And again, brethren, turning your Bibles, we're working our way through the book of Romans. And while this is a Lord's Supper meditation as well, we can use almost any text to take us to the cross. Romans chapter 15. And let me just pick up one verse here, Romans 15 verse 13. This is a prayer benediction. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Let's again go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we again thank you that you are the God who answers prayer. We again thank you that you have promised and given us so many wonderful promises that when we ask, we shall receive. When we knock, the door shall be open. Again, we pray that you would own the preaching here today, even again this coming Friday at the wedding. May it be a wonderful day. and will be a day when people remember that wonderful gift of marriage. But again, we plead, Lord, you would draw near to us by your spirits and work in our hearts. May we not leave, Lord, the way we've come in, but way we even become more like your son. And may all of those graces that you put into our hearts even be further maturing and growing. Come by your spirit, we ask in your son's name, amen. Those of you who were here last Sunday night or live streaming, Pastor Calvin Walden preached on the subject of the cost of discipleship from Luke chapter 14. And I don't think if anyone heard that sermon might have come away feeling, wow, wonderful, it was rather hard hitting. His main focus was the cost in following Jesus. It applies even to the nearest and the dearest of human relationships. Luke 24, 26, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, and brothers and sisters, yea, even his own life cannot be my disciple. Jesus must have supreme loyalty. You can't have two masters. No divided loyalty. And he goes on in that same chapter to talk about the cross, verse 27, and then to talk about material possessions. We must also be prepared to renounce everything for the sake of Christ, verse 33. So as far as the cost or the pain factor, Jesus also, you might recall in the Sermon on the Mount, tells us that we must be willing to cut off right hands, pluck out right eyes if we are determined to be true disciples of Jesus. So it's very plain, very simple as to what Christian discipleship requires or demands. It will cost you. Relationally, emotionally, financially, and of course, personally. But hearing all of that, all of that, you might ask the question, why would anybody want to be a Christian? Is Jesus really worth it? And Jesus knew, didn't he, that his message in large measure would not be popular. Remember on one occasion when he set down the terms of discipleship, many walked away. They wanted what we call today an easy Christianity, not the splinters of the cross. But now in saying all of that, we do have to be careful. Because if you go back to Luke chapter 14, which was read earlier by Pastor Mark, you can see that there are two sides to the Christian life. Yes, there's a hard side, the difficult self-denial, and that certainly needs to be preached in our day probably more than it ever has. There's a cross-bearing dimension to true discipleship. But notice there, Jesus also talks about another or uses another image to help us understand the Christian life. It's the bright side of blessing. It's the image of a great banquet. Verse 15, he says, when one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. And then Jesus gives this beautiful graphic of a banquet. Verse 16, but he said to him, a man once gave a great banquet and invited many. Now, many don't come because they don't want to pay the cost, but those who do will certainly enjoy the banquet. Have you ever thought of Christianity in those terms? A great banquet? And it's probably thinking of a wedding banquet. And back in those days, those wedding banquets were huge. Huge celebrations, eating, drinking, and even dancing. Yes, the Christian life does involve suffering. We cannot deny that. That would be a gross distortion of preaching true discipleship. But we also have to be careful that we don't give a wrong impression or an incomplete picture and not appreciate the blessings, the privileges, or what we could call the indescribable joys and exquisite pleasures and delights that belong to true discipleship. And there's a thousand places that we could go in our Bible. to see the glorious side or the bright side of the Christian life. If you look back into Romans 14, Romans 14 verse 17, you have a, you could call a mini banquet table right here. Romans 14 verse 17, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And then look again at Romans 15 verse 13 serves as another, we could say, mini banquet table. And here are three wonderful grace items or spiritual gifts on the table that remind us of how blessed we are. Every true disciple, we could put it this way in terms of three points, Every true disciple eats and enjoys the banquet food of hope. Secondly, every true disciple or child of God eats and enjoys the banquet food of joy. And then thirdly, look at the text, every true disciple eats and enjoys the banquet food of peace. So that's where we want to go this morning. Number one, every true child of God enjoys or eats the banquet food of hope. The first banquet word here the apostle uses to capture the wonderful blessing, privilege, and grace that characterizes the Christian life is that word hope. It shapes how a Christian thinks. It shapes how a Christian lives. It shapes how a Christian serves. It shapes how a Christian witnesses. And that hope word is used 17 times in the Book of Romans itself. If you turn back to chapter 8 of Romans, it's used five times in a couple of verses here. Look back at Romans 8, verse 24 and 25. Notice what he says. He picks up this hope word five times. