There in verse 13 it says this, Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. And I myself also am persuaded
of you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled
with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. I want
to talk about full of joy and peace. Full of joy and peace. Paul here is saying some things,
and then as he says them, and he does this often in his writings,
he says here all of a sudden, he utters his prayer. In verse
13, that's what it is, it's a prayer. He gets to talking here, and
he utters this prayer, and it comes right out of the fullness
of his heart. And it's only 27 words. It's all that's in this
verse 13. But it's a prayer. It's a prayer. And the reason he does, he starts
out here saying about the Lord Jesus in verse 8, that the Lord
Jesus was a minister of the circumcision, or he was a Jew, for the truth
of God. And He came to confirm the promises
made unto the fathers, the promises that God gave to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. And then also that the Gentiles
might glorify God for His mercy. And that's us. Glorify God for
His mercy. For it is written, For this cause
I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and say unto thy
name. Christ is going to confess God's name and God's promises
and God's work and God's will and God's purpose to us Gentiles
and saying, even saying God's name among the Gentiles. And
again, he says, rejoice you Gentiles with his people. And again, praise
the Lord all you Gentiles and love him, praise him, magnify
him, all you people. And again, Isaiah says, there
shall be a root of Jesse. That means David, the son of
David. that would rise to reign over
the Gentiles. That's Christ. In Him shall all
the Gentiles trust. And then he just breaks out in
a prayer and says, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the
power of the Holy Ghost. Just boom, you know, he got to
praising God, got to writing this down and got full of joy
himself. Got full of faith himself, got
full of the Holy Ghost, and he just breaks out in this prayer.
And he often done that for those to whom he prayed. And he prays
for God's people here, these people in Rome. They're beloved
of God, called to be saints. And oh, he was persuaded that
these saints were full of goodness and filled with knowledge. You
know, and he does this because God's people are special. They
are special people. And grace made them that way.
They didn't make themselves that way. Grace made them special.
Grace made them the way they are. Christ called them. You know what our Lord said about
them? He said, they're the salt of the earth. Now, Lord, did
He say that? He says, they're the light of
the world. He said, when they're gone, wherever they're not at,
there's just darkness. Wherever they're not at, there's
just corruption. So they're the salt of the earth
and the light of the world. They're special because they've
been redeemed by Christ, bought by Christ. He laid down his life
and gave his life for the sheep, redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ as a lamb without spot, without blemish. And then they
were called, these people are called by the Holy Ghost. The
Holy Spirit takes the redemption of Christ and takes the work
of Christ and takes the will of God and the word of God and
calls them to himself. calls them to Christ, teaches
them about His redemption. And I'll tell you something else
that makes them special. They love one another. They really
do love one another. And they love the Lord Jesus
Christ. They love Him. They need Him. And they love
the gospel. I mean, they love it. They don't
just, there's not a passing fancy with them. This is their life. Christ is their life. The gospel
is their life. The church is their life. This
is it for them. And here, Paul has 27 words. And in that 27 words, he prays
for a full blessing. An incredible blessing upon God's
people. Now, let's look at this blessing
that he prays for. Let's look at the source of it.
Now, the God of hope. That's the source of it. The
God of hope. You know, this is the only place in the Scriptures
where God's called the God of hope. God of Hope. It's one of his titles. The God
of Hope. Only used here. This was Abraham's
God. You keep Romans and look over
here in Romans 4 with me real quick. Romans 4.18. This was
Abraham's God. The God of Hope. God of Hope. What that means, beloved, hope
he's talking about here is not just a wishful thing. It's a
hope that God gave us Himself in His promises. You know, we
hope in that person who makes the promise. We have confidence
that they'll carry it out. We have confidence and expect
them to do what they said they would do. And that's what God
does. He gives us this hope. And look in Romans 4.18. It says
this, talking about Abraham, who against hope, believed in
hope. Against hope? Well, it's impossible
for me and my wife to have a child. I'm a hundred, she's ninety.
But God said you're going to have a child next year. That's
not possible. There's just no hope that that
can happen. Against hope, believed in hope.
