FOR THE PAST THREE OR FOUR WEEKS WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE NATURE OF HOPE...ESPECIALLY THE HOPE WE HAVE AS CHRISTIANS.  WE OFTEN SAY THAT THE HOPE WE HAVE AS CHRISTIANS IS A CERTAIN HOPE.  IN OTHER WORDS IT IS HOPE THAT IS CERTAIN TO COME TRUE BECAUSE GOD IS INVOLVED IN IT AND OUR HOPE IS BASED ON THE PROMISES THAT GOD HAS GIVEN US.  WE COME TO RELY ON THOSE PROMISES BEING FULFILLED.  WHAT OUR RELIANCE ON THOSE PROMISES MEANS IS THAT WHEN GOD GETS IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR HOPING, OUR HOPE BECOMES TRUST IN A PERSON (WITH A CAPITAL P) AND THE PROMISES HE MAKES.

TRUST IS A BIG ISSUE IN OUR LIVES, ISN'T IT?  I OFTEN TELL COUPLES WHO COME FOR COUNSELING THAT THERE ARE TWO REQUIRED CORNERSTONES FOR A LASTING LOVE AND RELATIONSHIP.  ONE OF THOSE IS RESPECT FOR THE OTHER PERSON.  IF I CANNOT RESPECT THAT PERSON AND HONOR THEM FOR THEIR UNIQUE GIFTS AND CHARACTER, I CANNOT LOVE THEM.  THE OTHER CORNERSTONE IS TRUST.  TRUST IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IN A MARRIAGE OR ANY OTHER RELATIONSHIP.  ONCE THAT TRUST HAS BEEN DESTROYED, IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GAIN IT BACK AND WITHOUT IT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE WITH THE KIND OF OPENNESS AND FAITH THAT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE A GOOD HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP.

BOTH TRUST AND RESPECT ARE ALL TIED UP IN PROMISES AND PROMISES ARE ALL TIED UP IN THE INTEGRITY OF THE ONE WHO IS MAKING THEM AND THEIR ABILITY TO DELIVER ON THEM, AREN'T THEY?

LEW SMEDES NOTES THAT GOD HAS MADE THREE PROMISES TO US.  THE FIRST PROMISE IS THAT "GOD PROMISES TO BE WITH US EVEN WHEN LIFE TELLS US THAT HE HAS ABANDONED US."

EVER FELT THAT GOD HAS ABANDONED YOU?  I HAVE.  IT IS NOT A GOOD FEELING.  SO DID JESUS.  REMEMBER THE CRY OF UTTER DESPAIR AND PAIN THAT JESUS UTTERED FROM THE CROSS - "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"  THAT EMPTY HORRIFIC FEELING THAT GOD HAS DESERTED US IN OUR MOMENT OF DEEPEST NEED IS THE FORETASTE OF HELL...A PLACE WHERE THERE IS A PERMANENT SEPARATION FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD.  HOPE IS THE ENERGY TO WAIT FOR GOD TO COME BACK AND HOPE GIVES US EYES TO SEE THE SIGNS OF GOD'S COMING BACK.

BUD WOOD IS THE FOUNDER OF SHEPHERDS HOME IN WISCONSIN.  IT IS ONE OF THE FINEST HOMES FOR THE MENTALLY IMPAIRED IN AMERICA FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER FROM DOWN'S SYNDROME.  IT IS A CHRISTIAN HOME WHERE THE STAFF MAKES A CONCENTRATED EFFORT TO PRESENT THE GOSPEL TO THESE PEOPLE.  AS A RESULT MANY OF THEM BELIEVE IN JESUS AS THEIR SAVIOR AND IN A HEAVEN THAT WILL BE THEIR ETERNAL HOME.

BUD TELLS ABOUT THE MAJOR MAINTENANCE PROBLEM THAT THEY HAVE.  THE PROBLEM?  DIRTY WINDOWS.

HE SAYS THAT "YOU CAN WALK THROUGH OUR CORRIDORS ANY TIME OF THE DAY AND YOU WILL SEE SOME OF THESE CHILDREN STANDING WITH THEIR HANDS, NOSES, AND FACES PRESSED TO THE WINDOWS, LOOKING UP TO SEE IF CHRIST MIGHT NOT BE COMING BACK RIGHT THEN TO TAKE THEM HOME AND MAKE THEM WHOLE."

