Series: Romans
Title: Hope, Patience and Prayer
Text: Romans 12: 12
Date: October 27, 2019
Place: SGBC, NJ
Romans 12: 1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. 2: And be not conformed to this world: but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. [One of the ways we
do this in]…12: Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing
instant in prayer;
These are three
states of those chosen, redeemed and regenerated by God: rejoicing in
hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. These three are so interconnected. In tribulation we are supported on two sides:
hope on the one side and prayer on the other—and in all we are looking to
Christ so that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
REJOICING IN HOPE
Hope is an earnest desire for an expected end. As it is used in the Bible, “hope” is the
expectation of faith, based upon the oath, promises, grace, and goodness of God
in Christ.
We use the word “hope” in everyday language as
a wish, which has no foundation, no reason for expectation. When I was in school, I might say, “I hope I
make an “A” on this test.” That usually
was a wish without a good foundation. But
the believer’s hope is not a wish. We have
an earnest expectation of something to come.
The apostle Paul called it “my earnest expectation and my hope” (Php
1:20).
What is our hope? It is salvation
by Christ Jesus our Lord. The Psalmist said, “Lord, I have
hoped for thy salvation” (Ps 119:116). Every child
of God has the earnest hope that one day we shall see our Savior and be perfectly
conformed to him.
1 John 3:2: Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he
shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3: And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure
Galatians 5:5:
For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Our foundation for this hope is solid. One, it is the very word of God who cannot
lie. God says to his people in his word,
“I know
the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and
not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jer 29:11) We have the “”hope
of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”
(Ti 1:2). Three times the Psalmist
declared that his hope was in the word of God, “Remember the word unto thy
servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope…My soul fainteth for thy
salvation: but I hope in thy word…Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I
hope in thy word” (Ps 119:49, 81, 114).
Do you see why the devil’s very first
deception was to get our mother Eve to disbelieve the word of God? The first problem sinners have is not
believing this book is the very word of God.
How can a sinner believe God and have a good hope if he will not even believe
this is the word of God?
But to you, believer, who God has made to know
that this is God’s own word, at all times—before, during and after trouble—bury
yourself in this word, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope” (Rom 15:4).
Two, our hope is a confident expectation
because it is given to us by the grace of God. If hope was of our will, of our
works, then our hope would be nothing more than wishful thinking. But hope is God’s
gift to us by grace. Paul wrote, “Now
our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us,
and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace…” (2
Thess 2:16).
Hope is a gift through grace. Like
everything else we have, it is the gift of God.
Faith and repentance and every fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God’s
grace. Righteousness and Holiness and Redemption
in Christ is the free gift of God’s grace.
What do you have that you did not receive?
Nothing in salvation is by our works.
Everything is the gift of God’s grace.
We were born again—"not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”(Jn 1:13). We did not first choose God, God first chose
us, “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of
him that calleth” (Rom 9:11). Nothing
heavenly, nothing godly is of our will—"So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom 9:16). Our justification from all our sins is not of
our works—"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). Likewise, our hope
is the gift of God by grace—"our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and
God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace.”
Why is that good news? Because what
God gives, God sustains by his power—"Now the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power
of the Holy Ghost” (Rom 15:13).
Three, true hope is a confident expectation
because true hope is in Christ Jesus alone.
Christ himself is our Hope. I am
a sinner who can have no hope of entering heaven with holy God unless I am made
the righteousness of God—you too. Christ
alone is the righteousness of every true believer. What does that mean? It means my righteousness is by Christ’s obedience,
not my own! It means my righteousness is
God’s gift freely given by grace. That
is the only way dead sinners are made the righteousness of God.
Romans 5: 17: For if by one man’s offence
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.)…
I have been corresponding with a man in another country. He wrote that Christ’s work made it possible
for us to be redeemed. Adam’s disobedience
did not make it possible for his people to be made sin if we would just do
something. No, he made all his people
sinners. Likewise, Christ’s obedience
did not make righteousness possible if the sinner will just make it effectual
by his will. No, by Christ’s obedience
he made his people the righteousness of God in him.
Romans 5: 19: By one
man’s disobedience many, were made sinners.
So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
And Christ is not only my only righteousness—it
is by Christ that I believe and hope in him.
1 Peter 1: 18: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers; 19: But with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20: Who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for
you, 21: Who BY HIM do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and
gave him glory; that your faith and HOPE might be in God. (1Pe 1:18-21)
True hope is a confident expectation because true
hope is in Christ Jesus alone—Christ is our Hope—that is one of his name’s, “the
Hope of Israel”. So whatever our
condition, every believer rejoices in hope.
