II Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace
My grandfather had the sentiment that you should always have something to which you can look forward. When the summer ends, you need to be able to look forward to something in the fall. For us, camp at the Bill Rice Ranch in the summer is especially busy, so when September rolls around I need something other than camp for which to look forward. For me, that is Bill Rice Bible College, Bill Rice Christian Academy, and a host of other things. On a small scale, when it comes to recreation and rest, it is good to be able to say, “I can’t wait ‘til Saturday. On Saturday I’m going to eat some ice cream and sleep in.” That is not bad. You can’t build a life on that; it is too meager to hold up under the burdens of life, but you should always have something to which you can look forward.
I recently heard a guy talk about the concept of helping your future self. So, if I eat a pint of ice cream on Sunday night, Monday morning I may feel miserable, hate myself, and think, “Rice, why did you do that?” On the other hand, if I run another mile on Saturday when I could be sleeping, it may well be that on Monday morning I will feel more buoyant and energetic because of my past self. That is, in the past I have done things looking forward to the great results in the future.
Your hope of the future determines your response to the present. Today, the way you feel or respond to things that are happening is more than what is happening right now; it is a matter of your overarching hope of the future. In II Thessalonians Paul speaks about the current persecution of the church and the future glory of the same. In II Thessalonians 1:6 he says, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense [reward] tribulation to them that trouble you.” So, God will trouble those who trouble you. In verse 7 he says, “And to you who are troubled rest with us.” He is saying that there is coming a time when God is going to trouble the troublers and give rest to the troubled. That is a matter of current situation and future prospects. All of us need something good to which we can look forward, something we are anticipating.
Now, if you really have no big thing to which you are looking forward, and all you have is Saturday, sleeping in, eating too much, or whatever, the burdens of life are too big. They will crush that small hope that you have. If on the other hand you are building your life on a big hope, every small hope can be enjoyed and every big problem can be handled because your hope of the future determines your response to the present. If all you have is “eat, drink, for tomorrow we die,” that is no way to live. God has given us richly all things to enjoy, so I can enjoy my food and leisure, but I can enjoy those things even more when I realize that the big picture, my eternity, is taken care of.
For that reason, after a chapter and a half of the current distress, you have II Thessalonians 2:15 -17 which says,” Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.” So, my word and work are based on God’s Word and God’s work, and He gives me “good hope” and “everlasting consolation.”
So, how big is your hope? Recently there was a team from the Bill Rice Ranch in a couple of churches in Florida on a Sunday. A man in his sixties and a nine-year-old girl came to Christ. She was sweet and tearful and he was older and a little grizzled. As you look at these two who had just trusted Jesus as Savior, what are their prospects and hopes? All things being equal, she will live much longer into the future than he will, but the truth is that they both have the same hope. They have the hope of eternity which makes any hope of day to day and week to week much more enjoyable. So, how big is your hope? If all you’ve got is the hope of the weekend, the problems of life are going to crush that. If you have hope of eternity, there is nothing in time and space that will supersede that. How big is your hope?
How small can you apply your hope? That is, in everyday life how can you apply this big hope to small situations? The answer is that I can enjoy every little pleasure because of the big hope. You can bear every big burden because of the huge hope. In Paul’s case, it was gratitude. In II Thessalonians 1:3 he says, “We are bound to thank God always for you.” He says that this is appropriate because their faith and love was toward one another and was growing and abounding.
II Thessalonians 2:13 says, “But we are bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved of our Lord, because God hath…chosen you to salvation.” So, they had a great hope and Paul had a great gratitude. People who are not hopeful are not grateful, and people who are grateful not only look to the past with gratitude but to the future with gratitude because of the hope they have. It is not a maybe or if kind of hope, but a certain hope based on the work of the Lord Jesus.
You may not know what will happen tomorrow, but you can have a certainty of eternity with Jesus Christ. Today, your hope of the future determines your response to the present. Gratitude, joy, peace, and happiness are supernaturally given because of the hope we have of the future.