The Earnest Expectation
Romans 8:17-19 · Bob Eckel · Dec 31, 2006
Romans (2005-07), No. 64
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926013105741

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

All right, just an update, Bob's surgery didn't take place, but Missy's did and she's doing well, so that's good to hear. All right, hopefully everybody had a Merry Christmas. Yes, thank Christmas Eve, what a change, my fangles lose. I'm still Cincinnati blood-borne here in terms of sports.

All right, so last week we had a challenging series of verses that we didn't complete. That was Romans 8, 14 through 17. And what I thought we'd do is just kind of take a brief pause here this morning and make sure we picked up where we left off. And maybe the first five, seven minutes we're going to look at a couple of kind of basic aspects of what we covered last week. And then we're going to go ahead and move forward with today's lesson, which is 18 and 19. We're actually going to pick up at 17 first because we didn't really get done with 17 last week. So let's go ahead and kind of proceed where we left off last week. We have this coming on board here. This computer is as cold as it is outside today.

Last week we began the study with Romans 18-14, which was a verse that got some time and attention. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And we had a little bit of discussion as to whether this is kind of being led by the Spirit meaning versus being led by the flesh, or whether this was really a positional statement. And I tried to defend the positional nature of this statement. And let's see if we can support that a little bit. To lead, or as Ego, here and frequently in the text of Jesus, a passive present indicative. So this is being led, being brought to something.

And what I did is I took time to look at this in more detail since last week. And I'd like just to pause just a second to look at three verses to kind of refer back to last week's lesson before we go on and deal with a concept that Carol King brought up last week actually. We're not going to spend too much time. Not only wasn't she able to keep quiet, but this week's lesson in part is due to her question. So tell Ben you've been accused and you're before the court at this point in time. You had so much influence, you just didn't know. Okay.

Ruthie, do you have your Bible, Galatians 5.18 or not? Who does? Nobody. Nobody. Donna, please.

How's that for something that just kind of complements what we were enforcing last week? You know, is the believer under law at any time? Alright, if we're not under law, then positionally we're led by the spirit. Now that doesn't mean that every whim and whimper is being led by the spirit. We have a fleshly nature, an old man who ultimately declares himself too frequently. But positionally, we're led by the Spirit, because we're sons of God.

Galatians 5.18 just cements that. We're not under law, we're led by the Spirit. So does that mean if you're not led by the Spirit, you're under law? Well, in a sense you could interpret it that way, but again, passively, we're led by the Spirit. That's who we are in Christ, being led by the Spirit.

Amen? Okay, Galatians 3.7. Roger, could you deal with that one for us? And Ruthie, I'm going to let you look up ahead of time, 1 John 3, 1 and 2.

Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. I may not have read that right. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. That's American Standard. No, Peter read it, which is King James.

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. You know it's funny because I think the verb are there is really kind of being led, are of the spirit, are of the faith, are the sons of Abraham, declaring who they are positionally. First John 3 wants a good one, Rippy?

How great is the love of the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it does not know Him. So again, we're being called the children of God. It's kind of who we are, we're the ones who are led by the Spirit.

Now Carol King's question last week was really related to salvation in terms of being led. And I think this gets us into kind of a discussion that we could use as a topic for the next three months. But what I did here is simply for your benefit list a series of relevant verses where the verb ego or to leave or be led is used. And again, almost entirely of the passive nature. And you can look those up by particularly underlying John 10, 16.

Acts 8.32 and John 10.16 is there are sheep not of my own but they're also led, meaning the Gentiles in addition to the Jews, I mean they're being brought or led passively unto himself. The shepherd knows his sheep and they will be brought, led to him passively through an act of God.

The Acts is incredible in terms of the use of this verb and Acts 8.32 talks about Christ being led. But the many other verses in Acts deal with the many aspects of Paul and the early apostles being led by the Lord into a particular circumstance or led from trials and tribulations into the next event along their life paths.

So we'll not look at those now because of time. And the salvation emphasis, let's look at a couple of those, but I'm going to end with the important aspect that everything's not passive here, Carol. It's not this simple, and that's why I don't want to spend too much time on this.

Romans 2.4, does anyone have that before them?

And Rachel, could you pull 1 Corinthians 12.1 and 2? I'll let you go ahead and get ready for that.

