The Gift That Keeps On Giving

By Bobby Blakey on December 19, 2022

Romans 5:1-5

AUDIO

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

By Bobby Blakey on December 19, 2022

Romans 5:1-5

Well, who's ready to celebrate Christmas? One week from today, I hope that you can really celebrate the gift that God gave you when God gave you his Son Jesus. You know, God loved us so much he gave us his one and only Son that everybody here who believes in Jesus, you will not perish, but you will have eternal life. And I hope you can even remember the moment when God opened your eyes, and you saw yourself as a sinner, and you realized you needed a Savior, and you put your faith in Jesus at the moment of your salvation. So, I hope you can remember what God has done for us. He sent his Son; we believed in his son. But I want to tell you, if you believe in Jesus, if you're my brother and sister in Jesus Christ, there are more gifts under the tree for you. There are presents this Christmas. And I want to make sure you open them up. So, if you don't want to be encouraged, leave right now. Okay? Because what we've got is a very encouraging passage for everybody here. Have you been justified by your faith in Jesus? Then open up with me to Romans 5:1-5, because this is going to give us three different gifts. One's got a big red bow on it, one's wrapped up in green ribbon, one’s there in white wrapping paper. They're all under the tree. They're waiting for us. We're going to open them up right now. If you're having a hard time this holiday season, don't worry. Behind the tree, we're going to pull out an extra stocking for everyone who's suffering. We've even got additional gifts for those of you who are having a hard time. So, we have a lot of encouragement here in Romans 5:1-5. This is our twenty-second time in the year 2022 opening up to the book of Romans. And this is a major turning point in our study of the letter. So, I want to invite everybody, out of respect for God's Word, let's all stand up for the public reading of Scripture. I'm going to read for us Romans 5:1-5. Please follow along. Even if you're watching this online, even if you're at home sick. If you can't stand up, hopefully you can follow along and be encouraged by what God is saying to everybody who believes in Jesus. Romans chapter five, verse one:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
That's God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. So, notice here, this is a big moment, Romans 5:1. We are now making the transition where it says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith. So all the way back to Romans 1:18, all the way up to this, we've been learning how to be justified by faith. We've been reminded of, hey, there was a time where we realized we weren't good. We couldn't do the work. So, we transferred our trust to Jesus, Jesus is the Christ, the Holy and Anointed One of God, Jesus died for our sins, to pay for our debt that we couldn't pay. And Jesus rose from the dead to offer us a new and eternal life. And when we stop trying to do it ourselves, and we trust in Jesus, in God, what a gift exchange! All of our sin is put on Jesus, and God credits the righteousness of Jesus to our account. That's what we've been learning so far. What a gift that God would declare you righteous because Jesus paid for your sins. So now, therefore, this is for everybody. You believe in Jesus? Well, here's what you've got. And the first gift we're going to get you… if you want to open up your handout that's there in the bulletin and take some notes.
We've got three points, three gifts that this passage makes clear you don't want to miss this Christmas. These are things that, because you've been justified by your faith in Jesus, not only do you have a God declaring you righteous for all of eternity, now, here's what you've got. We have peace. In Romans 5:1, we get our first one: Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You are now in a right standing by God, and this is a really big deal.
Go back with me to Romans 1:18. This is different than what we've been learning in the book of Romans. Because we've been learning a lot about God's wrath. Maybe some of you remember, last summer, we talked for a very long time in a series, “May God Save America,” because people were not giving God glory. They were not acknowledging God. And so, therefore, God was giving them over to their sin. And it says in Romans 1:18 that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” God is not okay with sin. If you are not right with God, that is a big problem. God is angry, God has wrath.
Go over to Romans 2:5, where it said this again, not only is God have present wrath against unrighteousness, but it says here in Romans 2:5, “because of your hard and impenitent heart,” because you are not sorry, you're not repenting of your sin, “you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.” God's angry now. He's given people over to sin. And why do you see what happens on a day of wrath when God will make everything right, and he will judge people according to what they have done? What Romans 5 is now saying is, hey, if you believed in Jesus, you don't ever have to worry about the wrath of God, because you are no longer going to get judged for your unrighteousness. You have peace with God; you are now right with God; you've now entered into a relationship with God when he sees you. He doesn't see you for your sin anymore. God sees you in the righteousness of Jesus. As you sit here today, God is pleased with you, he could not be more pleased with you than he is right now. Is that good news for anybody here today? You have peace with God, okay? You're watching the show of your life, the movie of your life, you can take that little dot there, you can go all the way to the end of the timeline. You know, the end of the story, when you meet your maker, when you stand before God on Judgment Day, he's not going to pour out wrath against your sin, he's going to tell you that he's at peace with you, and he's going to welcome you into his eternal glory. So, you have peace now. We’ve got to make sure we understand this kind of peace that has been given to us. It's a heavenly peace, not necessarily peace on earth.
