I want you to turn back tonight
to the book of Romans, and we'll look at verses 3 through
5 for the most part. But I want us to go back and
read beginning in verse 1, because what he says, he says on the
basis of what he has already said. Romans 5 and verse 1, Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God." And then he says this, "...and not only so," or as we
would say, "...and not only that, but we glory in tribulations
also." Knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience
experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us." Now, when we read these verses,
we are immediately reminded that God's people are not immune to
afflictions. They are not immune to trials
and troubles and they are not immune to what he calls tribulations. You see, he says even though
we are justified by God's grace through the blood of Christ,
although we have access to God, although we have peace with God,
We rejoice in hope of the glory of God, although we have faith. He says we also have tribulations. Now, God's people have many troubles
that are common to everybody in the world. So I believe that
the Apostle here is distinguishing a bit, though in the midst of
even these troubles we have so much more than the people of
this world. But the Lord's people have these
particular tribulations because of their identification with
Christ. as believers in the gospel of
God, in the gospel of His sovereign grace and glory. They are brought into a situation
in this world where they have these particular tribulations. If you remember what Christ said
Speaking of that stony ground here, the one who received at
first the Word, he said, Yet hath he not root in himself,
but dureth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises
because of the This is not just the normal troubles
of the world He's talking about. He's talking about tribulation
or persecution because of the Word, by and by, He is offended. He's offended. And if you also
remember, our Lord said this to His people. He says, if the
world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own, but because you are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world. Therefore, the world hates you."
They hate you, he says, because of me, and they hate you because
of my Word, my Gospel, which distinguishes and sets forth
me and gives me all the glory. Now, when I was looking at this
today, I was reminded of something, and that is that the word tribulation
literally means pressure. That's what it means. In other
words, the Lord's people in this world, because of their association
and identification with Him, they are under certain constant
and unique pressures. And I'll go so far as to say
this. If we don't know anything about
this pressure which comes from bearing witness to Christ and
His gospel, and not only that, but this pressure that comes
to those who seek to follow what He says, in this book, then it may be that we know nothing
of Christ. He said, in the world, you're
going to have this particular pressure, this persecution and
trouble. But as we experience them, as
those who seek to hold up the banner of truth, as those who
seek to identify with the most despised man that has ever lived
in this world, as we seek to exalt God in all His sovereign,
holy, righteous character, as we feel these pressures, we are
to remember something. As we feel them, we are to remember
that they are all sent and ordered of God. They are all according to the
will of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own
will. They are brought to bear in our
lives by Him who is wise and good and who does all things
right. They are literally, in every
sense of the word, of God. And I know of no beginning consolation
for the Lord's people as they are beginning to be brought under
these pressures, whatever they are and wherever they come from. I know of no beginning consolation
that is any greater than for us to remember who sins them. I know we sit around and we scratch
our heads and we look and think and wonder why. But it's not
really why, it's really who. Who? Our Heavenly Father. He sends them. He orders all
these things. And also, they are for His glory. We don't like things that tend
to diminish our glory in this world, our acceptance by the
world. But these things are for His
glory, and not only that, they are for the advancement of the
gospel. The Apostle Paul said, I want
you to know that the things that have happened to me, and that
is not only to be said by the apostle, but by every true gospel
preacher and every one of the Lord's people. He said, I would
have you to understand that the things that have happened to
me have fallen out. to the furtherance of the gospel. And as we experience this pressure
or these pressures, we are also to remember that He uses them
for our good. They're a part of that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them that are
the called according to His purpose. They work good for us now, they
work good for us spiritually, and they work good for us eternally. Our Lord said, These things I
have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. Where is our peace? It is in
Christ. But in the world, ye shall have
tribulation. You shall have tribulation, but
be of good cheer I have overcome the world." In the early church there in
the book of Acts, the Lord's disciples, these apostles, were
sent here and there, and they traveled preaching the gospel. And it says, confirming the souls
of the disciples and exhorting them, or encouraging them to
continue in the faith. Why would you have to encourage
the Lord's people to continue in the faith? Because they were
meeting pressure. They were meeting opposition
to the gospel. They were meeting a disassociation
