Would you turn back to Romans
chapter 12? And these first two verses of
Romans chapter 12, Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service, And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, here is a part
of that, and this is a command in verse 12, in proving that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God, rejoicing in hope. Rejoicing in hope, that's what
I've entitled this message. rejoicing in hope. Now hope is a confident expectation
with regard to the future with a solid ground for that expectation. A confident expectation with
regard to the future grounded on something that's happened
in the past and is certain And that's what hope is. You know,
I hope it's warmer tomorrow, but I don't have any ground for
that hope. So I'm talking about a hope that
is a true ground, that it's certain and it's sure. Hope is a confidence
with regard to the future based upon something sure and certain
from the past. He says to rejoice in that hope,
and hope is a rejoicing is a feeling. Well, hope's a feeling as far
as that goes, and it feels good, doesn't it? It feels very good
to have hope, to have confidence, and rejoicing in that hope. Now, I've realized that I have
limited experience in my lifetime. I've never lost a parent or wife
or child, and so there are certain trials that I've never seen,
that I've never faced, and I realize that there are many things that
I haven't gone through. But to me, the worst experience
that I've ever had was when I felt hopeless. That's happened to
me twice, where I felt complete hopelessness and despair. I At that time, when I felt that
way, I wasn't sure that there was a God, and if there was,
I sure didn't think I knew him. And I felt completely hopeless
and in despair, not having any hope that things would ever get
any better. Now this was brought on by a
certain medication I was taking. It's happened twice. And that
lets us know how fragile we are. One little chemical gets out
of whack and you can turn into a complete basket case. And with
regard to this, what I'm talking about now, this, this thing of
depression, that's what it was. It was clinical depression. I
couldn't even told you I was depressed, but I was, and I felt
completely without hope that anything would ever be any better. That's the worst feeling I have
ever experienced. Despair and hopelessness. The reason I tell you that is
because we're going to consider what it is to rejoice in hope.
I know what it is to have no hope. To feel like I have no
hope. and to feel complete despair
regarding anything ever getting any better. And really, before
I experienced that, I wouldn't have had any sympathy with anybody
who felt that way. Come on, believe God. What's
wrong with you? Pull yourself up. This is ridiculous. I mean,
you've got all these promises in the scripture, and there you
are moping around like that and acting like, this is not right.
Well, you ever experience it, you won't be quite so hard on
somebody going through it. Now, Paul says rejoicing in hope. Now we are called upon to rejoice
in this hope we have and do you know that every believer has
the precise same hope? Ephesians chapter 4 verse 4 says
there's one hope. There's only one. First Timothy
1 verse 1 speaks of Christ our hope. The writer to the Hebrews said,
which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
which entereth within the veil, whether the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus made a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Turn to Romans, back a few pages
to Romans chapter eight. Do you know, I am amazed that
I don't believe I really understood this verse of Scripture until
preparing this message. I preached on it before, but
I think I have more understanding of it now than I ever have. Romans
8, verse 24 says, For we are saved by hope. We're saved by
hope. Now that's a strong statement,
isn't it? We're saved by hope. Now I'm not saved by my feeling
of hope. You know, when I was in complete
despair at that time. I was and felt like I didn't
have a drop of faith and didn't know whether or not I even knew
the Lord. And I was feeling in such despair
and hopelessness due to whatever had happened to me during this
depression and this chemical imbalance. When I felt that way,
I was just as saved then as I am now because I'm saved by my hope.
You see, my hope is not my feeling of hope. My hope is Christ. He
himself is my hope. What a hope! I have a hope that
everything that God requires of me, He looks to His Son for.
Now, I'm saved because my hope is Christ Himself. He saved me
and I have this wonderful hope that when I stand before God
in judgment, I'm going to be justified. I have this hope that right now,
I stand before God without guilt, and that when I stand before
Him on judgment, and my name is called, He's going to say
to me, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Now why is
He going to say that to me? because Christ is the good and
the faithful servant. And if he's good and if he's
faithful, I am too, because he himself is my hope. We're saved by hope. Here's how. Turn to Romans 8.
Look in verse 31. What shall we then say to these
things, if God be for us? There's my hope that God's for
me. He's not against me. He's for me. If God be for us,
who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely? Now that word freely is without
a cause. He doesn't have to find a reason
in you to do this for you. He does it freely by his grace.