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, but who hopes for what he sees, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Great emphasis on hope. And going back to verse 13 of Romans 15, he identifies God as the God of hope. That tells us that hope is a supernatural grace. It comes ultimately from God. He's the source of all of our hope. We are not born with this kind of hope. It's not something we natively possess. It's a supernatural hope. It's a grace of hope. The second thing we know, if you go back to Romans 8, is that hope is a future-looking grace. That's not always what it does. It doesn't always look to the future, but it does seem to have that strong emphasis more than anything else. It looks towards the future. Romans 8, if we hope for what we do not see, we wait, we wait for it with patience. And there are many things that we enjoy right now as Christians because of faith in Christ. By faith we have been justified, our sins have been forgiven, we walk by faith, we fight this fight by faith. Faith is what you might call a boots on the ground kind of grace. Everyday grace. It helps us to fight in the trenches. Remember what we are told in Hebrews 11, that great chapter on faith. We see all of those wonderful faith exploits and accomplishments. By faith, by faith, by faith. The Christian lives by faith. But hope is a grace that is focused, not always, but almost, almost always on the future. Hope functions like a telescope. You children know what a telescope looks like? You can stand out on a nice night and look up at the sky and you can see stars, see a moon. But there's things you can't see unless you have a telescope. A telescope will let you see Venus and Jupiter and Mars and Saturn. And hope sees. Hope anticipates the future, the future resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15. It anticipates the new heavens and the new earth, Revelation 21. And the great centerpiece, this is the great centerpiece of biblical hope and expectation. You could say it's the big centerpiece of biblical eschatology, and it's the return of Jesus. Titus 2, verse 13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. There's a complex of events that will transpire when Jesus returns. To change the analogy, think of a big bicycle wheel, and right in the center or the hub of that wheel, you could call it eschatological wheel, at the very hub is the return of Jesus. And all those other events that will transpire will take place when Jesus comes back again. The resurrection of the body, the parousia, the final judgment, glorification, being brought into that eternal home of heaven. They are the spokes of the hub. But the hub is Jesus' return. And if Jesus doesn't come back, those things don't happen. Only when he comes back, that's when there's a kind of chain reaction. The apostles talk about the coming of Christ. It's found throughout the New Testament. They use three different Greek words. It's the word apocalypse, the revelation, 1 Peter 1.13, or the appearance, the epiphany, 1 Timothy 6.4, or the coming, the parousia, Matthew 24, verse 17. It's like a big drumbeat saying, get ready, get ready, he's coming back. This hope is supernatural. This hope is future-oriented. And the third thing I would say, just for clarification, this hope is guaranteed. This is a sure hope. It's not what you could call a doubting hope or a questioning hope. It's not like the kite in the wind or the unpredictable, uncertain kind of hopes that most people have. It's not the kind of hope that millions of people have when they buy a lottery ticket. They are hoping they will win. Their fingers are crossed, but there's no guarantee they will win. And if you were to ask most people who you know, most people you talk to in everyday life, what are you hoping for? Most would say, well, I'm hoping I'm going to make retirement. I'm hoping my health will stay good until I'm at least 85. I'm hoping I'm going to promote and get a better career. I'm hoping that my physical appearance will last until I'm at least 70. I hope for this for my family, for my children. I hope I'll get married. I hope in the government. whereas the Christian hope is more like an anchor, not like a kite in the wind. In fact, you even have that language in Hebrews 6, verse 19. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, is found in Christ and what he did for us by way of his blood atonement. That's the foundation for all of our hope. It rests upon that reality. Jesus' atoning work on our behalf anchors the Christian soul as far as the future. And that's why he is, that's why what Paul says in Colossians 1, Christ in you, the hope of glory. And every Christian should be making good use of their telescopes. When's the last time you thought about Jesus coming back again? You been using your telescopes? Waiting eagerly, waiting for his appearance, his parousia, his epiphany, hoping for that resurrection day and that final act of glorification where you not only have a brand new body, a perfect body, but are joined to a sinless soul. You can better understand, can't you, why the world is the world in terms of its constant state of anxiety and fear when it thinks of the future, at least the near future, whenever they hear the unsettling news report, the latest current affair. There's something that seems to almost grip them in terms of fretting, nail-biting, frustration, even anger that this world is not working out or things are not going according to my plans and my me-centered hopes. But the Christian has an anchor. He has a different hope not tossed to and fro by the wind. Peter even says, the world, when it sees you, the Christian, will ask you for the reason of the hope within. 