011109Rom082439Christianhope

The Christian’s Great Hope    By Pastor Jim May +
It was a balmy October afternoon in 1982. Badger Stadium in Madison Wisconsin was packed out. That day there were more than 60,000 die-hard University of Wisconsin football fans watching their team take on the Michigan State Spartans. It didn’t take long to determine who the better team was. Michigan State was moping up the field with the Badgers. But what seemed odd was that even as the score became increasingly lopsided against their team, there were bursts of applause and shouts of joy from the Wisconsin fans. // How could they cheer when their team was getting trounced so decisively? It turns out that 70 miles away the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the St. Louis Cardinals in game 3 of the 1982 World Series. Many of the fans in the stands were listening to portable radios and responding to what was going on in another game, in another sport, in another place.                                                           

       There is something to be said for being plugged into what is going on elsewhere. Sometimes, the things that are going on where you are become extremely difficult. So as Paul writes the words we are about to read in Romans 8, He wants to make sure that our faith in God affects the perspective in which we view our circumstances. No matter how difficult or even desperate our situation seems, Paul says we can face it with hope. //  "We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)" Romans 8:24
Hope is one of the three primary characteristics of a Christian. It is joined to faith and love. Now Hope, by definition, means that we do not yet possess that which we hope for, and in fact, that we have never actually seen what we hope for, but we believe it’s there. Everything that makes you a Christian is centered upon the fact that you have a great Hope.
Unbelievers do not have this hope that you have. They may claim it and desire it, but until they come to truly know Jesus, they have a hope that is without foundation and will not stand. For Hope to be real it must have a solid foundation and that’s found only when your hope is placed in Jesus Christ and his shed blood and standing upon the unchanging Word of God.
Jesus is at the very center of our Hope. The reality of our Hope will only be fully realized and fulfilled at the Second Coming of Christ. Until then, it is a Hope that is hoped for and not received in its fullness.
Your Hope is a living hope. It does not break down when the winds of adversity and tragedy come against it. In fact, the more it comes under attack, the stronger your Hope becomes because it is never closer to being fulfilled than it is when those storms of life come against us. It is a Hope based upon Jesus and it is the Hope of Eternal Life, living in a place of absolute glory beholding the very face of God on a continual basis.
We are saved by this Hope. And who is among those who make up this “We”?
It is all of those who have received the firstfruits of resurrection power through Jesus’ blood. Our bodies are no different than the sinner who doesn’t know the Lord. This mortal body is still in a perishing condition, no better off than anyone else. The difference is in the power of the Hope that lives in our hearts, for it is by that power that we are saved from sin and are destined to be delivered from the wrath of God that will be poured out upon all of creation at the judgment.
Hope in Jesus Christ is the cause of salvation.  To a Christian, the Hope that we have is not a “Pie in the Sky Vision” like you may have when you someone promises you something that is too good to be true. Have you ever had that in your life? It’s something that would be so good that you want to believe in it, but your common sense tells you that it’s all a lie and that there is a catch to it somewhere.
Because we know that our Hope is real we are willing to patiently wait for it to come to pass. We count it as certain and real, as something valuable; something that will be satisfying, and that will be received with great joy. We are locked into this present world by the breath of life, and we try to hold onto it as long as we can, but we also refuse to turn loose of the unseen hope, for it is more important to us than life itself.
And so, we wait with patience given to us by God’s grace. We face the battles of life, the persecution of humans, the temptations of the devil, even in the face of unanswered prayer we wait because we expect that the reward is worthy of any price to have it. ///
"26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." Romans 8:26-27
The Spirit of God who dwells in us and leads us witnesses to us that we are truly a Child of God. The Spirit within us tells us that we not only have already been given eternal life, but we know that He blesses us far and above what we can see for ourselves.
The Spirit that lives in you knows what you need more than you do yourself. He “groans” for us, because we don’t even know what to groan about. I didn’t say gripe or complain – I said “groan”. The Spirit intercedes on our behalf, giving us a push, if you will, in the right direction, to help us avoid temptations and overcome our own weaknesses. He leads, guides and directs us into all Truth. The Holy Spirit is my Helper, there to help me live holy and righteous, and to avoid so many of the pitfalls that unblievers fall into every day because they are led into them by the devil and their own sinful hearts.
The Holy Ghost doesn’t intercede for me in the same manner that Jesus does - for Jesus is my Advocate before the Father in Heaven, ever pleading my case of innocence from sin through the power of his own Blood and my faith and hope in Him.
The Holy Spirit is crying out to me on the inside and Jesus, my Savior and Lord, is not only helping me but He is also speaking up for me before the Father in Heaven. All of this is going on because God the Holy Ghost and God the Son know that I am not capable of helping myself so much of the time. I’m certainly glad that someone is there helping me, or I’d never make it. ////
I am nothing but a weak, frail human being just like all of you. Yet we are not weak in the same sense as those who don’t know Jesus. We have a spiritual strength inside because we realize how weak we are, so we learn to lean on Jesus, and He gives us the strength we need.
The people who don’t know Jesus are just as weak and frail in their humanity, but they also have no spiritual strength and are at the beck and call of the devil. They go about their daily lives ignorant of the fact that their lives are like a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. Their frailties are destined to bring them down without hope.
But even though we have the same physical limitations and frailties, as Christians, we also have Hope of deliverance. We have God’s promise that he is with us always and that he will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and overcome. And though we may sometimes fall into the same temptations as others, and this old body of flesh can be drawn aside to do some things that we shouldn’t, God still holds us up, helps us to overcome those frailties, and by His grace gives us the strength to march on.
I love the verse that says that God searches the hearts of his children. This is something that only God can do. Angels, demons, and even the devil do not have access to search the heart of a human. God alone has that power!
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?  The prophet answers his own question in the very next verse.

