Romans 99
Rejoicing in Hope
Brian Kocourek
ROMANS
This word hope that
Paul used here was a Greek word “elpis”, which speaks
of “favorable and
confident expectation”. It has to do with the “unseen and future” and therefore
describes the “happy
anticipation of something good”. It is not the hope that we so
commonly use in our English language which has more to do with a lack of certainty,
and is only a wishful thinking, because God is the author of this hope that
Paul speaks of. ROMANS
Here we find a
scripture telling us not only is God the God of Hope, but the purpose of this
hope is that we might abound. So we see that hope is to produce something in
us. And we also see by this that if God is the God of Hope, then it is His
desire that we have hope, so that He is the God of our Hope.
ROMANS
HEAR YE HIM 58-0328 E-11 And
now, as we get on with our scene, we find Jesus taken three man: Peter, James,
and John. And He was fixing to do something. And when God does anything, He
always makes it before witnesses. He just doesn't do it loosely; He makes a
witness. And in the Old Testament and in the New Testament too, three is a
witness. So He took Peter, James, and John to be a witness of what God was
fixing to do. I've often thought, when He went into the house of Jairus to raise up her daughter, or his daughter from the
dead, we find Him taking Peter, James, and John, those three. And it may just
be a little thought of my own, but each of those represented something. Peter represented faith; and James represented hope; and John represented charity. Hope, faith, and charity, these are the three greatest gifts. And
God was manifesting His works through His three great gifts. I CORINTHIANS
Now, notice that brother Branham types James with Hope, the apostle of Hope as John was the apostle of Love. So let’s read what this apostle of hope has to tell us.
JAMES
Therefore, if every
good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father, then if God is the
God of hope it is a good and even perfect gift. In HEBREWS 7:19 we read, For the law
made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; (The
bringing in of a better hope did what? It made something perfect, and what did
this cause us to do?) by the which we draw nigh unto God.
So we see that this
hope Paul was speaking of causes a reaction in us and that reaction causes us
to draw near unto God. Now, we will look
more into what this hope works in us in a few minutes, but let’s look for now
at what brother Branham was talking about when he said hope and faith are
enemies. Brother Branham speaks of this hope in the message Faith Cometh by
Hearing.
FAITH COMETH BY HEARING 54-0320 E-26 And
then in the 10th chapter here, we find him now dividing what faith is. Now,
faith is burly. My, how I like to think of faith: hope, and charity, those three things. And
hope, what a beautiful thing hope is. Little,
timid hope, lovely and sweet as she is, yet, she's the greatest enemy faith
has. That's right. The greatest enemy faith's got is hope. 'Cause a person becomes so hopeful
till they leave away from faith.
DARKEST HOUR JESUS COMES 55-1114 E-33 And here you are down here because you got hope instead of faith. Faith's positive. See? Faith is the
substance of things hoped for (See?), the evidence of things not seen.
Now, it would seem from what he is saying here is faith is positive and hope is negative. But the hope Paul speaks of about 48 times in the Bible is a very positive thing which is looking forward to with great anticipation to what God has promised. Now, the key to this hope is that it speaks of something which is yet to come, but has already been promised. The reason it is already promised is that the promise itself causes one to have this great anticipation because of belief and faith in the one who promises.
ROMANS 15:4 For whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
So we see then that
the Scriptures tells us before the thing comes to pass that we might, by
reading the scripture, be looking forward to that part of God’s Word to come to
pass. That then is what brings hope to us, because God said it, therefore it
must come to pass, if we believe what God said.
ROMANS
So we are dressed in
the Word and part of that attire is to have on our head an helmet, which is the
hope of salvation or the hope of being rescued or kept safe. In
other words, it is the earnest expectation or the positive anticipation that
saves you. Why? Because you are looking for the rescue and when it comes you
are ready to receive it. But what if it comes and you refuse to accept it as
that what you were looking for? For Paul continued by saying, “but hope that is seen
is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope
for? 25 But if
we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it]. Notice,
he tells us it is hope as long as it has not come into view yet. But he says, if it has become manifested, then for you to still
continue to hope for it, it is no longer Hope. Then what is it? I believe it is
willful ignorance and unbelief.
Now, Paul told us
that if it is no longer unseen, then it can’t be hope, because it already is.
Therefore, what brother Branham is telling us when he says faith and hope are
enemies, is that when the thing we are hoping for is actually present and you
keep maintaining a hope, or a looking forward for that thing, then it can’t be
a righteous or rightly wise hope any longer. Then what you are doing in effect is
denying the very thing you claim to be looking for. Now your hope becomes a
negative influence upon you.
OK, so what is this
hope that we are to be looking for? In fact Paul even asks that same question,
and then he does on to answer it.
In I THESSALONIANS
So we see that our
hope is to be in the very presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His Parousia. That then is our hope. I TIMOTHY 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, [which is] our hope;
And if He is not to
come then how could He be your hope. And what if He comes and you don’t know
it? Or what if you bypass this Parousia presence and
look beyond it, because you don’t believe it? Then your hope is no longer hope
but rejection and thus unbelief. And that is what brother Branham was getting at.For Paul said, “hope that is seen is
not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope
for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for
it. And if the thing we are hoping for is here, and we deny it, and
continue to look for it to come, then are we really looking for it, or for
something else? You see, God interprets
His own Word by bringing it to pass.
