Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
At Faith Presbyterian Church we are seeking to exalt Jesus Christ the King and to exhibit and extend his Kingdom through worship, community, and mission.
Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Romans 8:18-25; A Hopeful Church
Jason Sterling August 25, 2024 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL
Bulletin
The following message is from Faith Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Join us on Sundays for our 8, 15, and 11 am worship services. For more information, visit us online at faith-pcaorg or download the Faith PCA app. Thank you for tuning in to Faith's podcast ministry.
Speaker 2:If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me Romans, chapter 8. So go to the book of Romans, chapter 8. This morning we're going to be studying. We're going to the Old Testament. This fall we're going to be studying the book of Daniel, starting in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2:And before we jump into that, last week we started, we just were talking, doing a couple of weeks, talking about the things that are important to us. We said if you want to stay on track as an organization or as a church, you got to name your values, you got to name things that you love and that are important to you. And last week we talked about hospitality. We want to be a hospitable church. This morning I want to talk about hope. We want to be a church that offers Christian hope to people. And I didn't originally plan on preaching this this morning. I had something different planned.
Speaker 2:But I don't know if you're like me and I don't know if pastors experience this, but I go through these waves of sadness. I go through these waves of being overwhelmed with the brokenness of the world and the brokenness of life and, coming back from sabbatical, I've experienced that firsthand and I don't know if it's. I had some time away and I'm reentering and it just feels more intense and acute, or if that's just something that is already there. But I feel this overwhelming sadness and I need hope this morning, and we want to be a place again. I've said this people are in the middle of a lot of hard. Every week, somebody in here maybe this is where you are this week. Maybe this is the most difficult, hardest, worst week of your life, and so I need it every week. But I need to hear the hope of the gospel this morning, and I keep coming back to a passage I've never preached on, but it's one of my favorite passages in the Bible Romans, chapter 8. And so, while I preach to myself this morning, I invite you to listen in, and as you listen in, I hope that all of us will find encouragement in the glory that awaits the followers of Jesus. And so follow along with me as I read one of the most amazing and hopeful passages in all the Bible Romans 8, 18 through 25,.
Speaker 2:This is God's Word, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. This is God's Word futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now, and not only the creation but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly, as we await eagerly for the adoptions as sons, the redemption of our bodies, for in this hope we were saved. Now, hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for what he sees, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. This is God's Word. Let's ask the Spirit to help us this morning. Let's pray together. Father, would you come? It's no accident. We're here. You've brought us here, and you've brought us here to hear this word from Romans 8 this morning. And so be with me as I preach, be with those who are listening and minister to us, take this word, fill our hearts with it and give us gospel hope this morning. I pray that all of us would leave here encouraged by the hope that we have in Jesus. It's in his name we pray, amen.
Speaker 2:A few years ago, a little boy named Miles Scott. He was five years old at the time. He had leukemia. He was from San Francisco and all the people of San Francisco, along with Make-A-Wish, rallied around this family and he loved Batman. He wanted to be Batman and so this family again with Make-A-Wish. They rallied around this family and they made San Francisco into Gotham City and it was a massive success. This little boy dressed up like Batman in a costume. He was fighting town villains and volunteer villains in the city and he was saving citizens of San Francisco and people loved it. It was magical. Some said it was an act of love towards this family. And someone commenting on the day said sometimes, when I'm overwhelmed with sadness about the world, when I'm overwhelmed with sadness about my life, I remember that kid and I remind myself that this really happened and it gives me hope.
Speaker 2:What gives you hope this morning? What gives you hope in the midst of the worst week of your life? What gives you hope in the midst of your sadness and suffering and the suffering you see around you? Friends, our hope and our suffering and sadness in the worst week of our life is not in Bat Kid. It's not in the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I love Make-A-Wish. It's an amazing thing. But that's not our hope. Our hope is not in politics, it's not in the upcoming election. Our hope's not in our bank accounts, our children, our possessions, our career success. It's not in the health of our bodies. Our hope as a church and as Christians is in the resurrection and life everlasting and as a church, that's what we want to be offering people. We want to always be a church of the resurrection you could say An Easter people offering resurrection and gospel hope. We want to offer news that is so good and so glorious that it gives you peace and stability. And how about this? Even joy in the worst moments of your life, in the worst circumstances you can imagine. How does that happen? How do we do that? How do we become that kind of people in church?