How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifies. I'm justified. Nobody can lay
anything to my charge. Somebody says, well, I know some
things you did. I've been justified. They've
been blotted out. They've been cancelled. They've
been put away. I stand just before God. God justified me. Who is he that condemneth? Here's
the only answer I need. It's Christ that died. Yea rather
that's risen again who's even at the right hand of God who
also maketh intercession for us. Now this is my hope. This
confident expectation with regard to the future that on Judgment
Day God's going to say to me, and not to me only, but to every
believer. This isn't just for me. This is for every believer. Well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Enter thou into the joy of our
Lord. And the work of Christ for me
is so real that I really did do well, because when he did
well, I did too, because I was in him. When he was good and
faithful, I was too, because I was in him. Now that's all
my hope. That's all my hope. My hope doesn't have anything
to do with anything else in me, nothing that I believe, nothing
that I intend to do. It's all in Him that He Himself
is my hope. And this covers more than Judgment
Day. It covers everything else. Romans 8, 28 says, and we know
that all things work together for good. Now all things, my
dear friends, is all things. It's not most things. It's not
just certain things, it's all things. I love thinking about
this because there's so many terrible things I think that
have happened to me, but it's all working together for my good.
There's good things that have happened to me, but it's all
good. I want to say this the right
way. I would never excuse my sin, but my sin drives me to
him. And my sin itself, my sin ends
up by the grace of God working together for my good. Now are
you saying God's the author of sin? No, I'm not saying that.
Are you saying your sin's God's fault? No, I'm not saying that
either. It's all my fault. And God's not the author of sin,
but I know this. He's in control of everything,
including my sin. And that very sin is used to
drive me to the Lord Jesus Christ as a sinner needing a savior.
So everything works together for good. You believe that? Everything
works together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. Now, what would
make you think God would do that for you? Because Christ is my
hope. That's the only answer I need.
Because Christ himself is my hope. Everything God requires
from me, he looks to his son for, and everything God requires of me, I look to
his son for too. Goes both ways. Since I'm in
Christ, everything is working together for my good and for
His glory, and how blessed are those who have that blessed hope.
Now, if you have this hope, and I'm not talking about being happy.
You may have all kinds of circumstances in your life that you can't possibly
be happy. You might be filled with grief,
but if you have this hope, you can rejoice in this hope that
all I need, I have in Christ. that I stand perfect, justified
before God, and everything that's going on, God's in control of
it. Working it together for my good
and for his glory, whether I can see it or not, I believe it. Now, I can rejoice in that hope,
even when I'm ripped apart with sorrow for many other circumstances
that might be giving me so much grief. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing for this, whatever's going on, this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In 2 Corinthians 3, verse 12,
Paul made this statement. He said, seeing we have such
hope, and this is a glorious hope, isn't it? The hope that
I'm justified, that can't be taken away. I'm perfect before
God in everything. Everything is working together
for my good and his glory. Seeing we have such hope, we
use great plainness of speech. I like that. We use great plainness
of speech. We're proud of our hope because
we're proud of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what the scripture
calls glorying in the Lord. When we talk about rejoicing
in this hope, it's the same thing as this. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
1 30 and 31, of him, of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
that according as it's written, he the glorious. He that boasts,
let him glory in the Lord. Seeing we have such hope, we
use great plainness of speech. We don't try and package the
gospel in a way to make it less offensive to the natural man
or to be more attractive to the natural man, nor to try to be
relevant. Make no attempt at anything like
that. We preach the Word. We preach the Word. We don't
try to dress it up. We don't try to bring it in the back door.
We preach the Word. We use great plainness of speech
in our preaching. We don't try to hide anything.
We don't try to conceal anything. We don't try to make something
look better. We preach the Word. Whatever God's Word declares,
we preach. And we do so with great plainness
of speech. We preach without apology. Does
the Word declare that God chose who'd be saved before time again?
Then preach it. Don't apologize for it. Don't
try to hide it. Preach it. Does the Word declare
that Christ completely accomplished the salvation of everybody he
died for? Is that what the Bible teaches? Then preach it. Does
the Word teach that salvation is all of grace? Preach it. We
use great plainness. speech. We're not interested
in trying to package the gospel. We rejoice in our hope. We're not interested in removing
the offense from the gospel. We rejoice in this hope, and
we use great plainness of speech. Now, would you turn with me to
Hebrews chapter 7? Hebrews chapter 7. You know, I want to say this
the right way, but I am very proud of the Gospel we believe.
