The Christian Hope

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for listening to this wholesome word by David Entry. The words you catch will change your world. May your story change from this message.

[0:11] Be blessed. Colossians chapter 1, verse 1 to 8. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothius, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colossae, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[0:33] We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Jesus Christ and of the love which ye have for all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruits as it does also in you, since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth.

[1:12] As ye also learn of Epaphras, our dear fellow sermon, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declare unto you, unto us, your love in the spirit.

[1:29] Here ends the reading of God's holy word. Amen. Amen. Amen. I really like Colossians. I really like the Bible.

[1:39] Ephesians has been my book. I mean, if you ask me to choose one book in the Bible, I'm not sure which one, but I'm likely to go to Ephesians.

[1:57] Ephesians and Hebrews and Romans really compete in my heart, really. But I'll go to Ephesians because I'm more very comfortable, and I just, it's so amazing.

[2:12] Ephesians is about looking at the church from heaven's perspective. So you can never understand what the church is until you read Ephesians.

[2:24] If you don't read Ephesians properly or you don't understand Ephesians, there's no way you can fully understand what the church is. In the Bible, the Bible never spends a lot of time defining the church, but it spends a lot of time explaining the church and showing us what the church is.

[2:44] The church is like this. The church is like this. Like giving examples of the church, and much of it has to do with Ephesians. And then I like Hebrews too because Hebrews is trying to pull people from the Old Testament or trying to show us Christ in the Old Testament.

[3:04] So we need the Old Testament in order to appreciate who Christ really is. He's always been around. But he's better than Moses. He's better than the angels. He's better than the prophets.

[3:15] He's better than the sacrifices. He's better than any other means people reach out to God. Every religious attempt to reach out to God, he said Christ stands above that. So that's, Hebrews is amazing.

[3:26] But Colossians is becoming very important to me, especially in the light of the times we live in. The times we live in is a yoga-driven time.

[3:41] Ideologists and philosophers. What threatens your Christian life is not so much the persecution and the opposition you face.

[3:55] Persecution and opposition has never been a threat. In fact, when Stephen died, Bible said they scattered and they preached wherever they went. They were running away from threats, but that couldn't take Christ away from them.

[4:08] So they scattered and they were preaching everywhere they went. And to extend that, Philip found himself in Samaria and went and turned Samaria upside down.

[4:20] The Bible said, and there was great joy in the city because a preacher came. A preacher who was running away from persecution.

[4:30] So persecution cannot stop us from preaching. But the greatest threat to the church is when Christ becomes eclipsed in the church. When Christ becomes obscured.

[4:43] When they put a film on Christ to give him a different shade. Because society, politicians, cultures, and traditions might have a bit of a different tinge or a different bend so long as life is concerned.

[5:06] So sometimes in order to be relevant to the tradition and to the culture, we want to now adapt, change, and look like the culture. And we begin to alter Christ and we spray a little bit of perfume on the message so that people can accept the message.

[5:25] That is the biggest threat to the church because really Christianity, the entire Christian message can be summarized, the gospel can be summarized with seven words.

[5:41] In seven words. Christianity is Christ. And Christ is God. Every preaching is supposed to be joined to that.

[5:53] All preachings, important preachings, good preachings, must hear to us that Christianity is Christ. And Christ, yeah. And Christ is Christianity.

[6:05] When you go anywhere in this country, anywhere in this country, United Kingdom, any community or any city or any town or any neighborhood, you find roads there.

[6:20] But there is always a road from there to London. There's no community in this country you will find a road that will be leading to London. There will always be a, from one way or the way, it will take you to London.

[6:33] You can find London from wherever. In the same way, when you read the Bible and do Christianity, every message should be leading to one, Christ. Christ. All roads lead to Christ in Christianity.

[6:46] So then it becomes a problem if Christ is blurred. It becomes a problem if Christ is obscured. It becomes a problem. Sometimes some people want Christ and something else.

[6:57] If Christ is not Lord of all, he's not Lord at all. He must be Lord of all. It's not Christ and good preaching.

[7:11] It's not Christ and nice church. It's not Christ and financial breakthrough. It's not Christ and success. It's not Christ and your well-being.

[7:23] It's not Christ and society. It's not Christ and political correctness. It's not Christ and something else. It's Christ alone.

[7:35] Christ and nothing equals to pure Christianity. As soon as you bring something, add something to Christ, you have deviated from pure Christianity.

[7:48] You are practicing in pure Christianity. If you bring other things, then anything that is on a coalition course with Christ must be jettisoned from all and rejected with the strongest possible strength, if you want to be pure Christian.

[8:09] So Colossians actually focuses on a lot because, as I explained, the times they were living in was times where they imported good ideas.

[8:20] Actually, I found out that, you know, wherever the gospel gets to, people might be practicing something before gospel comes. It's always like that. And so that's why constant teachings of pure scripture, wholesome ways, are so important in the church.

