WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200 Today of course is Easter Sunday, a day where Christians around the world 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:11.000 remember with great thanksgiving the fact that Jesus is risen. That of course 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.240 is something that we remember every Sunday, that's why Christians meet on the 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:17.440 first day of the week because that's the day that Jesus rose. But there's 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:22.600 something very special about Easter Sunday, remembering the amazing truth 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:28.719 that Jesus really is risen. And there's so many things that we could think about 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:35.320 in relation to the resurrection. But this evening I want to focus on one of the 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:40.879 most precious and important topics that we could ever turn our attention to. 00:00:40.879 --> 00:00:46.759 And it's something that comes directly from the fact that Jesus is risen. 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:53.320 Tonight we are going to think about hope. As we do so we'll be looking at 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:58.679 Romans 15 but we'll also be looking at some other passages as well. But let 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:00.679 me read the verse of verse 13 again. 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:18.239 So what do we mean when we talk about hope? Well the biblical words for hope, 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:22.920 both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, they convey the idea of 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:27.480 expectation. You can see that in lots of places there's a couple of examples on 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:33.920 the screen. Isaiah 8.17 says, I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:39.640 from the house of Jacob and I will hope in him. That conveys, that captures very 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:44.120 well what hope is. It's a looking forward to something and you often see 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:50.439 this balance between waiting and hope. It's a longing for something, expecting 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:55.960 something, waiting for something. And we get lots of examples of that in everyday 00:01:55.959 --> 00:02:04.359 life. We hope for good weather. We hope for a good job. We hope that, well for 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:07.839 lots of weeks we were hoping that we could get back into the church building. 00:02:07.839 --> 00:02:12.280 Now we're hoping that everybody can come back and we're expecting 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:20.000 something with a sense of anticipation. And for that reason hope is always 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:25.199 looking forward. We don't hope for something that happened last week. We're 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:30.280 always looking ahead and Paul brings that out really well. He says hope, 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:36.359 that scene is not hope for who hopes for what he sees. But if we hope for what we 00:02:36.359 --> 00:02:43.439 do not see, we wait for it with patience. And so Paul is saying that hope is not 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:52.719 about what we already see or possess. It's all about expectation. So for example, I 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:59.759 spent many years hoping for a wife. But now that I have one, I no longer need to 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:08.360 hope. I just need to pinch myself. Hope is a longing and an expectation for 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:14.960 something that we need or that we desire. And there's a sense in which hope is 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:21.159 kind of an opposite of being scared. Because when you are scared, you are 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:28.960 waiting in expectation of something bad. Whether you're maybe going to the doctor, 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:35.919 scared that you're going to get a bad result or going into an exam scared 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.159 that it's going to be a disaster. When you're scared, you're waiting in 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:45.719 expectation of something bad. When you hope, you are waiting in expectation of 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:52.919 something brilliant. I want to say four things tonight in relation to hope. 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:58.759 First thing I'm going to say is that hope is something that we need. In fact, hope 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:04.039 is something that we desperately need. If you look around the world, you'll see 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:11.039 that there are many people living in acute desperation. So you can think of 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:19.240 refugee camps. You can think of war zones. You can think of places like Mayanmar 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:25.279 just now where there's an awful lot of civil unrest. And even closer to home 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:32.680 here in Scotland, we think of the poverty of many housing schemes. We think 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:38.439 of addictions that people are just in the grip of. We don't need to go very far 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:45.279 to see broken lives, broken hearts. And for all of us, we face the threat of 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:51.560 illness or loss or sorrow. And maybe you feel in the midst of something 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:56.800 like that just now. Maybe you feel desperate. Maybe you feel