THOSE SIMPLE CHILDREN HAVE A LOT TO TEACH US, DON'T THEY?  WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE LOOKED AT THE SKY TO SEE IF THIS MIGHT BE THE LONG AWAITED MOMENT WHEN WE FINALLY MEET CHRIST FACE-TO-FACE?  WHEN OUR HOPE BECOMES A REALITY.  ARE OUR WINDOWS DIRTY FROM LOOKING AND WAITING AND HOPING FOR HEAVEN?

HOPE SEES THE SIGNS OF GOD'S COMING CLOSE TO HOME.

THEN GOD "PROMISES THAT HIS CHILDREN WILL LIVE AFTER THEY DIE."

IF YOU HAVE BEEN WITH US SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS SERIES OF MESSAGES ON HOPE, YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE THREE COMPONENTS TO HOPE: WISHING, IMAGINING AND BELIEVING.

SMEDES SAYS THAT "WE HOPE FOR HEAVEN ONLY WHEN WE WISH TO BE THERE.  ONE WAY TO KNOW WHETHER YOU WISH TO GO TO HEAVEN IS TO WISH FOR THE BEST GOD CAN OFFER US HERE AND NOW."

I HEARD ABOUT A WOMAN WHO HIRED A MEDIUM TO BRING BACK THE SPIRIT OF HER DEAD HUSBAND.  WHEN HE APPEARED IN A GHOSTLY FORM, SHE ASKED, "HONEY, IS IT BETTER UP THERE THAN IT WAS HERE WITH ME?"  HER HUSBAND ANSWERED, "OH, YES, IT IS MUCH BETTER.  BUT I'M NOT UP THERE!" (PARABLES)

WE ALL HAVE SOME KIND OF IDEA ABOUT WHAT HEAVEN MUST BE LIKE, DON'T WE?

I LIKE THE STORY ABOUT THE VERY RICH MAN WHO WAS DETERMINED TO TAKE IT ALL WITH HIM WHEN HE DIED.  HE PESTERED GOD UNTIL FINALLY GOD SAID HE COULD BRING ONE SUITCASE OF HIS WEALTH WITH HIM.  THEREFORE THE GUY FILLED HIS SUITCASE WITH GOLD BULLION.

THE DAY CAME WHEN HE DIED AND FOUND HIMSELF WITH SUITCASE IN HAND FACING ST. PETER AT THE GATES OF HEAVEN.  PETER TOLD HIM HE COULD COME IN BUT HE HAD TO LEAVE THE SUITCASE BEHIND.  OUR HERO EXPLAINED THE SPECIAL DEAL HE HAD WITH GOD AND PETER SAID, "THAT'S VERY UNUSUAL.  MAY I SEE WHAT'S INSIDE?"

THE MAN OPENED THE SUITCASE TO REVEAL THE SHINING GOLD BULLION INGOTS.  ST. PETER WAS AMAZED AND ASKED, "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU BRING PAVEMENT TO HEAVEN?"

SMEDES GOES ON SAY THAT WE WISH OR "HOPE FOR HEAVEN ONLY IF WE CAN IMAGINE OURSELVES THERE.  AND ONE WAY TO IMAGINE OURSELVES IN HEAVEN IS TO IMAGINE OURSELVES AS THE PERSONS WE ARE MEANT TO BE." (PARABLES)

HEAVEN IS WHERE WE WILL FINALLY BECOME THE KIND OF WHOLE, COMPLETE, JOY-FILLED PERSON GOD MEANS FOR US TO BE.  IT IS WHERE WE WILL BECOME AUTHENTICALLY WHO WE ARE UNDER THOSE LAYERS OF SELF DECEPTIONS AND GRANDIOSE CLAIMS.  HEAVEN IS WHERE WE WILL BECOME REALLY WHO WE ARE.

"HOPE FOR HEAVEN IS A 'SURE AND CERTAIN' HOPE IN THE SENSE OF IMPLICIT TRUST IN GOD'S PROMISE OF HEAVEN."  GOD HAS PROMISED THAT THERE IS A HEAVEN AND THAT WE CAN GO THERE WHEN WE HAVE PLACED JESUS AS LORD OF OUR LIFE.  BUT CAN WE TRUST THAT PROMISE?  CAN WE BELIEVE GOD?  CAN WE TRUST GOD TO KEEP GOD'S WORD?

I BELIEVE I CAN TRUST GOD TO KEEP THE PROMISES HE MAKES BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER KNOWN GOD TO LIE TO ME.  EVERYTHING IN MY PAST EXPERIENCE TELLS ME THAT GOD KEEPS GOD'S PROMISES AND GOD DOES WHAT GOD SAYS HE IS GOING TO DO.  GOD MAY NOT DO IT ON MY TIME SCHEDULE OR THE WAY I WANT HIM TO DO IT, BUT GOD DOES FULFILL WHAT HE SAYS HE WILL DO.  THEREFORE, THE PROBABILITY THAT GOD WILL NOT DO WHAT HE PROMISES IS NON-EXISTENT.  I CAN TRUST GOD.

