1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,480 Chapter 15, I'm going to read beginning in verse 4. 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,600 And if you don't have a Bible with you, by the way, there's probably one right in the 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,920 back of the pew in front of you. 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:16,640 You can find the book of Romans in the content and turn to that book and then to chapter 5 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,400 15, verse 4. 6 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:27,080 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through endurance 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:33,640 and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. 8 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:39,520 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves 9 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:47,120 as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,400 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 11 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:59,320 In verse 13, he says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust 12 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:07,840 in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 13 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,800 In our venture values, we state the value this way. 14 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:20,440 We look forward to the future with hope and are rooted in a relationship with God, the 15 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,480 God who speaks to us here and now. 16 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:30,520 We honor the past, yet believe that God has a kingdom appointment for our congregation 17 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,680 and our individual lives in this generation. 18 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:41,440 We seek His direction daily with the hope that His love will be demonstrated through 19 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:42,520 us. 20 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,680 Let's pray together. 21 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:52,040 Whether this is a holy hour as we come together to worship and in this holy hour, no moment 22 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:58,040 is more important than this time that we spend focused upon your word. 23 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:04,160 And so, Spirit of God, who inspired these words through the hand of Paul, our brother, 24 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:13,440 the apostle, would you now be our teacher in this generation and create within us a sense 25 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,360 of the hope for which Christ died for us. 26 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,800 And I pray this in His name, amen. 27 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,960 There was a man who approached a Little League baseball game one afternoon. 28 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,200 He asked the boy in the dugout what the score was. 29 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,360 The boy responded, It's 18 to nothing. 30 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:39,080 Well, the spectator said, Young man, I'll bet you're a little bit discouraged, aren't 31 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:40,080 you? 32 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,280 The little boy looked up at him and said, No, sir, I'm not discouraged. 33 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,480 We haven't even gotten up to bat yet. 34 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,480 My friend, that's hope. 35 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:51,480 Hope. 36 00:02:51,480 --> 00:03:00,040 No one can live happily or healthily or even very long without hope. 37 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:08,480 The greatest enemy of mankind is not disease or poverty or conflict and wars. 38 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:14,160 The greatest threat to mankind is despair. 39 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,760 Despair is a state of the soul. 40 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:21,320 It is a barren state. 41 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:29,520 It produces passivity within or possibly even furious reactions outwardly. 42 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:37,440 Someone has said, Take hope from the heart of man and you will make a beast of him. 43 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:39,680 You think about that. 44 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:46,600 A man who sees nothing to lose and feels he has nothing to gain, nothing to hope for 45 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,320 can easily become a monster. 46 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,220 The loss of hope makes for desperate people. 47 00:03:55,220 --> 00:03:57,720 But hope gives reason. 48 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,160 Hope boils up the soul with expectancy. 49 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,760 The presence of hope should not be taken for granted in our world. 50 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,400 It does not universally exist. 51 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:18,640 Typical of inscriptions on graves in the day in which Paul lived are these words, on the 52 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:29,640 grave of a pagan, I was not, I became, I am not, I care not. 53 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,480 That's very hopeful, isn't it? 54 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,480 Isn't that exciting to have that for your epitaph? 55 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:42,800 That's why the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers who lived in that kind of a culture, 56 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:48,560 people who had lost their loved ones already after they had become believers. 57 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:55,880 And he said, We sorrow, but not like those who have no hope, for we believe that Jesus 58 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,360 died and rose again. 59 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:05,440 Thanks be to God that we who are the followers of Jesus Christ never have cause for despair. 60 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:12,040 Hope is at home in our hearts. 61 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:17,640 First Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 13 says, And now abide these three, they remain 62 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,040 faith, what's the second one? 63 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,160 Hope and love. 64 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:30,760 They exist together, these highest of spiritual values that belong to God's children in the 65 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,400 world. 66 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:38,440 Because God calls us to be a people of hope. 67 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:43,720 Hope belongs to us above all others in the world. 