HOPE IN A HOPELESS GENERATION

1. The most powerful nations are HOPELESS against COVID-19, cutting-edge technology is HELPLESS against CLIMATE CHANGE. The glory of human civilization is demystified as the world settles into a NEW NORMAL. There is palpable fear and frustration on many faces, but I have GOOD NEWS for you, “WHEN MEN ARE CAST DOWN, then, then thou shalt say, THERE IS LIFTING UP; and he shall save the HUMBLE PERSON” [Job 22:29] Are you trapped in satanic bondage, cast down in sickness, lost your livelihood or devastated by loss of a loved? The situation may look HOPELESS in the face of daunting global DISTRESS, listen, there is HOPE in Jesus Christ, “For there is HOPE FOR A TREE, if it be CUT DOWN, that it will SPROUT AGAIN, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. … Yet THROUGH THE SCENT OF WATER IT WILL BUD, and BRING FORTH boughs like a plant” [Job 14:7-9] HOPE in this HOPELESS GENERATION, is the defining identity of HEIRS of ENDLESS LIFE, in the manner of Abraham, “WHO AGAINST HOPE BELIEVED IN HOPE, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be” [Romans 4:18]

2. The woman in Mark 5:25-34 found HOPE in a HOPELESS situation, after twelve years of sheer agony “And had SUFFERED MANY THINGS of many physicians, and had SPENT ALL THAT SHE HAD, and was nothing bettered, but rather GREW WORSE” [Mark 5:25] When she HEARD Jesus was in town, HOPE was kindled in her; HOPE furnished FAITH and FAITH, a strong determination to escape the tunnel of HOPELESSNESS, “For she said, If I may TOUCH HIS CLOTHES, I shall be whole” [Mark 5:28] She battled through the throng, pushing aside detractors and mockers to TOUCH Him, “And he said unto her, Daughter, THY FAITH hath made thee whole; go in PEACE, and BE WHOLE OF THY PLAGUE” Mark 5:34] Friend, are you in intensive care, on death row or in despair? There is LIGHT at the end of tunnel, Jesus Christ is the LIGHT of the world. Hear Him: “… I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD: he that followeth me SHALL NOT WALK IN DARKNESS, but shall have the LIGHT OF LIFE” [John 8:12] While she walked in DARKNESS, that woman “SUFFERED MANY THINGS”, perhaps including but not restricted to hospitalization, drug addiction, idolatry, peril of scammers and loss of livelihood; Your situation may be worse, notwithstanding, there is HOPE for you in that seemingly HOPELESS situation. If you will REPENT of your SINS and BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will have His PEACE and be made WHOLE, “… Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest BELIEVE, thou shouldest see the GLORY OF GOD?” [John 11:40]

3. Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, had a decent Jewish upbringing else the Bible would not mention his father’s name, but he was BLIND and a beggar Mark 10:47-52] You know, sometimes, those who know and serve the Lord find themselves in what looks a HOPLESS situation but are never ashamed of Christ or lose HOPE in Him “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” [Romans 5:5] When it seemed all HOPE was lost, Jesus showed up, “And when he HEARD that it was JESUS OF NAZARETH, he began to cry out, and say, JESUS, THOU SON OF DAVID, have mercy on me” [Mark 10:47] Listen closely, the crowd chanted “JESUS OF NAZARETH”, Bartimaeus said “JESUS, SON OF DAVID”. Perhaps you do not know the difference; the multitudes spoke what they heard from men, Bartimaeus spoke by REVELATION, the MIND of God, as it is written: “He shall be GREAT, and shall be called the SON OF THE HIGHEST: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of HIS FATHER DAVID” [Luke 1:32] By prophetic utterance, the embers of HOPE in him exploded into flames of FAITH and caught the attention of the Lord, “And JESUS STOOD STILL, and COMMANDED HIM TO BE CALLED. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, RISE; HE CALLETH THEE” [Mark 10:49] No one told Bartimaeus what to say and none spoke for him; dig deep to the depths of Christ in you and speak to that HOPELESS situation. 

4. There was a man at the Pool of Bethesda, sick for THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS! His situation was by outward appearances HOPELESS, but he kept HOPE alive, HOPING against HOPE, “For an ANGEL went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity THIRTY and EIGHT YEARS” [John 5:4] This man was there before Jesus born and HELD ON in PATIENCE, BELIEVING God for his deliverance. As he was at the Pool of Bethesda, so are the SAINTS in this BODY, subject to persecution, rejection, and sundry vicissitudes of living in a dying world. PATIENCE is the anchor of our HOPE who look to Christ for REDEMPTION, “For surely THERE IS AN END; and thine EXPECTATION SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF” [Proverbs 23:18] Our PATIENCE is strengthened by FAITH in His PROMISE to take us out of this world, saying: “And when THESE THINGS begin to come to pass, then LOOK UP, and lift up your heads; for your REDEMPTION draweth nigh” [Luke 21:28] As the world settle into NEW NORMAL of “THESE THINGS”, I charge you to renew your HOPE in Him, painstakingly preparing yourself for His appearance in PATIENCE, “For YE HAVE NEED OF PATIENCE, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” [Hebrews 10:36]

5. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, amen