And what happened? That he might become the father
of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall
thy seed be. And that's why God does. He gives
to him such a hope. Because he made that promise
that you're going to have a child. That can't be. But he said, I'm
going to believe that promise. And he looked forward to it with
great hope and expectation. And he had a son, Isaac. And
the Scriptures tell us in Proverbs that hope deferred. Hope that
you don't get. Hope does not come to pass. And
deferred makes the heart sink. Well, what is this hope we're
talking about? What is this hope? Now, you keep rolling. Would
you look in Acts with me just a moment? Acts 24. Acts 24. What is this hope? Well, it's
a blessed hope, a glorious hope. But look what Paul said about
it. He's before, he's being judged here, and he answers, he's before
the Felix, the Roman governor, and they make all kinds of accusations
against him, call him a heretic. But he says in verse 14, But
this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they called
heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law of the prophets. Now watch
this, and have hope. Confident expectation towards
God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead. Hope has to do with what our
Lord Jesus Christ did and is coming to get us again. The resurrection,
both of the just and the unjust. So this hope, beloved, is a hope
that God gave us in the resurrection of Christ. And the Scriptures
tell us in Colossians chapter 1, it says this hope is laid
up for us in heaven. Why is it laid up for us in heaven?
Because that's where we're going to find the fulfillment of it.
That's where we're going to enter into the joy of it. That's where
we're going to have the finality of it. And Paul said also that
this Christ in you, Christ in you is the hope of glory. What's your hope of glory? Christ
in me. How do you know you're going
to glory? Christ's in me. How are you going to receive
glory? Christ's in me. Christ in me. And Paul said,
in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised
before the world began. And it also tells us in Hebrews
6 that this hope, and he sung about it in his song this morning.
We have our anchor behind the veil. A sure anchor, steadfast
anchor. What is that anchor? This anchor
is our hope. That anchor is Christ Himself
behind the belt. Christ is our hope, and He's
behind the belt. When the storms come, the anchor
holds. When faith fails, anchor holds. When sickness comes, the anchor
holds. When Satan attacks, the anchor
holds. When you can't, you know, He
holds. He holds. And I tell you, beloved,
this hope, look in Romans 5, just a moment. Romans 5 and verse
5. Let me tell you about this hope. When we have these trials and
we have these burdens, it says, you know, there in verse 3, it
says this, And we glory, we rejoice, and we boast in what trials we
have, knowing that this tribulation is going to work patience for
us. These trials are in patience. It's going to work experience,
and experience hope. Now watch this, and hope don't
make us ashamed. When we're going through these
trials, and we're going through these heartaches, and we're going
through these troubles, and we've went through this experience,
and hope don't make us ashamed. Well, I thought you God's people
would say, oh, bad things happen to God's people. Never a bad
thing happens to God's people. All things work together for
good. People say, I didn't think God's
people do that. All things work together for good. It don't say
anything. Like Scott Rich used to say, I've never had no bad
news since I got the good news. And hope makes us not ashamed.
Oh my, you're, ah, listen. Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. That's why we're not ashamed. We're not ashamed of God, not
ashamed of the Gospel, not ashamed of our trials, not ashamed of
anything that God does. And, O beloved, God gives us
this hope. This blessing that Paul's praying,
it comes from the God of hope. God gives us this hope. God sustains
this hope. And one of these days, God's
going to crown this hope. Abraham Holt's crown. The very minute that child was
born, he said, My Holt! My expectation's been... Old Simeon said, Lord, I don't
want to die until I see the consolation of Israel, until I see your salvation.
He took the Lord Jesus up in his arms, and he says, Now let
thy servant depart in peace. And his Holt now is crowned.
It's full. That's what we're going to have
one of these days. Now look over here at Romans 15 again. So the
source of this blessing, the place this blessing is coming
from is the God of hope. If we ever get a blessing, it's
going to come from God. And you notice he didn't say, now you
need to do this to get a blessing. You need to do that other thing
to get a blessing. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Blessing
comes from God. That's the source of all blessings.
