Amen. Now, Martin Luther, another Martin Luther quote. You'll be glad maybe by the end of this month, you'll not have to listen to many more Martin Luther quotes. But Martin Luther said in the first chapter in the whole of the Bible, there is hardly another chapter which can equal this triumphant text. Romans 5 begins with the word, therefore. And you must read the previous chapters to see that this linking word, this connecting word, teaches us that this chapter is built upon the foundation which the Apostle Paul has already laid. We considered a little of that foundation this morning, justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ. You look at the last verse of chapter 4, and it brings us right to the very heart of the work of Jesus Christ. It tells us there in verse number 25, who, that is speaking of Christ, was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Now chapter 5 is a progressive chapter. In the opening section of verses 1 to 11 of which we have read, we start at faith, we climb to peace, we mount higher to hope, press on to love, and ascend to life and joy in God. You see, these are the benefits which a child of God experiences now in this life. Believers now, at this present moment, should be enjoying the fruits of their justification. The catechism teaches us that. The shorty catechism puts it like this. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification are, here's the benefits, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace and perseverance therein to the end. Now you would not expect You would not expect in this chapter 5, we have all these benefits and blessings, this progressive chapter, you would not expect to read the word tribulations. But it is inevitable that the child of God in this life must face trial and trouble. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Master, He said we would face such. In John 16, 33, he said, In the world ye shall have tribulations. You know, the tribulations of the saints are many and varied. There is the hatred by the world, the temptations of Satan, the corruption within our own flesh, and oftentimes it is the will of our Heavenly Father that we should walk the thorny pathway of life. In fact, Luther said, The most dangerous trial of all is when there is no trial. For then we are tempted to forget God when all goes well. And tonight I want to consider verses that the Lord has laid upon my heart in recent weeks. And I have desired to preach some. And I believe that when verses are a blessing to you, they'll be a blessing unto others. And I want to look at verses 3 to 5. of Romans 5. And tonight I want to consider the Christian and tribulations. The Christian and tribulations. Now the first thing I want to consider is a Christian's attitude towards tribulation. What should be our attitude towards the trouble and trials of this life? Now, Vance Havner, I've just come across him recently, but Vance Havner, he was an American evangelist, and he tells a story about an elderly lady who had many troubles, and it must be said, a lot of them were just her own made-up troubles. But her family finally, tactfully had to tell her, you know, we have done all that we could. Now, we just have to trust God for the rest. And a look of despair came across that old lady's face, and she said, oh no, has it come to that? Oh no, has it come to that? Now Havner commented on that, and he said it always comes to that. So we might as well begin with that. It always comes at the end of the day to just trusting God with the tribulation and trial that comes across our path. And a trusting heart should be the attitude of the Christian towards the trials that enter our life. Not just at the end when we have done all that we could, but right at the very beginning of tribulation. We should have the attitude of implicit trust This was the attitude of the apostle Paul when he wrote to Rome. Look with me at verse number three. He says there, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also. See this word glory, it's a word that means boast or rejoice or joy, translated in other portions of the word of God. And Paul could glory. because he trusted in a sovereign God. You see, joy is born out of trust. Despair, it comes from unbelief. Now here in verse three, I believe it's as if Paul, he anticipates the accusation that all his teaching, all his doctrine, it's all pie in the sky. That glory and rejoicing for the Christian, it's only for the sweet by and by. When we consider what he's written in verses 1 and 2. However, I believe Paul here, He replies to this, as it were, anticipation of an accusation, oh, the believer's only glory and joy in heaven. I believe he replies here with the thought, I know, I know we have tribulation now, but we also glory now. See, for the child of God, we can glory in the here and now, as well as the hereafter. This word, tribulation, that Paul uses here in verse number three. It's a strong term. It doesn't refer to minor afflictions or inconveniences like a traffic jam or a burnt Sunday dinner. It's not speaking about things like that, but it's real problems, real difficulties, real hardships that the people of God would have to endure, would have to face. So you remember this letter that was written to the church at Rome. And these were Christians that very soon would become, as it were, the very focus. And that church there would be the very focal point of the persecutions of the Roman Empire. Apostle Paul, he writes, that he could glory in tribulations. And is there a man better fitted to speak about glorying in tribulations than Paul? You consider the catalogue of his afflictions in 2 Corinthians 11. But in that chapter, Paul says in verse number 30, If I must needs glory, I must glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. Paul had learned to glory in his infirmity. Now Paul is not teaching here in Romans chapter five that the child of God should rejoice or joy in the thing that brings affliction or trial to your life. That thing may be physical persecution as many across the world do. Could be a family trial, a health trial, a financial trial. Paul is not saying that we should rejoice in the thing that brings that affliction. Rather, Paul is saying, and I know it might sound like a Christian cliche, but it's true. Paul is saying that the Christian should rejoice in the process, the plan, and the purpose of the tribulation. Paul could look beyond the