Romans (149) Hymns 132, 465, 219

Having examined through v12 this morningwe come this evening to v13which in many ways is the
pinnacle of this entire sectionallow me to introduce it with two introductory thoughts[1] it's closely
related to v12having quoted Isa.11:10"in Him the Gentiles shall hope"this leads the apostle to pray
that the Roman Christians would be filled with hope...
[2] The verse is an indirect prayer"now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing"
this was his express desirehe desired that God would do this for and in themthusit's an indirect prayer
or petition...
I. The Object of the Prayer
II. The Nature of the Prayer
III. Lessons from the Prayer
I. The Object of the Prayer
1. I suggest that when Paul says "the God of hope"he meansGod the Father in distinction from the
Son/Spirit...
2. ThusGod is disguised from the Holy Spirit"may the God of hope fill you...by the power of the Holy
Spirit..."
3. Matt.6:9"in this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name...give
us...forgive us...lead us...deliver us..."
4. William Hendriksen"The phrase 'the God of hope' means: the God who is the Source of hope and
imparts it to those who trust Him..."
5. Thusby "the God of hope" is meant[1] God as the possessor of hope, and [2] God as the bestower of
hope...
6. [1] God as the possessor of hopethat isALL hope (grace) originates with GodHe is the God of ALL
grace...
7. 1Pet.5:10"But may the God of all grace...after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen,
and settle you..."
8. "The God of all grace"that isthe God who possesses all gracethe God from whom all grace is
given...
9. Jas.1:17"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of
lights..."
10. All grace comes from the Father"every good gift and every perfect gift is from above"it originates
with God...
11. [2] God as the bestower of hopethat isHe not only possesses all gracebut He graciously gives it to
others...
12. Nowwe know that this grace which He possesses for ushas been deposited in the person of Jesus
Christ...
13. Phil.4:19"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"that
isin union with Christ...
14. Thusall saving and sanctifying grace (hope) is given to us from God through and in the person of Jesus
Christ...
15. Furthermorewe know that all grace is worked within us by the Spirit"by the power of the Holy
Spirit..."
16. Let me put it this waythe grace that resides with God is natively too high and distant for sinners to reach
it...
17. Thusit's please Him to put all grace, saving and sanctifying, in Christwho mediates between God and
men...
18. But thenthe grace found in Christ is still too high for dead sinnersthus the Spirit mediates between
Christ and the soul...
19. That isHe unites the soul to Christ by faithcommunicating from Christ grace and strength to the
individual soul...
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II. The Nature of the Prayer
A. To be filled with all joy and peace in believing
1. HereI simply want to move through this statementbriefly examining it by dividing it into three
sections...
2. [1] To be filled"now may the God of hope fill you"that is"may He fill you up to the full or
completely..."
3. The word "fill" means"to fill to the top"Paul desires that their entire soul would be filled with joy and
peace...
4. The same word is used in Lk.5:7"And they came and filled both boats so full [fish], that they began to
sink..."
5. Rev.15:8"the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God"every part of it was filled with
smoke...
6. This is what Paul desired for the Roman Christiansthat their hearts would be filled full with joy and
peace...
7. [2] With all joyperhaps the best way to define Christian joy is suggest synonyms such asgladness or
delight...
8. Peter refers to it as"joy inexpressible"that isjoy that isn't easily expressed by words and definition
(1Pet.1:8)...
9. Spiritual joy is the work of the Spirit within our heartsenabling us to rejoice and delight in spiritual
things...
10. It can be distinguished from worldly or carnal joyin that Christian joy is rooted in the Lord and
salvation...
11. [3] With all peacethat isthe peace of Godthat lively sense and awareness that you have peace with
God...
12. Most of you know the distinction between the peace of God and peace with Godpeace with God never
changes...
13. We always have equal peace with Godthis can never increase or decreaseit never strengthens or
abates...
14. In contrast to this "the peace of God" does lessen and strengthenit comes and goes in regards to
intensity...
15. This is also true for joyChristian joy can increase or decreasein similar fashionso can the peace of
God...
16. It's for this reason Paul prayed that God would fill them with the joy and peacethat these would
increase...
17. [4] In believing"may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing"that isthrough
faith...
18. Faith is the means through which grace is communicatedit's the means through which we are saved and
sanctified...
19. Perhaps I can put it like thisJOY and PEACE are graceswhich are obtained through the means of
faith...
20. Nowthe question is thisif faith is the means through which joy and peace are increasedwhat the
object of our faith...
21. Orput another wayfrom what source is joy and peace derivedor, againwhat is the object of our
faith...
22. WellI've already answered this questionGod and God alone is the source of all saving and sanctifying
grace...
23. Put more specificall graceboth saving and sanctifyingis deposited in Christwhich faith alone
obtains...
24. Rom.5:1-2"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God [Eph.2:8; 1Pet.1:8]..."
B. To abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
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1. Herewe learn that the end result or goal of joy and peace is hopejoy and peace strengthen or
increasehope...
2. [1] To aboundthis Gk word means"to exceed, abound, or flourish"it describes an abundant
increase...
3. Phil.1:9"and this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all
discernment..."
4. 1Thess.3:12"and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as
we do to you [2Cor.8:7]..."
5. In both of these textsPaul prayed that their love would abound more and morethat it was ever
increase...
6. This is what he's desiring in Romans 15:13he desires that their hope would increase and aboundmore
and more...
7. [2] In hopethe first thing that needs clarifying isthe Scriptures use "hope" very differently than we
do...
8. We might sayI hope that it doesn't rainor, that the sun comes outor, that the price of gas goes
down...
9. This is NOT what hope means in the Biblenecessary to biblical hope are the concepts of confidence, and
expectation...
10. Simply puttrue and Biblical hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised us in
Scripture...
11. [a] Confidenceessential to true hope is the concept of trust or confidencein fact hope and faith are
inseparable...
12. Rom.15:12"In Him the Gentiles shall hope"that isin Christ the Gentiles shall trust or put their
confidence...
13. Job 8:13-14"so are the paths of all who forget God; and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish, 14 whose
confidence shall be cut off, and whose trust is a spider's web..."
14. [b] Expectationhope by very definition looks forwardit eagerly waits or longs for something to
come....
15. Prov.10:28"the hope of the righteous will be gladness [lit. is gladness], but the expectation of the wicked
will perish..."
16. Necessary to Biblical hopeis an expectation of something longed for or anticipatedit includes strong
desire...
17. It is this sense that hope differs from faithfaith believes the promise and hope eagerly anticipates its
reception...
18. Heb.11:1"now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"faith is the
substance...
19. Faith is the substance or assurance of things hoped forfaith brings a present sense to those things hoped
for...
20. Faith believes the promiseit affords a present sense or substance of what we hope forit enables us to
see into the land...
21. Faith believes the promise while hope waitshope anticipates what faith believesit eagerly anticipates
the promise...
22. Let me illustratethink of a new bridewho is separated from her groom while he is off fighting at
war.....
23. Every day while he is gone he writes her letters confirming his love for her and his imminent return to
her...
24. Faith believes the promisehope waits for its fulfilmentfaith is the hand that receives the lettershope
the eyes that look...
25. Thus true hopeBiblical hopegospel hopeis the confident, eager expectation (anticipation) of God's
promise..
26. [3] By the power of the Holy Spiritthat isthe Spirit strengthens faith through which we are filled with
joy and peaceby which hope abounds...
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27. That isit is by the POWER of the Holy Spiritthat all graceincluding faithis worked within the
soul...
28. Col.1:9-12"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask
that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that
you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in
the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience
and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light..."
29. Eph.3:20-21"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations,
forever and ever. Amen..."
III. Lessons from the Prayer
This text can easily be reworded into a prayer, William Hendriksen"O God of hope, fill us with all joy and
peace...so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may overflow with hope"thusas an inspired prayerI
want to suggest from it three major lessons...

