First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Tune in each week as Pastor Taylor Geurin leads us into a study of God's Word.
First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Climbing Everest: Suffering and Glory: Finding Hope in the In-Between | Romans 8:18-27
We explore Romans 8:18-27 and discover what it means to live in the "in-betweenness of time" - after Christ's victory on the cross but before His return to make all things new.
• Like decisive battles that determine wars before they officially end, Christ has already won the victory over sin and death
• Creation itself groans and waits eagerly for Christ's return and restoration
• When sin entered the world, all creation fell under the curse - not just humanity
• As believers, we have the "first fruits of the Spirit" as a down payment of what's to come
• The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with "groanings too deep for words" when we don't know how to pray
• Just as CS Lewis wrote about the day when "the summer will come true," we await the day when Christ returns
• The sufferings of this present time cannot compare to the glory that will be revealed to us
Join us at First Baptist El Dorado as we continue our journey through Romans.
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week? Amen, open with me to Romans, chapter 8. As we continue our journey, our climb through what may be the greatest passage in all of Scripture, romans 8, today, will be in verses 18 through 27. Verse 18 says this, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For I consider again that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. And, lord Jesus, would you reveal to us your glory even now through your word? Would you speak in Christ's name, amen. You know there are times when the war is won long before the war is over, when the war is won long before the war is over.
Speaker 1:I think of July 4th 1863. I think of Vicksburg, mississippi. You can make the argument for Fort Sumter in the beginning of the Civil War. You can make the argument for Fort Sumter in the beginning of the Civil War. You can make the argument for Gettysburg certainly gets the highlights, and rightfully so, the headlines, but I could argue that the Battle of Vicksburg is the most important victory on that July 4th of 63, in the entire Civil War. Why? Because, in a real sense, it ended the war long before the war ended. Why Because, in a real sense, it ended the war long before the war ended. As the Union troops took Vicksburg, mississippi, they really took the Mississippi River, and when you take the Mississippi River, you take the war. The war ended at Vicksburg even though there were about two years of fighting remaining. I can say the same illustration of D-Day. It was about a year before, about 11 months before victory in Europe Day when World War II ended. But about a year before that, d-day took place when the Allied forces took over Normandy and in that moment the war was all but over. It was all but done because they gained this great victory. There were still battles to be fought, but in a very real sense, the war was over.
Speaker 1:You and I, even today, in this moment, we live in the in-betweenness of time. The in-betweenness of time If that's not a word, we'll make it one this morning. The in-betweenness of time If that's not a word, we'll make it one this morning. The in-betweenness of time Because the reality is the war has been waged and the war has been won. Christ Jesus went to the cross and he went to the grave An early Sunday morning, rose from the grave, defeating sin and death. The war is won. Satan knows he has lost, but we're still awaiting a future day, aren't we? When Christ Jesus returns, brings with him the new heavens and new earth, makes all things good and all things right, and you and I live in the in-betweenness of time. The war is won, but you and I both know the devil. He's defeated, but he still prowls around like a lion and can still make a mess of things, can he not? Yet one day he will be put into his final resting place, when Christ returns.
Speaker 1:You and I are in right now, the in-betweenness of time, and that's what Paul speaks about in Romans, chapter 8, starting in verse 18. What does life look like in the in-betweenness of it all? As we've seen one coming of our Lord and await another. He starts in verse 18 again, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. You say this, taylor.
Speaker 1:I thought Romans 8 was supposed to be our favorite chapter of scripture, and suddenly we're talking about suffering. That doesn't sound too good to me, but what Paul has just finished in verse 17 is that you and I are heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ we talked about that last week Provided that we suffer with Christ. So to walk the way Christ has walked means we will arrive with him at the place of glory. But in the meantime we walk the road Christ has walked, even to the place of suffering. But then Paul immediately shows us what that suffering is all about, that even the sufferings that you and I face now in this life every day are not worth comparing to what is coming, our very bright future that is ahead. That the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. Now we've got to talk about two things that Paul is doing here, because I think it's important. We've talked about this before as we've walked through the book of Romans. But Paul is not writing this from a beachside condo, a beachside destination, just enjoying his vacation, writing back to the church at Rome, just saying good luck with all the suffering you're walking through. I hope it turns out okay for you.
