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SEEKING HIGHER GROUND

…in Hope

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    The New Year is coming and we are getting excited about our theme for 2022. 

 

B.      However, this year has not passed us by yet.  We need to stay focused on our theme for 2021 which is:  “Seeking Higher Ground in 2021.”

 

C.     We have preached numerous sermons about various areas wherein we need to seek higher ground.

 

D.    We have entitled this lesson:  “Seeking Higher Ground…in Hope.”

 

I.                   THE CHRISTIAN LIFE INVOLVES HOPE

 

A.    Paul notes that hope is one of three wonderful things that abide right now (I Cor. 13:13).

 

And now abideth faith, hope, charity these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

 

B.      Paul lists hope among the seven ones in Ephesians 4:4-6.

 

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

 

C.     When we go back to Ephesians 1:18, Paul said that he prayed for the Ephesians.  Part of that prayer involved hope.

 

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

 

1.      Paul affirmed that the hope exists.

2.      He also deeply desired for his brethren to “know” that hope. 

a.      That little word “know” means “to be aware of, to understand, to perceive.”

b.      Verbalizing the fact that we have hope is one thing, but truly understanding the hope of our calling is a different matter.

 

II.                HAVING NO HOPE IS A SAD CONDITION

 

A.    Paul noted that there are people in the world who have no hope (I Thess. 4:13).

 

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

 

B.      Listen to a few statements made by those who had no hope.

1.      Job when he was afflicted (Job 7:6)

 

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.

 

2.      When Paul was aboard the storm-tossed ship in the Mediterranean Sea (Acts 27:20).

 

…all hope that we should be saved was taken away.

 

3.      A real suicide note:

 

I can’t swim any longer.

I can’t hold my breath.

I’ve been trying so hard

But the waves

Are slowly pulling me under

And I think I’ll let them.

 

C.     What causes these feelings of hopelessness?

1.      Overcome with the mental anguish of depression.

2.      Trapped in a sea of problems and difficulty.

3.      Believing that tomorrow will be just like today.

4.      Pushed away from those who are supposed to love and accept you.

5.      Inability to overcome the lies one believes about self.

6.      Focused on the negative with no sight upon one’s blessings.

7.      A failure to reveal one’s extreme burdens to others.

8.      Seeing the hardship that one is putting on others.

9.      A false belief that death is always better than living.

 

D.    Without hope there is depression, low energy, grumbling, no production, worldly desires, and possible death.

 

III.             GOD HAS GIVEN THE CHRISTIAN HOPE.  WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE?

 

A.    Hope is an unseen reality (Rom. 8:24).

 

For we are saved by hope:  but hope that is seen is not hope:  for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

 

B.      Hope is a delayed reward (Prov. 13:12).

 

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick:  but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

 

C.     Hope is a promise to be fulfilled later (Tit. 1:2; see also Lam. 3:26).

 

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.

 

D.    Hope is something that is steadfast and sure (Heb. 6:19).

 

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…

 

E.      Hope is that which lies in another world.

1.      A moment ago, we read about our hope of eternal life.

2.      Mark 10:30

 

But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

 

 

F.      Hope is a motivator.

1.      To trust (Rom. 4:18)

2.      To work (I Cor. 9:10; Heb. 6:11)

3.      To remain pure (I John 3:3)

4.      To have courage (Prov. 31:24)

5.      To endure (Ps. 16:9; Rom. 8:25; Heb. 6:19).

 

G.     Hope is a producer of joy (Rom. 12:12; Heb. 3:6).

 

Rejoicing in hope…

 

H.    Hope is a comfort in death (I Thess. 4:14).

1.      In verse 13, Paul had mentioned those who had died with no hope.

2.      Now listen to what he tells the Thessalonian Christians.

 

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

 

IV.             HOPE:  DEFINED AND ACQUIRED

 

A.    Hope has been defined as desire plus expectation.

1.      We desire the things God has promised.

2.      We expect to have them one day.

 

B.      I like to define hope as deep desire and earnest expectation.

 

C.     How do we acquire a strong hope?

1.      We must understand who God is, especially that He is trustworthy.

2.      We must drink deeply from His holy Word and trust what He says.

3.      We must get our focus off the world and the things of the world.

4.      We must remember that we are a triune being:  body, soul, and spirit.

5.      We must keep in mind that we are finite.  Our lives here will come to an end.

6.      We must surround ourselves with those who possess a strong hope.

7.      We must find a way to constantly think about all the facets of hope:  the Second Coming, the Resurrection, Heaven, and Eternal Life.

 

D.    Why do we want to do these things?  (Rom. 8:24).

 

For we are saved by hope…

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    Job 14:7

 

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch will not cease.

 

B.      Psalm 71:14

 

But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.