Groaning, Waiting, and Hoping

Q: What does the Bible say about the groaning of creation?

The Bible teaches that creation is groaning in anticipation of its redemption, as noted in Romans 8:22. In Romans 8:22, it is stated that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now, indicative of the fallen state of the world since Adam’s sin. This groaning signifies a yearning for the redemption that will come with the manifestation of the sons of God, as creation itself looks forward to being liberated from its current cursed state. Paul reflects on this hope, indicating that all of creation, from the majestic mountains to the smallest creatures, is affected by sin and yearns for the new heaven and new earth being promised by God.

Q: How do we know we are children of God?

We know we are children of God through the witness of the Holy Spirit within us, as stated in Romans 8:16. Romans 8:16 confirms that the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. This internal testimony is crucial for believers, as it provides assurance of our identity as God’s children. The profound truth of being children of God might sometimes feel overwhelming due to our unworthiness, but the gospel assures us that it is God’s grace that grants this status. The Spirit’s witness operationally affirms our standing and inheritance as heirs with Christ, providing both hope and assurance in our walk of faith.

Q: Why is hope important for Christians?

Hope is vital for Christians as it is based on God’s promises and serves as an anchor for the soul amidst trials. In the sermon, hope is presented as a fundamental component of the Christian faith, particularly in the context of waiting for the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). This hope is not a mere wish but a confident expectation rooted in God’s immutable promises, the work of Christ, and the evidence of the first fruits of the Spirit in our lives. The presence of hope helps believers persevere through trials, keeping our eyes focused on the future glory that awaits us, thus enabling us to endure the present suffering with the firm assurance that God is faithful and will fulfill His promises.

