For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4
A fulfilled longing is sweet to the soul, literally described by the Bible as “a tree of life”. This is what we long for…a hope fulfilled. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 In Hebrew the word hope used here is: elpis which means- to anticipate with pleasure, expectation, and confidence. Other words used to explain hope in the Scriptures are: towcheleth– to wait, to be patient; teshuwqah– desire, stretch out after and longing; yachal– to wait, be patient and hope; chaphets– to bend, to be pleased with and desire. Hope is defined by Merriam-Webster as: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, to cherish a desire with anticipation and synonymously– words like aspiration, desire, wish, ambition, aim, goal, plan or anticipate are used. Interestingly, the biblical words imply there is an expectation which comes with confidence and patience as we “wait” on God and His will. Since we are made by God to have hope we must examine our lives to be certain our hope is godly and not an empty longing. Are your hopes fulfilling you or leaving you empty?
There are at least three types of hope: Longevity Hope relates to survival that helps us get through difficulties and on to tomorrow, Lustful Hope relates to what the world (Satan’s domain) offers and finally, Lasting Hope which is a good, godly and biblical hope that is eternally fulfilling. God is genius as he put this desire within our very DNA to keep us alive. Recently I was watching an action movie where the cast of characters were in deadly peril every day and one of the actors said, “Hope is not about choice, it’s about survival.” To survive there must be hope. Without hope the soul loses the drive to continue fighting against the obstacles, trials and difficulties of life. Therefore we must have hope yet let’s be clear, godly hope is the one that counts!
In his book, Leading At The Edge, author Dennis Perkins writes about the phenomenal expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton to achieve the first overland crossing of Antarctica in 1914. They needed Longevity Hope. The year before, in 1913, a Canadian expedition of 11 crewmembers led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson to reach the North Pole lost hope and bitterly failed. In reality, the crew led by Shackleton failed to reach their goal as well yet there was hope. All 11 of the crewmembers who went to the North Pole died in the Arctic wasteland while the entire crew of 28 near the South Pole survived. For 634 days, often in temperatures nearing minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, constantly running out of food and with no one knowing if they were dead or alive, they survived! All were rescued and lived to tell the tale of Shackleton’s indomitable hope that inspired all of them to conquer these impossible odds. Although they did not get to cross Antarctica they all got home, as heroes back to their beloved Britain. The Shackleton family’s Latin motto is, Fortitudine Vincimus (by endurance we conquer) and certainly this was the rallying cry that led to their survival.
The October 30th Costume party was a huge success!
Often used is the worldly definition of hope which implies a “lust for immediate gratification” which is “on my terms”, “selfish” and “in my time”. This is Lustful Hope. A few days ago an article came out about a famous “Instagram star” named Essena Oneil. She decided after three years of getting all that she dreamed and hoped for; fame, money, a guy more famous than her and 500,000 “likes” on about everything she posted, that she was empty, totally unfulfilled and living a lie. Her response- she suddenly just quit social media. She is now looking for hope in helping others get away from the trap of living online and longing daily for a few more likes to validate their lives. Sadly our enemy, Satan, uses this God given desire to pull us into the vacuous pit of despair as worldly hopes are constantly dashed or once “achieved” leave us empty. How many famous personalities who have “made it to the top” reaching the pinnacle of their success end up in rehab, in depression, divorced multiple times or dead? Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17. Amazingly, with much mercy God will expose your heart so you can heal. If you are you sick at heart, you have been duped. So many old friends, the remnant from the former movement, are stuck in the sin of acedia as they pine for the glory days of the past and live a lukewarm life ever since the fall of the ICOC. When problems surfaced, those in love with the hope of an organization fell with it. This Lustful Hope must be crucified daily or will lead us to a bitter end.
In the amazing story of Shackleton there is a hope that keeps them alive for the journey but easily missed is that all of these men eventually died. This begs the question- was their hope worthwhile? Yes! It got them through this horrific 634 day long nightmare yet did their hope save them? In terms of eternity, it all depends on their relationship with God. This beautiful gift God gave us has been warped and used against us and we must fight back to have a godly and proper hope that lasts! Longevity Hope involves a tenacity to fight, a “fire in the bones” if you will, the desire to achieve and the drive to continue living which we can all grow in. It is necessary and may get us to survive for a time but it is not eternal and does not promise success. Far too often, even disciples get caught up in false hopes saying things like, “I hope the economy changes so I can get a better paying job. I hope my kids become disciples. I hope my children are faithful disciples and do not suffer as much as I did. I hope the girl notices me and we can have a date. I hope this is a good day. I hope my wife or husband changes so I can be happy. I hope my dreams come true.” Then sadly if one finds these things do not come to fruition there is sadness, even sickness of heart that can destroy the soul. So what do we do? We must develop our Longevity Hope, kill and crucify our Lustful Hope and cling to our Lasting Hope.
Thank the Lord that in the Scriptures we see God’s offer of eternal hope! Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5. If we avoid suffering we miss developing perseverance, then lack character and so hope eludes us. We must be willing and courageous to mature. To be justified is “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned! This comes through faith in the blood of Jesus when we choose to become disciples and follow him, call on Jesus as Lord, and are saved by faith in the waters of baptism. Once a baptized, saved disciple we have received lasting hope. We have put to death lustful hope and are to practice longevity hope and hold fast with a tenacious faith! Disciples who turn to only being fighters and surviving on their will, desire or talent eventually fade and lose their hope. Equally disciples who turn back to the world lose their hope all together. How many of our closest friends have tried to gut it out or have turned back to the world? God forbid anyone else in 2015 turns back!
Everyone lines up for the costume contest!
Let us also remember we are not promised 10 baptisms, the perfect job or a good life…we are promised persecution, that the world will be evangelized and heaven- if we stand firm till the end. Matthew 24:9-14 says, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Only those who stand firm on the Word of God till the end have true lasting hope. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. Hebrews 6:11-20
Orlando church, this is a call from the Scriptures and your brother…the old graying evangelist to be a tenacious fighter, to put your hope in God, to stand on the word by living it out and offer this hope to as many as possible. The challenges are finish our November special missions by blowing it out at 120% of the goal, working in faith to see 14 amazing more disciples added by December 31, beginning a basketball league and starting the fourth Region in Orlando by January 2016 so that we will close out 2015 with a Lasting Hope for as many in Orlando as possible! Our hope is not in these goals, but in God who is the God of the impossible who has given us lasting hope as an anchor for the soul!
He stoops down to make us great,
Matt Sullivan
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