temporal, and the earthly, and the physical, and he could see the eternal, the spiritual, and the heavenly. And that's why he could glory in his tribulation. A.W. Pink in his book, The Sovereignty of God, he said that a true recognition of God's sovereignty would exclude all murmurings. It's natural to murmur against afflictions. But the recognition of God's supremacy will cause us to say, like the psalmist, bless the Lord. Oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. And I wonder, child of God, is that your attitude? Is that the attitude that God finds you in tonight? Your glory and your tribulation? You realize it's all a part of God's sovereign plan, and so you can rest confidently in Him. One man said, I used to have many disappointments, but then I changed one letter and chopped it in two, and now I read instead of disappointments, His appointments. Believer, rejoice. For whatever trial or tribulation that you face or will face, all is under the sovereign hand of God. That should be the Christian's attitude to tribulation. But secondly, I want to notice the Christian attributes or characteristics that are developed by tribulations. Look at verse number three and four. It tells us there, knowing, knowing, Because we have a sovereign God, we can know. We read it tonight in Romans 8, 28, and we know. And Paul says here, knowing that tribulation it worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, a hope that maketh not ashamed. You see, in adversity, we usually want God to do a removing job. while he wants to do an improving job. And we're often asking God in the times of tribulation to remove it from it or remove us from it. God wants to improve us. We must understand that this is the end, this is the purpose of tribulation in the child of God's life. It is to develop graces within our hearts and souls. This word worketh, In verse number three, it has the idea of fashioning or finishing. Maybe you've undertaken a project. It could be something like painting a room or decorating a cake, whatever it might be. And you've maybe said to someone or someone's asked you, well, how's it coming along? And you've replied with that well-worn phrase, well, I just need to apply the finishing touches. And really, that's what God is doing to his people through tribulation. He's applying the finishing touches. He's fashioning us and molding us into the image of his dear son. Of course, I've already said it's not the tribulation itself, but it's the mighty power of his grace in and with that tribulation that fashions us. What are the particular attributes or characteristics that the Christian here has developed through tribulation? Well, it's the three of patience, experience, and hope. First, we have the attribute of patience or perseverance. Now, naturally, patience in trial and trouble is not so. Tribulation tends to work within us in patience. And impatience misses the fruit of experience, and it soars into hopelessness, as one man put it. Yet the Christian sanctified by the Holy Spirit, in the day of trouble, is stayed upon Jehovah, stayed upon his God. And men and women of God ought to be marked by patience. Hebrews 10, 33, it tells us that we have need of patience. And this fruit of patience, it's only ripened by tribulation. You see, the world, the world has a characteristic of being agitated, never content, never settled, flitting, running here, there, and everywhere for solutions to their trouble and trial. But that should not be the mark of the child of God. We should be still, patient, submissive to the great and sovereign will of God. Be able to say with the hymn writer, be still my soul. The Lord is on my side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Secondly, experience flows from patience. You know, some Christians who have had a thousand troubles have no more experience than when they first began. You see, they're just as foolish now. They're just as untaught in the things of God. And they're just as quick to make the same simple mistakes because they simply will not learn from the experiences of life. Yet God wants to enrich us and give us understanding and knowledge so that you and I know what to do when these tribulations come across our pathway. They say there's no experience like hands-on experience. And you can teach someone the theoretical knowledge or practices of farming, or woodworking, or baking, or even preaching, but you know there's nothing, there's nothing can beat learning from experience, getting stuck in, And that's the same in life. God wants us to make informed decisions and have godly responses to the tribulation that comes across our pathway. And it must be said that often when it does, we maybe do not have the proper response or make the right choices. But you know, the child of God that is being taught by the Holy Ghost, they will even learn from their mistakes and say, well, the last time, I did that and I shouldn't. The last time I was impatient and I ran to this person and that person and I didn't leave it in the hands of God. Yes, the child of God under the instruction and guidance of the Holy Ghost will even learn from his mistakes. Afflicted child of God, be comforted. God is fashioning you. He's molding you. He's bringing out graces in your heart and in your soul. But this is not the end or experience that leads on to hope. As we patiently endure and glean experience from life, become acquainted with God's dealings with us, how he equips us and sustains us in times of trial, we become convinced, convinced that as God has dealt with us in the past, He will deal with us the same in the future. You see, God is the unchangeable God. God is a God that never faileth. And as He shows us so much favor in life, and so much grace to enable and sustain us, enriching us by experience, making us patient in our affliction, we can be confident that the God that has given us grace here will give us glory hereafter. This hope that is spoken of in verse number four and five. It's not a vain hope. It's not a hope that will leave us disappointed. It's not a hope that will deceive us. It's not a hope that's built upon the sands of man's philosophy, but it's built upon Jehovah God. No, it's of the nature, this hope that will never fail us, never disappoint us. Never make us blush. We'll never blush that we have ever put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ because it tells us out there, it maketh not