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Our Hope: Its Arrival and Its Coming · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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I get the privilege of kind of kicking off the Advent season. Advent was something we never really did in my home, but we definitely celebrated the birth of Christ.
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! And it's something that I definitely enjoy doing every year now with this church body.
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And as Nathan said, it just really means Advent is just a Latin for the coming of or the arrival of an important person or event.
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And there's no greater person in the universe than Jesus our Messiah and no greater event than Him coming to earth and walking among us as a man.
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So Christ, our King, He has come and He is coming.
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That's where I sort of get, I guess, the title for this message that I sort of created late last night in my head.
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But really, it's our hope, it's arrival, and it's coming.
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Our hope, it's arrival, and it's coming.
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So the plea for this time is that during the holiday season, or I'll call it Christmas season, for those of you who might be offended by that,
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but whatever you want to call it, we're tempted to place our hope in so many places that really just don't matter.
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A lot of counterfeit hopes, if you would.
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And it's a time for us to embrace the true meaning of what we try to celebrate this time of the year,
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which is our hope is in Christ and not in just the counterfeit, superficial hopes that are offered to us during this holiday time.
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And on the other hand, I know for a lot of people, actually, this can be a sad time.
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Christmas season can be a very sad time.
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You've lost someone in your past that this just brings back painful memories of.
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It's a time when we look back and remember good times and kind of are sad that those times seem to not be present with us right now.
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And we're going through that.
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And a lot of people need just hope restored.
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You've had a setback in life.
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Something hasn't worked out, and you're filled with sorrow.
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So the prayer is that God would fill us with hope this morning, renew our hope,
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overflowing to where we are empowered to go forward for the advancement of the gospel, for the glory of Christ.
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So really just four things this morning we're going to walk through together.
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And one simply is our need of a sure hope.
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Our need of hope.
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Our need of a sure hope.
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So many of us, well, I should, excuse me, all of us, myself included,
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have taken our hopes and misplaced it in things that could not deliver.
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Over the course of our lives, we've all done this.
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We've put our hope in something, and it let us down.
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It disappointed us.
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We put our hopes in a person, in a relationship,
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something that we thought was going to deliver us from present hard circumstances,
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and we thought this person is going to, is where I'm putting all my hope in.
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It's going to fix all my wrongs and deliver me out of this hard situation.
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Others placing hope in success, like in their future.
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You know, like anything from promotion at work to having a salary raised to having a lot of money in the bank.
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You're hoping to get into a certain neighborhood, a club, a college, a fraternity, a sorority, a sports team, whatever it is.
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Like you're putting your hope in those things.
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Like this is going to satisfy me.
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This is going to give me life.
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And we all have been let down by those things.
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Ask people who thought that at one point in their lives, and they'll tell you it didn't deliver.
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However, it always left us empty.
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So last night, I was out to eat with my wife and some of her friends, and I kind of threw this out there.
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I was like thinking about using this as an illustration today.
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And I'm just going to go for it anyway.
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I said, how many of you have seen the movie Lonesome Dove?
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And they were like.
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And that's what's wrong with America.
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And so I know that some of my guys and some of my boys know Lonesome Dove,
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but it's just an old great Western with Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall.
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Very hardcore cowboy movie.
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And in the movie, though, there's like a young damsel in distress named Lorena.
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And she is stuck in this little border town and really wants to get out of that border town and go to San Francisco.
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Her hope is she wants to go to San Francisco.
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There's all these incredible people and things going on.
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But she's stuck in this Texas-Mexican border town called Lonesome Dove.
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And she puts her hope in this kind of hard, old, dusty cowboy named Jake.
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And she's putting her hopes in this guy to take her to San Francisco, not this Jake.
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He's a Jake Spoon in the movie.
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So she's putting her hope in this cowboy to take her to San Francisco.
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But the older, more rugged, more tender cowboy in the movie, Augustus McCray, played by Robert Duvall,
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he's a kind-hearted cowboy.
