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The Greatest Virtues 2 - Hope
- David Brown
- Sep 6, 2009
- Series: The Greatest Virtues
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Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:12-13
The Greatest Virtues 2
1 Corinthians 13:12-13 The Message
12 We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
Faith…Hope…Love …the greatest virtues!
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Faith produces a work. (achievement, accomplishment)
Love labors. (the tiring and painful labor needed to achieve)
Hope produces patience (persistence, perseverance, endurance)
Let’s talk about Hope.
“Hope” doesn’t actually mean the same thing as our modern use of the word.
When we use the word “hope” we’re talking about a desire, a longing, the feeling that we can have something we want.
The New Testament word “hope” is the Greek word “elpis”
Strongs Concordance defines it …to anticipate, usually with pleasure, expectation, confidence.
W.E. Vines Dictionary of N.T. Words defines hope as…
The happy anticipation of good.
To hope means… To Expect…to expect something good
The best illustration of this is our Hope of Salvation!
Salvation is a present possession but also a future expectation.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-9
When we talk about our “hope of salvation”, we’re not saying we hope we’re saved. We’re saying “We expect to be saved”!
We know we are saved. And we expect to live with the Lord in heaven forever!
It is our Joyful and Confident Expectation!
…Paul used the word in a letter he wrote from Prison
Philemon 22
This word “trust” here is “elpis”.
Paul didn’t hope he was getting out of jail.
He expected to get out of jail!
And he was making preparations for freedom.
Are you preparing for freedom?
Are you preparing for something good to happen?
“Elpis” is translated as hope, trust and faith (one time)
Hebrews 10:23
The words of our mouth should reflect the expectation of our hearts. Expect good things! Live in hope and Expectation. Speak your Expectations!
The Jews were said to be living in expectation when John the Baptist began his ministry. (They were expecting the Messiah)
We are to live in expectation of the 2nd Coming of Jesus!
Expectancy is a powerful Virtue!
When you expect something good…you hang in there…you stick with it… you keep on keeping on…you persist…persevere…and endure whatever you have to endure to get to the thing you are expecting to happen!
Romans 4:18 (Abraham expected in faith)
Romans 5:1-2 (We rejoice because we expect the glory of God. We live in hope..in expectation.
Faith hopes! Faith expects good things to come!
Romans 15:4, 13
The greatest gift a minister can give is the hope (expectation) of a better tomorrow…through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit!
Colossians 1:27
Christ in you…is the expectation of glory/God’s presence/the miraculous.
The Man at the Beautiful Gate
Hopes can make way for more than you hoped for!
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18