WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.200 Our New Testament reading will be given by Neil. 00:00:07.379 --> 00:00:11.279 It's from Romans chapter 8, verses 18 to 39. 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:17.719 Let's read together in Romans chapter 8, verse 18. 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:24.400 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:29.420 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.179 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:44.620 That the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:51.980 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 00:00:51.979 --> 00:01:02.640 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 00:01:03.500 --> 00:01:05.060 For in this hope we were saved. 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:07.739 But hope that is seen is no hope at all. 00:01:07.979 --> 00:01:09.920 Who hopes for what he already has? 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.239 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:18.399 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:25.859 We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 00:01:26.759 --> 00:01:34.799 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:42.939 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:52.479 For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:55.979 And those he predestined, he also called. 00:01:56.620 --> 00:01:58.400 Those he called, he also justified. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.280 Those he justified, he also glorified. 00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:04.560 What then shall we say in response to this? 00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:07.759 If God is for us, who can be against us? 00:02:08.419 --> 00:02:17.520 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:21.419 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:23.579 It is God who justifies. 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:25.240 Who is it that condemns? 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:34.360 Christ Jesus, who died, more than that, who has been raised to life, is at the right hand of God, and is also interceding for us. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.480 Who shall separate us from the love of God, of Christ? 00:02:38.980 --> 00:02:44.860 Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 00:02:44.860 --> 00:02:49.300 As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:51.920 We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:02:52.940 --> 00:02:57.680 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:11.540 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:17.419 will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:03:18.139 --> 00:03:18.459 Amen. 00:03:18.459 --> 00:03:18.579 Amen. 00:03:18.580 --> 00:03:40.439 Let's turn back to that passage which we have just read. 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:49.879 And we might look particularly at verses 24 and 25, where I'll just read these again. 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:54.400 For in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all. 00:03:55.219 --> 00:03:56.780 Who hopes for what they already have? 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:02.699 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 00:04:02.699 --> 00:04:08.399 In these verses, Paul is expounding Christian hope. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:16.699 And surely hope is an appropriate theme as we look back to the privilege of having celebrated the Lord's Supper this morning. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:26.240 The Lord's Supper is not only an act of remembrance in our part, it is also an act of proclamation. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:33.100 And each time, Paul tells us, each time we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 00:04:34.139 --> 00:04:43.400 And so the Lord's Supper not only looks back to the death of the Lord Jesus, but it looks forward to his coming again. 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:54.120 And so the Lord's Supper always elicits hope in the hearts of those who participate in it. 00:04:54.120 --> 00:05:10.040 Now, interestingly, in these two verses, Paul speaks of hope as a noun, and he also speaks of it as a verb. 00:05:11.100 --> 00:05:16.840 And it's very interesting to see how that distinction works out in his exposition. 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:23.439 The original recipients of this letter were in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire. 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:32.319 And what Paul was saying here about hope was something entirely new to them. 00:05:33.840 --> 00:05:40.579 Scholars and historians looking back tell us that religious hope was practically unknown in the ancient world. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:48.600 One scholar wrote, living hope as a fundamental religious attitude was unknown in Greek culture. 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:56.460 However, while these ancient cultures look back in nostalgia to golden ages in the past, 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:03.840 Judaism and Christianity look forward with hope to a new order to come. 00:06:04.820 --> 00:06:08.700 And this surely is a reminder that the church is the community of destiny. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:11.620 The church is the community of the future. 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:17.579 Of course, we look back and we give God thanks for all that he has done in the past. 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:26.879 But we look back in order that we might look forward and look and anticipate the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:34.939 Now, this particular text, I think, is particularly relevant to us in the culture in which we live today. 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:45.879 As Western civilization, step by step, sheds its Christian heritage, it is moving into an age of pessimism and despair. