Summary: We study HOPE, that settled assurance that fixes our faith in the Lord. A glorious body awaits us and that is fashioned after the magnificent, resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our hope of glory. Progression – tribulation, perseverance, character to hope.

20. ROMANS CHAPTER 5 VERSES 2-5 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS - THIS IS WONDERFUL HOPE LEADING TO GLORY - MESSAGE 20

{{Romans 5:2 through whom also WE HAVE OBTAINED our introduction by FAITH into this GRACE in which we stand, and we exult in HOPE of the GLORY of God.”}}

Let us continue with the study of four great words in scripture. Last time we did FAITH and GRACE, and this time we do HOPE and as it is a bigger one, we will do GLORY next time.

HOPE – ONE OF THE GREATEST CHRISTIAN WORDS

Hope is an important main thought in Romans and we are first introduced to it in chapter 4 when Paul turns to Abraham. The expression used is “hope against hope” and it means Abraham continued in steadfast hope when, to human reasoning, all hope was gone. His hope was nailed to the wall, immovable, and not likely to waver. It was like an anchor cemented into the Rock of Gibraltar that would never give way.

WHAT IS HOPE? As I say often, hope is not wishful thinking such as in, “I hope she can come to the meeting tonight because I have the book she wants.” No, it is not that. It is a solid assurance, a settled guarantee that you rest on, in absolute faith. Once you introduce a maybe into the matter, it is no longer hope.

What are some of the hopes a Christian can have? If you don’t have these following hopes then you are wavering in your faith and I want to suggest to you the verse – {{Romans 10:17 “Therefore faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ,”}} - for faith is strengthened by God’s scriptures given to us. Here are our hopes –

[1]. MEETING THE LORD

One day we will be with our Lord Jesus, either by passing through death’s door or in the Rapture if we are alive, and will be caught up. Do you have the certainty of meeting Jesus? All His own sheep most certainly will meet Him and He knows His own true sheep. I fear today with so much false profession in churches that many are not saved, and nor do some of them care very much.

It is our great expectation that the Lord is coming for us and will come in the air as these verses confirm, and He will gather all His flock from all the ages – {{1Thessalonians 4:13-17 “We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no HOPE. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so GOD WILL BRING WITH HIM THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN JESUS, for this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST. Then WE WHO ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”}}

I have highlighted some expressions there but the chief one just for now is “hope”. We have hope! We have expectant hope! I hear so many stories that come from churches where people have no interest in the coming of the Lord. I don’t understand it. I can only assume their “faith” is not real, for anyone with a genuine faith looks forward to the coming of the Lord. The same theme of the Lord’s coming is used in 1 Corinthians where hope is used again – {{1Corinthians 15:19-20 “If we have HOPED in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied, but now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”}}

[2]. REALISING OUR ADOPTION AS SONS

The next big section in Romans on hope is this one – {{Romans 8:23-25 “and not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES waiting eagerly for OUR ADOPTION AS SONS, the redemption of our body. IN HOPE WE HAVE BEEN SAVED, BUT HOPE THAT IS SEEN IS NOT HOPE, FOR WHY DOES ONE ALSO HOPE FOR WHAT HE SEES, but with perseverance we wait eagerly in HOPE for what we do not see.”}}

That final verse summarises what Paul said in the previous verse. We do not see our adoption as sons; nor do we see our redemption of the body. Our settled conviction of that happening is HOPE and the words “eagerly” and “perseverance” are used in describing our wait. I see that as a living, striving, energetic hope, and we should have it, but I know sometimes it gets eaten away by the troubles of life and the requirements that we face especially in Christian ministry. However it is when the night is the darkest, we look forward to the appearing of the first light as we know the sun is close at hand.

We live in times when the great darkness is giving way to first light and the SON of God will very soon appear. Let us look eagerly for that time, and stay the course with perseverance. Can we ever meet the expectation that Paul had? He says HE GROANS while waiting for that time. Some church-goers seem so attached to this present world that they have little or no desire for the adoption or redemption. I don’t understand it. In short, maybe we should groan.

