Stand with me, if you will, for
a scripture reading to Romans chapter 5. My message this morning will
be out of Romans 15, if you want to put a marker there. But I have a reference in the
message, and I wanted to read this to give you a little bit
more background on the reference. Romans chapter 5. Now this is
after what he just stated in chapter 4 about Abraham and the
righteousness of God being imputed to him. And he said, it wasn't written,
verse 23, for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but
for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. who was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Therefore,
verse 5, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. And not only such. But we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh
not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we
were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, Yet for adventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, in the while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, now think about
what he just said. And now he's saying there's a
lot more. A lot more. Much more then, being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." What's he talking
about? His resurrected life. His life
from the dead. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through the Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received
the atonement. And then he goes through these
familiar verses. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. Until the law of sin was in the
world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them who had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure
of him that was to come. But not only as the offense,
so also as the free gift. For if through the offense of
one many be dead, much more by the grace of God and the gift
by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto
many, and not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift,
for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift
is of many offenses under justification. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. If you will take your Bibles
and turn with me to the 15th chapter of Paul's epistle to
the Romans. This epistle, or letter, was
not written to the nation of Rome. I heard a man back in the days of false religion
talking about this letter being written to this Gentile nation.
It wasn't written to the nation. Not written to the nation of
Rome or to those in authority like Caesar or its many governors. It was written He says in chapter
1, verse 7, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. He wrote
another epistle to a church in Ephesus, and he said to the saints
which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. To the Corinthians he said, unto
the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all that in every
place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And you
can find similar words in all Paul's epistles. He's not writing to places. He's not writing to nations.
He's writing to men and women called to God. He's writing to
the saints of God. These epistles are written to
the saints. They're written for believers. And let me say this. We live
in a world filled with wonder and beauty. We were buying a
few flowers. I get tired of just working on
drywall and insulation and all the unseen things, you know,
of the house. I'm ready to see something. And
so we went over and took a break and bought some flowers. And
while we was over there, we found a fountain. And it looks like
an old log and it, you know, recycles the water up and down
and kind of pours and water falls over and so on. And we just sat
out there like a bunch of nuts admiring the fountains. It's
something to look at. Well, this world is filled with
wonder and beauty. It is. God created it. It's by
his hand. And I've been up in Montana,
and some of you with me, and you get on top of those Rockies.
I mean, it's spellbounding. It's like you're standing in
the middle of a postcard. And there's many places like
that in this world. This world is filled with wonder
and beauty. And then I wrote about this.
We live in a world filled with opportunity and potential. All
around are monuments to the potential of man. You see them go over
every now and then. Big plane full of people flying
up there 40, 50,000 feet in the air. And they're flying over.
Don't appear very long and they're out of sight. Gone. When I was
born in the late 40s, space travel was something that you only read
about in comic books. You'd see pictures of these spacecrafts
and stuff. It wasn't long before they were
a reality. High-speed train, when I was
a kid, did 50 miles an hour. They're doing over 200 miles
an hour now. We live in a world filled with
opportunity and potential, and we live in an age of discovery.
The information age. Ask somebody a question, what
do they do? Grab that phone. It's at the touch of a finger.
Anything you want to know in a dictionary. I prepare my messages
and I forget how to spell stuff. I forget a lot more than that,
but how to spell stuff is just one of them. But I grab that
phone, boy, in the dictionary and I can find it real quick.
Information is at the touch of your finger. Cell phones, computers, satellites,
and my favorite, one-day shipping. Ordered it there the next day.
If you ordered something back in the 50s, you may never get
it. And if it came, your neighbor
usually got it. You didn't get it at all. Anything
I need to know can be found at the touch of a finger. And it
seems if time would permit, man could fix all his problems, cure
all his ills. And if he had enough time, he
could fix it where he could live forever. That's what he thinks. There is in the everyday lives
of men and women a false sense of comfort and a false sense
of joy and satisfaction. In spite of all the advantages
the world has, he lives in a world that's full of disease and crime
and chaos and death. Twice my cell phone went off
yesterday about children being abducted. Think about that. That was unheard of when I was
a child. And the reasons for it can only
be found in one book, the Holy Bible. If you're looking for
reasons out here, you're not going to find them. They're right here. Right here,
the Word of God. And the Scripture tells us why
these things are here and why they continue to be. Sin entered,
I read it to you in Romans chapter 5, sin entered and death passed.