broken. Maybe 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:03.360 you feel empty. And for all of those reasons, I don't think that I need to 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:09.000 persuade you that the world desperately needs hope. And this, of course, is where 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:15.040 we see that hope is incredibly powerful. Because if you think about it, hope can 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:21.120 meet you wherever you are. Because no matter how difficult your situation or 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:29.120 how much pressure or chaos you might face, hope can still reach you at that 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:35.040 point. I think a good example of this is when you think of refugees, they leave 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:44.840 everything and they embark on a long, dangerous journey. They have nothing 00:05:44.840 --> 00:05:53.720 except hope. And it's hope that's driving them forward as they take each step. 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:58.519 And it's reminding us that hope is one of our most important and urgent needs as 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:04.000 human beings. Imagine that you lost the hope of everything that's precious in 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.879 your life. The hope of seeing your family again, the hope of being able to 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:14.240 achieve things at work, the hope of having a home of possessions. The emptiness 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:23.959 of that would be unbearable. And if we had no hope of these things, we couldn't 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:27.279 live with that situation. We couldn't survive. And that, of course, is why even 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:31.479 people who will go through their whole lives and say, you know, that there isn't 00:06:31.479 --> 00:06:36.519 a God or will just say, you know, that there's just a kind of natural 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:42.279 explanation to everything and there's no afterlife. Even people who live their 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:48.439 whole lives like that, when they're burying a loved one, they'll say, till we 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:56.599 meet again. And that's because no one can live without hope. But that, of course, 00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:03.120 raises the question, why is it that we all tend to hold on to hopes that 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:09.000 ultimately can never last? So I hope that I'll stay healthy one day. I won't be. I 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:15.320 hope that I'll always have my loved ones around me one day. They won't be. I hope 00:07:15.320 --> 00:07:19.240 that I'll be a success in my job for many years to come. But one day I won't be 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:24.800 able to work. I hope that I'll always have a nice house that I can welcome 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:28.960 people to in a garden where I can have barbecues and things like that. One day 00:07:28.960 --> 00:07:34.439 I'll leave all that behind. And you can add your own hopes and dreams to that 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:41.720 list. We all desperately need hopes, but they can't last forever. But this is why 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:46.920 the Bible really is the best book in the world. And this is why the Gospel really 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:51.280 is the greatest thing that you will ever hear. Because I can stand here today and 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:58.439 tell you with the authority of God that in Jesus Christ you can have hope that 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:06.039 will last forever. Indeed, that's why we have the Bible in order that we might have 00:08:06.039 --> 00:08:11.159 hope. Look at what Paul says in verse 4. He says, for what was written in the 00:08:11.159 --> 00:08:14.159 former days was written for our instruction. So he's talking about the 00:08:14.159 --> 00:08:17.599 Old Testament there, that through endurance and through the encouragement 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:23.920 of the Scriptures we might have hope. Hope is the thing that we all desperately 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:28.520 urgently need. And that's exactly what God wants to give us through his word. 00:08:28.520 --> 00:08:32.159 And in fact there's a beautiful phrase in the New Testament that captures this. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:37.040 There's an example of it in Ephesians 1.18 in Ephesians chapter 4. Paul says, 00:08:37.040 --> 00:08:40.000 Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:43.480 hope to which he has called you and what are the riches of his glorious 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:48.159 inheritance in the saints. Then later on there's one body, one spirit just as you 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:54.519 were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. I love that phrase called 00:08:54.519 --> 00:09:07.200 to a hope. The world around us, all of you and me, we need hope and God is calling 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:12.159 us to a hope that will last forever. He's saying come, come look if you need 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:18.799 hope, I can give it to you. Today God is calling every single one of us to a 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:28.600 wonderful, certain and eternal hope. But how do we respond to that call? Well that 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.600 brings us to the second thing that I want to say about hope, that hope is 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:38.000 something that we do. Romans 15 again this time in verse 12 Paul quotes from 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.519 Isaiah where he