.............................................................................................................................................
To Hallelujahs
.
Robert Jeffress
Hi, I'm Robert Jeffress and welcome again to Pathway
to Victory.
In a recent survey, a cross-section of
Americans was asked this question, "If you could ask God one thing,
what would it be"?
The number one response? "Why
does God allow suffering in the world"?
Well, there's no quick or easy answer to that
question. It's one that people have been wrestling with for thousands of years.
But in Romans chapter 8, we discover how the apostle
Paul dealt with that very same question.
I don't have any hard data with which to prove this
statement empirically, but I still believe it's true.
From where I sit as pastor, it seems to me that an
increasing number of our members are suffering more heartache and tragedies
than ever before.
Hardly a week goes by that I don't hear of a marriage
that is in trouble.
Like me, you can probably name right now two, three, a
half a dozen people who have been recently diagnosed with cancer.
It seems like I'm doing more and more funerals not
just for senior adults who have lived out their allotted time, but from those
that at least we seem to think had been taken prematurely in death.
It really doesn't matter whether suffering is
precipitated by disease, or divorce, or death - the question that always comes
with suffering is the question of: why?
There are some of you right now who know what I'm
talking about when I speak about suffering and trials in your life.
And if you're asking the question why, I believe
today's message from Romans 8 will not only give you some answers to the why
question, but more importantly, it'll provide you with some reassuring hope.
Don't we all need a dose of hope right now? Well,
we're going to get that today in Romans chapter 8.
If you have your Bibles, turn to Romans chapter 8 as
we discover how God will one day take our hurts and turn them into hallelujahs.
Romans chapter 8. Suffering's not an option if you're
a believer. It's going to happen in your life.
And what Paul is saying here is: yes, there's an
inheritance that is coming, but before that there is suffering that comes.
And that leads Paul in verse 18 into this discussion
of suffering, from verses 18 to verse 27.
Look at what he says, "For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
to the glory that is to be revealed to us".
Isn't it interesting Paul doesn't go into a lengthy
defense of the reality of suffering?
He doesn't say: let me prove to you that we suffer. He
doesn't have to. We all understand that.
So instead of defending the concept of suffering, what
Paul does is he explains, beginning in verse 19, the three different realms in
which suffering takes place.
First of all, he begins talking about in verse 19: the
suffering of the created world.
Now if I had been Paul, I think I would have started
talking about the suffering we're experiencing.
But he doesn't start there, he starts with the
suffering of creation. He does it for a reason, because the suffering of
creation is in some ways the reason that we suffer in our own lives.
Look at verse 19, "For the
anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of
God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of
childbirth together until now".
Paul is saying all of creation is
suffering, it's groaning, looking for something better. Underline that phrase "Waits
eagerly".
That word in Greek that is translated "Waits
eagerly", literally means "To stand with your head
outstretched".
It's like you're looking for something that is better.
I like the way the Phillips paraphrases this verse.
Romans 8:19, "For the whole
creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into
their own".
All of creation is straining, it's on tiptoe, looking
for something better. Now he's not suggesting that the plants and the trees all
have feelings.
The idea is they are under a burden, a strain, and
they are looking for something that is yet to come. Now I think it'd be good to
stop here for just a moment: and talk about what the Bible says about the
natural world, about nature.
And one reason it's important to understand what the
Bible says about the created world is what the Bible says is completely
different from what you students in high school and college are being taught
about the natural world.
Let's see what the Bible says about the created world.
Three statements I want you to write down.
First of all, God created the world perfectly. He
created a perfect world.
This world did not evolve over a long period of time
into something better - it started out perfect.
In Isaiah 45:18, God says that he did not create the
world a waste place. He created this world absolutely perfectly.
When Adam and Even inherited the garden, there were no
polluted rivers, no polluted oceans, there were no thorns, and thistles, and
weeds.
Adam and Eve never had to call PermaGreen to come, you
know, come spruce up the lawn: everything was absolutely perfect. That's how
God created it.
But secondly, sin is what corrupted the world.
When Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, they not
only suffered for it individually - spiritual death came to all men, Romans
5:12 said because of Adam's sin.
The environment also had a curse placed against it
because of sin.
Look at Genesis 3:17. After Adam and
Eve's rebellion against God, God said, "Cursed is the ground because of
you: thorns and thistles it shall grow for you".
Suddenly what was very easy earlier - the harvesting
of fruit became very, very difficult because all of the creation was cursed.
Now this is important to understand because this is
different from what the environmentalists will tell you.
By the way, there is a good Christian case for
environmentalism, of taking care of the world that God has given us - that is
good stewardship.
But the environmentalist, the hyper-environmentalists
will tell you: well, the reason we've got this awful environment in which we
live is because of man's sin against the environment.
No, it's not man's sin against the environment, it was
man's sin against God that has produced the curse of the created world today.
And that's what he's talking about in
verse 20 of Romans 8, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not
of its own will, but because of him", that is God, "who
subjected it".
