Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Psalm 27, we're going to start there, but we have a number of places that we're going to go. Our second installment on our series of hope, we talked last week about the fact of the difference between faith And hope.
Faith is in the present. Hope is in the future. And when your faith in the present is shaken, you begin to lose your hope in the future. And when you begin to lose your hope in the future, it begins to shake your faith in the present. And so we've kind of discussed what it is and spent last Sunday doing that, talking about that you and I are to have our faith and hope.
1 Peter says, in the Lord.
So many people have their faith in the Lord. But their hope in other things. Their hope is in a marriage. Their hope is in a person. Their hope is in a job.
Their hope is in a circumstance. And when that begins to fail, or when someone lets you down, then you begin to lose hope. Our faith and hope is to be in the Lord.
Now, what does this hope thing, preacher, look like? In our everyday life, and we're going to begin as a springboard here over this next week or two as we continue in this to understand not just why hope is important but what it looks like in your everyday life. How is this applied to my life, preacher? How is hope going to make a difference? And why does it make a difference in my life?
Why is it so important? And why is it so bad if I begin to lose that? I told you about Evangelist Harold Vaughan with Christ Life Ministries. He's going to the Philippines to represent our church to do missions endeavor in August. And we'll be preaching in, I think, six or seven different churches.
We're doing two men's and pastors' conferences, one in Manila, one in northern Philippines. And I am looking forward to that. I am not looking forward to the trip. And so you pray for me. I'm already dreading it.
It's about a three-hour flight, a four-hour flight, and then a 14-hour flight. And if anybody is. On Ambient, let me know. I would appreciate that. I would love to have just one or two pills: one for going and one for coming back.
If you're willing to part with two of them, and did I just ask for drugs? I think I did. I don't know.
Well like I said, you get what you get when I'm your pastor, so And I'm joking. No, I'm not really. If you have one and you're willing to... Wow, let me use that. I would appreciate it.
Pastor Harold Vaughan, I told him I'm preaching a series on hope, and he was talking about how much we need hope. And he sent me all kinds of quotes that they've gathered. I had quotes gathered. You can look a source and we'll all find the same ones. I was looking through some of them and I thought it was good.
Hope is the fuel that runs the engine of courage. Hope is the escape route from the prison of bitterness. Hope is the key to unlock the joy. over your discouragement. Hope is the front porch.
to the house of blessing. Hope is the anchor. in your storms of life. I thought it was good. It said the student who loses hope quits.
The pastor who loses hope retires. The missionary who loses hope comes home. The parent who loses hope fails. The child who loses hope Rebels.
Someone said this, you can go 40 days without food. About three days without water, up to two minutes without air. but you can't go five seconds. without hope. Why is this so important?
What does it look like in our daily life? I'm so glad you asked. Like, preacher, I didn't ask.
Well, it's rhetorical, okay? Let's pray, and we're going to jump right into it today. This is. of utmost practicality. To you today.
I hope that you'll really listen. By the way, let me just say: Frank just crossed over that, and we have over 70. going to Pensacola. for this youth trip. I am one of them, all right?
And we have our travel bus full, a high-top van full. We've got luggage. We can fit about 56 on the bus. We can fit about 15, 16 on the van, and we're going to be dragging about four of them.
So, other than that, you say which ones?
Well, we'll find out. We'll find out. And I'm going to look in tithing records. That's what I'm going to do. And now I'm just joking.
And I've never seen them. But you pray for us. We'll be leaving right after lunch. I'm going to be driving the van, and Brother Tim Richard will be driving the bus. Ask God for safety, and that God will do some life-changing things with our teenagers.
That is a huge group. To take all the way to Florida. And so pray that the air conditioning stays good on the bus and the van, that it stays good in the dorms, that it stays good on the campus, that it stays good at every restaurant we stop at, every rest area, every gas station, whatever the case. Pray that the air conditioning, even if it breaks down, as long as the air continues to work, and pray that our bus and van stays mechanically sound. And ask God for protection.
I mean, we're excited about what God's gonna do with our team. Such a big group. Let's pray. Lord, we love you today. Lord, we need hope, and you gave it to us at the moment of salvation.
But Lord, so easily it comes in and out of our life.
So easily, we take that hope that should be in you and we. Just place it in other things almost by habit.
So Lord, I prayed that you would help us to understand what hope looks like. In our everyday life, as we try to walk close to you. I pray that you would help us today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Now, if you've got a piece of paper and pen, you need to write these things down. Just trust me in advance. You need to write these things down. It'll be on the screens for you. But you need to understand now that we've defined hope, the difference between faith and hope, why both are important, what does this look like in my everyday life?