says, The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:47.039 Gentiles in him will the Gentiles hope. Now in that verse there the word hope is 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:52.200 a verb. In other words it's something that we do and that's emphasized 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:58.759 throughout the New Testament you see the same example in Ephesians 1.11 to 12 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:04.480 talking about being the first to hope in Christ. It's reminding us that hope is 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:09.680 an activity that we engage in. By that we mean that we have a sense of 00:10:09.680 --> 00:10:17.440 expectation, we wait and we long and we anticipate. But the crucial point that in 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:22.759 all of that action and doing that activity of hope there has got to be an 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:30.039 object because hope is like love. You can't just love in a kind of abstract 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:36.240 sense, you can't just say I love full stop. You must love something whether it's 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:40.159 a person or an activity or a possession or whatever it may be. Same with faith, you 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.519 can't just have faith in a kind of vague sense, you must have faith in something 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:51.759 or in someone. Hope is the same, we hope in a specific object. So if we go to 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:56.439 hospital when we're unwell we're putting our hope in the medical staff. We've got 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:01.320 an election coming up and as you vote for somebody you're putting your hope in 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:05.080 that person that they will lead our nation well and we even hope in 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:11.560 ourselves. So we think well I hope I'll be a good father or I hope that I'll be 00:11:11.560 --> 00:11:17.000 successful in my degree or I hope that I'll manage to make progress in my job. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:22.800 Hope always has an object and the Bible is emphasizing to us that when it comes 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:29.959 to this everlasting hope that God offers us there is an object in whom we must 00:11:29.959 --> 00:11:36.959 hope and the Bible emphasizes that by using the phrase hope in. It doesn't just 00:11:36.959 --> 00:11:44.599 say hope in a kind of vague sense, the Bible says hope in God and there's two 00:11:44.599 --> 00:11:52.000 examples for you from Peter and from Timothy. Who through him are believers in 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.279 God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:59.480 are in God. Same in 1st Timothy 4-10 for to this end we 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:03.360 toil and strive because we have our hope set and the living God who is the 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:08.000 savior of all people especially of those who believe. This is really important 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:16.360 to to recognize because a lot of people have hopes for eternity and so what I 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:23.080 mean by that is I think I think it's I think I'm safe to say that most people 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:30.399 in the world have hopes for something beyond this life but not everyone has a 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:39.560 hope in God for eternity but that's what we must have in order to have hope we 00:12:39.560 --> 00:12:44.440 must have an object of that hope we must set our personal hope and trust in Jesus 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:47.200 Christ and you can see in these verses that there's a very strong connection 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:56.440 between hope and believing we have hope because we believe and trust in God and 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:01.760 as a result of that we can hope for some brilliant things we can hope for 00:13:01.760 --> 00:13:08.280 eternal salvation because of everything that God is and everything that he has 00:13:08.280 --> 00:13:12.040 done for us that's really what the message of the Bible is all about 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:18.639 Christianity is not about what we have done or what we contribute it's about 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:25.839 what God has done through his son so God has sent his son into the world as one 00:13:25.839 --> 00:13:30.639 of us God has taken the punishment and implications of our sins onto himself 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:36.199 on the cross in his son God has conquered death by raising his son from 00:13:36.199 --> 00:13:40.959 the dead and God has offered this salvation to us all as a free gift by 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:46.960 his grace God has opened a way for us to come into his family and because of 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:54.400 everything that he is and because of everything that he has done we can hope 00:13:54.400 --> 00:14:02.720 and that's why Paul can say in 1st Timothy that our hope is Jesus Christ he 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:06.720 speaks there of being an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:12.920 Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope and all of this is reinforcing the fact that 00:14:12.920 --> 00:14:18.120 Christians don't have a kind of vague empty mystical optimistic hope where 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:23.200 we're like yes you know we kind of hope for nice stuff one day it's not vague 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:31.639 and mystical and fluffy it is concrete and real and certain because we are 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:36.680 hoping in something that we're hoping in someone in Jesus Christ he is 