of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. His return, the moment when we shall rise, His return is the blessed hope of the church. Your Bible, please, in your Bible to Romans chapter 15. I will complete my series in Romans on Romans 15. I understand that there is a 16th chapter. I might come back to that at some point in the future. But I wanted to use Romans 15 in a special way as introductory to what I'm going to be saying over the next several weeks. Romans 15, one verse in particular, though we read a lengthy passage in our scripture reading a moment ago, one verse in particular is where we're going to focus our attention, because I believe in the God of hope. I believe in the God of hope. Now, I don't know about you, but right now we're about to go from January into February, and I'll ask a question, you can raise your hand, or you can decide to just abstain from any participation in this part of the service if you want to, but how many say, Pastor Monty, I had a good January? Okay, okay, okay, okay. How many say, Pastor Monty, I didn't have a good January? Okay, there's a few that didn't. Okay, I had a good January. I had a good January because of my attitude, not necessarily because of what's happening. Okay, there's a huge difference. And we're going to get into that because a lot of the way we respond to life is how we think about life. Okay, a lot of our sorrow and misery, maybe even our apprehension, our fear, A lot of those things come with our thinking, and in the next few weeks in Sunday morning service, I'm going to be dealing specifically with our thinking. But there is a verse in the passage we read a moment ago that is really key to understanding this. By the way, the Bible tells us how to think, and it tells us what to think. Look at your Bible with me. Romans chapter 15, verse number 13. Romans 15, verse 13. When I read this passage, it almost reads like a benediction. It is not, but Romans 15, verse 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy. Joy is a good thing. Wouldn't it be good to have joy? Pastor Monty, in this dark age, we cannot have joy. No, no. In this dark age, we must have joy. My joy is not determined by the circumstances in which we're living. My joy is not determined by who occupies the White House, whether legitimately or illegitimately, okay? My joy is not determined by that. My joy is determined by something far higher, and none of those factors can rob me of my joy. By the way, let me make it very clear. No human being, no human being can rob me of my joy. I used to, by the way, allow people to do that as a pastor. I used to allow people to do that. People would come and they'd have some sharp criticism over something, or they'd be all down in the mouth about something, or they'd blame me for something. If you want to blame me, go ahead and blame me. I take blame very easily. I just forget about everything you say. But go ahead and blame me if you want to. But I used to be really sensitive to that. And it used to put me in a dark place sometimes when maybe an unjust level of criticism came. You know what I'm talking about, folks. This happens to you as well. Or something happens that's not legitimate. You know what I do now? I totally blow it off. I've learned to do that because no one's going to rob me of my joy. And there are some people in life that just are negative about everything and want to tear into everything and want to rip into everything. Well, your negative spirit is never going to touch me. It can't touch me because I have attitude. It's not going to happen. But now look back at the Scripture. You say, Pastor, I had attitude with my Sunday school class this morning, too. Can I just tell you, Church, right today I have attitude. So there, there. Just gave me permission to say whatever I want. Okay, verse number 13. Now the God of hope, He is the God of hope. We're going to talk about Him. Fill you with all joy and peace in believing. If you underline in your Bible, that would be a great thing to underline, okay? Because there's something you have to do. In the next several weeks, I'm going to be emphasizing the things that you have to do to know peace of mind. God is not a heavenly Xanax. He does not descend upon you like a Xanax and take away your anxiety because you prayed about it. There's not one verse anywhere in the Bible that says that, but there are plenty of verses we're going to look at that say you need to do something about it. This is one of them. So he's going to fill us with all joy and peace, but notice this, in believing. That's something I have to do. That ye may abound in hope, notice this, through the power of the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, it is God that fills us in response to our believing. It is God that causes us to abound in hope in response to believing. It is the power of the Holy Spirit, again, in response to believing. All of these things have a combination, watch this, of God and me joining together. It is not just God. Now let me warn you about something. The thing that might turn some people off to what I'm going to give you from Scripture over the next few weeks is this, that the onus is squarely upon you to make fundamental changes. It is not just God. I'm not going to give you some magical formula prayer that if you'll pray these precise words, all of a sudden, peace will descend over your heart. There is no such thing in the Bible, there is no such thing in the economy of God. God expects us to obey Him. And when we obey Him, the desired results can take place. And it means that I am responsible for my responses. I am responsible for my emotions. Oh boy, oh boy. Now listen carefully. That's part of what's the bigger part of our sermon series. I am responsible. Pastor Monty, no I'm not so and so hurt my feelings. I'm responsible for my responses to the person who hurt my feelings. I'm going to teach you how to get around those things to the point of being a maverick with them, which I think is absolutely essential in our society today, but I've gotten way ahead of myself. So the book of Romans is a very heavily doctrinal book, but it's also very practical. If you look at verse number 13, the whole idea is this, is to encourage. