God is presented as the "God of hope" in Romans 15:13, filling believers with joy and peace through the Holy Spirit, enabling them to abound in hope. The sermon contrasts the Gentile world's apostasy with God's remedy in Christ, emphasizing justification by faith apart from works or law. It details the transformation from a lost sinner to a child of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and a co-heir with Christ. Christ is asserted as the sole hope for individuals and nations, offering true joy, peace, and hope.
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Women's chapter fifteen, verse one. Romans fifteen and one. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. That's a hard thing to do. Let every one of us please his neighbor. for his good to edification. And the example, for even Christ pleased not himself. But as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on thee.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded, one toward another, according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also receive us to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.
The fathers are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that the Gentiles, I want you to notice the word Gentiles here in contrast to the Jews who are referred to as the children of the fathers. And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy as it is written. For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, Rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. And again, praise the Lord all ye Gentiles, and laud him all ye people. And again Isaiah saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, which was Christ, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In him shall the Gentiles trust.
Now the God of hope, and this will be my verse this morning, now the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. God, that's his word. We may take that up more in detail on a future occasion. Continue the studies in Romans. It may take us another couple of days Sunday. That's the one text we want to dwell on this morning. The God of peace, or the God of hope, fills you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans represents four outstanding truths. First of all, man's ruin. That is very definitely emphasized in the opening chapters, the first three chapters, man's ruin. Then you have man's rejection by God because of his sin. Then you have God's remedy. And finally, man's riches because of God's remedy. So going back to the first point, Romans presenting man's ruin. And all these truths will be found in the Book of Romans. I'm not going to turn to them.
I'll quote some references and others you may read and dig out for yourself. You find seven texts, or seven steps, rather, of the Gentile world apostasy found in the opening verses of chapter one of Romans to verse twenty-one. And one of the first things that said about the apostasy of the Gentile world was, they glorified him not as God. In other words, the Gentiles did not give God his rightful place as an undisputed sovereign and ruler. They glorified him not as God. That was one of the marks of the kingdom.
one of the marks of the Gentile world's apostasy. And the second one is, neither were thankful. They took things for granted. One might spend considerable time on that. Neither were thankful. Taking things for granted. Over in Second Timothy chapter three, where we have the end time, the last days brought before us. One of the things that's emphasized as characteristic of the last days, is their unthankfulness, their unthankfulness and unholiness, and we are living in that day today. People are unholy, they are unthankful for all the blessings and material blessings of God.
Very few today stop to give God thanks for the everyday things that they enjoy. Neither were thankful. This is one of the marks of the heathen who knew nothing of God. Is it a mark of Christians today, those who know the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy our relationship with God? Neither were thankful. Then again they became vain in their imagination, proud of their foolish, empty, conceited reasoning. That was true of the heathen. and also their foolish heart was darkened. And professing themselves to be wise, he winds it up by saying they became fools.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, according to Corinthians. The very best of our world's knowledge men with the most penetrating powers of perception, who can bring out marvelous things, staggering discoveries. God says outside of Christ, it's a lot of foolishness. As far as getting to heaven is concerned, I'm so professing themselves to be wise, that ever there's a day when man professes to be wise, intelligent, superior, constantly improving.
My Bible doesn't say that. If I know anything, the world is degenerating. In the last days, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. And that's very evident today. They talk about but all their advanced learning, and there has been tremendous strides made in every field. And yet we've got more crime, more lust, more sin today than ever. with all our supposed knowledge and understanding, here we are, and we're more sinful, more ungodly, and there's more crime, bites than ever before in the history of the United States and these other countries.
They became fools. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Now he alluded to he says it in his heart. There is no God. The man who comes right out and says there's no God is a fool twice over. And the final wind-up of those seven conditions of the heathen in verse twenty-three, they change the glory of God into an image, like unto corruptible man, birds and beasts and creeping things. He dwelt a little more at length on that when we're taking up those opening chapters to think of how man could look at God's marvelous creation and see his handiwork, and then conclude that the God of this wonderful creation should be like unto a beast, a heinous, hateful, horrid-looking monster that some of the idols represent in that sense, showing how distorted and what the human mind is without God.
They come up with just about anything in their evil imagination and say God like this. How can they compare such a horrid-looking idol with the beauty of God's creation? They just tried to do it. It's the fruit of their evil-witted imagination. They change the glory of God into an image of a corruptible man, not man at his best, but corruptible man. and birds and beasts and creeping things. This was the condition, as you read back in Romans one, and the result of that was this. God gave them up. Three times over you read that expression.