Speaker 2:Romans 8 helps us. It says in order to live faithfully and wait patiently for the glory that Jesus is bringing, we need three things. We need to consider. We need to groan and we need to consider. We need to groan and we need to hope. Consider, groan, hope. That's where we're headed. Let's look at our first heading. Consider again. We're just going to walk through the bible like we always do so. Let's walk through these verses.
Speaker 2:Context, if you're looking at your passage, is paul has been talking about the present ministry of the Holy Spirit in the previous verses and now he starts talking about our future glory, verse 18, an amazing verse, for I consider that the suffering of this present time is not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, a verse maybe you're familiar with In light of our momentary troubles, they are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory, that what Far outweighs them all. And so here's the picture. Remember those old-timey balance scales where if you put something on one side of the scale, it tips the scale all the way to the top. That's the picture here, and Paul is saying you put pain and suffering of this life that is real and that we experience, you put it on one side of the scale and you put the eternal weight of God's glory that's going to be revealed to us on the other side of the scale. Glory, the glory that is coming, pops up and it tips the scale and far outweighs our suffering. It's important but easy to miss.
Speaker 2:But notice here the Apostle Paul doesn't diminish suffering. He doesn't say you won't suffer. He doesn't say you won't suffer. He doesn't say, well, just get over it. No, look at what the apostle Paul is doing. He's just saying, hey, take your suffering. And Paul was a man of great suffering. If you read the scriptures and put it next to glory, and it doesn't hold a candle to it, it doesn't compare. The Bible doesn't deny suffering, it doesn't hold a candle to it. It doesn't compare. The Bible doesn't deny suffering, it doesn't diminish it. It just says to us, to the Christian, there is something far better that is coming. And notice. Paul says again, small thing, but I consider. What does consider mean, if you look it up in the dictionary? To consider something means to think about it carefully, to contemplate something or to reflect on something. And so notice what Paul is doing.
Speaker 2:Paul is saying we must. This is what he's doing, this is what we must do. We must do as well think carefully and know that the present glory that is to be revealed is not worth comparing to our suffering, as painful as it is. So do you see what Paul is doing here? Paul here is working out his faith. Faith is active. He's taking what he knows to be true and he's thinking it out. He's looking ahead at our future glory. And Paul is pulling that truth from the future into the present so that he can be sustained in the midst of his suffering. He's not focused on the present and how he feels. He's thinking about and pulling into the present what will be in the future. And you see, we must do the same as well. Why is it important that we consider and we work out the truth of our faith and we pull the future into the present? Why is that so important. Well, because you know this and I know this.
Speaker 2:But when life knocks the breath out of you and the fog comes rolling in and the darkness comes rolling in and settles in on your life, it is really hard, isn't it, to see clearly. And it is really easy, or at least it is for me. As you can see, this morning I'm preaching the truth to myself. It's really easy to forget what's true. I've got four daughters and as of now, I have been the one that teaches them how to drive, and with every one of them we have a lesson, or I have a lesson that I give them, and it's normally I do the lesson, this driving lesson on Acton Road. You know, it's real curvy and windy and there's very little shoulder. Curvy and windy and there's very little shoulder.
Speaker 2:And the lesson is, I say, when someone bright lights you and blinds you and you're disoriented by the bright light, or if the fog starts to roll in on your way to school or whatever in the morning and you can't see the car in front of you, you need to focus on the white line. Focus on the white line on the side of the road it's actually called the fog line and that line will get you home. It will help navigate the fog, it will recalibrate you and orient you and keep you on the road. It's very similar for us as well. Friends. When the darkness comes rolling in, when the fall comes into your life and it settles in on you and your family and it disorients you and you can't see clearly, we don't focus on the white line, of course, but we do keep our head up and we focus on the truth of our future glory. And that truth of the future glory is one of the reasons why a focusing on that and reorienting us in the midst of our hardships is one of the reasons why this Sunday is so important.
