READ: Romans 15:7-13 (Text: v12-13)
It’s Christmas time. A season of great hope. We are very mindful of Jesus’ coming to earth as our Saviour. He came to a lost world, and brought us the HOPE of being FOUND again in the grace of God. He came to a blind world and a deaf world, and brought us the HOPE of restored SIGHT and SOUND spiritually, so we should see again and hear his voice again - come back into restored communion with Him. It’s a season of HOPE.
You may recall that several weeks ago I preached a message on FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE (The Measure of a Church). At that time I said that "HOPE" is the "Cinderella" of this great threesome, Faith, Hope, and Love. It is the one always left out! Never taken to the ball! We hear a lot of messages on Faith, and a lot of messages on Love, but not so much do we hear specifically of this HOPE.
Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about hope, and this morning I want to teach a little bit on it.
I remember when I was a child, growing up in church, we used to often sing that hymn: "Since Jesus Came Into My Heart". And I seem to remember being bemused by one particular line that goes like this: "I’m possessed of a HOPE that is steadfast and sure, since Jesus came into my heart, And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure, since Jesus came into my heart ..." And I used to think HOW CAN YOU BE "POSSESSED OF A HOPE"? Surely that’s bad grammar - you can possess hope, but "hope" can’t possess you?! And so it never quite made sense to me - UNTIL I CAME TO KNOW CHRIST FOR MYSELF - then it all made absolute, marvellous sense.
This Christian HOPE is not merely a wishful thinking (without any foundation) that we’re clutching on to - IT IS A SURE EXPECTATION THAT ACTUALLY TAKES A HOLD OF US! It’s TRUE - hope possesses us! BIBLICAL HOPE is "a confident expectation based on solid certainty - it rests on God’s sure promises." In the New Testament, the Christian’s "great hope" particularly relates to the return of Jesus.
We said that hope is a "companion" to faith - they are very closely linked. Hope is never inferior to faith, but is the GROUNDWORK of faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “Faith is the substance (the stuff) of things HOPED for...”
Now this passage that we read this morning in Romans 15, looking particularly at verses 12 and 13, is chock full of information about the Christian hope. As we examine the statements that are made we’ll see what it has to say, and I trust you’ll be greatly encouraged today.
Firstly, note, at the end of verse 12, Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah and says:
1. "In HIM the Gentiles shall hope."
Isaiah was writing here of JESUS ("the root of Jesse"). And the first thing we must note about all Christian hope is that it ALWAYS LOOKS TO JESUS AS IT’S FOCUS.
Our hope looks to Jesus:
A. For ETERNITY.
Proverbs 23:17-18 says: "Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; FOR SURELY THERE IS A HEREAFTER, And your HOPE will not be cut off."
Our ultimate HOPE is an eternity with the Lord - we believe in the resurrection of the dead, and that Jesus is coming again!
I remember seeing a television film not that long ago which portrayed the terrible racial persecution inflicted upon blacks in the Southern States of America. And in this film, it depicted young people from one of the civil rights groups going from house to house to try and get coloured people to stand up for their constitutional rights - to register to vote. And there was one particular old couple that grabbed my attention. They were sitting on the front porch of their house when some civil rights workers came to ask them to join in the protest against racism, BUT THEIR ANSWER WAS THIS: "We’re old in years;soon we’ll be dead, THEN we’ll be free!"
It reminds me of the words that are etched on the gravestone of Martin Luther King Jr.: “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.”
I tell you, a great number of those folk in the Southern States of America had a very deep faith in God. They walked with Him, and it was their HOPE for an eternity with Him that carried them through their lives in the face of such hatred, bigotry and persecution.
The Christian’s ultimate hope is not in this old world. It’s a HOPE of a better time and place.
But then, SECOND, our Hope does look to Jesus:
B. For THIS LIFE.
Not only do I have One who will walk through the veil of death with me - but I have One who is beside me every step of the way in this life. My Hope is not in men and what they can do for me - it is fixed on Christ.
"Let others boast of heaps of gold,
Christ for me! Christ for m !
His riches never can be told,
Christ for me!
Your gold will waste and wear away,
Your honours perish in a day,
My portion never can decay,
Christ for me! Christ for me!"
What is my hope for my lifetime - Jesus Christ! What is my hope for my family - my wife and my children - JESUS CHRIST!
Praise God! Our Hope looks to Jesus. "In HIM the gentiles shall hope!"
Then, notice, the first phrase of verse 13 says :
2. "Now may THE GOD OF HOPE . . ."
"The God of Hope" - this implies several things about our God:
A. His NATURE is Hopeful.
God is, by nature, FULL OF HOPE. He is a HOPEFUL God. I hear you say, "That’s an odd statement to make about God. Explain yourself quickly."
Well, to gain understanding turn over with me to Romans 8:20 where it says these remarkable words: "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in Hope". In other words, because of sin this old world has been subjected to a process of deterioration (YOU SAY YOU’RE LIVING? I SAY YOU’RE DYING!) God could have destroyed this entire creation and started again, but He didn’t. He chose instead to subject it to futility IN THE HOPE OF HIS SALVATION PLAN COMING TO FULFILMENT.
Remember we said earlier that the Christian hope is not merely "wishful thinking". Here is another proof - God knows the end from the beginning, and His confident expectation of the success of the gospel (which He has already seen) is called "HOPE".
