Calvary Road Baptist Church

“ONE HOPE”

Ephesians 4.4 

I begin reading from Ephesians 3.20: 

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

Paul informs his readers that our extraordinarily powerful and competent God, verse 20, will be glorified by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church throughout all ages, verse 21. And so, Paul calls upon his readers to do just that, verse 1, by being humble and meek and long-suffering, so that they will be able to forebear one another in love, verse 2, as they strive to keep the unity of the Spirit, verse 3. But for genuine unity to exist, there must be a legitimate basis for the unity. To pretend there is unity when there is agreement about nothing is only hypocrisy. In Ephesians 4.4-6, there are listed for us seven different bases for spiritual unity.

First, there is one body. That is, as we understand, the local congregation that God calls every genuinely born again Christian to become a part of. Calvary Road Baptist Church is just such a body. And God’s plan for you is to live your life and raise your children and serve God as a part of this body unless He leads you to go and start or help start another Church. “But pastor, I never knew that before.” You know it now.

Second, there is one Spirit. God is a Trinity. There is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, there is only one Holy Spirit. And, as numerous passages in Scripture give evidence of, this one Spirit is the Author of God’s Holy Word, the Bible. Do you want to see unity? Then that unity will be based on the infallible Word of God, which this one Spirit inspired. And since there is only one Spirit of God, and since the Holy Spirit authored the Bible, and since both the Bible and He happen to be truthful, when someone, anyone, tells you that he has been led by God to do this or that or the other thing and that thing is not in harmony with the Word of God, the spirit that person claims to have been led by was not the Holy Spirit, but a foul spirit, a demon.

Third, there is one hope. The last phrase of Ephesians 4.4 reads, “even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” Christian? Let me clarify what the Bible teaches about your hope by introduction before I turn to our unsaved friends about their hope. The Greek word for “hope,” the word ἐlpá½·s, is a commonly used Greek term that refers to something expected, something anticipated, something looked forward to.[1] In the New Testament, an additional shade of meaning is imparted to the word owing to the term’s context. When used in connection with the prophetical future, the word “hope” always and in every case speaks of the confident expectation of future blessing, based upon the promises of God.[2] The concept is almost synonymous with “expectation.”

Notice the difference between the Biblical definition of the word “hope” and how the word “hope” is used in modern-day everyday speech in our culture. When you hear the word “hope” used by your friends and loved ones or by your co-workers and neighbors, typically, the word has nothing to do with confident expectation. Instead, the term “hope” has come to mean what you want, what you would like to have, not what you expect to receive or acquire. Additionally, the word “hope,” as it is used these days, no longer refers to something that is guaranteed, something that is assured, something that is promised. Example? “Oh, I hope I win the lottery.” “I hope I win Powerball.” Current usage of the word “hope” in our culture makes it almost synonymous with “wish.”

I read two passages to bring home what I am saying more convincingly and to illustrate better: 

Romans 5.1-2:

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

This is the verse Augustine got so terribly, terribly wrong, back in the third century.[3] 

Ephesians 1.12-14:   

12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 

Romans 5.1-2 shows that “hope” is something you begin to have when you come to faith in Christ. But it’s in Ephesians 1.12-14 that we begin to understand our “hope.” When you trusted Christ, Christian, you did not, at that moment in time, receive everything you’re ever going to realize as a Christian. Your sins were forgiven, and you received salvation from the penalty of sin, meaning you won’t have to go to Hell like unsaved men and women will do when they die. And you received the Holy Spirit, Who gives salvation from the power of sin in your daily life. But we have just seen that the Holy Spirit is described as the earnest of our inheritance. That means there is more in addition to Him when we arrive in heaven. It is the Christian’s anticipation of taking possession of the entirety of his inheritance when he arrives in heaven that the Bible refers to as our “hope.”