10      But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

I’m glad that God can truly know my heart. Even when I’m being rebellious, and even when doubts, fears and questions arise, God still knows the heart and what our deepest desires are, and he helps us.
When the scripture says that God knows the mind of the Spirit, it’s not just talking about the spirit of a human, but the Spirit of God in that human. When the Holy Spirit groans within us, interceding in us, God hears that groaning, and he moves upon our heart to bring us into compliance with what we need to overcome, adapt and become what he wants us to be.
This is our reason for praying. We know that God is listening and that he has the power to help us. But quite often we don’t know what, or how to pray, or what to believe in. that’s when the groaning of the Spirit of God in us takes over and helps us.
Have you ever wondered whether you were praying for something in the will of God? Did you ever think that you might miss God’s will? It’s certainly possible to do that, but think now about what the scripture says.
The Holy Spirit in you is always making intercession in your life according to the will of God. By bringing us in line with God’s will then the Holy Spirit also helps us to be in the place where we can receive the blessings of God. How can we help but overcome and be blessed when the Holy Ghost is leading us right under the spout where the blessings come out? ///
The next verse we love to quote in times of adversity.
Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."
There is a worldly good, a spiritual good, and an eternal good. Worldly good is what the people of the world are seeking after.
Spiritual good is the work of God’s grace in your life, fitting you into the image of Christ one step at a time. This good is what the worldly least desire, and the saints want most of all. Sometimes afflictions in the lives of a Child of God bring about this kind of good because they help us to become spiritually stronger with a greater trust and faith in Jesus.
Eternal good starts now and includes the final results of the workings of God in us and through us when this life is done. It includes eternal life, the glories of Heaven and the culmination of every promise that we had hoped for./
Because the Holy Spirit groans within you, leads you and guides you, and because Jesus Christ is ever interceding for you, then everything that happens to you will ultimately lead you to the place where God wants you to be when this life is over. That doesn’t mean that all things will seem good, or even be good, but they will all lead to your ultimate good in the end. What a great promise that is!
We know that all of this is true by not only the witness of the Spirit in us, but the examples given us in God’s Word. The lives of Jacob, Joseph, Job, David, Moses and others, and our own experiences tell us that this is going to come to pass. Somehow, everything that happens to us ultimately brings us closer to Jesus if we just allow the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to have its effect upon us. //
The two prerequisites to having all things work to our good are that we truly Love God and that we are called according to his purpose in our lives. If you love the Lord and you are allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you, and the Word of God to change you, then you are ready to receive that promise. ///
Romans 8:29-30, "29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory."
God knows your heart so well that he knew before you were born that you would be one who would pay attention to his call upon your life. He has already designed a path for you to follow that will bring you to fit with Jesus. He has already arranged for you to be adopted into his family, to justify you through the blood of Jesus and give you a glorified body and place in his eternal Kingdom. All of this was set into place from the moment of your conception. God searched your heart and knew that you could be one of his children if you chose to, so he called you out by name, and through His wonderful grace, is leading you every step of the way. Unless you decide to reject that call of God upon your life, there’s no way you can fail to make it all the way. // Choose to serve the Lord and you can’t fail. Choose to reject the Lord and you can’t win. //
Psalms 37:23-24, "23The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.  24Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand."
God wants you to be his Son or Daughter, adopted and given the power of the resurrection life, following his only begotten Son who was the firstfruits of resurrection life. Because Jesus lives, we shall live also. That’s God’s plan, his design and his will for you.
Romans 8:31-32, "What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?"
If God has already chosen you to be his adopted child, and he has already chosen you to spend eternity in Heaven with Him, then who can be against you and cause you to fail? The only one is yourself for nothing outside of you has the power to stop God’s purpose from coming to pass.
No sickness can keep you from winning in the end. No temptation has the power to overcome you and steal your victory if you resist it. Satan cannot stop you for you have been given power to resist him and make him run. Demons have no power to possess you and can oppress you only as long as God allows and he will never let you fall because of oppression. Other people have no power over your heart. They may control the body but they can never arrest the spirit within, or limit the ability of the heart to soar.
If God is for us, and He really is, then who can stop us, or be against us and win? The answer is nobody! Nothing can separate us from God’s plan. Even the worst enemy we have, death, has no power to stop God’s plan. In fact, it only speeds us to receive the reward of the hope that is in us.
If God was willing to allow his only Son to die for us so that we could be saved, then why would he allow us to stumble and fall over every little thing that comes against us. He wants us to make it to Heaven and God is making the way that it will come to pass. Just put your hope and faith in Jesus Christ and then trust God and you’ll make it all the way.
Romans 8:35-39, "Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep (Ps 44:22).”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. // 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
This isn’t talking about our love for Jesus, but His love for us. We can separate ourselves from the Love of Jesus, but He will love us just the same. That doesn’t mean that we can’t backslide or lose out with God, but it does mean that God will love us in spite of our sin, but will also have to judge us according to that sin. Remember it is only sin covered by the blood of Christ that will be seen as innocent.