After Adam and Eve sinned, God put into effect the law
of degradation. Now we call it in physics the law of entropy.
You know what the law of entropy is? It basically
talks about the degradation of matter.
It says everything in the environment is moving from
order to disorder.
One writer says it this way, he says: we see that
every year in nature: how things are going downward not upward.
Every spring, creation tries to renew itself. It
begins to bud, and growth occurs in the spring time.
And there's all this excitement: spring has come! But
spring is followed by summer: summer's followed by fall: and fall is followed
by winter: and it all dies.
And once again in the spring, nature once again tries
to renew itself into something permanent: but it can't pull it off.
And it won't pull it off because of the curse of sin.
But thirdly, the Bible promises that one day God will
redeem the world. One day this curse he has placed on the environment, one day
it will be lifted.
Look again at verse 19 of Romans 8, "For
the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons
of God".
That is you and I, "for the
creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of him
(God) who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will also be set free
from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of
God".
Just as you and I are looking forward to the day that
we are set free from these bodies, from the curse of sin and death, one day
creation is going to be set free as well.
And when is that going to happen? It's when God
himself destroys this present heaven and earth, and creates a new heaven and
earth.
And all of creation will rejoice on that day.
Now you may be thinking: well, Robert, this is all
interesting, but what in the world does it have to do with me?
Here's the application: don't be surprised when you
run into problems in this world.
The fact that everything is spiraling downward instead
of ascending upward, this law of entropy, this law of degradation explains why
everything in your life seems to break down: whether it's the air conditioning
in your car, whether it's the friendships in your life, or whether it's the
cells in your body, the spiral is downward because of this curse of sin we're
living under.
But there's a second realm of suffering, not only the
realm of creation, but also beginning in verse 23, Paul talks about the
suffering of Christians.
Look at verse 23, "And not only
this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the
redemption of our body".
See how he's distinguishing creation and then he talks
about those of us who are sons or children of God? We suffer as well.
This phrase in verse 23 "Having
the first fruits of the Spirit", that's just simply a way of talking
about a Christian.
The evidence that you're a Christian is you have
received the gift of the Holy Spirit of God.
He's saying even those of us who have received the
Holy Spirit of God, we too, groan from our suffering.
That word "Groan" is the word stenazo
in Greek.
It's used nine times in the New Testament: three of
those times is right here in this passage from Romans chapter 8.
And while this groaning and suffering is something
that every person, regardless of their faith, experiences, interestingly
Christians, Paul says, suffer more in this life than non-Christians.
Why is that?
Well three reasons Christians suffer more than
non-Christians in this world.
First of all, because of our sensitivity to sin.
Unlike a non-Christian, Christians are especially
sensitive to sin in this world, to sin in other people, to sin within
themselves.
David talked about this in Psalm 38 verses 4 and 9 and
10.
He said, "My iniquities are gone
over my head: as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. Lord, all of my
desire is before thee: and my sighing is not hidden from thee. My heart throbs,
my strength fails me: and the light of my eyes, even that has gone from
me".
A non-Christian doesn't feel that way about sin.
But those who have the first Fruit of the Spirit, they
feel that suffering that comes from their own sin.
Remember what Paul said in Romans
chapter 7? In that climactic statement he said, "Wretched man that I
am, who will deliver me from the body of this death"?
Second reason we suffer more than unbelievers is
because of a persecution for our faith.
Christians living in an ungodly world suffer for
standing up for their faith.
We don't have time to look at 1 Peter 4,
but remember Peter said, "Beloved, don't be surprised at the fiery
ordeal that has come upon you for your testing as though some strange thing
were happening to you, but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of
Christ, keep on rejoicing so that you may rejoice at his exultation".
Thirdly, one reason we suffer more than non-Christians
is because of an expectation of something better.
Part of our groaning is an expectation of something
better.
Have you ever said on a Monday morning: I can't wait
for Friday to get here? Or in the middle of the year: I can't wait for my
vacation?
It's a groaning, it's a sign, but it's a groaning in
expectation of something better that awaits you.
Non-Christians don't groan that way. They don't have
anything better to look forward to - not in the next life.
Do you realize if you're not a Christian today, your
life, your eternity is as good right now as it will ever be?
From here on through eternity, it only gets worse, and
worse, and worse. Non-Christians don't have a hope of anything better. Not in
the long run, but we do.
Look at verses 23 to 25. He says, "And
not only this, but we also ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons,
the redemption of our body".
Just like creation is standing on its tiptoes looking
for something better - he said we who are the children of God, we are looking
for something better.
What are we looking for? The redemption of your body.
That day is going to come when you get to trade in
this sin-filled, disease-ridden body that is prone to suffering, and sin, and
disease, and death, and one day you're going to trade this in for the brand new
body from God: a God that will never know sin: a body that will never know
sickness: a body that will never for an instant displease God - that is your
inheritance, and it's forever.
