Overview
Rev. Jon Ryan presents “Hope Conference #5: Biblical Examples of Hope,” beginning with we have had such a tremendous day. The teaching draws from Genesis 3:15, Romans 15, Hebrews 11, Luke 24 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Transcript
Understanding Biblical Examples of Hope
We have had such a tremendous day. It's remarkable. You know, God really wants us to hold fast to the hope. He's had it in his word from the time of Adam and Eve when he made the promise in Genesis 3 15. And he promised that he would send one that would crush the head of the adversary. They looked forward to that for years and years for this first coming. So what we want to look at this evening, if you'll take some time with me, is how does or did the hope impact people's lives?
I'm going to look at a number of people in the Old Testament. You can turn to Romans chapter 15, and we're going to see how it impacted their lives day by day, because it surely did. We'll see just a handful of people. It's really in almost everywhere in the Bible you can look. But we'll look at, briefly look at Abraham, at Moses, at David, at Hezekiah, and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ looked forward to the hope.
It says in Hebrews, for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. So as we look at these individuals, we can see and begin to grasp a little bit about how they were impacted. How did this affect them day by day? And surely it did. I'm speaking to you, Shirley. In Romans 15 verse 4, we read, for whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have what? Hope.
So whatsoever things were written aforetime, it's not just the Old Testament. Certainly it's referring to the But these pages, this Bible was written aforetime. We can look at what was written, and we can gain a greater appreciation of the hope, and learn how to walk with that evident in our hearts, moment by moment. You know, it says, with patience. That's the word for endurance. You know, whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we, through patience, that endurance, and comfort. Comfort is really the word for encouragement.
Patience and comfort are endurance and encouragement from the scriptures, we might have hope. God wants us to have that encouragement as we look forward to what he has awaiting us. As we look forward to this promise that he's made, we can have great encouragement. Look at the next verse, verse 5. Now the God of patience and consolation, same two words, the God of endurance, the God of encouragement, grant you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus. God wants us to be like-minded.
I think we learned a little bit about that this morning, with the many uses of together that we saw. God wants us to move together, to have this hope as a reality. We've heard these sharings, which have been amazing. We've learned that there's constants, and there's variables, and what we can control is the variable, the choices we make day by day. We're all a product of the choices we've made, and that we will continue to make. That defines who we are, that makes us who we are.
We can't change the past, we can't do anything about the future except look forward to it, but we can decide day by day how we're going to live, how we're going to hold on to what God has said. Recognize every day that we belong to Him, and He has great things in store awaiting us. If you take your Bible and turn to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Fame of Believers, and it's a snapshot, if you will, a, you know, just a little bit of these amazing men and women, in this case in Hebrews from the Old Testament, and God tells us how they lived. He shows us, it's great truths. Here in verse 10 of chapter 11 of Hebrews, for this is talking about Abraham, for he looked for a city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God. See, Abraham had to obey God.
When God told him, in the previous verses, it says God told him to leave where he had grown up for most of his life, and to go to the place that God would show him. He went, not knowing where he's going to go, but trusting and believing God, and he looked for this city. Now, he wasn't literally looking for a city over in Jerusalem that matched the description. He was looking forward to the first coming of Jesus Christ.
The Biblical Foundation
It says in verse 12, therefore spraying there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is upon, which is by the seashore innumerable. Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children for 70 years of their lives before they left to go to this land that God showed them, and it was another 30 years before they realized that promise.
Now, in this day and time, in the Old Testament, they knew that this Redeemer, this promised seed, would be born of a woman, and so it was very hurtful, sometimes even disgraceful, for a woman not to have a male child for a husband and wife, because they had no chance of raising this promised seed, but God promised them that they were going to have a child, and this child was going to end up being part of the genealogy that was going to lead to this promised seed, that Jesus Christ.
So here in Hebrews 11, we see that he looked for this city. Now, you're going to keep a marker here and look at John chapter 8. Did Jesus Christ study the scriptures? No doubt, right? Greater than any man that lived, he had grasped and understood the scriptures. He was taught from the time he was able to understand who he was, that he was the fulfillment of this promise, and he diligently sought to understand this, and we're going to see that he, time and again, referred to the hope that he had to look forward to, and that others look forward to.
