Love, Hope, & Time
Download MP3It's lovely to see you all this morning. I feel like I need to reintroduce myself. It's it's been quite some time since I last preached here. My name is Jeff Heine. I'm one of the senior pastors here at Redeemer.
Jeffrey Heine:I came on staff in, December of 2008, so about 30 years ago. And, you all, the church, the elders were kind enough to give me a sabbatical to take a step away from the work of ministry for a little while, to rest and work on other things. I just want to say thank you for that time, and thank you for for those of you who have prayed for me and for my family during the sabbatical. It was a treasured time, and I'm very glad to be back. So today, we are continuing our study from Paul's letter to the Romans.
Jeffrey Heine:We're gonna be in Romans chapter 5, looking at verses 6 through 11. Romans 5 verses 6 through 11. When I begin reading a letter in the New Testament, I often pause and try to picture the first time that it was received and read aloud by those first recipients. I imagine the excitement in the room because the courier of that letter had finally arrived in their city. They would have traveled weeks, maybe longer, to carry the papyri.
Jeffrey Heine:Couriers like Epaphroditus, Tychicus, Onesimus. I imagine how nervous they were as they traveled with the letter, knowing that they were carrying something invaluable, something precious, and at the same time, not understanding how precious it was or how precious it would be for 1000 of years to come, knowing that they were carrying something important but not understanding how the spirit had breathed those very words so as to reveal God himself. I imagine the courier reading and rereading the letter along to the congregation and answering any questions that might arise. Before departing, they would have spent time with the writer of the letter, seeking their own clarity regarding the contents and preparing for any anticipated questions. You don't stand up and tell people that they are the enemy of God without a few questions to come.
Jeffrey Heine:And then once they arrived, the congregation would assemble. And with all boldness and all humility, they would stand before these men and women, these teenagers and these children. They would read the whole letter aloud. At the conclusion, they might reread different sections explaining arguments and metaphors. And sometimes they would even have to argue and defend the contents of the letter.
Jeffrey Heine:For this letter to the church in Rome, This letter, which is the longest and most comprehensive writing in existence from the apostle Paul on the fundamentals of the Christian faith. The person entrusted with this task of courier was a woman named Phoebe. Phoebe was entrusted to be the courier of this theological Everest of a letter. She was entrusted to securely carry it from Corinth to Rome and present it to the contentious congregation of gentile and Jewish Christians. We've mentioned numerous times in this series how complex and challenging this letter is to comprehend fully.
Jeffrey Heine:I am trepidatious to stand before you today and speak on 6 verses of this letter. I can only imagine what it would have been like to be Phoebe. And she stands before the Romans, who are themselves quite complicated with infighting and disputes. And she presents this letter from the Apostle Paul, and she declares the good news of Jesus before the congregation. Coming to our passage today, she reads aloud from this letter of Paul, ultimately the word of the Lord.
Jeffrey Heine:Look with me. Romans chapter 5 verse 6, and let us listen carefully for this is the word of God. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person. Though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die.
Jeffrey Heine:But God shows his love for us. And that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, Much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life? More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Jeffrey Heine:This is the word of the Lord.
Connor Coskery:Thanks be to God.
Jeffrey Heine:Let's pray together. Oh, Lord, you know us better than we know ourselves, and yet you love us. Spirit, I ask that you would be near to us this morning, that you would confront us with the truth we need to be confronted with and that you would comfort us by the truth we need to be comforted by. So we ask that you would speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. We pray this in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen. As with much of Paul's letter to the Romans, verses 6 through 11 are packed with multiple simultaneous arguments and rhetorical techniques. It's very complex. But there is one thread that I would like for us to follow today, one thread that I believe can help illuminate and clarify the complexity of this passage. And from that clarity, I believe this passage holds deep truths that each one of us needs to hear this warning.
Jeffrey Heine:Now, that doesn't mean that you're going to hear something new. There's an odd pressure in preaching to try and be clever, to say something that hasn't been said before. But this pressure flies in the face of the very premise of the task of preaching, which is to declare the unchanging truth of God. Like Phoebe, I'm not tasked with coming up with a new message. This isn't a TED Talk.