But unless we separate ourselves, nothing else has the power to separate us from Christ. The Holy Spirit within will continually helps us to know Jesus even more and to love Him more every day.
Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and war – none of these things has the power to separate us from Jesus and cause our love for him to fail. We have the power to overcome them all, a power given to us by God.
Though we live under the constant threat of death, or the every present knowledge that each moment could be our last on this earth, that has no power to separate us from Jesus. It only serves to drive us closer to Christ, expecting that at any given moment we finally receive that great Hope and go to be with him in Heaven.
In all these things we are more than conquerors. They have no power over us to stop us from obtaining our eternal reward. God has chosen us to overcome, given us the power to overcome, and given us the Spirit of Adoption so that we can call him “My Father”. It is impossible for a Christian to lose his salvation if he just continues to be faithful in serving the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead him.
Let this message help you to believe like Paul did, that nothing can separate you from the Love of God and that you will allow nothing to separate you from loving God in return.
Nothing of this world can stop you. All of Heaven is working on your behalf. God has chosen you to live with him in Heaven forever. That ought to be grounds for shouting “Hallelujah” and marching on in victory.
God wants you to win.
He’s designed a plan for you to win.
He’s made a way for you to win.
He’s laid a path before you that will lead you to victory.
He’s given you His Word as a lamp to light the way.
The Holy Ghost in inside of you prompting, teaching, leading and interceding for you so you can win.
God has already constructed a mansion for you in Heaven.
He’s already set a place for you at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Jesus is ever defending your innocence before the Father in Heaven.
How can you lose? Rejoice people of God, and lift up your heads. Your Redemption draws closer every day. You will receive the Hope that you have been waiting for and what a day that’s going to be.
Do you have that Great Hope this morning? Do you know and love Jesus? Are you one of those that God has chosen to live in his Heavenly City? You can be if you give your heart and life to Jesus today. God wants you to be there. Do you want to go?
Remember that sin cannot enter Heaven’s gates. You have to be washed in the Blood of Jesus and allow him to be the Lord of your life. Why not give your heart and life to Jesus right now as we close this message. Make your way to this altar and surrender your life to Christ. He’s waiting for your decision.