July 10, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
We're glad you've joined us for today's program. Pastor Jeff
Ministries is the Bible teaching ministry of doctor Jeff Swarzentra,
Senior Pastor of Brave Church in Denver, Colorado. Today, Pastor
Jeff concludes his message strengthening the Hope of your Salvation
from the series The Greatest and remind you that your
(00:23):
hope is anchored in Jesus, your forever High Priest. Pastor
Jeff will get started in just a moment, but first
want to let you know there's a wealth of resources
to help you grow in your walk at Pastorjeff dot com.
Visit Pastorjeff dot com today to find out more and
to sign up for Pastor Jeff's weekly devotional emails. Now
here's today's program.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
If someone says I love God and hates his brother,
he is a liar. For the one who does not
love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God
whom he has not seen.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And this commandment we have from Him that the one
who loves God.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Should love his brother. Also, well, I love God, I
just don't love Christians. You're a liar because if you
love the God of the Bible, you will love Christians.
That's what the word teaches so well, we're called to
love the world. What should be going on in the
church in some ways is a love fest.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
And I don't mean love.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Because we need to redefine the word a little bit
and make it biblical. I don't mean having this OUI
guy emotional feeling that all these people are my best
friends and we just love hanging out every day all
day long. Now, there's gonna be certain people that you
click with a little better, There's be certain people that
you see the world with a little better. But when
it comes to genuinely caring for people the way of
(01:41):
Christ would care for them, we're called to do that
with every single Christian, and not just Christians that go
to brave and not just pastors that are up brave,
but for the Kingdom of God and those who are
part of the family. Why because when you trusted Christ
and Jesus is the only way, and he gave you
access to the Father. Anybody that has Christ, that has
(02:02):
access to the Father is now what your brother and
sister means. We're family, y'all. Are the problems in the family.
Sometimes this is the bigger family. So it means there's
more problems. Right, But we're called the love everybody in
the body of Christ. And if you want to grow
in your hope, if you want to strengthen the hope
you have of your own salvation, develop and demonstrate a
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greater love for God and a greater love for the saints.
And I'm telling you it's a prayer. God will answer. God,
I want to love you more. Show me how to
love you more. God, I want to have a greater
hunger for your words. Show me how to do that. Lord,
brings some people in my life that can teach me
how to pray. Lord, I don't even know how to
do that.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Lord, I'd love to learn how to evangelize. Lord, just
teach me how to.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I want to love you and I want to do
the things that you want to do. And Lord, as
you're doing that, can you give me a greater love
for him?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Can you give me a greater love for her? Can
you show me? Because it feels unlovable to me to
love them, But show me what you would do if
you were me.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
When you begin to pray like that, God will begin
to use your life, and God will grow you. And
as he grows you and you feel the changes inside
of you. It'll give you the certainty of hope that
you are definitely saved.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
The second way that you can strengthen the hope of
your salvation it occurs when you endure with great faith
and patience. When you endure with great faith and patience. Now,
one of those words we really don't like. I'll let
you figure out which one it is. Notice what he
says in verse eleven. He says, and we desire that
(03:26):
each one of you show the same diligence, that's eagerness,
so as to realize the full assurance of hope until
the end.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
You say, well, it's hope. Hope is the certainty that
something's going to be realized.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Hope is I know it's going to come true, and
I'm believing that the Bible says, hope deferred makes the
heart sick. Hope means I have the full assurance, not
just I hope this works out. It's the full assurance
all the way to the end of my life that
I know that I know that I know that I
belong to Jesus and I can't screw that up. And
no matter what happens, He's going to receive me and
(04:02):
love me. That's the full assurance of hope. Many Christians
don't have that full assurance of hope. Some Christians think,
I know God's taking me because the Word of God
says it. But boy, is he going to be disappointed
in me when he meets me. That's not true. Jesus
forgave all of your sins on the cross. Jesus is
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going to present you faultless before the Father with exceedingly
great joy. He loves you with an unconditional love. You say, well,
why do I think that? Well, you have an enemy
that's telling you all the time why you're not good
enough for God, and why God doesn't like you anymore,
and why God's disappointed in you, and how because you're
a Christian now you should have done better and you.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Could have done better, and if you would do that differently,
then God would be friends.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
When Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross and
died for you and rose from the dead, when you
place your full faith and trust in him alone, all
of your sin was forgiven and he embraces and loves
you completely. Good news or what I mean, that's awesome news.
And that's the news we have in the Gospel. It's
the best news on the planet. He goes on to say,
(05:10):
not only we'd have this hope to the end, why
so that you will not be sluggish sluggish means slothful
or lazy, but imitators of those who, through faith and
patience inherit the promise. He's saying, my hope for you
is that you wouldn't get lazy in your faith. Why
because when you lack.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
The certainty of the hope of your salvation, you'll.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Get lazy in your walk with Christ. You'll begin to
think I'm doing something wrong. I can never get this
thing right. It just doesn't work for me. I go
to church and I hear the messages and I'm inspired,
but it just doesn't translate into my life.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
It's not working for me. When you don't have the
certainty of your hope, you get sluggish in walking it out.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
There's not an eagerness or a diligence, or a want
to or a desire. It's almost as if it's a
haf to and it's a half to, and it's a
haf to and it's just not working for me. And
he says, I want you to follow the examples of
those who endured with great faith and great patience.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He says, what does mean? What I find is.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That for new believers, God does special things to let
you know that He really is who he says he is. Sometimes,
as a new believer, God gives gifts to let you
know that he's near. Perhaps it's an answered prayer for
a friend, or perhaps you're praying for somebody who's lost
and God uses you to lead him to Christ. Or
maybe it's that you tithed and God gives you an
immediate monetary reward because you tithed this guy in our
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church last week that had gotten saved a few weeks ago,
and he said, you know, I felt prompted to tithe,
and I started tithing, and I knew what he was
gonna tell me.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I knew the story.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And he went on to say, you know, when you know,
I got a check in the mail this week for
four times the amount, And I'm like, I know that's.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
What God does. So his word says he's gonna do.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
And I find that his new believers, God does a
lot of that early on to let you know that
he's there. But as you mature, God uses circumstances of
challenge and trials to see if you'll continue to step
in faith. He'll take you through times that seem dark.