That's why it's here. By the offense of one, Romans
5, 18, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. It's the
judgment of God that things continue as they are. And sin reigns unto death. There's no cure for it. You can compute all you want
to. Sin reigns. It reigns. Where does it reign? Everywhere. Who does it reign
in? Everybody. Sin reigns. How much so? Unto death. unto
death. And the shocking reality is that
this world and everything in it is set for destruction. That's
what the Bible says. Let me give you a few passages
from the Word of God about this world and how we're to think
about it as Christians. Look at this in 1 John 2, verse
15. We're talking about our attitude
toward this world. I wake up, I go out here, I have
to buy groceries, I have to do certain things, I have to mow
my lawn, I have to, you know, you can't escape the world. The
world's out there and the world's in you. And here's what he said in 1
John 2 verse 15. Love not the world. Well, he's talking about these
fallen men. No, no. What's this? Neither the things that are in
the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and that word
lust, it's not a sexual term necessarily, he's just talking
about desires. The desires. of the flesh and
the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father,
it's of the world. Now listen. And the world passeth
away. Oh. Oh. The world passeth away. And all its desires. the lust thereof. But he that
doeth the will of God abideth forever. There's nothing in,
of, or about this world that can give you any lasting joy,
comfort, satisfaction, or hope. Our attitude in the things we
suffer here are to be weighed in the light of God's eternal Boy, something happens and you're,
oh, man. Well, let's just back up a minute.
I react that way, too. And then I repent of it. I'm to weigh these things that
I suffer in the light of eternity. And I'm not just talking about
how long it lasts. I'm talking about in the light
of his eternal blessings. Then my affliction becomes that
light affliction. And I see these things not with
these eyes. I have to see that which is invisible. What I see with these eyes are
temporal. That word means temporary. Everything
you see out here is temporary. The world passes away. Everything
ends. All of its desires, all of its
goals, all of its monuments, everything, it's all going to
be gone. The things that last are the things that you can't
see with these eyes. You have to see them with the
eyes of faith. The things which are not seen,
he said, are eternal. And therefore, if in this life
only we have hope in Christ, where of all men most miserable?
And I know that that's in 1 Corinthians 15, and it's talking about if
Christ wasn't raised from the dead. I understand that. But
if all I have in the way of hope is in this life and in this world,
in these things around me, I'm going to be miserable. I'm talking
about heaven, but I'm hugging the world. I'm talking about
loving God, but I'm embracing the world. That's kind of contrary, isn't
it? If all I have in the way of hope
is in this life, in this world, in these things around me, I'm
going to be miserable. Why? Because they cannot fix
the trouble, cannot change my condition, and cannot deliver
my soul from the judgment of God. That's why. They're like a temporary bomb. You know, you burn yourself and
stick your hand in cold water and try to get a little relief,
but that's just temporary. It burns still that way. Now with these things in mind,
let's read my text back here in Romans 15. Romans 15 verse 13, just one
verse. He's coming to the end of his
epistle. He's already dealt with all the subjects. He's already
dealt with redemption and salvation and all of its various aspects
and now he's talking to the believer and telling him to be patient
with those who are in weaker faith and so on. And he's telling
those Jews whose ancestry is all about hope and all about
the prophets and all about the scriptures and all about the
coming Redeemer. And he's telling them about the
Gentiles. And to be kind to them. Because
they're fellow heirs. And then here's what he tells
them. This mixed company in this church. Here's what he tells
them. This is a prayer, by the way. This is a prayer. He said, now the God of hope
fill you, poor miserable soul, fill you. Lord, we believe, help thy unbelief. The God of hope fill you with
all joy. With all joy. and peace in believing
that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Now here's what I have for you
this morning, who know something about the fall of man, the curse
of sin, the utter ruin of this world in which we live. We have
a God who's called the God of Hope. The God of Hope. If I'm going
to preach God, I'm going to have to preach Him as He is, and He
is the God of Hope. This world, in 1 Timothy 6, 7,
it says, For we brought nothing into the world, and it's certain,
it's an absolute certainty, you're not taking anything with you. Life in this world is pictured
as a journey through the wilderness. That's what that journey, Israel
did. Going to the promised land, that's where they was headed.
This place of provision, this place of abundance, this promised
rest. But to get there, they had to
go through the wilderness. Go through the wilderness. Life
in this world is pictured. Forty years. Israel journeyed
through the wilderness. And some longed for where they
was going. Caleb and Joshua, Moses, they
longed for where they was going. And some longed for where they
used to be. Oh, we were back in Egypt, eating
the leeks and the soup that they gave us. I can't imagine. Onion
soup. Let me tell you something. Nobody
loved the wilderness. Nobody. You can't find a word
in there. Nobody said, let's just build
a house here. Nobody wanted to carry a cactus
or a jar full of sand or a box full of serpents into the promised
land. I just need to keep safe. I just
want to remember. No, they never mentioned it.
