We turn in sacred Scripture to Romans chapter 5. Working through the first 11 verses as part of a Lord's Supper series, the text this morning, the passage we concentrate on is verse 5. But before we read that verse again, let's read through the first 11 verses of Romans chapter 5. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory, we rejoice in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, or the sense of having an approved character before God, and experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." So far we read God's holy and infallible Word. The text is verse 5, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, how good it is to have hope, isn't it? how good it is to have hope. To have hope means that there's light at the end of the tunnel. To have hope means that there's still reason to get excited about something. To have hope means there's still a reason to keep pressing on. And the good word to you this morning that comes from God is this, beloved congregation, You have hope. You always have hope. You always have light at the end of the tunnel because our hope in Jesus Christ is nothing less than the hope of heavenly glory. The hope of fullness of life, dwelling with God, in and through Jesus Christ, in heavenly glory. Our hope is that we will certainly, just as Job said, right? I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And with these eyes, though after my skin, after I perish and my skin goes in the grave, with these very eyes, I will see my Savior. With these eyes and with no other eyes. Because I have the hope of the resurrection of the body. I have the hope of Jesus coming down on the clouds of glory, taking me with all his people unto himself to dwell with him in the heavenly Jerusalem in the new creation, world without end. Where we will enjoy pure, sinless life in fullness of strength and beauty with our Lord Jesus. This is one of the benefits of justification. We always have hope. And this is the benefit that we get to spend a short time on this morning, and specifically in this morning's passage, we get to look at how that hope is sure and how this hope we have is certain. Part of the purpose of the Lord's Supper also is that we might be strengthened in that hope. Here in Romans chapter 5, the apostle is setting forth the benefits of justification. Justification is the key benefit. He's spelled that out in Romans chapters 3 and 4. It's the fundamental blessing we have in Jesus Christ. In justification, God declares us, who are sinners, to be righteous. to be in harmony with His law, so that the law has nothing to say against us. In justification, God says to us, you are forgiven. I see you in Jesus Christ, in fact, as one who's kept my law perfectly. And God can do that to us. Because Jesus came as our head and as our substitute, and Jesus bore the full judgment for all our sins, and Jesus fulfilled all obedience to the law of God. And now here in Romans 5, the apostle is moving on, and he goes on to list the benefits we have because we are justified. And the first benefit is this, we have peace with God. Verse 1. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're not at war with God. God does not take us as His enemies anymore, but we've been reconciled to God so that we have friendship with God. We are in harmony with God through Jesus Christ. The second benefit is this. We are brought into a sphere of grace. Verse 2, we looked at that last time. We enjoy a life of grace so that as we live and walk, we are, as it were, in an orb surrounded by God's favor, his grace. Grace attends us on every side. That's your life, beloved. Day by day, God is showing you his favor. He favors you with his presence. He favors you with his friendship. He favors you with his strength and his spirit and his grace that you need each day. The third benefit is this, we rejoice in the hope of glory. That's the last part of verse two. So that there's not just grace for right now, but we know that there's even greater things in store for us. Glory, the hope of the glory of God. That means us being clothed with God's glory, glorified in our bodies and souls. And then, another benefit is this, verses 3 and 4, not only do we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, but we also can rejoice in our tribulations in this present life. We can rejoice in these present tribulations because these present tribulations are working a good work upon us. Tribulation works patience, endurance. And endurance works experience. It works the sense of God's approval. We're being tested and we're coming through by God's grace. And God gives us his approval. And that works within us hope. That experience causes us, our hope to be even stronger. It strengthens my confidence that I'm going to heaven, because through the trials I have a sense of God's favor. I see evidence of God's grace at work in me, and so my hope of glory is even strengthened. All these things are the blessings that arise out of our justification. All these things arise out of the fact, the knowledge, that I am forgiven my sins. and judged righteous in Christ. And now in verse 5 for the text this morning, the Apostle really goes back to the hope that's mentioned at the end of verse 2, and he emphasizes now just how sure and just how great that hope is. That's what we want to consider this morning. We take as our theme, a hope that does not shame. We look at that theme under three points. First, we look at the hope itself. Second, we look at the fact that this hope does not shame us. And then third, the reason this hope does not shame us. The Apostle writes, and hope maketh not ashamed. The first thing we need to ask as we look at the passage is this, what is this hope that the Apostle is speaking about? Well, the Bible speaks of hope in two different ways, in two different senses. First, we can speak of the word hope in the sense of our activity of hoping. When we say, I hope for this, or I hope for that, that's how we're using the word hope. Our activity of hoping for something. That's what the apostle has in mind at the end of verse four. Tribulations work patience, and patience, experience, and experience works hope. We rejoice in tribulations because tribulations initiate a sanctifying process that ends in hope. so that we are learning to hope more, where we're growing in the activity of hoping. That's the activity of hoping. But second, we can speak of hope not as our activity of hoping, but secondly, as the object for which we are hoping. So that we