The God of Hope

1:30And this passage answers a question that I've been asking since I got that first bracelet on my birthday from Brian Oswald, one of our youth students, when I was seven years old. What would Jesus do? It actually looked exactly like that. The Lord might have known that Brianna and I were going to be here. He gave me a maroon and white bracelet way back then. So you'll also notice that we have a lot of Romans left. There's still an entire chapter, an entire half a chapter of 15. We still have six weeks of sermons, so don't worry. We're not just going to yank Romans out from under you. There's plenty of Romans to go around. But my point here is that Romans is a typical letter. And chapter 1, verses 1 through 17, introduce who Paul is, and then he discusses his travel plans, and he sets up the content of the letter. And then Romans 15, 14 through the end is more of Paul's travel plans and some commendations, some exhortations, some prayer requests. Paul wraps up his main point here in this text, and I think it would be helpful to remember, be reminded what we believe, like C.S. Lewis said. So, Romans 1 through 11 communicate big truths about God broadly.

2:53In Romans 1, 1 through 17, Paul introduces himself, like I said, sets up the letter, and it's a standard form for. A first century letter. He says, I'm an apostle. I want to come see you. I pray for you regularly, those kinds of things. Then, in chapter 1, 18 through 320, Paul discusses God's righteousness in his wrath towards sin and sinners. 3, 21 through 425 show God's saving righteousness. And as a highlight, if you remember from so many years ago, we had those bookmarks that had the memory verse on the back, Romans 3, 21 through 26. If you want, you can turn back in your Bible a little bit. But this memory verse said, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. If you memorize it and want to say it along with me, that'd be great. Apart from the law and the prophets, they bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance, He had passed over former sins. Was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. I would encourage you to continue trying to memorize that passage. It's a great thing to memorize.

4:46Then Paul goes on, chapters 5 through 8, show the hope that we have as a result of faith in Christ. Paul discusses how people can be declared righteous. And he reminds us that we are justified not by our works, but by faith. And it's worth mentioning here that Romans 5 through 8 contain one of the greatest, if not the greatest, chapter in the Bible, Romans 8. And all scripture is inspired equally, but Romans 8 communicates some of the most beautiful truth that you will find in Scripture. And I would encourage you, I will give you a lot of homework today. I will encourage you to memorize Romans 8, 1 through 4, and Romans 8, 38, and 39, or all of Romans 8. It's just a great thing to internalize. Look on the screen behind me. This is Romans 8, 1 through 4.

5:51There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the Lord. Of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And then to end this section, he says, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor anything present, nor the things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. If you are in Christ, you are justified, and there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. If you take nothing else away from today, take that away. You are justified if you have placed your faith in Jesus. And that is a great reminder. You are not condemned, and there is nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ.

7:19It's a good thing to memorize. Paul continues, and in Romans 9 through 11, he discusses God's righteousness to Israel and the Gentiles. And shows how Israel relates to the gospel and how God is mercifully building a community of believers that we call the church. And then Paul transitions just a little bit. And 12 through 15 take all of the truth that was just communicated in 1 through 11 and shows us God's righteousness in our daily lives and shows us all of this theological truth that then becomes embodied in the church. And in Romans 12, Paul says, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices. We serve one another with our gifts. We serve the church with our gifts. And we love one another.

8:12In Romans 13, we learn we are supposed to submit to the government, not just because we are to be submissive, but because God has given us good government to judge people on behalf of Him. And we serve one another in love. Paul's regular theme is serve one another in love. And then he sums up the entire law the same way that Jesus summed up the law, which is love your neighbor as yourself. In chapters 14 to 15, Paul focuses on how we love one another when the person that you're trying to love is annoying, when they think differently than you, when they have different convictions than you, when they act in a certain way that goes against your personal convictions.

9:00What you're supposed to do about that. How do we, as the weaker or the stronger brother or sister, deal with that? So I'd encourage you to go back and listen to the last four or five sermons that are all Romans 14 and then the two sermons ago, where Alan reminded us to be settled in our convictions, but not force those convictions on fellow believers. And this line, he reminded us that the goal inside the church is unity, not uniformity. We do not have to think the same thing on matters of personal conviction, which there are a host of. We do not have to believe the same thing. Christians believe the same gospel, but we do not have to believe the same thing on matters of personal conviction. For example, things that got brought up a lot, you can drink or not drink or think that that's okay.