68 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:50,240 The followers of Jesus Christ can honestly, honestly look at the future and be confident 69 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,360 of its outcome. 70 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:58,840 We are optimistic because we know that God is for us. 71 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:05,960 I remind you of David who in Psalm 56 remembers a time in his life when he was in danger. 72 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:12,760 He was held and seized by the Philistines in the city of Gat. 73 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:19,520 Reflecting upon that time, he said, When I am afraid, I will trust in you. 74 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,240 In God I trust, I will not be afraid. 75 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,280 My enemies will turn back when I call for help. 76 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:32,560 This I know, God is for me. 77 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,200 What can man do to me? 78 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,000 Hope. 79 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,920 Like sunshine in a prism. 80 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:48,120 The New Testament breaks apart the light of hope and gives us the full spectrum of its 81 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:49,600 glory. 82 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:56,160 The New Testament speaks about the hope of righteousness, the hope of the gospel, the 83 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:02,400 hope of glory, the hope of salvation, and the hope of eternal life. 84 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,720 A little bit of a quiz. 85 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:11,240 If I were to ask you which book in the New Testament speaks more about hope than any 86 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,480 other, what would you say? 87 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,600 Any guesses? 88 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,680 You probably would be a guess at this point. 89 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,560 Someone might say, Well, I think it's the book of Revelation because it's the last book 90 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:27,040 of the Bible and it's where it all comes together and we see Christ coming and His 91 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,880 kingdom established on the earth. 92 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:39,920 Do you know that the word hope is not even mentioned, not even used in the book of Revelation? 93 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:47,200 The word hope is found 13 times far more than any other of the epistles in the book of Romans. 94 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,480 13 times that noun is used. 95 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:56,360 When the Bible speaks about hope, it's not using hope like we often use it. 96 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:02,240 Well, I hope to be able to take a vacation next year. 97 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:03,240 What does that mean? 98 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,480 Well, I would like to do it, but I'm not certain about it. 99 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:11,800 I hope to recover from this disease, but we don't know for sure if we will. 100 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:16,520 That is not the meaning of hope in the Bible. 101 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:24,040 When the Bible talks about hope, it's talking about a confident expectation. 102 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:30,160 It's something about which you are absolutely sure. 103 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,080 Even the Pope agrees with this. 104 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:41,280 Perhaps you read in the paper yesterday that he has issued his second encyclical, which 105 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:43,720 is entitled Saved by Hope. 106 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:44,720 Interesting. 107 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,800 He's on the same theme we are this weekend. 108 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,040 In this encyclical, he puts forth a basic question. 109 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:57,720 What is the hope that can give meaning to life? 110 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:05,200 Without some form of hope, Benedict argues, life becomes tedious and potentially burdensome. 111 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:10,920 Even if it is marked by material affluence and technical progress, he's absolutely on 112 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:12,800 target. 113 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:17,320 A person without hope finds himself in an existential difficulty. 114 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:24,080 For what enduring purpose am I clinging to this life that I love and do not want to lose? 115 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:25,080 I quote him. 116 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:29,160 He says, here we see a distinguishing mark of Christians. 117 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,400 The fact that they have a future. 118 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:37,360 It is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms 119 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,360 that their life will not end in emptiness. 120 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:45,760 Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live in 121 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,680 the present as well. 122 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:53,440 Christians look at the future and we are certain about it. 123 00:09:53,440 --> 00:10:00,080 Not that we know all of the details, but we know that this life is not lived in futility. 124 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:01,600 That's what hope is all about. 125 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,440 I want us to think about our hope this morning. 126 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,880 We're going to have to do this very, very quickly. 127 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:13,560 We're going to discover eight facts about our hope in the book of Romans. 128 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:17,520 We're going to begin in the text that we've read already this morning. 129 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:23,840 We see first of all in verse 13 that hope originates in the character of God because 130 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,560 God is called here the God of what? 131 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:29,680 The God of hope. 132 00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:35,480 Our value statement says, we look to the future with hope and are rooted in a relationship 133 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,560 with the God who speaks to us here and now. 134 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:43,040 You see, our God is a God of hope. 135 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:48,040 The hope is much more than unfounded optimism. 