Romans 8:26,27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

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The first three words, Likewise the Spirit. That means in the same manner. In the same manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. So before we get into any of the text, I want to answer the question What manner? Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmites? Likewise means on the same wise. What wise? It means in the same manner. What manner? What wise? Likewise the Spirit gives us the indication that Romans 8:26 and 27 is the next on the list. The Spirit of God also helpeth our infirmities. That also tells us that Paul is adding to the list.

There’s two ways of looking at this: And honestly, I’m not sure which way is the right way. The question is what list? Paul is adding to what list? Is this a more primary list in Romans of all the ways that God helpeth our infirmities, or is Paul adding to a secondary list of all the different ways in which the Spirit helps us. Is the point that throughout Romans God helps with our infirmities and this is another manner in which God does this? Or is the point that the Spirit helps us with many things and in many ways, and this is but one of them?

Wise #1: Paul demonstrates throughout the letter to the Romans that God helps our infirmities

So if we look at it in the first light, where the point or the theme is that of our infirmities, then when Paul speakes of those infirmities, he’s reaching all the way back into other chapters here.

Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested

Romans 3:24, 25 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood

Roman 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Romans 4:23,24 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 5:8 God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Romans 5:20,21 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Over and over Paul declares our infirmities, our sin, our depravity, but everytime, he answers with what Jesus has done or what God has made so. All throughout this book Paul is trying to help us understand what God has done for us. And then when we get into Chapter 7, he’s dealing with sin again and infirmities, but now he’s dealing with it in saved folk.

Romans 7:13 But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Romans 7:17,18 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

He’s laying down the groundwork for this next thing on the list of help which is the Holy Ghost. But in this groundwork, I found something that intrigued me. There was something that Paul said that caught my attention.

Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man… What does that sound like? It sounds a lot like what David said, But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of wate, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Paul says I delight in the law of God after the inward man, David, just like you do. But David, you still committed adultery with Bathsheba. You still murdered Uriah. You still distrusted God and numbered Israel. David, your delight was in the law, yes, and you did prosper yes, but there was still sin. Paul said David, just like you, I delight in the law of God after the inward man, BUT I see another law warring in my members, warring against the law in my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Do you see the contradiction in this passage. His delight is in the law of the God, but instead of prosperity, he finds war and with war comes destruction and death. I don’t think people realize even after they’re saved how much they’re still living and serving the law. Paul said in Chapter 7:6 But we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Why would God preserve these letters for us if they weren’t pertinent? Most of Galatians is about the same thing.

Paul said David I delight in the law of God, but the law is not good enough. That’s why he said verse 3 of chapter 8, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh…” He said, “The law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin…” If I was all spirit, we’d be alright. But I’m not. I’m flesh. And I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing. But what does dwell in there are infirmities. He said who shall deliver me from the body of this death… it’s the body of infirmities.

And honestly, I find no indication that we’re gonna be delivered from the body of this death in this life. Our new glorified bodies will be presented at glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul is still waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of his body. He’s still waiting along with us for the manifestation of the sons of God. When Paul says in verse 11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you.” There’s no indication that this quickening of your mortal body happens in this life. He said shall quicken. He didn’t say quickens. He said shall quicken.

Don’t get this mixed up with Ephesians 2. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins… Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

I read this verse, and something inside of me says, “Praise the Lord! I’m saved, I’m raised in Christ. I’m sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” But, we might as well face it, there’s absolutely nothing about this body and this flesh that sitting up in heavenly places. There ain’t nothing heavenly about this body. There’s nothing raised up about this body. My soul is saved! My spirit is renewed! But this old flesh. God gave me this thought the other day: Salvation is for the soul. Santification is for the Spirit. But the glorious resurrection is for the body. Paul said, “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. It’s called the glorious liberty of the children of God because the souls of the children of God are already in there. And, don’t quote me, but I think sanctification, being filled with the Holy Ghost, is about getting our spirits in the glorious liberty of the children of God. But the resurrection, the coming of our blessed hope, when the trump of God shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise, that is when our bodies get delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

So Romans 8, Paul is trying to help us with this old body, this flesh, this sin in our members. And I really think that why he says we’re saved by hope. Romans 8:24,25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. He’s getting us to wait for it, to patiently wait for the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior, the redemption of these wretched bodies. He’s saying just wait and see… Just be patient. For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us… He didn’t say don’t compare them. He just said they’re not worthy to be compared to the glory. He’s saying you ain’t seen nothing yet… And see, that helps us. He’s not saying to just go on sinning because of the flesh. He’s getting us to recognize the reality of the flesh, and take advantage of the help that God has given us until that blessed day until we won’t have to. It’s like when he told the Galatians (6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

He’s saying don’t give up. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Paul is saying I know there’s a war going on in your member, but don’t give up. The best is yet to come. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit of the unimaginable divine inheritance that awaits us. We are heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. That means we’re going to get everything Jesus gets. It means Jesus is going to share everything the Father gives him with us. Romans 8:29 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. He saying store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. You see he’s trying to help us while we’re down here. He’s demonstrating to us and encouraging us to operate according to the facts, the future, and our faith.

That is what this book of Romans, especially these chapters 5,6,7, and 8, is about. Paul is trying to help us. And he’s giving us great truths regarding our salvation; the facts, the future, and our faith. This is the manner of God, a God that wants to help us. A God that extends to us a helping hand and encourage us. Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: Paul is demonstrating that God understand. That God know that Romans 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. And God know Romans 7;11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. God knows (14) that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. God know this and God did something about it because he loves me and wants to help me. He sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

So when we his this verse and see Likewise the Spirit, and we understand that to be in the same manner and ask What manner? The manner of God is to help us with our infirmities, therefore the manner of his Holy Spirit is the same; to help us with sin. God has yet again extended out a helping hand in the Holy Ghost.

 

Wise #2: Paul demonstrates throughout chapter 8 that the Holy Ghost helps with and in many things, our infirmities being one of them.

So let’s go back a little through Chapter 8 and and just see the actions of the Holy Ghost.

• Verse 2, The Spirit makes us free
• Verse 5, The Spirt gives us things to put our mind upon.
• Verse 6, To be spiritually-minded is life and peace
• Verse 9, Paul is saying that if Spirit of Christ dwells in you, then you belong to Him.
• Verse 11, He gives us the promise that these mortal bodies shall be quickened by his Spirit.
• Verse 13, Through the Spirit we can mortify the deeds of the body
• Verse 14, The Spirit of God leads the sons of God.
• Verse 15, The Spirit of God is the administrator and facilitator of adoption
• Verse 16, The Spirit bears witness to our spirit

And I want to stop there and talk about this.

These past weeks I’ve been reading three different book about the Holy Spirit. I’m still seeking and trying to learn more about the Holy Ghost. I picked up these book at the camp. They used to belong to Brother Fain Jordan. It’s interesting how there’s slight nuances in everybody’s understanding of the Holy Ghost. No doubt mine is unique from others as others are unique from each other. One of these books had a chapter or a portion on this concept of the witness of the Spirit. And the author was expounding on three different verses that speak on this matter the bible. And he didn’t say anything really about this, but something dawned on me as I was reading this and it was regarding Romans 8:16: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  I realized that it’s possible that I misunderstood this verse all my Christian life.

I have always understood this verse to mean that God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, bears witness to my spirit, or testifies to my spirit that I’m a child of God; that He speaks to my Spirit, to my heart, and tells me that I’m his own, his child. Now I’m not saying that God doesn’t do that. Surely he does. But that is not what this verse is saying. The verse is saying distinctly that His Spirit bears witness with our spirit, not to our spirit. In other words, we are co-witnesses. We bear witness together. He’s saying that our spirit bears witness also. Our spirit agrees with the Holy Spirit. Our spirit confirms the voice of God. It’s not t-o, it’s t-o-o, which means also. It’s not t-o, it’s t-w-o. which means it’s both spirits bearing witness.

Now after that kind of dawned on me, I made a mental note to go look it up in the Greek, and make sure that I’m not misinterpreting or going down a wrong road in my thinking. So I look up the verse, and the expression is συμμαρτυρεῖ (symmartyrei) which comes from the word συμμαρτυρέω (summartureó) And expression means I bear witness together with. It’s a word that was made from two words, from sun and martureó. Matureo means to bear witness or testify, while sun means with or together with. So, at this point, now, I realized, “Wow, all these years I misunderstood this…”

Now, I always want to be careful. I don’t want to get carried away. Because I’ve known many preachers to preach this verse the way I’ve previously understood it. I’ve learned a few things in my years. One thing I learned in my studies is that etymology is insufficient to determine the meaning of words. In other words, just looking at the meaning of words and how they were derived is not enough to determine what a writer may have been conveying. Often times, usage will determine the meaning of the word. In other words, we have to understand how the writer is using the words to understand what he means. So what I like to do is see other examples of how this word is used to make sure I’m not nuts.

So, I’m gonna be like those Berean Christians in Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. So that’s what I did. It turns out that this word is really only used three times in your New Testament. And this isn’t the first time this has happened to me, but this same word is used in the by same author in the same book three times. So when this happens, you’ve got a pretty sure way to determine your understanding of the word or words because it was used all times at the same time, and in the same letter, and by the same person, so there’s little chance the meaning will very. If different people used it, it casts a doubt. If it’s used at different times, it casts a doubt. But the same person, same book. You can’t beat that.

Romans 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) Also bearing witness is that expression again, and sure enough it’s exactly what it means. Paul is saying that their heart testifies, and their conscience testifies. Both bear witness.

Romans 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, Paul is has got something to say in Romans, Chapter 9, but he’s making not that his conscience also has got the same thing to say. His conscience confirms what he’s about to say. Him and his conscience are on the same page.

And that is what we are to understand in Romans 8:16. My spirit and the Holy Spirit are on the same page. We are both testifying and bearing witness that I am a child of God. That’s Romans 8:16. Matthew 18:16 is it’s sister verse. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. It’s one thing to say that I’m a child of God, but it’s wonderful when two more people inside of me that are saying the same thing. My new spirit that God has quickened and made a alive and freed is saying that I’m a child of God, and the Holy Spirt is confirming that and testifying of that. Bless the Lord, every word may be established. That is what Paul is trying to do, to establish us in the faith. He’s trying to help us. The Holy Spirit is trying to help us.

And this was just a gold mine for me when I found it. Look I don’t like being wrong, but I’m glad I found out I was wrong about this verse. You ever heard that expression Knowledge is power. A right understanding of the scriptures can help us, but a misunderstanding of them can hinder us. And I can see how that misunderstanding this verse has hindered my faith and suppressed truth. This verse Romans 8:16 has been so integral in my life. I’ve heard it quoted many many many times and it has always been part of the framework of my understanding of the Holy Spirit, and thus God. And I had it wrong. Like I said, I’m not saying the the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak to us, to our hearts, to our spirits. Sure he does. But I’m gonna have to find another verse when I talk about that.

I can see how that misunderstanding has hindered my faith and suppressed truth; has suppressed my Spirit. In a sense, through the misunderstanding of this verse I’ve essentially been waiting on a word from the Holy Ghost; waiting for the Spirit to speak to my Spirit, when all along, it’s not waiting that my spirit should be doing but instead witnessing. I have a new spirit within me that is me that wants to cry Abba Father. Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Where by we cry, not he cries. We cry! Our spirit cries Abba Father. Our spirit bears witness together with the Holy Spirit that we are the children of God.

The Holy Spirit, listen, He’s cheering us on. He’s saying go go go. And my spirit is saying go go go. Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. We’re in this together. And I don’t know about you, but that helps me. I like this new understanding better. I tell you, when this broke out on me, I could feel such a weight lifted. My fellowship with God in prayer suddenly God real good. My yearning and craving for the bible got more acute. The morning after I got in my truck and cried from my driveway in Sinton all the way to McKenzie just praising God and thanking him. I tell you God is so good to me, and the sweet Holy Spirit is good to me.

Something Else

“I am not called upon to improve myself – to gradually improve the old nature; but I am to reckon that I have died to its power and authority; and I am to recognize that my real life now is that of the risen Christ, which is to be manifested in me. This is what Christian baptism rightly signifies. “We are buried with Him by baptism unto death.” In that act I confessed that I – the old, selfish, worldly, sinful man – came to an end in the death of Christ.” H. A. Ironside

When Paul says in Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another; even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. When he says this (Now this has taken me some time to nail this down in my mind), he is talking about two different ye’s. Notice (and this has bothered me for some time) how in Paul’s discussion regarding the law and marriage, it’s the husband that is either alive or dead, and it’s the woman that marries another. So when we get to verse 4, I’ve always wonder why Paul changed from the husband being dead in verse 2 and 3, to now saying ye are become dead to the law, ye being the woman figure. Well, the reason why is because he doesn’t. He hasn’t changed. We are to understand that the ye that is become dead to the law by the body of Christ is not the ye that should be married to another. I always thought it was, but it’s not.

I always kinda pictured a resurrection between the two ye’s, but for the most part the two ye’s were the same person. Now they are of the same person. But I believe in Paul’s thinking, no. What is resurrected is a new creature in Christ Jesus. Therefore, there is a distinction between the old man and the new man.

I know this might be a little difficult to swallow, but consider the glorious verse of Galatian 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live: He that was crucified with Christ was not resurrected, but a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. New means new. And we’re not talking new to you. We’re not talking about getting someone’s hand me downs, something that is torn and battered and worn out with sin. No. New is what we are. Remember when we discussed life and death, how that life has nothing to do with death, and visa-versa, death has nothing to do with life. We cannot in our entirety be dead and alive at the same time. One man must be dead, and the other man must be alive.

Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed. Now the body of sin is destroyed, destroyed, destroyed. And the body of sin is not resurrected, but rather a new man in Christ Jesus is resurrected.

So that’s why I say that the I that was crucified with Christ cannot be the I that lives. No, like Ironside said, that I, or that ye, came to an end in the death of Christ. So the I that was crucified with Christ is dead and the one that lives is a new I. Like wise, going back to Romans 7:4, the ye that has become dead to the law by the body of Christ is the husband and the ye that should be married to another is the woman. Jesus said in John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Passing from death to life is not just simply a matter of state and standing, but a matter of existence. Don’t get me wrong, we have a new standing in Christ Jesus, but bless the Lord, the only reason we can boast a new standing is because we are new creatures.

Now maybe that might be difficult to understand. It’s taken me years to even just get an understanding of this, and this, I’m sure, is due to my stubbornness and disobedience. God does not ask that we understand this, but rather that we just believe it. Paul said in Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He didn’t say to understand it, but to just reckon it. Account it. Believe it. Cash it. That’s the ABC’s of the Christian life right there.

 

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The Big Problem

So here’s the problem: Why are we still dealing with infirmities and sin, when we have so decisively and surely been crucified with Christ. If Christ condemned sin in the flesh, then why am I still dealing with it? Unbelief.

alatian 5: The Spirit is the seed bed of righteousness in the body; good deeds, works, the work of God in this body.

 

Romans 8:24,25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

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Wait for it. I find it ironic that you see these words all over the internet, on Facebook, Instagram, wherever. Apparently, people want to watch several minutes of a video before you see the good part or the funny part. Well, when I see the Wait For It warnings I just scroll by. I’m not going to wait for it. Sometimes, you can see the time on the video. If it’s over a minute and it says Wait For It, forget it. I don’t have time to waste waiting around watching some dumb video. Now I tell you this to demonstrate to you that waiting is an investment of our time and our interest. And the object to which we wait will determine if that investment will have a return, or will simply be a waste of our time. Waiting is something you can quantify. Waiting is not just lounging around doing nothing. Waiting is doing something, investing something, and expecting something. When we are told to Wait For It, there is something expected of us. If waiting was doing nothing, then where’s the expectation.

You know in your bible, the word wait is used dozen and dozens of times before the book of Job; the first five books of the Bible, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, The Kings, The Chronicles… and almost every time it is used, it used in conjunction with the concept of lying in wait. So it’s a term of war, a term of battle; to lie in wait. Someone who was lying in wait had set themselves in array against an enemy unbeknownst to the enemy. They were hidden, and what was planned was a surprise attack, an ambush, an overwhelming force against an unprepared enemy. So the word wait carries with it the sense of being prepared for action, the sense of preying and stalking. Someone who lied in wait planted themselves along the path that who they were lying in wait for was coming down. They knew the path of who they were waiting for. And there they hid themselves and waited for them to come upon them. There was no randomness to this. I’m no fisherman, but correct me if I’m wrong. A real fisherman is going to try to go where the fish are. Amen? How much time and money are you going to invest just haphazardly randomly throwing your line out there? You’ll go to place where you know the fish are gonna go. And there, you will lie in wait for the fish. There you will invest your time, your effort, your money, and you’ll Wait For It! And there you will prepare yourself, prepare your tools, and Wait For It.

So waiting, even though it sounds mundane and boring, waiting is by instinct very taxing. That’s why we don’t want to do it. Time is precious. And if something is not worth investing time, we’re not going to wait for it. So I don’t think waiting is something to just gloss over. In the context, waiting is the life of the Christian. Waiting is what we do between getting saved and eternity. Waiting on the Lord Jesus Christ and the day of redemption is walking after the Spirit. Waiting is minding the things of the Spirit. Waiting is having the Spirit of Christ. (Galatians 5:5) “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Waiting is being filled with the Holy Ghost. Waiting is through the Spirit, mortifying the deeds of the flesh. Waiting is what saved folk do. But who wants to wait, amen? Nobody is going to wait unless it’s worth waiting for.

I want to say today that God is worth waiting for. After all, he waited for us didn’t he? The song says, “He stood at my heart’s door ’mid sunshine and rain, And patiently waited an entrance to gain.” I want to say God is worth waiting for. Paul said, “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” And that’s a period at the end of that verse. And I want to change it to a question mark today, and ask you, “Do we with patience wait for it?” Are you waiting on God? Are you actively waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body?

Are you we doing what Titus 2:13 says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Now how do you know if you’re really waiting? Well you should be doing what Titus 2:11 and 12 says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” Is that what we’re doing? If you’re not doing these first things: denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world… If you’re not doing these first things, I doubt seriously that you’re doing the latter thing: looking for that blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it. Are we waiting on God? After all, he’s waited for you; Just like Isaac lifted up his eyes across those fields and waited for Rebekah; just like Jacob waited fourteen years for Rachel; just like the Father, while the prodigal son was out in sin and was afar off, the Father waited. God is worth waiting for. How long did he wait for you, Sister ______? How long did he wait for you, Brother ______? He didn’t have to wait, but he did. He waited for you and me because he’s good. Romans 2:4 “(Or) despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” He waited on us. We ought to wait on him.

(Isaiah 30:18) And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Are you waiting for him? Paul said, “Do we with patience wait for it.” I’m asking you today, are you waiting on God?

Why?

Now why should we wait on God?

#1 Because He waited for us.

We ought to wait on God because he waited on us. The bible says, in Matthew 7:12 “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” God was patient with us, we ought to be patient with him. On top of that, in the future, if we want God to be patient with us, in the future, we ought to be patient with him, now in this present time. God was patient with us before we were saved. God is patient with us now. We want God to be patient with us in the future. The least we could do is be patient with him, amen?

We ought to remember 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The Lord is not slack. So there ain’t no reason for us to be getting impatient. Instead, we should do like Paul said, “Do we with patience wait for it.”

#2 Because we need His strength

Why do we need to wait on God? Because we need His strength. (Psalms 27:14) Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. We need HIS strength. Not our own. The arm of flesh will fail you. What did King Hezekiah say when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against him?  Sennacherib? Seneh/Cherub? Now we know that Cherub is an angel. And Seneh? You all remember Jonathan when he and his armor bearer went up against the Philistines by themselves. They came up between to big rocks that had names, Bozez and Seneh. Well Seneh meant “crag, or sharp thorn” So Seneh/Cherub sounds like the angel with the thorns or the horns, amen? Sound like the devil to me, amen? What did King Hezekiah say when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against him? (2 Chronicles 32:8) With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles.

Brethren, we need HIS strength. When we go up to do battle against the devil, and the world, and the flesh, we better wait on him because our strength isn’t gonna cut it. We need His strength. (Psalms 59:9) Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.  I don’t know what you’re going through, but we need His strength. And if you don’t have it, you better wait for it. (2 Cor 12:9) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That what we need. We need the power of Christ. Oh, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I’d rather wait for the power. He told those disciples to wait, amen?

(Acts 1:4) And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

(Luke 24:49) And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

What would have happened if they didn’t wait for the power? What would have happened if they didn’t wait for the power, and went into all world, and preached the gospel, and taught all nations, and baptized them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. What would have happened if they did all that without the power of God? What would have happened if they didn’t wait on God. Oh, We need to wait on God because we need His strength, his power.

