Living By Spirt-Part 2

We want to return again to this
amazing chapter of Scripture, Romans chapter 8, where we have
really slowed our pace in order to more fully savor this incredible
portion of Scripture. I say slow to our pace because
we’re in the midst of what I call a flyover where we are just hitting
the mountain peaks. But when we come to Romans 8,
which I’ve already argued is one of the greatest chapters
in all of Scripture, or did I say the greatest? I think I said
the greatest. I’ll stand by that. It’s the greatest chapter in
all of Scripture in the midst of the greatest treatise. And
so we want to slow our pace a little bit and take it more fully. So this, in this longest section
of Paul’s letter, Paul is specifically discussing the assistance rendered
to believers by the Holy Spirit himself. The theme of the chapter
is divine assistance, and we’ve already considered divine assistance
rendered to us by the Savior, Christ Jesus, in the opening
11 verses, and then we’ll ultimately look to the divine assistance
given to believers by the Father himself in verses 28 through
30. But here, in verses 12 through
27, Paul focuses on divine assistance provided by the Holy Spirit. As we began last week, We are
not afraid to talk about the Holy Spirit. Our charismatic
friends do not own the Holy Spirit like some commodity, nor can
we allow ourselves to be bullied and to blush and retreat from
even speaking about the Holy Spirit for fear of not wanting
to wade into the sea of confusing misinformation about Him. We
want the scriptures to speak. And the Bible has plenty to say
about the Holy Spirit, much of it corrective about what many
hold to and promote about the third person of the Trinity.
As I mentioned last week, this section on the Holy Spirit, similar
to the entire chapter, breaks up into three sections. The chapter
gives assistance, as I said, to the divine assistance of all
three members of the Godhead. And this section on the Holy
Spirit presents three ways in which the Christian is sustained
by the Holy Spirit. We looked at the first of these
last week in verses 12 through 15, in which Paul spoke of the
Holy Spirit as imparting confidence to the believer in Christ. And
as the section on the Holy Spirit is the largest of the three sections
in Romans chapter 8, our passage this morning, verses 16 through
25, is the largest portion regarding the Holy Spirit. Here in these
verses, Paul tells of an affirmation that promises inheritance. One of the interesting things
that we will notice is that while this section provides affirmation, it’s like walking directly into
a headwind. There are many things that could
potentially distract the Christian from this affirmation There are
at least five of these. Listen for them. Let’s hear what
Paul has to say about this wonderful subject in Romans 8, beginning
in verse 16. Romans 8, beginning in verse
16. The Spirit himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, heirs
also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed
we suffer with him, in order that we may be glorified with
him. For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing
of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons
of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of
its own will, but because of him who subjected it in hope
that the creation itself will also be set free from its slavery
to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children
of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers
the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this,
but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for
our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have
been saved, but hope that it is seen is not hope. For why
does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what
we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” And
there we have it, Paul’s second main thought regarding God, the
Holy Spirit. And as you may have heard as
we read, there is a gale force wind blowing in the face of the
Christian, the suffering that we face in this life. And if
we paid attention only to the wind, we would soon lose focus
completely on the glorious news that Paul presents in those opening
verses 16 and 17. that we are God’s children and
therefore we stand to gain an inheritance in glory. The literary structure that Paul
employs here is one of his classic multiple explanation passages. Verse 18, elaborates on verse
17. Verse 19 elaborates on verse
18. Verse 20 and 21 provide reasoning
for verse 19 and so on. You get the point. All in all,
Paul insists that suffering, longing, futility, groaning,
even unfulfilled hope must not dampen the Christians’ anticipation
of heaven. The overall effect of these explanations
is that of really undergirding the thought of verse 16, that
we are children of God, heirs of God. Nothing can stand in
the way of that. Let’s begin with Paul’s foundational
statement there in verse 16 and 17. where he tells us that we are
heirs of glory. The Spirit himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs
also, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ. Not only does
the Holy Spirit impart confidence to us as Christian believers
in Christ, but he also gives spiritual affirmation of the
promise of heavenly glory. The way that Paul describes it
here is that by a mystical spiritual interface, the Spirit of God
connecting and impacting with our own human spirits, He communicates
to us an assurance of our standing with God, that we are His children. Even the phrase, children of
God, harkens back to the previous verse, verse 15, which told us
that we have been adopted into God’s family, establishing the
warmest kind of relationship. But here in verse 16, Paul says
that the believer enjoys a constant reminder of this relationship
through the Holy Spirit. Since every believer becomes
indwelled by the Spirit of God at conversion, this supernatural
connection is the most direct and most lively relationship
with God since Adam and Eve had in the original garden. We cannot convince ourselves
of this affirmation. No human, no fellow believer
can give us this assurance. Only the Holy Spirit can accomplish
this work. He bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, Paul says. This affirmation that
the Spirit provides is a spiritual impression, no doubt, but there
are perceptible aspects of it. God’s children come, and I would
say quite supernaturally, to hate their sin. That’s a good
test. They come to hate their sin.
