Scripture Matters Podcast — S2E12 — Hope Matters

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The weather report didn't look good.
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The sky was turning black.
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And then those sirens went off.
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Dad yelled, hurry, everybody, get in the shelter.
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Mom scooped up the baby, and Dad grabbed everybody else.
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Right as they pulled the hatch shut, they heard it.
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That sound like a freight train right on top of them.
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Deafening.
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You could hear debris crashing and splintering all around them.
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And then silence.
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They just looked at each other alone there in the dark, holding on to as tight as they could their babies.
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Then Dad pushed up on the door.
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And it was way heavier than it was supposed to be.
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He could hear things shifting overhead, kind of groaning, sliding, sounds you never want to hear.
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What used to be the safe room inside their home was suddenly now open sky, rubble as far as the eye could see.
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Standing there in the ruins facing total shock and total loss.
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But they were still alive.
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Everything was gone, but they had their kids, they had each other, and they had hope to rebuild.
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Today on the Scripture Matters podcast, we're talking about something every Christian leans on with everything they have.
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Hope.
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Right here on the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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You've tuned in to the Scripture Matters Podcast, produced and published in cooperation with the Waters Road Church of Christ.
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Looking for a church home in the Houston area that lovingly stands upon God's Word?
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Waters Road is the place where you belong.
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If you need more information about the Waters Road Church of Christ, check out their website at www.wrc.org.
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We'd like to thank each of you who helped make this podcast possible, especially the prayerful support of our wives and families.
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And now, good folks, let's get back to another episode of the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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Well, good afternoon, good folks, and welcome back to another episode of the Scripture Matters Podcast.
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If you are perhaps joining us for the first time, my name is Jonathan Sanford.
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I'm blessed to serve as the pulpit minister alongside the wonderful brethren of the Waters Road Church of Christ.
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And across the screen from me at this time is my partner in crime, Cliff Thompson.
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You just remember, Jonathan, if they come to get me, you're going down with me, brother.
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Inescapable.
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Good afternoon, everyone.
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I'm blessed to be one of the shepherds here at Waters Road and teach one of our adult Bible classes.
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And whether you're watching us today on YouTube, Facebook, or maybe you're listening on one of our many podcast platforms, we want you to know that we are really glad that you've joined us here today.
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Folks, we really are.
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And if anything we talk about today gets you thinking, or if you've got questions or comments, please, folks, reach out to us using the contact info right on your screen.
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And we also want to take an opportunity, I know you would agree, Cliff, to thank everybody who has been sharing our content here, the Scripture Matters Podcast, each and every week.
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And we want you to know we don't take that for granted whatsoever.
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And it's just a blessing to us to know that you find these conversations uh worth passing along to your friends and your loved ones.
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It means a great deal to both Clip and I.
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It really does.
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Now, before we jump into today's topic, Jonathan, let's touch briefly on last week's episode, Faithfulness Matters.
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Yeah, brother, that was really and truly one of the most personal conversations that we have had all season long.
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It really hit close to home, I know for yourself and for me when we're talking about what faithfulness looks like when keeping our commitment becomes difficult, inconvenient, or just really truly uh flat out exhausting.
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It did, Jonathan.
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That prayer we talked about, Lord, I still mean what I promised you, but I'm tired.
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That wasn't a man giving up on his faith.
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No, it was a plea for help to keep going.
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Yeah, and I think that's what made it it feel so very real to us.
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He he still wanted to keep going.
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He just needed strength for that next step and some people, really and truly around him that would be willing to carry some of the weight that he was feeling.
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And and needing help, the thing that I really wanted to press forward to our audience last week was needing help didn't make that promise any less severe.
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Instead, it just made him human.
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Yeah, and that leads us right into what I really want us to tackle today, Jonathan.
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It's something every single Christian needs, especially when life gets tough, and that's hope.
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Yeah, man, and that touches everybody, doesn't it?
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I mean, we we all hope for something.