God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. In verse twenty-four, twenty-six and twenty-eight of the first chapter. He gave them up for their bodies to be used and destroyed by their own lusts, their own lusts. He gave their souls up to vile affections, and he gave them over to a reprobate mind, body, soul, and spirit. God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. It is impossible for God to give up. Men and women, it certainly is.
You'll notice I mentioned in the beginning apostasy. There is no hope for an apostate. An apostate is one who has seen the light and rejected it. Now there's a big difference between a professor. The churches today are full of professors. Many women who profess to be Christians and their life is an absolute denial of. There is hope for such people that they might get their eyes open and come to know Christ and be really born again, possibly most of the people who get saved, born again, were church members prior to that. But for an apostate, the Bible tells us there is no dependence for him.
He's given over to the dead. There is absolutely no hope for an apostate. Read about them also in Peter, second Peter, chapter three. These apostates who have advanced to the very threshold of salvation and the door that stood open before them, all they need to do, take one step to that door and be saved and they turn on with that. That's what a lot of the Jews did. They went back into apostasy. They were brought right up to see the light, but they didn't let the light end. and they went back into apostasy.
As much as told God that an animal, the blood of an animal, was better than the blood of his Son. That's why you have it in Hebrews chapter six. They crucified the Son of God, a flesh, and put them to an open shame. A person who will turn away from Christ, as he's presented, as our substitute of Savior upon the cross. being convicted of his own need and convinced that Jesus Christ is the answer. He turns and goes back. It's impossible to renew that person again unto repentance. That person is abandoned. He goes back to the old animals in the altar the Jews did.
And when they went back, they were just echoing the cry of the cross. Those around the cross, we will not have this man to reign over us. and they crucify them all over again. Not literally, but in their hearts they crucify again the Son of God and put them to an open shade. So here is man rejected. And then God's remedy found in Romans four and five, one, we'll take that up. Justification is found here apart from worse. Notice that. Apart from ordinances. and apart from the law.
How devastating the Book of Romans is. After the seven counts against these heathens, and I didn't mention when we took it up, I mentioned two, but here are seven expressions descriptive of the apostate man. Then, of course, you've got the learned man brought into the picture, and the Jews. And Paul finally ends up in Chapter Three with giving us fourteen indictments against the human race. And he's brought into court and judged. And the whole world is guilty. The law was given that every month may be stopped, and the whole world is guilty before God.
That's not in the future. That judgment is not to come. That judgment's already been passed. God tells us in this word he's already judged the human race. And every mouth has been stopped. You stand before the judge, guilty. Your mouth has been shut. You have nothing to say. Nothing to say. All the world is guilty. From the heathen to civilize the religions. As seen in the Jews. God says they're guilty. When man bows his head and refuses to argue, and says, Lord, it's true.
Be merciful to me, the sinner. God will save him. Not by works, as you have in chapter four, verses one to eight, not by works, not by ordinances, verses nine to twelve, and not by the law, verses thirteen to twenty. And so man cannot be saved. He'll never get to heaven through works, ordinances, and the law. Then when man is found in such a predicament, here is God's remedy and man's available riches.
What has God got for those who will simply and humbly acknowledge their guilt and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior? What have you got? man's riches, all seen in Jesus Christ. What are they? These riches are revealed in the epistles, and it's precious to read these riches. These riches are seen in one person. They're seen in Jesus Christ. He's the jewel box that contains all these precious jewels of truth. And Christ is received by faith.
And as we read in our text, there's joy and peace in belief. Only when you believe these things will you have joy and peace. Now there are fourteen things I noticed you had. For it mentioned fourteen indictments against the human race. I didn't move over them. I just mentioned the three classes who were guilty. But the Apostle Paul wrote fourteen epistles. Someone was asked what the epistles meant. They knew what the apostles meant. But they were asked what the epistles meant. Oh, he said, well, they're the wise of the apostles. Well, they're hardly that.
They're the letters of the apostles. And so Paul wrote fourteen epistles. And in these fourteen epistles, he gives us fourteen precious truths that are truths of every Christian, possessed by every Christian, instead of fourteen indictments, fourteen precious truths, facts that are possessed and enjoyed by the Christian. And they all revolve about round four words. What, where, who, and when. And you might as well accept why.
