Sermon for Saturday
And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope, and she shall sing there. Hosea 2:15
What a lovely expression is ‘a door of hope’! This world that knows nothing of peace knows little more about hope. Discouragement and disappointment surge across humanity like tsunamis, with very few situations of any kind showing any improvement. The great leaps forward for humanity that have been prophesied and proclaimed for decades, perhaps centuries, have fizzled and proven false. Hopeless humanity needs a door.
But does humanity need this particular door? The name Achor means ‘trouble’. No, humanity does not need any more trouble, none of us with any sense seeks trouble. But God says a door named ‘trouble’ is to be a door of hope.
We know Who the door is. The Lord Jesus proclaimed himself to be the door. Why trouble? Isaiah tells us that ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities…’ yes, He surely knew what trouble was. As He contemplated Calvary, He could say, ‘Now is My soul troubled’ (John 12:27).
But two chapters later He could twice tell His disciples, ‘Let not your heart be troubled’. Our Door of hope has borne our troubles for us. Now we can bring our troubles to Him, knowing that He has already dealt with them.
We can also point Him out to the unsaved as the Door of hope. As we continue to preach the Gospel and live the Gospel before a world of lost and hopeless sinners, let us proclaim Him as humanity’s only hope. And a sure hope at that! Well might we sing of Him! -Jim MacIntosh