But Jesus asking you, will you keep walking?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Now, you just made this clear.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And John sixteen thirty three says, in this world you
will have tribulation. Now this is a good place for
me to pause, just in case you've been lied to
and you thought that since you trusted Christ, it was
gonna be like a love boat cruising off to heaven
and everything was gonna be perfect for you. Let me
tell you, Christian, in this world you're gonna have trouble.
There's gonna be tribulation. And the reason it's called that
is because you can't choose what your tribulation is gonna be. Sometimes,
(07:29):
sometimes there's gonna be challenging trials and circumstances that come
your way. You have absolutely no control over them. You
can't do anything about it. You didn't do anything about
it to get into it, and you can't do anything about.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
It to get out of it. And I got good
news for you.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
God's the one that unfolded all of that before you,
and he thinks it's good.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
The challenge is good do you know why?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Because it's in those seasons where God's asking you, do
you still trust me? So I'm twenty three, starting in
verse four, says, even though I walked through what valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Sometimes it seems.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
As though if God God kind of turns off the
lights in our life, even though he's the light of
the world, we're not experiencing that light.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
We're not feeling that light. And the enemy lies.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
To us and says this, if God is so good,
and God's the light of your life, then how come
your life so dark right now? And here's your answer,
Because he loves me so much and he wants to
see if I can still trust him when I can't
see him, and if I'll still trust him when I'm
not experiencing him. The Bible says we walk by faith
(08:34):
and not by sight. I have good news for some
of you this morning. They're going through a hard time.
God unfolded all of that before you because he's growing
your spiritual muscles, and all he's asking you to do
is continue to take a step of faith.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Will you trust him that way?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And here's what I'm talking to I'm talking to you
people here today, or maybe you've been in this season before,
and if you're not, you'll be in it. So pay
attention were when you go through a hard time, somebody
gives you a glib answer, say, man, I'm really going
through a hard time.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
When what do I need to do?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
And they'll say this, Read your Bible, pray, tend church,
be authentic, get in a small group, and your response
from your gut will feel like saying, I'm doing all
those things and it's not working.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
You ever have that experience. If you haven't, you will.
That's what he's talking about. Now, what is faith?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Hebrews is going to tell us in chapter eleven. Faith
is the assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of
what we do not see. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Well how do I get this faith? Well,
faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.
Romans ten seventeen tells us that so when the word
of God is proclaimed or you're reading the Word, God
is speaking to you.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
He's bolstering your faith.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
That's why if you're in a church where the Word
of God is faithfully proclaimed, you'll hear.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
God, you'll be stimulated to do something.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
But there's more than just knowing what to do, it's
actually doing something.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
This is Pastor Jeff Ministries with doctor Jeff Swarzentrau, and
today Pastor Jeff is sharing his message strengthening the Hope
of your Salvation from the series The Greatest, reminding you
that your hope is secure because Jesus is your eternal
anchor and advocate. We'll return to Pastor Jeff in just
a moment, but before we do, we want to help
(10:22):
you live differently, to think clearly, to pray powerfully, and
to walk wisely every single day with Pastor Jeff's battle
tested wisdom a ten day prayer journey for real life decisions.
This resource is our thanks for your gift of support
to help reach more people through Pastor Jeff Ministries. To
request your copy, simply go to Pastorjeff dot com and
(10:43):
give a gift to keep teachings like this one today
going strong through Pastor Jeff Ministries. Again, that's Pastorjeff dot Com.
Now let's return to today's teaching.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Romans ten seventeen tells us that so when the Word
of God has proclaimed or you're reading the word, God
is speaking to you.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
He's bolstering your faith.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
That's why if you're in a church where the word
of God is faithfully proclaimed, you'll hear God. You'll be
stimulated to do something. But there's more than just knowing
what to do. It's actually doing something. James, the half
brother of Jesus, talks about this and his epistle. He
says in James one, two and three, he says, consider
(11:25):
it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and
let endurance have its perfect result, so you may be
perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
So when you go through a tough time, here's what
the Bible tells you to do. Count it joy.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Like we have a way of celebrating good things in
our life. They come naturally, the birth of a child,
the marriage of two people who know Christ, a pay raise,
a new job. But it's not as natural to us
when that child we've been waiting for dies two minutes
after it comes out of the womb. Not as rejoicing
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as when you're trying to work out your marriage and
it ends in divorce.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Not as good when you get overlooked.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
By people that aren't as good as you for the
job that you rightly need. Here's what God says, Hey,
when that happens, like, count it all joy. That's really
good that it happened to you. Here's why it's good,
because God is developing your spiritual muscles and He's developing
endurance in your life, so you'll be perfect and complete.
