20261018 Romans 5 Hope Sunday Sermon Tim Dickmann

Okay, so we're in Romans chapter 5, and let's

Romans 5 · chapter mention

begin. We'll read the first five verses here.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we

have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom also we have obtained our introduction

by faith into this grace in which we stand. And

we exalt in hope of the glory of God. And not

only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations.

knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance,

and perseverance proven character, and proven

character hope. 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. So we're going to begin this morning here

at the end of verse 2, where Paul says, We exalt

in hope of the glory of God. So, if you remember,

what did we say in the very beginning here? What

is Paul? How would we title this section? Does

anybody remember what we said? What is the point

here? We said the blessings of justification.

Or we talked about the certainty of glory. The

certainty of heaven. The surety of our salvation.

Those two things here. And so that's continuing

here. Paul is continuing to give us those. blessings

of justification or to encourage us with the

assurance of our final salvation the hope of

glory here and so we talked about what it means

to be justified we talked about this idea of

peace that we are at peace with god what all

that means and we talked about this introduction

into this grace into this new realm into this

new state that wherein we stand right we talked

about faith we talked about all of these things

and paul now he says and we exalt in hope of

the glory of god so this is one more blessing

of justification this hope of the glory of god

one of the results of our justification so what

does it mean here to exalt in hope of the glory

of god well what is the glory of god if we were

to say simply we could say heaven We could say

our final salvation. That's very basic. But let's

just leave it at that for now. And then he says

hope. We have hope of this and we exalt in this

hope. So what is hope? What is it to exalt in

that hope? So those are the questions we want

to try to answer this morning. So he says here

to exalt. If you have the King James, it says

rejoice. And so that's good except for it should

say, Rejoice greatly. It's not just a rejoicing.

It's a great rejoicing. That's what he's saying

here. This exaltation. This exalting. One of

the commentators talks about it being this great

rejoicing and great victory. So you think of

this great victory that you've had maybe in sports

or in war. And there's this great exuberant rejoicing

and exaltation over this victory that has occurred.

That's the kind of rejoicing. This exalting that

Paul is talking about here. This is a great and

a glorious rejoicing, a triumphant rejoicing.

So, this exaltation, this exalting, that's what

it is. What is this word hope? Now, when we use

the word hope, and when in our society we use

hope, what do we usually mean by that? All right,

just a possibility, right? We hope we can go

to the pumpkin patch today. Now, we're looking

forward to that. That's going to be a good time.

But what if it rains? Or what if we get sick?

Or what if the car breaks down? All these things

that could hinder that hope. And so that's not

what the Bible means when it says hope, though.

So our hope in our day is it's not a certainty.

It's not an assurance. It's a wishful thinking.

It's a desire. It's something that we want, but

we're not real sure that it's going to happen.

But that's not the way the Bible uses this word

hope. So the Bible uses this word in the sense

of an expectation of what is sure and certain,

not the prospect of what might be or what might

happen, but the prospect of what is already guaranteed.

So that's the word hope. So when Paul uses this

word hope, when he says that we exalt in this

hope of glory, we have this exuberant, great

rejoicing in this certain fact of something.

That's what he means. That's what he means by

hope. And so when you read that word hope throughout

scripture, generally that is how it is meant.

That is how the writers use this word hope of

a certainty, a surety. A guarantee. Alright,

so that's what Paul is saying. It is a sure thing.

Confident, joyful expectation of what I know

is coming, but what I have not yet experienced.

I think I got that from Charles Leiter. I think

that's how he explained it. A confident, joyful

expectation of what I know is coming, but what

I have not yet experienced. Okay? That's what

Paul is saying here. That's this hope that we

have. Well, the first question that I wrote down

here then is, how can we have this hope? So Paul

says that we should have it. He says we exalt

in this hope of the glory of God, but how can

we have this hope? How can we be hopeful? Well,

again, this is what? This is a result of our

justification. This is a result of who we are.

In Christ. What has been accomplished. On our

behalf. See now. If we used hope in the way that

we use hope. Of going to the pumpkin patch. And

we said. I hope. Because of something that I

have done. That I'm going to get to heaven. There's

not much hope there right. But if we use hope.

