The Doctrine of Hope
RO45-02

Hope

The Book of Life

The Judgment Seat of Christ

Therefore, nothing is more vital, or of greater value, to a human being than to be justified in God's presence, and to have your name permanently inscribed in the final edition of the book of life, which is called the Lamb's book of life.

Benefits of Justification – Past; Present; and, Future

Hebrew Verbs for "Hope"

Hebrew Nouns for "Hope"

1. Expectation of Deliverance

   The first noun is "tiqwah." Hebrew. It means "expectation" or "hope," and it connotes hope in the sense of expectation of deliverance. And again, this is deliverance that is sure to come – not deliverance that a person just hopes for, but a deliverance that he knows he's going to have. In Zechariah 9:12, we have this now "tiqwah" used. It is translated as "hope," and it reads: "Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will render unto double unto you." Here is the nation of Israel in captivity. They are prisoners, but notice that they are prisoners of hope. And because of what we know about the Hebrew meaning of "tiqwah," it is not a prisoner who hopes he's going to someday be released. But he says, "You are prisoners of hope" in the terms of the fact that you know that you're going to be released: "I am now preparing to release you from your imprisonment." You may add to that Job 5:16. There it is translated by the word "hope."

2. Confident Freedom from Fear

   A second noun is "betach." "Betach" means "trust;" "security;" or, "confidence." This word connotes "hope" in the sense of confident freedom from fear. That is one of the great characteristics of biblical hope. It removes the ground of a person's fear. A person who is dying with a terminal illness is not afraid if he has biblical hope, because he knows exactly what is before him, and he knows that there is nothing but better than what he's ever known before. Psalm 16:9 uses "batach," and translates it as "hope:" "Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope." Here are the consequences to the body, including physical death. David says that his heart is glad because his flesh shall rest in hope. Why?

   Notice verse 10: "For You will not leave my soul in Sheol (the place of the dead). Neither will You permit Your Holy One to see corruption." There, in the last part of verse 10, you have David making a leap to express even a greater hope. He says, "I know that when I die, and my body goes into the grave, my body goes in with hope." What did he mean? He meant that: "I know that I am going to be raised again from the dead. Therefore, my soul, only temporarily resides in Sheol," which is the Hebrew word for "Hades" – the compartment in the Old Testament of believers. He says, "While my soul is going to be there for a while, I know that I will be raise, but even more so." Then he leaps across the centuries, and he talks about the Holy One. He no longer is speaking of himself. He has now leaped forward to Jesus Christ. That's why the New Testament comes back, and it quotes this verse as "the great hope of the Lord Jesus Christ; He who is the Holy One God, that He would not be left in the grave" so that His body would decompose. He would not see corruption.

3. Confident Security

   A third noun is "mivtach." "Mivtach" means confident security. This connotes hope in the sense of a firm and a sure expectation, in the sense of a refuge. Many times in the Old Testament, this is one of the great uses of the Hebrew nouns for hope in the sense of a refuge of protection. In Psalms 42:5, we have it used in that way: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance." Here the psalmist is speaking in terms of being in trouble, and he says, "Why are you cast down? Why are you disquieted? Hope in God." What is he saying? "I shall replace Him for the help of His countenance. He is saying, "Hope in God." And he says that: It's the kind of a hope that I know I'm going to praise God for someday. There's no question about it. Hope in God, and you will most certainly praise Him. For what? For the fact that He has solved the burden that is upon you. He will solve the trouble in which you find yourself.

   Job 18:14 also uses "mivtach," and it is translated as "confidence."

4. Expectation and Waiting

   Another Paul Hebrew noun for hope is "niqweh." "Niqweh" means "expectation;" "hope;" or, "confidence." This one connotes hope in the sense of the confident realization of something that you are just waiting for. You're just waiting, and finally God comes around, and He gives you this thing that you have been waiting for. You may find this used in Ezra 10:2, where it is translated as "hope:" "And Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, 'We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the people of the land. Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing." These people who had gone into the land we're always making the same mistake. Here they were even returning from Babylonian captivity, but they just could not keep their hands off those foreign girls. They'd watch those whirling dervishes, and they'd get these girls up from Moab, and they would wear that scintillating perfume, Midnight in Moab, and it would just drives them crazy. And pretty soon, they were finding themselves marrying these girls again. This always leads to disaster. That's a sure way to cut your throat – to marry a person who is outside of the family of God.