And then look here, the character of this blessing. The God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace. That's what he wants you
to have. What is he praying for? That
you have joy and peace. All joy and all peace. Let me
tell you something about these two things. One of them is active
and one of them is passive. Joy is active, and both of these
things are in a believer's experience. Joy is active, and peace is passive. And they are both sources of
a believer. You know, joy is active. It's expressive. We call
the joy of our salvation. I enjoy my salvation. Do you
enjoy yours? I enjoy God. I enjoy Christ. I enjoy the worship. I enjoy
with the saints of God. I enjoy the gospel. I enjoy,
and that's what he says, the joy of your salvation. David,
sin like this, restore unto me the joy of your salvation, my
salvation. Give it back to me. And I'll
tell you, David, we can lose it. We can lose joy. That's why
he says, I want you to be all full of it. And oh, beloved,
you know, I thought of this this morning. Weeping may endure for
a night, but what does it say? Joy cometh in the morning. And over in Psalm 89.15, I'm
going to bring a message on this one of these days. It comes to
me this morning while I was looking at my notes. Blessed are the
people who know the joyful sound. What is that joyful sound? Christ
is a joyful sound. The righteousness of Christ is
a joyful sound. Free grace is a joyful sound. Justification by faith is a joyful
sound. Redemption by blood is a joyful
sound. Election is a joyful sound. Sovereign
grace is a joyful sound. On and on and on. And blessed
is the people who know that joyful sound. And when they hear it,
that's it. Then look here in Romans 14 and
verse 17, talking about joy. Joy. Joy is active. If you've
got it, it's coming out. He says in verse 17, For the
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and
peace, and watch it, joy in the Holy Ghost. I know folks that
just seem like they're full of joy. Brother Wayne Boyd that
was here in our meeting, I've never seen him where he just
seemed like to me he was full of joy. He just laughs all the
time. He's just full of joy all the time. He'll call you and
he'll just huff all the time. And I tell you, it's a joy to
be around folks who are joyful. And oh, the more, and I know
this, the more you know about salvation that's in Christ, the
more you know of salvation by Christ, and the freeness of it,
the fullness of it, the sureness of it, the more joy you'll have. And then peace. Joy and peace. Peace is passive. Peace is passive. You can't give yourself peace.
You can't talk yourself into peace. You can't make peace. When we're talking about peace,
it's passive, it's restful, it's quiet, it's easy. And why in
the world, how do we have this peace we're talking about? Well,
we've been reconciled to God. People say, make your peace with
God. You can't do it, can't be done. Christ made peace. Christ established peace. Christ
himself is our peace. It says in Ephesians 2.14. You
see, God was angry and had wrath against all men. And Christ our
Lord, and we had enmity towards God. Christ came, and through
His death on the cross, He satisfied God justice that was against
us. He honored God's truth by which
we had lied about and denied. And he endured the wrath of God
so God's not angry with his people anymore. And then Christ comes
in his blood by the Holy Ghost. He slays the enmity that's in
our heart. And so we're not angry with God.
We're not mad at God. We don't hate him anymore. And
God's not angry with us. And so therefore we have peace. God's not mad, we're not mad,
and all beloved Christ threw the enmity and brought peace
between us and God. And that's why the scripture
says our warfare is accomplished. Oh my, you know what it is to
have peace of mind? Boy, I'll tell you, going back
when we had to work for our religion, work for our blessings, work
to satisfy God, never had any peace of mind. Never had any
peace of heart. Certainly didn't have any peace
of conscience. And what a blessed thing for the conscience, for
the mind, and for the heart to rest in Christ. To just rest,
repose, lay down in. You know, we all have, we all
raise babies, we all raise kids. And you know, when they go to
sleep, they're just so restful. They just slumber. And you know,
they just rest. You take care of them. And that's
the way, you know, if we understood clearly what Christ did for us,
and like we hold a baby, and like we hold an infant, and that
baby goes to sleep in arms and just completely at rest, And
I'm telling you, if we understood that's what Christ does for us,
we would be completely at ease at all times. Amen. Yes, sir. Huh? Oh my, to rest in Christ
and His righteousness. We don't have to work for righteousness.
We got it. He gave it to us. It's His. He died in our room instead
and washed away our sins by His own blood. The justice they tried
out for death. He's satisfied. Now the same
justice says, give them life and give them peace. Oh, what a blessing to rest in
Christ. And I tell you, look down here
in verse 33 of Romans 15, talking about peace. This is passive.
This is restful. He's called the God of peace.
