What Is “This Hope?”

“And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:3 (NKJV)
What is “this hope?” It is the hope of seeing Christ and being like Him (1Jn. 3:2). It is a blessed, happy, purifying hope–a comforting hope. “Hope” means “I do not have it yet, but I am assured and know for certain that I shall get it.” Thus hope becomes certainty; there is no shadow of a doubt about it. The second coming of Jesus is just as sure and positive as His first coming.
The two messages the devil hates above all others are those which proclaim that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin; and that the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to look for the blessed hope of His return. Satan knows that if he can keep the blood out of the message from the pulpit he can damn every person who sits under such a ministry because “without shedding of blood is no remission.” But if the minister preaches the blood, and souls are saved, the devil then does his diabolical best to keep that minister from preaching the second coming, because he knows that believers who are looking for Jesus will be working, serving, and winning souls. A church that expects the immediate return of the Lord will be an evangelistic church, a soul-winning church, a pure church.