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Um, but there's a world of difference between wishing things would turn out the way I want and the kind of hope that scripture gives us.
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That's such a crucial distinction there, Jonathan.
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In everyday language, we treat hope like a wish or sometimes even a guess.
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We say things like, I hope the weather holds up, or I hope things work out.
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Yeah, uh, right, like the the fingers crossed kind of thing, right?
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But a Christian's hope, um, I think you would agree, is anchored in something far more solid than a preferred outcome.
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God Himself and the promises that he has made, that's what we're talking about today.
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Yes, sir.
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That leads us to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 1.
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And it kind of lays that out so clearly, Jonathan.
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The Bible says, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction, or in some versions, the evidence of things not seen.
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Yeah, in Romans 8, 24 presses that very same thought.
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It says, Now hope that is seen is not hope.
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For who hopes for what he already sees?
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We're talking about trusting before everything we're looking toward is sitting right here in front of us.
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Yeah, in other words, true hope is always looking past what is right in front of our eyes.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Hope says, you know what, I can't see the finish line yet, but I know the one who promised it, and brother, I trust him.
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That brings to mind an anchor, Jonathan.
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An anchor keeps that boat from drifting off every time the wind blows or the current shifts.
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Yeah, brother.
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One thing that stands out to me about that picture is that an anchor doesn't make the storm just disappear.
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The wind can still blow and those waves can still rock that boat, but the storm doesn't get to decide where that boat will actually end up.
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And that's because it's anchored in God.
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Our hope doesn't rise and fall based on whether we're having a good day or whether we're having a bad day.
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Brother, that's so important because if my hope is only as strong as today's circumstances, then the reality is one terrible day can just take it all away from me.
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Christian hope really and truly has to rest somewhere more secure than just whatever kind of day that I'm having.
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So, Jonathan, when we say we have hope, what we're really saying is I trust God to keep his word.
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Yeah, brother, that's correct.
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We're trusting that what God has promised will come to pass even when we really and truly cannot see how everything is going to unfold.
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And ultimately, Jonathan, that whole foundation rests on Jesus.
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It has to, brother.
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Christian hope is centered on Jesus, on his death, on his resurrection, and don't forget, his promised return.
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We're not placing our hope today in some uh fantastic idea.
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No, we're trusting what Christ has actually done and what he has promised.
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And that resurrection is everything, Jonathan.
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Jesus just didn't teach a nice lesson about eternal life, he actually walked out of that grave and defeated death.
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Amen.
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Amen, brother.
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That's why Christian hope uh can never just be reduced down to positive thinking, right?
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Our hope, it has an empty tomb behind it.
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Jesus Christ is alive, and because he lives, folks, his promises are far more than just a bunch of comforting statements.
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Uh Jonathan, let's bring this down to where we live at.
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What does this hope actually look like on a Friday afternoon when you're just trying to get through the day?
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I think maybe, brother, it looks less dramatic than sometimes we might imagine.
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Maybe hope is what gets somebody up and out of their bed after yesterday was just plain awful.
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Uh, maybe it keeps us doing the right thing.
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And here's the key when nobody's noticing, it gives today meaning because we don't believe today is all that there is.
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Right.
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It's not just something we pull out for Sunday morning or think about when we're talking about heaven.
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No, not at all.
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If I honestly believe what God has promised about what lies ahead, then here's the thing: the future starts reaching backward and shaping the choices that I'm making right now.
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Yeah, it really does, Jonathan.
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What we believe about the future dictates how we walk today.
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No, you're exactly right.
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And hope reaches all the way down into our ordinary, everyday choices.
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It gives me a reason to stay faithful, to pursue what is right.
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You got to resist temptation.
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And here's the thing: keep God first, even when something easier is sitting right there in front of you.
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Jonathan, that ties back to our last episode that hope becomes our lifeline when we're walking through suffering.
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Yeah, no question about it, brother.
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When when life hurts, hope uh does not ask us to just pretend that the pain is small.
