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Romans 8:18-25 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Take out your copy of God's Word, which I hope you have with you today, and turn to the book of Romans, chapter 8.
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I'll tell you it's a blessing to be here with you today.
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My wife is not, and she wanted me to share her grief with you that she couldn't be here.
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Our oldest son is sick once again as our house continues to be plagued with illness, and so I ask for your continued prayers for them and for her.
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She really, really misses the church.
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I'm thankful I can be here kind of to stand in her place and represent the family and to preach to you this morning.
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Let's open together in a word of prayer, and we'll dive in together.
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Father God, it is a blessing this morning to meet with your church, your church that was purchased by the life, the work, the death, the resurrection.
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The ascension of Jesus Christ.
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And thank you, Father, for these people who have the Spirit of God abiding in them.
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We might come together and join as one to sing praises to your name, to study your inspired scripture.
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And truly, God, we need you in this hour.
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Father, the understanding of your word is as much of a miracle as the inspiration of it.
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And Father, we cry to you this morning that we might see clearly the truths you would have for us this day,
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that you would speak individually into our lives, that we might know you more and exalt you more as a result.
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Amen.
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We pray this in the precious name of Christ.
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Amen.
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And we have come in our study together of the book of Romans to chapter 8,
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which is the great climactic chapter of the book of Romans.
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It doesn't mean any of it's less important,
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but I believe that the most precious of the truths are found in chapter 8.
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And lest we forget where we've been,
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I kind of want to run through quickly the rest of the book for you
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to lay a foundation for us to build upon.
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In chapter 1, the first 17 verses,
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Paul gives his greeting and then his abbreviated,
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his simplistic presentation of the gospel to us there in verses 16 and 17.
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And then he begins beyond that to talk about humanity's great need of the gospel,
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that no one, Jew or Greek, is exempt from the curse that Adam and Eve bought for us in the original sin.
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And that there is nothing anyone can do on their own to gain salvation.
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We are all in a desperate state.
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We all need salvation.
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In the beginning in chapter 3, verse 21,
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he begins to greater develop the gospel of Jesus Christ for us,
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to have us see that Jesus Christ stood in the place of the church,
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bore the wrath of God that we had purchased for ourselves on our behalf.
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And that if we place our faith in Jesus Christ,
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in His person and in His work,
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that we'll be saved.
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And He develops that for us through the end of chapter 5, verse 21.
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That helps me.
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321 to 521 is His clear gospel presentation for us.
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And then chapters 6 and 7,
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He gives to us the negative benefits of the gospel.
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Now, by that I don't mean the bad benefits, of course,
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but the negative voice benefits of the gospel.
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The things that no longer exist because of the gospel.
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That we are now no longer slaves of sin.
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We're not held captive to the power of sin anymore.
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That we have, the body of sin has been brought to nothing.
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That believers have died to the law.
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You hear the negative voice in that.
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In chapter 8, we come to the positive effects.
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And He teaches us about the ministry of the Spirit of God in our lives.
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The indwelling Spirit that we all have.
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Those things are, the ministries of the Spirit,
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are our sanctification and our security.
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Chapter 8, verse 2, He says,
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The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus
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from the law of sin and death.
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And the Spirit of God is about that work,
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continually moving us toward perfection in Christ.
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In chapter 8, verse 14, He says,
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All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
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So the Spirit is a seal for those who have placed their faith in Christ.
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That we are secure, that we are held securely in the hands of Christ.
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And that we will, in fact, finish this process of sanctification.
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So those are the two ministries of the Spirit of God.
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But in verse 17, He introduces a new concept for the book of Romans.
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And that's the concept of suffering.
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So, in verse 17, He says,
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And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
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provided we suffer with Him,
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in order that we also may be glorified with Him.
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And Paul was certainly a man who was familiar with suffering.
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Turn quickly.
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I want you to put your little ribbon or your finger here.
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Turn quickly with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
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I want you to see that this is not a concept foreign to Paul
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that he's going to write about.
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2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 25.
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Paul writes,
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Paul knew what it was to suffer.
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Any careful reader of Scripture,
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as I'm sure all of you are astute Bible scholars,
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also know that it's not a foreign concept to the pages of Scripture.
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Jesus talked about suffering in Luke 9, 23.
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He said,
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If anyone would come after me,
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let him deny himself,
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take up his cross,
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which is a place people died daily,
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and follow me.
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Paul again wrote of suffering in 2 Timothy 3, 12.