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And he tells her, knowing that Jake's really kind of a lowlife and a scoundrel,
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he tells her, Jake's too leaky of a vessel to put much hope in.
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And then he goes on, he says, but then again, we all have leaks after all.
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So we put our hope in leaky vessels.
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And the Bible has a term for that.
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It's broken cisterns that hold no water.
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So deep theology and Lonesome Dove.
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And many of you have placed your hope and are placing your hope in leaky vessels.
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And they're going to let you down.
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They're going to disappoint you every single time.
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I have a friend that some of you know.
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And he feels like if you meet this guy, you just think this man is like a military machine.
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He is a walking human weapon in every sense of the way.
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And his hope was to get into this very elite group in our military.
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And he had like gone through things that probably 99.9% of the people fell out of.
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And then he got to the very end and didn't make it.
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And he is like seriously crushed right now.
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Seriously going through that and trusting the Lord.
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But really having a hope in something that he had felt like his whole life was directed towards.
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And all of us have experienced that serious letdown before.
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And a lot of us have lost hope completely.
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You've been thrown down to the ground so many times that you're scared to get back up.
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You're scared to even hope for anything anymore.
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Scared of being let down again.
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And there's many times when I was in the hospital and I was scared to hope that I actually might have a normal life.
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Because I've been thrown down so many times.
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Every time I thought I was getting better, I wasn't.
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And once all of us have tasted the bitter disappointment,
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so many times our hearts get sick and crushed.
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And the scripture says in Proverbs 13,
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Hope deferred makes the heart sick.
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But a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
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So without hope, like we are sick.
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Very sick.
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Our souls are.
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And in a lot of ways,
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when we talk about hope in our language, in the English language,
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most of the time,
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we're not really referring to it in the sense that God's word tells us.
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We're usually almost substituting the word hope with something that's really just called wishful thinking.
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We desire, we push ourselves into something that we imagine and fantasize about that we want to happen.
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And we put all our efforts into that.
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It's what governs our beliefs and our decisions, but it's not real.
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Instead of actually looking at evidence and factual things that point to truth,
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we follow like the sinful desires of our hearts.
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And we have wishful thinking, even though they're void of reality most of the time.
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But why is everything that way?
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You know?
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Why is it that whatever we put our hope in just always lets us down?
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Always lets us down.
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Why are we all leaky vessels?
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Well, the answer, very simply,
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that most of you are very aware of,
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is that the scripture tells us that we all have exchanged the truth about God for a lie.
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And we worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.
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So giving our hope and our love to the things of this world,
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so just say like horizontally instead of vertically,
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that seriously disorients us and leaves us to where we have no real hope at all.
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We, instead of giving that to the immortal, invisible, the only God,
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instead of giving it to Him,
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we give it to people, to things, to junk,
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material stuff that's going to burn up one day and doesn't matter.
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We put it there.
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And God calls this trading or this exchanging
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of our love and our hope in Him to the things of the world.
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He calls that idolatry in scripture.
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So, in Jeremiah chapter 2,
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connecting it to what we said a minute ago about leaky vessels,
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forsaking God, the fountain of living waters,
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and carving out broken cisterns that hold no water.
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That's what we all have done.
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We've turned away from God to the world
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and said to the stuff in the world,
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give me only what God can give me.
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And it's disgusting.
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And we fail.
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And that's why our hope diminishes.
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So, instead of possessing fullness of life
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and possessing the love of God,
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listen to this.
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Jonah chapter 2, verse 6.
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This is what Jonah says.
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He says,
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Those who pay regard to vain idols
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forsake their hope of steadfast love.
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Those who pay regard to vain idols
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forsake their hope of steadfast love.
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So, our hopes are going to be destroyed
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if we turn to the things of this world,
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to anything at all,
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other than the only living God.
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And in 700 B.C.,
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the prophet Isaiah spoke about the same idea
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of our need for restoration and hope.