   So, they recognized that they had sinned very grievously. Now look what they had. Some of these people had not only taken one of these girls, but some had more than one. And they had children. So, here were family groups, and now they said, "This is all wrong. We've botched the whole thing up. And now we recognize why God's hand is against us. If you were in a position like that, what would you do? You'd throw your hands up and say, "Hey, that's hopeless." And yet, here in the book of Ezra, the people come, and they say, "It's not hopeless. It's 'niqweh.'" It's a confident solution that you're expectantly waiting for. God is going to resolve our problem. And that was some problem indeed to resolve.

   You can add Jeremiah 17:13, which is translated by the English word "hope." These are selected verses that will illuminate the particular use that we're looking at. These were selected and culled out of many other possible choices. So, these are selected verses. It would be well worth your checking them out on your own.

5. Refuge

   Another Hebrew now for "hope" is "machsch." This one again means "refuge." It connotes hope very clearly as a protective shelter. We have this illustrated in Psalm 62:8, where the word is translated as "refuge:" Trust in Him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us." This is an Old Testament use of the concept of hope, and "machsch" means very distinctly God as hope in terms of a refuge.

   Jeremiah 17:17 can be added to that. It's translated there as "hope." The idea is God being viewed as a protective shelter in a time of storm. And when you have that, that is hope.

   This is the kind of thing such as mountain-climbing areas. For example, you may have been in Rocky Mountain National Park. If you have ever been in the Long's Peak area, you can climb that mountain, and you get to the very base of it, which has a huge boulder field. As you cross the boulder field, you start up, and there's a place on the horizon called the keyhole, just because it looks like a keyhole. And you head for that, and you go through the keyhole, and then you get up the back side of the mountain, climbing to the summit.

   When you get to the keyhole, right there in the rock, out of the weather, is a "machsch; a shelter; or, a refuge, because that spot marks the place where the first person died climbing Long's Peak. And there have been many people who have died in the attempt. And it happened to be a lady. And the reason she died was that she found herself tired and exhausted. It's a monumentally exhausting climb. It's a terrific exertion upon the cardiovascular system like you can't believe. She got herself in a position where she was tired, and a storm hit her. And she could not find her way back down to safer lower elevations. Consequently, she died right there at the keyhole. So, in the memory of her, they put this "machsch" – a refuge, so that in the future, everybody who climbs that mountain passes that, and they know that that's there. If they get in trouble, they head back down to for shelter, and they can survive in it through any weather that may come.

   That is the connotation here of this word. That gives a person hope. A person may find himself on that mountain, and suddenly find a storm swooping in. And snow, of course, would not be uncommon at certain times of the year. In fact, that could be so even in the summertime, under the right conditions, because it's 14,255 feet high. It's terrifically high. And the result is that you would be in a position where there's no hope except for this refuge. That's exactly the idea that this Hebrew noun has.

6. Confidence

   Another one is "kesel." "Kesel" means confident. It connotes hope as an object of one's trust. We have this used in Proverbs 3:26, where it is translated into English by the word "confidence:" "For the Lord shall be your confidence, and shall keep your foot from being taken;" that is, you will not go astray. The Lord will be your confidence. That means that you will not be disappointed. This is an absolute, certain hope. You may add to that Job 31:24, where it is translated by the word "hope."