Now you have this great “hope.” And? Of what practical benefit is this thing called “hope?” This is an extremely important question and deserving of an answer. Since Biblical Christianity is the most practical and workable lifestyle known to mankind, every essential feature of the Christian life ought to have some practical everyday benefit. Amen? Therefore, “hope” should have some practical benefit. If you are a Christian as you claim to be, then you have “hope,” in the Biblical sense. You have a confident expectation of future blessing, based upon the promises of God that are found in the Bible. Your “hope” really is a Biblical “hope” if it produces in your life what Biblical “hope” is said to produce in Christian’s lives. In other words, your “hope” is only “hope” if it behaves like “hope” is supposed to behave. Isn’t that a fair statement? Sure, it is.

But how does Biblical “hope” behave? Why don’t we see? Let us consider several passages to see what “hope” does. We’re going back to Romans, this time reading 5.1-5: 

1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

Here we recognize that “hope” makes you a rejoicing person, looking forward to your future in glory, and is quite willing to take whatever along the way as preparation for your glory. 

First Thessalonians 4.13: 

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” 

In other words, our experience of sorrow is entirely different than the lost person’s. We sorrow, but not as others sorrow. Here Paul suggests “hope” is a blessing that makes us, if not sorrowful, as least sorrowful in a different way than those who do not know the Savior. 

Hebrews 7.19: 

“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” 

Here the writer of Hebrews labels Christ “a better hope” by which the believer draws closer to God. 

First John 3.1-3: 

1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 

Finally, John describes our future with Christ as a “hope” that motivates the believer to purify himself.

I have a couple of questions for your consideration in light of what we have just seen in Scripture: What can be said about the “hope” of a person who claims to be a Christian but who’s always down, always depressed, always discouraged, ever sorrowful, never joyful, never rejoicing, never excited about the things of God? It may be that person has “hope” as in wish, not “hope” as in promised and therefore expecting. What about a Christian, who is supposed to have “hope,” but does not walk close to the Lord, does not purify himself, does not seem ever to grow as a Christian, never reads the Bible, has too much pride to get on his knees in prayer to God, but instead is profane, is spiritually cold, is aloof from other believers, is indifferent to the cause of Christ, and commits fornication, commits adultery, gets liquored up, is addicted to prescription drugs, is addicted to porn, and such things as that?

Is it not fair to say that such a Christian has, at best, some severe spiritual problems? Worst case scenario would seem to be that such a person might not be saved at all. But the thrust of what I want you to conclude from what we’ve seen thus far, Christian, is this: You have an appointment to stand face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. But you don’t know when that appointment is scheduled. If you’re born again, you’d better have your teeth brushed, and your hair combed, and your body showered at all times to be presentable. Get my point? Those with “hope” clean up their lives in eager anticipation of a meeting with the Savior that could happen at any time. If that is the case, what in your life needs to be cleaned up right now? Pray, do what needs to be done.

I remember, years ago, it has been now, that I turned on the television to watch the O. J. Simpson murder trial. And what did I see as the screen brightened up, but some guy who’d had a sex change operation to make him look like a girl say, “I’m a very spiritual person. I believe in Christ. I’m a Christian. I was just born with a man’s body and I had to have surgery to correct the problem so my female spirit could have a female body to live in.” Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t. Drug addicts claim to be Christians. Thieves claim to be Christians. Idolaters claim to be Christians. People who admit that they don’t believe the Bible claim to be Christians. I remember the time two of our men visited two people who claimed that they were Christians even though they were living together and fornicating without being married. Saved people don’t do that. Real Christians don’t do that.

Hey, folks. There was once a well-respected pastor in this town who advised two people to continue living together, even though one of them had supposedly come to Christ. That pastor told the supposed new convert that by his testimony, he would be able to win the unsaved woman with whom he was fornicating to Christ. Doesn’t anyone else think that’s nuts? Am I the only pastor in this town who thinks that fornicators are lost? The pastor of a very large Orange County congregation advised couples to live together before marriage. 

Acts 16.31: 

“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” 

Ephesians 2.8-9: 

8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9  Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

Hebrews 11.1: 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

Faith is critical to salvation. But we see that there is a connection between faith and “hope.” Faith leads to “hope,” and “hope” is an indicator of whether the faith is genuine. In my text for today, Paul indicates that there is one “hope.” That is, there is one genuine “hope,” one Biblical “hope,” one “hope” that is based upon what God says, one “hope” that believers in Christ, and only believers in Christ, really have.

