Finding and Living Hope

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:05.400 If you're able to remain standing, please do and turn your attention to Romans, 2 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:12.789 the book of Romans, Chapter Fifteen, versus seven through thirteen. Romans 3 00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:20.629 Fifteen, seven through thirteen. Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed 4 00:00:20.710 --> 00:00:25.899 you, for the glory of God, for I tell you that Christ became 5 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:31.899 a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm, 6 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:36.689 in order to confirm the promises given to the Patriarchs and in order that the 7 00:00:36.850 --> 00:00:43.250 gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. As it is written. Therefore, 8 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:49.130 I will praise you among the gentiles and sing to your name. And again 9 00:00:49.210 --> 00:00:54.719 it is said, rejoice, oh gentiles, with his people. And again 10 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:59.399 praise the Lord, all you gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him. 11 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:04.469 And Again Isaiah says the root of Jesse will come even he who arises 12 00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:11.549 to rule the gentiles. In him will the gentiles hope. May the God 13 00:01:11.750 --> 00:01:15.430 of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that, 14 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:23.019 by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Amen, 15 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:29.060 you may be seated. There's only a little bit more year and left 16 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:33.969 in the book of Romans. The book has sixteen chapters here and we're in 17 00:01:34.129 --> 00:01:38.129 Chapter Fifteen, and so it won't surprise you when I say that Paul is 18 00:01:38.250 --> 00:01:44.969 closing up his argument here in Chapter Fifteen, seven through thirteen. It is 19 00:01:45.129 --> 00:01:48.599 the end of the book, after all, and it's time to draw things 20 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:53.359 to a close, and he's beginning to do that here. He's closing up 21 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:00.239 something he's been developing well for the whole book, but primarily back since chapter 22 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:06.870 nine, this question about how the Jews and the gentiles relate to one another 23 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:10.789 in the church. But as Paul does this, he wants to draw our 24 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:16.060 attention not to all the particularities of and practicalities, though he does is in 25 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:21.740 verse seven welcome one another as Christ as welcome to you, and of course, 26 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:25.620 the great example of Christ coming to do these loving and welcoming things. 27 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:34.129 But he wants to talk first and foremost about Jesus, about what God has 28 00:02:34.250 --> 00:02:38.050 done, this God of hope, as he describes him. Paul wants to 29 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:44.759 talk about this God of hope. He mentions it a couple times. He 30 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:49.199 talks about it in verse thirteen. You See, there are these book ends. 31 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:53.039 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing 32 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:55.639 so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in 33 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:00.909 hope. It's a wonderful way of being, of remembering that God is a 34 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:06.030 god of hope, as both one who as of one who puts it into 35 00:03:06.110 --> 00:03:12.110 us, who brings us hope. Paul wants to talk about the God of 36 00:03:12.189 --> 00:03:16.060 hope and what that means for our lives. But it's not just hope, 37 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:24.060 it's joy producing hope, he says, peace providing hope. May the God 38 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:30.530 of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may 39 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:35.530 abound in hope. See a little circle there. It's kind of a ecosystem 40 00:03:35.530 --> 00:03:40.599 of be attitudes, this Nice, beautiful little circle in which one thing produces 41 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:46.840 another, which leads to another. God produces hope, which produces joy and 42 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:50.960 and peace and us, which leads to more hope, which produces joy and 43 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.360 peace, which leads to more hope, and around and around we go. 44 00:03:55.590 --> 00:04:00.150 What a beautiful life it would be, what a beautiful life it is to 45 00:04:00.349 --> 00:04:12.020 live knowing that kind of blessing, to have the God of hope fill you 46 00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:20.339 with joy and peace so that you may abound in hope. Is a wonderful 47 00:04:20.459 --> 00:04:26.569 life. But of course. We live in a world where things are often 48 00:04:27.089 --> 00:04:33.290 broken. We're hope doesn't