So, let's get this down for point number one, if you're taking notes: I want you to rest in heavenly peace. Okay? When you're going to sleep at night, you don't need to have this sense of impending doom. That's the opposite of peace. The opposite of peace is feeling like something's wrong in the back of my head. Either I did something wrong, and I'm going to get busted for it, or something wrong has happened. And it's going to be this bad thing in my life. The opposite of peace is this sense of dread that we feel, this bad feeling that can rise up within us, this dark cloud that can follow us like things aren't right, and something bad is going to happen to me. And I'm going to get punished or something, some sense of doom that is coming. See, peace is being able to go to sleep and rest, knowing that I am right with God, and there will be no wrath coming on me, because God is pleased with me through my faith in Jesus. Now, what some people are looking for though is they don't want peace in heaven. They don't want peace with God. They want peace right now here on earth.
Go back to Luke chapter 2 and look at verse 14, because Luke 2:14 has been misread by a lot of us. And if you were here last week, we went through – if you weren't at the men's retreat, but you were here at church -- we went through the story of Luke to giving a realistic look at the story with the shepherds and the angels and Mary and Joseph and Bethlehem and the manger. And one of the things that people kind of misread is what the heavenly hosts say here in Luke 2:14. So I just want to look at this one verse in the middle of the story. The army of God’s angel shows up and they make this announcement: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Now a lot of people have misread that verse. And they've thought, okay, because Jesus came, God's getting glory in the highest in heaven at his throne. And what we're all getting is peace on earth. Now, notice here it says, on earth there's peace, but the peace is just for those with whom God is pleased. It is not a statement here that, because Jesus came, we’re all of a sudden going to have peace on earth. You might even see that phrase somewhere this Christmas on a card on decoration, “Peace on Earth.” Well, this is not a promise that everybody's going to experience peace on earth. No. Those who believe in Jesus as the Savior, they, even though they're still here on Earth, they will have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Just like God is pleased with his Son Jesus, he will be pleased with everyone who puts their trust in Jesus. But this is not, don't be deceived by the promise that we're going to have peace on earth, that is a false kind of peace. That is not true. You can rearrange the seats at the Christmas dinner all you want; you may not even have peace at your own Christmas celebration. Some of you, you don't have peace with what's going on in your bank account, you don't have peace with what's going on in your physical body. We are not promised some sense of inner tranquility because everything around me is as it should be right now. In fact, we are promised that will not be our experience here on Earth. So, Jesus said in John 16:33, “I've said these things to you, because in me, you have peace.” He doesn't say, in the world you're going to have peace. He says in this world you will have tribulation; you're going to have trials; you're going to have trouble. But in Jesus, we can have peace with God, because Jesus has overcome the world. So, you’ve got to make sure you understand, if you're looking for peace, I want all my circumstances to come together, and I want Christmas to be such a magnificent moment that Thomas Kincade himself shows up and paints it right there. And then we'll just stare at that. And we'll simulate snow falling in front of it, and we'll have peace. That is not what it's saying. That might be what some of us are looking for. But that is not what is promised here. That is not what Jesus said in John 16:33. No, Jesus actually said that he didn't, in Matthew 10, he said that he didn't come to bring peace on earth, he came to bring a sword. And some of us were going to have rough experiences with extended family members, because we're thinking about Jesus and going to heaven. And they're not interested in that. And so, there's now a sense of tension at the Christmas dinner experience.
When some people in our church are getting ready to have surgery on their foot tomorrow, or start six weeks of radiation on Tuesday. Some people have had hard falls and they've been out of church for a week, for weeks. And last night was the first time they came back to church in over a month. Many people right now are sick, we are not promised peace on earth. We are promised something better than peace on earth. We're promised peace with God. And the fact that I know I'm right with God, that can help me find peace in all the messed-up things I'm experiencing here on Earth. Okay, so if you're looking for peace on earth, you might be stressed out this Christmas and you may not be able to rest in the heavenly peace that you are given through your faith in Jesus. Okay, you have no fear of judgment. You, when you stand before God, you will find that you are right with God through your faith in Jesus. And that because he's pleased with Jesus, he's pleased with you. And knowing that can help you remember all this, all this tribulation, all this tension, persecution, all of this. I don't have to get bothered by all of this because I know somebody who's pleased with me. I don't have to worry if everybody else is pleased with me, I know God is pleased with me. I have peace. See, that's a gift that you've been given. I want to make sure if you're my friend in Christ, I want to make sure, brother or sister, do you know that God is pleased with you right now? That's an encouraging thought. And we're just getting started.
Go back to Romans chapter 5. Okay. And let me just say if someone promises you peace on earth, that is a false promise. Okay? Just beware, because they're always going to be sad. There's always going to be people out there saying, we can have peace with our climate, we can have peace in our global economy, we can have peace among all the nations of the earth. And whenever you hear somebody saying, we can all have peace here on earth, you’ve got to remember I wasn't promised peace on earth. That's not a promise from God. That is a lie from the enemy.
