We hear a lot about hope — from politicians, from books, from multimedia. But what is offered in each of these messages doesn’t seem to last. We may get fired up and encouraged by what we hear in such messages; indeed, we may find ourselves refreshed and hopeful for a season. But what is offered is not a fixed, experienced hope and it soon fades away.

The entire world is yearning for a steadfast hope. Hope is not a feeling. How many times has your expectation for something good failed you? How many times has your human hope been crushed? The inner cry of multitudes around the globe right now is, “Somebody, somewhere, please give me some hope, something that will last.”

Many wonderful books have been written by people who maintained hope through their awful tragedies and hardships. Their testimonies encourage us, giving our faith a great lift. But, again, our hope fades whenever a severe trial arises in our own lives. The sufferings we endure dash whatever steadfast hope we thought we had.

Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “Sorrow [not] as others who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). The book of Hebrews tells us we have a “hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil” (Hebrews 6:18-19). In short, the path to hope begins with being fully assured that we are right with God. We’re talking about the assurance that we have peace with God: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Likewise, Paul prays, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). According to Paul, when it comes to the subject of hope, the work of the Holy Spirit must be involved.

In a famous old hymn of the church, Edward Mote wrote, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Indeed, this is peace: to believe God’s promise that by faith in Christ’s shed blood, he considers me righteous. And his righteousness is conferred on me not by any good I have done — it is all by faith.

As Christ’s witnesses, we are called to a seemingly impossible task. We are asking the world to lay down the things that are most dear to them: their sins. In their eyes, the Christian walk — a life of purity and holiness — looks like a form of slavery. Our idea of heaven seems to them more like hell. When they hear us talk about the gospel, it is an offence to their lifestyle. Christ’s gospel calls them to repent of the sins they love, to repent of rejecting the God who died for them on a cross. It calls for a life of holiness, when for years they’ve tried to silence their conscience, to kill any notion there might be a coming day of reckoning.

Christ’s gospel also tells them their own personal goodness cannot merit eternal life. It asks the self-made man to die to himself and his selfish ambitions, and to give his life for others. It declares that his own sense of integrity is nothing in God’s sight. Such a gospel is a threat to his pearl of great price: his personal achievements, the things he has worked long and hard to obtain. If you tell him his righteousness does not merit salvation, he will despise you. During his final time with the disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus warned, “Some of you will be rejected, some will be imprisoned, and some will be killed. All of you will be persecuted” (see John 16:2).

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love another” (John 13:34). Note this was not an option, it was a commandment. And it is where every evangelistic effort must begin. According to Jesus, only this particular love — a love for fellow believers — will gain the attention of a lost generation. It is the same kind of self-denying, sacrificial love that Jesus shows to each of us. Such love for our kin in Christ cannot be accomplished in word alone, but must be in deed.

The world needs illustrated sermons — powerful personal examples — of God’s love. In John 17:21, Jesus made this prayer: “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Dear saint, obey his new commandment and remember his Word: “By this all men will know you are mine” (see John 13:35). Love others as Jesus loves them and watch as God works through that love.

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Paul had just asked the question: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (8:35).

Clearly Paul recognized Satan’s mission in these last days: to hinder God’s people from walking in his great love. All to often, multitudes in the church today are blind to this deceptive work of the enemy and live completely unaware that he has successfully blocked them from knowing and enjoying God’s love for them.

We are never to fear our adversary, of course. But if we are not alert to Satan’s subtle attacks on our faith, we will continue to live defeated lives. Paul knew how important it is to expose the devil’s wiles and only as we identify these attacks on our faith can we say with Paul, “Nothing can separate me from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus.”

In every age, God has stationed intercessors on the very front lines to do battle against Satan’s principalities and powers. Today these spiritual soldiers — “prayer warriors” — can be found in every nation. Jude exhorted, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 20-21). The message to those in spiritual battle is clear: “Build yourself up in faith. Keep yourself in God’s love.”

It is impossible to build up our faith through human strength or ability. Without the Holy Spirit, we simply aren’t able to keep ourselves in the knowledge and assurance of God’s love for us. We need God’s Spirit to empower us in all things.

When everything seems to conspire against God’s promises being fulfilled, the Holy Spirit rises up in us with true words of comfort: “Hold on! Trust him! God is at work in every hour of your situation so don’t waver. Instead, rise up and fight the good fight of faith.”