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He said,
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Indeed,
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all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus
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will be persecuted.
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The author of Hebrews said it,
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in Hebrews chapter 12,
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verses 6 and 7.
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For the Lord disciplines the one He loves
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and chastises every son whom He receives.
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It is for discipline that you have to endure.
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God is treating you as sons.
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For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
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Peter talked about it in 1 Peter 4, 13.
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But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings,
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that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.
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So, what is meant of suffering?
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What type of suffering are we talking about?
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And I believe there's a great spectrum of suffering for the Christian.
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It certainly includes persecution,
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physical,
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imprisonment,
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martyrdom.
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It includes those things without a doubt.
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Suffering for the sake of Christ does.
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But I think it also includes other things.
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I think anything that we experience on the path to righteousness,
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in the process of sanctification,
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in this world that is unpleasant for us as believers,
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is suffering.
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I have a head cold today.
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My head cold is a result of the curse of sin in this world.
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If I sound nasally to you,
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my head feels worse than I sound now, I'm sure.
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That is suffering.
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Young people feeling strange on a college campus,
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where everyone parties and does what they want,
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they seek their perceived greatest joy and momentary pleasure,
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and you feel odd and out of place,
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is suffering.
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You may get made fun of for being a goody two-shoes,
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or a holier-than-thou.
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Certainly qualifies as suffering.
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So all of us, in some way,
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if we are in Christ,
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experience this discomfort in this world.
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We long for something greater.
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So this morning is not just for those of you
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who are going overseas,
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where you may possibly experience persecution.
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It's for all of us this morning.
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Let's read together verses 18-25,
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which is our text for today.
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Paul continues his discourse,
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verse 18,
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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time
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are not worth comparing with the glory
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that is to be revealed to us.
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For the creation waits with eager longing
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for the revealing of the sons of God.
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For the creation was subjected to futility,
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not willingly,
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but because of Him who subjected it,
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in hope that the creation itself
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will be set free from its bondage to corruption
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and attain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
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For we know that the whole creation
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has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth
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until now.
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And not only the creation,
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but we ourselves,
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who are the first fruits of the Spirit,
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grown inwardly as we wait eagerly
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for adoption as sons,
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the redemption of our bodies.
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For in this hope we were saved.
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Now hope that is seen is not hope,
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for who hopes for what he sees?
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But if we hope for what we do not see,
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we wait for it with patience.
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So not only does he give to us
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this new concept in Romans of suffering,
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but at the same time,
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he begins to speak to us about future glory.
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So he talks to us about a hope
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that transcends suffering,
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a hope that comes in above suffering,
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a hope that is greater than suffering,
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that puts suffering in its proper place.
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And that hope is hope in future glory.
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Look at it in the text.
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Verse 18, he speaks of the glory
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that is to be revealed to us.
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Verse 19, he speaks of the revealing
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of the sons of God.
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And verse 21,
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the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
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Verse 23, we wait eagerly for adoption of sons,
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the redemption of our bodies.
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And in verse 25, we're waiting for it,
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the glory that is to be revealed to us with patience.
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The glory that is coming
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puts in proper place the suffering we experience now.
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So what is meant by that,
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this glory that is to be revealed to us?
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He speaks of the redemption of our bodies,
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it is the shedding of all the weight of sin in this world.
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It is restoring us to our Adamic nature,
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putting us back in the place we were created to be.
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As Adam and Eve were created,
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had perfect union with God,
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lived in an environment that was totally unspoiled
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by the curse of sin,
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that is the place we're advancing back to
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as believers in Christ.
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It's an exalted state.
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Daniel 12, 3 speaks of it.
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And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above.
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And those who turn many to righteousness,
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like the stars, forever and ever.
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Matthew 13, 43,
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Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.
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He who has ears, let him hear.
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We are working our way back to perfection.
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That's what it means to be glorified.
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If you have ever felt the weight of sin in your life,
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and I pray that you have,
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you will revel in this truth
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that one day,
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no longer will you have to battle with sin.
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You will be perfect and complete in Christ.
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That is the hope that transcends suffering.
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But he elaborates a little bit to help us understand this.
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And he speaks of the creation,
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beginning in verse 19,
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What does he mean by the creation?
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I think it's important that we understand that properly
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and get what he's talking about.
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Certainly all things besides God are created.
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I don't believe he's speaking of all things.
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I don't think he's talking about angels or demons,
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because we see that the creation was subjected in hope.