In the sense that the Bible does. And because

of what Christ has done. In justifying us. saving

us and all of these things that have been accomplished

for us, then we can have a great hope. There's

a reason to hope. We have true hope. And so that's

how we can have this hope. We can have this hope

because we know what Christ has accomplished.

And we know that that's unchanging. We know that

that's certain. Remember how we talked about

this is our justification is what? It's accomplished

in heaven already. It's done. We're not waiting

for more of it. But it's a sure thing already

accomplished for us, clothed in the righteousness

of Christ. And so we can have this great hope.

We're going to jump ahead here. If you jump down

to verse 9 here, Paul says the same thing. He

says, much more than having now been justified

by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath

of God through him. Having been justified, we

will be saved. But he uses this word much more.

Paul uses it a number of times going through

here and it's throughout the Bible. But the idea

there is if this justification has been accomplished,

this is a great and an enormous thing is what

Paul is saying. If this justification, this hard

thing has been accomplished, surely God can do

this small thing in... getting us to heaven and

saving us ultimately and finally in glory. It's

an argument there from the greater to the lesser.

If God can do this great thing, surely he can

do this little video thing, right? Jesus uses

the same thing when he says, you knowing how

to, you being evil, know how to give good gifts

to your children. How much more your heavenly

father give you the Holy Spirit? What's the idea

there? The idea is, Here we are, sinful men,

right? And yet we know how to give good things

to our children. We know how to care for our

children. How much more a good, perfect, holy,

loving, caring God is going to give you so much

more than your earthly father would give you?

The lesser to the greater there. And so what

Paul is saying here is this is a certain, sure

thing that we can have this hope in. God has

accomplished our justification in Christ. He

will accomplish our final salvation. Our final

glory. And so we can have great hope and encouragement

in that. That's what he's talking about here.

That's what this hope is. That's how we can have

this hope. Because God has already accomplished

this great and mighty thing. He will finish it

as well. And then I wrote this down. When? When

do we have this hope? When does this hope come?

It comes at our justification. It comes when

we're changed. When we're in Christ. When we've

been transferred from one kingdom to the other.

This hope is not something that comes later.

I shouldn't say that. It does become greater.

More real to us perhaps as we walk with the Lord

longer. But the moment someone is converted,

they can have this hope. They should have this

hope. They should understand and they should

know, I have been justified. I am in Christ.

I am a child of God. I can hope, certain, sure,

that I will make it to heaven. We don't have

to be a Christian for a year or two years or

ten years or thirty years and then finally say,

now I've got this hope. Now I know it's certain.

No, it's certain at our justification. This hope

is then, it should be then for us. Now, again,

we could talk about assurance of our salvation

and we could talk about growing, again, faith

and all of these other things, but it is sure

and a certain hope at the very beginning that

God will accomplish what He has begun in us.

So, it is a sure and certain hope. Now, the hope

of glory. He says here that we may exalt in hope

of the glory of God. Now, what is the glory of

God? We already said heaven, right? We said heaven

there. But why does Paul say we exalt in hope

of the glory of God? Why doesn't he just say

heaven? And so I want to try to get us to think

about this, to wrap our minds around this as

best we can. Glory of God. Perfection, majesty,

presence of God in heaven. The glorious condition

of blessedness into which we will enter. That's

heaven. But what makes heaven heaven? God, right?

We will be with God there. But it's more than

that. And so, again, think about this. What makes

heaven so great? We will see God. We will see

Christ. Alright? Let's read a few verses here.

Now, if you think about that, that in and of

itself is an amazing fact, right? Can we see

God now? What do we know? What do we know now?

Can we see God? No, right? Why can't we? Because

we're sinful. God's holy. We would die, right?

We don't have that type of access to see God

as we are now. But that is coming. That is coming.

That's an amazing thing to think that we will

see him. A couple of verses. John 17, 24. Father,

I desire that they also whom you have given me

be with me where I am so that they may see my

glory which you have given me. For you loved

me before the foundation of the world. We will

see Christ. And then a couple other ones here.

1 John. 1 John 3. We'll read the first three

verses. John says some of these same things.

1 John 3. See how great a love the Father has

bestowed on us that we would be called children

of God and such we are. For this reason the world

does not know us because it did not know him.