Number one, hope. And by the way, hope is confidence. Hope is confidence in something. It always is. And we're going to show you what this means to your life.
Number one, hope is confidence in the goodness of God to you in the future. Hope Is confidence. It means I'm confident that God is going to be good to me in the future. That's hope. Look at our verse, Psalm 27:13.
I had fainted. What does that mean? Lose hope. I had lost hope. You lose hope, there's no reason to keep going.
So I had fainted, I had lost hope, unless. I believed that's by faith. To see the goodness of the Lord in the land. of the living. I had lost hope.
Unless I believed, I was convinced, I am sure that although I might see this right now and although these circumstances might be happening right now, I have hope that God is good and that God is going to be good to me in the future. Can I have an amen right there? That will absolutely change your life. If you realize right now, God is good and you make it personal. That means God is going to be good.
Not just He was good, it's not just He is good, but I believe my hope is that God is going to be good in my life in the future. You say, Preacher, what in the world does that mean? It means this: I can't tell you how many times your present circumstances will begin to make you think that God is not good. And if you think that God's not good now, you're going to believe that God's not going to be good later. And I'm here to tell you: you have to believe to see the goodness of God to the land of the living.
It's something you have to be convinced of. To a Christian, your hope is: I don't care what I see right now. I don't care what I feel right now. I don't care what's going on right now. My hope is I know God's good.
And I know God's going to be good to me in the future. You agree with that? Say amen. Let me give you an illustration.
Now, if you want to turn to it, we'll have the verses, but I suggest, if you don't mind, Ruth chapter 1. You need to find it. And I'll have the verses up here to help you out. But let me tell you this story. I've got to show you this to prove my point.
In Ruth chapter 1, we have the story of a lady named Naomi. And she had a husband named Elimelech. And they had their two sons. And they decide that they're going to move from Moab to Bethlehem, Judah.
Now, they're believers. Naomi was already a believer in God. She was already what you would call in our terms, you know, she was a believer. And here they are going from Moab to Bethlehem, Judah. They're excited about the goodness of God.
They move from Moab to Bethlehem, Judah, because they believed that God was going to take care of them. And they believed that although there was famine here and bad things here, we're going here. Our faith is in God. And so they make this journey and they go all the way to Bethlehem, Judah. And this is all in chapter one.
I'm just trying to save, obviously, read through everything, but we're going to show you some verses here in just a minute.
Now, Naomi is a believer. Her family were believers. But then they get there and something interesting happens. They have hope as they go to Bethlehem, Judah. And when they get there, Naomi's husband, Elimelech, dies.
And then after he dies, her two sons marry and have wives. Orpah is one of the wives. Ruth is another one of the wives of Naomi's sons. Her husband dies, and then both of her sons die. Life did not go like she thought.
And Naomi, who was a believer, Is now not a believer, she's bitter. And what happens is, her two daughter-in-laws, she looks at them and she begins to say, Listen, you don't want to stay with me. I'm going to go back to Moab and you don't want to stay with me. It's almost like I have a curse on my life.
Now, look at verse 12 of Ruth chapter 1. This will be on the screen for you. Turn again, my daughters, go your way. For I am too old to have an husband. If I should say I have hope.
Look what she says at the beginning of verse 13. Would you tarry? Would ye stay? Nay, my daughters. For it grieveth me much for your sakes.
Listen to this. That the hand of the Lord is gone out. against me. Naomi was already a believer. Ruth and Orpah weren't.
They married into the family. Husband dies. Two sons die. That means Orpah and Ruth, they're husbands.
Now here's three ladies. All the men are gone. All the men are dead. Ruth, who was not a believer until she came into the family, becomes a believer because of Naomi. And now, Naomi is telling her two daughter-in-laws, you need to just go your way, get away from me.
God has turned against. Me. What had happened here? because of certain present circumstances. Her faith began to shake.
And that took away her hope. And now she was convinced. I have no future with God. He has turned against. Me.
Now look at verse 16. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee. Or to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Notice this: thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God. Naomi was the one who was the believer.
She had been the believer. She was the one that had been a believer for a while. And now, because of circumstances, she has lost her hope. Her faith is shaken. And now, Ruth, who is a brand new believer, Says, I want your God to be my God.
Interesting.
Now look at verse 19.
So they too, Orpah went her way, but Ruth stayed with Naomi.
So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi. Call me Mara. And that word means bitter.