They come to love God, whom they previously despised. They come
to believe that Christ’s atonement, His payment for our sin, was
sufficient. And that such atonement can only
be appropriated in a believer’s life by faith. Regeneration is
the first thing that the Holy Spirit accomplishes. Glorification
is one of the last. But assurance, a life of assurance
is this middle ground where most believers reside. In this adoption into God’s family,
there is a blessing on top of blessing spoken of here. Not only are we brought into
God’s family, But because we’re now God’s children, he says,
we are included in this fantastic inheritance. Paul refers to us
as heirs, those who will inherit God himself, together with our
Lord Jesus Christ. Paul similarly encouraged the
Colossian believers that he has qualified us to share in the
inheritance of the saints in light. God is the one that made
us heirs. To be an heir, as you know, means
to have a certain right to some possession, a legal right. Just as in earthly family relationships,
children are typically the heirs of a parent’s estate, so also
in the spiritual realm. As God’s children, he has rendered
us heirs. This idea is carried throughout
the New Testament. where believers are called heirs
according to promise, Galatians 3.29. Heirs according to the
hope of eternal life, Titus 3.7. Heirs of salvation, Hebrews 1.4.
Heirs of promise, 6.17. Heirs of righteousness, Hebrews
11.7. Heirs of the promised kingdom, James 2.5. Heirs of the grace
of life, 1 Peter 3.7. We are heirs. God has adopted us, and we are
children in standing of God’s family. The Christian is promised
a spiritual inheritance. And all of that sounds just so
incredible, doesn’t it? So undeserved. Children of God,
heirs of God, together with Christ? But suddenly Paul adds what sounds
like a bit of a qualifier. He adds, if. If indeed we suffer
with him. That is, suffer with Christ.
If we suffer with Christ. Now mind you, this suffering,
whatever it is we endure in this life, it contributes nothing
to our redemption. But suffering does accompany
our redemption. Suffering is inseparable from
our following after Christ. Suffering is inescapable. I went out to the garden the
other day only to discover a raccoon had destroyed some of my what
Barbara calls the most expensive vegetables in the world. I’ve
never had trouble with raccoons. But that’s gardening, it’s always
something. And it’s always often something
new. My first inclination was to quit.
Quit gardening altogether. I’m not gonna plant anything
next year, that’ll show them. Gardening is a constant battle.
The bugs, the hail, the diseases, the birds, the rodents, all of
it. And I wanted to quit. And then I remembered this passage. It’s all part of life. The frustrations, the troubles
that we face, all brought on by Adam and Eve in the original
garden. Gardening is just a living metaphor
of life itself, isn’t it? I need to garden. I need the
constant reminder that suffering and futility are part of the
life that we face, part of the curse. It’s inescapable. Now, truly, Christ has conquered
both death and suffering, but we still experience both of those
things in life. Suffering, trials, life’s heartaches,
challenges, they’re all inevitable. and they serve a good purpose.
May I take you to a passage of Scripture, a parallel? 1 Peter
1. It’s an amazing passage of Scripture. We’ll be there just briefly.
1 Peter 1, and when you get there, scroll down to verse 6. Peter’s talking about our salvation,
the incredible salvation that God has bestowed. And down in
verse six, he says, in this, this salvation, you greatly rejoice,
even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have
been distressed by various trials. that the proof of your faith
being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though
tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory
and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So according to
Peter, trials are temporary. They are for a little while.
