I STILL BELIEVE: YOU ARE MY HOPE (1)
A. Romans 8:18- “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in
us.”
1. Those are powerful and comforting words that would prompt most Christians to emphatically say, “I believe it!
Our suffering cannot compare to our home in heaven.”
a. But when in the middle of SUFFERING with the most painful EXPERIENCE of your life, you may begin
questioning Paul’s words and silently ask yourself, “Do I still believe it?”
b. Yours and my SUFFERING will ultimately end with the decision: “Either I BELIEVE or I DON’T.”
ILLUSTRATION:
If you’ve ever heard the name Robert Ripley then you know that he has made a FORTUNE off this phrase: “BELIEVE IT OR NOT”. (You may have visited Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum in Branson or Gatlinburg.) This PHRASE was the TITLE of his first TV show in 1949 and was also the TITLE of four more REVIVALS of the SHOW leading up into the 2000s.
The whole PREMISE is based on individual STORIES, BIZARRE EVENTS, and ITEMS so STRANGE and UNUSUAL that viewers might find themselves QUESTIONING the claims of what they are seeing. What is fascinating about it is that Ripley built an entire empire off of CHALLENGING people’s BELIEFS.
The program would walk through numerous almost UNBELIEVABLE scenarios, and then end with the words: “BELIEVE IT”. At the END of every episode, Ripley would CHALLENGE viewers to STILL BELIEVE, even if it seemed to defy the LAWS of NATURE and didn’t always make LOGICAL SENSE.
2. Now, what may be easy to BELIEVE for one person can cause serious DOUBT in another.
a. That’s because our CIRCUMSTANCES often shape our BELIEFS in one of two ways, either toward
DISTRUST or toward FAITH.
b. As Christians it comes down to . . . “Do we BELIEVE God’s Word or do we NOT?”.
B. For the next five weeks, we will be delving into how CIRCUMSTANCES in our lives SHAPE our VIEW of God.
1. This series of lessons is called “I Still Believe”, from the title of the MOVIE that we saw last Sunday night about how Christian singer Jeremy Camp SUFFERED the LOSS of his WIFE just three-months into their MARRIAGE and found his FAITH in God being THREATENED.
2. We will focus on Romans 8:18ff throughout this series, because no other writings of the Apostle Paul speak
to the SUFFERING HEART like this PASSAGE.
a. Verses from this chapter are often QUOTED to those DEALING with some of the most DIFFICULT
SITUATIONS of their LIVES.
b. In fact, several of you shared PASSAGES from this great chapter with Brenda and me during the LOSS of our SON—and, believe me, that REMINDER was greatly appreciated.
3. Paul is writing to a group of Christians who had yet to experience PERSECUTION, but shortly after this letter,
these HYPOTHETICAL SITUATIONS would become PAINFUL REALITIES.
a. The underlying question of v. 18 that Paul wants Christian to answer is: “WHERE IS YOUR HOPE?”.
b. “Where is your hope?” is probably one of the most FUNDAMENTALLY important QUESTIONS that we’ll ANSWER in our lifetime, because where we put our HOPE determines the COURSE of the rest of our LIVES.
C. Let’s look more closely at v. 18, and then look at 2 OUTCOMES that are determined by where we place our HOPE!
MESSAGE:
I. WHERE DO WE PLACE OUR HOPE?
A. OUR PRESENT SUFFERINGS.
1. By using the phrase “present sufferings”, Paul uses a GENERAL DESCRIPTION to describe something
very PERSONAL to us.
a. There’s a PERSONAL CONNECTION to it—a PERSONAL EMOTION to it.
b. Behind that phrase are REAL HURTS—REAL CIRCUMSTANCES that you and I are dealing with.
ILLUSTRATION:
It could be the LOSS of a LOVED ONE. Maybe it is a TROUBLED MARRIAGE or a PROBLEM TEENAGER. Perhaps you were informed by your COMPANY that they are LAYING
OFF 20 employees, and you’re one of them.
You might hear or see the “present sufferings” when you walk through your neighborhood: A husband SCREAMS at his wife. An AMBULANCE is called to a house down the street. People gather at the house of an ELDERLY WOMAN who lost her husband of 52 years. A FORECLOSURE SIGN
goes up in neighbor’s yard.
Sometimes “present sufferings” aren’t quite as VISIBLE: A TEENAGE GIRL struggles with BULIMIA. A single mom deals with DEPRESSION for having to WORK two jobs to FEED her KIDS and PAY the RENT. A CO-WORKER is diagnosed with LEUKEMIA.
2. We have all EXPERIENCED “present sufferings”.
a. And it’s important for Christians to RECOGNIZE how SCRIPTURE deals with it because often we can give this FALSE IMPRESSION that if you just become a Christian, then there are no “present
sufferings”.
ILLUSTRATION:
When I was preaching in Terre Haute some years back, I had a young lady, a SINGLE MOM of two boys, called me up one day ASKING questions about our church and was needing a ride. It didn’t
take long for Brenda and me to develop a close relationship with Regina Williams and her boys.
