Having an Eternal Hope that Springs up in You

There is a story from Our Daily Bread, December 19, 1996, that reads:
The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.” But where does man turn when hope dries up?
The director of a medical clinic told of a terminally ill young man who came in for his usual treatment. A new doctor who was on duty said to him casually and cruelly, “You know, don’t you, that you won’t live out the year?”
As the young man left, he stopped by the director’s desk and wept. “That man took away my hope,” he blurted out.
“I guess he did,” replied the director. “Maybe it’s time to find a new one.”
Commenting on this incident, Lewis Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.”
The fact is that man’s hope does not spring up eternally. There are all sorts of times that we lose hope or feel hopeless. There is a reason why:

Hope for the future is based upon the faith that you have now. Thomas Aquinas said, “Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.” Until there is substance for your hope, whatever hope you have for the future is fleeting. The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1). In other words, the substance of our hope is our faith or, what you believe is the tangible reason for whatever hope that you possess.

WE NEED HOPE
Job rightly said, “If the only home I hope for is the grave … where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?” (Job 17:13-15).

Job had lost everything and he was extremely sick and in pain. He was saying that if we believe that this life is all there is then what hope for the future is there for him? Do you see how what we believe now affects what hope we have for the future?

When you come to hear a sermon, I believe you come to find that there is hope for your life and your circumstances from the Bible. A working definition of hope is - to desire with expectation of obtainment or to expect with confidence.

WHAT ARE WE HOPING FOR?
What is it that you expect to receive from God? The forgiveness of your sins? Help in time of your need? Healing for your body? Provision for your financial needs? Deliverance from your sinful or addictive behavior? A fresh start? A ministry? Eternal life? Spiritual gifts? Justice?

WHAT ARE YOU TRUSTING IN?
The fact is that there is hope, but for what reason do you have hope? Is it because I or someone else said that you should not feel hopeless? Is it because you have some warm fuzzy feeling of hope because you are an optimistic person? How can you hope against hope? How can you have hope when the circumstances of your life look hopeless?

We have hope that springs up in us and lasts, or is eternal, when it is not based upon merely our experiences (because not every circumstance works out the same way); when it is not based merely upon our feelings (because our feelings change and are too often subject to our circumstances); when it is not based upon what we see (because we walk by faith, not by sight).

The natural consequence of false beliefs will be false hopes.

BIBLICAL FAITH IS THE ONLY PROPER BASIS FOR OUR HOPES
Five different times in Psalms 119 David says, “I have put my hope in your word.”

Ps 119:49-50
Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

Rom 15:4
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.

The basis for our hope and expectations is found in God’s Word, the Bible. Why?

Titus 1:2
A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, [i.e. cannot lie – most other translations] promised before the beginning of time.

Heb 6:17-19
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.

PASSION FOR THE PROMISES
You see; we can have great confidence for our hope when it is based upon God’s Word because He cannot lie and He has the power to bring about what He has promised. His Word is guaranteed.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt 24:35).

Isaiah 55:11
My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Jeremiah 1:12
The LORD said to me, "…, I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."

Rom 3:4
Let God be true, and every man a liar.

Isa 14:24
The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.”

If we have hope that is not based in God’s word when conflicting circumstances come to us we will fall into despair and lose hope.

Notice the story from Luke 24:13-27:

Now that same day two of them [referring to the disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things [what had happened that resurrection day] with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" "What things?" he asked.

"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."

Notice, because they believed the wrong thing their hope for the future was dashed.

He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! …And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Do you recognize that without Biblical faith that comes from the Word we will lose our hope? Some of us are only “hoping” for salvation because we have yet to find in the Bible faith that is unshakeable because it is based on God’s Word. We have no security that way. Some of us only hope for God to hear our prayers without understanding when God listens or why He refuses to answer our requests.

The phrase “hope against hope” is defined as – having hope when there is no basis for that hope. But that is NOT what the Bible teaches about the subject.

Rom 4:18-25
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." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Just as much as our faith is not baseless but there exist tangible reasons for what we believe, so our hope is not baseless, it is based upon our faith in the promises of God. We have hope because God has given us hope in His Word.

Let me challenge you today to find some substance for your hopes by searching the Scriptures for the basis for your faith that your hope is built upon.

Gal 5:5
By faith we eagerly await -through the Spirit the righteousness - for which we hope.