Let's take our Bibles and turn
to Romans 8. In our last study, the apostle Paul
had previously written, under the inspiration of the Spirit
of God, in Romans 8.14, or as many as are led by the Spirit
of God. They are the sons of God. The Spirit, the writer continuing, said that
we've not received, which is a spirit of fear, that
is, a spirit that distrusts God. The Spirit of God does not distrust
God. If we find ourselves, and we
often do, not believing God, that is not the spirit that we
have received from God Himself. Almighty God gives a spirit of
adoption. whereby we understand and perceive
that Almighty God, by the Lord Jesus Christ, has reconciled
us to Himself. But the Spirit that we have received,
the latter part of verse 15 of Romans 8 says, is the Spirit
whereby we cry, Abba, Father, as I dealt with what that Those
two words mean Abba was a term, it was a title that could only
be used by a free man. If a man was in jail, if he was
in bondage, if he was enslaved, he couldn't use the title. Even if it was his dad, he was
not permitted to use the word Abba. Abba was a term that was
referred or used by only those who were free. It was a penalty. So whenever we use or hear or
read, we cry Abba. We're using that term meaning
we're free from the law. We're not in bondage to keep
the law. for righteousness is what he's
meaning. That term carries great significance. Abba, Father. Father to Him who is our Father by the
merit of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father is the Father of Christ
and all those that Christ represents. No man has a right to call the
Father his Father, but he who has been found united with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now this we know by the Spirit
of God, verse 16, bearing witness with our spirit. As I said before,
the Spirit of God does bear witness to our spirit and teaches us,
but also bears witness with our spirit. Our new spirit, that
spirit, that life that is given. When I say, the Lord says, I'll
give you a new spirit, there's a new nature. There's a new nature
in a man called the new spirit. I'll give him a new spirit. New
man, new creation, created in Christ Jesus. So there's a new
man that is within a believer, a new creature. And the Spirit
of God bears witness to that Spirit and with that Spirit. I used the example last week.
This sounds pretty simple, but the bottom line is, because I'm
standing here and moving my hands and talking and I'm saying that
in itself is a witness to me that I'm alive. My witness to
myself is that I'm standing here. So there's a new man that bears
witness that you're alive and the Spirit of God bears witness.
That's what Paul meant. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if we're
children, then we're heirs. Heirs by promise. Heirs to the
kingdom of God. Heirs to be able to be in the
presence of God. But not only are we heirs of
God's kingdom, but we're heirs of God. That means that God Himself
is our inheritance. He told Abraham, I am your exceeding
great reward. Heirs of God Himself. And joint heirs with Christ. Meaning, the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world, the Word Himself, the Son of God Himself,
came into this world. The Word was made flesh. He came
in the likeness of sinful flesh, bearing all of the characteristics
of sinful flesh. He got older. He aged. He got thirsty. He got hungry. He got tired. all of the characteristics
of sinful. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh, yet without sin. He bore our likeness. And in our likeness, the likeness
of sinful flesh, as a man, totally man, totally God. Gray is the
mystery of godliness. God. was manifest in the flesh. Somebody said, explain the incarnation. I can't explain the incarnation. How do I explain God Himself
taking the form of sinful flesh and never laying aside His deity? How do you explain that? You
don't explain. You believe that. Brother Scott was saying faith.
Faith believes God. He believes Him. By the gift
of God's faith, he believes Him. But the Scripture says that we're
joint heirs with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world, obeyed God Almighty as a man. A man. The man, Christ Jesus. The Son
of Man. And obeyed God Almighty in word
and thought and deed. And not one time did He ever
deviate God Almighty, who saw him perfectly, saw his thoughts,
saw his heart, saw his attitude, and said, had this witness of
him, that's my beloved son, well pleased with him. All that is
due him as the obedient servant, all that's due him according
to his obedience to the law of God, all that's due him, is ours
too in Christ. We're joint heirs with Christ. If we suffer with him, suffer
the persecution and reproach of this world because of our
association with him, suffer the ridicule, suffer the tribulation
of false professors because of our love for him, we'll be glorified
together with him. Turn with me to Matthew 9. I
got to thinking about something a while ago. I was just kind
of reading over my notes. Matthew 9. And I thought about
this ridicule. Matthew 9, verse 1. Before I
read this, the statement I want to make is this. God's people
are ridiculed. They're talked about. But let me tell
you something. It goes deeper than that. Look
at this. Matthew 9.1, "...He entered into
a ship and passed over and came into his own city. And behold,
they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith,
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And
behold, a certain of the scribes said within themselves." I want
you to notice that. They said within themselves. This man blaspheming. And Jesus,
knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your
hearts? The ridicule of God's people.
is a whole lot deeper than what somebody says to you. They usually
are not going to say what they really think. They think a whole
lot more than what they say. Whenever someone that Almighty
God has called out of darkness stands for the truth and will
stand against a lie, They think a whole lot more than what they
let you know. The Lord saw in their heart that
they said, You're a blasphemer. You're way over the line. Why think you evil in your hearts? If we, back in Romans 8, if we suffer with Him, And that
suffering, like I said, there is a manifestation of. Don't
get me wrong. People will tell you somewhat
of what they think about what you believe, but they glaze it
over, Gary. They don't tell you all of it.
