[0:00] The subject which I hope the Lord will help me to speak from this evening will be found in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 12, verse 12.
[0:16] Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer.
[0:34] The Epistle to the Romans, the 12th chapter, the 12th verse. This hope of God I am here exhorted to rejoice in is a spirit wrought hope, a divine gift.
[0:57] It is, like all of God's gifts, eternal. Once bestowed, it will not be removed.
[1:14] We sometimes sing, the Christian's hope shall never fail. I hope we are mindful of who it is that gave the hope and still maintains it.
[1:29] For it is one of those richer gifts of God which remains in the heart of a child of God when one may feel, under deep trial and exercise or affliction, to have lost most of other gifts of God.
[1:54] At least they do not feel to be in exercise. Yet I doubt if there are any of God's children who have been brought into a much lower state and case than Jonah.
[2:14] You have, my friends, heard me say before that among the bitterest experiences of the children of God is that of self-procured trouble.
[2:28] When you are in trouble and know that you have brought it on yourself as in this case by rank disobedience, willfulness, self-will and determination to go one's own way.
[2:45] Small wonder the Lord chastened. Much wonder that he had mercy. And yet, the point I wish to make is this. There was still hope in that poor sinner's heart.
[3:01] Yet, I will look again, my friends of any of you being there, not literally, of course, in Jonah's case, but after his actions.
[3:14] Do you know what it is to be in self-procured trouble? Have only yourself to thank, as we say, for being there.
[3:26] And have wondered, well, might we wonder, that the Lord still caused us to venture, venture before him and plead for mercy, though we were, in the case we were, deservedly.
[3:45] My friends, what a blessed thing is hope which causes the sinner to come back, however humiliated, however much one may feel unworthy, stupid avenger.
[4:00] Hope will enable you to do this. This God-given hope. Small wonder that the exhortation here is rejoicing in hope which can so support, so sustain, so help to venture still.
[4:23] My word in this must be still venture. still go to God, still trust in him, still remember that he has worked for you once, or you wouldn't have hope, and so you may trust that he will continue even to the end that which he has in his own great mercy and according to his own purposes begun in you.
[5:02] Oh, this rich hope, it is seen as we journey on under the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit to rest in God and God's spoken word.
[5:20] particularly is this the case when his poor children receive quite freely a promise from God.
[5:33] Here is the foundation for hope. Again, my thoughts have suddenly gone to a tried child of God who also to an extent brought himself into trouble, but he got a word, you know, from God, a sweet promise, and when he came again into heavy trouble, this was the way he approached a God of mercy.
[6:09] and thou saidst, I will surely do thee good. Aha, my friends, he had something to rely on and cause for rejoicing in heart to feel that he'd got a word he could go to God with.
[6:29] Have you? Have I? It's a wonderful thing to be able to say thou didst promise, this law. Thou didst seal this home with power on my heart.
[6:43] I've rested on it like thy servant. The psalmist did in the hymn writer. Thy word that I have rested on shall help my heaviest hours.
[6:58] The psalmist, remember the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope. this is my comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickened me.
[7:16] Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to have this hope. It will help you under all circumstances to look up when there's a temptation to look within or look around.
[7:31] hope. But this hope will draw, will draw the recipient of it to the giver. This is one of the mercies which accompany the gift of hope and certainly a great reason for rejoicing in the possession of it.
[7:52] he who has given it will maintain it but this hope it's in Christ.
[8:06] And so much depends upon hope in Christ. you see he is the only source of salvation and where God has favored a poor sinner with his gifts he will if he has not already convinced of sin and of a need a great need of the Savior.
[8:36] my people know that I often say to them this I wish the place was full of needy sinners.
[8:52] There are many sinners about hope a repentant sinner and I sometimes hope a pardoned sinner but oh I wish the places were full of needy sinners.
[9:06] It is such a mercy to need Jesus Christ because this will be followed by hope in him. I know from some small experience how this arm is felt when he was cast down.
