hope that
a man can explain. Listen to the scripture, 1 Peter
3, verse 15. Be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is
in you. Be ready always. Be ready always
to give an answer to every person who asks you a reason for the
hope that is in you. If our hope is sound, if it's
a good hope, then we ought to be able to tell why. We ought
to be able to tell on what grounds. We ought to be able to tell for
what reason that we believe our sins are forgiven. We ought to
be able to tell for what reason we believe we are going to heaven.
We ought to be able to tell on what grounds we have been pardoned
and redeemed and regenerated. Now, I'm not saying that a man
must be a scholar or a theologian to be saved. Quite the contrary.
I know that a person may be brilliant in material matters and still
be lost. A man may know the sciences,
he may know history, he may know math, he may be a brilliant man
in material things and still be lost, while a man may scarcely
be able to read or write and know the Lord and have a heart
filled with grace. But if a man has a good hope,
I'm saying that he will know what that hope is, and he will
know why he has it. He will be able to give a reason
for the hope which he has. As I say, he may not be a scholar,
he may not be a theologian, he may not be able to present it
like a preacher would present it, but how can a man possess
something so great? as a living, vital interest in
Jesus Christ and know nothing about it. How can a man possess
eternal life and not know anything about it? And then I do not say
that a man must be a public speaker and good with words in order
to be saved. Actually, there may be fine,
beautiful words on a man's lips and no grace in his heart. Paul
said, I may speak with the tongues of men and of and have not love? Well, I'm just a sounding brass
and a tinkling cymbal. Then again, another man may have
a stammering tongue. He may not be able to speak in
public at all. He may not be able to express
himself even in conversation with a single individual, and
yet have a heart filled with love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
He may know that he has passed from death unto life, and still
speak with a faltering, stammering tongue. If a man has a good hope
in Christ Jesus the Lord, he can certainly put that hope in
his own words, and he can tell you from what he has been saved. He knows that he has been saved
from sin. He knows that Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners, to save his people from their
sins. And he has cried out of his heart, O God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. He knows he has been saved from
his sins. And he knows who saved him. He knows the preacher didn't
do it. He knows that the baptismal waters
didn't wash away his sins. He knows that his morality and
good works didn't save him. He knows that Christ did. He can say with the Apostle Peter,
We are redeemed not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ. He knows that. He can
put it in his own words, and he knows to what he has been
saved. He has been saved in order to be conformed to the image
of God's Son. That's the first mark of a good
hope. A man can explain his hope in his own words. I'm not saying
he has to be a theologian. I'm not saying he has to memorize
the Bible from cover to cover. I'm not saying that he has to
be a public speaker. I'm simply saying, in his own
words, he can tell you from what he has been saved from sin, who
saved him, Christ the Lord. and what is the object of his
salvation, the glory of God. The second mark of a good hope
is this. A good hope is always based on
the word of God. It always is drawn from the scripture. Listen to Psalms 119, verse 49. David writes, Remember thy word
unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Lord, remember thy word to thy
servant," it's God's word to me, "...and upon this word I
have cause to hope." That's what David wrote. Then listen to Paul
in Romans 15, verse 4, "...for whatsoever things were written
were written for our learning, that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope, that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now, if our
hope is a good hope, if it is sound, we ought to be able to
turn to some text in the word of God as the source of that
faith, as the source of that hope. And our hope is false unless
it is based on the word of God. It's not, I think, God says,
your thoughts are not my thoughts. It's not what I've always heard.
It's not what somebody's told me. It's not what I feel. It's
what God said. He has said, I'll never leave
you nor forsake you, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is
my helper. I can't say the Lord is my helper
unless he has said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. It's
not enough to have a good feeling. Jeremiah said the heart is deceitful
and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The heart is
deceitful. Somebody says, well, if I know my heart, well, you
don't. You really don't. The heart is a deceitful thing.
It's deceitful, the scripture says, above all things. And then
listen to the wise man Solomon in Proverbs 28, 26. He that trusteth
in his own heart is a fool. I can't trust in my own heart.
I can't put confidence in my flesh, in your flesh, or anybody
else's flesh. I can put confidence in God's
word. His word cannot fail. His word is truth, so my hope
must be based on the word of God. Not church tradition, not
church doctrine, not church rules and regulations, but the word
of the living God. Thy word is truth. It's not enough
to have a good opinion. It's not enough to have the good
opinion of other people. You know, others may talk of
our good works and Others may talk of our good lives, and others
may talk of our good deeds, but this is poor comfort without
the warrant of God's Word. People may have a very high opinion
of you, and you not know the Lord. Don't you base your hope
on what they think of you. You have established a good character
reference, and you've established a good reputation in the community. And people say, he's a fine man,
he's an honest man, he is a loyal, faithful friend. You can be all
of those things and down inside here not have grace in your heart. You know, the Pharisees were
so outstanding in their moral behavior that when the Lord Jesus
said these men were hypocrites, the disciples asked him, Lord,
who then can be saved? If these men are not saved, if
these These moral men, these examples, these men who keep
the Sabbath day and these men who pray in public and these
men who fast twice a week and give alms and tithes of all they
possess, these men who wait about the things of the temple, if
they are not saved, who can be saved? And the Lord Jesus said,
with men it's impossible, but with God all things are possible.
