Sermon (When All Hope is Gone)
SERMON
By
Rev. Dr. James E. Tyus
Associate Minister
First Baptist Church
South Inglewood
Given
August 27, 2010
At
Back to School Revival
I. My Prayer
II. Greetings and Salutations
III. Illustration:
As many of you already know, I religiously use the game of golf
as a way of rest and relaxation from the rigors of life that I constantly face.
No!! No!!! Sleep won’t do it. If I simple go to sleep, I rehash all of my day’s activities in my dreams.
So I have learned over these years to go land do something else while I’m awake that will take my mind totally off my job. Then I’ll get some rest.
As many of you have noticed, …
…..I’m a Very High Strung Individual
I’m always busy!!!
Therefore, I have to have a way of calming down.
Golf is my outlet!!!
But I don’t know what I’d do if golf was my job.
Take Tiger Woods for example. He’s the number one golfer in the world. And he has been #1 for more than five or six straight years.
Even the great Jack Nicolas never matched that.
The Great Tiger Woods, so proud, so confident; he walked the golf with that certain swagger.
“I’m Tiger Woods, Sitting on top of the world”.
But have you seen Tiger lately?
Now, SIN and Personal Indiscretions have taken away that swagger!!!!
Now he walks the golf with his shoulders sagging and head hung down.
It reminds of that world renowned rhythm and blues singer Iceman Jerry Butler. Jerry Butler had a song that went:
Boy, Boy!!! Why you running around
with your head hung down?
Crying your eyes out cause the woman
That you love is gone!!!
There’s gonna be a whole lot of trouble
in your life. But you’ll never succeed
if you give up now and say you life is through.
I’m telling you, Only the strong survive.
My Brothers and Sisters, Tiger Woods is no different that many of us that are going through trials and tribulations and feel like we have no Hope!!!
When trials come on every hand, you as a man or woman will feel most miserable!!!
But I stopped by to tell you tonight, when you’re going through, when trials and tribulations come, you ought to be standing up and rejoicing!!!
IV. Scriptural Text:
Romans Chapter: 5 Verses: 1-6
V. Topic/Theme:
“When All Hope is Gone”
VI. Introduction:
It seems to me that we and even Tiger Woods, need to think to ourselves and say,
“What do you Do when you’ve done all you can.
And it seems like it’s never enough”!!!
· What do you do when bills are getting longer and your money has run out?
· What do you do when the doctors have given up and throw up their hands?
· What do you do when you husband or wife has walked away?
· What do you do “When All Hope is Gone”?
My Brothers and sisters, I just stopped to let you know that you’re not the only one that is going through something.
A man born of a woman is of a few days and full of trouble!!!
Trials may come on every hand.
But Brother and Sisters, There’s a Bright Side Somewhere!!!
There is HOPE!!!
The true Christian not only has a hope for the future, but he has confidence in the present trials of life.
The “formula” for HOPE looks like this:
· Testing + Christ = Patience;
· Patience + Christ = Character [experience];
· Experience + Christ = Hope.
VII. Text Lesson:
When God declared us righteous in Jesus Christ, He gave to us several spiritual blessings that assure us that we cannot be lost.
It’s in the Text!!!
A. We have peace (v. 1). --Peace that passes all
understanding.
The unsaved person is at “enmity with God” because he cannot obey God’s Law or fulfill God’s will.
There was a time when we, as Christians, were enemies of God.
But now in Christ we have Peace with God.
Peace with God means that our problem with sin has been settled by the blood of Christ:
· Tiger, not by Buddha’s blood.
· Not by Confucius’ blood.
· Not by Muhammad’s blood.
· Not by the blood of goats.
Only By His blood we, as Christians, have been Justified.
Justification means that God declares us righteous, which is a declaration of peace, made possible “ONLY” Christ’s death on the cross.
B. We have Access to God (v. 2a).
Before our salvation, we stood “in and with Adam” and we were condemned.
The word “access” here means “entrance to the king through the favor of another.”
You see, the Jews were kept from God’s presence by the veil in the temple. And the Gentiles were kept out of the temple all together by a wall under the penalty of death.
But when Jesus died, He tore the veil of the temple and broke down the wall.
And now in Christ, we have a perfect standing before God and can …..Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving
and into His courts with Praise!!!!
We stand before Him “in Grace” and not “in Law”.
No man or woman is able to keep the Law in its entirety!!!
For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God!!!
Am I Right about it?!!!
Many of us want the world to believe that we are holier than thou.
GBut if the truth be told, we too are wrestling with the sins of
fleshly man.
That’s why Paul said, “When I would do Good, Evil is always present”!!!!
All of us, whether Christian or Non-Christian, have trials and tribulations that we have to deal with.