Speaker 1:Paul is a sufferer difficult word to say, and I'll try it a few times a sufferer writing to those who are suffering. If you open the book of Acts this morning and you pick anywhere in the second half of the book of Acts and you just put your finger at a location blindfolded, just put it there, you're probably going to land on a passage of scripture in which you see Paul suffering. You're probably going to land in a moment when Paul is in prison, one of the many times he's in prison. You might land in a moment where people are throwing Paul out of town or trying literally to execute Paul. You may land in a moment where Paul is shipwrecked, where he's literally been bitten by a snake, when he's being chartered to Rome to go to prison and from Rome he will not leave, he will be executed. You'll probably land at one of those moments.
Speaker 1:He knows what it is to suffer and this suffering servant of Christ Jesus is writing to other sufferers because those at the church of Rome know what it means to suffer. They live in Rome under the hand of the emperor. They know what it's like to be persecuted. They know what it's like to live in fear and live in danger. So this is a sufferer writing to sufferers about suffering for Christ and even still says, with all this suffering that is going on, it's not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed.
Speaker 1:Number two thing we need to realize is simply this that in this moment, paul is not minimizing suffering. That in this moment, paul is not minimizing suffering. What he's not doing is looking at your suffering this morning and saying this why don't you just not worry about it? I mean, don't you just have enough faith to realize it's going to be better one day out there in the future? He's not minimizing your suffering in any way in the future. He's not minimizing your suffering in any way. In fact, what we see throughout Scripture is that the suffering we walk through is very real. I don't have to tell you that you walk through trial and pain and suffering and you know very well, even in this moment, even this morning, as you walk into the room, if you're walking through a trial, you know just how real and how heavy and how serious that suffering is, that you've walked through things and moments and seasons of life that maybe few of us in the room can even imagine, and maybe others have walked through seasons of suffering that you couldn't imagine. But Paul is not minimizing that suffering in any way. He doesn't want us to look at that and that very real suffering in our lives and just say, you know, hey, buddy, don't worry about it. But he's not minimizing suffering, he's simply maximizing glory that, however deep and full and heavy and weighty your suffering is for the believer, on your very worst day you could imagine or the best day you can imagine, the truth is this that the best is yet to come, that there is a day ahead that will fill with joy all the places in our heart that sorrow has carved out through our suffering, that there is something coming that will redeem all things and even redeem our suffering. And so, whatever the extent of your suffering this morning, paul is not minimizing it. He's just reminding you that in Christ Jesus, there are beautiful things ahead. And he continues as he talks about a lot of the suffering that's happened in this moment for you and I, and even creation itself.
Speaker 1:Look with me, verse 19. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. I want to see point one this morning. It's simply this all creation awaits the glory of Christ. Do you know that not only are believers awaiting the glory of Christ, but creation itself, like non-human creation, is awaiting the return of Christ. It talks about the revealing of the sons of God. We saw in 1 through 17 that if we are in Christ we are sons of God. Now that is already. We have already been adopted into the family. And yet creation is waiting on that moment when that is revealed at Christ's return in its truest sense and we are glorified and all creation is glorified. They're awaiting that moment and literally we've got this personification of creation. That creation is longing for this.
Speaker 1:What these verses kind of make us think about is, as if under our feet right now, there's this kind of bubbling underneath us of a creation that is just so desperately longing and groaning and waiting for Christ's return. You know, the redemption of all things is bigger than just the redemption of humanity. Creation itself has been the subject to futility and it's waiting its own restoration. Keep reading with me verse 20,. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Even creation is waiting. Every mountain, every valley, every ocean, every field, every stream. It is waiting for Christ to come make all things new. It has been subjected to the brokenness of this world and it is patiently waiting.
Speaker 1:And now you say this. You say, pastor, I've got an issue with this Because you said I was in life group this morning and we talked about creation, and we talked about that as God created, he made all things good. Pastor, don't take my word for it, those are God's words. He created and he says it was good. All things he made are good, including humans, made in the image of God. He said very good.