I'm proud of it. I mean, it glorifies God. It
gives Christ all the glory. It's a sure and certain salvation
for me. I'm proud of the Gospel. I'm
not proud of myself, but I sure am proud of the Gospel. This
is a Gospel that's worthy of God. That's why we preach it
in such plain terms. It glorifies God. Now look here
in verse 19 of Hebrews chapter 7. For the law, chapter 7, verse
19, for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in
of a better hope did. Now there's a better hope than
the law, and that better hope is Christ himself, salvation
by grace, by the which this better hope We draw nigh unto God. And he was much as not without
an oath, he was made priest. For those priests were made without
an oath, but this with an oath by him that said unto him, the
Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made surety
of a better testament. Now this better hope that we
have that's better than all is because of this better surety
we have. And I love to think of the surety
ship of the Lord Jesus Christ. There isn't anything that delights
my heart any more than that. To know that Christ took responsibility
for my salvation before the world began. He did what Judah did. For Benjamin, I will be surety
for him of mine hand, shalt thou acquire him. If I bring him not
unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame
forever. The Lord said that about me and
every believer. Now, this better hope is better
because of the suretyship of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
all my salvation was accomplished by Christ before I was ever born. before the foundation of the
world, it was all taken care of. I just love it that way. I'm glad that he had to come
in time and accomplish everything that he purposed in eternity,
but my salvation was completed by Christ when he was the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And what a hope! That
hope can't be messed up. I can't enter into the equation.
It's already sure and certain. And it's a hope from this better
surety we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look how this hope
is tied up with faith. Look in Hebrews chapter 11. Now,
I want to learn to rejoice in hope, don't you? I want to learn
to rejoice in hope. Hebrews chapter 11. Now, faith is the substance of
things hoped for. the evidence of things not seen. Now look how hope is tied up
with faith. They can't really be separated.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. Now that word substance is the
word confidence. There are things I hope for. I hope for acceptance with God.
I hope for justification. And I know I will have them because
God has given me faith to rely on him. Faith is the substance
of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not
seen. Now, what all does that mean? I have no access to the Lamb's
Book of Life, where all the names of the elect are written down.
There is a Lamb's Book of Life. with all the names of God's elect
written in it. I have no access to that book. I'd like to have access to it.
I've often thought, I know whose name I'd be looking for first,
and it wouldn't be yours. I'd be looking for you afterwards,
but I'd be looking for myself first. But I have no evidence
as far as I'm able to see my name written in the Lamb's Book
of Life, but I know it is. I know it is. How do you know? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I am relying on Jesus Christ
right now, truly, from the depths of my heart. I'm relying upon
Him as my hope. That's the evidence of things
not seen. That's the evidence that my name is written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. I have no physical evidence that
I stand before God without sin, because I'm very conscious of
my sin. I have no physical evidence that
I actually stand before God perfectly just and righteous. Well, how
do you know you are then? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I know I'm justified. I'm somebody
who looks only to Christ as my justification before God. He's
the only righteousness I have, and I'm relying on Him. That's
what faith is. to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. I can't, you know, people, I've
heard people say you got to, until you see Christ dying for
your sins personally, you're never going to trust him. Well,
I don't have physical evidence that Christ was dying for my
sins. I can't say, you know, I know he's died for my sins
because look at me, I do this or I do that. No, but what is
the evidence that he has died for my sins? Faith in himself. I'm looking to him only. I can't give you evidence that I have
a perfectly holy nature. as far as I can't see a perfectly
holy nature. Now, if I'm a believer, I've
got one. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and every
believer has this perfectly holy nature. Can I see it? No. What's
the evidence I have it? Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ
is the evidence of things not seen. So you can't separate hope
and faith in Christ. Oh, the things we hope for. Now,
turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 for a moment. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope. How? Through grace. Do you know that most people's
hope is no good. I hate being pessimistic, but
I am. I can't help it. Most people's
hope is no good. Our Lord said, on that day, many
shall say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your
name, in your name have we not cast out demons? And in your
name have we not done many wonderful works? If anybody ought to be
in heaven, we ought to be. Look at all we've done. Then
shall I say unto them, depart from me, ye that work iniquity,
I never knew you. Many will hear our Lord say that. These people had a hope, but
they found out too late that it was not a good hope. It was
the hope that Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 28, when he says it's
a refuge of lies and hiding under falsehood. Now, I don't want
to have that kind of hope, do you? I don't want to have the
kind of hope that I find out is no good. Notice this good
hope is called a good hope because it's through grace. Grace. First time grace is mentioned
in the scripture, it's after God made that testimony regarding
man. And God saw the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Was Noah in
that group? Yes. But Noah found grace. Complete unmerited favor in the
eyes of the Lord. And the only way for a hope to
be a good hope is if it is entirely by grace. If any part of my hope
has anything to do with my works, it's no good. it will not save. The only kind of good hope there
is, a hope that is entirely by the grace of God. Now I've given this outline probably
a half a dozen times over the years. It came from a message
by J.C. Ryle, and I've actually heard
numerous men use this outline in preaching the gospel. It's
such a good outline, and In this outline he gives, and his text
was 2 Thessalonians 2.16, A Good Hope Through Grace, he says,
what constitutes a good hope? What constitutes a good hope?