by the world because of Christ. He said, and they were exhorted
to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Somebody said that over the door
of the kingdom was this sign, much tribulation. Much tribulation. And because
of the things that Paul says that we have already received
of God's grace in Christ. because of the standing that
He has mercifully brought us to be in, to be justified, to
be counted righteous through this shedding of Christ's blood
in our place. He says, we now glory in tribulation. In other words, what we have
been given in Christ and who God has made us in His Son, in
what He has promised concerning His faithfulness to us, we can even glory in tribulation. Now, what does the apostle mean,
we glory in tribulations? What does that word glory mean? Well, in one sense, it means
to boast. But it means, I believe, especially
in this context, it means to rejoice. As a matter of fact,
the same word in verse 2 is translated, rejoice. In other words, our rejoicing
in the bounty of God's grace in Jesus Christ is such that
we not only have peace and access with God, and faith in Christ
and an expectation and anticipation of future things, we can even
rejoice in tribulations. We are able, by God's grace,
to rejoice and have joy even in the midst of all these pressures. Sometimes it feels like in many
ways that they are such. I'm not talking about things
that we have brought on ourselves. I'm not talking about these common
troubles that all people have. I'm talking about this pressure
because of the cross. The offensiveness of the cross. the pressure from men and women
all around us, within family, within friendship circles, within
the workplace, wherever it is, because of Christ. He said, we're able to rejoice
in them. In other words, no pressure,
no tribulation, is such that it can keep us from rejoicing
in Christ. As a matter of fact, in all truth,
I believe they are sin of God to cause us to truly do that. I don't know how many shrubs
or bushes or flowers or fruits there are that you can take and
put your hands on and rough them up a bit, and they do bring forth
the sweetest fragrance. Bruise them a little bit, and
they begin to smell of that sweetness that they never demonstrate until
such a time as that. You see, as far as boasting,
Our boast is all in our God. We boast that it is He who has
sent them. We boast that it is He who is
worthy of all of them. We boast that it is He who is
able and who does deliver us out of them all. This is what he said. Blessed
are ye. Now, we don't sometimes, we count
these as almost curses, but he says, blessed are ye when men
shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you." I have noticed, as it was with
In Moses' day, as it was in the days of the disciples, in Acts,
in the days of these apostles and Christ, here's how men do. They persecute the living preacher,
and he said they garnish the tombs of the dead prophets. In Moses' day, when he was alive,
the people rose up against him because he bore witness for God. But when he died, later on, the
Pharisees turned against the apostles and Christ. But oh,
they had great things to say about Moses. And it seemed like in our day,
the best preacher is the one that doesn't live close by. The
best church is the one that there's no way that you could go to.
The best message is the message that you don't have to face every
week and support and encourage. James said, my brethren, count
it all joy when you fall in diverse Temptations or trials. Blessed
is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall
receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them
that love him. You see, we know that no matter
what men say about us, no matter what men do to us, no matter
what they think of us, No matter what kind of pressures we are
brought under because of our witness and testimony for Jesus
Christ, we know that not even the greatest tribulation can alter our standing and relationship
with God in Christ. And not only does he say that
we rejoice in tribulations, he says we also know this, we know,
or we are knowing, and if not, we are learning as his people
that tribulation works patience. Now, Webster defines patience
by this definition, a calm temper which suffers evil without murmuring
or discontent. And that will maybe in part be
applicable to here. But patience here has more to
do with endurance. A lot of people are looking for
some kind of, I don't know, almost mystical thing to be poured into
them called patience. But he says these tribulations
wherein we are enabled to rejoice, they work endurance in the people
of God. James said, Behold, we count
them happy which endure. And you know what he says immediately
the next sentence? He says, You have heard of the
patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the
Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." Now, if you listen to Job at
certain times, you'd say, well, he doesn't sound really all that
patient to me. But it has more to do with what
God, by His grace in the midst of these things and through these
things, enables us to endure for His name's sake. If you remember, Paul said, I
endure all things for the elect's sake. He's in prison. This has to do with submission
to God. Some people think that submission
is just hanging your head while you get a beating on it. That's
not submission. Submission to God is a bowing
of our heart to God as the Wise One, the Good One, the Almighty
One, and the One who, doing what He does right now to us, does
all things right. We delight in it. And we endure
all these pressures, these tribulations, while waiting upon God while
waiting upon Him to accomplish His purpose, while waiting upon
Him for His deliverance, while waiting upon Him to accomplish in us what He would accomplish by sending
