I please God to bless us together
this evening as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the epistle
of Paul to Romans chapter 8 and we'll read verse 18. For I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. It's wonderful that we have the
Word of God to read and it's wonderful that we have such great
and glorious truths set before us in the Word of God. Truths
which should be a great encouragement to us and to know that of course
the Apostle Paul who wrote this letter to the Romans had a very
clear evidence and experience himself in regard to the truth
of the words that we've read together here. If anybody did
suffer, it was indeed the Apostle Paul.
The Apostle Paul suffered greatly. after he was converted and yet
he was also greatly blessed with that vision when he was taken
up to the third heaven. So we see that he was able to
understand the sufferings of this present time and also the
glory which shall be revealed in us. So the things that he
was able to write were indeed from his own heart, from his
own experience. And then as we trace his letters
to those epistles, to the various places, we can see how these
words were verified in his life and in his experience. They weren't
vain words, they were words which he walked out. And may we therefore
be encouraged by such truths as that. well in the 16th verse
of this same chapter we're told the spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God it's very easy
to pass over such a statement like that and assume it doesn't
have any reference to us but if we are to follow on and read
these further words that the Apostle speaks of, we do really
want to know that we do have an interest in such a statement
as this, and that we do know the wonderful work of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts. He tells us the Spirit beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. It's not a vain word. Sometimes
people tend to deny the great and blessed work of the Spirit
of God in their souls, because they're afraid of making an assumption,
and afraid that therefore they're drawing a wrong conclusion. But this is the secret of the
Lord, which is with them that fear the Lord, And it's something
which the Lord condescends to grant between us and our God. It comes down to this really.
The Lord has revealed those things to us which we could not have
revealed to ourselves. He's shown to us that we are
a sinner, shown to us perhaps that we're a great sinner before
a holy God. and shown to us the need of a
Saviour. Well, those are two great conditions
and great situations, but if the Holy Spirit has indeed, and
it is the work of the Holy Spirit, shown to us these great and wonderful
things, then we do have the evidence that we are the children of God. And if so, We have reason to
praise God. We have reason to bless God. And we should not deny the work
of God within us. We shouldn't pretend that we
don't know. There is a spirit among some
who seem to deny this and they seem to take a pleasure in denying
that they possess the work of God in their soul. Perhaps because
they're looking for something great which we're not promised.
We are promised the favour of God. We are promised His Spirit
as we seek unto Him, as we pray unto Him. Seek and ye shall find. And if the Holy Spirit has brought
us into that time of need where we have sought, because we realise
without Christ we shall perish in our sins. That must be the
work of the Holy Spirit. And what are we? We're shut in
to Christ. We can't look anywhere else.
We're shut in to Christ. The evidence of the work of God. Praise God for it. Rejoice in
it. And therefore, surely we come
under this verse. The Spirit itself is nothing
else. The Spirit itself beareth witness. We have the witness, the testimony
of God toward us, with our spirit, that we are the children of God. You know, that's something that
we must have, because if we don't know that, we cannot enter into
the other part of this chapter. It can have no reference to us.
But bless God, if it does have, a reference to us. And we are
favoured to know that by the grace of God, by the mercy of
God, by the love of God to such unworthy sinners, we are the
children of God. Because if that is so, then you
see the following is true. And if children, then heirs. heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. What a privilege, what a blessing
to be an heir, an heir of these great truths and joint heirs
with Christ, an heir of God. That means we have an inheritance
to enjoy. That means there is an inheritance
reserved for us just like we can come down to the natural
level can't we have an inheritance I'm sure we know what it is when
people die they leave their estate to their families or to friends
and those people inherit that which they have been left and
they haven't worked for it it's been a gift to them And it's
just the same to the Church of God. It's that which God graciously
comes and gives to us an inheritance. What a mercy, what a blessing,
if therefore we are the children of God and therefore we are heirs
to this wonderful inheritance. And if children and heirs Heirs
of God and joint heirs with Christ. It's really beyond our natural
comprehension, isn't it? It's so wonderful, it's so true,
it's so glorious. And yet we have these promises.