[9:29] I know what it is to walk in paths of affliction and trial I know what it is to say to the Lord I hope not complainingly but as a statement of real fact my soul is cast down within me Lord things look so black so dark so trying so very impossible and yet thou didst say rest on the promise he has spoke in all things ordered well for thee Lord it doesn't look like it oh I'm thankful that hope was revived I've said it's kept alive I didn't always say it was flourishing did I I didn't wish to imply that at all but it's one of those virtues that the spirit can quickly revive think of the words of the psalmist why thou cast down oh my soul why the reason for all this hope thou in
[10:47] God I shall yet praise him what a change the subject in this first clause this evening is rejoicing in hope every reason to isn't there when the Lord can revive hope to such an extent that you feel assured that you'll soon be singing his praises again nothing short of a spirit wrought hope could accomplish this in the heart of a down past sinner it shows doesn't it the power that the saviour has to calm to bring peace again into the mind and conscience and draw forth worship in place of commiseration and complaint I believe some of you know something about this I hope so I don't want to be as a foreigner speaking to you this evening
[11:51] I want to be helped to bring before you reasons to bless God for a spirit wrought hope in you it will sustain you through so many things and still be with you at the end I am reminded suddenly of John Bunyan's quaint way of setting vital truth before us in that book we read usually when we are young through mercy now what was it or rather who was it since he was quoted as a person by John Bunyan who supported the poor pilgrim when it really looked as if he would be overwhelmed in the swellings of Jordan he wasn't faithful poor faithful suffered martyrdom already according to the story but it was someone named
[12:54] Hopeful Hopeful kept his head above water you know even though the torrents were exceedingly trying to the poor man presently he was able to say I think I see the gate and then I see the gate and he arrives safely but the whole point that I wish to make is it was hopeful that supported him according to the lesson set before us oh may God give you each and myself that hope in him and hope through him because it extends to this it extends to hope of eternal life where a poor sinner has hope in Christ I do not know whether
[13:54] I have mentioned this before but on a certain occasion at Easter time I was greatly troubled because all I could get hold of was such a short subject and I got quite dejected because it was so short not the first time nor the last oh but what a difference my friends when the spirit suddenly shone on it and sweetly assured me of my interest in it I enjoyed that day hope in Christ that's what it was if in this life only we have hope in Christ but it was those last words that came right home with power I did rejoice and so will you if God in mercy gives you to see that Christ is your hope for he is the life he has said himself and we may quote his words with assurance of fulfillment and that they are absolutely true
[15:14] I am the resurrection and the life therefore do you wonder that the apostle said that it was his main and chief desire that he might win Christ and be found in him because hope in Christ brings hope of eternal life and all needful grace by the way and the support that I've already hinted at at the end of the journey hope will not give up nor allow you to give up it is centered on the oaths and promises of a wonder working promise I often quote these words they're potent they really mean something they refer to God have he said and shall he not do it have he spoken shall he not make it good yes my friends he will fulfill that which he has spoken there may come against it so much and you may feel at times the end is near and I am close to being overwhelmed my little faith that I hoped I had seems to be gone
[16:51] I have no strength no wisdom no power but oh it's still true isn't it my hope is in thee it may be necessary to wait a while the Lord does seem at times I know to tarry until men become faint but he comes doesn't he he will come he has engaged to come I did turn to a word it's in the psalm it seems to have such a close bearing on the word under consideration I wait for the Lord my soul doth wait and in his word do I hope my soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning let Israel hope in the Lord for with the
[17:52] Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption well I feel I must say just another word on this precious hope there have been many times in the experiences of God's people when in spite of this they have felt they would fail Satan has pressed them so hard and you know how powerful he is how he seems to gain so easily the ascendancy over us and how at times we seem so slack in appealing to him who has conquered him once conquered Satan once and will conquer on the behalf of his tormented people if only they will cry unto him but I'm wanting to look at hope for a moment or two in that sense in which it is brought before us in the epistle to the Hebrews it is likened there to the anchor and you know what an anchor does it holds in tempest it holds when the billows rise high it holds when the wind is strong it's what it's for it's to hold hold fast now I must admit that what
[19:16] I'm about to say I have borrowed I read this and it did me good so I hope to pass it on this particular anchor while it has the same effect as the ship's anchor it doesn't go in the same direction I read that the ship's anchor of course is downward it goes down and anchors into something solid when he comes into contact with it then it holds fast but that particular minister said this anchor it goes upward it anchors into him which is within the veil and when once it reaches him and attaches to him it holds the sinner fast to the Savior wonderful isn't it to have a hope which holds one do you feel at times to be indebted to the hope that has held you when you would have sunk would have made shipwreck had it not been that your hope proved to be firmly attached to the giver of it oh my friends the word is still rejoicing in hope now just one other thought
[20:49] I believe one day instead of rejoicing in hope we shall rejoice for hope for having received hope which has proved to be all that God said it would and landed us safely within that gate I referred to the Lord grant such a hope as this and help us at times to bless him who has caused us hope in his mercy hope in his grace and hope in the great salvation wrought out by his own precious son I still feel and still must say the most enjoyable part of this hope to me personally is hope in Christ because I know that all that he has done has proved acceptable to God the Father and salvation depends on the satisfaction of God a law completely restored and made honorable on behalf of poor sinners by their savior by their law fulfiller and they completely and eternally redeemed from the power of