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Instead, brothers and sisters, it reminds us that pain does not get to declare itself our final chapter.
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Now, we both know that it's easier to say when things are smooth sailing, but it's tough when you're in the thick of grief or even in pain, Jonathan.
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Yeah, I'm sure there are people out there right now saying, You're not kidding.
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I mean, that's when the slogans that people develop stop helping.
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Hope, though, doesn't minimize what somebody is carrying in their life, it gives us something strong enough to hold on to even when our pain is still very real.
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That's why when we pray, you know, God might not instantly calm that storm that we talked about, but we have the assurance that He's right there in the boat, riding out those waves with us.
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Yeah, and that gives us strength uh that we need to hang on uh without letting suffering decide exactly how we're going to live.
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It also keeps us focused on obedience, Jonathan.
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You know, sometimes folks try to separate hope from obedience, like they're two unrelated things.
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But real hope, you know, uh real hope uh eventually shows up in action.
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It does.
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If I if I genuinely trust God and his promises, then that trust is going to affect the the choices that I make in my daily life and the way that I respond.
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Here's the key to his word.
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So obedience isn't some heavy chore we do because we've lost hope.
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It's what we do because we have hope.
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No, you're spot on.
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We obey because we trust the one who made his promises.
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Let's unpack that a little more, Jonathan, because I'm sure people can get confused here.
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How do faith, hope, and obedience all kind of fit together?
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Well, brother, I would say I don't think that we can really and truly pull those things apart um when Christianity moves off the page and and into our lives.
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Here's the thing faith trust who God is.
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Hope looks toward what He has promised, and obedient faith responds to that one that we trust.
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Huh.
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That is light years beyond just mentally agreement that God exists.
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No, absolutely.
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Scripture reminds us that even those demons they believe that God exists and they tremble with that knowledge.
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But here's the thing: knowing facts about God, it's not the same thing as trusting Him enough to listen and follow.
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That's the difference.
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Christians' hope isn't just saying the words, I believe in Jesus.
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No, I'm with you 100% on that fact.
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Our hope is rooted in Christ.
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And when trust is very real, it cannot remain just words.
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No, it begins to really shape uh the way we respond to God.
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And Jonathan, that brings us straight back to the gospel.
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Yeah, you know, the gospel doesn't ask us, hey, just admire Jesus from a safe distance.
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No, we hear the good news, we believe in Jesus Christ, we repent of our sins, we confess him before men, Romans 10, 9 and 10, and we are baptized into Christ, and then we keep walking faithfully with him each and every day.
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Yeah, and let's be crystal clear on this, Jonathan.
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Obedience doesn't mean we're earning our way to heaven.
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No, please hear us on that.
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If there's anybody out there that thinks that we we want to correct that thought process, we could never earn what Jesus accomplished on that cross.
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Obedience is not our attempt to purchase our salvation, it is our faith-filled response to God's incredible grace.
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Oh, that is such an important distinction, Jonathan.
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We aren't trying to purchase salvation through good deeds either.
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No, we're not.
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And God uh you think about it, grace it doesn't make our response meaningless.
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It reminds us that our response could never be the price.
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Jesus has already paid the price 100%.
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So we just need to respond with trusting, obedient hearts.
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Let's make this personal, Jonathan.
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It's one thing to talk about hope in the abstract, but what about when someone asks, What about my own soul?
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Can I really have hope?
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Now, brother, that may be the most personal question that we'll ask in today's episode.
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Our deepest hope isn't simply that next week will be better than this week.
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Instead, it is the hope of being right with God for eternity.
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You know, Jonathan, I think almost every single Christian wrestles with this at some point, kind of thinking, what happens when I mess up?
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Or what if I fail God?
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Brother, that fear can become absolutely exhausting if we start believing that our hope depends upon me or you never stumbling.
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But as we discussed back in season number one of Jack Wilkie's book, You Are Saved, a Christian's Assurance.
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Hey, if salvation required flawless performance, uh, take it from my southern twang, ain't none of us having a shred of hope.
