SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). The Involvement of the Spirit. (vs 26a)
(2). The Intercession of the Spirit (vs 26b).
(3). The Intelligence of the Spirit (vs 27a)
SERMON BODY:
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit who is not a ghost:
• Old translations of the Bible call him the Holy Ghost rather than the Holy Spirit.
• That is because the word ghost is an old Anglo-Saxon word for guest.
• And the Holy Spirit is the invited guest into the life of the believer.
• i.e. He is not a lodger with his own key who let’s himself in and out,
• He is a permanent guest who indwells every believer,
• He comes to enlighten to strengthen and to empower us.
Ill:
• A four-year-old boy and his mum went to visit a friend.
• The friend was pregnant with her first child,
• And she allowed the little boy to place his hand on her belly and feel the baby kick.
• His little face scrunched, and he said, “How does the baby get out of there?”
• Well, she wanted to keep it simple so she said, “The doctor will help.”
• The little boys’ eyes widened in amazement as he replied,
• “What! You’ve got a doctor in there, too?”
• TRANSITION:
• Every true believer at the moment of conversion receives the Holy Spirit.
• So important is that truth, that the apostle Paul put it this way.
• In the same chapter (Romans chapter 8 verse 9):
• "Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him."
• So, if you are a Christian, then you have the Holy Spirit.
With that in mind remember this,
• No-one gets more of the Holy Spirit than anyone else.
• e.g. Billy Graham, Rick Warren, John Piper, Matt Redman, Keith Getty.
• e.g. John Newton, Amy Carmichael, Gladys Ayleward. David Livingstone.
• No-one gets more of the Holy Spirit than anyone else.
• He is a person not a force or an influence, therefore we get all of him or none of him,
• Question: Does he get all of us?
• Answer: by way of an illustration.
Ill:
• We have some visitors from Czechoslovakia coming to our home for a meal.
• When they arrive, we will say something like,
“Come in and make yourself at home.
Take a seat, if you need the bathroom, it is there, what would you like to drink etc.”
• Now although we said, Come in and make yourself at home.”
• We all know that we did not mean that.
• If they were to say, “Great, do you mind if I see the garden?”
• We would say, “Of course.”
• There are certain parts of the house they are welcome to explore,
• But there are certain parts of the house they are not,
• i.e. Our bedroom or our daughter’s bedroom – that is out of bounds!
• TRANSITION: Every Christian gets all of the Holy Spirit.
• Because he is a person not a force.
• But if we are honest the Holy Spirit doesn’t get all of us.
• We keep him out of rooms/areas of our lives and therefore limit his influence,
• Maybe some of these /great’ Christians allowed him a greater freedom in their lives.
Note: In our reading and in the chapter, the word ‘groaning’ comes up.
• Pause to ask the question: What do we mean by the word, ‘groaning’?
• Answer: We use the word, ‘groaning’ in a variety of ways.
• e.g. #1: In daily life,
• Every morning, I groan when I wake up and pull the blanket over my head.
• (old joke, every day I wake up grumpy – then once SHE is awake, we go downstairs).
• e.g. #2: Groaning is linked to the word moaning,
• "The congregation were moaning and groaning about the preacher."
• (Joke: but of course, not this morning!)
• e.g. #3: We have friends called Phil & Jane, when you go to their house for a meal,
• The table groans with the amount of food they place upon it.
• Or we might say, "families are groaning under mortgage increases."
• In these cases, groaning signifies a weight, or a pressure.
• TRANSTION: Groaning can be…
• A sound we make conveying pain, despair, pleasure, etc.
• A feeling or experience in life when we are under pressures/or weighed down.
Ill:
• Did you know that Jesus “groaned in his spirit”?
• The Greek word for “groaned in the spirit” (embrimaomai),
• Is used three times in connection with Jesus.
• (Matthew 9:30; Mark 1:43; 14:5; & John 11:38).
• John chapter 11 verse 38 is when Jesus stood at the tomb of his close friend Lazarus.
• The Bible says (vs 33 NKJV).
• When Jesus saw Lazarus’ sister Mary and those around her weeping in grief,
• He “groaned in the spirit and was troubled.”
• The NIV translates it, “deeply moved in spirit.”
• In the original language, the terminology used,
• Suggests that Jesus experienced a deep profound emotional response.
• Then moments later we read, “Jesus wept” (John chapter 11 verse 35).
• TRANSITION: Groaning is…
• A sound we make conveying pain, despair, pleasure, etc.