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing that he may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. How can I abound in hope? How can I be positive in a negative world? Well, here is the answer. What we believe impacts our emotional and mental state. Let me say it again. What we believe, what I personally believe, impacts my mental and emotional state. It has a lot to do with what I'm putting into my mind, and that is what produces the things in my head. Very much, if you will think with me for a moment, your mind is very much like putting together a recipe. A lot of the ladies and some of the men here like to cook something and you have a recipe and you put all kinds of great ingredients into the recipe. It is a tried and true recipe because you know that if you combine these certain ingredients into the recipe, put that bad boy into the oven or put it into the frying pan, Put it in the old iron skillet, whatever you're cooking. You know that if you have done it right, because you've done it before, and you put the right ingredients in, you know that it's gonna turn out fabulous. However, there are times when you're in the middle of a recipe and you lack a key ingredient. And in that moment you think, well I could substitute X, Y, Z for the key ingredient. May I tell you it would be better for you to stop everything and go to Kroger. The idea of substituting can sometimes mess up an otherwise good recipe. And what a lot of people will do is they'll say, well, I've got some of the right ingredients, but I'm going to throw in this aberrant ingredient, watch this, mix it up and see what happens, and it is not successful. Translate this into our thinking, the way that we think. I know the right thing to think. But every once in a while, I will allow something that isn't right and it ruins the entire scheme of things. It destroys everything. By the way, garbage in, garbage out. Let me give you a little update. Since one week before the first of the year, I have not watched one network news broadcast of any kind. Not one. Pastor Mati, you're going to be uninformed. I would rather be uninformed than misinformed. I believe watching the Today Show is opening yourself up to propaganda. Socialist, communistic propaganda. You heard it here. You surpass money, you're pretty strong. I need to be strong. I'm tired of the left shouting their stupidity from the housetops. I'm tired of the imposter in the White House now making it possible to murder millions of more babies, not just in America, but worldwide by fiat, by unjustifiable fiat known as an executive order. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of Sodom and Gomorrah being normalized and institutionalized in the military. I'm tired. And I have attitude today. But I'm tired. It's time Bible believers stood up and spoke up. Or we'll lose the whole country. Pastor Monty, I didn't come to church to hear this. There's plenty of churches out there where you'll never hear this. Go to some soft-soaping pink tea and lemonade, little cappuccino frappuccino, go there. This is meat and potatoes because it's what we need. Now back to the scripture. So this was really going to be a happy sermon. Sure went south fast. How can I, though, how can I? By the way, having that kind of fighting spirit is what keeps me positive, okay? I refuse to back down. I refuse to fold up. I refuse to give in. I refuse to listen. I'm simply going to go the Bible way. How can we be positive in a negative world? Here's, I'm going to give you some ideas. Number one, number one, recognize God in all things. Look at verse number 13. Recognize God in all things. It begins with the idea of God. Now the God of hope, Fill you with all joy. Recognize God. God, someone said, Pastor, and this, I got this, with all the things happening, did the coronavirus come from God or the devil? There were some preachers that got up, very unwise, and said, the coronavirus is the judgment of God. You don't know that? I don't know that. Then there were others who said, no, no, the coronavirus comes from the devil. You don't know that. No one's given me this extra biblical revelation to know that. The Bible doesn't say that. Do you know what the Bible does say? My God is in control. That's what the Bible says. I recognize God in all things. In the current political situation, is God in control? Yes, God is in control. Now this does not mean that God is the author, originator, or the one who has decreed all of these things. God does not decree everything that happens. He does not determine beforehand my actions and my sin. My actions and my sin are squarely my decision. That's on me. I want you to understand something. God didn't pre-program me to commit sins, okay? That's the goofiest thinking in the world. He did not pre-program that. That is on me. But God is in control of everything worldwide in spite of and beyond my sinful choices. Think of it this way, if you will. A train, a train. Anyone