[22:19] Satan through the ransom price paid by their precious savior you may safely hope in Christ and rejoice in that hope I know you will one day if God has given you this hope you'll rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory now it would seem that the apostle under divine inspiration is going to remind us that there's a pathway through life which is not very congenial to human nature sometimes yet there's an exhortation patient in tribulation ah my friends there's such a wide variety of tribulation so many different aspects of this and the
[23:20] Lord has designed for reasons of his own and according to his own wise appointments that his children shall have to pass through this certain amount of tribulation to reach the kingdom of God this is his decree and when we ponder or shall I say if we're enabled to ponder over the path of the Savior we shall see that if we follow him we mustn't expect to pathway all joy here he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and shall those whom he has freely redeemed and paid so high a price for shall they pass through a life of ease and comfort when their
[24:23] Lord so deeply suffered on their behalf I believe we must expect indeed he told us we must expect not to be in any way loved by the world but quite the contrary if the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you but it isn't only this which forms the tribulatory path of the tenderly taught and graciously exercised child of God I believe the far larger part of his tribulations are those to which the world is entirely a stranger they share the people of God share in the common lot of humanity they have the same tribulations to bear as do the world and yet there is this added path this burden which the child of
[25:46] God must carry until the Lord sees fit in his great kindness to relieve of the burden by sustaining and presently to deliver when it is seen that the burden has been born by the Savior himself but some of us have had to wait a long time for this and others I believe wait even longer but I believe the time of love will come when there will be a clear viewing that the burden which we have struggled along with so long has already been atoned for and though we feel the present wrath of God against sin there is laid up for the children of God no penal wrath no penal wrath
[26:46] I have heard this pathway and this experience described by servants of God as being privileged to keep short accounts with God this means that our failings and how many they are and our sins how numerous they are our sins how great they are are chastened for here this is one of the great privileges of the child of God that I venture to hope I have tasted to profit oh my friends it's such a mercy to feel that the father's hand has held the rod and dealt with us in great mercy and then holds nothing against us this is sanctified chastening this is the kind of chastening which causes us to see that the tribulation is sanctified that hidden behind what appeared to be
[27:59] God's anger is his love whom the Lord loveth he correcteth I'm one of them oh for weeks commencing at a period before last Christmas I pass continuously under this word not all the time of course but constantly being repeated as many as I love I rebuke and chasten I knew it I felt it but after all you know it works for good it causes you to feel that sweet spirit of which I read oh there's nothing to equal that in this life I believe to feel that God's dealings with you are because he loves you and because you're his child that's why he's chastening that's why he's correcting oh ponder my friends when you feel that the Lord is dealing harshly with you ponder on this what son is he that the father chasteneth not what are you if not chastened not true born no the word is very different it's an unpleasant word that describes those who escape chastening such a privilege to receive it
[29:30] I hope there will be an afterword someday the word says there will be we may not actually see it but it will be a wonder to be put there nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness and to them that are exercised thereby the exhortation is be patient patient in tribulation I read in one place in the word of God that the apostles went from church to church confirming confirming and exhorting to continue in the faith and that through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God but my friends we should come to this I believe presently I know it isn't easy to now but it's a wonderful thing to have these truths set before us if they are in the hymns
[30:37] I believe we shall live to prove the truth of it one day the joy prepared for suffering saints will make amends for all and I thought this would have to come out because it will persist at most we do but taste the cup for thou alone hast drunk it up this will help you to bear the present trial when you can see what he endured just have a small view of what Christ endured for poor unworthy sinners such as you know you are you might feel sometimes I have in my simplicity I could understand it just a little better if there was some worthiness some merit in me but there's none and yet to think that he should do this and then show lovingkindness and tender mercy and support and prove to be a support
[31:42] I hoped I shouldn't miss this my memory is getting worse but I'm thankful to find it's come back to mind God's people have their troubles they have their trials their losses their afflictions their disappointments many things here and there try them very much but they have belonging to them the truth that's in the first verse of Psalm 46 my friends God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble and how sweet it is to feel this go to him in trouble and find that God is faithful still to the promises made so long ago and call upon me in the day of trouble
[32:50] I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me it will be sweet to glorify God some have been privileged to glorify him in the fires and the apostles as you know they sung praises at midnight with very sore backs and their feet in the stocks but they got a wonderful supporter God was their refuge and strength and they were able to sing the high praises of him who could sustain and did sustain and sanctify all his will that I own must own a lack of patience I am one who must admit a great need of the word in the tent to the
