I. Hope: General Thoughts
A. What It Is
1. Hope– (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation or confidence:—faith, hope.
2. Sometimes translated faith.
3. Negative example: living w/o hope
Ephesians 2:12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
4. The truth about Jesus is the Christian’s hope
1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope…
5. Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul…
B. God Wants Us To Have Hope
1. 1 Corinthians 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
2. Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience & comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
C. Misplaced Hope
If Jesus is our hope, and the truths of God are our hope, then we dare not put our hope in someone or something else, or in some erroneous understanding of God’s promises.
II. Misplaced Hope: Biblical Examples
A. The Hope Of Israel-Messiah & All He Would Accomplish V. 20
1. Misplaced Hope-Religious Jews looked for a Deliverer from Roman occupation
2. God’s Intention– To deliver them from sin, and establish a spiritual kingdom
B. Jesus & The Disciples
1. James & John Sitting @ Jesus’ Right Hand
a. Misplaced Hope- Mark 10:35-40 35Then James & John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” 36And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand & the other on Your left, in Your glory.”
b. God’s intention- Mark 10:37-40 38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”39They said to Him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; 40but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”
2. Two Disciples On The Road To Emmaus: After Jesus’ Resurrection
a. Misplaced Hope- Luke 24:21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.
b. God’s Intention- Luke 24:25-27 25Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart (dull, inactive) to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
3. After Jesus’ Resurrection: Restoring the Kingdom
a. Misplaced Hope- Acts 1:6 6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
b. God’s Intention- Acts 1:7, 8 7And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
III. Thoughts Regarding Misplaced Hope
A. The Jews Of Paul’s Day V. 20
1. Paul hoped for the same thing the Jews hoped for: the Messiah of Israel
2. Yet Paul was imprisoned b/c of who he believed that Messiah to be
3. The Jews looked for a physical kingdom; freedom from Roman dominance; physical prosperity and influence upon the Earth.
4. Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world. Spiritual kingdom
5. The trouble came b/c they held different concepts of Messiah; radically different
6. Paul’s Messiah rules in the heart. Jews’ Messiah rules from Jerusalem
7. Jesus will eventually rule on Earth, but not yet, and not during Paul’s day
B. How Misplaced Hope Happens
1. Ignorance, misunderstanding of what to hope for
a. Paul explained from the scriptures why Jesus was their Messiah Vs. 23, 24
b. He brought understanding: some went on to believe in Christ as Messiah
2. Dullness of heart which leads to spiritual blindness
a. Paul explains why others didn’t believe Vs. 25-27
b. Hearts grew dull, ears hard of hearing, eyes they have closed
c. This isn’t lack of information; it is rejecting of truth re. Jesus
3. Not a lack of religious activity; but a lack of truthfulness re. God & His truths
4. They defined their spirituality instead of God’s truth defining their lives
5. 2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness, but denying its power
a. Form– appearance, semblance, the mere form
b. People can participate in something that looks like godliness but isn’t
c. As they participate, they actually deny or disregard the truth about God
d. Either out of ignorance, or dullness of heart, spiritual blindness, selfishness
6. Areas of misplaced hope: Christianity, marriage, Christian service, church, health, prosperity, church leaders, work of the Holy Spirit, tragic events
C. How To Remedy Misplaced Hope
1. Get understanding about God; don’t be ignorant
a. If you have become disillusioned w/God, the church, etc. seek out the truth of His word.
b. Try to determine if you have misunderstood the truths & promises of God
c. We can be disillusioned, but if we seek the Lord, He will transform our understanding and show us His truth
2. Don’t allow your heart to grow dull; don’t become spiritually blind
a. Behind every long term disillusionment is a heart that has sought to define God and His ways, instead of having a heart that is devoted to God and His ways.
b. If we stay disillusioned, it is b/c we are seeking to force our definition of God into our experience and our desires. Unwilling to accept the truth about God.
c. Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. (Hoping in the truth satisfies the soul)
d. Misplaced hope attacks the truth. (i.e. Jesus, Paul) Cynicism & bitterness.
e. Results in us practicing a form of godliness or Christianity