we're hope even seems very far away. We live 49 00:04:33.370 --> 00:04:40.399 in a world that is full of false starts, where the circle seems to 50 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:45.319 make sense, but often it's more of a squiggly line or a big SPLAT 51 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:51.639 or something else all together. We live in a world of false starts and 52 00:04:51.870 --> 00:05:00.670 broken promises, sinfulness, and we experience this as individuals many places in our 53 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:05.189 lives where we want hope, maybe even desperately want hope, but struggle to 54 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:12.939 find it. Perhaps you're in a relationship that you feel like you're pouring everything 55 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:18.220 you can into and it's just going nowhere. You feel hopeless. Perhaps you 56 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:24.889 have a disability, mental or physical, that just seems to get worse and 57 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:30.329 worse and worse. You feel like you have no hope things getting better. 58 00:05:31.610 --> 00:05:38.519 Maybe you're pouring yourself into a school or a job situation and you keep working 59 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:42.279 and working and trying and trying to make it work, trying to make it, 60 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:50.550 fix it, but you're feeling hopeless. We faced a lot of situations 61 00:05:50.629 --> 00:05:55.629 in our lives which where we feel hopeless, and even in situations where we 62 00:05:55.709 --> 00:05:58.990 do have a measure of hope. If we're honest, will admit how much 63 00:05:58.990 --> 00:06:02.750 doubt there is there, how often we forget it. And then, when 64 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:09.100 we think about joy and peace, these often don't characterize our lives as much 65 00:06:09.139 --> 00:06:15.459 as we might want. Are we a joyful people or an angry people? 66 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:21.730 A joyful people or a cromudgendly people? Is that a word? Not sure. 67 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:29.009 What about peace? Are we anxious and toiling and striving? Are we 68 00:06:29.129 --> 00:06:34.759 constantly worried, constantly thinking about the next thing, constantly planning, constantly building? 69 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:42.120 Do we ever rest? Do we ever stop? Do I ever know 70 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:48.550 that it's going to be okay because, well, I have hope? Or 71 00:06:48.629 --> 00:06:51.110 do we feel that there's not hope, and so we strive and we work 72 00:06:51.189 --> 00:07:00.389 and we spend and we toil? These are things that many of us really 73 00:07:00.509 --> 00:07:04.300 need words. I need to hear and be reminded of. It not just 74 00:07:04.459 --> 00:07:08.420 that this is the kind of life that would be nice to have, this 75 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:15.100 this circle, this ecosystem of of be attitudes, to live within that sort 76 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:20.089 of blessing of God. It's not just something Nice, something wonderful, something 77 00:07:20.209 --> 00:07:26.250 to strive for, but what the Bible is saying here, what Paul is 78 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:32.120 giving as he gives. This blessing is a blessing. He's saying, this 79 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:40.120 is for you, as you believe in Jesus. It's the gift that we 80 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:45.670 have, the life that we have. As we turned to him, and 81 00:07:45.829 --> 00:07:49.670 that's not just true as individuals, but Paul's main concern here is as a 82 00:07:49.790 --> 00:07:56.189 body, as a church. All of these struggle, a struggles and false 83 00:07:56.310 --> 00:08:01.699 starts and and broken lines and whatnot that we face in our lives also happen 84 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:07.339 in a corporate way in the church. There was happening very much in the 85 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:13.529 early church between the Jews and the gentiles. There were these large groups of 86 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:20.009 people that were coming from very different backgrounds, both having thousands of years of 87 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:26.410 history, from very different starting places, ultimately all in Adam but diverging very 88 00:08:26.490 --> 00:08:31.800 quickly after that, a people that God had for a long time been protecting 89 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:37.879 and speaking to, sending profits to and another people, the gentiles, that 90 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:43.470 had not received that. You remember back a few chapters back, Paul went 91 00:08:43.629 --> 00:08:48.429 and talked about all of these blessings that had been given to Israel. We 92 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:52.190 spent some time on these when he went and he talked about the various ways 93 00:08:52.230 --> 00:08:56.580 in which God had blessed them with Patriarchs and promises and Law and glory. 