Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Romans chapter 15 for a start, and for the most
part. Romans chapter 15, and I'm gonna
begin reading in verse 13. Now, the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing, in believing. that ye may abound
in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. And I myself
also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full
of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish
one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have
written the more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you
in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God, that
I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering
the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable
being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and I'm gonna stop right
there. I wanna talk about believing
today. Specifically, this is my title, Paul, joy and peace
in believing, in believing. Now, this book of Romans was
written by the Apostle Paul, and he calls himself specifically
the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. But now this book, I have heard,
you might not believe this, but I have heard that the book of
Romans was written to Jews in Rome. Well, it was. As long as you put in these two
words at the end, and Gentiles. You understand? Romans 1 and
7 says to all that be in Rome, beloved of God. Beloved of God. That's the address. Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I understand, in this book, you
will find direct references to Jews, Paul was reading some of
them, and you will find direct references to Gentiles, as in
this chapter here, and others. But let's be clear. I mean, for
everybody, no matter what anyone else tells you, every word of
this Bible is written to and for believers. Old Testament, New Testament,
Gospels, Epistles, Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs, it's all for
those who are beloved of God. That's who it's to, that's who
it's for, and it is concerning about the Lord Jesus Christ and
his Gospel. But now, I'm gonna start here
in Romans 15 and verse 13. That's pretty much where I'm
gonna spend most of my time. Now, the God of hope. The God of hope. Now the direct
reference of this title is found in verse 12. Who is the God of
hope? The God of hope is a root of
Jesse. That's what it says in verse
12. again Isaiah's which is Isaiah saith there shall be a root of
Jesse and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles in
Him shall the Gentiles trust That's Jesus Christ He's the
root of Jesse Jesse was the father of David Jesus Christ was known
as the son of David because his lineage was directly from David.
You can read that in the first chapters of Matthew, Luke, wherever
you want. Jesus Christ is the son of David.
He is the root of Jesse. He is the righteous branch that
was going to be raised up. That's who the God of hope is.
And if you look just a little bit before this in verse nine,
and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy as it is written
for this cause, I will confess thee among the Gentiles and sing
unto thy name. And again he saith, rejoice ye
Gentiles with his people. I'm not gonna go into that, Paul
did that really well. And again, praise the Lord all
ye Gentiles and laud him all ye people. And then he says,
the root of Jesse shall rise to reign over the Gentiles. In
him shall the Gentiles trust. Now, the God of hope. It's the
same person all along. Jesus Christ is the God of hope. That's the direct reference.
The son of David, the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ
of God. Isaiah also calls him The Lord
of hosts is his name. The Holy One of Israel. What? The Redeemer. The Redeemer. That's Jesus Christ. He is the
God of hope. And here's the thing. He is God
and he's our only hope. He's our only hope. Jeremiah
put it this way. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord. and whose hope the Lord is, is. Peter wrote this, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope,
a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The God of hope, who is our hope,
and I love this, part two, where it says, hath begotten us again. That's that word fathered. The God of hope is our father.
He fathered us. That life where there's only
death before, a dead alien sinner given life, you have been fathered
by God. If you know Christ, if you believe
Christ, And he has fathered us again to a living hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He has fathered us. I like that,
I do. So what about this God of hope
Paul wrote here? I mean, Paul wrote it. The God
of hope fill you. Now, I like Young's literal translation
because it actually renders it just a little better in this
case. It says, now the God of hope shall fill you. You understand, this is not a
prayer of Paul saying I hope he does. No, he says the God
of hope's gonna fill you. The God of hope shall fill you.
