Endurance, Character, Hope, Love

I forgot to put on my microphone until after the service started today so we didn't have a chance to do a sound check.

! Are we all rocking and rolling? Good. Good morning.

My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

It's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here.

This morning we are continuing our series in the book of Romans.

You'll remember that the book of Romans is a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s AD.

The book of Romans is called Romans for a very simple reason, which is that it's written to the churches in the city of Rome.

And this letter is about the gospel. It's about the good news of Jesus' life and death and resurrection.

We just started chapter 5 last week. You'll remember we had three sections.

We looked at peace and access and glory, especially focused on glory.

That is, to fully know and to be fully known by God is the fulfillment of all our greatest desires.

This week, though, we turn to a problem and the problem is this.

We do not yet fully know God.

We're not fully in his presence yet, and there are things in this life that turn the lights off.

There are things that we experience that change our world from color to black and white.

In fact, some of you may be there this morning.

You may be wondering,

will the world ever be color for me again?

And so we look at what we saw last week, verse 2.

It says,

We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

You might think,

Well, that's great.

I'm happy to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

But then Paul tells us something surprising, maybe offensive here.

In verse 3,

He says,

Not only that,

but we rejoice in our sufferings.

And you might think,

Well, I can get behind rejoicing in God's glory.

I'm not so sure I can get behind rejoicing in suffering.

It seems naive at best.

Maybe it feels offensive,

seems dismissive when you think about how deep and profound some of your sufferings are.

I would say that everyone in this room has suffered.

Some of you have experienced profound suffering.

Some of you are in the midst of profound suffering in this very moment.

We have maybe 30 minutes together to look at this passage from God's word.

We're going to only scratch the surface.

There's not enough time for me to do justice to everything that Paul has for us here.

If I were to do it again, by the way,

I would probably do seven sermons on Romans chapters 1, verses 1 through 5.

Romans 1:1–5

I'm not going to bury the lead.

I am here this morning to say to you one thing,

and it's this.

We rejoice in our sufferings

because God uses them to transform us.

We rejoice in our sufferings

because God uses them to transform us.

God uses our sufferings

to make us more like Jesus.

Just like last week,

because there is so much going on in this passage,

and I want to keep us focused

and make sure I don't get lost

and you don't get lost,

I'm going to tell you also,

we're going to look at four things.

These are printed in your worship guide on page 6

as our four points to our sermon this morning,

and it's this.

Endurance,

character,

hope,

and love.

With that,

I invite you to turn with me now

to Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

You'll find it on page 6

of your worship guide.

We're going to read now,

starting at verse 3.

Remember that this is God's word.

Proverbs chapter 30,

Proverbs 30:5

verse 5,

tells us,

every word of God proves true.

He is a shield

to those who take refuge in him.

So that's why we read now Romans chapter 5,

Romans 5 · chapter mention

starting at verse 3.

Not only that,

but we rejoice in our sufferings,

knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character,

and character produces hope,

and 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.

I invite you to pray with me

as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven,

we do again praise you and thank you.

That you have given us your word,

that you speak to us

in ways and words

that we can understand.

We ask that you would do that again this morning.

You would grow our hope.

We'd experience your love

that's been poured into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit.

You give us hope

in the midst of our suffering.

You'd give us comfort.

Lord,

you'd help us to set our eyes on you

and to head towards the future

that you have for us,

no matter the present.

We ask these things

in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

From time to time,

people will ask me,

you know,

Matthew,

what is it that you do for fun?

And I tell them

I do two things for fun.

It's very simple.

I read books

and I go to the gym.

When I tell people that,

that's great,

except there's one problem,

which is that it's a lie.

I do read for fun.

And I don't go to the gym for fun.

In fact,

I often hate the gym.

Many times,

I have to make myself go,

yes,

it is satisfying

and fun

sometimes.

And often,

it's really miserable.

If I'm totally honest,

there are days

that I would rather stay home,

many days,

and yet in the midst of that,

I actually pay money

to suffer.

I make myself go to the gym

and I make myself go

for many reasons.

One of them is this.

I am now closer

to age 40

than I am to age 30.

And I know

what I want my future

to look like.

An idea of where I want to be

at age 40.

And so I rejoice in it,

going to the gym.

I may not like the process.

I do like the results.

I tell you that

because as we look

at our first four,

our first,

our points here,

our first of the four

is this.

We rejoice in our sufferings

knowing that suffering

produces endurance.

And the word endurance

here is a muscle word.