So, Romans 2.4. I have it, or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance? So that repentance, remember Paul is addressing this to the believer, but I think the same process is part of the overall salvation experience. Rachel, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 and 2.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that you are Gentiles, carrying away these dumb idols however you were led. Verse two is where the verb is used. Carried away, you were, but know that you were Gentiles carried away into these dumb idols even as you were led.

I mean, so the idea is bringing someone out of a position of no faith, absence of faith, idolatry, into a position of acceptance or salvation. But I think just in terms of being led by the Spirit and remember God would have all come to himself and this is active here. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise not going that any should perish but all should come active to repentance. So, I mean, this issue of God being led by the Spirit through a salvation experience, but yet we need to respond as an active verb here, I think it's this controversy that's been there scripturally for a long time. From God's perspective, you know, only some come, but from our perspective all are called. And I think we'll just leave it at that. I don't really think we want to extend this text further into that topic, but we're all led. and some respond, and we will not solve this today.

Hal's getting it solved for sure. He's got the perfect view now of this whole conflict between God's calling and man's acceptance. But keep in mind this constant, if you will, tension, from our perspective it's no longer a tension, but the issue of those relatives we pray for, those neighbors, those people we work with. We continue to pray for them, knowing that God would have all come to a saving relationship. But there is a response on their behalf. Now, the other thing that, and Roger and I afterwards, and Jim were talking about this a little bit, I think this being led by the Spirit as a position, let's just remind ourselves of our position very briefly.

We're reconciled. We're justified. We're redeemed. There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We're free from law. We're children of God. We're adopted. We're partakers of the holy priesthood. We're heavenly citizens. We're complete in Him. We have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. We're blessed by the Holy Spirit and in the text we find ourselves we're led by the Spirit. All positional truths. And by the way, if you're interested in this, this is just a partial list of verses. Turn to our Holly Hills website and do a search for positional truths and this comes up. A lot more than this, by the way.

But this is grace, personified by who we are in Christ. And in context, in Romans 8, those of us who believe are led by the Spirit. We're the sons of God. Would it make sense in context that if we were not led by the Spirit and fell into the ways of sin and the power of the old man and the old nature that we would no longer be sons of God?

These are positional truths. No matter what our flesh does, we're still positionally right here. And so let's just make sure that we're really cemented in that before we continue the rest of the text. Because if we waffle here, we're not going to be able to come away with the promises that were really given to us, both for now and for the future. Any other thoughts or comments here before we go ahead?

I think it's important to recognize that the verses that preceded this, verse 12, therefore, brethren, we're debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you'll die. And again, as I think Roger taught, or was it Jim that taught this section? It's not we that die, we will die. But the works die, they're worthless. The flesh bears nothing of any value.

But if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you'll live. And by the way, you're led by the Spirit. For as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God. So it's this transition from the fleshly predominance to the spirit predominance. By the way, I'm declaring you are led by the Spirit, therefore you're sons of God. It's not what you do, it's who you are. Sometimes what we do doesn't reflect who we are. I don't think that's where we're at here. We're talking about those who are led by the Spirit.

All of us are the sons of God. Let's use that then as a foundation for what follows. Now 817 we didn't get to last week and we're going to move a little more quickly to make sure we get done through 19, because Roger's got some good things for you for 20 to 25 that lie ahead the next two weeks. And if children then heirs, how neat, remember this, we've been declared sons of God and then we're called technon or children, small children, kind of with that kind of Abba father perception that we all get from looking up to daddy, that kind of intimate, very close relationship. If we're children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we indeed suffer with them, that we may also be glorified together. Let's take a little closer look at this.

What's an heir? One who receives his allotted possession by the rite of sunshine. You've got to be in the line, and we're already told that we're in the line. We're sons, children, heirs, and ultimately joint heirs. And not only are we joint heirs, look at that oneness, that positional truth played out in the text. We're joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is Christ heir of?

Well, we always want to use scripture the best we can to answer questions that are arisen in the scripture. And in Hebrews 1-2, couldn't be said any better, could it? Happened these last days, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. spoken unto us by his son, meaning God, whom he had appointed heir of some things, a few things, how about all things?

And the profound terminus of this verse is by whom he also made the worlds. So not only are we joint heirs with him for all this stuff, but we're the one who in fact formed them. That's profound. Isn't that unbelievable? The positional truth is profound, but the fact that this person we're hanging out with is joint heirs is the God in fact who did it all. I mean, does that kind of blow your mind? It blows my mind. It's just incredible that we would be positioned in the Godhead as if we in fact were in part responsible for the creation.

