Whatever Happened to Hope?

by

Roy H. Hicks, D.D.

Contents

Introduction

1    What Ever Happened to Hope?

2    How to Keep on Hoping When All Hope is Gone

3    Speak Your Hope

4    That Blessed Hope

Let Me Conclude With

INTRODUCTION

Hope is a beautiful word ... Picture a hospital waiting room. After long, anxious hours of waiting, the doctor appears and says, "There is hope.” Now picture the scene as he says, "It is only a matter of time; there is no hope.”

Hope is a Bible word. It is especially beautiful in its relationship to faith. According to Strongs’, hope (elpis) means to anticipate, usually with pleasure; to expect.

In present day application this word has become weakened ... a "hope-so, maybe-so” word. If you ask someone, "Do you believe that God will heal you?” many times the answer is "I hope so.” What the person is really saying is, "I do not really believe He will, but I hope so ANYWAY.” This is not Bible hope based on faith, but merely wishful thinking.

May the reading of this book help you to apprehend this word and add it to your arsenal of words. The next time you are asked, "Do you believe that God heard you and has answered?” may you confidently express your hope with a good firm, "I am fully expecting it to happen.”

Chapter 1

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO HOPE?

Now abideth faith, hope, and love... but the greatest of these is love. Because love is the greatest in contrast to the other two, and because much is written and spoken about faith, hope is either utterly ignored or caught in the middle and squeezed out of existence.

Three great words are mentioned. They are all significant and important. Each one is necessary and vital to the Christian faith and walk.

Faith teachers have become very prominent through their great emphasis on the importance of faith. They are correct for:

... without faith it is impossible to please Him (God)

Hebrews 11:6

The entire 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews speaks about the heroes of faith ... what they did, how they did it, and the rewards they received. Books by the hundreds have been written to give us the principles of faith ... from mustard seed to how to become a millionaire.

Is anything wrong with this teaching? NO! A thousand times no! Prayer without faith ascends no higher than the head of the pray-er. To arise to meet the day and face its problems without faith is a fearful and totally unnecessary prospect!

Conceding the fact that the faith message is essential and must continue, what are we going to do about all the discouraged people who have tried to put into practice all of the instructions they have found in the faith books, BUT TO NO AVAIL? They have had to have the operation ... had to borrow the money ... have watched a home break up! Even as I write this message there seems to be more broken pieces and discouraged saints than ever before. It is so prevalent, especially now, with inflation gnawing away at our assets and open permissiveness destroying the very foundations of our homes.

Shall we make the faith teachers cease teaching and recall the books? Shall we go back to the heavy, sovereign teaching of "what is to be will be” and forget the whole thing? NO! There is a much better way and it has been there all of the time. We have tried to get along by not only omitting one of the great four letter words of the Bible, but in some instances even making fun of it by saying, "he is just a hopin’ and a prayin’.” Actually, without faith he might as well stop doing both. Perhaps we have given rise to this down through the years by answering the question, "Do you believe God will do this for you?” with a very weak, "I surely do HOPE so.” Such an answer suggests, of course, that one does not really BELIEVE ... but ONLY hopes so.

The word HOPE has been there all of the time. Let us look again at it and put it in its rightful place. Faith is first, then hope and then on to love as the greatest of the three.

Hope is mentioned as important to faith because Romans 8:24 states that we are "saved by hope. ”

Psalm 16:9 says,

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

In Joel 3:16,

... the Lord will be the hope (Hebrew word machseh means refuge) of his people.

Jeremiah 17:13 says that the Lord is the hope (Hebrew word migveh means expectation) of Israel.

Psalm 119:116,

... and let me not be ashamed of my hope (Hebrew word seber means waiting).

According to Job 8:13,

... the hypocrite’s hope shall perish.

In the New Testament the word hope (Greek word elpis) means to anticipate with pleasure according to Strong’s. In Acts 23:6 resurrection and hope are mentioned together. In Romans 5:2 we are told to rejoice in hope. On and on we can go with references to this significant word. There is just as great of a weight of import attached to hope as there is to faith.