Speaker 1:And yet you'll see in next week's life group, in chapter three of Genesis, that as humanity rebels against God, sin enters the world. That affects much more than just mankind, that affects all things. In Genesis 3, as the Lord is giving consequence to Adam, he literally says this verse 17, ground. Because of you In pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Speaker 1:Cursed is the ground. The creation itself is probably saying something like God. What did I do, man and woman? They did all the sinning, and yet I've got to bear the effects of this as well. Cursed is the ground, and if you listen close enough, it's almost as if you can hear creation crying out for its redemption. You can just feel in your bones, can you not, that there's something off, that, as beautiful as all creation is, there is something that you can still sit back and say this is just not the way it's supposed to be, and we're awaiting a day when the Lord will come, redeem all creation.
Speaker 1:There's something in us that looks at the fact that we live in a broken world where floodwaters can rise 26 feet in 45 minutes and cause devastation in a small town in Texas. There's something within us when we think about a 2004 tsunami off the coast of Indonesia that, in a matter of moments, took over 200,000 lives. There's something within us. I was just talking to a new friend of mine from Little Rock, little Rock Central graduate, but we were talking about our hometown and he lived not too far from where my parents lived, and we talked about the devastating effects of a tornado just a few years back and some of the places we drove by every day decimated. We live in this world that's broken. That's just not the way it's supposed to be. We live in a world that's just crying out and waiting for all things to be made new. Now I've read the end of the book and I've got good news.
Speaker 1:Revelation 21 and 22 do tell us that for creation, as it waits, as it waits on its redemption, ultimately the fulfillment of that redemption will come. You look at Revelation 22,. You see the new Jerusalem coming down. You see Christ Jesus restoring all things, bringing the new heavens and new earth. And in chapter 22, verses 1 through 5, I won't read them all, but you see the river of the water of life. You see the streets coming down and these trees yielding their fruits. What you see here from the throne of God, all this coming forth, is a picture of creation being made new.
Speaker 1:That, in these moments, as all creation is crying out, is groaning for the redemption of all things, that Christ's return. They will finally. Creation will finally get what it so desperately seeks, and that's good news. So number one is this all creation awaits the glory of Christ. But also we see this all believers await the glory of Christ, verse 23,. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit I love that phrase the first fruits of the Spirit.
Speaker 1:Ephesians 1.14 talks about that same idea, that the Holy Spirit, the first fruits, or even you call it the guarantee, the down payment that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Now. That's our help for today, but also a promise of what is coming, that we have the first fruits of the Spirit. But look at this verse 23 again. We groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. So not only is creation crying out, is groaning, but you and I, if we are in Christ Jesus, we are groaning. But you and I, if we are in Christ Jesus, we are groaning, we are waiting. Verse 24, for in this hope we were saved. Now, hope that is seen is not hope who hopes for what he sees, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. You and I have the first fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:Like we talked about at the beginning, you and I live in the in-betweenness of life and within that in-betweenness you and I both know there are a lot of broken things in our world. Within that in-betweenness there's a lot of sin that has broken a lot of things in our world. And, by the way, we don't just have to look outward. We can look inward in our own hearts to see how much our own sin has made a mess of things in our world and in our lives, how much our own decisions and the rightful consequences for that decision have made way into our lives. But we look around and all we see is brokenness in our world. And do you ever just look at our world or look even closer to home and just say this is just not the way it's supposed to be, that there's part of you that is just so deeply groaning for the return of Christ, groaning for the return of Christ, that places we'll see in a minute, that are just too deep for words, that you've walked through suffering that all you can say is Lord Jesus come, Lord Jesus come. We see evidence of the broken world all over the place.
Speaker 1:I was texting a certain news anchor in town you won't be able to guess who it was and we were messaging about something church related, something I was asking her about. But then I just said him or her, it could be anybody and I asked this individual. Well, really, I said to this individual something to this effect. I said I don't know how you do it. I don't know how. You sit there every afternoon and that teleprompter comes on and in that moment and you do it so well, but in that moment you've got to read off that teleprompter some of the most heartbreaking stories. In that moment you see on that teleprompter some of the most devastating things. I couldn't imagine how you do it, that we live in a broken world and you've got to read the teleprompter and then the teleprompter the news turns off, and then you've got to go home and just be a mom and a normal functioning human.
Speaker 1:And yet you see up close the brokenness of our world.
Speaker 1:But you don't have to be a newscaster to know that.