94 00:08:56.940 --> 00:09:03.940 That was special for Israel. They had a whole culture and society covenant with 95 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:07.659 God, but the rest of the world did not. Not didn't mean that 96 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:11.169 God didn't interact with the rest of the world for all that time. He 97 00:09:11.289 --> 00:09:16.049 certainly did, and he certainly did send them profits from time to time. 98 00:09:16.129 --> 00:09:20.090 You might think of Jonah as a good example of that. But on the 99 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:24.399 whole, the apple of God's Eye, his his special child, the one 100 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:31.320 that he was treating and and loving and caring for, was Israel, with 101 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:37.830 these children of Abraham that were born after him and had become a very large 102 00:09:37.950 --> 00:09:45.710 family. The gentiles, however, which includes most, if not all, 103 00:09:45.789 --> 00:09:54.659 of US here, we're worshiping stones and trees and clouds and water and themselves, 104 00:09:56.259 --> 00:09:58.860 our great grandparents, my great grandparents, at least, as you can 105 00:09:58.899 --> 00:10:03.700 go back in the generations. We're not going before a Yah Way, the 106 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:07.490 Lord God Almighty, according to the Law of Moses, and worshiping him and 107 00:10:07.610 --> 00:10:13.690 experiencing the glory as they belonged to this great covenant family. Are they out 108 00:10:13.730 --> 00:10:16.889 in the forest, you know, picking up stone and erecting altars and and 109 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:26.080 doing whatever else pagans to. And that's the history for most of us. 110 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:33.080 For most of us it is this incredible thing that we have been brought into 111 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:37.230 this family, that we've been adopted into this family that for so long was 112 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:46.309 exclusive. Very few gentiles like us. We're brought in a roof here, 113 00:10:46.190 --> 00:10:52.940 Rahab there, but not like this, not like us, whole congregations of 114 00:10:54.139 --> 00:11:00.980 gentiles worshiping the God of Israel. It's a very remarkable thing and, if 115 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:05.210 you can imagine, in those very early days it proved it was something of 116 00:11:05.289 --> 00:11:11.570 a struggle. What do we do about the feasts? What do we do 117 00:11:11.730 --> 00:11:15.009 about circumcision? What do we do about dietary laws? What do we do 118 00:11:15.049 --> 00:11:20.360 about Holy Days? How do we think through these things? What should we 119 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:28.039 require all these forest worshippers to do to our lives have to change? Everyone 120 00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:33.750 was asking these kinds of questions and Paul was telling them you are now one 121 00:11:33.070 --> 00:11:37.830 in Christ, and he was explaining, he's been explaining to for chapter after 122 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:46.230 chapter, what that means. After this very long passage, I'm going back 123 00:11:46.269 --> 00:11:50.100 to about chapter nine. He's been dealing with this reconciliation and talking about this 124 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:58.659 and now he comes to his great conclusion, I tell you that Christ became 125 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:05.370 a servant to the circumcised, that is, to the Jews, to show 126 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:11.970 God's truthfulness, in order to do two things, he says, to confirm 127 00:12:11.129 --> 00:12:16.440 the promises given to the Patriarchs, one and two, verse nine, in 128 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:24.480 order that the gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. This is why Jesus 129 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:30.309 came. Why did Jesus came? Come because of this. You want to 130 00:12:30.309 --> 00:12:33.549 know why Jesus came, why God sent his son into the world to die 131 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:39.269 on a cross. This is one way to explain it. To Confirm The 132 00:12:39.429 --> 00:12:45.460 promises to the Patriarchs and to bring the gentiles in that they might glorify God 133 00:12:46.019 --> 00:12:50.659 according to His mercy. Let's think about each one of those briefly. First, 134 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:56.179 confirm the promises. Jesus came in to as a Jew, to the 135 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:01.250 Jews first and foremost, and then to the gentiles to show God's truthfulness. 136 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:05.570 What does that mean? It means that God had been saying something, he 137 00:13:05.690 --> 00:13:09.570 had been saying a lot of some things for a long time, and Jesus 138 00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:16.399 came to confirm what God had said, to show the world, US included, 139 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:22.480 that what he said. For All of that time was absolutely true. 140 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:28.350 If you have a children, sometimes you get into an experience where one child 141 00:13:28.470 --> 00:13:33.509 is telling you something and you're a little doubtful, and so you go to 142 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:35.990 another child to say, is this what happened, and they say yes, 143 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:39.269 that's what happened. If he everyone's good and we're all on the same page 144 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:45.019 again. Those confirmations are very helpful. The Bible says that you're not to 145 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:48.460 bring a charge against one of the elders of the church without two witnesses. 