Hope

Well, welcome here this morning, and when I was asked to share God's Word, at first I didn't want to.

And, yeah, I was very nervous. I'm not like my son at all.

But one thing, my son, he said, just go ahead for it, Dad, and we'll be praying for you.

And usually when I see his sermon notes, they're about one page.

And he makes a sermon of it.

And so this morning, I've got four pages, so beware.

I hope you didn't put the turkey on because it's going to probably take about four hours to get through this sermon this morning.

But anyways, as we read, I would just like to first start off with prayer.

Please join me in prayer.

Our Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for this day.

I thank you for this opportunity to share your words, Lord.

And I just pray that as I share, I just pray that you would speak through me to everyone here today.

And I just thank you for this weekend that we can celebrate thankfulness.

And I'm so thankful that you are a living God and that you live in each one of us.

And, Lord, I just pray that as we spend this next little time studying your word,

I just pray that you would just speak to us in your precious name.

Amen.

Please, I just want to start with Matthew 24, verses 1 to 14.

Matthew 24:1–14

And it says,

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.

Do you see all these things, he asked.

I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another.

Every one will be thrown down.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately.

Tell us, they said, when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age?

Jesus answered, watch out that no one deceives you.

For many will come in my name, claiming I am the Christ and will deceive many.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

But see to it that you are not alarmed.

Such things must happen.

But the end is still to come.

Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginnings of birth pains.

Then you will be handed over and 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 be betrayed 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.

As I read that, it sounds like that's where we are today.

We are being deceived and we don't know what to believe.

And as I thought of that, I thought, you know, just looking around, you listen to the news and you see the hopelessness in people.

People are committing suicide.

And it just breaks my heart to think of what is going on in our world.

And as I thought of that, I was thinking of how can you share or what if somebody was to ask you,

what is it the hope that you have in you?

How would you share that with people that ask you that?

And as I thought of the word hope, I thought of the letters H-O-P-E.

And I would just like to share, going through that word hope, and what is the word hope stand for?

What's the meaning of it?

To desire something with confidence, expectation of its fulfillment.

So the first letter is H, and what I want to share with you is his word.

When I mention the word, the Bible or the word, what does it make you think about?

Is it a book that you have in your house?

Is it something that sits on a shelf?

Is it collecting dust?

Is it something if somebody asked you where your Bible is, would you know where it is?

Or would you have to go searching for it?

Is it collecting dust?

Or is it a well-worn Bible?

And I just wanted to see, and I did some history, and there's not much about Canadian statistics on reading the Bible.

One question I want to ask is, have you read your Bible from cover to cover?

And, you know, is it, do you pick up the Bible and read it only when you're going through trials,

and you want God to help you through that situation?

Or is it something that you study and read daily?

And this is the statistics that I found in Canada, which is, they're quite old, but it is quite startling.

The majority of Canadians, including those who identify themselves as Christian, read the Bible either seldom or never.

That's one of the grim conclusions drawn by the Canadian Bible Engagement Study,

a study conducted by the Angus Reid Forum and sponsored by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Canadian Bible Forum.

As of 2013, only 14% of Canadians read the Bible at least once a month.

That's half the percentage of the population, which was 28%, who read the Bible monthly back in 1996.

These numbers came despite the fact that as of 2011, 67% of Canadians identified themselves as Christian, according to Statistics Canada.

Isn't that pretty grim?

14%, and of that 14%, how many are actually Christians?

14% of Canadians.

15% of Canadians.

15% of Canadians.

And I often think, how many times, Cindy's, the kids have the phone and they're asking,

you know, what should we do?

And Cindy's always presenting scripture.

And do we do that?

You know, I look at this and I go, this is life.

This whole scripture entails life of all of us.

What do we go through teaching?

And each one of us, what do we look to?

Do we look to Google? Do we go to self-help books to find the answers to life?

Or do we actually go to the Bible?

Which it says here, it was God breathed.

And it's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training.

That is life right there.

And you think of it, if you want to correct, is your first source God's word?

Or is it some other help?

Training.

We can train.

And I think of Sunday school.

We're training our kids to learn God's word, how important it is to know.

So the whole Bible is the word of God.

And everything in our life should be tested by what is written in it.

And I'd like to read Psalm 119, 105 to 112.

Please turn with me if you have your Bible with you.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.

I have suffered much.

Preserve my life, O Lord, according to your word.

Accept, O Lord, the willing praise of my mouth and teach me your laws.

Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law.

The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts.

Your statutes are my heritage forever.

They are the joy of my heart.

My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

And as I read this and you think of, it says that at the start,

your word is a lamp for my feet.

Think of it in the dark.

And what does a lamp do?

It shines where the path is.

And as we think of just even last week, the kids in the hallway were on this narrow path.

And some of us adults were trying to persuade these kids to come off this path.

And you know, in life, that's the way it is.

Satan will come along and he will try to persuade you to get off the path.

But yet, if you study God's word and you know the truths that are in it,

are you easily swayed by when Satan comes along and tries to deceive you?

But the light reveals the darkness.

As we study God's word, we will be able to see clearly the evil that is present in our daily lives and in the world.

Are we willing to take a stand for God and stay on the right path?

Or are we easily swayed?

In Mark 4, 1-4, it says,

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

After forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

The tempter came to him and said,

If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.

And Jesus answered,

It is written,

Man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

And I just wanted for you to turn,

let's turn to Deuteronomy 8.3.

And one thing here that I wanted to share with you is,

even Satan was tempted.

And when Satan was tempted in this particular situation, in the desert,

can you imagine that after forty days and forty nights,

what you would feel like,

I can't even imagine doing this for one day,

and how hungry I would be.

But yet, look at Jesus for forty days and forty nights,

and then Satan comes along and tempts him.

And he tempts him with, you know,

tells these stones to become food.

And what does Christ,

what's Christ's response?

It is,

Man does not live on bread alone,

but every word that comes from the mouth of God.

And if you go to Deuteronomy 8.3,

he's defending Satan by reading Scripture.

How important it is to know Scripture.

And as we read Deuteronomy 8.3,

which is written in Scripture,

and it says,

He humbled you,

causing you to hunger,

and then feeding you with manna,

which neither you nor your fathers had known,

to teach you that man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

And do we,

when Satan attempts to trick us,

to trip us up,

do we search God's word?

Do we know God's word?

Do we counter back at Satan and say,

this is what Scripture says?

And there's one situation,

and I want to,

I'm just going to leave it there for on the Matthew 4,

Jesus was tempted two other times,

and I'm going to leave you with some homework.

And the other two times,

did Christ mention God's,

from God's word,

did he,

when Satan tempted him in the next two situations?

And I'll,

that'll be your homework for this week.

Take God's word,

study it,

and those next two scenarios of where God was tempted,

and did he use God's word to,

to go against Satan?

That'll be your homework,

and I'll maybe ask you that next week.

Anyways,

as you can see,

Jesus was able to resist all the devil's temptations,

because he was not only,

it was that he not only knew Scripture,

but he also obeyed what it says.

We will be tempted,

and we'll need to know Scripture,

so as not to be deceived.

I once heard a guy say that,

you know,

if God took the time,

and I'll just maybe read it here,

if God has taken the time,

through his Holy Spirit,

to reveal his person and plan,

to certain believers,

who wrote down his message for his people,

should we not take time to read his word.

We need to be married.

We need to be intimate in God's word.

And,

and I think it's so important that,

as we read God's word,

it's our,

it's our survival guide.

And I trust that,

that you will,

if you're not into a Bible plan,

and you're not reading God's word,

I would urge you,

to,

to get to,

studying God's word daily.

The word hope,

that was the H,

O,

is,

obedience.

And I would just like to read,

Deuteronomy,

26,

16,

and 19.

19,

right?

Excuse me.

The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws.

Carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.

You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways,

that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him.

And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession, as he promised,

and that you are to keep all his commands.

He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor, high above all the nations.

He has made, he has made, and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.

And in here I just wrote, look at the whole heart of devotion here.

And what did it say?

That you would keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey.

It's one thing to know God's word, but do you actually obey it?

And in Joshua 1, 8, 9, it says,

Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth.

Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified.

Do not be discouraged.

For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

And as I read through this, it was like, can you imagine?

It says, do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth.

You know, it's a book that you would study.

You will know.

And this really touched me.

It was meditate on it day and night.

Do we meditate on God's word day and night?

Is it something that is on your mind continuously?

Or has it been a book that you just only read occasionally,

as the rest of the statistics shows?

And in it, it says,

To be careful to do everything written in it.

It's a book that we need to know from cover to cover,

so that we can know everything that is in it.

And it says, be strong and courageous.

And I looked at that and I thought, be strong and courageous.

The task would be, it's not going to be easy.