[33:53] Hebrews ye have need of patience well that's why you hear me if you hear me often pray for patience because I see how necessary it is to keep one quiet you see one of the evidences of a lack of patience is complaining complaining even to the extent of finding fault with God's dealings and at times thinking even if being preserved from saying hard things about the way he is causing you to walk oh why is this why is it that we get into these states and conditions when if we could but look back for a little while the Lord has in the time past brought us through greater things than these safely safely but I must emphasize that he is able to do the same we need patience the hymn writer under
[35:15] I believe gracious inspiration connects something else with patience let us all remembering this pray for faith and patience I'm nearly back to the first clause faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen as I read to you in the eighth if we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it you see why I read the word don't you I like if possible reading to be introductory to the subject and it certainly was this evening wasn't it hope patience waiting on God they were all there and they're here rejoicing in hope patient in tribulation oh may he give us patience may he help us to pray that his word in another part of the word may be fulfilled in and for us when we come into diverse temptations you know of course that temptation in the word of
[36:39] God means more than Satan's temptations or anyone else's temptation it means trial and testing it may mean the fire it may mean indeed water some of God's people complained in the psalm although it was with thanksgiving afterwards we went through fire and through water but they brought us out into a wealthy place yes it's God's handiwork but the word I wanted to quote was this there hath no temptation taken you but what is common to man and God is faithful who will with the temptation make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it patient in tribulation looking alone still to that great wonder working
[37:39] God who can give patience and support you by his power in and through that which he sees shall be finally mysteriously enough perhaps for your good and his glory because presently you will praise him for all through which he has caused you to pass so I can't believe that I used to think the same oh my friends I know it's right you will you will you'll praise impressively when your eyes are open to see that he has done all things well but there's still another clause and a few minutes to take a brief look at it it's so essential but I don't believe that the well-taught children of God need me to exhort them in this and though they won't get along very well without it they'll esteem it a great privilege to be found often there they've proved the value of it continuing instant in prayer in season out of season how often are you out of season as far as prayer is concerned the Lord doesn't let me get out of season long he soon gives me something else to go to him for
[39:05] I believe it's a great mercy it's one of the ways that a poor sinner is permitted to hold communion with God and he with the sinner wouldn't you prize this oughtn't we to prize it that God has instituted this way of access to him something that can be done in every emergency wherever you happen to be I've called upon his name and so have some of you in some very strange circumstances and in some most unlikely places too he has heard it's the great thing he has heard one of the things I often quote again because I value it so much is that word in Psalm 91 he shall call upon me that's very blessed it's a great privilege so is this and I will answer him yes my friends that's a
[40:13] Jabez portion I call that for after Jabez prayer that's what we read God granted him that which he requested that's the best part of prayer isn't it I hope it's shortly followed by thanksgiving for this is the way the Lord leads his people he sees to it that they keep instant in prayer it's an amazing thing to me that he condescends to be worshipped by the prayers of poor sinners that are so full so often of confession and self degradation and humiliation do you know anything about it it's real though isn't it when you go to him and say oh Lord thou knowest I'm burdened my soul is cast down within me I am distressed I'm a poor sinner thou knowest this but oh have mercy on me still be merciful to me a sinner what's the result of this that wondrous blessing
[41:27] Jesus Christ himself gave the word to this man went down to his house justified rather than the other my dear friends prayer has had this result on occasions far too numerous to mention but it won't satisfy you if you're a living soul you'll say it's this poor sinner that wants to feel the wonder of justification especially if you were led to read that epistle to Jude and note how it concludes able to present you faultless that's justification one has phrased it this way and I used to think it was going a bit too far we all tell the father in that day and thou shall witness what we say we're clean just
[42:37] God we're clean it's a miracle it's a miracle of grace it's complete justification it is that complete standing in the righteousness of Christ and being able to plead his merit alone for our acceptance and reception by God it will be ours in that great we are found rejoicing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in prayer I don't feel I need further seek to emphasize the privilege of prayer I know that some of you at least are like myself afflicted at times with a backwardness to pray so was the hymn writer he felt the same a backwardness to pray but it doesn't last long does it and it won't if God has a favor toward you he'll soon give you something to come to him for
[44:02] I'm sure he will but it will prove finally to be a blessing and another privilege of access to God in heaven through Jesus Christ Amen God you let's continue by singing him number two hundred and forty two to Kings Committed Seven Hundred and Sexteen billing which he'llその grosse Jesus is there and his spirit given fivearkan earth erdoganiwho
[45:16] From the earth I confess, and by His spirit King, They find the promise of the joy, and perfected forevermore, To dwell with Christ in heaven.
[46:07] For who is born of sovereign grace, And live in Jesus' righteousness, With faith and peace and love, What they give me to prove His own, And of the perfect principles of God, In the bright world above.
[47:14] For who is born of sovereign grace, And of the perfect principles of God, Good luck is yet to you The joy you will And come before We doubt and fear Till joy and peace
[48:17] O God