ever ride a train? How many have ridden on the pizza train that went, I think, from India up to, what, Tipton or something? Does it go to Tipton? Boy, Tipton's a mess. Tipton, okay. Just really bad. They didn't even have the Perk Festival this year, and that's the only thing. But anyway, when you ride the train, watch this now. The train is on a set of tracks. And the set of tracks are going from Indy to Tipton. That's where it's going, okay. Now inside the train, you have passenger cars. There are a lot of passengers doing a lot of things. Some passengers are just sitting there. Other passengers are looking out the window. Other passengers might engage in conversation and may even get into an argument. That's possible. Other passengers can't sit that long, so they're getting up and they're walking around the train. Within that train, there are a lot of people making a lot of individual choices, but the train is still going to end up in Tipton. God is in control. And while you have the responsibility and the power, the free will would be a theological term, while you have the free will to make those choices, ultimately God is in control. Therefore, I'm not worried about what's going to happen tomorrow, I'm not worried about what's going to happen today, because my God is in control. He doesn't decree everything that happens, but God is sovereign in that he controls things. This assures God's ultimate success, and it allows for man's responsibility. The secret, then, to having peace in this day and time is to recognize God in all things. That's number one. But then there's something more. Let's turn the heat up on this a little bit. Number two, realize hope in all things. Realize hope in all things. Notice this, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope. What is hope? Well, Pastor Monty, hope, you know, I'm not very hopeful. I kind of hope for something good to happen, but I'm not really thinking it's going to. In the Bible, that is not the definition of hope. In the Bible, hope always means absolute assurance. Hope in the Bible, listen to this carefully, and jot this down in your Bible so you don't forget. Hope, when the Bible uses the word hope, it is an anticipation of something that is certain. Now, it's not there yet, the thing is not there yet, but it is an anticipation of something that is certain. It is not an anticipation of something that may or may not be, okay? The blessed hope of the church is the return of Jesus Christ. The return of Jesus Christ is absolutely certain. We know He's coming again. The hope part is this, I have absolute assurance. So when we're talking about hope, we're talking about absolute assurance, anticipation of that which is assured. It's going to come to pass because God has spoken this. Realize He is the God of hope, who transfers hope to His people when they believe. You say, Pastor, why is this important? Because I refuse to ever lose hope. I'm not going to lose hope. You know, we're really in shaky and dark days and it just looks like the end of the republic. Okay, so listen to me, listen to me. Church, the stage has never been set any better for the return of Jesus Christ than it is right now. Let's go ahead and clap. Go ahead and clap. That's clap worthy. Never, never than it is right now. And folks, that's exciting to me. And by the way, his return is certain. You say, Pastor, are you predicting that it's going to be in your lifetime? I hope so. From a human standpoint of the word hope, but I know he's coming back from a biblical presentation of the word hope. I don't know if it's gonna be in my lifetime, but you know what? I just get really suspicious about it. Pastor Monty, what's the great barometer that you look at for the return of Jesus? Well, that state of Israel would come to mind. You know, Israel, according to Bible prophecy, will be overrun by Muslim states and nations at some time in the future, but will not be destroyed. You see, the crazies in Iran, oh, and you heard what I said. The crazies in Iran who are super excited and happy that we have an imposter in the White House. The crazies in Iran who are just jumping for joy. By the way, don't you think that if Ayatollah is happy, that I should be against what makes him happy? I mean, this is really basic common sense, okay? The truth of the matter is this. Israel will survive. And Israel is a barometer. So we're looking forward to that. There's hope. Hope is an absolute assurance. God is the God of hope. Do you know what that means? I don't have to have fear. I don't know, God is the God of hope. Well, Pastor, there are so many times of uncertainty. Fine, there are things I can't answer, but don't you believe that God can answer these things? Don't you believe that God knows the end from the beginning? Don't you believe that God has answered these things? I do. Well, Pastor, you know, I'm just sure hoping Dr. Fauci figures it all out. No, he's a fearful little man. I'm not interested in it. My God is in control. He's fully in control. And He is the God of hope. I don't have to have fear. God gives me absolute assurance, what? That I may abound in hope. And that's what I'm presenting to you. And what, Pastor Monty, your attitude is so cavalier. Okay, quit using the word cavalier and just say this, Pastor Monty abounds in hope. He abounds in hope to the extent that it's positively obnoxious, especially in the pulpit. But Paul says, I can have hope. I don't have to live under. I'm an overcomer. I don't have to be conquered. I'm a conqueror. I have God's word on it, and it is what I stubbornly believe. And by the way, you