people. We trust in Him. And while we
wait, we rejoice in these tribulations, and we honor Him and we rejoice
in Him, and God, through these things, builds our endurance, patience. You see, this is Paul speaking. There are so many things that
we forget to remember when we come to God's Word. It's not
just God's Word, but it's God's Word spoken by those He appointed
in the midst of their lives and their circumstances. This is
Paul speaking, a man that God used to preach the gospel to
many, a man that God cause to travel here and there, a man
who knew hardship and imprisonment and all these things as he was
led by the Spirit to preach, to bear witness of the gospel. Sometimes people make some sad
calculations. They say, well, this is going
well, and that's going well, and the number is getting bigger,
and this is happening. God must be in that. Not necessarily. Turn over to 2 Corinthians. Now, this is the same man who
says that we rejoice in these pressures and tribulations that
are brought to bear upon us for Christ's sake, and we are brought
to endurance in all of them. But listen to what he says of
his own experience. 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 3. He says, "...blessed be God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort." Now, He's the God of all mercies,
all these covenant mercies. The God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, and He's the God
of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation. I believe it's the same word. I'm
almost positive it's the same word in Romans 5. In all our
tribulation. It sounds to me like this pressure
comes from a lot of different directions sometimes. But look at this. That we, may
be able to comfort them which are in a trouble by the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Sometimes the Lord's people are
brought under these pressures. And one of the best things that
they can hear is, I know exactly, what you're experiencing. For as the common phraseology
is in our day, been there and done that. You see, we learn these things
in the midst of our tribulations. And one reason is that we might
be able to be used of God to comfort others when they come
into this pressure. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." In
other words, in all the sufferings that he's talking about here
for the gospel's sake, these tribulations, he says that the
consolation, the comfort, will always be equal the suffering. And whether we be afflicted,
it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual
in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer, or whether
we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. Sometimes I read the Psalms,
and I hear the psalmist as he talks about those all around
him who speak against him, who tell lies against him, who hate
his God, who mock his gospel, and all these things. And to be honest, I'm almost
sometimes saying, I know what you mean. I know exactly what
you mean. Oh, but when he starts to talk
about how the Lord is good nonetheless, how he delivered him out of them
all, how he blessed him, how he lifted him up, how he turned
his enemies to flight, how he caused his name to be lifted
up, that consoles me. Turn over to chapter 11 in 2
Corinthians. And this is the experience of
the Apostle Paul. Verse 24, ìOf the Jews five times
received I forty stripes, save one.î Five times he was taken
and publicly beaten with that whip that was called the cat-of-nine-tails,
thirty-nine lashes. Five times. Thrice was I beaten
with rods. Once was I stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeyings
often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils
by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in
the city, in the wilderness, in the sea, in perils among false
brethren. You know, I just almost imagine
that one of the great, if you'd ask him, what was the worst?
Was it when you were shipwrecked? Or was it when you were being
beaten? Or was it when your own countrymen
turned against you for crying all these things? What was it?
What was the worst? I almost guarantee you he would
say, when those that I thought were brethren proved to be false
brethren. in weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness. Besides all those things that
are without, and that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all
the churches, who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended
and I burn not? If I must need glory, I will
glory of the things which concern mine infirmities." Turn over to Chapter 12 in 2
Corinthians. Same man now. Chapter 12 in verse 9. He said in the midst of an affliction
that some people believe was an affliction in the flesh. Verse 9, he says that he said
unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, when I appear to all men, and
myself especially, as the most vulnerable, when I feel that
the pressure will just squeeze me to death. When I'm
weak, then I'm strong. Why? Because then I look to and
realize that God Himself is my strength. But you see these effects. do not happen among those who
are unbelievers. The trial of our faith exposes whether we have faith
or not. Tribulation doesn't give us faith.
but it sure will reveal whether or not we have it. An old writer said, in the mind
of a Christian who regards his father's hand in tribulation,
who sees that he deserves no mercy, who has confidence in
the wisdom and goodness of God, who feels that it's necessary
for his own good to be afflicted, and who experiences its happy,
subduing, and mild effect in restraining his sinful passions
and in weaning him from the world. The effect is to produce patience,
endurance. Now, men who get out and work
every day out in this heat, they're able to go and do it.