They are necessary. They are distressing. They’re
real trials. And believe me, God knows how
to get our attention. They’re distressing. They’re
varied. God has an infinite arsenal of trials at his disposal. And
they serve to prove our faith, not to strip it from us. Trials
develop our patience and endurance. Trials aid us in conforming us
to Christ. Trials spur us on to mortify
sin in our flesh. Trials urge us to lean more and
more on the grace of God and less and less on our own resources. If you will, trials and suffering
are part of the refining process of the Christian. They ready
us. for glorification, back, if you
would, to Romans 8. This suffering is so useful in
our lives that Paul suggests that glorification isn’t possible
without it. It’s preparatory. We suffer with
Him in order that we may be glorified with Him. Both suffering and
being glorified are done, as Paul says, with Christ. Amazing
thought. And the implication there is
that in order to enjoy the latter, that is glorification, we must
first endure the former, suffering. Just the mere mention of that
word suffering, we can feel the headwind beginning to blow, can’t
we? We know of glorification, we hear of glorification, but
all of a sudden we are reminded of this difficult challenge of
life suffering. Paul knows that he has to encourage
believers facing these gusts. In verses 18 through 25, Paul
provides a series of five clarifying explanations in view of heavenly
glory. Verse 18, he talks about suffering
and glory. Verse 19, he talks about longing
and glory. Verse 20 and 21, futility and
glory. Verse 22 and 23, groaning and
glory. And verse 24 and 25, hope and
glory. Paul employs these five pairings
to present the challenges that believers face in his or her
attempt to maintain a focus on glory. Paul’s intention here is to contend
that none of these elements, suffering, longing, futility,
groaning, or even unfulfilled hope, none of those can be allowed
to dampen our anticipation of heaven. As believers in Christ,
we are the rightful heirs of God. Nothing should be allowed
to diminish that truth. Let’s briefly consider each of
these five pairings so that our own view of glory not be clouded. The first of which Paul mentions
is suffering and glory. Logical, since he mentions suffering
in verse 17, he elaborates on that in verse 18. I consider the sufferings, and
let me back up, for I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us. The first clarifying explanation
that the apostle provides is suffering and glory. And essentially,
Paul gives us a perspective in this. Namely, that eternal glory
and earthly suffering don’t even belong in the same conversation. They are, as Paul has it, incomparable. The sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us. It’s as if Paul lifts up all
of life’s sufferings and holds them out against the backdrop
of eternal glory. And it’s as if the brightness
of that glory not only overwhelms and obliterates the sufferings
themselves, but even the memory of the pain that those sufferings
brought. Someone hearing this piece of
wisdom You might think that it was uttered by someone who has
never really experienced the pains and heartaches of life. You don’t know what I’m going
through, Paul. But this is Paul, of whom God
declared immediately at his conversion, I will show him how much he must
suffer for my name’s sake. Make no mistake, Paul knew suffering. And the definitive passage detailing
Paul’s sufferings is 2 Corinthians 11. Go ahead and turn there.
We’ll just take a brief tour through the New Testament this
morning. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. When you get there, go to verse
23. Paul is having to defend himself
against Paul’s teachers. They got a much easier and a
much warmer reception by the Corinthians than even the great
apostle Paul did. Verse 23, are they servants of
Christ? I speak as if insane. I, more
so, in far more labors and far more imprisonments, beaten times
without number, often in danger of death, five times I received
from the Jews 39 lashes, three times I was beaten with rods,
once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and
the day I’ve spent in the deep. I’ve been on frequent journeys
in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my
countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city,
dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false
brethren. I’ve been in labor and hardship
through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without
food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such things, there
is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
Paul knew suffering. Labors, imprisonments, beatings,
hunger, shipwreck, all manner of dangers from all manner of
people, the apostle Paul knew suffering. Back, if you would,
to Romans 8. Paul knows of what he speaks
when he speaks of earthly travails and difficulties and afflictions.