Now Romans chapter 8 is like
a gold mine. You can go into this chapter
with its 39 verses at any point, in any place, and
you can come out with a handful of riches. It really doesn't
matter where you start. Doesn't matter where you stop.
You'll always be blessed. And you'll never, never, never,
ever exhaust its treasures. Romans 8, like John 17, John
10, Isaiah 53, Psalm 51, can never be exhausted. And my text
tonight is verses 22 and 23. which declares, for we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain to gather
until now, from the time of Adam's sin until now. But not only the
creation, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of
the Even we ourselves, grown within
ourselves, waiting, waiting for the adoption. Namely, the redemption
of our bodies. Now I've got to begin my message
back at verse 16. Then I'll come down here to verse
22 and 23. But verse 16 says the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit himself, beareth witness with our spirit that
we are children of God. We've got the witness of the
Spirit within. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ declared
the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer in John 16, when He
said, He, He said, I go away, but I'll send you another Comforter.
And He will guide you into all truth. The Holy Spirit will guide
you into truth. And he said the Holy Spirit will
not speak of himself, but the Holy Spirit will show you things
to come. And he said the Holy Spirit will
glorify me. And he said the Holy Spirit will
receive of mine, the things of mine, and show it to you. And here he says the Holy Spirit,
through the Word of God, bears witness with us. within us that
we are the sons of God. Now we usually have a struggle
with this, children of God, sons of God. And we have a struggle
with this for two main reasons. It's not that we doubt the work
of our Lord. It's not that we doubt the witness
of the Holy Spirit. It's not that we doubt the promises
of his word. But there are two main reasons
why we struggle with this being children of God. One is the magnitude
of it. The magnitude of it. A son of
God? A son of God? Me, a son of God? A child of the King, an heir
of eternal glory? Think of the magnitude of it,
the greatness of it. Too awesome to think about. And
the second reason is the unworthiness, our unworthiness to claim such
a position. David went and sat before the
Lord and he said, who am I? Who am I? That's the thing we
struggle with. It's not the promise of God or
the power of God or the person and work of Christ. It's the
magnitude of the blessing. Who are we? And the unworthiness
of the vessel. That's what led that man to write
that hymn, And can it be that I? He didn't say, And can it
be that you should gain an interest in the Savior's name? He said,
Can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died he for me, who him to death
pursued? Depths of mercy can there be?
Mercy still reserved for you? No, I don't have a problem with
that. Me. But the Holy Spirit bears witness
with my spirit that I'm a son of God. If I listen to Him and
not listen to me, I'll be a lot better off. John said, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. Now are we the sons of God. All
right, verse 17. And if we are sons of God, if
we're children, if we're children, then we're heirs of God. heirs
of God. And I tell you this, children
of the same Father, children of the same Father, whether they're
natural or adopted, whether they're natural or adopted, are all heirs. If you're a child of God, whether
natural or adopted, you're an heir of God. If we're children,
then we're heirs of God, and listen, and joint heirs with
Christ. We're joint heirs with Christ.
We're joint heirs with Him. If He's the Son of God, and I'm
the Son of God, then I'm a joint heir with Him. Everything that's
His is mine. What He is, I am. Where He is,
I am. What He has, I have. I'm a joint
heir with Christ. But the beauty of this is, I'm
not only a joint heir with Him, I know this, I'm a joint heir
through Him. It's because of him that I'm
an heir. To as many as received him, to
them gave he the right, the privilege to become sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heaven that's in Christ, according as he chose
us in Christ. I'm an heir. I'm a joint heir
with Christ. But I'm a joint heir through
Christ. And what's this next line? Verse 17 says, we're sons of
God. If we are sons of God, then we're
heirs of God. And we're joint heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. Now then, I don't think for a
moment that any suffering on our part merits glory. I don't
earn the glory of God, I don't merit the glory of God, I don't in any way deserve the
glory of God. And this suffering here, he suffered
the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. We
come to God not on our suffering, but his. But because he suffered
for us and because we're one with him, then we're willing
to partake of his sufferings. A man who's not willing to partake
of the sufferings of Christ will never be glorified with Christ.
That's what he's saying here. He's saying, if we're children
of God, then we're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him, we'll be glorified with
him. But if we do not bear his reproach, he said, take up your
cross and follow me. If we don't take up the cross
and bear the reproach, and be willing to suffer for the gospel,
then we certainly will not be glorified with him. But we're
not glorified with him because we suffer. We suffer because
we're glorified with him. Because of the glory he reveals
to us. Look at verse 18. But in all
of it, I reckon, I reckon, I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time, this life, from the cradle to the grave, whatever we're
called upon to bear, whatever our circumstances, whatever our
trials, whatever our difficulties, whatever our suffering, whatever