These are the truths of God, my friend. These are the blessed
word of God. It's not a word of man, they're
the word of God. They're written for our encouragement. as you and I journey on through
life through this veil of sin and tears and woe to this inheritance
which the Apostle Peter says inheritance which is incorruptible
and undefiled reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power
of God it is a wonderful inheritance and so he says And if children
and heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so
be, that ye suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. And it's quite clear that these
two statements, they go together. Suffering and glory. Suffering and glory. And it's tempting sometimes to
think that, well, we can somehow get to glory without any suffering. Well, the Apostle Paul, he wrote
to Timothy, so there's no misunderstanding about this, and in the second
of Timothy, and the second chapter, the twelfth verse, we read, if
we suffer, we should also reign with him. If we deny him, he
also will It's a very solemn statement, it's a very true statement
and therefore we should recognise that our life is no different
to the whole Church of God and there's no kind of different
path for us. We shouldn't think, well of course
I won't have to suffer and I'm not suffering. In one way or
another the Lord brings this into our lives, sometimes in
a physical way, indeed in a spiritual way. And therefore the blessing
is this, that if we do walk this path, we have a wonderful promise
that we shall also reign with him. Now there can be no greater
blessing than that, can it? Because if you and I consider
it, Our life is but as a vapour which vanishes away, but eternity
is before us. And to think of the glory of
eternity with Christ, how far far superb and wonderful it is
to consider that great and glorious blessing. And so we have this
statement, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. This is really a mathematical
term, isn't it? The Apostle was reckoning. He
was working out the value of the sufferings of this present
time and comparing it with the glory that shall be revealed
in us. And there he comes to the conclusion
there's no comparison really, there's really no contest. He tells us, for I reckon he
worked it out by the grace of God and it's good for you and
me today if we're able to consider and sit down and work out as
perhaps we find ourselves in this pathway of sufferings in
this present time. We may think, well, why do I
have to walk such a path? Why is it difficult for me in
this life? Well, by the grace of God, we
must look beyond our little life, beyond our life here on this
earth, to that which is before us. As the apostle says, this
present life of sufferings, it's not worthy. It's not worth comparing. with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. It's a great blessing, isn't
it, if God comes and gives us a spiritual insight into the
vast difference between these two situations. And it's good,
therefore, if God gives us grace like he gave to the Apostle Paul,
who had so much to suffer, who endured so much, and yet, you
see, was able to look out of himself, past the things of time,
to that great and glory inheritance which he knew the Lord had reserved
for him. What a blessing it is. When the
Apostle wrote to the Corinthians, he wrote so many great and wonderful
truths, he said, for which cause we faint not. Naturally, perhaps,
under suffering, we might almost faint. We might think, can I
endure anymore? Can I really pass through anymore? I remember years ago, Frank Gosling
making a statement. He said, I think it was in his
own life, He had so much suffering and so much trouble, and he said,
well, if I have anything more, I shall sink under it. Well, he did have some more. He did sink under it, but you
know where he sunk? Into the arms of Christ. He said, underneath were the
everlasting arms. And that's a blessing, isn't
it? And that's a wonderful favour. And that's for, therefore we
faint not, because God is with us, although our outward man
perish. You see, yet the inward man is
renewed day by day. The Lord renews our inward man. He renews, He strengthens our
spirit. What a blessing it is. And the
Apostle again draws a conclusion. In this way, he says, for our
light affliction, which is but for a moment. We perhaps think
afflictions can be very heavy. Well, the Apostle had no end
of afflictions, didn't he? And some of them were very heavy
when he was stoned and they thought he was dead. That was a great
affliction, wasn't it? But how does he speak of it? Our light affliction. But for
a moment, what enables him to say that? The grace of God. The favour of God. Because he
viewed it in the light of eternity. That puts things in a right perspective. you and I can get way down with
the poor things of time. But, he says, it's good when
we have these comparisons, but for a moment. It's a fleeting
time in comparison with eternity, but for a moment. And what does it do? It has an
effect upon us. It'll have a good effect upon
us, like it had with the Apostle Paul and he said, it worketh
for us, it worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory. I think these words are lovely
really because he speaks about the light affliction and then
he speaks about the weight of glory. If we think of that in
a balance, something light and on the other side something heavy,
a light affliction. When we are passing through afflictions
we perhaps think they are heavy, but they are not heavy in comparison
with the great and glorious blessing of glory which the Lord has reserved
for his people, for his church, He says then, again just to make
sure we're viewing it in the right way, while we look at the
things which are seen. We look at natural things, don't
we? We see them, and we think that's terrible, and that's difficult. You see, we look at the things
that are seen, but the things which are not seen, the things
which are temporal, The things which are seen are temple, the
things which are not seen are eternal. Again you see the comparison. Vast, isn't it? What a blessing
it is when the Holy Spirit therefore enables us to consider these
things in the light of glory. It's wonderful, isn't it? When
the Holy Spirit comes and gives us a view the things of glory,
because they so greatly exceed the things of time. And if we
are able to trace out in our little lives the evidence of
the work of God within us, then we have that good hope that it
is well with our soul and we can look forward then to this
inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and which God has
reserved for us. Great and wonderful blessing,
isn't it? What a wonderful favour. And
so, as we think of these things, we can meditate upon them. You
know, the Apostle John, he had a similar view, really, In his
life, in the first epistle, he tells us about the testimony
of God toward him and he said, and we know that we are of God
and the whole world lies in wickedness. You see, he had the evidence.
He knew he was of God by the work of God in his heart and
my friends, we do want to have the evidence. We don't want to
go on our way without any good hope. We want that good hope. as we read about tonight, that
good hope, that real hope, not a false hope, but a good hope,
a God-given hope, not in what we've done, in what God has done
for us, not something that you and I produced ourselves, but
that God has come and touched our heart, shown us ourself,
led us to himself, blessed be God, the work of grace, the wonderful
work of God toward us. Yes, what a mercy then if we
have this spiritual understanding. This spiritual understanding. God does give us this spiritual
understanding. It's good therefore to ponder
these things and to come before God, stand before God perhaps,
sit before God perhaps and kneel before God and ask Him that He
will clarify the position perhaps in our own lives and give us
to know that these truths do apply gloriously toward us. They're not figments of our imagination.