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That takes a huge weight off, Jonathan, because we all know that we fall short.
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Yeah, we certainly do.
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And our hope, our hope rests in Jesus Christ and in a Father who has made forgiveness available to all who will turn back to him with a repentant uh heart.
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Failure is serious.
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I mean, yes, failure is serious, but folks, it does not have to become the end of our story.
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No, Jack made that great point.
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Too many people think that a failure means a story is over.
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And as we talked about in season one, Peter is such a powerful example of this.
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He denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times.
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And that was very real failure that jumps off the pages of the gospel accounts.
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And Peter knew it.
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He knew how badly he had failed.
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But the Lord, he didn't write Peter off.
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Peter repented, he returned, and the good news is he continued serving that same Lord that he had once, twice, three times denied.
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And Jonathan, that is such an encouraging picture.
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You know, we tend to fixate on our worst moments and think that's who I am forever.
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And yet the good news is the gospel refuses to have our worst moment to have a last word.
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Uh repentance means that I don't have to stand around and defend my failure.
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And grace means I don't have to let that failure folks become your identity.
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So if we're walking with him in faith, we don't have to live in constant fear, wondering if God is going to keep his word.
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No, praise God that he is a God of his word, right?
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Our confidence, again, isn't in our perfection.
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Instead, it's in God's faithfulness.
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We can take our sin seriously without having to live like every single stumble somehow turns God into an unfaithful father.
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And man, that is a hope worth holding on to.
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Amen, brother.
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It really is.
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And it gives us something solid enough to live on today, and something strong enough to carry us all the way into eternity.
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And Jonathan, that brings us right back to Romans chapter 8 and verse 24, where Paul reminds us hope that is seen is not hope.
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And that presses right into our desire for control.
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We certainly uh we certainly can see and we want things that we can see, and we want answers that we can grab a hold and and hold on to, right?
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Yes, we do.
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But hope often asks us to trust what God has promised before we can actually possess what He has promised.
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You know, I'll be honest with you, Jonathan, and I know some.
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Of our listeners may feel this way too.
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That waiting part, man, that is tough.
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Yeah, it really is.
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Waiting has a way of exposing that just how badly we have a desire for control, right?
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We want the answer right now.
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We want the solution right now.
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And if we can't get it right now, you got to give me a timetable, right?
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And preferably all three yesterday.
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Yeah, like a microwave society.
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And waiting doesn't mean, though, Jonathan, that God has forgotten about us.
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Not even for a millisecond.
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The fact that I cannot see the fulfillment of a promise from God is not proof that that promise has vanished.
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Hope keeps trusting God in that space between promise and fulfillment.
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Oh man, that is powerful, Jonathan.
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True hope says, I might not see the full picture, but I do know the one who does, and that's enough for me.
00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:15.279
And what I love about that is that it gives us peace even when everything around us just feels so uncertain.
00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:26.319
I may still have questions and I may still be waiting, but I don't need today's answer in order to trust God today.
00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:34.880
You know, Jonathan, all through our conversation, I kept thinking about that family that we met back in the cold opening.
00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:38.079
I mean, think about that conversation, Jonathan.
00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:39.599
Yeah, so do I.
00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.119
And we we both grew up uh with tornadoes.
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:44.960
We've we've experienced them.
00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:50.640
Uh, I know what it's like to climb out of that storm shelter and wonder what you're gonna see outside.
00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:56.160
They climbed out of that shelter, and everything around them looked totally different.
00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:04.480
Their home was devastated, uh, their possessions uh scattered all across the yard.
00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:12.880
Um, but they were alive, they were together, and they had an opportunity to look forward to what could come next.
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:16.400
And they also had hope to rebuild.
00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:21.440
And you know, rebuilding it's really a beautiful kind of hope.
00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:33.359
Um but Christian hope has to be strong enough for those moments when something just cannot be rebuilt the way that it once was.
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:39.359
You know, Jonathan, some losses really do change this life permanently.
