Titus 1:2 (KJV)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
As I understand the Bible, hope is just about as important a Christian quality as we find.
We walk by faith, not by sight.
But the result of faith is hope.
Hope, not faith, is the thing that distinguishes the Christian from the world.
Everyone has faith in something.
The atheist embraces by faith that there is no God – because he can’t prove there is no God.
But the Bible says of the lost person, he has no hope.
The Christian hopes differently than does the world.
The world’s hope is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Every day in the state of Washington, as in every state where there is a public lottery, people who can barely provide for themselves and their families, spend much of what is the very little bit of money they do have to purchase a hope for a fortune.
The chance of getting struck by lightening is greater than of winning the lottery.
But the odds make no difference to these hopefuls.
· Their circumstances are dire
· They see no way out of this terrible pit
So with no regard to the actual cost, they throw away their children's bread in the hopes of a luxury yacht.
I read an article about Thomas Paine
Paine was a deist and skeptic, and hater of Christianity and the Bible.
Yet he wrote "I believe in one God and no more, and I hope for happiness beyond this life." [24]
I wish I had better news for Mr. Paine but according to Ephesians 2:12 if a man is without Christhe has no hope.
Compare that to the Christian’s hope
[24] From a blog posted at www.uncommondescent.com, September 1, 2011
Which is founded upon faith in the Word of God, which was both
· Delivered by and
· Endorsed by
The one who rose from the grave.
That tomb changes everything.
If Jesus had not risen again, He would have been in the same category as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
But our faith - our hope rests on something unlike anything of this world.
Our faith rests upon the resurrection of one from the dead.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is,
Romans 4:16-21 KJV
Therefore it is …of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
…
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 considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
…against hope [he] believed in hope
Abraham's hope was against hope, contrary to the kind of hope this world has.
His hope was built on the persuasion that, what God promised, He was able also to perform.
It is a
A. Hope in the Scriptures
Romans 15:4 KJV
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
It is a
B. Hope of Righteousness
Galatians 5:5 KJV
For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
It is a
C. Hope awaiting us in heaven
Colossians 1:5 KJV
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
And it is
D. The blessed Hope
Titus 2:13 KJV
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Our hope rests upon the foundation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But it lives every day in expectation of the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ.
And this hope, serves to edify, strengthen and build up the churches of Jesus Christ.
I love the Biblical teaching of hope.
That is one of the reasons why this passage is such a favorite of mine,
Titus 1:2 (KJV)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
This verse teaches us the what, why and when of hope.
I. WHAT?
Titus 1:2 (KJV)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
That thing we hope for is eternal life.
We don’t hope to win the lottery
This would be foolish for us to even attempt.
We don’t hope to get a great promotion at work
This comes through hard work and preparation.
We don’t hope to have good marriages
This is the product of waiting on God to give us the one He created for us and then submitting to the role in the marriage God gives us according to His Word.
We don’t hope to be well and healthy
We are born with the bodies we have. We should take care of them as best we know how and within the resources we have been provided, but we have never been promised to live pain free lives.
We don’t hope for a world without war
As long as there is sin in the earth, there will be those who follow the lusts of the flesh and do violent things.
Some of them will have the influence of nations and armies at their disposal.
The best we can do is have a well regulated military to protect us against them.
We don’t hope to save the planet
· I’m not for abusing the planet.
· I’m not for wasting its resources.
· I’m not for throwing our thrash for others to have to pick up.
But I’m not going to throw the moneys God gives me ability to earn at saving some cankerworm.[1]
Our hope is this one thing – eternal life.
That hope is the only reason Christianity continues to exist today. There would have been no other reason for so many Christians to go to their deaths rather than to deny or to compromise their faith.
Our hope is for eternal life.
II. WHY?
Titus 1:2 (KJV)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
God, that cannot lie, promised
A contract is only as good as the characters who sign it and the authority that governs it.
People break contracts all of the time.
· Lawyers make fortunes exploiting the loopholes in contracts so those who signed them but do not want to honor them can get out of them
· Governments often legislate limitations on how strictly a person can be held to their promise.
Because of this there is no such thing as a sure thing.
· Every agreement can be broken
· Every treaty can be violated
· Every covenant can be sullied
But the promise of eternal life is sure, certain and secure because of the character of God.
1 John 5:13 (KJV)
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
· How is it that I can know that I have eternal life?
· Why can I be so sure?
It’s because my salvation is all of God and none of me.
· Jesus Christ paid for my salvation with His blood on the cross
· The Holy Spirit performed my salvation the moment I called upon the Lord and
· God, that cannot lie, has promised I have eternal life.
Jesus said
John 10:27-29 (KJV)
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Paul wrote in
Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Philippians 1:6 (KJV)
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
2 Timothy 1:12 (KJV)
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
And the point of them all is that we are saved with certainty because we are saved by the promise of God. And He not only will not, but cannot lie.
Finally let me address
III. WHEN?
Titus 1:2 (KJV)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Now here is an amazing, and a reassuring thing; God made the promise of eternal life before the world began.
· Before Lucifer fell from his place near God’s throne
· Before Eve was deceived by the serpent
· Before Adam followed his wife in sin
God promised eternal life to “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.”
· Before we were ever conceived in sin
· Before our parents and our parents’ parents were ever conceived in sin
God promised me eternal life, if I would but call upon Him and ask Him for it
· Before I committed my very first sin and therefore
· Before I will commit the very last sin of my life
· I can’t remember my first sin and
· I don’t yet know what will be my last sin
But my salvation is not based upon my remembering and confessing every sin I have ever committed or even by making sure I never commit a sin again.
My salvation is based on one thing alone – God promised.
Conclusion
Hope.
· The reason to get up in the midst of depression is hope.
· The reason to smile when your heart is breaking is hope.
· The reason to work when it seems like it won’t help is hope.
The difference between the person who is victorious in life and the one who is not, is hope.
And the difference between the lost soul and the saved is hope.
[1]Did you hear about this? Virginia Democratic delegate Kathy Tran sponsored two bills in the Virginia House of Delegates on the same day. One was a bill to allow abortions of babies up to the fortieth week of pregnancy. The other was to prohibit killing fall cankerworms during certain months of the year.https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/31/kathy-tran-caterpillars-same-day-abortion/