Despite all the gloom and doom, we do have a great hope for the future and that hope is in Jesus Christ and I want to really talk today about this leaflet which I’ve produced, just to talk you through it and tell you some of the things which are in the leaflet and how they can apply to us as believers in Jesus the Messiah today.
I call the leaflet ‘Hope for the Future’ but if you look at the world today you have many reasons not to have hope for the future.
What’s happened in Afghanistan not just that the Islamics have come to power, it is also the decline of the influence of the west, of the United States.
The United States is itself in disarray and confusion at this time and we can see there are signs also of the growing collapse of western democracy and society under COVID and the pressure of the climate change agenda.
All these things which are coming upon us, they are going to use somehow to bring in greater control over what we can do, what we can say, what we can believe, and what we can see.
A lot of things taking place are shaking the foundations of our society. One of the things you may have noticed is the climate crisis. It has affected a lot of areas where they produce food, particularly in the western side of the United States where there’s been drought, in China where there have been floods, both of which have affected the main food growing areas. We’ve also seen locusts in Africa devouring crops, and you’ve seen extreme cold weather in the Southern Hemisphere, in their winter season, which has destroyed crops in Brazil and other parts.
There are many people saying that we’re heading towards a food crisis.
We’re also seeing resources crises. As these financial crises are coming upon us with COVID, nations are building up unpayable debts, including ours. The United States has 28 trillion in debt and growing. 28 trillion dollars, I think. We have three trillion pounds in debt, and it is growing.
There’s no way it’ll ever be paid back and one of the results of this ends up with inflation and with a potential collapse of the economic system.
Out of that you could see the next phase, which would be bringing in a cashless society.
The bank of England’s already talking about creating something which they call ‘central bank digital currencies’. Have you heard of that one? Well, you probably will in the days to come.
And it’s actually a movement towards a cashless society, a cashless society in which everything is digital. This ultimately means then, that the bank can control what goes into your account, what goes out of it, what you spend, what you don’t spend, and whether you have any money. In bad circumstances, they could cut off your supply of money.
Many people, including myself, looking at all these things, are coming together and see a push towards the conclusion which is found in the Book of Revelation, in chapter 13, with the rise of the Antichrist and the mark of the beast system, in which you can’t buy or sell unless you have the mark of the beast.
It’s not going to come out of nowhere, and we can see that it is coming through things which are taking place in our world today and, to be honest, we’re not going to stop it.
I wish we could, I wish we could protest (and I do protest against some of the things which are taking place around us), but we see a process which is in motion, which is almost inevitably leading towards the fulfilment of end time Bible prophecy, much of which is not good news, it’s telling you that things are going to go from bad to worse.
In the midst of that, we need to have a hope for the future. That’s why I put something hopeful on this up front of this leaflet, with a nice picture of the sun rising over the sea.
The hope for the future is only to be found in Jesus Christ. If you took Jesus Christ out of it I would call this leaflet ‘No hope for the future’ and would put a picture of a ruined city on it.
But we have a hope for the future only because Jesus has come and because Jesus is coming back again. And the only reason we can say this is because we see what’s happening in the world today lines up exactly with the prophecies in the Bible of the Second Coming of Jesus.
Those prophecies tell us that although there will be a bad time before Jesus returns, the ultimate conclusion is not going to be death and disaster but it’s going to be Jesus coming back to judge the world in righteousness.
After which, it says He’s going to fill the world, the world will be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11.9
Jesus is going to reign on earth, bring peace and justice to the world and, because I actually believe the Bible, unlike many in the church (not this church) but in the church around.
Because I believe that’s actually going to happen and I believe there really will be a physical return of Jesus Christ to the earth, and He’ll come back this time not as the suffering servant, not to suffer and to die, to pay the price of our sins as He did the first time,
He’ll come back this time to judge the world in righteousness and to set up His Messianic Kingdom at the beginning of the eternal state in which are going to be with Him forever.
So, if you believe that, you have a great grounds for a hope in the future. Our hope is based upon the promises of God and if you have a hope that’s based on the promises of God, it’s going to stand.
If you have hope which is based on anything else, it’s not going to stand.
