What Hope Does For You Ps. 43:5 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

This sermon is about what hope does for you.  You hope in God [Ps 43:5] because he can provide you with his power, peace, comfort, health, provision, protection, deliverance, grace, wisdom, goodness and so forth.  You hope in Jesus Christ [1 Cor 15:19] because of his blood, substitution, forgiveness, righteousness, fellowship, guidance, strength and so forth.  You hope in his word [Ps 119:81] because of its truth, certainty, promises, encouragement, prophecies, joy, nourishment, and so forth.  You hope in his mercy [Ps 147:11] because it covers his judgment, his wrath, his just punishments.  You hope in his resurrection [1 Thes 4:13-18] because without that we are stuck here with a life of vanity and no hope for the future.  Would you like to know what hope does for you?  Hope:

Gives you favor with God – Ps 147:11 – the Lord takes pleasure in those who hope in his mercy.  He doesn’t take pleasure in man’s strength and achievements. Jer 17:7 says, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.”  You are blessed when you hope in God and trust the Lord.

Gives you encouragement – Ps 31:24 says that when you hope in the Lord, you have good courage and he strengthens your heart.  David encouraged himself in the Lord when everyone else was discouraged and ready to kill him.  And he had good reason to be encouraged because God came through for him.   – see also Ps 42:5 says, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why are thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God…” Hope keeps your soul from being cast down when you would otherwise be discouraged.

Gives you reason to praise – Ps 71:13-15 show you that hope is what keeps you praising God when you deal with adversity and adversaries.  Most people are overwhelmed by adverse circumstances and adversaries.  But when you hope in God not only are you not overcome by those things and people who are against you, you even have a reason to praise the Lord, right in the middle of the storm.  Paul and Silas did [Acts 16:25].

Gives you happiness – Ps 146:3-9 show you that you shouldn’t put your trusts in princes and men; your hope is in the Lord.  He is our creator, our judge, our deliverer, our provider, our preserver, our only hope.  When your hope is in the Lord you are happy.  Paul said in Rom 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope.”

Gives you confidence – Rom 5:5 says, “…hope maketh not ashamed,” because hope gives you assurance that what you believe is true.  Heb 6:19 says, “…which hope we have as an anchor of the soul.”  As Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” even though his preaching caused him continual suffering, reproach, distress and persecution.  And Paul didn’t dress up the gospel to make it more palatable.  2 Cor 3:12 says, “Seeing that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech.”

Gives you patience – in 1 Thes 1:3 Paul mentions the Thessalonians’ “patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”  I have been waiting consciously for the Lord’s return for 30 years.  Many of you have been waiting longer than that.  And you know what?  He is coming!!  While you wait patiently continue to occupy in that which he has given you to do.

Gives you rest at death – Ps 16:9 – Jesus knew that he was going to die but he also knew that he was only going to be in the grave three nights and three days. He knew he would rise again and so do we.  His flesh rested as a result.  Likewise, when you approach death your flesh can rest in the hope that you will only be there temporarily.  You will rise again!!

Conclusion: If you are not saved today, Eph 2:12 says that you are without Christ, “having NO HOPE, and without God in the world.  You see, the things we preached today are for those who know the Lord and who trust the Lord.  If you don’t know the Lord, you have no hope. The great news is that you can trust him today and have the “hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began,” [Titus 1:2].