can never change my mind. because it's something I believe. Which, by the way, leads me to point three. So I'm going to recognize God in all things. I'm going to realize hope in all things. Number three, I'm going to believe my way. I'm using believe there as a verb. I'm going to believe my way to joy and peace. Look at verse number 13 again. The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. Amen. It doesn't say that. Look what it says. The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, note the next two words, in believing. In believing. And ultimately that ye may abound in hope. What is the key? What is my responsibility? My responsibility is to believe God. According to that verse, joy and peace require me to believe. We'll point this out next week, okay? We're going to point it out next week, but in regard to anxiety and peace, if you want to do an interesting little Bible study, look up the word peace in the New Testament as it pertains to peace of mind or peace of heart, and you're going to find that it is joined with an action, either in the verse ahead of it, the same verse the word peace is, or in the verse after it, it is joined with an action. In other words, it is not something automatic that we just receive because we are Christians. Peace is something we receive because we obey a biblical principle. And we'll get into what those biblical principles are. But simply stated, joy and peace require me to believe. Well now, what is belief? Okay, belief involves mental assent. I agree to something mentally, but it involves more than that. I have a heart, faith, or trust in what God says. Now folks, hear me please. There comes a time when all of the rational ability you have to talk yourself out of depression will fail, but there comes a time when you have the book of God and you say this, I believe, even though the circumstances are contrary, I believe. For example, everything's falling apart. Everything has gone south. But may I remind you, ladies and gentlemen, Romans 8.28 is still in the Bible. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. All things work together for good. Folks, I believe. I believe. Well, but Pastor Monning, come on, that seems irrational. Sometimes faith seems irrational to the secular mind, but my faith gives me peace. A great, and some of you will be familiar with his name, a great Dutch theologian, by the name of Abram Kuyper said this, faith is the ultimate certainty. You could write that down. Faith is the ultimate certainty. In other words, you can't change what I believe. Well, Pastor, I'm gonna argue with you after the service a little bit, and I'm sure you'll come to see it my way. Highly unlikely. You can't change what I believe. You can't ruin my day. You can't rob me of my faith. You can take away my home. You can take away my cars. You can take away my food. You can take that away. You can put me in a concentration camp somewhere. You can't take away my faith. You can push my faith. You can back my faith up against a wall, and it might happen. You can do a lot of it, but you can't take it away. There is no way that you can reach inside my mind. There is no way that you can reach inside my faith and rob me of my belief in a God who loves me. You just can't do it. By the way, you can't brainwash me out of it. You can't put gunned my head out of it. It's simply believing. Joy and peace require both belief and it's mental ascent and then heart faith. What I truly believe then impacts my emotional condition. I'll look at verse number 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. I'm going to make that statement again. What I truly believe impacts my emotional condition. This is very important, because some of us set ourselves up for a bad day every day, right out of the starting gate in the morning. I want to consider that phrase, that sentence. Let me give it to you again, and I'm going to consider it both negatively and positively. Here's the statement. What I truly believe impacts my emotional condition negatively, is negative, worry comes from deep suspicion that there's something wrong with God. Now, I'm an orthodox Bible believer. There's nothing wrong with God, there's something wrong with me. At its deepest core, at its deepest root, Worry says, worry reflects a deep suspicion that there's something wrong with God. May I make a statement? Every time I'm fearful, I am fundamentally doubting God. Well, Pastor, you know, I'm just fearful about what's going to happen. I mean, are we gonna have enough toilet paper? What a crazy 2020 issue. Okay, does God take care of his own, yes or no? Come on. Oh, wow, that was so enthusiastic. Now, if you keep responding that way, we're gonna be here till 1230, okay? No, I fully realize you have the power to get up and walk out on your own, so we won't do that. Does God take care of his own? Yes, he takes care of his own, okay? Does God know the sparrow who falls? Does God have the hair on your head numbered, or lack thereof? for some of you, amen, yes. Yes, and when I, by the way, by the way, does God know the condition of my health right now, yes or no? Does God know my immune system right now, yes or no? Hmm. Some of you got Fauci'd right there. Does God know the condition of my immune system right now, yes or no? Yes, he does. Okay, so follow, folks, follow. God knows all these things. I don't have to fear. God is a benevolent God. God is a loving God. I don't have to fear. I don't have to have some deep-seated suspicion that there must be something wrong with God. because I believe who he is. He is the God of hope. Positively, we're