Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / December 6, 2020 | A Thrill Of Hope - Rejoice In Hope (Alex Wolfe)

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December 6, 2020 | A Thrill Of Hope - Rejoice In Hope (Alex Wolfe) · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, I love that song.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: Had me all emotional.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: That was crazy.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't usually happen to me, but uh we're currently uh speeding towards Christmas at about 100 miles an hour, aren't we?
0:13
SPEAKER_00: We're second uh sermon into our Christmas series.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: We've entitled A Thrill of Hope, uh, based on the hymn, Oh Holy Night.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Um but for my wife and I, uh we we've really been kind of Scrooges in the past when it comes to Christmas, if I'm being honest with you.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: And uh before we moved to Topeka recently, we uh uh I was a seminary student and we lived in a seminary apartment, which was relatively small.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it wasn't too bad, but there wasn't just a ton of space to put up a tree in the middle of the room, you know, and and so we often avoided that, but on top of that, uh I was a seminary student, and December was cram time, right?
1:00
SPEAKER_00: I was always cramming for a final exam, cramming for uh a paper that I put off until the day before, usually.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: And uh and so that went all the way up until the week of Christmas, basically.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: And uh I just didn't feel much like celebrating Christmas until after that was all over.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: And on top of that, Lindsay, my wife, was the events coordinator at the seminary, and so she was walking around for weeks before Christmas, setting up uh it was her job to set up every Christmas tree and decorate it on campus.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: And for one, she hates glitter, so that ruined it for her.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and two, uh, by the time she got home, the last thing she wanted to do was decorate another Christmas tree.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: And so uh we just were kind of in the past, just not thrilled.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh we weren't really in the Christmas spirit leading up to it.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: But this year's a lot different.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: So I've graduated, I made it, they gave me the piece of paper, they can't take it back.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, we're I don't have to do any more papers or exams.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: We bought a house, we're settling in, we have plenty of space now, and uh we could not be more thrilled about Christmas.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: On top of that, our son is about to turn a year and a half, and he obviously doesn't understand the excitement of Christmas, but he he sure loves the Christmas lights, and so that's been fun.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: Um but uh what we were actually listening to Christmas music mid-October, uh, and then we set up our Christmas tree on Halloween day, although we were a little nervous to turn on the lights because you know had kids happened to come trick-or-treating, we thought our neighbors would judge us for already having Christmas lights up.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't exactly speak to Halloween very well, but we were really we were kind of making up for all these previous years.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: Um but one of the things that we love a ton about Christmas, I think, and the thing that's got us real excited this year is you know, we got a couch by the fireplace, by our TV, and so we're just really looking forward to watching Christmas movies.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: We love watching movies together at Christmas time, at least sometimes.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Um but I have to be honest with you, all about my wife.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh I love my wife to death, but I thought I'd pause there and see all the wives around the room glare at me.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: What's he gonna say?
3:32
SPEAKER_00: How dare he, right?
3:34
SPEAKER_00: No, uh gentlemen, if you ever find yourself in a public speaking situation, do not follow my lead and throw your wife under the bus for a sermon illustration, as I am about to do right now.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's not wise.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: But I ran it by her, she's okay with it, sort of.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh but alas, uh, I love my wife to death, but she's horrible to watch movies with.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Right?
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh she Lindsay loves spoilers.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Are there any of you in here that likes to know how the end of the movie?