In GALATIANS 5:5 Paul
also said, For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. Now, if that
Right-wise-ness has come by faith which is revelation, and we turn it down the
Revelation that will produce this right-wise-ness, then what have we got left,
but un-right-wise-ness, which is
unrighteousness.
In EPHESIANS 1:17 Paul
also said, That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what [is] the
exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
Now, what if God
Himself has come down with a shout, or this calling, and has brought the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of himself to us, and opened up a way
for us to receive this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
Himself that we might KNOW the reason for this calling, or this shout, and the
Spirit of wisdom is to create in us an earnest expectation or hope of this
calling, or this shout. EPHESIANS 4:4
[There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; So
if there is one hope of our calling, and God has descended with a shout which
is to call us out, then the purpose of the calling is to produce in us an
excitement of expectation of receiving our inheritance. But, what if we do not
even believe that God has come? What if we refuse to hear the Shout, which is
the calling? Then what expectations will we be having of receiving
anything? So you see, God is the God of
Hope, and He has given us of His own Spirit to bring forth in us this hope of
his calling. This anticipation of benefiting from this
calling, or this Shout. Then once he has come, what are we still hoping
for? His very presence here should end our hope because it has now been made
alive. That’s what Peter told us it would do.
I PETER 1:3 ¶ Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto
a lively hope (A Living
Hope, or a hope which has been made alive) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
I PETER 1:13 ¶ Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; And we know in our study
of this end time grace that it is the endowment of revelation from the Father
that brings us into a fully mature son or daughter of God, bringing us into the
very Glory of God which is the doxa or the very mind
of God in us. COLOSSIANS
1:27 To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: So we see that God
gave us of His own Spirit that we might have a hope or an expectation or
anticipation of receiving his very mind.
You see, if He did so to his own Son, then we know that He will do so to
His other sons. For Jesus was the first fruits.
5. ROMANS 5:1 ¶ Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God.
(Notice that we
rejoice in our expectation of receiving the very mind of God)3 And not only [so],
but we glory in testings also: knowing that the testings
work in us patience; 4 And patience produces in us experience; and experience
produces hope or anticipation: 5 And therefore, hope maketh
not ashamed; We can not be ashamed of what we hope for, and
therefore our actions show forth that commitment we have and we do not get
embarrassed for what we stand for and are longing for. because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
That is the reason
we are willing to do what is considered odd by the world. Because we know what
this hope is, and we are not ashamed of this hope aqnd
what it produces in us. For we read in I JOHN 3:2, Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth 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.
3 And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure. And so it tells us that if we genuinely have this hope of Hid
Appearing in us, it produces a purifying in our very being. And we are not
ashamed of that.
You see, Faith
without hope is not faith at all. Because Faith believes, and hope looks for
with anticipation in what we are believing. I CORINTHIANS 9:10 Or saith he [it]
altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, [this] is written: that he that ploweth
should plow in hope; and that he
that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his
hope.
I PETER
COLOSSIANS 1:4 Since we heard of your
faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which ye have] to all the saints, 5 For the
hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the
word of the truth of the gospel; And if God has placed this hope in
us then we with patience will wait for it.
I THESSALONIANS 1:3 Remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ, in the sight (presence) of God and our Father;
That is why he said
we should not be like others which have no hope. Why? Because
God Himself has come down with a Message, a Shout, a Calling together of His
Elect. I THESSALONIANS
Now, all those
others have no hope but we do, because Christ in You IS the Hope of Glory. And
having this hope it anchors and settles us, so that we are not tossed about
like the rest of the world. HEBREWS 6:18 That by two immutable
things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into
that within the veil; Hope is said to actually anchor our soul.
ACTS 2:25 For David speaketh
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right
hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my
tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh
shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt
make me full of joy with thy countenance.
TITUS 1:2 In hope
of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began; and if God promised it, he has come down to deliver it.
TITUS 2:13 Looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ;
And its all about inheritance. TITUS 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
In ROMANS 4:18 we
read about Abraham, Who against hope believed in hope,(or
who without grounds for hope believed in hope. In other words, who without
grounds for anticipating anything, anticipated.) that he might become
the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy
seed be. 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now
dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of
Sara's womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that,
what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was
imputed to him for righteousness. And therefore, by this great
anticipation or earnest expectation it was imputed to him for right-wise-ness.
In closing we find
Paul telling us in the Book of HEBREWS 3:6 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. Therefore our Hope if
it is truly an earnestly expecting, then it should be exciting and if exciting
then we should rejoice in it.
And that is why
Peter tells us that we should be able to explain to everyone who asks us about
the hope that makes us alive. I PETER 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready
always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is in you
with meekness and fear: Its not
just the preachers job to tell the world, but its your job to do so as well,
because if you are truly rejoicing in what we are about to enter, then they
will be asking you why you have such joy and peace in such a tumultuous and
unstable time that we are living.
HEBREWS 6:11 And we desire that
every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the
end:
Let us pray,
Dear father, we are
so excited about this understanding that you have given to us today to know the
hope that we have within and that it was placed in our hearts by Your Holy
Spirit which came down in this hour with a mission to call forth your Elect
together in Christ the Word from the four corners of the earth. And we are a
happy people and rejoice in our hope of Your calling.
May we be called upon to testify of the hope we have within for we ask it in
Jesus Christ’s Name your only begotten Son, and our example. Amen!