In fact, under that point number one of peace, you may want to write down Jeremiah 6:14, where they're going to heal the wounds of the people lightly saying the world is always saying this peace, peace when there is no peace if you are not right with God. There is no peace for the wicked, says Isaiah 48:22. For the world there is that feeling of impending doom, there is that feeling that they've done something wrong. There is that feeling that things are not right. And something bad is going to happen because something bad is going to happen. The wrath of God is going to show up and make everything right. You can write down 1 Thessalonians 5:3. And it says that in the end-times, they're going to say, now we have peace and security, and right then is when sudden destruction comes upon them. And the day of the Lord comes in like a thief in the night. So, the world is going to tell you, if you get this alarm system on this house, you will be safe. If you drive this car, you you'll be secure. If you have this much money in the bank, if you eat like this, and exercise like this, then you'll have health, then you'll have financial stability, you can have peace. Just remember you weren't promised peace on earth; you've got something way better than that. You have peace with God, and God is pleased with you. So, they're going to try to lie to you and they're going to tell you, we can have peace in this. Now you can have peace with God and the peace that you have with God teaches you how to look at all of the messed-up circumstances we're going through here on earth.
Now, let's get to the second one here in verse 2, because it says “through Jesus,” remember, we've already believed in Jesus, Romans 5:1 is this turning point. Now let's talk about those of us who believed, what do we have? Well, we've got peace with God, Romans 5:2, and through Jesus, we have also obtained,,, let's get out the gift now with the green ribbon, let's open it up here, might have to cut through this ribbon here. It says we have also obtained access; you have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. You have 24/7 Unlimited access into God's presence, where he has all spiritual blessings. He's got all of his goodness, all the grace that God has, you have access to unlimited grace. That's what the second thing you've got is, okay, so it doesn't matter where you are, doesn't matter what time of the day or night is, you, as a person living on planet earth, you can go into the very presence of the holy God, the one who's high and lifted up. He sits on a throne in heaven. And you can go right in. You've got VIP, behind-the-scenes access, something exclusive has been given to you, where you can go behind the space and time of this life, and you can talk to the Lord of heaven and earth with all power and with all authority. And you can ask him for grace, and he will give it to you. Do you realize the access that you have? I mean, in the Bible, this is a mind blowing concept because the Jewish people were used to one man, the high priest on one day of the year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, if he did the sacrifices right, and if he did the incense right, there was this curtain, there was this veil, and only one guy was able to go behind the veil. On one day of the year. Even in the Bible, we know that if a king was on a throne, you didn't just go up to the king on the throne. You didn't just say hey, King, what's up? Hey, King, I didn't like this decree you made. I want to talk to you about all the mistakes you're making. As King, even Queen Esther is afraid to go before the king. No one approaches the king; you are summoned to appear before the king. You don't get to decide to walk; people who walk in to see the King and dead. The King has to welcome you in. And what it's saying, it's saying that you, a mortal human being like you, a sinner like you, you get to walk into the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the one who sits on the throne and you have access to all of his abundant goodness, to his steadfast love that endures forever, to great is his faithfulness, to his mercies that are new every morning. You can just walk right in there and ask him for it. And he'll give it to you. That's what it's saying here.
I mean, wow. It's like, you know, a famous person that everybody else wants to know, everybody else just like you have this friend, and they think this person is so cool. And they're famous, and they root for them, and they cheer for them, and they follow them. They've never even met the person but they're like a big fan of this person, and that person grew up down the street from you. You've got their phone number. You don't even want to text him. You're tired of that person? Why is this other person always talking about them, they're no big deal. It's like you've got access to somebody famous, to the most important person, to the One who created all things, who holds all things together, the one who knows what's going on in your life right now and can actually do something about it, the one who's in control, and you've got access to his grace. This is an amazing thing that we have been given the access, like a VIP pass. You don't have to go with the crowd, you don't have to wait till he gets to you. You go behind the rope, you come back here, and you go right up to him, you ask for whatever you want. Because he's got every spiritual blessing. He's got all the riches that he's going to give to Jesus, he's ready to pour them all out into your life right now. Every good thing that God has, he's ready to give it to you, and you've got access to go and ask him for it. You get to go before the God who's going to judge the world in his wrath, and you get to say “father” to him.
I mean, let me talk to the dads, let me talk to the moms. Do you want your kids who live in your house to feel like they can come talk to you at any moment? If they're afraid in the middle of the night? Is it okay if they run in, calling your name, and needing your help? I mean, if they've got a problem, even as your kids get older, and your kids have phones, maybe your kids are driving, and I mean, do you want your kid to have that phone with them at all times knowing that it doesn't matter how late it is, it doesn't matter what their problem is, they can call you and you will unleash the full resources of this family to come and help them with whatever. That is the same way that your Father in Heaven wants you to think about him that you can come to him anytime. And just like a father who wants to give good gifts to his children, your Father in heaven is just waiting for you to ask him for something and he's got all grace to give it to you. You have access.
