This sermon focuses on the path to hope as outlined in Romans 5, emphasizing the importance of being justified by faith and having peace with God. It highlights the role of tribulations in building patience, experience, and ultimately hope that does not disappoint. The message encourages believers to trust in God's promises, endure suffering with patience, and seek the Holy Spirit's work of hope in their lives.

I want to talk to you this morning about the path to hope, the path to hope. Romans, the fifth chapter, please. Fifth chapter of Romans, reading through verses one and five. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations, knowing the tribulation worketh patience, and patience works experience, and experience, say it, hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. God speak that we will have a lasting hope that goes beyond the veil. Lord, never we so needed hope as we need it now. Come, Holy Spirit, and speak, anoint the word, and anoint your servants, and let us hear what the Spirit would have to say this morning in Jesus' name. Amen. We hear a lot about hope. We hear it from politicians. We read it in books, and we hear it on the tapes. And the whole world is crying now, somebody, somewhere, give me hope. We go to church, and we hear messages on hope, and we are stirred. I published a book called Triumph Out of Tragedy, stories of those who endured hardships, and pain, and suffering, and came out victorious. And we read it, and there's a season of hope. But it seems like most of the time, our hopes vanish. We don't have a lasting hope. We don't have something that is sustainable, and these hopes are dashed completely. How many times, now hope, the word itself means an expectation of something good. How many times have you expected something good in the human realm, and it's been dashed before your eyes, and you go down, and it's like a roller coaster, hope and then despair, hope and despair. And it comes to a place like Paul said in the storm. He said, and all hope that we would be saved was lost. All hope was gone. Hebrews 6, 11, we desire every one of you to show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. The Bible said the world has no hope, but God's people, the scripture says, have a hope that's set before them firm to the end. We have a hope set before us that's firm to the end. And Paul the apostle says, now the God of hope fill you with all joy, and peace, and believing that you should abound in hope, that you should be overflowing with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, how in the world in times like this do we abound in hope? Where do we get that hope? Now, I know some people say, well, they sing that old hymn, and I love it, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ in righteousness. That's true, and some say hope is not a path, it's a simple faith in Christ's Word, and Christ in us, the hope of glory. They say that's it, that's true. Christ is our only hope, and I was thinking sitting here today, I almost wish this service this morning was out in the open somewhere, right outside the door here, and the people could hear the joy, and the hope that is in Christ, and soon this church is going to be down in the square, and thousands gathering, and people streaming from all over the world, and they're going to see, we're going to proclaim before the world that Jesus Christ is the only hope now. He is our only hope, no other hope left in the world. But Paul the apostle in Romans 5 is showing us a path. It's not just Christ in me, the hope of glory, it's Christ in me working something in me. There is a path, there is a way, there has to be a foundation, otherwise our hope is going to be vanishing before our eyes for the rest of our lives. There has to be a foundation. Where do I get this hope? How do I get beyond the hope that's beyond the veil? How do I get a hope that I can rejoice in and abound in? Folks, I can't give you anything than what the Word says, and I would like to come with, you know, something of not a psychology, but something, a kind of a sermon, a kind of a message, and I've wished sometimes I could go to church and hear that all-encompassing, all-powerful message to drive all fear out, and I could leave church and say, well, boy, that was wonderful, and this will last. Don't count on it. It's not going to be a sermon, not one sermon. It's not going to be a tape. It's not going to be a set of psychological or human rules. Paul the Apostle lays it out right here. The path of hope begins by being fully assured that you're right with God. Full assurance. Now, this sounds like elementary teaching, and it is repetitive, but I'm telling you, we will not last where the world is headed and what we may be facing unless we know that we have an unshakable faith, that my sins are covered, and no matter how many lies the devil tells me, no matter how my faith may be attacked by these vicious darts from the enemy, I know that I know that I know that Jesus reckons me righteous before the throne of God, and this is where we have got to be. Understand that God reckons us to be righteous when we've