Cdc Nov 9 2018 Hope in Christ

[Hymn: His Truth is Marching On] Church history and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for these are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Test Ministry. May ye be blessed as ye listen. [Speaker 1] We're looking at the topic "Hope in Christ." The reverse of that is like saying, "Do not worry. Do not be afraid. Do not be anxious." And the text that the fellowship gives that we should look at in looking at hope in Christ is Matthew. Let's go to that scripture. Before we go to the text that the leadership of the Postgraduate Fellowship gave for today, let's try to look at the matter. What is hope? What is hope? What is hope? Somebody talking. What is hope? [Speaker 2] Hope is something that you want, that you desire for, that you have, that you are hoping that is going to happen. [Speaker 1] You are still using the word hope. An expectation. That's another word, an expectation. So when we say expectation in Christ, it means we are saying that while we have several desires, while we are hoping and expecting that this will be, that will be at the level of the Postgraduate Fellowship or at this level of one's life, many things will be the hope. Expectations. He hopes to get a good job. Let me get the bone of my bone. Let me... are you understanding me? At this level, many things come into play. Let me... I hope I will finish with good grades. If I'm at the MSc level, hey God, I don't want it to be less than 60 so that I don't have to go through MPhil, so that it will just be PhD direct. If it's of the PhD program, hey God, this my supervisor, I hope... so many things will just be going through the mind as expectations, expectations. And you're expecting that it will be well. So we are saying hope in Christ. Now what it simply means is that there are several ways our expectations can become anxiety if we don't put those expectations as a thing that Christ can supply. Do you get that? Now we're saying hope in Christ. Now why are we saying in Christ? Because we are saying that Christ, in Christ, what happens to the promises of God? In Christ, the promises of God are "yea" and they are "amen." So in other words, we are saying instead of making your expectation to give you some level of anxiety, which is the normal thing, expectation will bring some level of anxiety. And sometimes those anxiety can lead astray. They can lead astray. Let me give you a typical example of what I'm trying to say. Let me use two different examples in two different situations. One of them was a sister. She was already advancing in age in a way. And so she was trusting God for marital prosperity. In the first relationship, things didn't work out. And so she was unnecessarily expectant. "Ah, this thing, oh, let this thing be resolved." In that, instead of putting her trust in Christ that in Christ, the promises of God are "yea" and "amen," she was overwhelmed by the anxiety. So she approached a man of God. I don't want to mention the name just for personal reasons, because the person is well-known in Accra. So if I mention the name, some of you may even be attending his church. So don't let me mention the name. He met this man of God and the man of God said, "You see the reason why this your marital life is not prospering is because you often go... anytime you have a suitor, you go tell your parents at home. There's a factor about home. This time around, a man shows up, what you need to do to prosper on time, make sure that you have two children before you now tell your parents, before you tell them at home. That way you will prosper maritally." And she took the decision. When there was a suitor this time around, an evangelist, she conceived the first, conceived the second before she went home to tell her parents. Today she is neither mad nor normal. She was one of my personal friends, a personal friend. We grew up together, we started Christianity together. She is neither mad nor normal. I don't want to go to the details of the story but that decision, when I met her and I said... let me leave the name, let me just say Sister X. "Sister X, this was not how we started. You can't tell me that it is by fornication that you can prosper maritally. Because what you did is fornication. You are not married and you are having children. It's fornication. Fornication cannot bring prosperity." One of the reasons why this topic is coming to us, the burden I have when I saw the topic is that the reason why this topic is coming to us, is telling us that, see, if you're unnecessarily overwhelmed by your expectation, they can become misleading. They can become misleading. They can lead you into what you don't expect in life. They can make you do things that you don't expect. Now let me give a good example now. There's this brother that we finished from the university together. Then he got a job in one of the states. Because they are personal real stories, I don't like going into... I hope you're understanding me. I don't want to go to unnecessary details since they are living stories of people. But this one is a good story. He picked up the job and was working with one of the organizations in the state. But he was trusting God for greener pasture, just like anybody. If you're working somewhere you're hoping for a better one. So he started working. Then not too long after, another organization came into town. Very big, bogus, in fact some status and then called for applicants, were made and people applied. He also applied and wow, fortunately for him he got the job. And then the offer to pay about three to four times the current salary that he was earning. Just imagine that you're earning 80,000 then you times it by about four, that's about 320,000. That's good money. Do you understand me? So I want to be as practical as possible, because I believe I'm dealing with people that are more mature. So he went and then... but they said, "When will you resume?" He said he will resume in 30 days' time. Like in a month's time. And they said, "No, no, no. We want someone that can resume immediately." He said he can't resume immediately because where he's presently working, he had given them his word that he will leave them by giving them one month notice. He has promised them he wouldn't leave them suddenly. And