Finding Peace, Grace, and Hope in Our Helplessness

Chapter 5, verses 6, 7, and 8. We'll read through

these verses, then we'll pray and get started.

For while we were still helpless at the appointed

moment, Christ died for the ungodly. will someone

die for a just person though for a good person

perhaps someone might even dare to die but God

proves his own love for us and that while we

were still sinners Christ died for us let's pray

God we thank you for the beautiful truth of this

word God we thank you for loving us even though

we are pretty rotten dear Lord we thank you for

just the freedom and the ability to come here

today and to look at your words, to hear your

words, and I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit

would just be among us this morning. I pray that

you would give me the words to say, dear Lord,

that you would help us to hear what you want

us to say, dear Lord. There are no good words,

God, that come from me. If there's any good that

comes today, God, it has to come from you, so

I pray That you would be with us. God, you know

where we are in life. You know our struggles.

You know our worries. You know our fears, dear

Lord. You know where we are and we need you today.

And so we come and we pray that your word would

just help us to grow in you today. That we would

find encouragement and joy and peace and hope,

dear Lord, in you this morning. And I ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen. In the chapter before

this, and you can go back and read it this week

if you get a chance, it's a really great chapter

where Paul is talking about Abraham, and more

specifically talking about Abraham's faith. And

he's talking about faith in the previous chapter,

and he's saying that we need to be one who has

a faith like Abraham. That that is how we are

made righteous. It's not through any outward

acts. It's not through anything that we can do.

It's not because we are good enough, but it's

because we have faith in Jesus Christ. And Abraham,

even though he had not seen Jesus Christ, he

had faith in God and whatever it was that God

told him. He had faith in God. He had faith in

God when God said he was going to give him a

child, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

And he makes a beautiful showing of that idea

in the previous chapter. And then we flip to

Romans chapter 5. And in Romans chapter 5, it

Romans 5 · chapter mention Romans 5 · chapter mention

starts with beautiful language of those who have

faith in Jesus Christ. It talks that they are

those who have peace and those who have grace

and those who have hope. Now, I don't know about

you guys, but those three words are things that

we should long for, that we desire. I would imagine

that everyone in here today desires peace. We

don't like when there's chaos. Maybe there are

some people that do. I hope that's not any of

us. But some people, maybe they feed on chaos.