Point number two, let's get it down like this: You need to use your VIP access to the throne of grace. You’ve get to go before the throne of grace, use the access that you have been given. And this is amazing. If you're following the flow of thought in the book of Romans, go back to Romans 3:19. Because Romans 3:19 said the opposite of VIP access. So, the opposite of going before the throne of grace, here's what was going to happen on Judgment Day before you were justified by faith. Look what it says in Romans 3:19, “we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” Do you realize that when people who don't put their faith in Jesus, when they stand before God on Judgment Day, they're not going to be able to say anything; they have no access to grace. I mean, they're not going to be able to give excuses for why they sinned, they're not going to be able to blame it on anybody else, they're not going to be able to defend themselves on why they did these unrighteous things before the holy God who sits on the throne. And so, they will be judged according to what they have done. And they will then experience that punishment. But you, you don't have to be in dread of going before God. You have access to go right up to him, to call on him as a father, and the grace that he's given you when he saved you and Jesus, that was just the down payment. That was just the beginning. He's got abundant grace, he's got endless grace, he's got more goodness in store. And as soon as you go to him, you've got access to ask him for that grace, and he's ready to give it to you. And the reason you don't have his goodness is you have not because you ask not. Because you don't use the access that you've got. I mean, if you knew how good God was, if you could see, the heavenly storehouse is full of all the riches that he has in Christ. And then you looked at your problems down here, you would think that he can handle your problems. But how many times are we burdened and heavy laden, trying to get through another day with our problems down here, when we could just… we have access to all the grace that we would ever need to face these challenges.
Now go with me to the book of Ephesians 2:14 everybody, let's turn to Ephesians chapter 2, and I want to invite everybody, we're going to read the book of Ephesians together starting this week, starting on Tuesday, so that I'd love for everybody here, go and read Ephesians with us this week. And if you read Ephesians, it's telling you… like just start, let's just get a little preview right here. Ephesians 1:3, it says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ.” Here's what you've got with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. God doesn't want to keep good from you, God wants to give good to you. And he's got every spiritual blessing, ready to give to you. And so, this is just the beginning of this book. It tells you, here's what the Father has given you. Here's what Jesus has given you. Here's what the Holy Spirit's given you as a seal, as a guarantee, and all that God is giving you is to the praise of the glory of his grace. If you read through Ephesians, by the time you get to chapter 3, it's going to say, whatever you ask God to do, when you do, use that access, and you go and pray to God, and you ask God to help you with what's hurting you, and you ask him to be good to you in a hard time. God is able to do way more than what you're asking him for. Through his power and Jesus, through his power working in the church, working in you, he can do abundantly beyond all that you would ask her think of him, like these chapters in Ephesians, are trying to tell you, you only know this much of how good God really is, there is more for you to know. And you could go and ask him for… look what it says here in Ephesians 2:14. It's talking about peace here. And this peace it's talking about is not just peace with God, but peace between the Jew and the Gentile. It says, “For he himself,” Jesus “is our peace,” and he “has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” So, the Jews and the Gentiles are used to this tension, not anymore. Ephesians 2:15-16, “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and he might reconcile us,” all of us, Jews and Gentiles, “both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” So, we've got peace with God, and through that peace with God, we can even have peace with all the other believers with everybody else who believes. So, Ephesians 2:17-19, says, “he,” Jesus “came and he preached peace to you who were far off,” the Gentiles, “and peace to those who are near,” the Jews. “For through” Jesus, through “him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,” you're no longer foreigners to the kingdom of grace. No, no, “you are fellow citizens with saints,” you are “members of the household of God.” You have access; you live in God's house.
I mean, this is such a crazy thought. The Jews would have even thought that they could walk up into God's presence, much less than unclean Gentile, walk into God's presence. And he's saying, now all of us, who have peace with God, we have an open standing invitation, we've been summoned. And we can go as many times as we want up to the Father, because we live in his house, and we're one of his people, and we have access to all of his heavenly goodness. God is ready to be good to you. All you've got to do is ask. Do you realize that's a gift you've got under the tree? Do you realize that there is more grace coming to you, and the best grace is still yet to come? That when we fully see how good God is, we will think we barely knew how good he was right now. And so, I want to encourage you, don't take this access for granted. Don't act like I've known him for a while, aren't familiar with him. It's not that big a deal to go ask, but to go before God on his throne in Heaven, and to ask him to be good to you with full confidence, that he will hear you and answer you.
