The Sifford Sojournal

It seems “hope” is built into mankind — we all naturally hope. We hope for things (desires, etc.); we hope in things (trust, etc.).

But before we go further, let’s look at what hope is. Here’s Webster’s 1828 definition of hope:

HOPE, noun [Latin cupio.]

1. A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety.

2. Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God’s gracious promises; a scriptural sense.

3. That which gives hope; he or that which furnishes ground of expectation, or promises desired good. The hope of Israel is the Messiah.

4. An opinion or belief not amounting to certainty, but grounded on substantial evidence. The christian indulges a hope that his sins are pardoned.

HOPE, verb intransitive

1. To cherish a desire of good, with some expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable.

2. To place confidence in; to trust in with confident expectation of good.

HOPE, verb transitive To desire with expectation of good, or a belief that it may be obtained. But as a transitive verb, it is seldom used, and the phrases in which it is so used are elliptical, for being understood.

So, hope involves some desire for something, with expectation that it will occur, not without evidence. There can also be a trust factor.

Now, here are some examples:

• I hope you will have safe travels. (Desire with the expectation of a good outcome)
  
• I have a hope that by electing this politician, things will be better. (Desire with expectation of a good outcome but with a trust in the person to do the right thing)

I believe we are all constantly hoping for things: A good life, health for today, to name a few.

But, are those things to be hoped for or in?

Let’s start with life in general. Can I with good reason hope for a nice, easy, uneventful, peaceful life? I would suggest that experience shows the opposite is almost guaranteed to happen somewhere along the way for each of us.

How about money. Can that be hoped in? What if I lose my job? What if I have disabling health problems? The Bible describes money as fleeting…with wings! And as uncertain. And that it shouldn’t be trusted in:

Proverbs 23:5 – “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.“

1 Timothy 6:17 – “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;“

Proverbs 11:28 – “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.“

How about the systems of the world around us, such as a college education guaranteeing a prosperous job? Sadly, Gen Z will be able to tell you how that’s working out.

How about people? Do we know anyone who is solid enough to never let us down? Someone who has the capacity to protect us and care for us perfectly always or make us happy? What about even people with power, who would seem to be the most capable? The Bible says they will fail too:

Psalm 146:3 – “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.“

Well then, wow. What’s left?

It would seem we would need something solid and firm, something constant, something capable.

As God, He is certainly capable, because He has all power:

Psalm 115:3 – “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.“

Isaiah 55:11 – “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.“

Jeremiah 32:17 – “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:“

Genesis 18:14 – “Is any thing too hard for the Lord? …“

But the Bible also says He is solid and firm:

Psalm 18:2 – “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.“

The Bible also says He is constant and never changing:

Malachi 3:6 – “For I am the Lord, I change not; …“

But why trust in God? He is worthy, first of all, because He is God. But He’s also full of loving-kindnesses and tender mercies:

Psalm 25:6 – “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.“

But then, what are we hoping in God for? A perfect, easy, peaceful life? Again, experience shows that is basically not the case for anyone, in some capacity.

But why wouldn’t God do that, since He’s capable and loving and merciful?

Because there’s one problem in the way, which actually is the reason for the lack of peace in our lives:

Sin

Sin is not following God’s commandments in some way, either by doing something He says not to, or not doing something He says.

The Bible says everyone has sinned in some way. Have we not, at some point in our lives, told a lie? Disobeyed our parents when we were children at least once?

Then that’s sin, and we have all sinned.

And the Bible says by nature we are slaves to sin:

John 8:34 – “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.“

And God is perfectly holy, so anything with sin cannot be around Him. In fact, He can’t even look at sin:

Habakkuk 1:13 – “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:“

God also says we will be judged for our sin:

John 3:18 – “… but he that believeth not is condemned already, …“

Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:“

And the default sentence at that time is an eternal death!

Revelation 21:8 – “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.“

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 – “7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”

It seems true hope is not in things or people of this world. I would suggest that true hope must be for things past this time of our lives.

If peace all the time is not guaranteed as we live our lives here and now, and there is none with God if we’re still in servitude to sin and under its effects, is there a complete and lasting peace available for after this life?

The Bible says, “Yes there is!” But it cannot come from us.

God’s Son, Jesus Christ, added a human nature to Himself. He did this to take that condemnation noted above and put it on Himself to pay the penalty for us. He was crucified on a cross for this purpose. He also lived a life that perfectly kept God’s commandments, showing Himself perfectly righteous and holy, so that righteousness could be accounted toward us. And He rose again as a sign that God accepted His sacrifice.

In that way then, we can stand no more condemned, and God can now look at us with those pure eyes and see His Son’s righteousness.

Paul, a person who wrote a lot of the Bible, calls this “hope of eternal life” versus the eternal death noted above, and coming from God, who cannot lie!

Titus 1:1-2 – “1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; 2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

2 Corinthians 5:19 – “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.“

Romans 4:22-25 – “22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.“

How do we then get this hope?

The John 3:18 verse above had much more to it:

John 3:18 – “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.“

We start by believing about our sin, our incapacity to get ourselves out of condemnation, and that we have no righteousness of ourselves.

But then what?

Then, we look to Christ Jesus for these things. We look to Him as the sacrifice for our sins when He died on the cross. We look to Him that He would account to our account His righteousness. And we humbly submit ourselves to Him in these things, as God, and as God saving us from sin and its consequences.

And He will set us free from being a slave to sin to be proper servants of Him, as it should be:

Romans 6:20-23 – “20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.“

It is our prayer that if your hope is still in people, or this world and the things of it, that you put all of those away and look only to the Lord Jesus as your hope and believe on Him.

We can trust Him, He cannot lie, and He is merciful and gracious to those who come to Him in this way:

John 6:37 – “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.“

We pray you put your trust in Him alone this day!

Psalm 118:8-9 – “8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.“

Psalm 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.“

Psalm 42:11 – “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.“

Psalm 43:5 – “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.“

1 Peter 1:21 – “Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.“

— David

P.S. I discuss in much more detail the situation between God and man in this blog post.

Isaiah 53:2 – “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.“

Continuing on from Part 4 of the series on desiring Christ, taken from Thomas Manton’s Isaiah 53 commentary.

You can read it here, or listen to the whole exposition here.

The new section below after the recap at the beginning starts here if you want to read it, or you can listen to it in this audio section.

From Thomas Manton:

Isaiah 53:2 – “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.“

Continuing on from Part 3 of the series on desiring Christ, taken from Thomas Manton’s Isaiah 53 commentary.

You can read it here, or listen to the whole exposition here.

The new section below after the recap at the beginning starts here if you want to read it, or you can listen to it in this audio section.

From Thomas Manton:

May God grant we long more for Him, and labor to have more of Him, and see and experience Christ Jesus above all things!

Go on to Part 5!

— David