MARKS OF THE CHURCH:  HOPE

JOHN 17:24

JUNE 29, 1997

 

One of the strongest characteristics that marked early Christians in contrast to their pagan counterparts was their hope.  They faced life, suffering, and death in a way unheard of in the ancient world.  To maintain this practice, Paul reminded the believers at Thessalonica not to "grieve, as do the rest who have no hope" (I Thes. 4:13).  Loud wailing and bitter cries marked the death of those who knew nothing of the saving grace of God.  

 

John Stott quotes Bishop Lightfoot, the Anglican Pauline scholar, as he contrasts the attitudes of Christians and pagans in relationship to hope:

The contrast between the gloomy despair of the heathen and the triumphant hope of the Christian mourner is nowhere more forcibly brought out than by their monumental inscriptions.  The contrast of the tombs, for instance, in the Appian Way, above and below ground, has often been dwelt upon.  One the one hand, there is the dreary wail of despair, the effect of which is only heightened by the pomp of outward splendour from which it issues.  On the other, the exulting psalm of hope, shining the more brightly in all ill-written, ill-spelt records amidst the darkness of subterranean caverns (i.e. Roman catacombs) [The Gospel and the End of Time, 95].


Hope is an essential need of human life.  All of us face dark times and inevitably face the fear of death.  Men have devised all manner of ideas to cope with death and the future.  Some deny any sort of future life.  The ancient Epicureans taught that at death, the souls of men consisting of atoms simply dispersed into the universe and all consciousness or sensation ceased [F.F. Bruce, New Testament History, 42].  This gave Epicureans a "mind over matter" mentality in facing death.  Others craft clever ideas which give them a false-hope for the future.  The recent "Heaven's Gates" cult in California committed mass suicide because they had convinced themselves that to end life would join them to an alien spaceship that followed in the wake of the Hale-Bopp Comet.  They could all take their lives because of the false-hope of joining a UFO.

 

Many people, if not most, have a sense of "wishful thinking" that they will go to heaven when they die.  They have no basis for such a hope, only a sense of the "power of positive thinking."  They convince themselves that they are "good enough" to go to heaven because they do not engage in any 'major' sins.  But this kind of hope bears no resemblance to the biblical concept of hope.  It is more akin to a wish than a solid reality or expectation.

 

We must keep in mind that John 17 is a high priestly prayer of Jesus Christ on behalf of His followers.  Certainly, this prayer is filled with instruction, but most of all, it is a prayer for those who are in Christ.  Jesus' "desire" or prayer on behalf of the redeemed is for an eternal hope.  They would not have to face the future in the same way as the pagans about them.   They could face it with confidence that their lives would not end with this life but would continue in a glorious fulness in the presence of Christ forever.  This hope consists of a confident expectation which is born out of a genuine relationship to Christ and nurtured in the promises of God.

 

The biblical usage of hope does not parallel the common usage in our day.  When we use the word "hope," we think of it as more of a wish that may have no ground or basis for being realized.  I can say, "I hope that it does not rain this week," but I have no promise nor assurance nor confidence that my hope will be fulfilled.  It is merely a wish based on my personal desire.

 

The Bible speaks of hope being focused in the Lord.  As the Lord is faithful and sure, even so our hope in Him is a sure confidence.  In Psalm 38:15, the psalmist addresses sorrow and declares, "For I hope in Thee, O Lord."  Another psalm expresses it like this, "How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (146:5).  Jeremiah expresses the New Testament idea when he cries, "Thou art my refuge [hope] in the day of disaster" (17:17).

 

In the New Testament, hope is considered one of the chief Christian virtues, along with faith and love (I Cor. 13:13).  After describing the peace of justification, Paul expresses the confidence in hope as believers face the future:  "...we exult in hope of the glory of God" (Rom. 5:2).  He explains later in Romans 8:24, "For in hope we have been saved," which implies that the salvation that had been bestowed in Christ is characterized by a hope in the future.  Christ in you is the hope of future revelation of the glory of God (Col. 1:27).  Paul stated that "Christ Jesus...is our hope," who has given us "the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago," so that we might await "the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:2; 2:14).  None of these verses connote the idea of wishful thinking of something that may or may not transpire.  Instead, hope is the solid assurance, the great confidence that what God has done on behalf of the redeemed through Jesus Christ, He will fulfill to the uttermost.  It is this confidence that allows the Christian to face all of the uncertainties of life and death.