You won't be lacking anything, so he says in James
one twenty two. But prove yourself doers of the word,
(12:36):
not merely hearers who delude themselves. And he says in
two seventeen, even so, faith, if it has no works.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Is dead. What's he saying. He's saying, when you hear
the word, will you continue to walk?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And will you continue to endure even when you're not
experiencing the goodness of God in the moment. See, I
think those situations at the times where God's actually taking
off the training wheels and God's kind of letting go
of the seat and you feel like you're wobbling and
you don't like it, and it's uncomfortable, and you would
have never chose this situation and you don't ever want
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this situation again.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
But Christian who is mature listened to me.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Isn't it true that when you go through a season
like that and you come out the other side, that
there's something in your gut that says, I know Jesus
in a way I never knew him before. I love
God in a way I've never loved him before. That
was so awesome that you strengthen my spiritual muscles. God,
Now don't ever do that again. Isn't that true? Because
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we wouldn't choose trials, we wouldn't choose suffering. That's why
God chooses those things for us, which means this, believer,
if you're gonna grow in your hope.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Know this.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the reason that you're suffering.
Perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the tribulation and trial
that you're enduring. Perhaps it's because of God's great love
with which he has for you to grow your spiritual muscles.
I mean, the Book of Romans highlights this same thing
Chapter five. In Romans, chapter five, starting in verse three
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says not only this, Paul says, but we also exalt
in our tribulations.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You know what exalt means? Rejoice?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
He says, in flippings rejoicing the Lord when Paul always,
I'll say it again, rejoice.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
We have a hard time.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Exalting and rejoicing when our circumstances stink. But the Bible says,
if you want to grow in your hope, rejoice even
when things aren't good, and it will grow the hope
and certainty.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Of your salvation.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Why because when we exalt in our tribulations, knowing that
tribulation brings about perseverance. That's the word for endurance or steadfastness.
And perseverance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
God's trying to grow your character, which will give you
hope in Him.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
And hope does not disappoint because the love of God.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who was given to us. It means this, no
matter what you're going through, keep taking steps of faith
and be willing to endure all the way to the end.
That's what he's saying. Don't give up, don't quit when
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it's hard. That's when the enemy sounds the loudest. That's
when his life sounds the clearest. And here's what you'll hear.
If your God was so good. Then why fill in
the blank. Here's why. Because God wants to teach me
how to rejoice when this isn't going good. And God
wants me to learn to depend upon His goodness when
I can't see His goodness with my own two eyes.
(15:31):
And oh, by the way, God is good, and this
world never promised me everything good. But I'm looking forward to today, Satan,
when you're thrown into the lake of fire and I
live in the perfect utopia with Jesus and my God
is good, and I'm yearning for that day.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
That's why God doesn't make this.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
World perfect for me, because if this world is perfect,
I'd never want to go. But because God's so good,
he ensures us that your world will never be perfect
on this side of heaven.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Isn't that good news? Rejoice?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Some of you need to rejoice today, not because of
your circumstances, but in spite of them.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Amen, this is what God does for us.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I mean, faith produces obedience, and obedience produces faith, and
faith produces obedience and obedience produces faith.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
And as that.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Goes on, you build endur rents, you build life, and
you know you can do it. And when you see
people endure with great faith even when things don't go well.
Haven't you seen that stimulate your faith and your hope.
Almost twenty years ago, I ran the Chicago Marathon for
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what I believe.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Is my last time. And the word run is an
exaggeration for a fact.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
I steadily plotted, I jogged, and all these different kinds
of things. But this one was different. I had really
trained well. I was about thirty pounds lighter than I
am right now. I would go out and run twenty miles.
At the time, I was going to do a sub
four hour marathon. I knew I was, But on that
day it was ninety.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Two degrees in Chicagoay, I ran, they ran out of water.
I felt miserable.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Some of you runners know there're certain days you feel good,
certain days you don't feel good, and.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
It kind of changes.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
As I had all that, but this day was like
miserable and lousy. And I saw my wife at the
halfway point and I said, pray for me. I'm not
doing well. And am mile thirteen. I was telling my
buddy that we had run with for six months, like
you just need to leave me, just go on. I
don't know if I'm going to finish, and he started
quoting top Gun to me, like you never leave your wingman,
and all these kind of cool quotes for about three miles,
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and finally, at mile eighteen he looked at me and said,
you wouldn't leave me, would you? And I said, if
you'd told me for three miles to leave you, you
bet I would.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
So he left, and I'm there.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
By myself saying, God, what in the world is going on?
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And why would you have me feel this miserable in Chicago?
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I just wanted to quit, but I kept steadily plodding, plotting,
and wouldn't you know it, about five minutes later, I
saw this guy laying down on the ground in the marathon,
and it was different than the other ones I'd seen
because of dehydration. This guy had blood coming out of
his mouth, and I do wasn't doing well, and they
were beginning CPR on him, and I was prompted to
do this thing, to just go over and pray over him,
because I didn't know what to do medically. So I
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wheeled around and started praying for this guy, praying for
this guy, praying for this guy until.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
The medics came.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
When the medics came, I got up and left, and
I kept hearing this voice, Jeff. The most important thing
in this life is being prepared for the next. Most
important thing in this lives being prepared for the next.
I prayed over that guy is he died. He died
right on that road, and because I was there, I
ended up calling his pastor up in Michigan the very
next day, asking him, you know what was going on.