7. Expectantly Waiting for a Result

   The next noun is "sever." "Sever" means "waiting" or "hope," and it connotes hope in the sense of expectantly waiting for a result. We have this, for example, in Psalm 119:116, where it is translated by the word "hope:" "Uphold me according unto Your Word, that I may live, and not be ashamed of my hope." "To be ashamed of what? To be ashamed of expectantly waiting for a result. We are going to find that this same concept is repeated relative to hope in the New Testament, because it tells us (in the Romans passage that we'll be studying a little later) that one of the things about hope that Paul points out is that you won't be ashamed. You won't feel like you've been a fool. That's what he means. You won't say, "Now, I've trusted God to do this, and that this is going to happen, and that this is going to happen," and then it didn't pan out. Never. Hope in Scripture always comes through. And "sever" connotes that idea that you're going to get what you are expectantly waiting for in terms of a result.

   You may add to that one 46:5, "sever" is translated by the word "hope."

8. Confident Result

   We have one more, and that is "tochelet." "Tochelet" means "expectation," and it connotes hope in the sense of a confident result that we've been talking about. "Tochelet" means the results are certain. Psalm 39:7 uses this: "And now Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You." Here he says, "What am I standing around for, Lord? Why don't I get moving? Why don't I get going? I don't care what my troubles are. I don't care what my problem is. My hope is in You." What is he saying? My "tochelet" (my absolute confident result) is in You. There's no reason for me to stand around. I'm a winner.

   You may add Proverbs 10:28 to that, where it is translated "hope."

So, the basic meaning of the Old Testament Hebrew noun for "hope" is a confident expectation with no uncertainty. So, putting it all together (what we've seen in the verb, and what we've seen in the Hebrew nouns) comes out of this – that hope in the Old Testament connotes a concrete personal expectation by the believer which is confidently anticipated, and that there is no suggestion that there would be anything but absolute victory for the individual. OK, you may pursue that idea in Psalm 42:5 and Micah 7:7 – confident results.

The reason for this is because God is the One who's going to fulfill the hope, and therefore, it's a certainty, because we expect God to act on the basis of His character. Therefore, He will be faithful, and therefore, He will be true to His integrity. Again I remind you that this expectation that we have relative to ourselves; our sins; and, whatever we are, is because God is holy. That's because God does not act out of line with His own integrity. That's why we cannot trust people, because people act out of line with their own integrity at times. But God never does. And when people act out of line with their integrity, then they hurt us, because we're trusting them to do something, but they are not being honest with us, and they will not produce.

The reason we are so confident (and these words connote such confidence in God) is because He is always true to His holiness. The integrity of God would be at stake if He did not produce for those who have hope in Him.

In the New Testament, our words are considerably reduced. We have one verb and one noun. So, we'll look at those. The verb is "elpizo." "Elpizo" means "to look for;" "to expect;" or, "to hope for." It connotes hope again in the sense of a confident expectation of something good.

For example, it's used in John 5:45, where we read, "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust." And hear the word "elpizo" is used. These Jews were fighting; resisting; and, rebelling against the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of them were the leaders of the nation. And Jesus says, "Don't worry, I'm not going to accuse you." When you get before God, the basis upon which you're going to be condemned is what you are confidently expecting is going to bring you through."

Here's an interesting thing. These Jews had a hope in the sense of the New Testament word. They understood what hope meant, and that it was always a victory, and that it was always productive. But they had their confidence in the wrong thing. The Mosaic Law that they were so confident in was the very thing about which Jesus said, "God the Father is going to use this to condemn you." So, here the expectation of results are not going to be something good or something bad.

You also have this word used in 2 Corinthians 1:10, where we can illustrate its meaning: "Who delivered us from so great a death, and delivers us in whom we trust, that He will yet deliver us. Here again, we have the fact that we are all bound up in the sin market of death; that we're going to be delivered; and, the delivery is going to be certain.

The basic meaning then of the New Testament Greek verb "to hope" is confident expectation of something good. It never connotes something vague; something fearful; or, some kind of fearful anticipation. We have one noun. We already looked at this. It's "elpis." It means an expectation (a hope), and it connotes hope again in the sense of a favorable and confident result (a confident expectation).

