Sermon Tone Analysis

A Persevering Hope

Romans 5:1-11

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5:5

We are in the fourth week of Lent.

Lent is the forty days that lead up to Easter.

Lent is a time in which we let go of certain things to take hold of Jesus more and more.

In this season of Lent we have been looking at the topic of ‘HOPE.”

The first week we looked at the foundation of hope, the second week we found that living hope and last week we heard that we have a saving hope.

Today we will turn to Paul’s letter to Romans and find a persevering hope!

Before we turn to God’s Word, let us come to door of Hope and seek God in prayer.

“Lord, God, we come to You today to be renewed, restored and filled with hope.

Our lives often feel afloat in this world.

Let us come and be grounded in Your living words of hope.

Amen”

Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.[i]

Peace & Access

When we come to this passage in Romans, we come to one of Paul’s great words, “therefore.”

What Paul is doing when he writes “therefore” is he is connecting all that he has said and written about in the first four chapters of Romans to a point of connection in chapter in five.

Paul has written that we have been saved by grace and that the saving work belongs totally in Christ’s hands.

Paul now comes up with a great theological concept called “justification.”

Justified--“just as if I have never sinned.”

Paul is saying that since we have been justified --- since we have been made “just as if we never sinned” -- we now have peace with God!

Have you ever wondered why people go to great lengths and expense to find peace?

I went to Google and typed in “how do I find peace.”

36,600,000 results popped up in 58 seconds!

Titles like: “4-Step Guide to Finding Inner Peace,” “How to Find Inner Peace: 15 Things You Can Start Today.”

Tiny Buddha, Eckart Tolle, Lifestyle, New York Tines and Wikihow were all consulted!

St. Augustine, an early church father, wrote these words, “You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.”[ii]

This is exactly what Paul is teaching us today!

We have peace with God and that peace gives us access into God’s grace.

On Wednesday nights in our “Get A Life Group” life group, we have been studying the book of Genesis.

In the opening chapters of Genesis, we are told that Adam and Eve sinned by doing the one thing that God had asked them not to do.

Consequently, they are kicked out of the Garden.

God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and put an angel with a flaming sword there to protect the entrance.

In the Old Testament temple there was a place called the holy of holies and only once a year could a priest enter the holy of holies and offer up sacrifices for the people of Israel.

Do you get the picture!?

Only once a year could a priest enter the access of the holy of holies.

If you weren’t in the priestly line, you would never have a chance to access God!

Do you know that when Jesus died on the cross the curtain of the holy of holies was torn in two and the access to God was opened?

This is exactly what Paul is talking about.

Because of what Jesus has done on the cross, we have access to the throne of God!

Not once a year, but any day of any year.

Friends, that is peace and access!!!

I love the thought we can stand in grace!

When we stand in grace, we have access to the holy of holies!!! To stand in grace is to stand in peace!!!

Joy & Hope

Paul goes on to tell us that because we have this peace and access, we can also have joy.

The word Paul uses for rejoice is a wonderful word “kauchometha.”

It is a present, passive verb that means that the action of rejoicing is to speak loudly, behave with loud tongues and boasting, and to proclaim publicly and ostentatiously, or rejoice.”

This action of rejoicing continues forever.

If we know that we have peace with God and that we have access to God at any time, any place, anywhere, our voices should be filled with loud rejoicing all of the time!

This rejoicing fills us with a hope of the glory of God!

The glory of God brings to the reader’s mind the “kabod” or “glory” of God that filled the temple.

The Greek word for glory used here is “doke” from which we get the word doxology!

This glory fills us with hope!

What does HOPE mean to you?

In the Bible, “hope” means certainty, and the only reason it is called hope rather than certainty is only that we do not possess what is hoped for yet, although we will.

Here are some examples of how “hope” is used in the New Testament:

Acts 2:26–27 “ my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave” (cf.

Ps. 16:8–11).

1 Corinthians 13:13a “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.”

2 Corinthians 1:7 “And our hope for you is firm.

…”

Colossians 1:5“The faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven”

Colossians 1:27 “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Titus 1:2 “hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.”

Titus 2:13 “While we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 6:19–20 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”

1 Peter 1:3 “[God] has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Suffering to Hope

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Verses three through five are deep and profound.

We are left with peace, access, joy, hope and standing in grace as we travel from suffering to perseverance to character and finally to hope!

In these verses what is the greatest word for you?

Suffering, Perseverance, Character, Hope or produces?

The Greek word for suffering is “thlipsis’ and it literally means pressing something down.

The Greek word for perseverance is “hypomone” which can be translated “endurance, patience, perseverance or living under.”

The Greek word for character is “dokime” meaning - dependable, reliable, proof, tested or proven.

The Greek word for hope is “elpis” and it means, a confident expectation of the future.

The Greek word for produces is “κατεργάζεται ---- katergazetai” This is the verb in this sentence and the action of this verb is ongoing.

The words literally mean --- to preapre, to produce, like working the soil.

What Paul is teaching us is that suffering produces hope.

That is a strange thought.

For many of us, suffering produces despair.

For others, suffering really does produce hope.

I think of my friend who was buried this week at the National Cemetery.

As a pastor and a friend, I get to joy and suffering to go where not many people go.

I had to talk with him about he felt about his death.

He didn’t even hesitate for a second.

“Dave, if the worst thing that happens to me is that I get to go be with Jesus, I consider myself blessed.”