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:53.060 And we find media, and especially social media, in a perpetual state of insecurity. 00:06:53.060 --> 00:07:04.879 There is constant fear of environmental pollution, fear of climate change, fear of political instability, fear of racial unrest, 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:11.819 and perhaps above all at the moment, fear of the global COVID pandemic. 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:19.079 Now, this loss of hope is witnessed in many of the pop songs that are sung today. 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:26.300 And it was graphically articulated two or three centuries ago by the English novelist H.G. Wells, 00:07:27.159 --> 00:07:31.959 who said as he looked out on the world of his day, and he could say it if he were alive today, 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:38.279 he said this, there is no way out or round or through. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:45.279 And so we might ask ourselves this evening, having had the privilege of celebrating the Lord's Supper, 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:50.500 which attitude characterizes our lives. 00:07:51.039 --> 00:07:51.979 Is it hope? 00:07:53.939 --> 00:07:55.119 Or is it despair? 00:07:56.559 --> 00:08:03.739 Now, Paul tells us in this chapter, in this letter, that it is possible to pass out of despair into hope. 00:08:04.919 --> 00:08:13.439 And these two verses explain how it is possible for us to pass from one into the other. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:21.719 In these two verses, verses 24 and 25 of Romans chapter 8, the word hope is found no less than five times. 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:26.680 And so Paul here is like a carpenter hitting a nail. 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:31.659 And he's hitting it not just once, but he's hitting it five times. 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:38.019 The first three references, hope is a noun. 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:41.539 And the last two, it is a verb. 00:08:41.539 --> 00:08:50.860 Now, teachers of primary children tell us that the difference between a noun and a verb 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:58.939 is that a noun is a naming word, and hope and a verb is a doing word. 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:03.860 And so Paul is inviting us to name our hope, 00:09:03.860 --> 00:09:10.500 but he's also inviting us to practice our hope, to live out our hope, to experience our hope. 00:09:11.139 --> 00:09:17.240 Not only to proclaim it and to believe it, but also to experience it in our hearts. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:23.240 So first of all, let us think just for a moment about hope as a noun. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:25.960 Christian hope looks forward. 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:30.820 It looks for something to hope for. 00:09:31.340 --> 00:09:33.580 It looks to a future event. 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:39.280 And that future event is, above all, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:09:39.420 --> 00:09:41.780 but specifically in this particular context, 00:09:42.680 --> 00:09:48.240 Paul is looking forward to our adoption to sonship and redemption of our bodies. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:55.279 He's looking forward to that day when the Lord Jesus Christ shall return and establish his kingdom here on earth, 00:09:56.180 --> 00:10:08.759 and when the people of God will be invested with their sonship in the kingdom of God, 00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:12.299 the sonship of God the Father. 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:23.359 And so Paul is anticipating here what we sometimes call the glorification of believing followers of Jesus. 00:10:25.339 --> 00:10:31.839 So Paul sees salvation as a noun primarily pointing forward to this future event, 00:10:31.939 --> 00:10:37.159 to the climax of history, to the end of the world, to the kingdom of God having completely come. 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:42.600 And further on in the letter in chapter 13, he says, 00:10:43.079 --> 00:10:47.539 Our salvation now is nearer than when we first believed. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:53.159 And so Paul is looking forward to salvation. 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:59.600 He rounds us in the first chapter of this letter that the gospel is the power of God 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.360 that brings salvation to everyone who believes. 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:12.259 In the old King James translation, we read that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:22.639 And that idea of the gospel being the operation of God's power working towards salvation, 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:32.919 when salvation will be climaxed, and when it will indeed be demonstrated to the whole universe. 00:11:34.179 --> 00:11:41.759 Of course, Paul does recognize that salvation is not only a future event, it is also a present event. 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:49.200 He speaks in chapter 1, verse 18, of the gospel being the power of God to those who are being saved. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:57.000 And this reminds us that, in fact, we have here not only a noun, but we have also a verb. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:02.180 But the noun does look forward to the investiture of the sons of God, 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:06.500 to the redemption of the body, that is to the resurrection, 00:12:07.160 --> 00:12:09.520 to the glorification of the people of God, 00:12:10.220 --> 00:12:14.700 and to serving God forever and ever in the new heavens and the new earth. 