Years ago, I preached a message from these
passages entitled the same thing that this one is entitled, We
Are Saved by Hope. And a man challenged me on it.
He said, we're not saved by hope, we're saved by Christ. Well,
first of all, I pointed out to him, I said that to say we are
saved by hope is a direct quotation from the word of God. It's in
verse 24, for we are saved by hope. And then secondly, I pointed
out to him, and I said this throughout the message that I preached on
this subject, in the Bible, to say that we are saved by hope
is the exact same thing as saying we are saved by Christ. Because
Christ is our hope. The thing about it is, people
have a misguided understanding of what hope really is. To many
people, hope is just mere wishful thinking. Well, I hope something
comes out or something works out. And to others, hope is just
a desire for something that they want. But hope in the scripture
is a good hope by grace, the scripture calls it. It's called
the hope of righteousness by faith in another place, in Galatians. And the reason there's nothing
wrong with saying we're saved by hope, because hope in the
scripture is the assurance of our desires for salvation and
eternal glory that's based upon a proper and a good foundation,
which is the word of God in Christ. You might even say it this way,
it's the certain expectation of salvation and final glory
based upon the glorious person and the finished, accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this hope is. So
it's very proper in a biblical context to say we're saved by
hope. That's not meaning that we're saved by our wishing or
our desiring something, but it's the hope of the gospel. It's
the hope of God's grace, it's the hope that we find sure and
secure in Christ. And he mentions this here, in
verse 23 he says, and not only they, now what he's talking about
there, remember last week he talked about how the whole creation
groans in anticipation of the manifestation of the sons of
God. And that groaning, what he does,
he gives human characteristics to the created world and universe,
which fell in Adam, cursed, this earth is a cursed world. He gives
that world human characteristics to show that even when Christ
comes again, not only are we ourselves gonna be glorified,
but this world is going to be changed. This cursed earth is
going to burn up, and a new heavens and a new earth are gonna be
created by God, which we will inhabit. forever and ever in
glory. And so he talks about how the
creation groaneth. And I believe that groaning is
shown forth in things like disasters. We talk about how many tornadoes
and hurricanes and things, natural disasters. And then we see manifestations
of God's wrath upon the unbelieving. Those who live and die in unbelief,
we see that. You know, remember Christ spoke
of that in Luke 13. He talked about those who were
slaughtered by unbelievers. And then he spoke of natural
disasters. And his point there in Luke 13
was that we're not to conclude that they got what they deserved
as if we deserve better. That's why he said, except you
repent, you shall likewise perish. None of us deserve any of the
blessings of God's grace and God's goodness, even God's general
goodness. The rain that comes on the just
and the unjust, understand, it rains on the just and the unjust,
but the just don't deserve the rain any more than the unjust.
But it still rains on both, doesn't it? To the just, it's a blessing
from God. To the unjust, it's a curse.
So he says here in verse 23, and not only they, that is the
whole creation, groans in anticipation of glory, final glory, but ourselves
also. We groan in anticipation of glory. Now I want you to think about
something. That anticipation, that desire, that groaning becomes
more real to us as we get older, doesn't it? And as we see things
more clearly, you know, the bloom of youth, it kind of really,
if we're not careful, the bloom of youth will take us away from
the reality of what we really need and what's really important
and what's really eternal. Because when you're young and
in your prime and you're healthy, you just think, man, I've got
the world by the, Pastor man, you say, you got the world by
the tail on the downhill slide. But then something happens. We
have these moments, even in our youth, where something happens.
And I think about that with our son Aaron. Here he was, 38 years
old, and then all of a sudden, one day, that happened. And it comes. But I thank God
that God had brought him by his grace and power, by God's grace
and power to see the reality of what really matters in eternity. But as we grow older, and as
we get weaned away from this life and this world, we've grown
even more. But here's what he says, look,
verse 23, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of
the Spirit. Now what are the first fruits
of the Spirit? Well, that's the work of the Holy Spirit in our
new birth, in our conversion. The Holy Spirit indwells us.
