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Groaning For Glory

Romans 8:18-27 • November 11, 2018 • s1221

Pastor John Miller continues our series “Blessed Assurance” with a message through Romans 8:18-27 titled, “Groaning For Glory.”

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Pastor John Miller

November 11, 2018

Sermon Scripture Reference

I asked how many groaners there are out there. Actually, I am a groaner. My wife says that I groan too much. I tell her that it’s Biblical. We’re going to find in this passage three groanings: creation groans, the Christian groans and the Holy Spirit groans within us.

The whole context is that in the world, you’ll have tribulation, but Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” So, yes, there is suffering now, but we are looking in hope for the glory that will appear.

The older you get, the more artificial you become. You have artificial knees, artificial hips, artificial hair—or no hair—and artificial ears. I think, You’re so close to heaven, that most of you is already there. It’s already gone; there’s not much left to go to heaven.

But as we get older, we groan more. I groan when I get up in the morning. I groan when I go to bed at night. I’m having a hard time even bending over lately. I think, What am I going to do if something falls? So I am groaning for glory.

Do you remember that when you became a Christian, “All things passed away and all things became new”? We are new creations in Christ. We have a new position in Christ and there’s no condemnation, verse 1; we have a new life in the Spirit, verse 9; and we have a new relationship: we’re children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, verse 17.

Now even though we are God’s children and share in His glory, we still suffer. Notice verse 17. It introduces us to the topic of verses 18-27, our text. Verse 17 says, “We suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together.” Notice those two themes: there’s the theme of suffering and the theme of glory. Because we suffer, we groan, and what we groan for is glory. So what we have here are three groans and one glory in our text.

Notice the three groanings. Verse 22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” The next one is in verse 23, where Paul says, “Even we ourselves [who have the Spirit] groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” The third groaning is in verse 26, where it says, “The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Three times—verses 22, 23 and 26—we have a reference to groanings. So if you’re groaning, you’re Biblical. That’s a scriptural thing to do.

So we have a new position, a new life and a new relationship. But we also find today that we have a new hope and a new help. We have a new hope, the hope of heaven, and we have a new help, the help of the Holy Spirit.

Now I want to focus on the three groanings. The first groaning is the groaning of creation in hope. The creation around us, the world we live in, the cosmos, is groaning for the hope of the liberty of the sons of God. Paul says in verses 18-22, “For I consider…”—or “reckon”—“…that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation…”—or “anxious longing”—“…of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility…”—or “vanity”—“…not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

In verse 18, Paul describes the surpassing greatness which awaits God’s people that is so great that it dwarfs, in comparison, the sufferings we go through right now. He says, “For I reckon….” The word “reckon” here means “a fixed conclusion arrived at with careful consideration.” The word literally means “to think down upon.” It has the idea of a concentrated thought or thinking deeply. It’s used for the development of a mathematical equation.

I don’t like math. I’m not good at math. If I hear the word “math,” I freak out like I’m back in school. But if you do a mathematical equation, you bring it to its logical conclusion, and that’s what it means to think deeply, to concentrate. So Paul says that he thought about this, he looked into this and thought down hard upon it and came to this conclusion.

He concluded that what we suffer right now—and we do suffer right now…. If anyone tells you that because you’re a child of God you don’t suffer, that’s not scriptural. Jesus said, “In the world you’ll have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” You will have trouble in the world. All you have to do to have trouble is live long enough, and trouble will find you. The Bible says, “Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.” Something will break, something will go wrong, something won’t work, and if you live in the world long enough, you will have heartache and you will experience bereavement. You’ll experience loss, suffering and sickness. But Jesus Christ brings us hope.

So Paul says that the sufferings that we’re enduring right now in this world, by comparison, can’t be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. Notice the phrase “shall be” in verse 18. In other words, we’re not in glory yet. We’ve got a taste of glory, because the Spirit brings us a foretaste, but we’re not in heaven yet. We have to wait for that. But it “shall be revealed,” and it shall be revealed when we go to heaven when we’re resurrected or the Lord Jesus Christ returns. So we don’t see it now. It’s something we hold to by faith and we have to believe for. So we have this suffering now, but the glory is going to be far greater.