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:41.120 the substance and definition of our hope he's the object of our hope we hope 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:47.599 because of him our trust our expectation our dependence our hope must be in him 00:14:47.599 --> 00:14:52.120 and all of that's amazing because it means that as Christians our hope is in 00:14:52.120 --> 00:15:01.319 someone who is real not someone who's made up because the Bible is presenting 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:08.000 us with facts about the Persian and work of Jesus Christ and it's that reality 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:15.200 of who he is that enables us to hope and that means that the the vital question 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:20.280 that every single one of us has to ask ourselves is not do you hope because 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:32.480 everyone hopes the vital question is where do you hope who do you hope in do 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.559 you hope in a vague or general way or do you hope in Jesus Christ and if you 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:45.000 don't you can bow your head right now and set your hope in him so hope is 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:50.240 something that we need God is calling us to it hope is something that we 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:56.000 must do we set our hope in God father son and spirit the result of that is the 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:01.799 third thing I want to say that hope is now something that we have Paul 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:05.440 highlights that in verse 13 that we read at the start may the God of hope fill 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:08.840 you with all joy and peace and believing so that by the power of the Holy 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:15.519 Spirit you may abound in hope so if God is the object of our hope the result is 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:21.799 that we have hope now and so as we've been saying we need hope and by hoping 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:27.840 and trusting in God we can have it the New Testament gives us a bit more 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:33.759 details about just what that means about the fact that we have hope in Christ 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.720 remember a moment ago we said that the New Testament uses the phrase hope in 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:41.799 in that it was pointing us to the idea that we'd have an object for our hope 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:49.159 the New Testament also uses the phrase phrase hope of and that's revealing to 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:54.719 us just what we have through our hope in God and there's just four examples here 00:16:54.719 --> 00:16:58.599 that I want to just read out and think about they've all got that phrase hope 00:16:58.599 --> 00:17:05.680 of something so first Thessalonians 5 8 Paul says but since we belong to the 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.480 day let us be sober having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:15.559 helmet the hope of salvation Galatians 5 5 for through the spirit by faith we 00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:21.599 ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness Colossians 1 27 to them 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:24.839 God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the 00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:30.880 glory of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory and Titus 3 7 so 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:34.759 that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:40.039 hope of eternal life four things there a hope of salvation a hope of 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:44.799 righteousness a hope of glory a hope of eternal life now remember what we said 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:49.640 at the start hope means to expect to have a scent sense of anticipation look 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:57.960 just look at what you can anticipate if you are trusting in Jesus if you're a 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:04.740 Christian or if you become one then in him we have the hope of salvation it's 00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:09.079 salvation as I'm sure you know just basically means to be rescued and you 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.839 can use the image of a sinking boat or a fire or whatever may be somebody 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:19.000 rescued from danger we of course are in mortal danger because of our sin but in 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:24.079 Christ we have a rescuer we have salvation and the result is that we're 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:30.680 safe so you think of everything that can threaten you the power of sin whereby 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:34.359 we live in a hostile world where people can teach each other so badly you think 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:39.759 of the effect of sin where we can and will face the threat of disease and 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:43.799 suffering you think of the the father of sin the attacks of the devil who would 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:49.359 love nothing more than to see you fall in the face of all of that we are 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:59.359 completely and totally safe because we have the hope of salvation in Christ we 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.879 also have the hope of righteousness how often do we look at the world and see so 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:11.120 much that's wrong so we see suffering that's wrong and we spoke earlier about 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:17.040 refugees and