And he knows what he means when he says they are not worthy to
be compared with the glory to be enjoyed in heaven. They don’t
even stack up. Writing to the Corinthians in
2nd Corinthians 4 17, he characterized life sufferings as momentary
light affliction. Remember? And we don’t need to limit these
sufferings to difficulties encountered in the midst of ministry, like
those that Paul experienced. These sufferings would include
all of life’s physical and emotional pain, sickness, poverty, death,
mistreatment by others. Paul broadens out the scope of
these sufferings when he narrows them down to the present time. It’s anything that can happen
to us in this life. Anything that causes pain and
heartache during our time here on earth. And that list is endless,
isn’t it? It’s not that these manifold
sufferings are not legitimate. Among them are the most difficult,
the most exacting, the most painful experiences that we can face
as humans. But Paul says, Compared to the
glory that is to be revealed to us, they crumble and vanish
like a puff of smoke. It’s eternal glory that beholds
the very presence of Christ, that future and promised state
that is to be bestowed upon us at Christ’s return. What is there
on earth? They can even begin to compare
with that. So the Christian looks up into
the face of a wind that is picking up. And the Christian keeps his or
her focus on eternal glory, but the wind is only starting. We
come across the second of these pairings in verse 19. fleeting distractions, I would
call them, to thoughts of heaven. Not only suffering and glory,
but longing and glory. Would you look at verse 19? For
the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing
of the sons of God. Not only are we suffering here
on earth, but we are longing in the midst of it. And that’s
a good feature, generally. desiring to go and to be in eternal
glory. It speaks of the fellowship of
longing here, an intense desire for this eternal glory, and he
presents all creation as desiring, longing for the end of the ages. As we can see by the word for,
again, Paul is setting forth yet another explanation. This
time, the thought of the previous verse, the exceeding value of
eternal glory. Paul captures the sentiment of
God’s entire creation as longing anxiously for the culmination
of this life in the beginning of eternity. Beautiful thought. This anxious longing presents
the picture of someone alert and watchful, earnestly looking
for the fulfillment of some great promise. Much debate about exactly who
it is that Paul refers to when he speaks of creation. It cannot
refer to all humanity. Because not all will be saved. How could they possibly long
for liberation from bondage to sin, which they will have no
part if they’re not redeemed? They could hardly be considered
as waiting eagerly. Neither does it likely include
Pardon me, it likely does include angels as part of this creation.
That one is hotly debated in the commentaries. But angels
are not subject to corruption, so they’re not in need of redemption,
but they certainly long for a fulfillment of God’s great plan of redemption. They too will rejoice. But it
certainly refers to believers here, who are, as Paul says in
Titus 2.12, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the
glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. So the creation
includes Christians, but the general mention here, creation,
seems to go beyond that. Not only to angels, not only
to believers, And we get a hint. When the cold-hearted Pharisees
admonished Jesus to rebuke his worshiping disciples, Jesus said, I tell you, if these
become silent, the stones will cry out. Psalm 96, 12 says, let
the field exalt and all that is in it. Then all the trees
of the forest will sing for joy. Isaiah 55, 12 paints a similar
picture of God’s redemption. You will go out with joy and
be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will
break forth into shouts of joy before you. And all the trees
of the field will clap their hands. What an incredible worship
service that will be. Why is it too fantastic for us
to think of not only the animate but the inanimate world as being
eager for God who created it to be worshiped? A shuddering
in joy for the restoration of creation as it was designed to
be. And so in some mysterious way, redeemed humanity, the angelic
world, the animal world, the inanimate world, every grain
of sand, every tree and flower, even the stars themselves are
eager to rejoice in God’s great redemption of the world. The
restoration of righteousness to God’s created order. But the wind is now howling.
in our faces, there’s a third pairing. And this one we find
in verses 20 and 21. These fleeting distractions to
the thoughts of heaven, not only suffering in glory and longing
in glory, futility in glory. This third pairing, futility
in glory, we find there in verses 20 and 21. For the creation was
subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of
him who subjected it. Just as with our longing for
heavenly glory, there is a fellowship, a commonness in this futility.