10:00You can vote in a particular way or not, but it's forcing those opinions of yours onto others that then becomes not okay. And then, if you look at 15, verse 6, Paul says, The reason we do all of this is that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus with one mind and one voice. That's the goal of our Christian unity, that we worship God together with one mind and one voice. And all of that brings us to the answer of our question: what would Jesus do? If you're an outline person, here's the rough outline for today. We trust in Jesus. We praise God because of his mercy, and then we are to be filled with hope and peace from the God of hope. So we trust, we praise, and we hope. Look at me, look at me. Look at verse 7 with me.

11:14Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. Just a side note: you'll notice that there's the heading over this section, Christ, the hope of the Jews and the Gentiles, or something like that, likely in your translation. Those are not gospel scripture truths. Paul didn't write that. And I think that this section makes the most sense if you take verse 7 and bring it down into everything else. Because we just ended with this benediction, Paul writes in verse 5: May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one another. One voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think that ends a section and then begins the next section, but because it's all inspired, they flow together. But I'm going to treat this as 7 through 13, not 8 through 13. So just wanted to give you a little bit of clarification there. So in verse 7, we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. And that is the answer to what would Jesus do? And it's a bold statement, but I think that's the point of the entire letter of Romans. Paul is writing to a church that's filled with Jewish and Gentile Christians who came from very different cultural backgrounds. They came with very different socioeconomic status, with different access to different things, with different baggage because of how they were raised. Their mindsets are different when they wander through town. And Paul is saying to everyone, welcome one another as Christ welcomed you. Why?

13:07For the glory of God. And you'll notice Paul doesn't say to tolerate or to put up with one another. Other translations render this word here as accept one another, which still has that same connotation. But I think the inner logic of verse 15 require this stronger word, welcome one another. Because that translated word welcome is used in the sense of bringing people into your home or even granting people access to your heart. This isn't just I tolerate you because I have to. This is, I want you to be a part of my life. I want you and me to be together. It's this loving disposition toward others where I want to sacrifice for you and I want you to be a part of my life.

14:02Paul isn't asking people to compromise their beliefs or compromise their convictions. He's reframing those convictions in view of who Christ is and what Christ did. He's pointing out that Jesus moved toward us first. Jesus came as a servant and welcomed you into the family of God. And because of this, we seek to serve our neighbor in the same way that Christ has served us. And this is what Paul said in Romans 15, chapter 2, chapter 15, verse 2. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build up our neighbor, to build him up, not for my own building up, for his building up.

14:46And then Paul goes on, chapter 15, verses 8 and 9. And he shows that the covenant faithfulness of God is displayed in Jesus, who came to fulfill every promise that God made to Israel. Through the patriarchs. And God's mercy toward Israel is going to overflow into the Gentiles, which is a way of saying into the entire world, so that they can join in the worship of the one true God. So let's look at verse 8 and 9.

15:17Paul writes, For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. So you see it there. Jesus came to the circumcised to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles can glorify God. And at this point, an astute listener will say, what promises were made to the patriarchs? And it's a great question that Paul anticipates, and he provides four Old Testament quotations that do multiple things. You have more homework coming.

16:02These quotes cover the entire Old Testament. The Old Testament is made up of three different parts. You have the law, you have the prophets, and you have the writings. The law is the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The prophets are organized into the former and the latter prophets, the former prophets being Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, and the latter prophets being Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and then the 12. Minor prophets, Hosea, Joel, and so on. The writings encompass the Psalms, the Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. Paul takes quotes from each of the Old Testament pieces, the law, the prophets, and the writings, to show that the entire scriptures say what Paul is saying. Each passage that Paul quotes hyperlinks or alludes to other parts in Scripture to show that this isn't just cherry-picking. This is Paul interpreting scripture and letting Scripture interpret scripture for our benefit to show that he's not making this up. This has always been what it is. And overall, what Paul is showing is that the Old Testament says, welcome one another as Christ welcomed you for the glory of God. So, let's start in verse 9 and look at what these passages say.