Over in Ephesians chapter one, he's called the earnest. of the
expectation, it's almost like a guarantee, like a down payment,
a guarantee. And we have the first fruits
of the Spirit. We've been born again by the Spirit. We've been
literally raised from the dead spiritually to see the reality
of what really is important, that our hope is in Christ, that
Christ really, that this world, it fades, that this body, it
fades away. This world, even our family relationships
at some point will fade away. I was talking to somebody about
this last week. We're to love our earthly families,
especially our children. We're responsible for them. But
do you know that relationship is not going to be eternal? But
what is going to be eternal? Our family relationship in the
body of Christ. That's eternal. And so we get
weaned away from all these other relationships. We have the first
fruits of the Spirit, look at verse 23, even we ourselves grown
within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit or namely
the redemption of our bodies. So what's he talking about? He's
talking about our glorification. He's talking about how we will
spend eternity in a glorified body, the redemption of our body.
You see redemption Redemption is by the blood of Christ, but
that redemption, Christ paid the price of our sins on the
cross, our sins imputed to him, and he drank damnation dry, he
paid the debt, he brought in everlasting righteousness, and
we're redeemed from our sins. But that redemption involves
much more than that. That redemption means that we
belong to him, because he bought us lock, stock, and barrel, he
keeps us, and that redemption also means that we will be, it
includes the fact that we will be free, not only from the legal
ramifications of sin, where there's no condemnation, but we will
one day be totally free from the presence of sin, from the
contamination of sin that plagues us every second of our lives
these days. The presence, the power, and
the contamination of sin. And Paul expressed that back
in Romans 7, 24 and 25. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? And it is a death,
isn't it? We see it even now in ourselves. Like I said, our physical body's
breaking down as we get older. And it's gonna happen. And he
says, who's gonna deliver us from this? Well, that's the redemption
of our bodies. And he said, I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So we're going to be, we're waiting
in anticipation of the redemption of our bodies. And I believe
that in every believer's life, at some point in time, if we
live long enough, that God brings this about and makes it more
real to us as we get weaned away. It's almost like where Paul came
to the point, when he talked to the Philippians, he said,
for me to die is gain. It's gain. And he longed to be
with Christ. And I think, unless we're just
cut down in the prime of life, where we don't have time to think
about it, However God takes us out, you know, if we live long
enough, that's what's going to happen. But he's speaking of
the body of Christ here on earth, and he's saying we're waiting
for the adoption. Now, adoption's a big word in
scripture. Adoption began in eternity past. We were adopted by God in Christ. That was the decree of adoption.
And you know, anything God does, he has to do on a just ground.
That's why we were chosen in Christ, we were adopted in Christ,
justified in Christ, all of that. Based on his blood and righteousness
that he would come in time and fulfill when he paid the price. That's redemption in time. And
so the adoption began and eternity passed. The adoption continued. In one sense, we're born dead
in trespasses and sins and we're in the kingdom of Satan as far
as our personal experience is concerned. Ephesians chapter
two tells us that. We're by nature the children
of wrath even as others. We were never children of wrath.
We were always vessels of mercy fitted for the glory of God. But in ourselves, as we are naturally
born, we're born lost. We're born in unbelief. We're
born rebels. And so, at some point in time,
that adoption of grace God who sent Christ to pay our dowry,
you might say, by his blood and righteousness, he brings us,
he actually enacts to bring us into his family, and when that
happens, that's the first fruits of the Spirit. We're actually
brought in to the family of God by faith in Christ. We're children
of God, and we give that evidence. But that redemption and that
adoption the finalization of it, the full realization of it
will come in glory. So it's a big word, isn't it?