And remember, bless with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places before the beginning of time. If indeed we suffer with him, this is important here, we're sons, we're children, we're heirs, we're joint heirs, if indeed we suffer with him, is that conditional? What are we talking about? Are we going to suffer with him? Is there an option here?

Everybody is pretty quiet. We've been shoveling. I'd like to take those shoveling hours and put them in time with the word of the guide. The snow is a bit preoccupying for us this week. Enough of that. For all of us. We are close to seven feet where we live. Those of you who have been up that driveway a little long at times. And my choice, it was an active choice.

Are there any of you in here who don't suffer in some way? Anybody suffering free? No trials, no tribulations? So the question I'm going to ask, what's all this suffering about anyway? Is that relevant? First of all, why should we suffer at all? We're not of this earth. You're on the right track. So what's all this positional truth? That was really position upstairs, right? Remember, one of those things on that long list was for citizens of a different kingdom. So if we're not suffering here in some way, we're kind of having mistaken identity, aren't we? Don't we? I mean, if heaven's our home, is this, you know, what it's all about?

You think of the three deaths that occurred within the last couple of days. Gerald, Forob, Yates, Brown, and Saad Hussain. What kind of emotions do you have? You've got those three guys, right? I mean, there's a wealth of kind of thought and mindset that goes off when you think about those three in the same group within a day or one another, or two days or one another.

Anyway, we won't spend a lot of time there. So these verses reflect a little bit on that. Remember, Romans 6, just to remind us, is kind of being crucified with him, buried with him by baptism unto death, that as Christ was raised from the dead with glory of the Father, we should also walk in newness of life. We've been planted together in the likeness of his death so that we shall be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified, that our body of sin might be destroyed, henceforth we should serve, not serve sin. This positions us to deal with these trials and tribulations.

Then Philippians 3.10, many of you probably know this by memory, that I may know him, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.

If we don't suffer, I don't think we would turn to the Lord and know of our need of Him. Well, couldn't we just be positioned in this joyous relationship and never have anything? You know, I don't know about you, but some of us turn to God more when these trials get tougher, and some of us ultimately turn away under those circumstances. The power of Adam is capable of doing either.

But God's calling is unto himself under all circumstances, whether the trials are deep and terrible and overwhelming or whether in fact they're just the modest ones that most people consider insignificant. So then I may know him, the power of his resurrection, fellowship of his suffering. So Christ in a sense, how did he suffer other than the obvious? Philippians gives us a hint of that too, right? He left his throne and came down here. His citizenship wasn't here. In a sense, he's positioned above as believers.

We suffer just being in the flesh. I'm a very comfort, security blanket kind of guy. Sometimes Margaret probably can't stand that, but she's more of a high-risk person. Let's get everything tucked in to make sure everything is comfortable. I'm not on the outside mission field for a good reason. Can we ever get too comfortable in our human flesh?

And the answer is no. Just being on the earth as a believer should point out the important perspective of suffering, and that our citizenship's in a different land. Now, things get a lot tougher, as we all know. Suffering is just not simply being separated from our heavenly home, which we're not, positionally.

Luke 9.23, and we should take a look at that, too. That verse, I think, is relevant. And that's kind of taking off your cross, right? we could spend a lot of time there, but Christ said, and he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Now again, that verse itself could take a whole morning, but the idea of Christ came here as a sacrifice, and in a sense, our lives are sacrifices too.

We never quite enter into it the way he did, but nevertheless, just being alive on this earthly planet is in fact an atmosphere of suffering. Now, the outcome of this suffering, and by the way, the conclusion is we're all suffering. We should be suffering just by, quote, being in these earthly, fleshly bodies. But beyond that, trials come for all of us. And for some of us, too frequently and too many. Isn't it suffering when our citizenship is there? And we hold him, we belong to him.

And it's sort of like being a fish out of water, because down here we're in darkness. And there is no fellowship. We've been in darkness for life. And our fellowship really is in the vertical direction. We feel that others like them, or like us. And to go around in the world and live day to day, we have so much contact with people and situations and cultures and values that have nothing to do with life.

Isn't that a kind of suffering? It is. And isn't that what Jesus suffered? I think it's at least part of it, isn't it? I think the separation from the heavenly position he had to come to earth is that type of suffering. But yet he went through physical suffering. and emotional, psychological, all the other kinds of things we think about. He was God-man. His capability of responding to suffering was different than ours, and praise God, that's how we're positioned, that we're as we grow in grace.