Speaker 1:You see it in your own life. You see it in the world around us, a world that is groaning creation, that is groaning for the return of Christ, because we see how broken this world is. You've seen in your own lives moments of suffering you can't even put words to, and speaking of our inability to put words to them, verse 26,. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for, as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Think about this. We've seen creation groan. We've seen creation groan. We've seen believers groan, and in this verse we literally see the Holy Spirit himself groaning. That as the Holy Spirit sees our loss for words, our brokenness over the suffering of this world, the Holy Spirit groans beside us and with us as he takes our prayers and sends them to the Father.
Speaker 1:And you say now, why in the world is the Holy Spirit groaning? I mean the Holy Spirit. We're a Trinitarian bunch here Father, son, holy Spirit. We know the Trinity is himself God. Why in the world is he groaning? Because if I'm just a human and I've read the end of the story, I mean God has known the end before the beginning. He knows how all of this will pan out. So why is he groaning in the meantime about what's going on? It's the same reason that Jesus in John 11 stands outside the tomb of Lazarus and knows in about five minutes I'm going to say the word and Lazarus is going to shuffle out of the tomb. And yet what does Jesus do? He stops and he weeps Again. He knows Lazarus is about to come out, but even he weeps because he looks and he sees the brokenness that death has caused at this funeral procession. He sees the sadness of a world that, if they're not careful, can believe that death gets the final say. And Jesus takes time in that moment to weep. And even the Holy Spirit, who knows the end before the beginning, takes time to groan with us as we pray, and those prayers that are too deep for words.
Speaker 1:I've got a question for you. Have you ever gotten a piece of news, told something reported something or something happened to you and it led you to a place of prayer? And yet, as you arrive at that place of prayer, you realize in that moment I don't have the words to properly pray for this that this story, this situation, this trial, this suffering, that this friend of mine or this spouse of mine or this child of mine or this parent of mine is walking God, I don't have the words and, quite literally, you come before the Lord and you've got nothing to give, because no words can you put together to make a sentence that would fully capture the devastating nature of what you've been told, the report you've been given, and literally, all you can give to the Lord is your tears. Here's the good news that our mumblings and our groanings and even our tears, the Lord understands that. Why? Because the Holy Spirit comes alongside us and as we don't even have the words to say, the Holy Spirit takes the words that we don't have and gives them to the Father on our behalf. I want to speak to the children in the room. Any child in the room If you've ever been tempted to say, maybe I don't have the words to pray, that sometimes, you know, the deacon gives the operatory and he's got these and thous and the big words and I don't have them.
Speaker 1:Can God hear my prayer? Can God hear me? I want to tell you you have the perfect prayer. Why? Because the Holy Spirit comes alongside you and when you don't have the words, the Holy Spirit has the words, but not just children, everyone in this room that when your prayers are such that no words can come together, the Holy Spirit stands ready to give those words to the Father.
Speaker 1:We see in the very next verse 27,. And he who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And so the Holy Spirit indeed, takes our words, or our lack of words, and prays for us and with us to the Father. And so if you've ever wondered, is anyone praying for me? If you've ever wondered, is there anyone out there that I am on their prayer list? I've got some unbelievable news for you this morning the Holy Spirit, he prays for you, with you, beside you, perfectly according to the will of the Father. To the Father, and when you and I don't have the words, he does. My job is to come up with illustrations, but sometimes the perfect illustration has already been created and given. I want you to, in just a moment, see a video of someone who is a professor, mentor and friend, dr Robert Smith Jr. He was preaching this exact message, a sermon titled the Glory of the Grown, and he explains these verses so well. We can watch the video now.
Speaker 2:My father in the ministry, dr George T Brown, is suffering Alzheimer's disease. He doesn't even know his wife any longer, but a few years ago, about three years ago, we had him brought down from Cleveland Ohio to Cincinnati and we had a celebration program for him. He doesn't talk in an intelligible way, he slurs, he mumbles, and at the end of the program, after everyone had given their remarks and pastors who had pastored with him 30 some years before had given their remarks, he was on the program to sing Precious Lord, how's he going to do that.
Speaker 2:He can't talk, he doesn't know the words any longer. But his wife of 50 some years stood next to him. She's a singer in her own right, gave him the mic and the organist played. And when it was time for him to sing, she whispered in his ear precious Lord, precious Lord, take my hand, take my hand, lead me on hand, lead me on, lead me on. And she just kept feeding him the words, standing alongside of him and helping him, and when he didn't have the words, he took the words she gave him and sung, and when he couldn't continue, she finished the song.
