Sermon Tone Analysis

I Am Not Ashamed:

Text: Romans 8:17-19

Theme: The Christian can be certain of future glory despite present suffering.

Date: 09/ 04/2016 File name: Romans_2016_22.wpd

ID Number: 215

When I presented an overview of Romans chapter eight, we learned that we have a new life new life in the Spirit.

That new life is characterized by ...

• Our New Life in the Spirit Means Sonship

• Our New Life in the Spirit Means Suffering

• Our New Life in the Spirit Means Sanctification

• Our New Life in the Spirit Means Security

This morning I want to revisit this theme of suffering, and the glory that will be ours in spite of it.

I. OUR PRESENT SUFFERINGS vv.

17-18

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

(Romans 8:17–18, NIV84)

1. vs. 17 tells us something that, in our present day, sounds very odd

a. the Apostle tells us that we will suffer

b. the if — “if indeed” — of that verse is not the if of an imaginary result of something that might or might not happen to us

c. it is the if that is used to say that something must happen before another thing can happen

2. Paul is declaring that, strange as it seems to the earthly mind, the present proof of the believer’s ultimate glory comes through suffering on our Lord’s behalf

a. because we share in Christ’s glory we will also share in Christ’s sufferings

b. some of you are immediately thinking, “Whoa, pastor.

I don’t like that part.”

ILLUS.

Our attitude about suffering is that it is something we don’t deserve.

Hasn’t Joel Osteen promised us “Our Best Life Now”?

Many years ago when comedian Jack Benny received an award he responded, “I don’t deserve this, but then I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.”

ILLUS.

Someone once asked C. S. Lewis, “Why do the righteous suffer?”

His response was, “Why not?

Their the only ones who can take it!”

c. the Apostle doesn’t really give us an option here — suffering and glory are a package deal for the child of God

3. the Christian’s suffering has two sources ...

A. THE SUFFERINGS DUE TO A POST GENESIS-THREE WORLD

1. what do I mean by that?

a. we live in a world that is fallen

b. we live in a world that sin has adversely affected

1) there was a time, in the beginning, were death, and disease, and danger, and disaster, and dysfunction were simply unknown

2) Adam lived in perfect communion with the Father, and with Eve, and with the Created Order — the lamb laid down with the lion

2. that all changed when the First Adam chose to listen to the Usurper

a. the result of the Fall is that chaos rules within the created order

“To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.”

(Genesis 3:17–18, NIV84)

b. beginning in vs. 19 the apostle reminds us that the effects of the Fall were so catastrophic that suffering is not merely the experience of humanity but of the entire cosmos

ILLUS.

My dog is getting old.

He’s had several bouts with back issues in recent years, and his back legs don’t always work like they should.

Sometimes it’s just hard to watch him as he struggles up steps, or his legs slide out from under him on a smooth surface.

He doesn’t complain.

He doesn’t reminisce about his puppyhood when he was strong and vigorous.

But he is a part of the created order that suffers, and groans inwardly because sin — my sin and your sin — has subjected him to frustration, and if Baxter could somehow communicate it, my dog would tell me how he waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

d.

Christians have always understood the reason for death, and disease, and danger, and disaster, and dysfunction — it’s called sin

3. unfortunately we tend to think of physical suffering as the exception to normal life in our culture, that somehow it is not normal, and when we do suffer that it can almost always be fixed

a. we just assume that human ingenuity, medical advancements, and technology is going to be able to solve all our problems

4. when it comes to our physical suffering, we need to be thankful for modern medicine, but we also need to remember just how “modern” modern medicine really, really is

ILLUS.

Consider the development of antibiotics.

It wasn't until the mid-19th century that doctors and scientists discovered what we commonly refer to as "germ theory" — that disease is an infection caused by bacteria and viruses.

Well into the early 20th century many doctors and scientists still believed in “Miasma theory” — that the diseases that commonly afflicted humanity were caused by "bad air" or "poisonous vapor" that resulted from rotting organic matter.

The first antibiotic Penicillin, was accidently discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, but it wasn’t until 1942 that it was first used in a civilian patient.

There are a few people here this morning who were born before antibiotics came into common use.

There was a day, not too long ago, even in our country where if your appendix burst, you died because there was no way to stem the infection that resulted.

Then there is the development of anesthesia.

Praise God, for that great gift.

I have had several surgeries in my life and so have some of you, and none of us would have liked to have gone through those surgeries fully awake.

And then, after the surgery, there are painkillers.

Whether it's a mild over-the-counter pain reliever or something more potent like OxyContin, we’re all thankful for modern pain relievers.

Just this week there was a major announcement about a new drug that has been discovered that shows promise in actually reversing the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

It's just in trials, and may be years before it's available to the public, but it's an exciting announcement.

5. we can be thankful for all of these things and yet none of these things eclipse human suffering

a. death, and disease, and danger, and disaster, and dysfunction will always be a part of our world and a part of our lives

b. because we live in a Genesis-three world there will always be physical ailments, emotional distress, mental anxiety, and the distinct suffering that goes with each

6. however, for the believer, these sufferings will one day end, and glory will be ours

“So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:16–17, ESV)

B. THE SUFFERINGS DUE TO A CHRIST-HATING WORLD

1. everywhere in the New Testament, the suffering Christian and the persecuted Church is simply assumed

a. Jesus told his disciples ...

"All men will hate you because of me, ... " (Matthew 10:22, NIV84)

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." (Matthew 5:10–11, NIV84)

b. for two thousand years suffering for Jesus indeed has been the normal experience of the Church

c.

only in American has that norm been abnormal, but that abnormality is quickly coming to an end, and being maligned for the faith will soon become the norm even in America

ILLUS.

Today there is an escalating hostility toward orthodox Christianity throughout Western culture.

In 2010, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, speaking before a gathering of priests about the dangers of the secularization of our society, said, "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.

His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."

While it’s too soon to know whether the Cardinal’s words are prophetic, he was completely accurate about the growing hostility toward orthodox Christianity in American culture.

"Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

(2 Timothy 3:12, NASB95)

2. what kind of persecution can Christians expect from the world?

a.

The Bible Speaks of Persecution by Cruel Act

1) though most of us will never experience real physical persecution of the kind our Christian forefathers did, many believers around the world are not so fortunate

2) in places like China, North Korea, Kenya, India, and virtually any place where Islam is the dominant religion, believers fully understand what Jesus meant when he said, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves ... " (Matt.