Americans seem to love bumper stickers. My car doesn’t have one, but I do like to read them – I am a closet bumper-sticker reader. Have you ever pulled up at a red light, and the car in front of us had a tiny bumper sticker. Slowly you inch a bit closer and closer, trying to look nonchalant. Then when there is only half a inch between you and that bumper, you can read that it says: “If you can read this bumper sticker then you’re took close.” Today I saw one that said, “Go Vegan.” Is that like the other one I saw, “Go Zags”? Some time ago I spotted one which read, “Now that I’ve given up all hope – I feel much better.” Isn’t that cute? I’m sure the original author meant the statement as some sort of joke, and perhaps the car owner too. But some of the stupid people who read it, might think it is really profound.
I can’t speak for those people, but I can speak for myself – “I not only have hope; I love my hope.” The hope that I have is a wonderful, key part of my life. Someone has said, “Where there is life there is hope.” While that may be true so is the reverse – “Where there is hope there is life.” Some researchers at Duke University tried studying hope. They had two tubs filled with your ordinary water – mildly polluted, but highly chlorinated water. Into these identical tubs they put two ordinary laboratory rats – who were bred to die. The first rat had above him a means of escape, if he could just figure out how to reach it. The second rat was given no hope of escape whatsoever. That second rat swam around for a short while and then ducked his head under the water and drowned. The first rat swam, and swam, and swam looking for some way to reach his escape route. Unlike the first, he swam for many hours before exhaustion overcame him and he drowned. The researchers concluded that it was hope that kept the first rat alive for so long. Where there is hope there is life. But it’s not true that where there is life there is always hope.
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” And a part of that hope is the expectation of Jesus’ glorious return to earth.
The hope that I enjoy is one of PROMISE not PROGRESS.
I hope that much of this is review for you; I hope that you understand “the Biblical doctrine of hope.” “Hope” is one of those words which has a modern usage which doesn’t match the Bible’s usage. A little boy defined hope as “wishin for somethin you know ain’t never gonna to happen.” That may be close to the world’s definition, but the Bible’s is entirely different; in fact it is an opposite. The Greek word speaks of “a confident expectation and the happy anticipation of what is expected.” Bible hope points to something which is yet future, but it is CERTAIN – Guaranteed to happen.
It may be a poor example, but perhaps you heard of the man on the Caribbean cruise. As he strolled along the deck one day a lady looked toward him and gave him a very warm smile. That evening they happened be seated at the same table for supper, so they began to talk. Eventually, the man mentioned that he had seen her smile, and he appreciated it very much. “May I ask what made you smile?” “Certainly, when I saw you on deck, I was immediately struck by your resemblance to my third husband.” “Oh,” said the man ,just a little disappointed, “and how many times have you been married?” She looked down at her plate and smiled once again before saying, “Twice.” That lady had a hope which wasn’t a mere wish, but an earnest expectation. But could she really be sure of marrying this stranger? She couldn’t even be sure that he wasn’t married already, let alone that he’d want to marry a divorcee. The fact is there are very, very few things in this world that are certain. I got an email the other day which told me that if replied I would become fabulously wealthy. You know what? I deleted it with replying. It used to be said that only two things were sure: Death and taxes. But I’m convinced that neither of those are absolutely sure. There ARE absolutely guaranteed things in life, but they are NOT NATIVE to this life. Times, they are a changing; governments come and go; weather changes and hair turns grey and loose.
However, “the world may pass away, and the lusts thereof, but the word of my God shall stand for ever.” And the Word of God shall stand forever, because the God of the word stands forever. I am possessed of the hope of eternal life, “which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” My hope is one of God’s promise, not of prospect, product, production or human progress. One day this world will be a truly wonderful place to live. But it won’t be through the progress of civilization, because just to be honest, civilization is not progressing. My hope is established on the promises of which I read in the eternal Word of God.