our sorrows, I reckon that the suffering of this present time
are not even worthy, no matter how severe. And some
of you, some of you know a little bit about suffering. You know
something about sorrow. You know something about heartache.
You know something about loneliness. You know something about trouble. But he says that the trouble
and difficulty and sufferings of this world, this earth, are
not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed
in us. Just not worthy. Really, when
we look at earth's sorrows, And I tell you why they're so easy
to look at, because they're so close to us. They're in us. The heartache, the heartbreak,
the heartache, the heartbreak, the sufferings. But these things,
when we look at them and when we evaluate them in the light
of eternal glory, they take on a different meaning, don't they? Let me show you something over
here in 2 Corinthians 4. And I guess everybody here would
say, well, boy, I'll tell you, I've had some tough time. I'm
going through a tough time right now. Just like David said, he
said, I water my pillow at night. I water my pillow with tears
at night. So sad, my heart's so heavy. But look at 2 Corinthians 4,
17. Paul knew something about this.
Paul went through 2 Corinthians 4, verse 8. We're troubled on
every side, but we're not distressed. We're perplexed, but we're not
in despair. Verse 9, we're persecuted, but
we're not forsaken. We're cast down, but we're not
destroyed. Always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus. And down here in verse 17, he
calls all that light affliction. for our life affliction, which
is but for a moment. And it is but for a moment. Brother
Bill was standing here this morning talking about the first time
we met way back, John, in 1965, 64. But that seemed like yesterday.
It just seemed like yesterday. It's just a moment. And all the
things that have happened since 1964, the high points and the
low points, the joys, the rejoicings, and the sorrows, and all of these
things that we've been through, all of us, they're just for a
moment. And then one of these days, God's
going to take us home and we'll look back over this earth and
this life, and it'll be like a twinkling of an eye. It'll
be just like the twinkling of an eye. Somebody said one time,
I heard this, he said, you know, this life compared to eternity
is like one drop of rain compared to a flood. It's like one snowflake compared
to a blizzard. It's so minute. And that's what
he's saying, our light afflictions, whatever they are. Oh, they're
not light, preacher. I know what you're talking about,
but I know what he's talking about. Compared to God's glory,
compared to God's presence, compared to that glory we're going to
enjoy, they're light. They're nothing. They're not
worthy. Listen. Our life's affliction,
which is but for a moment, it worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. God's trying us. God's testing. God's putting His gold in the
fire. God's doing this for our good. God's doing this to increase
our love for Him. And He did that to Abraham. He
said, I did this to try you, Abraham, to reveal your true
faith and love. And look at verse 9, 18. While
we look not at things which are seen, but things which are not
seen. The things which are seen are temporal, they're just here
for the moment. But the things which are not
seen are eternal. So go back to my text. I reckon, I reckon,
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are just
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. And the secret now, if I could learn it, the secret
is not look upon these things so hard, so longingly, so desperately,
while we look not at things that are seen, but we look at things
that are not seen. Looking unto Jesus. Take your
eyes off of these things, if we can. Turn them on Him. Looking for that blessed hope.
when we shall see him and be like him. That makes these things,
that's what he said, easier to bear because they're not worth
comparing. They're just not worth comparing. It will be worth it
all when we see Jesus. Life's trials will all seem small
when we see Christ. One glimpse of his dear face,
all sorrow will erase. bravely run the race till you
see Christ. I tell people this because I
know it by experience. You'll go through a deep valley,
such a trial, the loss of a very close precious loved one. You'll
go down into that valley and you just think, I will survive. I just won't survive, but you
will. You will. I just can't stand it. Yes, you
can. But I'll never smile again. Yes, you will. But I'll never
laugh again. Yes, you will. Yes, you will. God is able through time and
the Word and the Holy Spirit and His grace. It's quite sufficient. It's quite sufficient for every
trial. No matter how desperate. No matter
how hard. No matter how difficult, I guarantee you, His grace is
sufficient. Now, without Him, you may never
smile again. And you don't have anything to
smile about. Without His grace, without His Spirit, without hope,
no, if I was you, I wouldn't be smiling much. But in Him,
I have all things. I have every right to rejoice,
don't I? have a reason to rejoice. Alright,
look at, Bob read this so correctly, verse 19, change the word creature
to creation, for the earnest expectation of the creation,
the whole creation waited for the manifestation of the sons
of God. You know, this creation, God's
world, in the beginning God created the heavens and the And even
though sin has scarred it, and stained it, and marked it, and
scorched it, and crippled it, and put it under a curse, it
still has a beauty, a beauty that only comes from the handiwork
of God. Beautiful. His sky is still beautiful,
even though sin has entered it. His mountains and valleys and
metals and creeks and rivers and oceans. Aren't they beautiful?
So fine and beautiful even in their present condition. It's
retained a certain beauty even under the curse. And this whole