What happened when Abraham and Sarah tried to do God’s will in their own strength? What happened when Abraham and Sarah didn’t wait on the God? Yeah, they messed it all up. Sarah knew she hadn’t the strength to have a child. Bible said they were old and well stricken in age. She knew her body couldn’t do handles it. So Sarah laughed at God. She shoulda waited instead. The bible says, (Isaiah 40:31) But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

#3 Because we don’t want to be ashamed

Okay, #3 has got three verses:

(Psalms 25:3) Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

(Psalms 69:6) Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

(Isaiah 49:23) And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

(Ecclesiastes 4;12) … A threefold cord is not quickly broken. They shall not be ashamed. They shall not be ashamed. They shall not be ashamed. If we wait on thee. If we wait on God.

This has two meanings, two applications. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed. That means that we won’t be disappointed. That means you won’t be disappointed with His outcome. And if you are disappointed, maybe the outcome hasn’t come out yet. Maybe you need to just wait a little longer, amen? I’m just saying the bible says, For they SHALL NOT be ashamed that wait for me. (Isaiah 49:23) I mean do we believe the bible? That means they won’t be disappointed. Remember Mary and Lazarus? Lazarus had died while they were waiting for Jesus. And Mary was disappointed. She said, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” She was disappointed. But see, the outcome hadn’t come out yet. She wasn’t disappointed when it did though. When Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” No. Mary was not ashamed. Maybe, like Mary, you just need to wait a little longer, amen? Or maybe (and I’m not trying to be ugly) you were waiting for your outcome, and not the Lord’s outcome. I’m just saying For they SHALL NOT be ashamed that wait for me. (Psalms 52:9) I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints. If we’re truly waiting on the Lord, and God does it, we won’t be ashamed. We won’t be disappointed. (Ecclesiastes 3:14) I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. You won’t be disappointed waiting on God.

Like I said, there’s two applications, though. That can mean WE won’t be disappointed. But, it can also mean that HE won’t be disappointed. (1 John 2:28) And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. We’re talking about not being ashamed at the judgment seat of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

(1 Corinthians 3:10-15) According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

We better wait on the Lord, or we will be ashamed before him at his coming. Let me say this: If you’re ashamed now, it’s gonna be worst at the judgement seat. Like I said, if we’re gonna be doing Titus 2:13 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Then we better take heed to Titus 2:11 and 12 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” How are we gonna do that?

(Psalms 1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper…

I believe in the prosperity doctrine, amen? If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. You say, I don’t want a reward. I’ll just be happy to get there. Well if you do get there, you gonna want a reward when the time comes because you’re not gonna like what you get. The bible says, He shall suffer loss. He will be ashamed. Nope. I don’t want to be ashamed. That’s why I’m gonna wait on God.

Why are we gonna wait on God? Because He waited for us. Because we need His strength. Because we don’t want to be ashamed at his coming. That’s the why of waiting; reasons why we wait.  There’s other reasons, but that’s all I’m covering right now. I want preach a little also about the how of waiting.

Other Why?s

1. We will preserved (Psalms 25:21) Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.
2. We will be heirs (Psalms 37:9) For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
3. We will be exalted (Psalms 37:34) Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
4. We will be saved (Proverbs 20:22) Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
5. Because he will hear me (Micah 7:7) Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

How?

How should we wait for God? In what manner do God’s people wait on the LORD. This is probably more where the rubber meets the road. But how do God’s people Wait For It?

#1 We wait all the day

First of all. Waiting for God is not a part-time job.  Waiting on God is more of a way of life. It’s not a full-time job either where we go home at five and pick things up again the next day. No, it’s all the day. (Psalms 25:5) Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. All the day. All day long, we wait on God. Now like I said, waiting all day is not doing nothing all day. That’s where the term waiter or waitress comes from. Waiting is serving. You know how a waitress comes with the tea every 5 minutes, and asks, “Do you want some more tea?” Maybe we ought to pray to God like that? Lord, what wilt thou have me to. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. David said, (Psalm 55:17) Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. That’s all the day.

And really, it’s not so much about quantity, but quality. But that doesn’t mean that “little is much when God is in it” What I’m saying is that quantity is quality, in this case. Listen, when you’ve been in the sun all day long, and sweat like a pig all day, and you’re tired, I guarantee you a sip of water isn’t gonna cut it. I don’t care how good that water is, it better if it’s a lot water; a great quantity, amen? It don’t have to be gourmet water, just bring it on. In fact, pour it all over me. I’ve always thought that a decent dad is better than no dad. Dueteronomy 6:5,6,7 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Whether you’re sitting down or walking around, it’s God, God, God. Whether you’re going to and getting out of bed, it’s God, God, God. It’s all thine hear; it’s all thy soul, it’s all thy might, and yes, it’s all your day. For thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. All the day. All the day. All the day. Salvation has an all day effect on saved folk.

(Hosea 12:6) Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. Continually! That means all the day. Quantity is quality. What made the widow’s mite greater and better than the rich man’s abundance? Because it was all. It was everything she had. We oughta give God everything we got. From the second we wake up to the second we lay our heads down, everything one belongs to him.  (Luke 9:62) And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Amen. That’s right mom. Everything second you got. That’s right dad. Everything. That’s right children. Everything we got. All that’s within me, let’s give it to him. Amen?

#2 We wait for all things

(Jeremiah 14:22) Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things. In an agrarian society where everthing was based on the crops, rain was everything. If there was no rain, everybody starved. So this is about sustenance, and the things we need. Food, rainment, shelter? And not just physically, but emotionally the things we need; spiritually the things we need. We’re a needy people, but God has made all these things. Therefore, we’ll wait on him to get them.

We wait for all things. There should be a conscience dependence on God for all things. And I want to say, especially the little things. Waiting on God for all the little things and praising Him when they come is good practice for the big things that we need that come up in our life. I’m not saying we shouldn’t wait on God for the big things. I’m just saying, I want to get to praising God, so I’m gonna find some of these little things to praise God about. Like when you pull up to Butter Churn on a packed Sunday afternoon and find the best, closest parking space open and waiting for you. Bless the Lord. That’s a little thing to praise God about. I need God for everything.

Yesterday, we were working hard mowing, and I was messed up (explain). And on the way home, I asked God to give me some relief because I needed to be awake and sober so I can study for this morning. On the way home, I could feel that relief come down. I got home, took some Excedrin, a hot shower, and I was feeling better. I didn’t even have to take a nap. I got to studying. I just had to lift up my hands and praise God. He’s made everthing. Therefore, I’m gonna wait on him for everything. When Franky brings me a Blueberry Bai drink. I’m gonna thank Frank, but I’m also gonna praise God (Psalms 104:27) These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. (Psalms 145:15) The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. We wait for all things. You say I need a job. Well God’s got the job. I need shoes. God’s got the shoes. I need food. Got definitely has the food. There ain’t anybody in here today that’s showing evidence that God hasn’t provided the food, amen? (Proverbs 28:25) …He that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat. God is going to bring the meat in due season, amen?

#3 We wait with all readiness

Like I was saying earlier:

…the word wait is used dozen and dozens of times before the book of Job; the first five books of the Bible, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, The Kings, The Chronicles… and almost every time it is used, it used in conjunction with the concept of lying in wait. So it’s a term of war, a term of battle; to lie in wait. Someone who was lying in wait had set themselves in array against an enemy unbeknownst to the enemy. They were hidden, and what was planned was a surprise attack, an ambush, an overwhelming force against an unprepared enemy. So the word wait carries with it the sense of being prepared for action, the sense of preying and stalking. Someone who lied in wait planted themselves along the path that who they were lying in wait for was coming down. They knew the path of who they were waiting for. And there they hid themselves and waited for them to come upon them.

Do we know the paths that God takes. Do we follow after God so hard that we just know where he goes. (Psalms 123:2) Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us. As the eyes of a servant. As the eyes of a maiden. We wait with all readiness. Like a servant. Can I say this. Waiting on God is a life of obedience, willing obedience to the will of God. We should plant ourselves along the paths of God and be ready to pounce and move at the commands of God, the will of God. When God tells us to jump, it’s not just “Yes sir.” It’s “How high to I jump Lord?” With all readiness like a servant, a GOOD servant. Let me ask you this: Are you a good worker? If you get don’t get it in your work life, you’ll never get it in the Christian life. (Examples)

(Luke 12:36) And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. I like that word immediately. Not when we feel like it. We ought to obey God whether we feel like it or not. Not when we’re good and ready, but immediately. Obedience is immediate action. We should always be ready to the will of God, to do what he commands us to do. The only way you’re gonna do that is if you’re waiting on the LORD with all readiness; if you’re ready, prepared, and waiting.

#4 We wait with all intensity

We wait all the day. We wait for all things. We wait with all readiness.  And number four, we wait with all intensity. And I think this is really the heart of the message. Waiting on the Lord is a spiritual exercise. I’m still studying this all out, but I came across this verse, and I think it speaks volumes. (Psalms 130:5) I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Listen, our waiting on the Lord, comes from the inside. The Pslamist said my soul doth wait! (Romans 8:23) And not also they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. There should be something on the inside groaning and travailing and waiting for God. (Psalm 42:1) As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul panteth. There’s an intense expectation for God and the things of God.

(Psalms 62:5) My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. Only upon God! I’m not going to hold my breath for anybody else. Only upon God; intensely focused upon one person and that’s God. My expectation is from Him, not anybody else. If you put your expectation on anybody else, you’re gonna be disappointed. He said my soul; my inmost being. I’m waiting solely on God all the way to bottom of my soul I wait.

(Lamentations 3:25) The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. That intensity signifies an active pursuit of God. To wait for God means to seek him, to look for him, to follow him; with everything inside of you. it’s the soul that seeketh him. (Deuteronomy 4:29) But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. There should be an active pursuit of God.

(Isaiah 8:17) And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Maybe it seems sometimes that God has hidden his face from us at time. Maybe sometimes it’s hard to wait on God. (Psalms 69:3) I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. Sometimes we wait in tears. Maybe he just want you to put your heart and soul into this thing. He just wants all of you. I told my wife the other day he doesn’t want to change our circumstances, he just want us. You might ask what is it that God wants of me. Maybe he wants you to just want him; want him with all your soul. Are we really waiting on God?

 

 

 

 

Romans 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

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Introduction

Before I get into the message, I want to share a few things. I saw a connection I thought was worth mentioning. I really believe that Paul is still handling the same subject. He hasn’t moved onto something new, but rather he is still writing about the same thing. Remember in Chapter 7, he spoke of this turmoil, this ongoing battle that was happening in his members. He said, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin!”  He said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” I have a will, but I can’t find a way! He said, “I find then a law that, when I would do good, evil is present with me!”

Paul has a problem. And it seems to drive him to despair because he finally says, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” I know a lot of people read the next verse, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…” and they close the book and go home. They think that is the end of the answer. It’s just the beginning. A whole chapter later in verse 23 of Chapter 8, Paul declares, “Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” In verse 24 of Chapter 7 he asks, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” The body of this death! And in verse 23 of Chapter 8 he’s still talking about that body, and the redemption or the deliverance of that body. This turmoil, this conflict, this war that is happening in his members, or his body, that he describes in chapter 7 is, in fact, the bondage of corruption in verse 21 of Chapter 8.

Paul asks, “Who shall deliver me?” in chapter 7. In chapter 8 he says, “The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption…” You know I have to admit, I’ve studied Romans Chapter 8 thinking that there is some quick fix that is going to make that turmoil go away, make the conflict of our flesh, and this battle go away. But as I get to these latter verses of the chapter, I’m seeing that it was never Paul’s intent to give me that impression. I think as we get to these latter verses Paul is making it clear that there will be no deliverance from the body of this death, until the resurrection. This body will be subject to corruption until the trump of God sounds. Your spirit and your soul may have a place to go, but your body is subject to vanity and corruption until it is delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

So this groaning, this travailing, this waiting in the bondage of corruption, in this body of death, everybody is subject to it and everybody must participate. Verse 22 “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” And the Christian is not exempt from this. Paul goes on to say, “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” He says we groan within ourselves! That’s what Paul is doing in Chapter 7. He’s groaning when he says, “O wretched man that I am!” That’s a groan from within himself.

So to understand the mind of Paul, and thus the mind of God, we must understand that the deliverance to which Paul cries for in Chapter 7 is the same deliverance that he speaks about waiting for in Chapter 8. In other words, it hasn’t happened yet. And this was a big revelation to me. For months, I’ve sought the scriptures for some path to that deliverance. And now that I get to these latter verses, I realize that this deliverance is not something that can be realized in this life. And this is not a downer by any means. This is truth. And Jesus said that the truth will make you free. Now if you don’t believe me; if this sounds strange to you, read the next verse where we are:

Romans 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

If this deliverance has come upon us, this deliverance from the bondage of corruption, the subjection to vanity, the body of this death… If this deliverance has come upon us, then we don’t have a hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? Why hope for the redemption of our bodies, if it is already apparent. No. We hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. I ask you, what need is there to patiently wait for something you already have? There is no need, and there is no hope, if you’ve already attained. Paul said for us to wait for it. Paul was waiting for it.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Titus 2:11-13

Can I say this? Paul is still waiting for it. He may already be absent from the body and present with the Lord, but he is still waiting for the deliverance of that body. That body still lies in a grave somewhere decomposing for 2000 years and it has not yet been resurrected and changed and delivered into the glorious liberty of the the Sons of God. No he’s still waiting.

But that’s no reason to be pooch-mouthed though. Why? Because the soul and spirit have already made the crossing. Remember Paul said, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2) Paul wrote tot he Galatians, “Ye have been called unto liberty…” (5:3) He said, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty whereith Christ hath made us free.” (5:1) So we’re free, but we’re not free.”

“Giving thanks unto the Father… Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” (Colossians 1:12,13) Paul said, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6) But the he says, “…the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (8:21) And he says we also groan within ourselves for the redemption of our bodies. So we’re delivered, but not delivered. Free, but not free! Delivered but not delivered!

There’s an interesting verse that embodies this truth: “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; (2 Corinthians 1:9,10) This kinda gives us a road map as to where we are. If you’re saved, you are between two deliverances. You are delivered from the sentence of death in yourself and waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption, the redemption of your body. So how does that help us? Well in 2 Corinthians it puts us in those three words between those two deliverances and doth deliver. We are in the doth deliver stage of this Christian journey, amen? Or we can say that we are in the doth stage of our deliverance!

I really think that is what Paul is trying to help us with and teach us about to help realize along this way. He’s trying to help us realize that doth stage of our deliverance. So understand that when Paul says in our text, “For we are saved by hope…” he may not be talking about that 1st deliverance, the one where you came to Christ a lost sinner and he washed you and saved you from the death sentence within you. But he may be talking about that doth stage of our deliverance. In this doth stage of our deliverance, I still have to endure this flesh, and I’m still subject to the temptations that are common to man. I still have to deal with this world, the devil and his devils, and the old flesh. On this stage of the journey there are things that I need deliverance from. Therefore, I need a doth deliver God to help me along the way. That’s why we pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver from evil!”

So let’s look at the text from that perspective. And that brings me to the first point I want to make about this passage, and it’s that…

#1 Hope Saves

The bible says, “For we are saved by hope…” Like I said, I don’t think Paul is trying to teach someone how to be saved right now. He’s trying to encourage us to walk in the newness of spirit,  to walk after the Spirit, to mind the the things of the Spirit, and encourage us to, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body. I believe he’s trying to tell us that there’s one thing that can help us with that and get the job done, and that’s hope. Hope saves!

He’s talking about having victory over this flesh. Hope saves. This is current help. We’re talking about this present time: hope saves. Hope delivers. Jeremiah the prophet said, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” (Jeremiah 17:7) If we want to realize the blessings of God, our hope must be in Him. Hope saves. Jeremiah also said (14:8) “O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble…” That time of trouble for me is not just when I found out I was lost. Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation…” (John 16:33) There will be no deliverance from “the body of this death” in this world. But there is deliverance and help in our trials and our tribulations. We are going to have trouble and tribulation, struggles and sorrows, problems and trials. God never said that he’d take that all way. But he will bless you through them, if you trust and hope in Him.

So I want to spend a little time on the blessings and benefits of hope. We have a saving faith. We also have a saving hope. There is salvation in hope; the salvation of the Lord. Hope has benefits. Hope has rewards. You think about this: Looking forward to our future blessings will bless us presently. Hope will affect you and God. If hope saves then if must affect the savior and the saved.

Hope affects God’s eyes. (Psalm 33:18) “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;” Sometimes, the greatest blessing to me is just knowing that God cares for me, that God is still interested in me. Hagar in her affliction, in the wilderness, God visited her. There at that well, Hagar found peace and consolation. God blessed her there and promised he would multiply her seed exceedingly. The bible says “And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me.” God didn’t take the child from her. God didn’t take her situation away. In fact, he sent her back into the frying pan with Sarai. But Hagar was blessed because she hoped in God. She said, “Thou God seest me… Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” She looked for him, and he looked for her. Hope affects God’s eyes. “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;”

I believe he will place his eyes upon us, if we would put our eyes upon him. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” We can’t see him with these eyes, but we can see him with the eyes of hope and faith. And the real blessing is when God sets his eyes upon us. Thou God seest me. I’ll always remember the way Peter quoted David in Acts 2: “Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.” It’s a blessing Lord just to see your face. It’s a blessing Lord just when you look upon me. Hope affects His eyes.

His affects God’s ears. (Psalm 38:15) “For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.” Sometimes, when my wife is telling me her struggles and things. I immediately go into solution mode. I start trying to think up a solution for her. That’s what I do at work. We sell solutions. (Work Testimony) So I start trying to figure out how to solve here problems, and I have to stop myself sometimes, and just ask, “You’re not looking for a solution, you just want me to listen?” And she says, “Yeah, that’s it!” Sometimes, we just need someone to listen to us. We don’t need a solution. We don’t need our situation changed. We just need someone to talk to about it.

The bible says to cast all your care upon him for he careth for you. God cares for us, but maybe it seems like God is not listening sometimes. (I know some people might disagree with this) Maybe it seems that he is not listening because he’s not listening. Maybe we need to get God’s attention? How did David get God’s attention? He said, “For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God!” Maybe in our prayers, we’ve put our hope in the change of our circumstances instead of the changer of those circumstances. I remember my teacher, Brother Henderson, said, it’s not so much that we ask for things in prayer, but that we have intimacy with the supplier.  Casting your cares upon God does not mean for you to demand that God change your circumstances, but rather to put your hope in Him, to trust in Him through your circumstances.

Hope saves, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to be delivered from the bondage of corruption or from the body of this death. But rather God will deliver you in the bondage of corruption. He’ll deliver you and save you in the body of this death! He may not remove the suffering, but he will suffer with you. And the bible says, if we’ll suffer with him, we will also reign with him. Look, better circumstances are not going to help you or benefit you. But a better relationship with God will. You think your circumstances are bad? There’s worst around the corner. We have to get where we want God and God’s ear and God’s attention more than anything this life affords. What good is better circumstances without the love and attention of the Lord. Wouldn’t you rather cry and weep in the ears of God than have all the ease and comforts of this world. “For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.” Hope affects the ears of God.

Hope affects God’s heart. (Psalm 147:11) “The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” The Lord taketh pleasure. What a concept? To think, that God would take pleasure in me. I fall short everyday. I’m in Romans 7 everyday. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death! When I would do good, evil is present with me! I don’t see how God can take pleasure in someone as sorry as me. But if I’d put my hope in him… We’ve talked about taking our eyes off our circumstances. Well, if we’d take our eyes off our self also. Sometimes our circumstance really is just us, our sin and our weaknesses and infirmities. And we just can’t see how God would take pleasure in something like us. But the benefit and blessing of hoping in God, looking for the blessed hope, is the manifestation of the pleasure of the LORD.

There’s an old song called Jesus, I my cross have taken. There’s a small section of that song that says, “And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love, and might…” Oh to know and to have made real that someone so great and wonderful as Jesus Christ takes pleasure in me is one of the sweetest experiences I’ve ever known. Hope saves. The salvation of God in this present time the smile of God. We don’t have to wait to get to heaven to experience the smiles of God. There’s another old song my wife likes to sing called The Unclouded Day. The lyrics say, “Oh, they tell me that He smiles on His children there, And His smile drives their sorrows all away.” You don’t have to wait til you get there for that to be real. All you have to do is hope for there and look for that blessed day that you will be there, and he’ll smile upon you. “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.”

