## Only Hope

## John 6:66-69

Read: John 6:66-69

In a few weeks, the citizens of this nation will make their choice for who will serve as the next president. I am not telling you how you should vote, but I do encourage you to be an informed voter. However, whether or not the candidate of your choice is elected and will sit in the Whitehouse for the next four years there are some things that will not change.

1. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

2. There is none righteous, no, not one.

3. The wages of sin is death…

4. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

5. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!

6. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The statements that I have read are normally referred to the Romans Road. They are all taken from Paul's epistle to the believers in Rome. These verses point out very distinctly what is wrong with all of mankind, what will happen if nothing is done, and what the remedy for man's need really is.

1. Man is a sinner; he is not inherently good!

2. Our sin will result in eternal death, and we will be separated from God in a place called hell forever.

3. God loved us, and Jesus was willing to die for us, He took our place.

4. Eternal life can be ours if we will turn to Christ in faith for salvation.

So the only hope for America is Jesus Christ. The only hope for this world is Jesus Christ. Where should we be looking for answers? We need look to no one other than Jesus Christ and His Word The only hope for us personally is Jesus Christ. Since He is the only hope that we have, how should we then live? What should we be doing?

Jesus Christ is the only hope for the world; the only hope for America; and He is the only hope for our families and for us as individuals. In light of these truths, let the Word of God challenge us this morning concerning our relationship with Jesus Christ.

I. Love Him Supremely

A. His Love For Us Is Eternal.

1. He cannot and will not stop His love for us.

2. He longs for us to express our love for Him.

3. Note His question in v67, "Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?"

4. It isn't that Jesus didn't know what they were going to do, but He was making the disciples aware of what they were doing.

5. The Lord wanted His followers to acknowledge Him as their object of love.

6. In John 21 Jesus pinned Peter down and forced him to express his love for Him.

(John 21:17) "He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."

B. The Question For You And I Today Is, Do We Love Him Supremely?

1. The ultimate test is found in John 14:15.

(John 14:15) "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

2. Our love for Him will be measured in direct proportion as to how we keep His commandments.

3. We are to prove our love by our obedience to His Word.

4. All too often He asks us, "Do you love me?" and we say, "Yes," with our mouth, but we say no to Him with our actions.

C. Our Love For Him Must Supercede All Other Affections And Love.

1. When we love Him supremely and in a nothing else is important.

(Mat 22:37) "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

2. Do we love Him?

3. Are we showing our love?

4. The best way we can demonstrate our love is through our actions.

5. Talk is cheap, and all too often, meaningless.

II. Labor For Him Consistently

A. The work of God requires labor and laborers.

(Luke 10:2) "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

1. The harvest is ready now!

2. Jesus warns us against procrastinating.

3. We cannot say, 'one of these days I'm going to get busy and really do something for God'.

4. The time for labor is now.

(John 4:35) "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."

5. We have no guarantee of tomorrow…what we do for the Lord we must do now!

6. There are those within reach of the ministry of this church that if we don't reach them today, before daylight tomorrow they will be in hell.

7. The harvest is white today. Tomorrow it may be lost for all eternity.

B. Some won't labor because of the hazards.

(Luke 10:3) "Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."

1. We don't need to speculate about what happened to lambs among the wolves.

2. They were no doubt consumed and destroyed.

3. I am concerned about the attitude among many of the workers of God today.

4. Too many have taken the approach that we will serve the Lord as long as it doesn't interfere with our lives.

5. If we are attacked or hurt…we just quit.

6. If the road is too rocky and rough…we give up.

It was a dark stormy night that a rescue ship was summoned to go to a ship in disaster. One of the crewmembers said to the rescue ship's captain, "Sir, if we go out to that rescue, we won't make it back." The captain replied with, "We don't have to make it back, we only have to go out." That is the attitude that we must have in the work of the Lord. We don't have to be guaranteed work safety. We don't have to perfect work conditions. We only have to do the job. For many performing their job will require death.

(2 Tim 2:3) "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

C. Jesus encourages laborers.

(Mat 11:28) "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

1. Sometimes the burden or labor may get so heavy that it seems impossible to bear.

2. Jesus says, "Bring it to me."

3. We must labor for Him consistently.

III. Look For Him Continually

Note: Mark 13:33-37

A. We are to watch for our Lord's return.

1. Four times in these four verses we see the command to "WATCH".

2. Today there is a resurgence of interest in prophecy.

3. But I am afraid that too many Christians are looking for the antichrist, when they should be concentrating on looking for Jesus Christ!

4. Isn't that the same? NO!

B. We are to be watching for Jesus Christ all of the time.

1. If we are watching for Him to come, it will make a difference how we live.

(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. {3} And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."

2. Are we looking for Him?

3. The Bible says that if we are truly looking for Him we will purify our lives.

4. We will change what we do!

C. We all plan for the future.

1. We make plans for next week, next month, and next year.

2. We even plan for our retirement, but where does the coming of Christ fit into our plans?

3. Christian, are we doing all that we can for Him?

a. One day we will stand before Him and give an account of how we have invested the life He has given us.

b. Will we do it with confidence, or with trembling?

c. The choice is ours today.

4. To those without Christ

a. Jesus is coming…it isn't a fairy tale.

b. When He comes, it will be too late to come to Him in faith.

c. There will be no second-chances to be saved!

Jesus Christ is the only hope for the future. He isn't just one of the many ways, He is THE way, the truth, and the life. We should:

- Love Him Supremely
- Labor For Him Consistently
- Look For Him Continually

What about it this morning? Do we love Him, are we busy faithfully laboring for Him, and are we looking for Him to return? Come today and trust Christ. Come and give Him our lives. Trust Him today, before it is too late!