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:19.140 And so, as Christians, we are called upon to be forward-looking. 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:23.100 He tells us, in this hope you were saved. 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:30.320 He tells us in chapter 5, verse 2, that we boast, we are to boast in the hope of the glory of God, 00:12:30.400 --> 00:12:32.300 that is, the hope of sharing God's glory. 00:12:33.300 --> 00:12:42.060 And this reminds us that hope is not simply an event, a climax, a consummation in the future. 00:12:42.059 --> 00:12:44.479 It is also a present experience. 00:12:45.319 --> 00:12:49.619 And so we move from thinking of salvation as a noun, 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:58.939 to thinking of hope as a noun, to thinking of hope as a verb. 00:12:59.819 --> 00:13:01.339 In verse 25, Paul says, 00:13:01.699 --> 00:13:02.739 We hope. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:05.139 And here we have a doing word, 00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:10.159 which refers not to a future event, but to a present experience. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:18.000 And Paul is anticipating, he's looking forward to the climax of salvation in glory. 00:13:18.959 --> 00:13:21.480 Now, what does this hoping involve? 00:13:22.319 --> 00:13:24.759 How can we participate in this? 00:13:24.839 --> 00:13:27.600 Well, first of all, I think it involves believing. 00:13:28.379 --> 00:13:29.919 That is absolutely crucial. 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:35.319 It is possible sometimes to speak of hope as something less than faith. 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:37.900 Sometimes when people are asked, 00:13:38.020 --> 00:13:38.520 Are you saved? 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:40.000 They say, I hope so. 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:45.379 And it's perhaps not as certain as Paul would want it to be. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:52.480 Christian hope is much stronger than simply hoping so. 00:13:53.260 --> 00:13:54.900 It is to be fully persuaded. 00:13:55.740 --> 00:14:00.760 Remember what Paul said in his testimony to Timothy, 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:08.399 that he believed that the gospel was fully persuasable 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:14.059 and that it was something that he laid his life on, laid his soul on. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.220 Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 says that 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:21.200 Faith is the substance of things hoped for. 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:23.779 There's faith coming in again. 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:28.480 So, hoping is not something that falls short of faith. 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:30.419 Rather, it builds up faith. 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:32.079 It builds on faith. 00:14:32.980 --> 00:14:38.339 And I think that's the first element in Christian hoping. 00:14:38.899 --> 00:14:39.740 We must believe. 00:14:39.839 --> 00:14:40.620 We must have faith. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.480 And go on exercising faith. 00:14:44.459 --> 00:14:47.039 But Paul says that it involves not only faith, 00:14:47.139 --> 00:14:48.639 it also involves believing. 00:14:48.839 --> 00:14:50.259 It also involves waiting. 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:54.500 If we hope for what we do not yet have, 00:14:54.740 --> 00:14:58.439 we wait for it patiently, he says in verse 25. 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:01.980 So, there is this element of waiting, 00:15:03.019 --> 00:15:07.679 which Paul stresses here to some extent in this chapter. 00:15:08.740 --> 00:15:13.460 He's reminding us that Christians continue to face difficulties and problems 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:15.939 here on this earth until death, 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:20.700 when they will be translated into the nearer presence of God. 00:15:21.760 --> 00:15:24.620 But sometimes we find it difficult to wait. 00:15:25.640 --> 00:15:29.500 And we want to get there more quickly. 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:36.220 There are sometimes Christians who feel that they can be completely delivered from sin. 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:38.700 I remember when I was a student, 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:43.540 there was a medical student who was very active in the Christian union 00:15:43.540 --> 00:15:47.920 who told me that he hadn't committed a sin for three years. 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:54.379 And there are still Christian perfectionists throughout the world who believe that. 00:15:54.540 --> 00:15:59.940 But I think Paul would say that is a rather superficial view of sin. 00:15:59.940 --> 00:16:04.840 And I think Paul is saying here that we've got to wait. 00:16:05.860 --> 00:16:08.920 The kingdom of God does not come all at once. 00:16:10.060 --> 00:16:13.580 The kingdom of God says Jesus has come, but it has not yet fully come. 00:16:14.400 --> 00:16:20.120 And it is, I think, dangerous and unhelpful to assume that the kingdom of God has fully come 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:25.879 in this age in which we live at this particular point of time. 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:36.179 There are others who believe that Christian salvation will involve deliverance from poverty and illness. 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:38.960 There is a health and wealth gospel, 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:43.299 which is very popular in many parts of the developing worlds, 00:16:43.460 --> 00:16:44.340 particularly in Africa. 00:16:44.340 --> 00:16:49.600 And preachers say that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:51.940 you won't have any illness, 00:16:52.780 --> 00:16:55.460 and you will become wealthy. 