Here in John chapter 8, in verse 30, we read, as he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Judeans which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? So they bring up Abraham.
They had great respect for Abraham, and they had great respect for their lineage that led them from Abraham to where they are, but Jesus Christ answers. Look what he says here in verse 39. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. See, he recognized that in their lineage they did lead from Abraham to here, but he's talking about something deeper.
He's trying to make an impression on their hearts of who Abraham really was, and what it means to be in that lineage of Abraham. It's not just a blood thing. Verse, let's go down to verse 48. Then answered the Judeans and said unto him, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast the devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil, but I honor my father, and ye do dishonor me, and I seek my own glory. There is one that seeketh and judgeth.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead in the prophets, and thou sayest, if a man seeketh my saying, he shall never taste of death. He's trying to teach them some spiritual truth. He's trying to show them that Abraham looked forward to the hope. Look down here at verse 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he sought and was glad. See Abraham, as Jesus Christ studied the word, saw this first coming.
He looked for the city whose builder and maker is God, who had foundations, whose builder and maker was God. He was looking forward to the fulfillment of the promise that was made to Adam and Eve. Go back to Hebrews 11. While you're going back there, I want to read a little section from Luke. I think you're very familiar with. In Luke 24, this is the day of the resurrection, and Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and there's, it's just becoming known to different individuals, and there are these two men that are leaving Jerusalem. They're sad.
They're full of grief because they were followers of Jesus Christ, and he had been crucified. It had been now three days, and they're going back to their home in Emmaus, and Jesus Christ meets them on the road to Emmaus, and he begins to ask them questions. Why are you sad? And they explained to him, aren't you a stranger in Jerusalem? And they tell him what's gone on, and then he begins to present this to them in chapter 24 of Luke, verse 25. Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. He had an understanding of the hope. He was able to go to all the scriptures concerning himself, starting at Moses. Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the book of Job. He started and began to show them that this is what the word has said. This is what people have been looking forward to, and he just opened their eyes.
Now back in Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 11, he said beginning at Moses. Well let's look at Moses for a minute. In Hebrews 11, verse 24, we read, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season. Esteeming, this is how he esteemed, he measured and qualified and concerned his life, esteeming rather, or esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
See he had the choice, he could be brought up as Pharaoh's son, the prince of Egypt, and yet he had greater respect for what his mom and dad were able to teach him. As they were brought in, you read the book of Exodus, they were brought into the palace. When Pharaoh's daughter pulled him out of the river, his sister, Moses' sister Miriam, was following along what was going to happen to her brother, and she says, do you want me to go get a nurse that can nurse this little baby?
Oh that would be a good idea, and she goes gets her mom, Moses' mom. You know, and then mom got to raise him, you know, they got to tell him who he was. It says that they weren't afraid of the king's commandment, which was to kill the male children that were born of the Hebrews, they just hid him, and then God worked in the situation, and this was going to lead to Jesus Christ. Look at Acts chapter 3, Acts chapter 3.
Peter, just shortly after the day of Pentecost, he and John are entering into the temple, and they heal the man that's born lame, and this is astounding.
This man had been laid at the temple gate beautiful for 40 years, above 40 years, he's above 40 years old, and here Peter and John come, and as the record in Acts chapter 3 opens up, they heal him, and here in verse 10, well verse 10, and they knew that it was he which sat at the alms, sat for alms at the beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him, and as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's Greatly Wondering.
He's got a picture of this. Here this man has never walked, and he's been brought to the temple day by day, and he gets healed. Peter and John heal them, heal him, and the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk, and it says he's holding on to them. I mean his life has just been amazingly changed with his healing, and people come, and they're greatly wondering what's going on.
Verse 12, and when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this, or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk. The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
So he's telling them he calls the God that they serve, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Here it says over in verse 22, for Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me. Him shall you hear in all things whatsoever. He shall say unto you. That's quoted from Deuteronomy chapter 18. Moses knew that there would be a prophet, that there would be a prophet like unto him.