17:31He begins, therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing to your name. This is a direct quote from 2 Samuel 22, which is the same text as Psalm 18, which means it must be important because it appears in Scripture twice. It was written by David, and I would encourage you sometime this afternoon or this week to read Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel, or just read. 2 Samuel 22. David wrote this song at the end of his life, and in this song, David looks back and recounts all the ways that God had delivered him from his enemies, and he praises God for this deliverance. When you read Psalm 18 or 2 Samuel 22, you will probably notice Exodus language. I think that's what David's trying to do. The superscription of Psalm 18 and 2 Samuel 22, verse 1 say, David spoke to the Lord the words of this psalm on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

18:43And then he goes on, and the pattern of events which God saved Daniel from and exalted him as king is a pattern repeated and fulfilled in the way that God brought Jesus through persecution and suffering and then death and raised him from death and enthroned him as the true king. David was Israel's greatest king and Jesus comes to fulfill everything that David did as the true king. Look at 2 Samuel 22, 51. At the very end, he writes, Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

19:28So here in this song, David Worships God in response to everything that God did in his life. And the Gentiles hear the good news of a merciful God who provides for and protects his people. This is an evangelistic text of sorts. David is recounting everything that God has done and wants everybody to hear it. He's saying, Let me tell you about the Messiah. He is good and merciful. And then Paul reaches back and grabs these texts and takes this idea and interprets it in light of everything that Jesus is and everything that Jesus did. Everything that David said about himself in this poem, about how God saved him, Paul says, project this forward into Christ.

20:16And then Paul goes on and he does more of this typological kind of thing. And in verse 10, he writes, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. Here, Paul's quoting from Deuteronomy 32, which is a song that Moses wrote. A lot of songs going around. We should be learning our songs and singing our songs. A song that Moses wrote at the end of his life that summarizes God's plan to rescue his people, atone for their sins, and judge their enemies. Again, read Deuteronomy this week. Or just read Deuteronomy 32 and reflect on the greatness of God.

21:00Moses retells the history of Israel and then explicitly calls the nations to worship God. And then Paul grabs this quote and interprets the story of history in light of everything that happened in Christ to show that the Old Testament was calling Gentiles to worship God and that they are now able to do this because of God's mercy through the gospel. The third quote, verse 11, Paul writes, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let the peoples extol him.

21:42Paul's quoting from Psalm 17, which explicitly calls all the nations to worship God, and it's worth reading the entire Psalm. The entire Psalm reads, Praise Yahweh, all nations. Extol him, all peoples. For great is his steadfast love toward us. The faithfulness of Yahweh endures forever. Praise Yahweh. And this Psalm parallels verses 8 and 9, which highlights God's truthfulness, which is to say his covenant faithfulness and God's mercy. And then the last quote in verse 12, again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles. In him will the Gentiles hope.

22:40This last quotation comes from Isaiah chapter 11, and the title, Root of Jesse, is a messianic title. If you've done the Jesse tree with your kids, you know this. David, the son of Jesse, was the greatest king of Israel. And God makes a covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7 that God will establish David's kingdom forever, and that one of his descendants will always be on the throne. Again, I cannot stress it enough to understand the prophets, to understand the fullness of who God is. Go read 1 and 2 Samuel and see the promises that God continues to make with his people. It's a beautiful story.

23:25And then in the larger context of Isaiah, God promises to preserve a remnant of Israel for himself, and the nation will rally around this group of people that God himself saves. And this brings a national restoration to Israel as God's chosen people, and it fulfills the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 12, saying that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. So you'll notice there's a progression through all of these Old Testament quotes. God's name. Is to be praised around the Gentiles, and the Gentiles hear this praise. That's verse 8. The Gentiles are then invited to praise God with his people. That's verse 9, the Deuteronomy passage. Then all the peoples, Jew and Gentile, praise the Lord. And all of this is accomplished by the root of Jesse, the promised Messiah from the line of David, who we all know to be Jesus Christ.

24:32And this has been God's plan from the beginning. His plan has always been for his people to proclaim God's faithfulness and mercy to all the nations. And God's plan has always been to draw every nation to himself under the mercy and rule of Jesus Christ as the true king. And Paul quotes from every part of the Old Testament to show that the inclusion of the Gentiles in the covenant people of God has always been God's plan and God's purpose. And because of that plan, we participate in the plan of God by welcoming others for God's glory. And with all of this, Paul leaves his people with this prayer, verse 13. May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may Abound in hope.