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Isaiah 64, verse 6, he says,
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We all have become one who is unclean,
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and all our righteous deeds are polluted garments.
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We all fade away like a leaf,
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and our iniquities, like the wind,
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take us away.
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There is no one who calls upon your name.
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No one rouses himself to take hold of you.
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For you have hidden your face from us.
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That's a big deal.
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In the Hebrew language,
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and in their culture at this time,
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to see God's face was the greatest blessing.
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The max, the best, to see God's face.
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The worst was for God to hide His face from you
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in disfavor.
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And he's like,
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You have hidden your face from us
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and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
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So, 700 years before Christ came,
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there was a cry out for a need
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of a real hope to come to us.
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And so, where can we put it?
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And that's the second thing.
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Number two is the source of our hope.
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And I just want you to see one verse.
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Look at Romans 15, verse 13.
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Romans 15, verse 13.
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We've got one verse here,
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and then a main text we'll look at in just a minute.
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But the source of our hope,
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Romans 15, verse 13,
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is what it says.
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May the God of hope
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fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
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so that by the power of the Holy Spirit,
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you may abound in hope.
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So, there's only one safe place,
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only one sure deposit
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that you can put your hope in,
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and that's not going to let us down.
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It's not a leaky vessel.
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And that is like the only living God.
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That's the only thing.
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Nothing else can deliver.
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So, may the God of hope.
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So, God is both the source of our hope
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and the supplier of our hope.
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Paul says He is the God of hope,
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declaring something about the very essence of God.
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Like, it's a part of who He is,
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His nature, His character.
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He is a God of hope.
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And so, He doesn't just inspire hope in us,
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like He is the author of the hope in us.
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He doesn't just dispense out hope from Himself.
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He's like, it's a part of His very being,
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His very essence, His very character.
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And so, He is a God of hope
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for us to just dive into completely.
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The only thing we can take sure confidence in.
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So, Christian hope,
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along like we just mentioned a minute ago,
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Christian hope is not wishful thinking.
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It's like the total opposite, actually.
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Most of the ways that the Bible uses the words hope,
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both Old and New Testament,
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is opposite from how we ordinarily use it.
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It's used around 200 times,
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at least in the Old and New Testament.
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And as we begin to draw it out,
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you can kind of put together,
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more or less,
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a meaning of what biblical hope is.
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So, as always,
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for great definitions of things,
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look to John Piper,
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everybody says,
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this is what biblical hope is.
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Here's a good definition,
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I think,
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expresses what the Scripture says.
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He says,
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hope is a confident expectation
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and desire for something good in the future.
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a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future.
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So, hope implies looking forward to something in the future with joy,
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enthusiasm,
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and a big word,
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confidence.
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So, you're not just,
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it's a real thing that you are sure is going to happen.
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But you're looking forward to it,
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a good thing,
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a desirable thing,
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and your confidence and your hope is in it.
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So,
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the answer is hope in God,
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not cross your fingers and hope all turns out well.
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Psalm 62,
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verse 5 through 7,
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this is a description of the sure and confident hope we're talking about.
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This is David,
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and he says,
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for God alone,
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O my soul,
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wait in silence,
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for my hope is from him.
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He only is my rock and my salvation,
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my fortress.
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I shall not be shaken.
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On God rests my salvation and my glory.
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My mighty rock,
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my refuge is in God.
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That's like a confident thing,
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like he is not going to let me down.
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This is a sure deal.
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My full trust,
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full confidence is in God.
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So then,
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if God is a God of hope,
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and we are hopeless creatures,
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he has to find a way to initiate that with us.
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He has to find a way to bring that hope to us,
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right?
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If you want to think of it that way.
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And that's where our Christ comes into the picture.
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That's where Jesus comes into the picture.
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That's at least number three,
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which is the dawning of our hope.
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And here's our big text.
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Look at Luke chapter two.
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Incredible story in the gospel of Luke,
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after the birth of Christ.
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Kind of towards this similar thing that we look at towards Christmas.