Faith in Action
He's talking about the promisee, that the qualities, and the integrity, and this amazing fulfillment of the promise from Genesis 315 would be fashioned at least to some degree after him. Raise up a prophet like unto me. How amazing is that? Go back to Hebrews 11. Moses had a great perception of the hope. It caused him to make decisions day by day that altered his life. He could have enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season. He could have just been there and enjoyed all that the riches of Egypt, but that's not what he chose to do.
He rather chose to be a part of Israel, to look forward to the greater reward that would come as he continued to put God first. Here in Hebrews chapter 11, I want to read from the Amplified Bible verse 13 and a couple verses after that.
We read, these people, now it's referring to the previous individuals that are listed from Noah, and Abraham, and Sarah, and others, Enoch, and it says in verse 13, these people all died, controlled and sustained by their faith, but not having received the tangible fulfillment of God's promises, only having seen it and greeted it from a great distance by believing and all the while acknowledging and confessing that they were strangers and temporary residents and exiles upon the earth. Now those people who talk as they did show plainly that they are in search of a fatherland, their own country.
Those people who talk as they did. This is how we're to talk. We're looking forward to the second coming. We're looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ. It can come at any moment. God says, and we've heard it many times already today, that we're to live each day like we see that day approaching. We are looking forward to that country who has foundations, that city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. We look forward to that with great anticipation, great zeal.
It goes on to say, if they had been thinking with homesick remembrance of that country from which they were immigrants, they would have found constant opportunity to return to it. You know, for us, how does that apply? Well, we can look around us and see what other people are, how they're prioritizing their lives, what's important to them, but we don't want to get caught up into what is so important to everyone else, excluding the hope. We want to have this hope as our primary motivation.
It goes on, but the truth is that they were yearning for and aspiring to a better and more desirable country. That is a heavenly one. For that reason, God is not ashamed to be called their God, even to be surnamed their God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, for he has prepared for them a city. See, God took their names. Who is this God that you serve? Well, it's the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. If you haven't heard of those people, learn who they are.
They're the people that served me. They're the people that are mine, and I am theirs.
This chapter goes on, and it gives great understanding, or at least it directs us to have great understanding to so many individuals, and when it gets to the end of chapter 11, it says here, verse 39, and all of these, well, I'm going to read verse 38, men and women whom the world was not worthy, roaming over the desolate places and the mountains and living in caves and caverns and holes of the earth, and all of these, though they won divine approval by means of their believing, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised.
The Christ didn't come during their lifetime, but they lived like he was coming. They made decisions day by day, like it could be our child that we have. We're raising a male child. They lived with that hope, and it says, again, and all these, though they won divine approval by means of their believing, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised, because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they, these heroes and heroines of faith, should not come to perfection apart from us before we could join them.
Walking in Love and Confidence
See, we heard in Thessalonians that, you know, we don't have to be ignorant concerning those that fall asleep, and we learn that the dead in Christ will rise first, but we will also join them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. You know, that's what God had us in mind.
He had his first son, his son Jesus Christ, that was promised, the only begotten of the Father, and that when he came, God knew he would live his life and obey to the uttermost what was called to do, fulfill the law and win back for us all that was lost in Adam, and that he would have to give his life, and God would raise him from the dead, looking forward to sending him back again, and that's what we get to look forward to. So we've looked at a few people. We've looked at Abraham. We've looked at Moses.
I want to mention to you David. In Acts chapter 2, David is mentioned on the day of Pentecost when Peter stands up with the eleven, and they've just spoken in tongues, and there's an accusation that these men be drunken, and he begins to share with them the word, and in Acts chapter 2, it says in verse 25, quoting from the Old Testament, David saw, Abraham saw the first coming. They didn't literally see it, but this is how they lived their lives. This affected and impacted their decisions that they made day by day. The hope can impact us the same way.