[3]. THE PRIMARY ABIDING

We are familiar with the great love chapter of 1Corinthians 13:1-13 but the last verse draws together all Paul has said and he ends the chapter this way – {{1Corinthians 13:13 “NOW ABIDE faith, HOPE, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”}} It is lovely that Paul includes hope in the three great abidings. It confirms the huge importance of hope in our Christian walk. I know in this chapter that people concentrate on love, but we ought to do the three qualities in conjunction.

[4]. HOPE THE CAUSE OF REJOICING

Here is a little tucked away verse that has application for us – {{Romans 12:12 “REJOICING IN HOPE, persevering in TRIBULATION, devoted to PRAYER”}}

(A). REJOICING IN/WITH HOPE

We don’t rejoice because of our hope, that is, rejoicing in hope itself. Rather we REJOICE, in other words, we are carried along by hope as we rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must not separate rejoicing and the great expectation of hope. Hope will see the full culmination of all that the Lord has done and prepared for us.

It is the same hope Abraham had as he expectantly waited for the promised heir, and for that city whose Maker is God. Abraham trusted the word of the LORD and that inspired his hope; and we also trust in the word of God, the scriptures and they inspire our expectant hope and make it stronger.

Notice for a moment that there are three aspects to this verse Romans 12:12 - hope, tribulation and prayer. Each is equally important in walking with the Lord. We did hope; now we do tribulation, but in the next few lines. Then there is prayer where Paul speaks of a commitment, or as the NASB has it, “devoted to prayer”. In so many cases in his letters Paul mentions prayer and that is a whole study in itself.

(B). THE LADDER OF PROGRESSION IN YOUR LIFE

We will come back to HOPE in one final reference, but before that we will look at the next few verses in Romans where they link up to our study of hope. Here are the verses –

{{Romans 5:3 Not only this, but we also exult in our TRIBULATIONS, knowing that tribulation brings about PERSEVERANCE,

Romans 5:4 and perseverance, PROVEN CHARACTER, and proven character, HOPE,

Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”}}

WE BEGIN WITH TRIBULATIONS AND PERSEVERANCE

This is such an interesting concept, for the Apostle gives us a progression of four qualities that ultimately end with HOPE. It is therefore true to say that hope is a continual progression through stages, though these are not fixed as such. More to the point, one leads to the other, and it is not a once for all experience. It is continual.

The passage begins with tribulations and these are manifold. I am going to list some but I suppose the list is so long. Persecution, health issues, ageing issues, financial problems, family troubles and concerns, really annoying neighbours, different types of oppositions, legal problems, division in churches, warfare, enemy invasion in some nations, death, Government regulations and hindrance, and I know many of you can add to the list, especially those who live in African and Moslem nations, and India. Do not forget to add attacks by the enemies of Satan – spiritual attack.

How we deal with tribulations is most important. We can let them break us or we can let God transform us. It comes down to submission – submitting to the negativity of tribulation or submission to God through the Holy Spirit. In these verses, Paul looks at the latter, and when this is done, then it moves us to the next step, which is “perseverance”.

The NIV translates as “perseverance” and the AV as “patience” and the ESV and Holman “endurance”. The NASB is “perseverance”. What this does not mean is “putting up with it with grumbling and resentment,” but it means the operation of one of the fruit of the Spirit found here – {{Galatians 5:22 “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”}}

This perseverance, endurance, patience, is just waiting on the Lord calmly knowing we are in His hand, and whatever the storms of life will throw at us, we are sheltered in His love and care. Does that sound easy? It is not easy in the face of the tribulation storms to remain calm, resting in the goodness of God as the Lord Jesus was when asleep in the boat while the disciples were panicking.

I do smile at one reference in Titus and this is it – {{Titus 2:2 “OLDER MEN are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, IN PERSEVERANCE.”}} Have you heard the expression, “grumpy old men”? I suppose Paul noticed this also in His day as well.

To summarise verse 3 – “This is a blessed position to be brought to, and we continue exalting in it. But our exaltation encompasses more than that, for we are also exalting on account of our tribulations. These sufferings, oppression, pressures, distresses and trials can be expected in the Christian life but we glory because of them, through the strengthening of God’s grace wherein we stand. These tribulations are achieving a form of patience; they work towards the accomplishment of endurance, perseverance, steadfastness, and constancy in the Christian life.”

WE MOVE TO THE NEXT ONE AND THAT IS PERSEVERANCE LEADING TO “PROVEN CHARACTER”.