 

Hope still marks those who are in Christ.  It is not a hope of wishful thinking nor a hope spurred by political or economic changes.  Hope springs from the experience of the gospel of grace.  It has its foundation in the strong character of our God.

 

How does hope mark the church?

 

I.  Parameters of Hope

 

The prayer of Christ identifies "who" has a right to face life and death with hope.  Multitudes cling to a false hope nurtured by lifeless religion.  Everyone does not have hope.  The message of the gospel gives hope to the hopeless.  For our hope is found in Christ alone.  "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am."  Consider the three parameters of hope described by our Lord.

 

1.  Marked by character

 

Hope is marked by Christian character.  "Father, I desire that they also...," refers us back to our context.  We have seen that this is a prayer for those who have eternal life (v. 3).  Since Jesus is no more in the world, but ascends to the Father, He prays that the disciples might be "kept" by the Father (vv. 11, 13).  He then begins to describe the marks or character of those whom the Father keeps (cf. vv. 13-26).  Now He prays that "they also," that is, 'they also in addition to the Twelve' might be with Him.  Who are the "they also" of this verse?  They are the disciples of Jesus Christ in every age.  They are those who have come to faith in Christ alone for salvation.

 

There are particular characteristics that will identify the disciples of Jesus Christ in the midst of the world.  They are the ones who have the joy of Christ radiating in them (v. 13).  They are hated by the world because of the holiness of their lives.  They are described as those who are in the world but not of the world (vv. 14-16).  The work of sanctification by the truth of God's Word continues in their lives, so that they drink deeply of the wells of divine truth, applying the Word to their daily lives (v. 17).  They have a sense of mission which characterizes them, a desire to tell other sinners of the life they have in Christ (v. 18).  They have a spirit of oneness with others who have been redeemed through the blood and justified through the righteousness of Christ (vv. 20-23).  Along with faith, they will have the wonderful attitude of hope and the gracious spirit of love showing through their lives (vv. 24-26).

 

We must never think of a Christian as someone who merely makes a profession or simply aligns himself with a church.  A Christian will have the character of a Christian.  Yes, he is still making progress; he has areas of weakness.  He certainly has not perfected all of these characteristics.  But the direction of his life gives evidence that Christ has done a saving work in him, reproducing His holiness and righteousness in sanctifying power.  It is this kind of person who has a true hope in facing the future.

 

2.  Assured by election

 

The next phrase in the first clause of our text points to a divine act related to salvation.  "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me."  The emphasis is a repetition of what Christ has already prayed, "they also, whom Thou hast given Me."  The same word and same verb tense is used in verse 2, "that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life."  Again in verse 6, "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me," He makes the same statement.  Once again in verse 9, Jesus specifies that He prays for "those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine."

 

Jesus uses the same phrase to refer to the authority God the Father gave to Christ over all mankind (v. 2) and to the holy name which the Father gave Christ to guard the redeemed (v. 11-12).  The word refers to something that is bestowed by one person to another person.  In this case, Jesus refers to the authority and name the Father bestowed upon Him, using the perfect tense verb to describe the permanency of such a bestowal.  It is this same word and verb tense which He uses to refer to those identified in this chapter as disciples being bestowed upon Christ.  The ones the Father gave to the Son, He in turn has given eternal life (v. 2), manifested or revealed the character of God in all of His saving power (vv. 6-8), and kept them for eternity (vv. 11-12).  

 

We could try to argue our way around such a stark phrase, "they also, whom Thou hast given Me."  We could say that this refers to only the Twelve in their apostolic office, but the context of verses 20-26 will not allow it, since it specifically refers to those "who believe in [Christ] through their word."  Or we could say that the Father gave them to the Son after those individuals made a decision to believe.  But again, the context will not allow this since He is referring to a divine act which preceded human activity, on one hand and a futuristic look to all of the redeemed, on the other.  The heart of this chapter expresses the divine sovereignty.  Christ prays sovereignly, deciding beforehand precisely what He desires to be worked in us.  You do not see Christ putting a caveat on His prayer for His followers, 'Please grant these things if it is first their will'.   A sovereign Lord can never be held hostage by the will of man; or else He will found lacking sovereignty.