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:59.860 And many people who are poor, many people who are ill, 00:17:00.420 --> 00:17:02.460 are being misled by this 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:10.240 and led into what we believe to be a false understanding of Christian salvation. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:15.660 Now, the blessings of deliverance from sin and deliverance from poverty and illness 00:17:15.660 --> 00:17:19.299 are blessings of the salvation which is still to come. 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:23.599 And Paul is saying here we need to wait for these. 00:17:24.539 --> 00:17:27.339 Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was a well-known preacher in London 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:32.079 in the middle of the last century, 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:36.500 tells us that the devil exaggerates the blessing of the Christian life 00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:40.319 and that this is one of the problems that we face. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.980 And he is urging us here to be more realistic. 00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:48.299 So Paul says hoping is believing. 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:50.000 It is also waiting. 00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:53.279 But he says it also groaning. 00:17:54.359 --> 00:18:00.960 He says we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship in verse 23. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:05.539 And what Paul is saying here is that, 00:18:05.860 --> 00:18:09.019 again emphasizing that a degree of suffering is inevitable, 00:18:09.299 --> 00:18:12.920 he speaks about our present sufferings in verse 18. 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.539 And these sufferings continue for various reasons. 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:19.380 First of all, our bodies have not yet been redeemed. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:25.759 Our bodies are subject to frailty, to pain, and ultimately to death. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:30.359 Secondly, sin is still at work within our personalities 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:33.660 and resists the spirit whom God has sent into our hearts. 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:41.900 And so there is a tension between our sinful heart and the Holy Spirit. 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.579 We are further called to take up our cross to follow Jesus. 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:49.720 Jesus never said that following him would be easy. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:52.240 It would not be a panacea. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:57.359 It will involve bearing a cross and suffering for him. 00:18:58.539 --> 00:19:02.720 And of course, we are also living in a world order that crucified Jesus. 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:07.120 And that is one of the reasons why we need to be realistic 00:19:07.120 --> 00:19:11.519 in terms of the outworking of Christian salvation. 00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:12.920 It will involve groaning. 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:17.059 And for millions of Christians around the world, 00:19:17.900 --> 00:19:19.400 in countries like Burma, 00:19:20.339 --> 00:19:21.500 countries like Iraq, 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.779 countries like Sudan, 00:19:25.859 --> 00:19:26.480 and others, 00:19:27.460 --> 00:19:29.859 Christians are groaning tonight. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:31.940 But they're groaning in hope. 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:34.180 And as they groan, 00:19:34.539 --> 00:19:35.700 they are hoping, 00:19:36.460 --> 00:19:36.920 hoping 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.120 in the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:40.700 who has promised to come again, 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.039 and in the meantime, 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:43.200 never to leave them 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:44.460 or forsake them. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:46.980 And so, although they're groaning, 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:48.079 they're not moaning 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:53.799 that many Christians who are suffering persecution in the church tonight are rejoicing. 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:57.039 And in a quite extraordinary way, 00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:07.000 sometimes the churches which are persecuted are more healthy and more vibrant than the churches which enjoy liberty and freedom. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:13.400 So, exercising hope as a verb involves believing, 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:14.359 it involves waiting, 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:15.480 it involves groaning. 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:16.860 But finally, 00:20:16.860 --> 00:20:21.480 it involves contemplating. 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:25.400 Paul says in chapter 5 of Romans verse 2, 00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:30.799 we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.659 And though he doesn't use the word contemplating here, 00:20:35.379 --> 00:20:37.419 but I think that is implied. 