ashamed. It is a hope that will never cause us to blush. Tribulation comes across our pathway. These are the attributes that God wants to develop within the Christian. Patience, experience hope. Spurgeon said that a tried Christian grows rich by his losses. He rises by his falls. He lives by his dying and he becomes full by being emptied. Child of God, keep in mind the great purpose of tribulation. It's to refine you and to bring you forth as gold. We have seen what the Christian attitude to tribulation should be. We've also looked at the attributes that God wants to develop through our tribulation, but in the last place, I want to think of the Christian's assurance through tribulation. We read earlier in Romans chapter eight that there is not a thing, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This is assurance that the believer has. God loves me. God loves me. And even though the pathway I walk is hard and difficult and trying, God loves me. Having loved his own, he loves him unto the end. We can be assured that God loves us when we encounter tribulation. This is what verse five is teaching us. It's that hope that we will never be ashamed of, we'll never blush. Why? It says because the love of God is shared abroad in our heart. This love that's mentioned in verse number five, it's not our love for him. But it is His love for us. You see, our love for God. It waxes and wanes like the moon in strength. It's hot, it's cold, it's indifferent at times. But God's love for His people, it is eternal. It is unchangeable. And it is unconditional. You see, our love for God. It can be the testimony of our hope that we will not be put to shame. But our love is not the grounds of this hope. It's God's love for us that is the ground, the foundation of our earthly hope and of our eternal hope. Verse number five, it tells us that this love, it's shed abroad in our hearts. It speaks of plentitude and abundance. It can be rendered a love that is poured out, poured out. And I wonder, do you know anything of that love? The abundance of God's love tells us that God commendeth, verse number eight, God commendeth his love toward us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is the love of God in Christ Jesus. It's abundant love. Abundant enough to forgive you of your sin. If you're in a meeting tonight and you're a sinner, And you know nothing of God's love and you will not come to rest in this love. You will not know the love of God poured out into your soul. But at eternity and at the judgment you'll know the wrath, the indignation of God for your sin will be poured out against all unrighteousness and all ungodliness. While you're in the day of grace, I urge you to rest in the love of Jesus Christ. Dear child of God, there is nothing, I believe there is nothing that will comfort you more in the times of distress and despair and trial and sorrow and trouble than to remember this great truth. God loves me. God loves me. And remember, he's in control of all things. And you know when you dwell upon that truth, God loves me. I believe that that will go a long way to answer the question, why Lord? Why? Why is this happening to me? Why have you not moved? Why have you not answered prayer? Why have you not worked it out the way I thought? Why Lord? If you just stop and meditate, God loves me. Verse 5, it teaches us that it is the office and the agency of the Holy Ghost to bear witness of the love of God to our souls. And you know, maybe you're in that trouble or a trial and it may be said that you do not maybe experience or know or have that sweetness of God's love to you. Well, as I said, it is the office of the Holy Ghost to bring witness, to bear witness of God's love to us. So in your trial and in your trouble, if you want to know the love of God, it is to be continually filled with the Spirit of the Lord. And that way, the Holy Ghost will bring this sweet assurance to your heart. How do you be filled with the Spirit of God? Well, we ask the Lord. We ask the Lord for his Holy Spirit and we also are obedient unto the word because the Bible teaches us that God gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask him and to them that obey. Be assured, tempted and tried believer with the words of the children's chorus. Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so. You know, why are these verses, have they been a blessing unto me? Because in times of trial and tribulation, and to be honest, not really understanding the sovereign will of God, why certain things have happened, why certain things have fell out this way. You know what gave me great solace? God loves me. God loves me. And this is not for my hurt. This is not for my destruction. This is for my good. Because my God loves me. In conclusion, we have seen what our attitude to tribulation should be. We should glory in God's divine will. Glory in God's divine will. We've considered the attributes that God wants to develop in us, patience, experience, and hope. And we have the great assurance that as we go through tribulation, God loves me. Andrew Murray, he summed up, now that's Andrew Murray, that's not my fellow student in Bible college. That's Andrew Murray, the great South African preacher. But Andrew Murray, he said, and he summed up what the Christian's response to tribulation should be. And he said this. Let me say, I am here by God's appointment, in his keeping, under his training. and for his time. Let me say I am here by God's appointment, in his keeping, under his training, and for his time. Turn with me please just to finish with the words of Romans chapter 15 and verse 4. Romans 15 and the verse number 4. We have these words. For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Dear child of God, rejoice in the benefits. See how Romans 5 progresses, entering in at faith to love, hope, Reconciliation, life and joy in God. Ascending that mountain and breathing the fresh air of heaven. But also remember that tucked in amongst it is that word tribulation. But may we have the attitude of the Apostle Paul, and we also glory in tribulations. May the Lord bless these thoughts to your heart, and may you treasure up his word this week or the weeks or the months to follow, that as you and I enter into trouble and trial, that we will know that God's great hand and overarching purpose rules over all things for our good and for his glory. Let's bow for a word of prayer, and then we'll sing our closing hymn.