We can determine that we're going to live each day, and the choices we make will be motivated and framed by the recognition that the hope is coming. I love that record in first Thessalonians 4 where Paul is writing that we which are alive and remain, see he was living like the hope is going to happen during his lifetime. He said we which are alive and remain shall be gathered together with them. When the trumpet happens, when the trumpet of God, the shout of the archangel happens, we're going to be there with them. And now Paul sleeps. He's awaiting the return.
Go to first Kings, please. Second Kings, second Kings. My gosh, it's so many places in the world you can see how the hope moved people, how it framed the way they lived their lives. Here in this record in second Kings, we're going to see a little bit about the great king Hezekiah. Now Hezekiah happened quite a number of years after David, and there's great things that are written about him, but we're going to just pick it up a little bit here in second Kings 18 verse 1.
Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abbey, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his father did. The phrase David his father doesn't mean David was his immediate father.
David wasn't married to Abbey, but previously David we saw had loved God, was a man after God's own heart. And here Hezekiah is going to take on to him to rebuild and bring people back to God. It says in verse 5, he trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah nor any that were before him. Verse 7, and the Lord was with him and he prospered with us whoever he went forth. And we'll stop there. God took care of him.
He had a great heart for God like David had. And he brought God's people together. Hezekiah had one of the great Passovers in the word. The Passover would have been kept year after year, and it hadn't been kept for quite a while. And Hezekiah sent out posts, said we're going to keep the Passover. And not everybody came, but those that came, it says the Lord healed everyone. It was an amazing time. Look at chapter 20. Towards the end of Hezekiah's life, we read this. Verse 1, in those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.
And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said unto him, thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live. That's some hard news to receive. Hezekiah, this great man, is hearing from the prophet Isaiah that this is the end of the line. But look at his response. Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
And Hezekiah wept sore. So he pours his heart out to God. Now nobody, when they get news that they're about to die, is going to be, you know, overjoyed about it. But here he turns to God and there's something unique about this prayer. Because watch what happens in verse 4. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him saying, turn again and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, thus saith the Lord God of David, thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears.
Behold, I will heal thee. On the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. And I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. I'm reading from a companion Bible. The companion Bible was put together in the 1800s by a man named E.W. Bollinger, a great student of the Bible, great research man.
He has some notes in here, these references, where God tells Isaiah, go and tell Hezekiah that I've heard thy prayer. And he mentions the God of David. And then he says later on here that he's going to, for his own sake and for the servant David's sake, he's going to add some years to Hezekiah. What Bollinger writes is that Hezekiah realized that he was in the Christ line and he did not have a child. And so his prayer is because of the hope. What happens to the Christ line?
If I die and I don't have a child, what happens to God? See, it's not a selfish prayer. It's like, what's going to go on? And God sees his humility and he immediately changes and tells Isaiah, go back and tell him he's got 15 more years. And within a year and a half, Hezekiah and his wife get pregnant and they have Manasseh. Manasseh is in the Christ line. And just a, excuse me, a couple generations later is Josiah. And you just see the Christ line continue through his line.
But see, living for the hope, he realized who he was and how important this was not only to him to continue to live but to God and to God's people. Talk about living for the hope. Let's go to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5. Jesus Christ would have studied these records. He knew God's heart. He communicated God's heart. And he wanted people to understand who they were as God's people and what they had to look forward to. See, and this is what we want to grasp is who we are as God's sons and daughters.
In this record in Matthew chapter 5, it's called the Sermon on the Mount. It's a tremendous teaching. Chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7. But here in chapter 5, verse 13, Jesus Christ says, ye are the salt of the earth. He's looking at these people. He says, you are the salt of the earth. Now, salt heals, salt preserves, salt adds flavor, salt represents integrity. And he's telling them, you are the salt of the earth. But it goes on, but if your salt, if the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?
It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. But he's telling them this because he wants them to realize how important their lives are. We don't recognize salt, the value of salt, as highly as they did. Back then, salt was a real commodity. It was very important. It's all the way to this day, actually, because we've had the phrase, maybe a man is as good as salt. Our term that we use for compensation oftentimes is salary. That comes from salt. They used to be paid in salt. Salt is very valuable.