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Well, she does.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: And she she also loves these cheesy uh Hallmark movies uh because they're basically exactly the same year after year.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if they just kept replaying the same movie over and over again, nobody would actually know what's happening because that's basically, I mean, look at all these, they're all wearing the same sweaters and everything, and you know how it begins, you know how it ends, and it's comfortable, it's cozy, it's predictable, and you just kind of you sit by the fire and enjoy the quote unquote love stories.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: But some of us uh like more suspenseful movies around Christmas time.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: In fact, one of the most popular Christmas movies uh around Christmas time, as I well, actually, he uh Bruce Willis came out recently, said it's not a Christmas movie.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: Now there's a whole debate on whether it's a Christmas movie, but popular movie at Christmas time.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh and for people like me who who love kind of the thrill of suspense and and mystery and all and all these things, uh this is the worst type of movie to watch with my wife.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: Because she always demands to know what happens before she watches because she can't handle the suspense scenes, the suspense scenes while not knowing if the characters will make it through to the end.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's honestly just too much for her, and so often I'll have to tell her how it ends, uh, or else if I don't know how it ends, she'll Google it and ruin the ending for both of us.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't end well, then she won't even watch the movie, and it's this whole thing.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: But uh maybe you're here today and you're experiencing suspense in your story, and like my wife with movies, it's too much for you not knowing how it's going to turn out.
6:02
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're wondering if you've taken a wrong turn somewhere.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Or you're wondering, you're constantly riddled with fear and anxiety, and you're thinking, what if uh my story has gotten derailed?
6:14
SPEAKER_00: What if God, the author of my story, has somehow written me off or written me out of the story?
6:22
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes in life we just need to know that we can count on a happy ending.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes in life we need to know that all ends well before we can really face those more intense battle scenes, and right now, maybe your life circumstances have you wondering if your story is actually heading towards a glorious end.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: Well, Christmas time has something to offer those of us who find ourselves in that place, and that is this thing called hope.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, as Jim uh last week as he went through the hymn, O Holy Night, he said, Christmas thrills us with the hope of Christ's return.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: This is based on the lyric, A Thrill of Hope.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: The weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and a glorious morn.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Christmas points us to the coming kingdom.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: It points us to the glorious ending of the story, and it gives us a thrill of hope.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: And so today, my goal is to spoil the end of the story for you, or to remind you of the glorious ending of the story so that you can face the suspense in your life with hope, with confidence, and with joy heading into those hard and scary suspense scenes of your life.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: We Christians are spoiled because God has so graciously told us how it all ends, and not only that, the Bible gives us some practical encouragement on how to use that information for our benefit here and now.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: So today we're gonna look at one of those passages of practical encouragement.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be looking at the book of Romans, chapter five, and we're gonna be looking at verses one through five.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: So if you have your Bibles handy, you start flipping over there.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: We will get there very shortly.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: But before we get into the text, uh let me just go ahead and spoil the ending for you.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: Uh, most of you, this is not new information.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this will be a refresher, and I hope that it will be a reminder to you because we could so easily get distracted from all of this by life's suspense.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: But maybe for some of you this is new information, and you're wondering how the story ends.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh well, let me tell you.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: The biblical story speaks of the coming world.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: See, we all know that the world is broken, don't we?
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh, people are sinful.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: We're selfish and we divide and we seek our own good over the good of others.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: But the biblical story speaks of a time that is coming when the world will be restored and renewed.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: It will no longer be marred by sin and selfishness, and whatever effects sin have had on our earth, that will be completely and totally reversed.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: The story doesn't just speak of a coming world, it speaks of a coming kingdom.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: See, we all know that our human governments are broken, don't we?
9:49
SPEAKER_00: They rule with corruption and selfishness.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: But the biblical story speaks of a king who is coming who will rule in perfect righteousness.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: He will rule with mercy and with compassion, with patience, and with truth and justice.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: A perfect government will rest upon the shoulders of King Jesus.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: The biblical story also speaks of the coming resurrection.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: See, we all know that our bodies are broken, don't we?
10:28
SPEAKER_00: We get diseases, we suffer, and eventually we all die and decay.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: But the biblical story speaks of a resurrection that is coming, and that we will get new eternal bodies, immortal bodies that will never decay.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: They won't experience disease or suffering.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: Death and suffering will only be a short and a distant memory.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: It also speaks of the coming reconciliation.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: We all know our relationships are broken, don't we?