that since he has gotten another one, he wants to tell them that he will be resuming somewhere in a month's time so that they can do whatever they want to do. And they said, "No, no, no. Forget about that and just resume this and this. We're paying you better." So he was in a fix. It was a serious fix. So he had to think about it, to either resume immediately or they give it to the second person in line. In an interview there will be the first, the second. So what will you do? To be you, what will you do? The average Nigerian mind will tell you that is it your father's business? Abeg, leave them alone and go and resume. But you know he made a statement. That is Psalm 15, the last verse of Psalm 15. He keeps his oath even when it hurts. Have you heard that scripture before? Look at Psalm 15. Look at the last verse of Psalm 15. Who is there already? [Speaker 2] Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall go to His holy place? Verse 5: "He who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken." [Speaker 1] Is that the last verse? That will be the verse before the last where he said... verse 4. Thank you. Please let's have verse 4 from different translations. [Speaker 2] He despised those whom God rejects but honor those who obey the Lord. He keeps his word even when it costs him. [Speaker 1] Is that verse 4? [Speaker 2] Yes. [Speaker 1] Let's have verse 4b. Let's have verse 4b. [Speaker 2] Those who despise flagrant sinners, honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. [Speaker 3] They despise those whom God rejects but honor those who obey the Lord. They always do what they promise, no matter how much it may cost. [Speaker 1] They always do what they promise even when it hurts. I like... yes. [Speaker 4] He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. [Speaker 1] Yes. They always do what they promise even when it hurts. Those are the kind of men that can ascend the hill of the Lord. Those are the kind of men that can last. So he told himself that no, I'm a man that abide in the presence of the Lord. Even when it hurts, I must do what I've said. So he left the job and resumed back where he used to be. And he was told, "You're a mad boy. You're stupid. You're crazy. You're..." all kinds of things went. He said, "No, I'm talking about putting your hope in Christ." When you're overwhelmed by your hope, your expectations can mislead you. But when your hope is in Christ, you see you are coordinated even when you're expectant. Of course he wanted a better job. But because his confidence is in the Lord... but do you know that wasn't the end of the story? So he went back and resumed, so they gave the job to the next person in line while he resumed back. But within the space of six months, it wasn't up to six months, within that same year... I don't know the number of months now, but within that same year that he gave away that job, that company that was offering the job and everything, folded up. You see one thing we don't know is that most of the time... look at Proverbs 11, verse 3, verse 5, verse 6. I like your translation, it's found very simple. Proverbs 11, let's look at Proverbs 11. First read verse 1, then you skip to around verse 3, 4, 5, 6. [Speaker 2] Verse 1: "The Lord hates people who use dishonest scales. He is happy with honest weights." Verse 3: "If you are good, you are guided by honesty. People who can't be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty." Verse 5: "Honesty makes a good person's life easier. But the wicked will cause their own downfall." Verse 6: "Righteousness rescues those who are honest, but those who can't be trusted are trapped by their own greed." [Speaker 1] That's all. That's the part I want you to read. Do you get something in that place? I've talked about why hope should be in Christ. When hope is outside Christ and you're overwhelmed by this expectation, this and that, you begin to take steps that will cut you short. You begin to do things that will make you eventually to be trapped. You begin to do things that will make you eventually will make life more complicated and difficult. Our sister wanted to marry much earlier, but today she's neither mad nor normal. So life has not become easier. So we're talking about why expectations, our expectations, while we trust the Lord for, we're waiting for, we're hoping in life, let's be sure that the person we are making our source is Christ. Person we are making our hope is Christ. I don't know, some of us may not speak Yoruba, but I like something in Yoruba translation. Who's a Yoruba speaker here? You're not Yoruba? I will translate it. Ah, Owosalami. I would have asked him to go and change his name, maybe to Harrison or to Kingsley or to something. I met Owosalami that cannot speak Yoruba. You're not Owosalami, go and change your name. Now the English translation says, the blessings of the Lord maketh rich. But you will not get it very clear what it's saying until you translate it like this: "Ibukun ti t’Olorun to ba n bu, to fi n kun, o ma n mu ni la." That is, if the addition to your life is by the Lord, that's His blessing. If the person adding to you is the Lord, it will make you rich. Do you get it? So I tell people instead of seeking to be rich, seek to be blessed. If you are blessed, the blessing will make you rich. I think that's the bottom line of hope in Christ. We seek to live our life in such a way that God can look at us and say, "Look, a blessing I will bless you." If God can look at you and say, "Look, I will bless you," you can be sure the blessings of the Lord will make you rich. So quickly when we come to the text that the leadership of the fellowship want us to look at, I believe I've created a background for what I want to discuss. Matthew 6:25-34. Let me open three different translations or four. Matthew chapter 6, verse 24... in that place you're having the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. "No man can serve two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." So for that reason, therefore. The reason why I read 24, even though we are starting from 25, is because some translation did not begin with therefore. What does yours say? [Speaker 2] That is why. [Speaker 1] "That is why." You can't even begin a statement with "that is why." You can't