But that's not a good place to be. It's not good

when your family life is chaotic. It's not good

when your relationships are chaotic. It's not

good when your work life is chaotic. Chaos is

not good. Chaos is of the devil. Chaos brings

us down and it drains us and it worries us. But

peace comes from the Lord. And that is the only

source of peace. There is no peace in anyone

else or anything else in this life. And so in

the middle of our lives that are filled with

chaos, we need the peace of God. Because the

chaoticness of life can just bring us down. And

that's why it's a wonderful thing that God gives

us his word. That's why it's a wonderful thing

that we can come here in this building. on Sundays

and on Wednesdays, and just kind of take a minute

to praise God, to take a minute to look at His

Word. to let it speak to us. And sometimes it

speaks to us in a way that's hard, and sometimes

it speaks to us and it convicts us, and sometimes

it speaks to us and it gives us peace and it

gives us that hope. And even in the corrections

and even in the convictions, there's still some

peace in that when we listen to the Word of God

and submit to the Word of God and humble ourselves

before God and repent of our sins. There's just

peace all over everything that God does if we

would just seek him. And so Paul begins to talk

about those who have faith in Christ, that they

are at peace with God and that they have experienced

grace. Isn't that something else that we all

need? That we need the grace of God that we mess

up so often? that we sin, that we do things that

we are so ashamed of, that we wish we would not

have done, that thing that we wish we would have

just kept our mouth shut and we wouldn't have

done this or we wouldn't have gone there or we

wouldn't have been involved in that thing. And

we do these things and we just feel the weight

of them and they just press down on us like an

elephant sitting on our chest. It's just a burden

and it just weighs us down. But what a beautiful

thing the grace of God is. To know that God will

forgive us of our sins. And maybe we need to

be reminded of that today. Maybe we've read God's

word a million times and you've seen that God

is gracious. But we need to be reminded as humans

because every week it's a struggle. From last

Sunday to this Sunday, I suspect we've all done

some things that we just wish we hadn't have

done. And we feel the weight of our sin. But

the greatest thing that there has ever been for

us is Jesus Christ and the grace that comes through

Jesus Christ. That those sins that we have committed

can be forgiven. And so there's great peace in

that grace. And then he talks at the beginning

of the chapter here about hope. Well, certainly

we need hope. That's one of the worst feelings

in life is when we feel hopeless. And there are

a lot of people in our world today, and maybe

even some in this room, maybe you come in here

today and you feel hopeless. And the only source

of our hope, the only source of grace, the only

source of peace, it comes through Jesus Christ.

We come here today and we look at all that goes

on in the world, and it's horrible. We see horrible

evils, and this is not new. We may think it's

new, or we may think it's never been this bad

before, and that's kind of recency bias. It's

our generation, and we're living it, so we think

it's the worst ever. But there's nothing new

under the sun. I know I say that all the time,

but I'm constantly reminding myself of that from

Ecclesiastes, that this old world has not changed,

that only for a brief second was it really great

in the Garden of Eden, and it didn't take long

until sin ruined that. And from that point forward,

this world has been horrible. Evil has run rampant.

And there have been evil people in every generation.

And there continue to be today. And there continue

to be evils and atrocities all around the world.

But in the midst of all of that, there is still

hope because God is in control. Because God has

not forgotten us. God has not left us or forsaken

us. God shows us in his word through Jesus Christ

that there is hope today. Now, I know life is

tough. And I know that we're going through stuff,

probably some of you some really serious stuff.

And it doesn't seem like that there's any light

at the end of the tunnel. And I don't know how

your situation is going to turn out. But I know

that God is good. And I know that if you would

trust him, he will give you strength. And He'll

give you peace even in the midst of your struggles.

And we need that hope today. And just as God

has been with every generation that has come

before us, He is with us. And so He will be with

every generation that comes after us. And if

we find no hope in God, then we are doomed. If

you find no hope in God and in the Word of God

and in the Son of God, you are doomed. Because

you will not find that hope anywhere else. And

so Paul says it so beautifully as he talks at

the beginning of this chapter about the peace

that we receive and the grace that we receive

and the hope that we have through our faith in

Jesus Christ. And it's so beautiful what he says

here in these verses we just read. For while

we were still helpless at the appointed time,

Christ died for the ungodly. Isn't that a beautiful

way that he put that? While we were still helpless.

That is to say, there was nothing that we could

do. We were as helpless as we could be. There

was nothing that we could offer. There was nothing

that we could bring to the table. There was nothing

that we could do for God or give to God. We are

completely helpless and completely dependent

on another if there's any chance that we are

going to be spared. No different than when a

child is born. If you've ever had a child, if

you've ever seen a child, when that child comes

into this world, it is completely helpless. It

cannot feed itself. It cannot change itself.

It cannot do anything for itself. It is completely

dependent on someone else to reach down and to

pick it up and to nurture it and to feed it and

to provide for it and to care for it and to teach

it and to love it. And anybody in here who's

not a child or a grandchild, you do those things.

Not because the child is doing anything for you.

The child's not doing anything for you. But you

do those things because you love the child. Because

the blessing is in having the child. Even though

the child is going to make stinky diapers, he's

going to make you lose sleep, he's going to cost

you money, it's going to make your life really

difficult for years to come until you get him

out of college and still probably difficult.

But yet even knowing all that, all the pain that

they will cause you, you pick that child up and

you nurture it and you care for it because you

know that it is helpless. And so it is for Jesus

Christ with us. That we are helpless in this

world. That our sin has left us in a rotten and

pitiful situation. Listen to what verse 9 says.