In a speech by candidate Herbert Hoover, in August 1928, there was a promise made of the end of poverty. Hoover said that based upon the progress of American economy, poverty was nearly eradicated. If voters would just put him in office, there would never again be destitution in this land. Voters did put Hoover in the White House and in a matter of months the Great Depression began. Some put their confidence in horses and some in men, but the only confidence which matters is that which is in the omnipotent God.
My hope is for NOW not NEVER-NEVER-LAND.
If you’ll remember, “Never-never-land” was the place where Peter Pan lived. I hope that this isn’t new information for anyone, but “Never-never-land” doesn’t exist. Furthermore, for all intents and purposes, “the Great Bye-and-Bye” doesn’t exist either. The time and place about which we need to be concerned right now, is here, right now. Some people are consumed with consuming: eating and drinking right now, because tomorrow they die. But then there are those Christians, who are so consumed with thoughts of eternity and Heaven that they miss the joys of living and serving the Saviour today. The glory of the Lord today should be our immediate concern.
Little Ashley had been interested in animals for most of her young life. Now her home school test paper wanted to know what she knew. One of the questions was: “Upon what do hibernating bears subsist during the winter?” Ashley thought about the question a while and then wrote: “All winter long, hibernating bears subsist on the hope of a coming spring.” Not a bad answer – not correct – but not bad.
The hope that I enjoy, I ENJOY — it is a part of my life at this moment and will be until it’s fulfilled. Even though the fulfillment of my hope has not yet occurred, it contributes to my moments and days. And here is one of the differences between a Bible hope and a modern secular hope. Every Friday a group of elderly ladies ride a van down to the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Bingo. They enjoy the comradery and the fun. They go with a hope of winning the big Bingo, paying off all their bills, and buying luxuries. But each week they loose, and each week there is a little part of their hearts that die in the loss. If I have heard correctly, the Publisher’s Clearing House is now promising to pay $5,000 a week for your life and throughout the life of your designated heir. This hope is not helpful; it is like a festering boil which can poison the enjoyment of what we possess now.
Unlike these, the hope that the child of God enjoys builds him up; it doesn’t tear him down. It puts spice in his life, and a twinkle in his eye. But something more: if his life should to crumble around his ears, like the life of Job. That hope which he has in Jesus Christ, keeps him bobbing to the surface and facing the sunshine. Job said in the midst of his grief and poverty, “I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job’s hope, and mine, is for NOW, not for never-never-land.
And my hope PURIFIES; it doesn’t PACIFY.
A very large part of my Bible-based hope is the soon return of Jesus Christ from Heaven to Earth. If there is anything at all established by the Bible it is this “parosia,” appearing or re-appearing of Christ. This is not pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking, but part of the focal point of God’s Word. If this isn’t true then there is nothing true in the Bible. The Son of God left the glories of Heaven to be born in human flesh like our own. Jesus Christ, in whom there was no reason for death, died for the salvation of tens of thousands of sinners. But, as the little boy said, “Mister, He didn’t stay dead.” The proofs of His resurrection from death are judicially conclusive. And later there was a crowd which saw Him ascend into heaven. But as He left, like Elijah’s cloak, He left the promise of his return. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Based upon the promise of God, the God who cannot lie, I have the hope of eternal life. And that life and hope are a part of my life right now. “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” The hope that I enjoy is one that PURIFIES not pacifies. It doesn’t make me cocky and arrogant, – better than the next guy – because I am no better than the next guy. Rather this hope humbles me and makes me willing to do whatever my Saviour asks of me. Because I believe that the Lord Jesus could return to earth this tonight or even now… Because of this hope, I have even more incentive to try to live a life that pleases my Saviour. Because of this hope, I hate the lie, the theft, the quarrel, anger and bigotry. Because of this hope, I try to leave each place and each day, a better place and a better day. Those of you who know me, know that I am still a corruptible and corrupted man. But my desire is to follow Jesus – in example as well as in journey. “And every (other) man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” If I have been in the slightest way been successful in this desire, it is because Christ liveth in me.
Herein is the solution to the problems and sins of our world – the Lord Jesus Christ. In this verse we have a test of our heart and our Christianity.