The adopted children of God, the redeemed children of God,
the justified children of God will be glorified. And we groan
and we wait, and he says in verse 24, we're saved by hope. What
does that mean? We're saved by the grace of God
in Christ. That's what it means. Because
what is our hope? You see, our hope is not just
a desire that we have, even though we do have a desire. But it's
not, what I'm saying there is, it's not, well, you'll be saved
if you want it bad enough, you know. It's kind of like some
people misuse faith. You know, these false preachers
who claim to be healing people, if you have enough faith, then
he'll heal you. Well, you know, there's nothing
in the Bible, now think about this, There's nothing in the
Bible that tells us, well now, this much faith is okay, but
here's more faith. Here's a degree of more that
you've got to have and then you'll get what you want. There's nothing
in the Bible like that. In fact, the Lord looked at his
disciples one time and he said, oh, ye of little faith. You see,
faith is not in the, let's say, the blessing of faith. is not
in some degree of faith. Now, I believe faith grows, I
do. I believe our faith grows as
we grow in grace and in knowledge and grow in the word of God.
We learn more, I know that. But see, the blessing of faith
is not in, well, you've got 10 degrees of faith and oh, so and
so over there, he's got 20 degrees or 80 degrees or whatever. That's not it. The blessing of
faith is not in how much faith we have, but in whom we have
faith. And what is our faith based on? In other words, if
I say I believe something, is it founded on the word of God?
Because if it's not founded on the word of God, what kind of
faith is it? False faith. Somebody told me, well, I don't
believe God would do what you say he would do. Well, does the
Bible say he would? Talk about election. All right? The Bible says God chose a people
before the foundation of the world and gave them to Christ.
Somebody comes and says, well, I don't believe that. I believe
that God's trying to save everybody. Well, what does the word of God
say? Because the validity of my faith and the validity of
your faith is only going to be determined by what God's word
says. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by what? The word of God. So we're saved by hope because
our hope is in Christ. It's the hope of righteousness
by faith. And where is my righteousness?
It's in Christ. And how do I know that that's
a valid faith? Because the Bible says it is,
and the Bible says that Christ came to this world, kept the
law, obeyed unto death, was buried, and arose again the third day,
and he's now seated at the right hand of the Father, ever living
to make intercession for all who believe in him. That's a
valid hope, isn't it? It's the hope of the gospel.
But he says in verse 24, but hope that is seen is not hope.
In other words, it's not based on sight. It's not based upon
what you and I physically see. In fact, what we physically see
can sometimes deceive us. Somebody says seeing is believing,
not always. Think about that. We walk by faith, not by sight. Now, in glory, our faith will
become sight. We will see, you know, John,
over in 1 John 3, he said this. When he was talking about the
fact that we are now the sons of God, 1 John 3, 1, he said,
Beloved, 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. See, the world walks
by sight. You know, when that song says, you know, there's
a song that said, let others see Jesus in you. Pastor Mahan
used to say, well, they didn't even see Jesus in Jesus. When
they saw him, what did they see? They saw a man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief, despised and rejected among men. They looked at, by
nature, how do we see Jesus? We see him as a blasphemer, the
true Jesus now. Not this false Jesus that's being
preached today. We see him as a blasphemer. Why
did the human race turn thumbs down on King Jesus? We called
him a blasphemer, cursed of God. Now he was cursed based upon
the sins of his people imputed to him, but that's not the way
natural man sees it. And so how did the apostle, how
did Paul, before he was converted, see Jesus? Saw him as a blasphemer,
as an idolater, a fake, a charlatan. So he says the world won't know,
they won't know us. And what would they do if they
saw Jesus in us the way they see Jesus? They'd crucify us.
Isn't that right? They wouldn't applaud us. I was
talking to Jim before the service today. I said, you know, I get
a little bit perturbed about this, but maybe I shouldn't,
you know, because I know how we talk, you know, and all that.