Go to Hebrews chapter 4 with me. So that was the access that it talks about in Romans and Ephesians. I think it's really demonstrated by Hebrews 4:14-16. Because we have a high priest, and this high priest is inviting us all of us beyond the veil. And he didn't just go into the temple. No. This high priest is that we've got Jesus. He went into the Heavenly throne room, and this high priest Jesus, he now stands at the right hand of God, in the place of all authority, and e intercedes for us. Look what it says here, Hebrews 4:14-16, “since then, we have a great high priest,” we’ve got Jesus, we don't just have some man representing us. We've got the God-man, and he has passed through the heavens. This is Jesus, the Son of God. So, let's “hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.” He knows how hard it is to be a human and he's one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. So “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,” boldly we can go, “that we may receive mercy,” underline it, circle it “and find grace to help in time of need.”
Anybody needs some help? See this? Man, I can't tell you one of the hardest things it is for people who live around here to do is ask for help. Oh, no, I'd rather ask a digital person than a real person for help these days, right? I'll ask Siri for help. Before I asked my sister in Christ for help. I mean, that's where we're at. We do not want to admit that we have need, and what's really sad is when we're trying out here to do it by ourselves, when we have VIP access straight into the throne room, where our Father has said, hey, this is how he's taught us. Do you see the birds out there? Do you see the flowers out there that are here today gone tomorrow? If I care for them? How much more does your Father in Heaven care for you. Your dad is only a phone call away. And you could call him any single time. And he will give you grace; you will find grace to help in time of need. How about that? unlimited supply, go to the bank of Heaven and withdraw as much as you like. That's the access that you have been given. That you can go before the throne of grace, that God who commands the world is ready to be good to you right now. That is the access that you have.
In Jesus, you have peace with God, you have access to grace and this grace, grace is strong. Grace will help you keep standing when the world is trying to knock you down. When the world is trying to get you to lose heart and fall away from grace, fall away from faith. God will be good to you and he will keep you standing to the end. You have access. If you're feeling weak, ask for grace, ask for help, you will find it. So, you can go with boldness, with confidence. You don't have to be afraid of what's going to happen to you in the holy place. You don't have to be afraid the king is going to cast you out. Jesus, the king on the throne has already said, you are welcome here. I’m pleased with you. Come as many times as you like; you cannot wear out the welcome that God has given you in his Son. God is ready right now to give you grace for today. He may have given you grace. The amazing thing about God, I know for me, it's my third time preaching this sermon. My battery goes down, right? We're used to technology, drain and power. We're used to cars running out of gas. We're used to it's the end of the day, I need to sleep. Do you realize that when God gives you the best gift he's ever given you, at that moment, his energy, his power has not been depleted at all? He doesn't even know what it means to get tired. You are not wearing out. You're welcome before the throne of grace. There is more goodness in store for you.
So go back to Romans, chapter 5. We've got peace. We've got access to grace. But there's a third gift. It's the one in the white wrapping paper. We want to open this one. Wow, we've got some good gifts here. What's this one? Well, it says it here at the end of verse 2. It says end. So, we've got something else here, a third one to our list. It says and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. So, the hope of God's glory is what we open up; rip that wrapping paper there. You've got the hope of glory is what it says. And this hope becomes the theme of these next few verses here. Even if you're suffering, we're still going to end up in Romans 5:4. It says it's all going to produce hope. And verse five says that this “hope does not put us to shame.” So the hope introduced in verse two becomes the theme of the rest of our text all the way through verse five. Okay, so when we say hope here, right, we are not talking about Well, I hope what the weatherman said is what's going to happen, or I hope it works out this way. We often use the word hope to say this is the way I would prefer for it to happen. This is the way I wish that it will happen. Hope here is radically different than the way we use the word hope. Hope here is I am sure it's going to be like this. I am convinced this is going to happen. I know that no matter what happens to me here on planet earth, I will see Jesus and all of his glory and when I see the glory of Jesus, I will be made like him, and he will glorify me to be with him forever more. I'm sure of this. Not just something I prefer to happen, I am convinced in the deepest part of my being, that will happen. That's what the hope of glory is. Okay. So, we've talked about this before, you know, some people are optimists, they're just generally positive people, the glass is half full, good things are going to happen. And these optimists are really boring or really annoying to you, people who are I would call you a pessimist. But you're not a pessimist. You're a realist; you know who you are, right? You're just living in the real world, right? Well, I've stopped being an optimist. And I don't want to join the realist. And I'm a hopetimist. That's who I am. I believe the world is as bad as every realist in here thinks it is. And I believe the glory I’m experiencing in God is better than the best optimist could possibly consider in their own mind. I have a hope that, when I see the glory of Jesus, it will all be worth it in the end. That's what this is talking about here, saying, you've got the hope of glory, you know, the end of the story. And there is coming a day of glory, when you will, first of all seeing Jesus when your faith goes to say, that will be meeting the one who loves you to die for you. That will be greater than any reunion greater than any relationship you've ever had. But not just that, he's going to give you a new body, a body that will be immortal, a body that will not break down or grow weary, a body that will not have a sinful disposition, and Jesus is going to welcome you in with this new body to be with Him forever. Finally, a relationship that you don't have to worry if it's going to end or not. That's what you've got the hope of glory. This is the promise now. Now, you may not be feeling glory right now you may be feeling suffering. And he goes right to that. Look at verse three. He says, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings”, the hope of glory is supposed to be the way you think about your sufferings.