Notice verse 19 says, “For the earnest expectation….” This “earnest expectation” is “the anxious longing” of creation. My King James translation says “creature,” but it is a reference to the cosmos, the created world, both animate and inanimate things in the world. “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction…is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” So Paul says that we weigh out our suffering and we weigh out the glory, and glory is greater than the suffering we will endure.

But notice in verse 19 that he says the created world will also share in the glory that is ours. “For the earnest expectation…”—and the anxious longing—“…of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” What does the phrase “revealing of the sons of God” mean? It happens when Jesus Christ comes back in the Second Coming with you and I, the church, we have glorified new bodies and everyone sees that we are His children.

Right now, people may not believe that you are a child of God, but when you come back with Jesus at the Second Coming, they’re going to say, “Wow!” You’re going to have a new body. It’s going to be a new and improved you. What a glorious thing!

By the way, a lot of cult groups over the years have tried to use this term for themselves; that they are God’s children and members of the deeper-life club. That’s not what it is about. It is about all Christians when we come back with Christ in the Second Coming, and it is manifested who we are. They see that we are the children of God. When that happens, it will be a glorious restoration of creation.

So in verses 20-22, Paul makes three statements about creation: its past, its future and its present. The first thing he says is about creation’s past in verse 20. “For the creation was subjected to futility…”—or “vanity” or “emptiness”—“…not willingly, but because of Him…”—who is a reference to God the Father—“…who subjected it in hope.” What he is describing here is that in the past, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and they fell, the curse was brought upon creation. The world we live in, as beautiful and wonderful as it is, is a fallen world.

Now if the world we live in is as beautiful and wonderful as it is and it is fallen, can you imagine what it will be like when God turns it around and sets it on its right side? Can you imagine the beauty that awaits the children of God in that kingdom age when Jesus comes back and there is a new heaven and a new earth?

When was creation made subject to vanity or futility? That word “vanity” means “emptiness” or “frustration.” The answer is in Genesis 3. When Adam and Eve sinned, there was a curse brought upon creation. God had put man over creation, but now creation is suffering under man’s sin and the Fall. That’s why there’s earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis and fires. And there is sin in the world, so that’s why we have tragic events like shootings. We groan earnestly and desire that God would come and set up His kingdom. That’s the only hope that we have. So creation is groaning along with the believer.

Paul is actually saying there that the Fall brought emptiness and vanity. Not willingly, by creation’s part, but against the will of the creator, man brought sin, and God allowed that to happen. But I believe that God has a purpose and a hope.

Have you ever looked back into the Garden of Eden and thought, Man, that would have been awesome!? All the food you wanted; just pick it from a tree. You didn’t have to wait in line to buy it. No credit cards. You didn’t have a wallet to put credit cards in. You just had a fig leaf. Maybe I’d like to go back and have a little more on than a fig leaf, but anyway…. The garden would just be so wonderful. God came in during the cool of the afternoon. You walked with God, and everything was wonderful. So we say, “Adam, why did you eat the fruit? Why did you blow it? You really messed things up!”

But in some sovereign, wise, divine way, God is going to reverse the curse. Man starts in the garden, but in glory he’s going to be way up there in heaven. What we have to look forward to is going to be greater and better than the Garden of Eden. I believe it’s not only for our good but for God’s glory. God has designed a way in which He will get greater glory. Man fell, he has been redeemed, and actually from the Fall, he will be lifted up all the way to this glorious experience of eternal bliss with God. So even though we are sad as we look at the world around us, we can be glad that there is a future and a hope that all of creation will be restored. There is a new world coming.