25:33Notice where this hope comes from. Paul doesn't say faith harder, think harder, try harder, do better. The God of hope fills us with joy and peace in believing. This joy and the peace, they don't stem from anything other than faith, and they are the byproducts of believing in God's promises. And as we trust in the Lord, He will give us joy and peace, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we abound in hope. This spirit-empowered hope is exactly what Paul describes in Romans 5 when he says that hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

26:26And this joy and this peace that he talks about is what he talked about in Romans 14, when he says that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So we don't want to misplace our hopes. We want our hope firmly placed in what God wants for us and what God has declared to be true. Verse 8 encourages us to trust in Jesus because he became a servant and confirmed the faithfulness of God.

27:009 through 12 call us to praise God because of God's mercy and his covenant-keeping faithfulness. And in all of this, verse 13 reminds us that we have joy and peace because we hope in the God of hope, who has proven himself to be faithful in everything that he promises. And as God works among us, and as the gospel bears fruit among us, we will be at peace with each other. We will be unified because we agree on what we're hoping for.

27:39And what we're hoping for is the glory of God. So, like I said, I think this passage answers the question: what would Jesus do? And what would Jesus do? Well, Jesus welcomed us into his family. Therefore, we welcome others into the family of God. We are unified. Jesus would offer grace and mercy, so we offer grace and mercy in a different way, but we offer grace and mercy to our fellow brothers and sisters and to those who haven't yet placed their faith in Christ. Jesus points us to Himself, so we should do the same. We should point each other to Jesus, and we should use The Word of God to do that.

28:33So, broadly, I've got three ways that I think we can apply. We can apply the entire book, we can apply this section, and then we can apply our passage today. So, from our passage, Romans 15, 7 through 13, I would encourage you to just know and believe and use your Bible. Paul took the Old Testament and strung it together. He didn't proof text, he understood his scriptures, and he was able to interpret those and then give people truth in light of the Word of God.

29:08One of my professors talks about the Bible as this friend that you know. He talks about the micro-expressions of Scripture, these weird illusions that you only know if you know the Bible. You probably have that friend, that you look at them and they make that face, and you're like, I know exactly what you're thinking based on the circumstances. This is how we can and should approach the Bible. You can know the Bible and know it so much that when you read the New Testament, you catch the illusions that are in the Old Testament. When you're talking with somebody in a life group, you know what to say to them because the Word of God is living and active, and you can just take that and hand it to them. So, I'd encourage you to spend some time this week praying, asking the Holy Spirit to show you a passage or two. That you can just keep with you. Let that be your passage that you can deploy at a moment's notice to encourage you or to encourage others with the truth of Scripture. Just pray, how can I use your word to minister to the people around me? From this section, Romans 15:1 through 13, I still think the call is to be unified and to welcome one another. We've had four sermons on that, and it's still true. We need to be unified. And I'm not saying that we're not. I think we're a very unified church. And in the five years that Brianna and I have been here, we've become more and more unified.

30:41But how committed are you to praying for the unity of New Life Baptist Church? How committed are you to praying for the unity between you and an individual that you know you think differently? How committed are you to praying for the unity of the global church, the capital C church that we all participate in because we're followers of Jesus? Do you have any strong convictions that you've knowingly or unknowingly forced on somebody else? I pray that we would continue to grow in our hospitality toward others and hold our opinions that aren't primary issues very loosely, open-handed. I'm not saying don't have strong opinions. I am saying triage those opinions properly and don't force a gospel. Issue on something that isn't a gospel issue.

31:34And then that brings us to an application of the entire book of Romans, which is believe the gospel. We are all sinners who have fallen short of God's glory. Romans 3. And our sin keeps us separated from God. You cannot work your way into God's grace. You cannot do enough good to earn mercy. You must put your faith in the finished work of Jesus, who lived a perfect life, who died and who was raised to life. And he ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. That is what we said we believe, and that is the gospel. That Jesus Christ sits now as atonement for your sin and presents his blood as a propitiation for our sin. And if you have not believed that, friend, I ask that you would. That is the best decision that you could make today, is to place your faith in Jesus.

32:46And when you do that, you will be filled with joy and peace from the God of hope. That is the book of Romans. And I pray that you will believe that. Believe in Jesus. Pray with me. Gracious God, I am so thankful for your word. And I thank you for your faithful love. And I thank you that you give us commands to follow and you give us your spirit so that we can follow those commands. Lord, I ask that you, the God of hope, would fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in you, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope.

33:56May we be a church that is marked by the presence of your Holy Spirit as we welcome others the way you welcomed us. Help us hope in you. Gracious God, we pray this for your glory, for the benefit of others, for our greatest joy. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more. For information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.