It's a strength word.

Paul is saying

we rejoice

in our sufferings

because it produces

strength.

strength.

And by making you strong,

it prepares you

for the future.

By making you strong,

it gets you set

for what is ahead.

And some of you know

that for several years,

I worked out

with a junior army officer.

At one point,

he was training

for special forces selection

and he was obsessed

with his deadlift number.

And I asked him

at one point,

I said,

why do you care

so much

about your deadlift?

He said,

well, Matthew,

do the math with me.

The heaviest guy

in my platoon

is 260 pounds.

He has 30 pounds

of body armor.

He has 10 pounds

of ammo

and his rock

is 60 to 80 pounds.

If I'm in combat

with that man

and he gets shot,

I have to lift him

off the ground.

If you're doing the math,

we have made it here

to 360 to 380 pounds.

We actually want

some margin of error there.

So actually,

let's set it at 400 pounds.

If I want to be ready

for the worst thing

that happens to me

in combat,

I need to make sure

I can deadlift

400 pounds.

One of the other things

we would do together

is farmer's carries,

which is where you walk

carrying a heavy weight

in each hand.

And he had a set

of 80 pound kettlebells,

which if you've never

done a farmer's carry,

that's a lot of weight.

And he said,

when it gets hard

and I don't think

I can make it anymore

and I want to put

the kettlebells

down on the ground,

I imagine

that I am carrying

my wounded buddy

to the medevac helicopter.

Doesn't matter

if I want to put it down,

right?

He has to make it.

Tell you this

for this reason.

There will come

moments in your life

where you are grateful

for the suffering

that God has brought

to you

because it gives you

strength

that you must have

in that moment.

There will come times

in your life

where you are grateful

for the suffering

that God has brought

to you

because that was

the only way

you have strength

for that moment.

When I sit

with some of you

who are in the midst

of suffering,

I praise God

for the times

he has cut my legs

out from under me.

because if he had not,

I would have

nothing to say.

I told you

that I work out

because I know

what I want my future

to look like.

Christian,

do you want

your future

to look like one

of clinging

to Jesus Christ?

If you do,

you must

suffer.

That's what the strength

looks like.

Looks like clinging

to Jesus

more

and more.

We rejoice

in our suffering

knowing

that suffering

produces

endurance.

It produces

endurance.

So we're asking

this question.

Why do we rejoice

in our sufferings?

We have our first answer.

It makes us stronger.

It gives us endurance.

We also rejoice

in our sufferings

because they grow

our character.

That's our next point

and it is very simple.

You'll see it in verse 4.

Endurance produces

character.

The word for character

here is kind of

a technical term

that is referring

to the process

of refining metals.

This is an image

that's used

in the Bible

multiple times

and the idea

is this.

If you have

some gold

and you want

to take that gold

and remove

its impurities

to separate

the gold

from the ore

you have to put it

in the fire.

And as it heats up

those things

come apart.

Right?

Suffering

can

force

the impurities

out

of

your

life.

Sometimes

when I meet

with someone

who is in the

midst of suffering

they ask me this.

Why has

God

allowed

this?

How can I

trust

serve

and obey

a God

who would

permit

this

to enter

my life?

And I

tell them

this.

I have

no idea

why God

has brought

this into

your life.

I don't

know.

I'm not

the prophet

or the son

of a prophet.

God has

not given

me that

answer.

Here's

what I

do know.

This

suffering

that you

are walking

through

can

make you

a deeper

and richer

person.

This

suffering

that you're

in

can

make you

a deeper

and richer

person.

Now I

say can

because it's

not inevitable.

If you

choose not

to submit

to God's

work in

your life

it can

instead

make you

angry

and anxious

and bitter.

You do

have to

continue to

follow the

Lord in

those things.

You can't

run away

from it.

but when

you do

it will

purify

and refine

your life.

Of course

it will do

it in many

ways more

than we

can list

this morning.

I'll give

you a few

examples.

Suffering

will loosen

your grip

on this

world

and it

will make

it easier

for you

to set

your eyes

on heaven.

By the

way

it is

wonderful

to be

around

people

whose

eyes

are

set

on

heaven.

Suffering

makes

what we

talked

about

last

week

much

easier.

When

you

suffer

it is

much

easier

to

make

your

hope

the

hope

of

glory.

Suffering

can give

you a

resilience

and a

steadiness

can make

it hard

for you

to be

rattled.