146 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:56.610 Confirmation is very important, and that's what Jesus does. Of course, Jesus 147 00:13:56.610 --> 00:14:01.730 is a great person to confirm these things as God himself. What greater testimony 148 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:07.529 can there be to God's truthfulness then for God to say it? I might 149 00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:13.200 seem a little circular, until you remember that there's only one person, God, 150 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:20.480 who is entirely true, who never lies. Hebrews talks about this when 151 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:26.190 it says that God, desiring to strengthen his promises, confirmed by making an 152 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:31.710 oath, because it's impossible for him to lie. It's an amazing thing to 153 00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:39.779 think about. Here is a non lying thing, deity, promising something that's 154 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:46.100 a guaranteed thing. Look, it's according to his nature but this word confirmed 155 00:14:46.220 --> 00:14:52.220 means more than just validate. It also has the sense of bringing into realization, 156 00:14:52.259 --> 00:14:56.809 kind of like when a man, for example, might propose to a 157 00:14:56.929 --> 00:15:01.769 woman and say I promise to marry you. Will you marry me, and 158 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:09.159 she says yes, but that promise is confirmed on their wedding day. Right, 159 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:11.240 it's it's not just that it's the validity of it is proven true, 160 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:16.399 but it actually comes about. There's an it's actualized, it's realized, the 161 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:22.070 wedding happens and they are now married. That's what happens when Jesus comes, 162 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:28.110 when Jesus confirms the promises, he doesn't just say yes, God said it's 163 00:15:28.190 --> 00:15:35.379 true, but he actually brings it about. So what promises are we talking 164 00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:41.220 about? All of them, we're talking about all the way back to when 165 00:15:41.220 --> 00:15:48.059 Adam and Eve fell in the garden, Sin came into the world and God 166 00:15:48.299 --> 00:15:52.529 said to them, I will give you a son who will crush the head 167 00:15:52.570 --> 00:16:00.850 of a serpent. This is Jesus, who indeed crushes Satan by defeating death, 168 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:07.000 by overcoming sin, by redeeming us out of lawlessness and wickedness, saving 169 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:17.240 us from a kingdom of darkness. The promises to Noah to continue and establish 170 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:21.190 the world and allow it to continue. On that there might be a platform 171 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:26.909 for grace to continue. God judge the world and he could have wiped ever 172 00:16:26.070 --> 00:16:30.029 everyone out, but he didn't. Why? Because of that first promise that 173 00:16:30.110 --> 00:16:33.740 he made. He was going to keep it, and so he said to 174 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:36.940 know, I am going to keep seasons going, I'm going to keep the 175 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:41.779 rain coming, but not too much. So that so that the son might 176 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:45.700 be born, so that a child might be given, so that the world 177 00:16:45.740 --> 00:16:52.129 might be saved. He kept that promise too, as well as the promise 178 00:16:52.250 --> 00:16:56.529 to Abraham, the Great Covenant of Grace Established here in more formal ways with 179 00:16:56.649 --> 00:17:03.840 Abraham, where he promised to Abraham that he would expand his family and make 180 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:07.759 them as numerous as the stars in the heavens and that through him, Abraham 181 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:12.839 would be a blessing to all the earth, that God would be with them 182 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:22.150 and that he would be their God and they would be his people. He 183 00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:30.460 keeps that promise by bringing about this Covenant Child, his promised son, this 184 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:37.420 miraculous son who would save a people to himself and, through Abraham, bring 185 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:45.369 salvation to the world. Jesus fulfills his promise to David when he tells David, 186 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:48.970 I will set a son, this same son who has been promised again 187 00:17:48.049 --> 00:17:52.009 and again. I will set one of your sons on a throne to rule 188 00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:57.720 and establish a kingdom that will last forever, a kingdom that will be eternally 189 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:03.599 blessed. I will enthrone him, I will give him this kingdom. If 190 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:10.640 all of these things, Jesus makes these promises and he keeps them. Jesus 191 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:15.390 fulfills the word of God. He fulfills these promises. He establishes himself as 192 00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:19.710 a King, as he ascends up into heaven, as He's after he's crucified 193 00:18:19.829 --> 00:18:25.190 on the Cross. He is the son of David, the scriptures testify, 194 00:18:25.349 --> 00:18:30.539 the son of Abraham. He is the promised son even to Adam and Eve. 195 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:37.420 This means, if you're listening, that Jesus is the apex of all 196 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:41.930 history. He's the most important person who is ever come into the world. 