1 Peter 3, be prepared to make a defense. to anyone who asks you for the reason of the hope that is in you, but do it with gentleness and respect. Yes, a hope-filled life should give us opportunities to share the gospel. We're not going to them, not that we shouldn't go to them, but they're coming to us. Your life has got their attention. And they want to know more. And so they ask you, what's the hope? What are you hoping for? You have something I don't have. And you can tell them, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I'm hoping for heaven. And I'm hoping for a new body. And I'm hoping to see Jesus face to face. Every true child of God eats and enjoys the banquet food of hope. Secondly, notice here in our text again, every true child of God eats and enjoys the banquet food of joy. As I said, verse 13 of Romans 15 is a prayer benediction. This is a prayer for God's people, the apostle is thinking of the church, he's praying for that church in Rome, and he wants them to be the best of the best by the grace of God. He wants them to be hope-filled Christians. He wants them also to be joy-filled Christians. Now again, we can't escape sorrow and pain. That's part of true discipleship. It assumes that we will suffer But that doesn't mean we live engulfed, I've chosen my words carefully, engulfed in sorrow and suffering, where it consumes our thinking, our talking, and steals away our joy. Don't be defined by your suffering. Be defined by Christ. and all you have in Christ. We are more than conquerors, and a triumphant joy should mark our lives. You can sense that when you read that epistle, sometimes called the epistle of joy. Philippians. Just read it. That joy word pops up from beginning to end. Don't remember what Paul's doing when he writes that letter. He's not on an exotic cruise. He's sitting in a jail cell. He's sitting in a jail cell. And what is controlling his thoughts and his words? It's not his sorrow. It's not his isolation. Rather, it's the joy that he has in Christ. And that's why he tells the Philippians, I want you to rejoice always. Someone has called that the impossible commandment. Well, you can't keep it without grace. That's for sure. But in Christ, all things are possible, aren't they? No, we never want to minimize, we never want to dismiss some sorrow and suffering that would be almost cruel, yet that should not be the dominant note in our Christian experience. We are never told in the Bible to sorrow always or to grieve always. We are told to rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice, Philippians 4 verse 4. And the key qualifier here is in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. It doesn't say rejoice in your circumstances, but if you are in the Lord, you can also rejoice in your circumstances. You can always rejoice that you have forgiveness of sin. You can always rejoice you have peace with God. You can always rejoice that you have the Holy Spirit living within you. You can always rejoice you are a son of God. You can always rejoice you have a Heavenly Father. You can always rejoice you have a Bible that tells you about Jesus. You can always rejoice that Christ is your friend, your prophet, priest, and king, your shepherd, your brother. You can always rejoice in your weakness that his grace is sufficient. You can always rejoice, in light of Romans 8.28, with respect to the all things. Because God is working on all things for your good. And the good isn't that you have a more comfortable life. It's that you become more conformed to Christ. That's the good. And God often uses the trials of life like a hammer and a chisel to shape us and mold us and conform us. into the likeness of Jesus. You can rejoice and sing amazing grace every day of your life, any second of any day. I know it's easier said than done. The default of the human heart is in gratitude. murmuring, complaining, and griping. Right? Isn't that where you automatically almost go every time something bad happens? I don't like it. I'm going to complain. It's hard to maintain a God-centered, Christ-centered joy. One of the books by Dr. Piper, he's written about 50 of them. very many of them, maybe three or four of them, but one is titled The Fight for Joy. You gotta fight for it. But it comes back to knowing God, knowing Christ, who should be your greatest joy. In your presence there is fullness of joy, says the psalmist, be glad in the Lord, yes, in the midst of all of your suffering, no matter how difficult, and it can be very difficult, no matter how painful, it can be very painful, no matter how hard life gets, you can rejoice. There's an old proverbial saying, way back when, I don't know who wrote it, the nightingale sings best with a knife at its throat. That's when you should sing the best, Christian, when you're suffering. That shows the world how different of a joy you really have. If you can only rejoice in the good times, you're just like the world. But if you can rejoice in all things at all times, that's supernatural grace. We are to be hopeful Christians, joyful Christians, but there's one more food item on the banquet table of Romans 14 or 15, 13. Every true child eats joys, the banquet food of hope. Every true