By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 1-2 of chapter 5.
1.1.1. Paul began to talk now about how that being justified before God based
upon our faith in Jesus Christ and His death upon
1.1.2. Paul declared for us the fact that it is through our faith in Jesus
Christ that the Christian can now come before God and have access to God always
guaranteed to us. Thus, whenever we come
to the Lord to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need it will be granted to
us.
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at verses 3-5 of chapter 5.
1.2.1. As I consider this study, I am struck first of all by the fact that in
the midst of presenting the doctrinal foundation that we have in salvation
through Christ by first demonstrating the sinfulness of mankind, then
explaining salvation as coming through faith and the grace and mercy of God and
not works, and then the fact that the Christian is justified before God because
of His faith in Christ, that Paul next begins to talk about the work that
trials produce in the Christian’s life, and the resultant attitude that the
Christian needs to have towards those trials.
It seems therefore that two things must be true:
1.2.1.1.
The great depth of suffering
that Christians had gone through in Paul’s day necessitated an early discussion
about them.
1.2.1.2.
The church in that day
evidently understood much more than we tend to understand today about the
hidden blessing found in all of trials that Christians go through because they
had endured many more and much greater trials than we Christians in our cushy
lifestyle in America typically experience today.
1.2.2. Because of where this study resides in this book of Romans this subject
of trials and the attitude Christians are supposed to have towards them must be
very important for us as Christians to understand.
1.2.3. It is so important that God’s people come to properly understand and
react to their trials. By nature, people
tend not to react in a healthy manner towards their trials. Unless God’s people truly come to grips with
what the scriptures state concerning their trials then they will most likely
deal with those trials not much differently than those who do not know the
Lord. For example, the Israelites under
Moses’ direction had hardly gotten out of the city limits in
2. VS 5:3 - “3 And not
only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation
brings about perseverance;” - Paul tells us that the Christian exults in
his tribulation for he knows that tribulation brings about perseverance
2.1.
Having just told us that he exulted or “gloried”
in the glory of God, Paul now says that he exults or “glories” in his ‘tribulations.’ Actually though if you look closely at what
is written here Paul states that not just he, but ‘we,’ or “all
Christians,” ‘exult in our tribulations.’ This is to be the norm of our experience as
Christians (ecause it was the norm in Paul’s day),
but it is only supposed to be so because of our theology, for we believe that
God has a purpose for all of the trials that we go through in our life, and
according to Rom. 8:28 every single trial is intended for and working good in
our life.
2.2.
I don’t want to give you the impression that I or any
of us as Christians really understand why God allows all of the things that we
experience to happen in our life. Many
innocent people, including those who try to follow the Lord most closely in
their life, have had horrible things happen to them and because of these things
they have suffered greatly. However, we
will see in this study God’s perspective in our trials and how it is that God’s
word promises us that God is working good into our lives through each of our
trials.
2.3.
The Greek word translated ‘tribulation’
here is “thlipsis” and it means a huge
crushing pressure.
2.3.1. In Paul’s
day this word ‘tribulation’ was used for the pressing of olives in order
to get the oil to come out of them. In
this world Christians are undergoing tremendous pressure and crushing by the
world that is in rebellion against Christ.
2.3.2. Christ told
His disciples on several occasions that they were to expect ‘persecutions’
and ‘tribulation,’ and in Matt. 5:10-11 He told them they would be
blessed because of them, “10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for
the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are
you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil
against you falsely, on account of Me.”
2.3.3. Likewise,
Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for ‘tribulations’ in John 16:33,
“33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In
the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””
2.3.4. There are a
tremendous number of scriptures which deal with the topic of trials and
tribulations in the Bible, especially the New Testament. These contain many practical exhortations
about how Christians are to deal with these difficult times when they occur.
2.3.5. One of the
things that we have to keep in our perspective is that many Christians
throughout the centuries have endured severe persecutions and trials, and that
Paul himself and those who lived in the first century were severely persecuted
for their faith. As Paul writes these
words to the Romans, he has already experienced most of the persecutions and
trials that we read about in the scripture, and thus he has had to grapple with
all of the realities of suffering that a person might go through.
2.3.5.1.