You walk away, and buddy, let me tell you something. They thought
in their heart, you proud so-and-so, you've got to be kidding me. You mean to tell, yeah, yeah. Why think you evil? They ridiculed
you in their heart. Well, verse 18, Paul says, For
I reckon, I come to the conclusion, that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. You know, no one joyfully looks
on or thinks about or anticipates trials or sufferings or tribulations. Nobody, seriously. You don't
joyfully look for those things. We rejoice in what we're taught
concerning the sufficiency of God's grace in these trials,
but these trials in themselves are grievous. It's not an easy thing to hear
a doctor tell you that you're sick. It's not an easy thing
to look at your bank account and see, you know what? That's close. That's not an easy thing to do. They're grievous. But by faith,
The Apostle Paul comes to the conclusion that whatever providentially
befalls one of God's own, he's come to this realization. These
hardships or afflictions or these trials or calamities are not
even remotely compared to the glory, the revelation of God's
glory, the revelation of God's opinion. the revelation of God's
thoughts of mercy that are going to be eventually unveiled in
us and to us. What is the revelation of that
glory? It's Christ in you. There's coming a time when we
will have the veil pulled back. Paul says, I reckon, I understand,
I perceive the sufferings of this present time. All types,
whatever it is, physical, emotional, financial, whatever it is. People, you know, you've got
people in your family that ridicule you. You've got neighbors that
know what you believe. People that, and in their heart,
you know what they're thinking. You know what they're thinking.
And you think, you know, that hurts. But you wouldn't deviate
from what you believe. Not if God has given you a new
heart. You're not going. You're not
leaving. Where would you go? That's what Peter said. You have
the words of eternal life. Where are we going to go? But it hurts. It hurts to have,
you know, somebody ridicule you, make fun of you, laugh at you.
You know what they're thinking. You know what they're saying
behind your back. But Paul says, The sufferings of this present
time, they're not worthy. They're not even worthy to be
compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. We see right now, we see through
a glass darkly, but if we could see now perfectly as we are seen
by Him, what would these little trivial
things be? I mean, if we saw with perfect
unveiled vision. And we saw, I think about that
scripture that came to my mind just then when Elijah was up
on the mountain and the Assyrian army had just kind of surrounded
him. They were going to be there and
they were going to take him away. And Elijah's servant came and
he said, He said, Master, we've got a problem. I just looked
out and I saw the Assyrians are all surrounding us. Elijah or
Elisha, I don't remember which one it was. He prayed, the Scripture
says, and asked the Lord to open the eyes of his servant. And
the servant's eyes were spiritually allowed to see what was actually
there, and there were chariots of fire. that surrounded the
Assyrians. And Elisha says, they that be
with us are more than they that be with them. And you think to
yourself, if I could truly see by faith right now and the glorious
faith of God's elect to believe God To believe Him when you know
that things that are going on in this life right now are grievous
to our flesh, and they hurt, and I realize it. But to realize,
Paul says, they're not to be compared to what shall be. But
we're going to see these glorious revelations of truth that teach
us 1 John 3 says, Beloved, now are
we the sons of God. It does not appear what we shall
be. But we know that when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him. But we shall see Him as He is. You know, even in these afflictions,
light afflictions, we're supported by His constant presence. When
afflictions come, I pray for a renewed view by faith of the
glory of His everlasting love for me. If I can remember, Lord,
help me to remember. Help me to remember. When things
come up, cause me to think on these things. He says, verse
19, For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God." Now, the word creature
there means the created formation. That's what that word means.
