I Hope So, Hope Without Shame

The following is a special message from Alan Wright Ministries.

What we need right now is hope because of adherence sharing the light we've chosen to bring out one of our most requested vintage series. I hope so.

From Pastor Alan Wright hello scriptural way is not wishful thinking about something good. My pastor, author and Bible teacher Alan Wright.

Welcome to sharing the light of program of healing and hope hearing the good news of God is done for us in Jesus Christ. I am Daniel Britt for you to hear Allen's message in a series called I hope so they can from the pulpit at Minolta church in Winston-Salem North Carolina. If you want to know more about. I hope so listen up next year on shearing the light did Allen writes daily shearing. The light devotional when you sign up it shearing the light.org and stay with us at the end of today's broadcast for a special offer to help you in your spiritual life here now with today's teaching is Allen right and Romans chapter 5 through eight. Chapter 5 begins with hope. Chapter 8 ends with hope. These chapters are about the hope of the gospel and I have not preached about how much my life. I know there's faith there's hope, there's love, it's one of the big three, but it has seemed to me a bit of a weaker concept than faith or love or even the peace that passes understanding, and so I have set my heart upon these texts to understand the power of hope, which is such a prevalent part of the passion of Paul's theology and is essential to the Christian soul, and so we are redefining hope in the biblical concept of what hope really means, and therefore it becomes very very powerful to us instance to help distinguish between the world's notion of hope and biblical hope, a fun thing happened while I was on vacation. One day Benatar 14 I went and I went out to play nine holes of golf and we came to the seventh hole and we then plan the back tees and so all the holes were long and we came to this whole it was a little shorter. It was a great relief to have a shorter whole, and we both had really good drives. Best drives of the day and know the fairway and course are still out drove him but anyway he had a gap wedge and and I had a lot of land so they were close in, the flag is hidden behind a big bunker so it was a blind shot. You can see the top of the flag which could see the green because it was all the front of it was one kind of elevated bunker and so we both feeling good over it took dead aim and his shot was first as a man, you cannot hit all a wedge better than that it was going right out. It great shot.

I said then I fit my lob wedge and if I do say so myself. I called the sweet spot on this baby and it was on target and now just you know what golf is taller then is that he will be the club a VMA and I know I hit it good as it was at the right distance as of the right stick and so I knew it had two good shots up there had to jumped in the car to ride up there. We get up to the side of the green Outlook and there's a golf ball. That's 2 feet from the hole and now live hello who is that you know that's I can give me for birdie and then I looked and was aware of the other golf ball and our life man knew that they were both good shots in my ever present optimism. I said minute run up there looking that whole and he runs and he looks a citizen ball and all. And the good news was it was my ball was in.

We had scored on a par four between the two of us a five and which is usually better than my my score individually on 44 but anyway when we were driving that golf cart up to the green we might've said hello. These balls are in the hope is in the whole month that use the word hope like that and what we would mean if we said that is I wish that that ball might, I could be in the hole. I wish it were so, it is unlikely that it's in the golf hole because he did the boat intending on the whole like that very often and so it's probably not in there but I hope it is in the whole and that's the way in the end.

In our normal usage of the word hope, we tend to use that were like a child's and I hope I get a pony for my birthday. I probably won't get a pony, but I hope that I do.

In other words we use it as a wishful thought that is not biblical notion of hope, hello scriptural way is not wishful thinking about something good might happen biblically is the confident expectancy that permeates the Christian's heart because of my supreme confidence that Christ has died for me redeemed to me and I am his child and therefore the condition of my life is one of hope. So it's more like when we're driving the golf cart up to that golf green and I I'm driving the car a little bit faster and a little bit happier then I had on other shots that day because there are other times where you were. More often than not the weather that clean of a shot and is probably in the rough are in the bunker and is nowhere near the whole. I knew that the way came off the club and so I don't I don't drive up to that green with a lot of hope but in this case I'm driving up to green a little faster, a little more excited because I know there are two good golf shots up there. I know I saw him I know I just didn't know exactly how it would be manifested. So I don't see it yet, but I absolutely know they're up there so I might as well get on up there and see what it is that is hope, and in what Paul has to teach us is that when suffering comes in life we are not like the world where we just simply say what I wish it would get better. We have something much deeper than that and it's called hopeless. Look at Romans chapter 5. By way of review will read starting at verse one therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance, character, character, hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us so hello is not listed in Galatians as a fruit of the spirit, hope is not something that you get simply by having an encounter of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is important is that is but hope is a condition of the Christian soul that comes about by a distinct process in this process Paul says is where there is suffering and the word for this literally means pressure that comes in life and that pressure is wish as we move through it. The difficult trials to things that way against us in life. It produces endurance. The quality of enduring is only attained by having to face difficult things in duress only makes sense in the context of having to bear under the weight of life and when you do that endurance produces what the Bible calls character. Isn't it interesting that the central definition or linkage of what character is, his character is what a person has who is learned to not give up you I know what character is it. It begins and ends with the maturity of soul to not despair, life circumstances, but to keep on bearing by the grace of God. That's that's character and what Paul says is that that character produces hope so.

