Hope!

English Standard Version Chapter 8

Romans 8: 26-39

Intro.

This week I saw a video on social media that truly resonated with me. It was by a Christian influencer who seeks to help those dealing with anxiety, depression or the like. So he begins by showing this video and in the video is a staircase and towards the bottom of the staircase is this single cup. At the top of the staircase is this man with a large bucket of pingpong balls. The man at the top of the staircase then pours out the entire bucket of pingpong balls. As he does so, the man on the video explains. He says, “ You see, the pingpong balls bouncing around the cup, those are our fears, worries, and anxieties. Then he pointed out, he said, “Now do you see how many of the balls are actually going into the cup.” Hardly any. He said, “You see, so many of the things that we worry about, fret about, and stew over hardly ever happen. It is said that worrying doesn’t take away tomorrow’s problems, it only takes away today’s peace.” This morning in our text from the book of Romans, we are going to look at Paul’s encouraging words to the church in Rome. We are going to see how he shows how each person of the Trinity is working on our behalf. So today, whatever you may be going through, whatever battle you may be facing, may this text today bring you hope for the future. And with that being said, May God Bless the Preaching of this, His Most Holy Word.

The Spirit’s Role

Our first point for this morning is the Spirit’s role, that is the Spirit’s role in the life of a Christian. Paul has just finished discussing how we as Christians along with all of nature are inwardly groaning as we await the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who will make all things new. Then, we read in our text for this morning, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” How many times have you ever been in this position? I know I have. Maybe you are in a situation or a battle that seems like more than you can bear. You go to God in prayer because you know that is what you are supposed to do, but the battle is so great, you don’t even know what to pray.

Or maybe you have a friend that is going through a challenging time, you want to pray for them, but have no idea what to pray or even how to pray for them. Well, guess what? It is okay. Why? Because of the Holy Spirit. When we go to the Lord in prayer and struggle to find the words to say, the Bible tells us that, “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Even when all we can do is groan or cry or even at times scream. The Holy Spirit knows what we are feeling. He knows our deepest wants and interprets our deepest concerns. Praise the Lord for the gift of His Most Holy Spirit.

But guess what? There’s more!

Not only is the Holy Spirit interpreting our groans and bringing those before the Father, He is also taking our groans and making them submissive to the will of God. The Greek word that we find in this verse 27 is interesting. The english word, “intercedes” is the Greek word “entynchanō” and it means to appeal or petition. In essence, to request formally and earnestly as from someone higher in authority. The Holy Spirit brings our requests to God and pleads on our behalf. How amazing is that? And then, it continues to get better. So the Holy Spirit interprets our requests, takes them before the LORD, pleads with the LORD on our behalf and if even then after all of that, our request does not align with the will of God, we still have hope. For in verse 28 we read, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” So even if after all of that our request or prayer is not answered we still have HOPE! Why? Because of this promise right here. That no matter how bleak or grim our situations may appear, we can claim that all things are going to work together for good. Hallelujah and Amen! May we claim this promise today.

Who is For Us?

Our next point for this morning is, “Who is For Us?” My mom has this running joke with me that I need to make more male friends my age or there won’t be anyone to carry her casket when her time comes to leave this earth. There will be no one there for her. Have you ever felt that way? Like you were all alone and that there was no one in the world who, if given the chance, would stand up for you? I think we all have at times. Yet, if we are Christians, followers of the most High King Jesus, then we can rest assured that we ALWAYS have someone by our side and on our side.

In our text for this morning we read, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” What a wonderful reminder and promise of God. Psalm 118:6 also tells us “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

David Guzik writes, “If all we had were the first few chapters of the Book of Romans, some might believe that God was against us. Now that Paul has shown the lengths that God went to save man from His wrath and equip him for victory over sin and death, who can doubt that God is for us?” He goes on to say that, “Likewise, despite the suffering Christians face, if God is for them, what does it matter if others are against them? One person plus God makes an unconquerable majority.”

So, my dear brothers and sisters, whatever wall you may be up against, whatever enemy or bully may be taunting you, remember that if you are in Christ, you are never alone. And remember that you never have to fight your battles alone. For He is with you, to guide you, to protect you and to defend you.

Our text continues by reading, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

What is amazing about this portion of the text is that we just read about the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us, now we read that Jesus, the Son of God, who came into this world to sacrifice himself so that we might live, the One who graciously gives us all things, is the One who indeed is interceding for us at the right hand of God. So we have both the Holy Spirit and Jesus himself interceding on our behalf to the Father. If you ever doubt that you’re prayers are heard, this here is proof that not only are your prayers heard but that they are brought before the Father and pleaded for on our behalf. Praise the LORD!