We have this word used in Acts 2:26: Therefore, my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh also shall rest in hope. There is the verse in the New Testament quoting what we looked at previously in the Old Testament – in David s psalm brought over here to the New Testament. On the day of Pentecost, Peter was preaching his sermon, and he reaches over, and he quotes this very verse. And he's pointing out that David had an absolute certain expectation of resurrection. So, now he uses that same word in the New Testament comparable word (the noun "elpis") for conveying that same thing that David was saying in the Hebrew. The words are identical in meaning.

Let's look at one more. Acts 26:6 uses "elpis:" "And now I stand, and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers." Paul says, "I'm here standing before you, Agrippa, under judgment because I really expect God to do what He promised to our fathers in sending the Messiah, and all the consequences relative to his arrival. And here I am, brought under judgment by my own people for this hope." That isn't something that he was just kind of wishing would come to pass, or he thought was a good possibility. They were condemning him because they knew that when Paul said "hope," he meant that that's going to happen. He wasn't equivocating at all because the word never means a condition.

So, the basic meaning of the New Testament Greek noun for "hope" is the same as the verb: a definite, confident expectation of good with no connotation of a vague (or a fearful) anticipation. So, the New Testament meaning of "hope" conforms exactly to the Old Testament meaning.

The Concept of Hope

1. The Heathen Use of the Word "Hope"

   Hope was not used in the ancient world (in the biblical sense) of a confident expectation of good in the presence of God. In the ancient world, when they used the word "hope," it was very much like we use it today. It always connoted a certain fearful anticipation, particularly of death. But when the Holy Spirit took this word from the Greek language, He gave a totally different connotation. In the Greek, it was associated with its Hebrew meaning, and it was always confident expectation. This was never true of the heathen. Obviously, it couldn't be. What did they have to hope for? The heathen considered themselves as animals in terms of their physical bodies. The heathen stood for the position that once the body was dead, it would never live again. Therefore, that in itself removed hope.

   You know right now that if down in your heart you were confident that once your physical body was dead, it would never live again, there wouldn't be too much hope for you. You wouldn't find too much comfort in the fact that you might float around as a spirit being. It would cut right into your hope, and right into your confidence, and you would be in a hopeless situation. That's what the ancient world was in.

2. Paul

   Hope was a favorite concept with the apostle Paul. He uses the verb "elpizo" 19 times out of 31 times that this word is used in the New Testament. And the noun "elpis" is used 36 times by Paul out of 51 times that it's used the New Testament. Guess which book of the New Testament he uses it mostly in. What do you think? Romans. Yeah, that's interesting. Here's the great book about what God has done for us in justification, and most of the time that Paul uses the word "hope," he uses it in the book of Romans.

3. Bible Doctrine

   Hope is a product of Bible doctrine in the believer's soul. Do you want to develop your hope? There's your first clue as to how to do it. It's the product of doctrine in the soul. Those of you that have a shallow reservoir of doctrine in your human spirits are not going to be people who are strong in hope in the New Testament, biblical sense of that word. Therefore, Ephesians 1:18 says, "The eyes of your understanding (your mind and your thinking) being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." Now how is your mind going to be enlightened? It is going to be enlightened by information; by knowledge; and, by doctrine. That's what will enlighten your thinking so that you may know what is the hope of your calling.

4. God is the One Who Gives Hope

   God is characterized in the Bible as the one who gives hope. In Romans 15:13, He is called "the God of hope." So, don't go treating God as if He's the God of discouragement; as if He's the God of frustration; or, as if He's the God who is doing all these terrible things that are lousing up your life, because He's not. He is not the God who's making you blue. The only thing He does for you is put you on the mountain peak. He is the God of hope. If you're anything else; if you're frustrated; if you're blue; if you feel things are pointless; or, if you're discouraged, it is the god of this world that's doing that: the devil. It is not our Father in heaven. Romans 15:13 says, "He (the true God) is the God of hope."

5. Justification

   The gospel expresses the Christian's hope with justification by grace through faith. That's the whole point of the gospel message. Colossians 1:23: "If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature that is under heaven, of which I, Paul, am made a minister." That is the hope of the gospel. The gospel presents the possibility that a sinner can stand in God's eyes as if he had never sinned. That is justification. That is the hope of the gospel. And the gospel, therefore, connotes the Christian's hope.

