Matt Hagee - Hope That Does Not Fail
If you brought your Bibles, turn them to the book of Romans 5, beginning at the 1st through the 5th verse, as this morning we begin a new sermon series on a topic that is one of the most vital elements in any human being's existence, and that is hope. We live in a generation that is so filled with stress and so troubled with turmoil, so packed with trials. That in this generation, unlike never before, people are simply giving up. Why? Because they've lost hope. They've lost hope that things will ever get any better. There's hope for a better tomorrow today. Why? Because Psalm 30:5 says, "Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning". Say that with me. "Joy cometh in the morning". Don't you let despair pull you under. Take hope that joy is coming. Don't allow disappointment to overwhelm you. Take hope that joy is coming. We have hope because of who we know. We know Jesus Christ and he is our hope today, tomorrow and forever. Give the Lord a handclap of praise.
Let's read Romans 5, beginning at verse 1. If you're there, say, amen. "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 the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produce perseverance: perseverance, character: and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint", read that again, "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".
Heavenly Father, today we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, by whom which you have given us the gift of salvation. And so today, we thank the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost for being in this place, for being our source of hope, for giving us the strength to live and know that because Jesus lives, we're more than conquerors through Christ. It's in your name that we pray and ask these things. And all of God's children said... praise the Lord.
You may be seated. If you're going to have hope for a better tomorrow, you've got to know where hope comes from. And in this life, the only valid source of hope comes from above. I'll use this story to illustrate what I mean. On August 5, 2010, at the Sam Jose copper and gold mine in the nation of Chile, a 33-man work crew went into the mine just as they had many times before. They traveled through the entrance of the mine, 2,300 feet below the surface of the earth and were three miles away from where they started above ground when suddenly, a massive collapse in the mine had them trapped more than 2,000 feet underground. These 33 men had no idea if anyone up above knew where they were. No one from up above knew if they were alive. These men were powerless to do anything to get back to the surface, to get back to fresh air, to get back to the promise of life. If they're going to have any hope of a future, their hope has got to come from above.
What they did not know during the 17 days that they were waiting is that there were teams of geologists and scientists from all over the world who were working day and night, drilling six-inch boreholes trying to find out if there was a chamber in this mine where the missing men could be found. Day after day, from up above, they were drilling down through thousands of feet of rock. And finally on day 17, a six-inch borehole pokes through the collapsed mine into the chamber where these men are gathered. The men could hear the drill bit coming, and they quickly wrote a hand-written note. And when the drill bit poked through the wall, they jumped up and stuck it on there with duct tape. Thank God for duct tape. And on the note, it said, "Estamos bien en el refugio los treinta y tres," which means "We're good. We're in the refuge. There are 33 of us".
Now here's the thing about this six-inch hole: it didn't get them out of the mine. It's too small for them to do anything but know that there's someone up above who's coming down to rescue them. What happened on day 17 is that for the first time in more than two weeks, they had hope. Somebody's looking for me. Somebody's trying to help me. Somebody's reaching down to me. The six-inch hole did not get them out of the trouble that they were in, but it gave them hope that help was on the way, and it encouraged them until the rescue team arrived. And on day 69, all 33 men were pulled out of that hole alive.
Many of you sitting in this sanctuary and millions of you watching today, you sit here today and you feel like your life is a big cave-in. Everything has collapsed around you. And you're wondering if anybody knows just how underneath the weight of the world you are. Maybe your business caved in because of economic circumstances beyond your control. Maybe your marriage caved in regardless of how hard you tried to save it. Whatever it is, something in the world around you came crashing down, and it broke your heart, and it destroyed your dreams. And now you sit here wondering if there is any hope for tomorrow. Desperately, you're waiting. Where will my help come from? Is there any hope for my family? Is there any hope for my future? Is there any hope for me?
What I want you to know is that there is someone who is up above you, and he is diligently working night and day, digging down to you, trying to lift you from underneath the burden that you're under. He may not extract you today, but he sent a lifeline named Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. And he punched a hole from up above, down into the pit of despair. And he's asking you today, have faith in God. Take hold of hope and put your trust in me, because help is on the way! You say, "How do you know this"? The five verses we just read, Romans 5:1 through 5. You need to understand that the chapters and the verses were not put in until the scriptures were canonized so that we would know where to tell you to turn in services like these. We couldn't say, "Just turn to the middle of the book and figure it out".
So Paul did not number these verses. But what he did do in the letter to the Romans is he wrote it in four separate parts. Romans 1 through 4 is kind of part one. Romans 5, 6, 7 and 8 is part two. Romans 9, 10 and 11 concerns God's policy and his dispensation towards the Jews. Romans 12, 13 and the remainder is the conclusion of the book. So if you're going understand the book of Romans, you can't take it in one chapter and one verse. You have to look at it in the entirety of it in the sections, 1 through 4, 5 through 8. So here in 5 through 8, Paul is telling us about hope and peace and where it comes from. And he says that the hope and the peace that we have comes from this fact, Romans 5:1, "Having been justified by faith", say that with me, "Having been justified by faith... We have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord".