Hope affects God’s eyes, ears, and heart. If hope saves then it must affect the savior and the saved. Hope will affect you also. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. I want to remind us what this hope is. This hope is the waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. This hope is the earnest expectation of the deliverance from the bondage of corruption, the body of this death. John said, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2,3)

We shall be like him. That’s it. That’s the resurrection and the rapture of the church. The bible says, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) Paul said to the Phillipians, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body…” (Phillipians 3:20,21) That’s what John means when he says, “We shall be like him!” This hope is the earnest expectation that one day, we will be like him. If we can just get that expectation at the forefront of our hearts and minds, it will change us. It will bless us.

Hope strengthens your heart. Just like hope affects the heart of God, it will affect your heart also. (Psalm 31:24) “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. The Lord told Joshua something after Moses died. “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) Joshua had come out of Egypt, he crossed the Red Sea, he endured 40 years in the wilderness, and had seen all the men his age other than Caleb die and their carcass fall in the wilderness. There was one more place to go, the blessed promised land. He got a glimpse of it 40 years prior but he wasn’t allowed to possess it. So for forty years he waited for that promised land, he looked forward to that promised land, he desired that promised land, and took hold of the promise of God. He hoped for it. He was going into a land of enemies. He was going to have to fight his way in. He’d go up against the walls of Jericho, and the giants of Anak. He did not hope in flesh, horses and chariots. He hoped in the LORD, and the promises of the LORD.  Hope strengthens your heart.

Sometime we’re afraid to go down the road that God would have us go. Sometimes we need a little encouragement. That means we need a little courage put in (the heart). Once again, in the case of Joshua, God did not take away his circumstances. “You know what Joshua, you don’t have to go through Jericho. You can go around it. You don’t have to do into Canaan, you can settle right there where you are.” No, but he did say, “the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” We have that same promise. The Holy Spirit of promise is with us. The bible calls it the earnest of the Spirit, the down payment. The promise and the surety that he will return to claim what he has duly bought and paid for. We just need a little courage to get us to that glorious day. To walk after the Spirit is to wait for the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Spirit to bear witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God is to remind us and give us hope that we have a Father and an inheritance in heaven. That should give us courage and strengthen our hearts to hold on a little longer.

Joshua had already seen a lot of battle, and a lot of blood. Joshua had already suffered through the wilderness, through Egypt, seen all his comrades die. He was already past 60 years old. Maybe God told Joshua to be strong and of a good courage because he knew that Joshua’s heart was weak and his courage was failing. Hold on a little longer Joshua. Hold on to the promises of God. Hope strengthens your heart.

Hope will put praise on your lips. (Psalm 71:14) “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.” Hope will put praise on your lips. Now remember I’m talking about how hope will save us, bless us. It is a blessing to bless God. It is a blessing to be able to lift up your hands to heaven and say, “Bless the Lord! Praise his holy name!” Hope saves. That tell me the salvation of God is praise. The devil’s children don’t get to praise God. We do. We are blessed to be able to praise him. The bible says let everything that has breathe, praise the Lord.

We talk about groaning and travailing while we’re waiting for the redemption of our bodies. How about we do a little praising instead of groaning? And like the Psalmist said, how about me praise him more and more. How about we praise more today than we did yesterday, because we’re one more day closer to being delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. How about we praise him more and more because it’s one less day we have to live in the body of this death, amen?

The Psalmist said, I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. If we want to get in the glory, get the can’t help its and praise him more and more, we need a steady drip of hope. Not just once on Sunday. Everyday, all the day, let’s look forward to the resurrection, the day these vile bodies will be changed. The day that graves will bust wide open. The day that we’ll be caught up in the air, to forever be with the LORD. Let’s look forward to that day. Hope is the salvation of God. Hope will put a song in your heart, and praise on your lips.

(2 Corinthians 5;4) “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” NOT for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. He saying in this flesh, we don’t moan and groan about what we got on, about our circumstances, about our present condition. But we press on and yearn for and expect the promises of God. Our focus is on the future, on eternity. If we would spend just a fraction of the time we do complaining and criticizing on praising God instead it would revolutionize our life. We need a steady drip of hope. We need to stop and sing about 10 times a day:

On that bright and cloudless morning
When the dead in Christ shall rise
And the glory of his resurrection share
When His chosen ones shall gather
to their home beyond the skies
And the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there

It’s a blessing to praise the Lord. Psalm 72:15 says, “Daily shall he be praised!” Psalm 119:164, the Psalmist says “Seven times a day do I praise thee…” Hope will put praise on your lips.

Hope will put a smile on your face. Amen! (Psalm 146:5) “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:” (Proverbs 10:28) “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness:…” There’s no reason to walk around like you just ate sauerkraut if you got your hope in Christ. Some of us, ought to let our face know that we have eternal life in Christ Jesus. Some of us, our face hasn’t gotten the message that we’re not going to hell. It still stuck on “The wages of sin is death!” It hasn’t quite gotten the good news yet.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll get to work and the phone starts ringing, the problems start coming, the workers start goofing off, the demands start coming, and I’ll go half a day with the pooch mouth. I got permanent wrinkles up here on my forehead I’m still working on getting rid of. (Psalm 42:5) “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Amen. He is the health of your countenance. That means hope will put a smile on your face. Hope saves. Hope will save you from being cast down, from being disquieted. The bible says, I will keep thee in perfect peace, he whose mind is stayed on thee!

When Paul and Silas were in Phillipi, things didn’t go very well for them. The bible says, “And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.” (Acts 16:22-24) They had reason to have a pooch mouth. They had reason there to get discouraged and downcast. But what did they do? The bible says, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God:” (Acts 16:25) Their hope was in God. Hope will put a smile on your face.

No matter what you’re going through, he can give you peace. He can give you songs in the night. Paul said I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us… Now he doesn’t say to not compare them. He doesn’t say to not compare the sufferings of this present time to the glory which shall be revealed in us. Go ahead and compare them, or try to. Compare the sufferings of this present time to the glory which shall be revealed; and see which one wins. The winner will show on your face, Amen?! Hope will put a smile on your face. (Romans 5:1-2) “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Hope gives us joy. Hope will put a smile on your face.

Hope will put fruit in your basket. (Proverb 13:12) “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” Oh, the blessings of hope. Do you remember Psalm 1?

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Down here in South Texas we know what it’s like to not have water, especially here in Corpus Christi, where they ban water for days at a time. There’s been summers where we’ve mowed once at the beginning of the summer and then we don’t break out the mower until September or October. There’s no rain, so nothing grows. But not this summer. Summer rain here in South Texas can be a mowing nightmare. The trees grown, the grass grows, the bugs grow. Everything grows in the summer rain. Can I say this? Hope is like the summer rain.

(Isaiah 44:3,4) For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

(Romans 7:4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

John the Baptist said, “Bring forth the fruits!” Hope will put fruit in your basket. Romans 5:5 says “And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us…” I’ve spoken about this before. Nothing will count for Christ less the Holy Ghost sanctions it. Everything done in the power of the flesh will burn at the judgment seat of Christ. But, if we are filled with the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, and mind the things of the Spirit, our fruit will endure. The Holy Ghost gives us a hope that we will not be ashamed at the judgment seat of Christ. Hope will put fruit in your basket.

Conclusion

Hope will put strength in your heart, put praise on your lips, put a smile on your face, and put fruit in your basket. This is the salvation of God. For we are saved by hope. The Salvation of God is strength in the heart, praise on the lips, joy unspeakable and full of glory, and fruit unto God. Do you have these things? Do you want these things. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is…”

My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.

Would you place your hope in him?

 

Romans 8:21-23 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

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Introduction

Last week we covered Revelation, Expectation, Subjection, and our Blessed Hope. I have to say I really enjoyed studying this concept of subjection: subjection to vanity vs. subjection in hope. I believe in the power of hope. Hope is not just wishing for something, but it’s waiting, expecting, and planning for; the eminence of our salvation, the surety of our place in heaven, the eternal security of our faith, our savior, and our future. I know there’s much much more in the to this concept of subjection in hope. But we must move on. I read these few verses and I always look at certain words. For example, the subjects is the creature or the whole creation and then we ourselves. And then the common actions like shall be delivered, groaneth, travaileth, and waiting. The objects like the bondage of corruption and the glorious liberty of the children of God and the adoption and the redemption of our body. And I ask myself what sticks out to me? How do all these words come together to speak to me?

How do we group these things together in our understanding?

Two States

So first of all, there are two states that this text is talking about.  And this is probably how we’ll divide the message today. There are two different periods of time to be in. There are two different places to be. One is the present. The here and now. Today. Our current state; current condition; the description of our times and surroundings. The first state is our present state. And the text refers to this as the bondage of corruption. The other is our future, and the text refers this as the glorious liberty of the children of God. And the transition from our present state to our future state, our deliverance from one to the other the bible refers to as the adoption or the redemption of our body. So we are to understand some things about our bodies. Our bodies, in this present state is in the bondage of corruption, right now. But there’s coming a day. Praise the Lord. These bodies will be delivered. These bodies will be redeemed.

I know a lot of times we think, “I can’t wait to get rid of this body! I can’t wait to shed this old flesh!” Well, I got news for you today. This body isn’t going anywhere. This body will not be forgotten. This body will not disappear into oblivion. No. Instead, they will be changed:

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Phillipians 3:20,21)

So did you get that? The Lord Jesus Christ shall change our vile bodies. They will be changed. These bodies will be delivered. They will be redeemed. You might think, “Well what about those bodies that have rotten away into the dust of the ground.” You can go dig up some old graves and you’ll find no body, no bones, no worms, just dirt. These bodies God must first resurrect.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17)

You don’t necessarily need a body to resurrect before hand. The purpose of a resurrection is not what was, but the end result; which is a living body. The resurrection is the quickening of a body, the life of the body. In other words, dust is not a problem for God. The bible says, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)  Maybe this is a just a minor point to some people and they might think, “Who cares?”

Well, I care. I care to know the things that God wants me to know. The bible says, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139:14) You think about this? Do you think that God is going to throw away what he’s so fearfully and wonderfully made? The bible says “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee…” (Jeremiah 1:5) Do you think that God is going to throw away what he has so intimately known and sanctified? The bible says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15) I don’t believe that God will so lightly cast away his creation. These little things, minor points, may give us great insight into the love and care of God.

This reminds me of the Good Samaritan.

“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead… …a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”

The other night, I had a massive headache. I don’t know what’s really going on in my wife’s soul and spirit. I mean her Spirit does not bear witness with my spirit. But, she gets this oil, deep blue, or pan-away, these essential oils. She drips a few drops on my head and rubs it in. That makes all the difference in the world. She cares for my body. God cares also for our bodies. He cares for all of us, the soul, the spirit, and yes also the body.

Reading through the Old Testament, much importance and care was placed on the temple, the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God. And now we, our bodies, our the temple of God. “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19) Our body is the temple. Not your spirit or your soul, but your body. That thing you kick out of bed every morning, you scrub down and dress up, you push throughout the day. That thing you keep shoving food down three times a day and the thing you rest it bed every night. The body. Your body. Your body is God’s temple; his tabernacle, his abode.

State #1: The Bondage of Corruption

Now I don’t want to get ahead of myself. The text speaks of two states; and the first state is our present state. And the text refers to this as the bondage of corruption. Right now, our bodies are in the bondage of corruption. The old temples did not last. The one Solomon Built was destroyed. The temple that Ezra rebuilt fell to decay. The temple that King Herod built has fallen. And now at the temple Mount where the temple of God once stood stands a Muslim mosque. Does everyone know the story of Ben-Hur? In the beginning of the story, Judah Ben-Hur, the Jew, is trying to explain to Messala, the Roman Captain, his hope in the future of his people. He says, “Besides, you must understand this, Messala. I believe in the past and future of my people.” But Messala answers, “Future? You are a conquered people! You live on dead dreams. You live on the myths of the past. Solomon’s glory is gone. You think it will return? Joshua will not rise again to save you… Nor David.”

When I think of the old temples of the Israelites and kings of old and how they didn’t stand forever. They were either destroyed or decayed or carried away. Then I think of our bodies how they don’t seem to last forever. We don’t stay young forever. What we’ve succumbed to is the bondage of corruption. And in this bondage of corruption, we must live. Let me read this text again:

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:22,23)

In this present state, the present state of bondage, in this prison of corruption I see three things that we do in the text: Groan, Travail, and Wait. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now… We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption…” Groaning, Travailing, and Waiting. You’re probably thinking, “That’s not very encouraging, brother Rick! Groaning, Travailing, and Waiting? I thought you were supposed to be encouraging us and helping us?” Well, like I said before, sometimes we have to hear the bad news first before we can appreciate the good news.

Even in the bad news, it’s comforting to know that God knows, that Paul knew. I never get any indication that Paul was always bubbling, joking, and laughing all the time. He was a pretty serious fellow. And when he gets into these things, it tell me and reminds me that God knows and God cares. When I read the Word of God on these matters it reminds who Jesus is:

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4;15,16)

Reality is that we need mercy and grace in time of need. We’re not always going to be on the mountain top. Most of this journey is in the valley. And if you do have any mountain top experiences, remember that most of that journey is up-hill. The easy down-hill portions will finish as quick as it starts. It’s just reality. Obfuscating this reality will not help you. But bread and living water along the way will help you. A lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path will help you. A friend that sticketh closer than a brother will help you. A shelter in the time of storm will help you. Amen. So we want to stay, even though its hard, in reality, not fantasy. And the reality of this present time in the bondage of corruption is groaning, travailing, and waiting.

1. Groaning

You know when you hear these three words groaning, travailing, and waiting, what is it that comes to mind? I mean what are these three words synonymous with? I think of no other things but child birth. Now I don’t have actual experience on this. But I do have 1st hand experience on this. Patty had two C-sections in the beginning, but five of the children were born the normal natural way, through groaning, travailing, and waiting. And I got to witness all that 1st hand. I got to be there and witness the whole ordeal. So when I hear groaning, travailing, and waiting, my mind always goes back to the those days. And the irony of this is that I always think of those days as wonderful days. But we’ll get to that later, I think.

I remember when it was time. Those contractions started with a low intensity. And there were false alarms; Braxton-Hitch contractions. The body was just warming up or something. It wasn’t the real thing. You know how I knew it was the real thing? Groaning. Patty would hold her stomach start saying “Oooooooooooo!” When she started doing that, that was it. It was the real thing.

Can I say this: If you ain’t groaning, then you ain’t living. In this life, in this bondage of corruption, in this body, there’s going to be groaning. “Ooooooooooo!”

• When you first get married, and you’re arguing everday, it’s “Oooooooooo!”
• When the grocery bills and the doctor bills start coming and don’t stop coming, it’s “Ooooooooo!”
• When the main water line busts, it’s “Ooooooooooo!”
• When the septic outside overflows, it’s “Oooooooooo!”
• When there’s barely enough time in the day to sleep, it’s “Ooooooooo!”
• When the kids start rebelling, it’s “Ooooooooo!”
• When your sons and daughter become teenagers, it’s “Ooooooooooo!”
• When the parents start getting old, it’s “Ooooooooooo!”
• When your loved ones hurt you, it’s “Oooooooooo!”
• When your body starts to fail you, it’s “Ooooooooooo!”

Now I want to say this: Groaning is not complaining though. If the “Ooooooooo!” was all that groaning was about then it would really just be complaining. Groaning doesn’t just bemoan your present condition, but hopes and waits for something better. Let me say that again. If the moaning is all there is to your groaning, then that’s just complaining and self-pity. You don’t want to go there.

There’s should be a silent “I can’t wait!” after the “Oooooooo.”  So it should sound more like “Oooooooo, I can’t wait….” It’s a longing and an aspiration for something better; a better state, a better condition, better times. If we lose sight of what things can be, or will be, then all we’re doing is complaining. Instead, our groans and moans should be the sounds of toil, the sounds of pressing, the sounds of effort, the sounds of energy spent, the sounds of work.

Groaning is Moaning + Growing.

Groaning is Moaning + Going.

Groaning is Moaning + a Goal.

So if there’s no goal, no going, no growing, then it’s just moaning. When a woman is in labor, there’s an end goal to all this groaning. Every “Ooooooooo” brings that child closer and closer to taking his first breath and beginning a new life.

Have you ever pushed yourself in exercise? You’re trying to reach 40 push ups. You get to 20 and it starts getting real hard. You get to 30 and the pain becomes almost unbearable, but you want to reach 40, so involuntarily as you press for the mark, as you bear down and force yourself to keep going you start groaning, groaning to reach the goal, groaning to not give up. That’s why I say if there’s no goal, no growing, no going, then it’s just moaning.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Corinthian 5:1-4)

Did you see that? For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. This mortality, these burdens, this tabernacle: We’re not just groaning against these things. No. We’re groaning for something better; to be clothed! We’re groaning for life! We are groaning for a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.

So in all the groans of life: the bills, the arguing, the water line, the septic tank, the kids, the parents, your parents, and your body, don’t lose sight of the goal. Or maybe I give ourselves a little too much credit. Maybe we need to get a goal. Maybe life seems like a drudgery to you. Maybe all the moaning in your life has no goal to hook up with. Maybe you feel like you’re going nowhere because you truly have no place to go. Maybe in all your trials and troubles you’ve been through, you’ve haven’t grown from them, and instead you keep having to take the same test over and over. I believe this is what Christ does for the mankind. He gives us a goal. He puts some grow in our groanings. He gives us a glimpse of what things can be or what things should be or what things will be for the children of God. In our groanings, are we just moaning, or are we earnestly desiring for something better, earnest contending for our faith.

2. Travailing

I want to bring your attention to two words in the text. It says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”  In pain. Now I want to go back to what these three words groaning, travailing, and waiting remind us of; child birth. As far the bible is concerned, travailing in birth and pain are synonymous. You will seldom find those two concepts separated in the bible.

Fear took hold upon them there, andpain, as of a woman in travail. (Psalm 48:6)

And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth… (Isaiah 13:8)

Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth… (Isaiah 21:3)

Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. (Isaiah 26:17)

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. (Isaiah 66:7)

We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. (Jeremiah 6:24)

O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! (Jeremiah 22:23)

Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. (Micah 4:10)

And this last quote here in Micah really hits the nail in the head. You see in the bible, it’s not the baby that is delivered. It’s the mama. Isaiah 26:17 says “Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain…” In Micah it says, “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. (Micah 4:10) You see it’s not the baby that is delivered from the mama’s womb, but the mama is delivered from her travail. What is gained is not really the baby, but the deliverance from the pain and anguish, deliverance from the 9-10 months of being under a load, deliverance from the burden of carrying that child. She is delivered from the child, not the child delivered from her.

Like I said of groaning, “If you ain’t groaning, then you ain’t living!” But of travailing I’ll say this, “No pain, no gain!” How’s that for encouragement? No pain. No gain. Sometimes I wonder about this. I question, “Is there another way?” Must we suffer in order to grow? Must we suffer in order to learn? Why can’t we just grow? Or why can’t we just learn? Why does it take trials and tribulations and troubles to change and mold us? Why is there so much pain in this life? Why do things have to hurt? And honestly, I have no answer. God’s ways are above my ways. I didn’t set this thing up like this. It’s just so.

But let me take you back to what I was saying earlier about the irony of those days when the children were born. The irony is that even though they were days of pain, travail, worry, sorrow, and such, they were also wonderful days. I can honestly say that two of the most amazing days that Patty and I have had were when those kids were born. I remember when Finny was born, I was in the living room with waiting like the old days. And Patty was in the bedroom with the midwives. I remember all the anticipation and the worry and anguish in that house, but it all was over the moment I heard “Waaaaaaaah!”

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. (John 16:21)

The bible says that “”’Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11) I know I always associate chastening with punishment. But that’s not so. Chastening is correction. And correction is instruction. Correction doesn’t mean that you’re getting punished. It means you’re being trained and instructed. The bible says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Proverbs 3;11,12) We question why? Why do we have to go through these things? Why do we have to suffer these things? Why must we be denied things? Because he loves you, and he knows what you need and don’t need.

The bible says “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” (Proverbs 13:24) No pain. No gain. Nothing is worth having in this life comes forth without pain, without travail. I know we don’t want that. I don’t want that. I often pray that this wouldn’t be so, but I know in my heart that this is the way God made things. I always remember the words of that song, “Tears are a language God understands…” Even the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated this in the garden. The Bible says “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39) And God the Father said, not in words, “That is not possible.” But Praise the Lord, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (Hebrews 2:9,10) And if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him.

Maybe the when Paul said that he wanted to know the fellowship of his sufferings, what he truly had in mind was the glory and the perfect salvation. In other words, the fellowship of his sufferings are more about the ends and not the means; not the fellowship of the suffering itself, but the fellowship of the ends of that suffering; the glory of God and the redemption of these bodies.