He is the God of HOPE. When all others would have seen no other option but to destroy the world because of sin, the God of all Hope saw another way! By NATURE He is Hopeful.
Then, secondly, as the God of Hope:
B. He is THE SUPPLIER of Hope to us.
As "the God of Hope" He is able to pour His hope into our lives - all the hope we’ll ever need. He is our resource in times should our Hope begin to wane.
If you’ve lost sight of our great hope in Christ, this morning, GO TO GOD. Ask Him to restore to you the Joy of His salvation - He’ll fill you with His great hope if you call on Him.
Then, thirdly, as we touched on a moment ago, not only is He the God of Hope by nature, and not only does He supply us with our Hope:
C. He has instigated THE GREAT HOPE.
Note that in the original Greek text, the word "HOPE" here has the article. So it literally reads: "Now may the God of THE Hope ..." He is the God who has sent Jesus to bring salvation’s plan. God drew up the blueprint of this wondrous plan of redemption through His Son on the drawing boards of Heaven before the foundation of the world! He has instigated this great Hope.
He is truly "THE GOD OF HOPE".
Then, note the next phrase with me:
3. "...fill you with ALL JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING."
Have you ever heard some people talking about their hopes for the future, and all it seems to be is a reason for MISERY AND DISCONTENT now? "Oh, ONE day . . . over the rainbow . . . then it will all come together for me. Then it will be wonderful. And I’m going to be miserable right up until that day!"
That is not the Christian position! Oh, yes, we look forward to an eternal Hope that is far better than what we have here - BUT WE’RE NOT WAITING FOR IT MISERABLY, full of discontent. NO! God forbid!
BECAUSE our hope is an absolute CERTAINTY we have Joy and Peace NOW! Listen, church, Eternal Life for us has already begun! Romans 12:12 says we live "rejoicing IN HOPE".
Jesus words are clear that "Indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you . . ." (Luke 17:21). And in Romans 14:17 it says: ". . . for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT". These are the things that are to characterise our lives - NOT misery and discontent! (It’s not "spiritual" to be miserable!)
Speaking of this great Hope we have as Christians, in 1 Peter 1:8-9 we read: "Though now you do not see (Jesus) (with your physical eyes), yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls."
Oh, our living Hope should keep us constantly in JOY and PEACE. Hallelujah!
Then, moving on to the next phrase of our text (Romans 15:13) we read:
4. "... that you may ABOUND in hope"
This word "abound" is the Greek word "perisseuo", which means "to superabound, to have in excess". God wants us to SUPERABOUND in Hope. He wants this Hope that we have to be filling us up to overflowing so that it pours out of our lives to affect others. THE HOPE THAT WE HAVE IN JESUS SHOULD BE CONTAGIOUS!
You know the Early Church evidenced this abundance of Hope. Whenever they would greet another believer they would say "MARANATHA" - "the Lord is coming!". They expected Him daily; they lived in that hope.
Oh, Christian, did you get up this morning and say to yourself : "SELF . . . JESUS MIGHT COME TODAY!" I tell you, if you’re a believer, there’s nothing quite like that to put a spring in your step!
"That you may ABOUND in Hope", Paul says !
Then, this brings us to the last phrase of our text - that you may abound in Hope:
5. "...by THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT."
We receive this hope, and we live in this hope, we keep this hope alive, BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The word for power here is "DUNAMIS". From "dunamis" we get our words like "dynamic" & "dynamite". It speaks of "DYNAMIC ENERGY".
Our abundant hope is created and released in our lives by the dynamic ENERGIES of the Holy Spirit at work within us. It is the Spirit who enables believers to experience in THIS life the blessings of the life to come. He is the Divine Partner given to us to help us through our Christian walk; we NEED this abundant hope to carry us through thick and thin - and
so the Spirit of God energises us with it.
In Galatians 5:5 it says: "For we THROUGH THE SPIRIT eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith".
I tell you, Spirit-filled Christians ought to be the MOST Hope-Full people in the whole world! For we claim to have the Spirit in the greatest measure. Pentecostals ought to be known for their looking to Jesus’ return; and Pentecostal churches ought to be characterised by their preaching of Jesus’ imminent return!
I pray that we will be a people who : ". . . abound in Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".
CONCLUSION:
Amen! These two verses are chock full of the wonderful truth about our Hope aren’t they?!
So, you will note that we have seen five great points from this passage about this HOPE we have as Christians. If you’d like to jot down five key words as a guide for studying these verses, we have noted:
the SIGHT of our Hope
the SOURCE of our Hope
the SERENITY of our Hope
the SUFFICIENCY of our Hope
the SUPPLY of our Hope
1. The SIGHT of this Hope
"In Him shall the gentiles hope."
Our Hope looks to Jesus as it’s constant focus.
2. The SOURCE of this Hope
He is "the God of (the) Hope"
God is the source of our Hope.
3. The SERENITY of this Hope
"all joy and peace in believing"
This Hope affords us Joy & Peace even while we are waiting for it’s fulfilment.
4. The SUFFICIENCY of this Hope
"that you may abound"
God wants to pour this Hope into our lives in superabundance.
5. The SUPPLY of this Hope
"by the power of the Holy Spirit"
We receive this abundant Hope by the Spirit’s power at work in our lives.
May our lives be characterised by Godly Hope. And may people be touched as they see in our lives "CHRIST IN US . . . THE HOPE OF GLORY".
Amen!