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Just a very awesome story.
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And a little tip just for studying the Bible.
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I know sometimes like,
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like,
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like,
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let's say you're looking for a word like,
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thanks,
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or hope,
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or joy.
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And you just go to the back of your Bible,
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look to the concordance,
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and find every,
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every verse that has the word in it.
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Like,
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it's not always the best way to study something.
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Just,
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just a tip there.
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But oftentimes,
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you may not see the word in a translation.
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But,
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at least in terms of topical studies,
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look for stories that illustrate what that means.
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So,
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this is a story that illustrates what real hope is.
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It,
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it pictures it perfectly.
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So,
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Luke chapter two,
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starting down in verse 22.
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And this is after the birth of Christ.
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And after the shepherds and the angels,
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you know,
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come and worship,
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worship God.
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And finding the baby lying in a manger.
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All of that.
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This is after all that happens.
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And then,
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verse 22,
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we see,
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in this little text,
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example of two people,
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Simeon and Anna,
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that had an incredible life-giving hope
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and the Messiah.
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Verse 22,
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And when the time came for their purification,
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according to the law of Moses,
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they brought him up to Jerusalem
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to present him to the Lord.
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As it was written in the law of the Lord,
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every male who first opens the womb
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shall be called holy to the Lord
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and to offer a sacrifice
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according to what it said in the law of the Lord,
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a pair of turtle doves
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or two young pigeons.
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Now there was a man in Jerusalem
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whose name was Simeon.
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And this man was righteous and devout,
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waiting for the consolation of Israel.
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And the Holy Spirit was upon him.
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And it had been revealed to him
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by the Holy Spirit
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that he would not see death
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before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
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And he came in the Spirit into the temple.
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And when the parents brought in the child,
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Jesus,
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to do for him according to the custom of the law,
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he took him up in his arms
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and blessed God and said,
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Lord,
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now you are letting your servant
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depart in peace
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according to your word.
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For my eyes have seen your salvation,
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that you have prepared
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in the presence of all peoples,
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a light of revelation to the Gentiles
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and for the glory
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to your people Israel.
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And his father and his mother
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marveled at what was said about him.
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And Simeon blessed them
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and said to Mary, his mother,
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Behold, this child is appointed
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for the fall and rising
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of many in Israel
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and for a sign that is opposed.
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A sword will pierce through your own soul also,
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so that thoughts from many hearts
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may be revealed.
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And there was a prophetess,
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Anna, the daughter of Phanel,
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of the tribe of Asher.
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She was advanced in years,
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having lived with her husband seven years
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when she was a virgin.
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And then as a widow until she was 84.
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So this is a lady up in the age.
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She did not depart from the temple,
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worshiping with fasting and prayer
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night and day.
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And coming up at that very hour,
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she began to give thanks to God
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and speak of Him
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to all who were waiting
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for the redemption of Jerusalem.
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So here's a story
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of these two people.
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First, Simeon,
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probably a much older man.
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That's kind of how I envision it.
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No, it doesn't say that.
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He's waiting to kind of part
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from this world.
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And God tells him,
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like, I'm going to,
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you're not going to leave
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until you see the Messiah
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that I have promised.
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And he was a good, devout man,
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giving himself daily over to the Lord.
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He was waiting for the consolation.
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So what Wes and Liz
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just sang about,
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the consolation of Israel,
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the comfort that God
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would bring to His people
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by sending someone
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to deliver them
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from their sins.
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And he was trusting in
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the Old Testament
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messianic prophecies.
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This man knew the Scripture.
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He knew what the real Messiah
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coming would be like
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for the forgiveness of sins
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and for the salvation
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of the people.
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If you see that,
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he said that this salvation
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will not just be for Israel.
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It will also be for the Gentiles,
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for the nations.
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So he spoke this over them.
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And then he then revealed to Mary
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that on that day,
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a sword will pierce your heart.
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When you see your son crucified,
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you're going to suffer
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when you watch him die.
