Romans 5:3–5
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According to Google, the average height of an NBA player currently is six foot seven inches. That is a full eight inches taller than the average height of an American man, which is five foot nine inches. Not only that, there are a total of 28 NBA players, again according to Google, who are taller than seven feet. That's compared to only seven players in the NBA who are shorter than six foot tall. Now, I've noticed as the NBA playoffs have been going on that basketball players, when they're interviewed and ask how they got to where they are, they say almost always hard work. And I don't doubt that. I'm sure it takes enormous dedication and work to be a professional athlete. That being said, in all likelihood, I bet that those of us of more average height could probably train every day of our lives and never even sniff the
NBA. So while I don't doubt the grind of these players, there's a very real sense in which a lot of those players have something completely outside of their own effort as a central factor in their success, their genetics. They hit the basketball genetic lottery. In our passage tonight, we're going to think about how we too, as Christians, can attribute our success as Christians to something outside of ourselves, outside of our effort, and we should do that. So let's look at Romans chapter 5, verses 3 through 5. You can find it on the front of your bulletin. I'm going to start reading in verse 1. Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace by which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
And then our verses. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. I think the main point of our text tonight is this. As Christians, we can confidently hope in our future because God is with us now. As Christians, we can confidently hope in our future because God is with us now.
We're going to think about that in two points. So point one, and that corresponds to verses three and four, which is confident hope, confident hope. And point two, God is with us, which we'll see in verse five. So point one, confident hope. Let's look again at verses three and four. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. Let's take a really close look at the text.
I think there's some easy ways that we can get tripped up on it with just a casual reading. So first, notice that Paul does not qualify our rejoicing in suffering. So he doesn't say, we should rejoice in our sufferings. He simply makes the statement, Christians rejoice in their sufferings. Now I don't know about you all, but I don't think I do a very good job always of rejoicing when I'm suffering. In fact, I think my bent most of the time when I'm suffering is to feel sorry for myself or to feel overwhelmed or just to feel helpless. I certainly strive to rejoice in suffering and I want to do that because I've seen Christian heroes of mine do it and I've seen a number of you all rejoice in your suffering. But I know that even when talking to Christians and during extremely hard circumstances, and even when I'm encouraged with how they are trusting in God, I know that
they feel doubts and anxiety. I don't think I've ever spoken to a Christian who would rate their performance through suffering with a 100% A+. The reality is, is that our tendency as sinful people is to wilt under pressure. So if that's the case, how do we understand what Paul is saying here? I think that when we look at these verses, our tendency and what we want to do is turn them into instructions, into almost like a training regimen for Christians. But that's not what they are. They're promises. So look at them. So if you are a Christian, God, by his power, will cause you to rejoice in the sufferings because God will use them to create long-suffering endurance in you.
And he will take that endurance, he will use it to create godly character and Christian maturity. And you, as you observe and experience the work in your life, his work in your life, you will know that he is with you and that he loves you and that, in turn, should give you confidence that his promises are true. You can have confident hope in his future love for you because of his love for you right now and the way he demonstrates it by working in your life. There are a lot of ways that I want to grow as a Christian.
I want to have a better prayer life. I want to know my Bible better. I want to feel more compassion for God's people. I want to be a better evangelist. Those are all good things and there are things that I'm actively doing to try and become better at those things. We should all strive for that. But when I look at my Christian life, I can't help but acknowledge that the biggest periods of growth in my life haven't come from my efforts but from God working in me. I think about myself and who I was a few years ago, the sins I struggled with, the anxieties I had, And I can see that God, in His kindness, has simply taken some of those away.
I didn't ask Him to. A lot of the time, He works on things in my life I didn't even know needed work. But He does that in the life of Christians simply because He loves us. God is always working in us. And what Paul is saying is that God uses suffering in particular to do that work. I think it was John Piper that said, you know, I've never heard a Christian say, I grew so much during that happy time. God uses suffering for our good. So three applications and then we'll move on to our second point. So first, don't ever be embarrassed to remind yourself when you're suffering or other suffering Christians of their future hope. We need to have those reminders and we can have confidence in them. There will come a day, this will actually happen, when God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and we can count on that. And it's a good thing to remember
it, even if it doesn't solve our present need. Secondly, second point of application. It's a good thing to take time to stop and reflect on how God has worked in your life. So think about where you were years ago. Think about where you are now. Think about prayers that God has answered. Keep tally of God's kindnesses to you. All of us have testimonies to God's faithfulness. You know, Justin said this summer we're going to be doing our usual Stories of Grace Sunday School series. I would encourage everyone to come. Remind yourself about your God and how He loves you. Third, third point of application. As Christians, we can rejoice when we are in the midst of suffering because we know that God uses suffering to grow us as Christians and to let us experience his work and power in our life. Now to speak plainly, I think the last nine months have been some of the hardest in the life of our church. I know they've been hard for me personally. I know
they've been hard for many of you personally. They've been hard for us collectively. That being said, let's pray that the Lord uses this time in the life of our church to grow us and to give us a clear picture of his love for us. I'm not sure that I see it right now, but I trust that the Lord is doing something wonderful and good through these last months, because that is his character and because that is his promise to us. That brings us to our second point. God is with us.
So up to this point in Romans, Paul has been making the point that God's love for us is not something that's simply based on our actions or something lovable that God sees in us, but simply an act of mercy and grace. God loves us simply because he loves us. And so what are the ways that God loves us? How has he shown that love? First, he showed his love for us by sending his son, Jesus. So John 3, 16, for God's loved the world in this way, that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. As Christians, we believe that God has acted in history to demonstrate his love for us, specifically by sending his son Jesus, a person and a life as real as anything that we have experienced.
But, that being said, none of us personally met Jesus when he was on earth or witnessed his death. But God has shown his love for us in another way. So look again with me at verse 5. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So God doesn't just sit from afar orchestrating the events of our lives so you can observe his love for us. He has poured the Holy Spirit into our hearts as his gift. I had a friend who was a leader with the underground church in Iran. And one time when he was returning to Iran, he was stopped by the secret police.
And they questioned him for days. And he found that as when the interviewer came into his room, he would feel great confidence. And he'd have bold answers. And he would share the gospel with him and then when the interviewer left he he almost would collapse into his anxieties and he just he felt the power of the Holy Spirit working in him when he most needed his work I wonder if you think about the active role that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives Our hope as Christians will not be put to shame because the Holy Spirit will not let it.
He actively works in us and for us. He reminds us of truths. He corrects us and he grows us. He protects us. His work will not fail. A Scottish pastor made this observation. Christians can do anything God wants them to do. They can carry any burden, overcome any temptation, endure any pain. God meets all their needs. This must be the stuff of our dreams. There is nothing the church and the Christian cannot do if we prayerfully set our minds to it.
Our own inherent gifts and strengths are not at all the measure of our potential. God, dwelling in us by his spirit, is the measure. Our hope should never be in our own abilities. Our hope must come from outside of us. Our God isn't a stingy God. He wants us to know that He loves us. He has promised that He will use our sufferings for our good. He shows us His love by actively working in our lives.
We will endure to the end because the Holy Spirit will ensure it. As Christians, we can confidently hope in our future because God is with us now. Let's pray. God we thank you that you sent your son to die for us on the cross and Lord we thank you that you've sent your Holy Spirit to teach us and to show us your love Lord we pray for us that we will feel that love and know your love for us we pray in your son's name Amen