Now, the God of peace be with y'all. Where you going? God's peace is going to be with
me. Wherever I go, He's going to be with me. And you know,
there's a fellow I know today, a pastor up in Harrisburg, Kentucky,
moves up there preaching this morning. David Collier, him and
his wife were here last year. Great, great big man. He's going
over to Mayo Clinic this evening. He's going to drive to take him
four days, three or four days to get to Mayo Clinic. He's got
to go up there for a week and take a bunch of tests. His wife's
in the hospital in Danville. And you know what he says? He
just, as a matter of fact, he said, he says, boy, ain't it
wonderful, ain't it a blessed thing to know that God Himself
takes care of everything and everyone, and His perfect will
is being done. I can certainly rest and find
peace in that. Wife in the hospital, he's on
his way to Mayo Clinic to have some tests done. That's me, you know what that
was saying. People be biting their fingers, they've been having
their fingernails bit off like mine. Well I don't bite mine,
I just rip them off. Anyway, I don't know why, but
you know He's the God of peace. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. Now the God of peace, now
listen to it, that brought again from the dead, why did He bring
Christ again from the dead? Because peace had been established,
righteousness had been honored, law had been fulfilled and magnified. Now the God of peace had brought
again from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shepherd, the
Great Shepherd of the sheep. Establish you and settle you
and strengthen you and work in you, that is well pleasing. Where at? In His sight. That's
what the God of peace does for you. He's got such peace, and
He even works in you people. And boy, I'll tell you, let me
tell you this about us. When this peace is disturbed,
and it gets disturbed sometimes, when this peace is disturbed,
the whole world is disturbed within you. Nothing's right when
this peace is disturbed. Everything's out of whack. Everything's... the world is just awful when
this peace is disturbed within you. that, oh my, to have this
blessed peace. Christ is called the Prince of
Peace. Peter said, we preach peace to you through Jesus Christ. And how beautiful upon the mountain
are the feet of them that publish glad tidings of good things,
that publisheth peace. It says under Zion, Thy God reigneth. So with joy and peace. Joy is
active, peace is passive. That's what he's praying for.
Now watch this. Back over here in verse 13 again. Source of
this blessing is God. The God of hope. The character
of joy and peace. All joy and peace. Now how much
does he want you to have joy and peace to measure this blessing?
Mount of God of hope. Feel you. Fill you with all joy
and peace. Fill you. I want you to have
fullness of this. It says there in verse 14, they're
also full of goodness. And when he says fullness here,
he don't mean just a poor portion. You know what? I've always found
this out. The more expensive recipes you
go into, and you order these meals that are supposed to be
so good, and they'll bring it out, and there won't be enough
on the plate in there to get a bite out of. And they put people paying
a fortune for that stuff. They just make it look good.
But I mean, there ain't nothing there. But I'm telling you, when
I want to eat, I want my plate full. And I won't eat until I
get full. And Paul said, I want you full!
I want you prayed full! I want your heart full! Of what? Joy and peace. I want you full
of it. Not just a little portion. Not
narrow. Not a strange life. But full. May God fill you. Fill you with
all joy and peace. Our Lord said, I've come that
you might have life and have it more. What? Abundantly. Just overflowing. Let me tell
you something, beloved. He's wealthy enough to fill you
up. He's powerful enough to fill
you up. He's willing enough to fill you up. He's called the
God of all grace. If you keep Romans 15 in one
hand, look over to Ephesians 3. Look over to Ephesians 3. I want you
to see this just a moment, Ephesians 3, 20, verse 319. Oh, God's wealthy enough to fill
you up, powerful enough to fill you up, willy enough to fill
you up. And look what he says here, in verse 19. And to know the love of Christ
which passes knowledge, now watch this, that you might be filled
with all the fullness of God. The love of God Himself. Now
watch this. Now unto Him that's able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. We can
ask some pretty big things, but He gives us more than what we
can ask for. And we can thank some awful big things, but He
gives us more than that according to the power that works in us. Oh may He fill you with all joy
and peace in believing. Let me tell you something. The
measures fill you. Hold out your empty cup. See
if he won't fill it. Hold out your empty hand. See
if he won't give you more than your hands can hold. David says, My cup! Runs plumb
over. Runs plumb over. And then look
at the purpose of this blessing back over here in verse 13. Source God, the character, all
joy and peace, measure, fill you with it, fullness, full. And what's this? And the purpose,
the reason he prayed for, that you may abound in hope. That you may abound in hope.
That's the reason you play this prayer. That you might have all
joy and peace. That you may abound in this hope. The God of hope calls you to
abound in hope. You know, to abound means to
have abundance of. To have abundance. To be abundantly
furnished. To have all that you need and
even more than enough. More than enough. And this bound
in hope, this has to do with our future. Hope has to do with
our future. If you look at hope in the scriptures, it always
has to do with the resurrection of Christ and His coming again.
Always does. When you look at it and search
it out in the scriptures, it always is connected with the
future. Hope is always connected with
what's going to happen. Faith has to do with right now.
Hope has to do with tomorrow. Hope has to do with the future.
And that's what hope has to do with the resurrection of Christ
and His coming again. And that's why, beloved, When
we face the future, and all of us have got a future to face.