[8:41] In spite of your marital breakthrough, in spite of your financial breakthrough, in spite of your health issues, what must have preeminence is pure teaching that keeps Christ as...

[8:54] Christ is not prominent. Christ shouldn't be prominent in the church. He should be preeminent, the preeminent one. There's a difference between... There's some trying to say, oh, no, we accept Christ.

[9:05] Christ is a good person, and you can add Christ. No, no, no, Christ is not a prominent one. Like some religions would tell you, he's a prophet. Please, drop it. He's not the prominent one.

[9:16] He is the preeminent one. Don't compare him to anything. He stands far above every other thing. Even in Judaism, he stands far above every other thing. Now, that is pure Christianity.

[9:28] Christianity is Christ, and Christ... I can't hear. Can we say that together? Christianity is Christ, and Christ is God. I can't hear you.

[9:39] Christianity is Christ, and Christ is God. That is the basic summary of Christianity. So, as I said, everywhere they preach the gospel.

[9:53] You know, people were doing their own thing. Like, okay, Europe. Europe was practicing its own religion, its own pagan festivals, like what they converted into Christmas and Easter.

[10:08] So, the gospel comes. But the point I'm making is, after the gospel comes, they also want to import some of the nice things in the previous practices into the gospel and mix it with the... That's why we have Christmas.

[10:21] Where is it coming from? Where do you see it in the New Testament? Where do you see bunnies and eggs, Easter eggs? What was that? What's that egg?

[10:31] What's that egg doing here? Yeah. So, it's actually people's festival.

[10:44] People's festivals and... But when we... In the same way, now people will be telling you, you know, Africans have their own tradition. They have their own tradition and all that.

[10:56] So, don't let Christianity replace. You can add Christianity is good. So, just let's add the good bits. It depends on how you define good. Every time in the New Testament, you see the word good.

[11:11] It's talking about the church work. Good work is church work. He who desires the office of a bishop, desires a good work.

[11:22] Yeah, it's the church work it's talking about. For Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10, for we are gospel workers created in Christ Jesus unto what? It's not talking about niceness.

[11:34] You are... You can be a nice person if you are not building the church. You are not doing the church work. That's no good work. You are born again not to be a nice person. You are born again to build a church.

[11:47] I... I don't... You say, I shouldn't be good. Please. But that's not... It's not going to do with what I said. You say, I shouldn't be nice. No, I didn't say that. I didn't say that.

[11:58] But don't replace niceness. That's why other religions will say, we are also nice people. We are also nice. You talk about goodness. In fact, when it talks about human strength, others are stronger than you in whatever you are doing.

[12:10] You will think Husem Bolt is the fastest until someone shows up. Others will be... You will think someone is the most beautiful until they get married. A lot of husbands are looking very straight at me.

[12:38] So, so I'm not talking about... Niceness is not the core of Christianity. When we talk about Christianity, first it starts with faith and belief.

[12:48] And that faith and belief in Christ will translate into doing the work of Christ. Doing what... If you believe in Christ, you will work for Him. Believing in Christ doesn't mean accepting that He's a nice and a good Savior or something.

[13:04] Believing in Christ, actually the salvific faith, saving faith, that shows you have believed in Him. That means you've committed the entirety of your life to His Lordship. He's Lord over your life and so then you don't do according to your bidding.

[13:19] You do according to His bidding. That's why this becomes the rule of your life. It doesn't matter what politicians think. What society thinks or media thinks. This becomes the rule of your life because you sign up for Him to be the Lord over your life.

[13:33] Now, that's how you can reign on your life. And so that's what really it means. So now, if He's your Lord, then you take instructions from Him. You do what pleases Him.

[13:43] You go where He says you should go. You don't go where He says you should go. Even though it might not look bad, He says don't go. You won't go. He says, serve in church.

[13:54] Your uncle said, if you go to church, you have abandoned our religion and I'll forsake you. I won't sponsor your business anymore. He said, but my uncle, I don't want to disobey you, but I'm now, I've signed up and I'm not in control of my life.

[14:09] You don't want to disobey your mom, your dad, your uncle, your brother, your sister. It's not Christ and something. It's Christ plus nothing.

[14:21] And that is what saves the church. If you want to add something to the Christ you have found, you haven't really found Him. And if you have determined that Christ and my feelings is how I'm going to do this thing, you won't go any far.

[14:41] You are actually becoming the weakest link. And you are actually creating a platform for the enemy to inflict the church. And so Paul, in their times, they were faced with all kinds of very good ideas and strong ideas and opinions to the extent that it was threatening the health of the church.

[15:07] So Epaphras, as I said, reported it to Paul who was in prison. Even though Paul hadn't seen the church, he said, no, I have to do something about this. So Paul writes a letter and that's how we got Colossians.

[15:19] So you always have this, must have this background in your mind. I like Colossians because no book in the Bible actually reflects Christ's strongest. Every book is about Christ.