11:08
SPEAKER_00: We gossip about one another, we slander one another.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: We use people for our own benefit and our own happiness.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: And our relationships with God are also especially broken.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: But coming is a time of total reconciliation with God and with those who are his children.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: No more will we seek our own good, but in that day we will sacrificially seek the good of others around us.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: This is the future that the Bible paints.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: This is the glorious hope, the new and glorious morn that the Bible speaks of that is our ending.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: This is where we're headed.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: So, what do we do with all that information?
11:57
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to hear it and to know it, but what do we do with it?
12:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's look at Romans 5, and we'll start in verses 1 and 2.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: And my first point is going to be that the hope of glorification should cause us to rejoice.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: The hope that we just outlined should cause us to rejoice.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at verses 1 and 2 of Romans 5.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Paul says this therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: As Jim so eloquently said last week, Christmas is about sin and a savior.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: And that's how this passage kicks off by focusing on the accomplished work of Christ's first coming, namely, he justified us.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: He gave us peace with God.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: We were formerly his enemies, standing in his wrath, and now we are brought near to him and we stand in his grace and we have access by faith.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: That's what Jesus accomplished already.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: And the result is that we rejoice, Paul says, in the hope of the glory of God.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: So we focus on his first coming, and then we think of it, that causes us to think of his second coming, and we rejoice in the fact that that is on its way.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we rejoice in the fact that we know the end of the movie.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: We look forward to it, we're encouraged by it.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: And the word rejoice in the Greek is kaukeomai, and it carries the idea of boasting.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: It carries the idea of being proud of one's work.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: I think how Paul's using it here is to be so proud of the fact that you know how the story ends.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to take pride in the fact that it's an amazing ending for you and that you know what it is, and better than it's better than anything you could have previously imagined.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever watched a movie with somebody who had seen it and you hadn't?
14:35
SPEAKER_00: And they so badly wanted to spoil it for you, and they sit there, and you know, you're watching the movie, and they're they're watching your reactions the whole time.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: You're like, stop looking at me.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: You know, but they so badly want to know how it ends, and you're over here biting your blanket in suspense, wondering how is this thing gonna go?
14:51
SPEAKER_00: And they're over there just kind of shrugging it off and laughing because they know how it ends.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: They know it's all gonna be okay in the end.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: And I think this is the idea.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants to be that person in real life with when actually watching movies with somebody.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: But here, Paul's essentially saying, be that person with the biblical story.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: Take pride in the fact that you know how it ends.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: Boast in that fact, rejoice in that fact.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Paul says elsewhere in 1 Thessalonians, speaking about these same types of things, about the future hope that we have, he says, encourage one another with these things.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: Build one another up with these things.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: In other words, spoil the ending for one another.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: You know how it ends?
15:39
SPEAKER_00: Spoil it for everyone else, too.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And now some of you may be thinking, Alex, what if the suspense and the horror is just too much for me?
15:51
SPEAKER_00: How can I rejoice in end times theology when there's so much pain, so much suffering, so many hardships all around me right here and right now?
16:06
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm glad you asked, because the next verse I think is going to help us understand how this theology can inspire joy in our lives even through hard times.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: So, our first point was that the hope of glorification should cause us to rejoice.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: And our second point is that the hope of glorification should ruin the suspense for us.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: It should ruin the suspense.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: One thing that suspense and thriller movies are really good at is making us feel anxious intentionally.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Right?
16:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why we like that in movies.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: I think I think we have enough of it in our everyday lives.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh let's look at Romans 5, verses 3 and 4 and see what Paul says here.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: He says, not only that, not only do we have justification, not only do we have peace with God, not only do we stand in his grace, and not only do we rejoice in this future hope that we have, but we as believers rejoice in our sufferings.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: Why?
