Sunday February 27, 2022
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Romans 5:1-5- “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Tribulation! We all experience tribulation on this earth. Whether you believe God allowed it or not what we all should agree on is that God is with me in the tribulation!
ONE OF THE MOST ENCOURAGING VERSES IN THE BIBLE
John 16:33- “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Jesus says we will have tribulation. Paul says we will have tribulation. Sometimes we don’t give this word “tribulation” justice.
tribulation- (thlipsis) – pressure, oppression, stress, anguish, adversity, affliction, crushing, squashing, squeezing, distress. Imagine placing your hand on a stack of loose items and manually compressing them. That is thlipsis, putting a lot of pressure on that which is free and unfettered. Thlipsis is like spiritual bench pressing. The word is used of crushing grapes or olives in a press.
When I was reading the definition of thlipsis, I thought, “will these painful sounding words ever end?”
And that’s the way some of us feel right now! “Will this tribulation ever end?”
HERE’S WHAT I’M DISCOVERING: My attitude in the tribulation sometimes determines my time in the tribulation.
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials…” (Romans 5:3 NLT)
John 16:33 (AMP) – “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]”
James 1:2- “Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.”
My attitude in the tribulation may have something to do with the duration of the tribulation!
THREE THINGS TO REINFORCE AN ATTITUDE OF JOY IN THE TRIBULATION:
- Faith in God
Romans 5:2- “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
Even in tribulation I stand in the grace of God. I have permanent access into his marvelous kindness! BY FAITH!
BY FAITH I stand in a perfect relationship with God!
Romans 5:1- “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
Faith (pistis) –Conviction, confidence, trust, belief, reliance, trustworthiness and persuasion. In the New Testament setting pistes is the divinely implanted principles of inward confidence, assurance, trust and reliance in God and all that he says!
Faith in God will reinforce an attitude of joy in tribulation!
2. Hope in God
Our text says that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance produces character and character produces HOPE!
The word “character” in Greek is exactly the same as in English. Originally it was the name given to a sculptor’s tool—the forming chisel used in the development of the Greek statuary.
Gradually the word broadened in its meaning to include not only the tool used, but the tooling process, the formation or shaping of the sculptures.
Gradually also it came to signify the peculiarities or characteristics of a piece of sculpture.
The word today in its English usage had reached a still higher plane and associates itself with the Divine character, which is the perfect example, and with humanity as it possesses more or less of the Divine characteristics.
Hebrews 1:3 says of Christ’s being the “express image” of the Father’s person, the phrase “express image,” in the Greek is the word character.
“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God,”
Another word for character is “imprint.” -To mark by or as if by pressure!
By looking at the imprint on this quarter is a design that looks like George Washington.
The imprint, the character of your life and my life should look like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the “express image” of our Heavenly Father.
Ephesians 5:1- “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.”
CHARACTER PRODUCES HOPE! HERE’S THE POINT!
The more I look and act like God, the more HOPE I have in God! The more of his character is imprinted on my life the more HOPE I have in him!
Romans 5:5- “Now hope does not disappoint…”
Romans 15:13- “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Faith and hope in God reinforces an attitude of joy in tribulation.
3. The Love of God
“LOVE LIKE THIS!”
Romans 5:5- “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
“We know that hope of great future blessings will not turn out to be false, because the Holy Spirit gives lavish evidence in our hearts of God’s love for us!”
Romans 8:35-39- “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For any Christians who is discouraged this powerful passage gives assurance of Christ’s present love, active at every moment in the Christians’s life!
Friends, even in tribulation you can be more than a conqueror!
CONCLUSION: Overcoming tribulation. Today let’s reinforce our attitude of joy in tribulation with faith in God, hope in God and the love of God.
LOVE LIKE THIS! What is happening in your heart right now?