Sermon for July 19, 2020 22 Minutes

Good morning everyone,,, watching by video.

I sent out text messages and Facebook post asking for praise reports and prayer request during the week.

These are the ones that I've written down.

If I've missed yours please text me or post it in the comments and we will add it at the end.

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Before I begin with my sermon,,, I wanted to begin this morning with an opening prayer and lead into the Lord's prayer like we usually begin our worship service. That way if you like,,, you can join me in saying the Lord's prayer.

Invocation and Lord's prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for your continued presence among us today and every day. I thank you for those that are listening and watching by video. I ask for continued guidance for them and others. So we ask for healing for all of those that are sick this morning,,, we ask for safety and guidance for our healthcare workers and all others that must work during this time. Lord,,, I pray for all of those that are still working on clearing storm damage and helping others. We ask for comfort and rest for each of them. We also ask for comfort and healing for all that are struggling with the coronavirus pandemic feelings of isolation and for all of us effected by the death of George Floyd. We ask for healing from all these events for our great nation,,, and

We ask these things in Jesus's name who taught us to pray, by saying:

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever.

Amen.

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This morning I'll be reading Romans chapter 8 verses 12 through 25.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Romans 8:12–25

In the verses that we will look at this morning,,, Paul is talking about our obligation to the Spirit and the debt that we owe because it's what makes it possible to live a life like God intends for us to live.

Romans 8:12–25

12 So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs —heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility —not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it —in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits —we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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We are back in Romans looking at the words of Paul again.

Last week we saw that the Holy Spirit was the power we needed to live a holy life.

The Sunday before,,, we saw that the Holy Spirit was what helps us deal with the effects of sin after we become Christians.

Today we will be looking at the "hope" that we have because of the Holy Spirit helping us today!

As I told you at the beginning,,, these verses were written by Paul to show our obligation to the Spirit and the debt that we owe because it's what makes it possible to live a life like God intends for us to live.

So lets look at these verses and see how they can help us in our walk with God this week.

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Verses 12 and 13 say: 12 So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

My Faithlife Study Bible says that Paul is saying that since the Holy Spirit lives in us,,, we are not controlled by the flesh anymore but now we are controlled by the Spirit.

Before we became Christians we were controlled by the flesh and were facing certain death,,, but now we have the Spirit guiding us and helping us each and every day,,, so now we are assured that we can live in heaven as a part of the family of God!

In the New Revised Standard Version,,, verse 12 is worded this way: 12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh,

Did you notice that it used debtors instead of the word obligated?

In the worship planning material for this week,,, it used this translation in its worship planning,,, and I didn't use very much of the information provided,,, but the part that caught my eye,,, was where this translation used debtors instead of obligated.

We are "debtors" to both God and Jesus,,, because without Jesus' death on the cross we would not have the Holy Spirit to help us today.

In the text that they shared,,, they mentioned we owed a debt to worship God because of that debt!

Our worship,,, then,,, ought to be a celebration

First with God;

Because,,, we are debtors to God,,, who gave us the gift of life and the gift of salvation.

So,,, our worship is full of songs that give thanks to our Creator and Redeemer.

We celebrate this gift as we sing and pray,,, acknowledging that we belong,,, not just to ourselves,,, but to God.

Second,,, our debt is to the community of faith.

We have been sustained and strengthened by those who have gone before,,, and those who surround us now.

That's why a church family is so important,,, and it's even more important during times like we are going through today.

It's during this time that we could tell the stories of how we were helped by members of the church family who did something significant for us.

It is a way of honoring one another.

That's why we wanted to continue with the praise and prayer request even though we are just online,,, it's that kind of connection that's important to us as a community of faith!

And it's those kind of debts that keep us close to one another in times like these.

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Verses 14 and 15 say: 14 All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

Being led by the Spirit of God is what makes it possible for us to be a part of the family of God and also enter heaven.

This is something that we just could not do on our own.

My Believer's Bible Commentary says those living under the law are like minor children,,, bossed around as if they were servants,,, shadowed by the fear of punishment.

But when someone is born again,,, he is not born into a position of servitude.

He is not brought into God's household as a slave.

Rather, he receives the spirit of adoption; that is, he is placed in God’s family as a mature son.