It is why the process of suffering, enduring building character is a factory inside of the Christian that is manufacturing regular hope so. Hope has its genesis. Ironically, in the worst news of one that's Alan. Listening to shearing the line will have more teaching in a moment.

Today's series felt as a candidate for Christmas stockings hanging by the fireplace is waiting to be filled colorful packages just waiting to be ripped open that wonderful feeling when you're certain that something is coming and there's a word for that posture of high hope. How in the sky doing that certainty left chair for child size not wishful thinking that if a child size many different Christmas, but I know it's gonna be good models have if you fast. Hope during Pastor Alan) amazing exploration of the Bremen's final 6 to 12 message CD album called I hope Sam delve deep into the writers of grace. We have the scatter watermark and heal or deliver to discover how hope can fix you missing a mouth on CD album.

Maybe it's time for you to feel like a kid at Christmas. Again, the gospel is shared when you get teaching right, at 877-544-4860 or come to my website sharing the right to work listening to shearing the lighting entities, teaching them to you once again Alan running.

This is what he says at verse five where I focus our attention hello does not disappoint us.

That's the rendering of the new international version, but it is better in a more literal rendering such as the English standard version, or King James version. Hope does not put us to shame that is literally what it says in the word that is used for shame is an intensified word of the New Testament Greek word for shame. So there is a word that means to dishonor or disgrace in this word in verse five adds the Greek prefix that means down to this word to intensify it.

So what it literally means is and hope does not put us down in worse shape that the hope of the gospel is entirely different from wishful thinking, which might put you to shame.

But this hope.

Paul says I'm describing will not let you suffer disgrace and the heart cry of all of humanity is do not let me be put to shame. Such is the word of the psalmist in Psalm 25 to you oh Lord I lift up my soul. Oh my God. When you I trust. Let me not be put to shame.

Let not my enemies exalt over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame. Psalm 119. You are my hiding place in my Sheila hope in your word depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God uphold me according to your promise that I may live and let me not be put to shame and my hope that's the that's the cry throughout the old covenant is God. Do not let my enemies exalt over me.

Don't let it be that through these sufferings that I come to a place where I'm ultimately disgraced and and I made the laughingstock of my enemies who have taunted me all the day long.

It is the mocking spirit of hell that seeks to put to shame the people of God with the threat of future disgrace over potential failure.

That's a large part of what hell does so when Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem that have been decimated by the Babylonian Empire in the days of the small beginnings they would calm in mock Nehemiah and the workers their first tactic was mock them. Look at your pathetic little wall can keep a fox out to build a finish this. You not to be out of succeed and what can happen is you can spend all this time at all this energy and what you have is a static puny excuse for a wall and were all standing there laughing in your face so you might as well give up and quit trying to build your stupid little wall that is the voice of every demon in hell, it is ultimately express in its most stark terms at the foot of the cross with that demonic spiteful mockery to hold the king of the Jews he saved others can't save himself. We laugh in your face, who God to not let my enemies mock me and exult over me and Paul is saying oh of God will never let you be put in that is an extraordinary thought urgency of Paul in this is just speaking to Christians who are suffering at the hands of many different forms of persecution, not least of which many first century Christians would face when economic persecution. It was the ultimate economic downturn for them, often denied places in the marketplace often denied even being able to be employed as a form of persecution against them and urgency is to the very nature of the mission that they had could be extinguished if the people lost hope and quit proclaiming the gospel and even more so what he's saying is if you lose your ability to rejoice in the midst of suffering, then there will be no joy to be our strength in the been a witness to the world and so you can get this across it and it is a matter of life and death. It really is that that's hope is a matter of life and death. Jerry was the one who taught me to play golf. He lived in his family live next to my mom and stepfather when I was in college and I came home, having taken PE in golf for Carolina decide I want to play golf and he taught me how to play golf and he was very patient and Jerry had a twinkle in his eye. He had, he was a cute personality. He was, he was fun. He loved people is a simple man. He had not always lived a life before God.