I'm going over that. What we wear Before we were saved, we were lost. We were condemned. We were helpless. That's a fact. That's a fact. And the Old Testament, rather the Old, whatsoever was written the four times we read in about the fourth verse, whatsoever was written the fourth time, was written for our learning. And this we learn from the Old Testament scriptures, I am from the New, But man as is, without a sacrifice, without the shedding of blood, he's lost, he's condemned, and he's held.
That's what we wear. But who we are now? Who are we? The Bible tells us we're children. That's better than being a he than being a guilt. We're children. Heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Isn't it wonderful to make that transition from being a lost, guilty, helpless sinner to being a child of God, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, to share his inheritance in the days to come? What are we?
We are the temple of God. Back there we were noticing how the people They used their bodies in order just so more or less to indulge in every known vile act. And God destroyed them because of that. They gave their bodies over to lust. Just did everything possible for a human body to do. And they became so violent and so corrupt, God just gave them up. It's hopeless. Now, when you stop to think of what we wear, and don't think for a moment that you stand any better chance today than those even you don't, even though you may be enlightened and educated and may be a church member and an officer in the church.
If you're not born again, God sees you just like that, sin working in you. But when you become a Christian, you are a temple. of the Holy Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? A temple of the Holy Spirit. And that's what our bodies are. Instead of being used as a vehicle for sin and shame, our bodies now are made holy because the Spirit of God dwells in our bodies, and our bodies are the Holy Spirit. The temple of the Holy Spirit. Then the third thing, where are we? We are in the heavenness.
That's where we're seen in the beast. We're seated in the heavenlies with Christ. In other words, to put it this way, and I know it seems kindly confusing to an unsaved person, we live on the earth, or we live physically on earth, but spiritually we live in heaven. We're seated with Christ. in the heavens. We live up there by faith in the Spirit, but we stay down here to serve the Lord and to seek to do His risk. The Lord says in his prayer in John, he says, I have received them out of the world.
The Father gave him those who would believe on him. He says, those who now have given me out of the world, But then he tells a few verses further on, I send them back into the world. As thou hast set me into the world, now I send them. You understand that? Maybe you are a secretary. You walked out of that office with all those other girls or men. One day you walked out of there, a lost guilty sinner. That night you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Now God just go back into that office and witness to those men.
He took you out spiritually. He made you his own. Now he just go back in. It's pretty hard to do it. And if you do go back in and you're really saved and your life is changed, It won't be long until they'll be saying, let's do this, let's do that. Two or three of them will get out of the room, out of the office, and say, what's going wrong with her? She's worn out the rock. And there'll be such a change in your life, they'll see that you're not what you used to be. No, you're not. You're now a child of God, and things have changed.
So he took you out of that society. He saved you by his grace. He made you one of his children. He put his Holy Spirit in you, and your body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit. And now you live before those people and your neighbors as a new creature in Christ Jesus. You know, some Christians would have to tell the people in our office, they're Christians, but they never know them. people ought to be able to see you're a Christian without you opening your mouth. Without you opening your mouth. I think I told this four or five many longer. I asked somebody to do my attention to it the other day.
I was a little girl and she got saved. She went home and she told her brother younger than she was. She said, I got a new heart. She said, I got a new heart. Let me see. Let me see. You know it sounds comical, but that's true. How does the abundance of the heart of man speak it? And if you've got Christ in your heart, if he now is a resident, she wants to be not a visitor, then others should say, let me see it. If you can't produce a new nature, a new life in Christ, then I'm not going to believe.
that you belong to me. You tell me you've got a new heart. Let me see. Show it in acts and words. Something I can see. I can't see into your heart. God can see into your heart. I can't. I can see what you do and hear what you're saying. That's the point. So we live up there by faith, but we stay down here as a witness and a testimony of him. What do we have? All things in Christ. These all things are spiritual blessings. Forgiveness, peace, love, light, joy, hope, these are spiritual blessings.
They're the jewels that are in the box, and the jewel box is Christ. When you get Christ, you get these things. How we are to behave after this age. The word worthy is found four times in the New Testament. In other words, we're told to walk worthy. That's the first step. Then we're told to walk worthy of our vocation, is our calling. Walk worthy of God. And then, of course, walk worthy of the Lord. You know, you read over in Hebrews chapter eleven about those who were martyrs for God in the Old Testament. They laid down their life sooner than give in and sin against God.