They're the truth of God, the truth that you and I can rest
upon. We need real things. We don't
want false things. We don't want fictitious things.
We want the things of God made over to us so that we can truly
rejoice in them and truly bless God for them. What a mercy then,
if we can understand and truly believe these great things as
the Apostle John again says, Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. Yes, it does not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Well I'll be looking
forward to a condition like that. You may say well of course I've
got a lot of things in this life and I'm looking forward to this
and I'm looking forward to that. Nothing wrong in that. But I'll
be looking forward more to what the Apostle Paul looked forward
to. And the Apostle Paul really centred
his desires in a very simple statement when he said for me
to live is Christ and to die is gain. He knew the victory
that was before him, that he had not gained himself by anything
that he had done, but it had been granted to him through the
glorious finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that was
his settled rest. It wasn't in his work, it was
in the work of Christ. It's a wonderful evidence that
Christ had died for him. As he was able to say at the
beginning of this chapter, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walked not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. Isn't it a wonderful thing? Go
to the Old Testament and you look there for words which are
wonderfully encouraging. Isaiah knew what it was. And
he says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. And where do we really draw comfort
from? We draw comfort from the fact
that Christ has died to atone for our sins. Because this is
an eternal comfort. has with it eternal blessings. This surely is the comfort that
you and I need as we consider such a word as this, compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Sinners of the
earth, not worthy of any blessing And yet this glory will be revealed
in us. What a day that will be. What a time that will be. What
a favour to be able to look forward to, to be able to consider what
the Apostle said when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans, the
Revelation. He had those views, didn't he?
The Apostle John, and they were glorious views. He saw the host
of heaven, and what were they saying? Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain. Oh, you know, it's good if you
and I can begin that song while upon earth, saying with a loud
voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Do you and I desire to praise
Almighty God for all that He has done. And further on in the
seventh chapter, again we hear the question being asked, this
and the crowd of witnesses and they said, Amen, blessing and
glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might
be unto our God. For ever and ever. Amen. This is the song of the
redeemed. And my friends, we come towards
the end of that book of Revelation. Again, the Apostle, you see,
he has a view of the glory of this, with the glory which shall
be revealed in us. He tells us in chapter 21, 4 I saw in heaven no temple therein,
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 5 And the city had no need of
the sun, nor of the moon, to shine, for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Something beyond
our comprehension, isn't it? We're used to the sun shining,
and to think that in glory there'll be no need for the sun. Lord
Jesus will be the light, the glorious light, and we'll shed
that light to everyone. What a blessing, therefore, if
you and I are included in that number. It's good isn't it that
the Lord graciously for us today has revealed this situation so
that we don't have any doubt, we know the Word of God is true
and therefore we're not following cunningly devised fables, we're
following the grace and glorious Word of God. And so the Apostle
John was able to say, And he showed me a pure river of water,
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and the Lamb. In the midst of the street of
it, and either side of it, there was a tree of life, which bared
twelve manners of fruits, and yielded a fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation,
and there shall be no more curse. No more curse, but the throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall
serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall
be on their foreheads. And there shall be no night there,
but it need no candle, nor the light of the sun, for the Lord
giveth them light. and they shall reign forever
and ever. Our life, but a short life. Here it is, the sufferings of
this present time, a short life. Compare it with eternity. Consider it, weigh it up, reckon
it, work it out. The present time are not worthy,
they're not worth considering. that you and I pass through these
things. They're just a mere fraction of eternity. You won't be able
to measure it, it's so, so small. And yet, you see, we have this,
this comparison with the glory that shall be revealed in us. And just one last comment, really
in verse 19. For the earnest expectation of
the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God, the earnest expectation. It is a good expectation because
it is based upon the truth of God which will never fail. Therefore may we rest our souls
tonight upon this great and glorious truth and realise that the Lord
Jesus Christ in all his glory, as the Lamb slain, is there in
glory, and there to receive us unto himself, and there we shall
see him. Yes, we see him by faith on this
earth, but then face to face, and he will wipe away all tears,
no sorrow, eternal happiness, no sin and Jesus in the midst. Well it's a wonderful consideration. May it put things in a right
perspective and encourage us as you and I journey on through
this veil of sin and woe to look forward to that day when we shall
be with Christ as the Apostle says which is far better and
let us not lose sight of this tremendous fact forever and ever. No separation. Eternity with a Saviour, that
One who has so willingly died for us to take away our sins,
that One who so gloriously shed His precious blood so that we
indeed are washed and we are clean and we are given this great
and glorious white robe of his spotless righteousness. So we
shall have on the heavenly garment and we shall be received into
glory. Well, I reckon, I reckon, says
the Apostle, that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. Amen.