But, you know, somebody, you know, we all know people who
believe a false gospel. And sometimes the first thing
we'll say about those people is say, but they're such a good
person. or they're such a kind person. Now the reason I get
perturbed about that is not because they're not good and kind in
the eyes of men, but I want people to understand that look, unbelievers
can be some of the kindest, the best people that will ever be
around on this earth as it applies to human beings. Isn't that right? I mean, I know some unbelievers
who are some of the most honest people, some of the kindest people,
some of the most charitable people that I've ever met. But in God's
sight, what are they? In God's sight, yeah, they're
unbelievers. They're not righteous. They're not good in His sight.
That rich young man who came to Christ, he said, I've kept
those from my youth up. Here's a man who had made efforts
in his life to keep those commandments. And so, what did Christ tell
him? He said, well, there's none good
but God. There's none good but God. Well, John says here, verse
two of 1 John 3, he says, beloved, now are we the sons of God, right
now, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. Doesn't appear
what we shall be. You can't tell I'm a son of God
by looking at me. Or even watching my life. I hope
if you watch my life, I hope that it's honoring to God, I
do. But you can't tell if I'm a child of God that way. Because
it doesn't appear what we shall be. He says, but we know this,
we know that when he shall appear, when Christ will come again,
we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. We'll see him
with sinless vision. Uninterrupted his full glory
That's what what's what he's saying, and that's what being
taught over here in Romans 8 24 look at verse 24 again for we
are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope in other
words It's it's it's if we our hope is by faith that is by the
Word of God We believe it not because we see it, but because
God said it All right So for what a man seeth, why doth he
yet hope for? It's not an expectation if you realize, if you see it.
All right? But it's something realized.
It's sight. We'll see him as he is, John says. Verse 25, but
if we hope for that we see not. That is with these eyes. You could say in certain content,
we do see it by faith in Christ, based on the word of God. Hebrews
chapter two, for example, we see Jesus, but we don't see him
in the glory that we're going to see him in, John said. And
we don't see him in pictures and statues and all that, that's
false. We see him because God has shine
the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
So verse 25, but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with
patience wait for it. We with endurance, perseverance,
wait for it. And this is one of God's means
for us to persevere in the faith. We continue in the faith because
God preserves us by his grace. Is that clear? There is, listen, if it weren't
for God not letting us go, we'd let him go a thousand times
a day. We'd drop. But we persevere. And how? Well, we wait in anticipation. That's what he's saying. We wait
with patience. To wait on the Lord. You know,
the psalmist said, wait on the Lord. You know what that means?
It means believe. That's faith in Christ, that's what it is.
It's clinging to Christ, holding on for dear life. 1 John 3 goes
on to talk about that. Those who are truly born again
cannot fall away under perdition and be condemned. Why? Because
they're clinging to Christ. And in Christ there is no condemnation
to them that walk after the spirit, not after the flesh. So we wait
for it. We anticipate it. We expect it
to happen. Now, that's not an easy thing
to do. Because we still have the flesh
to contend with. We still have sinful doubts.
That's the sin that so easily besets us. But what do we do?
We look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And
then look at verse 26. He says, likewise, or in the
same way, the spirit also helpeth our infirmities. Now that's where
the weakness comes in. We have infirmities. And these
infirmities would overtake us. What is an infirmity? Well, we
have a lot of infirmities. There are sinless infirmities. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, think about Christ in his humanity. When he was tempted
on the Mount of Temptation, he got hungry, didn't he? That's
an infirmity of the flesh. But his infirmity was sinless.
Now, in us, our infirmities are not sinless. I heard a man say,
I remember when I first moved here in 1985, we had a man teaching
Sunday school, we called it. And he made this statement. He
said, it's not a sin to be tempted, but it's a sin to give in to
the temptation. And I told him after the sermon,
I said, that's not right. What are we tempted to do when
we're tempted? We're tempted to do what? Evil. Yes, it's a sin when we're tempted.