And the Bible says of whom the world was not worthy. The world was not worthy to have such godly people dwelling upon it. They didn't deserve to have such testimony, such witness. And that's true. The world today is not worthy of having Christians among men and women. belong to Christ, who are witnessed in the truth, certainly the world needs it. But it's not deserving. And every day the world is getting further and further away from God. And the person of Christ and the preaching of the God, the way they're rejecting the truth, on every hand liberalism, infidelity, atheism is on the rise.
They're not worthy. And the time is going to come when God will close the door. And then the world will receive its judgment, as seen in the book of Revelation chapter six to chapter nine. And so we're to walk worthy. Then again, who are our enemies? Satan, sin, the host of Satan, sin in the world. They're our enemies. The Christian has enemies. You read that in... Jesus, in chapter six, you see the armament of the soldier, what you're to put on in order to meet these enemies. How we are to meet our enemies, put on the whole armor of God.
That's how we're to meet our enemies. Put on the whole armor of God. There's a lot of talk today about flesh, especially in the feminine area. about the way they dress. Why, I tell you, these designers were making it rough and to make a decision? But you know, the Bible has a garment, and the garment that Christians wear is the right length. It's not too long, it's not too short, it's not too tight. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Dress as a Christian.
Dress as a Christian. You know, these designers have really put the ladies on the spot, freshly Christian. When they come out with these many, well, their excuse was, their argument was, it's the style. I can't buy any of them. That's the style. That's why I wear them. I can't tell you. Now they come out of them, down at the ankles. That's the style, too. How about it? How about it now? Is the style these you wear like clothes you did? No. The ladies have distinctly made it plain.
They like to be exposed. But if the style wears a ring, for they're dressing as they do. They go back to the long. I can say that. I don't have wife to bless me out when I get home. How we are to get to heaven? Where are we going? We're going to be with Christ. That's where we're going. How are we going to get there? The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with the shout of the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. What we are going to be like? The Bible says we're going to be like him.
When will this take place? When he shall appear, he shall delight me. What are we going to do when we get there? Worship and serve him. What are we going to do in the meantime? The fourteen truths. Occupy till I come or redeem the times of the days are evil. So you have over against these fourteen indictments of the human race. God's remedy, the riches of God in Christ Jesus. and the fourteen truths that you've got to believe, and I'm going to make a scrum, you've got the practice that you want, joy and peace. Joy and peace.
When you obey these things, you'll have joy, you'll have peace. A joy this world cannot give, neither can it take away. You'll have Christ. And with him all these other precious things seek thee first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Here is the Spirit of God. And all these things shall be added unto you. What's he talking about in Matthew six where that text is found? He's talking about eating. What do you worry about the birds for? They neither sow nor reap or gather into barns that their father feed at them. And look at the lilies. How they are.
while they're attired. God clothes the lilies with a beauty far more splendid than that of Solomon. Take the lilies of the field, how they grow. They grow in a loveliness all their own. And so it is God has given up. Karma somewhere. He knows we need nourishment and share of things. Foods and grain, but these are the other things. that he gives in addition to the spiritual. If you put God first, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added on to you.
I've proved that for over about forty years. I've never wanted. I've never been in debt. And yet I came south forty years ago and I didn't know a soul living as I was. I never took a salary, I refused a collection. My own mother didn't know what I had in my pocket. That's between me and the Lord. But a living God in heaven sent me south, and he's met all my needs. You don't believe it, look outside the door and see that new car up there. Do you know why I paid for that? Not a dime.
I had a given to you the other day. Santa Claus came up. See the truth I got on? I had it being. Now, sir. So, these are the ways. This is the way the Lord meets the need of those who are willing to trust Him. And I'm not going to say my faith has been strong all the time. It hasn't. It's not my faith. It's God's faithfulness. He calls the person. And if he sends the person for it, he'll meet that person's need. I mean, lest the ministry. They're not the servants of men. They can't be squeezed by the man that holds the purse or the church that determines the salary, and you preach what we want preaching, or you get fired.
No. Apostle Paul couldn't be fired. And anybody who is sent to the Lord by the Lord, God will meet his needs, and no one can fire. because no one hired us. So that's the point. He meets all our needs. We will have joy and peace when we believe all this. And you'll notice the third blessing in our text, abounding in hope. Joy, peace, and hope because we believe in the God of hope, the God of hope. Read history. You take the Assyrians, Babylonians, the Egyptians, Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and all kinds of other nations, heathen nations.