Regina came from an abusive relationship. In fact, one day her ex-boyfriend set her HAIR on FIRE as a means to PUNISH her. As a BLACK woman she really didn’t have many WHITE friends,
but now she was surrounded by a predominantly WHITE congregation who loved her and her boys.
I invited her to our small group study that we had in our home. As she listened to the testimonies of members of our group sharing their STRUGGLES and PROBLEMS, Regina astonishingly said, “I
didn’t think Christians have any problems.”
Shortly afterwards she gave her life to Christ in BAPTISM.
b. Whether intentional or not, we sometimes leave the IMPRESSION that once you become a Christian all your PROBLEMS cease.
3. Jesus never taught that if you FOLLOW Him, you will have a PROBLEM-FREE life. In fact, it was
just the opposite.
a. He tells His disciples shortly before He went to the cross: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that
it hated me first”- John 15:18.
b. But then Jesus made this promise, “…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I
have overcome the world”- John 16:33b. Jesus has paved way for our VICTORY!!
4. This life is full of “present sufferings”, but let’s not forget that this WORLD is not our HOME.
B. OUR FUTURE PROMISE.
1. Paul- “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in
us.”- v. 18.
a. Paul is saying that regardless of how you and I are “presently suffering” (by the way, Paul includes himself
when he said “OUR present sufferings”), it is not even worth comparing to our HOME in HEAVEN.
b. We may not understand that now during our “present suffering”, but one day we will.
ILLUSTRATION:
Lee Stroble, former atheist who later became a believer and wrote the book: “A Case For
Christ”, illustrates what Paul is saying in this verse.
He said, “Imagine that it’s the first day of the year and the WORST day ever. You have an emergency ROOT CANAL on January 1st, and right in the middle of the PROCEDURE the ANESTHESIA wears off. Then while driving home the EXCRUCIATING PAIN made you delirious and distracted, and you had an ACCIDENT with another car—your WIFE’S CAR—so both of your CARS are TOTALED. You finally get home only to find a FORECLOSURE NOTICE pinned to your door. While reading the foreclosure notice you get a TEXT from your BOSS telling you NOT to come in the next day because your POSITION had been eliminated. So, you’ve LOST some TEETH, your CARS, your HOUSE, and your JOB.
“It was just the WORST DAY…the worst day ever. But then, let’s just imagine that on January 2nd things started to LOOK UP. You check your EMAIL ACCOUNT, feeling pretty DISCOURAGED and DOWN about January 1st, only to READ an email from your ATTORNEY saying that a RICH UNCLE that you didn’t even know PASSED AWAY and left you $42 million.
“So, you go out and you buy the CAR of your dreams. A few months later, you MOVE into your DREAM HOUSE that you had built, not even realizing that your next-door neighbor was Michael Jordan. And he comes KNOCKING on your door one day asking if you wanted to SHOOT a few BASKETS.
“Then you start a new COMPANY that accidentally discovered the CURE for CANCER using PROPERTIES from a RARE PLANT found only on a remote ISLAND off of Hawaii. You buy the ISLAND and make it your WINTER HOME.
“It has been an incredible year! And let’s say that on the LAST DAY of the year, one of your friends comes and asks, ‘Hey, how are things? Did you have a good year?’ And you say, ‘Oh, yeah. You want to come visit with me in Hawaii? Or maybe you’d like to come over and SHOOT some BASKETS with Michael and me? What would you like to do? It’s been an incredible year!’
“But then your friend reminds you of January 1st. And you say, ‘You, know. You’re right. I forgot all about that day. But really, when I compare that horrible day to the rest of the year I’ve had, it’s not even worth comparing.’”
2. Whatever DIFFICULTY you are going through right now, is not even worth COMPARING to HEAVEN.
COMMENT:
LIFE IS NOT EASY. You may go through 72-years of chronic PAIN and ILLNESS and SUFFERING in this LIFE. You may be going through a heartbreaking SITUATION right now. But when you MOVE into your HEAVENLY HOME—even on the first day, and the Apostle Paul walks up to you and asks, “How’s everything going so far?” You’re going to say, “It’s incredible. Heaven is so wonderful. No more sorrow, no more pain, no more sickness, no more death. There’s nothing like it!”
But then he REMINDS you of how BAD you had it back on earth, and you will say, “Remember when you wrote that our ‘present sufferings don’t even compare to the glory to be revealed?’ That was an UNDERSTATEMENT!”
II. WHERE WE PLACE OUR HOPE IS WHAT WE LIVE FOR
A. Where we place your HOPE determines: Our ability to ENDURE.
1. If you’ve put your HOPE in something TEMPORARY, something that CAN and WILL be eventually
STRIPPED AWAY, then when it is GONE you have nothing left but DEEP DESPAIR.
a. If we place our HOPE in our HEALTH, in our MONEY, in our JOBS, in our FAMILY, in our FRIENDS,
you name it, then we are destined to CRUMBLE when that HOPE is taken away.
COMMENT:
As much as I LOVED my son Steven, my HOPE was not in my SON. He brought JOY to mine and his mother’s LIFE and we MISS him terribly, but our HOPE was not in him. If it was, when he DIED on July 29th then we, too, would have nothing else to LIVE FOR. There would be no need to get out of BED the
next day . . . no need to COME back to WORK . . . no need to PREACH another SERMON.
b. When your HOPE is stripped AWAY, there is nothing else to KEEP you GOING—no reason to ENDURE.
