So let's get ready to get into the word and today we're gonna talk about the encouraging word

The word instructs us and the word encourages us And in times like these we need encouraging We

talked about the sure word that we have that comes from the scripture and it's the sure word that's gonna

encourage us That's why you need to know if what you're hearing is the truth and

it comes from God because we got a lot of false prophets giving false hope

because what they're offering does not align with the scriptures You and I as believers you and I as Bible

students we need to know that we know that we know that what we're hearing what we're

thinking what we're doing aligns with the scripture And it's the word of God that's sure and it's

the word of God that encourages us each and every day of our life Open your Bibles this morning

to Romans chapter 15 verse 4 and it reads as follows For everything that was written in the past

was written for our instruction so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope In

this world sometimes we feel like giving up Especially when prayers don't seem to be answered But

as believers we don't quit we don't throw in the towel We go to the word

of God that is designed to give us hope In this verse the apostle Paul tells us something powerful He

says that everything written in the scripture has a purpose Oftentimes in certain ministries they focus only on

the New Testament but we can't understand the new unless we thoroughly understand the old because the Old Testament

those things that were written in the past is the foundation for the new So here at the Believers

Bible Assembly we don't separate the two we incorporate both because the Old Testament is The

foundation for the new Paul is writing here and saying that from the things that were

written in the past They were written for our instruction and to give us patience to give us

endurance to give us encouragement to give us hope So we draw from the past to give us

what we need in the present So when you feel like giving up and falling in the towel

don't do that Run to the word because everything that was written in the word has a

purpose and that purpose is to keep us going is to keep us motivated is to give

us encouragement This hope that Paul is talking about this morning is not wishful thinking

but a confident expectation based on the character and the promise of God We know God's word is true

because God is true We know God's Word is faithful because God is faithful We

know that God's word is true and we can trust it because God is not a man that

He should lie Based on this we can have a confident expectation based on who

God is and what His word says And the hope that is offered by the scripture is both

present and future providing assurance in this life and the life to come It is hope that sustains believers

through all the trials and tribulations of life and it's this hope that inspires us

to live in anticipation of God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promises that are found in the word What

I wanna do today I want to look at how God's word teaches us not to give

up by learning from the past that gives us hope for the future The first thing that the apostle Paul

wrote is everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction You see the Bible is not

just a book filled with historical facts but it is intentional and its instruction for

us to live by The things that happened in the past they were written to

instruct us how to live It gives us principles It gives us examples of God's faithfulness It shows us

how God restores people how God can transform lives When we come to the word of God we don't

come to it like we read a history book The scripture is alive and it's full

of power and it has a purpose and that's to instruct how we are to live for

today The purpose of the scripture is to teach and guide us in all areas of our life in

all areas of faith and practice Let's go to 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 and it says

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our

knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness This is God's doing this is God's

revealing of Himself to us showing us that in the scripture we have everything that we need for

life and godliness It says his divine power has given That tells me everything that I

need to know about this life Everything I need to know about God has already been

given to me Everything I need to know about life is found in the word Everything I need

to know about God and his ways and His righteousness is found in the word through the knowledge of

Him Where do we find knowledge of God Where do we find about God's divine power and His goodness Where

do we find these things In the word God has given us everything we need

for life and godliness that's found through the knowledge of Him that's found in the word God's

word is complete and God's word is sufficient for us He has given us everything that we need and

is found in the word 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 says all scripture how much scripture All

scripture is God-breathed given by inspiration and is useful for instruction for conviction for correction for training and righteousness so

that the man of God may be complete fully equipped for every good work God's word is complete

and sufficient for us The word is designed to be a benefit to be a profit to us to instruct

us to equip us to prepare us for works of God that we may be complete Without

the instruction that comes from the word our lives are incomplete because we don't know how

to live We don't know how to accomplish the things that we desire The word of God

is a roadmap It leads us to where God desires us to be If we don't

have this instruction we'll be wandering in the wilderness like the children of Israel for 40 years trying

to get to where God desires us to be But because they tried to do it on their own they

want to do it their way They didn't want to listen to Moses they didn't

want to follow God's leader They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years But here's the good news they eventually

got to where God promised When we are not fulfilling God's purpose for our lives it's not

God because he's already given us a roadmap He's already given us a word he's already given us

his instruction It's not God It's our failure to know God His will His plans and

purposes or our willful disobedient to follow where God is leading But without the instruction

that comes from God's word our lives are incomplete and we will never fulfill our God-designed purpose That's

why the scripture says That we can learn from the past 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 11 says this

now these things happen to them talking about Israel as examples and were written down as warnings for us

on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come We can learn from the past When we go back

and we look at the word of God we see God recorded all of Israel's failures

and it recorded all of Israel's victories Why So we would know and learn from them And here's the

facts If God was faithful to them then he will be faithful to us now That's what we

learned from the past When we look at the Old Testament and we look at the

gospel we see how God interacted in the lives of Israel Even when Israel was not faithful to

him God was still faithful to them God honors his word God is watching over his

word to fulfill it So it's not that God is holding something back from us He's

waiting for us to walk in faith He's waiting for us to align our ways with

his ways God is faithful And so when we look at the Old Testament we can

see how God worked in the lives of Israel We can see how God brought them out of the