00:20:38.379 --> 00:20:41.740 Boasting in the hope of the glory of God 00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:43.619 does, must mean 00:20:43.619 --> 00:20:46.559 that we are contemplating that glory, 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:47.700 and above all, 00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:50.099 that we're contemplating that God. 00:20:50.099 --> 00:20:53.259 Paul spells out more clearly 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:56.259 what it means to contemplate the glory of God 00:20:56.259 --> 00:21:00.219 in his second letter to the Corinthians, 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:05.839 in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:09.959 I just want to read a few verses from there 00:21:09.959 --> 00:21:14.519 and to help us to just grasp what Paul is saying. 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:17.859 2 Corinthians 3 verse 12, 00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:20.619 Therefore, since we have such a hope, 00:21:21.299 --> 00:21:22.259 we are very bold. 00:21:22.379 --> 00:21:23.299 We are not like Moses 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:25.099 who would put a veil over his face 00:21:25.099 --> 00:21:26.019 to prevent the Israelites 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:28.399 from seeing the end of what was passing away, 00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:30.799 that their minds were made dull. 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:32.319 For to this day, 00:21:32.419 --> 00:21:33.879 the same veil remains 00:21:33.879 --> 00:21:35.639 when the old covenant is read. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:37.679 It has not been removed 00:21:37.679 --> 00:21:40.659 because only in Christ is it taken away. 00:21:41.619 --> 00:21:42.459 Even to this day, 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:43.759 when Moses is read, 00:21:44.659 --> 00:21:46.240 a veil covers their hearts. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.039 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:50.440 the veil is taken away. 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:53.319 Now the Lord is the Spirit, 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:55.579 and where the Spirit of the Lord is, 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:56.220 there is freedom. 00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:59.299 And we all who with unveiled faces 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:01.180 contemplate the Lord's glory 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:04.500 are being transformed into his image 00:22:04.500 --> 00:22:07.299 with ever-increasing glory. 00:22:07.299 --> 00:22:12.039 So Paul here is telling us 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:14.279 what Christian contemplation 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:16.440 of the Lord's glory means 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:18.379 and how it is worked out. 00:22:19.159 --> 00:22:19.619 He says, 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:20.460 first of all, 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:22.059 we are to turn to the Lord. 00:22:23.139 --> 00:22:23.460 Now, 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:26.339 Paul is here referring primarily 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:28.839 to people coming, 00:22:29.059 --> 00:22:30.700 turning to the Lord for the first time. 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:33.840 And some translations 00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:35.420 translate this turning 00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:36.460 as being converted. 00:22:37.299 --> 00:22:39.100 And that is absolutely 00:22:39.100 --> 00:22:41.279 a right understanding 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:42.400 of what it means here. 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:46.640 But we perhaps mistakenly 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:47.940 sometimes think of conversion 00:22:47.940 --> 00:22:48.740 as being something 00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:50.059 that begins only once, 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:51.200 that happens only once. 00:22:52.259 --> 00:22:53.240 And Paul, I think, 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:54.360 is assuming that 00:22:54.360 --> 00:22:56.340 we turn, 00:22:56.440 --> 00:22:58.220 we must turn to the Lord. 00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:00.000 And it's very important 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.240 that we do, in fact, 00:23:01.740 --> 00:23:03.079 turn to the Lord 00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:04.420 and face him. 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:07.920 He calls us to meet him 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.259 in his presence. 00:23:10.220 --> 00:23:12.299 And the Hebrew word for presence 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:13.559 is, in fact, 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:15.220 the presence of God 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:16.579 is the face of God. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:19.299 And God invites us to turn, 00:23:20.299 --> 00:23:22.799 to gaze upon his face, 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:25.019 to gaze upon his revelation 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:25.720 of himself 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:27.259 that he's given us. 00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:28.940 Now, 00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:31.360 Moses didn't see 00:23:31.360 --> 00:23:32.380 the Lord physically. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:33.980 But nevertheless, 00:23:34.259 --> 00:23:35.100 the Lord revealed 00:23:35.100 --> 00:23:36.319 his glory to him. 00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:39.279 And we will not see 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:40.279 the Lord physically 00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:42.120 until we enter 00:23:42.120 --> 00:23:43.380 into his nearer presence. 00:23:44.460 --> 00:23:46.900 But we can see his glory. 00:23:47.940 --> 00:23:49.220 We can see his majesty. 