17:15
SPEAKER_00: Because we know that suffering produces endurance.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: And endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and we all know and we've all seen that hope produces joy.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, we're we we're already experiencing a lot of anxiety in our own lives.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: A quick search on Google.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh when you type in Christian anxiety, you yields innumerable articles, all written within the past couple of years.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh a disproportionate amount of them which are written in 2020 alone, as you could possibly imagine.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I am part of the uh millennial statistic.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: And my generation has been dubbed the quote-unquote anxious generation.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: We're all graduating with a lot of student debt and going into our jobs, and we've seen uh that the world is broken.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: They say one of the biggest differences between millennials and previous generations is that previous generations had a certain confidence about the world.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: But millennials have seen brokenness in the world and see things not go well, and it causes them to be anxious.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Because as we just said, we all know it's broken and we're faced with it every day.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: And if there were ever a year in our lives to describe as anxious, as suspenseful, a year of tribulations, I think some of us at least would agree that 2020 would fall into that category.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: This year we're seeing some of the most blatant failures in our world.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: We're seeing these grand divisions all across our world.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: We're seeing the most blatant failures of our governments with corruptions and extreme selfishness.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: We're seeing the most blatant failures of our bodies as this virus spreads across our nation and our world and other diseases which can acclaim our lives, and we're experiencing the most blatant failures of our relationships as they're tested in all of these lockdowns and all of these unknown futures that we're currently facing.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: How in the world are we supposed to rejoice in the midst of all that, Paul?
19:37
SPEAKER_00: Isn't Christmas time supposed to be joyful?
19:40
SPEAKER_00: Isn't Christmas time don't we don't we put right peace, love, joy in our homes and decorate with isn't it supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year?
19:51
SPEAKER_00: Except for this year, many of us can't even gather with our families.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of things distracting us from hope this year, isn't there?
20:04
SPEAKER_00: But ironically, the things that cause us to lose hope, the things that we cite that cause us to lose focus of our hope most often are the very things that ought to remind us of our hope, according to Paul.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: The three things that lead to hope in this passage sufferings, endurance, character are often the things that we cite as Christians as reasons why we lose our hope.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at each one of these.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: What do we cite as the causes for our loss of hope?
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, suffering is one of them.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: We say, it's too much for me.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: It's too much.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: When sufferings arise, it's often our first temptation to blame God, to ask Him to take it away from us.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: We're often so focused on our present circumstances that we can't stop to think about the future that is coming.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: We can't stop to imagine how those sufferings might possibly be working for our good.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: We cite the issue of endurance.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: We say, it's too far away.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait that long, I'm too impatient.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: And it's easy today for some of us to ignore the future hope we have because we think it's too far away.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: It's easier for us to focus on what's right in front of me right here, right now, than to imagine and live for some future reality.
21:30
SPEAKER_00: And it's especially difficult because we're so far removed from Christ's first coming.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: And we don't know when he's coming again, though we hope it's soon.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: And if we're not careful, we can begin to picture these things as just stories if we don't preach them to ourselves as truth.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: And we cite our character.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: We say, I'm too sinful, I'm too sinful.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps the easiest excuse for many of us today is to wrap ourselves up in this appeal to our failure.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: It's far too easy to focus on what I'm doing wrong now than to remind myself that I'll no longer be this way someday.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: In Christianity today, we're obsessed with our failures.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: We spend almost all of our time grieving the fact that we are sinners, that we fail to move on to more mature doctrines such as hope and this, what we're looking forward to in the future.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: The fact that we're sinners is Christianity 101.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: When you came to the Lord and you said, Have mercy on me, a sinner, you should have understood in that moment that you're a sinner.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: So why does that still surprise us day after day?
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Why do we obsess over it instead of praise God for securing for us a future reality in which sin will no longer be a struggle, where sin will no longer have power?
23:10
SPEAKER_00: I have a professor and a mentor at Dallas Seminary who would say it this way.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: He said, it's like having an entire dinner feast in front of you.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: You're free to eat at any time.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: And instead you choose to chew on your napkin.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: However, according to our text, these reasons that we cite as reasons to lose focus of hope ought to be reminders of hope, according to Paul.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: The text presents a process that can lead us to rejoicing in the midst of suffering.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: So sufferings lead to endurance.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: And endurance leads to character, and character leads to hope.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: And of course, we know that hope leads to rejoicing.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: And so here's how I think Paul is saying this works.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: We'll look at each one individually here.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Suffering.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's gonna suffer.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: It's the reality of the fallen world that we live in.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: It's not the result of God not blessing you, it's not the result of God cursing you.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: It's not if you will suffer, it is when you will suffer in this life.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: But the important question is not if.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: The important question is what will I do in that suffering?