197 00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:48.009 So you can see why God would say, through his apostle in verse thirteen, 198 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:52.849 may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. 199 00:18:52.009 --> 00:18:59.440 And by believing, there he doesn't just mean believing as in I am 200 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:04.359 a spiritual person, or believing as in I think there are miraculous list things 201 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:10.109 in the world. He means believing in Jesus Christ. That's what he's been 202 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:15.029 talking about all through the book. He's talking about Jesus who came, as 203 00:19:15.069 --> 00:19:18.390 he says in verses eight through fourteen. Jesus came to become a servant, 204 00:19:18.430 --> 00:19:26.180 to show God's truthfulness, to confirm the promises given to the Patriarchs. Jesus 205 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:32.019 came and brought these things into realization, and that matters a great deal, 206 00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:37.299 first to the Jews, because those are the ones whom God was promising them. 207 00:19:37.650 --> 00:19:44.130 Imagine that someone, from the time of your birth promised you when you 208 00:19:44.410 --> 00:19:48.250 turn twenty one, I'm going to give you five million dollars. and every 209 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:52.200 birthday you don't get a check, but you get a promise. When you 210 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:56.160 turn twenty one, I'm going to give you five million dollars. When you 211 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.559 turn it an eighth, birthday, night, birthday ten, birthday, one 212 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:03.000 after another, and then twenty one comes and you get a check for five 213 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.630 million dollars. That would be a significant thing. You would say, this 214 00:20:07.670 --> 00:20:12.269 is great, the promises have been confirmed and now I'm five million dollars richer. 215 00:20:14.710 --> 00:20:18.710 This isn't five million dollars, though. This is a death and life 216 00:20:18.990 --> 00:20:22.940 kind of thing, I heaven in Hell kind of thing. This is God 217 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:30.660 entering into the world to save us from death itself, from sins, from 218 00:20:30.700 --> 00:20:37.930 all of the things that cut out an undermine hope. Jesus came into the 219 00:20:38.009 --> 00:20:51.160 world to establish hope, certainty, to confirm the promises. Now I could 220 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:55.880 have ended there. Paul could have said confirmed the promises to eight, to 221 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:59.440 the Patriarchs, and we could have assumed all the rest that he says here 222 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.869 because, as we've heard and as we see throughout the Old Testament, the 223 00:21:04.029 --> 00:21:10.390 gentiles were a part of that plan, though in somewhat in sde form, 224 00:21:10.869 --> 00:21:15.869 for a long time. But because there's been a lot of confusion about this 225 00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:19.420 and because we're so prone to forget it, either as Jews or gentiles, 226 00:21:19.779 --> 00:21:26.220 Paul makes the point and he drives at home. All of these confirmed promises, 227 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:33.170 all of this salvation, is not just for the Jews, he says, 228 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:38.690 it's for the gentiles. Jesus came in order that the gentiles might glorify 229 00:21:38.890 --> 00:21:45.690 God for His mercy, that we might stand, that gentiles might stand and 230 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:52.880 look and say, Father Abraham had many sons. I am one of them, 231 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.880 and so are you. So let's all praise the Lord. Let's praise 232 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:00.910 God for His mercy. Let's praise him for, I mean, to US 233 00:22:02.750 --> 00:22:14.190 undeserving, worthless sinners. He came to us, as it is written. 234 00:22:15.589 --> 00:22:18.579 Therefore, I will praise you among the gentiles and sing to your name. 235 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:23.140 And again it is said, rejoice, oh gentiles, with his people. 