In 2 Cor. 11:23-30, Paul details the depths to which
he has experienced persecutions and trials, “23 Are they servants of Christ?
(I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments,
beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24 Five times I received
from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I
was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in
the deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers
from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in
the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false
brethren; 27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights,
in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 Apart from
such external things, there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all
the churches. 29 Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without
my intense concern? 30 If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my
weakness.”
2.3.5.2.
Beyond these trials, Paul also had the trial of the
thorn in his side which I believe may have been the disease of malaria. Many whole communities were wiped out by
malaria in some of the regions in which he traveled. Likewise, malaria may also have been that
which affected Paul’s eyes and his eye-sight.
Paul recounts in 2 Cor. 12:7-10 about this thorn in the flesh of his, “7
And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason,
to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning
this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He
has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2.3.6. James in Ja. 1:2-4 wrote about how that Christians ought to handle
the trials that they experience, “2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when
you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces
endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing.”
2.4.
In this verse in Romans, Paul does not say that
Christians are to ignore or deny our trials, merely “put up with trials,”
nor glory “in spite of trials.”
Rather, he says that the Christian is to “glory in them.” What the trials and tribulations are producing
in the Christian are to be the reason for the Christian to “glory in them.” God is dealing with a Christian’s character,
shaping and forming it through the trials of life, and this perfecting of
character is producing an eternal result and reward.
2.5.
Paul says in this verse that the reason that the
Christian is to “glory in tribulations” is because he “knows”
that they are bringing about ‘perseverance’ in his life. Each trial experienced produces in the
Christian a greater ability to endure the next trial, plus more moral resolve
to serve the Lord fully in spite of opposition and parsecution. Each lesson learned is also making a wiser
Christian.
2.6.
When a Christian experiences a trial or tribulation it
causes him to rely upon the Lord in a way that he hadn’t before. Without trials the Christian often leans upon
his own strength and resources. However,
trials cause the Christian to come to the Lord in order to receive greater strength
to stand up to the trial, and thereby he is blessed as a result of God’s
anointing upon his life.
2.7.
Often times when we Christians endure trials and
tribulations, instead of receiving them joyfully from the hand of the Lord, we
instead gripe and complain about them.
We grumble in our heart against the Lord instead of realizing that the
Lord is only giving us these trials because He genuinely wants to pour out His
blessings upon us. Isaiah wrote about us
as the clay on the potter’s wheel which should not argue with the Lord who is
the potter in Is. 45:9-10 , “9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his
Maker—An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are
you doing?’ Or the thing you are making
say, ‘He has no hands’? 10 “Woe to him
who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’””
2.7.1. I used to think that from these verses in Isaiah that
the point was that the clay should not have the nerve to question the potter as
to what He is doing in forming the clay, however I have come to the conclusion
that the reason that the clay should not question the potter as to what He is
doing is because the one who is forming the clay is so much more knowledgeable
than the clay that it is not logical for the clay to question him. The clay does not have a clue as to what is
really best for it, for it is merely dust and water! Clay is not too intelligent and neither are
we whom the Lord refers to as being “ sheep”...
2.8.
When we as Christians are grumbling and complaining
about the cross that we have to bear in our life, then we have also gotten to
the place in our life where we have forgotten the depth of our sin which the
Lord delivered us out of. When we should
be thankful for all that the Lord has done for us, instead we are resentful and
complain that the Lord has not done enough for us. We ought to often remember the place of our
sin from which the Lord has delivered us.
2.9.
When we Christians are grumbling and complaining about
the cross that we have to bear in our life it is also the case that we are not
trusting God and the promises He has given us in His word concerning our
trials.
2.10.
When the Lord allows us to go through a trial, we
should not be like the stoic who tries to deny that he is going through a
trial, nor should we be the type who enjoys adversity (if there are people like
this). Rather, we should acknowledge
that it is not easy going through a trial, however we can “glory in it”
because we know that that trial is from the Lord and that it is designed to
produce a tremendous blessing in our lives.
2.11.
We Christians also need to keep an eternal perspective
concerning our trials. Paul wrote in 2
Cor. 4:16-18, “16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man
is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary,
light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all
comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the
things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the
things which are not seen are eternal.”
