Brother Gary Sunday Morning 12/7/14
Jesus Christ, our hope!
1Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the
commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
1Ti 1:2 Unto
Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace,
mercy, and peace, from God our Father
and Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is hope. Jesus Christ is
our hope. New Testament hope, we are in
the Gospel day. The difference is that
the messiah has come.
It is wonderful to have hope.
Paul in writing to Timothy spoke of hope. He also wrote, “If there is only hope in this
world, we are of all men most miserable.”
He had a grip on Jesus Christ who is our hope.
To hope is to anticipate with pleasure. We live in a downer world. There is a strong spirit in the world to oppress,
depress, frustrate, vex, and all those kinds of things. It is in total opposition to what God has for
us. We heard in the Sunday school of the
enemy robbing us of what God has for us.
Through Jesus Christ only there is hope. It is to anticipate with pleasure, have
expectation, and confidence.
Jer 17:5
Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good
cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7
Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Trusting in man causes an individual to depart from the
Lord. When you are carrying a burden and
praying for a soul, if they are trusting in themselves, their own strength, or
catechism, the bible calls them accursed for departing from God and not trusting
in God.
When people are under the spirit or the mentality of
handling things themselves, (they are going to be the pilot of their own ship,
decide where they are and where they are going), they will not see when good
comes. Mark it down, when I take things
into my own hands, I will not see when good comes.
They are blinded to the fact, “What I really need is the
Lord Jesus Christ.” I remember Sister
Maconahae telling of their daughter Debby coming to their house. The Maconahae’s had some money and handled
their money very wisely. Deb was just $25,000
short. She came to talk to her mother
and Sister Maconahae said, “You need to get saved.” Deb said, “What I need is $25,000.”
Salvation is just what souls need. The sick man needs healed, but what he really
needs is Jesus. The one that is hooked
on alcohol, drugs, or whatever, what they really need is Jesus. They think, “If I only had this…” What they really need is Jesus.
They say, “What I really need is $25,000, gas in my car,
etc.” That is the tangible. What they really need is salvation.
Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, whose hope the
Lord is. Hope means - there is a refuge.
There is a refuge in the Gospel Day in hope. When you have hope, you have a refuge, you
have a place of expectancy with confidence.
Jer 17:8
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and
shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
There is not anyone in this audience that has reached an age
of maturity that didn’t experience this exact thing. Everyone here has found themselves in very
needy situations. This is the reason why
it is vital that we have our roots down so that when the big storm comes, we go
right on trusting God instead of our tree falling over.
When someone has an unconverted heart, their heart will lie
to them, deceive them. They say, “Serving
God is so hard.” I wish they would try
to tell me that. I know that the way of
the transgressor is hard. People can be
on the brink of eternity yet at ease with the thought, “I am old, I am sick,
and I am close to eternity.”
Jer 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according
to his ways, and according to the fruit
of his doings.
There is a marvelous thought in Jesus coming, that He would
light every candle, every individual that comes into the world, He would light
their candle. The candle is their
conscience, their desire.
“I the Lord search the heart.” I like to think of God lighting that candle
and going into every room of the heart.
Jer 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake
thee shall be ashamed, and they that
depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the
LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Dear ones, don’t forget your hope or your refuge. I don’t know what kind of a week you are going
to have. None of us knows what kind of
week we are going to have. Next week
about the 14th we will know what kind of a week we had. Let’s remember that we have a hope in God.
All that forsake him shall be ashamed. We are challenged to keep our hope stayed in God
and in the Son of God.
If we forsake our hope, we become hopeless, our name becomes
blotted out of the lamb’s book of life.
There is a fountain of living water, but we must have hope to get to
that water.
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of
our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of
the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Jesus went to his home town.
Luk 4:16
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his
custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to
read.
Luk 4:17
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And
when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
When Jesus walked into the temple and was handed the book of
Isaiah, it was a scroll, he opened it and found Isaiah 61, recorded here.
What a message this morning.
Jesus was among His very own and He was anointed to preach the gospel to
the poor.
Studying a bit about Joseph and Mary told me that they were
from poor families. But the account of
Jesus is to all families, not just those that are financially poor but to all
that recognize that “There is a great need in my life.”
I am blessed to be alive, but there is a convicting message
to us here this morning.
Jesus came to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives, to preach the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Whatever your need is, Jesus is ready. Men, women, boys, and girls must come to the
place and realize, not as the Laodicean church, “I am rich and increased with
goods and have need of nothing.” But to
realize, “I really need Jesus.”
We need to be so poverty stricken that we don’t trust in our
own ways, or anything tangible but our hope is, “Oh if I can only get to
Jesus.”
He is here to heal the broken hearted. Many times people never mention it. They never mention that in their life they
have had great heartache. For some
reason it is difficult for people to open their selves to the thought, “Not
everything was perfect in their life.”
Only through the Lord Jesus Christ can lives be made
whole. When people come to the place
where they realize, “I am broken hearted.
