Build Your Hope On The Word of God

Romans 15:8–13 NKJV

8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.” 10 And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” 11 And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” 12 And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.” 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul has been aiming and pointing us to this prayer in verse 13

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

What a wonderful and powerful prayer and yet it is made all the more meaningful and powerful by the scriptures that Paul draws on for confidence and assurance in this prayer.

Prayer is always enhanced by spending time in the Word of God. When we read or hear the promises of God given to us directly from God in His Word we can come boldly to the throne of grace to bring our petition to the Father with confidence, knowing that He will grant us what we ask.

What is it that John tells us in his epistle?

1 John 5:14–15 NKJV

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

And how do we learn what the will of God is? By the Holy Spirit and by His Word of promise.

When we have prayer meetings at our Home Group some may wonder why we have a Bible Study before we pray, why not just spend more time in prayer? Well, this is the reason, our prayer is enhanced and empowered by the Word of God.

Paul began this thought in verse 4,

Romans 15:4 NKJV

4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Making the connection here between the Scriptures and our hope. As Paul told us in Rom 10:17

Romans 10:17 NKJV

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So our faith and hope are firmly based in the Word of God. Otherwise what do we believe and in what do we have hope. But if God has said it then I believe and trust that God’s word is faithful and true so now I have something to hope in with confidence.

Faith or hope that is not firmly grounded in God’s Word is uncertain at best. I may hope that it doesn’t rain tomorrow or that I get a raise at work or that I win the lottery but none of these are promises in God’s Word. It doesn’t mean that these things won’t happen just that there is no certainty. But when God says “I will never leave you or forsake you” that is certain. When His Word says that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him will never perish. We can have absolute confindence in that promise. Look at what it says in Heb 6:13-18

Hebrews 6:13–18 NKJV

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

By two immutable things first His Word which never changes and is always faithful. If God says it then it is enough. God is not a man that he should lie. But that He might give us strong assurance He sealed His promise with an oath. And just any oath but He swore by Himself because there is nothing greater than God. Why? That we might lay hold of the hope set before us. It is clear that God wants us to be able to have absolute confidence in His promises to us. God does not want His people to doubt His promise but rather that we might have great hope.

The Hope of the Gentiles

What was God’s promise to Abraham?

Genesis 12:1–3 NKJV

1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God’s promise to Abraham was that he and his family would be blessed and not only that, but that all families of the earth would have the hope of blessing through Abraham’s seed.

So coming back to our passage in Rom

Romans 15:8–9 NKJV

8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.”

Paul now quotes from 4 passages in the Old Testament.

Psalm 18:49 NKJV

49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.

Deuteronomy 32:43 NKJV

43 “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”

Psalm 117:1 NKJV

1 Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!

Isaiah 11:10 NKJV

10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”

All of these Scriptures speak of the Gentiles having hope in Christ.

Prayer For Hope

Romans 15:13 NKJV

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul has built up our hope through the Word of God so that Now he can pray this prayer with power as it is based firmly on God’s Holy Word.

He begins addressing God as the God of hope. What a wonderful name for God. He is the God of hope as all hope for all people rest in Him and in Him alone. He is the great hope the saving hope the enduring hope the eternal hope the only hope for every man women and child that has ever or will ever live.

Then he prays that the God of hope would fill us with all joy, not world joy in worldly pleasures, not joy in material things and temporal belongings, but true joy which is the joy of being justified by the blood of Christ. The joy of knowing that i will be glorified with Christ and spend all eternity with Him, the joy of the certianty that all that is mine in Christ is based on the work of Christ alone and is not feeble like my own efforts of holiness.

And he prays for peace. Not peace like the world gives where they they say “we will give you peace and safety from danger” when in fact they offer no true peace. But the peace of God which surpasses understanding. The peace that comforts the people of God in the face of devastation and disaster.

This joy and peace can only be possessed by those who have the hope of the gospel. And so Paul says in believing. This joy and peace comes only to those who have faith in Christ and rest in the hope of the Word of God.

That you may abound in hope. That word abound means literally to surperabound. That is that we may have an ever increasing abundance of hope. How anyone could think that a Christian is meant to live a life of uncertainty about their salvation is beyond me. How could a person have an ever increasing abundance of hope without the absolute assurance that they are now and forever a child of God?

If you are a doubting child of God this morning or if you are an unbeliever then this prayer is for you. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will have an ever increasing hope and an absolute assurance that you are now and will forever be a blessed child of God.

This prayer is also for the believer who knows that they belong to Christ that they would continue to grow in hope.