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And angels and demons don't need hope.
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Well, I shouldn't say it that way.
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Angels don't need hope.
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They are already perfect and holy and abide with God.
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Demons need hope.
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They're just never going to get it.
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Their eternal state, both angels and demons,
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has already been fixed.
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So I don't think he's talking about angels or demons.
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Is he talking about the lost, the unbeliever?
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I would say to you, no.
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Because he says that the creation was subjected to futility.
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Not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.
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That's verse 20.
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The lost willingly subject themselves to futility.
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The lost willingly feed their flesh and sin against God.
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So he's not speaking about those who are unbelievers, the lost.
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He's speaking about those who are saved then?
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No.
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Because later he actually compares us to the creation, doesn't he?
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Verse 23,
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And not only the creation,
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but we ourselves, writing this book to Christians,
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have the first fruits of the Spirit.
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So he's not speaking about Christians.
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He's speaking of all things visible, inanimate and animate.
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He's personifying nature for us when he speaks of the creation.
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It's nature personified.
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They have been subjected.
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By whom?
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Let's look at the text there.
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For the creation was subjected to futility.
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Futility.
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The word futility here means devoid of appropriateness.
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Frail, wanting in vigor.
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The creation is not as it was intended to be.
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And it was subjected by God.
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It was part of the curse.
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Genesis chapter 3.
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The nature itself was cursed.
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Sin ushered in death, not just for humanity, but for nature itself.
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Look at spring.
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It's kind of a reminder of this as you go throughout your year.
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Every year, we're currently in spring.
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Nature puts on this great show, this big effort to live, to grow high,
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to compete for resources.
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You have the clearing in the forest with the pine trees.
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They pop up first trying to grab some of that sunlight before they get shaded out.
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But every year, summer comes, fall comes, the leaves wither, things go back into dormancy, things die.
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It has been subjected.
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It does not have the vigor that it was meant to have.
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And it's because of our sin.
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Isaiah 24, 4-7 reads,
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The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh.
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So because of sin, the earth itself groans.
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You see the language there?
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Groans in expectation of the coming glory.
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I read to you a number of weeks ago an excerpt a little bit longer than I'm going to read to you today
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from the great sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards.
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Part of that sermon was based off of this section of Scripture that we're reading today.
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So I just want to read this to you again.
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And the point he's making, just so you don't get all lost in his language,
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is that the earth doesn't willingly even bear us,
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the ones who ushered the curse into the world.
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The earth would gladly get rid of us, quit serving us so that we might sin against God.
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So listen carefully to this.
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Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God,
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the earth would not bear you one moment,
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for you are a burden to it.
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The creation groans with you.
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The creation is made subject to the bondage of your corruption,
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not willingly.
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The sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan.
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The earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts,
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nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon.
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The earth does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals
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while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies.
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You catch all that?
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The earth doesn't even want us to breathe because we're enemies of God.
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God's creatures are good and were made for men to serve God with
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and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose
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and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end.
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And the world would spew you out were it not for the sovereign hand of him
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who had subjected it in hope.
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So we see this eager longing of nature, this groaning with him.
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And that's a recurring word that we see in the text here.
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We see it of nature.
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We see it of ourselves as Christians.
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And then in the coming weeks, verse 26, we'll see that the Spirit groans as well.
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And we'll get there next week, Lord willing.
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Groans within us.
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Isaiah 65, 17 says,
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For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,
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and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
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And that's what we groan for as we suffer here.
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Like the creation.
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There's a phrase I want you to see in verse 19.
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That phrase is,
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Waits with eager longing.
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The creation waits with eager longing.
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And it's a very similar Greek phrase to verse 25,
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speaking of Christians, that we wait for it with patience.
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And it means, literally, to watch from the head.
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So that's interesting.
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So you have to pull that out a little bit more,
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look at other places it's used in Greek literature,
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to see that it means to watch with neck outstretched.
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So the picture of it is a looking for something.
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Like as if you're on your tippy toes.
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To look out in expectation of the glory that's coming.
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That's the picture we're getting.
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The personification of nature is that nature groans
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because it's been subjected to futility.
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It's weak in vigor.
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And it's waiting expectantly
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for the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
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This earth is in a downward spiral.
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There are some who think,
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macro-revolutionists,
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that we're increasingly getting better.
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We're not.
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We're not.
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This earth one day will be destroyed
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and a new one will be created.
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Praise God.