[15:31] But Colossians takes on the subject to make sure this is the Christ we are dealing with. So other books, my compliments, some of the things that have been revealed.

[15:42] But Colossians is very, so Colossians, in Colossians, we see how Christ is the only one. Christ is just the Christ. It's very important. So as I explained after opening his comment by talking about his apostleship and his companionship, Timothy, he goes on to say who the letter is meant for to the faithful in Christ who are at Colossae.

[16:06] And he said, grace and peace be to you. We give thanks to God, our Father, God, sorry, God, to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you.

[16:17] I think that's one of the things every effective church leader and a pastor must do. Pray for the people you are leading. Every church leader, it doesn't matter the capacity of your leadership, you have to pray for people you lead because it is not just a social function.

[16:40] It's a very spiritual function and you are not leading on your behalf. You are leading on the behalf of Christ. And you are just not leading minds but you are actually leading spirits.

[16:51] It is very important. And so we have to pray so we can be to a certain extent in sync with the Lord of the church to help us lead the people. Other than that, your leadership will be fraught with contentions, quarrels, misguiding people and misdirecting people which will hurt their destinies.

[17:10] So he says, I pray for you. Since, verse four, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. Since we heard of your, that tells you he heard it.

[17:23] He hasn't been there to see them by head of their faith in Christ Jesus. That is the sign that someone is a Christian. Right. Christianity is faith in Christ Jesus.

[17:34] That's where it starts. For by grace are you saved through faith. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8. Through faith. So, 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 8.

[17:45] Whom having no sin, yet believing. So, Christianity starts with faith in Christ. John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only will, that whosoever believes.

[17:59] So, Christianity starts with believing, not behaving. Starts with believing, not behaving. You haven't behaved right, but if you start believing right, it will affect every aspect of your life.

[18:11] That belief, that does not lead into behavior, is not genuine. No. Your faith is not faith until it has corresponding works.

[18:25] But the Bible faith we claim to have is not authentic. It is fake. Not faith. It is fake if it does not have corresponding works.

[18:36] To the extent that people, you may not have to tell them you are. They will have to see that. They will end. Even if you don't say it, they will see it. They will see it.

[18:49] And once they see it, it says it. And it's sorted. So, so, what I'm trying to say is that, what kind of faith do you claim you have which cannot be evidenced in action?

[19:11] Because James chapter 2, verse 16, faith without works is dead. It says just as the life, the human body without the spirit is dead.

[19:23] So, faith without works is dead. If you leave faith alone, it's nothing. It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything.

[19:35] And so, we, when you have faith in Jesus, it will always show in your actions. It should show in your choice of friends. Yes, sir.

[19:46] It will show in your, how you spend your life. It will show in how you define happiness and enjoyment and how you define fun.

[19:59] If you have faith in Christ, it will have an impact on your definition of fun. Your definition of success will be heavily, and let me use this word, brutally impacted if you have faith in Jesus.

[20:16] Please, let me say this. Just in case you've been coming to church and you say, I believe in Jesus, but it hasn't had an evidenced impact on your pursuit of success or your entire living, I'm sure you are still on your way to hell.

[20:38] I'm sure you are, because he will say, I don't know you, you workers of Matthew 7. So, your work matters. No, you are not saved by works, but when you have saving faith, it will show your works.

[20:51] So, how do you know you have saving faith? We have to check your works. He said he wants to marry me. Is he born again? But he goes to check.

[21:01] Obviously, you know he's not born again, because there's no corresponding works. He says that, you say, I have faith without works. Show me your faith without, and I will show you my faith by my works.

[21:14] We are saved by faith alone, but not faith that is alone. The faith that saves us is not alone. He has a twin.

[21:25] How can you be talking about getting exposed to water without being wet? How can you be telling me about fire without heat?

[21:37] What kind of fire is this that doesn't have heat? You know, when you go to the restaurant, the fake fire is paper. You know, it's not fire. What kind of ice is this that is not cold?

[21:51] Ice is not cold. No, no, no. You can't separate sea from water. You can't tell me there's ocean without water. You can't tell me there's fire without heat. You can't tell me there's ice without cold.

[22:03] In the same way, you can't tell me there's salvific faith without corresponding action. So, if there is no actions to back your claims, you are still on your way to hell.

[22:18] Okay, let me put it that way because some of you think it's just too strong. I mean, it is what it is. Anyone who is not born again is going to hell. Right? If you are not born again, you are going to hell. Why is he saying that?

[22:29] How can I say something such important? I don't have the the way to say that. People before me were saying it and God said it and so they are saying I'm also saying it. And if you are born again, you should know it and say it too.

[22:42] Yeah. If you see it, you say it and you sort it. So, now, Jesus said in the last day, Matthew 7, 23, 24, many, wow, that many things can be very troubling.

[23:01] That suggests that many people, many people in church, in active religious practice, will fall into that category because many, it would have been easier if you had said a few.