confessed our sins, and we've come to the cross. Even when there's been a backsliding, when there's been a coldness, when there's been a drifting away, you will live under condemnation, and every time something bad happens or there's trouble or tribulation that comes, you're going to be saying, well, I'm under judgment. I'm under the wrath of God. Folks, the church of Jesus Christ has to be certain, positive that we are right with God, that there is no wrath upon us. Yes, there is a wrath upon those who harden their hearts against the constant truth that's being laid before them, and they reject it, and they're loving their sins. Yes, there is divine judgment, but for the church of Jesus Christ, and even those of you who sit here this morning, and you're wounded, and you're bruised, I don't know what the cause of the bruise, the wound is, but you're being harassed and hounded in your mind that God is mad at you, that you're being paid back for your sins, and that you can't repent enough, that you've got to do something, you've got to make it up to God, and so you live with regrets, and you live with fear, and even though you know the way and the truth and the life, there's something lacking of joy and peace, and I ask you this morning as you listen to me, do you have that joy? Do you have a hope in you? This is where it begins. I'll be preaching again next Sunday, and I'm going to come out again, the last two Sundays been talking about it. We have to be sure, we have to be confident that we are now reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, and everything against you, everything against me has been wiped clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, and when I fall, when we sin, we condemn ourselves. Yes, and the Holy Spirit will convict us, yes, but that's a wooing conviction. He never convicts in anger. He's not mad at you. He's not mad at anybody sitting in this church. I don't care if you're a drug addict, an alcoholic, prostitute. I don't care who you are. God is not mad at you. He's here in this service wooing you by his spirit. There's not a backslider here. There's not one of you here this morning that knew the Lord, and now you say, Brother Dave, I'm lost in my thinking, and I'm not seeking God, and the word, I can't get anything out of it. They seem to be words running together. Oh, friends, the invitation to you this morning is that you were reconciled while you were still sinners. When you were deep in sin, God said, I've made provision of you, and one day I'm going to lead you into Times Square Church, or I'm going to lead you to this church, or somebody's going to come to you, and you're going to hear a word saying, come home. Come home, and the Holy Spirit has the door open, and you can walk out of this church with hope this morning. If you simply turn to him in confession and say, Jesus, I need you. I will believe what your word says. Glory be to God. We joy in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, for whom we now have received the atonement, and if our heart condemn us, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous. The day before Jesus was crucified, this is the day before he gathered his disciples and began to wash their feet, and he said this to the disciples, you're all clean except one, and that was Judas. He said, you're all clean. Now, the man outside who knew these disciples would say, wait a minute. I've listened to their pride, and I've listened to their contention, and I've listened to their covetousness, and I've listened to their arguments, and and I've heard all this, and how can you say they're clean? Because these men had been drawn to Christ, and they had a love in his heart, and the Lord knew the struggle. They were all going to forsake him and run, and Peter's going to deny him, but he says, you're clean because there was a covenant, and because God knew their heart, and he foresaw all that would happen, and there would be a brokenness, and there would be a contriteness. See, to this one will I look, who has a broken spirit and a contrite heart. It's pride, folks. It's pride that people have come in this church and have been deeply convicted, but it's pride that holds them back, and you're here now. Bring to him your broken spirit. Bring to him your contriteness and say, Lord, I'm not going to fight. I'm not going to resist it anymore. He will not call you filthy. He will not call you unclean. Thank God for the grace that brought these men to a place of tears and repentance, and finally to Pentecost, being justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and he calls it a blessedness. There's a blessedness that comes on those. Listen to Romans 4, 6 to 7. David also described the blessedness of the man whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account. It's confessed. It's forsaken, and God says, I'll never bring them to count again. Hallelujah. That deserves a praise the Lord. Secondly, the path to hope leads to tribulation and affliction. Now, the first verse said we have peace with God. That's knowing everything's right with God. In verse 2, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. Now, here's how you stand. Here's how you build the foundation by faith and rejoice in the hope of the glory of Christ. But not only so, but we glory in tribulation. We rejoice, Peter said in 4.13, we rejoice in so much as we're partakers of Christ's suffering. Peter is saying you rejoice in suffering because the path to hope is through tribulation and affliction according to the apostle Paul. Rejoice in tribulation, rejoice in suffering. These are hard words. These are some of the hard sayings of the scripture. Rejoice in a time like this when I'm being tried like I've never been tried. To have a joy rise up in the midst of all of this. The Holy Spirit wants to make hope more than a theological phrase or a theological word. Hope is not a feeling. Hope is a path and that path is going to take you through tribulation and affliction. And I would venture to say that there's not a person hearing me now who doesn't know something about suffering and affliction. If you're a believer, if you're pressing on in God to this goal of hope that can't be shaken. You see, he said he's going to shake everything that can be shaken. That means that there are many things that will not be shaken. And God wants to build in us this lasting unshakable hope so it becomes a testimony to the world. It's not just the preacher and the pope that's going to affect this generation. In fact, I believe that these who are going through suffering and tribulation, all of these things, these are going to be the preachers to this time of gross darkness. That's the only thing that's going to penetrate. I preached that last Sunday and I'll be preaching next week about resurrection in the here and now because Jesus is beginning to release his resurrection power right now in this day and age. And some of you now are in great suffering and in great tribulation. Here's the path. First of all, complete trust that I'm justified by the blood of Christ. Number two, confidence then sets my soul at peace because I'm confident that I'm right before God. That I have confidence that I have access to God's throne at any time, any day. And the Bible says this praying, this access, when we take it, that's he said, hereby we stand. Here's how we stand in these days. We seek the face of God because we know we have access and we take advantage of that access rather than just murmuring and complaining. And rather than saying, God, what are you doing? And how do you get me out of this? And somehow turning to the Lord and lifting our voice and crying out to God. And he said, hereby we stand because you have access. Nothing is hindering you. Nothing between you and the throne. He said, come boldly to the throne of grace that you may see mercy and grace to help in the time of need. The path goes through great suffering. And he said, then you begin to rejoice in the hope of glory. It means that this is going to end one day and we're not going anywhere but up. We're not going anywhere but to the paradise of God where Jesus will live with us forever. Paul said, tribulation worketh patience, patience. In other words, tribulation accomplishes something, accomplishes patience. I want to speak to you for just a minute how this patient accomplishes. There has to be a work of the Holy Spirit. You're saying, brother, are you telling me that all these afflictions I'm going through, it's all about patience? Doesn't seem right. All this suffering and all these trials. Work of patience? Yes. I can't go anywhere but the scripture. I can't take you any deeper than that. Patience. I always thought I was a pretty patient man. Where did I learn and am I ever learning how selfish we can be and how non-edifying we can be? Because you see, the Lord intends that we edify one another, that we build up one another, that we are patient with one another, that when somebody says something, we don't carry the hurt, we don't try, we don't pray, God, get even with them. We don't go there. Patience, waiting on God for whatsoever things were written before time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of all patience and consolation grants you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ. Patience to please thy neighbor for his good and for his edification. Could you sit here this morning and saying my thoughts, my words are toward my brother, my sister, no matter who they are. Do you have a heart to edify and lift up another? When you come to church, are you coming so God bless me? Yes, good. Lord, give me a word. Lord, let me go home, me go home. Let me, let me, let me. God, answer my prayer. God, lift my spirit. That's scriptural, that's fine, but folks, where does the body come in? Where is that glance? This sounds so simple. Where's that glance across the aisle and you see somebody with their head down and just shaking their head and where is the empathy of the Holy Spirit? Where is there something in your heart that says, God, could you give me a word? Is there something I can do? What is it in the heart that you don't want to leave this building until you hug somebody? And it just in the depth of the love