wilderness We can see how God was with them in their battles and we can also see how God dealt

with them when they were disobedient when they were unfaithful When we read the past

when we read the Old Testament we see how God carried others through impossible situations in the

past and we can be encouraged by their example and our faith in God and what he can do is

now increased The second thing that the scripture teaches us is that the word produces endurance patience It's

the ability to remain calm and focused in pressure situations It's our staying power as we continue to walk the

walk of faith as we continue to live move and have our being in this life James chapter 1 verses

as you wait on the Lord faithfully to fulfill what his word says that he's going to do Faith says

that God is gonna do it We don't know when he's gonna do it we don't know how he's

gonna do it We don't know by what means he's gonna do it but faith says That God is

gonna do it So in the meantime in between time what do we have to do

We have to endure We gonna have to have patience Then at the right time God will fulfill

his promise that he made that's found in His word Hebrews chapter 10:36 says you

need to persevere to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising so that after you have done the will

of God you will receive what he has promised You need to persevere you need to bear

up under difficult circumstances without compromising without quitting without throwing in the towel so that

after you have done the will of God you will receive what he has promised Many believers they want

the promise but they're not willing to persevere until it comes But the Bible says that after you

have done the will of God after you have been obedient after you've done what God

says for you to do then the fulfillment of the promise comes not before So you have to

endure have patience and the word of God gives us this Learning from the past teaches us about how

to be patient Acts chapter 1 verse 4 Jesus told his apostles before his ascension

he says do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised which you

have heard me speak about talking about the Holy Spirit that was given on the day of Pentecost

He says do not leave Jerusalem but wait persevere remain patient for the gift that

he promised They obeyed what Jesus said They remained in Jerusalem and because of their

obedience the promise of the Father came but they had to wait There was a period of time between the

promise and the fulfillment of the promise They had to wait They didn't know how

long it would be but they knew that the word that Jesus spoke was true and that we

are patient and we persevere we will receive the promise and God fulfilled it The

scripture teaches us that God may not work quickly but he always works faithfully God

is not gonna move when you want him to move Let's go ahead and get that settled That's why

it's called walking by faith If God moved when you wanted him to move there would be no need

of faith Think about it But because we are dependent on God we're relying on God

we believe what he says He always worked faithfully meaning he's going to do what his word says he's going

to do The scriptures helps us develop patience and perseverance by looking at the examples in the past Life can

be difficult life can be tough but God's word encourages us to keep going even when things are hard

When you look at the examples in the Old Testament we looking at examples in the Gospels the

Book of Acts we see these things and these things that were written were written to give us

patience and endurance and instructions The third thing I want to share with you this morning

is that the word encourages us and comforts us The scriptures are designed to encourage to build

you up to edify to comfort The same Bible that corrects us also encourages and

comforts us in our time of need 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 through 4 says that God

is the Father of mercies and He is the God of all comfort Psalm 119:50 This is my

comfort in affliction that your promise has given me life Oftentimes we're waiting for the affliction to

pass before comfort comes The psalmist said no My comfort in affliction is that your promise

your word has revived me and given me life When we wanna quit when we wanna

throw in the towel go to God's word No run to God's word and you'll find

comfort there You will find comfort that comes from his promise His word And in your time of affliction

God's word will revive you and give you life Lamentations chapter 3 verses 21 to 23

Jeremiah wrote this I recall to my mind therefore I have hope Great is your faithfulness This

passage of scripture is so powerful Because the prophet Jeremiah is recalling the promises of God And he says when

I recall this whatever promise that this is in the word when I recall this

to my mind I have hope That's why we study the word That's why we read the word

so that in our time of need we can recall to our minds the things that God said in

his word The promise that God made in his word And when we recall this

to our minds we can have hope But here's the problem you can't recall something that you don't

know If you don't know the promises that are found in God's word you're not able

to recall them now to your mind One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to

bring back to your remembrance those things that God has said in the word But if you don't read

the word if you don't study the word if you don't meditate on the word there's nothing to recall So

now you're trying to deal with the problem trying to deal with the situation and you're struggling

you're wandering aimlessly through life You have no direction you have no purpose because you have no word

But Jeremiah says when I recall this to my mind I have hope Then he goes

on in verse 23 to say great is your faithfulness That's the conclusion that we come to when things

get rough when things get tough when life just takes a different direction than we

expected We can recall the promises of God to our minds and his word gives us hope Then we can

declare great is your faithfulness because we serve a faithful God God has never gone back on his word

God never said something and then took it back That's not the God of the Bible

God says what he means and he means what he says Therefore we can plant our faith in His word

But if you don't know what the word says we're going by your own thoughts

your own ways your own decisions But when you recall to your mind what the

word of God says you'll have hope and you'll declare great is your faithfulness The word

of God encourages and comforts us 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 3 says this but he who prophesies meaning

he who speaks forth the word speaks to men for their edification encouragement and comfort The word is designed

to do 3 things under grace It's to edify means to build up to encourage when things

get hard and to comfort That is the purpose of the word That's how God's

word encourages us and comforts us The spoken word does that When you want to give

up remember God's word that encourages us in three ways Number 1 it reminds us of who