[23:13] That was very worrying. Many will say, no, Lord, have we not prophesied? You have never prophesied. They have even prophesied. You only come to church and like the music.

[23:27] Show your power and your dancing is even upbeat. Oh, Lord, our God. The prophesied in your name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wondrous works.

[23:44] Wondrous works. Verse 23 says that. And then, Jesus said, me, me, myself, not the angel. I won't say anybody. I'll answer them myself and then, I will profess unto them, I never knew.

[23:59] Huh? Excuse me. You don't know me. Today, you're telling me you don't know me. With all the tithes I paid, the money I've given, I was the chief usher.

[24:15] I used to preach. I used to preach. Jesus can't pay. I was, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He said, no, no, no, no, please, please, please, please. He said, Jesus. He said, please.

[24:25] I don't know you. And it would be easier if he just even says, I don't know you. He said, just get out, get out of my face. Depart from me. See, that, they've told you, Jesus is gentle.

[24:38] Jesus make your mouth. They don't know that. That's not a Jesus in the Bible. He said, depart from me. Why? And his point of reference is your works.

[24:50] Your works. Your works. Makes me know if you want to accommodate you around me. Your works makes me not know you. How come you say you are saved and no one knows about it?

[25:02] What kind of salvation is this? You are just a church attender. You are not saved. Today, you must be saved. And the route to salvation is repent and be converted.

[25:17] You are not converted. You are not converted. You are not converted. Ask your girlfriend. He will tell you. Wow.

[25:28] This is strong. Wow. You are not converted. You are not converted. And one day, Jesus will send you to hell.

[25:42] Even though you say, I'm a Christian, you are not converted. Saying, I'm a Christian doesn't make you one. Since I, since we heard of your faith, have you noticed when you get born again, people talk about it?

[25:59] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, people won't keep quiet. People will be surprised. People are usually surprised because they see some works. Yeah. Even if it's your husband or your wife or your mother.

[26:12] I used to be a mass server. Always in church serving. Always in church serving. But when I got born again, even my fellow mass servers knew that, oh, wow. The guy has changed.

[26:24] Has converted. You haven't changed. You haven't changed. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And you should be bothered. Yes, yes, yes. Even if you don't come back. At least.

[26:37] Yeah. You go with that mindset. You go with that understanding. One day, you can't say, I didn't know it. When you want to serve God, you come and look for me. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I have to give you the version of God that really pushes God towards you that if you are not ready to serve God, you run away.

[26:56] But when you want God, you will know where to go. Yeah. You will know where to go. I pray people won't come here because of music. Just because of music. Wow. I pray people won't come here because this is my church.

[27:08] This is my church. Just because the people are nice. Yeah. Not because the pastor even makes us laugh. Yes, yes, yes. And those things are all good. Not because of the location. Yeah.

[27:20] But like I give you an experience. Yes. I pray people will not come just because of all these other things. But convictions in Christ. Yeah. Some of you, you will have a dream.

[27:30] You didn't even want to do this church thing, but you had a dream. And when you woke up, you know that I have to go to Caris because I want to hear the word of God. They said, sing us some of the songs of Zion.

[27:40] Zion. Yeah. Yeah. I want us to create an environment so much that people who are hungry for God can't wait to get to this place because everything around us is suffocating.

[27:53] Everything around us, in our times, in our generation, is pushing God out of you. So sometimes, ask the dear pants for the waters.

[28:04] So my soul pants. I want us to have an atmosphere, an environment where people are thirsty for God. They can't wait to get here. Yeah. Yeah. Or those who can't make it, they can't wait to tune in.

[28:17] Yes, yes, yes. So then people who are not looking for God will always have problems of your overemphasis on God. Why? Why is it so strong? Why is it so strong?

[28:27] Because you are not hungry. That's why it comes so strong. Yeah. But if you are very hungry, you say, please, cut down the story and tell me more. Tell me more. Tell me more.

[28:37] Tell me more. Tell me more. Tell me more. When I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, people must know about it.

[28:48] You don't have to announce it. They will know and they will say it and others will hear about it. Amen. So Christianity starts with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you talk about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that means that you are accepting everything he's got to offer.

[29:02] Everything about Christ, you are swallowing it. Hook, lime, and sinker. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which will always play out in your love for others.

[29:14] not, please, not Mother Earth, it's good. Not humanity. It's good. Jesus was doing good to everybody. Yeah.

[29:25] So, you can be a Christian if you have faith in Jesus, you do good to everybody. But you have this affinity for other Christians. Affinity, there is a sweetness about hanging out with other genuine Christians.

[29:38] See, some of you, what you call disabled Christians, but it's because you yourself are dodgy. You're going to get some dodgy kind of, and then you begin to gossip against each other and then you fall about.

[29:49] Because if you are a very effective Christian, right from the early part, you can tell that this relationship is toxic. It's not godly. If you really are a Christian and your relationship is, you are building a Christian relationship, you know it starts on, it's built on the platform of godliness.