Speaker 2:Every Sunday, sunday morning, weekly worship with God's people, corporate worship. You might say this sounds like an Easter sermon this morning. You might say this sounds like an Easter sermon this morning. It is an Easter sermon, you know why? Because every Sunday is Easter. That's what we celebrate Every single week. And Sunday in our church is we celebrate the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and you know what happens when we gather for worship. Celebrate the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and you know what happens when we gather for worship.
Speaker 2:It is an act of protest. You know what we're protesting Death, brokenness and despair and evil. And we are saying, by showing up here and singing and praying and being with God's people and hearing the word, we are saying death will not win, the fog will not win, the darkness will not win. And if you're in the worst week of your life, that is important because despair presses in on you. And we come here and we say no, no, no, no. We know the end of the story, we know how the game ends. God is coming, glory is coming, jesus is coming. Death and evil do not have the last word. Our present sufferings don't hold a candle to the glory that is to be revealed, if you know the Lord Jesus. Secondly, we groan.
Speaker 2:Look at verse 19. Again, hang with me here. We're going to walk through some of these verses and try to get a handle on them, but I love verse 19. For creation waits with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. What an amazing verse. I mean, think about this idea of creation longing and crying out for the revelation of the sons of God. What does that mean? Well, jb Phillips, who's a commentator I love this. He's famous for saying this, but he says creation is standing on tiptoe. I mean, isn't that an amazing picture? And so the picture is that of someone straining their neck to see Think about a little child in a parade or leaning forward in order to see someone or something that is coming.
Speaker 2:In order to see someone or something that is coming, I mentioned last week, we took a trip family trip to London this summer and one morning we went to Westminster Abbey. We were doing a tour and we were waiting. And as we walked into Westminster Abbey, I mean the streets were starting to fill up, there were police officers everywhere, there were barricades going up, there was lots of hustle and bustle and I didn't think anything of it really at the time. We went through our tour. We came out of Westminster Abbey. It's even more congested, lots more going on, and so we're walking to lunch and I told the girls to go ahead of me that I was going to find out what was going on. And so I stopped a police officer and I said what in the world's happening?
Speaker 2:And he says it's the opening day of parliament. That's a big deal. We had no idea. Most people plan their trips around the opening day of parliament because you get to see the king. And we had no idea. But in God's providence, we were there. And he says I tell you what he's in giving a speech in front of Parliament. You go, stand right there and you'll get to see the king when he comes out. And so people are gathering, children are gathering and they're on tiptoe and everyone's straining their necks and leaning forward, waiting for the king. And here comes the king out of parliament, all the horses and the king's guard with their hats, and then there's a chariot or a carriage with the crown and with the scepter. Then, in a golden carriage, here comes the king and there's a band and there's pomp and circumstance and everyone's straining to see the king and Paul is saying that's a picture of what creation is doing, except they're not waiting to see King Charles. Creation is straining on tiptoe to see King Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who will one day come and make all things new and bring glory. And so why is creation longing? Or look at verse 22, groaning Well, verse 20, for creation was subjected to futility, or meaninglessness, or emptiness.
Speaker 2:And then the question is when did this happen and who made it happen? When did it happen? Genesis, chapter 3, verse 17,. Cursed is the ground. Because of you, creation was created, and it was originally good, but the ground received a curse. The earth received a curse because of the sin of Adam and Eve. Who did this? Verse 20,? Not willingly, but because of him who subjected it. Who is the him who subjected it? Well, commentators would say Adam, satan. No, god subjected it Because, you see, only God can be both judge and Savior. The creation was subjected by the will of the one who subjected it. And don't miss the last two words in hope. Because, you see, though, creation was cursed and judged because of sin. He also gives hope to creation in Genesis, chapter 3, when he says the woman will have a child that will come and crush the head of the serpent. And so, from that moment forward, you see, creation has been lamenting, been in frustration and futility, but at the same time, creation is on tiptoe, eagerly waiting for Jesus to come again and to finally and fully transform this world with the glory of God. Keep going Creation's groaning, because of futility, but also because it's decaying.