walk to people and say "that is why." They will say "why what?" You must have been saying something before you say "that is why." Do you understand it now? So therefore is a conjunction that brings two sentences together in the sense that the preceding is premised on the succeeding, taking its meaning from what was said earlier. Now if you look at what was said in 24, he said no man can serve two masters. In other words, if as somebody in life, you must be sure who are you trusting to meet your need. You can't serve two masters. It's either you serve the Lord or you turn away from the Lord and put your hope in something else. You cannot have God and mammon. It's not possible. You must choose one. Either your hope is in Christ and so that follows that you follow the principle of Christ to meet your needs in life, or you turn away from Christ and then you follow some other principles. So you cannot serve two. You can only put your hope in one. Something I've come to find out over time, Augustine made this statement. Augustine is one of the church fathers of 16-something. He said, "In the image of God we were created and until we reflect His image we will never find rest. In the image of God we were created and until we reflect His image we will never find rest." What he's saying is this, let me use a very simple example. Let's use pig. Naturally, what is the habitat, what is the default of pig in terms of habitat? Miry clay, dusty environment, something marshy, something messy, all of that. But just imagine that by stroke of chance you bring the pig into an apartment, give it cool bed, AC, dining, everything chill. That is a better condition than the default. Am I correct? But what will happen in that condition? Will the pig survive? No. Why? Because it is not designed to survive in such things. Is that not so? Which means actually it is not how materially comfortable that gives a man fulfillment. It is whether the man is at the default. Man is created in the image of God. No matter how materially prosperous he is, if he does not reflect that image he cannot find rest. He will still be restless. And let me give you a very good example. Have you ever asked yourself why is it that it is the rich that look for security and not the poor? Why is it that it is the rich that put electric fence, look for lion to guard their house, put dogs everywhere? Why is it that it is the rich that feel very, very insecure? While the poor, they don't have fence around their houses. Sometimes they leave their door, they don't lock it, they go and they are not afraid. So do you see that sometimes we think rest is in those things? But you see that actually they build anxiety. They build anxiety. The more materially prosperous a man is, the more anxiety he has. Sometimes you will think it is the other way around but it is not. I'm only making a point, not to say we don't need material thing, but the source of our rest is not in material things. Man is a spirit. He only lives inside a body. So it is the spirit that needs rest. And that's why I'm talking about hope in Christ. So Christ said, "You can't serve two masters." He said, "Therefore I tell you, take no thought for your life what you will eat or what you will drink, nor yet for your body what you will put on. Is not the life more than meat and the body more than raiment? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much more than they?" Now what is the Lord saying here? Telling us why we don't need to worry. And he was describing something that anybody may not have a share of. I wanted to draw, not that we're in the classroom. Let's just imagine three people. Our topmost level, God is talking about creations in terms of birds, all of that that were created. Then he said man has more value than birds, is that not? Then there is a third man. Now you know he's talking about creations, isn't it? In creation, he's saying God cares for everything that He has created. God cares for everything that He has created. Such that if you look at the birds of the air everywhere, they are not praying, they don't worship God, they don't do quiet time, they don't do anything, yet they are eating. Why is God making sure that that is going on? Because He created them. As a creator, He must meet the need of His creation. That is what make Him a creator. Now in a similar way, you must understand that He also created man in His own image. That is why whether you are a believer or not, a man can be prosperous. Have you not seen unbelievers making it materially, having money, in fact sometimes they even make first class, they become professors, they have wealth? Have you not seen unbeliever having it? Because God is the creator. He provides for His creation. He makes His rain to rain upon both the good and the bad. He makes it to rain. That is God. He doesn't because He created all. But beyond the creation, there's now a third set. That third set are those who have given their life to Christ, that are His children. Have you seen three levels of provision? Birds, man who is more valuable than birds, and then you have this special set of people, those that are His own. You know what he tells His disciples? "If you are anxious about what to eat or what to drink, it's because you don't know your value." For example, if you have children, you will notice that it is not only your children that will enjoy from your wealth. Some neighbors you give, you give, you give, you give. But for your children's need not to be met, it must mean that you don't have anything at all again. Is that not true? So if God is busy making sure that creation continue to succeed, unbelievers, birds, all of that, God continue to make supply. Is it possible for God to become deficient in meeting the need of His own? Is it possible? It is not possible. For you, you are a child. For the creations, he meet their need. Do you get the point I'm making? So there's no reason why you should be anxious. There's no reason why you should be afraid. There's no reason why you should fear. When you see believers who is doing that, it is because the believer don't understand his value. Don't understand his worth. If I tell you some things that we have done in life, some of you will marvel. My father became a believer when he was about almost 90, but