Mark Huey of Outreach Israel Ministries delivers the following message, “The Spirit of Hope,” as we should all be desiring to look to the Holy One of Israel, and the true hope that we have in Him, for our answers in difficult times.
There is a wise, old rule of thumb which states that in respectful conversation it is impolite to talk about religion or politics, because you just might offend someone. But in our household of history, political science, and theology degrees and students—one can easily imagine how this is not necessarily followed. Due to the interconnectivity of human thought and emotion, motivated by religious views and/or political persuasions, the nearly opposite rule for discussion of serious matters is almost a prerequisite at the McHueys! Both taboo subjects actually add historical, psychological, and sociological contexts to what we often discuss and communicate, enlivening and enriching our conversations.
I have read the Scriptures many times since being born from above in 1978. Throughout God’s Word I have seen words in English such as: faith, hope, belief, trust, affirm, and faithfulness. All of these convey some kind of idea that human beings have to place themselves in the hands of an Eternal Being, who ultimately knows what is best for them in their lives. While I could have conducted a word study on terms such as aman, emunah, and tiqvah; or pisteuō, pistis, and elpis—I could find myself speculating on various verses of Scripture, rather than addressing the greater issue facing us: how do we as limited creatures relate to our Unlimited Creator during this time in world history?
Just what is it in which people are supposed to place their confidence? A simple answer could be that the covenant-keeping God of the Bible, who via His faithfulness to us, has given us words and promises in His Word that He is required—due to His perfect righteousness—to keep. The more I have searched the Scriptures, looking at words like faith and hope in all their variations, the more I have become convinced that our Creator has made it abundantly clear that faith in Him and hope in what He has promised are critical for us as His people.
Interestingly, in reviewing various Scriptures, another component that at times punctuated or complimented the actions of placing faith or hope in the promises of God, was found. The concept of loving both God and others seems to enhance the more thoughtful concepts of faith and/or hope in something intangible. It appears that while faith and hope in God are required, the actions of love seem to be more tangible and recognizable as His people accomplish or carry out various actions that depict the love (Hebrew ahavah;; Greek agapē) that the Father requires of His children.
Surveying various passages from Genesis to Revelation—that specifically mention faith and hope—I was pleasantly surprised that the component of love was often part of the message given through the various Biblical authors. While there are too many passages to list, I would like to offer you a sampling of them. In our lives we often find that terms like “faith” and “hope” are used to inspire us, yet we are often not familiar with what they mean in specific ways. In a critical text that actually points to the relationship God has with His chosen people, one is reminded of the admonition to demonstrate a love for Him by keeping His commandments:
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:6-9, NASU).
The Psalmist links having love for God with faithfulness, being obedient to Him, and having hope in Him:
“O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful and fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD” (Psalm 31:23-24, NASU).
The Apostle Paul tells the Galatians how the return of Yeshua is our “hope of righteousness,” and how “faith working through love” is evidence of the Holy Spirit in us:
“For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (Galatians 5:5-6, NASU).
The Apostle Paul tells the Thessalonicans to “put on the breastplate of faith and love,” demonstrating their love by building up one another, which will lead to the harmony God desires among His children:
“But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:8-13, NASU).
“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4, NASU).
The Apostle Peter admonishes his audience how their faith and hope in God manifest themselves in the fervent love they demonstrate:
“For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Peter 1:20-22, NASU).
We could review numerous passages that mention the terms: faith, hope, love—not to mention the many passages where these concepts are implied. Inevitably, though, one of the more familiar passages comes into view. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul describes the agapē love that his disunified and factitious Corinthian brethren are to see restored to themselves. Moving from childhood to adulthood, Paul reminds them of the maturing process they are struggling through:
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:9-13, NASU).
Here, Paul’s frequently-quoted summary remark is, “the greatest of these is love.” We discover that when one analyzes faith, hope, and love—that he concludes that the greatest of these is love. Is it possible that he comes to this conclusion because true love is more observable than faith or hope? When you read the list of ways that love can evidence itself in various tangible actions that can bless God’s people and the world, you just might understand Paul’s conclusion.
James the Just, brother of Yeshua, makes some very candid remarks when he compares faith to works. He states that faith without works is dead or completely useless. And, when you read through James 2, you get some very clear examples of what James considers “works” to primarily include. All of these works include loving one’s brethren, demonstrating to others that a person is concerned for the well-being of all the brothers and sisters in the assembly—most especially the poor:
“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Yeshua the Messiah with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,’ also said, ‘DO NOT COMMIT MURDER.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:1-20, NASU).
This is a wonderful section of Scripture because it describes where the rubber meets the road in terms of faith, hope, and love. It is insufficient to simply claim “love” for one’s fellow Believers—or even one’s fellow human beings—without doing something about it. How many people do we ever say “shalom” to as Messianics, yet do we expel any effort to see that such people have the peace and harmony and tranquility that the term embodies?
Today, there is a severe problem: a lack of disciplined discipleship in the Body of the Messiah, not only here in the United States, but around the globe. Many are not desiring greater things of the Lord, or wanting to know how they can live the Bible in a more meaningful way. And among many of the people who seem to want more, too many seem to be more interested in the latest religious fad or teaching, which has a tendency to tickle ears rather than empower people for the mission of God. Submitting oneself to a regular regimen of teaching about the weightier matters of God’s Kingdom is just not as fun as being hyped or sensationalized.
The early Pharisees placed a high emphasis on matters of righteousness and social justice, seeing themselves as a reforming movement that could make a difference. Yet, by the time of Yeshua, He found Himself having to directly confront the religious leaders for their hypocrisy, as their positions had become more important to them than the work of the Kingdom:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers” (Matthew 23:23-32, NASU).
As you read these memorable words, you just might ask yourself where you are as a disciple and follower of the Holy One of Israel. Are there actions that you have forgotten to perform? How are you demonstrating that you truly have faith and hope in something beyond yourself? Are you being discipled? Are you discipling anyone? How is the Holy Spirit working through you? These are thought-provoking questions that we can each individually take to heart. I pray we will seriously consider them in a political season where “hope” will be presented as a mantra for change, and where we as the ekklēsia can accomplish the mandate of being a blessing that God has given us. Moses told the Ancient Israelites that their obedience to God’s Instruction would make them the awe of the surrounding nations:
“So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?” (Deuteronomy 4:6-7, NASU).
Do people look to us for great wisdom and insight? Do people look to us for true hope? Let us never forget that our hope is in Yeshua the Messiah in us—“the hope of glory”:
“[T]he mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Messiah in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Messiah. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Colossians 1:26-29, NASU).
As God’s people, we should not only have the desire, but the inspiration via His Spirit in us, to help others come to saving faith and walk in His ways. When we can accomplish this and fulfill the mission that He has assigned to us, people will not look to governmental leaders and a false “spirit of hope” masquerading with supposed answers and empty promises. Instead, the true Spirit of Hope inside of each of us can transform people and save them from their sins! For indeed, it is only in Yeshua the Messiah that America—and all the world—can be redeemed. To Him be all the glory, for He alone is worthy to be worshipped! And, may we offer all the hope of a relationship with Him.