24:35
SPEAKER_00: What will I do when that suffering arrives?
24:38
SPEAKER_00: And in your suffering, you have a choice.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: You can either coil back in fear, you can give up, or you can press on.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: You can endure, you can persevere the suffering.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible calls us to do that, to press on, to persevere and not abandon the faith.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: This was especially important in Paul's day as he was struggling with Christians who were tempted with abandoning the faith for this very reason.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: It was either one of two things.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: They were suffering, and somebody came along and said, Hey, you're suffering.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: Don't you think God is probably cursing you?
25:18
SPEAKER_00: Don't you think that you're doing something wrong?
25:22
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you stop keeping the law.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you should go back to lawkeeping.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: And people would do this.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: They'd see themselves as suffering, they would see this as a curse from God, and they were tempted to go back to some sort of works-based Judaism.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: And Paul said, no, no, no, don't go back there.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: Persevere, persevere.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: Either that or these people were so afraid to suffer and to be persecuted by the Roman Empire that when they were pressed, they would quickly abandon their confession of faith out of fear of death.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: This was an issue.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: But Paul says we suffer and we endure suffering as believers.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: And should we choose to endure and persevere, this is where the Lord really does his work of conforming us into his image, of conforming us into his character.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: As we endure suffering, I think the point is that we identify with his character.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: We identify with his suffering.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: We identify with his death because that's what he did.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: He willfully endured his suffering unto death and went to the cross.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: And thus, as we identify more with him and with his death, we are reminded that he conquered death.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: And so by identifying with his suffering, and then also with his death, we know that we too will follow in his footsteps, and thus we identify with his resurrection, and we believe that we too will be raised from the dead into future glory, and that is hope.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: And of course, we know that this future hope of glorification ought to cause us to rejoice.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the scary and suspenseful scenes in life ought to remind you of the fact that you know how it ends.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't forget the ending at this point.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: You should think to yourself, oh, I know this guy's gonna get through it.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: And you ought to be proud and joyful that you know how it ends.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: So stop watching those scary scenes and suspenseful scenes on a loop.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: Stop letting your suffering steal your joy.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: Stop pushing the end out of your mind.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: Remember that glory is coming and that the suffering won't claim you for eternity.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: So to summarize, our hope of glorification ought to spoil the end for you.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever watched a suspenseful or a scary movie for the second time?
28:09
SPEAKER_00: It's almost always less scary because you know that they're gonna make it through.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: It might still be thrilling, sure, it might still be suspenseful on some level, but you know they make it out okay and have a happy ending, and so it's endurable.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: And at least you can watch it and enjoy it instead of being miserable, as my wife is when she watches these movies.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: So the hope of glorification should cause us to rejoice.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: The hope of glorification should ruin the suspense for us, and finally, the hope of glorification ultimately can be counted on.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: It can be counted on.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Let's look together at verse 5 of chapter 5 of Romans.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: He just said that this suffering leads us and produces this hope within us, and he's going to follow that up and say, and this hope that we have does not put us to shame.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: It will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: And so the question this verse answers is why should the hope of glorification cause us to rejoice?
29:25
SPEAKER_00: Isn't hope just wishful thinking?
29:28
SPEAKER_00: We just hope this will happen.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's the way we use it in the English language, sure, but the biblical hope is something different entirely.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: It's beyond wishful thinking.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: The biblical hope can be 100% counted on.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: And why?
29:44
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: In other words, God gave us a down payment of our future.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that good?
