Romans 15:13. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 30, 2018.
Today we will finish our series looking at the issue of faith.
Ultimately faith is not intended to be a dull and drab hardship that grinds all the fun out of life. God does want us to enjoy and rejoice in trusting Him. In our passage today we will see how trusting God fills us with wonderful things that make life enjoyable and can fill us with peace.
In Romans 15, verse 13 seems to be a prayer that Paul is praying for the believers in Rome. The first thing he prays for them is joy. He prays that it will come to them “in believing.” This direct connection helps us to see that faith is a prerequisite to having joy or peace.
These things are given by God and yet they are also the natural outgrowth of faith in God. When we have become convinced that God can be trusted and the things that He has promised will come to past, it ignites a whole host of things within our heart of which joy is one.
This joy is a rejoicing happiness that one can experience even in the face of great difficulty. Sometimes it rides on the surface, but at its heart it is deep-seated bedrock that no volume of turbulent water in this life can wash away. It is a joy that comes not from the things of this world, but from the knowledge that “I am my beloved’s and He is mine!” (Song of Songs 6:3). Regardless of what I experience this relationship with Jesus cannot be touched by it.
Also, he prays that God would fill them with this joy. There are many carnal joys of this life that can “fill” us for a time, but they are transient and not long lasting. However, the joy that comes from believing in Christ is one that truly fills. However, we can be drawn away from this joy if we get our focus off of Christ. Yet, when we draw our eyes back to Jesus, we once again connect with that deep-seated joy that He has given us, and will constantly supply as we trust Him. He desires joy for us, but not as a command. Rather it is a constant supply that He pours into our lives as we trust Him, a supply that never runs dry.
Now let’s look at the other thing that Paul prays for them. He prays that they would be filled with peace. This too is connected to believing in Jesus. It is the fruit of a life that is trusting Christ.
There are several things that we should notice in regard to this chapter. First, in verse 33 Paul refers to God as “the God of Peace.” He does a similar thing in verse 5 calling Him “the God of patience and comfort.” The point is not just that God has these things that He can give us, though we can start there. God has abundant stores of peace, patience, and comfort. However, these are also the natural experience of His being. God is full of patience and not frustrated with how long things are taking. God is full of comfort and not inconsolable towards the world today. God is also at peace and not in turmoil at any time.
We in our flesh are not as impressed with God’s patience, comfort, and peace. We often holler at God to do something right now! However, if we trust Him, He will take from what is His and give to us without measure and without end. Let us turn to Him for these things in our lives every day rather than turning to the things of this world to give us peace.
When your peace comes from God then nothing can really take away your peace. You may be convinced to quit drawing peace from God, but it is always there. 1 Peter 1:6-9 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”
The next time you sense that you are lacking peace take time to remember that it is connected to your faith in Jesus. Go back to the fundamentals and trust the Lord.
Though Paul could have listed hope as a third thing that we are receiving (that is it is also a fruit of faith, a fruit of the Spirit), he instead lists it as a condition in which we receive joy and peace. If we have no hope then our joy and peace is greatly diminished if not extinguished. Thus hope is critical to our joy and peace in life.
As we saw earlier with peace and comfort, so we see here. God is called the God of Hope. Again, He doesn’t just have hope in a bag for you. He is filled with hope Himself. Do you ever think that it could be possible that God has had his hopes crushed and is stuck in despair? Of course He isn’t. He is God! Yet, when it comes to ourselves we often forget this. God is He who cares for you, and the One who cares for you is still full of hope. He knows that the future holds wonderful things for those who trust Him. Yes, He is the God of hope and, even more so, He is our God! As we hope in Him He pours joy and peace into our hearts.
Paul also prays that these things would “abound” to them. This means that it will be given in an abundant measure. The word means to overly fill, to have plenty of leftovers. Thus we need to allow faith to ignite hope in our hearts. In fact, faith is to the mind what hope is to the heart. I understand that faith involves the heart as well, but faith at its heart is recognition of facts. It believes the truths about Christ. Hope also involves the mind and looks forward to factual things that God has promised, but at its core it is a response of the heart agreeing with the mind. Yes, He will come through for us! As we trust in God, He fills us with hope for today and for tomorrow.
Paul also describes this as being done by the power of the Holy Spirit. Fruit cannot grow without some energy source and thus God Himself is the author and finisher of our faith. It is He who is working in you by the power of His Holy Spirit to fill you with faith, hope, joy, love, and peace (the list goes on). Sometimes we allow our experiences to pull us off of the path that we should be walking with the Holy Spirit. We can go off on our own tangents and end up wondering why we don’t have those things anymore. Rather, we must return back to the place where the Holy Spirit is waiting for us and continue walking with Him. Let Christ be your source of strength and power by the work of His Spirit within you.
Ultimately this whole verse is a prayer for believers, and not just those from Rome. We too must add our prayers to Paul’s. Take time to pray for the Lord to strengthen your faith and hope in Him. Ask Him to fill you with His joy and peace to overflowing, so that you might live a victorious life in this world. Also, do not let the world define for you what a victorious life is. We dare not look to the world and our circumstances in it to give us the faith, hope, joy and peace that we need. Rather we must wholly trust Jesus and Him alone.