6. The Gospel Gives us a Double Hope

   The gospel presents the believer with a double hope. In Colossians 1:4-5, we have these: "Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which He has to all the saints." That connotes hope for today – hope in practice. That connotes hope that builds the spiritual maturity structure in the soul: the grace orientation; the relaxed mental attitude; the mastery of the details of life; the inner happiness; and, the capacity to love. All of that producers hope for today, and the control (the relief) from the miseries that the old sin nature brings upon us. That's what he's referring to here: "Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love (the product of Christian maturity) which He has to all the saints."

   Then verse 5 speaks about hope for the future: "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the Word of the truth of the gospel." This is the hope of the return of Christ; of your resurrection; and, of the fact that there will come a time when there will be no more pain; no more sorrow; no more tears; no more frustration; and, no more emotional trauma. There will be a time when you will be absolutely perfect – as perfect as Jesus Christ is. Now that is the hope that you have in heaven, and you're going to realize it. You can't dream of what a terrific person you're going to be. Stretch your imagination. Look at the person next to you, and try to dream of what a terrific person he's going to be. And even that's true.

7. Jesus Christ is our Hope

   Jesus Christ alone is the believer's hope. And this is the reason that the world is in such a hopeless condition. 1 Timothy 1:1 says, "Jesus Christ, Who is our hope."

8. No Hope without Jesus Christ

   Apart from a personal relationship to Jesus Christ in salvation, a person stands with no hope in life. The Bible points out that every one of us, in our unsaved days, were in that position. Therefore, Ephesians 2:12, "That at the time, you were without Christ (when you were unsaved) being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel (not under divine covenant blessings of Israel), and strangers from the covenant of the promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." This is the condition of most of the people you know. They are without hope. That's why it is so hard for the average person in today's society (in our 20th century America) to be able to function on a successful and a happy basis. Because they are without Christ, they don't have the beginning of hope at all.

9. Eternal Life is a Certainty

   Hope anticipates eternal life in heaven as a certainty. Titus 3:4:7 presents that to us: "That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Here's an expression: "hope of eternal life." Somebody may come to you (maybe your youngster at home) and say, "What does hope of eternal life mean?" How would you explain that now on the basis of what you have been privileged to be taught from the Hebrew and the Greek meaning of these words? Well, I hope you would not say to the person, "Well, that means happy expectation of a possibility that you will go to heaven." Hope of eternal life means an absolute certainty that this is what you're going to have. Being justified by His grace, the consequence is that you're going to have a certainty of eternal life. So, that's a certain hope. Hope anticipates eternal life in heaven as a certainty (Titus 3:7).

10. Absolute Righteousness in our Experience

    Hope causes the believer to anticipate absolute righteousness in his experience someday. In God's eyes, all those of you who are believers now possess absolute righteousness. But you don't act like that. Galatians 5:5 says, "For we through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." We, under the patient indwelling of the Holy Spirit, wait for the time when we will be absolutely perfect. There is no use in your trying to imagine what that's going to be like, because that's so foreign to us that we couldn't imagine it. We cannot imagine what it will be like to go second-after-second; minute-after-minute; hour-after-hour; day-in and day-out; and, year-in and year-out, and never do a single thing wrong. We will never have a mind that thinks an evil thought. We will be absolutely perfect. And that's the thing, again, that we have a hope for. What does that mean? That someday you're going to be better? Oh, you're going to be so much better you won't believe it. You can anticipate absolute righteousness in your practice.

11. We Wait for God's Mercy

    God takes pleasure in those who hope or wait for His mercy. Psalm 33:18 and Psalm 147:11 speak about God's pleasure in those who seek His lovingkindness. That means His mercy.

12. The Believer has a Good Hope

    The grace of God has provided the believer with a good hope. 2 Thessalonians 2:16 uses this adjective: "the good hope." What does that mean? It means a hope of eternal life and glory. And later, you will appreciate and understand what it means to have the glory of God upon you.