Speaker 1:I think that's what happens when we don't have the words the spirit will take our mumbling and clarify it and tell god exactly, according to the will of god, what we meant that, according to the will of god, the holy spirit can take what we don't have, what we don't possess, the sentences and paragraphs that we're not able to put together, and pray according to the will of God. Also, if you've ever wondered is my prayer life effective? Did I really pray in such a way that God was able to capture what I was getting at? And I'll tell you this as long as the Holy Spirit is good at what he does and I think he always will be your prayer life is extremely effective, because the Holy Spirit prays when you don't have the words, according to the will of God with you and for you. And so creation is groaning and longing and waiting. Christians are groaning and longing and waiting. The Holy Spirit himself is groaning and is working in and through us as we await what is ahead. And the good news is this there is good news ahead.
Speaker 1:Cs Lewis in Oxford wrote modeling college, wrote a poem, and he didn't write a lot of poems. He didn't write a lot of good poems, but this was a good one. It was called what the Bird Said Early in the Year, and it's a poem about a walk down a certain walkway, down Addison's Walk, near Modeling College in the Oxford area. It's the very walk that on one night with two friends, he kind of first encountered not first encountered Christianity, but first opened his mind to the idea of becoming a Christian himself. And on Addison's walk all this idea of Christianity started to take root and take hold in his life. He later wrote this poem, what the Bird Said Early in the Year, and the whole idea of it is this that we live in a world where creation, there's so much beauty in it, there's so much beauty of spring and then summer. But you and I both know there's also this cycle of fall and winter. We may love fall and winter, there's a lot to like about it, but as far as creation goes, it's a time where the beauty of spring and summer starts to die away. Leaves fall, flowers die and we go through this cycle once again. We're promised once again the beauty of spring and summer, but then the cycle again and back into death and to fall and winter. And in this poem CS Lewis wants to remind us there's one day where, when the cycle will end, in his words, there will be a day when the summer finally comes true. And that's how he begins the poem I heard on Addison's walk, the birds sing clear.
Speaker 1:The summer will come true this year. This year I heard on Addison's walk, the birds sing clear. The summer will come true this year.
Speaker 1:The good news of the gospel, the good news of Revelation 21 and 22, the good news of life in Christ Jesus. As we wait in our groaning and once again move into fall and into winter, time and time again, and the sufferings and the groans of our own lives, the good news of the gospel is simply this that one day the summer will come true. One day, everything we've waited for and hoped for in a world of broken promises, broken dreams and broken hopes, everything we've waited for and hoped for ultimately will come true. Those aren't my words. I wouldn't believe it if they came from me. Revelation 21,.
Speaker 1:Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. You and I live in the in-betweenness of time. We've gained the victory in Christ, but we await his return. And while we await, there are hard things, there are broken things and broken lives and broken pieces. But there is a day, the summer will come. True, christ will return. And for the Christian, for you and I, we can forever say in this life that the best is yet to come, that the sufferings of this present life are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed in us. And all the glory goes to Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1:I pray you'll have hope this morning, even if in this moment you're here in a season of suffering. I pray that you will have hope because there's reason for it. If you need to respond in any way, I just pray that you will. I'll be down front in just a moment. We'll continue in worship.
Speaker 1:You may need to come and pray at our altar here. You're welcome to do it. You may want to come talk to me about something. You may want to join our church. Whatever you need to do, however, you need to respond this morning. I just hope and pray that you will, and so, in these moments, would you bow your heads with me. Our team will come up, we'll worship together.
Speaker 1:Lord Jesus, we thank you so much for the gospel, the hope that exists in the gospel. This is a hope that the world cannot provide, that the things of earth cannot provide, but you can and you have in Christ Jesus. And so if there is one that needs that hope, this provide, but you can and you have in Christ Jesus. And so if there's one that needs that hope this morning, would you encourage their hearts. If they need that hope for the very first time, would they make this morning the day that they come to know you personally, lord. However, one needs to respond. Would you do it and would we worship you now? We ask this in Christ's name Amen. Would you stand now as we worship?