He had a rough life.

He had a struggle with alcohol on his life.

He been wonderfully saved and they love to talk about the Lord and he loved to talk about golf and we played a lot of golf together and I loved Jerry a lot and Jerry loaded trucks for a living and he liked it because he could get done with his work early in the early shift and have afternoon to play golf and over all the years of working for this big trucking company. He hurt his back and he really couldn't lift anymore and so he sought to get the appropriate disability and the company was denying his claims and he went on a prolonged engaged effort to get compensation and he he did not succeed, and now back disability pay was accumulating and so he sought out the help of a lawyer who was fine man, but not by any means a powerful law firm and they were up against a massive company. One of the big, big transportation companies in the country with an entire legal office.

Jerry had come into faith and he loved the Lord and he had learned some things about faith and he learned some things about learning to stand on God's word, which are very good. But just as subtle distortion in his mind that he believed that as he is, he proclaimed that he would get this nice settlement from the lawsuit and that would sustain him and his family that he put his hope in that and what happened was after about two years of a legal battle. Eventually the big firms move big-company just overwhelmed him. It was, it fizzled and there was no there was no money there was no there was nothing, and I'll never forget when I next saw Jerry and there was no twinkle in his eye and he said is just not true. None of it was true and he lost his love for life and return former habits and not many years thereafter, died a young man and this past weekend my niece was married in Charlotte and that the reception Jerry's widow was there and she said I've got to just brag a little bit and I show you my clan and she pulled out all the pictures of the grandchildren that Jerry never met. I'm telling you it's life and it's death, and that is why all of hell seeks to put us to shame and say your gospel is not true. It does not work look at you. You are suffering you could you you lost your job, look at you. You lost the marriage look at you, you failed look at you. You have sent. It is not true and you are going to be put to disgrace, you better grab what you can grab get what you can get an forget everybody else but you keep on the course that you're going we will mock you to the very end and your enemies will exult over you that is what is at stake.

Paul says our home does not put us to shame listening to shearing the light in today's teaching move without shame you felt as a candidate for Christmas stockings hanging by the fireplace is waiting to be filled colorful packages just waiting to be ripped open that wonderful feeling when you're certain that something good is coming and there's a word for that posture of high hope and about how in the sky doing it's about certainty left feature for child size home for Christmas. That's wishful thinking that if a child size many different Christmas that I know it's gonna be good models have if you want me to fax hope Pastor Alan) amazing exploration of Bremen's final six, seven and 12 message CD album called I hope Sam delve deep into the writers of grace. We have the scatter light of Mark Boyd 11 discover how hope can fit chiefly missing a mouth on CD album.

Maybe it's time for you to feel like a kid at Christmas.

Again gospel is shared when you get teaching right this bypass is only possible because of recent financial support.

When you give today. We will send you today's special affect happy send this to you as I banks from sharing the right ministries, 877-544-4860 or come to my website sharing the right doing so well and hope isn't just a might happen type of attitude.

Is there something concrete here. Yes, it's like saying the illustration I use your Christmas is coming over for a little girl, my birthday is coming right is not that I hope that all have a birthday as I know will have a birthday and another to be a birthday party and so I get to look forward to it without looking forward to it in shaping what we do now gives life a sense of joy and expectancy and power. And that's really what we're talking about with hope we talk about something that is certain in the future are always encouraged to hear from you whether you visit online at shearing the light.war or call 877 like 60 again shearing the light.O RG or call 8770 IG HT 60 get Allen writes daily shearing. The light devotional in your inbox each morning when you sign up at shearing the light on who RG this is been sharing the light, the listener supported production shearing the likeness