AS MICHAEL FARADAY, A SCIENTIFIC GENIUS OF HIS DAY, WAS NEARING THE END OF HIS LIFE, A FRIEND ASKED, "WHAT ARE YOUR SPECULATIONS NOW?"

"SPECULATIONS?" FARADAY REPLIED IN ASTONISHMENT.  "I HAVE NONE.  I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED.  MY SOUL RESTS UPON CERTAINTIES!" (PARABLES)

SMEDES SAYS THAT THE THIRD PROMISE THAT GOD MAKES US IS THAT HE "WILL MAKE OUR WORLD WORK RIGHT AGAIN."

GOD HAS PROMISED THAT HE WILL NOT ABANDON HIS WORLD AND THAT HE GUARANTEES THAT CREATION HAS A GREAT FUTURE.  THE WAY THE BIBLE PUTS IT IS THAT "CREATION WAITS WITH EAGER LONGING FOR THE REVEALING OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD; FOR THE CREATION WAS SUBJECTED TO FUTILITY, NOT OF ITS OWN WILL BUT BY THE WILL OF THE ONE WHO SUBJECTED IT, IN HOPE THAT THE CREATION ITSELF WILL BE SET FREE FROM ITS BONDAGE TO DECAY AND WILL OBTAIN THE FREEDOM OF THE GLORY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD." (ROM. 8:19-21)  IT ALSO SAYS IT IN OUR PASSAGES FROM THE BIBLE FOR TODAY: "IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, THERE IS A NEW CREATION: EVERYTHING OLD HAS PASSED AWAY; SEE, EVERYTHING HAS BECOME NEW!"  AND "...WITH THE EYES OF YOUR HEART ENLIGHTENED, YOU MAY KNOW THE HOPE TO WHICH HE HAS CALLED YOU, WHAT ARE THE RICHES OF HIS GLORIOUS INHERITANCE AMONG THE SAINTS, AND WHAT IS THE IMMEASURABLE GREATNESS OF HIS POWER FOR US WHO BELIEVE..."  A NEW CREATION IS ON THE HORIZON.

GOD'S STORY PLAN FOR THE WORLD MEANS IT WILL HAVE A HAPPY ENDING AND THERE ARE SOME VERY SIGNIFICANT REASONS OR SIGNS OF THAT:
 1.  GOD HAS GOOD INTENTION OF FIXING THE WORLD, AND
 2.  GOD HAS THE COMPETENCE TO DO IT.
 IN THE FIRST INSTANCE THERE IS A VERY POWERFUL SIGN THAT GOD FULLY INTENDS TO FIX HIS CREATION.  THAT SIGN HAS STOOD AS A SYMBOL OF CERTAIN HOPE THAT GOD WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE IN EVERY DARK SEASON OF DESPAIR AND HOPELESSNESS AND DEATH FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS.  IT IS THE CROSS TO WHICH THEY NAILED JESUS.

THE CROSS STILL GIVES EVIDENCE TO CHRISTIANS THAT THE CREATOR GOD OF THE UNIVERSE CHOSE TO DIE, IN A MANNER BEYOND ALL COMPREHENSION AND IN A WAY TOO HORRIBLE TO CONTEMPLATE, IN ORDER TO SAVE HIS CREATION FROM SELF DESTRUCTION.  GOD MUST AT LEAST HAVE GOOD INTENTIONS ABOUT KEEPING HIS PROMISE TO FIX THE WORLD.

BUT INTENTIONS ARE ONE THING, AREN'T THEY?  COMPETENCE IS ANOTHER.  AND GOD HAS GIVEN US REASON TO BELIEVE THAT HE CAN ACTUALLY DELIVER ON HIS PROMISE THROUGH THE GIVING OF ANOTHER SIGN.  IT IS FOUND IN THE MIRACLE THAT HAPPENED ONE MORNING IN A GRAVEYARD OUTSIDE THE GATES OF JERUSALEM.  GOD GAVE US A SIGN THAT HE HAS THE COMPETENCE TO RENEW THE WORLD HE MADE IN AN EMPTY TOMB AND A RISEN LIVING SAVIOR.