Beloved, now are we children of God and it has

not appeared as yet what we will be. We know

that when he appears we will be like him because

we will see him just as he is. And everyone who

has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just

as he is pure. This hope that we have in seeing

him and being like him. Seeing God. Revelation

22, 3 and 4. There will no longer be any curse.

And the throne of God and the Lamb of God will

be in it. And his bondservants will serve him.

They will see his face and his name will be on

their foreheads. And there will no longer be

any night. And they will not have the need. Of

the light of a lamp. Or the light of the sun.

Because the Lord God will illumine them. And

they will reign forever and ever. All of those

things right. Speaking there of heaven. The change

no sin. But we will what? We will see him. That's

one reason heaven is so great. Is because we

will see God. We will see Christ. As we never

have. And we never could here on this earth to

see God. But what does it mean to see God? Right?

So we're not just talking about, I mean, we are,

but we're not just talking about seeing Him with

our eyes. Again, it's so much more than that.

To see God is to know God. Right? So often that's

how the Bible describes Jesus. Jesus, the apostles,

to see God is to know God. We will know God as

we never could know him now. We will see him

as he is. We will understand to a so much greater

degree the glory. How did I define it? The perfection

and the majesty and the glory of God. To see

him is to know him. Isaiah 6, right? Isaiah says,

I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And he fell

on his face. He saw God. He had a glimpse of

God's glory and his greatness there in the temple.

And the results of that. I wrote this one down.

Again, this is another amazing passage here to

think about in this regard. But Moses, right?

Exodus 33, 13. I'll read a few verses here. This

is after Israel's sin with the calf and God.

It's basically saying I'm not going with you.

And Moses is pleading with the Lord there. In

verse 13. Now therefore I pray you. If I have

found favor in your sight. Let me know your ways.

That I may know you. So that I may find favor

in your sight. So his desire there is to know

God. He wants to know him. And then if you jump

down to verse 18. He says. Then Moses said I

pray you show me your glory. And he said, I myself,

this is God, I myself will make all my goodness

pass before you and will proclaim the name of

the Lord before you. And I will be gracious to

whom I will be gracious and will show compassion

on whom I will show compassion. So right there,

God is revealing himself to Moses in who he is.

But then if you go on there in chapter 34, verse

6, he says, Then the Lord passed in front of

him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate

and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in

loving kindness and truth, who keeps faithfulness

for thousands, who forgive iniquity, transgression

and sin, yet he will by no means leave the guilty

unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers

on the children and on the grandchildren to the

third and fourth generation. And Moses made haste

to bow low toward the earth and worship. What

all happened there? Moses, God says he would

see his hind parts there. He'd see the back of

him because he couldn't see his face. And so

this all happens and the Lord proclaims these

things. What does he proclaim? Who he is. Moses

had a glimpse there of who God was or who God

is. He experienced God there as he never had

before in knowing who God is. It wasn't just

that he saw him, but he knew. He knew something

more of God. And that's the glory that awakes.

That's the glory of God. That's what we will

experience in heaven. We will see God. We will

see Christ. But we will know. We will know him

as we never have. So much deeper. So much more.

But then also, what else? What else is it? The

glory of God here. What is this hope that we

have? But we will be like him. Now there's a

thought, right? How dare we say that? That we

will be like God. And yet that's what the Bible

says of us. That is this hope that we have. That

is the hope of the glory of God. We will partake

in some measure of this glory. We will be like

God. Again, can you wrap your mind around that?

No, I don't think so. Yet this is what this hope,

this is what we're waiting for. This is the sure

uncertainty that awaits us. So we will be like

Him. I didn't mention this verse, Matthew 5,

8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will

see God. Again, back to where we see Him there.

Philippians 3, 21. I guess we could turn there

and just read it real quick. I didn't write it

down. Philippians 3, 21, Paul says, 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. So our bodies will be glorified and

we will be like Him. But then also that passage

there in 1 John 3, 2, it said that we will be

like Him. We will see Him and we will be like

Him. We will be, again, restored to the image

of God. So what happened in the fall, right?

We were created in the image of God. And what

happened? Sin came into the world, right? And

Adam fell. Part of that image of God was destroyed,

was lost. And so in glory, that is restored.