Speaker 2:You see that in verse 21,. Corruption or decay. You see, whether you know it or not, that's what's happening to the world, that's what's happening to our bodies. And I know, maybe that's really hard to believe, because maybe you traveled this summer and you saw some amazing parts of creation that were beautiful and just filled you with wonder. Well, regardless of the beauty, the universe the Bible says is running down, is running down. Our bodies are decaying and experiencing corruption. How do we know? Well, I know one thing that I can say with absolute certainty in here this morning, and that is that every single person in this room is going to die. Death is batting a thousand. That's part of the curse, and that's why, in what causes creation and causes us to groan, to long for glory, to strain our necks for Jesus to be revealed and to reveal a glory that is beyond anything that we can imagine. Verse 22, creation is groaning.
Speaker 2:Lastly, because of pain. The world's full of pain. Look at verse 22, groans together us with creation in the pains of childbirth. That's the image Paul uses here. Think about childbirth it's hard, it's long, it's painful, but you endure. Why? Because of the hope of glory, because your child is coming. And Paul is saying that's the picture. All creation, including us. We're experiencing pain in the moment, and our bodies, and we have all these limitations and disappointments and suffering. And we know things are not right. We feel that every single day that things are not the way they're supposed to be, but we wait patiently with hope, standing on tiptoe because glory is coming.
Speaker 2:John Stott says some Christians grin too much and groan too little. They seem to have, he says, no place in their theology for pain, theology for pain. The Bible keeps it real about our brokenness and about the brokenness of the world, and that should lead us to groan, that should lead us to lament. Not get cynical. I can go there, not to ignore but to actually lament Christians, our church, the church, it's supposed to be a people who lament. But you don't stop there. My tendency is to stop there and to get stuck in lament. But if we get stuck in lament, it says that we've forgotten our future. But if we get stuck in lament, it says that we've forgotten our future.
Speaker 2:Christians are to be a people. The church is to be a people that is marked by lament on the one hand, and longing on the other. If we lament only, we've forgotten our glory. If we long and grin only, it means that we're ignoring the present pain and the sorrow of the world. I love how one pastor puts it. He says we are to be a people, and I'll say that this is what we want to be as a church.
Speaker 2:Here's the picture A people who stand on tiptoe with tears. People who stand on tiptoe with tears, tiptoe waiting for Jesus with tears. You see both longing and lament. Lastly, our hope. What are we hoping for? What is this glory that is to be revealed? What are we longing for? Two things.
Speaker 2:First, resurrection, verse 23, the redemption of our bodies. I don't have time to go into a full theology of death, but here's what the Bible teaches. We see this in other places of scripture if you belong to Jesus, you will be like Him and you will experience a bodily resurrection. When a Christian dies, their souls immediately go into the presence of God and are made perfect in holiness. Their bodies, meanwhile, remain united to Christ that's important united to Christ and rest in the grave until the final resurrection. And when Jesus returns, our souls will be reunited with our bodies and our bodies will be resurrected, restored and made new. The resurrection of the body is the ultimate hope of the Christian and I think that's important to point out because, yes, when people die, they immediately go into the presence of God and they enjoy rich communion. Yet, as glorious and wonderful as that is and will be, it's not complete. That's not our hope. It's not complete because what will make it complete is Jesus coming back and bringing resurrection and new heavens and new earth, and we experience final resurrection Now. Do you see why creation's on tiptoe Now? Do you see why we should be on tiptoe waiting for jesus now? Do you see why the bible ends? You know how the bible ends? The apostle john you remember what he says to close out all the scriptures come, lord jesus, come, jesus, come.
Speaker 2:What will our bodies be like? Again, not time for a full explanation. We don't completely know everything, but, in short, your physical body. You will have a physical body and it will finally work the way it's supposed to. Isn't that wonderful. Your body won't wear down anymore. Your body will no longer feel like a burden. Your sin will be gone. Think about the sin you struggle with over and over and over. It will be gone. Cancer will be gone. Dementia will be gone. Trauma will be gone. The guilt and shame that you feel every single day will be gone.