We don't see it so much in our culture. We have salt on the table everywhere. But it represents integrity. The kingdom was given over to David with a covenant of salt. Salt preserves, salt heals. Again, this is what Jesus Christ is telling them. You have the capacity to be this for people. Then the next verse says, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Jesus Christ said, this is what our lives are all about. He wanted them to see they're the light of the world. They had the capacity to show the Father. He came into the world to declare the Father, to show His grace, His goodness, His love, His mercy. And here He's telling them, you have this opportunity. Shine as lights. We see this written in the epistles as well.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
In chapter 6, Jesus Christ is going on in the same teaching and He tells them, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but rather lay up for yourselves treasures, where? In heaven. That's the hope. How do you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven? This is what He's teaching them. This is how life is to be lived. And He goes on to share with them that don't fall into the same patterns that the Gentiles do, where you're just living your life for what you put on, what you're going to eat, these physical elements that you need.
He tells them God takes care of the fowls of the air. Behold the fowls of the air. He tells them to look at the lilies of the field, how God is always taking care and He will do no less for them. So don't live that way where you get caught into what the rest of the world is caught up in.
Not that we condemn anybody, but we want to show people the greatest way to live is to live one day at a time, to be the salt, to be the light, to show people what life is really all about and what we have to look forward to. As He gets towards the end of this illustration, He's saying to them, verse 30, wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth the need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. He's trying to impress upon them the way to live life. He's learned from His study of the scriptures, this is how He's living life. He was indeed the salt.
He was indeed that bright light showing people the way to the Father and He's telling them that you are God's precious people. Throughout all time God has given His men and women the opportunity to look forward to what really life is to be about. And here it's culminating with Jesus Christ. Let's close again in Romans 15. We get to learn how we can walk as He walked. We're told to walk in His steps.
We can look at these individuals that are throughout the Word of God and see how we can endure through challenges, how we can be encouraged from the Word and we can have hope. In Romans 15 forward again it says, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort through endurance and encouragement of the scriptures might have hope. And in verse 13, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in what? Hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God wants us to abound in hope. He wants us to see that this is the way to live, to live our lives each day as we see the day approaching. And it can be a real reality to us. It can be something that really impacts the decisions we make, the choices we make day after day. You wake up, I've heard people say every day that I wake up and put my feet on the floor is a good day.
Well better than that is that we get to look forward to, you know when I look up in the morning and see, is it cloudy? This could be the day because I'm going to meet Him in the clouds. You know what I mean? And look forward to that. I never get this point when I see a cloudy sky because it tells me then that's what it's going to be when Christ comes back. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your love. I thank you for your your word that gives us such encouragement, that shows us how we can live our lives.
The great examples you've written to us of men and women that live their lives day by day seeking you first, realizing who they were as we can realize who we are as your kids, as your sons. That you'll continue to put us where you need us, that we can work together with you and look forward to that grand time when we'll hear the trumpet sound. We'll hear the shout of the archangel and we'll be gathered together. Father, thanks that this can impact us moment by moment in the wonderful name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you.
Key Takeaways
- You know, God really wants us to hold fast to the hope.
- He's had it in his word from the time of Adam and Eve when he made the promise in Genesis 3 15.
- And he promised that he would send one that would crush the head of the adversary.
- They looked forward to that for years and years for this first coming.
- So what we want to look at this evening, if you'll take some time with me, is how does or did the hope impact people's lives?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “Hope Conference #5: Biblical Examples of Hope”?
Rev. Jon Ryan presents “Hope Conference #5: Biblical Examples of Hope,” beginning with we have had such a tremendous day. The teaching draws from Genesis 3:15, Romans 15, Hebrews 11, Luke 24 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from Genesis 3:15, Romans 15, Hebrews 11, Luke 24, Genesis 315, Matthew 5.
How can believers apply this teaching?
So what we want to look at this evening, if you'll take some time with me, is how does or did the hope impact people's lives?
Scripture References
Genesis 3:15; Romans 15; Hebrews 11; Luke 24; Genesis 315; Matthew 5
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