But God proves his own love for us in that while

we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There's

nothing that we have done to deserve the grace

of God. There is nothing that we have done to

deserve the love of God. Jesus did not look at

any of us today and say, I see that group of

people at Enterprise Baptist Church in 2025,

and they are so awesome, I will go to the cross

for them and for them alone because they are

awesome, and I know how good they're going to

do for me. That's not what Jesus said. That's

not what the Scripture says. The Scripture says

that while we were still sinners, we brought

nothing to God, we were nothing but sinners,

Jesus Christ looked upon us and saw that we were

helpless, and He died for us. And that, my friends,

is what love is. That Jesus could look at us

and all of the sins that we have ever committed,

and every will commit, and he can see value in

that. He can see that we can be more than what

we are. Maybe even today as we sit on these pews,

maybe we feel pretty rotten and maybe we feel

pretty worthless and maybe we feel like our life

is a wreck and maybe we feel like there's no

way that restoration can be made and there's

no way that our life can change and there's no

way that our soul can be saved and there's no

way that Jesus would ever die for me. Well, Jesus

did know all of those things about you and he

still died for you. He knew how rotten you were

going to be. He saw value in something that maybe

no one else in the world could see value in other

than God himself. Y 'all ever watch these TV

shows where these people go buy these houses

and they restore them? That's a big deal. I mean,

those shows got popular 10, 12 years ago, and

now you see them all the time. Michelle watches

them all the time, and there's one show that

she watches, and this couple, they buy houses,

and I'm telling you, I would bulldoze 90 % of

them down. I mean, these things are completely

and totally worthless, and I think to myself,

how are people living in there, and how does

it ever get to this shape? How does it get so...

So messy. These things are worthless. These things

have no value. Just bulldoze them down. They're

done. But you know what they do? They go in these

houses, and they walk through them, and sometimes

they fall through the floor in them. And they

look around, and they say, man, this could be

a nice house. And I'm thinking, are you kidding

me? This is a death trap. This is horrible. And

they go in there, and you know what they start

doing? They start cleaning out all this junk.

Sometimes it's nasty and it's stinky. And I'm

thinking, man, who would do that? Who would pay

$500 ,000 for this junk? And then you've got

to go in there and you've got to get that out.

You've got to wear all these suits because it's

nasty and it's dirty. But they do it and they

put the effort in and they begin to get out all

the old junk. And they begin to restore it. And

they begin to put some new paint on the walls.

And they put some new... Light fixtures in and

they redo everything. Add on a little bit, the

house begins to grow. And then at the end of

the show, you know what happens. It's the before

and after. A house that looked totally worthless.

And they saw value in it. They factored in that

it was going to take the work. It was going to

take the money. It was going to take the effort.

But they looked at something that looked completely

worthless. And they said, I see great value there.

And they turn it into something beautiful. And

that's what Jesus did for us. He looked at us,

and we were just as rotten and nasty and as worthless

looking as those houses. And sometimes we feel

that way. Sometimes our lives are such a mess,

and we sit down and we say, how did I even get

here? How did I get in such a rotten shape? Is

my life even worth anything? Is there even any

value? But Jesus looked down and he knew who

you were before you were born. He knew just how

messy and rotten and nasty your house was going

to be. And he said, you know what? I think I

can make something out of that. And so Jesus

did what had to be done. Now there's one problem

with these house shows. All the stuff that they

do is great. We wish we could do it to our houses,

right? We say, man, I'd like to do that to my

house. But the real thing that stops any of that

from ever coming to fruition is what? Money.

Because they'll put a million dollars in these

houses. It's a great cost to restore something

that's completely ruined into something that's

beautiful and make it new again. It costs a lot.

And Jesus had to look at us and all of our sinfulness

and all of our nastiness, and he had to calculate

the cost. And once he calculated the cost, there

was only one thing that could pay for the price

of the forgiveness of our sins, and that was

his own life, that he would give his life as

a ransom for you and I. He considered the cost

today. Whenever you look at your life, whenever

you wonder if you're still lovable, whenever

you wonder if there is any hope, know this, that

Jesus looked at you and he knew who you are and

he knew the sins you'd commit and he said, I've

calculated the cost for your life and I love

you so much that I want to die on a cross for

you. You are worth something to Jesus Christ.

He did not die for nothing. He died for you.

So that he could take our lives full of our sin

and full of our rottenness. And he could forgive

us of those sins and clean all that junk out.

And he could begin to restore us. And he could

begin to make us new. While we were still helpless.