Jeffrey Heine:My aim is not to impress or surprise you. Like Phoebe, I'm tasked with declaring and explaining the unchanging, authoritative truth of God. And like Phoebe, it's not my message. It's not my gospel. It is the gospel of God.
Jeffrey Heine:So for many, maybe most of you, I'm not going to say anything that you haven't heard before. I'm going to remind you of something that you already know. And I think that's still important because maybe you've forgotten. The great reformer, Martin Luther, was once asked by members of his congregation why he kept preaching the gospel every week. And he is said to have replied to them, because you keep forgetting.
Jeffrey Heine:Perhaps the busyness of your day to day demands and all of that, you've forgotten to remember. Maybe it's been a while since you've been encouraged to remember. So I'm going to remind you to remember. And then perhaps you'll be kind enough and ready enough to remind me when I forget to. The thread I want us to follow through these 6 verses is the thread of time.
Jeffrey Heine:Throughout this passage, Paul describes events and their outcomes at different points in time. The 3 repeated phrases are, we were, we have now, and we shall be. Take a quick look at the passage again. If you've got your worship guide, this would be a good time if you've got a pen around to underline these different sections. We were, we have now, and we shall be.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul's arguments in these 6 verses are based upon these repeated instances of time. He begins verse 6 by describing the first point in time. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. So the first point in time is while we were still weak. So what does he mean?
Jeffrey Heine:Paul is referring to both a weakness in trust and faith and a weakness in our righteousness. He's pinpointing a time when we did not follow God and when we did not trust him. That is the first point in time. The time when we were still unbelieving and ungodly. And then Paul says that it was at this precise time that Christ died for us.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul calls this time when Christ died for us, when we were weak and ungodly, he calls this the right time for Christ's sacrificial and atoning death. But how could that be the right time? It was the most improbable time, the most undeserving time, the most unreasonable time. How was that the right time? It was the right time because it was God's chosen time.
Jeffrey Heine:He chose the time wherein he alone could receive all the glory in our salvation. You see, our reconciliation with God, what Paul is talking about at length in this letter to the Romans, our reconciliation with God was at the initiation of God alone and at the expense of God alone. At the time when we were still weak, still ungodly, still in rebellion, that is the time God chose to reconcile us through the death of Christ. It was the right time because it would be forever evident that our rescue came from God alone, who was acting in the sovereign power of his own love for you. God was not coerced nor convinced by us that we should be redeemed.
Jeffrey Heine:We offered no promises, no potential to persuade him. But God, in his sovereign will set his love on you. And he did so precisely when you were against him. It was then that Christ died to reconcile you back to God. That is why it was the right time.
Jeffrey Heine:Look at verse 7. Paul goes on to say, for one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Paul describes a righteous person and a good person. And he says, you can barely find someone willing to die for a righteous person, a holy, upright person.
Jeffrey Heine:You might be able to find someone willing to die for a good moral person. But the right time of Christ's death demonstrates God's love for you because it happened when we were still sinners. History is full of martyrs and heroes who lay down their lives for friends or for country. But to lay down one's life for an enemy, that's just not the way the world works. What Paul is arguing is that what God has done in Christ is both uncommon and incredible.
Jeffrey Heine:We will see in verses 7 through 10, this perfect example of complexity of rhetoric that Paul employs throughout this letter to Romans. Remember, Paul wrote this letter to the Romans while living in the city of Corinth. And about 50 miles away from Corinth and 400 years before this letter was written, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle established the school, the Lyceum, where he taught, among other things, the art of rhetoric. And in our passage today, chapter 5 of the letter to the Romans, verses 6 through 11, the Apostle Paul employs numerous rhetorical principles that we find in the writings of Aristotle. I'll only highlight 2 of those principles.
Jeffrey Heine:But rest assured, they will both be on the final exam. So they're simple principles, but they will help us to understand what Paul is trying to communicate to the Roman Christians and through God's providence, what Paul is communicating to us today. The first principle is this, the principle of demonstration. Aristotle said this, once a thing is demonstrated, its truth becomes clear and indisputable. Once a thing has been demonstrated, its truth becomes clear and indisputable.