Then in verse 21, Paul speaks of creation’s future, which I’ve already alluded to. It says, “Because the creation itself also will be delivered.” So right now creation is subject to vanity or emptiness. Ecclesiastes is a commentary on that concept. When you look at life without God, all is vanity, emptiness and vexation of spirit. But the creation “will be delivered.” This is creation’s future: from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Theologians have called this Paul’s cosmic soteriology. That’s a fancy word for saying how God is going to save the universe. Not only does God save people, but He’s actually going to save the physical world. The cosmos is going to be restored. It’s going to be the “restitution of all things,” as the Scriptures speak of it.

Again, when will creation be delivered? At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It’s not going to be when we elect a new president, or somebody gets a majority in the House or the Senate. We’re not going to have righteousness on earth until Jesus Christ comes back as King of kings and Lord of lords. He will actually set up His throne on the earth for a thousand years. It’s called the Messianic age, the kingdom age. The Bible says that it will be a time of peace, and righteousness will cover the earth. As waters cover the sea, righteousness will cover the earth. And we will be reigning with Him. What a glorious time. The nations of the world will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” They’ll be no more wars or sickness. They’ll be no more sin or death. All those former things will have passed away. The lion will lay down with the lamb. A little child is playing in the yard, and he grabs a snake. You freak out. But then you remember you’re in the Millennium. It’s cool. What a glorious time that will be!

Creation is groaning for that. Read Revelation 19, where we have the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Then in Revelation 20, Satan is bound by Christ for a thousand years. Can you dig that? A thousand years of no devil. That’s awesome! At the end of the thousand years, he’s going to be thrown into the lake of fire, where he will be forever. But until then, we suffer in this world.

Now I want you to notice the groaning of creation’s present in verse 22. So you have its past in verse 20, its future in verse 21 and now its present in verse 22. “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors…”—or “travails”—“…with birth pangs together until now.” That word “travail” here is literally referring to labor pains of a woman giving birth to a child. And Jesus used the same word when He talked about all the signs of the end of time. He said that these were “the beginning of sorrows”: earthquakes, famines, fires, pestilence, disease. All of these are “the beginning of sorrows.”

You women who have given birth to children know that the least enjoyable part of childbirth is the labor. No woman would say, “I don’t really care about the baby; I just loved going through labor.” No; it’s the opposite. Some of the most beautiful pictures of my wife are after the baby was born, cleaned up and put in her arms. She glowed with joy because we got a new baby. But if you had taken the same picture 15 minutes earlier, it would be a freak out. No woman in the pain of labor would say, “Take my picture.” No. Wait until the baby is born, then you can take her picture. Now there’s joy.

But the process of what God is doing in the cosmos is there is travail and pain, and then the Millennium is the birth of a new age. There is a kingdom new world coming. It’s going to be glorious and wonderful. So we go through this time of travail with creation, but creation is going to give birth to a new world; there’s going to be a brand new world coming. We look forward to that hope.

The Jewish day begins not like ours with the rising of the sun, but it begins with sunset. Then it gets darker and darker and darker until just before the dawn, when it is the darkest. Then the dawn comes. The world will get darker and darker and darker until the dawning of a new age. That will be introduced when Jesus Christ returns. So though we live in suffering, verse 17, we are looking for the glory, and creation is groaning along with us.

Remember this: we live in a fallen world, but Jesus has “overcome the world,” and our hope is in Jesus. So as you watch the news and weep with those who weep and you groan at all the things that are going on, we groan with creation.

That leads me to my next point in verses 23-25. Not only does creation groan for glory, to be liberated from the curse, but the Christian groans for glory. Paul says, “Not only that, but we…”—referring to Christians—“…also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan…”—there it is—“…within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see…”—we haven’t gone to glory yet—“…we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”

There are two things you have to remember when you interpret this section. First, this groaning is that of the Christian. He’s not talking about the individuals outside of Christ or non-Christians. He’s talking about the Christians. We are groaning in hope. This groaning is a groaning for a future glory.