3. Waiting

I’ve been reading this book Talent is Overated. And I’ve come to the conclusion that this book is really just a motivational book, backed up with research. The author is trying to convince and proof to the reader that masters and the greats did not necessarily possess some sort of innate talent, but rather they were a product of a lot of real good practice. Most of the great composers, authors, athletes, and such were not particularly good at what they did when they first started. What they did have in common though was that they had extraordinary teachers, and spend extraordinary time in practice, and they endured extraordinary difficulty in their practice. And one of the things that the author brought up, and this was not his orginal thought, was the 10 year rule; that it takes at least 10 years of practice and study before someone becomes exceptionally good at something. If you study the great authors, composers, and athletes, you’ll see that most all of them waited until after 10 years of their profession before they had their great accomplishment. They had much study and much practice and much failure before they hit the big one, so to speak.

So it’s not just groaning and travailing. But it’s also waiting. No. The answer will not come overnight. You’re going to have to wait. I know this doesn’t set well with our modern day fast food approach to everything. We got it have it now now now! I was just talking to my brother the other day about the wonders of FedEx and UPS. Their superior logistics have, in these recent days of Amazon Prime, are just rock solid now. You can get stuff now, where as in the past, it was a little more difficult. Home Depot and Walmart have everything. Just go get it. You can’t afford it? No problem, just charge it. You don’t have credit? Bad credit? No problem. This is contrary to Christianity. Much like I’ve explained regarding this follow your dream mentality. It runs contrary to the teachings of Christ. Instead of gratify yourself, Christ has challenged us to deny ourselves. Instead of pursuing our dreams, we are challenged to bow to His will and not our own.

And we’re going to have to wait. And it’s not just waiting round doing nothing. It’s waiting in the groaning and the travailing. These great authors and composers and athletes, they just didn’t decide to be great one day and wait around for ten years and all of a sudden they were great. No they did 10 years of purposeful practice, diligent study, hard work, uncomfortable disciplines, and after 10 years of that, then came the fruit. I think that we ought to desire to be great Christians. I’m not talking about being great in the eyes of man; but being all that God wants us to be. This book Talent is Overated takes pages and pages and pages and research and study just to say one thing: Practice makes perfect. We ought to practice being great Christians. Do what it takes grow into all that God wants us to be.

Christians have goals. Christians do have gain. And we do grow. But we also wait for it. And it’s not in ease and comfort, but in groaning and travailing. And it’s not once, not twice, but however long it takes. You say, “Man, that’s tough!” It is. Paul told Timothy “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3) I always think of that song Lester Roloff used to sing:

You took the hand of Jesus, stepped out upon his promise. Yet it seems you have trusted in vain.
The answer you have prayed for, it’s on it’s way and paid for. Hold on a little longer. Hold on.
Hold on a little longer. Hold on a little stronger. The testings of the Lord are pure gold.
He’ll take you through the fire. He’ll burn out the dross and mire. Hold on.

I don’t know more to say to you than. Wait on the Lord. Do what you know to do and wait on the Lord. He will bring it to pass.

 

Back to the Bondage of Corruption

Now in this present state, this bondage of corruption, is described as a state of groaning, travailing, and waiting. But these three words do not fully describe or explain our state. There’s more to it, for the child of God at least. Let’s read the text again:

Romans 8:22,23 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Paul is explaining that the whole world groans and travails for something better, for a better day. And then he says that it’s not just the whole world, it’s the children of God too that groan and travail. But there’s something different about the world and ourselves and it’s those seven words which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. We have the Spirit of God. And I think the emphasis is that even though we have the Holy Spirit, we must endure suffering, and groaning, and travailing. That having the Holy Spirit doesn’t exempt us from these things. But it does make all the difference in the world. We read 2 Corinthians earlier:

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (Here it is) Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. (2 Corninthians 5:1-4)

It’s God that has put us in this state. This is a similar thought as being made subject unto vanity. God has subjected us to this condition. This condition of groaning and travailing and waiting. He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God! But it doesn’t stop there. It says “who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit!” Remember I’ve said that hope is the holy matrimony between desire and expectation. We may have a desire to go to heaven, but unless we have a reason to expect to go, then we don’t have a hope. We see that same principle here. God has given us the earnest of the Spirit; and the Spirit is that reason to have an expectation. Without it, we’d be only like the rest of the world, groaning, travailing, and waiting for something better, but having no hope. But we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. We have the sampling of the field, the evidence and expectation of the bountiful harvest. We have the proof that there is something better coming. We have the earnest of the Spirit.  The world has not that. 2 Corinthians goes on to say:

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10)

The Holy Spirit gives us confidence in our future; confidence that our current state will someday change; confident that there is coming a day; “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Phillipian 3:16) Confidence that the adoption will take place, that God will redeem of our bodies. It’s the Holy Spirit that gives us this confidence. Without the Holy Ghost, there’d be no go, there’d be no grow, and there’d be no goal. That’s why Paul said, “Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.” That’s why he said, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25) God has put in us a desire for something better, but he has also put in a reason to expect that something better will come, his Holy Spirit.

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:35-39)

Cast not away therefore your confidence. Can I say this: Even though our bodies may be in a state of corruption, they’re also in a state of confidence. Confident God is not going to forsake what he’s so fearfully and wonderfully made. Confident that God will not forget that which he has so intimately known and sanctified. Confidence to say as Paul has “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

State #2: The Glorious Liberty of the Children of God

There’s two states in the text. The first state is the bondage of corruption. But for the saint of God, in that state there’s hope and confidence and an earnest expectation for the other state, the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God, the adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Ben-Hur said to Messala, “I believe in the past and future of my people.” But Messala answers, “Future? You are a conquered people! You live on dead dreams. You live on the myths of the past. Solomon’s glory is gone. You think it will return? Joshua will not rise again to save you… Nor David.” Do you know what Ben-Hur said? He said,

“You may conquer the land. You may slaughter the people. But that is not the end. We will rise again.”

These old bodies will soon be conquered. They will fail. These frames will fade away. But they will rise again. God asked of Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” God commanded, “Prophecy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.” (Ezekiel 37:3-5) We will rise again. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” ((1 Thessalonians 4:16) Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” (John 11:25)

We will rise again. These bodies will be resurrected in immortality. These bodies, whether they’ve been dust for a thousand years, or they’re in the middle of corruption with the worms running through them, or whether they still be kicking, we shall all be changed, and in the twinkling of an eye. By the word of God, upon his breath, we will live again. I’m looking forward to the resurrection. I can’t wait to see the stones rolled back. I can’t wait to see the graves bust wide open. I can’t wait to see the immortal glorious body that God will make for me. I can’t wait to be in it. I can’t wait to realize and experience what this glorious liberty of the children of God will be like. Liberty and freedom from corruption. All our long days we have been subject unto vanity, unto corruption, subject unto death and decay and the curse. Bless the Lord, when Jesus comes to redeem these bodies, we will no longer be subject to that. We’ll be free of that. Free of these corruptible bodies and the fate thereof. We will be delivered from the groaning and travailing and waiting of the bodies that were bound to corruption.

Conclusion

Which brings us to the end of this message. Listen, what happens if you are not delivered from that. What happens if you are not in that adoption. What happens if your body is not redeemed? You will forever groan and travail in pain and wait forever for something that will never come. You will be eternally bound to corruption. In Mark, hell is described three times as “The fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9) You all the passage in the bible about Lazarus and the rich man:

“…the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. (Luke 16:22-26)

There is no deliverance from the pain, from the groanings and travail. And the waiting will never end. There will be no Holy Spirit and no hope for a better day. After a million years of groaning and travailing and torments, you will lift up your eyes and cry “My agony has just begun.”

Do you have the Holy Spirit? Are you saved? That’s the question that the preacher asked the night before I got saved. Preacher Allen asked during the preaching, “Do you have the Holy Ghost living inside of you?” My wife, who had been in church all her life, walked down the aisle that night and got saved. I fell asleep pondering and mulling over that question and the events that had come to pass. I woke up the next morning on the brink of hell. I came to Jesus, a lost sinful wretch, found love and mercy, and got gloriously saved.

 

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,  (Romans 8:18-20)

As usual, when I first look at the text, I’m really not sure what I’m gonna preach. I don’t see a whole lot. But as I focus in and concentrated and let God speak, there ends up being much more than I can cover or handle or contemplate. I feel wholly inadequate to cover some of the topics here. I look at this text and I see a few words in here that stand out to me. Verse 18. The glory which shall be revealed in us. I see Revelation. Verse 19. I see expectation and manifestation which is revelation so I’ll group those two together. Verse 20. The creature was made subject. Him who hath subjected. I see subjection. Revelation, expectation, and subjection. There’s our three point outline.

Revelation

I know traditionally when we think of the The Revelation, we’re usually talking about the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is for the most part, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Revelation is when Jesus comes riding in.

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:11-13)

But I want to bring you attention to the next verse concerning the Revelation. It says in verse 14, “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”  The bible says in Jude 1:14, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”

If you are saved… I want you to know that things are gonna change. When the saints go marching in, if you are in that number, you will not go marching in in the same state that you are now. I want you to know that “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,” We ought to be looking for the Three Shalls: “for the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) And it’s gonna be glorioius! “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY which shall be revealed in us.”

Look, I may not know what you’re going through. I may not have been through what you’re going through. I still consider myself pretty young and pretty sheltered. I haven’t lived like some of you have lived. There’s things you’ve suffered and may still be suffering that I’ve never had experience. But there is one thing I know about it. There’s one thing I reckon. And that whatever it is we have to suffer on this earth… whatever it is we have to endure… whatever trials and troubles we face today, tomorrow, on that great getting up morning, it will all be past. It will all be done. It will all be gone. And it will all be nothing compared to the glorious revelation of our eternal state. The glory of God will be as the blinding Sun. Many a cloudy days we have seen, but on that glorious moment that Sun is revealed, and the clouds are driven away, and the muddy grounds and standing water is licked up. Everything is brighter. Everything is fresh and clean.

You say, Preacher are you trying to belittle my sufferings. No, I’m just saying that they are little compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. I’m just saying we ought to look forward to this Revelation. I mean don’t get too excited now. You only have eternal life. You only got God living in you. You’re only sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You’ve only been forgiven of all your sin. You’re only joint-heirs with Christ of his heavenly mansions. I’m saying we got a reason to belittle our own sufferings for a little while.

I know we’re gonna suffer on this earth and in this life. But that’s not all that on our account. Paul said if we suffer with him, we will reign with him. Paul said I reckon. That’s an accounting term. That’s where the word reconcile come from, like when you reconcile your check book? Paul is adding it up. Paul is taking stock. And if you think you’ve suffered, Paul suffered.

…In labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (1 Corinithians 11:23-27)

Paul suffered, but he took stock. He added it up. He RECONciled his accounts. He said, “You know I’ve paid a lot of bills on the suffering side of things.. I’ve lost a lot. But Lord, I got a lot coming to me when this is said and done. I’ve got a great inheritance waiting for me. I got a lot stashed away in glory, and it just keeps growing and growing.” Jesus said, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven!” Paul looked at his suffering and his loss and said, “It is nothing!”

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yeah doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. (Philippians 3:7-8)

Look I know we’re going to suffered hardships and trials and temptations. Sometimes we get down in the dumps. I have my episodes. I might not be going through what you’re going through, but I got my moments. I get discouraged. I get down. Just ask Patty. Or come visit me on a Saturday morning when it’s raining. You talk about depression. You talk about the whole house suffering. But when our suffering turns into self-pity, and we become consumed with our sufferings, maybe it’s time to check the heavenly records, amen? Maybe it’s time to do some reconciling. Maybe we need to look at our heavenly bank accounts and remind ourselves what we got coming, what we got stored up.

I got a lot more than I’ve given. I’ve am blessed so much more than I’ve had to lose. We might have to lose some things for Christ in this life. Oh but what we’ve gained in Christ Jesus. I’m telling you the day I met the Lord Jesus Christ, it was the greatest day in my life. Getting saved is the greatest thing to happen to this old sinner. I didn’t deserve his attention. I didn’t do anything to gain his favor. I didn’t do anything that I might endear myself to him. No. God just loves sinners. God just wants to save old sinners. Oh what I’ve gained on account of Christ.

I’ve gained everything! What I lose is nothing compared to what I’ve gained. What I suffer is nothing compared to what I’ve gained. Paul said that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy. Not worthy. That means worthless. They’re worthless compared to what we’ve gained in glory.  Which brings me perfectly to my first and only point about the Revelation.

What is soon to be revealed is now hidden.

Let me say that again: What is soon to be revealed is now hidden. Paul says it’s the glory which shall be revealed “in us.” I’m saying that whatever it is that God is going to reveal when the time right, is already there. The glory that God will reveal in us is already in us. It just can’t be seen. It’s yet to be revealed. It’s hidden.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Now I know the world don’t understand this. And I’m not sure I even do. But my faith is the evidence of that glory that God has given us. Do you remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane? He prayed a prayer. He said, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was…” And Jesus goes on to say, “The glory which thou has gavest me I have given them; that they may be one even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me…”

He said I have given them, not I will give them. I have given them. The glory which shall be revealed in us is already in us. It’s already in us because Jesus put it in there. Can I say this is? The glory is present and accounted for, or should be accounted for. And that corresponds with the first part of the text we’re in right now. Paul says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. The sufferings of this present time. Not the sufferings of yesterday. Not the sufferings of tomorrow. Paul is not worried about yesterday’s sufferings. He said, “But this one things I do, forgetting those things which are behind… I press toward the mark.” Paul is not worried about tomorrow. He said, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus which strengtheneth me.” So we’re not talking about what happened last year, or what might happen a year from now. We’re talking about right now. Today. This present time. Paul is reckoning his present condition.

He saying that there’s something inside of me this present time. And the hope and expectation of the revelation or the manifestation of this is better and greater more worthy and valuable than any suffering I am presently enduring. When you think of that word revelation, what do you think of? I always think of a magician. He’s got something behind that napkin that he’s gonna let the audience see. I think of the presentation of a portrait. That white sheet hangs over the painting. Whatever is going to be revealed is already there. It’s just covered up right now. It’s behind the veil. When a bride is presented to her husband, she comes veiled. Sometime before the minister pronounces them man and wife, sometime before the husband kisses the bride, that veil is removed. One day this veil of flesh will be removed and what God has prepared for his Son will be revealed to him and all the universe.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53)

We’re going to disrobe from the corruptible. We’re going to throw off the veil of mortality. And what will be revealed is what we believed all along. The bible says that Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. The bible says, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27)

O if we can ever get a grasp on that. That God has already sanctified and separated and chosen for his Son the bride. Like the Old Testament story of how Eleazar, Abraham’s servant, had gone and found a wife for his son Isaac. You know the story of how he told God, “Let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for they servant Isaac…” (Genesis 24:14) And how Rebekah came out and met Eleazar and it all came to pass as he had asked God. And she agreed to go with Abraham’s servant. And along the way back home, the Bible says:

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. (Genesis 24:63-65)

Listen, that veil did not change what it concealed. And it did not change the events that would shortly come to pass. The bible says, “Isaac brought her into his mother’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her.” And somewhere in that verse that veil was removed. Don’t forget what is behind this veil of flesh; the beautiful, glorious bride of Christ. I know this flesh is an utter failure. And it fails us all the time. We mess up. We let the flesh prevail. Sometimes we wonder if we’ll ever get it right. We get discouraged in the Lord. We give up. We get in sin. But I want to say this: That veil doesn’t change what it conceals. And it doesn’t change the events that will shortly come to pass. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) Right now, the Lord Jesus Christ awaits and lifts his eyes across the fields, and behold, the camels are coming. As sure as I’m breathing those camels are on the move and there’s nothing in heaven or earth that is going to stop them. Not the devil, the world, this flesh, or anything under the sun or above the sun that is going to stop that caravan.

Expectation

Therefore, this brings us to expectation. And I’m already kinda in there. It’s hard to separate these things.

What is soon to be revealed is at this present time hidden. Being hidden doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Being hidden does it mean it isn’t so. Being hidden is still being. It’s still existing. I want to encourage you to believe what I’m telling you. Trust in what the Bible is telling us. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen.” Let me get back to what I was saying earlier. Faith is the evidence. This is backwards from what the world believes. The bible is not always logical. The world says that 1 + 1 = 2. But the bible says that 1 + 1 = 1. The Bible says, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) One man plus one woman = one flesh. The world says that seeing is believing. If you show me, I’ll believe it. But the bible says, if you believe it, then you’ll see it. At Lazarus grave, Jesus said to roll the stone away, and Martha said, “He stinketh!” But the bible says, “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40)

And this is similar. The world says just because you believe something doesn’t prove that it’s so. Believe something to be true is not evidence that it is true. But somehow, in the wisdom of God, faith in God does. Faith is the evidence of thing not seen. Saved folk living by faith proves to the world the things of God. If you want more of the glory of God and the presence of God manifested in your life. If you want more proof of God, then put your trust in him. Believe that what shall be revealed in due time is there already inside of you. Believe that greater is he that is in thee than he that is in the world. I know I’ve talked about this before. Sometimes we wait for that big things to happen to change our life. We go day and day, discontent with our circumstances. We’re waiting for the big day! Oh but if you’ve been saved, the big day has already come and gone. That big change has already taken place inside. And one day God is going to make it all clear. He’s going to take the veil away. He’s going to reveal what’s in us. He’s going to manifest to us and all the sons of God.

So the big change I’m looking for is Philippians 3:20 “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body…”  You think about the Lord Jesus Christ, the firstfruits. 1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” 1 Corinthians 15:23 “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Christ is the ensample, the firstfruits. The firstfruits tell us what the main harvest is going to be like. Jesus was glory robed in flesh. Jesus was the King of Kings hidden from man. Paul said, “None of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:8-9) The Lord of glory robed in flesh. And the servant is not above his master. Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. I am “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13) I’m looking for the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only will the Lord Jesus Christ be revealed, but the glory in us shall also be revealed. Or shall I say, unleashed, no longer to be hidden and subdued by the flesh. Amen.

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” Can I just say this: Faith allows me to expect the revelation or the manifestation. I always joke with my wife that there’s some people out there that don’t give out invitations, they give out expectations. Some of you will get that. Expectation is a faith that something will happen in the future. Expectation is to count on it. Expectation is to prepare for it. Expectation is to wait for it. We’re not invited to the marriage supper of the lamb. We’re expected. Invitations are for sinners. Saints are expected. In a lot of bibles, there’s a little definition reference on that word creature. And you look it up and it says creation. Paul is meaning that the entire creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Jesus is the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the earth. It’s as if God did not provide a lamb for a sinful man, but instead provided man for the Lamb. Creation was created for the Lord Jesus Christ. The bible says, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principlalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” (Colossians 1:16) The bible says “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:3,4) All of creation, all of mankind, is on a crash course for the Revelation. All of creation has pressed toward this day. I’ve heard it and read it. That the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most prophesied event in the Bible. From Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to David to Paul, creation has been waiting for this day. It is the earnest expectation of the creation. I was looking for definitions of earnest. It means committed. It means staid. You ever heard that expression. Stay the course!

Like I said before, right now, the Lord Jesus Christ awaits and lifts his eyes across the fields, and behold, the camels are coming. As sure as I’m breathing those camels are on the move and there’s nothing in heaven or earth that is going to stop them. Not the devil, the world, this flesh, or anything under the sun or above the sun that is going to stop that caravan. No. the course is staid. The commitment has been made since the foundation of the world. How do we wait for the blessed coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? And this is where I’m headed. How do we wait? To expect the manifestation of the sons of God is to believe in the sons of God. Does waiting on the Lord Jesus mean to just sit around and do nothing. Sit on the couch and read a magazine like you do in a waiting room. Or does waiting on the Lord Jesus mean to serve and work and live for the Lord Jesus Christ? But see, you’re only going do what you believe and trust to be so.

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered the house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 24:12,13)

You’re only going to do what you believe and trust to be so. To expect the manifestation, the revelation, of the sons of God, is to know and believe and trust that you are son of God. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” (Romans 8:16) We ARE the children of God. “But as many as received him, to them gave he POWER to become the sons of God…” (John 1:12) “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the POWER that worketh in us..” (Ephesians 3:20) Does that power dwell inside of you. Or let me ask you this: Do you believe that it does?

Subjection

I have to leave that there and move on to the last topic: Subjection. Verse 20 says, “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.” Made subject and hath subjected brings us to this topic of subjection. Subjection has through the years has been used as a war term or a political term. The Israelites were put under subjection of the Egyptians. You have a king and his subjects. The subjects are under subjection of the king. To subject means to bring under control or jurisdiction. So with that understanding we look at this verse.