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He wouldn't take my phone call because he thought I
was asking for an opportunity to preach.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And I told the secretary, I'm like, no, just tell.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
The pastor that I was praying over Chad when he
died on Ashland Avenue yesterday and I need to.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Talk to him.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
So he took my call and I said, I was
praying over him yesterday and here's some of the things
that I encountered. He I said, was Chadow Christ He's like, oh, yeah,
he goes, well, you come to the funeral and tell
your story.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
He goes, if you talked to his wife yet? And
I said no, I don't. I didn't know if he
was married, didn't anything about him. Yeah, she's a believer.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
She ran in the race too, but she got rerouted
because the race got canceled, so she wasn't there with him,
and her biggest disappointment is she wasn't there praying over
him when he died.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
So would you come tell the congregation you were praying
over him when he died?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Said yeah, So my wife and I went up told
the whole story about what had happened. Now, when we
got to the funeral, and it was packed because this
guy was a policeman, So there were three hundred policemen
in full guarb white gloves.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
The whole thing.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
I saw in the front row a woman and three
kids with all their hands up in the air worshiping God.
And the pastor told me, that's his wife and those
are his children, and they worshiped during the whole funeral service.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Do you know what that did to my soul?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
As we got to know them later that day, it
was evident that their faith was in Jesus Christ. They
knew that their husband and their daddy was with Jesus,
and that while they were saddened, and while they were disappointed,
they knew life was going to go on and they
were excited for where he was. That's impossible without the
spirit of God, and isn't it true. When you see
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somebody who's going through incredibly difficult things that still keeps
Jesus Christ's first place. It stimulates your heart question why
does God take you through challenging things?
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Why does God.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Make your life difficult so that all the people in
your sphere of influence that are watching you can see
that you put Jesus Christ first and that he's the Lord.
And people say, if they can get through that, when
they're going through this.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I want who they have.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
That's why you go through trials, That's why you go
through sufferings. And if you haven't had them, they're coming.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
You will. And it's not because you've done anything wrong.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
It's God preparing you in this life for what's to
come so that when you cross the finish line of faith,
you will be exhilarated.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
He know that day because I.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Had to stop and they paused the race at mile
eighteen and I had to walk the last six miles.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
How tired I was when I got to the end.
I didn't do it in four hours. I mean I
was sitting there on the side, like I'll just take
a bus.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And then so he came up and said, okay, this
guy writes his name down and do not finish.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I'm like, you ain't writing my name down, boy, I'm
finishing this race. So I walked the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And when I crossed the finish line that day, I
mean I started weeping six hours and eleven minutes later
because what I'd cross and it was over.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Friends. In this life, you will have tribulations.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
But when you cross over from this life to the next,
all your tribulations are gone. There will never be any
more tribulations. There'll never be any more relationship challenges. They'll
never be anybody that speaks bad about you. They'll never
be gossip behind your back. You'll never have a financial.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Crisis, a health crisis, or a relationship crisis. Everybody gets along.
It's perfect harmony forever and ever. Amen and Amen. Isn't
that good?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
So if you have trials in this world and you
have difficult things going on, it's just to wet your
appetite because what's coming is way better.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
That's what he's talking about. That's why the Apostle Paul.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Said, and flippings three forgetting what is behind and straining
towards what is ahead. I press on toward the goal
to win the upward call of God, the prize of
God in Christ, Jesus. I mean, that's what he was
looking forward to. So you can strengthen your hope of
your salvation by growing your love for God and others,
by enduring with great faith and patience. And patience means
long suffering. Endure with long suffering. It's a fruit of
(22:16):
the spirit. And then he said this a third way
you can do this is you can strengthen the hope
of your salvation.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And that occurs when you trust God and his promises.
When you trust God and his promises. Know that's what
he says in verses thirteen and following.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he
could not swear, since he could swear by no one greater,
he swore by himself, saying I will surely bless you,
and I will surely multiply you. And having patiently waited,
he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater
than themselves, and with them an oath given as a
confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way, God,
(22:56):
desiring even more to show the errors of the promise,
of his unchanged yours, of his purpose interposed with an oath,
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge
would have strong encouragement to take hope with the hope
set before us.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
What's he saying?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
If you remember the story of Abraham, got promised to
bless him, but it wasn't until God gave him the promise.
And when he gave him the promised son, of which
he said, all the nations of the world will be
blessed through you, like this is the promised son, at
one point in time he asked Abraham to sacrifice his son.
So very early the next morning, Abraham got up with
his son to go to the place of the sacrifice,
(23:33):
and Isaac was asking his daddy, Dad, was the sacrifice
and what did he say?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
The Lord will provide. But when they got to the
place of the sacrifice, what did Abraham do?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
He tied his son up to be the sacrifice because
he realized and got to a place after trying to
bring the promise in his own way. God, if this
is the promise that you're giving me, then you can
do whatever you want with the promise. It's not mine
to begin with and right as he's ready to reach
out and slit the Sun's throat.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
What does God say? The Prankcarnic Christ shows up said,
do not put a hand on that boy. Do not
lay a hand on him. Now I know that you're faithful.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Thanks for listening to Pastor Jeffministries. That was Pastor Jeff
with this message strengthening the Hope of your Salvation from
the series The Greatest, reminding you that your hope is
secure because Jesus is your eternal anchor and advocate. Before
you go, be sure to request Pastor Jeff's battle tested wisdom,
a ten day prayer journey for real life decisions when
(24:36):
you give a gift and support of Pastor Jeff Ministries.
To request your copy, go to Pastorjeff dot com and
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while you're there, remember to sign up for email updates
from Pastor Jeff Ministries so you never miss new resources
designed to equip you for courageous living. That's Pastorjeff dot com.
Thank you for joining us today.