They can get up the next day, go out, it'll be hot, they can
work too. Next day, they have endurance. Why? Because they've been subjected
to it. If I go out there and do it without
any consideration, of how I am in my weakness, I'll just fall
right out. Endurance, he says. And we endure
the suffering of tribulation without any loss or deterioration
because this is a metaphor that has to do with the refining of
metals. Tribulation. in God's people
is just like gold. It's just like the furnace where
we put gold in, ore in. And all it does in that refining
process, in that forge, is to burn away the dross. Tribulation as a word. also has to do with an instrument
that threshes the wheat in order to remove the chaff. I think,
if my aging mind serves me correctly, that in the English that word
is from a Latin word, a Roman word I believe, that had to do
with something called the tribulum that was used to beat and thrash
the wheat. And so the Spirit of God sanctifies
each tribulation to us to work grace in us. Why? Because that's the fruit
of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy. Joy. The Spirit of God. that works in us, that brings
us to remember these things and believe what God has said of
them, and to remember God and His goodness, and to desire to
endure them for His glory. He works joy in us. We rejoice
in them. All right, look back at chapter
5 of Romans. He says, and patience, experience. All that means, in a way, is
that we prove God in them. We have this experience in which
God has proved Himself to us. gone through these things by
which we have proved the faithfulness of God. There are a lot of you who have
been true to this gospel for a long
time. And somebody could come up to
me tomorrow and they could say, You know old so-and-so, there
ain't nothing to him. He's not a believer. He doesn't
believe that stuff, that gospel of that stuff. I'd say, I don't
believe a word you're saying. Just get away from me. I don't
want to hear it because it's a big lie. I know because they
have proved it. under the pressures of year after
year after year following the Lord Jesus Christ. We prove Him
to be true from our own experience. We know He's proved His faithfulness. And you know when He proved it
most? In the midst of our unfaithfulness. Then he says, hope. Somebody
said, these things are like links on a chain. Hope. Now, I don't think this is in
one sense that good hope of grace, although in one sense it is.
But I think this has to do with hope with regards to whatever
tribulation might come in the future. We have hope. We look with hope
regardless of whatever might come. And he says, "...and hope
maketh not ashamed." In other words, this hope will never be disappointed. Those who wait on the Lord, those
who trust in the Lord, those who follow the Lord, those who
endure, who rejoice in the midst of these tribulations, they're never going to be disappointed. They'll never come down to the
end of this life. They'll never be found in eternity
saying, I went through all those pressures. But it wasn't worth it. They'll
never say that. Sometimes I feel like I've experienced
a lot of these tribulations. Then sometimes I realize that
compared to Christ, compared to the Apostle Paul, not really
anything. But whatever they are, whenever
they come, It says, And hope maketh not
a shame because the love of God. He sets these forth like a train
with all these cars on it. With glory and tribulation. Tribulation,
patience, experience, hope, love. Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
It's by the Holy Spirit of God that his people are enabled to
love him, but I don't think that's the emphasis here. What he's
talking about here, the Spirit of God bears witness in our hearts. Shit, that word is like pours
out. in our hearts the love that God
has for us in Christ. He loved us and gave Himself
for us. He loved us and no matter what
tribulation comes, sent at His hand, it comes in His love. And none of them will ever be
able to separate us from His love. Turn over to Romans 8, and I'll
read this in closing. Romans 8 and verse 35. Paul again, same chapter, same
book. He says, Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? And look at the first question. child tribulation? No. Or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sore? As it is written, for
thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. Oh, no, no, no, he says, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loves
us, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us. from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Such is His love for us. Such
is His hand upon us. Such is His grace to us. Such is Jesus Christ and His
sacrifice for us. Such is His Holy Spirit's work
in us. that we glory, we rejoice even
in tribulation, even in the midst of all this pressure. We rejoice. We glory in tribulation. Our merciful Savior, we give
You thanks for Your presence with us as well as Your work
for us. Father, we give You honor and
glory for blessing us in Christ, for being the one that never
leaves us or forsakes us, for the one who in wisdom gives us
the privilege of enduring tribulation for thine
name's sake. Lord, all these pressures are controlled by your hand, and we're glad it's that way. Undergird each one of your servants,
each one of your people, and grant to us the grace and
strength to bear this faithful witness
in the midst of these tribulations, to rejoice in them, to rejoice
in Christ. We thank you and pray in His
name. Amen.