creation is growing, growing, waiting until Jesus Christ comes
again and makes his people like himself. And that's when he's
going to make a new heaven and a new earth. That's right, the
whole creation groaning, the whole creation waiting for the
manifestation of the sons of God. Look at verse 20. For the
creation was made subject to this vanity, subject to death,
subject to disease, subject to trouble. Made subject to vanity,
not willingly, creation didn't do it, man did it, by reason
of him who has subjected the same in hope. God has put creation
under the curse of man's sin, promising that there will be
a new heaven and a new earth. That's what it says, hold that
place and turn to 2 Peter. Listen to this, 2 Peter chapter
3. 2 Peter 3, verse 10, listen to
this. But the day of the Lord, that's
what we're waiting on, the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord
will come as a thief in the night, into which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also, and the works
of the very end shall be burned up, seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to
be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking far and hastening
unto the coming of the day of God, when the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat. Is it going to stay that way? Oh, no. No. Nevertheless,
we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven. and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." God's going to make a new earth.
Trees and flowers and mountains and valleys and streams and meadows. That's right. It's going to be
breathtakingly beautiful. You think that Shenandoah Valley
and you think that those Rockies and you and I think that that
Cherokee And Asheville Mountains is pretty. You ain't seen nothing
yet. The way the Lord lifts sin out
of this world. The way He purges it with fire.
The way He destroys everything that's evil. All demons and devils
and men and enemies and death. Cast it into the bottomless pit.
Makes a new heaven. You've never seen a heaven like
that new one. Nor an earth like that new one. And the holy city
of God will come down out of heaven. And down on this new
earth. And you and I are going to enjoy
God's, God's earth, God's flowers and trees and fruits and all
these things. That's right. All those things. And there'll be no end to it.
He made a garden and put Adam in it. But there was an end to
that. Because sin fisted. But sin will never visit this
new earth. There's nothing in or in that
worketh or maketh a lie. Nothing. It's going to be beautiful. Mike, you sing, it will be worth
it all when we see Jesus. Yeah? What a day that will be
when the Savior I shall see. My, my. And the whole creation
is groaning, hear the wind howl. Walk out some night and listen
to the wind howl. Feel the rocks when they tremble,
John. You see out there where you used
to live, the rocks would tremble. This earth is groaning under
the weight of sin. Hear the doves moan. You ever
hear a dove? Sad? Watch the angry seas. The seas are beautiful, but when
they're richer, when you get down there, they're awful at
night. Scary. Angry seas. Angry seas. Death is everywhere. Look. Go right up to East Kentucky. That's a pretty place, but not
this one. Not this bunch. Oh. Oh. Death. Death. Death. Everywhere. You just wait. Listen. Verse 21. Because the
creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage. From the bondage. of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God, for we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together unto now." Together
with whom? With us. I groaned like the rocks. Doris sometime will hear me say,
I wish you'd quit groaning. I said, I wish I didn't have
anything to groan about. Do you groan? Oh, my, my, my. The whole creation's groaning.
The whole creation. But now look at this verse, this
23. And not only the creation, but
ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even
we ourselves groan within ourselves. I'm going to show you three things
here, briefly. What we have, he says, even we,
ourselves, which have, we have something. We have something. Secondly, what we don't have
yet. Thirdly, what we're doing. Now
what's the first thing? He says we have something. He
says in verse 23, and not only the creation, under the curse,
but we ourselves, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit.
You know the grace of God has made a difference between us
and the rest of the world? The world is under God's judgment,
the world, even the creation and people are under the judgment
of God, under the wrath of God, under the condemnation of God,
under the curse of the law. Cursed is every man that continueth
not in all things written in the law to do it. They're under
a curse, but God's made a difference. But we, He made a difference
between us and the world. That's right. We were dead in
sins, He has raised us. We were walking according to
the course of this world, He regenerated us. We were children
of wrath, even as others, now we're sons of God. Let me show
you a verse over here in Exodus 10. I want you to look at this,
Exodus chapter 10. In Exodus 10, he's talking about
Israel. And we're talking about this
day of the Lord, this day of the Lord, when he's coming. And
when he comes, this element shall melt with a fervent heat. Heaven
shall be dissolved and all the elements will pass away and every
person under the wrath of God will be destroyed. But he's made
a difference. He's made a difference. Now back
here, when this scripture was written, Exodus 10, God was about
to come through Egypt, midnight, and kill the firstborn in Eberholm. Judgment was going to visit Eberholm.
Now listen to this. Exodus 11, verse 6. And there shall be a great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it,
nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. Against a man or
a beast, that you may know how that the Lord hath put a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel." God's made a difference. And