Hope is our helmet—hope comes into our mind
reminded us that our Savior is the Sovereign Savior who never loses one of his
sheep (1 Thess 5:8) Hope is the anchor
of our soul—hope comes into our hearts reminding us of God’s immutable promise,
leading us into the veil where Christ our Hope is seated in heaven:
Hebrews 6: 17: Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the
heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an
oath: 18: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us: 19: Which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us
entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec.
PATIENT IN TRIBULATION
We are not patient and stedfast in trouble by
nature or by our own power, only by the grace and love of God. There is a bird that flies into my screened
in porch. At first, it flaps around, flopping into the screen , never able to find
the door. But after a while he settles
down. Then out through the door he
flies. That is us at the first sign of
trouble. But after a while, God settles
us and shows us Christ the Door and we enter in. By the grace of God, by the power of the Holy
Spirit, he makes us patient—stedfast—in trouble. So that our hope and patience/stedfastness
in trouble are vitally connected.
Romans 5: 1: Therefore being justified, by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2: By whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand, and [by whom also we] rejoice in hope of
the glory of God. 3: And not only so, but [by whom] we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4: And patience,
experience; and experience, hope: 5: 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.
God sends the
tribulation to work patience/stedfastness in his child. By the trial,
God shows us his unchangeable love for us by sustaining us through the trial. So by the trial God grows us in maturity and hope. Our
patience/stedfastness in today’s trial is because we experienced and were
matured by God bringing us through the last trial. In the last trial, our hope was that God
would sustain us and he did. So in this
trial we are a little more stedfast, having the experience of the last trial, with
a good hope that God will bring us through this trial. And God never makes us ashamed for hoping in
his sustaining grace “because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Paul said, “Our hope of you is stedfast, knowing
that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the
consolation” (2 Cor 1:7).
Consider Jeremiah. He was greatly troubled. His body was in pain. His name was slandered
by the very people who ought to have cherished him. His life was in imminent danger.
The Church of God was in bondage in a heathen land. His family had been
enslaved to an idolatrous people. Yet, Jeremiah understood clearly that all was
of his heavenly Father’s loving hand, administered by wisdom on purpose. So in
the midst of his soul’s trouble, while he was sinking inside, he looked away
from himself to his Savior and his soul was refreshed with hope—with confident expectation—so
that he was patient/stedfast in the trouble waiting on God to save him.
Lamentations 3:21: This I recall to my mind,
therefore have I hope. 22: It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his
compassions fail not. 23: They are new every morning: great is thy
faithfulness. 24: The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore
will I hope in him. 25: The LORD is good unto them that wait
for him, to the soul that seeketh him. [he had experienced, been
matured to know that to them that patiently, steadfastly endure trouble waiting
on God to save, the LORD is good. 26:
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the LORD.”
No one likes
trouble. Affliction hurts. But our steadfastness, our patience is
illustrated by what Brother Bob Coffee wrote to me this week concerning
his recent stroke, “This is hard on you. But you know it is His will.” By God’s grace, in the midst of trial, we
rejoice in hope and steadfastly endure the trouble because we know it is our
heavenly Father’s will to teach us he alone is our hope and our strength.
Joel 3:16
The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem;
and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his
people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
CONTINUING INSTANT IN PRAYER
Our hope, along with the trials we endure, cause us to live in a continual
spirit of dependence upon God. This word
means more than that we are continually on our knees praying to God. It means to adhere to one, to be constant to
one, to wait on God constantly. Believers
live continually depending upon God. God
sends the trial to keep us continuing instant in prayer: to keep us looking out
of ourselves and adhering to God alone, to keep us waiting on God’s saving hand
constantly rather than our own.
When my children were
younger—and it is still the case—when things were pleasant they had their
attention focused on their toys. But as
soon as trouble came, they cried out for dad and mom. That is why God sends the trial, to keep us
continuing instant in prayer.
Someone wrote, “Affliction
is the godly man's shining moment…They serve to convince us more deeply of our
own weakness and insufficiency, and to endear the person, the grace, the
promises, and the salvation of our Redeemer, more and more to our hearts.”
Trouble and afflictions
are not to punish but to purify the believing soul. They are not in wrath but in mercy. They keep us constantly looking up to our
heavenly Father with utter dependence on our Redeemer!
Remember
our Lord Jesus said, “I waited patiently for the LORD” (Ps 40: 1). He willingly came into the trial of the cross
as the servant of God representing his people. As he bore separation from
God for his people he “patiently waited”—steadfastly
enduring—in the sure hope and firm expectation of his Father’s help and
assistance once he had fully honored the law and justice was fully satisfied toward
his people. He continued instant in prayer depending
upon God. He is the perfect obedient
servant in whom we are perfectly obedient.
Hebrews 10: 10: By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Brethren let us ask God for more grace that he might be our hope, that we might
patiently endure trouble and that we might live constantly in dependence upon
him—our times are in his hand.
Amen!