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And any mother would know
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how hard that would be.
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But then it goes on.
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It's like the Holy Spirit
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was empowering him
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to do all these things.
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And man,
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just such an awesome relationship
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with God
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that God had promised him,
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you won't die
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until you see him.
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And then when they brought him up,
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he knew it was him.
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There he is.
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This is the one
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I've waited for.
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And he will bring salvation
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to the nations.
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So then you have Anna,
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this prophetess
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who came out
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and again spoke truth over him.
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These people who had longed
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to see the real Messiah,
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not the false Messiah
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that so many in Israel
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have been waiting for,
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but the real Messiah
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to come and bring salvation
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from sin and death
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and to restore us back to God.
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That's a,
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I mean,
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can you imagine
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just the waiting
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and the watching,
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the hope that they had to have
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to wait for God's Messiah
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to come.
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So that's like
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the incarnate hope.
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So truth,
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or excuse me,
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joy and hope
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dawn on us
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at the incarnation.
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thousands of years
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after waiting
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to the redeemer,
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Christ came
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into the world
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and we know
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that he was Emmanuel,
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God with us.
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One of my favorite
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quotes,
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some of the college
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students have heard me
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use this before,
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but one of my favorite quotes
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about the incarnation
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is from St. Augustine
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probably in the fourth century.
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This is what he says
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about Jesus.
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He took to himself
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what he was not
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while remaining
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what he was.
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He continued to be
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what he is
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while appearing to us
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as we are.
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You have to almost
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look at it and dissect that
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about real more time.
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He took to himself
23:39
what he was not,
23:41
namely human flesh,
23:43
while remaining
23:44
what he was,
23:45
while remaining
23:45
in essence God.
23:47
he continued to be
23:49
as he is,
23:51
God,
23:52
while appearing to us
23:54
as we are
23:55
in human flesh.
23:58
And so,
23:59
this hope,
24:00
as Romans says,
24:01
Paul says this,
24:02
this hope does not
24:03
disappoint us.
24:05
This hope does not
24:06
put us to shame.
24:07
Romans 5 and 6.
24:09
This hope does not
24:10
put us to shame
24:11
because God's love
24:12
has been poured out
24:13
into our hearts
24:13
through the Holy Spirit
24:15
whom he has given us.
24:16
for while we were weak,
24:18
at the right time,
24:20
Christ died
24:20
for the ungodly.
24:22
So not when you had
24:23
helped God
24:24
to save yourself
24:25
or gotten yourself
24:27
in a certain mode
24:28
where God could save you,
24:29
it's while you were weak,
24:30
while you were helpless,
24:32
while you could do nothing,
24:33
Christ came
24:34
and died for you.
24:36
So,
24:37
that is what we celebrate now,
24:39
looking back on
24:40
Christ's first coming
24:41
into the world
24:42
as a man,
24:43
walking among us
24:44
and then dying on the cross
24:46
and then resurrecting
24:47
from the dead.
24:49
So because of that,
24:51
brings us to number four,
24:54
the future of our hope.
24:56
The future of our hope.
24:59
So,
25:00
maybe two more places
25:02
for you to look,
25:03
but I just kind of want you
25:04
to see this.
25:04
1 John 3,
25:07
towards the back
25:08
of your Bible,
25:09
in those last few epistles
25:11
of John.
25:12
1 John 3,
25:14
and go to verse 2.
25:17
So this is about
25:18
the future of our hope.
25:20
So we're celebrating,
25:21
looking back
25:22
at Christ's arrival
25:23
and His humility,
25:24
and now we're looking forward
25:25
to Him returning
25:26
in glory and majesty.
25:29
1 John 3,
25:31
verse 2.
25:31
Beloved,
25:34
we are God's children now,
25:37
and what we will be
25:38
has not yet appeared,
25:40
but we know
25:42
that when He appears,
25:44
we shall be like Him,
25:46
because we shall see Him
25:47
as He is,
25:49
and everyone
25:49
who thus hopes in Him
25:52
purifies himself
25:54
as He is pure.