I was with a man yesterday that's 95 years old, and I said, boy,
you'd very well make it to 100. He said, I never did think I
would. I said, you're in pretty good shape. You're very well
made. He may make it to 100. Still a sharp mind. His body's
weak, but his mind just... His future's about over. That,
oh, we got a future, and beloved, troubles is going to come in
our future. That's without a doubt, troubles going to come. But not
only will troubles come, but blessings is going to come as
well. We're going to have blessings to go with those troubles. And
how do we face our troubles and how do we rejoice in our blessings?
We face them both with hope. What hope do we have? That God
will give us what He promised, will keep us as He promised,
sustain us as He promised, hold us up as He promised. That God
will do that. And we face them with hope. And
oh beloved, that's what we face in the future. Troubles are going
to come, blessings are going to come, but we face them with
hope. It'd be awful to have a future
without hope, wouldn't it? Huh? Oh, my. Then he says that you may abound
in hope. Abound in hope. Titus called
it a blessed hope. Why is it a blessed hope? What
makes it blessed? First of all, it comes from God.
God gives us hope. He's the God of hope. He's the
source of our hope. Christ is our hope. That's what makes it blessed.
And it says, we have this blessed hope of the glorious appearing,
this is where our hope's in, and the glorious appearing of
our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's what we're looking
for. Oh my. And the scriptures tells
us it's a good hope. How was it a good hope? God gave
it to us through grace. He gives you this good hope through
grace. And it's a sure hope. Why? Because
it's anchored behind the veil. It's Christ. And it's a living
hope. Why? Because God gave us a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance. That's our hope and inheritance. You know, you see these folks
out running around in their motorhomes and all that, and they'll say,
God, the bumper's triggered on. I'm spending my kids' inheritance. But listen, don't spend it all
now. At least save me some. But oh,
listen, there's nobody can get our inheritance. It's reserved
for us. Got our name on it. Got our crown
on it. Got our seats set. Got our place
set. And when we get there, we'll
be exactly where we're supposed to be. We'll get that inheritance. That inheritance laid up for
us. And ah, the Lord Jesus Himself
is our hope, Timothy 1.1 says. And you know why we can abound
in hope, and we abound in it right now? Because our future
is certain. I mean, there's no doubt about
our future. Absolutely no doubt whatsoever. I don't know what tomorrow's
going to bring, but I do know what my eternity holds for me. And I know who holds it for me,
and you do too. That's why we can abound in hope,
because our future is certain. Is trial going to come? Who's
going to get it from? God gives it to us. Blessing
going to come? Where's it coming from? It's
coming from Him. Strength, we're going to get it from Him. Who's
going to sustain the whole? Pete's going to sustain it. And our future is certain. You
think I'll miss my inheritance? You think I won't get it? God said He gave it to me. Oh,
my. It's guaranteed. This future
is certain. We've read the back of the book.
Me and Tim James talk about doing the book. We've read the back
of the book. We know how it's coming out. Huh? You ever watch something
and you say, well, I know who done it. And you pick out the
person and say, now, that there's a person who done it. You watch
the TV show or something and say, wait and see if that's the
guy who did it. You know, because you can figure out what's going
on. Well, God gave us, told us what's going to go on, what's
going to happen. He told us what's going to happen.
It's certain. Guaranteed, first of all, by
the Word of God. God gave us His Word. He told
us. I give unto them eternal life.
They shall be with me. Where I am, that's where they're
going to be. And the blood of Christ guarantees it. You know
what? The blood itself says that we
must inherit eternity. We must. And then look where
we get this, who gives us these blessings and where the spirit
of these blessings is at. Back over here again, that you
may abound in hope. We abound in hope because we
know our future is certain. But you may bound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. That's where it comes from. That's
where it comes from. And this is where we live a life
of joy and peace. In the Holy Ghost in us, and
in the Holy Ghost. We are bound in hope because
of the Holy Ghost in us, being filled with these things. In
the power of the Holy Ghost. And why He says the Holy Ghost
here? Because flesh can't produce joy. Flesh can't produce joy. Self
can't produce joy. I can't even get joy from you. You may make me happy for a while. I may have some happiness until
whatever made me happy is done and gone. But joy is something
that's active. It comes from God. It's a spiritual
grace. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace. And that's why it says, not by
flesh it don't come up. That's why these folks get in
these meetings and they get the flesh all worked up and they
get to act like they're having the biggest time in the world.
When they leave there, it's just gone. And they got to come back
and do it all over again. But we know our peace abides
because of the Holy Ghost. I can be full of joy sitting
on my back porch, sitting in a chair, laying in bed. And I
certainly get full of joy whenever I hear somebody preaching, and
they're preaching the gospel, my heart just, whoo, just feels
plumbed up. Like yours did, didn't yours?