The creature or the creation was made subject to vanity. Now vanity comes from the word vain. And vain means useless and futile. So mankind was made subject or brought under control of uselessness and futility. The bible says, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were no redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.” (1 Peter 1:18) We need to understand that vanity and corruption is wholly the same thing. Mankind is brought under the control, subjected to, the uselessness and futility of corruptible things. Corruption and death is the king. Corruption and death is in control of man. Vanity denotes mortality and corruption. I know a lot of times we hear the word vanity, and we think about that little girl in the Charlie Brown cartoons looking at the mirror at her perfect curls. It’s funny. But there’s nothing funny about corruption and death. When Solomon says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” He’s saying that all is corrupted. All is useless and worthless and futile and will end in death!

Vanity is the disregard for what is worthwhile, what is truly valuable. There is an eternal purpose for our souls. There is an immortal plan and purpose for each and everyone of us. Vanity is to turn from that. Vanity is to ignore it, to disregard it, to spurn the plans of God and spite them. If all our life is focused around the temporal, the flesh, the material things of man, and the few years that we live on this earth, then truly we are subject to vanity, under dominion of corruption and mortality.

But I want you to see this: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly…” Not willingly. Not willingly. This means that it was not our choice. It was not our idea. It was not in our power to grant this or deny this. I know we have to explain and teach about the fall of man. And we sometimes blame the devil. We blame Adam and Eve. I know they all had their part in the fall of man, but know this: That’s it is God Almighty that sits on the throne. It was God Almighty that decreed, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of they life!” It was God Almighty that drove out the man; and placed cherubims and a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life. For the create was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of HIM who hath subjected the same in hope. Him is God. It was God that put the creation under subjection. Jesus said, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy the both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) Only God has the power to either grant or deny this. It’s his will, not mine.

Not willingly. The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. Now I understand the free will of man. Man has a will. But is wasn’t my choice to eat the fruit of tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It wasn’t my choice to be cursed. It wasn’t my choice to work and sweat and toil all the days of my life in sorrow. It was Adam and Eve, not me. The bible says that “Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similtude of Adam’s transgression.” (Romans 5:14) I didn’t sin after the similitude of Adam’s transgression. I didn’t do what Adam did. It wasn’t my will to be plagued into corruption and sin. It wasn’t my will to be made subject to vanity. That wasn’t my choice. And you might have a gripe with God if that was the end of the matter, but it’s not. It might not have been your choice to be made subject to vanity (not willingly). But it is your choice if you decide to stay subject to vanity. It might not have been your will to be subject to sin and the wages of sin. But if you choose to die in your sin, you will do so on your own free will. God has made us an offer. “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

God is HIM, him that hath subjected. It is God that has subjected us, put this creation under the power of vanity. There is a certain sense of relief knowing and accepting that it’s God that has put us in this fix. I believe that knowing and accepting this can help us understand that it’s God that will deliver us from it. When a person gets saved and accepts the gift of God, he must first accept that the wages of sin is death. To receive the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, you gotta receive the bad news first. “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” (Matthew 9;12) I believe that the essence of knowing that you are a sinner is knowing that God is sovereign, just, and holy. To know your sin is to be acquainted with the holiness of God and the power and authority of God. To know you are a sinner is to humble yourself before the mighty hand of God.

Of course verse 20 doesn’t end there. “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. God has subject mankind, his creation, to vanity. But he has also subjected creation to hope. We are cursed by vanity, yet we are saved by hope. Romans 8:24 says very plainly, “For we are saved by hope!” And the same rules apply. Subjection is subjection. Hope has subdued us. Hope is in control. We are brought under the power of hope. And hope will conquer vanity.

I’ve used this before. I was given an illustration of hope. Hope is the holy matrimony between desire and expectation. You may have a desire to go to heaven, a desire to be rid of the curse of sin, a desire to be freed from the subjection of vanity. But if you don’t have a reason to expect what you desire, then you don’t have a hope. My reason is his reason. He said let us reason together. The creature was made subject to vanity by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. He has a reason to subject us to vanity. He has a reason to subject us to hope. And his reason is my reason to expect what I desire.

Conclusion

Revelation, Expectation, and Subjection. This subjection of hope gives me an expectation for the revelation of the glory in me. By what authority do we hope for that revelation? by what authority do we hope and wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the same authority that has subjected us to vanity. The authority of God and the power of God.

Romans 8;24 says, “For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Let me read that first verse again, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Hope that is seen is not hope. Colossians 1:26,27 “The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

I want to try to put this together. The hope of glory, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation of glory, the manifestation of the sons of God, the future, the things to come – they should affect what the bible calls this present time, particularly the sufferings of this present time. What is it that you’re suffering? Is it more than what is in you? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Do you believe that?

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. (Genesis 24:63-65)

The journey might be long and it might be rough, but like Rebekah did, lift up your eyes to the horizon and see that there’s somebody that waits for you, somebody that has long awaited to remove the veil. Lift up your eyes above the fields. Do you know what those fields represent?

“…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…” (Genesis 3:17-19)

Those fields represent all the toils and hardships of this life, all the sweating, the thorns and thistles that we encounter on this road. Look above all that this present time. It’s only temporary. Look above all that into eternity. Take your eyes this present time off the fields and see what lie on the other side of that field. Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, the lover of your soul. For a moment in time as Isaac looked across the fields and saw the caravan coming, Rebekah also lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac waiting. For a moment in time they, though they be a field away, locked eyes together, waiting and hoping and anticipation the blessed day they would be together.

One day soon we’ll meet the lover of our soul and the veil will be moved. We shall see him face to face. Bless his holy name!

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:17-18

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We spent some time last time we were together in the beatitudes of Matthew regarding this matter of suffering with him. And we spoke alot about the suffering of persecution. And we made a distinction between trials and tribulations that are common to man, and trials and tribulations that are common to Christ, and to all that will live godly in Christ Jesus. And we really just touched the surface.

The fellowship of His sufferings…

I want to take the time to explain something before we begin. I always want to strive for my doctrine to be sound. I don’t want to just come up here and tell you what I think and get things all jumbled up. I’d rather preach the doctrines of the Bible the best I can and let the Holy Ghost do his work depositing the word into the hearts of man, woman, and child. I must. For I surely cannot speak to your soul and spirit. But God can.

Now I know we talked alot about persecution; how that Christ was persecuted first. Therefore, his children will also be persecuted. How that they hated him first before they hated us. Now I know there is a certain sense which we spoke about in which we can suffer with Christ concerning persecution. We talked about how Paul said that I may know the fellowship of his sufferings. But I want to put the brakes here. I don’t want to go off the deep end. Or at least I don’t want anybody think I’m going off the deep end. There is a fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. I believe that the life of the martyr, the life of the persecuted Church most definitely is part of that. That is an aspect of the sufferings of Christ we covered last time we preached.

The substitutionary sufferings of Christ…

But there is an aspect Christ sufferings, that we cannot have fellowship. I guess we can call this the substitutionary sufferings of Christ. Christ suffered all hell, for all sin, for all sinners. We cannot do that. If we did, we would simply be just another dead sinner with no power to pull ourselves out from death as Christ did. Jesus was the only one that could suffer in this manner. Jesus is the only lamb without blemish. Jesus is the anointed one; the chosen vessel of our salvation. Jesus, when it came to the sufferings of the cross, suffered alone. There were two that were crucified along side him, but all they suffered was the cruelty of man, the pain of the flesh, the pangs of death. Jesus suffered all that, but he also suffered all hell, for all sin, for all sinners.

What Christ did on the cross, we cannot do. We cannot have fellowship in his sufferings in that manner. Yes Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. As it pertains to the salvation of our souls we can however know the fellowship of his sufferings as a benefactor. We can however go along for the ride. We can be thoroughly affected in his sufferings. Paul said:

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death… Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 6:3,6-7

We can indeed enter into the fellowship of his sufferings and know them by, as the bible says, baptism; not water baptism like almost every other denomination teaches, but by baptism into his death. Paul said I am crucified with him. So as it pertains to salvation we can know the fellowship of his sufferings if we’re talking about the sufferings of the cross as a benefactor. We can partake of the benefits of them; a benefactor, but we cannot do them or repeat them. No. Nobody suffered like Jesus suffered.

The Suffering of Christ Before Gethsemane…

One thing to consider regarding the sufferings of Christ is that His sufferings did not begin at Gethsemane. You know I’m always amazed around “Easter” time, around Resurrection Day, that so little is spoken about his Resurrection. You look on Facebook during Easter and there’s a zillion memes that say He is Risen! Praise the Lord. But what else can we say about it? You go to church or a typical church that’s putting on a play, and they’ll spend 55 minutes on the suffering and the crucifixion and five minutes on the resurrection. I’m just saying… I’m not complaining.

The garden. The sweat drops of blood. The passion. But Christ’s suffering did not begin amidst the garden of Gethsemane.

1) He Suffered in His Birth…

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death…” Hebrews 2:9

Jesus, the Son of God, to whom angels prostrate fall, was made a little lower than angels. Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, reduced to just flesh and bones. All of heaven falls down before him and worships him. The angels, the cherubims and seraphims, the four beasts, the twenty four elders; they all bow down and declare to him Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. The bible says that all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made. Yet he left his throne. The creator humbled himself under the creation. The bible says He…

“Made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself…” Phillipians 2:7,8

Jesus suffered in His birth. The King of all creation made to be a little babe in wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Holy God Almighty lying in a manger, yet also wrapped in the sinful flesh of Adam.

“God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…” Romans 8:3

The bible says “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Listen, he wasn’t made sin at Calvary. He was made sin in the womb of the virgin Mary. He was made sin for us in His birth. Holiness, divinity, and glory clothed in sinful flesh. Jesus suffered in His birth.

We can never do what Jesus did? Jesus was touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He was in all points tempted like as we are. But not the other way. We will never touch the feelings that Jesus felt when he left his throne. In this point, we will never be tempted as he. Like the sustitutionary sufferings of Christ, we will never know the suffering that Christ endured in his birth.

2) He Suffered in His Society…

You think about what the people probably said about him. We believe that he was born from a virgin’s womb. Well, they didn’t believe that back then. What did people say about him? What did people say about his mother? I wonder if Jesus could hear the whispers behind their back. “There goes that promiscuous women and theat illegitimate child. There goes the bastard child.” He was looked down upon and scorned because of his irregular birth. Jesus sufferings did not begin at Gethsemane. When they brought that woman before him that was taken in the very act of adultery, and they threw her at Jesus feet and all picked up stones to stone her, Jesus knelt down and wrote something on the ground. I wonder if he thought of his mother, how that could have been her. I wonder as he saw the condemning faces around him, did he think about the looks that people used to give him.

3) He Suffered in His Family…

There is one passage in the John where the disciples are urging Jesus to go into Judea instead of the feast of tabernacles in Galilee, because his life was at risk there.

After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him. (John 7:1-5)

His brothers, the ones that grew up with him: James, Joses, Juda, and Simon; members of his own house. Neither did his brethren believe him. Jesus suffered in His family

4) He Suffered in His Friends…

Yes Jesus had friends. He wasn’t a loner and a recluse. He had friends, but even his friends forsook him.  When Jesus was casting out devils and healing sick folk, the bible says this: “And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.” (Mark 3:20-21) That’s right, his friends thought he was crazy. Jesus suffered in His friends.

5) He Suffered in His Hometown…

Jesus suffered in his hometown. Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee and one of the first places he went to was his hometown of Nazareth.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, (Luke 4:16-30)

His own city of Nazareth; his hometown. He suffered in his own hometown. The people he knew and grew up with. The bible says that he came unto his own and his own recieved him not. We usually think of Israel as a whole and it was Israel as a whole that recieved him not. But it was first his own hometown that led the way. He had just come out of the wilderness where he was tempted of the devil. He was filled with the Spirit and began his public ministry in his hometown, and they were the first to reject him.

6) He Suffered in His Preaching…

When Jesus preached on his body and his blood, not all the disciples stuck around after that. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life…” The bible says, “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”

We know the twelve stuck with him all the way to Gethsemane, but there were alot that didn’t. The bible goes on to say, “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” Jesus suffered in His preaching.

7) He Suffered in the Upper Room…

As he sat with them and ate with them, and looming thoughts of Calvary came before him, he broke bread with the one that would betray him. He dipped his bread in the same sop in which his betrayer would dip his bread. And even after he united them together in the Lord’s supper, the bible says “And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.” Jesus suffered in the upper room.

Jesus suffering did not begin in Gethsamane. Now some of these we might be able to know, some maybe not. But I will say this. Nobody suffered like Christ suffered.

What truly are the sufferings of Christ…

But see, Paul was already saved. He was already crucified with Christ. He had already partaken of and had knowledge of the sufferings of Christ. Why then did he say that I may know the fellowship of his sufferings? He had already also experienced much persecution. What sufferings are you talking about Paul? What truly is the fellowship of his sufferings mean? Or for that matter, what does the power of his resurrection and being made conformable unto his death really mean? And even if we truly know what it means, do we have experiential knowledge, that which Paul the Apostle desired and yearned for? He said:

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phillipians 3:13,14

I mean if Paul hadn’t apprehended, then surely there’s more in this Christian life to apprehend than we’ve apprehended already. Paul said I’m reaching forth unto those things which are before. What are those things which are before? He said I’m pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God… What is that prize? That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and fellowship of his sufferings.

Let me go back to our scripture: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:17-18

There’s a whole other suffering that Jesus did or does undergo. And I believe this we may suffer with him? Jesus suffered in the presence of sin and sinners. Jesus was just as much God as God was God. He was just as holy and divine as the Father and the Holy Ghost. And God hates sin. And we ought to hate sin. We ought to abhor that which is sinful as God abhors that which is sinful. We ought to loath wickedness and pride and evil as God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit loaths it. But we have to remember that nobody hates sin like Jesus hated sin. Jesus hated sin so much that he suffered all these things we covered, and then on top of that, the sufferings of the cross: the betrayal, the unjust trial, the spit, the slap, the cat-of-nine tails, 9 x 39 stripes, the weight of the cross, the crown of thorns, the nails in his hands, the hour of darkness, and the wrath of God. Nobody hated sin like Jesus hated sin. Jesus hate for sin burned as hot as his love for sinners.

God commendeth his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God didn’t just show his lover for sinners at Calvary, but he also showed his hate for sin. I believe that the suffering of Christ is the love of sinners. Just like nobody hated sin like Jesus, nobody has ever loved sinners like Jesus did. I believe that if we could just walk in the Spirit, we could enter in to the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ Jesus. To suffer is to love.

 

Romans 8:15-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

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I still want to spend a little time on this idea of being led of God, particularly led by the Spirit of God. I want to mention again that this ties us all the way back to verse 1 where Paul says that there is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. To walk after the Spirit is to be led of the Spirit. To be led of the Spirit is to yield yourself, your members, to Him. Yet the Holy Spirit does not lead you to condemnation, but rather to freedom, liberty, righteousness, the things of the Spirit, the new life in Christ Jesus, into truth. There’s nothing negative or undesirable or dreadful about yeilding to the Spirit. He’s not trying to lead us into something bad, but something good.

Contrast of the Spirits

Which brings me to my first point: The Contrast of the Spirits. Paul says that we have not received the spirit of bondage, but rather we have received the Spirit of adoption. For as many are led by the Spirit of God, they are led away from condemnation, away from bondage, away from sin, away from the law of sin and death, away from the wrath, the anger, and emnity of God. Think of the Holy Spirit as the administrator of your adoption.

Ephesians 1:12-14 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Sealed. That means marked. That means stamped. That means the transaction is complete. Sealed means closed. The deal is done. The paper work is complete.

 2 Corinthians 1:21,22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

The earnest of the Spirit. The earnest is the down payment. The down payment, or the earnest money, is what the buyer puts down as a promise to return and complete the deal and take possession. He said “ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the the redemption of the purchased possession.”

Right now, I’m in the process of purchasing the adjacent 5 acres to my property. You see, what I did is I put down some earnest money. And I the buyer signed a contract. And in that contract it explains that earnest was given for this sale. And the seller also signs the contract. Then this contract goes to the title company along with the earnest money. And title company puts their little stamp on there, their little seal; which means this is done deal. Both parties have agreed to the price, terms, and things like that.

Now what’s happening? The seller is relinquishing ownership of that land. And the buyer which is me is gaining the ownership of that property. And I want to say this. These things take some time. You have to wait before you can take full possession. That title company is going to do some research and see that everything is in order and is as they seller says it is. Can I say this? The title company is going to prove the contract. The title company is going to research and find out if any other person or entity have a claim on that property. They want to see if the title is clear. Sometimes, there’s things that must be worked out before ownership can be transferred.

And this is what happens in an adoption. There is a transfer of sonship; of ownership. Before you were saved, your father was the devil. You master was Satan. You were a slave and a son to sin. But when God saved you, when he found you, and picked you up out of the miry clay and set your feet upon the solid rock, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You were given the earnest of the Spirit. God has put the transfer of ownership in motion and has promised to finish what he’s started. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Understand that if the buyer fails to complete the transaction, he loses the earnest money. That’s how a contract works. God is not going to lose his Holy Spirit. And there is no 10 day bail out option in the contract. God is not going to bail out of this deal. No, The deal has been made, signed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Remember the Israelites in the wilderness. They said, “We want out! We want to go back to Egypt!” God said “No, Israel is going to the promised land.”

And now we wait until the title company does it’s work. Or can I say this? We wait for the administrator of this adoption to work. Remember, the title company is now going to prove the contract. They’re going to investigate and see if there are any liens on this property. Let me ask you this? Are there any liens on your soul? What else out there has a claim on you? I remember years ago, there was another property down the road, 8 acres, that was for sale, and I really wanted that one. It had been out there on the market for sale for over a year, but it couldn’t get sold.

It turns out that those people that owned it couldn’t sell it. They had too many liens on the property. They owed money to certain creditors and these creditors staked a claim on that property because either they weren’t getting paid, or they wanted some insurance or collateral for the money that those people owed them. And I remember I got kinda peaved and was thinking, “Come on! How much do these people owe?” And I wondered was there someway to work that into the contract. The money of the sale would be contracted to go to their creditors. So I was very curious as to how much money was holding up this sale. I mean, could I just go pay it? Was it $1000 bucks? what?

Can I say this? Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left it’s crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Sometimes I wonder if the things we go through in this life are just the searching of the Holy Ghost trying to find those claims on our soul, whatever they may be. He’ll find them and bring them to our attention and then wash them away in the blood of Jesus Christ. Do you see how these things might take some time?

Yes, the deal is done. Yes the earnest is given. Yes the contract is sealed. But the closing date has not yet arrived. But every minute we are drawing closer and closer to that day. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) The Holy Spirit of adoption will lead us through this performance. The bible says, “Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:23)

So when we got saved, we were given the Spirit of adoption, yet we are waiting for the the adoption. Can you see how that adoption is not just once instantaneous event. You think about even adoption in our midst. You think about these children who get adopted. How long does it take for that child to fully realize their new standing? How long does it take before that child trusts his new parents? How long does it take before that child obeys and fully loves his new parents? It may take some time.

Every minute the Holy Spirit leads you, every step the the Holy Spirit guides you, brings you closer and closer to the Father, closer and closer to the adoption, closer and closer to glory, closer and closer to the heaven of heavens, to the mansions, the crystal sea, the tree of life, and the throne of God. There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who are led by the Spirit of God; not the spirit of bondage. The spirit of bondage will not lead you in that direction. The contrast of the Spirits. This is the essence of the leading of the Spirit. God is preparing us for the glorious things to come.

The Encouragement of the Spirit

We see this also in the next verse, verse 16. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” This is equivalent to when Jesus told his disciples, “He will guide you into all truth…” And this is the great truth we must realize by the power of His Spirit, that we are the children of Almighty God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the son of God!” What does it mean to be a child of God? Aside from what it took for us to be a child of God, what does it mean?

In other words, aside from the great love wherewith God has loved us, aside from the fact that God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, what does it mean to be a child of God. The bible says that to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. To become a child of God means so much. This power was given to us at a great price; His only begotten son. This power was given to us by a great move of the Holy Spirit in our life, to bring us to a place of repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. To become a child of God, to be born into the family of God, is the greatest thing to happen to this poor lost sinner.

To become a child of God is one thing, but to BE a child of God is another. And after we’re saved, this is what the Holy Spirit helps us to be. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God!” God wants to tell us and show us and demonstrate to us our standing, our sonship, our position in Christ Jesus. To be a child of God is to be highly favored of God. What parent does not favor his child? The reality is that a child is the apple of his parents eye. A father loves his children above all things. And he’ll do everything he can to provide for them, to protect them, to teach them, and to care for them.