others who suffered in in in awful ways because they're caught up 00:19:17.040 --> 00:19:23.040 in conflict we see people behaving in a way that's wrong so you can go through 00:19:23.040 --> 00:19:28.620 any level of society in a Western country and you'll find corruption we 00:19:28.619 --> 00:19:34.679 see attitudes that are wrong we see hatred between peoples and communities we 00:19:34.679 --> 00:19:40.439 see people using money and other resources in a way that's wrong and 00:19:40.439 --> 00:19:45.959 things have kind of gone so far wrong that now huge parts of human society 00:19:45.959 --> 00:19:52.159 take their pleasure from things that deep down we know are wrong and all of 00:19:52.159 --> 00:19:57.839 that can leave us to go well where do we turn and the answer is that in God we 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:05.879 find the one who will put everything right because in God we have a hope of 00:20:05.879 --> 00:20:13.000 righteousness and one day there'll be a new creation where righteousness dwells 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:18.599 that means an end to corruption a ban on exploitation a disappearance of 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:24.279 immorality and all suffering will come to an end and that's reminding us of the 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:31.119 fact that that in the new creation there will be a lot of things that we can't do 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:38.799 and thank God that that is true that humanity will never be able to be 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:46.920 brutal to one another again everything that you see in the world going on 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:50.319 around you and that you know is wrong and you wish was different will be gone 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:56.399 forever because in Christ Jesus we have a hope of righteousness we also have a 00:20:56.399 --> 00:21:01.399 hope of glory now that's amazing because glory is a characteristic of God and 00:21:01.399 --> 00:21:04.960 here we see not only do we have a hope of rescue not only do we have a hope of 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:11.799 everything being put right we also have the hope of being so close to God that 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:16.159 we will even share in his glory Paul speaks about that when he talks about 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:22.440 we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of God and being transformed into 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:28.759 the same image from one degree of glory to another it's a great reminder that God 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:33.600 doesn't just want us safe nor does he just want us righteous he actually wants 00:21:33.600 --> 00:21:43.920 us as his family and as his family he wants us to share in the family traits 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.640 of God himself often we can see resemblances in families one of the 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:50.160 brilliant things about being together again as we get to see some of these 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.360 babies who have been born in lockdown and you see some of the since these 00:21:53.360 --> 00:21:59.000 babies and you can see that they're just like their parents in so many ways the 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:07.680 family trait of God's household is glory and God wants us to share in that and 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:13.880 that means that we can look forward to a closeness with God to a knowledge that 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:19.600 he loves us with an immeasurable love and to being treasured to being his 00:22:19.600 --> 00:22:23.240 treasured possession forever it's reminding us that the promise of the 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:32.920 gospel is at the highest level it is a hope of glory the Bible uses a 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:39.160 beautiful image of the new creation as a great wedding feast and I think I've 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.600 probably used this illustration before and so forgive me if you've heard it 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:47.359 and it's not really an illustration it's just a point but and it's so easy to 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:50.799 think that when you get to heaven you'll just kind of slot in slightly unnoticed 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:54.480 because you think well you know there's a lot more important people than you 00:22:54.480 --> 00:23:00.240 there and you know just be nice to just be there and just just to be one of 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:03.679 that number would be amazing I mean I know that I'll just be like at the back 00:23:03.679 --> 00:23:06.719 and you know if you imagine it's a football stadium you'll kind of maybe 00:23:06.719 --> 00:23:10.199 be in the top tier like way back row because there's loads of people that 00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:14.120 have done a far better job of Christianity than you have and we have 00:23:14.120 --> 00:23:19.960 the image of the wedding feast and you know you can imagine maybe a 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:25.519 wedding in a massive football stadium and you think oh it would be amazing if I 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:30.200 could just be like up in the crowd maybe just even if I'm at the very back row I 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:36.120 don't mind it would just be amazing if I could be there and we think you know 00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:41.279 you'd look down and wonder at a distance and see Jesus there and think wow it 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:48.439 would be amazing just to be a guest but the astounding truth is that if you are 00:23:48.439 --> 00:23:55.319 a Christian or if you become one when you come to the new creation to the 00:23:55.319 --> 00:24:00.479 marriage