Our Hope in Christ:
1st Week of ADVENT
by Roy Esposito

• Advent – The Coming or Arrival
• 2 Focuses – REMEMBERANCE and ANTICIPATION
• Psalm 42:5 – “Hope In God”
• “His Continence” – Abiding PRESENCE and His SALVATION
• Psalm 43:5 – “Hope of MY continence” – A guaranteed Hope  that sustains LIFE
• Lack of HOPE – Paralysis and effectual death
• Relevancy – The spiritual battle for meaning
• 1 Kings 10:1-13 – Queen of Sheba’s awe
• Ecclesiastes 1: 14-18 – Solomons lack of HOPE
• Matthew 7:16 – Known by our fruit and NOT by what we possess
• Human Wisdom – Seeks to ACCUMULATE
• Spiritual Wisdom requires DIMINISHMENT
• “Shaping” – How human experiences are interpreted by the soul
• Solomon put his hope in what he saw and what he possessed
• They became his IDEALS – Ideals are IDOLIZED – Idols are WORSHIPPED
• His Idol was SELF CONTAINMENT
• Hebrews 6:10-12,19
• Souls – “SOFT  WAX” on which IMPRINTS are made
• Jesus – A NEW IMPRINT >>>> A NEW NATURE
• Colossians 1:27 – “Christ within, the HOPE of glory.”
• Glory (Heb- Kabud) The glory Jesus shared in the luminous brilliance of His Father

• “Jesus is the power and wisdom and holiness of God almighty. No thought can contain Him; no word can express Him. He transcends all human concepts, considerations, and expectations.” –Brennan Manning

• THIS is the inconceivable power of “Christ Within,” which IS our  HOPE!
• Romans 8:24 – The HOPE through which we are SAVED

• Romans 15:13_(AMP) “May the God of your HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing….”

                             Forget Not His Benefits                 11-21-21

• A False teaching:
  • The more we know about God, the more accountable we are for our failings
  • The more severe will be our punishment.
• Truth: The closer we draw to God, the SAFER we become

• Isaiah 53:4-5 – Jesus bore our chastisement – Rebuke, Reproval, Punishment

• Hebrews 12:7 – NT chastisement:  (Greek)  Paideuo – “child-training,” a discipline that’s administered with love and never harshly

• 2 Corinthians 12:7 – Paul’s “Thorn in the flesh” – not literal but an Irritant

• 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “A messenger of Satan.”

• Numbers 33:55 – Israel’s enemies called “THORNS and Irritants.”

• Acts 19:11-12 – Paul’s handkerchief healed the sick

• Fear is NOT the Good News/Gospel

• 1 John 4:18 – “Perfect love casts out all fear.”

• Psalm 103:1-8 – “…Forget not His benefits.”
  1. Forgiveness
  2. Healing
  3. Redemption (Hebrew) Ga’al – to buy back something that was lost through helplessness, violence, or poverty
  4. Loving-kindness and mercy – personal love, attention, and care
  5. Fills my mouth with good things:  blessings, not curses
  6. Renews our youth – the vitality of the young
  7. Administers righteousness and justice when treated unfairly
  8. Slow to anger – hard for Him to get mad at us

• Isaiah 53:3 – He is acquainted with your sorrows
• Acquainted – He became INTIMATE with them and overcame them by the Light of His love.
• Psalm 103:11-12_(AMP) “As far as the east is from the west…”

by Pastor Roy Esposito

• David’s 3-Fold Anointings – King – Priest – Prophet
• Psalm 32:1-2 – “Forgiven” – lifted off – “Imputed” – charged to an account
• David prophesied of a time After the Cross when a person’s sins would not be charged to their account.
• Romans 6:23 – The “wage” of sin: death – was fulfilled by Jesus’ death on the Cross
• 1 John 2:1-2 – Our Advocate and the propitiation (appeasement) for our sin
• 1 John 4:17 – “For as He is so are we in this world.”
• Romans 6:15-16_(TPT) – The revelation of the Cross’s produces MORE love, not LESS
• The greater the love, the greater the strength we’ll have to break sin’s power over us. –PR
• The “GOOD NEWS” – Psalms 32:1 – “Blessed is the man whom the Lord WILL NOT impute sin.”
• John 8:32 – “This revelation of the Cross is the Truth that sets people FREE.” –PR
• Staying on the “wrong side” of the Cross will keep us bound to the fear of God, our only true source of freedom. –PR
• Devil’s tactic – Distort our understanding of scripture because he knows it is the book of our inheritance
• He is a master illusionist who holds a Ph.D. in Lying
• Matthew 24:11 – Jesus warns of false teachers and false prophets.
• BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHOSE TEACHINGS YOU’RE LISTENING TO.

Hint: Check for the right ORTHOCARDIA – the right heart.

• Leviticus 26:27-28 – Before the Cross
• Colossians 2:13b-14 – After the Cross
• Isaiah 53:4-5 “By His stripes, we are HEALED.”

• 2 Tim 2;15 (KJV)     Study to be able to “Divide” the word of truth

• Jack Hayford – “Dividing” – to rightly DISCERN scriptural truth by capturing the Spirit of the Word

• The Cross – Transformational in human history: Where Love and Mercy superseded Law 

• Orthodoxy – Correct Beliefs – Orthopraxy – Correct Practices – Orthocardia – Correct Heart

• 1 Cor 13:1 (TPT) – all is noise without Love

• Having correct beliefs and practices are not adequate for transformation

• Matt 23:23 – The more important moral and spiritual matters: Justice (doing the right thing) – Mercy (kindness and mercy) – Faithfulness

• All beliefs and practices must flow from hearts that are oriented towards God’s heart of love and mercy to contain transformative power.

• Rom 6:14 – Governed by grace

• 2 Kg 1:1-16 – Elijah calls down fire

• “Many believers today live as though the Cross made NO difference; thus their hearts have not yet been fully converted.” – PR

• Lk 9:55-56 — “You know not what manner of spirit you are of.” – Jesus

• Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil (1Jn 3:8) but also the works of our natural mindsets

• Rom 8:31 – “God is FOR us!”

• Dark Times: Not Punishments but Opportunities to cling to God more tightly and receive more Amazing Grace

• Isa 59:19 – RCF’s banner “RESTORATION.” 

• Jer 1:12 – He watches over His Word to perform it!

• Jer 29:11-29 – His good plans for us

• 1 Cor 13:8 – “Love never fails!”

• Isa 58:12 – “Repairers of the Foundations of Faith – Restorers of Communities.”