• A feeling or experience in life when we are under pressures/or weighed down.
• Now, with that in mind, let’s look at the assigned verses.
• I am going to divide it into three main headings.
(1). The Involvement of the Spirit. (vs 26a)
NIV:
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for.”
GNB:
“In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray”
Quote: DR. Joel B. Santos
• "Problems are the spices of Christian maturity!"
• In other words, they add flavour and taste.
• TRANSITION:
• Now every preacher has a problem with the first four words of verse 26.
• “In the same way” might sound straight forward.
• But no-one is 100% sure what the apostle Paul means.
• We have three options.
OPTION #1: Some Bible teachers connect it to the theme of “groaning.” (vs 22).
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
• Creation is groaning (vs 22),
• And in the same way (vs 23) says,
• As Christians we groan because we are waiting,
• For the completion of our adoption as God’s children.
• Then in verse 26 (our verses) we have that same word, ‘groaning’ used again.
• So, some people say that is the connection and meaning.
• Option #1:
• We all have the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of future glory,
• We groan until the day when all these things are complete,
OPTION #2: Some Bible teachers link it differently.
• The expression “in the same way” (vs 26-27),
• Links up with the other references to the Holy Spirit in chapter 8.
• If you scan the chapter the Holy Spirit is mentioned nine times,
• In verses 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, & 16.
• So, by using the expression, “In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness”.
• The apostle Paul is continuing his teaching,
• On the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian.
OPTION #3: Some Bible teachers say.
• That the connection is with hope.
• We can be encouraged in our trials because of future glory (vs 18-25).
• For us as Christians we shall one day be released from earthly pain and suffering.
• In the same way,
• We can be encouraged in our weakness by the Spirit’s intercession for us (vs 26-27).
• Because when he is at work in our lives, he will produce something better.
• He is transforming us into “the image of his Son.” (vs 29).
Now in one sense all three interpretations are valid.
• However, you link these verses,
• The apostle Paul wants us to feel encouraged by the fact,
• That the Holy Spirit is praying for us, so that we will be encouraged to keep praying.
Note: We need the involvement of the Holy Spirit in our lives because we are weak!
• Did you notice that little pronoun contained in the verse?
• The apostle Paul did not write, “… the Spirit also helps your weakness,”
• But rather, “the Spirit also helps our weakness.”
• Every Christian need additional help,
• Even the great apostle himself! No exceptions!
• The apostle Paul includes himself with us as one who was weak.
Quote:
• Hudson Taylor (Baptist missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission)
• (CIM, now OMF International).
“All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God.
because they reckoned on God being with them.”
• We fail to pray because we think that we’re strong enough to handle life without God.
• Wise is the Christian who realises their weakness and dependency on God.
• I find it encouraging here in verse 26,
• That God doesn’t confront us or condemn us for being weak.
• Rather, he sends his Spirit to help us in our weakness.
Note:
• The word “helps” occurs only here and in one other place in the New Testament.
• In Luke chapter 10 verse 40,
• Where Jesus is in the home of Mary and Martha.
• You might remember that Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet,
• But Martha was busy and distracted preparation food for all her newly arrived guests.
• Finally, she shows her anger and frustration by saying,
“Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?
Then tell her to help me.”
• In other words, Martha wanted Mary to pull her weight,
• To help bear the burden of preparing and serving the meal.
• That is the meaning of this word translated as help.
“Someone is carrying a heavy load, and another person comes alongside to take the other end and bear the burden with him.”
• Likewise, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness,
• The Holy Spirit helps us pray even when we do not know what to pray.
(2). The Intercession of the Spirit (vs 26b).
NIV:
“but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
GNB:
“the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express.”
Ill:
• Readers’ Digest Magazine contains the story,
• Of an employee who confided in a co-worker.
• Quote: ‘I told her about a problem in our office and my fear that I would lose my job.
• She was concerned and said she would pray for me.
• I know she keeps a list of 10 people she believes need her prayers the most,
• So, I asked her if she had room for me on her list.
• “Oh yes,” she replied.
• “Three of the other people have died”’.
• I guess if we ask somebody to intercedes for us,
• We are expecting and wanting better results than that!
• These verses in Romans chapter 8 reassures us,
• That we have the best intercessor anyone could hope to have.
Note:
• In my understanding regarding the Holy Spirit groaning,
• I would suggest it is an anthropomorphism (an-tro-mor-fism).