 

It is in this assurance of election that we find the Christian hope.  Peter, whose first epistle resonates with the theme of "hope," states in II Peter 1:10-11, "Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things [referring to qualities of Christian character], you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you."  The confidence for facing the future, including death, comes because we know that we have been chosen by God for eternity.  And how do we know?  Because the evidence of His calling is seen in His sanctifying work in our character, along with the internal witness of the Spirit (II Pet. 1:4-9; Rom. 8:14-17).

 

3.  Evidenced by ownership

 

Sometime a personal pronoun carries mighty weight.  Such is the case of the pronoun, "Me," which describes the ownership of Christ over all whom the Father has given to Him and He has consequently redeemed.  It is that sense of being "owned" by Christ that gives us hope.  We belong to Him.  He has redeemed us by His own blood from our slavery and bondage.  He was raised from the dead on our behalf.  He indwells us by the Holy Spirit.  He has laid His claim upon us as Lord of all.  With this kind of assurance, we have hope.  It is the hope spurred on by belonging to Christ as Lord.

 

When I was a teenager, my dad would drop me off at our family farm, twenty miles away from our home.  It was a rather barren place during those days, with acres of woods and fields.  I would spend the day working in the two-three acre garden.  As the sun began to set I had the confidence and assurance that I would not be spending the night alone in the fields.  My hope was anchored in the fact that I belonged to my dad.  I never worried that he might not pick me up or that he might somehow get busy and forget me.  I could toil in the heat of the sun with the confidence that when darkness approached, my father would come for me.  

 

We can toil throughout this life with the assurance that as the sunset of life approaches, our Lord will carry us to Himself forever.

 

The Heidelberg Catechism offers a clear sense of the Christian hope in its first question and answer.

 

Question 1.  What is thy only comfort in life and death?

 

Answer.  That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ, who, with his precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that, without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation: and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready henceforth to live unto him.

 

II.  Content of Hope

 

Our hope as Christians is not a vapid wistfulness.  We are not just expressing a vain idea, "Oh, I have hope," without that hope meaning anything.  Our hope has content--teeth to it.  It is a substantial hope.  It is so evident in the words of our Lord, "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am...."

 

Hope refers to a relationship of being with Christ and an abode of being where He is.  Let's see how this figures into the matter of Christian hope.

 

1.  Focused on a relationship

 

The Psalms echo with the truth that our hope is to be in the Lord, that is, in the sphere of a living relationship to Him.  "For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope" (38:15); "my hope is in Thee" (39:7); "hope thou in God" (42:5, 11); "for Thou art my hope, O Lord God" (71:5).  Hope is not a warm feeling; it is the confidence of an ongoing relationship with Christ.  "I desire that they also,...be with Me."  

 

There is a tenderness of relationship found throughout John 17.  It is the relationship of the Son with the Father, bringing into the Father's presence the Son's relationship with the redeemed.  The quality of His saving work is eternal.  The character of it is relational.  So our Lord prays that the disciples might "be with Me" as He returns to the Father's abode.

 

I believe we have to go back to the whole work of salvation and consider that in saving us, the Lord has reconciled us to Himself.  We who were enemies of God have been brought into a living relationship to Him (Rom. 5:10).  But is it only for this life?  If this life is all there is then the eternal value of the death of Christ sufficed for only a few centuries.  The promises of the gospel tell us that as Christ was raised from the dead, so shall we be raised (cf. I Cor. 15).  As Christ ascended to the Father, so shall we enter into the Father's presence in bodies prepared for eternity (John 14:1-6).  And what is the promise?  Is it that we will be carrying on some kind of gigantic party in heaven, flitting about on clouds, visiting everyone we can think of?  The great hope we have is that we will "see Him as He is" in all of His radiant glory (I John 3:1-3).  We shall enter the realm of the eternal and behold the Lamb of God who took away our sins.  Along with the angels and all the saints of old, we shall look upon our Lord and cry out, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing" (Rev. 5:12).  We shall cast our gaze upon the throne of God, in reverent worship and holy humility, crying out, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever" (Rev. 5:13).  