136 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:52,880 There are people who are optimistic, but they don't have any reason for their optimism. 137 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,760 They're naive and they have no grounds. 138 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:02,280 They live in a fantasy world of optimism, but not the Christian. 139 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:07,560 Hope that is worth the name has a trustworthy foundation and the foundation of our hope 140 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:09,240 is God Himself. 141 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,400 He is the source of our hope. 142 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:19,880 He is the only unfailing, unchanging cause for bona fide eternal optimism. 143 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:28,280 The Apostle Paul says as he writes to Titus, I'm writing to you about a faith and knowledge 144 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:36,360 resting on the hope of eternal life, remember the expectancy, the certainty of eternal life, 145 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:42,400 which God who does not lie promised before the beginning of time. 146 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:48,160 My friends with God, there is always hope because He is a hopeless God. 147 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:49,560 He is a hopeful God. 148 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:51,520 He is a God of hope. 149 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:56,480 I better get that one right. 150 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:04,360 We have feelings of hopelessness ourselves, but God is a God of hope. 151 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,880 The second fact that we see in the book of Romans about our hope is this. 152 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:14,240 It comes to us through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. 153 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:15,760 Notice what it says in verse 2. 154 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:21,120 God wrote the Old Testament Scriptures so that by our reading them and learning from 155 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:28,840 them we might have hope, we might be a people of hope, and He says that He prays in verse 156 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:35,840 13, in fact, that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 157 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,440 How do we get hope? 158 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:40,760 Is it by osmosis? 159 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,040 Do we sleep on our Bibles, put our Bibles under our pillows, and somehow we're going 160 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,720 to get hope because we have a Bible under our head? 161 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,560 Is it because we have a Bible on our coffee table in the living room when the preacher 162 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:54,480 comes over? 163 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,640 Is it because we own a lot of Bibles in our library? 164 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,280 No, none of that. 165 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:07,280 It's as we meditate upon the Scriptures, as we take it into our minds and our hearts 166 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:15,520 that the Holy Spirit then takes the Scriptures, He teaches us so that He fashions hope in 167 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,560 our hearts. 168 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:25,880 Hope comes to us through God's Word as the Holy Spirit makes it real in our lives when 169 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:31,280 we spend time meditating upon it. 170 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,760 Third fact about hope, it accompanies faith. 171 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:41,400 In verse 13 it says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in 172 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:42,400 Him. 173 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:43,900 Do you notice that? 174 00:13:43,900 --> 00:13:50,160 As you are trusting in Him, as you are believing Him so that you may overflow with hope. 175 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:56,920 We see this in a life, and it's mentioned in Romans chapter 4, and I invite you to turn 176 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,760 back there with me. 177 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,480 It is the life of Abraham. 178 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:06,480 You know Abraham's story, how the God appeared to him and gave him the promise of a land, 179 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:13,400 but also the promise of a seed, a sun, through whom he would bring blessing to the world. 180 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:20,880 But Abraham and Sarah were old, and they grew even older. 181 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,720 And no sun had yet arrived. 182 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:32,320 It says in verse 18, Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. 183 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,640 And so became the father of many nations. 184 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:41,640 Notice there the relationship of hope and believing, hope and faith. 185 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:46,200 These two are companions, they go together. 186 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:52,280 Abraham took a hold of the hand of faith, he took a hold of the hand of hope, and with 187 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:58,400 them he journeyed as a child of God and inherited the promises of God. 188 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,520 The same is true with you and me. 189 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,760 Sometimes there is tension in our lives between the circumstances of what we see and how we 190 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,280 feel. 191 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,840 And yet we know what God has promised. 192 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:19,000 What we need to do is emulate Abraham and believe God, and therefore we will have hope, 193 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:25,320 and we will journey with God and realize the promise that God has given to us. 194 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:31,320 When we invite faith into the house, hope comes along. 195 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:37,120 In Hebrews 11-1 it says, faith is the what? 196 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:42,200 The substance of things hoped for. 197 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:48,120 Faith and hope go together. 