One time

many years

ago I

had a

disappointment

a setback

and

had a

pastor

I was not

a pastor

at the time

I had a

pastor call

me and I

shared it

with him

and he

quoted to

me

Psalm

112

for the

righteous

will never

be moved

he will

be remembered

forever

and here's

the kicker

he is

not afraid

of bad

news

his heart

is firm

trusting

in the

Lord

do you

want to

be the

type of

person

who is

never afraid

of bad

news

I've got

bad news

for you

to get

there

you must

suffer

it's

suffering

that forms

that in

your life

if you

get your

legs cut

out

from under

you

gives you

a chance

for your

pride

to be

replaced

by

humility

could even

go further

we could say

suffering

is what

forms

in us

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

gentleness

and self

control

suffering

is God's

way

his way

of bringing

these things

about

remember

Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

for the

moment

all

discipline

seems

painful

rather

than

pleasant

but later

it yields

the peaceful

fruit of

righteousness

to those

who have

been trained

by it

do you

want

that peaceful

fruit of

righteousness

if you

do

the way

to it

is through

suffering

why do we

rejoice in our

sufferings

first

they give us

endurance

they make us

stronger

second

they give us

character

they make

us better

our

sufferings

make us

deeper

and richer

people

third

Paul tells

us that

our

sufferings

give us

hope

and this

one is

counterintuitive

it doesn't

really make

sense

so I'm

going to

explain it

to you

this way

my

uncle

my

dad's

youngest

brother

had a

career

with the

state

department

he's

now

retired

he was

stationed

all over

the world

and at

one point

he was

stationed

in

China

and while

he was

in

China

a member

of our

family

went over

to visit

him

that member

went to the

streets of

China and

found some

amazing deals

and one of

the deals

that member

found was

north face

jackets

for ten

dollars

imagine that

we've been

paying hundreds

of dollars

for north face

jackets

over here

and they're

just selling

them in

China

for ten

bucks

those

jackets

were given

to various

family members

as gifts

I received

one when I

was in

high school

if you were

around in

the 90s

and the

2000s

and you

were a

kid

you know

that back

then

north face

was super

cool

so I

was

super

cool

then I

went to

college

I was on

this

traveling

study abroad

program

and while

we were

there

we were

in the

city

of

Delphi

which is

in

Greece

had my

rain jacket

with me

and it

rained all

day

so I

put my

jacket

on

and at

the end

of the

day

you know

what

I

was

soaked

through

you know

why I

was soaked

through

because that

rain jacket

was worthless

that rain jacket

had nothing

to do

with

north face

north face

had never

touched

it

all it

did

was have

a cheap

imitation

of the

logo

the point

is this

we do

not know

what is

real

or what

is fake

until

the storm

comes

we do

not know

what is

real

or fake

until

the storm

comes

when Paul

says

our sufferings

give us

hope

he means

this

the storm

of suffering

proves

to you

your

faith

is

real

you can

look back

and you can

say hey

it actually

worked

God's

people

did

provide

the support

that I

needed

as I

walked

that path

God's

promises

were

true

God

did

keep

his

word

to me

God's

word

was

sweet

in that

season

wow

God

really

is

powerful

I

knew

it

in my

mind

now

I

know

it

in

my

heart

my

faith

is

real

even

more

than

that

God

is

real

we might

put it

another

way

if

Christianity

cannot

hold

up

in the

storms

of this

life

then it

cannot

hold

up

but it

does

and so

we have

hope

the more

you suffer

the more

hope you

have

because

the more

you see

God

come

through

why

do we

rejoice

in our

sufferings

we

rejoice

in our

sufferings

because

they give

us

endurance

they make

us

stronger

we

rejoice

in our

sufferings

because

they give

us

character

they make

us

better

we

rejoice

in our

sufferings

because

suffering

builds

hope

takes us

to our

final

point

God's

love

Paul

says this

here

hope

does not

put us

to shame

this is

verse 5

because

God's

love

has been

poured

into our

hearts

through

the

Holy

Spirit

who

has

been

given

to

us

this is

hard to

wrap

our

heads

around

talking

about

our

experience

of

God

the

things

that

we

feel

inside

of

us

and so

I'm

just