Not restored as in we will be Adams. It will

be much better, much more glorious. Okay, so

I'm not saying we're going to make it to Adam's,

you know, Adam's the goal here. But restored

so much more fully than Adam even was. But again,

to think of Adam, right? I mean, just think of

Adam. That's, again, an amazing thing. If you

think, created in the image of God and walking

in the garden with the Lord and fellowshipping,

right? That's what Adam experienced. Fellowship

with God. Well, we're going to have that and

yet more. So much more. So that again is an amazing

thought. Fellowship restored. Perfect fellowship

and communion with God. We will be like Him.

Again, why is all this possible? Because we will

be like Him. We will no longer be sinful. We

will no longer have these hindrances that we

have here on this earth. And so that's what awaits

us. That's the glory that awaits us, not just

to see God's glory, but to be like God, to be

free from sin and corruption and all these things

in this world. It's amazing to think again of

Moses. I thought of this. Moses's face shined

after being with God. Think of what it must be

like to be with God, to see God so much more

than Moses ever did. how much more will we shine?

The glory of God there given to us. Moo says,

this is a description of salvation. That state

of God likeness. This is what we hope for. And

then Robert Haldane says, the view and enjoyment

of God's glory is the hope of the believer. This

form of expression equally applies. So this hope.

This glory of God. This form of expression equally

applies to the glory that God bestows on his

people. This glory of God. Who God is and what

he bestows upon us. That is this hope that we

have. That is a great, a great hope. A hope worthy

of exalting. Greatly rejoicing in. So that's

why Paul says we greatly rejoice. We exalt. In

this hope of the glory of God. Not just heaven.

Yeah it's heaven. But what makes heaven heaven.

Is God. The glory of God that we will see. And

that we will experience. That we will be changed.

So a great exalting. A great glory there. Going

on then. Dad closed his bible. I guess I should

quit. Alright verse 3. And not only this. But

we also exalt in our tribulations. Knowing that

tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance,

proven character, proven character, hope, 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. I just want

to mention a few things here. Paul's going to

deal with this idea, not the idea, but he's going

to deal with love further on here as he goes

on in verse 6 here. But he speaks here of this.

Exalting in tribulation. So not only do we exalt

in hope of the glory of God, but we also exalt

in our tribulations. And so what is this word

tribulation? It is distress. The idea in the

Greek is like the pressure put on someone being

under siege. And so Paul says that we, again,

it's the same word. We exalt. We greatly rejoice

or glory, boast. In tribulations. And there is

a differing opinion here as to what exactly Paul

means. I tend to think that Paul means here that

we exalt or rejoice in the tribulations. So not

we rejoice in spite of. So even though we're

going through hard times, we're still going to

rejoice. That's true. We are going to do that.

We should be doing that. So it's not in spite

of or in the midst of. So even though we're going

through all of these things, I'm still going

to rejoice in these tribulations. No, I think

what Paul is saying is we rejoice in the thing,

in the hard time, in the hardship, in the suffering.

We rejoice in that, not just rejoicing in the

midst of suffering. Again, both are true. We

rejoice in the midst of suffering, right? We

count it all joy when we fall into various trials

and temptations and so on. That's true. But I

think what Paul is saying here is we rejoice

in this tribulation, in this thing that is difficult,

that is pressing upon us, that is difficult,

that is causing distress. Now, he's not just

saying here... We could think of persecution

as a Christian. So I'm a Christian and so I'm

persecuted because I'm a Christian. Those things

happen and we rejoice in that as well. But it's

not limited to that. What are those things that

cause distress in our lives? There are difficult

times. We all know there are hardships in this

world. And again, maybe some of them are because

we're a Christian. We live a certain way and

so things are more difficult for us. encounter

hardships and and that's true and you know that

we could talk about the fact that everything

is difficult as a result of sin yes but everything

whatever that distress whatever that difficulty

is we rejoice in that i wrote down a couple financial

hardship right sickness loss pain persecution

etc whatever that that is we rejoice in that

thing and it's not that we're seeking those things

out and we're like oh i want to be In pain, I

want to be in distress. I want to be in hardship.