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:51.200 We can see 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:54.519 the beauty of his holiness. 00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:57.299 The Old Testament passage 00:23:57.299 --> 00:23:57.799 that we read 00:23:57.799 --> 00:23:58.619 in Psalm 96 00:23:58.619 --> 00:23:59.539 speaks about 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:00.839 the glory of God 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:02.740 and the importance 00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:05.539 of ascribing glory 00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:06.099 to him. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:08.119 Paul here speaks 00:24:08.119 --> 00:24:08.960 of the, 00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:10.359 not only of turning, 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:12.859 he also speaks 00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:14.519 of the contemplating. 00:24:16.259 --> 00:24:17.740 We are to contemplate 00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:18.660 the Lord's glory. 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:20.299 We are to meditate 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:21.799 upon the Lord's glory. 00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:22.859 It's not simply 00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:23.980 making one, 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:25.059 a short glance 00:24:25.059 --> 00:24:26.099 at the Lord. 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:28.960 It involves 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:30.200 looking, 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:32.099 keep looking, 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:33.980 and gazing 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:35.299 upon him 00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:36.359 and upon his revelation 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:37.059 of himself 00:24:37.059 --> 00:24:38.240 in his son, 00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:39.619 the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:41.279 He invites us 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:41.799 to meditate. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:43.700 The key word 00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:44.319 to meditate 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:45.700 is found again 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:46.139 and again 00:24:46.139 --> 00:24:47.480 in the book of Psalms. 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:49.059 And it is 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:50.200 through that meditation 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:51.640 on the Lord 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:52.380 that the Lord 00:24:52.380 --> 00:24:53.160 grants us 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:54.819 a sense of peace 00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:57.160 in our troubled world. 00:24:57.400 --> 00:24:58.380 Remember how the psalmist 00:24:58.380 --> 00:24:59.880 in Psalm 131 00:24:59.880 --> 00:25:00.380 says, 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:01.700 he says 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:02.680 that, 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:04.579 I quieted my soul 00:25:04.579 --> 00:25:06.059 in the presence 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:06.759 of the Lord. 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:08.880 And living as we do 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:09.480 in an age 00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:11.019 of hyperactivity, 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:12.579 it's so important 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:13.740 for us to take time, 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:14.160 A, 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:15.460 to turn to the Lord 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:16.539 and B, 00:25:16.600 --> 00:25:17.680 to contemplate him. 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:19.279 And what Paul 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:20.100 is saying here 00:25:20.100 --> 00:25:21.559 is that as we 00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:22.559 contemplate him, 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:24.240 we are transformed. 00:25:24.600 --> 00:25:24.720 We, 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:26.860 by reflecting his image 00:25:26.860 --> 00:25:28.500 in our lives 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:29.480 and in our characters, 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:32.440 we are inwardly 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:33.860 transformed. 00:25:34.620 --> 00:25:36.160 We become more like him. 00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:38.460 We become more sanctified. 00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:40.299 And God's will 00:25:40.299 --> 00:25:41.519 is that we should be 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:42.740 increasingly becoming 00:25:42.740 --> 00:25:44.019 more and more like him 00:25:44.019 --> 00:25:46.019 so that as we live 00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:46.619 day by day, 00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:47.740 others may see 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:48.900 the Lord 00:25:48.900 --> 00:25:50.139 in us. 00:25:50.879 --> 00:25:52.180 So this is the hope 00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:54.539 that we celebrate. 00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:55.559 This is the hope 00:25:55.559 --> 00:25:56.759 we celebrated this morning 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:57.619 in the Lord's Supper. 00:25:58.220 --> 00:25:58.879 It is the hope 00:25:58.879 --> 00:26:00.319 for which we give thanks 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:01.680 this evening. 