[30:08] How come this relationship has been built on the platform of gossip, on the platform of complain, on the platform, different, different thing, and not once, you didn't even do Bible study. And the first time you attempted to do Bible study, it ended up in heavy gossip about someone who is a new believer who is not, is falling off.

[30:32] And then, do you know, did you realize that this guy had been talking to this other, girl too quickly? The wife doesn't even know. She's changing too. And every time, you are building on that. Then eventually, when it turns against you and you're saying, they begin to fight and they call themselves Christian.

[30:47] You should start from you. You start from you. And then, so what do I mean? When you are a genuine Christian, you have this genuine love for other Christians.

[30:59] And when you find out they are Christians, there's something that draws you towards them. And when you start relating, with them, there's something that makes you know whether I can get closer or this person.

[31:12] Maybe he's growing a little bit, but I'll have to ignore some things and just, I want someone who helps me to get closer. We can get closer to God together. But the point I'm making is, if you have faith in Jesus, you cannot hate the church.

[31:28] It's that, when I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and of the love which you have for all the believers, all the believers, all the believers, when you see unbelievers attacking another believer, you don't join them.

[31:47] No. You don't join them. In fact, you don't like what the believer did, but you can't join the others in attacking. You actually go to the defense of the believer. Yes.

[31:58] And then later on, you say, no, no, you can't. Else you don't have to have any comments. You're talking on a fellow believer. Why do I bring, in fact, Paul talks about it in Corinthians about how we take each other to court.

[32:10] Dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust. See, the problem is not the courts, but the people who are dealing are mediating.

[32:22] Yeah. The unjust and not before the saints. So you can take the matter to other saints. Other saints can judge this matter.

[32:34] So don't you know that you judge angels? You can't even judge matters amongst you. Don't you know you judge angels? Wow. Are you going to judge angels? Yes. When I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your love for all the saints.

[32:49] Did you hear this? I want to ask you a question. I think, thank you, Jesus. I think we should do this thing. First, Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 3. And then we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 13.

[33:00] I just, I just, I know some of us must be, yes, you have to have this feeling that you can also pass exam. Yeah. Because sometimes it didn't work for you until you grew up so you couldn't even bother again.

[33:13] You got a job so you didn't bother writing further exams. But now, we want to do this so that you can, you know, boost your, what did I talk about previously earlier on?

[33:23] I said, when I heard of your word, I can't hear you please. Those in the overflow, when I heard of your faith, all of you, when I heard of your, and then I saw and what?

[33:36] Your love. So what do you have? Faith and what? One more time. And what? Love. But there are supposed to be three that usually go together. So look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 3.

[33:51] Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love. What is the last missing one? Remembering without ceasing your work of faith.

[34:04] Okay. So it's a work of faith. And then your what? Labor of love. All right. And then what is the third adjective?

[34:15] Not patience, but your patience of hope. So faith, love, and hope. Are you sure? Yes. No, let's validate it from 1 Corinthians chapter 30 verse 30 and let's see if they are getting it right.

[34:29] To find out the missing piece. All right. Let's all read it from the screen. Let's go. Let's read it out. Let's go. And now are you faith, hope, charity. These three are the greatest of the peace is charity.

[34:43] New King James Version. Please. Let's go. And now are by faith, hope, love. These three are the greatest of peace is love. Now. So how many of them?

[34:55] These what? Three. And we spoke about your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Your love for the saints. There's one more missing. Let me see. Just for you to encourage yourself that you two can pass a example.

[35:10] What is the missing one? Hope. What is the missing one? Hope. What is the missing one? Hope. Wow. You got 100%. So you see, it said, now abides faith, hope, and love.

[35:29] Faith. It said, these three, they always abide. These three, they are fundamental in any Christian life. if one of them is missing, it's not proper Christian life. So if you begin to go low on one of them, you can't live an effective Christian life.

[35:45] Just one of them, you can't live an effective. You must build all of them. And actually, the more you are boosting your faith, it will have an impact on your love, which will also invariably have an impact on your hope.

[35:57] Now watch this. It says that now abides these three, faith, hope, and love. In Colossians chapter one, verse four, when I heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love, the love which you have for all the saints.

[36:12] What's the third one? Third one. Let's go to the verse five, see. Let's all read it. For the hope which is laid out for you in heaven, where art he had before in the word of truth.

[36:27] This is interesting. Hope. Hope is one of the biggest things that sustains Christianity. You start, you start in faith.

[36:42] When you start in faith, the way now you conduct your Christian life, it's determined by the kind of hope you have. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[36:53] Because, you see, sometimes people can say, I have faith for my marriage, faith for my health, faith for all these things, but they can be very low on the actual Christian hope.

[37:05] So it makes, haven't you seen people who are believing God for marriage, and they are really sowing seeds and doing everything, but other aspects of Christian life is so bad. You are shocked, but they are not even interested in outreach.