25:57
This is a text
25:58
about the second coming
25:59
of Christ.
26:01
It's this idea
26:02
that we place our hope
26:03
on the second coming
26:04
of the Lord.
26:07
And when He comes,
26:09
all the sin
26:09
and all the stuff
26:10
that you deal with
26:11
right now,
26:12
be gone.
26:14
And when you see Him,
26:16
we will be like Him.
26:17
We will become like
26:19
what we were meant to be
26:20
before the fall.
26:22
It's incredible
26:23
for people who have
26:24
problems like me.
26:25
Like, I can't wait
26:26
to that day.
26:28
And on the other hand,
26:29
it says this,
26:30
do you know
26:31
how you believe this?
26:32
Like, I know if I
26:33
give you a theology test
26:34
and say, hey,
26:35
do you believe
26:35
in the second coming
26:36
of Christ?
26:37
Most of you would say,
26:38
yes, I do.
26:39
Here's where it says it
26:40
in the Bible.
26:42
There you go.
26:43
But the evidence
26:44
that you believe that
26:45
is in the next verse.
26:48
Verse 3.
26:49
Everyone who thus hopes
26:51
in Him
26:51
purifies himself
26:53
as He is pure.
26:55
are you readying
26:57
your soul
26:58
for that day?
26:59
Are you readying
27:00
your life?
27:02
Are you just sort of
27:03
putting it off
27:04
like something
27:04
that actually
27:05
will not happen?
27:06
Which proves that
27:07
you actually don't
27:08
believe it a lot of the time.
27:10
We go through seasons.
27:11
We go in and out of that.
27:12
But I'm just saying
27:12
that if our hope
27:14
is real,
27:15
we will prepare
27:16
ourselves for that day.
27:18
Preparing yourself
27:18
for something
27:19
very important
27:20
for our bridegroom
27:22
Christ
27:23
to come back
27:24
to take us
27:25
to the marriage
27:26
feast of the Lamb.
27:28
Are you
27:28
readying yourself
27:29
for that?
27:30
Purifying yourself
27:31
just as He
27:32
is pure?
27:34
So that is the hope
27:35
that we have
27:35
is He's going to come back
27:36
and He's going to take us
27:37
and death and sin
27:39
will be no more.
27:42
So,
27:43
in conclusion,
27:44
just a few things
27:45
to sort of
27:45
latch on to
27:47
to kind of work out
27:48
a lot of this.
27:48
In conclusion,
27:49
we need to celebrate
27:51
during this time
27:53
leading up to Christmas
27:54
and really always,
27:57
but especially now,
27:58
that we have a real,
28:01
confident,
28:02
sure hope
28:02
in Christ.
28:04
That He came to us
28:06
and He is coming back.
28:08
And to hold on
28:08
to that hope
28:09
and not let go.
28:11
I don't know why
28:12
I've just been thinking
28:12
about so many movies lately.
28:14
No idea.
28:14
I haven't been watching
28:15
many movies.
28:15
But the other one
28:17
that I could latch on to
28:18
and if you think
28:19
I'm a bad Christian
28:20
for watching this,
28:21
just come talk to me later.
28:22
But it is the
28:24
Shawshank Redemption.
28:25
One of my top faves.
28:28
It's a horror movie
28:29
to watch,
28:29
but like the message
28:30
and the theme
28:31
of the movie
28:31
is incredible.
28:32
And the theme
28:33
of the movie
28:34
really is hope.
28:35
It's about this man,
28:36
Andy Dufresne,
28:38
who gets thrown
28:38
in prison for life.
28:40
And he's innocent.
28:41
He's an innocent man.
28:43
And he's thrown in for life.
28:44
He's there with a lot of guys
28:46
who are guilty.
28:47
But they threw him
28:48
in the hole
28:49
for several weeks
28:50
where he couldn't do anything
28:51
and just sat in the dark.
