Hope

We are familiar with the slogan, "No pain, no gain." That is true. But the reverse is true too. If you can't be sure there is going to be gain, you won't endure the pain of obedience to Christ. That is where the Word of God becomes absolutely essential; because your own feelings and all the wisdom of the world is going to tell you again and again, it isn't worth it—

· being a pastor isn't worth it;
· being a wife and mother isn't worth it;
· being honest at work isn't worth it;
· spending evenings at the mission isn't worth it;
· working in the nursery isn't worth it;
· teaching this class of boys isn't worth it;
· staying sober isn't worth it.

That's what your feelings will often say, and that is what the world will often say. But it is NOT what the Scriptures say. The Scriptures say:

Deuteronomy 6:24
The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always.

Deuteronomy 10:12–13
And now, Israel, what does the LORD require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I command you this day for your good?

Jeremiah 32:39–41
I will make with them an everlasting covenant and I will not turn away from doing them good . . . I will rejoice in doing them good with all my heart and with all my soul.

Mark 10:29–30
No one has ever left house or brother or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time . . . with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

Obedience is always worth it!

Copied from, "How Can I Keep on Hoping? The Scriptures!" - by John Piper. Click here to listen or read this sermon in its entirety.