[37:18] You are not. You are looking for a husband. You are looking for a wife, but you won't serve God. You come and sit in a church service, like car going to the service station, for real fully.

[37:35] It's good, but it's not complete. The Christian hope is in four ways. Okay. When we talk about the hope of Christianity, you see, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 18.

[37:51] I quoted it earlier on before I started preaching, and we prayed. I quoted the verse 16 and 17. But verse 18 says that, I pray for you that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is what.

[38:04] Why do you have to pray for me? Because knowing your hope, the hope of his calling is very important. It will determine how quality your Christian life can be. Yeah.

[38:16] People get upset, I'm not coming to church, I'm not coming to church. You see, you are low in hope. Low in hope. Because the Christian hope is a core thing in Christian life.

[38:30] Or for you to thrive as a, you can't thrive as a Christian in spite of your hope. No. You can't. It doesn't matter what my hope is like. No, if your hope is down, your Christian life will be down.

[38:43] Because it's, Christian life is heavy in faith, Christian life is heavy in love, and Christian life is heavily dependent on hope. Hope in what way? Number one thing when we talk about our hope is in one.

[38:57] Number one, talking about our hope, what is the hope of Christians? Christ himself is our hope. Colossians chapter 1, verse 27, it said, Christ in you, the hope. Hallelujah! So, Christ is my hope.

[39:10] Someone say, Christ is my hope. Christ is my hope. Say it again. Christ is my hope. But it's not only that Christ being your hope, but the salvation that when Christ returned he's bringing. When Christ returns, he's bringing a certain type of salvation, and that is what we look forward to.

[39:26] And so, in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 5 and verse 9, it talks about the end of your faith being the salvation of your, says that, verse 5 says, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed.

[39:43] Ah! See, you are living your life, but there's a salvation that is ready to be revealed that your hope is in God. He said, you are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation that is, so actually, as you are walking by faith, your hope is a certain salvation that is ready to be revealed.

[40:04] Verse 9, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your soul. So there is a certain salvation, the work of faith you are exhibiting, the work of faith you are engaging in, it has a salvation that is yet to be revealed.

[40:17] And so, our hope, number one, the true Christian, the pure Christian hope is the hope in Christ, or Christ is the hope and the salvation that will be revealed when he comes back.

[40:31] Hallelujah! Amen! If I would shout a louder, hallelujah. Hallelujah! number two, Christian hope, the Christian hope, number two, is the translation from earthly and physical things, the earthly and the physical realm to the heavenly and spiritual sphere.

[40:59] We'll be translated. It's going to be a rapturous translation. We'll be raptured and changed. That's what every Christian looks forward to. If you are not looking forward to it, I'm teaching you so you start looking forward to it.

[41:11] One day, sir, one day you will no more be tired. In fact, Libyan chapter 3, verse 21, who shall change our, keep me, New King James, who shall change our lowly bodies?

[41:25] Sir, no, bodies, your bodies, your body. Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! That's the. Amen!

[41:38] Amen! That power which enables that power even to subject everything to himself will not only transform but completely fashion your earthly bodies, this earthly bodies that get's tired, this earthly bodies that sometimes lose control in expansion Did you say unlimited expansion?

[42:12] I'm talking about the body that gets sick. The body that gets weak. This body that can sometimes get so tired. This body, sometimes you feel so discouraged about life.

[42:23] You feel like you are trying, but nothing is working. This body, that can be so demanding. Life is so demanding. Your body keeps letting you down. This body, it says that he will translate our lowly bodies, our earthly bodies.

[42:43] New King James. He will transform our lowly bodies, our lowly body that it might be conformed to his glory.

[42:53] Ay, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya. So, he said the body will be brought in conformity, aligned, so that when you look at the way Jesus, when he resurrected, was able to show up anywhere.

[43:06] He didn't need a car. He didn't need a lock. He just showed up anywhere. He went to heaven with his clothes like that. Even when he resurrected, we don't know where God is close from. Where did he get his clothes from?

[43:17] And all that. But because it's a glorious body, he has everything he needs. At the moment, Jesus is still 33, a body that doesn't grow. He's still 33 years.

[43:28] He's a 33-year-old man's body. The same. Doesn't grow. Doesn't grow old. Doesn't grow young. The same. Everything is perfect. That's what he said. He will transform our lowly bodies that they will be fashioned.

[43:41] One translation said, it will be fashioned. It will become conformed to his glorious body according to the working of his. That is a Christian hope. That's a Christian hope. That's a Christian hope.

[43:52] He should be, James said, it will be fashioned, be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Not unto anybody, but his glorious. Even the one in the magazine is not as glorious as the body of Jesus.

[44:04] Yeah. The most perfect body you might ever think about on this earth doesn't come anywhere near. Jesus' body is a glorious body.

[44:16] And that's the Christian hope. That's the Christian hope. We shall be transformed. We shall be transformed. So the Christian hope, Christ is our hope.