28:53
And when he got out,
28:54
he said this,
28:56
there are some places
28:57
in this world
28:58
that aren't made of stone
28:59
that there's something
29:01
inside of us
29:02
that they can't get to.
29:04
They can't take it away.
29:05
They can't touch it.
29:06
It's yours.
29:08
And then Red,
29:09
who's played by
29:09
Morgan Freeman,
29:10
his buddy,
29:10
he says to him,
29:12
what are you talking about?
29:16
And Andy replies,
29:17
hope.
29:18
And then Red says,
29:19
hope?
29:20
Let me tell you something,
29:22
my friend.
29:22
Hope is a dangerous thing.
29:25
Hope can drive a man insane.
29:27
It's got no use
29:28
on the inside
29:29
of the prison.
29:31
You better get used
29:32
to that idea.
29:33
So he's had his hope
29:35
smashed so many times
29:36
that he's like,
29:37
just make your peace
29:39
with it.
29:39
You're never getting
29:39
out of here.
29:40
Stop hoping in that.
29:42
Are you going to go crazy?
29:44
And then Andy refers
29:45
to a friend of theirs
29:45
who was released earlier,
29:47
an older man
29:48
who had committed suicide.
29:50
And he's like,
29:51
like that?
29:52
Like this guy?
29:53
He lost hope
29:54
and he died?
29:56
And at the very end
29:57
of the movie,
29:57
both of them
29:58
are out of prison.
29:58
Andy ends up escaping
29:59
and Red gets out
30:02
and later on
30:03
he writes him a letter
30:04
and he says,
30:04
Red, remember,
30:05
hope is a good thing,
30:07
maybe the best of things
30:09
and no good thing
30:11
ever dies.
30:13
And so remembering
30:14
that hope for us
30:15
is a good thing.
30:15
I used to write that
30:17
on my hospital board
30:18
in my room,
30:19
like remembering that
30:20
hope is a good thing.
30:23
And then I would write
30:23
underneath that,
30:24
get busy living
30:24
or get busy dying.
30:25
And every day
30:26
I had to choose that.
30:28
Like,
30:28
are you going to just lay here
30:29
and are you going to die
30:29
or are you going to get up
30:30
and are you going to fight?
30:32
And so during this time,
30:35
a few things you can do.
30:37
Be devoted
30:38
to reading God's Word
30:39
over the next few weeks
30:40
and always,
30:42
but like if you're struggling
30:43
with that,
30:43
use this time
30:44
to hone in on it.
30:46
Give yourself over
30:47
to the reading
30:48
and meditating
30:49
in the Scripture
30:49
and God's Word,
30:51
asking Him to use that
30:52
to renew your hope.
30:55
You know,
30:55
like many of you
30:56
are dry
30:57
and dead
30:58
and hopeless
31:00
and you're like,
31:00
I don't know why.
31:02
Well,
31:03
it's very,
31:05
very elementary
31:05
you to think,
31:06
but most of the time
31:08
you're dry and dead
31:09
because you haven't
31:09
really been putting
31:10
your mind,
31:11
your heart
31:11
into God's Word
31:12
and you wonder
31:14
why you're so lifeless.
31:15
I mean,
31:15
I've been to people
31:16
that walk with the Lord
31:16
for years
31:17
and this still happens.
31:19
And you make,
31:21
we make time
31:21
for anything
31:22
and everything
31:23
other than
31:24
let's meditate
31:25
on the truth.
31:26
And when we don't,
31:27
we begin believing lies
31:29
about that we tell ourselves,
31:31
that the world tells us
31:32
and we have to be
31:33
going back
31:34
to God's truth
31:35
to remind us
31:36
of what we,
31:38
to expose those lies,
31:40
expose those untruths.
31:42
So just stop.
31:43
Make a stand.
31:45
Ask God to help you
31:46
dive into His Word.
31:48
Do it with someone
31:50
that you know
31:51
and ask Him
31:52
to use that
31:53
to build up hope
31:54
in you.