A. We should use the promises of God

1. Here I'm referring to the factthat the apostle turned the promise of v12 into the prayer of v13"the
Gentiles shall hope...now may the God of hope...make you abound in hope..."
2. That ishe used the promise that God would make the Gentiles hopeinto a petition that the Gentiles
would abound in hope...
3. A.W. Pink"Here the apostle shows us what use we are to make of the divine promises, namely, turn
them into believing prayer, requesting God to make them good. As God draw near to us in promise, it is
our privilege to draw near to Him in petition. Those prophecies were infallible assurance that God
intended to show mercy to the Gentiles. No sooner had Paul quoted them than he bowed his knees befo0re
their Giver, thereby teaching the Roman saints and us how to turn the promises to practical account,
instructing them what to ask for..."
B. We should seek big things from God
1. If Romans 15:13 teaches us anythingit teaches us that there's an abundance of grace found in Jesus
Christ...
2. Eph.1:18-21"[I pray also] the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is
the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come..."
3. Eph.3:14-16"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His
glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man..."
4. Phil.4:19-20"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20
Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen..."
C. We should trust in the power of God
1. That iswe must pray for the power of the Holy Spiritto fill us with gracefor the glory and honor of
God...
2. 2Cor.9:8"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency
in all things, may have an abundance for every good work..."
3. 2Pet.1:2-3"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of
Him who called us by glory and virtue..."