Paul connects some dots here. The only way to have peace with God is through Jesus Christ. You don't have peace with God unless you come through the son. Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 that all of us were caught in a cave-in. In Romans 5:12, he says, "By one man sin entered the world... And death spread to all men," because of what Adam did. You see this guy down here at the bottom of this pit of despair? He's looking up trying to figure out how God's going to get down to him, because he's powerless to do anything to get to where God is. And so God, knowing that by one man did sin enter the world, he just started drilling down through time and through space and through every other element that in any way was going to keep man from God. And this is how it begins.
In Genesis 3:15, the drill bit hits the bedrock and it starts grinding down, because it said Jesus Christ was the seed of the woman. And then in Exodus 12:5, it keeps drilling down, because Jesus Christ is the type and shadow of the spotless lamb at the Passover that's tethered to the door. And then it keeps drilling down in Leviticus where he tells the children of Israel that there's a scapegoat that's going to pay for your sin. And it keeps drilling down into numbers 19 where we're purified from every transgression and every form of defilement through the ashes of a heifer.
And then it keeps drilling down through Deuteronomy 18 where Moses says God is going to bring another deliverer just like me. And he's going to deliver my people. And he keeps drilling down. Every chapter, every verse, every line, every letter, God is drilling down, drilling down, drilling down until you get to Galatians 4:4 where it says, "In the fullness of time, God sent forth his only begotten son through a woman under the law: that he might redeem all of those who are under the law and make them sons of God". He sent a blessed hope, and his name is Jesus Christ! And because of what Christ has done, we're sons and daughters of God today! Give the Lord a handclap of praise!
This lifeline, it's the hope that you have that someday you're going to see the glory of God. It's not going to get you out of traffic jams and taxes here on earth. Some people twist it to say that. "Oh, because I've got Jesus, my troubles are gone". Wrong! Read Romans. We persevere in trials. We celebrate them. Why? Because we know that it's producing something saying that hope of God's glory is what we're about to receive. We have hope today. I said, "We have hope today". And his name is Jesus. We've been justified by faith, and have peace with God through Jesus Christ. And then in verse 2, he says, "Through whom we also have access by faith". That's a very important verse. "Through whom we also have access by faith". And then it says what happens whenever we take access by faith in God. "We have access by faith, and we receive grace by which we stand. Therefore we rejoice in the glory of God".
You remember I said that for 52 days that six-inch hole is how they would send down the necessary supplies. But the miners would send messages up. This is what grace and faith do in the life of a believer. In faith, you go into heavenly places when you ask God in prayer. And he sends grace back down for you to continue to stand in faith until you see what you're asking for. You send faith up. He sends grace down. And you keep standing in hope that the glory of God is on its way. It's your lifeline until your answer arrives. The problem is, is most people don't take the grace to stand. They just have an impatient attitude that says, "God didn't do it for me on my timeline".
Romans 5 is connected to Romans 1, 2, 3 and 4 with this one word, "Therefore". Paul begins, "Therefore, having been justified..." "Therefore" means connecting everything that I had just said. And so what he's saying there is, "Everything that I said in Romans 1 through 4, I'm connecting with this word". So what did he say in Romans 1 through 4? Here's just a few of the highlights. First, he says, "Grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ". Now grace, that's from God: peace, that's from Jesus. You can't have both unless you have Jesus and God. Grace comes from God the Father, peace through Jesus Christ. How did that peace come? That peace came when Jesus gave his life which is why Paul in Romans 1:16 says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ".
What was the gospel of Jesus Christ? That he died and rose again. And he said, "This gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe". What he was saying is without Christ, there is no salvation. Without the grace of God, there is no salvation. Without the power of God, there is no salvation. So if you put your faith in the gospel and in this power, then you have salvation. Verse 17, "The just shall live by", what? "Faith". "The just shall live by", what? Not church affiliation, not membership. Not Christening, not sprinkling, not your man-made garments, but by faith. So if you want to be justified, "Justified," meaning in the courts of heaven as if you had never sinned. Anybody feel that?
I mean I'd take that. You mean you're going to forget everything I did wrong? You're going to put it under the blood and you're not going to hold it against me anymore? I'm not going to have to answer for every sin and every transgression? You're going to cover that with your grace? And all I have to do is have a little bit of faith. I'll take that. And then he says, in verse 18 of Romans 1, what the alternative is. The alternative to living with faith in the power of the gospel is this: "The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and all the unrighteousness of men".