I think the liberals would disagree with me on this, but I’m not working everyday, getting up early, driving 40 minutes back and forth to Corpus, racking my brain, and running a business for some other person’s child. I’m doing for MY children, not somebody else’s. I’m sorry, but I was made in the image of God the Father. And God the Father has children. And his children are the object of God’s affections and care. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place FOR YOU!” Those mansions are for his children, not the devil’s children. The riches of heaven are for his children. The affections of the Father are for his children. The provisions and protection that God affords are for his children.

I came across this verse the other day, Deuteronomy 3:22 “For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.”

I find it amazing that in this day in age where people can’t believe there’s a place of everlasting torment, a place of judgment, a place called hell, that in this verse at least, there may be more than one hell. It goes also with the territory though, that in people’s ignorance and contempt for God’s judgment, there also lies an obliviousness and disdain for God’s love. Consider these scriptures:

God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: (1 John 4:16,17)

Notice the phrase God is love and the phrase the day of judgment are in the same thought here? God’s wrath is as thorough as His love. Both will reach down into the furthest depths. The Bible says that “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)

God’s anger shall burn unto the lowest hell. But God’s love will shine through the highest heaven. “Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee…” (1 Kings 8:27) Paul said that he knew a man that was “caught up to the third heaven.” (2 Corinthians 12:2) Even the third heaven cannot contain the love of God. And if there’s a fourth or a fifth heaven, God’s love will deliver us there and beyond.

“This life is but the threshold of our existence, — a breath; we gasp once here and live forever.” Edward D. Griffin.

The wrath of God and the love of God will both extend into and baptize our immortal existence with such an intense reality it will make our time here on earth but a brief figment of our imagination. How low is the lowest hell? John said, “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and great chain in his hand.” (Revelation 20:1) The lowest hell? Where he who falls in will sink deeper and deeper into misery yet never find the bottom. He’ll look back at the first million years of torment and say “My agony has just begun.”

Yet how high is the highest heaven? “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” (Romans 5:20) The Psalmist said, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell… Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:10,11) O that we might realize now, today, here on this earth, what Paul spoke of, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)

I know that there is somewhat of a mystery concerning our future. For John has said “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” (1 John 3:2) Paul said, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Yes, it truly says in the scriptures as Paul quotes, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

But Paul has also said, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:10) Just as God can open the eyes of a lost man so that he can see the wretched state of one’s soul, he can also reveal to the saints of God the blessed state their eternal soul. “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” (Ephesians 2:6)

If a fire is kindled in God’s anger unto the lowest hell, then what is born in God’s love unto the highest heaven? Elisha prayed, ” LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw…” (2 Kings 6:17) Would God show us those great and mighty things?

The Bible says of Stephen, “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55,56)

“Did I not say to you that if you should believe, you will see the glory of God?” Jesus, (John 11:40)

John said, “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God…” (Revelation 21:10,11)

Would we pray today as the Psalmist said, “Open thou mine eyes…” (Psalm 119:18) Would the Holy Spirit bear witness with our spirit, (reveal unto us by his Spirit) that we are the beloved children of God; the benefactors, recipients, of his love, his glory, his power. Bless his holy name. We are the sons of God. And by his Spirit, we are led into this love. Spirit of God will lead us into the manifestation of this glorious reality, this truth of God’s amazing grace, this realization of your highly-favored standing in Christ Jesus. To be led of the Spirit is to learn these things.

Things of the Spirit

You remember, many months ago, we spend several weeks on the Things of the Spirit. The further I go along in this study I see in the word of God more and more the working of the Holy Spirit. I see more things of the Spirit. And I realize what a poor job I did on the Things of the Spirit. I see another one here is this passage. Verse 17, the first part: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God; and joint-heirs with Christ…” This is list is just an extension to verse 16. The Holy Spirit bears witness, that we are the children of God. Not just children of God, but to that heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

Do you know what it means to be an heir? It means that we are legally entitled to the property of another. We are an inheritor or a benefactor. This means, there is coming a day, when God the Father will bestow upon us that which is his. We talk about minding the things of the Spirit. Well, this is just one more thing we should mind. And in minding this, is great reward, great peace. We are heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

I know I’m preaching to the choir, but sometimes we need to hear this again. Come Monday, we’re going to have a celebration of life. We’re going to honor Angela there at the Funeral Home. All the preparations are being made. I see the texts going back and forth as people volunteer to help, make arrangements and plans for tomorrow. Who’s gonna sing. The food. The pall bearers. All this has to be figured out. But in all this, I didn’t see or hear of one person arrange for the U-Haul truck so Angela can take all her stuff here on earth with her. Did anybody catch that? Whose driving the U-Haul? Angela has gone on to glory with nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ. For that’s what makes you a child of God, the blood of the Father’s only begotten child of God. His blood makes you his heir, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

With the blood of Jesus Christ, you’ll obtain the inheritance of Jesus Christ. We need nothing from this earth because we’ll gain everything in heaven. Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!” I think about Angela and this disease of cancer that she had been struggling with for so long. You know you hear a lot of times when someone dies of cancer that “After a ten year battle with cancer, so-and-so has finally succumbed to the disease” as if they the disease has won and the person has lost. I can agree with that if we’re talking about someone who is lost and doesn’t know Jesus. But for the saints of God, I cannot go along with that. Angela has succumbed to nothing. Angela was not defeated. Angela was not the loser. She might have left the body for a little while, but she was gonna do that anyway, and God’s gonna change that in a twinkling of an eye.

Death for the saint is not the loss of life, but rather the promised inheritance of God; to be a permanent member of the household of God;to enjoy together with your joint-heir Jesus Christ the blessings of the Father; to have what Jesus has, to live where Jesus lives, and most of all to see Jesus face to face. Jesus, when he prayed in that garden he prayed the Father that we’d be given the glory which was given him. When he spoke of those mansions that he was going to prepare, he said, “That where I am, ye may be also.” Just as death had no hold on Jesus, death has no hold on his saints. Jesus said, “I am the ressurection and the life… whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die! Believest thou this?”

We say we believe this. But do we believe it in deed? Do we live this truth? What are talking about preacher? Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) Have you ever heard that expression, “His heart is just not in it?” Can the world say that about us?

Can it look at us and look at our life, the things we do, the things we buy, the things we say, the places we go, the things we say, the thinks we think; and can they say, “This guy’s heart is just not here, it’s a in a far and distant land, beyond the sea, beyond the stars.” Where is your heart? I like my little ranchito. It’s gonna be increased from 10 to 15 acres soon and I’m looking forward to cleaning it up and doing things. But I’ll literally trade that land in a heart beat when my time is come for the blessed promised land of God, Zion, and a new heaven and a new earth, bless the Lord. I won’t have a stinking ditch running through my property, but instead the blessed, holy crystal river will run through it.

Oh, how we need to get heaven on our minds. That’s what being led of the Spirit will do. He’ll bear witness that we are heirs, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ. He’ll make it more real to us our inheritance. We’ll be drawn away from this world and the things of this world, and our heart will be where our treasure is in heaven. And like the song says, “I’ve got more to go to heaven for than I did yesterday…” Now I’m not saying to neglect your earthly duties. But I am saying that being led by the Spirit into these truths will affect how you do your earthly duties.

 

 

 

 

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:14-16)

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I want to preach just for a little while this morning about being led by the Spirit of God. We’ve been going through Romans 8 for some time now. So there’s no doubt as to what this means to be led by the Spirit of God. And this is common to all that have been born of the Spirit. To be led is to journey and to walk after the Spirit. It means that God is taking us from point A to point B. As we journey with God, as we drive down this narrow road, there’s sights that we all must see along the way. As the Spirit of God takes us along this Roman Road, so to speak, there are some definite places to which we will cross or see.

In our context, being led by the Spirit of God means to be free from the bondage of sin and death, led from the condemnation of the law. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2) We should see Egypt in the rear-view mirror. We are led into liberty.

Being led by the Spirit of God means to be minding the things of the Spirit, the things of God. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5) There should be a conscienceness and desire in us to know the conscience and desire of God. There should be something inside of you that is not satisfied with only knowing the things of man or the things of this world; something inside you that desires and looks to heaven and yearns for something greater and more glorious that what the flesh offers.

Being led by the Spirit of God is to be quickened by the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead. (Romans 8:11) That means to be given life. If any man be in Christ, old things have passed away, BEHOLD all things are become new. There is a definite change in the life of someone who is led by the Spirit of God; a new life; a new purpose; a new outlook; a new hope.

Being led by the Spirit of God is mortify the deeds of the body. “If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13) There is something inside of us that leads us to want to do right and live right. Now you might not always get it right or do it right, but the desire and yearning to please God should be somewhere there in your soul if we are led by the Spirit of God.

Jesus said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13) Let me read our text again: “For as many are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God…” So if you put these two together, we can say that the sons of God are guided into all truth; not some truth, but all truth. In other words, can I say this? God is honest with his children. He has kept nothing from us. Jesus said, “For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:22,23)

So I want to say these things before I get into the message. We have to stay in context. If we are led by the Spirit of God, these things we hold common. We should agree with some or all of the things I just mentioned. I’m not trying to drag anybody down a road that they don’t want to go. I’m just saying that we need a ruler to measure things. And that ruler is the Word of God. Our Christian life better line up with the word of God, or we don’t have a Christian life. We’re talking life or death. We’re talking heaven or hell. If nothing of what I’ve listed so far stirs a chord within your soul, there’s something wrong. You might think, “You’re always trying to make me feel uneasy!” Well, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. The things of God will do that. They will either give you joy and peace, or they’ll give you dread, doubt, and trouble.

That’s just a little intro to get us thinking again about Romans Chapter 8. We’re talking about being led by the Spirit, walking after the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, etc..

Horses…

Lately, what I’ve had on my mind these few weeks is horses and ranch work. It’s hard to do two things at one time. And I’ll be honest. My mind has been occupied with horses. I’m going through another horse phase. I’m looking to get back into these horses again, and that requires ranch work. So that is what I’ve been thinking about lately. I’ve also been thinking about this verse for several weeks, Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” But everytime I think about it, I think of how horses are led around. When I think about being led by the Spirit of God, I think about the halter that goes around the horses head and face and I think about the lead line and the hook that attaches it to the halter.

There’s so many similarities of the Christian life to horses, it’s just unreal. You think about this for a second: When you are leading a horse around, there is a certain level of expectation to have at this. Nobody wants to be tugging around a 1500 lb animal. You ever notice sometimes when someone is leading a horse, they got them by the hook.  They got them right under the chin. You know why they do that? Because that horse can’t keep it’s head still. The truth is that the owner doesn’t trust the horse enough to just leave it alone, and the horse doesn’t trust the owner enough to just be still. They got their hand there because that’s where they have to have it to maintain leverage and control. They can grab that head and turn it anywhere they want. You’ll notice that the horse is constantly tugging on the person that’s leading her. How would you feel if someone had you by the chin?

This is what I’m talking about regarding a certain level of expectation. You’re about to get a horse lesson. You want to lead the horse, not drag the horse, and tug on the horse, and fight with the horse. You should have about two feet of slack on the lead line, and that horse should know that when you move, she moves. When you go left, she goes left. When you go right, she goes right. When you go backwards, she goes backwards. You shouldn’t have to grab them by the clip or the hook and force them to go where you go.

So I’ve been watching this Colt Starting series during lunch. I’ve already seen it twice. This is the actually the third time watching it. The trainer goes through all this stuff to train a wild horse. And can I say this: This is what I mean by similarities to the Christian life. Do you realize that when you get saved, you get born again, you are literally a wild horse? You have just been taken off the range, and God has put you in the round pen with the Holy Ghost. I think alot of times, people think that they’re further along than they really are.

“Oh yeah, I’m already broke. I can move my head, my neck, my shoulders, my rib-cage, my hind-quarters at the touch of the Holy Ghost. He says move, I move. I can walk, trot, canter, gallop at a the touch of the master. Nothing spooks me. I’m safe. I’m halter broke. I can stay tied without freaking out. Yeah, I’m broke. I’m ready for the Holy Ghost to ride me where ever he wants to go.”

Yeah right. The truth is, you’re still a foal. All you can do is barely walk and drink milk. That’s about it. The bible speaks about not thinking ourselves more highly than we ought. I’ve been guilty of this and probably still am sometimes. But sometimes, we think that we’re further along in our training that we truly are.

I heard years ago, that the word meekness was actually a word used to describe a horse, a trained horse. It meant strength under control. When you first get saved, it doesn’t mean that you’re under control. It just means you got caught. It means you’ve been taken off the range of sin. And now the Holy Ghost has got you in the round pen, and you are now face to face with the master trainer.

Two eyes…

So I’ve been watching this Colt Starting series, and I got to say I noticed that from the very get go, from the beginning, the trainer is working on leading that horse. He does these round penning exercises that gets the horse to always give him two eyes. He’s got this saying, “Two eyes is always better than two feet.” You always want to have that horse looking at you. He never let’s it get away with no looking at him. It’s very possible that this may be one of the first lessons in leading that the Holy Ghost teaches us. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Don’t look to the left or to the right. Don’t wander off. Everytime the horse looked away of wandered off, the trainer would get him moving again. If the horse didn’t want to stay still and give him two eyes, then he set his feet moving again and then he’d give him another change to give him two eyes.

The trainer made the horse understand that the being still in front of him with two eyes looking at him was the easiest thing to do. It was the place of rest. It was the place of peace. It was the place with no pressure. Christian life: This is our place of rest before our Lord. We give him two eyes. The bible says, “I will keep thee in perfect peace, he who’s mind is stayed on thee…” See? When that wild horse, instead of running around and being reactive and tense and uneasy, he finally realized that just being still and waiting to see what the trainer is gonna do was easier and better. The horse actually was thinking now. His mind was stayed on the trainer. He finally learned not to move until the trainer said to move, and he’d sit there and wait and keep his eyes on the trainer. “I will keep thee in perfect peace, he who’s mind is stayed on thee…”

Now that was just the beginning. He did a series of things, it took about 3 hours. But the goal of the trainer was to get the close enough to the animal to touch him, and eventually put that halter on the horse. And once he got that halter on the horse, it was over for the horse. And I don’t want to sound like it’s bad. It’s good. That halter gave the trainer the necessary leverage on that horse to train it. It’s with that halter that the horse is taught to finally yield himself to the trainer.

One of the first things that the trainer teaches that horse once he gets the halter on is the end of the lead line. He teaches the horse that there is an end to that lead line. You can only go so far before you hit the end of that line. See, if you do the math, in a 50 foot round pen, if you do things right with a 23 foot lead line, the most that a horse can drag you is really only about what? If you’re in the middle then the wall of the pen will always be no more than 25 feet from you. The horses head usually stays 1 foot away from the wall. So if you’re arm is like 3 feet long, can the horse ever really pull the line out of your hands?  Nope. Now it is possible with a 14 foot line, but with a wild horse, the trainer uses a 23 foot lead line. So horse is never able to escape the pressure of the lead line.

But that doesn’t mean that the horse isn’t going to try to get away. So the very first thing that the trainer teaches the horse is the end of that lead line. So the horse will try to get away, and the trainer will jerk that head back to the center and ask for two eyes. He’ll scare the horse off again and as soon as it’s far enough, he’ll jerk that line again. He’ll keep doing this until the horse finally realizes that it’s not worth it to run off again. It’s not worth it going out to end of the line. He did this until he couldn’t scare the horse off anymore. Do you see the significance of this?

Three hours ago, the wild horse was scared and running and bucking and acting crazy and running away from the trainer. But all of a sudden, after he finally got that halter on him, now he couldn’t scare that horse away if he tried. He’d wave his arms around and say Pshhhhh and wave stick with a plastic bag, and the wild horse would just turn away, keep his head cocked toward the trainer. He was no longer afraid of the trainer.

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, where by we cry, Abba, Father.” We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. So then the trainer proceeded to back to desensitizing it to his touch. Within the next hour the trainer was able to walk up to the horse rub his face, put the halter on and off, throw his lead line all over the horses body and the wild horse would stand still and give him two eyes.

Why? Because he was no longer afraid. The fear was gone. I want to ask this? What does the Holy Ghost have to do to train us to be still and keep our eyes on God and let him touch us? Fear does not necessarily mean fright. What it does mean is a lack of familiarity? That horse no longer feared because he got familiar with the trainer, his tools, and his touch. That’s what we need to do with God. We need to be more familiar with him. We don’t ever walk off on our own. We always give God two eyes, our attention. Some people spend year after year running around that round pen. They don’t want to turn in unto God and give him your attention.

Yielding…

Now, the horse let’s the trainer come up to it, but that’s just a starting point. Remember, we’re talking about leading. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Leading. Does the Spirit of God lead you? So you may be now familiar with God. In other words, God can approach you and touch you, but that doesn’t mean he’s leading you.

So when that trainer pulls on that halter, that wild horse does not know yet how to yield to that pressure. His natural reaction is to pull back. And I’m going to say now that is what the flesh does. It pulls back from God. When the Spirit of God begins to pull on you and tries to lead you down that narrow road, the flesh says, “NO!” The flesh pulls back! Why? Because that is was is natural. The bible talks about the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit. Look, I’m not giving people a pass on being carnal and in the flesh. But we must understand that we’ve been carnal and in the flesh all our lives. Walking after the Spirit is not natural or normal. The flesh is going to resist. The flesh is going to fight.

That horse knows not to go out to the end of that lead line and get his head jerked back. But he doesn’t know yet how to yield to a constant stead pressure of the lead line. Eventually, he won’t even need pressure. He’ll just go where the trainer goes. So, how does the trainer get the horse to finally yield. Now, here’s some more horsology. The power in the horse is in his hind legs. Those hinds legs is what is pulling that horse back. When he pulls on the lead line and the horse pulls back, that power is coming from the hind quarters. So instead of trying to get the horse to yield his head, the trainer will get him to yeild his hind quarters.

Okay, so when that horse legs are square they can do whatever the horse wants to do. He can lunge forward, backward, left, right, whatever because the power is engaged. The moment that horse crosses his hind legs, he loses his power. He can’t go anywhere with his legs crossed. Try walking with your legs crossed. You can’t. Also, when a horses legs are crossed, they’re easily thrown off of balance.

So the first step in trying to get that horse to yield to the pressure of the lead line is to disengage his hind-quarters. To shut the power off. When you pull he pulls back and even steps back. Well you’re trying to get him to step forward and he’s stepping back. So it makes sense that if we can just get him to quit stepping back, we’re half-way there. So the trainer, as he pull on that line and the horse pulls back and steps back, he applies pressure by looking at and swinging that stick and string toward the horses hind quarters. And of course the horse doesn’t want his hind to get hit so he begins to move it. He begins to step across his legs and cross them. He disengages those hind quarters.

What happens now is that the trainer and the horse now kinda start going in circles. Can I ask you this? Do you ever feel like you’re just going in circles with God? Do you ever feel like maybe you’re not really getting anywhere with God or in your spiritual journey and just going in circles. See what that trainer does is he’ll get the horse yield his hind-quarters and then try pulling on the horse to see if he’ll yeild. And he’ll do this over and over and in circles and in circles, yielding the hind-quarters, then pulling on the lead line, waiting for the horse to go the other way, toward him instead of backwards.

He’ll pull, the horse will draw back, he’ll go after the hind-quarters, the horse will disengage, the pressure will let up, and he’ll try it again. And they’ll go in circles over and over and over until, the horse finally takes one step forward. Maybe, that’s what God is doing with you. Maybe you’re just doing what’s natural and God is trying to train you to take that step forward to yield to the Him. Paul said, “But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

As horse has got 5 parts of the body that move. 5 members: The head, the neck, the shoulders, the rib-cage, and the hind-quarters. And every member, if the horse is properly broke, he will yield at the touch of the trainer. No wild horse can do this right off the bat. They must be trained. I believe that God’s people are no different. We must learn how to yield ourselves unto God. We must learn to yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God. God maybe going around in circles with you right now. All he’s waiting for right now is for you to take that first step. That trainer doesn’t just keep pulling on the horse while he’s got his hind legs planted. He goes after the hind-quarters and gets that to yield first. Maybe God’s going after something else. Maybe god is trying to get something else disengaged, that way he can teach you to let him lead. He’s waiting for you to take that step.

Release…

Now, here’s one of the most interesting things that the trainer does once that horse takes a step. He’ll go in circles over and over and over.  He’ll pull, disengage, pull, disengage, pull, disengage, over and over to get that first step. And when the horse finally gives it, you know what he does?  He releases. He lets the pressure on the line go. The horse natural response is to pull back. I don’t like to go. I don’t like the pressure. Quit pulling on me. Quit pulling on me. Quit pulling on me. Pull pull pull. I want to get out of this. Pull pull pull. Quit pulling on me… Let me try going forward… RELEASE. It’s gone. The pressure is gone.  Something snaps in that horse’s head. He says, “Hmmm… if I go forward instead of what’s natural and go backward, the pressure goes away.”

