THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE

By Charles N. Spence, Jr.

On any given Lord's day you can find a gathering of the Lord's people who are assembled and united in hope. It is because of the hope that they have that they come together for the expressed purpose of "considering one another in order to stir up love and good works" (Heb. 10:24). Some brethren fail to realize the blessing and to sense the joy that comes from sharing with others of like mind and kindred faith. More often, in these same gatherings, there can be found people who act as if they have no hope at all. As Christians, if we are going to have hope, we must learn to believe in that hope. The hope that I believe every one who is named a Christian should have is in the promise of the visible, literal return of Jesus Christ.

Unlike those religious groups who have said that Jesus had come and was seen through the eyes of faith, Christians believe in the yet future, visible return of the Lord Jesus. Revelation 1:7 says, "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen." When Jesus comes even His enemies will see it and such would cause them to mourn. Yet, for the faithful in Christ, it will be a day of rejoicing. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand" (Phi. 4:4-5).

As stated earlier, in order for one to have hope he must believe in it. In an effort to ease the troubled hearts of His disciples as He made ready His departure, Jesus gave them reason to be hopeful. Jesus said in John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am you may be also." Jesus went on to tell his disciples about the unpleasantness that they would experience because they were His followers (John 16:33; see Matt. 5:10-12). However, Jesus did not leave them without hope. If you were to look at some Christians today, you would think that Jesus gave no assurance of anything toward which the believer can look forward. How many of us go week to week with troubled hearts and lowered countenances? Why do we allow so many things to get to us. Paul wrote to Christians in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that he did not want them to be ignorant concerning the events that would take place when Jesus returns. Not only did he not want Christians to be ignorant, but he also did not want them to "sorrow as others who have no hope." So, why are some of us walking around so sorrowful? Could it be we are not convinced that we have reason to hope?

In regard to the return of Jesus for His people the Scriptures are replete with all kinds of references. Nonetheless, these references are meaningless unless one is certain that God is true to His word. God has not only promised that these things will be so, but also swears to the veracity of these events (Heb. 6:13-19). God has given us these "exceedingly great and precious promises that we might become partakers of the divine nature . . ." (2 Pet. 1:4). So why do some of us sorrow as if we are partakers of the world (1 Cor. 15:19; Eph. 2:12; 1 The. 4:13)?

We have much cause to hope in Jesus. So when we assemble let us be enthusiastic and filled with joy in our service to the Lord. Let us be more considerate of one another to stir up love and good works. Let us continue to express words of comfort and encouragement to one another as we deal with the daily trials brought on by the world (1 The. 4:18). Let us rejoice in the Lord knowing that He is at hand (Phi. 4:4-5).