As we deal with these jobs and trips that come up, our response is in that other nature. It's a life that responds in a different way. That's not something, by the way, we all work at. How are you doing at working at getting through your trials and tribulations? I mean, this is not something we kind of prepare an outline for and conquer. This is a life that's lived out by faith.

So let's go ahead, because we're going to build on that comment in a second. So the idea of being glorified together or jointly approved is a passive kind of thing, so that we're put in this position. And this is the only biblical use. So verse 17 of Romans 8, This is the only time in the Bible that it says that if we suffer with Him, we may be also glorified together. That's nowhere else in Scripture. So I find that kind of interesting, actually. So the question comes up, when is this going to occur, this idea of being glorified together?

Well, John 17, 24 says, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world. What's that mean? Where's Christ? For it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

So I think the idea of this kind of oneness we have with the Lord Jesus Christ means that we're positioned with him and so this ultimate being glorified together is in fact in part related to that glory being seen as we suffer with him. Remember, we're with him. That's what Christ said in his heavenly prayer in John 17. So as we identify with that position, and we're here on earth, our being sons and children and heirs and joint heirs means that that glorification process is occurring as we exist here and now. Now we're going to build on that because a lot of this is futuristic and that's where we're making the transition into verses 18 and 19 and Roger will continue that in 20 through 25. But keep in mind that we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together.

When we get through trials and people are witnessing how we traverse those trials, the glory is given to us, but we go like this, don't we? Give it to the Lord. This isn't anything that I'm doing. We're glorified with Him. And remember that jointness, those joint heirs, being heirs, joint heirs, sons, that relationship. can mean that we can only give credit to the Heavenly Father that ultimately gets us through and lifts us up through these trials. Notice the progression from 14 to 17. Spirit of God makes us sons of God, being led by the Spirit we're sons of God and then we're adopted and we bear witness that we're now the children of God and as children heirs, join heirs and ultimately to be co-glorified or glorified together with him.

Can you think of anything that's more exceptional than this truth? This is a relationship Israel couldn't touch, right? This is unique. This is the church. This is us. Remember, no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. But that's not where it ends. That's just the beginning that there's no condemnation. we have all these other relationships and you know I think that's probably the most kind of amazing thing that you can ever conceptualize. So there's the crown which we share in John 17, the heavenly prayer again, and all mine are yours and yours are mine talking to his heavenly father and I am glorified in them.

So that's the process. Remember Paul in Romans came out of Romans the first five chapters saying the world is horrible and kind of I've been justified not by my works but by my faith and then he kind of recognizes his co-crucifixion he's got a new life but then in seven he kind of goes back and forth between trying to please God through a legal pathway and not and now we come out of that to have this relationship of oneness being a son, a child, an heir, a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. We're on top of the peak at this point in time. All right, let's go ahead now and look at 18 and 19.

The Darby version says, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed in this. Now this verse kind of takes more of a futuristic perspective. Don't limit the interpretation here to something way off. you know, in time or in heavenly places. I mean, it's heavenly places either way, whether we're here or whether we're there. But nevertheless, let's not narrow our interpretation. This is the same reckoning, by the way, that we've seen before.

So let's turn to these verses, Romans 3.28. Margaret, could you do that one for me?

And Bob, could you do Romans 6.11, please? 3.28.

Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Okay, that's all. So the verb conclude is reckon. Let's consider it true, or reckon, that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 611, Bob? Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And that reckoning comes after what? It comes after the first ten verses of Romans 6, which ultimately is the co-crucifixion, co-burial, and co-resurrection to newness of life.

So here now, we're asked to take on the same kind of active process, reckoning, or counting it true, or concluding, that the sufferings of this present time are not anything compared with the glory that's going to be formed out. What is this present time? How about today? Are we okay with that? Life on this earth. I think so. The present time, I think in terms of putting a linear measure as to exactly when is irrelevant here. We're talking about, this is directed to the believer. So that's his or her present time. Now. Currently. Today. Now, Gail, back to your points. What do we think of when we think of the present time from God's perspective? What's this earth all about?

Well, Galatians 1.4 calls it an evil age in which we live.

And Ephesians 6.12 talks about putting on the armor of God. We live in an age or a time of darkness.