[44:27] And when he returns, when he's coming back, the salvation is going to bring us our hope. Number two, our body will be raptured from this physical, will be transformed or translated from this physical and earthly state into an earthly realm into a heavenly and a spiritual realm.

[44:47] Hallelujah. Spiritual fear. Fear. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And that is definitely going to happen. Amen. That is going to happen. And not even just that. And we are going, our bodies are going to be, we shall be glorious.

[45:02] Amen. We shall be glorified. So let me show you something, if you don't mind. Romans chapter 8, verse 23, 24, 25. Oh, look at the Christian hope. Look at that.

[45:12] I think it should be good to go back a bit. 21. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

[45:27] We have some glorious liberty. Hallelujah. Someone say glory. Glory. What it means is the entire creation will also be delivered into the kind of glorious liberty the children of God are getting into.

[45:39] Look at the next verse. It says that, for we know that the whole creation groans and travels. Give me new key, James, please. Let's stay in there. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together unto now.

[45:53] Creation is struggling. Creation is groaning. That's why you see our times we are trying to do everything to help climate change.

[46:04] Creation is groaning. Creation is groaning. Look at the disasters we see. Earthquakes, floodings, all these things. Part of the suffering of creation.

[46:14] Creation is not happy. Mother Earth is not happy. There's a certain lady. She is called Mother Earth. She is not a happy woman. Mother Nature is not a happy woman.

[46:28] Because creation groans. Creation groans. But the good news is that creation will also be delivered into the glorious liberties. Amen.

[46:38] Of the... But look at the next verse. Verse 23. Verse 23 says, not only that. Ah, something else is going to happen. Not only that. But we also. Say we also. We also. Say we also.

[46:49] We also. Who are we? The church. The children of God. We also. We also. Who have the first fruit of the spirit. We are born again. We are having a taste of God in this flesh.

[47:01] And yet still we are in the flesh. We are in this flesh. You are born again but you have problems. Hey. Some of you thought the day you become born again everything has changed. No, no, no, no, no, no.

[47:12] You are born again but you still have problems. You are born again but you are struggling with your education. Trying to... You have failed a few exams. Yes, yes. Before. And after you became born again you are fulfilled.

[47:23] You used to fail four. Now you are filled two. So. You are getting there. Has there been anyone here who is born again and have been jobless before?

[47:35] Yes. Have struggled to pay some bills and stuff before. Yes. We are born again but we. So yet. Yet. What is this? This is what I like. There are people here. There are people sitting here.

[47:46] You are not fully happy because of some things that are going on in your life. Right? Yes. You are not fully happy. But in church. In Christ. It looks like all those things don't matter. You are just satisfied in Christ.

[47:57] Am I right? Yes. So we have a taste. We have tested the glories ahead. You have tested of the world to come. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 5. You have tested.

[48:09] We have tested. It says that the power and have tested the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. We have tested it. So even though we are going through difficult times.

[48:19] We also. There are times we are testing heaven on earth. We are testing a glimpse of God's goodness. A glimpse of. You have problems but your life is peaceful. One of the things that helps you as a Christian.

[48:31] Is you can go through stress as others go through stress. But sometimes it doesn't show on you. Doesn't show. Doesn't show on you. Why? Because even in the state of the stress. You are still enjoying life.

[48:42] Because God is your enjoyment. Shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. So look at the text again. Verse 23 of Romans chapter 8. Not only that. But we also. Who have the first fruits of that song.

[48:54] You are testing a few things that others don't taste. Even we ourselves. Grown within ourselves. Eagerly waiting for the adoption.

[49:05] The redemption of this. Ah. Ah. This body. Deliver me from this thing. Deliver me. Even though we have tested. We are the first fruits of the spirit. We still groan. We still groan.

[49:16] Some of you. You are struggling to wake up this morning. I do. I do. I want something. Yeah. Struggling to wake up this morning. Wow.

[49:27] Some of us. Your particular health condition. Forces you not to eat some things. Yeah. Yeah. Or allergies. Allergies. And you are born again.

[49:39] But still some of the allergies are bothering you. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't mean you are not. But you are. But it's called the body. This lowly body. This God. This lowly body must be.

[49:51] It says that. Look at 25 again. The first fruits. We ourselves. Grown within ourselves. Eagerly. That's the hope. Eagerly. Eagerly waiting for the adoption.

[50:02] The redemption of our bodies. Go to the next step. You are going to 25. Look at this. Look at this. This is getting interesting. For we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope.

[50:14] For why does one still hope for what he sees? It says. So we have been safe for this hope. But we have experienced the years. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. The body shall be done.

[50:25] It's coming. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. One day you will never need Mary Kay or Mark or all those things. It's going to happen. You will need Brazilian hair. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's going to happen.