We need to be constantly reading and constantly studying God's word.

In 1 Samuel 15, 22, it's, and just the story of that.

And this is a story of King Saul when he was to go and conquer the Amalekites.

And when he went and, you know, he went and he conquered them.

But the Lord had, through Samuel,

had told him that he was supposed to conquer everything

and destroy everything from animals to people

and destroy everything, not bring anything back.

And what did Saul do?

He, they kept some of the choice animals

and they brought them back.

And this is what 1 Samuel 15, 22 says.

But Samuel replied,

Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice

and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

You know, God was grieved that Saul

didn't obey him totally.

You know, and the sacrifice that Saul wanted to do,

his heart was not right in it.

It wasn't, it was a false worship of what Saul wanted to do.

But he grieved God that he didn't obey.

And how many times do we grieve God

because we don't obey what is written in his word?

Matthew 7, 21 to 27 says,

Not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day,

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name

and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?

Then I will tell them plainly,

I never knew you away from me, evil doers.

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine

and puts them into practice is like a wise man

who built his house on a rock.

The rain came down, the streams rose,

and the winds blew and beat against that house.

Yet it did not fall because it had a foundation on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of mine

and does not put them into practice

is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

The rain came down, the streams rose,

and the winds blew and beat against the house.

In this one,

what does it mean to do the will of my Father?

Obedience to his will is the test of true faith in Christ.

When a person is truly born again,

he has the Spirit of God living within him,

and the Spirit enables him to know and do the will of God.

We must stop with only hearing God's Word.

Our hearing should result in doing.

Are you willing to be obedient,

or do you want to ignore?

Acts 5, 29-32

Peter and the other apostles replied,

We must obey God rather than men.

The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead,

whom you have killed by hanging him on a tree.

God exalted him to his own right hand as prince and savior,

that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

We are witnesses of these things,

and so is the Holy Spirit,

whom God has given to those who obey him.

It's our imperative duty that we should listen.

We should obey God.

And Genesis 6,

it's a story of Noah.

And I'd like to read 9-22.

This is the account of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man,

blameless among the people of his time.

And he walked with God.

Noah had three sons,

Shem, Ham, and Dapheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight

and was full of violence.

God saw how corrupt the earth had become,

for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

So God said to Noah,

I am going to put an end to all people,

for the earth is filled with violence because of them.

I am surely going to destroy them,

both them and the earth.

So make yourself an ark of cypress wood.

Make rooms in it and coat it with pitch,

inside and out.

This is how you are to build it.

The ark is to be 450 feet long,

75 feet wide,

and 45 feet high.

Make a roof for it

and finish the ark

to within 18 inches of the top.

Put a door on the side of the ark

and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

I'm going to bring floodwaters on the earth

to destroy all life under the heavens,

every creature that has breath of life in it.

Everything on earth will perish,

but I will establish my covenant with you

and you will enter the ark,

you and your sons and your wives

and your sons' wives with you.

You are to bring into the ark

two of all living creatures,

male and female,

to keep them alive with you,

two of every kind of bird

and every kind of animal

and every kind of creature

that moves along the ground

will come to you to be kept alive.

You are to take every kind of food

that is to be eaten

and store it away as food for you

and for them.

Noah did everything

just as the God commanded him.

Isn't it something that

it took Noah over 100 years

to build this ark

and he listened to God

and he listened to them

specifics.

He listened to the specifics.

So,

so,

in hope,

H was his word,

O was obedience,

P is prayer

and prayer is so important.

If you look at prayer,

it goes hand in hand

with reading God's word

and in Daniel 6.10,

it says,

Now,

when Daniel learned

that the decree

had been published,

he went home

to the upstairs room

where the windows opened

towards Jerusalem.

Three times a day,

he got down on his knees

and prayed,

giving thanks to his God

just as he has done before.

Daniel has been

one of those

people in the Bible

that I just admire.

You know,

Daniel's a man,

when you look at this situation,

he still didn't

quit praying

and he not only prayed

once a day,

but he prayed

three times a day.

So,

how many times

do you guys,

do we pray

and how important

is it in our lives?

Matthew 6.9-13,

is our Lord's Prayer

and Jesus

taught us

how we should pray

and

from

Matthew 6.9-13,

it says,

This then is how

you should pray,

our Father

in heaven.

Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day

our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts

as we also have

forgiven those,

forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not

into temptation,

but deliver us

from the evil one.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory

forever and ever.

