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Morning Thoughts |
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Romans 5:5, "And hope maketh
not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us." This morning, as I write this segment, the fact strikes me that this is the final segment of what will eventually become Volume VI of "Morning Thoughts." While most of my writings are not written to correlate their placement in an eventual book, it is interesting that my thoughts of late have coincided at such an interesting point book-wise. When I first began writing this little piece many years ago, I had no idea that it would become the regular writing that it has become. The primary reason for the regularity of it was the impression of thoughts that the Lord continued to supply, but another reason for its regularity was the encouragement of the readers to continue on writing it. The ultimate reason for writing such essays is to honour and glorify the King, but if the readers are not edified by it, it serves very little purpose for them. So, while I could not have fathomed to hope that it would last this long then, I do reflect back today with the hope of tomorrow that the Lord bless it and its readers to be further strengthened and encouraged in the days ahead. What is hope? What is its purpose? How should we view it? These and other questions about hope are vividly put on display and answered in Paul's discussion in Romans 5. He mentions hope at the opening of the chapter (Verse 2), but he has been steadily progressing towards hope again to ultimately use that subject to shine the light on the glorious work of Jesus Christ our Lord. Hope is generally defined in the world as "something you want to happen." A song was even written decades ago that solidified this public definition by equating "wishin" and "hopin" to be about the same thing - if not completely interchangeable. Hope is generally, and I believe accurately, defined in most Old Baptist pulpits as "an earnest expectation of something desired." This contradistinguishes it from a wish by the "expectation" that such a thing will happen. If I said, "I hope I get a million dollars tomorrow" but offer no proof of such coming to pass, I have misused the word hope. Rather, I should say, "I wish I get a million dollars tomorrow." However, there are some other things that we can use the word hope for that while not yet seen or come to pass, we can fully expect them to eventually come to pass and should earnestly and patiently desire the same. (Romans 8:24-25) Furthermore, hope, like its first cousin faith, is not some intangible "something" that exists in theory or some ideal universe that is fun to conjecture about but plays no real part of everyday life. Hope and faith are very real, and instead of being theoretical shelf items, they are real-world everyday utility items for the Christian's warfare: the armour of God lists faith as a shield and hope of salvation as a helmet. (Ephesians 6) No soldier views his shield as something fun to talk about in a theoretical sense. It is a valuable piece of armour that wards off life-threatening peril. Same for a helmet. It is not some intangible something, but the reality of its protection is known to the foot soldier that dons it. So likewise our faith and hope should be in our lives. Now that we have answered the questions of hope's definition and how we should view it, let us spend our remaining time looking at what its purpose is in our lives. Paul mentions hope in verse 2 in relation to the coming glory of God that one day we expect and yearn to see. In verse 4, he mentions hope as being an outpouring result of patience in tribulations and the end result of experience. One is dealing with hope in our mind's perspective, while the other one is dealing with hope as it comes out in our brethren's perspective. We do not have to go through trials, exhibit patience, and have a wagon-full of life's experiences before we are possessors of hope. But, hope is seen very brightly and vividly in our lives at the end of such scenes. In our study verse, Paul gives a root cause for our possession of hope: the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Where does hope emanate or originate with us? Before the new birth, it is non-existent with us. After the new birth, it is a quality of the new nature that desires to be released from the bondage of corruption that it is in: body of flesh. (Romans 8:19-23) What this new nature (new man) desires more than anything else (and expects to see) is the manifestation of all the sons of God in the resurrection and the face of Jesus Christ in glory. Now, does that immediately shine forth in a freshly born child of the King? No, for that very child of the King still does not know a lot of things himself as he now possesses things that he did not before and wrestles with things he never contemplated before. Yet, when we live lives that are marked by patience - even in the midst of tribulations - with many experiences that all have the same conclusion "thus far the Lord has led me on," we see a brilliant picture of hope in that individual that understands every breath taken and every step placed is another breath and step closer to home. This outward hope or exercise of that hope within brings with it a certain "look" to those around. That "look" is what will draw hungry and thirsty individuals to ask us about the hope that is within us. (I Peter 3:15) If outward exercise of hope did not alter our appearance, why would anyone ask about it? So, is our hope relegated to the eventual resurrection of these old bodies at the 2nd coming of our Lord? No, but that is certainly at the heart of our hope as we have already discussed. Paul says in our verse that hope "maketh not ashamed." Basically, there are many things that the world would try to make us ashamed of, even though we should not be. Likewise, if the world "maketh not ashamed" of a certain thing, then probably we really should be. So, there are vast numbers of things that we should not be ashamed of, and a healthy exercise and patient expectation of hope drives the shame away. Should we be ashamed of the church, even though small and outdated by the world's standards? If she is following the dictates of Scripture, then no we should not be. Should we be ashamed of the moral principles of Godly living that we seek to adhere to: not being like others in drunkenness, chambering, rioting, etc.? Knowing that the Bible has spoken against that behaviour and lifestyle (I Peter 4:1-3), no we should not be. In these examples and many more, there is no reason to be ashamed. Why? We have hope in One that commanded the same. We have not seen Him, yet we love Him and hope in Him. (I Peter 1:8) One might say, "If you haven't seen Him, then how do you know?" First of all, if something is seen hope is not necessary (Romans 8:24-25), but we have plenty of reasons to expect and desire these things. Paul gives one reason in our verse. What proof do we have? One proof is that the Holy Ghost is given unto us. We have a certifiable witness of the glory of God that these things are true and upright. The Scriptures bear witness and testify that these things are true, and no effort of man can nullify the beauty and solemnity of the interconnected pages and thoughts. So, the Holy Ghost and the Holy Scriptures testify that these things are true, which corroborate with that tender nature that He has given unto us. While there are other witnesses to bring forth, one final witness that these things are so is found in our verse by the word "shed." Paul declares that the love of God is not placed, put, or some other way in our heart but "shed abroad in our hearts." The word "shed" carries with it the thought of death. When blood is shed, we understand that death has occurred. Simply being wounded is not the same as blood being shed or something being put to death. (Hebrews 9:22-23) We have hope that the same One that left heaven in the first place did really die. Just as really as He died, He just as really rose again and ascended back to heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. This hope is not unfounded. Why? If those things were not true, we would not be regenerated. If Christ's work was a farce, then regeneration does not occur. An oft-used statement from ministers that I love to repeat, "If it is legal with God, then it MUST be a reality with us. So, if it IS real with us, then things MUST be legal with God." So, while our hope is ultimately in seeing Him some sweet day to shout triumphant praises of "Hallelujah, Glory, and Honour unto the Holy, Harmless Lamb of God," we should be living manifestly through all of our trials and experiences with patient waiting and outpouring hope in Him in all things. Where is room for shame? Shame is found (or should be found) when we are living contrary to this, but there is no reason for shame when in this way. Therefore, while I do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, or even later today, I can hope in One that will never change regardless of time or circumstance. Do I hope to continue writing? Yes I do. Do I hope that my life will be exalting to His name in the future? Yes I do. Do I hope that He will bless all of my loved ones in the days to come? Yes I do. Have I seen any of these things? No yet - hence the hope, but I can draw on what He has done and look forward to what He will yet do. Some have asked what I hope for when I sign all of my writings "In Hope." My hope is of eternal life, continued service to God, strength for today, bright expectation of tomorrow, fellowship of the brethren, love with God's family, and above all, better sight of Him than ever before. May our hope come forth like a river in life that we would refresh those we live among, glorify God in our actions, and understand that each step is a step closer home.  In Hope, Bro Philip |