of Christ felt in that hug. It's not just something you do. It's not just something there ought to be done. It's something in your heart. Last week, there's a brother came backstage and he has a terminal disease and I don't have any words for him anymore, but love. And I just kept hugging. I'm not boasting and we just had a good cry. Where is that edification? Are you in a position to edify somebody right now? Are you so bogged down in your own fears and sorrows and pain that you can't reach out to the body? Folks, that's what it's all about now. It's reaching out and coming to church and saying, oh God, I'll trust you. Your arm is not shortened, but help me to edify. And when you're corrected by the word or by an elder or somebody, you say, thank you, Jesus. And you don't let something into the heart. You say, oh God, put a wall of fire around me. Put a wall of fire around me. And most of all, and listen closely, it's patience with the promises more than anything else. You have need of patience. God says, having received the promise, you may, what? Be patient until you receive. We are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see with patience, we eagerly wait for it. And you have need of patience so that when you've done the will of God, you might receive what was promised. And folks, we get impatient most of all with the promises of God. There's a promise that says, God delights in you. One woman says, I am clinging to that promise and it's so hard to cling to that. And I seem so impatient. Where is the delight? Where's the evidence that God delights in me? She said, every day I get up and I cling to that promise. And now patiently she is waiting on the Lord, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. Patience brings about experience. That's the next step. Patience accomplishes experience. Now, folks, let me stop here and let me tell you, to me, when I want a word of hope, I don't call just anybody. I wouldn't entrust my call to anyone except I know who has experience. Somebody that's been in the fire. I don't want a novice. I don't want somebody that's got a prepared sermon that's been preached. I don't want somebody that's never been in the fire. Somebody never been tested. Somebody has never gone through this path. I want somebody going to be honest with me. I don't want somebody to say, brother, just hold on. You know the scripture, just hold on. I'm so tired of hearing hold on. No, we're just saying it. I'm sorry. But you know what I mean, don't you? It's a flippant answer. There's no fire behind it. There's no experience behind it. If I want to talk, I would love to talk to the man from Indonesia who emailed this week, and he said, brother Dave, I get your daily devotions here in Indonesia, and I have to go every day and watch my wife dying in a hopeless disease, and watch the pain, but he says, oh God's faithful. God has been faithful. God is meeting us. I want to talk to him. I want to talk to him because that man has hope, and he's not talking out of his head. He's talking out of an experience that he has with God. I would like to have a half an hour with the lady that emailed us also this week, and she said, I have been through so many operations. None of them have worked, and I've been in constant pain, but she says, I know my Redeemer lives, and I know who I am in Christ, and God is going to bring me through the fire. I want to talk to somebody with experience. This is the hope that is the anchor of the soul, steadfast and sure, which enters into that within the veil. You know, when I talk to people with experience, I talked to a dear man this week, and I know his pain and suffering, and I know that what he's gone through for a long, long time. He said, Brother Dave, it's been rough. This week has been horrible, but oh, let me tell you what the Holy Spirit revealed to me this week. He takes me into the Scripture and shows me things I have never seen or heard because he's got experience, and when I hung up, I turned to Gwen, and I said, oh man, I got another sermon, and I'm preaching it to you. Let me tell you something about hope. Experience ends up. All of this brings to hope, steadfast and sure. It goes beyond the veil, and I'm going to close in just a moment, but let me tell you what hope is. He said, a hope that doesn't make you ashamed, hope that won't let you down, hope that will hold you up. Hope is about living. It's about wanting to live. It's an expectation that God in his time and his way is going to deliver. God is going to answer my prayer in his time and his way. In the meantime, he's making me a witness. In the meantime, he's doing something deep in my soul. We hear this, but it has to dawn us. We have to accept it. There are some of you here and all over the world. I get emails from, we get thousands and thousands from all over the world, emails and letters, and there's so many now saying, it goes something like this, Brother Dave. I'm living in a marriage that's hopeless, tried everything. My husband berates me and abuses me verbally and all of this, and she said, I just want to die. I just won't go home. I want to get