They have their gods. When Paul went into Athens, he saw the city wholly given idols on every corner. Everybody had an idol, a god, a god. Why, you read in history about the gods of agriculture, the gods of war, the gods of industry, the sun gods, the river gods. Like the mothers to this day, they recognize the gods of the river Ganges. They feel and talk this. It's been passed down to them that if they offend the god of the river Ganges, if they take their firstborn and throw that firstborn child into the river Ganges, he's swallowed up by the crocodiles.
That's the way they have a token for their sin. The Bible says, Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body, for the sin of my soul? And the heathen in the past and now they seek to appease these gods of their own imagination. Well, I'll tell you one thing. You'll fail in reading about all these nations. And all these gods in the earth, thousands, thousands, you'll never find one of them with the names of our God. There are eight words that summarize or present the nature of our God.
He is the God of hope, right in that verse. The God of hope. He's the God of all comfort. He's the God of compassion. He's the God of consolation. He's the God of patience. He's the God of peace. He's the God of grace. He's the God of glory. These eight expressions are found in Luke. Eight things about our God. And you won't find any one of those eight things about the true and the living God said about these human gods. Because these titles belong only to the true God.
as he revealed himself in Jesus' time. For all these eight truths were revealed in Jesus' time. He could say, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. How wonderful that is. He was full of hope the Lord Jesus was. And was he not a comforter? Didn't he seek to comfort men and women the sorrowing widow when he restored her son, the sorrowing sister? when he gave them back their brother and when he gave the little child back to their parents my how he comforted them what compassion he revered what consolation what patience how patient he was and he speaks of my peace he's the prince of me what grace grace of god as seen in jesus christ how gracious he was when his enemies call them a wine-bidder, a friend of publicans and sinners.
He could have opened this mouth and thundered under the wall of Danish into a lost eternity. No, he showed grace. When they nailed them on the cross, what did he say? Father, forgive me. They know not what did he do. Here you see his grace. And he speaks of my glory. My glory. Of all these eight things that are true of the Father are true of the Son. And these things are not said of any other God. Not even Confucius. Mohamed. These things are said only of the living and true God. He's the God of hope.
I drew your attention to that word Gentile. It's found nine times in this chapter. The Gentile nation. And this God. this true God, and His full expression, Jesus Christ, is the only hope for the nations. The only hope of the nations. I'll tell you what Winston Churchill said after the atom was slipped many years ago. Winston Churchill said this in the Emojan of Christ. The one hope of this twentieth century is a return to the teachings of Jesus Christ. That's what Winston Churchill said.
After the atom was set, man has tried open a little of a mighty power that's in the universe. That power is under the control of Jesus Christ. He upholded all things by the word of his power. And what God permitted man to do, scientists, was to pry loose a little of the hands of the Lord Jesus, just to let out a little bit. of his mighty power, and the Son of God could take his hands off the control, and this world and all the rest would erupt in explosion, disintegrate, and heat.
And when the center of these constellations would be exploded, all the rest of the planet would fly off into space, that would be the end of this universe. all the time the Lord Jesus Christ has his hand on the controls. Man's not going to blow this type of planet apart. God has a program, and he's working it out right here on the surface of this globe. A man cannot destroy it, nor the human race upon it. But God is calling out the people for his name. Those who would accept Christ, but I will come when you take care.
of purging this earth by fire as given us in Second Peter, Chapter Three. And so he's the God of hope. But he's the hope to the individual, as read in verse twelve. Verse twelve, and again Isaiah said, There shall be a root God of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, and him shall the Gentiles trust any individual. So the hope of nations is in Christ. The hope of the individual is in Christ. Now the God of hope fills you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We have time to continue. We'd like to continue this past Lord's day. He said enough, I hope, to lead any of you who are not saved to desire God's salvation. Long for Satisfactory. Joy and peace. What lovely words. What words? Men can promise to speak. They can't deliver. Look at the president. Promising peace. Many of things said by the politician prior to election. He gets in office. He finds he doesn't have a free hand. His hands are tied. He can't deliver the goods.
Christ not only can preach, he can perform. Not only does he preach peace to you, he can perform. He can give you that peace. And if you would accept him as the one who died for you on the cross, he will be saved today. Save right now. Why not open your heart and let this blessed one, the Lord Jesus Christ in. And if he doesn't save and satisfy you in response to your trust, full trust will be the first one he deceived. trial, rule, accept, wholeheartedly, right now, and the one who died on the cross for your sins.
All these blessings, fourteen things we have mentioned. Our Heavenly Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus, we come into thy presence. We ask thy blessing on thy words, the salvation of souls, and the benefit and edifying of thy beloved