I. The Groaning of the Creation, 19-22
The Hap of the Believer
A. The Expression
B. The Expectation, “waiteth”
II. The Groaning of the Christian, 23-25
The Hope of the Believer:
A. The Expression
B. The Expectation
III. The Groaning of the Comforter, 26, 27
The Help of the Believer
A. The Expression
B. An Explanation
C. The Expectation, Answered Prayer!
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.
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.
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.
How do you know you are getting older.
Your children begin to look middle-aged.
You sit in the rocking chair and can’t get it going.
Your knees buckle, but your belt won’t.
Your back goes out more than you do.
You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there.
I like the spirit of men like S.L. Potter, a La Mesa, California, resident who bungee jumped for the first time at age one hundred! Potter’s children, ages sixty-eight to seventy-four, were vehemently opposed to the leap, but Potter climbed a 210-foot tower and successfully executed his jump. His first words when he got off the Cord? “Give me back my teeth!”
—Ed Young, Been There. Done That. Now What?, Broadman, 1994, p. 189.
I DON’T REMEMBER
Just a line to say I’m living,
That I’m not among the dead:
Though I’m getting more forgetful,
And mixed up in the head.
For sometimes I can’t remember
When I stand at the foot of the stair;
If I must go up for something
Or if I’ve just come down from there.
And before the Frig so often,
My poor mind is filled with doubt;
Have I just put food away or
Have I come to take it out?
There are times when it is darkest,
With my night cap on my head;
I don’t know if I’m retiring
Or just getting out of bed.
So if it’s my turn to write you,
There’s no need of getting sore;
I may think that I have written,
And don’t want to be a bore.
So remember—I do love you,
And wish that you were here;
But now it’s nearly mail time
So, I must say “good-bye dear.”
There I stood beside the mailbox
With my face so red,
For instead of mailing my letter
I had opened it instead.
I. The Groaning of the Creation, 19-22
The Hap of the believer
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 (“disappointing misery”), 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.
A. The Expression
The results of that curse are plain to see! (Ill. Earthquakes, thorns, deadly animals, poisonous snakes, poisoned plants, death and violence.)
Paul concluded (18) that our present sufferings are far outweighed by the glory that will be revealed in us. The future glory is so great that present sufferings are insignificant by comparison.
19-21. The interrelationship of man with the physical creation of which he is a part and in which he lives was established in God’s sentence of judgment on Adam after the Fall. Here Paul demonstrated that this relationship has a future aspect in connection with God’s program of salvation for people.
Evolution and entropy, our garden.
The fall of man involved all of creation, at least so far as this planet is concerned.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (22).
The word “vanity” occurs in the New Testament only here, in Ephesians 4:17, and in II Peter 2:18. It means “disappointing misery” in this passage in Romans. The same Greek word is used frequently in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew for “vanity” in Ecclesiastes.
It describes something which does not measure up to that for which it was intended. So creation groans.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
B. The Expectation, “waiteth”
Phillips renders it, “the whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.” Brighter days indeed lie ahead for the whole creation (Isa. 11:6-9; 65:25; Rev. 22:3), for the time is coming when the curse will be removed and creation will be restored to its pristine splendor.
Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
As Paul says, “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” (18).
If you want to see what Paul called “light affliction” look at II Cor. 11:23-33.
So, too, creation yearns for that time when it will in fact be "delivered" (v. 22) from the ravages of the curse of sin.
II. The Groaning of the Christian, 23-25
The Hope of the believer:
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.
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.
A. The Expression
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.
An old man was wondering if his wife had a hearing problem. So one night, he stood behind her while she was sitting in her lounge chair. He spoke softly to her, “Honey, can you hear me?” There was no response. He moved a little closer and said again, “Honey, can you hear me?” Still, there was no response. Finally he moved right behind her and said, “Honey, can you hear me?”
She replied, “For the third time, Yes!”
Believers are described as the ones having the firstfruits of the Spirit. Elsewhere the Holy Spirit is called “a deposit (down payment or earnest) guaranteeing our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14; cf. 2 Cor. 1:22).
B. The Expectation
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.
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.
We’ve talked about Justification and Sanctification. We are looking forward to Glorification.
A farmer’s “firstfruits” were the initial harvesting of his first-ripened crops. The first installment was a foretaste and promise that more harvest was to come. Similarly God the Holy Spirit, indwelling believers, is a foretaste that they will enjoy many more blessings, including living in God’s presence forever.