Don't you have trouble kind of conceptualizing that at times? That this world we live in is really looked at as evil and dark? And it's easier than probably when I was younger. I mean, I think it seems like it's gotten worse. It makes you wonder as you've grown in Christ and you see what the light is. All of the earth looks just so much darker.

But everybody's well-dressed. They're clean this morning. They have smiles on their faces. They've driven their vehicle to the church. You know, they're going home to a house that's heated. Are these the sufferings of the present? That's kind of a security buy. I like all those things.

I'm not volunteering to live in the mountains of Afghanistan. But nevertheless, I think the believer must recognize that The word of God is true. We are not citizens of this earth or this age. This age is described as evil. It's dark. There's nothing redeeming about the earth in which we live.

So the next question that comes up, are our sufferings the same as those of the early saints? They're different, aren't they? At least for us who live in the environment we live in. Does that make them any better or any worse? And what's included here? Well, think of sufferings. What type of sufferings exist in each and every one of us? Now, we may not all experience these on a day-to-day basis, but they're external. You know, there are sufferings because of environmental issues. I mean, the snow to some extent. I mean, we had a dear friend in the Lord that Sharon and I used to know at Southern Gables.

Margaret knows him now. And this guy had a cardiac arrest. a few days ago, last Saturday, and had been shoveling snow heavily. He's 54, younger than I am. So he had a cardiac arrest in his doctor's office, was resuscitated, and then had another cardiac arrest on the cath table, and ultimately got a stent placed in his coronary artery, and now is alive in his home. But, you know, talking about God not being through with that guy yet, I mean, you know, Jim is still with us. He had four cardiac arrests during that time. But he thought this was indigestion, you know, but this is lasting a little bit longer than usual. He had a coronary event. He had a heart attack.

So, I mean, the issue is that's a suffering due to, quote, the environmental influence. The environment is 54 years of life being male and probably having high blood pressure for some period of time before all this. But anyway, sufferings come from the world in which we live. They can be misfortunes. They can be calamities. We could call that a calamity. It could be evil. It could be afflictions. They come in a wide variety of varieties. We can all tie into some of these in some way at some time in our life, probably.

Yeah, Carol? How about those internal sufferings? I mean, to some extent, this gets at what Gail and I were conversing about a few minutes ago. It's the issue of just being in earthly bodies and clothing. Goodness, there are afflictions that we bear about ourselves. Maybe nobody else feels afflicted, but whatever it is about the situation we've been placed in, Ultimately, that affliction is something that we sense internally. Passions that we have that are motivated by the old nature, in a sense, are sufferings that take us away from the relationships that are really those that are right with the Lord. So what about our identification with the Lord Jesus Christ? Can in any way we compare these kinds of afflictions and trials with those that took place in 2 Corinthians?

11, and we don't need to look at those. Those are the many things Paul went through. He describes them one after another. And you say, goodness gracious, I could never have done that. But you know the thing that I think you need to reconcile is that God hasn't asked you to do that.

I mean, is our relationship with the Heavenly Father any different because of the kinds of trials that we have versus the kind that Paul had? No, Paul was a very special person, but God gave us Paul as an example of what a Christ-like looks like. But are we going to try to be like Paul? No. He's adopted us. And he's as full of a relationship with himself as he did Paul. So we don't make our own trials to prove anything to God.

God's just saying, you live in an evil age, in a dark world, and in a sense, that begins the process of suffering. And from there we've got all these other things that come along here. What about Hebrews 11, 35-38? There's another list of trials. Many of those relate to Old Testament tribulations and events. But nevertheless, don't get bogged down with saying that you haven't had to suffer in the same way others have, because God would say by his word that we all suffer by just being part of the earthly existence. And there's nobody in this room who hasn't had trials, nor will you be free from those to follow. I mean, we're all in a foreign turf where trials are expected and sufferings are expected.

So I have a question. So where does these, these gospel, these, you know, health, wealth, all those gospels, what do they do with all of these scriptures? Do they just ignore them? Well, I don't hang out with those people, so I don't know. Anybody can answer Margaret's question?

But I mean, look at the TV evangelists and all that who are preaching to millions of people, and that's the Christianity they're getting, that you shouldn't, if you're a good Christian, you're not going to have trials. Well, I think we can all think of many examples where those trials have become very apparent in those lives of many of those people, and we don't want to overly generalize that these people don't walk on water.