I'm telling you this, you look at my text. Talk about this whole
creation groaning, and God's going to destroy it all. But
we're groaning. We ourselves also, which have
the first fruits of the Spirit. We have the first fruits of the
Spirit. It doesn't say we will have, we could have, we may have,
we hope to have. We have the first fruits of the
Spirit. Now what is that? I'll tell you
what it is. It's the first work of the Spirit
of God in this new creation. It's the firstfruits? We had
the firstfruits! When Israel, you know, God blessed
the firstfruits and made them holy. He said, bring the firstfruits
to the Lord. When Israel planted their barley,
or their wheat, or their oats, or their whatever they planted,
and they went out, this is the way I do, I watch my garden,
and the first red tomato, oh my, that's the firstfruits. The
first cucumber. The first bunch of beans. That's
the first fruits. That's the first fruits. And
God says there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth.
There's going to be a new kingdom. There's going to be a new people.
Behold, I make all things new. And you and I are the first fruits. You're the first ripe tomatoes.
There's a whole lot more coming, but you're the first fruit. You
have the first fruit. You have repentance toward God.
The goodness of God has put repentance in your heart. The goodness of
God has given you faith in Christ. If the whole world had repentance
toward God and faith in Christ, the whole world would be saved.
Did you know that? But they don't have. They don't have repentance
toward God. They don't have faith in Christ.
You do. The love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy
Spirit. You have an entrance greater unto you than to the
grace of God, to the Spirit of God. You are the firstfruits. You have the firstfruits. Now
why are they called first fruits? Because they are the first fruits.
And there's a pledge of a great harvest. You go out and pick
that first ripe tomato or that first batch of oats or barley
or whatever it is. That's not the harvest. That's
just the first fruit. I'm not what I'm going to be. I'm not what I used to be. I'm
not what I want to be. I'm not what I ought to be. I'm
not what I'm going to be. This is just the start. Just
the beginning. I have repentance. You do too.
I have faith. I have love. The love of God. I have it in the bud. Someday I'll have it in the bloom.
It'll be full and complete. That's what we have. That's what
we have. You understand that? We've grown. We ask ourselves, who had the
firstfruits? Well, why do we groan if we had
the firstfruits? Because there's some things we
don't have. There's some things we don't have. Some things we
don't have. You know, Paul said, Oh, that
I may win Christ. Wait a minute, Paul. You have
Christ. That I may win Christ. Oh, that
I may know Christ. But Paul, you know Christ. You
said, I know whom I have believed. Oh, that I may know Christ. I
tell you this, while I have the first fruits, I have repentance
and faith and love, and you do too. I have Christ. I'm a son
of God. You are too. But these bodies
haven't been delivered yet. I'm not under the curse, but
this thing is. Isn't that right? I'm not under
the curse of sin. I'm not going to die. He that
believeth on the Son of God shall never die. But I'm walking around
in a body that's going to die. And it may die hard, too. Yes,
it might. You look across the page here.
Romans 7. Listen to Paul. Verse 15. That which I do, I don't approve
of. And what I would, that do I not.
And what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent to the law, it's good. Now then, it's no more
I that do it, it's sin that dwelleth in me. I know that in me, that
is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Where in my flesh? To
where was present with me how to perform that which is good,
I find not. Look down at verse 24, O wretched
man that I am. My friends, what we have, the
first fruits, the beginning, It's not the harvest, it's the
beginning. It's not what's going to be, it's a taste, a foretaste
of what's going to be. The harvest is yet to come. A
farmer doesn't go out and get the first tomato and then dig
everything up. No, that first tomato says we're
going to have a real harvest. See what I'm talking about? Because
there's a lot we don't have. This body, this body has a profound
effect upon this soul. I defy any man. to tell me he
has faith, hope, and love spiritually, but disease and suffering and
pain doesn't affect his soul. It does affect it. It does affect
it. This body affects this faith
and this love. It does. The appetites of this
body are not in themselves sinful, but the appetites of this body
lead us to think and to act and to talk as we shouldn't. I'm looking for the harvest,
aren't you? Got the first fruits. I'm waiting till it's complete.
Tell you something else, my liberty is not complete. Scripture says
the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I'm
free, but I'm not free. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. I know the truth, and the truth
has set me free, free from the penalty of sin, free from from
the practice of sin. Free from the power of sin, but
not free from the presence of sin. I'm not totally free yet. You're not either. We have liberty
as far as our present circumstances will allow us. I read a story
about Napoleon. It took him off the throne of
France and put him on a little island. What was it? St. Helena
or something like that. Put him on a little island. Little
rocky, stony island. Put a bunch of guards around
him. He complained about the guards. He said, why are you
putting all these guards around me? I can't go anywhere. So they
consented to remove the guards. And then they gave him his freedom.
And he could go anywhere he wanted on that island. He could go anywhere he wanted
by himself. He could just stroll around a
