Unstoppable
Joy
Romans 5:1-5
Introduction:
Over a 100 years
ago in a Scottish seaside inn a group of fishermen were relaxing after a long
day at sea. A server was walking past the fishermen’s table with a pot of tea,
one of the men made a sweeping gesture to describe the fish he caught. His hand
collided with the teapot and sent it crashing against the white wall and left
an ugly brown splotch. Standing nearby, the innkeeper said,
“That stain will
never come out”. “The whole wall will have to be repainted”.
“Perhaps not”, said
a stranger at a nearby table. All eyes turned to the man who had just spoken. “Let
me work with the stain, and if it meets with your approval, you won’t need to
repaint the wall”. The stranger picked up a box and went to the wall. He took
out pencils, brushes, and some glass jars of linseed oil and pigment. He began
to sketch lines around the stain and fill it in here and there with dabs of
color and swashes of shading. Soon a picture began to emerge. The ugly tea
stain had been turned into the image of a deer with a magnificent rack of
antlers. At the bottom of the picture the man inscribed his signature, paid for
his meal and left. The stunned innkeeper examined the wall and said, “Do you
know who that man was?” Sir Edwin Landseer, the famous painter of wildlife.”
God transforms the stains and disappointments of our lives if we turn them over
to him. He does not merely erase them. He transforms them into a thing of
beauty.
The gospel of grace
gives hope. People need hope like they need oxygen. When hope is gone we
suffocate under the pressures of life. Hope gives life. Whoever gives the
greatest hope carries the greatest influence. People don’t need answers they
need hope. When one is justified by faith in Christ alone he has a sure and
certain hope - hope in this life and the next. The same gospel that gives hope
enables us to choose joy in every circumstance of life.
Scripture text:
"Therefore
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
in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 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" (Romans 5:1-5)
Body:
Romans 5:1-5
teaches us to choose joy as a way of life. The Greek word means to boast, to
glory and to rejoice. Rufus Jones was once asked, “Did Jesus ever laugh?” Jones
responded, “Don’t know, but he sure fixed me up so I could”. Someone has said
that a Christian is one who is continually cheerful, completely fearless and
constantly in trouble. Joy is often associated with a mindless, unthinking
irresponsibility. Depression is often accompanied with an attitude of
hopelessness, which sees no way out of mlife’s problems. What should be the
Christian's attitude? Paul suggests that we should rejoice intelligently. He
then gives us some reasons for rejoicing.
1.
Rejoice in your past privilege 5:1-2(a)
We have been
justified by faith. Justification is God’s act of declaring us righteous.
Because of our faith in Christ we are declared not guilty, innocent, and as he
ought to be. This makes us absolutely acceptable by God. Justification is legal.
Reconciliation is relational. (5:10-11)
There are three
results of being justified by faith:
• We
have peace with God
This means that
your war with God is over. When we raise the white flag of surrender, He raises
the flag of peace over our hearts. We are in a position of safety, rest and
harmony with God. In that position of peace we begin to experience the peace of
God. (Phil. 4:6-7; Col. 3:15)
• We
have access to God
Prosagoge
is the Greek word used here. It is a technical word for ushering someone
into the presence of royalty. Jesus ushers us into God’s presence, opens the
door to the king of kings and when we go in we find grace, not judgment,
condemnation, or vengeance. Instead we are met with the sheer, undeserved favor
and kindness of God.
• We
have security in God
Here we are
pictured as standing in grace. It’s like standing in the ocean. There are
troubling waves, but if we fall, we fall into grace. We are surrounded by grace
as the ocean’s water surrounds us. We live in the sphere of God’s amazing grace.
2.
Rejoice in future prospects 5:2(b)
“We rejoice in hope
of the glory of God”. This is the promise of heaven, of eternal life in God’s
glorious presence. So we rejoice not only in our past privilege but also our
future prospects. Our destiny is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
3.
Rejoice in present problems 5:3-5
God has a unique
plan for your life. His plan is dynamic, not static, ever developing, and
deepening into that one thing He has planned for you. Trials prepare you and
position you for that plan. Here is the five-fold process God uses.
•
First there is a Crisis
“We
rejoice in our sufferings”
The word for
suffering is thlipsis which
literally means “pressure”. The KJV translates the word “tribulation”, coming
from the Latin Tribulum.
This was a heavy piece of timber with spikes to thrash the grain. A Tribulum
was drawn over the grain separating the wheat from chaff. God uses
pressures to purify our lives
of useless chaff.
• Then
comes Commitment
“Suffering
produces endurance”
The crisis of
suffering is the sphere where lasting, life-changing commitments are often
made. The word for endurance is Hupomeno meaning
“to abide under pressure”. During times of pressure we come to the end of
ourselves and commit to his Lordship. Endurance is not passive but highly
active. It takes initiative. It makes commitments. It overcomes the world,
enabling us to be “more than conquerors”. Romans 8:37
• Then
Character is formed
“Endurance
produces character”
The word Paul uses
for character is dokime.
It describes a process of purifying metals like silver and gold. The Smith uses
intense heat to melt the metal and skim away impurities. The silver or gold is
tested and proven pure. The word came to describe proven character that has
stood the test of fiery trials. Reputation is what you do in the limelight,
when people are watching. Character is what you do when no one is watching.
Character is what God knows to be true about you, who you really are.
• Then
Confidence is born
“Character
produces hope”
The word for hope
is elpis. This is the word for overwhelming
confidence. It is not conceit or arrogance but a firm reliance upon God that
has developed in the crucible of pain and suffering. It is a humble trust that
boasts in God alone. And this hope, this confidence, does not put us to shame.
We may be disappointed with human hope but God’s hope, elpis,
never disappoints. This hope does not lead us to shame or disgrace or
disappointment. The final stage tells us why.
• And
then Compassion floods our heart
“Because
God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is
given to us”
The final step of
God’s five-fold development process is He floods our hearts with His love. This
creates genuine compassion, which becomes the spring motive for our lives. We
cease being disappointed with God because we are satisfied in His unstoppable
love. Compassion compels and controls us. An American businessman traveling to
a remote village in Africa saw an missionary nurse dressing the wounds of a
leprosy patient. He said, “I wouldn’t do that for $10,000”. She replied, “and
nor would I”.
Conclusion:
The majestic
Emperor moth is trapped inside a cocoon. To develop into a perfect insect, it
must force its way through the neck of the cocoon by hours of intense struggle.
Entomologists explain that this pressure is nature’s way of forcing a life
giving substance into its wings. One day an observer, wanting to lesson the struggles
of the moth to escape from it’s cocoon, took a small pair of scissors and cut the
restraining threads. The moth quickly escaped without pain or intense effort.
But could only crawl for a brief time before dying. The moth never realized its
destiny of flying with those beautiful wings. Sorrow, suffering, and trials,
are wisely designed to grow us into Christ likeness. The process may be slow
and painful but when the refining and developing processes are complete, by His
grace, we emerge triumphant, fit for the Master’s use.
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