For the Almighty. hath dealt very bitterly with me.
So now she's convinced God's against her. God's hurt her. God's left her. She has no hope. Nothing to look forward to, nothing motivating her.
All she sees is a bitter Bitter life. And may I say that even in a building this size, there could be some here. You've lost your hope. Because you think God has dealt very bitterly with you.
Now, I want you to look at verse 21. This is what Naomi says. Look at this. I went out full. And the Lord hath brought me home again empty.
Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me? Notice this. And the Almighty hath afflicted me.
Now hold on, don't lose me here. She changed her name to bitterness. Because she lost hope. By the way, if you as a person struggle with bitterness, One of the sure signs that you're struggling with bitterness is because you've lost hope. Notice her focus was on the present situation.
What did she say? I left full, God brought me back empty. Naomi was saying, I'm empty now. And so I have no hope. As a believer, it doesn't matter what happens right now.
Our hope is where? In the future.
So, it doesn't matter what's going on right now. I believe I'm convinced that God is good and that God is going to be good to me in the future. But she was not convinced of that. She had lost her hope. Notice this: her focus was on how the circumstances were now, and because of what they were now, there was no hope for her life in the future.
Here's Ruth. In reality, a new believer. She's lost her husband too, by the way. And Ruth is on her own, by the way. She's leaving a familiar place, moving to a new place that she's never been, and yet somehow.
In the middle of these two women, you have one that's been a believer for years who has now bitter against God because she feels because of present circumstances, her hope is gone. And yet you got a new believer like Ruth that although her husband's gone and she's been uprooted, she's got a new God in her life. She's got the real God in her life, Jehovah in her life. And somehow she has what Naomi doesn't have. She has hope.
And he said, Preacher, what do you mean? Listen to me. Naomi had been convinced that God was against her, that God afflicted her, that God abandoned her. But Ruth had hope.
Now look at These verses, look at chapter 2, verse 1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech, and his name was. Boaz.
Now look notice closely. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field. Naomi just wanted to go and die, she said. Just leave me alone. I want to die.
And Ruth said, Let me go to the field. She didn't know anybody in the field. She didn't know anybody there. I mean, these were brand new people to her. This is a brand new place to her.
She just became a believer. But notice what she says to Naomi. Let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight. I Shall. Yeah, you mean?
I like it. Fine grace. Do you see what's going on here? She was convinced that God was going to be good. Naomi was convinced that God was bad.
Naomi was convinced that God had afflicted her, that God had abandoned her. But Ruth had something that Naomi didn't have. Ruth had hope, and her hope was convinced that God is good, and God's going to be good to me in the future. You might want to sit here and die, but I want to go to the field because I'm convinced that God's going to do something good.
Some of you need to get out in the field. Hello. You need to get out of the cave. Yes. About what everybody's done to you and how everybody's been bad to you, you need to get out of that and get to the field and be convinced that God's going to be good to you.
Notice what she says. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. Look at verse 3. And she went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servants that was set over the reapers. Whoa. Whose damsel?
is this And that was the rest of the story. Yeah. I'll tell you whose damsel that is. It's God's. She belonged to God.
Not some man. She belonged to God. Are you looking at me? Let me tell you why God did something good for Ruth. Because Ruth had hope that God was good before she could see that God was good.
Amen.
Some of you are not convinced that God is good because you don't think you've seen him be good. Can I tell you something? Just look back a little bit in your life and you'll find plenty of times that God has been good to you. Hope. is being convinced.
that God is going to be good to me. in my future. You get a hold of that hope and don't let it go, Satan has lost grounds with you. Satan did this all the way back to Adam and Eve. Satan convinced Adam and Eve that God's not going to be good to you.
God's withholding good from you. God won't let you eat of this tree because he knows it's going to make you like God. God's holding stuff back. God's not being good to you. And that's how he tempted all the way back to the first people that ever lived here.
And that's exactly what he's going to try to do to you. He's going to try to convince you because of what you see, because of what you're going through, because of what you've experienced. He's going to try to convince you that he's not good and he's not good now. And that means he's not going to be good in the future. And you're wasting your time.
And I'm here to tell you, don't lose your hope. Number two. Hope is confidence. In what God has said. Hope.
is confidence. Not just that God is good. But confidence in what He has said I got a good passage for this. But I want you to think with me before I give it to you. Satan is going to always fight.
with you. about God's Word. Satan is going to convince you that even though God said it. God didn't really mean it. Satan did this also all the way back in the Garden of Eden.
