OUR HERITAGE OF HOPE

Text:  Psalm 16:5-11

“The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: you maintain my lot.  The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a goodly heritage.  I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.  I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: my flesh also shall rest in hope.  For you will not leave my soul in hell; neither will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.  You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Paul the Apostle said, “And now abides faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  We hear a great deal about faith and love, I want to focus our attention this morning on HOPE.

Regardless of how long you have been serving the Lord, you have a heritage of hope.  The world offered us no hope, but we found hope in Jesus Christ.  The old hymn says, “My hope is built on nothing less but Jesus blood and righteous.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”  David said, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance.”

I.                    Words Defined—

A.      Heritage means “something inherited, inheritance, possession, an heirloom, estate.”

B.      Hope means “to anticipate, expectation, confidence.”

C.      We are in the will.  We know we have an inheritance coming.  The survey of the pleasant places has already been done.  Though we have no seen it yet we know it is a “goodly heritage,” and because of it we rest in hope.

II.                  The Heritage of Hope–

A.      At times, Christian have gotten caught up in other things and lost the message and rest of hope.

Israel had that problem in the time of Jeremiah.   Jeremiah 6:16  “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall rest for your souls.  But they said, We will not walk therein.”

Like many today, they wanted ways that were appealing to the flesh, the eye, and the mind.  They wanted a way that was clearly visible and completely reasonable; a way no hope was necessary.   The true people of God know the rest found in hope.

Proverbs 22:28 says, “Remove not the ancient landmarks, which your fathers have set.”

This heritage has been charted and marked off by many generations.  The hope of the first century church should be the same hope of the twenty-first century church.

B.      From childhood I knew I had a hope in Christ.  I grew up singing songs like:  “When We All Get to Heaven, “  “O I Want to See Him,”  “In the Sweet By and By,”  “It Will Be Worth is All,”  “He’s Coming Soon,” and many more.    The basic theme of every message was being ready for the coming of the Lord; making heaven.

C.      One aspect of this heritage is the defeat of our enemies.  Isaiah 54:17  “No weapon  that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, says the Lord.”        We have the sure hope that Jesus Christ will put Satan under our feet shortly.

D.      We have the sure and certain hope of the rapture of the church and resurrection of the saints.   I Thess 4:16-18   “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”   There is great comfort in hope.

E.       If hope is lost, all is lost.  There is rest in hope.  There is comfort in hope.  There is assurance in hope.  There is peace in hope.  There is joy in hope.  There is rejoicing in hope.   Hebrews  3:6, 14  “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end….For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence (hope) stedfast unto the end.”

III.                Hope Applied—

A.      Ready with the good news.   I Peter 3:15  “…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in your with meekness and fear.”

B.      Living in purity.   I John 3:2-3  “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.”

Do you have hope in Christ?  Have you received Christ as your Lord and Savior?  Are you ready for His coming?    The answer to all three questions can be YES before you leave this service.   Come to Jesus, He is waiting for you.