The importance of hope is perhaps best taught in Hebrews 11:1:

Now faith is the substance (faith gives substance, NEB) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Please notice that faith is mentioned first, and rightly so. We begin with our believing. We either believe it or we don’t. The lady of Mark 5 who had the issue of blood believed what she heard about Jesus and was healed. The Word that says,

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved

and

All things are possible to him that believeth

is of paramount importance.

We do not omit faith to get to hope ... we let hope rest on faith.

Notice that Hebrews 11:1 does not say, "faith is the substance of things BELIEVED for.” It says, "faith is the substance of things HOPED for.” God wants us to have things. Faith will give substance to those things we need if we have hope and if we keep hope alive. What keeps hope alive? WE DO! We dare not let it fall to the ground just because we do not receive those things we desire immediately.

Chapter 2

HOW TO KEEP ON HOPING WHEN ALL HOPE IS GONE

Abraham, father of faith, is the greatest example of a man in the Bible who believed in God. He appropriated the thing promised, the thing desired, by continuing to have hope when all hope was gone. Romans 4:18 states, Who against hope believed in hope. Moffat’s translation reads, "When all hope was gone, he hoped on in faith.” Abraham had absolutely nothing on which to base his hope ... BUT FAITH. In the natural, hope was gone. Sarah his wife was probably 89 years old ... and an 89-year old woman then looked like an 89 year old woman today! Abraham himself was about a 100 years old. He refused to consider the deadness of his own body, or that of Sarah’s, his wife. He wouldn’t talk about their ages or about the fact that Sarah was past the time when she could have children. He did not discuss deadness ... he talked about life and about God’s promise to them. He gave praise to God. He kept his hope alive! He refused to let hope die! Had he lost his hope, his faith would have had nothing to feed ... to nourish. His hope gave his faith viability.

If you had been there and said, "Father Abraham, have you looked closely at Sarah lately? Have you observed that she does not get around very well and that there are a few more wrinkles?” I am sure that Abraham would have answered, "I may be old, but I am not blind. Of course I know she is an old woman, but I also know God made a promise to me ... and what He has promised, He is able to perform!”

He was keeping his hope alive ... HIS FAITH WAS FEEDING HIS HOPE and keeping it alive BY SPEAKING THE POSITIVE PROMISE OF GOD. He was keeping a vital belief in a God who can call those things that be not as though they were.

By "hoping on when all hope was gone, ” he was able to receive the thing hoped for. Sarah was able to announce to the ladies of the village as she called them around her, "Guess what, I am with child!” In a few months, Abraham, father of faith, was holding in his arms his son of promise ... Isaac "laughing boy” (... see author’s book, "He Who Laughs, Lasts”).

Yes, hoping on when all hope is gone is not easy, but that is your contribution to your own faith. Your faith believes that God ... El Shaddai, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rapha ... can do anything. But, if you stop hoping when things look hopeless, then your God-given faith will lie dormant within you.

Permit me to use a very simple illustration. A man comes home and very excitedly tells his wife to get the skillet ready, he is going fishing! Since she has gone through this before she asks, "What makes you believe that you will catch fish this time; what got your hope up?” He proceeds to relate how the state fishery service has just stocked a local lake with thousands of fish and he and his friend are on their way to catch their limit! Off he goes with his hope high ... not only believing that there are fish in the lake, but actually knowing it.

In a few hours a very dejected husband returns without any fish. "They were catching fish all around me. I did everything I knew to do ... changed lures ... even traded poles with my friend. He caught one but I didn't. I gave up and came home and I’m not going back.”

This, as I said, is a simple illustration of what happens to peoples’ faith. This man allowed his hope to be dashed because he was not pulling out fish as quickly as the others. He yet had his faith and knowledge but lost his hope ... his expectancy. Even though he still believed that the fish were in the lake and they could be caught, he received not the thing he desired because he allowed himself to become discouraged and thus lost his hope.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for ..." If there is no hoping there is no receiving.

Mary came down with a fever ... slight at first. Each day it rose a little higher. She was a Spirit-filled believer. She had her praying friends pray ... and she prayed. She quoted all of the Scriptures that applied to healing. After a few days she went to the doctor believing ... even confident ... that he would find nothing. But he did! He said that she would have to have surgery immediately! Up to this point she had kept her hope, but the doctor’s ominous diagnosis shattered her hope. She still had faith ... but with hope dead, her faith had nothing to feed. She will be very reluctant ever to try to put her faith to work in the area of healing again.