We all know it. We all experience it. The entire
world, every person on the planet experiences this futility. This
word futility just speaks of almost a purposelessness, a worthlessness
as one identified it. Instability, as one said, liability
to change and decay. What’s the use? That’s the sentiment. And it’s the sentiment expressed
by the saying, two steps forward, one step back, right? Always
laboring, always striving, but never quite achieving, never
becoming completely victorious. And it’s a dismal reality that
all of God’s creation experiences. Somewhat stunning to learn that
this experience of futility is by God’s design. God did this. It serves His purposes. Paul
puts it this way, that the creation, all of God’s creation, was subjected
to futility. This, of course, clearly points
back to the effects of the fall of Adam and Eve, the curse that
they brought down, not only on themselves, not only on humanity,
but indeed upon all creation. Pain in childbirth, the sweat
of the brow, all of it. After sin entered into the world
through Adam’s sin, nothing in our world is as it should be. Nothing functions perfectly as
it should. All creation experiences a measure
of chaos. Death entered in. Sickness entered
in. Earthquakes and floods and fires
and all manner of calamity entered in. Our world, all of creation,
suddenly became a disordered mess. Paul makes clear. that neither
humanity nor inanimate creation signed up for this. It was not
something for which we went looking. We didn’t will it. We didn’t
choose this chaos. God’s creation was not subjected
to this futility of its own will. Paul says it was because of him
who subjected it. And there’s only one who had
the power to do this, Almighty God. It was God in his sovereign
authority that subjected creation to futility. But God did so for a reason.
And Paul states it plainly enough, would you glance down at verse
20, as it transitions into verse 21, God subjected creation to
futility in hope. in hope that the creation itself
will also be set free. God’s purpose was redemption.
God’s purpose was restoration. God had a plan. God had a design
in this frustration, a purpose. It was to set her free. And most
notably, this refers to the liberation from sin that the gospel promises
through Christ’s redemption. That’s where it all begins. Humanity’s
sin was so great that all creation was subjected to this futility.
And yet, God’s redemption is so great that all creation will
be set free. I love the way Paul describes
this liberation, set free from its slavery to corruption into
the freedom of the glory of the children of God. The same freedom,
the same glory that we enjoy, all creation will enjoy and rejoice. The apostle is still. The apostle
is still talking about the family of God. He’s still talking about
future glory. And he melds the two into one
by the obvious remedy of the redemption of Christ, the hope
of liberation. Liberation from slavery to corruption,
sin. This was God’s design. In subjecting
creation to futility is that they might look up The redemption. Well, the wind is sustained.
It’s not letting up. Now windblown sand is striking
us in our face. We can barely open our eyes as
we come to the fourth pairing, which we find in verses 22 and
23. These fleeting distractions now
are not so fleeting. Suffering and glory, longing
and glory, futility and glory, groaning and glory. Would you
glance at verse 22? For we know that the whole creation
groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until
now. Paul identifies this fourth contrast,
suffering, pardon me, groaning and glory. And this statement
also explains the previous. As I said, this one is directly
related to the previous three. It only makes sense that if you
have suffering, and with that longing, and in that longing,
futility, then there will necessarily be groaning. Just as the creation was subjected
to futility, so also the whole creation feels the effects of
that subjection. Not only humanity, but all portions
and elements of the created world, the heavens, the animal world,
the weather, every facet of life feels the effects of the suffering.
Paul says that all creation is enduring this present suffering,
longing for relief and groaning under its difficulties and pains. Paul injects a very fascinating
image here. Would you just glance down at
it? He says that creation suffers the pains of childbirth. These
pains, this is not an easy trial that we face. This is an exacting,
painful thing that we face so often in this life. Real, intense
pain. By these, we can surmise that
Paul includes temperature fluctuations in our world, and unpredictable
storms, and tornadoes, and hurricanes, and blizzards, and volcanoes,
and earthquakes, and tsunamis, and forest fires, and drought,
and blight, and famine, and disease. The brevity of a flower’s beauty,
the violent carnivorous animals, decay of all living things, all
of that is part of the fall. These pains of childbirth, as
difficult as they are, are productive and fruitful. Ultimately, they
issue forth in a birth. The suffering, the groaning is
not in vain. Joy is coming. Paul reverses
his course here somewhat. In verses 18 through 22, the
whole creation has been generally affected by the sin of humanity. But here in verse 23, suddenly
Paul focuses specifically on humanity itself. We ourselves
also groan. We feel it. We’re going through
the same thing that the entire world is experiencing. Subjection
to suffering, longing, futility produces a groaning within us.