There are three reasons why Christians groan. First of all, we groan because we have the Spirit. Notice it in verse 23. “Not only that, but we also who have…”—present possessive tense—“...the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves.”
What does the term “firstfruits” mean? There are a lot of fruity Christians out there. I saw a bumper sticker once that said, “God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.” I like that. There are a lot of fruitcake Christians. He’s not talking about the fruit of the Spirit. He’s talking about an Old Testament agricultural concept. The firstfruits is a reference to the harvest time in the Old Testament when the Jewish people would gather the harvest in—they were quite agricultural—and before they brought the whole harvest in, they would harvest just a portion of their fields. That first portion, or “firstfruits,” they would consecrate or dedicate to God. It was like a down payment or a foretaste of more that is to come. If you ate the firstfruits of the harvest, you’d say, “It’s going to be a great harvest this year, because I’ve tasted it.”

We are going to have Thanksgiving very soon, and our family eats Thanksgiving dinner later in the afternoon. We get hungry before we eat, so a lot of times I’ll sneak into the kitchen when no one’s watching, and I’ll steal a sample. I’ve got to check it out. I’ll taste a little turkey. I’ll taste some stuffing or my favorite, mashed potatoes. I take a bite and start to speak in tongues. Hallelujah! Sweet! I can tell you before we have dinner that it’s going to be awesome, because I’ve already tasted it.

That is exactly what the Holy Spirit does for you and me. Heaven’s going to be awesome. You want to know how I know? Because I’ve already tasted it. The Holy Spirit has come to give me a taste of heaven. When we sing and worship the Lord, when we pray, when we feel His joy and His peace and His love in our hearts, when we come to church, that’s like a little sampling or a little taste of what you’re headed for or where you’re going. What a blessed hope that is! So the Holy Spirit is the firstfruits of our inheritance.

The second reason why Christians groan is because we’re waiting for the redemption of our bodies. I love this one. Verse 23 says, “We ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” Your body will be renewed. How glorious is that! The older you get, the more you look forward to it. “I need a new model. I need it new and improved.”

You say, “Well, I thought we already were adopted. What are you talking about when you say ‘waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body’?”

Don’t forget that salvation has three tenses: past, present and future. We have been saved, we are being saved and we will be saved. You need to understand that. You won’t understand the Bible if you don’t understand that. I’ve been saved—my sins have been forgiven. This is called “justification,” where God declares you righteous. It’s your position in Christ. Secondly, you are being saved, present tense. It’s what we call “sanctification.” This is a lifelong process; you’re growing in the likeness of Jesus Christ. And thirdly, it’s future; you will be saved. This happens when you go to heaven and God gives you a new body. When will we get our new, glorified bodies? At the resurrection or the Rapture. Our bodies will be resurrected.

You say, “Well, what if I was cremated?”

You think that’s a problem for God? God goes, “Oh, no! He shouldn’t have done that. Bummer. What am I going to do now?” No, it’s not a problem for God. Do you know that the world “cemetery” literally means “resting place”? We lay our loved ones in Christ in a cemetery, because we’re waiting for the resurrection. I never stand in a cemetery and officiate a service without rejoicing that “the dead in Christ will rise first.”

So there will be a resurrection, but for some of us who are alive and remain when the Lord comes, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, they “shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” We have the word “harpodzo” in the Greek or “raptured” or “snatched up.”

So whether you die and your body will be resurrected—by the way, between your death and the resurrection, you’re with Jesus in His presence and with Him in glory. But you’re waiting for your new body. But if the Rapture happens before you die, then there will be a “translation.” So the Rapture involves the resurrection of the dead in Christ—their bodies—and the “translation” of the living in Christ. Both scenarios are the future hope of the believer, that we’ll get a new body.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-2, Paul likens our body unto a tent. He says that if our earthly body, “this tent, is destroyed, we have…a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven.” So we ache and we groan, but God is going to give us a new body.

In 1 Corinthians 15:54 the Bible says, “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’”

I was just a few weeks ago that we buried my father at 92 years of age. We did so in hope and in anticipation of that resurrection day, when “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them…to meet the Lord in the air.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking for a new body. The older I get and the more my tent leans and leaks and flaps, the more I am anxious for my new body. It’s going to be glorious.

