Three Steps for A Blessing
Notes
Transcript
Paul is writing about the glorious future that awaits him in the presence of God.
It so unfathomable to imagine
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10.But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
So there you have it. The bible clearly tells us that as believers God has revealed spiritual truths to us through our spiritual senses that the natural world cannot perceive.
Think about this for a moment
What have you waited for for a long time
A vacation - cant wait until summer
A promotion -Jon Pope
A college degree - Auburn
A paid off mortgage - 7051 Antolik
All these involved . soem element of pain or discipline
A Blessing requires waiting
I Waiting
I Waiting
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. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
vs 18 The greatest shame we may endure for Christ here on earth will be a mere trifle when He calls us forth and publicly acknowledges us before the hosts of heaven.
Waiting for the best - when we know the prize we are willing to suffer and wait for it ....
“Even the excruciating pain of the martyrs will seem like pinpricks when the Savior graces their brows with the crown of life."
Elsewhere Paul speaks of our present sufferings as light afflictions which are only for a moment, but he describes the glory as an exceeding and eternal weight (2 Cor. 4:17).
Whenever he describes the coming glory, his words seem to bend under the weight of the idea. If we could only appreciate the glory that is to be ours, we could count the sufferings along the way as trivia!
8:22 We live in a sighing, sobbing, suffering world. The whole creation groans and suffers pain like that of childbirth. Nature’s music is in the minor key. The earth is racked by cataclysm. The blight of death is on every living thing.
All Christians suffer. Either you have, you are, or you will — “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
But just because we experience suffering as we await the redemption of our bodies, it doesn’t mean that our suffering is random or without purpose.
And neither does it mean that Scripture doesn’t tell us how to think about our suffering now.
Illustration of waiting - Wegmans all are upset
Children a long process
Suffering is multifaceted.
Suffering is multifaceted.
Suffering has many faces. The Bible doesn’t whitewash our experience of suffering by saying that it’s all of one stripe. Rather, it recognizes the multifaceted ways that suffering can come upon us. The apostle Paul wrote, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9).
In these two verses, Paul lists several types of suffering — mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Each of these are different ways that we can suffer, and when suffering comes, often several of these types of suffering are involved.
When we know the outcome we are understanding of the benefits of suffering
Wait - on your husband
wait - on you health ‘
wait on the situation at work for standing up for truth ‘
II. Hope
II. Hope
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
The step for a blessing is
waiting ‘
hope - no wishful thinking but trust and faith in God!
Most people understand hope as wishful thinking, as in "I hope something will happen."
This is not what the Bible means by hope.
The biblical definition of hope is "confident expectation." Hope is a firm assurance regarding things that are unclear and unknown (Romans 8:24-25; Hebrews 11:1, 7).
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
A blessing happen because your Hope is in God not yourself.
I can go through trials because I have hope or an expectation of the outcome
Illustration - watching Auburn/Alabama game recorded
I know the outcome I would watch it
If we loss i would quit and do something else
Painful behind but would bear thought it knowing the outcome....
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise him.
Steps for a blessing
Waith
Hope
Direction
III. Direction
III. Direction
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
You get a road map thought the spirits leading
You get direction
exeget 8:28-29
Just as we are sustained by this glorious hope, so the Spirit sustains us in our weaknesses. We are often perplexed in our prayer life. We do not know how to pray as we should. We pray selfishly, ignorantly, narrowly. But once again the Spirit comes alongside to assist us in our weakness, interceding for us with groanings which cannot find expression. In this verse it is the Spirit who groans and not we who groan, though that is also true.
There is mystery here. We are peering into the unseen, spiritual realm where a great Person and great forces are at work on our behalf. And although we cannot understand it all, we can take infinite encouragement from the fact that a groan may sometimes be the most spiritual prayer.
8:27 If God searches the hearts of men, He can also interpret the mind of the Spirit, even though that mind finds expression only in groans. The important thing is that the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us are always according to the will of God. And because they are always in accordance with God’s will, they are always for our good. That explains a lot, as the next verse reveals.
Blessing
I. Waiting
II. Hope
III. Direction