Jesus Christ died for us. While we were still

sinners, while we were enemies of God, Jesus

died for us so that we could become children

of God. And what a beautiful, beautiful truth

this is for us today. And it is because of this

truth. It is because that Jesus Christ, the Son

of God, saw our sins. He counted the cost and

he paid the price by giving his life on a cross.

It's because of him that we can rejoice today.

It's because of that that we can have hope today.

If we come in here discouraged and overwhelmed

and burdened by our sins and our struggles, then

today we need to call on Jesus Christ. Maybe

there are some of you and you've never put your

faith in Jesus. I pray that today that you would

trust Him, that you would give Him your sins,

that you would repent, and that you would let

Him forgive you, that you would let Him begin

to do a work in you and to restore your life

and to make you new. Maybe some of you today

already know Jesus Christ. But even in those

houses that get restored and they're beautiful,

there's still a little work required by the homeowner.

It's still a little upkeep. We can't just say

I trust Jesus and go on back to our old life

living in sin. We have to continue to work on

our life. Now there's nothing that we can do.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not

saying that there's any work we can do that's

going to change anything. But we work to grow

in Jesus Christ. We work to serve him more and

to love him more and to grow in his word and

to live by his word. It takes effort on our part

to serve God. Because there's a battle between

the ways of the world and the ways of Scripture

and the ways of Jesus Christ. Once we come to

faith in Jesus Christ, there's a battle pulling

us both ways. But we have to choose to do what

God's Word says and continue to live in faith

to Jesus Christ. So maybe there are some of you

today and you've been restored by Jesus. But

maybe you haven't been putting the work in. Maybe

your prayer life's not been so good. Maybe you

haven't been in God's Word. Maybe you know it,

you just haven't been listening to it. Maybe

you've had some of those battles between right

and wrong, and you've chosen what is wrong. Maybe

today is a good day for us to humble ourselves

before God and ask Him to do a little cleanup

in our life to restore us today. We need to know

today that we are loved by Jesus Christ, that

He considered us. not because of anything that

we have done, but because of what he has done

on our behalf. And it is only through Jesus Christ

today that we will find peace, that we will find

grace, and that we will find hope. Let us pray.

God, we come to you today. We thank you for these

beautiful words that are just reassuring to us,

dear Lord, that you just help us to remember,

dear Lord, We're pretty rotten on our own. And

there's not anything we can do for you, dear

Lord. We can't earn your favor. We can't earn

forgiveness of our sins. We can't work our way

into heaven, dear Lord. We are just as helpless

as a new babe, dear Lord. But God, we thank you

that even though we are helpless, that Jesus

Christ died for us. That Jesus Christ looked

at our lives as bad as they are, dear Lord. As

rotten as we are, and he saw value. And it was

worth the cost that he paid to give his life

on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven.

So God, I pray that if there is one that is here

that does not know Jesus Christ, maybe they just

don't feel like they're worth much. Maybe their

sin has gotten the better of them. But God, I

pray today that they would see. Hope in Jesus

Christ. I pray that even now, God, that they

would just repent of their sins, that they would

ask you to forgive them, dear Lord, that they

would ask Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior,

that they would seek to follow and serve him,

dear Lord. And I pray, God, if anybody makes

that decision and that commitment today to trust

in Jesus, I pray that in a moment as we sing

that they would come and share that news with

us today. God, maybe there are some here today

and they're yours. And maybe they've been restored

and maybe they have felt the peace and the grace

and the hope of Jesus, but God, maybe our sins

or our stresses or our worries or our failures,

dear Lord, have just got the better of us. We've

kind of lost sight of the things that matter,

dear Lord. I pray that you would help us to humble

ourselves before you today. Maybe there are some

things in our life that need to be cleaned up,

God. And so I pray through Jesus Christ that

you would begin a restoration. that we would

seek you, God, that we would seek your word,

that we would listen to your word, that we would

live for you, dear Lord, that you would help

us to grow in you and make us into the beautiful

men and the women that you want us to be for

your kingdom. I thank you for these good words.

I thank you for each one that's here today. God,

I pray that you bless these people, and I pray

that you bless these next few moments as we have

together. In Jesus' name I pray it.