Hope Unseen Romans 8:22-25 1 Thessalonians 5:7-9 Titus 3:3-7 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Romans 8:28-30 Psalms 25:3 Ephesians 2:12-13 Colossians 1:24-27 1 Peter 1:3-4 12.13.17

HOPE UNSEEN

BREAD

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:22-25 (NIV)

⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹ For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.   1 Thessalonians 5:7-9 (NIV)

³ At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  Titus 3:3-7 (NIV)

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.   2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.   Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)

³ No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.   Psalm 25:3 (NIV)

¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.  Ephesians 2:12-13 (NIV)

²⁴ Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. ²⁵ I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- ²⁶ the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. ²⁷ To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:24-27 (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you.   1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Our Christian testimony, as Peter reminded his readers, is that, ‘we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of the dead’.  Who else has the answer to the frailty of life, the reality of death and the certainty of judgment than Jesus, who by His death destroyed him who holds the power of death and frees those whose lives are enslaved by the fear of death?”   Alistair Begg 

“The Christian is suspended between blessings received and blessings hoped for, so he should always give thanks.”   M. R. Vincent

“I was the enemy of God.  I was stamping through God’s universe, shaking my fist in His face.  And in the very moment when I was shaking my fist in God’s face and tramping through the Creator’s universe, muddying all His streams, that’s when Jesus died for me.  And if this is when Jesus died for me, what hope it gives me now!  Now, even when I fall, the blood of Jesus is enough.  He didn’t save me because I was strong; He saved me when I was weak. He didn’t save me when I was a pretty thing; He saved me when I was a mess. On the basis of this reality, I can have comfort.”  Francis Schaeffer

“Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her eternity.”   Herman Melville

“Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.”   Gilbert Brenken

“Canst thou answer this, believer?  Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing?  Why yield to gloomy anticipations?  Who told thee that the night would never end in day?  Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair?  Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?  Hope thou then!  Hope thou ever!  For God fails thee not!”    Charles H. Spurgeon 

“No matter what happens in life, remember this: You have a Savior. As a Christian, you have been saved from death. You have been saved from eternal punishment and hell. You have the hope that when you die, you will go straight to heaven. That is the most important thing about the Christian life. There is a Heaven waiting for you. You have a Savior.”   Greg Laurie

“Luther was once found at a moment of peril and fear, when he had need to grasp unseen strength, sitting in an abstracted mood tracing on the table with his finger the words, ‘Vivit!  Vivit!’  (‘He lives!  He lives!’).  It is our hope for ourselves, and for His truth, and for mankind.  Men come and go; leaders, teachers, thinkers speak and work for a season, and then fall silent and impotent.  He abides.  They die, but He lives.  They are lights kindled, and, therefore, sooner or later quenched; but He is the true light from which they draw all their brightness, and He shines forevermore.”    Alexander Maclaren  

“Though we now see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, we hold the certainty of the hope of glory in our hearts.  And what does that entail?  As believers, we are presently objects of Divine approval and blessedness because of the blood of Jesus and His righteousness and we presently possess this glory in spirit by the Holy Spirit.  One day – either upon Jesus’ return or our death – we will be transformed outwardly as well into this glorified beautiful condition.  It is a state into which one is accorded the fullest enjoyment of the admiration of God as objects of His highest regard and praise and further the enjoyment of fullness, satisfaction, joy, righteousness and ceaseless delight.  It encompasses outward splendor, grandeur, pomp, elegance, magnificence, beauty, excellence of appearance, impressiveness, brilliance, illustriousness and eminence (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – New Testament Lexical Aids).  Therefore, encourage one another with these words!”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

• ·         Hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?
• ·         I am to put on the hope of salvation as a helmet.
• ·         As believers in Jesus we have the hope of glory.