Well, in a way, their message is appealing to the old man. So it's a different, you know, in a way, what they're preaching is build up your old, make your old man comfortable. I mean, whereas Christ says, no, it's not going to be that way. And that's why you need to... So what do they do with these... I don't know. They don't look at them. They just ignore them. Well, I mean, what it ignores really is the foundation of the ignorance of the grace principle, isn't it?

Because in a sense their own accomplishments are really being stacked upon their own abilities and their own efforts. Grace is of a different language. That's not the nature of grace. It's grace that lives out a life by faith in an existence that this body doesn't really know. We don't want to get necessarily caught up in that.

I think in verse 18 it's interesting to look at the fact that it says that the reckoned that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory and in a sense it's almost an oxymoron, not worthy with glory is kind of what the Greek says and they just don't seem to hang out together do they? Not worthy with glory is kind of It looks like it's oil and water a little bit. But yet the Greek puts them together in kind of this contrast that ultimately goes beyond interpretation.

So what glory are we talking about here? Well, the glory is intended to be revealed in us and then that question comes up now. and or later. What are your thoughts here? Is this all deferred? Donna, you're giving me a... I think it's now and later. I mean, because God's glory does shine through us. We are the light here and people do see the light. I mean, every now and then the light does shine for someone to see. That's why I think of Hal as an adventurer. Suffered greatly. Boy, did you see the glory in him? Yeah.

Many people would delay this glory, ultimately when we leave these earthly bodies, and Raj is going to be teaching this over the next couple of weeks, but there is some delay in the glory. Our hope is for the glory ultimately to be transformed into the newness of body and relationship that Hal is currently experiencing and many of our loved ones who are with the Lord. And God's glory has a way of manifesting itself now. So let's not limit this to something that's far off. Shalls, a present active partisan, will reveal this passive. Isn't that interesting? So this glory is ultimately revealed, not by us willingness to be revealed. The activity in our part is the faith aspect.

God, I have faith. that by the great grace you have given me as a believer, a son or a daughter of God, that ultimately what you are allowing me to go through in the way of these earthquake trials and sufferings relates to your glory. And boy, that's a different language, different interpretation. So will the glory suppress the sufferings or are we to look at to look for the glory to come later. I think the question in a sense is a repeat question of what we're trying to address here.

Now I think the glory is in part seen now. Let's look at a couple of examples of scripture. 2 Corinthians 4, 17, and 18 are really favorite verses of mine. For our light affliction is but for a moment, which worketh for us a far more eternal and exceeding way to glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, that the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

1 Peter 1.6.7 We can find multiple verses, but I just pulled a couple here.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice that now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith be much more precious than of gold that perishes. though it be tried with fire might be found into praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Well, I think it doesn't have to wait for the appearing. That verse says at the appearing, but I think if we don't think that ultimately these trials and being tried with fire don't bring glory now, I think we're not interpreting the overall word of God correctly. It's both now and later.

But these verses reflect on both aspects. Verse 19, interlinear grief. This is kind of an interesting verse. The King James says, for the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestations of the sons of God. Whereas the interlinear grief, I think a little bit clearer, this is the original grief, for the anxious watching of the creation, the revelations of the sons of God is eagerly expected.

Now it's kind of interesting here because the terms that are utilized here, anxious watching or earnest expectation, comes from the same root word as manifestation. Both words are used in this text. So back to the King James, if you have that, or I'm not sure which version, ASB or whatever, for the earnest expectation waits for the manifestation. same root words.

They're only one Greek number apart. So the root word is the same. The expectation is for the manifestation. Those are wrapped up. This is the, if you will, the, you know, apokarondoitia, whatever that is. But I mean, the issue is, it's the same kind of root word.

And there are other, there's only one other use in this, in using this term in the New Testament, that's in Philippians 1.20, a verse that most of us have seen before. According to my earnest expectation, and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." By the way, does that verse reflect a delay in God's glory being seen through the trials and tribulations we go through? No. I mean, yes, we're now beginning to look in verse 19, this transition into kind of the right now into the ultimate coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, But yet these verses, and this one particularly, really reflect on the fact that now also Christ will be magnified in my mind. Now. Presently. Not simply when he returns.

Creation is best translated here as creature, but if you look at this you can kind of go either way with it. These terms are very much related. Whether we're looking at the creature or the act of the creation, which was I mean the creature is formed by the creator, so either way you're okay here. I don't think you have a problem interpreting this for the erroneous expectation of the creation.