If you would determine the soundness of your hope, if you would determine
The certainty of your hope, measure it not by your feelings and not
by other people's opinion of you, but measure it by the word
of God. Don't go to your pastor and say,
now, do you think I'm saved? Well, perhaps he does, but he
doesn't know your heart. The word of God is the foundation
of faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. He that hath the Son hath life.
That's what the scripture says. He was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities. By his stripes we are healed.
That's my hope. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I'm chief. That's my hope. How do I know
I'm a sinner? Well, my conscience and the Word
of God. But the Word of God is my source
of information. How do I know that God loves
sinners? That's what it says in the book. How do I know that
Christ came to this earth in the likeness of sinful flesh
and died on the cross for my sins? That's what it says in
God's word. How do I know that he was buried
and rose again? Because I have the scripture
for it. The scripture is our authority. We speak only as we
read. Isaiah said, if they speak not
according to the law and the prophets, it's because there's
no light in them. So you establish your hope on
the word of God. And then thirdly, the third mark
of a good hope is this, a good hope rest entirely on Jesus Christ. Now, a good hope is one that
a man can explain in his own words, why he hopes, on what
he hopes, on whom. A good hope is one that is based
on the word of God. God said it, that's why I believe
it. Thirdly, a good hope is one that
rests entirely on Jesus Christ. Listen to the word of God. 1
Timothy 1, verse 1. Paul and of Jesus Christ by the commandment
of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope? Who is our hope? Jesus Christ. Who is our hope? That's what
Paul said. Listen to Colossians 1.27, to
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. What is the hope of glory? Christ
in you. It's not just some information
you believe about him, it's Christ in you. It's not just a profession
of faith that you make in him, it's Christ in you. Paul there
carefully says in Galatians 1.15, God who separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal
his Son, not just to me, but in me. Christ in me, that's the
hope of glory. Christ is all my righteousness. My righteousnesses are filthy
rags. You can take everything I've
ever done in the kingdom of God, everything I've ever said in
the kingdom of God, every gift I've ever given in the kingdom
of God, every moral work I've ever performed, and you can pile
it all together and say it's nothing but filthy rags in God's
sight. Christ is my righteousness. Christ
is the goal of the law, the end of the law, for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. By his obedience many are made
righteous. Christ is our righteousness,
our holiness. And then all of our wisdom is
Christ. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal it. Philip said,
Well, show us the Father. And Christ said, He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father. Believest thou that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me? I and my Father are one. Christ
is our wisdom, he is the truth. Everything is revealed in him.
And then our atonement is Christ. The scripture says, We joy in
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the
atonement. Christ is our atonement. And
then Christ is our sacrifice, our one offering. Hebrews 10,
verse 14, Paul writes, By one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified. Christ is our Mediator. He ever
liveth to make intercession for them. He is able to say to the
uttermost, them that come to God, by him. There is one God
and one Mediator between God and me, the man Christ Jesus.
So I hope, if it's a good hope, it rests entirely not on Jesus
Christ plus my morality, or Jesus Christ plus my faith, or Jesus
Christ plus my baptism, or Jesus Christ plus my good works, or
Jesus Christ plus my deeds, but my hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and his righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but I wholly lean on Jesus' name. The Apostle Paul listed
all of the things that he had done, his birth, his heritage,
his accomplishment, his fame, his morality, and he says, I
count these but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him.
Not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but the
righteousness which is of God, Jesus Christ. And my friend,
this is a point on which all true believers in every age and
generation have been totally agreed. is our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. These believers of generations
and ages may differ on matters of Church government, they may
differ on matters of Church discipline, they may differ on matters of
custom and dress, but not a one of them has ever left this world
depending on anything for salvation but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now, the fourth mark of a good
hope is this. A good hope is felt in the heart. In Romans 5, verse 5, Paul says,
Hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts. And in Romans 12, verse 12, Paul
said, We rejoice in hope. Now, you cannot build your confidence
and your assurance on feeling, I know that. But I'm saying The
man who has a good hope has peace in his heart. He has peace with
God. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. The war is over. The enmity is
removed. We walk with him and talk with
him and have fellowship with the Father and with his Son,
this peace. There was enmity. We were alien.