Let’s look at that “hope.” 

First, LET’S LOOK AT THIS ONE HOPE DESCRIBED 

Understand that this hope is not based on what the Mormons base their hope on. As Shirley can verify, Mormons hope to someday be gods. Blind to the fact that that’s what Satan promised Eve in the Garden of Eden when he lured her into sin, Mormonism is based upon the unscriptural notion that mankind is evolving spiritually. In one of their counterfeit Scriptures it reads, “As God is man shall someday be, as man is God once was.” But the Bible contains a passage in which God says, “I am the LORD, I change not.”[4] The Mormon hope of becoming gods someday is based upon a fiction dreamt up by a drunkard named Joseph Smith, not upon the sure promise of God’s Word. The one “hope” Paul refers to is not the Mormon hope.

Next, it is not based on what the Jehovah’s Witnesses base their hope on. Jehovah’s Witnesses presume four things to be false, even though those four things are clearly taught in the Bible. First, they deny that Jesus Christ is God. Second, they deny that God is a Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Third, they deny that the Holy Spirit is God. And fourth, they deny the existence of Hell. There are few things in the Bible that are taught more clearly than those four things. Therefore, whatever the hopes of the Jehovah’s Witnesses are built on, if they deny these four plainly taught realities of the Scripture, can they be seriously taken with regard to anything else? I think not.

Third, it is not based on what the Seventh Day Adventists base their hope on. Seventh-Day Adventists base their hopes for heaven on adherence to the Law of Moses. But by their admission, these people, who believe the writings of Ellen G. White to be equal in authority to the Bible, admit that they do not keep, or even attempt to maintain, the entire Law of Moses. For example, they do not offer sacrifices. They do not have a priesthood. And they do not have a central place of worship, as is called for in the Law of Moses. Yet they base their hope of heaven on their adherence to the Law of Moses. But James 2.10 declares that anyone who offends in one point of the Law is guilty of violating the whole Law. Yet, how can you not break those portions of the Law you do not attempt to adhere to? Not to mention their heresy of believing Satan is our sin-bearer rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. The Seventh-Day Adventists do not have a Biblical basis for their hope of heaven. And, by the way, they don’t believe in Hell, either. They believe in soul sleep.

Fourth, this one hope Paul refers to is not based on what the Catholics and the Pentecostals base their hope on. Insofar as the practical essentials are concerned, there is no difference between Roman Catholicism and modern-day Pentecostalism. They are both religions wherein people think they move in and out of a state of grace depending on their behavior. In actuality, neither religion sees salvation as a supernatural miracle of God when a sinner comes to Christ by faith. And on what do they both base their hope of heaven? Works. With the Roman Catholic, it’s a works-based salvation in which the various Church sacraments supposedly earn God’s grace. With Pentecostals, it’s the same false concept of spirituality, only substituting the speaking in tongues, so-called, and various other fraudulent gifts of the Spirit for the sacraments. But in reality, it’s all quite the same. A false hope dependent upon works righteousness, even though the Bible says works has nothing to do with securing salvation. And, likely as not, the Roman Catholic or the Pentecostal who protests what I say will himself or herself be living in sin with someone and committing fornication or adultery, all the while insisting that he’s just as saved as I am. Forget it, bud. The Bible says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” Hebrews 12.14. But you, a fornicator, are saved and on your way to heaven? I’m sure. You need to be saved, today. Pentecostals and Catholics do not have a Biblical hope.

Fifth, it is not based on what most evangelicals base their hope on, either. Most evangelicals are deviant when it comes to a Biblical hope. This is because so many of them embrace the notion that someone is saved and has hope as a result of making Jesus the Lord of his life. But how can someone who is dead in trespasses in and sins make anyone the Lord of his life? No. You can’t make anyone Lord of your life until you have a life to make Him Lord of. Until you are saved you have no life. As for the rest of the evangelical community, they think one is saved by taking Jesus into your heart. Where is that taught in Scripture? Did Simon Peter ever take Jesus into his heart? Did John the Baptist ever take Jesus into his heart? Did the Apostle Paul ever take Jesus into his heart? Did they ever encourage anyone to accept Jesus into their heart? How, then, can anyone have a Biblical hope if they insist that you are saved in a way that no one in the Bible was ever saved? Bless God, if you are an evangelical, you very likely have no Biblical hope.