I want to not have any money so I can't pay my

bills. That's not what we're saying. But when

we live in a way that honors the Lord and the

Lord brings these things into our lives, we rejoice

in those things. Why? Why do we rejoice in those

things? Well, let's see what Paul says. He says

here, knowing something. knowing that these tribulations

bring something about. Knowing that these tribulations,

these difficult times, these distresses, produce

something in us. And what do they produce in

us? They produce in us, I have perseverance,

proven character, and hope. That's the result.

As we rejoice in the midst of these difficult

times, as we rejoice in these, distresses we

are changed we are conformed our thinking is

changed our attitudes and everything else about

us because we know God is using these things

for our good and for his glory as Romans 8 28

says so we exalt in these things we rejoice in

these things we view these things rightly 2nd

Corinthians 2 Corinthians 4, 16 -18. Paul gives

us here. He says, Therefore we do not lose heart,

but though our outer man is decaying, yet our

inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary

light affliction is producing for us an eternal

weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While

we look not at the things which are seen, but

at the things which are not seen. For the things

which are seen are temporal, but the things which

are not seen are eternal. So, these light momentary

afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight

of glory far beyond all comparison. Momentary

light afflictions. What are those things? Paul's

life, I don't think any one of us would call

them momentary light afflictions, what Paul endured.

But that's what Paul says. He says, I've endured

momentary light afflictions because they've produced

in me an eternal weight of glory. What were his

momentary light afflictions? Shipwreck, right?

In the sea, three days. Almost dying of exposure

at other times. Beaten, 39 lashes multiple times.

Stoned, left for dead at times. Stoned multiple

times, I think, right? Momentary light afflictions,

Paul says, are producing a far more exceeding

and eternal Result in him. So. That is why we

can rejoice in these tribulations. When the Lord

brings these things. They're for our good. The

Lord is sovereign. The Lord is in control. He

ordains. Whatsoever comes to pass. He has put

these things in our life. For a reason. And we

rejoice in those things. Because it produces

in us. This perseverance. This perseverance.

proven character and hope so perseverance endurance

patience i forget who it was said this patience

is implies submission to the will of god so this

perseverance spiritual fortitude that bears up

under and is made even stronger by suffering

spiritual fortitude bears up and made even stronger

if you think of it think of a marathon runner

think of a guy lifting weights The more you put

on, the more you do it, the more you can endure,

the stronger you can become, right? That's the

idea here, persevering through these things.

Yes, it's hard. It requires effort. It's work.

And yet, it's producing something. It's producing

patience. It's producing submission. Producing

in us these eternal things that will not pass

away. So, we persevere. Through these things.

Knowing that it is the glory of God. Or knowing

that it is. The will of God. And the plan of

God. And then proven character he says here.

Philippians 2 .22. The same word is used. In

this passage here. Philippians 2 .22. Paul says.

But you know of his proven worth. That he served

with me. In the furtherance of the gospel and

so on. Proven worth. So as we persevere in here,

what happens? Our worth is proven. It's proven

that we are the children of God, that we are

walking by faith, that we are justified. It's

proving those things and it results in hope.

It results in hope. This hope grows, we could

say, more. We're more sure that this glory is

awaiting us. We are able to press on through

more difficulties. Greater difficulties. Knowing

this hope awaits. So that's what Paul is saying

here. We rejoice, we exult in these tribulations

because they produce these things in us. And

we desire to be changed. That's the desire of

the Christian. To be more like Christ. And so

that's what these things are producing in us.

I wrote down a couple things here. All this results

in hope. When we go through suffering, affliction,

tribulation, with the proper attitude expressed

here, exalting in tribulations, hope grows and

becomes stronger and more sure in us. Notice

I said in us. It's not that the hope is ever

changing, but we are changed. Hope does not disappoint

because the love of God has been poured out within

us. The love of God expressed or seen in His

giving the Holy Spirit. To us, showering in us

abroad, abundantly in us, this unfathomable love

that does not end or have a limit is the guarantee

and the certainty of our hope. How will this

love fail to accomplish its goal, our salvation

and our glory? So, we'll talk more about the

love of God in the weeks to come, what has been

accomplished there, but the tribulations that

we go through, the difficulties, produce these

things in us and result in our increase in hope,

in our increase in faith, and in our more being

transformed into Christ's image. Amen.