30:01
SPEAKER_00: He made Christmas happen, and his son showed up on the scene.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: He made Good Friday and Easter happen, and his son died and rose again to secure for you this future.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: He made Pentecost happen, and he sent his Holy Spirit as a down payment so that you can be sure that this future is coming.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: It already happened, and it was all to secure you this future promise of glorification.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: So half of it's already happened.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: The Son already came, and so we can be sure he will come again to finish the job.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: And the Holy Spirit is, for lack of better terms, sort of a collateral to let you know that he's gonna make a good on his word.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna happen.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, this contrasted to sometimes when my wife is uh pestering me to tell her how the movie ends.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I will often tell her an innocent little lie because I want her to be surprised at the outcome when she actually sees it.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: Again, gentlemen, do not follow my lead on this.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: This is not good because it never works in my favor.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh but this is not that.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: The ending that we see described in the Bible is not a lie.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: It's not fiction, it's not a fairy tale.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: And I think so often we can get caught reading, especially in times in light of that.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: Especially since texts like Revelation have so much metaphorical language and look a whole lot like our modern movies.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: We can get caught reading it as just a fictional story, but we can be sure that the biblical story is real because we have the Holy Spirit, that the end is coming and it's a great ending.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: We have Christmas to look back on, to remind us that it's on, to remind us that we won't be disappointed, that we can put our hope here, and we will not be put to shame.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: So when times get hard or suspenseful, don't shrink back in fear.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: When the world is falling apart around you, when you feel that you can't trust our government leadership, when you or a family member gets sick from COVID or another disease, maybe cancer, or a loved one passes away prematurely, or a friend or a spouse turns on you and wants out of the relationship.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: Don't say it's hopeless.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Don't say it's meaningless, because it's not.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: Let these things remind you of our hope.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Let them have their good work in you.
33:14
SPEAKER_00: Let them produce in you this character.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: Let them produce in you joy.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: Don't say, I can't see it all ending well.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: Of course you can't see it all ending well.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: It hasn't happened yet.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: But it's coming.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: And you can be sure of it.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: Because he came and he died, and he rose, and he's coming back again.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: And you have the Holy Spirit to prove it.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna see it when it comes.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: So when these things arise, don't shrink back in fear.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: Instead, get alone.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: Preach or hope to yourself daily.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: Remind yourself how it ends.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: Go to church, plug into community, allow others to encourage you with the future things, to spoil the ending for you, to tell you and remind you what you have to look forward to.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: Allow yourself to be proud of that destiny even as you suffer.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: And then I think this Christmas, if you do these things, you will find joy.
34:33
SPEAKER_00: And that joy will give you confidence to face those battle scenes, knowing that you have a glorious future awaiting you in eternity.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Now we also have this great opportunity today to partake in something we call the Lord's table.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: And in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 26, Paul says these words, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: So as we partake of this together, we proclaim, we remember the Lord's death.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: And as we just saw, as we remember the Lord's death, we can't help but to remember the fact that he conquered death and that he rose from the dead.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: And as we remember that, we remember we're coming out of the grave with him someday into this future glorious hope.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: And so let this be a time of reflection for you, a time of joy.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: Allow the Lord to work in your heart.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: So let's take a few minutes here just to reflect on this joy that we have as we remember the death of Christ.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm gonna come back up in just a few minutes, and I'll lead us and we'll partake of the bread and the cup together.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: So just take these few minutes to reflect.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: And when he had given thanks, he broke it.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: And he said, This is my body which is for you.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: Do this in remembrance of me.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: He goes on to say, in the same way he took the cup, also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for your story.
37:09
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you so graciously communicated your character with us.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that we get to partake in your story, Lord, and that you didn't leave us in suspense.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: You didn't leave us to the sufferings of this world without something to combat it.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: You gave us the ending.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: You gave us a thrill of hope to inspire us to endure the hard times, to something to look forward to, something to hold on to so that we know, Lord, that all will end well.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for that merciful act.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: And we thank you for your grace, your mercy that you've secured this for us, not by anything we've done, but by faith in your son who died on the cross for us and rose again.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: We're in all of you.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: We thank you.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
38:14
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.