out of this, and there are some of you that are in such affliction, maybe such human pain. There's something in the heart that says, well, Paul said it. I prefer to go and be with Jesus. I just, I can't endure this anymore. I've had all I can take, and I don't see any way out. I don't see any hope. You see, the hope that doesn't disappoint. Is this something the Holy Ghost does in the heart? And I want to tell you something. If you have experience, God doesn't need you in heaven. Did you hear me? He doesn't need you now. Oh, you're good there. You're going. Some of you, God may have told you're going to go because of illness or something. He may have given you some kind of, as he did with Paul and Peter. But I'll tell you, most of all, if you have experience and you've been through tribulation and everything else, what if God took everybody who had experience? Come on. Where would we be if everybody says, let me go home? Now, come on, don't look at me like that. You said, I want to face what's in the future. I won't go home. I won't go home. And Paul said, I'm needed here. I've been there. God says, no, you're going to live because you're needed. God puts you where you are. You're in a situation now that God arranged. The enemy may be the factor, the enemy may be one, but God has allowed, and you're in a position right now. You have experience, and experience brings about hope. You're the hope of the world through Jesus Christ. You can tell the whole world, yes, pain, suffering, but I know, I know who I know. His arm is not shortened. The world needs you. He needs you now because you have experience. In Times Square church people, God bless your heart, the Holy Spirit's telling you right now, not now. Hold steady. Get up out of your bed. Get up out of your confusion. He said, strengthen your feeble knees. That should become, what it means, it lets you become permanently crippled. If you don't exercise, those limbs are going to stiffen up on you, and you're going to lay in bed and pity yourself the rest of your life. Amen. Let's stand. You know that on Christ the solid rock I stand? Could you lead us in that? Hallelujah. Do you receive the word of God this morning? If you do, say amen. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Will you sing this with us, please? On Christ the solid rock I stand. You're standing on the rock. The Lord wants to give you an infusion of hope. Shake off those heavy bands. Lift up holy hands and believe God right now that you can walk out of this service rejoicing in the hope of God that will not bring you shame. On Christ the solid rock, sing it. I'm going to lead in prayer in just a moment, but I'm going to open up the front of this church right here for those the Holy Spirit is moving upon. He's moving on your heart. Maybe you came here this morning and you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. You're not really, and your heart tells you, you're not right with God. You're invited now to step out of your seat and make a stand. It means just coming home. Those who are backslidden, those who have grown cold and you're just overwhelmed, you can bring your sin to Christ. You can bring your failure to Jesus this morning. No one needs to know. No one will be putting a hand on you or anything. Up in the balcony, main floor and in the overflow rooms, you can go to the lobby on your floor and the ushers will show you how to get into this main auditorium and walk down the aisle and come with these. We'll pray for you and we'll believe the to do a miracle in your life. Please don't walk out if you are laden down with burdens. And if you have been holding back from giving Christ everything, today's the time right now to give them your heart as they sing that. Just step out of your seat and come. The Lord bless you. You can still come while I'm talking and praying. Father, we pray for those that have come to the front of this church and for those still standing at their seats. Lord, I pray that in your great mercy, love and compassion, embrace them and show them, Lord, it's just one step, one step now to simply repent and say, God, I want to bring my sin to you, to the blood, and I will believe you that you will cleanse me and cover me and redeem me and save me by faith in the victory of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus. For those that are weary and worn and tired, refresh them, Lord. Bring them through to this place of hope in Jesus' name. All you have to do is reach out now. He's as close as the mention of his name. God bless you. The Holy Spirit is here. If you have to go, you can just quietly be dismissed. And otherwise, this church likes to just worship before we leave the auditorium in the next 10 minutes or so. Let's just magnify and worship him. It's through this worship that the presence of Christ is so really manifested. So open your heart as we sing. Those that are here, just pray. Seek out to God right now and just call on his name and do as I've instructed you now. Most of all, believe the word and that the Holy Spirit will come and give you the strength to go on from this day on. God bless you.