The Door To Lasting Liberty

The DOOR to LASTING LIBERTY—Romans 8:18-25

Attention:

Reason for the Pilgrim’s coming to America—Religious Liberty(autonomous faith)—Freedom to practice biblical faith. Freedom from State-supported & sponsored religion, which is a perversion of truth.

Reason for the Revolutionary War—Political Liberty(self-governance)—Freedom to govern themselves in a manner honorable to Christian religious freedom. Freedom from governance by England as an occupying country & dishonoring to autonomous faith.

Need:

The status of Christians as children & joint heirs with Christ(:16-17) is fact. And as such, what follows in these verses is likewise true for our behavior as blood-bought children & heirs.

Paul explained to the church at Rome that the the door to liberty is opened thru Christian perseverance.

Christian perseverance opens the door to true liberty.

Why does perseverance open the door to liberty?

Liberty—1) The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views. 2)The power or scope to act as one pleases.

1—Your perseverance opens the door to lasting liberty because...

GLORY Calls/Waits(:18)

Explanation:(:18)

:18—“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Our current status is life-changing certainty without full fruition. Much as a young man can live a majority of his life in preparation for his kingly appointment, without actually having an acting reign until his father passes.

We suffer in “this present time.” However, these “sufferings” we experience are not even on a scale with the “glory” which will one day be “revealed in us.” Our glory is future. It is not fully revealed presently.

“Consider/Reckon”—logizomai—1) To reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over; 2) To reckon inward, count up or weigh the reasons, to deliberate; 3) By reckoning up all the reasons, to gather or infer. This word refers to facts & reality not suppositions.

“Sufferings”—payhma—1) That which one suffers or has suffered; 2) An enduring, undergoing, suffering. Strong—something undergone, i.e. hardship or pain; subjectively, an emotion or influence:-- affection, affliction, motion, suffering.

“Worthy”—axiov—1) Weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much; 2) Befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing; 3) Of one who has merited anything worthy.

“Glory”(See :21)—doxa—Strong—Glory (as very apparent), in a wide application (literal or figurative, objective or subjective):-- Dignity, glory(-ious), honor, praise, worship.

“Revealed”—apokaluptw—V.—1) To uncover, lay open what has been veiled or covered up—1a) Disclose, make bare; 2) To make known, make manifest, disclose what before was unknown.

Argumentation:

2Cor. 4:16-18—“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding & eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

1Pet. 4:7—“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious & watchful in your prayers.”

1Pet. 5:8-11—“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, & settle you. To Him be the glory & the dominion forever & ever. Amen.”

1Jn. 3:2—“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Illustration:

Andrew Carnegie/Scottish-born & immigrated to America @13 yrs./1st job was as a Bobbin Boy in 1848 for $1.20-week for a 6-day 12-14hr. shift/Father was a cotton mill worker & his mother bound shoes for pay/Later...He is credited with being the innovator of a large-scale process which produced steel cheaply/He with his Carnegie Steel Co. set in motion the industrial revolution/Andrew saw the potential of mass-producing steel/GLORY Calls

A seed(corn kernel) is vastly different from the plant itself/Farmers plant it because....GLORY Calls

Application:

?Has the Call of GLORY given you Liberty?

?Your Perseverance opened the door to Lasting Liberty?

?Is Your Liberty Guaranteed?

2—Your perseverance opens the door to lasting liberty because...

CREATION Calls/Waits(:19-22)

Explanation/Argumentation:(:19-22)

:19—“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”

These present sufferings of ours includes the suffering of the entirety of creation as a whole. In fact it is in the intense expectation of God’s creation that the full God-designed glory of mankind will soon be “revealed” in them. Man’s glory is the key to the release of all creation. from the “futility”(:20) of the fall.