hundred feet this way and a hundred feet that way on an old rocky
island. He had freedom, but not much.
And you and I are kings, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. All the things are ours in Him,
and I'm confined to a little spot right here. And my spirit wants to soar to
the throne of God, and this old body just holds her down. And
I want to think all the time on things divine, and things
pure, and things holy, and this old flesh says, no you don't.
I can go bottom, go anywhere I want to on this old rock. Someday
God's going to destroy this old rock, and like a bird, we're
going to flee to his mountains. And then I'm going to be free. That's right. I'll tell you another
thing we don't have. We don't have that glory yet
for which he prayed. He said, Father, glorify me with
the glory which I had before the world began, and the glory
which thou hast given me, I've given them. Don't have it yet, do you? Don't have it yet. Paul saw it,
but he couldn't describe it. Our Lord spoke of it, but He
couldn't, or didn't. He couldn't. He couldn't do no
mighty works because of their unbelief. Couldn't even make
His true disciples see it. I used the right word there,
didn't I? He said, I've got so many things to show you, and
you can't bear them. So many things. So, we ourselves
who have the first fruits, We have them. Don't despair. Don't
despair. You have the first fruits. There's
some things you don't have. Your body's not free. Someday
it will be. This corruption will pull on
incorruption. You have liberty, but not totally. You just go
far as your surroundings will let you. Climb as high as this
old nature. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? The glory of God. Someday, first
fruits will give way to a harvest. And then here's the last thing.
What are we doing? Well, look at it. Verse 23. And not only
they, not only they, but we, but ourselves also, which have
the first fruits, even we ourselves grown within ourselves. Now,
here's a key. Listen to me. We've grown within
ourselves. Let's be careful. It's not the
groaning of a hypocrite to be seen of men, who calls attention
to himself, calls attention to his piety, calls attention to
his religiosity, calls attention to his spirituality. It's not
the groanings outwardly of a hypocrite who wants men to think that he's
something. Well, he's not. It's groaned
within. What I'm expressing tonight to
you outwardly, I'm not going to say out yonder. I'll say it
to the family. I'm happy, but I'm a sad man. Aren't you? Sure you are. I'm full, but you know how empty
we are. Can't tell this to them, because
they don't understand. I'm rich, but I'm a poor and needy creature.
I'm holy, but I'm cheap of sinners. I'm content. But I have a desire to depart
and be with Christ. I can't explain that. I just
know it's so. We've grown within ourselves. Then he says we're waiting. We
ourselves have grown within ourselves and we're waiting. What are we
waiting on? We're waiting for the adoption. Namely, to wit,
namely, the redemption of this body. That's what we're waiting
on. Now listen to me. Listen. Brother Barney, you say,
listen to Brother Barney. This waiting is not sitting idly by. That's not the waiting. It's not with an impatience with
the providence of God. That's all right. My times are
in His hands. My God, I want them there. This
waiting is not begging to leave. This waiting implies a readiness. I'm ready by the grace of God. It implies an expectancy. I'm waiting. If you're waiting
for somebody, you fully expect them to show up. That's what this waiting is.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, chapter 1, he talks about the marks of
a believer, elect of God. And the last one is, you're waiting
for his son from heaven. If you see me out here in the
parking lot tomorrow, 10, 11 o'clock, sitting out here in
the car, You can say, well, he's waiting on somebody. And you
can be sure I'm expecting him or I wouldn't be there. I'm expecting
him. I'm waiting. We're waiting. I'm waiting on the redemption
of my body. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I don't know when
he's coming. I just know he is. I don't know
when I'll die. I just know I will. I don't know
when he'll raise this vile body and make it like his own. I just
know he will. And I'm waiting. with expectance and readiness.
What else are we doing? This is the last one. Verse 24. For we're saved by hope. We're
hoping. I'm not concerned about that
word. I like that word. The word hope
is not a wish. It's more than a wish. I hope
it rains tomorrow. I hope it don't. You know, that's
not what we're talking about. This is a desire based on expectation. And this blessed hope He calls
it a good hope, he calls it a great hope, he calls it a living hope,
he calls it a sure hope. This hope in Christ is based
on three things. Number one, the promise of God
who can't lie. In hope of eternal life which
God promised who cannot lie. It's based secondly on the personal
work of the Lord Jesus Christ who is our hope. And it's based
thirdly on the presence of the first fruits. and we're back
where we started from. We have these first fruits. A
man has no right, a woman has no right to talk about a hope
who does not have some evidence, some evidence, some living evidence. I'm not talking about perfection.
I'm talking about some living evidence of the first fruits. We have the first fruits. Therefore we're waiting and hoping.

Groaning, Waiting, and Hoping

What does the Bible say about the groaning of creation?

How do we know we are children of God?

Why is hope important for Christians?

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Groaning, Waiting, and Hoping

What does the Bible say about the groaning of creation?

How do we know we are children of God?

Why is hope important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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