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If you have any doubt of that,
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you have to cut your grass
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every single week right now.
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And if you don't weed your garden,
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the weeds will absolutely take over.
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Chaos reigns in the world we live in.
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Our house right now is being attacked by,
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I believe what are called sugar ants.
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They're everywhere.
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This morning as I was looking over my notes,
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I kept going.
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And on my desk,
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there's no food on my desk.
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What are they doing?
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Chaos reigns in this world
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and it's spiraling downward
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toward ultimate destruction.
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And so he uses some interesting language
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even as the nature goes through this groaning
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and he speaks of childbirth.
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Verse 22 he says,
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We know the whole creation has been groaning together
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in the pains of childbirth until now.
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Isn't that interesting language?
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I've never given birth to a child.
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I don't actually know what that feels like.
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I'm told that it's absolutely horrible.
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Sam, my wife,
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has three levels of pain I've learned
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over the past six years.
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If I hear her exclaim from the kitchen,
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and she's done something in the kitchen
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and she outwardly speaks of it,
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it's really not that serious.
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I've learned that.
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For the first couple of years,
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I would throw, drop,
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whatever I was doing
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and rush to the kitchen.
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I've learned that it's really not that big a deal.
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I still go check on her.
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She's usually burnt herself a little bit
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or minor cut.
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Not a huge deal.
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That's the first level of pain for my wife.
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If my wife jokes about pain,
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she's at another level.
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So I took Sam to Tallulah Gorge
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before we got married
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and we were down in the gorge
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and hiking around
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and she tried to hop across a rock
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and she slipped
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and she hit her tailbone.
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And she hopped up and laughed it off
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like, no big deal.
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That was really spazzy,
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but I'm good.
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And I was told that it turned her backside
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all kinds of colors.
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And she was in a lot of pain for weeks.
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So Sam has a second level of pain
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that's worse than the expressive,
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I'm in a lot of pain level
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where she jokes it off
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and laughs about it.
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When Sam went into labor
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with our first son,
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I learned that my wife
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has a third level of pain,
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which is silence.
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And when she says nothing,
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she is in a whole nother place.
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And I, knowing that,
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in my knowledge,
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her highest level of pain
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was a joking level.
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I tried to joke with her a lot
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and I was not funny at all
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to her.
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So I know that that has been
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a unique experience for her
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and a whole nother level of pain.
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So why does he talk about
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the earth groaning
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in the pains of childbirth?
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And it's because
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there's something glorious
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and wonderful to rejoice in
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at the end of that process.
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It's very difficult for a man.
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Ladies, I know that labor
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is the worst for you.
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It's very difficult for a man
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to stand by and watch
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his wife suffer in that way.
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It's so hard because you want
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to do something to help.
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And I mean, just like massaging
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feet and shoulders
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just doesn't quite do it.
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You want to take the pain away.
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But you go through that
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because you know
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at the end of that process,
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a baby will be born.
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You'll hold your son
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or your daughter in your hands
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and so it makes the pain worth it.
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How many crazy ladies
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do you know
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that go through this horrific
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experience of giving birth
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and like that day they go,
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I want another baby.
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My wife did it.
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And my thought was,
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are you kidding me?
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Have you lost your mind?
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I just watched.
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I was so horrible.
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But it was worth it in the end.
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Right?
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It was worth it in the end.
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And that's why creation
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is personified in this way
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because the suffering
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is worth the glory
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to be revealed.
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You know what Paul,
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all the suffering
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that Paul endured
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and he says to us
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in verse 18,
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I consider the sufferings
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of this present time
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are not even worth comparing.
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There's no point
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in even setting it
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on the scale together.
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It'd be pointless
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with the glory
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that is to be revealed.
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It's going to be
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that much better.
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It's worth enduring.
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2 Corinthians 5,
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4 and 5,
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he wrote,
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For while we are still
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in this tent,
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we groan,
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being burdened,
25:22
not that we would be unclothed,
25:23
but that we would be
25:24
further clothed
25:25
so that what is mortal
25:26
may be swallowed up
25:28
by life.
25:29
He who has prepared us
25:30
for this very thing
25:31
is God,
25:32
who has given us
25:33
the Spirit
25:34
as a guarantee.
25:36
And there's that ministry again
25:37
of the Spirit of Christ
25:39
dwelling within us,
25:41
giving us a deposit
25:42
on what is to come.
25:45
So we certainly
25:47
enjoy this life
25:50
because of God.