Now, one thing we've got to clarify here at the end of Romans 5:2, it says, “we rejoice in the hope of glory.” Or Romans 5:3, “we rejoice in our sufferings.” I don't know why they translated it, rejoice there. Because that's not the word typically used for having joy. It does say in James chapter 1 about our trials that we should consider them joy when we're going through hard times. But that's not what it says here, the word for rejoice here, make sure you get this down if you're taking notes. The word here for rejoice is “boast”. It says, you can boast in the hope of glory, you can boast even in your sufferings. It's like you can tell your sufferings you're not the end of my story. My story ends in glory. And you can say, see, boasting is supposed to be a bad thing. It's, it's not good to boast. Pride goes before the fall; God is opposed to the proud. Don't tell somebody what you're going to do. Don't tell somebody what's going to happen. Who are you to boast? But this is something it's saying. You can tell somebody what's going to happen. You can tell somebody the future, this is something you can let people know and, and it's not you boasting, you're saying, here's the promise that God has made to me that I'm going to see Him in his glory, I know that my redeemer lives, and I know I will stand with him on that day, and I've trusted in Jesus, and Jesus holds me in his hand, and he will not let me go, and nothing can snatch me out of the hand of Jesus. I'm going to be with him forever. You can boast about that. That's what it's saying here, saying, look, your problems in the face it says, what's the worst you're going to do to me here in the world, you're going to kill me that would actually be the best thing that ever happened to me. Bring it on. There's a boasting called for here. This is what the same word in 1 Corinthians 1:31, where it says, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Second Corinthians 10:17. If you're going to boast about anything, boast in the Lord. That's the same word here in Romans 5:2 and 3. And it all goes back to Jeremiah 9 where God says, hey, don't boast in how much money you've got in the bank at the end of 2022. Don't boast in how healthy and strong you are, at the end of 2022. Don't boast in how wise you are and how you think you know the best way to live life here on Earth. Don't boast in any of that. Here's what you should boast about, boast that you know me, that you know my righteousness, that you know my steadfast love and faithfulness, that you know about my peace and grace. Boast that you know me. God wants us to boast about him. And that's what it says here. You can boast in the hope of the glory of God. So let me talk to everybody. You're feeling the weight of suffering right now. I’ve got an extra stocking here. And I'm going to bring out the stocking of suffering. And here's what it says. This is the guaranteed way sufferings works for everybody who's been justified by faith. Look at what it says in Romans 5:3, you can even boast in your sufferings. And that's that word that we read in 2 Corinthians, when Paul was talking about his afflictions, and how he despaired of life. Paul was at a place where he felt like he was ready to die. That's how much he was suffering. That's the same word here. But it's saying you can boast in your sufferings, because here you know how suffering works. suffering produces endurance. When you suffer, God gives you the power to remain under… that's this word here, Hupomone to remain under the pressure. Like 1 Peter 1 says, your faith is going to be tested, like gold refined in a fire, and that fire might burn. But you're going to be able to withstand the heat, to withstand the pressure. And that perseverance, that endurance will produce character. See, after you go through this suffering, and you remain in the faith through the trial, see, now you'll be proven. Now you'll be tested. That's really what this word character means, means you're going to suffer, but through the suffering you're going to endure. And after the suffering after there's a sense of relief, or comfort from the Lord, you're going to now be proven, you're going to now be tested, your faith is not going to be some kind of theory in your life, your faith is going to be tried, it's going to be sure and you know what you're going to have at the end of your suffering – even more hope, even more confidence that you're going to be sure that God can get me through anything.