COMMENT:
That’s why so many people commit SUICIDE when that in which they have placed their HOPE is GONE. To them there is NO REASON to WAKE UP the next MORNING.
2. On the other hand, if our HOPE is placed on that which is ETERNAL—on that which cannot be SEEN, we
will PRESS ON toward it despite the LOSS, the PAIN, the HEARTBREAK we go through in this LIFE.
a. The Christians at Rome were about to face the most DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES of their LIVES
because of their FAITH.
COMMENT:
As persecution INTENSIFIED under Nero, the ruthless and godless emperor of Rome, the Roman Christians were in constant DANGER. They had their HOMES CONFISCATED, families and friends were IMPRISONED, many were EXECUTED for SPORT in the COLISEUM, others were CRUCIFIED and set AFIRE as TORCHES to light up the CITY STREETS at night.
Although it got to the point where the CHURCH had to WORSHIP in SECRET, they remained FAITHFUL to Christ because they PLACED their HOPE in the PROMISE of God that ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN was WAITING for them. That’s why they were WILLING to DIE for their FAITH.
b. It is that same HOPE that keeps us going despite our “present sufferings”.
-Romans 8:23b-25- “…we grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies [ETERNAL LIFE]. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it
patiently.”
COMMENT:
If you put your HOPE in something you SEE, then Paul said “it is no HOPE at all.” If you can SEE IT, you can LOSE IT. If you can SEE IT, it can be TAKEN AWAY. If you can SEE IT, it is only TEMPORARY. And once it’s GONE, then there goes your HOPE.
B. Where we place your HOPE determines: For what we will SACRIFICE.
1. What does our SACRIFICE reveal about our HOPE?
a. What do we give our TIME to, our WORK to, our ATTENTION to, our DAYS and HOURS?
b. What fills up our SCREENS? What does the bulk of our MONEY go to? How are we using our TALENTS
and ABILITIES that God has given us?
c. How much time do we spend in PRAYER, in BIBLE STUDY, in WORSHIP?
2. It comes down to where we put our FOCUS—our HOPE.
a. Some put their FOCUS on making MONEY.
COMMENT:
They work 60 to 80 hours a week just so they can BUY the things they BELIEVE can make them
HAPPY and CONTENT. Yet, how many of their POSSESSIONS can they take with them when they DIE?
b. Some put their FOCUS on RELATIONSHIPS.
COMMENT:
There are those who get MARRIED and DIVORCED, MARRIED and DIVORCED, 4 or 5 times because they put their HOPE in the fantasy of a PERFECT MARRIAGE and a PERFECT SPOUSE. There HOPE is in the WRONG person.
3. The Hebrew writer tells us where we need to put our FOCUS and to place our HOPE.
a. Hebrews 12:2- “Let us FIX our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
COMMENT:
Our FOCUS is to be on Jesus, not on our “present struggles”. It is in Him that we put our HOPE and our FAITH—not in THINGS, not in PEOPLE, not in PERFECT CIRCUMSTANCES. Only in the One who
is ETERNAL and gives ETERNAL LIFE.
b. Notice the SACRIFICE that Jesus made for us. This verse says, “for the JOY set before Him, He endured
the CROSS.” The “JOY” was worth the SACRIFICE.
COMMENT:
The JOY of knowing that through His DEATH, as painful and shameful as it was, that YOU and I
and the ENTIRE WORLD can be SAVED.
The JOY of knowing that through His SACRIFICE upon the CROSS, He will “DESTROY Satan and
the POWER he has over You and Me—the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14).
The JOY of “being OBEDIENT to His Father to the POINT of DEATH, and being EXALTED to the highest place at the right hand of the THRONE of God” (Philippians 2:8-9).
4. Now, the JOY set before US is ETERNAL LIFE with our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.
COMMENT:
What are you willing to SACRIFICE to receive that JOY? What are you willing to GIVE UP? What
are you willing to ENDURE? It all comes down to where YOU and I place our HOPE!!
CONCLUSION:
ILLUSTRATION:
When Jeremy Camp’s BRIDE Melissa (PHOTO) got sick on their honeymoon and was told by the doctor that her CANCER had returned, it was devastating NEWS. Yet we saw the HOPE that Melissa had in Jesus Christ
and her HEAVENLY HOME despite her “present suffering” right up to her DEATH. She said, “If one person
discovers Jesus because of what I go through, it will be worth it.”
However, it was Jeremy’s HOPE that was THREATENED by the DEATH of his WIFE. His HOPE was in her physical HEALING. His HOPE was in their MARRIAGE and LIFE together. And when that was taken
AWAY, there went his HOPE.
It was only after reading the LETTER that Melissa wrote him and stuck in his GUITAR that he found after SMASHING it to PIECES out of ANGER and GRIEF, that he RENEWED his HOPE—not in Melissa, but in the
FAITHFULNESS of God even in the midst of DEATH and GRIEF.
WHERE IS YOUR HOPE?
