To Hope • Craig Smith • October 24, 2021
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Prov. 13:12)
Biblical hope is rooted in the certainty and expectation that God is
…
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” (Heb. 10:23)
Our hope grows as we witness His faithfulness in…
• The stability of His
– “Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.” (Psalm 119:90)
• The completion of His
– “O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.” (Isaiah 25:1)
• The fulfillment of His
– “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” (Joshua 21:45)
• The character of His
– “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.” (Rev. 19:11)
• The commitment to His
– “…if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13)
His faithfulness has created so many shades of hope by which to stand…
• The hope of our
– “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
• The hope in our
– “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:8)
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far… (Phil. 1:23b)
• The hope of our
– “In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3b-5)
• The hope of our
– “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God… And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thes. 4:16, 17b)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… (Rev. 21:1)
…set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Pet. 1:13b)