One day I believe that all of God’s people will personally thank the
Lord for each and every trial that He allowed us to go through for on that day
we will see clearly the great work it accomplished in our life.
2.12.
When we Christians go through the trials and
tribulations that the Lord allows us to go through, we suddenly realize that we
were not really as strong as we thought that we were, and our faith was not as
strong as we thought it was. We also discover
that perhaps we were not quite responding to God’s grace and mercy in the way
that we should, and we were taking His grace and mercy for granted.
2.13.
We also begin to realize in this process that we were
really not as thankful to the Lord as we should be for the many blessings that
He has brought into our life each day.
2.14.
Sometimes trials can cause us to realize that we were
really harboring a little bit of self-righteousness in our life. All of our trials bring us again to a place
of humility and realizing that we really are sinful and unworthy of anything
that the Lord has done for us.
2.14.1.
This reminds me of a story. One time about 19 years ago I was the leader
of a Christian rock band called “Soldier.” Our band not only regularly practiced
together and performed evangelistic outreach concerts but we also had a
discipleship Bible study together each week which I taught. One week I had planned a plane trip to
2.15.
We Christians need to realize that the Lord does not bring
trials and tribulations in our lives because He is angry with us or exacting
some form of revenge. Rather, He allows
these things in our life for our good and to discipline us, just as loving
father will discipline His children for their own good. Paul wrote in Heb. 12:5-11 about the fact
that the Lord as our loving Father will discipline us for our own good, “5 and
you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline
of the Lord, Nor faint when you are
reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the
Lord loves He disciplines, And He
scourges every son whom He receives.” 7
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what
son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without
discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate
children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us,
and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of
spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best
to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to
those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness.”
2.16.
We see in the book of Acts that Peter and the apostles
were put in jail and flogged for preaching the gospel, and we need to read
closely what their reaction this huge trial was, Acts 5:41, “41 So they went
on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been
considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.”
2.17.
If there is something in the Word of God that it
clearly says or implies that we should be doing, then we are missing out on all
that God has for us if we do not do it.
In this case, if we ourselves are not praising God that we are found
worthy to suffer the tribulations and persecutions that we face, then we are
missing out all that God has for us because of our tribulations. I think I know the reason also that we do not
“glory in our tribulations” and “rejoice that we are found worthy to
suffer for His Name,” and it is because we are not having faith in God and
His Word. If His Word says what we know
that it says regarding the purpose and good fruit produced in our lives through
these tribulations, then if we are exercising faith in God we will rejoice in
them.
2.18.
In the Christian classic, “The Imitation Of Christ,”
Thomas A’Kempis wrote, “IT IS good for us to have
trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are on probation
and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us sometimes to
suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do well and mean
well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from vainglory. When to
all outward appearances men give us no credit, when they do not think well of
us, then we are more inclined to seek God Who sees our hearts. Therefore, a man
ought to root himself so firmly in God that he will not need the consolations
of men. When a man of good will is
afflicted, tempted, and tormented by evil thoughts, he realizes clearly that
his greatest need is God, without Whom he can do no good. Saddened by his
miseries and sufferings, he laments and prays. He wearies of living longer and
wishes for death that he might be dissolved and be with Christ. Then he
understands fully that perfect security and complete peace cannot be found on
earth.”
2.19.
Spurgeon wrote much about how the Christian should
view trials, and in his “Day and Night” Devotional book he wrote about
how that when we suffer greatly in our trials that we ought to rejoice because
the consolations, or comfort, that we shall receive from the Lord in the midst
of that trial will also be great, “Remember Christ’s words—“Every branch in
me that beareth not fruit”—What? “He purgeth it, that it may bring forth fruit.” If you
bring forth fruit, you will have to endure affliction. “Alas!” you say, “that
is a terrible prospect.” But this affliction works out such precious results,
that the Christian who is the subject of it must learn to rejoice in
tribulations, because as his tribulations abound, so his consolations abound by
Christ Jesus. Rest assured, if you are a child of God, you will be no stranger
to the rod. Sooner or later every bar of gold must pass through the fire. Fear
not, but rather rejoice that such fruitful times are in store for you, for in
them you will be weaned from earth and made meet for heaven; you will be delivered
from clinging to the present, and made to long for those eternal things which
are so soon to be revealed to you. When you feel that as regards the present
you do serve God for nought, you will then rejoice in
the infinite reward of the future.”
