Sermon Tone Analysis
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Our present experience as Christians is one of suffering.
Our Lord Jesus Christ led a life of suffering while he was on earth, and we are joined to him.
But suffering will not go on for ever.
Christ is in glory, and in the future we shall be glorified together with him.
Both sufferings and glory are certain.
Our present sufferings are like an ugly porch which leads to the threshold of an unspeakably glorious mansion.
Verse 18 states this point, and the rest of the chapter expands it.
Paul borrows the word translated ‘consider’ (AV, ‘reckon’) from the world of accountancy.
The accountant is adding up the items and figures in two different columns and calculating the totals.
He now compares the two totals.
The sum total in the column headed ‘sufferings of this present time’ bears no resemblance
to the immense total in the column
headed ‘the glory which shall be revealed to us’.
They are not even worth comparing.
One far outweighs the other.
Present sufferings may appear to be incalculably great—and Paul’s were greater than most (see ).
But the future glories are infinitely greater.
Given the context of where we’ve just been with the thoughts of not living according to the flesh but by the Spirit’s power.
A power that leads us to make war with our flesh.
A war that leads to temptations from Satan.
A war that leads to an almost hypnotic spell that the world seeks to place upon some of God’s people.
And the things produced in this war are sufferings.
In now in v18 Paul is going to open up to us as to why we should not dislike this current warfare.
It’s producing something in us that is far greater.
Here’s the main thought that God is communicating to us in v18.
That every considerate believer needs to determine that the joy and happiness of his glorified condition does infinitely outweigh and exceed in the misery of his present afflictions.
I’ve entitled this message: Consider how you get your sufferings right?
I see in v18 three lines of thought before us.
THE COMPARISON in your sufferings.
To get your sufferings right you have to make a comparison.
“the sufferings of this present time” and “the glory that is going to be revealed to us”
The sufferings of this present time: This is the whole gamut of suffering:
Illness,
grieving of the death of a loved one.
Hunger,
financial woes,
strifes,
spoiling of your plans for life,
abandonment,
broken relationships.
• sin and corruption
• disease and pain
• abuse and persecution
• unregulated urges and desires
• weaknesses and shortcomings
• aging and loss
• deterioration and decay
The genuine believer struggles against everything that keeps him from living abundantly and eternally.
Rightly translated, it’s the “sufferings”.
They are plural.
His sole passion is to bring everything under the control of Christ and to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Therefore, he suffers...
Compared with the glory that is to be revealed on the other side.
Our future glory will include a glorious resurrection body:
the present mortal body will die,
sown, as it were, in dishonor to be raised in glory (), for
when Christ appears He will ‘transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body’ ().
Our reward is called “glory”.
In our sufferings we struggle against many downs and in many ways are put to shame, but whatever honor we lose in this mortal life, shall be abundantly supplied to us in glory with Christ.
Listen to Jesus’ words, "If anyone serves me, he must follow me.
Where I am, there my servant also will be.
If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
()
This glory shall be revealed.
It doesn’t appear right now which causes some not to believe it.
1 "See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are!
The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. 2 "Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.
We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.”
()
And this glory will be revealed to us or in us.
When raised up immortal and incorruptible, we shall be highly favored and honored by Christ on the day of judgment.
It’s then this glory is revealed upon us.
What we have by right now, we shall have full possession of then.
THE NON-COMPARISON in your sufferings “”are not worth comparing” says Paul; that is, the
vessel in which the glory has been deposited
outweighs the other one by so much that the heavier vessel drops to the bottom immediately.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
(1996).
Romans (p.
156).
Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
Our present sufferings, be they ever so many and severe, fade into insignificance when compared with our future glory.
NON-COMPARISON “”are not worth comparing”
These two things are not even worthy to compare side-by-side.
THE CONSIDERATION of your sufferings.
“For I consider”.
These words should not be taken as a mere matter of personal opinion.
There is, to be sure, the thought of a calculation, a mental weighing of the evidence, but the word here expresses strong assurance and not doubt.
This particular glory will be revealed.
There’s no doubt about it.
And as far as God’s children are concerned all our sufferings are temporal but the glory will be never-ending.
Consider this: the glory will be ‘revealed’ not created.
Meaning that the glory already exists but it’s just not perceived as of yet.
That every considerate believer needs to determine that the joy and happiness of his glorified condition does infinitely outweigh and exceed in the misery of his present afflictions.
Look at what the Scriptures lead us to consider and compare: Sufferings and glory are put side by side in both verses 17 &18.
If we don’t suffering with Christ we won’t be glorified with Christ.
And to help ease us into that, we’re told that there’s no comparison between our temporal sufferings VS the unending glory that is soon to be revealed.
Learning how to counterbalance temporal things with eternal things is one way to prevent succumbing to the delusions of our fallenness or flesh.
Listen to how Paul does this else where:
17 "For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.”
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This is necessary because all our delusions come from considering sufferings by time and not by eternity.
But looking from the lens of the eternal puts us in the right frame of mind:
18 "So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
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