236 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:26.819 And again praise the Lord, all you gentiles, and let all the people's 237 00:22:26.859 --> 00:22:32.609 extol him. And Again Isaiah says the root of Jesse will come even he 238 00:22:32.769 --> 00:22:40.529 who arises to rule the gentiles. In him will the gentiles hope. Paul 239 00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:47.079 wants to make absolutely certain that we all understand. The Old Testament teaches that 240 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:52.799 the gentiles belong to the promise, the the gentile plan, you see, 241 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.920 is not an add on. God's not saying, Oh yeah, might be 242 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:03.109 nice to do this too. It's not a parallel path or another track or 243 00:23:03.150 --> 00:23:08.349 a plan B. It is the plan. It is God's will. From 244 00:23:10.069 --> 00:23:12.059 all the way back. As you read through the Old Testament, you see 245 00:23:12.099 --> 00:23:19.380 this again and again and again and again. God's plan for us, that 246 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:32.650 through Jesus we might have hope. So why does all this matter? Why 247 00:23:32.690 --> 00:23:37.609 does it matter that Jesus came into the world to confirm the promises to the 248 00:23:37.730 --> 00:23:45.359 Patriarchs and to welcome the gentiles that they might glorify God for His mercy? 249 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:51.000 Why does that matter? Why does it matter that Jesus came? Well, 250 00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:55.680 maybe it doesn't. If you're a person who looks at the world and sees 251 00:23:55.750 --> 00:24:00.509 no problems, if you are a person who sees no problems in your life, 252 00:24:00.109 --> 00:24:04.230 everything is perfect all the time. If you're a person who has no 253 00:24:04.509 --> 00:24:10.619 sin, who's got it all together, then it doesn't really matter. You're 254 00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:15.420 right. If there's no injustice in the world, if there's no impression, 255 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:21.460 no guilt, no shame, no discontentment, no problems with peace, no 256 00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:30.089 lack of joy or love, then you're right. It doesn't matter. If 257 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:34.130 you never struggle, never lose, are always full of confidence beauty, if 258 00:24:34.170 --> 00:24:38.240 there are no skeletons in your closet, no regrets, no illnesses, no 259 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:45.359 broken relationships, no tears, no creeping lusts, no fearful dreams, no 260 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:53.069 uncontrollable desires, then I suppose it doesn't matter that Jesus came into the world 261 00:24:53.190 --> 00:24:59.710 to confirm the promises to the Patriarchs and to welcome in the gentiles that they 262 00:24:59.750 --> 00:25:07.299 might glorify God for His mercy. But if this doesn't describe you, and 263 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:11.579 it certainly doesn't describe me, if you are a person who instead seize the 264 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:18.299 problems, feels anxiety, struggles in the world, knows how lost you are, 265 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:23.769 how out of control things seem to be and how desperately we need salvation, 266 00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:29.450 then you can remember the words of Jesus himself, who came into the 267 00:25:29.490 --> 00:25:33.490 world to do these things, that he didn't come to heal the well, 268 00:25:34.049 --> 00:25:38.559 but he came to heal of the sick. He came like a doctor to 269 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:47.519 make us well again, to make us right. He came to give us 270 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:53.910 hope, real hope, true hope, not the hope of a next administration 271 00:25:53.990 --> 00:26:00.670 or a better politician or a more prosperous business or a more organized schedule, 272 00:26:02.789 --> 00:26:07.380 not the hope of having a little more money in your savings account, but 273 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:15.740 the hope of eternal life, the hope that produces joy and peace, because, 274 00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:22.490 instead of feeling the mess and feeling our sins and drowning in it, 275 00:26:23.369 --> 00:26:30.890 God pulls us out, places us on the rock of Jesus Christ and says, 276 00:26:30.650 --> 00:26:38.000 you're okay now. Everything's fine. Now you can be at peace and 277 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:44.839 you can celebrate, you can be cheerful, you can be happy because God 278 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:51.150 has brought you hope. God has come into the world to save the world. 279 00:26:52.390 --> 00:26:57.589 God has come into the world to bring us hope. So if you 280 00:26:57.750 --> 00:27:04.380 find that you are a sick person, a struggling person, a sinful person, 281 00:27:06.460 --> 00:27:10.980 if you're a person who has things to repent for or repent of, 282 00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:18.490 if you're a person who has needs, then God tells us here, as 283 00:27:18.569 --> 00:27:23.170 he's been telling us throughout Romans, that we can come to him not only 284 00:27:23.250 --> 00:27:29.650 on our own but together. Jew, gentile, Male, female, slave, 285 00:27:29.849 --> 00:27:33.359 free, young, old, no matter your background, the color of 286 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.480 your skin, your education, the amount of money you have, your particular 287 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:45.230 hobbies, are interests, God says that we can all come to him in 288 00:27:45.390 --> 00:27:49.349 Jesus, and when we do, he gives us a hope that lasts forever. 289 00:27:52.069 --> 00:27:52.589 Let's pray