But we, as Christians, have Hope!!!!
C. We have hope (v. 2b). –We have a Glorious hope.
Literally, “We boast in the hope of the glory of God”.
But the unsaved person is “Without Hope”!!!!
· “Peace with God” takes care of the past: He will no longer hold our sins against us.
· “Access to God” takes care of the present: we can come to Him at any time for the help we need.
· “Hope of the glory of God” takes care of the future:
D. We have Daily Confidence (vv. 3–4).
Literally, “We boast in the hope of the glory of God.”
In Ephesians 2:11–12, Paul tells us that the unsaved person is “Without hope having No God in the World”.
We cannot boast in good works that bring salvation (Eph. 2:8–9), but we can boast in the wonderful salvation God has given us in Christ Jesus.[1]
I know I’m right about that!!!
GThe true Christian not only has a hope for the future, but he has
confidence in the present trials of life.
Remember, The “formula” for HOPE looks like this:
· Testing/Trials + Christ = Patience;
· Patience + Christ = Character [experience];
· Experience + Christ = Hope.
And Hope maketh not ashamed!!!
When the boss man gives me the pink slip, I’m not ashamed to look that boss man in the eye and tell him,
“I will Trust In the Lord”!!!!
When the doctors give me a bad report,
“I won’t Deny the Diagnosis…
I’ll Defy the Verdict”!!!
I’m not Ashamed!!! I look that doctor in the eye and say,
“I will Trust In the Lord”!!!!
When the judge says No!!!
Don’t be ashamed!!! Look up towards Heaven and say,
“I will Trust In the Lord”!!!!
When the drug dealer tells you that you can’t make it without another hit!!! Just walk away and say,
“I will Trust In the Lord”!!!!
G My God is able to deliver you from all
unrighteousness.
Though trouble gets in your way and you have to cry sometimes.
Remember Jesus Will Fix…After awhile!!
“There’s no night so dark that the Lord is not near me.
No road so rough that the Lord won’t shield me.
Every night I pray and I know the Lord will hear me.”
Jesus, He Will Fix…After awhile!!
“Stepped in the furnace along time ago,
Shadrach and Mesach and Abednego
They weren’t worried, for this I know.”
Jesus, He Will Fix…After awhile!!
Don’t keep going around groaning as if you have no Hope!!!
Jesus, He Will Fix…After awhile!!
You ought to let Jesus fix it for you!!!!
He knows just what to do!!!
Whenever you pray…Just let Him have His way!!
I Know He’ll Fix it for you!!!!
He fixed for my Mother One Day!!!
My Mother knew that there way Hope!!!
I’m so glad that today my Mother’s God is mine!!!
My Mother’s Hope is my Hope!!!
Our Hope is Built on Nothing Less.
Than Jesus’ Blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame.
But Wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.
On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
Jesus….The Solid Rock!!!
Jesus…. My Rock in a Weary Land!!!
Jesus…. My Joy in Sorrow
Jesus…. My Hope for Tomorrow!!!
Jesus…. My Hope!!!!
ØMy Hope took a nine month train down through
Bethlehem.
ØMy Hope laid in a manger.
ØMy Hope grew up in Nazareth a carpenter boy.
ØMy Hope waxed strong in the Spirit.
ØMy Hope went about doing Good.
He healed the sick and raised the dead.
He gave sight to the blind.
He made the lame walk.
He healed the woman with the issue of blood.
ØMy Hope had to take a journey down to
Jerusalem.
ØThey hemmed My Hope in one night in the
Garden of Gethsemane.
ØMy Hope went on trial.
ØOne Friday morning, the Verdict came in.
Guilty!!! Guilty!!!
ØMy Hope went up on Golgotha Hill.
ØMy Hope went up on an Old Rugged Cross!!!
He Died!!! He Died!!!! He Died!!!
ØThey put My Hope in a dirty grave!!!
ØThey thought they had killed My Hope!!!
But Early!!!! Early!!!! Sunday Morning,
Bright Angels rolled the Stone away!!!
Jesus, My Hope and Stay, got up out of the grave.
And Now….My Hope is Alive!!!
Hope Is Alive!!!! Hope is Alive!!!!
Hope is Not Dead!!!! He’s Alive!!!!
So my Brothers and Sisters, in times like these, when you feel that all hope is gone, remember…
Hope is Not Dead!!!! He’s Alive!!!!
Remember:
In Times like these…
You need a Savior.
In Times like these…
You need an Anchor.
Be very sure.
Be Very sure!!!!
Your anchor holds…
And grips the Solid Rock!!!
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[1]Wiersbe, W. W. (1997, c1992). Wiersbe's expository outlines on the New Testament (Page 375). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.