Not just did he try to convince Adam and Eve that God's withholding good from you, God's not being good, but what did he say? He looked at Eve and he said, Yea. Hath God said, Satan tried to get them to doubt What God had said.
Now you look at me, we have a complete record. of what God has said. And let me tell you something, hope in your life. is you believing Everything God said. That is your Hope.
Now Joshua chapter 14. Verses will be up here. You want to turn to it? Turn to it. Joshua chapter 14.
We're going to be here a couple different times. This is great. This is a story about Caleb. Caleb is now 85 years old.
Now I'm going to tell you something. You lose hope, you get old. You lose hope, you get old. You keep hope alive, you stay young. This is not about an age number.
It's not about a number at all. I have met 17-year-olds that were old. Because they walked around through life with no hope. Mad at everybody, mad at everything, bitter about this, doesn't like this, mad at this. And I have met 80 and 90 year olds.
that are still young. They might be in a wheelchair, they might have health issues, but they're still young and they're still ready to do what God's called them to do. Why? Because they have hope. Hope keeps you young.
Look what Caleb said here. Joshua chapter 14, verse 11. As yet, I am as strong this day.
Now he's 85 years old. This is what he says. I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. What was the day that Moses sent Caleb?
Well, when they had to go spy the land. You know the twelve men went to spy on Canaan, ten were bad, two were good. Moses sent Caleb. Caleb came back and says, Listen, it's a land flowing with milk and honey. God's been good.
He's promised us the land. Let's go and take the land. But the other ten spies were against it, and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And Caleb survived the whole thing because he had hope. Amen.
Everybody else is off the scene. But Caleb God kept him alive. Why? Because he had hope. Look what he says.
I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now. Wow. You talk about young. You talk about vibrant.
Notice what he says. I'm not just strong, I'm strong for war. He says, I'm ready to go to battle.
Now listen, I'm not political by any means. But I'm going to tell you something: I get shot in the ear, I might stay on the ground. But I'm gonna be honest with you, Donald Trump looked a little bit young yesterday.
Now he looks old. But I'm gonna tell you so you saw some fight in him I don't care where you are politically. I don't care who it is. I'm just saying, listen, that old guy has some fight in him. You know why he has some hope.
And I'm here to tell you, Caleb said, listen, I'm ready to go to war. Look at what he says. both to go out and to come in. I don't just have energy to go out there and say I'm going to fight. By the way, I'm at that stage in life.
I start a lot of things. I might go out. But coming in is a little hard. Caleb said, I'm ready to prepare for battle. I'm ready to go fight the battle.
I'm ready to fight in the battle. I'm ready for all the things to come with it. I'm ready to come home. I'm ready to do it. I've got all this energy.
Why? Because he had hope. You say, how do you know he had hope? Look what he says. Now, therefore, give me this mountain.
Whereof the Lord In that day. You know why he had hope? Because God had said he was going to give him the mountain. He had confidence in what God said. Not done.
Look at this. For thou heardest in that day how the Anakins were there, and that the cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said. Confidence. In the word of God.
Yes, sir.
Now listen to me here this morning. Please get this. If you want hope, get in God's word. Listen to me, Curl and Baptist Church. If you want hope, Don't go buy you a book, don't go buy you a car, don't go on some trip.
Fine if you do that stuff, but that's not going to be your hope. If you want hope, get in God's Word. If you want hope... Grab a hold of some verses. If you want hope, study some verses.
If you want hope, meditate on some verses. If you want hope, get some of God's promise. The greatest news that anyone can receive is the news of the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ. It is our desire for you to know him personally. Would you take a moment to hear this to-day?
Every man is born with a sin nature. Romans 3:23 says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. No matter how hard we try, We're not good enough to obtain God's glory. or to get to heaven. Because of that sin carries the penalty of death.
Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life for the through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of our sin, or the payment of our sin, only equals death and separation from God. But it's only through God's gift salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept Him as our Savior. Jesus Christ paid for your sin debt.
The Bible says in Romans 5:8, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All you have to do is receive Christ. by faith as your Saviour. Romans 10.9 says That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Verse 13 continues, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
It's as simple as admitting that you're a sinner believing that Jesus is the only way. and calling upon his name. Bible says whosoever that's anyone can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? There is no greater day than today to take care of this.
Would you accept Christ as your Saviour? If you have any questions, please give us a call at 336-993-5192 or visit our website at Crowin Baptist Church. Dot com. or visits that person at one of our three service times. We hope you have a great rest of your day.
God bless you. Mm-hmm.