supper of the Lamb as Revelation describes that to that great 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:10.519 image of marriage you won't be a guest you'll be the bride 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:19.120 in Christ we have a hope of salvation we have a hope of righteousness we have a 00:24:19.120 --> 00:24:24.480 hope of glory and we have the hope of eternal life all these hopes salvation 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:28.559 righteousness glory they're wonderful but I think the most amazing thing of them 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:34.000 all is that they're going to last forever forever and ever and ever because in 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:39.440 Christ Jesus we have the hope of eternal life and I want you just to try and let 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:47.639 your minds drift to the endless days of eternity often in life I find myself 00:24:47.639 --> 00:24:52.559 thinking how many more times will I get to do this so you think of you know you 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.079 think of all the things that we haven't been able to do maybe stuff that we've 00:24:55.079 --> 00:25:02.480 loved doing like maybe going up a Monroe or maybe meeting together as a big 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:08.000 group for a barbecue or playing your favorite sport or whatever it may be you 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.879 know the things that we get to do that we love I sometimes find myself thinking 00:25:11.879 --> 00:25:20.119 you know how many more times will I get to do this because you know everything's 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:30.799 on a countdown really isn't it there's no countdowns in heaven by trusting in 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:39.679 Jesus we have a hope that will last forever it's the hope of eternal life 00:25:39.679 --> 00:25:46.039 and all of that is what enables us to endure Paul speaks about this in Romans 00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:50.399 5 he says we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance 00:25:50.399 --> 00:25:56.279 endurance produces character character produces hope and hope does not put us 00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:00.839 to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:06.480 Spirit it's reminding us that if you hope in Jesus then no matter what this world 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:14.399 brings you have hope so if you get a devastating diagnosis it cannot take 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:18.960 away your hope if you suffer a heartbreaking loss it cannot take away 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:25.519 your hope if you are betrayed or abused or shunned by your fellow human it 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:30.960 cannot take away your hope if you feel weak and useless as a Christian if you 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:35.200 think you're struggling and failing and making so many mistakes it cannot take 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:40.880 away your hope and as we all face the shadow of death in Christ Jesus we have 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:47.440 a hope that is stronger than death itself death can and will break every 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:54.280 bore organ and cell in your body but it will never break your hope and that's 00:26:54.280 --> 00:27:01.080 why God can fill you with two amazing things even in the face of the greatest 00:27:01.080 --> 00:27:10.000 trials and they're in verse 13 and can you see what they are joy and peace 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:17.400 through all that God has done for us in Jesus we can be filled with joy and with 00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:22.559 peace and so often life gives us the opposite of these things often life 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:30.000 fills us with sadness and with worry so things happen and our joy is robbed and 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:35.920 we just feel like enough like we've been kicked in the stomach and we can be full 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:39.880 of anxiety about all sorts of things big things small things you go to bed at 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:43.960 night and you can't sleep because you're worrying about stuff so often life 00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:49.440 will fill us with regret and fear so we think of our lives and maybe things that 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:53.200 we've said in the past week or done and we think I wish I hadn't done that and 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:58.040 we can be afraid of the consequences of our actions or of things that might 00:27:58.040 --> 00:28:03.520 happen to us or to loved ones or maybe life will fill you with disillusionment 00:28:03.520 --> 00:28:08.560 and insecurity where maybe you've just you just felt you've been bathed so many 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:12.200 times you just feel like giving up or you feel threatened that everybody's out 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:17.759 to get you or that things are gonna go wrong and that that you know that in 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:24.519 some way everything's gonna be bad and you might get hurt so often life fills 00:28:24.519 --> 00:28:34.200 us with these kind of things the gospel changes those things to joy and peace joy 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:42.120 because of all the amazing stuff that God has done for us and peace because 00:28:42.120 --> 00:28:47.559 his promises are so secure and this means two things it means that you can go 00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:54.640 into tomorrow morning with joy and peace because God's done so much brilliant 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:58.480 stuff for you and is promising so much brilliant stuff for you you can have 