A little lady of the Bible had a sick daughter. She had heard about Jesus and went to see and hear him ... with intense hope. She believed her daughter could be delivered. When she arrived, she could not get beyond the Lord’s disciples who tried to turn her away. But she had come with high hope, believing that Jesus could help her. Finally the weary disciples who could not prevail on her to leave, asked Jesus to send her away. Now her hope was really heightened because she was before the great healer and she had His attention. But wait! What did she hear Him say? She expected to hear, "Thy faith hath saved thy daughter” ... but no, her stunned ears heard the words, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to dogs.” He actually turned her away, using the common term of that day for Syrophoenicians. A rude awakening you say, and one to devastate hope! Most people, like Mary, would have lost their hope at this point and turned dejectedly away. This Syrophoenician lady said, "Yes Lord but even the dogs eat the crumbs from the master’s table.” She refused to permit her great hope to be dashed. She came expectantly ... intent on receiving ... AND SHE DID BECAUSE HER HOPE, BASED ON HER FAITH, WON OUT! She could have gone away empty, without receiving the healing for her daughter ... yet believing ... having faith that Jesus could have healed her daughter if He had wanted to. Her faith that Jesus was a healer would have still been intact; but she would have lost her hope, and in losing her hope her faith would have stayed dormant.

Let us look at another illustration, a man; we’ll call him Joe. Joe was believing God for a very necessary raise in salary. He knew there was an opportunity for promotion coming up ... one that had a nice increase in pay. The promotion looked certain. It seemed so certain that they began to pray and believe for a new car and other things that they had long desired but were denied because of limited income. They even began to shop around and contemplate all of these purchases. Then one day, Joe came home in a state of utter depression. In response to his wife’s question, he had to answer that someone else got the promotion. Now the whole family has had their hope shattered. They will continue to believe that God can do anything. They will continue to pray and serve God ... but without hope for their financial needs.

What went wrong here?

Their hope for finances was not based on their faith in God but on circumstances— whether or not Joe received the promotion! Because the promotion and the increase of money with it failed to materialize, they will now live with things as they were before.

What should have happened here in this home?

Their prayer and faith in God should have been based on GOD’S PROMISES, even as was Abraham’s. They permitted their hope to arise because of what was happening at work. Their faith was not feeding their hope ... the prospect of a certain promotion was nourishing it. Joe should have come home praising the Lord, his hope high, not considering anything at work ... but considering only the promises! He should have even been saying, "God must have something even greater than that promotion.” This way, his hope would have been kept alive and his faith would have had something to feed.

FAITH is the "substance of things” whether they be healing, finances, home, marriage, direction ... "hoped for.” If you are ONLY hoping for the thing desired ... then faith is ruled out and you will lose your hope.

As I have been ministering this truth, many have come to me to confess that this is what happened to them. It has been especially so with those who were praying for individuals with terminal sickness. As the person worsened, their hope diminished; as their hope diminished, their faith had nothing to nurture. Thus their faith, though still strong in the promises, still lost the battle.

Chapter 3

SPEAK YOUR HOPE

Hebrews 10:23 states,

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.

This beautiful King James text comes more alive as we go back to the original Greek. In the Greek it can be read thus: "Let us cling to what we confess, even our hope (elpis) and our continual acknowledgement of it. ”

We are guilty of turning loose of our hope, not clinging to it and confessing it as Abraham did.

Hope, as faith, will have to speak of those things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17).

Kenneth Hagin, a man of great faith, recently related to me a battle he had with pain in his body. He said he had never experienced such exhausting and excruciating pain. He said it was so severe that it laid him out and rendered him helpless. He could hardly walk. After suffering many hours, he began to question the Lord as to why he was not experiencing healing. A voice, deep down in his spirit (which could have been either the Holy Spirit or his own spirit) said, "You are calling those things that ARE as though they ARE. ” Immediately he saw his mistake and changed his confession. He began to say, "I cannot have this pain ... with His stripes I am healed.” At once the symptoms left him.

We all, even the most careful among us, are guilty of CALLING THOSE THINGS THAT ARE AS THOUGH THEY ARE.

We talk about our finances the way they ARE. We say, "I cannot afford that” ... "We cannot afford to go on a vacation this year” ... "We cannot afford to send our son to college” ...