can say, heaven is my hope. Or we can say, God is my hope. So we're not talking about our activity of hoping, but we're looking at that object for which we hope. That which is outside of us. which we don't maybe fully possess, which we are hoping to possess someday. That's how we are to understand the word hope in verse 5. So the idea is this, the object of your hope, that object, that future, that is your hope, that will not shame you. That's the idea. And what is the hope of the Christian? Well, it's not the things of this world. Money is not my hope. Earthly power is not my hope. Earthly honor, earthly comfort and pleasure, that's not my hope. That's not the thing that I'm longing for and living for. And that's true because the Christian's hope is infinitely better than these things here on the earth below. What's the hope of the Christian? We've already spoken about it in the introduction. But the hope of the Christian is nothing less than full salvation. Nothing less than endless days in heaven with my Creator, who I'm going to be able to see in the flesh in Jesus Christ with my own eyes. My hope is seeing this world This universe raised to a higher level, heaven and earth being united together in one, and living in that new creation without sin, without pain, without tears, without heartache, without any sense of death or sin at all. The hope of the Christian is this. to be delivered from this body of death, to be done with the old man of sin, to be done with the constant warfare of life, and to be clothed upon with the full salvation of Christ. The hope of the Christian is this, to have a glorified soul, perfectly made in the image of Jesus, and a glorified body, and to serve God therein and enjoy perfect peace and fellowship with Christ and all his people. Because right now, as a Christian, I love Jesus. I love Jesus. I know He died for me. I know He's already regenerated me. He's given me the beginning of eternal life. We'll touch on that in the third point of the sermon. And I want to see Him. I want to thank Him in person, and I know His smile, but I want to see His smile, you might say, face-to-face. And I want to live with Him and all His chosen people in a world full of perfect love. That's my hope. And I can add, my hope is that one day I will see every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. And my hope is that one day I will also see all Jesus's and my enemies who blaspheme God's name destroyed and punished for their unrighteousness, starting with Satan, the ringleader of them all. And because all of this is dependent upon God, my hope is in God, and these are His promises that He will do. My hope is in God. Therefore, this is the Christian's hope. And again, when you go through the trials of life, what happens is that your activity of hoping for these things is strengthened because you're reminded that this world is not your hope. You have another hope that you are waiting for. Now what the passage emphasizes is the fact that this hope that we have, this hope of heaven, will not shame us. The Apostle writes, and hope maketh not ashamed. Now what does that mean? Well, it means two things. First, it means that nobody ever has a reason to be ashamed of this hope. What you are hoping for as Christians here on the earth is something good. It is something right, something pure, and something that honors God. You don't have to be ashamed to anyone, no matter what the world says. You don't have to be ashamed to anyone of the hope you have of glory. But second, what it especially means, what I think the apostle especially has in mind is this. This hope you have will not disappoint. It will not deceive you. It will not let you down. Now, for an illustration I think we can all understand, think of it this way. Think of a person, children, think of a person who is expecting to receive a very big inheritance, maybe from a loved one. And he's so excited about receiving this inheritance, right? Maybe a lot of money. That he goes around bragging to other people about it. He starts talking about all the things that are going to come to him. And then he even goes further in this direction. And he even starts spending money on credit. So that he starts buying things expecting that, well, one day I will be able to pay for it with the inheritance that I will And then finally the day comes when he should receive his inheritance. The lawyer comes to his house, the lawyer reads the will, and what does that man find out? He finds out that there's no inheritance at all for him. He finds out that it was all a lie, it was all a scam, there's nothing for him. Or he finds out that there is an inheritance, maybe a great inheritance, but his name isn't mentioned on the document. He's entirely left out of the will. Or he finds out that there is an inheritance and he is receiving it, but the inheritance amounts to all of $50. It's not what he was expecting and hoping for. And so now you see what happens, that man is now left embarrassed. He's left really ashamed of the hope that he had. That man's left ashamed now of how he's been living and how he's been talking. And so you can say that the hope that that man had made him ashamed. Because it failed him. The future good thing that he was longing for, the object of his hope, simply wasn't there. It didn't exist. Or, at least it didn't exist for him. Or, it wasn't as good as he was boasting about. That's the idea of hope shaming you. Now the text says that for us, whose hope is in the glory of God, it will never turn out that way. It will never turn out that way. What we hope to inherit, right? That inheritance undefiled, reserved in heaven for us, the life with God we hope to enjoy, it will never end up with us the way that it ended up with that man who was deceived about his inheritance. Now, sometimes we have those doubts, don't we? That's why the apostle is writing this, perhaps especially when we're going through tribulations, which he's talking about in verses 3 and 4. You're going through hard tribulations, you're suffering for Christ, you're being persecuted because of the name of Christ, and then you do start to wonder, because that's our sinful nature and our weakness of faith, Is heaven real? Is it worth it? Is there a life to come? How embarrassed and how disappointed wouldn't we be if after spending this one life, persevering through so many persecutions and so many trials for the sake of Jesus Christ, making daily sacrifices in the name of Christ, only to realize after we die that heaven