Paul also wrote to the Corinthians that we console other Christians with
the same consolation that we have received from the Lord, and there is great
blessing in being able to minister to other Christians in their trials.
2.20.
One of the blessings in the way that God created us is
that He created us with what someone once called “forgetters.” The trials that we face today will have much
less impression upon us tomorrow for with each new day the stark experience of
the previous day is lessened.
2.21.
Typically trials do not last forever in our life
either. In a testimony meeting in the
South, an illiterate Christian got up and said that she was always blessed by
the words “And it came to pass.”
“When I was upset by troubles. I go to the Bible, and I never get far
before I read “It came to pass.” And I say “Bless the Lord it didn’t
come to stay—it came to pass!””
Fortunately, the vast majority of our trials are of a transitory nature
and don’t last a long time. This fact
should help us to be able to see light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.
2.22.
I do want to point out while we are on this subject
that sometimes Christians can bring troubles upon themselves by stupid and
senseless things that they do. They may
refer to these as trials but they did not come from the Lord but from their own
poor decisions..
3. VS 5:4 - “4 and perseverance, proven
character; and proven character, hope;” -
Paul writes about the character building produced by the trials that the
Christian goes through
3.1.
The tribulations that Christians go through bring
about ‘perseverance’ in their life, and the ‘perseverance’ in
their life brings about ‘proven character,’ and the ‘proven character’
in their life brings about ‘hope.’
3.2.
Trials and tribulations are used by the Lord to cause
a “testing” (or “proven character”) to occur in the Christian’s
life. This Greek word translated here as
‘proven’ was used in Paul’s day for the purifying of metals such as
silver and gold. These metals would be
heated up real hot, and the result would be that the metal’s impurities would
dissipate or vaporize. In the same way
the heat of trials in the life of the Christian burn away the impurity in his
character. True motives of our hearts
are revealed to us when we go through fiery trials, and this causes us to ask
the Lord to purge away the dross from our lives (symbolizing the sin).
3.3.
So, in our lives as Christians there is the crushing
pressure of tribulations as well as the fiery heat of trials that we undergo,
and all of these things come to our life from the Lord. He allows them because in His infinite wisdom
He knows with complete accuracy the good they will produce in us. We must realize that our trials come to us
from the loving hand of the Lord who is our heavenly Father.
3.4.
The “tested” or ‘proven character’ of a Christian
also causes his ‘hope’ in the Lord to increase. In the New Testament books we see that the ‘hope’
that the Lord produces in the Christian’s life is not “wishful thinking”
or “positive thinking,” but rather it is “confident expectation”
which is based upon what God in His word has promised us that He will do. Our trials as Christians bring us back to the
promises of God, you see, and these produce ‘hope’ (“confident
expectation”) that everything God has promised us will happen.
3.5.
Another aspect in which trials produce ‘hope’
in our lives as Christians occurs when our character is refined by Christ. Refining of character causes the Christian to
more fully realize assurance of his salvation and trust more fully in the
promises of God.
3.6.
In these verses, there are several practical
applications that we ought to apply in our life concerning the tribulations
brought to us by the Lord:
3.6.1. First of
all, if we do not come to the Lord and ask Him what it is that He is trying to
teach us through the trial, then it is sure that He will cause us to go through
the trial again in order to learn the lesson He is trying to teach us.
3.6.2. Secondly, we
need to let the trial bring us to the Lord so that He can come to our aid in
order to help us get through the trial.
God is often wanting to do the miraculous in order to get us through a
tribulation that we are in, however we do not receive His help if we do not
come to Him in order to get that help needed to get through the trial.
3.6.3. Third, we
need to let the trials bring us to the Lord so that we can have God’s wisdom
needed in order to know what it is that we ought to do in the trial.
3.6.4. Fourth, we
need to realize that our trials are often allowed into our life simply to cause
us to come to depend upon the Lord for everything. Often times we deal with things according to
our fleshly carnal nature rather than trust God.