Amen.

So,

when we even look at

prayer,

it's,

Jesus took time

to show us

in his word

how we should pray.

In Luke 5.15-16,

yet the news spread

about him

all the more.

So the crowds

of the people

came to hear him

and to be healed

of their sickness.

But Jesus

often withdrew

to a lonely place

and prayed.

You know,

through the busyness

of life,

do we take time

to draw

to a place

where we can get

by ourselves

with God.

And you know,

we are,

we live in a generation

where we are so busy

and it,

and I guess

even like this morning,

Dr. David Jeremiah

talked about that,

to get away

to,

to that

solemn place

where we can spend time

with our Lord.

And,

uh,

um,

Luke 6.12

is,

is one that,

uh,

is,

uh,

you look at this situation,

how many times

when Jesus

got away

to pray

and,

uh,

and in Luke 6.

Luke 6.

verse 12.

One of those days,

Jesus went out

to a mountainside

to pray

and spent the night

praying to God.

And I thought,

you know,

isn't that something?

All night,

how many of us

have spent,

you know,

that many hours

in prayer?

And I thought,

boy,

that's just,

uh,

awesome that he spent

all night.

You know,

and,

and when you read

further into this

situation,

it was before,

uh,

Jesus chose

his 12 disciples.

So he spent the night

in prayer.

You know,

do we take time

even to pray

for those big issues

in our life

that,

um,

affect us?

Do we

take the time

or do we just

continue to go busy

and we take it

for granted,

spend five minutes

praying

and expect our Lord

to,

to help us.

And

the next,

uh,

portion of scripture

that I wanted

to share with you

is

the whole,

uh,

chapter of verse

of John,

uh,

chapter 17.

And in these,

this here,

Jesus prays

for himself,

he prays

for his disciples,

and he prays

for our future,

the future believers.

And as I read this,

it just touched

my heart

to think of

Jesus really

cared for us

and how important

it is to pray.

And I just,

uh,

wanted to read

this whole chapter

to you.

After Jesus said

this,

he looked towards

heaven and prayed,

Father,

the time has come.

Glorify your son

that your son

may glorify you.

For you granted

him authority

over all people

that he might

give eternal life

to those

who have given him.

Now,

this is eternal life

that they may know

you,

the only true God

and Jesus Christ

whom you have,

whom you have sent.

I have brought

you glory on earth

by completing

the work

you gave me

to do.

And now,

Father,

glorify me

in your presence

with the glory

I have with you

before the world

began.

And then in verse 6,

Jesus prays

for his disciples.

I have revealed

you to those

whom you gave me

out of the world.

They were yours,

you gave them to me,

and they have

obeyed your word.

Now they know

that everything

you have given me

comes from you.

for I gave them

the words

you gave me,

and they accepted them.

They knew with certainty

that I came from you,

and they believed

that you sent me.

I pray for them.

I am not praying

for the world,

but for those

you have given me,

for they are yours.

All I have is yours,

and all you have

is mine.

And glory has come

to me through them.

I will remain

in the world

no longer,

but they are still

in the world,

and I am coming

to you.

Holy Father,

protect them

by the power

of your name,

the name you gave me,

so that they may

be one

as we are one.

While I was with them,

I protected them

and kept them safe

by the name you gave me.

None has been lost

except the one

doomed to destruction,

so that scripture

would be fulfilled.

I am coming

to you now,

but I say these things

while I am still

in the world,

so that they may have

the full measure

of my joy

within them.

I have given them

your word,

and the world

has hated them,

for they are not

of the world

any more

than I am

of the world.

My prayer is not

that you take them

out of the world,

but that you protect them

from the evil one.

They are not

of the world,

even as I am

not of it.

Sanctify them

by the truth.

Your word is truth.

As you send me

into the world,

I have sent them

into the world.

For them,

I sanctify myself,

that they too

may be truly sanctified.

And then in the following

verses,

it's Jesus prays

for his future believers.

My prayer is not

for them alone.

I pray also

for those

who will believe

in me

through their message,

that all of them

may be one

father,

just as you are

in me

and I am

in you.

May they also

be in us

so that the world

may believe

that you have sent me.

I have given them

the glory

that you gave me,

that they may be

one as we are one,

I in them

and you in me.

May they be brought

to complete unity

to let the world

know that you sent me

and have loved them

even as you have

loved me.

Father,

I want those

you have given me

to be with me

where I am

and to see my glory,

the glory you have given

me because you loved me

before the creation

of the world.