It's the way the tense of the verb is in that case. The God
of hope shall fill you. Who? Believers. Believers, that's who Paul's
talking to here. That's who Paul is writing to. The only ones
who know the God of hope are those who have received this
hope. You understand, you can't believe
in whom you've not heard. That's just the facts. You understand,
you can't believe in something or someone, in this case, whom
you don't know. But the God of hope, who is our
hope, who has fathered us, is gonna fill you. He's gonna fill
you. He's gonna fill you. He's gonna
fill me. Oh, I like that, I do. John said, and I preached on this, I think,
back in July, in of, His speaking of Christ of his fullness Have
all we received and grace for grace Sinners saved by grace
His grace his hope and his fullness He's the one that fills you don't
fill yourself with I know a lot of people say that you gotta
pray, and you gotta get down, and you gotta work it up, and
you need to get that second helping of grace. No, the God of hope
shall fill you, and you'll be full. You'll be full. Hope maketh
not ashamed. Why? The love of God is shed
abroad, where? In our hearts, in our hearts,
the God of hope shall fill you, shall fill you by the Holy Ghost
given to us. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us. The blessed
hope himself fills the believer. The only hope, the living hope,
Who is Jesus Christ? What does it say? I like quoting
this one. It's Jesus Christ, what? The
hope of glory. But not only that, the hope of
glory in you. In you, in you the hope of glory. Of his fullness we have all received
and grace for grace. And this, is the only place man
will ever find true hope is in Christ. Without Christ, there
is no hope. Without Christ, there's nothing
but death. And that's part of what makes this such a glorious
verse here. You understand? We've talked
about it. I've preached it. Walter's preached
it. Paul, you've been. We're worms. We're maggots. We're less than the small dust
of the balance, and yet the God of hope shall fill you. I was listening to Henry coming
up the road here before I had my flat tire incident. And he
was talking about all those Pharisees and scribes around him. Said
this man, who did Jesus Christ stop and talk to? Who did Jesus
Christ preach to? He preached to sinners and publicans. and harlots, and a woman that
had been possessed of seven devils. And they said, this man is the
friend of sinners. Yes, he was. And wait a minute,
ain't done yet. Yes, he is. He still is. You understand, those Pharisees
and scribes didn't realize that they fell in that same category
of sinners. But he'll show you. He'll show
you. He'll show you what category
you fit in when he's gonna give you, before he gives you that
hope. You're gonna know. And of this fullness, we have
all received and grace for grace. I like that. But next thing it
says is with all joy and peace. He shall fill you with all joy
and peace. Because there is a joy, actually
the joy and the peace, being in Christ Jesus. And it's a joy
and peace I can't explain. I wish I could. All I can say is this, and I
can tell you this from my own personal experience and from
what I've observed, It's good to know Jesus Christ. And I mean
it's God good to know Jesus Christ. It's good to know him. It's really good to know God,
and more importantly, it's really good to be known of God. Moreover, known of God. You understand,
see, there's a lot of single way religions out there. They say they know God, but they
don't know anything about his scripture. They say they know
God, but they hate his election. They say they know God, but they
hate his sovereignty. They say they know God, and then
boast about their free will, boast about what they've done.
I'm sorry if you're doing that. You don't know God. because there
is no boasting except for of God and of Jesus Christ. Think about this for a minute.
God knows your name. And he's not spitting it out
of his mouth when he says it. He knows your name. He knows
your name. If you're in him, God knows who
you are, where you are, and what you're doing. Isn't that amazing? The fruit of the Holy Spirit
is love, joy, and peace. There's more, but I'm gonna stop
right there. And Jesus Christ has sent his Holy Spirit into
every believer. And you have a joy and a peace
that this world will never know. that unbelievers never know. There is no true joy or any true
peace without Jesus Christ. Because he is our joy. Jesus Christ is our peace. Jesus Christ is our living hope. But this is what kind of stopped
me here on this verse. With all joy and peace, in those
next two words, in believing. That joy and peace. He's gonna
fill you with all joy and peace in believing, in believing. There is joy, true joy, in believing
Jesus Christ. because believers are the sons
and daughters of God. And there is peace, true peace,
true peace in believing Jesus Christ. Believers are saved in
Christ Jesus. Excuse me. Let me be clear here. Very clear. Believing Jesus Christ
is not a burden. Believing Jesus Christ is not
a duty. Believing Jesus Christ is not
your right. And believing Jesus Christ even
is not a privilege. Believing Jesus Christ is a blessing
from God. Believing Jesus Christ is one
of those spiritual blessings. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Believing Jesus
Christ is a blessing from God. It's a wondrous thing because
believing Jesus Christ is a miracle of grace. You went through your life before
he met you not believing him. I did the same. I did the same. It's a blessing from the Lord. Because I wanna stop and just
ask you a question here for just a minute. Think about this. Do you like believing Jesus Christ? I never really stopped and thought
about that specifically. And when I did, though, I realized
I like believing Jesus Christ. I like believing God. Now, if
you had met me before I turned 23, I would have told you, I
don't know what you're talking about. But right now, this scripture
made me stop and think and ponder on this. I like believing Christ. I like
believing Jesus. I like knowing him. And actually, it's kind of double
good When I come to the point where I realized, now I realize
in me, still in my flesh, is an evil heart of unbelief. It's
still there. But when I stop and I think about
it, I can't imagine now not believing Christ. I can't imagine what
that would be like, Walter. He is such a part of my life.