Consider Job. Consider all the calamity that came upon job where his own wife was just giving him the advice, you should curse God and die. How could anyone endure this. Do you know what Job said at the end of all of that? Before I just heard about God a little bit. But now I see who God is. See, every bad thing that happens to you only works for your good. Every time your faith is tested, you only grow stronger in your faith. I know some people who almost died here at this church. I know some people who are in the hospital by themselves during COVID. And they had to get to a place. If not, now's my time, I'm ready for you to take me. But if you want to send me back, I want to do more for you, with my family and my church. And every single person that's gotten to the brink of death, and God gave them more time to live, these people, every one of them I know, they are so much stronger. They are so much more on mission, they have so much more confidence and expectation. Man, I almost died. It's sometimes when I talk to them. It's almost like they regret that they didn't die. Because how awesome was that going to be? But I'm still here. And the reason I'm still here is I've got hope because God's going to do something with me here. See, this is the kind of boasting. See, why do we go through every trial? Like it's the first trial we've ever gone through? Why do we go through trials, like the Bible doesn't tell us in James 1. And 11 Peter 1 and Romans 5. This is how trials work. Here's the manual, here's the blueprint, it hurts, you suffer, but you endure, but you get tested, you get proven, and you come through with more faith than you went into the trial with. In fact, look what it says in Romans 5:5, you're going to end up with hope; all of this will produce more hope. And verse 5 key line we want to really think about, we want to really consider you maybe you've never thought about this before Romans 5:5, hope does not put us to shame. When I get there, and I see the glory of Jesus, and I'm glorified with him forevermore. I will not be ashamed of what happened to me in my life. Another way you could translate it is hope does not disappoint. What an amazing promise. That when we reach the end of our faith of our race, when we get there and we get to see Jesus, you know what we're going to say to one another when we're there on that day, this was so worth it. And see, for people who live in a land of disappointment, we need to really hear what this is saying. Because everybody here has been disappointed by other people in your life. Everybody here has experienced buyer's remorse at some point in their life. There are people here in this room, many of us, we wanted something so bad for Christmas, we got it for Christmas. We can't even remember what it was this Christmas. We've got our expectations met and still we've been disappointed. We don't even know Oh, something like what hope is going to be when we get there. When its glory day, when we see Jesus, I promise you, you will not be disappointed. That's what it says right there, you will not be put to shame. Okay, so this promise in Romans 5:5, look what it goes on to say that “hope does not put us to shame,” because God's love has been poured into our hearts. Now we're not even going to be able to get into the part about God's love but if you come back on Saturday, at our Christmas Eve service on Saturday, we've got three special services 11, 1, and 3, we're going to dive as deep as we can into the love that God has poured out in our hearts, the love that God has given us in the gift of Jesus. If you know anybody in your life, and you want them to learn about the love of God, bring them here on Christmas Eve, Romans 5:5-8 is going to tell him. Look at Verse 8, “God shows his love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So, we're going to totally get into the love of God given to us on Saturday. But I want you to see that even though other people are going to disappoint you, and even though you will feel ashamed about many things in this life, but one of the people who disappoint you will not be named Jesus, let's get this down for point number three hope in Jesus, you will not be disappointed. That is the promise of this text. There is glory waiting for you. And when you get there and you see the glory, you will not be put to shame. This is the way the Bible likes to say we might relate more with the idea of being disappointed. But this idea, this is a big theme for Paul that he just put here in Romans 5:5.
If you're taking notes, under point number three, write down Romans 9:33 and Romans 10:11. To other times, we're going to get to in Romans, where he's saying those who have their hope in the Lord will not be put to shame. Everyone who believes in the Lord will not be ashamed. So, if judgment was the theme of where we've been in Romans, hope that does not disappoint is the theme of where we're going in Romans. And this was a theme in Paul's life. Paul was a man who, by earthly standards, had many reasons to be ashamed. Paul was constantly hated by Jews his entire Christian life. He always had enemies coming at him. He had people who picked up big rocks to try to kill him and stone him and left him for dead. I mean, he always had people, even other Christians threw shade at the apostle Paul, even people he led to Jesus came against him. Even people he thought he had led to Jesus fell away and turned against him. People even preached Jesus out of rivalry with the apostle Paul. His enemies wanted him dead. And even his brothers and sisters didn't even love him very well. The guy spent a lot of his time in prison. That's where he wrote a lot of his letters being treated as a common prisoner as an outcast of society, as somebody who was just a bunch of trouble. This guy had plenty of reasons to be ashamed, because of his hope in Jesus. And yet he believed through it all that hope in Jesus. Those who really believe will not be ashamed, they will not be disappointed in the end.
Look what he says in 2 Timothy 1:7, see, you will experience shame and persecution in this life; events may not work out within the way that you're hoping in this life. And so, these are his last words. This is his letter, when he knows he's come to the end of his time. He appealed to Caesar. Caesar is going to kill him. At his first defense, no one stood with him. He writes in 2 Timothy about people who have deserted him and left him. Here he is, by himself alone, isolated, about to die, and here's what he wants to write to his disciple, Timothy, this is 2 Timothy 1:8. He says, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.” Don't be ashamed of being his prisoner, no, share in suffering, embrace the suffering, boast in the suffering, because we're “suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,” when Jesus came on Christmas, “he abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day, what has been entrusted to me.”