There is no use wearing the mask, or resting on the thought, my father
was a church of God minister.”
When we recognize, “My life has a broken heart.” Some people never recognize this. When they are dying with a broken heart,
“Everything is just fine.” They are not
allowing Jesus to be in the thought, “this is the acceptable year of the Lord.”
People may say, “I am so distraught because I failed here or
there.” Others may say, “Because someone
else failed, I am how I am.” When your
heart is broken that is when you get healed.
You will never get healed by blaming anyone else.
The only way to be healed is to realize, “God my heart is
broken, and you are my hope.”
We are loved by brothers and sisters in Christ and by family
members. But that alone will not heal a
broken heart. It takes Jesus. When an individual is ready to be healed,
there is no argument to the very fact, “I’ve allowed myself to become a
captive.”
People get in prison in the world. People my age can be so captive to the
thought, “The world really has something to offer.” There are people that become captive to an
affliction. That is a vital thing in
this congregation. Don’t let it happen
to you. The best thing you can do for
yourself and your burden is to help someone else.
Limited strength can become an issue. But don’t become a captive of it.
Sometimes people are captives of the past. All they can talk about is the misfortunes of
the past. Us Kelly’s can’t go very far
in the past. We can’t go beyond West
Virginia. We are not accountable for the
sins of our grandparents. The only thing
I am responsible for is: “Will I let God free me?”
Give sight to the blind:
Jesus used the word, “Recovery of sight to the blind.” We all know that any that lose their vision
and then get it back treasure their sight.
In the spiritual realm, the recovering of sight to the
blind. This shows me that individuals
that have seen and lost their vision, Jesus wants to give a recovery.
Recovering of sight to the blind, the hope of the ages,
individuals that feel so bad because they failed God, the church, their family…
Stop. Let’s not make such noise about
the failure, let’s look at Jesus Christ.
He is the hope. He is ready to
give liberty.
Jesus Christ loves liberty.
Not liberty to be irresponsible.
Not liberty to not be a good husband, wife, or a good pastor. True liberty is, “I am free from myself.”
There are a lot of oppressing spirits in the world
today. Jesus is ready to give liberty to
all that are oppressed.
Luk 4:20
And he closed the book, and he gave it
again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the
synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21
And he began to say unto them, This day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears.
People can make things so complicated. When God comes to deal with an issue, you
know it and God knows it. You will
notice that Jesus brought an end to His scriptures on this account and told
them the wonderful hope of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was in His home town.
Luke records that all the eyes were looking on him. He said, “This day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears.” There is
something about Jesus Christ, our hope.
He brings the Word of God to us, on that very day is the scripture ready
to meet every need.
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
three; but the greatest of these is
charity.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Psa 42:1 To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the
sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my
soul after thee, O God.
Psa 42:2
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and
appear before God?
There is hope in you and I appearing before the Living God.
Psa 42:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why
art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
Old Testament refuge and
assurance to New Testament:
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Jesus Christ has come, He has come and given us a lively
hope, a hope of expectation that God will do exactly what His Word has
promised.
Charity: For God so loved the World.
We know that God sent His son into the world. “Now abideth faith, hope, and charity.” It is a lively hope. The Old Testament hope adds to our
understanding of New Testament hope. We
want to end 2014 with a lively hope.
Expectation and confidence.
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:3
And not only so, but we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
Rom 5:4
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
Rom 5:5
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.
The trial, temptation, persecution works patience,
experience, and hope. Hope makes not
ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.
Hos 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love
them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
Isn’t it wonderful to be loved freely? Isn’t it wonderful whether it is your
husband, your wife, your children, grandchildren, or your brothers and sisters
in Christ that they love you as Christ did.
They love freely.
That love in our heart, no one has to buy it or cry for
it. Because you love, it is a love
freely.
You may have the experience that someone doesn’t know if
they can trust you. Prove it by loving
them freely. Prove to God that you love
Him freely. Whether you get what you
want or don’t. Prove that you love your
brothers and sisters in Christ freely.
Isn’t it wonderful what repentance and forgiveness
does? After an individual experiences
Godly sorrow and come confessing turning and experience pardon then almost instantaneously
they feel the love of God coming to them.
We love Him because He first loved us. His love comes and we enjoy it and then we
give back our love to Him. We know that
if we love God then we will show it by loving our brothers and sisters in
Christ even to the extent of loving the unlovely.
Isn’t it wonderful to wake in the morning with a calm mind? He gives the dew of heaven. It only comes when there is a calmness. That is the reason why we must possess our
vessel in sanctification and leave everything in the lap of the lord. Let your moderation be known to all men.
I’m so glad that I have a Bible and that I know about
Jesus. I’m glad that I know some of the
prophecies of the messiah coming. I know
beyond a shadow a doubt that He came.
Even time changed when He came.
He affected the world extremely.
We have such hope because Jesus has come. May God help us to enjoy the Hope of the Ages.
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