He is in me and has been in me now for decades. And yes, thank
God by his grace, I have grown in the grace and the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I like it. I really like
it. And when I stop and think about
it, it does give me a little joy and peace. to know that by
his grace, he has given to me to believe him. You understand? To believe him. Not to pay lip
service to believing him. You understand, whatever I find
in his book, I believe. Whether I understand it or not,
I ask him for understanding. But his word, especially I gotta
admit, I really like the words he spoke when he was on this
world. For those three and a half years of that ministry, the little
scraps that we have. I like believing his word. I
like believing Christ. This God, who at one time, I
didn't even know, didn't even care about. About whom I probably,
the true him, I never had a thought about him. And if I did have a thought about
him, it was probably wrong. And I'm willing to bet y'all
were the same way. But now, by his grace, by his Holy Spirit, I know him
and I know the Father who sent him. And you know what Jesus
Christ called that? He called that eternal life,
is to know thee and the one that you have sent. It's a most gracious and glorious
gift given to his people. And I want to tell you this,
if you think, if you think If you think believing in Jesus
Christ is a burden, you don't know him. That's all I can say. You don't know him. You don't
know anything about him. Because most people don't understand
because most people do not believe Jesus Christ. And that's just
as true as I can say it. Understand, there's many that
are on that broad way. And the end thereof is what?
Destruction. And straight is the gate, and
narrow is the way, and few there be that find it. You know the
reason you find it? It's because he puts you in it.
He puts you there. Those who were lost, those who
were lost, those who are called out, those who are brought in,
those lost sheep that he picked up and carried on his shoulders
and brought them back to the flock, Those people are blessed
to believe him, to believe him, because the lost don't know. You understand? The very gospel
that we preach, the very gospel that we preach is hid to them
that are lost, whom the God of this world has blinded their
minds. They can't see it. They don't know it. And for them,
see, going to church is, oh, I gotta
go to church. If I don't, my wife will yell
at me. Or my husband will yell at me. And I gotta get them kids
into church, because they gotta learn how to behave somewhere. If believing Christ is a burden
to you, you don't know him. You don't know him. The minds
are blinded, they cannot see, and no one will see until the
glorious light of Jesus Christ shines in them. In them. Then, only then, will
they know the joy and peace in believing Jesus Christ. And Paul said this, that you
abound in hope. The God of hope is our hope.
Those who believe Jesus Christ abound in hope. You got more
hope than you know what to do with. You abound in hope. Believers live in hope in him,
in him. What'd he say? In him we live
and move and have our very being. Every thought I have about him
is in hope. Every step you walk is in hope. That's abounding in hope, because
he is our hope. He'll put in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure through the power of the Holy
Ghost. Ephesians 1. 19 says this and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power? Toward us to us word Who believe
who believe? According to the working of his
mighty power Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right hand and the heavenly
places. We have all joy and peace in
believing, and we believe according to the working of His mighty
power." And I looked it up again. His vigorous forcefulness. That's what mighty power means. I'm sorry, we're so pitiful we
can't even believe on our own. He gives us his faith. He's the
author and finisher of faith. And he gives us his faith. And
what? He gives it to us to believe. In joy and in peace. I like that, I do. It takes the
mighty power of God to believe God. through the power of the
Holy Ghost. Now doesn't that sort of put
to rest that statement? I'll believe God when I'm good
and ready. I'll come to God when I want to, I'm not ready yet,
I don't wanna go now. Well the last part is a true
statement, I don't want to now. And if God doesn't change your
want to, you won't.