198 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:59,040 If I am lacking hope in my life, it may be that I am not trusting God because the two 199 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,720 are partners, faith and hope. 200 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,680 Back number four, hope culminates in sharing the glory of God. 201 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:12,920 Turn over page to chapter 5 and verse 2. 202 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,160 Backing up to verse 1 Paul says, since we have been justified through faith, notice 203 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:24,080 that not by our works, not by being good people or kind people or trying to do our best or 204 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:29,360 being baptized or doing something ourselves, except believing it says, being justified 205 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:35,920 through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have 206 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:43,400 gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we rejoice in the 207 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:48,160 hope of the glory of God. 208 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:54,200 Paul says we have this relationship with God that has come to us by faith, and as a result 209 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,960 of that we have peace with God. 210 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,400 God is no longer offended by our sin because our sin has been taken away. 211 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,160 It's not an issue any longer. 212 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:12,560 We also have a standing with God, an access into His presence, and He says in addition 213 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:19,080 to that we have hope, and we rejoice in that hope, and that hope He says is the glory of 214 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,520 God. 215 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:28,520 All aspects of hope will eventually culminate in God giving us what He has promised, a 216 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:35,840 share in the personal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. 217 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,520 He is the heir of all things. 218 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:50,520 All glory and honor is His, and we who are in Christ share that glory and that honor. 219 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:51,760 We will never be God. 220 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:59,320 We will never share in His deity, but God intends to give us the glory of Christ that 221 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,840 we might share it with Him. 222 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,400 Romans 8 verse 24 confirms this. 223 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,720 He says in this hope we were saved. 224 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:12,200 What is that hope? 225 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:17,320 Of our coming redemption, when our bodies will be changed, these bodies that we live 226 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:23,000 in now that decay and grow old and get sick and eventually die. 227 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,160 He says there is a day coming when God is going to finish what He has begun in us, and 228 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:32,360 even our bodies are going to be redeemed, they're going to be adopted, they're going 229 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:38,400 to experience change, and we'll be like Christ in His glorious body. 230 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:44,040 He says for this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all. 231 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:48,760 Who hopes for what He already has, but if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait 232 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,760 for it patiently. 233 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,560 The hope that you and I have in Jesus Christ as the children of God is absolutely out of 234 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,880 this world, literally. 235 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:08,840 It is that one day we will share in the glory of Jesus Christ Himself through all of eternity. 236 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:14,440 Chapter 5, there is this fact about hope, it is enhanced by hardships. 237 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:22,160 Go back now to chapter 5 again, because after Paul says we rejoice in our hope of the glory 238 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:29,960 of God, he goes on to say, not only that, he says we also rejoice in our sufferings. 239 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:35,920 Now I can understand rejoicing in hope, but he says we rejoice in sufferings too, because 240 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:44,200 we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character, what? 241 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,640 Hope and hope does not disappoint us. 242 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:54,160 Paul is saying here that our hope is actually enhanced by our hardships. 243 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,600 There's a process that is involved. 244 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,960 Our suffering produces perseverance. 245 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:05,680 It gives us muscle, because we face pressure and we resist that pressure and it builds 246 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,680 up our strength. 247 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:17,040 And that perseverance, he says, produces character, tested virtue inside of us, qualities of godliness. 248 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:23,280 And he says those qualities of godliness, that character produces hope. 249 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:30,880 What he's saying is that when we suffer and become more godly, what God has for us in 250 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,920 the future becomes even more defined for us. 251 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:40,520 It is more desirable, it's more radiant, it's more attractive to us. 252 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:45,280 Hardships cause us to anticipate the glory that is to come. 253 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,320 In fact, Paul says in chapter 8, what is to come is not even worthy to be compared to 254 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:56,040 the sufferings we have in this world. 255 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:57,800 Our hope is enhanced. 256 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:05,800 It's better defined for us by the hardships that we pass through in this world. 257 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:11,400 Fact number 6, our hope never disappoints, as Paul says in verse 5. 258 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:20,920 Now if our hope is misplaced, if our hope is not placed properly, we can certainly be 259 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,280 disappointed. 