We're glad you've joined us for today's program. Pastor Jeff
Ministries is the Bible teaching ministry of doctor Jeff Swarzentra,
Senior Pastor of Brave Church in Denver, Colorado. Today, Pastor
Jeff concludes his message strengthening the Hope of your Salvation
from the series The Greatest and remind you that your
(00:23):
hope is anchored in Jesus, your forever High Priest. Pastor
Jeff will get started in just a moment, but first
want to let you know there's a wealth of resources
to help you grow in your walk at Pastorjeff dot com.
Visit Pastorjeff dot com today to find out more and
to sign up for Pastor Jeff's weekly devotional emails. Now
here's today's program.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
If someone says I love God and hates his brother,
he is a liar. For the one who does not
love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God
whom he has not seen.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And this commandment we have from Him that the one
who loves God.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Should love his brother. Also, well, I love God, I
just don't love Christians. You're a liar because if you
love the God of the Bible, you will love Christians.
That's what the word teaches so well, we're called to
love the world. What should be going on in the
church in some ways is a love fest.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
And I don't mean love.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Because we need to redefine the word a little bit
and make it biblical. I don't mean having this OUI
guy emotional feeling that all these people are my best
friends and we just love hanging out every day all
day long. Now, there's gonna be certain people that you
click with a little better, There's be certain people that
you see the world with a little better. But when
it comes to genuinely caring for people the way of
(01:41):
Christ would care for them, we're called to do that
with every single Christian, and not just Christians that go
to brave and not just pastors that are up brave,
but for the Kingdom of God and those who are
part of the family. Why because when you trusted Christ
and Jesus is the only way, and he gave you
access to the Father. Anybody that has Christ, that has
(02:02):
access to the Father is now what your brother and
sister means. We're family, y'all. Are the problems in the family.
Sometimes this is the bigger family. So it means there's
more problems. Right, But we're called the love everybody in
the body of Christ. And if you want to grow
in your hope, if you want to strengthen the hope
you have of your own salvation, develop and demonstrate a
(02:22):
greater love for God and a greater love for the saints.
And I'm telling you it's a prayer. God will answer. God,
I want to love you more. Show me how to
love you more. God, I want to have a greater
hunger for your words. Show me how to do that. Lord,
brings some people in my life that can teach me
how to pray. Lord, I don't even know how to
do that.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Lord, I'd love to learn how to evangelize. Lord, just
teach me how to.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I want to love you and I want to do
the things that you want to do. And Lord, as
you're doing that, can you give me a greater love
for him?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Can you give me a greater love for her? Can
you show me? Because it feels unlovable to me to
love them, But show me what you would do if
you were me.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
When you begin to pray like that, God will begin
to use your life, and God will grow you. And
as he grows you and you feel the changes inside
of you. It'll give you the certainty of hope that
you are definitely saved.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
The second way that you can strengthen the hope of
your salvation it occurs when you endure with great faith
and patience. When you endure with great faith and patience. Now,
one of those words we really don't like. I'll let
you figure out which one it is. Notice what he
says in verse eleven. He says, and we desire that
(03:26):
each one of you show the same diligence, that's eagerness,
so as to realize the full assurance of hope until
the end.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
You say, well, it's hope. Hope is the certainty that
something's going to be realized.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Hope is I know it's going to come true, and
I'm believing that the Bible says, hope deferred makes the
heart sick. Hope means I have the full assurance, not
just I hope this works out. It's the full assurance
all the way to the end of my life that
I know that I know that I know that I
belong to Jesus and I can't screw that up. And
no matter what happens, He's going to receive me and
(04:02):
love me. That's the full assurance of hope. Many Christians
don't have that full assurance of hope. Some Christians think,
I know God's taking me because the Word of God
says it. But boy, is he going to be disappointed
in me when he meets me. That's not true. Jesus
forgave all of your sins on the cross. Jesus is
(04:22):
going to present you faultless before the Father with exceedingly
great joy. He loves you with an unconditional love. You say, well,
why do I think that? Well, you have an enemy
that's telling you all the time why you're not good
enough for God, and why God doesn't like you anymore,
and why God's disappointed in you, and how because you're
a Christian now you should have done better and you.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Could have done better, and if you would do that differently,
then God would be friends.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
When Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross and
died for you and rose from the dead, when you
place your full faith and trust in him alone, all
of your sin was forgiven and he embraces and loves
you completely. Good news or what I mean, that's awesome news.
And that's the news we have in the Gospel. It's
the best news on the planet. He goes on to say,
(05:10):
not only we'd have this hope to the end, why
so that you will not be sluggish sluggish means slothful
or lazy, but imitators of those who, through faith and
patience inherit the promise. He's saying, my hope for you
is that you wouldn't get lazy in your faith. Why
because when you lack.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
The certainty of the hope of your salvation, you'll.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Get lazy in your walk with Christ. You'll begin to
think I'm doing something wrong. I can never get this
thing right. It just doesn't work for me. I go
to church and I hear the messages and I'm inspired,
but it just doesn't translate into my life.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
It's not working for me. When you don't have the
certainty of your hope, you get sluggish in walking it out.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
There's not an eagerness or a diligence, or a want
to or a desire. It's almost as if it's a
haf to and it's a half to, and it's a
haf to and it's just not working for me. And
he says, I want you to follow the examples of
those who endured with great faith and great patience.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He says, what does mean? What I find is.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That for new believers, God does special things to let
you know that He really is who he says he is. Sometimes,
as a new believer, God gives gifts to let you
know that he's near. Perhaps it's an answered prayer for
a friend, or perhaps you're praying for somebody who's lost
and God uses you to lead him to Christ. Or
maybe it's that you tithed and God gives you an
immediate monetary reward because you tithed this guy in our
(06:29):
church last week that had gotten saved a few weeks ago,
and he said, you know, I felt prompted to tithe,
and I started tithing, and I knew what he was
gonna tell me.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I knew the story.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And he went on to say, you know, when you know,
I got a check in the mail this week for
four times the amount, And I'm like, I know that's.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
What God does. So his word says he's gonna do.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
And I find that his new believers, God does a
lot of that early on to let you know that
he's there. But as you mature, God uses circumstances of
challenge and trials to see if you'll continue to step
in faith. He'll take you through times that seem dark.