31:54
Listen to this.
31:56
Romans 15,
31:57
verse 4.
31:58
It couldn't be any clearer.
32:00
For whatever was written
32:02
in former days
32:03
was written
32:04
for our instruction
32:05
that through endurance
32:07
and through the encouragement
32:08
of the Scriptures
32:09
we might find hope.
32:12
Alright?
32:12
Romans 15,
32:13
4.
32:14
So if you're not doing that,
32:16
you're going to be discouraged
32:16
and you're going to be hopeless.
32:18
It's really how it is.
32:21
So in addition to that,
32:23
as you read God's Word,
32:26
search in your life
32:27
for misplaced hopes.
32:30
Like where am I
32:31
putting my hope right now
32:33
where I shouldn't be?
32:35
Where am I trying
32:36
to get hope from
32:38
that I know
32:38
is going to let me down?
32:40
A lot of times
32:41
the people around you
32:42
can see that clearer than you,
32:43
so sometimes ask them
32:45
and just accept
32:46
their answer.
32:48
Take it or leave it.
32:50
Ask God to expose it.
32:52
So search
32:53
for misplaced hopes
32:54
in your life
32:55
and then pray
32:57
asking God
32:58
by His Spirit
32:59
to renew that hope
33:00
in your soul
33:01
to go out
33:02
and face the world.
33:03
If you don't have any hope,
33:04
you can't face
33:05
what's out there.
33:05
You just can't.
33:07
You can't face yourself
33:08
and you can't face the world.
33:10
So ask God,
33:11
plead with God
33:12
to use His Word
33:13
by His Spirit
33:14
to renew that hope in you.
33:16
And in closing,
33:19
in closing,
33:20
I just want you to look
33:21
at Psalm 42 with me.
33:24
Years ago,
33:25
I was going through
33:27
a pretty dark,
33:29
spiritually depressive time
33:30
in the hospital
33:31
in Birmingham.
33:32
It was during one of those times
33:32
I thought
33:33
I was done,
33:35
like I was hopeless.
33:35
and my parents
33:39
had just brought me
33:39
my laptop
33:40
and they went away
33:45
to see some friends
33:45
and I just immediately
33:46
just like got on
33:47
Desiring God's website
33:49
and this,
33:51
the title of the message
33:53
at the very first
33:54
of the page
33:54
was
33:55
Spiritual Depression
33:56
in the Psalms.
33:57
I'm like,
33:58
click, click.
34:00
and
34:01
Psalm 42
34:02
was what
34:03
He preached on.
34:07
And a lot of the times
34:08
we suffer
34:09
and we're hopeless
34:09
because we're listening
34:10
to ourselves
34:11
instead of preaching
34:12
the truth to ourselves.
34:14
And this is what
34:14
this is about.
34:17
Psalm 42,
34:17
let's read the first
34:18
five verses.
34:19
As the deer
34:20
pants for flowing streams,
34:23
so my soul
34:25
pants for you,
34:26
O God.
34:28
My soul thirsts
34:29
for God,
34:29
for the living God.
34:31
When shall I come
34:32
and appear before God?
34:34
My tears
34:35
have become
34:36
my food
34:37
day and night.
34:39
Ever felt that way?
34:41
While they say to me
34:43
all the day long,
34:44
where is your God?
34:46
These things
34:47
I remember
34:48
as I pour out
34:49
my soul,
34:50
how I would go
34:51
to the throng
34:52
and lead them
34:53
in procession
34:54
to the house of God
34:55
with glad shouts
34:56
and songs of praise,
34:58
a multitude
34:59
keeping festival.
35:01
Why are you
35:02
cast down,
35:03
O my soul?
35:05
Why are you
35:06
in turmoil
35:06
within me?
35:08
Hope in God,
35:10
for I shall
35:10
again praise Him,
35:12
my salvation
35:13
and my God.
35:15
Just join me
35:16
in prayer.