260 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:30,160 One writer named Nancy Misler is very honest about this as she relates a time in her own 261 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,720 life when she went through a dark period. 262 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:38,360 She says, one of the emotions that I experience more than any other going through my own night 263 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:46,520 season besides the feeling of abandonment was the feeling of disappointed hope. 264 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:52,080 When everything around me crashed and totally contradicted all that I thought the Lord had 265 00:21:52,080 --> 00:22:00,040 promised, instead of my faith being sighted and giving me hope, I became disappointed, 266 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:05,560 resentful, and then even bitter towards God. 267 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:11,080 It's a horrible place to be. 268 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:17,160 And I may be talking today to someone who feels bitter toward God because you look at 269 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:23,320 this verse and it says, hope will not disappoint you, and yet you feel very disappointed, disappointed 270 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,840 in God. 271 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:30,960 Perhaps you have made the same mistake that Nancy Misler made, and that is that she was 272 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:39,960 placing her hope in what she thought God should do and would do instead of placing her hope 273 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:43,760 in God himself. 274 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,560 The hope that God has given us will never disappoint. 275 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:53,800 Is your hope in what you think God should do or will do for you, or is your hope in 276 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,920 the person of God? 277 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:03,360 She goes on to say, our hope as Christians can only be in God and His Word. 278 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:08,560 We must constantly have hope in God even when it contradicts all that is happening in the 279 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:13,280 present moment. 280 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:18,200 What is the encouragement that you and I have that God is going to keep His Word and fulfill 281 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:19,200 the hope? 282 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,440 Well, Paul explains it in the last part of this verse. 283 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:30,160 He says, hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts 284 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:34,480 by the Holy Spirit whom He's given to us. 285 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:39,520 You and I can be confident about what we hope in God for two reasons. 286 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:44,040 Number one, God has already poured out His love in our hearts. 287 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,680 We've seen that. 288 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:53,200 Furthermore, He has given us the Holy Spirit to live within us as a down payment, as a 289 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:59,920 guarantee, as a deposit of what He has promised in the future. 290 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:06,180 Therefore we need not fear that somehow our hope is going to be unrealized. 291 00:24:06,180 --> 00:24:10,520 God will never abandon His own. 292 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:16,280 Hope that God gives you will never disappoint you. 293 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:22,960 Next fact, number seven, hope extends to the entire creation. 294 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:24,880 Romans chapter 8 verse 20. 295 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,400 Turn there quickly with me please. 296 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,960 Romans chapter 8 verse 20. 297 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:35,840 Paul says, for the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but 298 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:43,640 by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated 299 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:50,160 from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 300 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,440 What is Paul saying here? 301 00:24:52,440 --> 00:25:01,240 He is saying that we live in a creation, in an environment that is frustrated. 302 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:08,440 It has been subjected to the results of humankind's fall into sin. 303 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:15,320 Animals did not disobey God, but they experienced death. 304 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,760 They experienced suffering. 305 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:24,920 The created world did not fall from its relationship with God. 306 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:31,200 We in Adam and Eve, our great-grandmother and great-grandfather, we are in the midst 307 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:32,600 of fear the ones. 308 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:38,480 The human race is what has disobeyed God. 309 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:46,160 God in His wisdom therefore subjected all of the creation that was underneath Adam 310 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:55,320 and Eve and the human race to the same frustration and death and suffering that we experienced. 311 00:25:55,320 --> 00:26:03,680 But He did this in hope that someday even the creation itself will be delivered from 312 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:08,680 the decay and the frustration of human sin. 313 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:14,880 Paul says, not only will we one day experience the glory of God, but so will the very creation, 314 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,880 the very environment itself be delivered. 315 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,760 Our hope extends to the entire creation. 316 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:29,720 Act number eight, our hope causes joy in every circumstance. 317 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:36,400 Romans 12-12 says, be joyful in hope. 318 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:40,160 It doesn't say be joyful in hope when things are going great. 319 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:47,240 It simply says, be joyful in your hope. 320 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:52,040 A missionary was sitting in her second-story window one day when she was handed a letter 321 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,040 from home. 322 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:59,760 She opened the letter and a crisp $10 bill fell out of the letter. 323 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,960 Of course, she was pleasantly surprised. 