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SUNDAY MORNING ‘TALK’ NOTES
HOPE IN HARD TIMES
Chris Bajkiewicz chris@bajmission.com
Intro
Today’s talk is about HOPE…
…how real hope is not a thing or something safely placed in a thing
…how real HOPE is a living force placed in a PERSON
…how the Lord Jesus Christ IS the object of real hope
…how you place your HOPE ON the Lord Jesus Christ and follow Him, and He will never leave you, forsake you…
and you will always be taken care of… period!
2 Kings 6: story where the prophet Elisha was giving military intel (from the Lord) to the King of Israel about the
Aramean army (who were at war with Israel). King of Aram decides to take this intel source out, sends army to
surround the city of Dothan where Elisha is staying. Aramean army sneaks in at night, surrounds city. Residents
wake up and find they are under quite the siege. Elisha seems unafraid; his servant all shook up, “what shall we
do?” (v15)
Elisha: “Don’t be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them “(v16).
(servant probably unconvinced), Elisha turns attention to God (good skill to learn in tight times) and prayed “O
Lord, open his eyes so he may see”…
The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around
Elisha. (v17)”
Three things going on: [1] a Divine intervention to see what is really, really going on in the world of the unseen that
is super-imposed over this confusing ‘earth-thing’ worlds-realm, [2] the servant had to LOOK – engage perception,
turn mind and soul and heart ON… incoming transmission… [3] the servant then had to SEE … it means more than
letting light signals into your eye and bounce off your optic nerve…
(ref Luke 10:33, “but a Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity
on him”… saw in Greek ‘eido’ which means behold, consider, perceive: not a mindless thing that passes by your
eyes)…
When you see the hills stacked with the Army of God, totally ready to defend you… your PERSPECTIVE changes…
no???
You can do a Will Smith, “Whacha thinkin, huh? Ya got dem silly little swords and arrows and you be sneakin’into
my yard to get all crazy and kickin fer a fight?? Whoa! You gonna find out wazzup when you get yer whoopin from
my posse right there…”
Like a key passage in Isaiah Chapter 6 v1, “In the year King Uzziah died… I saw the LORD seated on a throne,
high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple…”
This is crucial: Uzziah was a powerful and influential political figure, and his death sent the Middle East into a tail-
spin on all levels, including economically… God did some Divine thing to let Isaiah SEE what was really going on…
PRAY: LORD GOD… We need an Isaiah moment! Divine intervention to open our eyes… we may look with
clarity… we may see (behold, perceive) what HOPE is all about… and consider WHO is involved in HOPE…
Body
[1]…how real hope is not a thing or something safely placed in a thing… especially $$ or the economy!!
Troubled times = people run for comfort… not for change, but comfort
People want instant fix… people want a McCrisis, and they want it thru the drive-thru to go…
Hebrews 12, “all that CAN be shaken WILL be shaken…”
“Progress without change” what people want… “I want it better, I want the problems to go away… but I do NOT want
anything in my life or habits or attitudes to change”
PROBLEM: without repentance, there can never be healing and salvation!
People are starting to cough and sneeze the virus ‘hopeless’, because YES, there really IS a place of
hopelessness in all this mess…
and I see the People of Jesus are starting to catch this cold…
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[2] …how real HOPE is a living force placed in a PERSON
…how the Lord Jesus Christ IS the object of real hope
Many HOPE references in the Scriptures
From W.E. Vine's M.A., Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
Hope (Noun and Verb), Hope (for) [Noun]
elpis in the NT, "favorable and confident expectation"
(b) the ground upon which "hope" is based, Acts_16:19; Col_1:27, "Christ in you the hope of glory;"
(c) the object upon which the "hope" is fixed, e.g., 1_Tim_1:1.
In Eph_1:18; Eph_2:12; Eph_4:4, the "hope" is objective.
In Rom_15:13 God is spoken of as "the God of hope," i.e., He is the author, not the subject; of it. "Hope" is a factor
in salvation, Rom_8:24; it finds its expression in endurance under trial, which is the effect of waiting for the coming
of Christ, 1_Thess_1:3; it is "an anchor of the soul," staying it amidst the storms of this life, Heb_6:18,19; it is a
purifying power, "every one that hath this hope set on Him (Christ) purifieth himself, even as He is pure," 1_John_3:
3, RV (the Apostle John's one mention of "hope").
B1. Hope (Noun and Verb), Hope (for) [Verb]
elpizo "to hope," is not infrequently translated in the AV, by the verb "to trust;"
prepositions:
1. eis, rendered "on" in John_5:45 (as above); the meaning is really "in" as in 1_Pet_3:5, "who hoped in God;"
the "hope" is thus said to be directed to, and to center in, a person;
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We can hope in things… and they WILL fail us!
We can hope ON the Lord Jesus Christ… and He is FAITHFUL!
Romans 5:1-5
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a]have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God
has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Colossians 1:27
25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—
26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27To them
God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the
hope of glory.
28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect
in Christ. 29To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
BTW, the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Hope… and a Kingdom is inherently a Community with a King!!
[3]…how you place your HOPE ON the Lord Jesus Christ and follow Him, and He will never leave you, forsake
you… and you will always be taken care of
Ps 37:25: NEVER LEFT TO BEG
“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or their children begging for bread.
They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed”
Not because of their accumulated wealth, or how great they are and the $$ they make, not their 401K
performance… BUT THE DIRECT HAND OF GOD!
Ending
Are you short on… or just plain out of… HOPE?
Have you lost sight of the JESUS who is standing right there?
Have you started to trust in ‘things’… instead of Jesus? Has hope leaked from your soul and allowed your heart to
be filled with fear?
This is an invitation to the Mercy Seat...
Let the Words of Jesus to YOU pour over your soul, the Lord Jesus who can say this because He will never leave
you or give up on you…
Matthew 6:25-34
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will
wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the
air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much
more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell
you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass
of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the
pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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