So the trainer tries again. And the horse pulls back again, but this time he thinks, let me try that going forward thing again and see if it works. So he yields to the pressure and takes a step and RELEASE, the pressure is gone. So the trainer does that again and again until the horse realizes that it’s easier to just take a step than to pull back pull back and fight and pull back and fight and go around and around and around it circles. He’s rewarded by yielding. There peace in yielding. There’s rest in yielding. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Hebrews 4:9-11)

Jesus said “My yoke is easy and my burden light!” You don’t have to pull against God. If you feel any pulling from God, it’s probably because you’re pulling the other way. David said, “He leadeth me beside the still waters…” When that horse goes forward, it’s RELEASE! Your reward for yeiding to me is that I’m not going to pull and tug on you. So the trainer will then try for two steps, then three steps, and before you know it, that horse has figured out that it’s better, it’s easier, it’s less stressfull, to just go where that trainer guy goes instead of having that thing tugging on my face. But he doesn’t learn that because he’s tugging. He learns it because of the RELEASE.

Ease and peace is what that horse is looking for. Isn’t that what we’re looking for? Isn’t that really what you want? He said to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27) See, a wild horse naturally finds peace in running away. Whenever it’s afraid or troubled, it runs and if it can’t run, it’ll fight. See, but the trainer also offers the horse peace, but he’s got to learn it. Sometimes, we just got to learn that. Peace only comes when we walk after God. Peace only comes when we’re led of the Spirit. Paul said, if ye live in the Spirit, then walk in the Spirit. Peace only comes when we yield ourselves to God.

Herd mentality…

 

“Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:14-16)

I want to give you a little more horsology. The herd mentality… Explain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So essentially what the trainer is doing is taking the place of the alpha mare. He’s number one and the horse is number two or three or four. And this is what that animal understands. This is what the horse respects. With chickens, we call it the pecking order. What the trainer is establishing really is a herd, a horse family. And he’s essentially adopting that horse into his family. And this is where the respect comes from and the fear is overcome. That horse is no longer afraid of the human but instead familiar with him. That word familiar comes from the word family. And because the trainer can move it’s feet and “dominate” her, she respects him as the leader. That’s how a horse family works.

Well, when we get born again, we’re put into the family of God. We’re no children of God. And in this family, the Spirit of God leads. And God wants us to be familiar with him. There shouldn’t be anything strange to us about God. There shouldn’t be anything about God that spooks us or makes us nervous or makes us want to run away. The Spirit of God leads in this relationship. When the Spirit of God says let’s go, and we kick, scream, and fight, that’s not leading. He shouldn’t have to drag us around from place to place. There ought to be some slack in the line. Can I say this. Horse that are trained really well, they don’t even need a line. You can do everything off the line that you typically need a line.

That’s no broke…

Explain:

 

 

 

 

 

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:13,14)

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Introduction

I got this outline last Sunday, in like 30 seconds. While Brother Jeremy was preaching last Sunday, I glanced over and saw this text and thought that sounds like a message to me. And I realized later that it was exactly what I was looking for to help us with Romans 8:13,14 and this matter of mortifying the deeds of the body. Turn with me over to Matthew 14

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. (Matthew 14:1-12)

As wicked as Herodias may sound in instructing her daughter, there may be some instruction here for us. Her instructions were this, “Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.” In Mark, it’s stated, “Give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.” I thought maybe there’s something in these instructions that could help us. So I’m preaching this morning on Give me John the Baptist’s Head in a Charger!

As I’ve stated previously, we’re coming close to the end of this great passage regarding the Spirit of God. And this last statement through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body is quite a charge. And I tried to help understand it by title the last message Kill or Be Killed; to perhaps bring out the seriousness of the matter. And there’s so much to say I can never put it all in one message. But one thing I got coming out of that message was a lack of application. I want to give us something concrete and practical to take home with us, to try, something to do.

Sometimes, you get into spiritual matters and we never really touch on the practical physical things here on earth things. In other words, as we learn about through the Spirit mortifying the deeds of the body, my question is what can we do to get this done.? How can we accomplish this? How do we kill the deeds of the flesh. How do we stamp them out? How do we conquer them? How do we have victory over the flesh? I don’t know about you, but I have hard time transferring Biblical knowledge into the now and today. How do we apply physically, and temporally, in the here and now, what we learn about spiritual things and Biblical things?

So I thought maybe we should rephrase the question. Maybe instead of trying to learn how we are to do these things, we should learn how they did these things. I want to think right so I thought maybe I should look at someone in the Bible that did think right. Amen? This week, we had some concrete poured at the shop. It was the second section of this project I’m working on. Well, we did the first one by ourselves. Me and Joel from the shop and Franky and Finny and Phillip tackled it. Well, it got done. But the second time, I thought maybe we should get the professionals to do it, that way we can watch them and learn how to do it. We about killed ourselves and after you see what the professional job looked like, you realize what a sorry job you actually did. So this time, I hired someone that’s been doing it for 40 years. And I learned alot. Why? Because I got to study someone that already knows how to do it. They made it look real easy.

Well, I’m applying the same thing to the Bible. I’m gonna look at someone that has already blazed the trail so to speak; someone that already know what he’s doing. So I thought maybe we ought to look at John the Baptist. After all, he was the one person in the entire Bible that was filled the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb.

And is not what this is all about? These things are synonymous. You can’t through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body unless you’re filled with the Spirit. You cannot be led by the Spirit of God unless you are filled with the Spirit of God. So I would think that in order to understand the filling of the Holy Spirit in order that we can accomplish things that the Bible sets forth, it would behoove us to study the one man in the Bible that was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb.

So I want to know what is going on in John the Baptist’s head. That’s why I’m saying Give me John the Baptist Head in a Charger! A charger is something that food is served on. Let’s see what’s going on in that head of his, Amen? Maybe there’s something there that we can feast on? Is that too weird for you? Jesus said, “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54) This is an hard saying, who can hear it? Don’t get too grossed out because you’ll leave here and eat cow face, and cow tongue, and cow brains, amen?

I saw this in the Bible the other day. It’s was toward the end of Deuteronomy before they were to enter into that promised land. My Scofield Bible entitles it The law of warfare. This is how the children of Israel were to conduct war against the people of the land. Hey! We’re at war with this flesh. Let’s not play games with it anymore. God told the children of Israel, “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.” (Deuteronomy 20:10) We’re way past this point. The flesh will never make peace with the Spirit of God.

The Bible says regarding Ishmeal the child of the flesh and Isaac the child of promise, ” He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.” (Galatian 4:29) The Bible says “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other…” (Galatians 5:17) In Genesis, from the begining, the Lord said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh…” (Genesis 6:3) The flesh is not going to just lay over. There is no peace in the flesh.

So then, Deuteronomy goes on to say, “If it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it!” (Deuteronomy 20:12) Thou shalt besiege it. That means to cut off all the roads. Nobody in. Nobody out. Blow up the bridges. Cut off the water supply. Bring down the power grid. Burn the crops. Slaughter the cattle. Cut off the food supply. Surround it with everything you got. Besiege it! Paul said, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Romans 13:14) Make not provision. That means don’t feed it. That means thou shalt besiege it.

John the Baptist was the Storm’n Norman of the Spirit. We want to see what is going on in John the Baptist head. We want to know what things he used to besiege the flesh. We want to know what did he use to do this spiritual warfare. Bring me John the Baptist Head on a Charger.

#1 The Law

For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. (Matthew 14:3,4)

One thing on John’s mind was the law, the law of God. He said it is not lawful for thee to have her. John knew the law. The Bible says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:1,2)

You want to besiege the flesh. You want victory over your flesh. Besiege it with the law. Know the law. Read the law. Learn the law. Meditate on the law, day and night. Joshua told the people before the went to battle, before they went to war, he said, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

We’ll never be prosperous over the flesh and have good success over the flesh if we don’t get into this book! Read the Word of God. Breathe the Word of God. Feed on the Word of God. Have a greed for the Word of God. Get to where you need the Word of God. We ought to get so much of the Bible in us that we bleed the Word of God. If we do that then we’ll heed the Word of God. If we let the Word of God lead, then our every deed will be in the Word of God.

Day and night. Day and night. Not once a week. You know what will happen if you only look at the Bible, the Word of God once a week? Nothing. Absolutely nothing will happen. If all you get from the Bible is what some preacher reads to you from the pulpit on Sunday morning, you will be a spiritual runt all the days of your life. You’ll never grow.

What will happen to your physical body if you do 10 sit-ups once a week? Nothing. What will happen to your physical body if you eat a salad once a week and eat pizza, hamburgers, french fries, and junk the rest of the week? Nothing good. What will happen if you snack on the Bible once a week? Absolutely nothing. If you think that little picture on Facebook with half a scripture pasted on it from some a perverted bible is going to cut it, you’re sadly mistaken. It’s going to take more than that.

In his law doth he meditate day and night. Day and night. John the Baptist had the law in his head. “It’s not lawful for thee to have her…” You know what the law does? It strips the fig leaves off the flesh. It strips the filthy rags off the flesh and exposes it. It burns up our righteousness. We have to give the Spirit of God something to work with. I hear he’s real good with a sword. Paul said, “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) The law was in John the Baptist’s head.

#2 Leather and Locusts

And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4)

Another thing on John’s mind was leather and locusts. Jesus said, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.” (Luke 12:22) It’s not that John the Baptist constantly had leather and locusts on his minds, rather that leather and locusts in his mind were sufficient. Amen.

The bible says that “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Just like the Spirit coupled with his sword, the word of God, can subdue the enemy, godliness with contentment can do the same thing. The Spirit, that’s godliness, with contentment is great gain against the flesh.

The flesh is always worried about what it’s going to wear. The flesh is always worried about what it’s going to eat. It wants to look the best, and it wants to eat the best. It wants to be dressed and stuffed. It’s constantly complaining about it’s wardrobe. It’s always says it’s hungry. It never looks good enough. It’s belly is never full. The flesh is never satisfied. It’s always worried about these things.

Yet Jesus said, “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Luke 12:29-31)

Oh Yes, contentment in the life of the Christian and priorities being right go hand in hand. If we don’t practice some contentment, we’ll never get our priorities straight. And when priorities are set right, our practices will be made right. That’s why John the Baptist said, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance is the death blow to the flesh; and the pot of gold to the Spirit. Amen. But it starts with learning some contentment. Contentment is the grease that allows our priorities to move and change. With contentment, we can seek the kingdom of God instead of food and raiment. And when we get our minds stayed on the kingdom, then repentance and subjugation of the flesh, mortification of the deeds of the body can take place.

How do I know this? Because that’s the will of God. Subjugation of the flesh, mortification of the deeds of the body is the work of the Holy Ghost, (He said through the Spirit) the result of being filled with the Holy Ghost, and being filled with the Holy Spirit is the will of God; Ephesians 5:17,18, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”

Jesus prayed, “Thy kingdom come, they will be done.” Those two things go hand in hand. But God’s will is never going to be done, if we don’t seek ye first the kingdom of God. And we are never going to seek first the kingdom of God until we get in our head that what John the Baptist had in his head; that leather and locusts is perfectly sufficient.

#3 The Lord

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Matthew 3:1-3)

Another thing on John’s mind was the Lord, particularly the Lord’s Day. There is coming a day that the earth will shake, the waters will turn to blood, the trees will burn with fervant heat. Nations will rise up against nation. There will be wars and rumors of wars. There is a day coming and it is the great and terrible Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is darkness and not light.

John says, “Prepare ye the way!” John was a prepper. He believed; it was in his head; what was important to him was preparing for the LORD. The Bible says:

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. (Matthew 24:42-36)

Jesus said, “Therefore be ye also ready!” Be prepared for the coming of the Lord. I believe we can do this if we always have the Lord on our mind. Not just God, but the LORD God. The Lord is a little different from just God. Lord means God is the Master, the Head. Nowadays people want a Savior, but they don’t want a Lord.

Many years ago, there was a term that people threw around alot, Lordship Salvation. I’m not really sure what the whole debate was about. But when you get saved, God is not just your Savior, but he’s your Lord. I’ll just say this plainly. People just don’t like being told what to do. I see it in the workers at work. I see it in my children. I see it in myself. My wife and I have joke going. Sometmes, there’s something that needs to be done and we’re getting ready to do it. But then the other one comes and says, “Hey you need to that something that needs to be done.” Then we say, “Ahh forget it. I’m not going to do it now. You should’t have told me to do it!”

All that is the flesh. The flesh wants to be sovereign. That means that the flesh wants to call the shots. But if we would put the Lord on our mind and remember that the Lord is truly sovereign. The Lord omnipotent reigneth in the affairs of men. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. When the presence of the Lord is near, we move a little faster. We work a little harder. We take less breaks. We are more diligent. We’re more thorough. We’re more aware of our time and our task.

Why? Because the Lord is on our mind. The master. The husbandman. John had set it is his heart and mind to do the Lord’s bidding. John wanted to know what does the Lord expect of me. What does the Lord want to accomplish in me today? Would the Lord approve of what I’m about to do? How would the Lord want me to go about this?

The Lord is coming, and I must be prepared. I must be ready. I must get done what he expects me to get done. The master is on the way. Don’t give precious resources to the flesh to waste, but yield them to the Spirit of God that the work of God may be done. Always have in mind, as John the Baptist did, the Lord is on the way.

#4 The Light

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:6-9)

Another thing in John’s head was the Light, the Light of the World. The reason why John the Baptist had the Light of the World in his head was because he was bearing witness of the Light. He was out there testifying and telling about the one that was mightier than him; the one that he was unworthy even to untie his shoes. He was witnessing about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was being an instrument that God used to shine that Light through the darkness and unto the souls of men.

He had made himself, his mouth and his mind, available that God might use them to shine the glorious Light that all men through him might believe. That Light was what was on his mind.

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor *struggling, fainting seaman
You may rescue, you may save.

Remember, we’re talking about having victory over the flesh. We’re talking about besieging the flesh, mortifying the deeds of the body. John the Baptist was bearing witness of the Light. Think about this: The bible says “The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:5) Now the flesh is in darkness and flesh does not comprehend the Light.  “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) You want to confuse the flesh? You want to set the flesh in disarray? “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Confusion is a part of the siege. This is a war tactic. Confuse the enemy. If you want to confuse the flesh, get a burden for the lost. If you want to confuse the flesh, try caring for the spiritual welfare of others. Don’t get that mixed up with criticizing the spiritual welfare of others, that will help the flesh. No, care for the spiritual welfare of others. Have they ever been saved? Don’t start by asking them. Start by asking the Lord. Start praying for the lost people in your life. If you don’t have a burden for them, ask God to give you one for them. Praying for people to be saved – you talk about starving the flesh.

But don’t stop with prayer. Look for opportunities to bear witness of the Light. The Bible says that John the Baptist was sent to bear witness. Consider that every person you meet or interact with on this green earth is a missionary prospect that God has sent you to to witness. Every morning you wake up in the mission field. All day long, you labor to be a witness for God; to tell people the amazing grace of Jesus Christ. Everywhere we go, every thing we do, and every word we say has purpose; that others may believe in the only begotten Son of God; that sinners might get saved; that the Holy Ghost would somehow turn the light on for some lost soul.

John the Baptist had Light on his mind. Once again, this besiege the flesh; weaken the flesh; mortify the deeds of the body. Why? Who’s will is fulfilled and obeyed when we witness for the Lord? The Bible says that “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) What word was John the Baptist most remember for? Repent. To witness of the Light is not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. It’s God’s will that sinners repent. And when God’s will is done, the flesh is confused and disappointed and discouraged because the flesh’s will is not done.

Keep the light burning in your soul. Don’t let it go out.

#5 The Lake

And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. (Luke 3:5-17)

Another thing on John the Baptist’s mind was the Lake, the Lake of Fire. He said, “But the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43-48)

John the Baptist said, “But the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” He had the lake of fire on his mind. The Bible says that “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire… And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14,15) The Bible says of the rich man in hell, “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” (Luke 16:24)

John the Baptist said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36) Maybe we would be a little more concerned about spreading the Light and witnessing of that Light if we were thinking more about that outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and the lake of fire where there will be torments and pain and anguish of soul.

Instead, we’ve got our mind on Lake Corpus Christi. We’re more concerned about the fun that the flesh could have. They say the rich man is more concerned for the lost and worried about the lake of fire that the average Christian today. He said, “I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him (Lazarus) to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” (Luke 16:27,28)

The flesh doesn’t care about saving souls. The flesh will drag you to hell if you let it. One way to besiege the flesh, to render him impotent, to cut his power, is to get yourself a vision of hell and lost loved ones going down into it. Get a vision of the lake of fire. John did. He saw Jesus in all his glory all the way to Revelation 20 and lake of fire. He said, “The chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire!”

#6 The Lamb

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

This kinds of brings us to the next thing on John the Baptist’s mind; that’s the Lamb, the Lamb of God. John’s head was on the Lamb. I don’t understand all this, but John the Baptist may have been the only one on earth besides Jesus at that time to comprehend God’s plan of redemption for man. John could not have said that lest he had known 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

John the Baptist must have already known what John the Apostle wrote decades later: “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) The people didn’t understand it. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”. (John 2:19) But the people thought he was talking about Herod’s temple when he was really talking about his body. Not even the disciples understood this while Jesus was among them. Jesus tried to tell them, but Peter wouldn’t hear anything about dying in Jerusalem. The Bible says that “Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” (Matthew 16:22)

But John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb saw Jesus walking down to the Jordan river and something clicked in that head of his and he pointed and said “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Can we use our imagination just a bit?

John knew in his head that the thousands and thousands of lambs of men that were offered on the brazan altar would never be fully sufficient. In John’s head he knew the words of Abraham, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering.” (Genesis 21:8) And all his life, he prayed and asked the Lord, like Isaac did, “Behold the fire and wood: but where is the lamb?” And that day at the Jordan River, God revealed it unto John, “Behold the Lamb of God.”

John the Baptist said “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” But in his head, he knew he saw his lamb. The bible says that every man a lamb. The bible says your lamb shall be without blemish. (Exodus 12) I know that God so loved the world; that God loved the church; but I like the way Paul put it: “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) In John the Baptist head, he knew he needed a lamb. He knew he needed the grace of God. He knew it was just the mercy of God that kept him from utter destruction.

Paul said, that’s how I live. I live by the faith of the Son of God; with the Lamb of God ever before me to remind me that his blood was shed for me. Like the song Rock of Ages says, “In my hands no price I bring, but simply to thy cross I cling.” The song writer writes about the labor of his hands, his respiteless zeal, and his flowing tears. But he said “All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.” He is my personal lamb of God. He loved me and gave himself for me.

With the Lamb of God on our minds, the cross of Calvary on our minds, the mercy of God on our minds (taking our sin upon his shoulders and nailing it to the cross), with the all-sufficient, finished work of Jesus Christ on our minds… we have great protection and great advantage over the flesh. Paul said on your head to put on the helmet of salvation. I am saved! I am no longer condemned to hell. The Spirit of God dwells in me, and he’s in charge now. Therefore, the flesh no longer has dominion over me. Paul said, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (Romans 6:11,12)

Don’t obey it. Obey God. See, it’s all in your head. It’s about understanding your standing. When you were lost, you could obey God til you were blue in the face. It didn’t get you any closer to God. It didn’t get you any closer to heaven. It didn’t change the fact that the Devil was your father, the flesh was your master. If anything obeying God’s commands while you were lost only made you an unfaithful servant of the devil. You were working on the wrong ranch. But when you get saved, when you get born again, you are now a child of God and now obeying God makes sense. He’s your Father, your King, your master, and your friend. And now obeying the flesh and obeying the devil doesn’t make sense anymore.

It’s not so much about ability; but rather accountability. Who are you now accountable to? Well it’s the one that owns you. Peter said, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18,19) Behold the Lamb of God. Shall we never cease in our minds to behold the Lamb of God.

Obey the Lamb, and ignore the flesh. You know what happens when you ignore a dog? It may try to get your attention for a little while, but stick with it. Don’t feed it. Don’t pet it. Leave it alone. Ignore it, and he’ll go away.

#7 The Lame and the Leper

 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. (Luke 7:22)

Another thing we find in John’s head are the lame and lepers. This is the passage in the New Testament that brings us to a reality in serving God; and that is discouragement. If John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, could get discouraged and even doubt that Jesus was truly the son of God, then any of us can be discouraged. Any of us can have doubts and be dismayed by our circumstances. If John the Baptist can, anybody can.

He was put up in prison, and sent out two disciples to ask Jesus, “Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?” John saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and remembered that God said to him that “upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the seame is he which baptizeth wit the Holy Ghost.” God told him who Jesus was. And then John knew in his heart when he saw Jesus. He said “Behold the Lamb of God!” But for some reason, being penned up in prison, he began to doubt. He began to change his mind about the things he was certain of weeks ago. He was discouraged.

