Lesson for May 24, 2023
Principles for Christian Living
Hope vs. Despair
Hebrews 11:1-2, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval.”
The Greek word for hope is “elpis,” meaning confident anticipation or confident expectation of the future. Therefore, biblical hope is a part of the problem-solving device we call a Personal Sense of Destiny. This is one of the greatest Problem-Solving Devices of the spiritual life.
When you have any kind of sorrow, heartache, or despair, you should look into the future at the fantastic blessings that await you. This brings you into a realm of thinking that brings you back into the present with confidence and strength. If you have a personal sense of destiny, then you have confident, unlimited, certain, positive expectation. Hope therefore is confident, positive, certain, unlimited expectation about the future, when you use the Problem-Solving Devices.
Hope becomes confident (certain) expectation as a result of the study and application of Bible doctrine under the filling of the Holy Spirit. So, the source of hope is Bible doctrine. Hope becomes the key to the function of the plan of God.
Only believers who are positive to Bible doctrine and living their spiritual lives have hope. Unbelievers and believers not living their spiritual lives have no confidence (hope) in the future. All definitions of hope in the Bible include the idea of “expectation,” because hope is always projected into the future. Expectation means looking forward under the principle of living in the light of eternity. Hope is certainty in both the immediate and distant future. Hope is absolute security about the future. Hope is the assurance that at the moment of salvation you have eternal life. (I John 5:13) Confident expectation includes the assurance of being eternally secure in Christ, and the reality of receiving a resurrection body.
Expectation means living with confidence now in the light of eternity and with confidence about the future. Therefore, hope is a personal sense of destiny. The reality of the fantastic future for Church Age believers is based on the understanding and application of Bible doctrine. There is no understanding of our future apart from the knowledge of accurate Bible doctrine. With this knowledge, we become aware that we have a personal sense of destiny, which includes living life in light of eternity, dying grace, physical death, resurrection, and eternal life. Anyone who believes Christ died to pay the penalty for their sin will never perish but will have eternal life. (John 3:16; Titus 1:1-2)
Hope (a personal sense of destiny) is a defense mechanism against stress and adversity through recall and application of Bible doctrine regarding your future so that the recall of your eternal future brings comfort, tranquility, perspective, and a solution to any problem.
In God’s Word, there is no neutral concept of expectation. Your expectation is either good or bad. If it’s bad, you are in serious trouble as a believer. Good expectation originates from Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. Bad expectation is the result of emotional revolt of the soul, negative volition, blackout of the soul, and scar tissue of the soul taking over the control of the soul. There is nothing more awful than to look at your life at the point of dying and have nothing but regrets.
You do not go forward looking backward. If you are going forward, you go forward on God’s agenda. If you are looking backward, you are looking backward on your own agenda that includes the arrogance skills of self-justification, self-deception, and self-absorption. This becomes the basis for a miserable life which eventually leads to despair. After salvation, confidence (hope) of eternal life increases through the study and application of Bible doctrine, resulting in greater confidence in the promises of God. Complete expectation is developed in learning grace orientation and doctrinal orientation, which brings us to the place of hope.
God’s agenda is defined in part in Romans 5:1-2,5, “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace (reconciliation) with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in the hope of the glory of God [moving from grace and doctrinal orientation through the open door of a personal sense of destiny on God’s agenda and arriving at personal love for God the Father]. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the agency of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of unlimited confidence (hope) fill you with all happiness and peace (prosperity, tranquility, harmony) in believing (faith- perception), so that you will abound in confidence (hope) by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
God is the author of hope. Colossians 1:27, “(Church Age believers) to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ indwelling you the full confidence (hope) of glory.” The fact that Jesus Christ indwells you is the basis of hope.
Titus 1:2, “In the hope of eternal life which God, Who cannot lie, promised before times eternal.” Hope is confidence that when you believe in Christ you have eternal life. Once you learn the doctrine of eternal life, you have a new hope of receiving greater blessings at the point of spiritual maturity and beyond. This new hope is only a potential until you learn enough doctrine to make the new hope real to you.
I Thessalonians 1:3, “constantly bearing in mind your work of doctrine, and labor of love, and courage under pressure from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of God the Father.” Hope is cultivated through learning accurate doctrine. Bible doctrine in the soul gives you confidence in the future and enjoyment of what God provides for you now.
Job 4:6, “Is not your respect for God your confidence?” Hope motivates living your spiritual life.
Psalm 71:5, “For you are my hope, O Lord God, my confidence from my youth.” Jeremiah 17:7, “Happiness to the man who puts his trust in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord.” Faith-rest is a structured system of confidence called hope.
Romans 4:18, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” Abraham’s hope was a perfect example of hope as certain confidence in a future expectation.
Romans 15:4, “For as many doctrines as have been written before, for our instruction they were written, in order that through perseverance and encouragement from the Scriptures we might have hope.” While God is the author of hope, doctrine is the source of that hope. The reality of blessing for time and eternity is found in hope, which is confidence in the soul from Bible doctrine.
Romans 8:24, “Now when a hope is seen, it is no longer a hope. So, who hopes for what he sees?”Hope is confident expectation of a reality before that reality occurs. Once the reality occurs, hope is replaced by that reality. The hope of blessings (confident expectation) is replaced by the reality of greater blessings (unlimited expectation). The hope of blessings for eternity will be replaced by the reality of receiving eternal rewards and blessings at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
II Corinthians 4:8-9, “ We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed; perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair; hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed.”
Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all happiness and prosperity by believing, that you may superabound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”