child eats and enjoys the banquet food of joy. Thirdly, every true child of God eats and enjoys the banquet food of peace. Yes, Christians should be the most hopeful, they should be the most joyful people on planet Earth. And there's many reasons for that, but one of the biggest reasons for being hopeful, joyful, is because of another blessing or privilege, because you are in Christ. Look at the text again. May the God of hope fill you with all joy, and peace in believing. Here's another great biblical gospel word, the word peace. Again, the book of Romans arguably is written for this very reason, for Christians who have been saved to be the most hopeful, joyful people who enjoy peace. That's the fundamental blessing of the gospel. Those who are justified by faith have peace. Romans 5 verse 1. That is a great, wonderful gospel blessing that flows out from our justification. What most people don't realize, however, is that you won't have peace, the peace that he's talking about here, unless you first have that peace. You have to have peace with God. And we are born not at peace with God, we are born in a state of enmity and hostility. By nature, we hate God. Romans 8, 7, you want a biblical text to prove it? The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. But here's the good news of the gospel. When God changes the heart and brings that God-hating sinner into a right relationship through Jesus Christ, we have peace. There is a peace because of the Prince of Peace. But there's more to peace in the Bible than just the peace with God. There's also the peace of God. And I believe that's what's in focus here in Romans 15. Peace, you'll note here, is connected to an ongoing faith. May God fill you with joy and peace in believing. And the more you grow in faith in Christ, the greater peace you will have. and the more of God's peace you have in your heart, the greater you will strive to be at peace or to be a peacemaker. Remember, that's the context of Romans 14 and 15. He wants these Christians to be at peace with one another, but they have to start with their own hearts. They have to have the peace of God. If there's anything that this world so desperately wants, and seems to crave more than anything else, it's peace. It's sort of like gold at the end of the rainbow. They chase after it like crazy, but they never get it, do they? They hail it one day and it's gone the next day. The world's peace is like the world's hope, temporary. I think it was John MacArthur who said, in terms of the number of wars that have plagued this world. Peace is simply a time to reload. And the world will never, never experience true peace until they make peace with God. But go back to where we began. Remember the question I started out with, is Jesus worth it? Romans 15 verse 13 answers the question with a triplet of graces. Three blood-bought graces, graces purchased at Calvary. Jesus went to the cross so you could be a hopeful, joyful, peaceful man, woman, boy, or girl. Is Christ worth it? And remember this, Christian, every grace freely given must be practically cultivated. It just doesn't lie there in a doormat stage, doormat stage, a doormat stage. I always look at my wife when I get mispronounced and I eat something. Anyways. You have to cultivate like you cultivate fruits. And graces can wither. They can wither. You can lose your first love. The love of many will grow cold. And that's why Paul talks here about the Holy Spirit. He wants us to know we have to cry to God. We are dependent upon the Holy Spirit to give us grace, to strengthen those graces, to mature those graces. Maybe give them kind of a refreshment, a new vigor, a new liveliness, a new eagerness. to keep us from falling, from shriveling, to keep us growing, loving, joyfully, hopefully, thankfully, and with a peace that passes all understanding. Jesus is worth it. And for some strange reason, he thought we were worth it. And he died on a cross. He died on a cross. That's the marvel of the gospel. When we were yet his enemies, he died to make us friends. If you're growing as a Christian, Jesus should be becoming more precious, more of a delight, and more of a treasure. You should realize more and more how precious he is. In Philippians chapter three, the apostle compares knowing Christ and fellowshipping in terms of his death and resurrection. He sets that over and against all of those privileges and accomplishments he had in his unconverted state as a Pharisee. And he says, by comparison, in terms of knowing Jesus and growing in my relationship with Jesus, all of that is like dung, animal, cow manure. And hopefully, brethren, you're finding this to be true. The more you grow, the more you grow, to know Jesus, the less this world has its magnetic and attractional power. And Christ becomes more and more captivating. He's the magnet that should be drawing you to him more and more and more so you get excited when you realize he's coming back again. And you should even be praying more. Come, Jesus. Come quickly. I can't wait to see you face to face. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we again cry to you as the God who hears, the God who answers. Help us, Lord, to be more like your Son. Help us to grow in terms of joy. Help us to grow, Lord, in terms of peace. Help us, Lord, to be more hopeful, more joyful, more thankful. Help us to put your gospel on display. But now, Lord, help us as we come to this table of remembrance again to focus our attention upon you and to remember what you did for us on Calvary. And we ask this in your Son's name. Amen.