Everyone who suffered in the wilderness rejoiced when they
entered into Canaan. Just the thought of it brought
joy to their heart. And hope altogether is about
God. Before Paul gets to this wonderful
prayer, he tells us who's included in it. The Gentiles. The heathens. Great sinners,
ungodly idolaters, immoral, ignorant, pagans, the Gentiles. You know, over there in the beginning
of the Psalms, it talks about God setting His King on His holy
hill in Zion. It talks about how people would
react to it, how they would try to dethrone the Son of God. But
he said, he ain't going to be dethroned, and he said, God will
laugh. He'll laugh, and he'll publicly
humiliate you. Now here's what he said at the
end. He said this to his son enthroned. He said, ask of me,
and I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance. Huh? That might not mean anything
to you, but it does to me because I'm a heathen. I'm a pagan. I'm altogether immoral, sinful. I'm a sinner. God revealed that
to me. I'm a sinner. But there's hope
with God. Christ came to save sinners.
Ask of me, God said, and I'll give you the heathen for your
inheritance. and the uttermost parts of the world. Huh? Can you find some hope in that? He quotes the prophet Isaiah
saying, in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an inch and a flag of the people. To it shall the
pagans seek. and his rest shall be glorious. And having said such things and
more, he pens this word in the power of the Holy Ghost. He said,
now, now, if you can get the picture of what's going on, now,
in consideration of these things, the God of hope, fill you with
all joy and peace in believing. What a prayer. That's my prayer
to God, that no matter what my text shall be, that those words
shall find a resting place in your minds and hearts. I've got
four things this morning that I see in this verse that I want
us to consider. And then by God's wondrous grace,
put into practice. I want to practice these things. I don't want to just see them
and say, well, let me tell you what I know. It's not important
what I know. It's important what I do. I'll
do what I really know. That's what I'll do. And the first thing I see here
is the Apostle's goal in writing this. His goal in this prayer. And then I see the means of acquiring
it. Can it be acquired? He said it
can. And then I see the effect of having it. He prays for it. He tells us how it's to be acquired. And then he tells us the effects.
If you have it, here's the effects. And then he tells us of the power
to bring it to pass. So let's look at these things.
We pray as we do that the God of hope will bring these things
to be a real part of our lives. The first thing then is Paul's
goal in his prayer for the saints. And here's his goal, that the
God of hope would fill the hearts and minds of his people with
joy and peace. It's of peculiar interest to
me that Paul addresses the deity as the God of hope. I don't know if you've ever thought
about it or not, but when and if God reveals himself at all,
it's always as the God of hope. Check me out and see if
that ain't correct. Always as the God of hope. There's
no revelation needed, no savior necessary, and no gospel required
for judgment. God judged this world and never
left us alone. never entered into the body of
a man. It's not necessary to judge. God can and did judge this world
in the garden. God can and did judge the angels
in glory before there's ever an earth. And he cast them out without
any revelation, without any declaration of substitution or gospel preaching. is concerning salvation. Substitution concerns salvation. Gospel preaching is about being
saved. When God reveals Himself to men
and women, He reveals His mercy and grace, His love and kindness,
His goodness, His willingness to save. And yes, He's sovereign. But when he reveals his sovereignty
to a believer, it's sovereign grace. God is love, but it's the love
of a sovereign. What's that mean? That means
his love can't fail. That's what that means. His grace
is sovereign. Oh, my soul. He's sovereign, but his sovereignty
and authority over all things is revealed as a hope for sinners.
All power is given unto me in heaven and earth, Christ said,
now you go preach. He didn't tell them to go damn
the world, he said, go preach. You can tell them about damnation,
but don't tell them about damnation and then not tell them about
salvation. The good news is God's gonna
save somebody And he gives us a good hope through
grace. When he revealed his glory, the glory of his person, when
Moses said, show me your glory, he said, OK, I'm going to put
you in the cleft of this rock. I'm going to let you see my hinder
parts. You can't look on me and live. But I'm going to let you
see my hinder part. I'm going to let you see what
I've accomplished, what I've done. And he passed by before. And he declared the name of the
Lord, and he said, I'm the Lord. I'm the Lord God. I keep mercy
for thousands. Huh? Mercy? Yeah, that's the
glory of God. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. It's the very purpose of God
behind all things to reveal His glory, to manifest His glory
in the salvation of a people condemned and dying in a sin
for work. He's going to save us for the
glory of His name. And in spite of the circumstances,
in spite of my nature, and in spite of all the ignorance and
lives that are around me, the God of hope is able to fill my
soul with joy and peace." Paul rejoiced that he was in
prison. I can't imagine the conditions
of a Roman prison. The conditions of our prison
today is enough to leave you breathless, let alone back in
Rome. And he rejoiced. He said, this
is an opportunity that God has given me to preach to the palace.