And the Bible says we are waiting eagerly for that
day.
Notice he not only compares our suffering to
unbelievers, but he also compares our suffering to eternity.
Go back to verse 18 for just a moment.
Here is a great dose of hope beginning in verse 18, "For I consider
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed to us".
James Boice notes two contrasts between our suffering
in this world, and the glory of the next world.
First of all, compare them according to their intensity.
You know this word translated "Glory"
- it's a word that means "Heavy" or "Substantive".
Paul is talking about what awaits us in the future.
And it's hard for us to explain what awaits us in the future.
We get an inkling of it in the scripture. For example,
in Revelation 21 verse 4 it says in that new world God will wipe away every
tear from our eyes: and there shall no longer be any death, or mourning, or
crying, or pain: for the first things will have passed away.
That's just one thing that awaits us. But the best
thing about heaven is going to be we're going to be in the presence of God
forever.
The glory that is yet to be ours, that glory is
sharing in the presence of God forever and ever.
But he said the suffering of this world - he said it
cannot be compared: it's not worthy to be compared with a glory that awaits us
in the future.
Notice the comparison of our suffering and what awaits
in the future not only by its intensity, but also by its duration.
In verse 18 of Romans 8 Paul confines our suffering to
this present time.
Notice what he says, "For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time".
In 2 Corinthians 4:17 he says, "For
this momentary, light affliction is nothing compared to eternity".
See, that's another way suffering and glory contrast
with one another.
Suffering, as real as it is, and as an unending as it
seems is really momentary compared to eternity. Suffering lasts like this.
The glorious experience of heaven will be forever. As
hard as the suffering you're experiencing is right now, it is light and it is
momentary compared to what God has planned for you for eternity.
Notice, number three, there's not only a suffering of
creation and even of Christians, there's a suffering experienced by the Holy
Spirit.
Look at verses 26 and 27, "And
in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness: for we do not know how to
pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too
deep for words: and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the
spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of
God".
Now I want you to notice, first of all, who does the
groaning in this verse? It's not us. It's the Holy Spirit of God.
And not only that, it's an inaudible groaning. It's a
groaning that's so deep it can't be expressed in words.
I believe what Paul is saying here is that one of the
limitations of being in our present bodies, and possessing our limited
understanding is sometimes we don't know what to pray for.
When that happens, Paul says, you have a friend, you
have a helper, you have a paraclete, the Holy Spirit of God who comes alongside
you, and he prays for you to the Father.
He doesn't just come alongside of us when we're going
through suffering, he bears the weight with us.
He prays for us in ways we can't even begin to
understand. That's what he's talking about when he speaks about the groaning of
the Holy Spirit of God.
Now let me give you, in closing today, two practical
principles from this message that I hope will be an encouragement to you this
week.
Number one, principle number one. Write it down.
Present suffering enhances future joy. Present suffering enhances future joy.
Those who suffer most in this world are going to be
those who enjoy heaven most in the next world.
I think that's what Jesus had in mind in
Matthew 5:6 when he said, "Blessed are those who hunger and what?
Thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied".
Present suffering enhances future joy.
Number two, present suffering is real, but it's also
temporary. Present suffering is real, but it's also temporary.
Did you notice in this passage how Paul compared the
suffering in this world to the pains of childbirth?
The suffering you're experiencing is very real, and
the only thing that makes it tolerable is the knowledge that it's temporary,
and that it's going to produce something better - a child.
It's the same way with suffering. Look
at what he says in Romans 8:25, "But if we hope for what we do not see,
with perseverance we wait eagerly for it".
Make no mistake about it, the suffering you're
experiencing right now is very real: and when you go alongside a friend or a
family member who is suffering, don't diminish the reality of that suffering.
Don't tell them if they had more faith they wouldn't
suffer as much as they do.
No, the suffering they feel is real. The word of hope
you can offer is: it's also temporary.
Some of my favorite words about suffering were written
by Philip Yancey.
He said, "The Bible never
belittles human disappointment, or suffering, but it does add one key word:
temporary. What we feel now, we will not always feel. Our disappointment, our
suffering is itself a sign, an aching, a hunger for something better: and faith
is, in the end a kind of homesickness - for a home we have never yet visited,
but have never once stopped longing for".
Dr. Robert Jeffress is Senior
Pastor of the 14,000-member First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas and a Fox
News Contributor. He is also an adjunct professor at Dallas Theological
Seminary.
Dr. Jeffress has made more than 2000
guest appearances on various radio and television programs and regularly
appears on major mainstream media outlets, such as Fox News Channel’s “Fox
and Friends,” “Hannity,” “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” “Varney & Co.,” and “Judge
Jeanine,” also ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and HBO’s “Real Time with
Bill Maher.”
Dr. Jeffress hosts a daily radio program,
PATHWAY TO VICTORY, that is heard nationwide on over 1000 stations in major
markets such as Dallas-Fort Worth, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Houston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Seattle.
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