We were estranged from God. We were foreigners. And now he
hath reconciled us by the death of his Son, and there is peace
with God. Scripture says, Blessed, happy is the man to whom God
will not charge sin. That man is happy. He feels that
in his heart. And the man who has a good hope
has entered into rest. He has ceased from his labors.
He is not trying to get to heaven, he is resting in Christ. He ceased
from his own labors and entered into Christ's rest. And then
the man who has a good hope has comfort. He knows that all things
work together for good. to them who love God, whether
it be a severe trial of sorrow, or whether it be of prosperity,
or whether it be adversity, or whether it be sickness, or whether
it be good health, or whatever it may be, he knows that whatever
God brings to pass in his life is for God's glory and his good,
and he has comfort. He's at peace with God, he's
at peace with others. Can a man pass from death unto
life and not know it? Can a man be pardoned and renewed
and regenerated and become a new creature and not feel anything? Can a weary man lie down on a
bed and not be rested? Can a thirsty man drink from
a clear, cool fountain and not be refreshed? Can a hungry man
eat at God's table and not be satisfied? Can a naked man be
brought in from the cold and clothed in the warm robe of Christ's
righteousness and not be warmed? Can a sick man be healed and
not rejoice? Oh, no. My friends, that good
hope is a hope that is felt, felt in the heart. And then last
of all, that good hope, if it is a good hope. Now watch these,
let me give them to you again, then we'll come to the last one.
If I have a good It is a hope that I can express in my own
words. I can explain why I believe that
I'm a child of God. And then secondly, that hope
will be based on the scriptures. It will not be what I think or
what I suppose or what I have heard somebody say or based on
the old traditions of the old fathers, but it will be based
on what God says. You have a Bible, read it. And
then it will rest entirely on Christ. Christ is our hope. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. I'm saved because Christ died
for me. I'm saved because Christ was buried and rose again. He's
at the right hand of God, interceding for me. And then that hope is
felt in the heart. It will change your life, change
your heart. God will give you a new heart,
a new nature. Now, watch this. That good hope will be manifested
in the outward life also. Now, listen to the It says, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, 1 John 3. It does not yet appear what
we shall be, but when he shall appear, we shall see him, and
we shall be just like him. And he that hath this hope in
him purifies himself, even as he is pure. If a man has this
hope that Christ is his Lord and his Savior, And when Christ
comes again, he's going to see the Lord and he's going to be
just like him. The man who has that hope purifies
himself. What does that mean? It means
that that good hope will change a man's attitude. If there's
light in the house, it'll shine through the windows. And if the
love of God is in here, it'll be seen out here. If the grace
of God's in here, it'll be manifested out here. Our attitude toward
God will be changed. Fear him, love him, serve him,
reverence him. Our attitude toward other people
will be different. We'll love men of all races,
of all nations, we'll love people of all customs and ages. If any
man loved not his brother, the love of God is not in him. A
man's attitude will be changed. And this good hope will produce
a godly walk. James says, Show me your faith
without your works. You can't do it, can you? But
he said, I can show you my faith by my word. A man who has this
hope in him is a generous man. He's a kind person. He's a person
who knows, I'm not saying he's perfect. He stumbles and falls
like anybody else. He has his mountaintop experiences
and his valley experiences, but the tenor of his life and the
bent of his will and the direction of his life is holiness unto
the Lord. I'm not talking about this false
holiness that people measure by the length of your hair and
the length of your sleeves and the width of your step and stride
and all that foolishness. I'm talking about holiness of
heart. I'm talking about love and patience and faith and meekness
and kindness and humility and generosity and those things,
boldness in the faith. That's holiness. That's the fruit
of the Spirit. And this good hope will make
us a good witness. You've got to tell what you know.
You've got to tell what you've seen. You've got to tell what
you've experienced. You know, people go on vacations
to beautiful countries, and they come back and they want to show
everybody their slides. They want to show everybody pictures
of their trip. Have you been to Calvary? Have you seen the
Lord? Then I guarantee you, if you have, you'll want to tell
somebody about it. It'll make you a witness. A preacher doesn't
have to make you sign a card that you'll witness to so many
people this week and tell so many people about your experience.
That's not necessary. If you love Christ, you'll talk
about him, and that good hope will persevere. Now, we have
these messages that I preach on this station on cassette tapes. If you'd like to have these tapes,
they can be purchased. If you'll write to me, I'll send
you one of the tape lists. We have the tapes that are preached
on this broadcast, as well as from our regular Sunday morning
and Sunday evening services. If you'll write to us, you'll
be getting the mailing address from the announcer. We'll be
happy to hear from you. Until next Lord's Day, this is
Henry Mahan, bidding you a very pleasant good day.

Is My Hope a Good Hope?

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Is My Hope a Good Hope?

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