Jeffrey Heine:So when Paul writes in verse 8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, Paul is holding forth evidence of God's sovereign love. The evidence of God's love is the death of Christ at the right time. Listen carefully to that. The evidence of god's love is the death of Christ at the right time. Meaning not only the death of Christ evidences God's love, it's also the timing of Christ's death.
Jeffrey Heine:Christ's sacrifice while we were still sinners against God. Paul is arguing that the death of Jesus and the timing of his death both demonstrate God's love for us. And when this love is demonstrated, the truth of it becomes clear and indisputable. Hear this. You don't have to doubt God's love for you.
Jeffrey Heine:And I know that many of you do. I know that because I've sat with many of you in my office, and I've heard you confess sin and confess brokenness and share these things and say, there's no way that God could forgive me and love me the way you say he does. And I want to plead with you that you don't have to doubt the love God has for you. Not because good things happen to you, not because you stop doing bad things, not because you feel happy, not because you avoid suffering, not because of your circumstances at all, but because Christ died for you when you least deserved it. And in his death and resurrection, the love that God has for you was demonstrated, was made clear, and indisputable.
Jeffrey Heine:I don't often like to get into talking about the original Greek in my sermons, but we're already into Aristotle's principles of rhetoric. So if you're still with me, I feel like we might as well. And if I've lost you, I'm sure you found something equally edifying on your phone to entertain you. Look at verse 8. Look at the word that's translated in your Bible as shows.
Jeffrey Heine:It's in the present tense. It says shows, not showed. It's talking about something that happened a long time ago, 2000 years ago, in the death of Jesus, while you were still in rebellion against God. The sacrifice of Christ was at the right time, and it's still showing. It's still demonstrating right now, presently, God's love for you.
Jeffrey Heine:It's an ongoing display. He didn't just show it to you once. It's not showed, it shows. He's showing you now that he loves you. He's demonstrating his love for you.
Jeffrey Heine:So the question is, do you see it? If God is still showing you his love through Christ's sacrifice, are you still seeing it? How do we behold such a thing? What do we do to see what God is showing us Well, we see what we pay attention to. And if we busy ourselves enough and distract ourselves enough, then we won't see what God is showing us.
Jeffrey Heine:And it might even start to feel like he's not showing us anything. And we might start to find it harder to trust, harder to feel his love, harder to believe that this love could be true and for me. But Paul is saying, look. Look and see the love that God is still showing you. He's still demonstrating his love for you through Christ and his cross.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul continues to verse 9. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. We have now. Paul moves to this present tense. We have now been justified by Jesus's blood.
Jeffrey Heine:And because we have now been justified even further, looking to the future, shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God? Here's the second and the last of Aristotle's principles of rhetoric that we'll look at. This is commonly known as the principle of the lesser and the more. The lesser and the more. Simply put, if the first statement, the more improbable statement, is true, then the related, lesser statement is likely true as well.
Jeffrey Heine:Here's an example. It's not perfect, but I think it'll do the trick. If the first statement is, I bought a boat, and the second statement is, I bought life jackets for the boat. And the first one's true, demonstrated, clear, indisputable. It's true.
Jeffrey Heine:I bought a boat. And the second related thing of a lesser degree is likely true. So here's how it plays out. If the improbable statement that right now, you have been justified by the blood of Jesus, And this happened when you were a sinner in rebellion against god. If that improbable thing is true, then your continued salvation, being saved from the judgment of God in the future, that must be true too.
Jeffrey Heine:Because if Jesus did the improbable act of dying for us when we least deserved it, then our continued rescue in the future must be true. Because right now, God is demonstrating his love for you in the sacrifice of Jesus. And since Jesus has already paid the price to ransom you back to God, then you can have confidence that Christ will see you through forever, even though what is to come is the righteous wrath of God and his just judgment. How can we be confident in the face of that? Because you've been justified by the blood of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:Christ will keep you no matter what. That is the hope that Paul is talking about. Look at verse 10. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life? More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul uses these times of the past, the time of the present, to make a point about our hope for the future. He does this by saying, if at the very time we were enemies with God, if at that time Christ reconciled us to the father through his death, and if we are now, at this very moment, reconciled to God, then we can have confidence that Christ's life shall save us forever. That is how we can have hope now. And the reality of this hope it leads us to rejoicing. Paul says even more.