Sixth, it is not based on what so many Baptists base their hope on. This may surprise you, a Baptist preacher like me insisting that many Baptists don’t have a Biblical hope. But it’s mostly true. So many Baptists think they are going to heaven because they prayed a sinner’s prayer, or because they were baptized in a Baptist Church, or because they are a Church member. Wrong. Praying a prayer, or being baptized, or joining a Church, is a work. And Titus 3.5 shows that no one is saved by doing works of righteousness. That’s why most Baptists are not saved and do not have a Biblical hope.

Seventh, it is not based on what the wishful thinkers base their hope on. Wishful thinkers base their hope on the fact that hope, to them, is what they want to happen. Many wishful thinkers expect to get to heaven because they want to get to heaven. And they think that because they want to go to heaven instead of Hell, they will go to heaven instead of Hell. But, guess what, my friend? That’s preposterous! Nobody goes to heaven just because he wants to go to heaven. Hope isn’t wishful thinking, and wishful thinking won’t get you into heaven. You don’t get into heaven by wishing you’ll get to go there. You get to go to heaven as a result of being saved from your sins, and by no other way.

Eighth, it is not based on what unsaved people base their hope on. While I am trampling all over belief systems, let me include Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism for good measure. All three religions are false and profoundly demonic, with none of them offering their adherents anything remotely like hope. None of the three are religions that have a promise of salvation from sins,[5] and all three religions are idolatrous (though Muslims vehemently deny their idolatry). Of the three religions, only Islam claims to be revelatory, which is to say truth that has been revealed rather than principles discovered as in Buddhism and Hinduism. Yet this is a claim 1that cannot stand up under objective scrutiny.[6] Distilled down to their essential realities, Buddhism is the fifth largest religion in the world, begun by a man who abandoned his wife and son to find himself. At the same time, Hinduism is the epitome of polytheism. Yet both religions embrace reincarnation and an unproven and unprovable notion termed karma, which is as much a hope-destroying fatalism as is produced by the worship of Allah and the Muslim’s resignation to “In sha Allah.”[7]

Let me summarize in one passage. It wraps up all the false hopes I’ve mentioned thus far. Ephesians 2.12: 

“That at that time ye 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.” 

Do you see that? Everyone likes to think of himself as a Christian or as someone who is on their way to what they imagine to be heaven. But we have seen that if your hope is built on something other than the sure promises of God’s Word, it’s a false hope. And if it’s a false hope, it’s not really hope at all, but wishful thinking. How dare I make such a statement as this? Because the Bible says, you have no hope. Look. Here you are dead in trespasses and sins. You know in your heart of hearts that you’re lost. You know there’s something to the Christian faith that’s more than you’ve ever known or experienced. And you know that someone who commits the kinds of sins that you commit cannot be saved. Not really.

It all adds up to this: If you are not saved, God owes you nothing, has promised you nothing, and will give you nothing. Nothing good anyway. Your situation is hopeless because you are helpless. There is nothing you can do to deliver yourself from the consequences of your sinfulness. How do I know? Because dead people can do nothing. And you are dead in trespasses and sins. So, admit to yourself that you have no hope. And why should you? Because until you realize and acknowledge that you haven’t any hope, you’ll not be interested in genuine hope. Face the truth of it right now. You have no hope. And the reason you have no hope is because you’re not saved from your sins. And you’re not going to be saved by easing into Church the way a filthy person eases into a tub of cold water.

Okay. If you now know what isn’t hope, let’s find out what it is. Real hope is based on the unchanging Word of the eternal God, Titus 1.2: 

“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” 

That is, hope, if it is real, is based upon Bible promises. If it isn’t a Bible promise, it isn’t real hope but wishful thinking. Real hope is wrapped up in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, First Timothy 1.1: 

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.” 