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:03.080 joy and peace no matter how rubbish tomorrow morning might feel you can go 00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:07.559 into tomorrow morning with joy and peace Monday morning 5th of April you can 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:14.720 have joy and peace but even more importantly you can go into eternity 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:28.639 with joy and peace the moment you die can be a moment of incredible joy and 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:38.320 unbreakable peace all because of Jesus so hope is something that we need hope 00:29:38.320 --> 00:29:42.080 of something that we do hope is something that we have last of all hope is 00:29:42.080 --> 00:29:49.560 something that we share now this is hinted at in verse 24 where Paul says I 00:29:49.560 --> 00:29:54.240 hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain Paul hopes to see these Christians 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:59.720 because he shares a bond with them he's never met them before but he's hoping 00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:02.319 that he'll get to see them because they're his brothers and sisters in 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:06.359 Christ and he shares something incredibly special with them and the New 00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:10.799 Testament makes it clear that our hope in Jesus is something that we share with 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:15.880 every other believer Paul speaks about this in Titus 2 he speaks about our 00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:21.240 blessed hope the appearing of the glory of our great Savior great God and Savior 00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:27.640 Jesus Christ it's our hope and many many other passages speak in the same way we 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:33.160 share this amazing hope that means that as I look forward to spending eternity in 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:40.160 heaven I can look forward to spending it with you and with everyone who trusts in 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:46.640 Jesus because if we are Christians we are hoping together we are anticipating 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:54.400 together and we are looking forward to the fact that we will be together because 00:30:54.400 --> 00:31:00.400 my hope is your hope and that should bind us all more closely together as 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:09.360 Christians we have an eternal hope and and we are part of it together because 00:31:09.360 --> 00:31:15.800 the hope of the gospel is not a private individualistic hope it's a shared 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:26.879 hope it's something that we have together and and that's why you know if you 00:31:26.879 --> 00:31:29.480 think about the gospel if you think about what Jesus said about the two most 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:34.240 important commands were to love God and to love one another that's what we are 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.879 to spend our lives doing it's also what we're going to spend eternity doing 00:31:37.879 --> 00:31:44.759 loving God and loving one another as brothers and sisters in his new creation 00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:51.519 it's a shared hope and that also means that if you're not yet a Christian you 00:31:51.519 --> 00:32:01.319 can share it too because it's not a private club that's just exclusive it's 00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:10.200 an open door and God is holding out his arms and he wants you to have this hope 00:32:10.200 --> 00:32:14.720 as well and we want to share it with you we want to share this hope with any 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:20.839 everyone that we meet this week so hope is something that we need hope is 00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:25.519 something that we do it's something that we have it's something that we share 00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:33.400 and it's all because of who God is and of course it all makes perfect sense 00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:43.720 because what kind of God is God well Romans 13 15 13 tells us he's the God 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:52.079 of hope and remember what we said at the very start hope is looking forward in 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:59.440 expectation for something brilliant and God is saying that's what I am all about 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:08.000 that's exactly what I will give you trust in me and I have so much brilliant 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:19.359 stuff for you to hope for but never forget that God won't actually satisfy 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:29.960 your hopes he'll blow them out the water and he will utterly overflow them with 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:42.519 more than you could ever have hoped for Amen father we thank you that you are 00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:47.759 the God of hope and we pray that you would fill us all with that joy and 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:52.120 peace that only comes through the hope that you give us in Jesus Christ and we 00:33:52.120 --> 00:33:58.519 pray for people who are in desperate need of hope and if we meet anybody this 00:33:58.519 --> 00:34:03.200 week who is in desperate need of hope please help us to see that and help us 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:08.800 to give them the hope that that that only you can give us in the gospel thank 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:15.880 you so much that we can go into a new week with hope and with our hope that 00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:22.920 is utterly secure and it's all because you gave your son to die on the cross 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:30.400 and the fact that he has now risen again Amen