By the way, when Jesus rose from the dead, His resurrected body was a prototype. He could pass through walls, He could eat bread, you could see Him and touch Him and hear Him, but He could ascend back into heaven. It’s eternal. You’ll never get sick, you’ll never get tired, you can always bend over, you’re never out of breath, no cancer, no disease, no death. What a glorious thing!

That’s the hope of the believer. That’s why we’re groaning. We’re groaning because we want the resurrection of the body.

The third reason Christians groan is because we have hope that we’ll go to heaven. Verses 24-25 say, “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” When you get to heaven, you’re not going to have hope for heaven, because you’re already in heaven. So the implication is that we haven’t seen heaven; we haven’t gone to heaven, but we have hope for heaven. “But if we hope for what we do not see…”—meaning heaven—“…we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” or “with patience.”

The NLT of verse 24 says, “We were given this hope when we were saved.” That’s so good! The moment you were born again, the hope of heaven came into your heart. Before you were living without God and without hope in this world. What hope is there apart from God? What hope is there beyond the grave? What hope do you have that you will see your loved ones who have died before? The only hope is in Jesus Christ. And the moment you were born again, you were born in hope and you were born unto hope.

As Christians, we have hope. And that hope is a settled assurance. It’s not wishful thinking, keeping your fingers crossed that this Christianity is real and that there really is a God and that there really is a heaven. When you bury your loved ones, you need more than just “I hope so.” You need an assurance. You need a blessed assurance. The Bible says, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” And “in His presence is fullness of joy.” “At God’s right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” One day we’ll see our loved ones, and we’ll be reunited with them.

So we are born unto hope. And Christian hope, as defined in Scripture, is a settled assurance. In Romans 5:2, Paul writes, “…by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” So we stand in God’s grace, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. Colossians 1:27 says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” I love that. Titus 2:13 says, “…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” We are looking for Him to come. In John 14:1-2 and 27, I love what Jesus said to His disciples: “You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions….I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Heaven is a real place. Heaven is a prepared place. “The Father’s house” is a reference to heaven. There are many mansions waiting for us.

It’s important that as a Christian, you are heavenly minded, that you “set you affections on things above and not on things of the earth.” Someone once said that “Hope is the measure of true Christianity.” I love that. I say that with emphasis, because today, in popular Christianity, much of which is not Biblical or authentic, they don’t focus on heaven and they don’t talk about heaven. They don’t preach about heaven. They don’t sing about heaven. It’s all earthbound. It’s all healing, health and wealth and prosperity. God wants you to be president of the bank, and you’re going to have a nice car and be wonderful and amazing. It’s all happy thoughts. But Jesus says, “In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”

You say, “Well, that’s just pie in the sky in the sweet by and by.” Yes, that’s true. And I dig it. It doesn’t mean you don’t have joy right now. We’re going to see that the Holy Spirit is our helper. It’s better to be a Christian than not to be a Christian. It means that we have something to look forward to.

What does a non-Christian have to look forward to? Get old and die. Leave it all behind. You amass all this wealth. The Bible says, “What does it profit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?” Where’s your future? Where’s your hope? What do you have to look forward to? What real joy is there? It’s so wonderful to know that I have a future and hope and God has a purpose and design for me.

So do you have a hope? The hope is in Jesus Christ. Do you know that when you die you’ll go to heaven? Do you know that if you died right now, you’d go to heaven? What do you base your hope on? We sing the song:

“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.”

If you don’t have hope today, Jesus Christ is your living hope.

Let me give you the third groan, in verses 26-27. The Spirit groans to help us. So creation groans for glory, the Christian groans for glory and the Comforter groans to help us. Verse 26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He…”—that is, “God the Father”—“…Who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” This is an interesting reference to “the mind of the Spirit,” supporting the doctrine that He is a person. He has a mind.