324 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:10,360 As she read the letter, her eyes were distracted by the movement of a shabbily dressed man 325 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:16,120 who was leaning against a post of the building down below her on the ground floor, and she 326 00:27:16,120 --> 00:27:19,400 couldn't get him off her mind. 327 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,640 Thinking that he might be in greater stress than she was, she slipped the bill into an 328 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:30,360 envelope and penned on it, don't despair. 329 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:33,440 And she threw it out the window. 330 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,080 It landed at the foot of the stranger. 331 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,200 He picked it up. 332 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,200 He looked inside. 333 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:45,440 He smiled and tipped his hat to her and went his way. 334 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:50,960 The next day, she was about to leave the house when a knock came at the door. 335 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:58,960 There she found that same shabbily dressed man smiling as he handed her a roll of bills. 336 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:04,880 When she asked what they were for, he replied, that's the 60 bucks you won, lady. 337 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:13,720 Don't despair, won, five to one. 338 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,120 Rejoice in your hope. 339 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:17,960 It's a choice. 340 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:23,960 It's an attitude about life and about others, about circumstances and prospects in your 341 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:25,600 life. 342 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,480 With hope in God, you can always choose to have an inner delight that God is bigger than 343 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:32,840 anything that can come against you. 344 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,200 God is for me. 345 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:40,000 Is always the stand of the believer. 346 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,700 What does this look like in a church? 347 00:28:43,700 --> 00:28:50,240 What does this hope that Romans describes for us look like in a church? 348 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:55,320 Number one, a positive way of thinking and relating. 349 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,160 A positive way of thinking and relating. 350 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:04,720 While we honor the past, we don't live in it and we don't long for it. 351 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:09,480 We honor the past yet believe that God has a kingdom appointment for our congregation 352 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:14,760 and our individual lives in this generation, says the statement. 353 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:21,200 We look to the past with gratitude, but we do not dwell on the past because we are called 354 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:27,320 by God to be future-oriented people who are trusting God for what he has promised yet 355 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:28,960 to come. 356 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,120 And dear friends, that's what Venture Christian Church is about. 357 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:37,960 It is about what God is yet going to do. 358 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,200 God sees the possibilities. 359 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:47,160 He knows the opportunities that he has for us and he calls us to enter into that future 360 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,480 in a positive way. 361 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:55,120 Secondly, a church that is filled with hope is a church that has an expectation of the 362 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,200 best in others. 363 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:11,280 That is, there will be hope that knows that people can change, that people can do better. 364 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:16,800 The hope that says people can learn new things. 365 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:20,480 You see, hope knows also that people will be people. 366 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:25,160 And they do sometimes fail and they sin and they mess up and they don't listen and they 367 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,840 don't follow through and sometimes they have bad breath and body odor and sometimes they 368 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,520 disappoint you. 369 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:37,040 But hope says things can be different. 370 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:44,920 Hope chooses to put the other person in the best light and gives benefit of the doubt. 371 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:53,520 It looks beyond the surface to see the potential that lies hidden within the other one. 372 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:59,120 Hope interprets words with consideration. 373 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:04,320 Hope interprets actions with patience. 374 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,640 Hope expects the best of others, not the worst. 375 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:15,480 A church that is filled with hope is a church that has confidence in the face of trials. 376 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,000 Number three, confidence in the face of trials. 377 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:20,960 Hope faces realities head on. 378 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,080 It's not blind. 379 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,920 But neither is it lost in a fog of gullibility. 380 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:31,800 It sees God's providence in all of the problems and it's confident in light of the problems. 381 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:37,800 It's confident in the face of the trials, just as the friends of Daniel were as they faced 382 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:42,520 the possibility of the fiery furnace. 383 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:46,840 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need 384 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:49,800 to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 385 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,600 That is to worship the image. 386 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:58,280 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it 387 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:03,680 and he will rescue us from it and from your hand, oh king. 388 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:08,520 But even if he does not, we want you to know, oh king, that we will not serve your gods 389 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:13,000 or worship the image of gold you have set up. 390 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,240 My friends, that's hope. 391 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,840 That's confidence in the face of trials. 