"We need a larger house but can’t afford to pay more taxes” ... "I am retirement age but I can’t afford to retire” ... and on and on we go, talking about our finances the way they are, SMOTHERING HOPE.

Many churches, including the pastors and councils, will say, "We need to enlarge our staff but our budget won’t allow it” ... "We need a new bus for Sunday School, but we can’t buy it because of the other pressing needs” ... "We need to buy adjacent property, but we do not have the money” ... Someone will say, "we need to give our pastor a raise but we are barely able to pay his salary now.”

We sound the same way when we talk about our physical needs ... calling those things that are, as though they are ... thus dashing our hope of attaining the answer to our needs.

We are disallowing faith’s activity by denying it the hope to which it could give life.

Romans 4:17,

... Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the non-existent things that (He has foretold and promised) as if they (already) existed

Amplified

Abraham hoped on; he kept his hope alive by doing what his Father did ... calling, speaking, confessing those things that were not YET as though they WERE,

THIS IS HOW YOU HANDLE YOUR FINANCIAL NEEDS. You never, but never speak of them the way they are (Assuming of course, that you are a believer and a tither). You never say “We cannot afford that” ... even though logically you can’t. You never permit yourself to talk about things the way they are. When you do this, you destroy hope.

CHURCHES! PASTORS! Meet together to talk about what God promises ... not about all of the things you don’t have or cannot afford. Pastors, make a covenant with your leaders for one year to never speak about how things are or what you need ... but only what God has said to your church.

PARENTS! Never talk about the present status of your children ... especially if they are away from God. You speak only of what God has said. They shall return ... and not depart from the ways of the Lord. You brought them up in the way they should go and that is how it is going to end!

NEVER, NEVER talk about the present state of an unsaved loved one. Talk only of them as being saved and going to heaven ... you’ll see them there!

Faith and hope merge to receive the fruit of faith ... the results of faith ... when we keep hope alive, even when all hope is gone.

2 Corinthians 3:12 is just as powerful as Hebrews 10:23:

Since we have such (glorious) hope ...

such (joyful and confident) expectation ...

we speak very freely and openly and

Amplified

Hope, whether it be for things or the coming of the Lord, has to be openly and confidently and fearlessly spoken. We are encouraged by the Scripture, to ever boast in the Lord. Many would say, "I feel very foolish talking like that in the face of all the circumstances that are against me.” Yes, when you do this, you take a stand that is not the usual ... it is even supernatural.

Aimee Semple McPherson only had enough money for the contractor to dig a hole when she contemplated the construction of Angelus Temple. Undaunted, she said to the contractor, "You dig the hole, God will fill it.” Millions have attended and visited the temple in the city of Los Angeles since its dedication in 1922 and have attested to its ministry both at home and abroad.

George Mueller went to a vacant field, stood two pieces of wood on end. When someone passing by asked him what he was doing he said, "I am building an orphanage.” They said, "You will need some help” ... and the help began to come.

What we are teaching here is affirmed by the Scriptures. Proverbs 29:18 says,

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

A vision is seeing what is not yet visible to the eye. Therefore, speaking of things that are not as though they are is truly a vision ... and something that without hope, would perish.

One of the constant nagging problems that Christians face is discouragement and depression. When the Psalmist felt this way he said in Psalm 42:11,

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted (discouraged) within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

The very simple answer to any thing that would cause you to be depressed is to "QUICKEN” YOUR

HOPE BY PRAISING GOD.

Recently, an army Lieutenant told me how he was given up to die with cancer. No one ever had lived very long that had had the same diagnosis. When all hope was gone and he was down to 85 pounds, he found Jesus as Lord. He said, "I just began to praise and praise and praise.” Three years later, as he related this to me, he is back to normal weight and health.

There is a connection between discouragement and sickness. DON’T ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN! Keep hope burning with expectancy by much vocalized praise and worship.

Chapter 4

THAT BLESSED HOPE

Job 8:13,

The hypocrites’ hope shall perish.

Titus 2:13,

looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

1 John 3:2,3:

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is, and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure (guiltless).