[50:35] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That's our hope. Look at that next verse. Look at that next verse. I'm moving from there. Look at the next verse. But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

[50:52] That's the Christian hope. The Christian hope is Christ himself and the salvation he brings when he's coming back. Number two, the Christian hope is the transforming of our bodies.

[51:04] You can't be a Christian without this being on your mind. That's why when you lose sight of these things, you begin to struggle with your Christian life. You begin to struggle because all you see is what is here.

[51:17] But there's something ahead. That is why his first prayer topic is that I pray that the eyes of your understanding be enlightened, that you will know the hope. You will know the hope.

[51:28] You will know the hope. He says that we have the unity of the spirit. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 3. Endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. Then he goes on and says, for there is one.

[51:39] What? Look at verse 4. For there is one body, one spirit, just as you are called. Believers are called into what? One hope. One hope.

[51:50] Amen. If I were you, I would shout the loudest hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Can I tell you the third and the fourth and then I think I will end.

[52:01] So I have spoken about faith, love and the hope. I am just trying to draw your attention. When we talk about Christian hope, it is not about marriage. When we talk about Christian hope, it is not about job.

[52:14] The actual Christian hope. Because someone who is, I don't think Pastor will be believing God for marriage. Will she? No. No. No. No. Because it is already done. Are you believing God for a child?

[52:25] No. You are finished. So that person who is believing God for a child, it is not the same hope. No. But I am talking about one hope. One hope.

[52:36] So one hope. It does not matter who you are. That hope casts a cross. It is the same. One hope. One hope. So then all the peripherals and all the other accessories, we can leave it aside, even though they are important.

[52:51] We can leave them aside and focus on our one hope. And that one hope is Christ in you and the revelation, the coming of the salvation. Number two, the transforming of our bodies. Your body will be transformed.

[53:04] And then number three. Number three. I like the number three. What? Can you imagine? A lot of, I think I owe the church the responsibility on teaching on this subject.

[53:17] The millennial reign. I have to, one of these days, teach on the millennium. A thousand years when Christ is going to reign on this earth. And some of us shall reign with him.

[53:29] Amen. Yeah. It's part of Christian hope. But a lot of modern day Christians don't know about it. And they don't even think about it. The reigning of Christ.

[53:39] It's called the millennial reign. And guess what? We are going to reign as kings and priests. Revelation chapter 5 verse 20. It says that, and you have made us kings and priests.

[53:52] You have made us kings. So there's going to be this royal enjoyment to reign with Christ. It's a Christian hope. So sometimes don't worry about the money you are losing.

[54:04] Don't worry about those who seem to be enjoying on this. At times has come. That's why I said that, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And enter into the joy of the Lord. Matthew chapter 25 verse 21 and verse 23.

[54:17] Well done, thou good. Enter into the joy. When Christ comes and is reigning, we will reign with him. We will reign with him. The actual Christian hope is the hope of the reigning in the millennium.

[54:28] Hallelujah. Amen. Because of my time, I can't give you too many scriptures with regards to that. But I'll give you Revelation chapter 5 verse 10. Right? Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 18.

[54:40] That's Paul talking. Second Timothy says that, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil works and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. His eyes were on me. He's preserving me for that time.

[54:51] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And then the final hope. When we talk about the one hope of Christianity, the final, that hope is the blessing or the eternal blessing of the new heaven and the new earth.

[55:08] Or let me put it this way. Enjoying Christ in the new Jerusalem. That's different from the millennial reign. When the new Jerusalem coming from heaven, the old earth has been rolled away.

[55:21] The new heaven and earth has come. And I saw the bride, the new Jerusalem like a bride. That enjoying, we will enjoy Christ in that new Jerusalem. And that is the hope.

[55:33] Enjoying him in the new Jerusalem. That's what is really good. And the eternal blessing of being with him forever and ever in heaven. That's what we call heaven. Being in heaven is the Christian hope. Being in heaven is the Christian hope.

[55:47] I think this morning I'm talking about the Christian hope. Yes. The Christian hope. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what happens to you in life.

[55:59] As a Christian, you can boast of these things. No unbeliever can boast about these things. Talk about marriage. Unbeliever can boast of marriage. If it's some unbelievers have good, glorious marriage.

[56:12] So it has not got anything. Jobs. Health. Some unbelievers don't fall sick. Whatever. Whatever. Children. Success. What is it that you can hope to get, which you can't get as an unbeliever?

[56:27] But this Christian hope, an unbeliever can't dare to hope for that one. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

[56:40] The Christian hope is Christ himself. And when he's coming, he's coming with salvation. We know there's a day coming. Yes. We know there's a day coming.

[56:51] Amen. We know there's a day coming. Amen. And our hope is always fixed on the day. So Paul said, I pray for you that you'll be able to know the hope of his calling. I see somebody growing stronger in hope.

[57:04] Amen. Stronger in faith. Amen. Stronger in love. Amen. And stronger in hope. Amen. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Did you receive something this morning?

[57:15] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[57:41] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.