Paul is saying it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter how much you have or don't have: without faith in the gospel, without faith in Jesus Christ, you are unrighteous. Without his blood and the only thing that you'll receive without the righteousness of Christ is wrath. So here's option A, ladies and gentlemen. You used to watch that "Let's make a deal" show? Let's make a deal. Option A, Romans 5:1, you have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Option B, Romans 1:18, the wrath of God is against you and your unrighteousness. How many of y'all want option A? I mean any option B takers here? Oh, I'll take God's wrath. Nobody wants that deal.
This is why Paul says, "I am not ashamed of this gospel. Because it's this gospel that brings me peace with God. It's this gospel that gives me access to heaven. It's this gospel that gives me the strength by which I stand. I am not ashamed of this gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe". And what this gospel does is it gives you access to God and peace with heaven. People don't feel the peace of God because they continue to walk in sin. People don't feel the peace of God because they will not take the time and the patience to develop the character that brings hope. And the hope does not disappoint. Sometimes you have to endure a little while before you get to see what God said. When life becomes difficult, people blame God, rather than hope in God. They accuse God Almighty of failing to keep his promise, rather than do what Abraham did.
And the Bible says, "Abraham hoped against hope". Say that with me. "Hoped against hope". What does that mean? Is Paul being redundant there? No. He's saying that he had hope, supernatural hope, against all-natural hope. He was saying, when everything on earth was stacked against him, Abraham still believed and put his hope in a supernatural God who promised that it would come to pass. For those of you who don't know the story, here it is in very brief detail. God promised Abraham a son. Now he promised Abraham a son when Abraham was young and strong enough and capable of fathering a child through natural means. The thing about it is the son did not show up until Abraham was 100 years old. That's exactly what Abraham's wife did. She laughed. Because it was unbelievable that somebody Abraham's age would be able to do such a thing. Could you imagine Abraham going to the men's Bible study? "Guess what, boys. She's pregnant".
And to really appreciate exactly what this hope and this faith and this perseverance and this character development looks like, you have to read what the Bible says in Romans 4 about Abraham. It says, "Contrary to hope (that natural hope), in hope (the supernatural hope) he believed against", what? "All-natural reasoning". Say that with me, "All-natural reasoning. And he put his", what? "Hope (his supernatural hope) in the supernatural power of God". That means that "He didn't consider his body already dead", in verse 19. He said, "I don't care what the experts say. I'm only believing in what God promised me. I don't care what the statistics predict. I'm only believing that God is able. I don't care how ridiculous other people think it is. If my God said it, my God will do it". When it said, "He did not waver in his faith," that doesn't mean that Abraham counted up to 100. That means he counted down every day from the day he heard the promise until the day he received the promise. And every day that he did not receive the promise, he just kept giving glory to God.
"God, I know that you're going to do it because you've said you would do it. I know that it's going to take longer than what I want, but I'm not on my schedule. I'm on your schedule. God, you hear those guys across the street laughing at me. What they don't know is they're not laughing at me: they're laughing at you. So when you hear them laugh, you go ahead and remember me because I'm going to continue to praise you and thank you for what you're going to promise and what you're going to do. God, I believe that you will keep your promise to me. And I know that someday soon, you're going to do exactly what you said you would do". And when the man was 100 years old, God's hope, God's promise, God's provision, God's answer, it arrived. The message, church, is simply this: it may take longer than you think, but our God has never failed and our God will not fail. Hold on, my child. Joy comes in the morning! Give the Lord a handclap of praise!
Do you remember I told you that 5, 6, 7 and 8 in the book of Romans was a section? How did Paul end the message? Go to Romans 8 very quickly. And what he says is, "What shall we say of these things"? "What shall we say of these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Seeing that he did not spare his only begotten son, how will he not freely give us all things"?
We know he's going to give us all things, because he already gave us Jesus. We know that he gave us Jesus because he loved us. And so he says, "Who then shall separate us from the love of God? Shall trials or tribulations, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword"? No! "I am persuaded that neither height, nor depth, nor death, nor life, nor angels...Nor things present nor things to come, nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God". Child of God, put your hope in him! Put your faith in him! Believe in him! He will not fail you! Give the Lord a shout and a handclap in this house today! Come on, church. Stand to your feet and magnify the Lord with me. Exalt his name in this place.
We stand, Heavenly Father, in your grace. We stand in your goodness. We stand in your mercy. We stand upon your promises today. We thank you that we can go boldly into the throne room and find mercy in our hour of need. So today, in faith, we declare health and healing for the physical body. We declare joy for the downtrodden. We declare strength for the weary and the weak. We declare victory for those who feel defeated, in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name! Give the Lord a handclap of praise!