Otherwise, they wouldn't let me in the door. But now they're
going to hear me. Now they're going to hear me. Now, let me tell you something. I've sought after and found things
that brought joy into my life, but no peace. And I've sought after and found
things and done things that brought peace into my life, but no joy. Joy and peace together can only
come from God. I'm not just rejoicing to be
rejoicing, I'm rejoicing in God my Savior. I'm rejoicing in His
grace. I'm rejoicing in His love. I'm
rejoicing in His gospel. I rejoice in His people. I rejoice in His promises. I
go to prepare a place for you." And then in his high priestly
prayer, he said, Father, I will that day, these ones that I preach
to, these ones that I've sent preachers to, These ones who
believe, I will that they also be with me where I am. I can
rejoice in that, can't you? And that joy and peace that comes
from the God of hope are secured where no enemy can ever take
them from you. They're secured in His Son. Listen
to the words of this old hymn. We only sing it one time around
Christmas. Joy to the world. And to the world? Yeah. Angels
sing that. Joy to the world. The Lord is
come. Now there's hope. Now there's
joy. Now we can hope for peace. Let
earth receive her King, and let every heart prepare Him room,
and heaven and nature sing. There can never be lasting joy
apart from peace, security, and Christ. And we are of his house. This is what the scripture says
on Hebrews chapter 3. Whose house are we if we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. All right, here's the second
thing. He tells us in this verse of the means whereby this peace
and joy might fill our hearts. in believing. You know what it
says? The God of hope may fill you
with all joy and peace in believing. If I believe the ground to support
me, I'll walk on. If I believe the food before
me is good, I'll eat it. And if I believe God concerning
my salvation in Christ, I'll rejoice in Him. We'll do what
we believe, won't we? What we have confidence in. Joy
and peace are the fruits of believing, and without true faith there
can be no fruit produced. That's what the Lord said. Without
me you can do nothing. Where his workmanship, Paul said,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. Nobody else can but
the believer can. The believer believes. Nobody
else can, but he can. He receives the gift, the gift
of God. He can love. Nobody else can,
but he can. He can truly love. He that loveth
not knoweth not God. He can worship. Natural man can't
worship. He can dance. He can sway with music. But he
can't worship. He can't worship. His heart,
his heart cannot bow before, be amazed by, sit there and wonder
of the living God. He can't do it. But the believer
can. Nobody else can repent. But the
believer can. And I'm going to tell you something.
Nobody else can really pray. But a believer can. And he does. They said of Paul, behold, he
prayeth. We look at prayer that way. This
is God in him accomplishing this. He's not just spitting out memorized
words anymore. Now he prayeth. He prayeth. And these things are all produced
by the God of hope. And the means of faith is brought
about by hearing. Faith cometh by hearing. That's how it comes. And all
those who believe, believe to the saving of the soul. And they're
filled with joy and peace in believing. Alright, here's the
third thing I see in this verse. I see the effect of having this
feeling of God. God fills you with joy and peace.
And he does so through the means that he's ordained. And it comes
straight from the God of hope. And no hope apart from him. He's
the God of hope. In Romans 5, Paul tells us that
hope maketh not ashamed. That's the effect of it. It maketh
not ashamed. That is, ashamed when it cannot
deliver. It withstands the fiery trials
of time. Not ashamed when it cannot deliver,
when it cannot satisfy. Demons have forsaken me, having
loved this present world. Huh? A believer never will. He
never will. Ashamed when it cannot deliver,
satisfy, or save me from my sin. Deliver me from my sin. Give
me a hope that my sin can't cancel out. The trial of our faith does
not leave us ashamed or drive us into seclusion. Don't you
ever listen to somebody say, well, I'm not coming to that
church anymore because this happened or that happened. That ain't
why they ain't coming. They ain't coming because they
never saw anything. Huh? Everybody left the Lord
when he started talking about eating his flesh and drinking
his blood. They didn't understand that spiritual message of the
gospel. They weren't rejoicing. There was no joy, no peace there. They were a bunch of intellectuals.