 

In the words of the Apostle Paul, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (II Cor. 5:8).  That is why he could write, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21).  It is the wondrous gain of being in the very presence of Jesus Christ that sustained the apostle in the trials of life.  He knew that if a rebellious mob took his life that he would be instantly ushered into the living, visible presence of Jesus Christ forever.  That was his hope.  It was the confident expectation that enabled him to sing cheerfully in the face of death.  This kind of hope belongs only to those who know Jesus Christ in His saving power.

 

We need only look at the close of Stephen's mighty sermon and defense of the gospel before the Jewish mob to get an idea of the hope we have in our relationship to Christ.  Facing the anger of the crowd for the purity of the gospel, Stephen looked into heaven and found that God had pulled back the curtain for a moment, so that he cried, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  The mob began to drive him out of the city and stone him.  But his sweet knowledge of hope in being ushered into the presence of Christ gave him courage, so that he could pray, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"  That is hope!

 

2.  Directed to an abode

 

While the content of hope points to our ongoing relationship with the One who reconciled us to Himself, it also directs us to an eternal abode.  "Father, I desire that they also,...be with Me where I am."  Here our Lord refers to an actual place, the place where He was preparing to go as He prayed this high priestly prayer.  Where is the place?  We know of course that he refers to Heaven.

 

Jesus had already told His disciples of Heaven.  In John 14:1-6, Jesus explains that He is going ahead of them to the "Father's house" in which there are "many dwelling places."  The responsibility of preparing for the redeemed to enter Heaven had been placed upon the strong shoulders of our Lord.  He prepares a place for us.  And what a place that must be if He prepares it!  No more sin!  No more death!  No more disease!  No more unholiness!  No more sorrow!  That is Heaven.  

 

Heaven is not only the absence of certain things, but also the positive presence of others.  There is the throne of God and of the Lamb.  There are the delights of an eternal bounty found for those prepared by the saving work of Christ.  It is the place of 'no more night' but the eternal brightness of the radiant glory of our God.  It is a place that is filled with magnificent praise and worship to our great God.

 

Those with true hope in Christ find their delight in experiencing a little bit of heaven while on earth.  Living in the presence of Christ by the Holy Spirit, basking in the wonders of the eternal glory of our God, and expressing our love and adoration of the Godhead in praise help us to understand the reality of our hope in Christ.  If these kinds of things have no importance or value in your life, it is likely that you have never known the saving power of Christ in your life.  Just as faith and love are experiences, so is hope.  It finds its keenest expression in our worship and meditation of the character and ways of our God.

 

It is this content of hope that has nurtured multitudes of believers along in the waning days of life.  William Carey, the pioneer Baptist missionary to India, faced death with this sense of hope.  Dr. Timothy George quotes from two letters Carey wrote in the last years of his life.  It expresses well the hope of this well-worn life.  "The repeated attacks I have had, namely, eight or nine within the last twelve months, have much enfeebled me, and warn me to look forward to a change.  This change, through the mercy of God, I do not fear....The atoning sacrifice made by our Lord on the cross is the ground of my hope of acceptance, pardon, justification, sanctification, and endless glory."   "Two years later," Dr. George adds, "he was still alive, though growing more and more infirm.  To his sisters again he wrote what he described" in Carey's own words, as "the last letter you are at all likely to receive from me....The will of the Lord be done.  Adieu, till I meet you in a better world" [Faithful Witness:  The Life and Mission of William Carey, 167].

 

III. Aim of Hope

 

Much confusion has affected the Christian mind about what goes on in Heaven.  This stems from the endless songs written to pluck the heart strings with emotion, but void of biblical content.  There is really a simplicity in how our Lord describes what believers will do in Heaven.  Certainly, He did not give a total picture of Heaven within the scope of this verse, but He does show what we could aptly call, the aim of hope.

 

1.  Eternal engagement of activity

 

Heaven is not an idle place.  If you have ideas that you will be bored in Heaven, then think again.  Our minds cannot begin to fathom the profound magnificence of that abode and the fulness of our relationship to our Lord.  Jesus' own words help us to understand an eternal engagement of activity which we will enjoy in Heaven.  "Father, I desire that they also,...may behold my glory, which Thou hast given Me."  

