A Better Hope
Book of Hebrews Chapter 6
What is hope? Hope is a desire for something that is good along with some expectation of obtaining it.
We should understand that our hope as Christians, Christian is being like Jesus Christ as the example He has given to us, our hope is in the promises of God.
The Bible is our proof that God never breaks His promises.
We can have hope in the promises of God with our confidence, that what God has done in the past God will do in the future, because God says He does not ever change His character.
In the Old Testament:
Mal 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I change not"; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
In the New Testament:
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning".
Heb 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever".
The Lord Jesus Christ is the God of Hope!
Rom 15:13 Now "the God of hope" fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
As Christians, our hope lies in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ whom we know is the "express image of God", like God in every way.
Luk 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luk 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
Luk 24:49 And, behold, "I send the promise of my Father upon you":
We have assurance of hope:
1) Because of what was done through the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
2) Because the Lord Jesus Christ sent the Comforter to live within us.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
We should ask ourselves, "how can we not have hope in the promises of God"?
*****Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The full assurance of "hope" lies in our future glory as we will be like the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
The full assurance of "faith" lies in the fact that we have been pardoned!
Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, "for he will abundantly pardon".
We see that "repentance" is necessary to receive a pardon!
Repentance is:
A complete change of mind.
A complete change of direction.
A complete knowledge of our true purpose.
Along with true sense of our own guilt and sinfulness!
It is in our best interest that we be diligent to love the Lord till the very end!
You see there is going to be "an end"!
There will be "an end" to our hope once our salvation has been fulfilled.
If we are "diligent" in living for Christ, He will be just as diligent to make sure we get to our new home in Heaven!
When we have one foot in the Church and the other foot in the World will never have that assurance that comes by the "Grace of God"!
To be slothful, is to be a lazy Christian!
To be slothful, is a danger to every Christian, the answer to being slothful is being "diligent"!
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We need to be "diligent" to study the Word of God.
We need to be "diligent" to pray.
We need to be "diligent" to be a witness for Jesus Christ!
We need to be “diligent” in our love for our Savior!
2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation
To be with Christ Jesus is to be more alive than we could think was possible!
*****Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
It seems like it has been every week lately that we learn of another of our brothers and sisters who have gone on Home ahead of us to be with the Lord.
We sometimes mourn when we should be rejoicing because we have that same yearning to be with them.
You see when our bodies reach death's door, it is at this time that we see the true meaning of life, because we will have inherited the promises of God!
Those who have gone before us are not dead, they are alive, and more alive than they could have been here upon this earth!
They are now living the perfect life.
Probably the greatest example of this truth on this earth, is Abraham.
God made a sure promise of a son to Abraham, a child through which a great nation of people would be born.
All Abraham had to do was believe what God had said to him, go to where God said to go, and live as God said to live!
Abraham did as God instructed and him even though his faith was not perfect, God fulfilled His promise with Isaac even though Sarah and Abraham were far beyond childbearing years.
This was not the true promise that God intended:
Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
The promise God was making was that from the lineage of Abraham would come the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!
The land promised to Abraham was the area called Palestine, but the spiritual application is the true Promised Land which is the New Heaven!
The important thing is the Abraham believed the promises of God and therefore inherited the promises of God.
There has certainly been a nation of people who believe and follow God just as did Abraham.
Today they are called Christians, because they are trying to be more like Jesus Christ than of being like Abraham.
Abraham endured many things in his lifetime because being a true follower of God may be easy, but the world will do its best to make it hard!
Many characters in the Bible are our examples of true Christians, but there are also many examples who we see in the Church today.
Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Why did God go to so much trouble to teach us these things?
He wanted a people who are not full of doubt!
*****Heb 6:16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Heb 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
God knows that our world would grow so evil and wicked that it would be hard for some to trust Him!
We see these things happening before our very eyes today!
As we have seen over the history of the world and even in simple agreements people will swear by an "oath".
Many times that oath will be upon the name of some person not involved.
Some swear on their mother's name, some even on a child's name, and some on the name of some great person in history.
We should understand that an oath in a religious manner, is lawful under the Gospel or this writer would never have mentioned it and the Holy Spirit would not have allowed it in this fashion.
An oath in reality, is in the fact that God is listening, and that oath is to Him as a witness.
In the Bible, an oath is also called a vow.
God is profoundly serious about vows and oaths:
Deu_23:21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.
Deu_23:22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.
Ecc_5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Ecc_5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Sadly, vows are not of great concern to most today and our government has never been able to keep them!
Just ask the Native Americans but not just to them.
If you want to hear many vows, just wait until our next election and you will hear so many it will make you sick and most of them have no intention of keeping them.
Divorces happen over broken vows!
Peace is obtained and broken over vows!
Many a sinner have made vows to our Savior and so many of us fail to keep them.
In all of them, we can be sure God is listening!
Here we see that God has made certain vows and He always keeps His promises, His vows, His oaths, and all the Word of God!
2Ti 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
It is impossible for God to break His vows and His promises!
1Th 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
God cannot change and still be God!
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;
It is impossible for God not to be God!
*****Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
With so many suicides happening today, we can conclude the we humans cannot live without hope!
Without hope, most people find no reason to live!
When we indoctrinate our young people at an early age and they find that out, they see the world for what it is and it removes their hope.
When false churches teach their lies and people find them to be liars, some will give up believing there is no hope.
It is only the true God and His Word that can give us the hope we need to stay faithful till the very end!
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?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
When we have hope in our salvation, we have no fear of death and leave that in the hands of God, who is the giver and the taker of life!
God will fulfill all His promises and He does not need anyone to help Him!
My hope in God is my refuge, my shelter, and my protection from danger, from distress, and from my enemies!
God gives us the picture of a mighty ship caught in a terrible storm desperately seeking a safe harbor to drop its anchor.
Believers flee from the storms of this world to God.
Believers flee for the distress of sin and shame in this world, to God.
Believers flee from the most dangerous enemy of this world (Satan) to God.
Because God is our safe harbor, God is our only hope in the Promised Land of Heaven!
My anchor is both sure and steadfast.
My anchor cannot slip.
My anchor cannot break.
My anchor, the Lord Jesus Christ will hold me no matter what!
Because my anchor is buried within the veil of the Holy of Holies upon the immovable throne of God!
My anchor is caught upon the Throne of my King, King Jesus, the right hand of God!
It is my Lord Jesus who opened that veil to receive me, and I will forever be with my Lord!
Col 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
Col 1:4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Col 1:6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
My hope is in the promises of my Savior and My God and, they are sure!
Amen
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