He had plenty of reasons to be ashamed. But he was not because he had the hope of glory in Jesus Christ. See now that I wished at this point in the sermon that I could tell you some story from my own personal experience, like yeah, here's a time when it was really hard for me, and I hoped in God, and I got to the end, and it was worth it. But I haven't done that. No one in this room has done that. This is the kind of thing that you cannot experience. You have to believe what God says to you in the Scripture. When it says that hope does not disappoint. There's no way that we can go figure out today besides dying, there's not going to be any way today that we're going to be able to get a taste of the glory of seeing Jesus and being made like him. We know it's all got to be based on what Scripture says, not based on your own personal experience. Because your experience is suffering, your experience is being tested, your experiences is lost in broken relationships and hurt, hurt that is there every single day of your life. That's your experience, and you're tempted to feel ashamed. you're tempted to think that even believing in Jesus is going to be disappointing, like so many other things in my life. And he's saying to you hope does not put to shame. He's wanting you to know he is the one thing that you can count on. In fact, it's not just Paul saying this, when Paul says, hope does not put to shame, he's quoting scripture. There are so many scriptures I could turn to you. This is something God wants to say to you with where you're at in your life right now. If you keep hoping in him, if you're sure that you're going to get to glory, if you're confident that you're going to see Jesus and you're going to be made like Jesus, you will not be disappointed. That's something God wants to say to you today.
Turn with me to Psalm 25. There's a lot of places we could go, I'm just going to take you to one song where David wrote it down so that God's people could sing it, those who hope in the Lord, those who wait on the Lord, we will not be ashamed. This is Psalm 25, we could go to Isaiah 49, we could go to Joel 2. There are so many different places that we could turn to this is a theme that God wants everybody to know. A lot of things in life do not have the payoff. They don't look as good as the billboard. They're not as awesome as advertised your hope of glory in Jesus, it will not disappoint. That's what David writes here in Psalm 25, a song that we could sing to ourselves, he says to you, oh, Lord, I lift up my soul. I'm trusting you with all that I am. I'm giving you my whole life. That's the idea there of lifting up my soul. Oh my god, see, this is the right way to say oh my God, when you're crying out to him, oh my God in you I trust. Let me not be put to shame because right now it's feeling like I'm going to be put to shame. Right now, it's feeling like my enemies are going to exalt over me. So please don't let me be disappointed. Please don't let me be ashamed. And then he says it like this. Psalm 25:3, “Indeed, none,” no one “who waits for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.” The people who are looking for peace on earth, they will be ashamed on the Day of Judgment. But those who have heavenly peace, those who have access to unlimited grace, those who have the hope of glory, on the day that we see Jesus, we will not be put to shame, not one of us. And see, I can't even relate this to something. I can't even share with you some experience because every experience in this life is somehow tainted with shame and disappointment. But there is some glorious experience that is yet to come. And when you are there. I hope to see you there my friend, because I've got a hope that I'm going to be there, and I'm going to see Jesus, and it's going to be as awesome as advertised. And he's going to wipe my tears away, and I'm going to get to see him, and he's going to make me like him, and I'm going to be with Jesus forever. And I hope I get to see you there on that day. And I hope we can say, wow, is it not so worth it to be here with Jesus in glory? Why did we ever doubt why? Why did we ever think all those trials we went through, now they seem so light. Now they seem so short. Look at the eternal weight of glory we have with Jesus, I hope you and I are looking at each other saying it was so worth it, to get to the realization of our hope, in the glory of our God. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for the gift that you gave us in Jesus. And we remember how he came to save us. This Christmas, we remember when we realized we needed to be saved, when you opened up our eyes to be convicted of our sin, and to see Jesus how he died on the cross, and how he rose again, and to see that we could believe in the gospel. But father, I come to you right now, on behalf of, of our church, on behalf of your people on behalf of my brothers and sisters. And Father, we want to confess to you our little faith. We want to confess to you that sometimes we look at Christmas as something that happened in the past, and we don't see the presents that you have right now for us. These gifts, that all of us who have been justified by faith that we are right with you, Father, we just thank you so much for being pleased with us based on your son Jesus. And Father, we thank you for this access, that right now all of us could be a part of this prayer, and we can go right before your throne of grace. And we can lift up Sterling with her foot surgery, and Steve with his radiation. And we can lift up all the awkward family encounters and all of those who are home sick, and all of those who feel like they don't have enough money and we can come and there is grace for all of us as we come to you. And we could call on you as our Father, and you're ready to hear from your kids. And you're ready to be good to us. And Father, you promised that when we get there to be with you, when we're done with our lives, to live as Christ, that to die will be gained and whether it's Jesus coming back to get us and take us to the place he's prepared or whether we die, and we go into your glorious presence. Father, thank you for this promise that nobody here will be disappointed when they see Jesus. Nobody here will be ashamed of the way they live their life as a Christian, that on that day, you will wipe our tears away. And we will boast in you, and we will be so glad to put on that robe of whiteness, we will be so glad to be glorified, to say goodbye forever to sin, to say goodbye forever to sadness and pain and death. And to say yes to Jesus yes to His glory. To be with him to see him. Father, please open our eyes to see the gift that you've given us and your son Jesus, that we have the hope of glory, that we can be sure, that we can be convinced, that we can look right now in our suffering right now in our trial, and we can boast of what it's going to be like to be with Jesus. As a father, please let us enjoy these gifts that you've given us. Let us enjoy this hope that we have in your son Jesus in whose name we pray. Amen.

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