1 Corinthians 15:42 . . .
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
On one of his rare trips to the city an old hillbilly was so fascinated by a large building’s elevators that he stood a long time in front of one. Two steel doors opened. An old lady, bent and shriveled, entered, the big doors closed behind her, The dial over the door swept to the right and then back to the left. In an instant she was gone. Moments later the same door opened and out stepped an attractive young woman. Walking away sadly the hillbilly muttered, “I shoulda brung my wife.”
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Phillipians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Paul called that day “the day of redemption”
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
1 John 2:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Romans 8:24 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.
God has promised that a believer’s body will finally be delivered from sin and its effects by the work of His Son. Those who respond by faith to that promise have hope, a confident expectation of that bodily redemption. This is the final step of salvation and it was in that anticipation that we were saved.
The redemption of the body obviously has not yet occurred (Who hopes for what he already has?), but it is hoped for and eagerly anticipated with steadfast endurance in present sufferings.
P.P. Bliss heard Major Whittle tell of a battle waged during the Civil War. On October 4, 1864, just before Sherman began his famous march to the sea, his army lay camped in the neighborhood of Atlanta. General Hood’s men very carefully gained control of the rear of Sherman’s army and began to cut off supply lines, burn blockhouses, and capture small garrisons of soldiers. Then General Hood moved swiftly toward the large post at Allatoona Pass with 6,000 men. General Corse of Illinois was stationed there with fifteen hundred men to protect the large store of rations. General Hood sent word for General Corse to surrender, but Corse refused and a messenger was sent to inform General Sherman. A terrible battle ensued. After many had fallen at their post, and a continuation of the battle seemed fatal, a Union officer caught sight of a white signal flag a great distance away, on the top of Kennesaw Mountain. The signal was answered and very shortly from mountain to mountain this signal was flashed: “HOLD THE FORT; I AM COMING. W.T. SHERMAN.” The Union men held on for three more hours until Sherman’s forces came up and forced the retreat of Hood’s Confederate forces.
Less than twenty-four hours after hearing this story, Bliss wrote the song, the title of which is inscribed on his monument at Rome, Pennsylvania: HOLD THE FORT.
Hope; Help
“comforter”= “0ne called alongside to help”
The Hap of the Believer
The Hope of the Believer
The Help of the Believer
III. The Groaning of the Comforter, 26, 27
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.
“His Spirit within us is actually praying for us in those agonizing longings which never find words.” —J. B. Phillips
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.
A. The Expression
These verses point out that believers are not left to their own resources in their sufferings and groanings. The Spirit Helps us in our weakness. It is not that the Spirit helps in those occasional times when Christians are weak; their state is one of weakness and the Spirit continually helps them.
The word for “helpeth” in this passage occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Luke 10:40 where its use is most enlightening. It is found in the story of Martha and Mary when the Lord Jesus was the guest in their home. Mary was found at the Mater’s feet. But Martha could be heard banging the pots and pans around in the kitchen. Evidently her irritation was growing. Why should she have to slave at the sink while Mary sat on the rug in the living room? Suddenly she burst out, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” That is the very idea behind the use of word in Romans 8. What we need is help—the practical, sown-to-earth, everyday kind of help that Martha needed in the kitchen. The very name “Comforter,” used by the Lord Jesus when promising a new dispensation of the Holy Spirit, means literally, “one called alongside to help.”
This help expresses itself in “groanings” which cannot be uttered” or as J. B. Phillips translates it, “his Spirit within us in actually praying for us in those agonizing longings which never find words.” The word for “groanings” here is stenagmos, found only here and in Acts 7:34 where Stephen used it in his defense before the Sanhedrin. Stephen had been describing the call of Moses and recalling the words God had used on that occasion: “I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning. . . .” How suggestive! The burden of the oppressed Israelites could only find expression in. groans. The Holy Spirit, in expressing His burden for our spiritual state, groans with the same type of groans.
He intercedes for us in prayer.
B. An Explanation
Some people use this passage to teach praying in tongues.
There are no Bible examples where tongues are used to communicate to God!
1 Cor 14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
Paul is correcting use of tongues when no one understands.
Not description of nature or use of tongues.
Not to show tongues as a means of communication.
Does not concern speaking to God in prayer or praise
The reason he speaks to God is not because he prays, but because no one understands, except God.
Thrust is to show why prophecy is preferred
1 Cor. 14:1-3, prefer prophecy because it edifies
15,16, Paul will say that prayer is important in the assembly when it is understood.
Prayer in your own language is always preferable.
