I. The Hope Of His Calling

A. What Is Hope?

1. Hope– Not wishful thinking, fanciful imagining, wishing for luck, etc.
2. What Christian hope is:

a. A sentiment & a thought: a desire for good, with an expectation of obtaining it.
b. The object or goal; a thing hoped for.
c. The reason for hope. There needs to be a good reason for hope.

3. The Christian who has Biblical hope can say:

a. “I very much expect that something good is going to happen”.
b. “I know what I am hoping for”.

4. “I know why I am hoping. I have good reasons for my hope”.
Biblical hope requires faith in God’s promises.
Romans 8:24, 25 “…but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”
5. What does Biblical hope say?

a. Though I don’t see it, I expect it to be good”.
b. Though I don’t see it, I know something of what it is that I hope for”.
c. Though I don’t see it, I know why I have hope”.

6. 2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. (By faith, we hope…)
7. Paul prayed that they would know what they were and should be hoping for.
8. Paul, by the Holy Spirit, prayed this for the Ephesians.
9. We ought to always pray this for the Christians in our lives.
10. We ought to pray it for ourselves. Do you pray for yourselves in that way?
11. Question-Do you seek after new forms of entertainment, or do you seek to understand the promises of God? We are encouraged to know God better.
12. D.L. Martin Lloyd-Jones– “We are but little children paddling at the very great edge of a great and mighty ocean of truth; and nothing is quite so tragic as the type of Christian who gives the impression that he has ‘arrived’, that he has finished, that he has all”.

B. What Is His Calling?

1. Ultimately, God’s calling for the Christian is Heaven, to be in His presence.
2. Acts 26:18 “…to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
3. See Ephesians 1:11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance…”
4. Colossians 1:12 “…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

II. Hoping For Heaven

A. We Are Called To Do This

1. John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am…” (Jesus longed to be back in glory)
2. Read Philippians 1:21-23 (Paul longed for heaven)
3. Read Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16

a. Abraham waited.
b. The other saints were assured of God’s promises, and embraced them.
c. They didn’t receive the promise of heaven in this life, but their hope for Heaven shaped the way they lived.

4. Read Hebrews 12:1, 2 Jesus looked beyond His circumstances to glory
5. Read Colossians 3:1-4

a. Seek- to seek in order to find.
b. Set- to direct your mind, seek strive for.

B. People Object To This Kind Of Thinking

1. Some say that thinking about Heaven is a waste of time. Not reality
2. Doctrine & theology aren’t important. Action is needed, social change, etc.
3. Religion is a crutch. “Religion is an opiate for the people.” (Marx, Lenin)
4. That “pie-in-the-sky” thinking isn’t productive. It is daydreaming.
5. “Too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good”.
6. Response– That is contrary to the thinking of Jesus, Paul, the Old Testament and New Testament saints, ancient and recent church history.
7. Lloyd-Jones “When men forget the next world, things go wrong in this world.”
8. Lloyd-Jones “To discount thinking on Heaven is both unspiritual and unscriptural”.

C. Why Hope For Heaven?

1. Because it brings comfort to the Christian

a. Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
b. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Christians more than anyone can understand the evil in the world. We know that the root of all evil is sin.
We do not dwell on heaven so as to avoid sin, or ignore it, but because we know that someday it will all end, and we will be in glory.

2. Because that is where Jesus is

a. Read John 14:1-3
b. We hope for Heaven because that is God’s promise to those “in Christ”.