That’s exactly what the flesh will do when it starts to get the best of you. It will play mind tricks on you. Things that are not so will suddenly be so. And things that are so will suddenly be not so. God never changes. Jesus the same yesterday, today, and forever. It’s not God that changes, it’s our minds that change. It’s the flesh that tricks the mind. And that’s what was happening to John the Baptist. He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb, but try being filled with the Holy Ghost from Herod’s prison.

So those two disciples of John came to Jesus and asked, “Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?” And Jesus had just finished curing diseases and plagues, casting out evil spirits, and giving sight to the blind. He said to the two disciples, “Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” (Luke 7:19-23)

It may be that this was the very things that John the Baptist was thinking about when they took his life (or his head). Theses were electrical impulses that were travelling around in his head the moment the power was cut off. Think about this. He was discouraged and hurting and reached out to Jesus for help. And Jesus gave him something to think about while he was there in the prison. I’m sure the disciples got back to John and told him, “John, it’s him. The blind see. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. The gospel is preached. John, remember what Isaiah prophesied. It’s him. It is the acceptable year of the Lord!” And shortly after that, John heard the footsteps of the soldiers coming down the hallway take that which belonged to him, his head.

The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. Jesus knew that was going to happen to John. I wouldn’t doubt for one second that Jesus gave that specifically to John to help him through this time. If it will help John the Baptist through his trial and his time of discouragement, it will help us if we’d get it in our heads. The lame walk! The lepers are cleansed! Look, your situation may not be good, and may not get any better. But I want to say this. The lame walk! The lepers are cleansed! Let me say plainly my application.

We’ve got alot to praise God for! Maybe things aren’t so hot for you right now, but praise God you’re saved. And someone somewhere is getting saved. Somewhere the Holy Ghost is birthing someone into the family of God like you once were. Somewhere a baby Christian is being brought forth. Someone is being touched by God the way you were touched. Someone’s life out there is being changed the way yours was. Someone out there is being rescued from hell the way you were. Someone out there is being delivered with a mighty hand from the bondage of sin like you were. Bless the Lord. It’s wonderful to see and hear God moving in the lives of sinners. There’s joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Why don’t you get in on some of that joy. Bless the Lord. It is the acceptable year of the Lord!

We’ve got alot to look forward too! The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. That’s a big deal but compared to what God has in store for us, can I say this? That’s nothing. Just wait until you get your glorified body. Just wait until all this is said and done, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:51,53)

We’ve got alot to look forward too! “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Get your eyes off your circumstances; and take a glimpse of your eternal future, your everlasting inheritance. And I’d like to stress here your future; not everyone else’s future. Your future.

This truth or admonition reminds me alot of Moses. You all remember what happened to Moses when he struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock. God was wroth. He didn’t like that and he banned Moses from crossing into the promised the land. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12) That was in Numbers when it happened. If you get a change to read that you’ll notice that Moses doesn’t respond. He doesn’t argue with God about it. Nothing more is said about the matter there.

Well, later on in the scriptures, more is revealed about that incident. When we get to Deuteronomy, Moses is telling the people of Israel about going over the into the promised land, about how God is going to fight for them, and about how God has given them this land, and about how they are to possess the land. Well, Moses said, “And I besought the LORD at that time, saying… I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebaonon.” (Deuteronomy 3:23,25) “Lord, let me go over. I want to walk on the soil of the promised land. I want to see you fight our battles and give us victory and give us this land. Lord, let me go over.”

But God said no. And then in the end, Moses went up to the top of Mount Pisgah. The Lord showed him all the land of Canaan, where all the tribes would live, all the land of Judah, Dan, Napthalit, Ephraim, Manasseh, unto the utmost sea. He saw the south, the valley of Jericho, and unto Zoar. The Bible says, “And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.” (Deuteronomy 34:4)

He could have seen all that land again and gotten discouraged. Everybody is going to go over but me. I had to struggle in Egypt, the back side of the desert, the wilderness. Why can’t I go over the river Jordan and possess the land like everybody else? No. He didn’t. He was content with his future. Before Moses’ final days, he and Joshua were in the tabernacle and the Lord God was there. (Deuternomy 31:!6)”And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.”

God told Moses “You’re not going to have to go through all that over there in the promised land. You’re coming up here. Remember Moses, when you said, Lord, show me thy glory? You’re gonna behold it in just a few days. You’re not going over into the land I swear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, you’re coming up here and you’re going to have fellowship with me, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Like that thief on the cross, Jesus said, “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.”

We’ve got a lot to look forward to. We’ve got a whole lot to praise God for. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. What does that mean? It means the day of the Lord is at hand. It means to look up, for your redemption draweth nigh. It means this thing is almost over. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Conclusion

“When thou comest high unto a city to fight against it… If it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it!” Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. Thou shalt besiege it. How do we cut off the roads? how do we blow up the bridges? How do we cut off the water? Cut off the power? Be filled with the Spirit. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.

Give me John the Baptist Head in a Charger! What was going on in John the Baptist head? The Law? Leather and Locusts? The Lord? The Light? The Lake? The Lamb? The Lame and the Leper? I believe that if we’d set our minds on these things, we through the Spirit can mortify the deeds of the flesh.

I want to say this: These things that we’ve covered require action on our part. God is not going to sprinkle some magic dust on you that will make you read your bible, or make you content, or any of these things. There’s a part that we must play in all of this. There’s a choice we must make in all of this. You’re just going to have to decide, who’s on the Lord’s side?

 

 

 

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

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There’s three things I’d like you to see in the subject of the text that have come out to me; three things just regarding the words of the text. I’d like to cover them as a sort of introduction before we get into the action of the text.

If… he dwells in you…

Verse nine says IF so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Verse nine asks  IF any man have the Spirit of Christ.  Verse 10 IF Christ be in you.  Paul puts it out there three times. IF! IF! IF! Salvation is one big IF.

• “I am the door: by me IF any man enter in, he shall be saved.” (John 10:9)
• “That IF thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Salvation is one big IF.  If is a condition. Salvation is conditional. People are saved IF they meet the conditions.  Not everybody is getting in. Not everybody has met the condition.  Salvation is not just a big IF; a condition, but it’s also an EXCEPTION. An IF is a condition that invokes a rule. An exception is a condition that breaks the rule. An exception is kinda like an if turned inside out.

• “For I say unto you, That EXCEPT your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)
• “And said, Verily I say unto you, EXCEPT ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
• “I tell you, Nay: but, EXCEPT ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3,5)
• “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, EXCEPT a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, EXCEPT a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3,5)
• “No man can come to me, EXCEPT the Father which hath sent me draw him…” (John 6:44)

The rule is: ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven, ye shall all likewise perish, you cannot see the kingdom of God, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God, you cannot come to Jesus. The rule is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The rule is that there’s none righteous, no not one. The rule is they’ve all gone astray. That’s the rule and it will never change. It will always be true. It’s the law. It’s the rule. Unless, there exist an exception: except ye be converted, except ye repent, except a man be born again, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.

Those EXCEPTIONs are really inside out IFs: If ye be converted, if ye repent, if a man be born again, if the Father which hath sent me draw him… IF. IF. IF.

Paul is giving us these great truths about about being in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation. We’re free from the law of sin and death. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. That old body, the body of this death, is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life. Praise God. But none of this is so, none of this is ours, unless we meet the conditions, unless we meet the IFs.

Another name…

We talked about the names of the Spirit: The Spirit, The Holy Ghost, The Spirit of God, The Spirit of Your Father, The Spirit of Our Father, The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Truth, The Spirit of Holiness, The Spirit of Life, The Spirit of the Living God, The Holy Spirit of Promise, The Spirit of Glory.

Just in these few verses (9-11), the Holy Ghost is the Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ. But here we have a new name: The Spirit of Him that Raised up Jesus from the Dead. What a name? This is the name that declares the live-giving, resurrecting power of God. The Spirit of Him that raised the dead, who made the dead to live (made the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak), this Spirit dwells in you.

What a name? This is the Spirit that can do the impossible. This is the Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters when the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. This is the Spirit that can give life; not just change it, but give it.  “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1) This is the Spirit that gets the job done.  He is the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead, and he dwells in you.

Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I’ll tell you who: The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead. The bible says “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Who is going to make all thing new? Who is it that will throw out the old and usher in the new? The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead. 

Nicodemus asked Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4) I’ll tell you how: The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:6-8) Who shall bring forth this new child of God? Who shall deliver and birth this new life? The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead.

What a name! This name declares the life-giving power of God. Thus declares the deity of the Holy Spirit; that the Holy Spirit is in fact, truly God. Only God can have this kind of power. In the book of Job, it is written, “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33:4) One of the divine attributes of God is what we call omnipotence.  Omnipotence means “to have all power.” I want to stress to you that the Holy Spirit is not power. Instead, He has power. This is an important distinction. Cults like the Jehovah Witnesses believe and teach that the Holy Spirit is God’s power, His force on this earth, that the Holy Ghost is not a distinct person, but a power. He is not power, He possesses and wields power.

After Jesus came out of the desert, the bible says that “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee…” (Luke 4:14) When Peter preached to Cornelius, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power…” (Acts 10:38) Paul admonished the Romans at the end of his letter “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13) And to the Corinthians, Paul said, “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4)

In all these verses, there is a distinction between the Holy Spirit and power. If there was no distinction, then the Bible would simply be redundant: Jesus would have returned in the power of the power. Jesus would have been anointed with the power and the power. We’d abound in hope through the power of the power. Paul’s preaching was in demonstration of the power and the power.

The Holy Spirit possesses power; the power of Him that raised Jesus from the dead. You see the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit in the birth of Jesus Christ.

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)

That’s how I became a son of God. The Bible says “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God…” (John 1:12) When I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, the Holy Ghost had come upon me, and the power of the Highest overshadowed me. The last thing that the angel Gabriel told Mary was “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) This is the Spirit that can do the impossible. O, the possibilities of the Spirit. What an amazing thought: Now, in the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God in you, all things are possible. Think of the possibilities of these verses:

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. (Philippians 1:19,20)

What is possible through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. What sin can be forgiven? What faults and failures can be made right? What battles can be won? What victory can be wrought? What glory can be given to God? What souls can be saved? What lives can be changed? O, How Christ shall be magnified through the supply of the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead?

The other day, a man came to the shop driving a big truck; a Peterbilt. He needed a special bracket for his truck to hold a tool box of some sort. As he explained his need, I marveled at the truck he was driving. I’ve always been fascinated with trucks, and the trucking industry. I’m amazed at how neglected this profession is in the public schools. They tell you that you can become a doctor, or a doctor, or an engineer; but they never suggest that maybe a truck driver might be a perfectly reasonable occupation. I find it appalling because everything that we use, we eat, we buy and sell, comes in on a truck. Everything in your house, whether it be the floor, the cinder blocks, the concrete, the roofing materials, the furniture; every single bit of it came in on a truck. Everything comes in on a truck, yet in the public schools, you never hear a word of it.

I was telling this customer about all this, and he said, “Logistics! That’s called logistics.” And that’s exactly what it’s called. It’s about how to get supplies from one place to the next. Whether it be FedEx, or UPS, or USPS, or Central Freight, or Southwestern, or Estes, or Old Dominion; everything must be transported one way or another on a truck, and that’s called logistics. Well, then he said this and I’ll never forget it: “Do you know how we won World War II?” And of course I said “How?” He said “Superior logistics!” We were better able and equipped to run the supply lines to the front line than our enemy was.

You think about this. Fighting the battle is not just about pulling a trigger, or shooting a grenade. There are things that have to take place in the background in order to fight a winning battle. Troops must have ammunition; fire power, bullets, grenades and such. They have to have food. They’re not going to last long without food and water. They have to have power; that’s the gasoline to run the tanks, trucks, and other things; kerosene, diesel, jet fuel, and sometimes in the sky they need it. They need healing, medical personal and supplies. Soldiers get hurt and soldiers get sick. I’m sure there’s a lot of things they need in order to obtain success and victory on the front line. In World War II, this gentleman said that we had superior logistics. We were able to keep the supply lines running smooth. Whereas the Germans, we took out their bridges and their roads. We cut off their logistics.

I’ll tell you how were going to win this battle against the flesh; against the world and against the devil. Superior Logistics! We have got superior logistics, the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. With Him, we can get the job done. With Him, the possibilities are endless if He’ll keep the supply lines running. What victory we can have if the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead supplies the need? What happens on the front line depends on what’s going on with the supply line. Don’t forget that.

When the battle gets tough. And it seems there’s no way to win. It seems like the way before you is impossible. Remember, we have superior logistics. It’s the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead that dwells and lives within that controls the supply line.

Him… He… His…

I believe this verse gives us the the perfect opportunity to cover an important doctrine of the Bible. It’s one that is taken for granted, in many ways perhaps. A doctrine that we take for granted in that we just assume that it is correct. A doctrine that we take for granted in that we are not able to defend it. A doctrine that we take for granted in that we may be easily swayed on it. A doctrine that we take for granted in that we mark not the importance and relevance of this doctrine. I speak of the doctrine of the Trinity. I’m not going to cover it all of course. I’ve got just a few things to say about it.

I see three people in this eleventh verse of the eighth chapter of Romans: The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus. You have the Spirit.  You have him. And you have Jesus.  In this verse, we see Spirit capitalized twice and Jesus and Christ both capitalized. But hidden in this passage is a the little him, and the little he, and the little his.  Small little words, yet they stand in the place of our Heavenly Father. So it’s somewhat obsure, yet clear that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost all take their place in this verse.

All three take place in this great salvation that we’ve been given. All three are involved in saving you. All three are interested in your soul. All three love you and care for you. All three are working in you to make you and mould you into what God wants you to be. I’m in the Spirit and the Spirit is in me. I’m in Christ, and Christ is in me. And through the Spirit of His Son, Jesus Christ, I’m in the Father and the Father in me. That’s why Matthew 28:19 is our creed. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

But I want us to see the Father in all this. The Son did not act alone. He did the will of the Father. Jesus said, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
” (John 6:38) He prayed on the Mount of Olives before he went to the cross, “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

The Holy Spirit does not act alone. The Bible says, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13) Jesus and the Holy Spirit do not act independently of the Father. The Father is always behind the scenes.

So we see the Holy Trinity in this verse. Consider John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” I, God the Son, will pray God the Father, and he shall give you God the Holy Spirit. This whole thing about walking in the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, serving God in the newness of spirit, this quickening in the Spirit… It is the will of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They’re all three pulling for you. All three want to see you living for Him. They all want to help you. They all want what’s best for you.

But the Father? The Father sent the Son. The Father sent the Spirit. It’s the will of the Father that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. Which brings us to the action of the text.

Shall also…

As we get into the action of the text, what is done, we see that Paul says, “Shall also!” I want to stress again by these two words shall also that our new life in Jesus Christ is given to us by the same hand that raised Jesus from the dead, the hand of the Father himself. God the Father did not just finish with the resurrection with his Son. No, the bible says:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20)

Now, this scripture in 1 Corinthians speaks of a physical resurrection at his coming. Christ is the firstfruits concerning the resurrection when the end cometh. Paul addresses this in his letter to the Thessalonians:

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

All that is well and good. He says to comfort one another and it does comfort me. But in Romans 8, Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection, yet so are we.  Paul said to the Thessalonians I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep. Paul was teaching the brethren about people that are dead. You are not dead. You are alive and breathing. So this may give you comfort regarding your loved ones that have died in the Lord, or comfort regarding yourselves when you die. But what Paul is handling in Romans is NOW; the life-giving, resurrecting power that is available to us now.

Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection of our physical bodies when this is all done. When Jesus comes in the clouds, we will experience a physical bodily resurrection. When you get saved though, you experience a spiritual bodily resurrection.

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (Romans 6:3-5)

The likeness of his death, and the likeness of his resurrection. My body was not physically nailed to a the same cross as Jesus Christ, and neither was Paul’s.  But he can say as well as I, “I’m crucified with Christ.”  I have been planted in the likeness of his death. Remember, Paul asked, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” And then in verse 10, he said, “If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin.” Then in verse 11, he says that the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

God’s resurrection plan is not on hold until the end of times. No. Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection. Yes. But so are we. You ask “What are you talking about, preacher?” James said, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (James 1:17,18) Oh Yes!

There is a quickening that takes place in your soul, in your spiritual body. There is a death and there is a resurrection. We’ve got that I’m crucified with Christ part down pretty good. It’s the nevertheless I live part that we have trouble with sometimes. When Jesus died on the cross, our sin was put in him. He became sin for us. He paid the price upon that cross. They took him down and put him in that tomb. On the third day, when he rose from the dead, he had no sin.  My sins are gone.

They were not as far as the west is from the east. (Psalm 102:12) They are gone! There were not sealed up in a bag. (Job 14:17) They are gone! They were not thrown in the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19) They are gone! They were not cast behind his back. (Isaiah 38:17) They are gone! Sometime between the crucifixion and the resurrection, God has taken my sins away, and made them to be no more.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:24)

You might ask, “Preacher, what about the sins we’ve yet to commit? What about my future sin?” When Jesus died on the cross, ALL our sins were future sins. He’s the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

What I want you to see though is this: We can look at the cross as a place where our sins where nailed. But that is not entirely correct. Our sin was place in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was nailed to the cross. But that is not entirely correct either. Paul said I am crucified with Christ. Can I say this: Our spiritual bodies, dead in their trespasses and sin, and awaiting the judgement of God, was clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus walked that body all the way up to mount Calvary. And when his body was nailed to that cross, our body was nailed to that cross, with all it’s sin. And there the wages of sin were paid, through the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When he cried with a loud voice, “It is finished!” and bowed his head and gave up the ghost. That was the Holy Ghost. I believe the Holy Ghost left Jesus with the unholy ghosts. Just like the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form on the Jordan River, he ascended and left Jesus with our spiritual bodies to die on the cross.

But on the third day, when his body got up out of that tomb, our bodies got up with him. And when his body got up and our spiritual bodies got up, the sin was gone. Gone! Nevertheless I live. Because he lives, I live. The Bible says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

You might read that and say, “Preacher, it says mortal bodies not spiritual bodies.”

I’ll say this. Mortal means “subject to death.” What we can glean from this is that the Spirit of God makes that which is subject to death no longer subject to death. If you are not saved, you have a mortal spiritual body and a mortal physical body. If you are not saved, you have a spiritual body that is subject to death and physical body that is subject to death.

If you are saved, you have an immortal spiritual body and a mortal physical body (that will resurrect). If you are saved, you have a spiritual body that is not subject to death, nor ever will be; and you have a physical body that subject to death that will resurrect in that last day.

Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (this speaks of the physical body and the resurrection at the last day) : And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:24,25)

And that speaks of the spiritual body; the immortal spiritual body of the saved.  Jesus is not contradicting himself. He’s just talking about two different things. If you are saved, you’re spiritual body will never die and your physical body will resurrect later. If you are lost, you’re spiritual body is subject to death, it’s mortal.

I know it’s tempting to think that Romans 8:11 is talking about the resurrection at the last day.  But let me say this, if your spiritual body is not immortal, raised from the dead, by the power of the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead, then your physical body is not going anywhere, in this life or in the life to come. If there is not something in you alive and kicking that is stirring you and working in you to live for God… If there is not enough power in you to move your physical body in this life, on this earth toward heaven and the things of God, then what makes you think there will be enough power in you to raise your physical body from the dead at the last day. I’ve heard some preachers say, “If your salvation or religion is not enough to take you to church, what makes you think it’ll take you to heaven?”

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

He SHALL ALSO. This verse can be a demonstration of our faith; an object of our faith. You can put your faith and trust in this verse. Paul said, “The life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God…” I believe God. That’s why we pray that God would use us, and fill us, and live that life in us. We do it because we believe. We ask God because we believe he’ll do it.We sing that song Take My Life because we believe he’ll do it!

Take my life and let it be,
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise.

Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

He will take our life, if you let him have it. He shall quicken your mortal bodies, if you’ll let him. He will live his life through you, if you want him. Don’t you want him to take your life? What are you gonna do with it? What have you done with it so far? Why don’t you let him have it? Or maybe I should ask why don’t you let your life go?

He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (John 12:25)

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

What God has for you, he’s already done for you through the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s yours for the taking and the trusting.

His power can make you what you ought to be;
His blood can cleanse your heart and make you free;
His love can fill your soul, and you will see
’Twas best for Him to have His way with thee.

Know that the God the Father, He that raised up Christ from the dead, SHALL ALSO quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. That’s what He’s there for. Won’t you let him.