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:04.619 So just as we finish, 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.619 let us just reflect 00:26:05.619 --> 00:26:06.319 for a moment. 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:08.180 Reflect on the fact 00:26:08.180 --> 00:26:09.180 that the day will come 00:26:09.180 --> 00:26:10.400 when all of us, 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:11.299 without exception, 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:14.680 will have to face death 00:26:14.680 --> 00:26:15.419 and have to cross 00:26:15.419 --> 00:26:16.299 the last frontier. 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:19.440 What is your hope? 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:20.480 What is my hope? 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:22.680 As we face that 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:24.639 inevitable juncture 00:26:24.639 --> 00:26:25.759 in life. 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:28.440 Paul tells us 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:30.379 that we can have hope. 00:26:31.419 --> 00:26:32.599 He tells us that 00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:34.139 that hope can become 00:26:34.139 --> 00:26:36.000 a blessed reality. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.319 that he invites us 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.599 to believe, 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.480 he invites us 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:42.440 to wait, 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:43.079 he invites us 00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:43.579 to groan, 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:44.380 he invites us 00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:45.519 to contemplate him 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:47.319 in order that we 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:49.359 might reflect 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:50.460 his glory 00:26:50.460 --> 00:26:51.000 and in reflecting 00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:52.200 his glory 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:53.400 be ourselves 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:54.180 transformed 00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:55.940 more and more 00:26:55.940 --> 00:26:56.839 into the likeness 00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:58.200 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:26:58.200 --> 00:27:01.080 for any of us 00:27:01.080 --> 00:27:01.759 here tonight 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:03.019 who do not yet 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:03.860 have that hope, 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:06.660 let me again 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:08.580 tell you 00:27:08.580 --> 00:27:10.019 that the gospel 00:27:10.019 --> 00:27:11.059 says 00:27:11.059 --> 00:27:12.860 that we can pass 00:27:12.860 --> 00:27:14.420 out of despair, 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:16.259 out of darkness, 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:17.440 into hope 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:19.980 and into light. 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:23.140 So we are reminded 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:24.700 by implication 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:25.580 of the importance 00:27:25.580 --> 00:27:26.519 of being ready 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:28.000 for that day 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.579 when the Lord 00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:31.019 will come 00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:31.779 and say to us 00:27:31.779 --> 00:27:32.440 as he said 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:34.480 to the rich man 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:35.579 in the parable, 00:27:36.500 --> 00:27:36.940 tonight 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:38.519 your soul 00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:40.220 will be required 00:27:40.220 --> 00:27:40.619 of you. 00:27:42.879 --> 00:27:43.639 Those of you 00:27:43.639 --> 00:27:44.480 who have visited 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:45.720 Kelso Abbey 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:46.779 down in the borders 00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:48.539 may have 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:49.519 noticed 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:50.200 an inscription 00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:51.599 on the wall 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:52.539 around the cemetery 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:52.960 there 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:54.299 which says this, 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:56.119 remember man 00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:57.199 as you passed by 00:27:57.199 --> 00:27:59.019 as you are now 00:27:59.019 --> 00:28:00.139 so once was I 00:28:00.139 --> 00:28:02.019 as I am now 00:28:02.019 --> 00:28:03.659 so must you be 00:28:03.659 --> 00:28:06.019 prepared for death 00:28:06.019 --> 00:28:08.079 and follow me. 