Now, we shouldn't give in to the temptation. We ought to try
not to. But it's still sin in us. And I'll give you the example
of Christ on the Mount of Temptation again. He was there 40 days and
40 nights and he did not eat. He was hungry. Just as hungry
as you and I would be. But it never entered his mind
to deny the glory of his Father to relieve that hunger. But what
about us? When we get that way, when we
have the infirmities of the flesh, we wrestle. We wrestle with the
flesh, sinful flesh. When Christ wrestled in the Garden
of Gethsemane, I'm gonna talk about that in coming weeks when
we go back to the book of Hebrews and talk about the humanity of
Christ, his humanity and his deity. And here he is in the
Garden of Gethsemane. crying and sobbing with great
drops of blood. He didn't commit sin when he
did that, but he was wrestling with the flesh, the infirmities,
the weaknesses, the pain and the sorrow in a sinless way,
which we can't understand. Because with us, you know, we'd
be thinking all kinds of sinful thoughts. So in other words when
those infirmities those weaknesses of the flesh when they hit us
It's the spirit that helps us All right, the Holy Spirit helps
us and how does he help us? What does he do he drives us
to Christ? for relief for help Hebrews chapter
4 because we have a great high priest who's passed into the
heavens and We come to the throne of grace to find help and mercy
in time of need. He drives us to the word of God.
He says in verse 26, he drives us to pray. Now that's what this
is talking about, verse 26. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. Have you ever been there? I don't
even know what to pray for. We get in trouble and we pray
for this, we pray for that. And sometimes we're just speechless
in prayer. But the Spirit itself, and it should be himself, maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." When
we come to those points in our life where we just cannot express,
I've been there. I was there last year. Oh, I
prayed and I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. And I prayed till
I couldn't pray anymore. Couldn't express it anymore,
Lord. And I knew to pray, Lord, thy
will be done. But I had to think about that. I had to think, well, if his
will is not what I want, you see what I'm saying? But
this is the truth. And my son helped me through
this. He always pointed me to the word of God. And that's what
he's saying the Spirit himself helps us, keeps us. That's what he does. Because
if it weren't for him, I'd deny Christ. I'd say, well, to heck
with all this. I'm going to just go have fun
or something, you know. Yeah, eat, drink, and be married. Tomorrow you die. No, you can't
do that. If the Spirit of God has brought
you to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works, and if he indwells
you and has imprinted the word of God indelibly upon the new
heart, you can't do that. You can't do it. You may think about it, and God's
got you on that leash. You may walk away for a little
while, but he's gonna bring his children, but he's not gonna
let his sheep go. You'll come to a point in your
life, if you haven't already, you'll come to a point where
you'll have groanings that cannot be uttered. That's how God keeps us. That's
how God disciplines us. That's how he drives us to Christ. And then look at verse 27, I'll
hurry. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what the mind
of the spirit is. Now you know God knows the thoughts
of our heart. If God were to charge me, now
think about this, if God were to charge me with even one evil
thought, where would I be? I'd be damned forever. Lord,
if thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? Somebody said,
well, I haven't done this, I haven't done that. Well, have you ever
had any evil thoughts? I'm telling you. But it says
here, now the Lord knows my mind. But here it says he knows what
is the mind of the spirit. Because he maketh intercession
for the saints. Sinners saved by grace and all
according to the will of God How does the spirit intercede?
He speaks for us and he He shows what the reality of our heart
is that we are sinners saved by grace That we do know and
love Christ even in spite of our evil thoughts Even in spite
of our sins And he drives us to Christ, the great intercessor,
Jesus Christ the righteous, who stands in our place and pleads
our cause based upon his merits, the merits of his blood and righteousness,
constantly. That never ceases. He doesn't
look down, he says, well Bill's having a good day today, I don't
need to intercede for him today. No, that don't happen. Right
now as I'm preaching the gospel, he's interceding for me. And
the Spirit drives me to Him. And that's what it's all about,
isn't it? All right.