This portion of the text ends with two beautiful sentences. Verse 35 and 36 read, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?As it is written,“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

These two verses begin with a wonderful reminder. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Paul then provides an extensive list of things that in any other case, would be able to cause separation.Let’s look at this list. He begins with tribulation. Think about the Holocaust and how many families were separated during that tragic event. Look at wars and wartime and how many families are separated then. Yet, my dear brothers and sisters, we have HOPE. Why because no amount of tribulation will ever be able to separate us from God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Praise the LORD!

The second item that Paul lists is distress. Have you ever been so panicked, so anxious, so distressed about something that you were utterly distraught. You could not think of anything besides the tragedy or fear that reigned in your mind. Yet, once again, my dear brothers and sisters, cannot separate us from Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord that the greatest fears in our minds cannot separate us from His love.

Next is Persecution. No amount of persecution, of which Paul had experienced a plenty, is able to separate us from the love of Christ Jesus. If Paul himself is able to write this, then we know that it can be true in our lives. No matter how many beatings, imprisonments, and torture Paul received, he never once felt the absence of the love of Christ. And the same is true for us.

Following this Paul mentions famine. We here in the United States are not very familiar with this term. However, famine means, “ a severe and widespread shortage of food that causes extreme hunger, acute malnutrition, and high rates of death from starvation and disease.” It is a horrible thing to see someone starve to death due to lack of food and nutrition. Yet Paul proclaims that even amid this most horrific of events as famine, Christ’s love can still be felt.

Next, Paul says that nakedness cannot separate us from Christ’s love. How many of us by a show of hands love looking at ourselves in the mirror before we get in the shower? We stop to look because that is just about the most beautiful or handsome thing we have seen all day. Now for the flip side of the coin. How many of us before getting in the shower, run past the mirror so that we do not have to look at ourselves in the mirror? Whichever category you fall in, our nakedness, no matter how that looks to us, cannot separate us from His love. Even in countries that are so poor where clothing cannot be purchased, God’s love is still there.

Danger. Next Paul says that no amount of danger can separate us from God’s love. The Greek word here is the word, “kindynos” which means danger or peril. No amount of either of these can ever separate us from Christ’s love.

Lastly, Paul says that even the sword cannot separate us from Christ’s love. David Guzik in his commentary writes, “This word implies execution. It is the only item on the list that Paul had not yet personally experienced.” 1 Corinthians 4:11 gives us a list of all that Paul had experienced u p to that point. It reads, “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;” Yet even then Christ was with them and His love present among them.

So today, my dear brothers and sisters, whatever battle, trial, fear, or tribulation you may be facing, rest assured that no amount of those things can ever run God off. He is always with us and His love is always present.May that bring peace to our circumstances today.

In verse 36, Paul quotes from Psalm 44:22 where he writes, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Paul used this verse to illustrate to his readers the persecution they were receiving or at any time could receive. Commentator Matthew Henry sheds some light on this. He writes, “Can a case be supposed more black and dismal? It is illustrated (v. 36) by a passage quoted from Ps. 44:22, For thy sake we are killed all the day long, which intimates that we are not to think strange, no not concerning the fiery bloody trial. We see the Old-Testament saints had the same lot; so persecuted they the prophets that were before us. Killed all the day long, that is, continually exposed to and expecting the fatal stroke. There is still every day, and all the day long, one or other of the people of God bleeding and dying under the rage of persecuting enemies. Accounted as sheep for the slaughter; they make no more of killing a Christian than of butchering a sheep. Sheep are killed, not because they are hurtful while they live, but because they are useful when they are dead. They kill the Christians to please themselves, to be food to their malice. They eat up my people as they eat bread, Ps. 14:4. As grim and as frightening as this may be, may we as Christians remain firm, rooted in Christ who stands beside us. May this not cause us fear but embolden us to stand all the more firm in Christ who has set us free.

More Than Conquerors

Our final point for this morning is that we are “More Than Conquerors.” Our final 3 verses for this morning read, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What encouraging news! After our last point, this is like salve on a wound. Even despite persecution, we have nothing to fear. Why? Because as the scripture says, we are more than conquerors and that nothing, in all of creation, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Conclusion

So today, my dear brothers and sisters, may we gain hope from this text this morning. No matter how bleak your situation may seem this morning, may you remember who stands beside you and that no amount of trouble will ever make Him leave you. This week, as we go about our days may we remember: The Spirit’s Role within our lives, Who is For Us, and that we are More Than Conquerors. And I present this sermon to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!