• Or more correctly, an anthropopathism (an-tro-po-path-ism)
• (There you go, it was worth coming out this morning just to hear that word!)
• That means we are applying human emotions to God.
• We know that God the Father does not have a body,
• But we often talk about, “The hand of the Lord” or “The eyes of the Lord.”
• That is anthropopathism (an-tro-po-path-ism)
• That means we are applying human emotions to God.
And yet in saying that the language used in these verses is very important!
• Because when you bear someone’s burden, you groan.
• When you carry a heavy load, you groan.
• e.g. I took a sacksful of garden waste down to the Recycling Centre on Wednesday,
• And when I picked it up, I groaned under the weight!
• TRANSITION: It might be an anthropopathism (an-tro-po-path-ism),
• But it seems to me that,
• Somehow the Holy Spirit of God feels the burden…the burdens in our life.
Pause:
• Just before we move on to the next point,
• That means we have two intercessors before God the Father.
• On earth we have the Holy Spirit (vs 26-27).
• In Heaven we have Jesus the Son of God (1 John chapter 2 verse 1b).
• NIV: “We have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
• GNB: “We have someone who pleads with the Father on our behalf”
(3). The Intelligence of the Spirit (vs 27a)
NIV:
“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit”.
GNB:
“And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is”.
Ill:
• Trivia, now not a lot of people know this,
• But 1 gram of your DNA can store all the data of Facebook & Google.
• TRANSITION: We are of course limited in our knowledge,
• Buit God is not, he is omniscient (all-knowing).
• “God the Father sees and searches into every area of our hearts” (vs 27).
Ill:
• We believe in the Trinity (Latin: Trinitas, lit.?'triad', from Latin: trinus 'threefold')
• God is one in essence and three in persons.
• Not three Gods, but one!
• e.g. You are one human being made up of three parts, Body. Spirit and Soul.
• You are not three separate entities, those three parts body, spirit and soul,
• And perfectly united to make one human being.
• TRANSITON:
• The Father and the Holy Spirit always work in perfe3ct harmony and wisdom.
• The reason the Holy Spirit does not even have to speak,
• Is because the Father knows the mind of the Spirit and vice-versa.
Ill:
• Now I am a married man,
• I can assure you from experience that my wife can communicate to me,
• And communicate very well indeed, without saying a word.
• e.g. “the look,” my wife says an awful lot with just a stare.
• e.g. “body posture” can also speaks volumes.
• e.g. “mind-reading” I often know my wife’s thoughts and responses,
• Because after 27 years of marriage I know her so well.
• Not all communication is done with words.
• TRANSITION:
• The Holy Spirit of God also communicates with the Father,
• Without even having to speak the words,
• Because they know each other intimately and perfectly.
• The Holy Spirit does not even have to utter words in prayer on our behalf.
• Because the Father, knows the mind of the Spirit,
• He knows the mind and the thoughts of the Spirit,
• Not all communication is done with words.
The Holy Spirit has an intelligent plan for all Christians (vs 28).
“And we know that in all things God works for THE good”.
(don’t misread it, not all things are good, but all things work for THE good).
“And we know that in all things God works for THE good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.”
The intelligent plan of the Holy Spirit is “to conform us into the image of His Son.”
• And God is using good times and bad times to do that.
• He is using times of prosperity and times of hardship,
• He is using everything that is taking place in our lives,
• To humble us, to reshape us, and to remould us and reconfigure us,
• Into the image of the Son, Jesus Christ
In Conclusion:
• While there are difficult details in these verses, the bottom line is very clear:
• We are encouraged to always pray.
• We won’t fully understand how prayer works.
• We will have times when it doesn’t make sense.
• We will have times when we do not know what to say.
• But we are encouraged to always pray.
• And we have the encouragement that we never pray alone.
• The Holy Spirit is on our side, helping and assisting.
• He takes our prayers and directs them according to God the Father’s will.
• So, keep at it even when you don’t understand it.
• Don’t let the fact that prayer isn’t easy discourage you from praying.
• Don’t let the fact that your prayers don’t seem to be answered keep you from praying.
• Make sure that to the best of your understanding,
• That you are seeking to pray in accord with the will of God.
• And when you are weak and don’t feel like praying,
• Remember this great truth,
• That the Holy Spirit prays for us in our weakness!
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=irhFJ54zYXD66m3MZcyDTcKM1mXvgKad