But Jesus asking you, will you keep walking?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Now, you just made this clear.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And John sixteen thirty three says, in this world you
will have tribulation. Now this is a good place for
me to pause, just in case you've been lied to
and you thought that since you trusted Christ, it was
gonna be like a love boat cruising off to heaven
and everything was gonna be perfect for you. Let me
tell you, Christian, in this world you're gonna have trouble.
There's gonna be tribulation. And the reason it's called that
is because you can't choose what your tribulation is gonna be. Sometimes,
(07:29):
sometimes there's gonna be challenging trials and circumstances that come
your way. You have absolutely no control over them. You
can't do anything about it. You didn't do anything about
it to get into it, and you can't do anything about.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
It to get out of it. And I got good
news for you.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
God's the one that unfolded all of that before you,
and he thinks it's good.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
The challenge is good do you know why?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Because it's in those seasons where God's asking you, do
you still trust me? So I'm twenty three, starting in
verse four, says, even though I walked through what valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Sometimes it seems.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
As though if God God kind of turns off the
lights in our life, even though he's the light of
the world, we're not experiencing that light.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
We're not feeling that light. And the enemy lies.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
To us and says this, if God is so good,
and God's the light of your life, then how come
your life so dark right now? And here's your answer,
Because he loves me so much and he wants to
see if I can still trust him when I can't
see him, and if I'll still trust him when I'm
not experiencing him. The Bible says we walk by faith
(08:34):
and not by sight. I have good news for some
of you this morning. They're going through a hard time.
God unfolded all of that before you because he's growing
your spiritual muscles, and all he's asking you to do
is continue to take a step of faith.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Will you trust him that way?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And here's what I'm talking to I'm talking to you
people here today, or maybe you've been in this season before,
and if you're not, you'll be in it. So pay
attention were when you go through a hard time, somebody
gives you a glib answer, say, man, I'm really going
through a hard time.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
When what do I need to do?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
And they'll say this, Read your Bible, pray, tend church,
be authentic, get in a small group, and your response
from your gut will feel like saying, I'm doing all
those things and it's not working.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
You ever have that experience. If you haven't, you will.
That's what he's talking about. Now, what is faith?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Hebrews is going to tell us in chapter eleven. Faith
is the assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of
what we do not see. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Well how do I get this faith? Well,
faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.
Romans ten seventeen tells us that so when the word
of God is proclaimed or you're reading the Word, God
is speaking to you.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
He's bolstering your faith.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
That's why if you're in a church where the Word
of God is faithfully proclaimed, you'll hear.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
God, you'll be stimulated to do something.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
But there's more than just knowing what to do, it's
actually doing something.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
This is Pastor Jeff Ministries with doctor Jeff Swarzentrau, and
today Pastor Jeff is sharing his message strengthening the Hope
of your Salvation from the series The Greatest, reminding you
that your hope is secure because Jesus is your eternal
anchor and advocate. We'll return to Pastor Jeff in just
a moment, but before we do, we want to help
(10:22):
you live differently, to think clearly, to pray powerfully, and
to walk wisely every single day with Pastor Jeff's battle
tested wisdom a ten day prayer journey for real life decisions.
This resource is our thanks for your gift of support
to help reach more people through Pastor Jeff Ministries. To
request your copy, simply go to Pastorjeff dot com and
(10:43):
give a gift to keep teachings like this one today
going strong through Pastor Jeff Ministries. Again, that's Pastorjeff dot Com.
Now let's return to today's teaching.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Romans ten seventeen tells us that so when the Word
of God has proclaimed or you're reading the word, God
is speaking to you.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
He's bolstering your faith.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
That's why if you're in a church where the word
of God is faithfully proclaimed, you'll hear God. You'll be
stimulated to do something. But there's more than just knowing
what to do. It's actually doing something. James, the half
brother of Jesus, talks about this and his epistle. He
says in James one, two and three, he says, consider
(11:25):
it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and
let endurance have its perfect result, so you may be
perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
So when you go through a tough time, here's what
the Bible tells you to do. Count it joy.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Like we have a way of celebrating good things in
our life. They come naturally, the birth of a child,
the marriage of two people who know Christ, a pay raise,
a new job. But it's not as natural to us
when that child we've been waiting for dies two minutes
after it comes out of the womb. Not as rejoicing
(12:08):
as when you're trying to work out your marriage and
it ends in divorce.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Not as good when you get overlooked.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
By people that aren't as good as you for the
job that you rightly need. Here's what God says, Hey,
when that happens, like, count it all joy. That's really
good that it happened to you. Here's why it's good,
because God is developing your spiritual muscles and He's developing
endurance in your life, so you'll be perfect and complete.