13. The Rapture

    The return of Jesus Christ in the rapture for his saints is called a blessed hope in Titus 2:13. You're all acquainted with that phrase. What is "the blessed hope?" It's the return of Jesus Christ for His saints in the rapture. Is that going to happen? Absolutely it's going to happen. There are many people whose theology is so bugged up that they don't think that the Lord is going to do that. They don't think that He's going to come and catch you up into the air so that you're going to meet Him there and be with Him forever. But Titus 2:13 says that that's our great blessed hope.

14. A Living Hope of Resurrection

    The believer has a living hope. 1 Peter 1:3 speaks about a living hope. What is that? It is physical resurrection. That is an absolute certainty. As certain as it is that some of us will die, so it is absolutely certain that all of us will be resurrected.

15. Christians have a Better Hope than Old Testament Jews

    Christians have a better hope than did the Old Testament saints under the Mosaic Law which made nothing perfect. Hebrews 7:19 speaks about that better hope – the hope that makes things better. What did the Old Testament do for a person? It did one thing. It frustrated them to the ends of their brain cells. It condemned; it condemned; and, it condemned. No matter how hard a person tried to do what was right, according to those 613 commandments, he blew it every time. The Old Testament Mosaic Law made nothing perfect. But you and I come along, and in our experience now, you can be something very fantastic as a believer. You who are filled with doctrine have the basis of hope and the guiding direction of the Spirit of God such that in your practice, you become very marvelous people. The Old Testament saints had nothing comparable to that.

16. Joy and Peace

    The joy and peace which come from believing in Christ produce abundant hope in the soul through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 speaks about that joy that comes: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing." When you believe in Christ as Savior, joy and peace flood the soul. The result is hope – that you may about in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

17. The Glory of God

    Salvation provides the believer with the sure hope of experiencing the splendor and the brilliance of the glory of God (Romans 5:2). You're seeing a lot on television now about laser light shows, and the fantastic, marvelous things that they can do. The visual images are brilliant; glorious; colorful; and, fantastically unbelievable. Well, just remember that the greatest light show of all time took place on the Mount of Transfiguration, and we're going to be getting into that. That was glory – unimaginable. It was just indescribable. I'm going to give you a clue. I don't care what on light shows. Some of you have attended the concerts where they're putting these things on. Some of you have seen these in movies and one thing and another. They are brilliant laser light shows. They include fantastic, brilliant white lights flying through the air. The only way you can describe it is the splendor of glory.

    Well, someday you are going to look like that. Someday you're going to be just like Adam and Eve once were as they walked through that garden. Do you know why they knew they were in trouble? Because it was as if somebody had reached up and pushed the switch on them, and all the glory that surrounded them, which was there covering, was suddenly blanked out. They looked at one another in horror. And that's what the Bible means when it says that they realized that they were naked. Well, they had been without clothes all the while, but they had not been without covering. But sin tore it all away from them. It is the provision of Jesus Christ on the cross that is going to return to you that same glory. Now that's a hope. It's not something that just may be. I don't care where you are; who you are; or, how bad or how good you are. It's a sure thing. You are going to be the most spectacular light show. So, the next time somebody talks to you about the laser show, or you go see one, you can say, "See that? That's dime store stuff. Take a look at me. I'm going to be something really great. I don't want to turn it on now because you wouldn't believe it. But I am really something. Now this stuff you see – that's OK. That's entertainment. But for the big thing, just stay around. I'll give you the real show." And that' true.

18. Jesus Christ

    Christ in the believer is the basis of the Christian's hope of glorification. Colossians 1:27 is your hope of glory. That's what we're talking about here – Jesus Christ.

19. The Messiah

    Israel's hope was the expectation of the arrival of the Messiah (Acts 28:20).