going to

tell you

a story

in

1977

there

was a

group

of

insurgents

who

attacked

the

Salvation

Army

Mission

Station

in

Rhodesia

at

that

mission

station

after

that

attack

two

women

were

killed

a

third

woman

was

left

for

dead

at

one

point

Ruth

Bell

Graham

Billy

Graham's

wife

had

a

chance

to

sit

down

with

the

third

woman

by

the

way

there's

someone

here

this

morning

who

had

Ruth

Bell

Graham

as

her

Sunday

school

teacher

I'll

let you

fill out

your

bingo

card

later

this

morning

so she

sits

down

with

this

woman

and

this

is

what

she

tells

in

her

book

stories

from

a

pack

rat

impulsively

I leaned

over

and whispered

how

honored

I was

to be

sitting

beside

her

as

I

had

never

had

to

suffer

for

my

lord

the

way

that

she

had

believe

me

she replied

simply

with a

smile

it

was

a

joy

then

perhaps

noticing

the

wonder

on

my

face

she

added

you

know

I

never

had

to

suffer

for

my

lord

before

this

happened

and

in

spite

of

the

horrors

going

on

all

around

me

at

the

time

there

was

such

a

sense

of

the

presence

of

the

lord

jesus

himself

that

it

was

pure

joy

that's

what

Paul's

saying

in

verse

five

he

says

your

hope

will

not

put

you

to

shame

because

because

of

the

holy

spirit

you

will

have

such

a

sense

of

the

presence

of

the

lord

jesus

himself

that

it

will

be

pure

joy

it's

the joy

we

experience

at

times

in

prayer

it's

the joy

we

experience

together

as

god's

people

when

we

worship

him

it's

the joy

!

he

brings

us

by

his

holy

spirit

is

reminded

in

his

word

of

his

encouragement

his

promises

to

us

if

you

are

some

of

you

are

in a

moment

of

profound

suffering

!

love!

Some of

you

know

three

years

ago

I

herniated

a

disc

dead

lifting

and

I

messed

up

L5

and

S1

which

means

something

to

some

of

you

doesn't

mean

anything

to

me

I

learned

a lot

about

pain

and

I

gained

an

incredible

empathy

for

folks

who

struggle

with

chronic

pain

if

you've

struggled

with

chronic

pain

you

know

the

worst

part

is

not

the

pain

the

worst

part

is

the

way

that

it

just

sucks

your

energy

dry

now

as I

say

this

I'm

actually

you

know

99%

pain

free

I'm

dead

lifting

more

than

I

ever

have

before

I

recognize

that

some

of

you

actually

have

chronic

pain

and

it

goes

on

year

after

year

after

year

for

me

my

pain

lasted

longer

than

they

told

me

it

would

so

I

was

told

hey

you

know

six

to

eight

weeks

you

should

be

good

two

to

three

months

later

I'm

thinking

I

don't

know

how

much

longer

I

can

do

this

do

I

really

you

know

I'm

in

my

early

thirties

this

is

going

be

the

rest

of

my

life

I'm

going

to

have

this

kind

of

energy

sucked

every

day

so

I

went

to

talk

to

my

doctor

and

he

said

here's

what

I'm

going

to

do

for

you

I'm

going

to

give

you

some

pain

pills

here's

the

catch

you

cannot

take

these

every

day

if

you

take

them

every

day

they

will

mess

you

up

you

can

take

them

once

or

twice

a

week

he

said

tell

me

what

is

your

most

painful

day

of

the

week

and

I

said

well

my

most

painful

day

is

Sunday

makes

sense

I'm

moving

around

it's

stressful

there's

lots of

things

going

on

so

he

said

okay

you

can

take

this

pill

on

Sunday

and

so

there

were

times

throughout

the

week

where

I

would

be

in

pain

I

knew

I

couldn't

take

the

pill

but

I

would

think

to

myself

Sunday

is

coming

brothers

and

sisters

no

matter

what

pain

you

are

in

in

this

world

right

now

or

will

walk

through

Sunday

is

coming

when

the

Lord

returns

and

wipes

away

every

tear

from

your

eyes

when

faith

will

be

sight

through

many

dangers

toils

and

snares

I

have

already

come

his

grace

have

brought

me

safe

thus

far

and

grace

will

lead

me

home

let's

pray

to

God

our

Father

in

heaven

we

do

praise

you

and

thank

you

that

you

don't

waste

our

sufferings

you

do

use

them

to

transform

us

to

change

us

to

make

us

into

the

image

of

your

son

and

our

savior

our

Lord

Jesus

we

ask

that

you

would

remind

us

of

that

this

morning

that

we

would

not

waste

it

we

would

not

become

people

of

anger

and

bitterness

and

anxiety

but we

we

ask

that

you

do

this

for

the

sake

of

Jesus

we

ask

these

things

in

his

name