00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:42.960
Yeah, let's think about it with our audience for just a moment.
00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:48.480
Sometimes that relationship that you loved isn't restored.
00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:49.599
Yeah.
00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:56.880
Sometimes the diagnosis that you receive doesn't just amazingly reverse.
00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:05.359
Sometimes the person that you desperately wanted to keep by your side is gone.
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:13.440
Our hope cannot depend on every broken thing in this life being repaired here.
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:16.880
Because the reality is God never promised us that, brother.
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:22.240
No, our hope has to reach much farther than our circumstances, Jonathan.
00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:22.960
Exactly.
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:29.039
And that if we think about it, that's why the resurrection matters so very much.
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:36.000
Our confidence is not, hey, everything in my life will eventually work out the way that I want it.
00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:42.960
No, our confidence is that Jesus Christ, He walked out of that grave.
00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:50.720
Yes, and therefore, even death, even death itself, does not get to write the final sentence.
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:54.799
That changes the way that we can look forward, Jonathan.
00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:57.519
I think it changes everything, really and truly.
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:04.480
I mean, hope means that I can live faithfully today without pretending that today is all that there is.
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:19.599
I can grieve without surrendering, I can repent without despairing, and I can wait without assuming that God has forgotten me.
00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:27.519
And I can keep trusting those promises that God has given me who has never stopped being faithful.
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:28.559
Never, never.
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.240
Amen to that, brother.
00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:36.640
Well, uh growing up, there was a show on TV that said something like sands through the hourglass, right?
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:40.799
Yes, like sands through the hourglass, our time is is running out.
00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:49.519
But what a privilege, what a privilege it has been to talk about such an important matter in the life of a Christian.
00:26:49.759 --> 00:27:00.079
And Jonathan, one of the most beautiful aspects of hope is that hope is always looking forward, never backwards, always forward.
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:01.680
Yeah, that's beautiful, brother.
00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:15.759
And and after everything that we've talked about here today, Cliff, I don't know if you realize it or not as we've uh gone through today's conversation, but there's still one question that we really haven't answered.
00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:17.440
What's that?
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:24.720
Let me ask you, brother, what exactly is it that we're all looking forward to?
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.480
I think I know where you're going with it, brother.
00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:29.200
That's right.
00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:32.319
Next Trotty at 3:30 p.m.
00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:38.720
Lord willing, good folks, we arrive at our season two finale.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:40.799
Wow, I can't hardly believe it.
00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:45.599
And after 12 conversations about things that matters to the Christian life.
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:54.640
Yeah, we're gonna end season two talking about where this entire journey is ultimately headed.
00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:56.799
So, folks, next week.
00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.640
Heaven matters.
00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:07.279
As always, you can join us on YouTube and Facebook or listen through Buzzsprout or your favorite podcast platform.
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:13.440
Well, until next time for all of us here with the Scripture Matters Podcast, I'm Jonathan Sanford.
00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:15.039
And I'm Cliff Thompson.
00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:16.559
And we're gonna do something different.
00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:27.519
We always close out our program with similar statements, but uh this past week I lost a very dear preacher friend, uh, a preacher who inspired me as a young kid.
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:29.920
Uh, his name was Harvey Starling.
00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:39.359
And uh, for the folks in Romania, uh, and even the folks here in the state of Texas, a very powerful preacher of the gospel for 71 years of his life.
00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:46.240
I can't even imagine 71 years having the privilege of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:55.279
But we want to take this time to remind each and every one of you to do as much good as you can.
00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:00.880
For as many as you can, and as often as you can.
00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:05.279
And good folks, let us do no harm at all.
00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:10.079
Thanks for spending part of your day with us on the Scripture Matters Podcast.
00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:14.319
We'll be back with a new conversation every Friday at 3.30 p.m.
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:18.559
on YouTube, Facebook, and all major podcast platforms.
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:26.559
Until then, may the word guide you and your week and its only remember scripture matters.