25:52
We certainly get
25:54
taste,
25:54
glimpses of heaven
25:56
because we've been
25:57
brought back
25:58
into union
25:58
with Him.
26:00
But it is still
26:01
just a glimpse
26:03
of what's to come.
26:05
It's good now.
26:06
If you've experienced
26:07
the goodness of God,
26:08
it's so good now.
26:10
It's going to be
26:11
so much better.
26:13
Infinitely better,
26:14
in fact.
26:16
And so,
26:16
we have a hope
26:17
and it's a hope
26:18
that we don't see.
26:20
We don't experience
26:22
it in full now.
26:23
It's not that we've
26:23
been to heaven
26:24
and come back
26:25
and said,
26:26
that was a cool place.
26:26
I'm looking forward
26:27
to getting back there.
26:28
We haven't actually
26:29
seen it in full experience,
26:31
but we know it's coming.
26:32
We get glimpses of it
26:33
and we long
26:34
for it.
26:36
He says that,
26:37
for in this hope
26:38
we were saved.
26:39
Now,
26:39
hope that is seen
26:40
is not hope
26:41
for who hopes
26:42
for what he sees.
26:43
If we had this already,
26:44
it wouldn't be hope
26:45
at all.
26:45
But if we hope
26:46
for what we do not see,
26:48
we wait for it
26:49
with patience.
26:52
And that then
26:54
is the hope
26:55
that transcends
26:56
our suffering.
26:58
That allows us
27:00
to bear up
27:02
underneath it.
27:04
There is nothing
27:05
in this world
27:06
that can touch
27:07
your joy
27:08
in Christ.
27:10
Because this,
27:11
it's so good.
27:14
You have been
27:14
bought.
27:15
You belong
27:16
to the Most High God.
27:18
And one day,
27:19
as we progress
27:20
through this life,
27:21
as we progress
27:21
in this process
27:22
of sanctification,
27:23
this perfecting,
27:25
one day,
27:25
we will be perfect,
27:27
glorified,
27:28
done
27:28
with this world,
27:30
living in everlasting
27:31
joy
27:32
with him.
27:34
Suffering
27:34
in this world
27:35
isn't even worth
27:35
comparing with that.
27:38
Let's bear up
27:39
together in it.
27:41
Let's look like this
27:42
as we suffer.
27:44
Waiting
27:45
for the coming glory.
27:47
I think most of us
27:47
look like this.
27:52
Waiting
27:53
for the coming glory.
27:54
Oh God.
27:55
And I believe
27:55
that's what the world
27:56
sees the church doing.
27:57
And as we do that,
27:59
we look to the same
28:00
comforts that the world
28:01
looks to.
28:01
And we have such
28:03
a great comfort,
28:04
a coming
28:05
joy
28:06
that's going
28:06
to be everlasting.
28:10
If you've been here
28:11
much at all,
28:12
you've heard this
28:12
John Newton quote,
28:14
but it's so perfect.
28:15
I have to read it
28:15
to you again.
28:17
He said,
28:18
suppose a man
28:18
was going to New York
28:20
to take possession
28:20
of a large estate
28:22
and his carriage
28:23
should break down
28:23
one mile
28:24
before he got
28:24
to the city,
28:25
which obliged him
28:26
to walk the rest
28:27
of the way
28:27
to the inheritance.
28:28
He's got a massive
28:29
inheritance waiting
28:30
for him
28:30
and he's almost there
28:31
and his carriage
28:33
breaks down
28:33
and he can't
28:34
get there
28:35
except for walking.
28:37
What a fool
28:38
we should think him
28:39
if we saw him
28:40
wringing his hands
28:41
and blubbering out
28:42
all the remaining mile.
28:44
My carriage is broken.
28:45
My carriage is broken.
28:47
He wouldn't care.
28:49
He wouldn't give a rip
28:49
about the carriage,
28:50
would he?
28:50
Because his inheritance
28:51
will buy him
28:52
as many carriages
28:53
as if he could ever have.
28:54
He'd gladly hop out of it,
28:56
leave it behind
28:56
in his mind,
28:57
and press on
28:59
to the goal.
29:02
What a great joy
29:04
we have in Christ now
29:06
and what a greater joy
29:08
we will have in him
29:10
one day.
29:11
So let us together
29:13
as a church
29:14
bear up under suffering
29:15
in light of the hope
29:17
of future glory.
29:19
Let's pray together.