The creature, for the earnest expectation of the creature,
the created formation. Ephesians 2.10 says, "...for
we are his workmanship." Created. in Christ Jesus under good works
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
So believers are actually spoken of in this scripture right here,
the creature. Believers as the creature, that
renewed nature, that new creation. Believers is what's spoken of
in this passage and in this world of suffering. This passage says
there's an earnest expectation. There is an intense wishing and
anticipation of something. God's people are looking for
something. What is it? Well, that earnest
expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the
sons of God. They fully expect. Wait. You know, we talked about
that last Wednesday. Paul was there in Athens, and
it says why he sent for Silas and Timothy, and he waited for
them. He was expecting. He was waiting
for them, but waiting on the Lord, expecting from Almighty
God. So this earnest expectation is
the manifestation of the sons of God. They're looking, expecting,
waiting for the revealed glory in Christ. Only a believer would
have the good pleasure and the opinion to watch for the manifestation,
the revelation of the sons of God. 1 Thessalonians 5, 6 says,
Therefore, let us not sleep. Don't have a careless, unconcerned
state of mind about the Lord's second coming. Let us not sleep
as others do, but let us watch and be sober, be sober-minded,
thinking, looking, praying, anticipating. There's an earnest expectation. But what's the reason for this
earnest expectation? A believer's got one. They look
it for. What is the reason of it? Well,
verse 20, for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope."
Now, what was Paul saying? What does he mean? You know,
I've said before, boy, you read a verse right there and you read
that and you think, boy, that sounds scriptural, but I wonder
what it means. What was he saying? He just said
in verse 19, "...the earnest expectation of the creature."
The new man, the believer created in righteousness, the earnest
expectation of the creature waits, expects, looks for the manifestation,
the revelation of what Almighty God is going to do. Why is he
looking? Well, the creature was made subject
to vanity. First of all, this new man, this
believer, He was subjected to, he was made subject to, subjected. He was placed and kept in a state
of what is referred to in this passage as vanity. We're in this world. We're in
an environment that is referred to here as vanity. It's a world
that in itself is void of truth. It's a useless play. That's what
vanity means. Useless. A useless thing. Believers, they see vanity in
themselves, in that old nature. That's what Solomon said. He
said, I saw and I looked and I tried. Everything was vain. Vanity. Useless. He had more money. He had wisdom. Whatever his heart could desire,
Solomon had it. He came to this conclusion. Everybody, this stuff is useless. All of the things and the mess
and the stuff that we strive for and work for and then all
of it, when you come to the end of your life, you know how much
of it you leave? All of it. All of it. It's just vanity. The creature was made subject
to vanity. It's like believers are in this
world. Why are we looking for the manifestation? Why are we looking to be taken
out of this world? Why? We were placed like soldiers,
servants, a soldier that is under a commander in the armed forces. The commander will say to him,
I want you to go and you guard this, that crossroad right there. Well, you know, there could be
some danger. You know, if he's a soldier,
that kind of assumes that there could be a problem. But you know
it really wasn't up to that soldier where he went. He went where
the commander told him to go. So he was made subject to that
spot right there. And if he's not there, well then
they'll get him for insubordination, for desertion, they'll get him
for something. So it's not up to him. He didn't
willingly say, you know what, I think I'll go ahead and do
that. He was put there. That's what believers are. We're
put here. The creature was made subject
to vanity. We're in this world. Almighty
God called us out of darkness, gave us a new heart, and leaves
us here for a while. We're here. We're made subject
to this environment, subject to this place, where we have
to get up every day and we see the frailty of this body and
we see the trials and tribulations. We see the stuff that goes on
that our new man is not in agreement with. We're in a place that is
contrary to our new nature. We didn't volunteer. We were
put here, placed here, kept here. So why are we still here? Well,
the latter part of that says, by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope. Almighty God calls his people
out of darkness. They're regenerated, but kept
in this world for a while for a reason that can only be attributed
to the good pleasure He's God Almighty. He works all things. Those that have been called out
of darkness, why are we still here? Because it pleased God.