You feel it. You’re not crazy when you do.
These are hard, exacting things to go through. And Paul makes
it clear here that even Christians are subjected to these effects
because he refers to those who are the first fruits of the Spirit. The phrase first fruits was essentially
an agricultural phrase referring to the earliest harvest. And
so the firstfruits of the Spirit must refer to those converts
to Christ now indwelled by the Holy Spirit. If you can read
this and you’re a Christian, then you are among the firstfruits
of the Spirit. And even though we are indwelled
by the Holy Spirit, yet we suffer, yet we experience the same futility,
yet we groan. That is to say, we look forward
with intense eagerness to the glory that is to come. Paul returns
to the familiar metaphor introduced in verse 15, our adoption as
sons. Remember that? There’s a sense
in which we’ve already been adopted, and there’s a sense in which
the finality of that adoption is still future. I would put
it this way. It’s as if we’re still in the
orphanage. The forever family has selected us, but we’re still
there awaiting pickup. God himself has completed the
paperwork. We are as good as his. We’re
in his family. We await only his arrival to
take us home. Well, now the gale force wind
shows sign of even picking up, life and its difficulties are
ceaseless. We’re weary and buffeted by this
incessant wind. We come to the fifth pairing.
These fleeting distractions of the thoughts of heaven, suffering
and glory, longing and glory, futility and glory, groaning
and glory, hope and glory. That final pairing in verse 24
and 25, Compared to the previous four pairings, it seems somewhat
out of place. It seems positive as opposed
to the negative sense of the previous four, suffering, longing,
futility, groaning. After all, Paul opens with this
encouraging statement in verse 24, in hope we have been saved. very positive thought, that I
would suggest to you that hope does fit with the other four,
and very well. Paul explains that in the second
statement of this passage, hope that is seen is not hope. In other words, until we are
glorified in heaven, we remain In suffering, we remain longing,
we remain in futility, we remain groaning, and we remain also
in hope, awaiting our resurrection. Why,
Paul asks, why does one hope for what he sees? That’s his
point. It’s a rhetorical question. Once we see what it is we long
for, we no longer need to hope. And so if we’re hopeful, we have
not yet arrived. We’re waiting. We’re waiting
on that yet fulfilled glorification that ties into those other four
experiences perfectly. But in this element of hope,
there is also that happy element of confidence. We take God at
his word. It’s a confidence that urges
us as believers to persevere If we are still hopeful, we have
no choice but to continue waiting. Christ has not burst through
the clouds yet. Christ has not drawn us to heavenly
glory. Paul says it plainly in verse
25. If we hope for what we do not
see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it. We persevere. We do not quit. We do not leave
our pursuit of heavenly glory, even though the mighty wind blows
into our faces, even though we long, even though we’re enmeshed
in this seemingly endless stew of futility, even though those
things make us to groan, we hope. We hope eagerly, anticipating
the precious eternal glory. promised to us as God’s children. Let’s rejoice before him. Our gracious King, we bow before you and we thank
you for this reminder that your own Holy Spirit is ministering
to our own hearts and minds, attending to us and encouraging us, reminding us
that we are children of God and because of that, we stand to
inherit eternal glory. Lord, there are many distractions
and many things could take us and take our eyes off of this
precious blessing. But Lord, we rejoice that when
it’s all said and done, all the suffering and futility, the groaning
and longing, the unfulfilled hope, Lord, we see past all of
those to eternal glory, to being with Christ, to inheriting with
Him what you have promised. Father, if there is anyone here
who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, No amount of suffering,
no amount of good deeds will ever earn a person salvation. Salvation comes by faith in Christ,
by turning and repenting from our sin and by placing our faith
in the finished work of Christ. Lord God, we humble ourselves
before you. Those of us who know this forgiveness,
we rejoice before you. And it is because of that that
we do persevere. Lord God, if there are any who
do not know Christ, we pray that you would so work in their hearts.
Bring them to life and repentance and faith. Faith in the finished
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you and praise you in
Jesus’ name. Amen.