The promises of the Lord are always “yes and amen.” His promises never change — and that includes his promise about saving the lost. When God commanded us to go into all the world to win souls, he didn’t include an exemption clause: “Preach the gospel of my Son Jesus Christ to all nations — except in hard times.” And he didn’t say, “Believe for the salvation of many — except when there is a great shaking in the world.”
Thank God, he has never said the world is too wicked, too hardhearted, too given over to lust to be reached by his Good News. At no time in history did the Lord ever limit his tender mercies — and he never will. Right now, America and the rest of the world could still be spared judgment if there is true repentance. Of course, such repentance would require a great humbling and a mass return to the Lord. But our God has never rescinded his amazing offer of mercy.

Jesus declared that he came to seek and to save the lost. He who had power to subdue the winds and waves, who could send fire down from heaven to destroy the wicked, who embodied righteousness — this same Jesus came as a humble servant. He set captives free just as he claimed he would and he faithfully broke every form of bondage he encountered.

The gospels speak of Christ as kind, patient, longsuffering, forgiving, full of tenderness and mercy, willing that no one should perish. He was called a shepherd, a teacher, a brother, a light in darkness, a physician, an advocate, a reconciler. He went about doing only good and no one ever had cause to hate him. So why the deep, vicious hatred toward Christ?

Jesus was hated by the world because he came as a light to deliver the world from darkness. “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20).

Jesus declared of himself, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (8:12). Walk in his light and life today!

When Jesus asked the father of the demon-possessed son how long he had been that way, the man replied, “From childhood” (Mark 9:21). In other words, it had been a long time. It was this long, ongoing difficulty that sparked the father’s desire to seek God’s help. God will use the difficult season in our lives to bring about a desire to seek him and to have faith in his deliverance.

Take, for example, Elijah. James 5:17 says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.” Elijah knew that his prayer would bring about unprecedented hardship upon the nation. But this was necessary because the king of Israel had led the people down a sinful path. In essence, Elijah wanted the nation to turn back to God and was prepared to pray to that end, even if it meant it would take three and a half years to be answered. Basically, Elijah was saying, “Whatever it takes, Lord, whatever it takes!”

Now God could say immediately after Elijah prayed that it was done — it was answered. But there was a season between when the prayer was prayed and the answer was manifested. You can pray for family members who are not believers, and God can say, “Done! I’ve heard your prayer, and the answer is on the way … but it’s going to take some time. I need to allow them to go through difficulties so their desire is turned from the world to Me.”

When you read about the whole event in 1 Kings 18, you know that Elijah’s prayer was answered immediately when he prayed it, but God had a special timing for Elijah to see his prayer completely fulfilled. Likewise, when you pray, it takes time, so don’t give up! Three and a half years of false comfort would have to be taken away from Israel and they needed to go through hard times to realize that they needed God.

Back to the demon-possessed son, when the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why could we not drive the demon out?” Jesus said to them that this kind of demonic possession only comes out with persistent prayer and fasting. In other words, “Don’t give up if you don’t see the answer immediately.” What God has promised, he will do!

This message is for every Christian who is on the brink of exhaustion, overwhelmed by your present situation. You have been a faithful servant, feeding others, confident that God can do the impossible for his people. Yet you have lingering doubts about God’s willingness to intervene in your present struggle.

Think of those in the Body of Christ whom you have given words of faith and hope, people facing seemingly hopeless situations. You’ve urged them, “Hang on! God is a miracle worker, and his promises are true. Don’t lose hope — he is going to answer your cry.”

Jesus made a statement to believers in every generation: “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way” (Matthew 15:32). He is telling us, “I will do more for my people than heal them. I’m going to make sure they have enough bread to eat. I am concerned about everything concerning their lives.”

We all believe God can work miracles. We believe in every miracle we have read in Scripture. Yet, that is not enough. God’s question to all his people right now is, “Do you believe I can work a miracle for you?” And not just one miracle, but a miracle for every crisis, every situation we face.

Our faith in troubled times obtains for us the testimony of “a good report.” “For by [their faith] the elders obtained a good report” (Hebrews 11:2). The Greek word for “obtained” here means “to bear witness, to become a testimony.” Our ancestors in the Lord had a settled, anchored faith. And their unwavering faith became a testimony to the world of God’s faithfulness in the midst of troubled times.

As you rest in him through storms, holding your faith position, you are obtaining a “good report.” And you are serving as a beacon of hope to those around you. Those who watch your life — at home, at work, on your block —are learning that hope is available to them.

Our God has supplied us with everything needed to sustain our faith, even as calamities increase. We have been given the witness of the Holy Spirit, who abides in us, and God’s fully revealed Word in the Scriptures. These will sustain us, obtaining for us the testimony of a good report even as the world shakes.