It is improbable that God would give a gift of speaking foreign languages, which are intended for men, in order to praise or to pray to Him.
It is less probable that He would give a gift of speaking unintelligible speech (or any speech not understood by the speaker) to communicate to God in prayer, Since Jesus spoke against such practice.
Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them...”
Jesus then gave the intelligible Lord’s Prayer as a proper example to follow.
word for “use vain repetitions” = battaloge, Gingrich defines as “babble, to speak without thinking.”
Jesus connects with the pagan ideas about prayer and states “Be not like them” then said, vs. 9 “After this manner therefore pray”.
In view of this statement of Jesus, it is improbable that God would give a gift of unintelligible prayer to men. Jesus also said not to pray “as the heathen do”
Rom 8:26 “...the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
a. The most basic point is that this verse applies to all Christians without conditions. 8:23
b. It is not at all certain that any audible sounds are under discussion. The a in alaltos is similar to the English prefix “un” (a-laltos = un-spoken); the expression means “unspoken.”
c. It seems clear that the Spirit makes the groanings rather than the individual in prayer.
The concept of a special gift for prayer and praise to God seems to violate basic Christian teaching.
The New Testament teaches that every Christian has full access to God through Jesus Christ.
There is no indication anywhere in the N.T. that certain individuals have greater access to God or greater prayer ability.
To state that a special gift is necessary or better for prayer implies that ordinary prayer is deficient and that those without the gift do not have complete access to God the Father.
This view amounts to the allegation that in some mystical sense the speaker can better communicate with or praise God by speaking apart from his understanding than by speaking words which have meaning to him.
Some claim that prayer in tongues allows greater freedom in prayer, but this can only be due to a psychological “letting go,” since we are already free in prayer. There are no restrictions from God’s side.
Yet such an emotional release in prayer apart from rationality is not Biblical prayer. Biblical prayer is prayer based on knowledge.
In addition, since tongues are foreign languages, this position amounts to the claim that an Englishman, for example, can pray and praise God better in Chinese than he can in his own language, or more to the point, “he can pray better or praise better in Chinese than the Chinese can in Chinese.
The basic assumption underlying this view is that knowledge or understanding somehow hinder communication with God, and that a state of ecstasy is more in tune with God. (typical of pagan religions.)
The entire N.T. is filled with indications that lack of understanding and knowledge are hindrances and deficiencies in the believer’s life.
The need for a gift to praise God in a tongue also needs an explanation. There must be some explanation of why God would prefer to be praised in German, for example, by an Englishman, but would not consider the same praise by a German to be adequate.
It is even more difficult to explain why God would deem praise in unintelligible language (glossolalia) to be better than praise which the speaker understands—in fact, so much better that He gave a miraculous gift for this purpose.
C. The Expectation
Answered Prayer!
The intercession of the Spirit, what it does mean.
Rom 8:27 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.
3 reasons that the prayers of the Holy spirit are effective. (1) God knows and searches our hearts. (2) He knows the Spirits mind. (3) He prays according to the will of God.
He takes our inarticulate groanings and infuses the right meaning into them.
Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
In His book on prayer, James McConkey wrote about his illness one summer when he had to spend some time relaxing near a beautiful bay. His recreation was confined to a limited amount of sailing. One day while he was enjoying an afternoon on the water, the wind suddenly ceased, and he was stranded far from shore. As the August sun began to take its toll on his weakened body, he decided that his only hope was for the breeze to return, so he asked the Lord to send it. He prayed for an hour, but not a breath of air filled the sail. Just then he saw a small vessel coming toward him. The man at the helm, realizing McConkey’s plight, had come out to tow his sailboat to harbor. McConkey said this incident taught him a lesson about prayer. While his exact request had been denied, God had heard his pleas and provided a much better means of deliverance. The fisherman could chart a better course back to shore than McConkey could have done if the wind had returned. He was familiar with the lake and knew how to avoid the dangerous shallows.
Jesus said that the Heavenly Father knows what we need even before we ask Him. It is best, therefore, to refrain from stating the conditions by which we expect the Lord to come to our aid. With childlike faith we should simply place the matter in His hands. Fanny Crosby wrote, “His eye foresees our greatest good, while we at best are weak; and thus in wisdom He withholds the boon that oft we seek. And yet His all-sufficient grace He bids us freely share; and in a way we little know, the Lord will answer prayer.”
If you are caught in the “dead calm” of some difficult circumstance, don’t despair. Trust the Lord! Though your request for a favorable “wind” may be denied, your need will surely be supplied. —Daily Bread