Now, I want to have a good hope, don't you? I don't want to be
exposed as having a rotten hope. I want to have a good hope. And
he says, what constitutes a good hope? This is so simple, so I
want you to listen to these five points. Very carefully. Here
is what constitutes a good hope. First of all, a good hope is
a hope a man can explain. 1 Peter 3, 15, always be ready
to give every man that asks you a reason for the hope that's
in you. A good hope is a hope that a
man can explain. And if I cannot explain my hope,
I have no hope. A good hope is a hope that a
man can explain. Now I can explain to you real
clearly that the only hope that I have that God will accept me
on judgment day is that Christ died for me. That's it. I can explain that clearly. I'm
not looking anywhere else. I'm looking only to the Lord
Jesus Christ as all that's needed for me to stand perfect before
God. A good hope is a hope that a
man can explain. And if you cannot explain why
it is you have hope, your hope is no good. A good hope is a
hope that a man can explain. Are you saved? Well, yes, I believe
I am. What's your reason? Well, because I, fill in the
blank. Because I, whatever. When I enters
the word, the definition, I can already tell you that hope's
no good. I can just guarantee you that. I believe I'm saved because salvation
is of the Lord and He saved me. That's my personal testimony.
I am what I am by the grace of God. That's my testimony. I can say that with just as much
conviction as the Apostle Paul. I am what I am by the grace of
God. I'm a sinner. I know that's so, and it's only
by the grace of God that I know that. I'd never know that unless
he revealed himself to me. I'm a justified sinner, and that's
by the grace of God. I'm a sanctified sinner, that's
by the grace of God. I believe, and that's by the
grace of God. I repent, that's by the grace of God. I am what
I am by the grace of God. Is that your confession? Can
you enter into that confession? A good hope is a hope that a
man can explain. A good hope must be founded in
scripture. If I can't go to the scriptures
to show why I have this hope, if the scripture doesn't teach
what I'm saying, then my hope is no good. I believe I will
be saved. I have a hope that I'm saved
and I believe I will be saved because I live in a brick house. Where's that in the Bible? Can
you show me that in Scripture, that you're saved because you
live in a brick house? Somebody lives in a vital siding house,
they're in trouble. Obviously, that's not in Scripture.
Somebody else says, well, I believe I'm saved because I accepted
Jesus as my personal Savior. Where's that in the Bible? It's
not there. It's not there. Can you go to
the Scripture to show me your hope? I believe I'm saved for this
reason. I'm going to go to the scripture.
Scripture says in 1 Timothy 1.15, Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. I'm a sinner. I can therefore
conclude that He came to save me. Romans 5, 6 says, When we
were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the
ungodly. Are you without strength and
ungodly? Then Christ died for you. That's
the promise of Scripture. Now, I've gone to the Scripture
to show you what my hope is. Thirdly, a good hope, a good hope, a saving hope, is
a hope that is in Christ alone. He only, David said, he only
is my rock and my salvation. Now if my hope is in Christ and
It's no good. It's not real. He only is my
rock and my salvation. Christ is all in salvation or
he's nothing at all. There's no in between. He only
is my rock and my salvation. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 7, who makes you to differ from somebody else and what do
you have that you didn't receive? Now, God made me to differ in
election, and he did it only because of Christ chosen in him. God made me to differ in redemption.
