Hope - Part One: (2) We Have Hope Through the Encouragement of the Scriptures

1 Corinthians 13:13 "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love."

Romans 15:4 - "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

Hope is an interesting thing, isn't it? There are so many places that it springs up - so many sources of hope in our lives. We are hopeful creatures. Even as small children we hope for things. 

There is one source of hope that is constant, unwavering, and perfectly right. That is the Word of God - the Scriptures.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

God inspired men to write the Bible. This means that the Bible is God's letter to us - it is a letter of hope, and for one main reason: because it is a letter about Christ. (See? This is why this is #2. I think...sometimes.) 

Read:  1 Peter 2:6 - "For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”" 

That is quite a statement to put your hope in. Whoever believes in Christ will not find out at the end that they were wrong. God has promised and His promises cannot be broken. 

Numbers 23:19 - "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"

Often we do not turn to the Scriptures enough. We think we can handle things on our own, make our own choices by our own strength - well, what strength do we honestly have? Apart from God, our strength is naught. 

A lot of people seem to think that you need to have some kind of "emotional experience" - a feeling - in order to connect with God. Not so. God has provided a way for us to know Him personally. Don't lay your Bible aside and read a book about how to find God. God is not hiding. 

Psalm 78:5-8 - "He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God."

God did not inspire the Scriptures for His own sake - He doesn't need an external source in order to remember His deeds. He did it for us. Because we are fickle - we forget. 

If you take the time to read Psalm 119, you will see that it fits in quite well with hoping in the Scriptures.  I will post these three verses here:

Psalm 119:74 - "Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word."

Psalm 119:81 - "My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in  your word." 

Psalm 119:114 - "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word." 

We read in God's Word about things that have not yet happened - God tells us they are going to happen. We are going to live with Him someday. We are going to be made perfect. We are going to be able to praise Him as we desire to, without the desire to sin barring our way. 

Romans 8:25 - "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Wait with patience for the promises of God. He is faithful. 

Colossians 1:21-23 - "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, a doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."

Don't lose hope! Don't shift. Jesus will do what He says He will do. 

So, where's the so what in all of this? So we have hope in the Scriptures as being the faithful Word of God. We have hope that they are Truth and that what God says in His Word is what will happen for us. So what? 

1 Peter 3:15 - "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,"

I'm going to quote myself. These questions are from the Outline I did of 1 Peter: 

How can we be prepared without a mind that is both humble and prepared for action? 

How can those outside of the faith see a difference in us unless our conduct is honourable? 

How can they see the hope that is in us unless we trust Christ the Lord completely?

The real question is, how can we prepare ourselves for when someone asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us? Preparation comes from one place: Scripture. 

So, children, here's the moral for today. Read the Scriptures. Meditate on them. Memorize God's Word to you, because the closer you have them the better use they will be. The more you know of the promises of God, the more you know of the Attributes of God, the more your hope will grow and strengthen to the point that nothing on Earth or in Heaven could possibly break it. Don't forsake the hope that is so ready to be yours.