Righteous Father,

though the world

does not know you,

I know you

and they know

that you have sent me.

I have made you

known to them

and will continue

to make you known

in order

that the love

you have for me

may be in them

and that I myself

may be in them.

what a

an awesome

thing to know

that Jesus prays,

even prayed

for his disciples,

he prayed for himself

as he was

going to the cross.

And then

so

that's the P

for prayer

and then

E,

eternal life

and

eternal life

and good news.

Does God really have

a future for us?

Do you know

the Lord

as your personal

savior?

And

eternity,

as you think

of eternity,

we have a lot

more living

ahead of us

than we do

behind us

and

eternity

can be spent

in either hell

or in heaven

with Christ

and if you're not

sure

where

you stand

today

and if you're

not absolutely

sure

of your future

with God

there's a place

that you need

to begin

and it's

to confess

your sin

and to repent

and

just to go

through

we listened

to a gentleman

J.D.

Farag

who is a

pastor

in Hawaii

and

at the end

of every message

that he has

he shares

the gospel

the good news

and

it's a simple

he has it

very simple

it's A-B-C

and the A

stands for

admit that

you are a sinner

and in

Romans 3.23

it says

for all have

sinned

and fall short

of the glory

of God

and

so

one thing

he says

in there

we first

must admit

that we are

sinners

that we

we sin

and

and

if we

admit

that we

are a

sinner

then

we are

in need

of a

savior

and

Jesus

Christ

is that

savior

and in

Romans

6.23

it says

for the wages

of sin

is death

that's the

bad news

and

it's a

death

penalty

if we

if we

if we

don't

repent

the death

penalty

will be

what we

have

but

there is

good news

the gift

of God

is eternal

life

in Christ

Jesus

our Lord

and

so

first we

need to

repent

and then

be

as believe

in

the Lord

Romans

10.9

and 10

says

that if

you

confess

with

your

mouth

Jesus

is

Lord

and

believe

in

your

heart

that

God

raised

him

from

the

dead

you

will

be

saved

and

I like

the way

J.D.

Farrick

says it

here

it says

you

will

be

saved

it

doesn't

say

you

might

be

saved

it

says

you

will

be

saved

for

it

is

with

your

heart

that

you

believe

and

are

justified

and

it

is

with

your

mouth

that

you

confess

and

are

saved

and

the

C

stands

for

call

on

the

name

of

the

Lord

Romans

10

13

says

for

everyone

who

calls

on

the

name

of

the

Lord

will

be

saved

so

and

I

just

like

the way

that's

put

that

we

will

be

saved

and

God

came

Jesus

came

to

earth

and

to die

for

our

sin

and

he

lived

amongst

us

and

he

died

on a

cross

but

he

didn't

stay

on that

cross

he

rose

after

three

days

and

after

the

three

days

he

came

back

to

life

and

he

came

and

showed

himself

to

the

disciples

and

a few

others

for a

few

days

after

and

after

that

he

was

raised

to

the

right

hand

of

God

and

he

said

in

his

word

that

he's

coming

back

again

good

news

is

that

Jesus

is

coming

back

to

take

us

where

with

him

and

if

there's

anybody

here

today

that

hasn't

accepted

the

Lord

as

their

personal

savior

you

know

what

are

you

waiting

for

you

don't

know

if

tomorrow

could

be

today

could

be

your

last

day

and

would

you

like

to

spend

the

rest

of

your

life

with

Christ

or

would

you

like

or

if

you

don't

then

you

will

spend

the rest

of

your

life

in

eternity

without

Christ

in

hell

and

in

closing

I

would

like

to

leave

you

with

this

message

of

scripture

and I

trust

that

you

will

be

excited

to

share

the

hope

that

you

have

the

good

news

of

Jesus

Christ

and

our

Lord

who

has

come

in

contact

with

you

and

it

is

Romans

10

14

and

15

how

then

can

they

call

on

the

one

they

have

not

believed

in

and

how

can

they

believe

in

the

one

whom

they

have

not

heard

and

how

can

they

hear

without

someone

preaching

to

them

and

how

can

they

preach

unless

they

are

sent

as

it

is

written

how

beautiful

are

the

feet

of

those

who

bring

good

news

and

I

hope

that's

the

good

news

that

you're

willing

to

share

with

a

world

out

there

that

needs

to

know

and

hear

about

our

Savior

thank

you