392 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:23,160 But let me quickly go on to number four. 393 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:28,400 A church that has hope is one that has an influence that attracts the spiritually lost. 394 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,840 Because you see my friend, we live in a hopeless world. 395 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,800 People have lost hope in our government. 396 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:37,960 People have lost hope in politicians. 397 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,200 People have lost hope in programs. 398 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,920 People are losing hope in the stock market. 399 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:47,600 People are losing hope in the housing market. 400 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:57,200 And so when you and I are people of hope, it is like a magnet that draws people in. 401 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:03,520 It makes us people through whom God's love can be demonstrated to them. 402 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:10,400 Let me close by saying God calls you and me to be people of hope. 403 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:11,920 That is a value of our church. 404 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:13,600 It's an attitude. 405 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,320 It's a mindset. 406 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,200 It's an outlook. 407 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:23,640 It determines how we frame what we see, how we react to what happens, how we feel about 408 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,200 things, how we choose to go forward. 409 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,080 A people of hope. 410 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,440 The Bible speaks about hope. 411 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:38,320 And it calls it an anchor to the soul. 412 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:43,200 In Hebrews chapter six it says, because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His 413 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:47,080 purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised. 414 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,120 He confirmed it with an oath. 415 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:56,920 God did this so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, 416 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:04,920 we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 417 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:10,960 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. 418 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:17,080 It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where Jesus who went before us has 419 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,080 entered on our behalf. 420 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:25,640 Now, I'm not a sailor, but I know enough that when you throw an anchor out, you expect 421 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:28,080 it to go which direction? 422 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:29,880 Down. 423 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:35,920 Because you want to anchor into some rock or into some seabed of some sort that will 424 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:37,920 hold your ship fast. 425 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:43,120 But you see, you and I who are believers in Jesus Christ throughout our anchor, and it 426 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:45,720 goes up. 427 00:34:45,720 --> 00:34:52,840 It goes up all the way behind the veil in the temple of God in heaven. 428 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:57,040 And it is anchored to the mercy seat of God. 429 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,160 It is there anchored to Jesus Christ. 430 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:05,440 He is there appearing in the presence of God on our behalf. 431 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:11,280 That is why it speaks here of hope being the anchor for our souls. 432 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,520 Do you have that hope, my friend? 433 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:17,040 Can you face the future with certainty? 434 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:23,160 Oh, not just tomorrow or next year, but eternity. 435 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:24,160 Do you have hope? 436 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:28,280 Do you have the expectation of heaven? 437 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:33,600 Do you have a certainty built into you that one day you will be resurrected and be in 438 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,320 a glorified body and share in the glory of Christ? 439 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:41,120 You see, that's what God wants you to have. 440 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,880 Christ died that you might have that hope. 441 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:50,840 By receiving Him as your Lord and Savior by faith, believing that He died on the cross 442 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:55,960 and paid for your sins and doing that, and that He rose again from the dead, you can 443 00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:02,680 have this hope that we've been talking about this morning. 444 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:07,440 Do you receive Christ and possess the hope for yourself? 445 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:14,000 Father, I pray for some friend who is here who perhaps came this morning in a hopeless 446 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,200 state. 447 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:25,280 I pray that you will draw that person to hope in God. 448 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:30,600 First of all, to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. 449 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:36,760 To know the hope that comes through salvation, the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal 450 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,520 lives. 451 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:46,120 But I pray also, Father, for those who know you, but who came without hope, that they 452 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:52,560 may today find hope bubbling up anew in their lives. 453 00:36:52,560 --> 00:37:02,600 Father, I pray that whatever we do as venture Christian church, that it will be as a people 454 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:09,440 of hope, and that we will shine as a beacon in this community to those who are hopeless, 455 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,880 that they may come to know Jesus. 456 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:14,080 And I pray this in Jesus' name. 457 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:23,480 Amen.