Proverbs 13:12,

Hope deferred (put off, neglected) maketh the heart sick (weak, discouraged) but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

The hope above all hopes is that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Lord. The Christians’ hope makes our faith vastly different than any other religion. They have no such expectancy. We do. HE IS COMING AGAIN. If all that the hypocrite hopes for is in this life, all will perish. The sinner has a constantly diminishing hope. His money cannot buy him health. His body can no longer rise to the stimulus of pleasure. Dying, he dies without hope and without God.

Notice that the Word teaches that hope must be kept current, up to date. The Christian’s hope should not be aroused only because the pastor brings a special series on prophecy ... or someone sets another date. Revelation 16:15a,

Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth....

A special blessing is pronounced upon all who are watching and anticipating his return.

Hope deferred, put off, neglected, set aside ... weakens the heart.

It is with the heart man believes. The heart is his source of strength. Just as a weak heart affects every part of the physical structure of man so also a weak spiritual heart affects the spiritual life and relationship of the inner man. But when the desire cometh ... or when hope is quickened, when attention is given to it ... then the heart becomes a tree of Life (Proverbs 13:12). This tree puts its roots down deeply into spiritual soil and drinks deeply of the water of life.

The Scriptures are very positive about God providing for our needs ... supplying abundantly ... but absolutely nothing should take priority over that blessed hope and appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I received a beautiful letter from some Christians who had been badly burned by so called "faith teaching.” Their friends were all excited about prosperity and miracles. She said she and her husband never wanted to hear faith mentioned again. They were in one of my services where I led the congregation in worship ... and in our spiritual imagination we went into the presence of the Lord. I taught the people to just worship Him ... not to ask for anything. As they began to do this, a new and beautiful relationship began to open up to them and resultantly they began to receive things that they needed.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for ... but that greatest hope for your faith to feed is that blessed hope that we shall soon see Jesus.

Notice that every man that has this hope purifieth himself even as He, Jesus, is pure (guiltless), (1 John 3:3). HOW DOES HE DO THIS? Relationship with Jesus will take care of the sin problem. Relationship with Jesus neutralizes the power of sin. It does not mean we will not be tempted ... but that we need not fail.

Introspection and self-evaluation can be very dangerous without a close relationship with Jesus. If one isn’t careful, heavy condemnation will follow because one will always come short of His matchless example. But, living in His righteousness, imputed to us, enables us to be free of that condemnation.

The word "bless” means "to speak good.” Thus, blessed hope infers to constantly speak good about Jesus. I bless Him as I constantly refer to our soon coming hope ... THE APPEARING OF THE LORD JESUS.

Romans 5:5, And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Keep your hope high, both for things hoped for and for that blessed hope. One will never be embarrassed by putting his hope in God. Why? Because we already have God, in the person of His Spirit in our hearts. God is love and His love is shed abroad in us.

LET ME CONCLUDE WITH…

Mark 11:24 says,

Therefore I say unto you, what things soever you desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.

When you ask believing, you have it. You have it by faith. You don’t always have it in concrete form however ... and that is where hope comes in.

Does hope interfere with faith? No, it rests on it.

Hope does not preempt faith ... rather IT GIVES FAITH SOMETHING TO WORK WITH. Lose hope and faith lies dormant, having nothing with which to work. Keep your hope alive, vibrant, rejoicing, expectant, and full of praise.

Let your God given faith feed your hope knowing that faith is the substance of things hoped for ... and you will receive.

Barclay says, "The Christian hope is not simply a trembling hesitant hope that perhaps the promises of God may be true. It is the confident expectation that they cannot be anything else than true!"

AND SO DEAR FRIEND, HOPE ON...

Roy H. Hicks D.D.

Roy H. Hicks is a man of faith. He currently serves as General Supervisor of the Foursquare Gospel Church.

Through the years, as Dr. Hicks has ministered the message of faith as a pastor, teacher, and conference speaker, he has seen an ingredient missing in the lives of the people — HOPE. This essential Bible word has been so often neglected and grossly misunderstood.

It is the purpose of this book not only to help you apprehend the word — hope — but also to encourage you to ADD this hope to your faith for "Faith without hope is hopeless."

Table of Contents

Introduction

1 What Ever Happened to Hope?

2 How to Keep on Hoping When All Hope is Gone

3 Speak Your Hope

4 That Blessed Hope

Let Me Conclude With