God is God is faithful God is sovereign God is all powerful He's all knowing It

reminds us who God is Number 2 it reminds us of what God has done When you go

back in the Old Testament and you read what God has done it gives us hope it

gives us encouragement And number 3 it reminds us of what God has promised That's what the scripture is designed

to do In this we have encouragement in this we take comfort God encourages us and comforts

us not by changing our situation The changing of your situation is based on God's sovereignty but God encourages

us and comforts us by reminding us of who He is by reminding us of

His unchanging faithfulness to his promise in his word The Bible brings comfort and encouragement When we read it

we find hope a confident expectation that God's promises are true and that he is with us And the last

thing that this scripture teaches us is that through the endurance and encouragement of the scripture we

might have hope Biblical hope is a confident expectation in what God says he will do

That's why you have to be careful Is this what God says he will do in his word or

is this what man says God is going to do We gotta be very careful

here because God says he's gonna do it he's gonna do it because he's backing

it up with his word The Bible says God has placed his word above his very own

name God's gonna fulfill his word but you gotta make sure it's his word not the

word of a man saying that this is what God says That's where we are at today

That's where the problems occur We're not going back like the Bahrains and checking the scripture We

relying on what a man says God says No no no no no We need to know that we know

that we know God said it because if God said it God is gonna back it up with His word

Biblical hope is a confident expectation in what God says He will do It is

a certainty it's an assurance based on God's record of faithfulness that's found in his word Hebrews chapter 6 verse

in the storms of life That's why you gotta know that it's from God not from man God's word God's

hope is gonna anchor us in the storms of life And it's not if a

storm coming it's when it's gonna come But when it comes we have the assurance that his

word is an anchor for the soul and that it will give us hope John chapter 20

verse 31 the apostle writes these were written about Christ that you might believe Our

hope grows when we remember what is written in the scripture Like Jeremiah said when I recall this to

my mind I have hope Our hope grows when we remember what is written in the scripture about Jesus

and his Finished work on the cross because Jesus Christ is our hope Jesus Christ

is our only hope Colossians chapter 1 verse 27 to them God has chosen to make known among the

Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory God has chosen to

make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery The mystery of Christ was

not known in the Old Testament The mystery of Christ was not known in the Gospels The mystery

of Christ was only revealed to the Gentiles after the finished work of Jesus Christ

on the cross God gave it to the apostle Paul The apostle Paul taught it to the church

which was a mystery before it was revealed And what is the mystery Christ in you the hope of

glory Jesus told his disciples that he has to go back to the Father but he's not gonna

leave us as orphans He's going to send the Holy Spirit And this is what he

said He said the Holy Spirit will be with you and the Holy Spirit will be in

you will be with you will be in you Future tense It was a mystery

until the The fullness of that was revealed to the apostle Paul and he taught to the church

And why did he do that So that we will have hope that we will have a confident

expectation of living in Christ eternally That's the hope that we have to live in Christ eternally Jesus came

that we may have Everlasting eternal life That was a mystery Jeremiah didn't know about this

Isaiah didn't know about this Ezekiel didn't know about this Moses the lawgiver didn't even know about

this but it was revealed to you and I to give us hope a confident expectation of living in Christ

eternally So the more scripture we read the more scripture we study the more scripture we believe the stronger our

hope in God and His word becomes And the last thing I want to share with you is this

when we look back at the past to the present we see the pattern of his faithfulness to his

word God made a promise to Noah to Abraham God made a promise to Israel And he delivered

He fulfilled his promise God made a promise to send a savior and he fulfilled it through Jesus Christ

The entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation is evident is proof that God finishes what he starts

That's what we see when we look at the word when we look at the past

We see God's fulfilling his promises over and over and over again And so you and I can be

assured now that God will finish what he starts Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 says this

Being confident convinced of this that he God who began a good work in you will carry it on to

completion until the day of Jesus Christ We can be confident in what God has started what

God has said he's going to do Everything that God promised will be complete in the day of Jesus

Christ Talking about his second coming when he comes back as King of kings and Lord of Lords

And here's what you and I can be assured of If God did not fail

them in the past he will not fail you in the present So when we

look at Romans chapter 15 verse 4 it reminds us that God's word is alive and that God fulfills

the promises in His word It teaches and instructs us it strengthens our endurance it encourages us and it fills

us with hope Hope for a better tomorrow that is only found in our relationship with Christ and it

is reconfirmed over and over and over again in His word So when we read the

word we study the word we see this so there should be no doubt in our minds that

the same God that did it then is the same God that's gonna do it now I can

be encouraged I can have hope for a better tomorrow Because I know that I'm in

Christ and Christ is in me I know I'm in the word and His word

resonates in me And God promises are reconfirmed over and over and over again So when you

feel like quitting when you feel like giving up don't walk away from the word run to

it And when you do this you will find that every page in the word will

reveal the same message over and over and over again Keep believing have hope be encouraged Keep believing

have hope be encouraged because the Lord is still faithful and his word is still true Amen