And oh, beloved, not by power, not by power, not by might, but
by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Huh? And oh, beloved, this is
how the joy and the power of the Holy Ghost. He's the Comforter.
He's the Teacher. He's the Guide. Look over with
me real quick in Philippians 3. I want you to see this. Philippians
3. Not over your right, just a couple
of books. And I tell you, you know, that's
why he says, Paul said, if you've begun in the Spirit, are you
going to now be made perfect by the flesh? The Spirit's the
one that gives you life. The Spirit's the one that comforts
you. The Spirit's the one that gives you joy. The Spirit's the
one that brought you to Christ and gives you rest in Christ.
The Spirit's the one that gave you faith. Look what he said
here in verse 3. Philippians 3. We are the circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit. Rejoice in Christ Jesus! And oh, listen here, we have
no confidence whatsoever in what our flesh can do or produce.
But oh, the Holy Ghost works it in you. Oh, the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts. How? By the Holy Ghost. Where
He is, there's spirit of life. Where He is, there's spirit of
liberty. And the Holy Ghost works in us, what Christ worked out
for us, and God's will for us. And then look back over here,
and I'll give you my last point. Oh, the source of this blessing
that Paul prays now, the God of hope, that's where this blessing
comes from. That's who he's praying. God, you fill him. You fill him. And oh, beloved me, and the prayer
that he prays for him is all joy and peace. That you may be
filled with it. That you may abound in hope.
That's the character of the prayer. Through the power of the Holy
Ghost. Now watch this. And the channel of it. Now the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. In
believing. The joy. The channel of it. How are we going to get there?
In believing. In believing. Can you not believe? Every believer is going to have
some joy and peace. Because God is going to give it to you. And
this is it, beloved, faith. Our life is a life of faith.
We walk not by sight, but by faith. But by faith. I want you
to see something over in Romans chapter 1. Just real quick. Let
me show you this. Romans 1.16. Talking about Now
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing." In believing. And oh, beloved,
I tell you, unbelievers don't have joy and peace because they
don't have no hope. They don't have the God of hope.
They don't have any peace. And look what it says in Romans
1.16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it
is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth,
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Now watch this. For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, and as it is written, shall live by faith." Those who
are justified, those who believe the gospel, those who trust Christ,
they live by faith. And this gospel, the righteousness
of God, is revealed from faith to faith. Now, what does that
mean? First of all, it's received by faith to everyone that believes. God is not going to believe for
you. He gives you faith. And where
faith's at, it believes. Just like right now, some of
you are saying, that's right, that's true, I believe that.
You can't help but not believe. And one thing you can say is,
I believe that. I really believe that. That's
soul preacher. That's right, I believe that.
I believe what you're telling me. That's what faith is. You're
not going to get a pat on the back for believing the truth. We're just believing God, and
it's first of all from faith to faith. It's received by faith.
It continues by faith. It starts with faith. It continues by faith. And this
gospel, this righteousness of God, this gospel of God, it produces
faith. And guess what? It'll end in
faith. Peter says, receiving the end of your faith, what is
it? Even the salvation of your souls. What's the end of my faith? I'm
saved. I'll be in eternity. I won't
need faith anymore. You get to the end of it, just
like Christ sent the law for righteousness. We'll get to faith,
the end of faith one of these days. When you draw your last
breath, that's the end of faith. You won't need it anymore. Don't! When you get to glory, you won't
need any faith. That'll be at the end of it. The gospel produces faith. It says in Romans 10, 17, Faith
cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And when this
faith is, comes joy and peace and hope. And let me give you
two sides of this in closing. From God's side, from God's side
is this. It's the Holy Ghost that works
in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Now the
God of hope fill you, God does that, fill you with all joy and
peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power
of the Holy Ghost. And so God works this in us.
God works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And from us, you know what it is? It's simply believing that. Simply resting in that. Simply
trusting that. Simply believing that. Faith
is what unites us to Christ. How do we know that we know Christ?
How do we know we're joined to Christ? We believe Christ. We
need Christ. We cling to Christ. That's why
we know we're united to Him. Faith joins us to Him. From our
union with Him comes all we need. You need peace? He got it. Joy? We got it. Faith? He gives it. Rest? He gives it. Right now, tomorrow, all the way through eternity.
Huh? Ain't that right? That's right. Yo, you got joy
and peace this morning? Take your handbook and turn to
257. Stand up. 257. Okay.