he always was a moralist. So it took him time to understand Christianity. I preached to him and he was able to understand salvation from morality. But even at that, as somebody who has not given his life to Christ when we were growing up, you know what he normally tells us? He will say, "Look, God who created the mouth, know that man must eat so there will be food." He wasn't a believer. He was just responding to creation. So the first thing you need to know as a child of God is that if I'm a child of God, it will take God to become bankrupt in taking care of creation for God not to be able to supply my need. And can God become bankrupt? It is not possible. So what is our faith? If I tell you some things that we have done in life, 15 years of graduation, that's when I became gainfully employed. But 10 years into the struggle, I wanted to pick up a job very, very befitting and say fat envelope job. But when I got there they just told me that, "Oh, you are above 35." I'm talking of many, many years ago. "You are above 35. We're sorry, we need people who are below 35." I said, "Oh." They said, "Okay, don't worry, we will help you. Can we get your..." I just said, "Sorry, give me back my document." They said, "No, don't worry, we will do..." I said, "Give me back the document." They gave it back to me. And I just turned back, I said, "Thank you." They said, "No, come, let us..." I just said I don't need it. If it is mine, then my age will be equal to it. I don't need to manipulate my age. I'm talking of because there is a trust that God will supply my need. There is a trust, there is a confidence, there is a hope in Christ. So Christ is saying you don't need all of that. "Which of you by taking thought for your life can add one cubit to it? And why take thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, oh ye of little faith?" What is faith? Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, things that are not seen. Hebrews 11:1. That's what he's quoting. Faith is substantiating what is hoped for. So what's the basis of faith? Hope. Hope is the basis of faith. It takes a man who is hopeful to be faithful. Why do people go to office even when sometimes they have headache? They still run to their office Monday to Friday, and after 30 days, why are they doing that? Because after 30 days there is a hope that there will be alert. If there is no hope that there will be salary, if you work in a place for five years, you will not pick up the job. So hope is the basis for faith. For you to be faithful to God, your hope must be in God. You are faithful to what you have hope in. What you don't have hope in, you are not faithful to it. Do you get that? If your hope is in riches, you will pursue riches above Jesus. You will be faithful to riches than to Jesus. So Christ is saying, "Therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." What is he saying? Let me read a very simple translation for you. NLT. He says, "So don't worry about these things saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? These things dominate the thought of unbelievers. But your heavenly Father already knows all you need. So what should you do? Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." What is he saying? If what dominate your thought is the things you need, who are you? An unbeliever. Instead of that, let something else dominate your thought. What is it? The kingdom of God and His righteousness. In other words, what should dominate the thought of a man is how to please the Lord in everything that surrounds him. In all he does, his first concern is how to please God. The way I'm writing my exam, is Jesus pleased? The way I'm looking for a wife, is Jesus pleased with me? The way I'm trying to get a job, is Jesus pleased with it? The way I'm... the first concern is whether Jesus is pleased or not. When that dominate your thought, you will discover because you have placed Him first, then He will now make sure He adds those things to you. But if you place those things first, you will do several things contrary to Jesus to get those things because it is that which dominates the thought of a man that a man is faithful to. It is what you have hope in. I will say to you back to two important things that I started with. I said be careful what it means to hope in Christ is to be sure that you are not overwhelmed by the things you need. And how do you do that? You seek first the kingdom of God. But there is something that becomes so crucial in the midst of our hope in Christ, and that is this scripture: "Be anxious about nothing. Be anxious about nothing. But in everything through prayers, supplication and thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God." It means it takes a man that hope in Christ to believe that it is by telling Him to do it that it will be done. If I want to get something from Yan-o, what will I always try to do with Yan-o? You please him. If a boy want to take the virginity of a girl away, what does he do? He pleases her. In the morning, "how's the night?" In the afternoon, "how's the morning?" In the evening, "how was the afternoon?" By night, "how was the evening?" By the morning, "how was the night?" He start giving attention. "Don't worry, I'll help you do the assignment." When your attention is not on Jesus, it's because you don't hope in Him. You seek the favor of who you have hope in. So which favor? If you have always pleased the Lord, to tell Jesus to meet your need will not be a problem. You can know whether you are faithful to Jesus by the depth of your prayer life. By the depth. How much do you call Him? How much you pray? If it is He that should meet it, then you are pleasing Him and you are praying for Him. And you will find themselves consistently bringing their needs to Him and they have confidence that He will meet the need because they hope in Him and they have been faithful to Him. So my encouragement this evening is hope to reveal. If you hope in the Lord, one, it will make you to please the Lord. And in pleasing the Lord you don't cut short your life. And the other reason why we must hope in the Lord is because that is the only sign that guarantees that actually we are Christians. Let's have a word of prayer. Thank you Blessed Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.