Here we have a reference to the Spirit groaning within us. As we wait in hope, we’re not alone; we have the help of the Holy Spirit. So it’s not just that I get to go to heaven when I die, but heaven has come to me right now. And He’s come to help me and be with me. Notice verse 26: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.” The Holy Spirit is our helper. He’s called the “paraclete,” the comforter. It means that He comes alongside to help us. The word “helps” in verse 26 literally has the idea of looking face-to-face with another person and helping to pick up or hold something. It has the idea of two individuals picking up a log, looking at each other. Maybe for us the better illustration would be a couch.

One thing I hate to do—but sometimes you have to do it—is to move furniture. Nobody likes to move furniture. “We need that couch moved downstairs.” Oh, great! “No; it doesn’t look too good right here. Take it back upstairs.” Oh, great! When you guys move a couch, one on each end, you look at each other and groan as you pick it up. Do you also notice that when you’re both carrying a couch, it’s not time for small talk. It’s time to focus on carrying a big, heavy couch.

That’s literally what the word “helps” means here. It means that He’s literally holding His end of the weight. He’s looking at you face-to-face, and He’s lifting up the burden. Maybe yours is a financial burden or an emotional burden or a physical burden or your marriage is struggling or some other situation. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one. But He comes and says, “Let me help you,” and He picks it up. He groans. He looks right in your face, and He’s carrying His weight.

If you’re a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit, and He’s there to help you. He’s the helper. I don’t know what your burden is right now or what your problem is right now, but let Him help you pick it up. Let Him bear your burdens. He wants to walk with you and talk to you and be with you. He helps our weaknesses.

I’ve also discovered that the same word “helps” is used in Luke 10:40 when Martha was working in the kitchen and Jesus was there with Mary at His feet. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord…tell her to help me.” That’s the same Greek word. “Tell my sister to come into the kitchen and help me. I’m burdened with all this work, and I need someone to help me and lend me a hand.” So the Holy Spirit is your helper, and all Christians have that helper.

Note why we need this helper, in verse 26: because of “our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought.” That’s one of our weaknesses. Many times we don’t know how to pray or what to pray for. “But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is…” and he prays “…according to the will of God.” When you don’t know what to do and you don’t know how to pray, you just groan in the Spirit.

I mentioned that we just buried my Dad just a little over a month ago. One thing about my Dad was that he knew how to pray. Some of the calls and emails I got when he passed away were, “Pastor John, the way your Dad prayed and to hear him pray was awesome.” My Dad was the only Christian I have ever met who would do this in a public prayer meeting: he would start to groan and he would start to cry. And you could so sense the power and the work of the Holy Spirit in his life.

Do you know that this is an indication that you’re a child of God? When the Spirit is in you, He’ll groan. “Lord, I need You! Lord, I want You. Lord, I can’t wait to be with You. Lord, I want to go to heaven. Lord, I need Your help! Lord, I need Your strength!” Sometimes when prayer reaches its ultimate, words become impossible. A lot of people pray with words, but they have no heart. It’s better to have heart without words than words without heart. It’s better to have the Holy Spirit groan inside you.

We realize that we live in a fallen world, and we need to understand that there will be bereavement, there will be tragedies, there will be hurt and pain, there will be loss, there will be sickness and there will be sorrow. But there is hope in Jesus Christ. Though the creation is groaning, it will be corrected and liberated. Though the Christian is groaning, you’ll get a new body and we’ll be in heaven. Though we don’t know what to pray for or how to pray, the Holy Spirit groans inside of us.

Amen.

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About Pastor John Miller

Pastor John Miller is the Senior Pastor of Revival Christian Fellowship in Menifee, California. He began his pastoral ministry in 1973 by leading a Bible study of six people. God eventually grew that study into Calvary Chapel of San Bernardino, and after pastoring there for 39 years, Pastor John became the Senior Pastor of Revival in June of 2012. Learn more about Pastor John

Sermon Summary

Pastor John Miller continues our series “Blessed Assurance” with a message through Romans 8:18-27 titled, “Groaning For Glory.”

Pastor Photo

Pastor John Miller

November 11, 2018