By a true spiritual instinct he looks up to God and calls Him “Abba, Father.”

Abba is an Aramaic word which suffers in translation.

It is an intimate form of the word father—such as “papa” or “daddy.”

It says that while we may hesitate to use such familiar English words in addressing God,,, the truth remains that He who is infinitely high is also intimately nigh or "near".

It says that's what makes this hard to describe because our English language doesn't translate the true meaning very well.

It also say that the phrase,,, the Spirit of adoption,,, may be a reference to the Holy Spirit as the One who makes the believer aware of his special dignity as a son.

Or it may mean the realization or attitude of adoption in contrast to the spirit of bondage.

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Verses 16 and 17 say: 16 The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs —heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

There is a spiritual instinct in us as Christians that tells us that we are children of God.

It's the Holy Spirit that does this.

And it does that through reading the Bible,,, the words of God!

It works the same way as being convicted by reading the Bible when we have done something wrong and the Spirit correcting us through the words that we have read.

As we read the Bible,,, the Spirit confirms the truth that because we trusted Jesus,,, we are now a child of God.

In verse 17 it goes on to say that if we are children of God then we are heirs of God and coheirs with Christ,,, which means that we will share in a membership that will be more than we can imagine.

Of course,,, with that unimaginable membership,,, there could be suffering that we have to face while we are here on earth,,, but through anything that we must go through,,, God will be with us,,, and we see the rest of the answer in the next verse where it says in verse 18.

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Verse 18 says: 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Nothing that we will go through in this lifetime,,, even if it involves tough persecution,,, things that we in America normally don't see,,, we would forget everything,,, if we even thought to compare it to our previous state,,, once we receive the glory that is prepared for us.

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Verses 19 through 22 say: 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility —not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it —in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.

When Adam sinned,,, that sin not only affected us as the people that live here on earth,,, but the animals,,, birds,,, fish,,, even the earth was affected.

The ground was cursed because of sin.

Many wild animals die violent deaths.

Disease affects birds,,, animals,,, fish,,, and humans,,, all living creatures were affected.

We didn't have sickness,,, cancer,,, covid,,, or any other illness that is known or unknown to man today,,, until we began to see the consequences of Adam's sin!

The results of Adam’s sin has rippled like shock-waves throughout all creation.

So,,, as Paul explains,,, creation was subjected to futility, frustration, and disorder,,, not by its own choice,,, but by the decree of God because of the disobedience of man.

This world was created perfectly,,, we messed it up,,, but,,, God has a plan in place and He is going to fix it!

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Verse 23 says: 23 And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits —we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

In this verse,,, Paul is saying that we have the Spirit as the firstfruits.

As Christians,,, we already have the Holy Spirit living inside us,,, as a part of us,,, helping us each and every day.

Yet,,, there is a part of us,,, like the earth,,, eagerly waiting for our glorified bodies that we will receive when Jesus comes again!

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Verses 24 and 25 say: 24 Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

John Wesley said in his Wesleyan Commentary,,, “Our salvation was qualified from the beginning by reference to a good yet to be.”

Hope is an essential characteristic of our salvation.

But hope that is fully realized is not hope.

Therefore much fulfillment is yet to come.

But even the suspense of waiting has its advantages.

He says that so many times that we learn so much from our times of waiting!

The argument could be made that God could do away with all of the bad things of this world that we have immediately,,, but we must ask ourselves,,, how many people would be lost because they didn't have a chance to change their ways before God takes over.

Our ways are never better than His ways,,, we must always remember that,,, even when there is so much that we don't understand today!

But we do "hope" for what we do not see,,, and we eagerly wait for it with patience because of the Holy Spirit,,, helping us each day.

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So we see from these verses today that we are debtors to the Holy Spirit.

We know that everything is possible through the guidance of the Spirit each and every day.

As we go about our week,,, my prayer is that those around you will be able to see the Spirit leading and guiding you each and every day,,,

And that you are listening as you are being guided,,,

Because,,, so many times,,, those outside these church buildings,,, never hear my words,,, but they see your walk,,, the way that you live your life,,, and that does more good than any words that they will ever hear from me,,, if you are truly letting the Holy Spirit guide you like you should.

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