Jeffrey Heine:Since all of this is true, now we rejoice. He actually uses the language that he used earlier. We boast in God. We boast in God through Jesus because through Jesus, we have now, here today, received reconciliation to God. Our reconciliation today gives us hope for tomorrow.
Jeffrey Heine:So what is the purpose of this argument here, 6 through 11? It's to bring clarity to what Paul said back in verse 5. Hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit who has been given to us. We rejoice in hope. Hope that will not put us to shame.
Jeffrey Heine:Hope of the glory of God. And we can be confident in this hope because God has demonstrated and is still demonstrating today his love for us through the work of Jesus. God's love has been poured into your heart through the holy spirit who has been given to you. But why does that matter so much? What is so special about this love?
Jeffrey Heine:It's beyond everything we've ever known. This love came to you when you were an enemy, ungodly and in complete rebellion. This love reached across time, reason, hatred, sin, and death. And this love rescued you, redeemed you, restored you, ransomed you, reconciled you. And it is this love that will resurrect you.
Jeffrey Heine:This love of God that is powerful enough to do all of these things has been poured into your heart by the holy spirit. And that love demonstrates itself. It shows up in your life as hope, hope of the glory of God. I know that these times can seem so dark. I know that the waves of the cultural chaos crash onto the shores of our lives every day.
Jeffrey Heine:The effects of this pandemic will carry on for generations. But in the face of all of these present pains, do you still hope? And I don't mean mustering up hope. I don't mean hope as a virtue, like a strong character. I'm not asking if you're a cheerful person or you have a hopeful personality.
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, do you see the love that God is showing you right now today in the person and work of Jesus Christ and from the grip of his love on you, do you hold fast to the hope of his glory? When you put your attention on Christ and his cross, do you see the love that reaches across time and sin and death? Do you see the love that has rescued you, reconciled you, ransomed you, restored you, and that will one day resurrect you. Because that love and only that love is the ground for us in a weary world to hope. In a sermon that was preached in the 4th century, the early church father, John Chrysostom, reflected on Paul's words here in Romans chapter 5.
Jeffrey Heine:And he wrote this, quote, There is no one who will save us except the one who loved us so much that while we were yet sinners, he died for us. Do you see what ground this gives us to hope? For before this, there were two difficulties in the way of being saved. First, we were sinners. And second, our salvation requires the Lord's death, something that was too incredible before it happened and required enormous love for it to happen at all.
Jeffrey Heine:But now, now that it has happened, the rest becomes much easier, End quote. The incredible and improbable has happened. Do you see what ground this gives us to hope? I imagine Phoebe reading this passage and these Roman Christians hearing these words for the first time. And what is shocking is not that they are being called sinners.
Jeffrey Heine:What's surprising is not that they're being told that they were enemies against God. What is shocking is that those things did not stop the love of God from rescuing you from his enemy and calling you his child. God and his sovereign will set his love on you precisely when you were faithless, when you were his enemy, when you were set against him. Christ died to ransom you back to God. And this love will never let you go.
Jeffrey Heine:Not now, not ever. This love demonstrates today and forever that he has made you his own, and you are free to hope, to hope in the glory of God, father, son, and holy spirit. Let's pray. Spirit, would you help us to draw near That through Christ, we might believe the love of the father. Lord, many of us do not need reminders of how unlovable we can be, but we do need to be reminded how loved we are.
Jeffrey Heine:So Lord, would you help us to believe the unbelievable That Christ has made a way for us and that we can come to you as your redeemed children now and always. Help us to put our trust, the full weight of our trust. That was to put it on Christ alone. That we might love him and obey him all the days of our life. We pray this in the name of Christ our king.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen.