looking at the statement, what I truly believe impacts my emotional condition. Positively, joy and peace come from the deep conviction that everything's all right. Did not, write that down if you need to. Joy and peace come from the deep conviction that everything's all right. Pastor, you know, that's just putting on rose-colored glasses. Oh no, oh no. No, no, your pastor sees the darkness in this world. But may I make a statement? Everything really is all right. God is in control. When I believe that everything is, well, Pastor, that's believing contradistinction to what we would watch on the news. That's why I quit watching the news. It's contradistinction because it's Bible. May I share with you something? Everything really is all right. And I have peace believing that because my God is in control. I remember a little church where I used to serve the Lord. They would sing constantly this little chorus. I wonder if you guys know this. They'd sing it constantly. It went something like this. Everything's alright in my Father's house. Anyone know this? In my Father's house, in my Father's house. Really mindless. Here it goes. Everything's alright in my Father's house. There is joy, joy, joy. You know, I choose to believe that. In fact, you're going to believe it now too. Let's sing it together. Everything's all right. Come on. In my father's house. In my father's house. In my father's house. Louder. Everything's all right. In my father's house. There is joy, joy, joy. Now that you know it, you're gonna sing it like you mean it, okay? Turn up the volume, here we go. ♪ Everything's all right in my father's house ♪ ♪ In my father's house, in my father's house ♪ Smile! ♪ Everything's all right in my father's house ♪ ♪ There is joy, joy, joy ♪ Did you know what that does? It lifts your spirit. Because I simply believe that. Oh, but Pastor Monty, Savannah Guthrie. Who cares? She's an imbecile. Everything's all right in my father's house because God said it is. And notice the peace, not just peace, but the joy I have through believing. You can go ahead and believe, the whole world's falling apart and I don't know if I believe in the Bible and maybe there really are space aliens at Area 51 in Roswell, New Mexico. okay, you can do that all day long. I just believe what God said. And it's phenomenal how believing leads to joy and leads to peace. And by the way, it never hurt anyone to simply believe that there is a benevolent God in heaven that there is a Savior who shed His blood on Calvary's cross, that there is a gracious and merciful God who, though He recognizes the depth of my sin, His love goes beyond the depth of my sin, and that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to shed His blood on that cross as a payment for my sin, and that by simple belief, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by simple belief, according to His mercy, He saves us. And it's all of Him, and it's all of grace. And I am His child. And now I'm in the very hand of God. And no man is able to pluck me out from the hand of God. And I am protected. In fact, the Bible tells us in the book of Ephesians, I'm not only protected, I am accepted in the Beloved. Isn't that good? Anyone ever feel rejected? I felt rejected a time or two. But I'm accepted in the Beloved. What's the Beloved? The Beloved is all the saints of God. The Beloved is all the citizens of heaven. The Beloved is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And listen, I'm accepted in that crowd. And the rest of the world may reject me, and say, you're just a loud-mouthed, fundamental Bible-believing preacher. Just ignore him. I don't care what you think. I'm accepted in the Beloved. You know what it says to me? Everything's all right in my father's house. Folks, the bottom line is this. You can throw cold water. There's going to be someone come when we criticize this sermon. Yeah, go ahead, criticize all you want, I don't care. Throw cold water on it. In fact, there's cold water dripping right over there. With a whole bucket full of it. Don't do that thing that athletes do after they win a game with pour the trash. Don't do that, okay? Do not do that at the service. I'm gonna be greeting visitors over here. You can pour cold water all you want, but you know what? You're not gonna rob me of my joy. Now, let me just tell you something. Why don't we all Get a grip and look at verse number 13 together. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, here it is, in believing that he may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. It's spiritual. to be positive. I have a basis for my, not because everything's wonderful, I have a basis for my positivity. It is a person, Jesus Christ, the God of hope. If you don't know him this morning, I'd invite you, when we have our invitation in a moment, to come to trust him as your savior. Father, thank you for your word, how encouraged we are about the God of hope being present in our lives. Holy Spirit, it might be that someone has come and they don't have this joy, this hope from knowing you. Lord, help that one, maybe several will come to know you today as their savior. For those of us who are Christians, Lord, help us to recognize we don't have to be down and out, under the weather, sad, discouraged, nervous, fearful. Father, you've given us not the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and of a sound mind. Help us, Lord, to know that. And God, help us to practice what your word says. Help us to believe above all else, to believe in you. We pray it in Jesus' name. Everyone standing together, we're all going