I LIKE THE WAY SMEDES PUTS IT: "...WE HAVE REASON FOR BELIEVING THAT HE IS UP TO THE CHALLENGE. ...IT IS THAT BAFFLING BUT WONDROUS THING THAT HAPPENED ONE EARLY MORNING AS THE FINGERS OF THE DAY'S EARLY LIGHT WERE FILTERING THROUGH THE FLORA OF A BURIAL GARDEN IN JERUSALEM.  THE THING THAT HAPPENED WHEN THE LIFE-BIRTHING ENERGY OF THE UNIVERSE'S MAKER BEGAN TO PULSE INSIDE THE DEAD BIOLOGICAL REMAINS OF THE VERY JESUS WHOM GOD HAD APPARENTLY ABANDONED TWO DAYS BEFORE.  THE CELLS REGENERATED THEMSELVES AND HE, BODY AND SOUL, CAME BACK TO LIFE."

THIS WAS THE SAME FLAG OF HOPE THAT ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU RAISED DURING SOUTH AFRICA'S DARKEST HOUR.  DURING A  MOMENT WHEN THAT NATION WAS WITHOUT ONE SHRED OF CREDIBLE EVIDENCE TO SHOW THAT THINGS WERE EVER GOING TO CHANGE, TUTU EXPLODED WITH HOPE THAT A NEW WORLD WAS COMING WHEN HE SAID:
 "THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS IS OUR GUARANTEE THAT RIGHT HAS TRIUMPHED AND WILL TRIUMPH OVER WRONG, THAT GOOD HAS TRIUMPHED AND WILL TRIUMPH OVER EVIL...THAT LOVE HAS TRIUMPHED AND WILL TRIUMPH OVER HATE.  YOU AND I KNOW...DESPITE ALL THE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY THAT WE, BLACK AND WHITE TOGETHER, ARE ONE IN THE LORD, AND WE WILL HOLD HANDS, BLACK AND WHITE TOGETHER, WITH OUR HEADS HELD HIGH AS WE STRIDE INTO THE GLORIOUS FUTURE WHICH GOD HOLDS OUT TO US."

IN THE FACE OF ALL THE SO CALLED REALISTS WHO TOLD HIM THAT A GLORIOUS FUTURE WAS A PIPE DREAM, TUTU CLUNG TO THE REALITY OF EASTER MORNING AND THE CERTAIN HOPE THAT GOD WILL COME BACK AND MAKE THE WHOLE WORLD GOOD FOR ALL HIS CHILDREN.

SOMEONE HAS NOTED THAT WITH THE ADVENT OF 900 NUMBERS THAT CHARGE THE CALLER FOR EACH MINUTE HE OR SHE SPEAKS, THERE HAVE COME NUMEROUS OPTIONS.  PHONE SEX IS BAD ENOUGH, BUT THEN COMES THE FALSE PROMISES OF THE FORTUNE TELLERS.

AND IT MUST BE BIG BUSINESS, SEEING HOW MANY TV ADVERTISEMENTS THERE ARE.  THESE "PSYCHIC CONNECTION HOTLINE ENCOUNTERS" OFFER FALSE HOPE AND UNGODLY GUIDANCE.  THEIR OBVIOUS LIES GREET THE TELEVISION VIEWER ON THE SCREEN.  WHILE THEY ARE TELLING THEIR VIEWERS THAT THEY CAN GIVE THEIR CALLERS THE HELP AND GUIDANCE THEY NEED, THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN IS REMINDING US THAT THIS NONSENSE IS "FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY."

THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST EXTENDS BEYOND "ENTERTAINMENT ONLY."  THE CLAIMS OF THE BIBLE NEVER OFFER A DISCLAIMER.  JESUS PROVIDES HOPE AND GUIDANCE TO ALL WHO COME TO HIM IN FAITH.  THERE ARE NO DISCLAIMERS; NO EMPTY PROMISES; THERE IS ONLY A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.  THIS IS NOT FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY; THIS IS FOR LIFE FOREVER. (PARABLES)

THAT'S THE GOSPEL TRUTH AND IT TELLS US THAT OUR GOD IS A GOD WHO CAN BE BELIEVED...WHO CAN BE TRUSTED TO DO WHAT HE HAS PROMISED.  WE HAVE HARD EVIDENCE OF HIS INTENTION AND HIS COMPETENCE TO BRING IT ABOUT.

AS SMEDES SAYS: "LIFE IS GOING TO WIN!  PEACE IS GOING TO WIN!  LOVE IS GOING TO WIN!  JUSTICE IS GOING TO WIN!  GOD IS GOING TO WIN!  CREATION'S STORY IS GOING TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING."  IT WILL HAPPEN BECAUSE GOD IS IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR HOPE FOR IT.  AMEN.