You won't be lacking anything, so he says in James
one twenty two. But prove yourself doers of the word,
(12:36):
not merely hearers who delude themselves. And he says in
two seventeen, even so, faith, if it has no works.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Is dead. What's he saying. He's saying, when you hear
the word, will you continue to walk?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And will you continue to endure even when you're not
experiencing the goodness of God in the moment. See, I
think those situations at the times where God's actually taking
off the training wheels and God's kind of letting go
of the seat and you feel like you're wobbling and
you don't like it, and it's uncomfortable, and you would
have never chose this situation and you don't ever want
(13:08):
this situation again.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
But Christian who is mature listened to me.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Isn't it true that when you go through a season
like that and you come out the other side, that
there's something in your gut that says, I know Jesus
in a way I never knew him before. I love
God in a way I've never loved him before. That
was so awesome that you strengthen my spiritual muscles. God,
Now don't ever do that again. Isn't that true? Because
(13:33):
we wouldn't choose trials, we wouldn't choose suffering. That's why
God chooses those things for us, which means this, believer,
if you're gonna grow in your hope.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Know this.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the reason that you're suffering.
Perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the tribulation and trial
that you're enduring. Perhaps it's because of God's great love
with which he has for you to grow your spiritual muscles.
I mean, the Book of Romans highlights this same thing
Chapter five. In Romans, chapter five, starting in verse three
(14:04):
says not only this, Paul says, but we also exalt
in our tribulations.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You know what exalt means? Rejoice?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
He says, in flippings rejoicing the Lord when Paul always,
I'll say it again, rejoice.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
We have a hard time.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Exalting and rejoicing when our circumstances stink. But the Bible says,
if you want to grow in your hope, rejoice even
when things aren't good, and it will grow the hope
and certainty.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Of your salvation.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Why because when we exalt in our tribulations, knowing that
tribulation brings about perseverance. That's the word for endurance or steadfastness.
And perseverance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
God's trying to grow your character, which will give you
hope in Him.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
And hope does not disappoint because the love of God.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who was given to us. It means this, no
matter what you're going through, keep taking steps of faith
and be willing to endure all the way to the end.
That's what he's saying. Don't give up, don't quit when
(15:10):
it's hard. That's when the enemy sounds the loudest. That's
when his life sounds the clearest. And here's what you'll hear.
If your God was so good. Then why fill in
the blank. Here's why. Because God wants to teach me
how to rejoice when this isn't going good. And God
wants me to learn to depend upon His goodness when
I can't see His goodness with my own two eyes.
(15:31):
And oh, by the way, God is good, and this
world never promised me everything good. But I'm looking forward to today, Satan,
when you're thrown into the lake of fire and I
live in the perfect utopia with Jesus and my God
is good, and I'm yearning for that day.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
That's why God doesn't make this.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
World perfect for me, because if this world is perfect,
I'd never want to go. But because God's so good,
he ensures us that your world will never be perfect
on this side of heaven.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Isn't that good news? Rejoice?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Some of you need to rejoice today, not because of
your circumstances, but in spite of them.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Amen, this is what God does for us.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I mean, faith produces obedience, and obedience produces faith, and
faith produces obedience and obedience produces faith.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
And as that.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Goes on, you build endur rents, you build life, and
you know you can do it. And when you see
people endure with great faith even when things don't go well.
Haven't you seen that stimulate your faith and your hope.
Almost twenty years ago, I ran the Chicago Marathon for
(16:38):
what I believe.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Is my last time. And the word run is an
exaggeration for a fact.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
I steadily plotted, I jogged, and all these different kinds
of things. But this one was different. I had really
trained well. I was about thirty pounds lighter than I
am right now. I would go out and run twenty miles.
At the time, I was going to do a sub
four hour marathon. I knew I was, But on that
day it was ninety.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Two degrees in Chicagoay, I ran, they ran out of water.
I felt miserable.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Some of you runners know there're certain days you feel good,
certain days you don't feel good, and.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
It kind of changes.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
As I had all that, but this day was like
miserable and lousy. And I saw my wife at the
halfway point and I said, pray for me. I'm not
doing well. And am mile thirteen. I was telling my
buddy that we had run with for six months, like
you just need to leave me, just go on. I
don't know if I'm going to finish, and he started
quoting top Gun to me, like you never leave your wingman,
and all these kind of cool quotes for about three miles,
(17:30):
and finally, at mile eighteen he looked at me and said,
you wouldn't leave me, would you? And I said, if
you'd told me for three miles to leave you, you
bet I would.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
So he left, and I'm there.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
By myself saying, God, what in the world is going on?
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And why would you have me feel this miserable in Chicago?
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I just wanted to quit, but I kept steadily plodding, plotting,
and wouldn't you know it, about five minutes later, I
saw this guy laying down on the ground in the marathon,
and it was different than the other ones I'd seen
because of dehydration. This guy had blood coming out of
his mouth, and I do wasn't doing well, and they
were beginning CPR on him, and I was prompted to
do this thing, to just go over and pray over him,
because I didn't know what to do medically. So I
(18:07):
wheeled around and started praying for this guy, praying for
this guy, praying for this guy until.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
The medics came.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
When the medics came, I got up and left, and
I kept hearing this voice, Jeff. The most important thing
in this life is being prepared for the next. Most
important thing in this lives being prepared for the next.
I prayed over that guy is he died. He died
right on that road, and because I was there, I
ended up calling his pastor up in Michigan the very
next day, asking him, you know what was going on.