isn't real. How shamed we would be left. Sometimes maybe we think maybe heaven is real, right? It exists, but then the nagging question maybe comes by the work of the devil. Maybe I don't have a share in that inheritance. Maybe there's no heaven for me. Heaven for others, but not for me. How disappointed or embarrassed wouldn't we be if after spending this life devoted to God, serving the Lord, there's no heaven for me? that would leave us ashamed of the hope that we had. Or sometimes we wonder, maybe heaven is real, and maybe I'm going to heaven, but is heaven really going to be, this is our folly, is heaven going to be as good as we really think it's going to be? We're boasting to others about how great heaven is going to be, but maybe it's not going to be as good as I'm boasting. And if I live this life enduring so much sorrow and tribulation for the sake of Christ, losing my life, right, in very practical and real ways for Christ, and then heaven isn't as good as I hoped, well, then my hope will leave me disappointed. It will leave me ashamed. And what the text is telling us, what the Holy Spirit is telling us in His inspired Word is this. Banish those thoughts. Heaven will not leave you ashamed. What you are hoping for in the life to come will not disappoint you. It will not let you down. All your tribulations, all your work, your labor of love for the Lord Jesus, all your laying up treasure in heaven and not here below, it won't disappoint, beloved. Heaven is real. You can count on it. Heaven is for you. You can count on it. And heaven will not disappoint you. You can count on that." And then the apostle explains why. Why? What is the reason we have for this confidence that our hope will not leave us ashamed? Well, that's the second half of verse 5. Most of the words of the text are spent on this idea. because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." That second half of verse 5 is telling you the reason that the hope will not leave you ashamed. Really, there's two reasons here that the Apostle brings together. First, the love of God is shed abroad in your hearts. Not your love for God, not how much you love God, but the idea is how much God loves you. God has shed abroad, God has poured out His love in your heart. And what that simply means is this, God loves you. And you know, child of God, you know that God loves you. You've experienced it. You've seen Jesus hanging on the cross. You've seen Him on the cross for you. This is where he's going to go in the verses that follow, verses six through eight. God commendeth his love towards us. This is how great his love is for you, that while you were yet enemies, while you were sinners, God sent Jesus to die for you. God loves you. And you know that love, because God has caused you to know that love by the work of the Holy Spirit. You embrace Jesus as your Savior, and you're going to experience it at the Lord's Supper this morning. You're going to take the bread, you're going to drink the wine, and you're going to know this is what Jesus has given you. Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. And knowing Jesus and having Jesus, You know that your whole salvation is rooted in the love of God for you. There's no other explanation for all of this than God's love. And you know what the thing about God's love is? The thing about God's love is this. It never changes. It is eternal. It is an unconditional love. He has always loved you and he always will love you. And it's in His love for you that He saves you and makes you fit to be His child. And so you know heaven is real. You know that heaven is for you. You know that heaven won't disappoint. Because you already have a beginning of heaven in your heart. Because that's what heaven is. Heaven is a world of love. where love permeates, the love of God permeates everything. And we've already experienced the beginning of it. We've had God's love shed abroad in our hearts. So that's the reason it won't shame us. And then second, as the apostle goes on to write, the Holy Ghost is given to us. You have the Holy Ghost. And it's the Holy Ghost who causes you to know God's love for you. And you know what the thing about the Holy Ghost is? The thing about the Holy Ghost is this, He Himself is the down payment of heaven. He Himself is the earnest of our inheritance. Ephesians 1 verse 14, He Himself is the beginning of our enjoyment of heaven. Heaven is real, heaven is for us, and heaven will not disappoint us because we've already known, we've tasted and seen. that God is good, already in a small measure by the work of the Holy Spirit here on earth. And the joys that we experience here on earth, the spiritual joys worked in us by the Holy Spirit, they are themselves unspeakable joys. They are themselves what satisfy our hearts. And so when we get to heaven, We're not just going to have the down payment, we're going to have the full inheritance. We're going to get the whole package of what God has purchased for us through the shed blood of Christ. And it will be that much greater than what we already enjoy in its beginning. What we will enjoy in heaven is something we can't even conceive here below. And so the point of the Apostle is this, our hope is sure. What we hope for will not disappoint us. It will not shame us. And in this life, we should never be ashamed of this hope we have. The things of the earth disappoint. The things of the earth will let you down. They will leave you wanting more. They will deceive you. But that will never be the case, putting your hope in the Lord. And this morning at the Lord's Supper, God comes to us, Jesus comes to us through the Lord's Supper and tells us, he assures us that this hope is ours. This communion we have at the supper table is itself a foretaste of the marriage supper of the lamb. And it assures us that this is ours because it's all rooted in the death and resurrection of Christ. It's all rooted in Him. It's all rooted in justification. God's already declared that you are righteous in Him, and so you have these benefits. His body was broken, His blood was shed so that you might be justified, so that you might have peace with God, so that you might rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And in the Lord's Supper this morning, Jesus comes to us and He says, stay strong in your hope. Keep walking. by faith, keep walking by hope. And in the midst of your daily tribulations, in the midst of your trials, let me strengthen you in that hope. That hope will not leave you ashamed. Amen.