"THREE REASONS FOR HOPE!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

ROMANS 5:1-11

1. FORGIVENESS FOR THE PAST: V1:
1. And how we need forgiveness for the past! Note our former fourfold lost condition:
1. We were helpless. The word for helpless means: "feeble, impotent, sick and weak."
2. We were godless. Not that we didn't have some false gods in our lives, but that with respect to the Living God we were without reverence and awe.
3. We were sinners. The word for sinners here means: "those who have missed the mark and have fallen short by participation in definite vices or wrongdoings."
4. We were enemies. We were at enmity with God; hostile to Him and His ways; at odds with God.
2. Before we came to Jesus we were guilty. The best of us, before God, are sinners, enemies, and stubborn rebels. But the good news is that when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, He takes our guilt away. He paid the penalty of all our guilt. Jesus Christ made peace with God for us! Yet some people cling to the idea that:
1. "I don't need to be forgiven! I haven't sinned!" But if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
2. "I can't even forgive myself!" A guilty conscience is a terrible thing with which to live. Sometimes we establish standards for ourselves that are unreasonably demanding and are impossible to live up to. As a result we feel guilty, self accused, because we haven't measured up to our own human standards. But the Bible says that even when our own hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.
3. "Even God can't forgive me!" But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
3. If we cannot come to grips with the sin issue, if we cannot realize the free and full forgiveness Jesus Christ brings, we suffer in many ways.
1. Relationships with others suffer because we become defensive, withdrawn and cranky. We may even try to put some of the blame for our guilt on others to alleviate our own sense of blameworthiness!
2. Our relationship with God suffers because we view Him as an angry, forbidding ogre. You hide from Him rather than flee to Him.
3. Our health suffers. There are many diseases that are caused, or attenuated, by a guilty conscience.
4. But Jesus Christ offers hope of a forgiven past. A little boy disobeyed his mother. She told him not to wade in the pond at the park. But, he waded! His conscience smote him and he wrote on chalk board in the kitchen, "I'm sorry, Mama. I disobeyed you. If you forgive me, please erase this note." He hid and watched. Mama came into the kitchen, read that simple little note and she didn't just erase the message, she washed the entire board free of any dust. The boy got the message. He was forgiven and his wrong was washed away! Just like that Jesus Christ cleanses us

So why should we hope? Forgiveness for the past. But there is another reason for hope.

2. HELP FOR THE PRESENT: VV3-5:
1. Many people wish their lives away:
1. "I wish it were still the good old days!"
2. "I wish tomorrow would come!"
2. But the plain and simple fact is: whatever the date on the calendar, however much we long for the past or yearn for the future, it is always the present! We can't escape that. Alley Oop may time travel, but we don't!
3. Consider this:
1. It is in the present that we face difficulties.
2. It is in the present that we suffer pain and hardship.
3. It is in the present that we take on new challenges.
4. It is in the present that we win victories.
5. It is in the present that we need God to be a faithful and capable helper.
4. With Jesus, we have hope for help in the present. During the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century, German pastor Paul Gerhardt and his family were forced to flee from their home. One night as they stayed in a small village inn, homeless and afraid, his wife broke down and cried openly in despair. To comfort her, Gerhardt reminded her of Scripture promises about God's provision and keeping. Then, going out to the garden to be alone, he too broke down and wept. He felt he had come to his darkest hour. Soon afterward, Gerhardt felt the burden lifted and sensed anew the Lord's presence. Taking his pen, he wrote a hymn that has brought comfort to many. "Give to the winds thy fears; hope, and be undismayed; God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears; God shall lift up thy head. Through waves and clouds and storms He gently clears the way. Wait thou His time, so shall the night soon end in joyous day." It is often in our darkest times that God makes His presence known most clearly. He uses our sufferings and troubles to show us that He is our only source of strength. And when we see this truth, like Pastor Gerhardt, we receive new hope. Are you facing a great trial? Have hope! Believe! Put yourself in God's hands. Wait for His timing. He will give you a hope that will not disappoint

So, why should we hope? Forgiveness for the past and help for the present! But there is another reason for hope.

3. LIFE FOR THE FUTURE: VV9, 10:
1. Now, let's be careful here. There is a caveat: I'm not talking about pie in the sky bye and bye. I'm talking about looking forward to the future with anticipation and good hope while all the while being productive and faithful in the here and now.
2. Everybody endures eternally - some in the presence of God and some banished from Him. The former is eternal life and the latter is eternal death; the former is salvation and the latter is damnation; the former is heaven and the latter is hell.
3. Peter wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB).
4. Let me contrast two different prospects for the future:
1. The first is a bleak and hopeless outlook: Sir Francis Newport, head of an English infidel club, on his deathbed said, "You need not tell me there is no hell, for I already feel my soul slipping into its fires! Wretches, cease your idle talk about there being hope for me! I know I am lost forever." What a hopeless future he faced: eternal death!
2. The other is a happy and hopeful outlook: A young man was talking to an older man. The conversation got around to life work. The boy said he didn't know what he'd be doing, but he wanted to go wherever Jesus led him. The man asked, "What if He leads you to Africa?" The boy said, "I'll go." "What if He leads you through poverty?" "I'll go." "What if He leads you to die?" "I'll still go!" "Well, what if He leads you to hell?" The boy smiled and said, "But, sir, there is no hell where Jesus is!" Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines: "My knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim, But it's enough that Christ knows all, And I shall be with him." That's hope for the future! That's eternal life! You see, without Christ the future is a lifeless end - but with Jesus it is endless life!

Paul said, "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 exult in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1-2 (NASB) . The writer of the Hebrew letter said, "Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, Who went before us, has entered on our behalf." Hebrews 6:17-20 (NIV). We can say with Martin Luther, "O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home!" With that kind of God on our side, loving us, saving us, keeping us, guiding us - we have every reason for hope! Hope in Him today - you won't be disappointed.

Gerhardt from Our Daily Bread, May 7, 1992

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