And when he started talking about drinking his blood and eating
his flesh, everybody left. There's nobody there but his
chosen apostles. And he turns to them and he said,
will you go too? Huh? Everybody else did. You going
to go too? They said, where are we going
to go? We ain't got nowhere to go. Faith has nowhere to go. It stays where God puts it. It stays where the seed's planted. And no circumstance is going
to cause you to leave. Trials don't drive the believer
into seclusion. I'll tell you what trials do
to the believer. The love of God he should have brought in
their hearts. I read it to you over in Romans chapter 5. All
these trials and tribulations, it just works patience. And patience
and experience. And experience hope. And hope
won't make you ashamed because the love of God he should have
brought in your hearts. He delivered you. Huh? Where and when God intervenes,
there's always a strong sense of His love and grace. The effect
of seeing God's love in Christ and the joy that floods our souls
gives us a good hope through grace. And where God works, there's
always an effect. His word never returns unto Him
void. Never. And then lastly, Paul
gives to us in this verse a strong reason for our hope. He prays that we might abound
in hope, now listen, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Oh, I hope that word Holy Ghost
is not just a word in your vocabulary. I hope for myself and for you,
I hope that we understand that we're talking about God. God, in His purest sense, we're
talking about God. God the Spirit. Turn with me
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I see men try and fail. And I've seen men struggle and
come up short. And I've seen men swallowed up
of the lies that seem so obvious to us, yet believable to them. I see that. So what makes me
think that my faith will truly overcome this world? Here's what
overcomes the world, he tells us that over in 1 John 5, even
our faith. So what makes me think my faith
has the strength to overcome these things and to fill my heart
in the presence of these things with joy and peace? What makes me think that my hope
is any better than theirs? First Thessalonians 1, 4. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. How? For our gospel came not
unto you in word only, but in power. Now watch this. And in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance. The gospel I preach is absolutely
powerless apart from the working of the Holy Spirit. But he promises
his presence in the preaching of the gospel. Well, is he done? The Holy Ghost is God in every
sense of the word. Paul said to the Philippians,
this almost sounds Armenian. First time I read it, I thought,
Paul's an old man. He said, let every man work out
his own salvation in fear and trembling. Did he know what he
was saying? Yes, he did. Let every man reason
it out in his own head. Let every man be satisfied in
his own heart. Let every man be submissive in
his own will. Let every man work out his own
salvation in fear and trembling. For, here's the reason, it's
God who worketh in you both the will and the do of His good pleasure. I don't have to fear telling
you to get this thing worked out in your head and in your
mind. I just preach the gospel to you. If God saves you, if
He gives you faith, He's going to work in you to will and to
do His good pleasure. Yes, He will. Oh, it's the understanding of
it, the application of it, the way of it. Because God works
in you. He's the power behind the pen
of the writer, the voice of the speaker, and the ears of the
hearer. He's the power. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And
now what it says over and over in the book of Revelation. He's
the comforter, he's the holy one who comes and takes the things
of Christ and shows them unto us. Our Lord said when he comes
he'll guide you into all truth. Been some that was with us a
while, John said, but they went out from us. But they weren't
of us. Had they been of us, they no
doubt would have continued with us. Huh? John, how can you say such a
thing? Because we have an unction of the Holy One, and we know
all things. Huh? He tells them in chapter 4, 1
John, greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. The revealer of Christ is so
much greater than antichrist. Only he that now leadeth will
lead till he be taken out of the way. We are God. That's what John
said. And he's talking about believing
false prophets. He said, we are of God. Who's going to hear us? Them that know God. Them that know God. He that's
not of God, heareth not us. How can that be? Because you
have an unction of the Holy One and know all things. You'll know. If you're one of
God's, a man's going to stand up and preach sometime in your
life. The gospel is going to come to you and you're going
to say, that's it. That man's telling the truth and that man's
a liar. It'll be just that clear. Am
I lying? She got mad. She got angry the
first time she heard the gospel. She said, that preacher's been
lying to me. Somebody's not telling the truth.
And somebody is. You see what I'm saying? He's
going to fill you with joy and peace in believing in the means
of faith, but he's going to do it through the power of the Holy
Ghost. And let me tell you something
about the Holy Ghost. He attends the preaching of the
Gospel. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the Gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. to everyone that believe in it. How so? Because the Spirit of
God is in the gospel. That's why. That's why. Joy, peace, and hope come through
the power of the Holy Ghost. May the Lord grant us that power
today, both you and me.