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Matthew 7.24-27
You know, people are hoping that the vaccine is going to cure the virus. Well, it’s not. It may be bringing in something else.
People hope that we’re going to sort out the climate change crisis. I don’t believe we are.
People hope that we’re going to have a good future. But if you’re basing it on beliefs such as capitalism, communism, the new world order, Islam, nominal Christianity, western democracy, new age, anything like that, if you’re basing it on that, your hopes are going to be disappointed because the only place you’re going to get hope from is in God and in His Word.
If you have a hope in God, it’s backed up not by men who fail, but by God who doesn’t fail.
That’s why we have to give people the hope which comes from God.
If you look through the Bible, you can see that God has always been giving people hope in the midst of disastrous situations. There’s a verse in the book of Jeremiah which speaks about a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29 verse 11 was given at a time when Israel, Jerusalem was facing the prospect of an invasion from Babylonia. And the Babylonians would come and would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem, would sack the city of Jerusalem, and would take the people of Israel into captivity in Babylon.
This was a huge disaster which Jeremiah the prophet had been warning them about. It would come because they had forsaken the Lord and because He was bringing this as a judgment upon them. But, even in judgment, God brings a hope and a future, and He says in Jeremiah 29 verse 11:
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Jeremiah 29.11-14
God gives them a future and a hope. He says ‘I’m going to reverse that process of judgment and bring you back to the land that I gave to you. And so, because of that, you can have a future and a hope. But you need to do something first. You need to pray to Me and seek Me with all your heart.’
In all these situations, God is looking for people to turn to Him, to pray to Him, to seek Him with all their hearts and to believe that God is there, able to answer our prayers, able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Because He is God who made us.
In the Book of Acts chapter 24, Paul was standing before his accusers who were actually seeking to silence him and take his life. And he says:
15 I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.
Acts 24.15
Also, when he got to captivity in Rome, he said:
20 For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
Acts 28.20
The hope of Israel was in the Messiah. The Messiah came to die and to rise from the dead to give us eternal life and Paul had a hope in the Messiah which nothing could shake.
Even when he went through the worst circumstances he could imagine, he knew that he had a hope in Jesus.
And I would say to you that, even if we, you and I, go through the worst circumstances we can imagine, if we believe in Jesus, we always have a hope. Because, let’s face it, what’s the worst thing which people think is going to happen to them? They’re going to die.
If you’re a Christian and you believe in Jesus, and you die, you’re going to go to be with the Lord forever in Heaven.
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16.7-11
If you believe in Jesus, whatever your circumstances, you have a hope for the future because of what Jesus has done.
If you don’t believe in Jesus, you have no hope. That’s why it’s so important that wherever you are, whatever you do, you put your trust in Jesus Christ.
Whether you’re young or old, you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation if you’re going to have this hope.
For the true believer, there’s always a hope in the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah.
I believe we’re living in now in the time of the end. The only hope is going to be the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah.
Without His coming again, as I said, I would have entitled this leaflet ‘No hope for the future’. But with Jesus, it is ‘Hope for the Future’.
In Titus chapter 2 it says:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Titus 2.11-14
If you believe in Jesus, you have a blessed hope blessed hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. A hope that He’s not going to leave this world desolate, He’s going to come Himself, in person, back to the earth.
That’s something which He has promised to do and, if Jesus makes a promise, He’s going to do it no matter what the world thinks, no matter what the church even thinks, no matter whether people think it’s crazy or think ‘How can this God come and interfere with our affairs?’
Well, God made us in the first place. He has redeemed us through Jesus and He can come back and sort out the mess which we’ve made of the world.
He calls us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that’s one reason why people don’t want to go down this route, because they don’t want to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. They want to live in them. But, if you’re prepared to turn away from these things and to believe in Jesus, you can have this hope for the future.
He’s our great God and Saviour who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, purify for Himself His own special people zealous for good works.
When Jesus died on the cross, He died to redeem you and me from sin, from the punishment of sin which is eternal hell, and to bring us into the Kingdom of God, to have a hope in Jesus the Messiah.
So, there’s a hope and there’s a great hope for everyone who believes in Jesus.