3.6.5. Fifth, we
must have the proper attitude toward the tribulations that we go through,
because we have the choice of whether or not we will let them “make us better, or make us bitter,”
and trials will produce one or the other result in our lives.
3.6.6. In the
parable of the Sower, Jesus taught that there were
four different types of people (identified as soils) who receive God’s word
sown by the Sower.
3.6.6.1.
Only those who are the good soil become genuinely
converted and proceed to bear the kind of fruit that is pleasing to God.
3.6.6.2.
One kind of soil hears the word and the Devil
immediately comes and takes it away.
They immediately forget what they had heard.
3.6.6.3.
Another soil hears the word, but the worries of the
world and the deceitfulness of riches come and choke out the word.
3.6.6.4.
Then, there is a fourth soil who hears the word but
they have no depth in themselves and when affliction or persecution because of
the word occurs, they immediately fall away.
So, you see, one of the real tests of the genuineness of a person’s
salvation involves how they respond to trials.
One who is genuinely converted will not fall completely away from the
Lord when trials or tribulations occur, but rather they will be made better
because of them.
4. VS 5:5 - “5 and hope
does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” - Paul tells us that when a
person has hope in their life that trials do not produce disappointment in them
because the love of God has been poured out in his/her life
4.1.
There has been a lot of speculation as to what this
phrase ‘hope does not disappoint’ means.
One author has written that Paul is here giving the negative argument
for a positive statement. This would be
like someone saying, “That airplane is not far off of course,” which
actually means that the airplane is close to its designated course. If this phrase is interpreted in this way,
then Paul is saying that ‘hope,’ i.e. “confident expectation,” of
one’s salvation and calling by God always proves itself in the end. This to me seems the best interpretation of
this phrase ‘hope does not disappoint.’
4.2.
Following this interpretation for the phrase ‘hope
does not disappoint,’ we see that what Paul is talking about in this verse
is the assurance of salvation and of God’s calling in one’s life that trials
properly received will produce. Those
who are genuinely converted (the good soil) and thus allow the trials in their
life to make them better will have their confident expectation, or ‘hope,’
realized and they have this assurance in their lives because the Holy Spirit
has poured out His love in their heart causing them to “know experientially”
that they belong to and have been called by God. Paul wrote about this in Rom. 8:14-16, “14 For
all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you
have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have
received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” We are blessed because of our trials for we
eventually come to realize that we are God’s children and that His hand is on
our lives and His promises to us never fail.
4.3.
We should never underestimate the importance of this
subjective experience communicated to genuine believers by the Holy Spirit that
they have been chosen and called by God.
I believe there is also this subjective aspect in the “sealing of the
Holy Spirit” mentioned by Paul in scriptures such as Eph. 1:13-14, “13 In
Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of
promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the
redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
4.4.
Those who have said that the Holy Spirit is not mentioned
until chapter 8 of Romans are incorrect, since we see that He is mentioned here
in this verse.
4.5.
We Christians ought to pray for the Lord to give us
through the Holy Spirit such assurance and confidence in our salvation and
calling by God as Paul mentions in this verse.
I believe that the Lord intends to give that assurance and confidence to
us, His children through faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
4.6.
Illustrations:
4.6.1. Dr. Hubert Davidson
visited the noted poetess, Myra Brooks Welch, who perhaps is best-known for her
masterpiece, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.” As he turned to leave her
home,
4.6.2.
On April 6th, 1993, a good friend of ours
from our
5. CONCLUSIONS:
5.1.
As we consider this study and how that we ought to
apply it to our lives, I would ask you whether or not you have been grumbling
and complaining about your trials that you have been going through or have you
been considering them to be “all joy,” as James 1:2 tells us that we
ought to do?
5.2.
In faith, are you giving
thanks to the Lord for the trials that He has allowed you to be going
through? His word commands His people to
give thanks in all things, and this is a great expression of faith when we are
going through trials and tribulations.
5.3.
Since our trials produce
perseverance, and perseverance produces proven character, and proven character
produces hope, and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been
poured out within our hearts, lets ask the Lord today in faith to pour out His
love within our hearts and increase that hope, or confident expectation, in Him
and the promises of His word, which He wants to place in our hearts and lives.