There is something very consistent about proven character. The AV translates as “experience,” but most modern translations use “character”, with the NASB and Holman translating as “proven character” and I think that is more sensible as character is a bit tenuous, but proven character is nailing the meaning more correctly. It is like one who has been through battles but at the end stands victorious. Tried and tested.

The following comment by expositor Barnes is to the point – [[ “The word rendered "experience" (d???µ?´? dokimen) means trial, testing, or that thorough examination by which we ascertain the quality or nature of a thing, as when we test a metal by fire, or in any other way, to ascertain that it is genuine. It also means approbations, or the result of such a trial; the being approved, and accepted as the effect of a trying process. The meaning is, that long afflictions borne patiently show a Christian what he is; they test his religion, and prove that it is genuine. Afflictions are often sent for this purpose, and patience in the midst of them shows that the religion which can sustain them is from God.” ]]

Often the word “proof” is used as the Greek means that. Wrapping it all up we can say that perseverance produces the proof through testing, that the faith and testimony of the man is genuine. The man who stands through testing will then have hope for he is a proven man.

To summarise verse 4 – “That steadfastness or perseverance will then result in the next step which is an approved character before God. This proven character or a tried integrity, belongs to a mind that has stood the test of endurance. It has been proven under trial. Finally, that proven character, owning the stamp of God’s own approval, will produce hope. This hope, so important as we await the hope of our final redemption, is a settled confidence, a sturdy expectation beyond the realm of chance, with an anchor in the very heart of the promises of God.”

LET US MOVE TO HOPE -

Hope ends this small progression, and Paul says that hope does not disappoint. {{Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”}}

That is a lovely verse. There is no disappointment in hope because it has such a solid foundation, that being the love of God, and that love has been poured into our hearts. The AV’s translation “shed abroad” misses the point. God’s love has been POURED OUT; as McLaren says [[ “Poured out’ would better convey Paul’s image, which is that of a flood sent coursing through the heart, or, perhaps, rather lying there, as a calm deep lake on whose unruffled surface the heavens, with all their stars, are reflected.” ]]

Hope does not disappoint because of the very nature of hope as we have described it. Hope is a settled conviction, a position that will not be ruffled by passing storms. It is the anchor that holds fast in every gale. It can not disappoint, and another reason for that is because God’s love is poured out in us, and even more than that, it is all held fast by the Holy Spirit a gracious Father gave to us. Here is that beautiful gift – {{John 14:16-17 “and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever - that is, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”}}

The martyrs of the Church, even today in many nations, are brave in the Lord because hope of eternal salvations burns strongly in them. We are people of hope. We just looked at The Progression of Exultation . . . . . Exultation in Tribulation! Then to end in hope!

To summarise hope in verse 5 – “This hope will not disappoint. That is because the deep, deep love of God who is love, has been poured out in our hearts and is still flooding our hearts through His grace. This operation is through the Holy Spirit who was given to us at conversion, and who remains with us forever, and floods us with love and the assurance of the Father’s acceptance.”

[5]. THE GLORY THAT LIES AHEAD, THE ASPIRATION OF HOPE

{{Colossians 1:27 “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY.”}}

This is the last one we will do, and is also a glorious one. The riches of His glory will belong to GLORY that we do after HOPE so this is a bridging verse. In this verse, the hope of glory relates to the abiding Christ, and is the strong affirmation of future glory. We have the Lord living in us, His children, and the promise of His future glory burns in our souls and spirits through hope.

What is this glory? The usual thinking is that it is heaven and that is correct but it is more than that. It will be to experience the glory of the Lord Himself, a state we could not endure in our physical existence. The glory of heaven will be beyond our inferior expectation.

One more aspect of this “hope of glory” will be what will happen to ourselves the moment the Rapture occurs, but not before that. We receive our new bodies when the Lord comes to call His Church home in 1Thessalonians 4, and this is how this new body will be -

(AV) – {{Philippians 3:21 “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”}}

(NASB) – {{Philippians 3:21 “who will transform the body of our humble state INTO CONFORMITY WITH THE BODY OF HIS GLORY, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”}}

What we learn here is that a glorious body awaits us and that is fashioned after the glorious resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our hope of glory.