It pleased God to leave us in this spot. For some, He calls
to preach. For some, He calls to be a witness
in a pew. But there's a reason. those that God leaves in this
place that are part of His body. They're here because God Almighty
has a purpose in bringing glory to Himself and the calling out
of His sheep. What is being accomplished by
God leaving His people in this place? I don't know the fullness
of it, but I can tell you part of it is that there's a revelation
of the power of Almighty God that keeps His people in the
midst of adversity. The compassion of Almighty God
that reveals His goodness to not leave us to Himself. I don't
know why we're still here. Somebody says, well, if He could
just save us and get us out of here, that would be... Well,
the Scripture says, by reason of Him who hath subjected the
same in hope in a lively hope, in a real expectation. Verse 21, "...because the creature
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Here's
the hope that a believer has in the midst of this world's
suffering. The creature itself, the renewed
soul that we have, That new creation in Christ Jesus shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption, this body of death that we're
dragging around. Who shall separate me, Paul says,
from the body of this death? Believers are in a state of vanity,
uselessness. What is this world? have to offer
a believer that has any lasting significance. Nothing. Nothing. You get up and you go to work
and you know this, that all the money, the Lord has been pleased
to have people work. It's good that you have to work
and toil and stuff, but you think that everything that I'm earning,
everything I'm getting, it's not going to go. What are you
going to do with it? You're thinking, everything that
I'm doing is going to come, as far as this war is concerned,
is absolutely useless. So here we are. We're in this
state, but we know this. We shall be delivered from the
bondage. I can't separate myself. The
Lord's going to have to take me out. But they're continuing
in this state. Not as a matter of their choice,
but a matter of God's choice. But we know that we shall be
liberated. We're going to cease from being
held captive to the law of sin in our members, taken out of
this world. And what is the final state of
our existence? Into the glorious liberty of
the children of Almighty God. Delivered into the glorious There's
that word glory again. God Almighty has had an eternal
opinion to liberate his people out of this vanity. Verse 22,
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now. Now this word, creation, That's
talking about everything that was ever created. Everything
that was created. All living beings, plants, everything. Believers, unbelievers, everything. Everything, the whole creation, groaneth and travaileth in pain
together even unto now. When Adam sinned against Almighty
God the earth, was cursed for his sake. All things, everything,
humanly speaking, is going to die, going to rot, going to perish. Why? Because of man's sin. Sin
is the reason for all calamity. So everything is prevailing. Everything, cows, horses, they
get sick, they die, they get old, plants, Everything. Everything. We know
that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth and fain together
until now. Look at verse 3. And not only
they, but ourselves also. Paul says, not only the rest
of creation, but we do the same thing. We were all born and conceived
in sin, and we get tired and we get old. people saying it's
never God's will. I've said this to ever get sick
or ever suffer or ever go through anything. Boy, I tell you what,
man, I start reading back in the Scriptures and I look at
some of these people that went through some of the things that
they went through, the sufferings that we went through, and what
I hear, these lying scoundrels on TV saying it's never God's
will for you to ever be sick or poor or this, that and the
other. Well, somebody's lying. And I don't think it's the Scriptures.
I don't think it's God. Listen, we're all, Paul says,
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits
of the Spirit. Or that is, the first fruit,
the Spirit. The Spirit of God. The first
fruit was that, you know, which came forth first in the harvest. And it was the promise. that
there's going to be more harvest. That was the first fruit. Whenever
they started planting corn out there, and the first ears of
corn, they started finding some here and there. Those first fruits
were taken and they were given to the Lord. It was a sacrifice
unto the Lord. But those first fruits, the corn
or whatever they planted, was a promise that there's going
to be more following. So the first fruits of the Spirit is
actually the first fruit the Spirit Himself, the Holy Spirit's
presence with us, the earnest of our salvation, the seal of
God Himself. Even we, Paul says, we're suffering
ourselves. We groan, verse 23, within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. We
sigh. We grieve. We heard it. We call. We pray fully expecting
the open manifestation of our adoption. God has promised that
He's going to reveal what's really going on. Right now we see, as
I said, through a veil, darkly. But because of the payment of
our redemption, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This open
manifestation of our true and eternal adoption is going to
be known. It's going to be seen. It's going
to be revealed. We're going to be liberated from
this body of death. Now, concerning, and I'm going
to stop right here on this last part of this, verse 23, It says, even we ourselves, grown
within ourselves, waiting, expecting for the adoption, waiting for
the open manifestation to wit, the redemption of our body. I'm
going to stop. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians
15. I want to read something to you.
And Lord willing, I'm going to pick up with this 23rd verse,
with that part right there. 1 Corinthians 15, 41. I'll get
it right in a minute. 1 Corinthians 15, 41 to 45. Lord willing, next week, I want
to pick up with what I'm about to read. And what this deals
with is actually what the Scripture sets forth what we shall be. when we are
taken out of this world, the redemption of this body, what
the Scripture sets forth is going to actually happen. Now, let
me be the first to tell you that there's a lot of things that
we still don't know. But there are some things that
are revealed concerning the redemption of our body, taken out and taken
forth. 1 Corinthians 15. Starting in verse 41, there is
one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, another glory
of the stars, and one star differeth from another star in glory. So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is
sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is
sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so as
it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul.
The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Lord willing, next week,
that's where I want to start, and set forth what? does the
Scriptures set forth shall be. When Paul says that last verse
of Romans 8, verse 23, for the adoption to wit, the redemption
of our body, what does the Scriptures say shall be? We see through a glass darkly,
as I said, but we see there are some things that we know. A glorious
expectation. Things that shall be. The older
we get, the older a believer gets, the more he looks far and
anticipates and waits for the manifestation of the adoption
of children. that Almighty God has taught
him something. We don't know as we shall know. We don't see
as we shall see. But I'll tell you this, by faith,
we see. And we look far and we anticipate,
gloriously thankful that we can anticipate. Well, I pray the
Lord bless us to our hearts and our understanding for Christ's
sake. Okay, Gary, won't you come and lead us? We're going to have
in just a...