Speaker 2:We obsess oftentimes over our bodies. We're often consumed, aren't we, with our bodies and the aches and pains and how we feel. Your body at the resurrection will be made new. It will be whole, it will be completely healed and so secure in Jesus that think about this you won't even think about your body at all. Can you imagine about your body at all? Can you imagine you won't even think about it at all, because it'll be so right and you'll be so secure in Jesus.
Speaker 2:What does all this mean? Again, lots of application, but let me say one thing is that our hope? This means that our hope is not in our health. This means that our hope is not in our health. Our hope is not in this body. Are we to be a good steward? Let me be clear are you to be a good steward, or the gift of this body resurrected body and when that's our hope, guess what? We don't have to be afraid to suffer, we don't have to be afraid to die, we don't have to be afraid of pain. We can actually move in towards pain and care for other people.
Speaker 2:Ray Cannata, in one of his books, talks about this period in church history when the church grew from 6% to 8% to 50% in the Roman Empire by the end of the 3rd century and as the plagues were taking and literally killing 35,000 people a week, everyone started to flee, especially if you had means. Everyone fled, but one group, the Christians, and they cared for their own and they cared for the pagan sick. And it's not because they were more courageous. You know why. It's because of their theology they were more courageous. You know why it's because of their theology. It was because of their hope, it was because they believed in the resurrection of the body. Friends, if this life is all there is, then you better not get the plague. But if you know more is coming, you don't have to be afraid and you can actually enter in and care for those who are sick and suffering.
Speaker 2:The other glorious thing quickly. That Jesus is bringing is not just resurrection, he's bringing renewal of the whole world, the new heavens and new earth. Verse 19 look, creation's longing to be set free. The reason why creation is longing is because it knows it won't get its renewal and resurrection bodies until we do so. Creation is saying come on, jesus, we want to be made new, and you see this image in Revelation 22 of the new heavens and new earth coming down and reversing the curse of the earth. Friends, heaven is not a bright light in a white hospital room. Heaven is not people floating and hovering around like ghosts. Ghost, no, god is not blowing up this world that he made. God is coming to do away with the curse and brokenness of the earth and transform it and make this world the one we're living in, make it new. And the new heavens and new earth will be the reality and place that you've always longed for.
Speaker 2:When we experience tough weeks, when we get overwhelmed with sadness, we start to entertain thoughts, don't we? That life is fundamentally a tragedy and that my story will have a sad ending. And Paul is saying no, no, no, no, jesus is coming, and one day all the sad things will come untrue. How do we know Verse 23, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's the deposit guaranteeing that this world isn't all there is that something better is coming. And here's what this means for an application. And then I'll close with an illustration. If you're a Christian, your best days are not behind you. You know how we often hear. They're not the decade you grew up in. They're not a season of life maybe with your kids, a season of life, maybe with your kids. Your best years are not your college years. No, for the Christian, our best days are ahead of us.
Speaker 2:Keller tells this story about a Welsh preacher in the 18th century. He was a teenager. He was surrounding his family. His aunt was dying and the families gathered around the bed. The aunt was a very strong Christian and she was slipping away. She appeared to be unconscious and someone in the room, one of the family members, said isn't it just such a shame? She had such a hard life. She had two husbands die, she was sick most of her life and, on top of all that, she died poor.
Speaker 2:All of a sudden, this lady pops up and opens her eyes and says who's calling me poor? She says I'm rich. I will soon stand before God as a bold lion and I will see Jesus face to face. And then she died. You see, that's living hope. That living hope enabled her to say I have the only husband that cannot die, I have the only wealth that can never be taken away and my Savior has dealt with the only disease sin that can truly kill me.
Speaker 2:How can you call me poor? You got hope like that Christian hope. You can stay afloat with anything this world throws at you, even in the middle of the worst week of your life. That is the hope that Jesus offers all of us this morning. Will you come to him? Come, lord Jesus. Come, amen. Let's pray, father. Thank you for loving us enough to come, get us. Thank you for our future hope. Forgive us, forgive me for my despair. Help us, holy Spirit, to consider our future glory and to bring that into the present. Help us to be a people that lament appropriately, but also a people that long, that cry out for you to come again. If there's someone here that doesn't know you, would you open up their eyes to the gospel and give them faith and give them this certain hope that we have discussed this morning? In Jesus' name, amen.