Hope for the Week Ahead
Introduction. Read:
Titus 3:3 There has been a lot of disturbing news that has filled the news
broadcasts and internet posts lately. There is war, terrorism, murder, rape,
disrespect for law, disrespect for authority, disrespect for the law of God,
and hatefulness shone by human beings toward one another. Paul’s words in this
text certainly apply the world around us. It is easy to hear so much of this
kind of thing that we start to feel as if everything is falling apart. It is
important to remember...
•
It has always been this way to some degree.
•
What must it have been like to live through persecution of
Christians carried out by Rome?
•
What must it have been like to live through the “Black Death”
which lead to about 50% of the population of Europe dying in a four-year
period?
•
What would it have been like to live through the American Civil
War, where brothers in Christ were literally across the battlefield from one
another?
•
What must it have been like to live in the Communist Soviet
Union or Communist Cambodia, when millions of political enemies were
slaughtered?
This is not to say that things
are not bad, but we must remember that this world, as Paul told the Philippians
is a “crooked and perverse generation,” but Christians today, just like
the Philippians of the first century can “shine as lights in the world”
(Phil. 2:15). Let’s end our time today by looking at nine principles taught in
Scripture that give us as Christians hope for the week ahead.
I. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:18-21).
A. If
this world was our home the bad things that characterize this life would define
the full nature of our existence.
B. We
don’t ignore what is bad, but it need not define our view of ourselves or this
world, because our home is elsewhere.
1. This
had special meaning to the Philippians because Philippi, although a city of
Macedonia, was a Roman colony.
2. They
lived in Macedonia, but they were Roman citizens.
3. We
live in this world, but our citizenship is in heaven.
II. We are sojourners and pilgrims (1 Pet. 2:11-12).
A. The
word for “sojourners” is the Greek word paroikos “an alien, foreigner
who dwells in the land” (LS). It means literally “living-along-side.”
B. The
word for “pilgrims” is the Greek word parepidemos “sojourning at a
strange place” (LS). Epidemos means “not at home” (LS), i.e. not with
one’s people.
C. Christians
are in a land that is not their own—they are with a people that are not their
own.
1. I
will have more problems in this life if I start to think I belong here, and
forget “this world is not my home.”
III. We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken
(Heb. 12:25-28).
A. It
is true that the kingdom of God is the church, and Christians are now a part of
the kingdom.
B. It
is also true, however, that this kingdom is ultimately “not of this world”
(John 18:36).
1. It
is this sense in which we must understand that we are receiving an
unshakable kingdom.
2. Daniel
2:44 had promised a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or left to another.
3. While
the church exists now as the kingdom of God, it is eternal in nature and will
stand forever—it cannot be shaken or destroyed! That should grant us great
comfort.
IV. God is our shield (Gen. 15:1; Psa. 18:2; 33:20-22).
We have in God a Protector the world does not have. We need not fear—God is
ultimately on our side.
V. God will avenge
wrong-doing (Luke 18:1-8). No matter what evil is done around us, God will
call it to account.
VI. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom.
8:35-39).
A. We can
turn from God, but if we are faithful to the Lord there is nothing outside of
us that can separate us from God.
B. That
means bad times, bad news, a wicked culture, cannot separate us. We should not
fear, but live with confidence.
VII. We look for a new heaven and a new earth (2 Pet.
3:10-13).
A. There
lies before us something better than we have ever known and experienced.
B. There
are times that Scripture may use end times language figuratively of a major
event, or change in God’s order of things.
1. The
wording in this passage goes beyond a figurative description.
2. One
day all of this will be “dissolved” but we look for something new and better.
VIII. In heaven all sorrow
will be removed (Rev. 21:3-4). What a beautiful promise for which to look
forward! The sorrow of this world will end in the age to come.
IX. The joy of heaven can’t be compared with the sorrow
of this world (Rom. 8:18). So great is the joy to come, Paul says it is not
worth comparing to the world of sorrow we may face here.