20. Hope Stabilizes Us

    Hope stabilizes the believer's like an anchor (Hebrews 6:17-18). That's where we get the words of that hymn: "like an anchor in my soul." That's exactly what hope is. The Christian who has hope in the New Testament sense (a certainty of where he's going going), boy, that is a stable person. That is a person that is a pleasure to be around. The unstable ones are a pain in the neck. But the person who has godly hope is a person that has an anchor, and he's stable. He's not blown around and pushed around by every wind of somebody's opinion.

21. Bible Doctrine

    Hope in the Bible is characterized by confidence and rejoicing in the believer who is oriented to doctrines (Hebrews 3:6).

22. Grace

    Christians are to meet suffering in the hope of the grace of God to be showered upon them at the return of Christ for them (1 Peter 1:13). We, no matter where we are now; no matter how bad things may get; no matter what your personal trials and sufferings may be; and, no matter what your personal tragedies, always meet it in the hope that is before you of when Jesus Christ returns for you. The grace that is going to be shed upon you is going to make it worth it all.

23. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

    The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the basis of the believer's hope of resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:16-23 tells us that because He was raised, we too will be raised.

24. Faith

    Faith and hope are closely connected. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith gives substance to our hope. Faith gives assurance of the things we have hoped for. Romans 4:18 times us that faith in God's promise gave Abraham hope for what reason told him was impossible – having a child. And Romans 8:24-25 tell us that faith gives the believer hope in salvation – a salvation which he cannot now see.

25. Love

    Mental attitude love ("agape" love) produces unlimited hoping in the believer (1 Corinthians 13:7). Develop that facet of your spiritual maturity, and your hope will go sky rocketing.

26. Personal Purity

    Hope of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ is the motive for personal purity. 1 John 3:3 tells us that they who have this hope in themselves – when we see Him we shall be like Him. John says, "Those of you who have this hope will act as godly people. You'll clean up your life. You'll clean up your act now.

27. Freedom from Fear of Death

    Christian pope provides freedom from fear of death (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Sometimes it falls to my sad lot to have to conduct funerals. And boy, I've had funerals that have been funerals. I have had funerals without hope. I have had funerals where they are screaming; moaning; falling on the floor; and, clutching and kissing and hugging the corpse until it was hard for me to restrain myself from appropriate remarks that I could have on an occasion like that, and not add to their grief. But you and I as Christians have no fear of death.

    I listen to a race driver on television the other day, and he said, "I'm afraid of death. Well, most people are. Why? Because they have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, "But I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them who are asleep (Christians who have died), that you don't have sorrow, even as others who have no hope." So, if you have hope, when death comes into your experience, you will take it in stride as a person who knows what it's all about, and who knows where you're headed. And whatever your personal disappointments and sorrow may be, the best is yet before you.

28. Share the Reason for your Hope

    The Christians to be prepared to give a reason for his hope of eternal life in heaven (1 Peter 3:15). You're all acquainted with that. Get your doctrine straight. People may ask you, "Why do you believe that?" And you should be able to say, "This is why I believe that."

29. Personal Happiness

    Hope is the ground of the believers personal happiness (Romans 12:12). The ground of personal happiness is hope.

30. Hope Protects our Thinking

    Hope is a helmet protecting the thinking of a believer against human viewpoint (1 Thessalonians 5:8). You have a great hope based on doctrine – you're not going to be anybody's fool. Your thinking is going to be protected.

31. Hope is One of the Three Greatest Christian Virtues

    Hope is one of the three greatest of the Christian virtues: hope; faith; and, love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

32. We are never Ashamed of our Hope

    God's love for the believer will ensure that the Christian will never be ashamed of his hope of experiencing the glory of God (Romans 5:5). You can go ahead and brag to people that you're going to be the light of all light shows, and you'll never be ashamed that you said that. You'll never be proven wrong. That's what Romans 5:5 means.

33. Hopelessness is Alien to the Christian Life

    There is one more. The attitude of hopelessness is completely alien to the Christian life. Again, 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, "I would not have you ignorant concerning them who are asleep, that you do not have sorrow, even as others who have no hope. It should never characterize us. It is not true of us. We shouldn't act as if it were so.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1977

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