 

It was this glimpse of glory that sustained Stephen as we saw earlier.  It is this glimpse of glory that has given courage to countless martyrs in the face of suffering, along with multitudes of believers facing the normal course of death.  But here, we do not see a glimpse of glory.  We see a "beholding" of the fulness of divine glory.  The word implies that we will see visibly and perceive with all of our senses and comprehend with our minds the radiance of divine glory.

 

We can compare it like this.  Suppose that you were in the depths of a cave surrounded by total darkness.  At a point in your groping you suddenly notice a small shaft of light.  It is faint, but it is wonderful for you since all you had about you was darkness.  The closer you get to it the brighter it seems.  But it is still only a slight crevice allowing the rays of the sun to penetrate the darkness.  Once you find your way out of the cave you emerge from that faint light into the brilliance of a noon-day sun.  You are relieved and amazed at the brightness of the sun compared with the faintness of the light you had known in the cave.

 

Our living in this world can be compared to groping in darkness.  When Christ saves us, we find in Him a light in our darkness.  The more we grow in Him, the brighter the light of His glory appears.  But in this life, it is still faint by comparison to the brilliance of glory to be displayed when we leave this world behind and gaze at His glory.  Our whole being will be consumed by the beauty and holiness of His glory.  As Thomas Manton expressed it, "The visible sun hath scarce the honour (sic) to be Christ's shadow" [Works, vol. XI, 102].

 

This implies that in Heaven we will utilize our senses in ways incomprehensible at present.  We will see as we have never seen before.  We will know as we have never known before.  We will hear the glories of God proclaimed as we have never imagined hearing them.  Our minds will comprehend what at present is beyond us. 

 

John spoke of this beholding Christ in all of His glory, seeing Him as He is, and being like Him who is the first-fruit of the resurrection.  He adds one thing that I believe we should think upon.  If we have this hope of being with Christ and seeing Him as He is in all of His glory, we cannot be casual in our Christian life.  "And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (I John 3:3).  The hope we have in Christ, if it is a true hope, will bring about greater purity and holiness in our personal lives.

 

2.  Eternal foundation of love

 

The gift of hope for us has its foundation in the Father's love for the Son.  "For Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world."  Do we even remotely understand the depth of love the Father has for the Son?  It will take the glories of eternity to enlarge our minds and provide the time for us to begin to grasp the fulness of the Father's love for His own Son.  

 

Imagine for a moment the great love that you parents have for your own children.  In human terms, that love is profound and indescribable.  But we are sinners, affected by the fall in our mind and affections.  We love but the capacity of our love and affection is finite.  It is limited by the weakness of our senses.  It cannot even begin to be compared to the infinite love the Father has for the Son.

 

To think that the Father who loved His Son with such a perfect and infinite love would send Him to earth to suffer the ignominy of the cross for sinners ought to give us hope!  Knowing that the Father loved His Son so much, yet in redeeming love He willingly poured out His eternal wrath upon His Son for us should fill our minds with hope!

 

It is in comprehending the Father's love for His Son that we can begin to see the depth of His love for us in reconciling us to Himself.  The Father accepted the righteousness of His Son, the Son of His infinite love, on behalf of us--His enemies.  The Father's justice was satisfied by the bloody death of His perfect Son, the Son of His eternal love, so that condemned sinners might be pardoned and brought into sonship.  It is in the Father's profound love of the Son that we see His love for us.  There is our hope.

 

Conclusion

 

Do you have that sense of hope welling up in your heart?  I cannot put it there nor can your efforts at positive thinking.  Hope is a grace, a wonderful gift of assurance that comes by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:3-5).  Hope can be found in only one place.  Listen to Carey's words again as he states it clearly:  "The atoning sacrifice made by our Lord on the cross is the ground of my hope of acceptance, pardon, justification, sanctification, and endless glory."  Can you say in the depths of your heart a loud 'Amen' with William Carey?  If not, then flee to Christ and find through repentance and faith in Him, a hope that "does not disappoint."

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.