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:10.319 Now someone 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:11.159 who read that 00:28:11.159 --> 00:28:14.459 he was challenged 00:28:14.459 --> 00:28:16.599 but he did not 00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:17.459 know which way 00:28:17.459 --> 00:28:18.219 the man who wrote 00:28:18.219 --> 00:28:18.719 it went 00:28:18.719 --> 00:28:20.319 and so he added 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:21.959 the two lines 00:28:21.959 --> 00:28:23.479 which say this, 00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:25.180 to follow you 00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:25.779 is time 00:28:25.779 --> 00:28:26.579 ill spent 00:28:26.579 --> 00:28:28.319 until I know 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:28.880 the way 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:30.019 you went 00:28:30.019 --> 00:28:33.000 and so important 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:33.579 for us 00:28:33.579 --> 00:28:34.779 to follow 00:28:34.779 --> 00:28:35.819 those who have 00:28:35.819 --> 00:28:36.559 gone before us. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:36.960 That's what 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:38.200 the 11th chapter 00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:38.680 of the writer 00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:39.299 to the Hebrew 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:39.839 stresses. 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:41.279 We 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:42.860 follow the Lord 00:28:42.860 --> 00:28:43.599 Jesus Christ 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:44.640 before a host 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:45.279 of witnesses 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:46.420 who have gone 00:28:46.420 --> 00:28:47.160 before us 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:48.519 into the presence 00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:49.120 of God 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:50.479 and they 00:28:50.479 --> 00:28:51.459 invite us 00:28:51.459 --> 00:28:52.799 to follow 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:53.199 the Lord 00:28:53.199 --> 00:28:54.099 Jesus Christ 00:28:54.099 --> 00:28:55.579 who is the way 00:28:55.579 --> 00:28:56.039 as we heard 00:28:56.039 --> 00:28:56.579 this morning 00:28:56.579 --> 00:28:57.719 and the truth 00:28:57.719 --> 00:28:58.979 and the life 00:28:58.979 --> 00:29:00.279 and he 00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:01.559 will lead us 00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:02.619 into 00:29:02.619 --> 00:29:03.719 the presence 00:29:03.719 --> 00:29:04.459 of his father 00:29:04.459 --> 00:29:06.079 and into 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:07.059 an eternity 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:08.659 of glory 00:29:08.659 --> 00:29:10.019 of joy 00:29:10.019 --> 00:29:11.500 and of service. 00:29:13.199 --> 00:29:14.219 Let's bow our heads 00:29:14.219 --> 00:29:14.659 for a moment 00:29:14.659 --> 00:29:15.159 of prayer. 00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:16.500 Our father in heaven 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:17.039 as we come 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:17.819 before you now 00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:19.680 we ask and pray 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:20.579 that you will 00:29:20.579 --> 00:29:21.839 take your word 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:23.839 and seal it 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:24.640 in our hearts 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:26.559 and help us 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:27.700 to turn to you 00:29:27.700 --> 00:29:30.220 and to see you 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:31.599 in the glory 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:32.500 of your revelation 00:29:32.500 --> 00:29:33.240 and your son 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:36.339 and grant that we 00:29:36.339 --> 00:29:37.259 may reflect 00:29:37.259 --> 00:29:37.940 that glory 00:29:37.940 --> 00:29:40.759 and that 00:29:40.759 --> 00:29:42.480 in reflecting it 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:42.900 we might 00:29:42.900 --> 00:29:44.140 be transformed. 00:29:45.779 --> 00:29:46.259 Grant oh Lord 00:29:46.259 --> 00:29:46.920 that we may be 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:47.799 faithful witnesses 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:49.779 and we may 00:29:49.779 --> 00:29:50.619 point others 00:29:50.619 --> 00:29:51.980 to the Lord 00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:52.879 Jesus Christ. 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:54.660 Grant that 00:29:54.660 --> 00:29:55.640 those who 00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:56.579 all whom we know 00:29:56.579 --> 00:29:57.779 and whom we live 00:29:57.779 --> 00:29:58.640 among and whom we 00:29:58.640 --> 00:29:59.619 interact with 00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:00.359 day by day 00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:02.160 that they 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:03.460 may come 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:04.619 to put their 00:30:04.619 --> 00:30:05.599 trust in you 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:06.980 and that they 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:07.660 may have that 00:30:07.660 --> 00:30:08.099 hope 00:30:08.099 --> 00:30:10.000 of eternal life 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:11.619 of which 00:30:11.619 --> 00:30:12.819 Paul rejoices 00:30:12.819 --> 00:30:13.579 in this letter. 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:14.660 So hear our prayer. 00:30:14.660 --> 00:30:16.220 lead and guide us 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:17.019 in the closing 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:17.779 praise 00:30:17.779 --> 00:30:19.300 and pour out 00:30:19.300 --> 00:30:19.720 your spirit 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:20.220 upon us 00:30:20.220 --> 00:30:20.600 we pray 00:30:20.600 --> 00:30:21.019 in Jesus' 00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:21.480 name. 00:30:21.740 --> 00:30:22.080 Amen. 00:30:22.800 --> 00:30:23.800 Amen. 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:53.779 Thank you.