Oh, sure, hope includes getting into heaven, and includes receiving a glorified body someday, and includes being away from all the sin and sadness of the world. But all those are side benefits to the realization of the one great expectation every saved person has. First Peter 1.8 expresses one of the great truths in Scripture in describing my relationship to the Lord Jesus as a saved man: 

“Whom having not seen, ye love.” 

My great hope is to see Him. 

Now, LET’S LOOK AT THIS ONE HOPE ACQUIRED 

Of course, hope as a confident anticipation is the normal byproduct of conversion. You come to possess hope, real hope when you are saved from your sins. So, let me tell you about acquiring this one hope Paul spoke of by telling you about Jesus, the Savior. Consider, briefly, four concepts:

First, the picture that is portrayed. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we, like sheep, have gone astray.”[8] Picture yourself as someone who has wandered off the pathway. What happens when you wander off the path and can’t find your way back? You’re lost. I remember once when an expert hiker and back country man was hiking on Mount Baldy during the winter. Weather came up, and he was whited out and couldn’t see. The result? He lost his way and spent several days on the mountain. He might have died had he not stumbled across a ranger station. That has happened to you. Only, there are no ranger stations. You are lost, and you will never find your way to safety. No. What must happen to you is you must be found.

Why? Because of the penalty that is planned. Being spiritually lost is far more than wandering off a path because being spiritually lost means you are morally adrift, and you’ve sinned against God. You’ve lied, cheated, stolen, gotten drunk, failed to attend Church regularly, had sex with someone other than your husband or wife. Things like that. Such things as that are sins against God. And no one gets away with sinning against God because God is holy and righteous. God hates sin. God is a consuming fire. And God has decreed that anyone and everyone who sins against Him will pay for it because sinning against Him is a capital offense. And what is the penalty planned for sinning against God? Hell, followed by the lake of fire.

But because Jesus loves you, my friend, there is a propitiation that is prepared. You see, the Lord Jesus left heaven’s glory. The eternal Son of the living God gave Himself as a sacrifice to shed His blood and give His life for you and me. God’s requirement for the forgiveness of sins and for the cleansing of sins is the shedding of the blood of an innocent sacrifice. But only Jesus’ blood would do, for only Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for your sins. So, Jesus gave Himself to be the propitiation for your sins. What is propitiation? Propitiation refers to the satisfaction that God demands for your sins. The issue for you is how are you to receive the benefit of Jesus’ shed blood?

That brings me to the proposition that is presented. The proposal that God makes to you and me is this: Those who turn away from their sins and turn to Jesus Christ, the Savior, and who trust Him for salvation, will be received by Him. That is the proposal that God makes to anyone who will trust Christ. I conclude with two verses, Acts 16.30-31. The Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved....” You who trust Jesus, your sins will be washed away in His precious blood that was shed for you, and He will save you. And you will have hope, the confident expectation of future blessing based on the promises of God. 

Be done with this nonsensical wishful thinking that all’s well that ends well. It doesn’t end well. You die and go to Hell. Put your trust in Jesus Christ to save your wretched soul. Then, spend the rest of your natural lifetime loving the One you’ve not seen and looking forward to seeing Him face to face.

That, my friend, is hope. That hope is realized in heaven.

__________

[1] Bauer, Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), pages 319-320.

[2] 2 Peter 1.4

[3] David R. Anderson, Free Grace Soteriology, (Grace Theology Press, Revised Edition edited by James S. Reitman, 2012), page 96.

[4] Malachi 3.6

[5] I recall a Muslim scholar interviewed on a television program more than forty years ago emphasize that Islam is not a salvation religion! What he declared surprised me at the time, but I have subsequently learned that he was correct.

[6] Robert Spencer, Did Muhammad Exist? (Wilmington, Delaware: ISI Books, 2014)

[7] Meaning, “as Allah wills,” frequently denoting fatalistic resignation.

[8] Isaiah 53.6

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Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church