(18:33):
He wouldn't take my phone call because he thought I
was asking for an opportunity to preach.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And I told the secretary, I'm like, no, just tell.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
The pastor that I was praying over Chad when he
died on Ashland Avenue yesterday and I need to.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Talk to him.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
So he took my call and I said, I was
praying over him yesterday and here's some of the things
that I encountered. He I said, was Chadow Christ He's like, oh, yeah,
he goes, well, you come to the funeral and tell
your story.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
He goes, if you talked to his wife yet? And
I said no, I don't. I didn't know if he
was married, didn't anything about him. Yeah, she's a believer.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
She ran in the race too, but she got rerouted
because the race got canceled, so she wasn't there with him,
and her biggest disappointment is she wasn't there praying over
him when he died.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
So would you come tell the congregation you were praying
over him when he died?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Said yeah, So my wife and I went up told
the whole story about what had happened. Now, when we
got to the funeral, and it was packed because this
guy was a policeman, So there were three hundred policemen
in full guarb white gloves.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
The whole thing.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
I saw in the front row a woman and three
kids with all their hands up in the air worshiping God.
And the pastor told me, that's his wife and those
are his children, and they worshiped during the whole funeral service.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Do you know what that did to my soul?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
As we got to know them later that day, it
was evident that their faith was in Jesus Christ. They
knew that their husband and their daddy was with Jesus,
and that while they were saddened, and while they were disappointed,
they knew life was going to go on and they
were excited for where he was. That's impossible without the
spirit of God, and isn't it true. When you see
(20:02):
somebody who's going through incredibly difficult things that still keeps
Jesus Christ's first place. It stimulates your heart question why
does God take you through challenging things?
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Why does God.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Make your life difficult so that all the people in
your sphere of influence that are watching you can see
that you put Jesus Christ first and that he's the Lord.
And people say, if they can get through that, when
they're going through this.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I want who they have.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
That's why you go through trials, That's why you go
through sufferings. And if you haven't had them, they're coming.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
You will. And it's not because you've done anything wrong.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
It's God preparing you in this life for what's to
come so that when you cross the finish line of faith,
you will be exhilarated.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
He know that day because I.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Had to stop and they paused the race at mile
eighteen and I had to walk the last six miles.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
How tired I was when I got to the end.
I didn't do it in four hours. I mean I
was sitting there on the side, like I'll just take
a bus.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And then so he came up and said, okay, this
guy writes his name down and do not finish.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I'm like, you ain't writing my name down, boy, I'm
finishing this race. So I walked the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And when I crossed the finish line that day, I
mean I started weeping six hours and eleven minutes later
because what I'd cross and it was over.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Friends. In this life, you will have tribulations.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
But when you cross over from this life to the next,
all your tribulations are gone. There will never be any
more tribulations. There'll never be any more relationship challenges. They'll
never be anybody that speaks bad about you. They'll never
be gossip behind your back. You'll never have a financial.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Crisis, a health crisis, or a relationship crisis. Everybody gets along.
It's perfect harmony forever and ever. Amen and Amen. Isn't
that good?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
So if you have trials in this world and you
have difficult things going on, it's just to wet your
appetite because what's coming is way better.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
That's what he's talking about. That's why the Apostle Paul.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Said, and flippings three forgetting what is behind and straining
towards what is ahead. I press on toward the goal
to win the upward call of God, the prize of
God in Christ, Jesus. I mean, that's what he was
looking forward to. So you can strengthen your hope of
your salvation by growing your love for God and others,
by enduring with great faith and patience. And patience means
long suffering. Endure with long suffering. It's a fruit of
(22:16):
the spirit. And then he said this a third way
you can do this is you can strengthen the hope
of your salvation.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And that occurs when you trust God and his promises.
When you trust God and his promises. Know that's what
he says in verses thirteen and following.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he
could not swear, since he could swear by no one greater,
he swore by himself, saying I will surely bless you,
and I will surely multiply you. And having patiently waited,
he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater
than themselves, and with them an oath given as a
confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way, God,
(22:56):
desiring even more to show the errors of the promise,
of his unchanged yours, of his purpose interposed with an oath,
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge
would have strong encouragement to take hope with the hope
set before us.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
What's he saying?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
If you remember the story of Abraham, got promised to
bless him, but it wasn't until God gave him the promise.
And when he gave him the promised son, of which
he said, all the nations of the world will be
blessed through you, like this is the promised son, at
one point in time he asked Abraham to sacrifice his son.
So very early the next morning, Abraham got up with
his son to go to the place of the sacrifice,
(23:33):
and Isaac was asking his daddy, Dad, was the sacrifice
and what did he say?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
The Lord will provide. But when they got to the
place of the sacrifice, what did Abraham do?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
He tied his son up to be the sacrifice because
he realized and got to a place after trying to
bring the promise in his own way. God, if this
is the promise that you're giving me, then you can
do whatever you want with the promise. It's not mine
to begin with and right as he's ready to reach
out and slit the Sun's throat.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
What does God say? The Prankcarnic Christ shows up said,
do not put a hand on that boy. Do not
lay a hand on him. Now I know that you're faithful.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Thanks for listening to Pastor Jeffministries. That was Pastor Jeff
with this message strengthening the Hope of your Salvation from
the series The Greatest, reminding you that your hope is
secure because Jesus is your eternal anchor and advocate. Before
you go, be sure to request Pastor Jeff's battle tested wisdom,
a ten day prayer journey for real life decisions when
(24:36):
you give a gift and support of Pastor Jeff Ministries.
To request your copy, go to Pastorjeff dot com and
give to help reach more people through these teachings. And
while you're there, remember to sign up for email updates
from Pastor Jeff Ministries so you never miss new resources
designed to equip you for courageous living. That's Pastorjeff dot com.
Thank you for joining us today.
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