Remember, we're already one in God. And remember, he formed the world and we're joint heirs with him. So you could look at this as the creation, all of God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and what they are, or ultimately we as the recipient of that, but since we're one with him, It's not something we have to spend a lot of time on trying to dissect. Now, this waiting is something that we're doing now, and this is passive. This is not an active process.

If you actively wait, it's kind of a funny term, isn't it? I'm actively waiting. In a sense, we get impatient. The term here is we're kind of put in a position of waiting of expectation. There's nothing that we're doing other than trusting that God has put us in a position of waiting. It's kind of like waiting it out. I mean, just kind of something that we've been asked to do, and we look for His coming, and here's the term again, I'm going to show you, that box got put in there, and then it's something about pulling it off one side and putting it on the other.

And again, the manifestation is really out of the same Greek word as expectation. Is it a bit more of a rest? I mean, the waiting is more of a rest? I think so. Yeah, it is a rest. It's passive. This is a restful position, waiting for his coming, waiting for his glory. Now, this manifestation is an interesting word to look at in a little more detail.

It's kind of a disclosure of truth or instruction or revelation that's not been given before. It's kind of like the mysteries of the New Testament we look at frequently. There are a lot of mysteries that have been revealed by Paul, and this is that same type of word. It's concerning things before that were unknown. It's used of events by which things or states or persons hitherto withdrawn from the view are made visible to all.

I like the interpretation of removal of a covering. So this manifestation is going to be the Lord Jesus Christ in new form, or at least new form to us. And so to what does this relate? Is the glory of Romans 8, 18-25 restricted to the redemption of the body and the ultimate revelation of our sonship? 1 John 3 says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 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. It really reflects kind of things that are futuristic.

Colossians 3.4 puts us into the same mindset. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall he also appear with him in glory. So all these kind of look to what's ahead in terms of the new body, the new existence. But remember, the appeal here, back to verse 14, is to those who are led by the Spirit of God, which is effectively who each one of us really are. So in summary, I think that ultimately these manifestations of God's glory take place now by the active faith of the believer, by the great grace God has given us to respond in an atmosphere of faith and trust.

And as Roger will build on over the next couple of weeks, a lot of these relate to the expectation of his coming. And then the question is, is this the rapture and or is this our coexistence at the time of the millennial reign? And who will be in a position to proceed these things? I'm going to let Roger deal with all these difficult topics.

But the question is, we've been positionally declared to be those that are led by the Spirit of God. I think the question for all of us, are we? And this isn't one of these kind of lukewarm things, right? I mean, you're led by the Spirit. You've been declared to be led by the Spirit by being a child of God.

What's the process of being led by the Spirit? Remember, being led by the Spirit also relates us to these other particular relationships we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. sons, children, heirs, joint heirs. So being led by the Spirit is ultimately identifying the fact that as believers we've been declared to be led by the Spirit. What's the process? What is the process to be being led by the Spirit? Is it trying harder?

Hey, it's just believing. What is that? Walk by faith in early nature. Yeah. I mean, there's nothing short of our active participation. God has declared it. Let it be. But we need to respond. And where does the faith aspect come? It comes from our lives here in a foreign soil. But in addition, this is where you find the Lord Jesus Christ. Just think a little bit, if this book were taken away from you, how much of it Do you have an ownership already incorporated into your heart and soul and your mind? I'll maybe relate one to the other. And this is the source of all truth.

All of us here have been in a position to be taught and have read the word and have it ingrained at least what we've been exposed to in our hearts and minds and souls. and we could go on, but yet each and every one of us realizes the more we get into it, the more we really don't know about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's profound how much there is yet to understand about who we are in Christ. Let's close in prayer.

Father, I've been grateful to look at this very uplifting text here in Romans 8, and we share with Paul the enthusiasm of being positioned to be led by the Spirit, and that is an active process by you in us, We're led passively, but we respond by faith to recognize that it's a joint effort of you working in us to glorify yourself. And that glory does come from the sufferings we have on this earth, and although at times it seems like life can be pretty soft, ultimately being separated in an atmosphere of darkness and evil, it really is the beginning of that suffering process. So as we walk by faith, we realize that in these trials and periods of discontent that come on that ultimately the glory is yours as you work through us to make sure that our citizenship is fully realized. We look forward to the year to follow that you may be glorified in each and everything we think, say, and do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.