He put away my sins, and he did it only for Christ's sake. It
wasn't a response to anything I did. It's a response to his
son. God made me to differ in regeneration
when He birthed me by His Spirit. And He did it simply for Christ's
sake, not because I responded. He did it for Christ's sake. He's all in my salvation in every
way. A good hope is in Christ alone. Beloved, is Christ only your
hope? If he is, you've got a good hope. If he's not, your hope will prove
to be rotten. So good hope, first of all, is
a hope that a man can explain. A good hope is a hope that's
found in scripture. It's not just something you've
made up. It's found in scripture. A good
hope is in Christ alone. And fourthly, a good hope is
a hope that you can feel. A good hope is a hope that you
rejoice in, that you feel on the inside. Now, faith is not a feeling, but it's
not without feeling. Now I can say this, it makes me happy. It makes me
glad. It makes me rejoice to know that
Christ only is my hope. I'm so happy about that. It makes
me rejoice. It gives me peace. It gives me
joy. Now, do you always feel that
way? Well, no, sometimes I'm not even
thinking about the Lord. Sometimes my mind's way out somewhere else.
Sometimes I'm overcome with grief, but I do know this. I rejoice
in my hope. My hope is that Christ is all
in my salvation, and I rejoice in that hope. It makes me feel
good. It makes me feel good to know that salvation really is
all of grace. It makes me feel good to know
that when God sees me, all he sees is his dear son. I don't
want him to look at me independently of Christ in any way. Oh, we
rejoice in this hope. It makes us happy. And like I
said, it makes us joyous even when we're not happy. You're
not happy all the time. People put on all this phony
happiness trying to convince you of something. It's just not
real. And I'm not happy all the time,
but I tell you what, I always rejoice in Christ. I rejoice
that he is my salvation. And a good hope Well, it's a
hope the man can explain. It's a hope, it's hope founded
in the scriptures. It's in Christ alone. A good
hope is a hope that's felt on the inside. And a good hope is
a hope that is seen on the outside. Let me repeat that. A good hope is a hope that's
seen on the outside. Turn with me to first John chapter
three. Verse 1, behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him. For we shall see him as he is,
and every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself,
even as he is pure. Now you hear me say quite often
that a believer has two natures. a sinful, evil nature, and a
holy nature that does not sin. Two men in one man. And I know
this, there's evidence that that new man exists in every believer. And it's something you can see.
Our Lord said, by this shall all men know you're my disciples.
by your love one to another. Now, the Lord said that. That's
something you can see. Now, while I'm not what I'm going
to be, one of these days I'm going to be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. And I'm not what I want to be.
That's what I want, is to never sin again. To be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. I'm not what I want to be. And you know I'm not what I could
be. I know that if God didn't restrain
me, I could be a very, I would be a very monster in iniquity. Y'all wouldn't listen to me preach
anymore if you knew what was really in there. I'm not what
I would be. But I can also say this. I'm
not what I was. There was a time when I had no
love for Jesus Christ. I now see him as altogether lovely. There was a time when I did not
believe the gospel. I do now. There was a time when I really
had no love for the people of God. I do now. There was a time when I had no
desire for holiness. Didn't even know what it was.
Now I want to be holy. Every child of God has a hope
in them that can be seen on the outside. Now, somebody once said,
if something walks like a duck, looks like a duck, quacks like
a duck, and acts like a duck, that's a pretty good indication
it's a duck. And every believer has a hope in them. And I can
look at everybody I know that I believe is a believer, and
I see it. You may not see it, I do. God has given us everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace, and we're called upon,
dear children of God, to rejoice in this hope. May the Lord enable
us all to do it. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
hope we have in your son, in his glorious achievements and
sacrifice, what hope we have in his intercession, what hope
we have in his ruling of providence that you're causing all things
to work together for good to them that love you, to them who
are called according to your purpose. And Lord, what hope
we have in Christ, our hope standing for us in judgment day. and answering for us. Lord, we
give thanks for the hope we have. Give us the grace to rejoice
in this glorious hope. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen. We got one. 228, we'll stand and sing.