SERMON OUTLINE

The Signs of Advent (5)

The Present Time Romans 8.18-25

We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.    Romans 8.23

Signs of the First Advent of Christ

1) Old Testament Prophecies of Advent

2) Final Preparations during 400 years without prophecy

3) The Original Participants of Advent

4) The Power of the Holy Spirit, the Church, the Present

Groaning Time Before Glory Time

1) Because of the sin which continues to indwell us

2) Because of the sin in the world around us

3) Because of the pain and destruction of sin on people

4) Because of the hope and glory that lies before us

Four Other Uses of This Word

1) 2 Corinthians 5.1-5: We live in a tent and groan for our building from God. The Holy Spirit is our deposit. John 1.14; Hebrews 11.9-10

2) Mark 7.31-35: A groan over the corruption and bondage of sin with a desire for righteousness in the Kingdom of God.

3) James 5.9: Do not groan against your brother.

4) Hebrews 13,17: Do not cause your leaders to groan.

[This is an example of learning through a word study]

Signs of the Second Advent of Christ

1) Old Testament prophecy and prophecy by Jesus: Daniel 7; John 14.3; Matthew 24; Acts 1.11; Revelation 22.20

2) Global Preparations: Economy; Ecology; Rise of Islam; Doctrinal weakness of the Church; Attacks on the Divinity of Christ, the Word of God and the Atonement; Cause oriented Christianity.

3) Willingness of the world to embrace a charismatic leader. God is preparing the participants for the Second Advent of His Son.

4) God is working in power by His Spirit. God is in control of History and Time. God is calling His Church to follow Him. God is still calling people to repentance and salvation in Christ.

Enjoy Christmas with your family and friends. You are called to work with God to fulfill His purposes until Christ returns.

SERMON NOTES

Series: The Signs of Advent (5)

The Present Time Romans 8.18-25

-This is the last message in the Signs of Advent series. This last message has taken a completely different direction than I intended when I first planned this series. Even as I started this week I had no intention of preaching what I am about to preach. I need to believe this is God’s message for us today.

-This morning I am not here to promote Christmas cheer but rather to encourage godly groaning. Yes, you heard it right! It is time for us to groan!

-We began this series by looking at the fall of mankind into sin in Genesis 3 and God’s promise to save mankind by the seed of the woman. This promised seed was prophesied and pictured throughout the history of the OT as the seed of Abraham, the seed of David, the anointed One, and in the OT sacrifices

-Then we saw how God made final preparations in the 400 years before the Advent of Christ by placing Palestine under 6 different rulers in order to prepare the infrastructure for the coming of Christ and the spread of the Gospel. God raised up various institutions and expectations in final preparation for that long-awaited coming of the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ.

-One day in history all of those prophesies of the coming Savior of mankind were fulfilled, and the many preparations were realized. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2.11-12)

-The child Jesus grew into a man who at about age 30, began to teach and preach, heal the sick and cast out demons, forgive sins, and prophesy that he was going to die on a cross and be raised from the dead. The death and resurrection of Jesus happened just as prophesied by the OT and by Jesus Himself. Jesus ascended into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to earth to replace Him, brought the Church to birth on the day of Pentecost, and from that day has added to the Church all those whom He is saving.

-So here we are, sinners saved by the Grace of God, living members of the body of Christ and part of the Universal Church. We are a people filled with the Holy Spirit Who is the seal of God’s ownership and a deposit of the hope that awaits us.

-One of the things that the Bible says that we are doing at the present time is groaning. Romans 8.22-23 says, “The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” For Christians, this present time is groaning time before glory time.

-We are groaning because our bodies are still weighed down with the corruption of sin which the Bible calls the flesh. We are groaning because we are still living in a world of sin. We are groaning because of the pain and destruction that sin continues heap on God’s creation. We are groaning because we have the Holy Spirit within us and know the glory that awaits us. We groan because we are filled with hope in anticipation of that glory which shall be revealed in us when we stand before Jesus.

-I want you to notice that we will not only be in the presence of glory but that the glory will be revealed in us. That is worth groaning for.

-The NT gives Christians the right to groan. We are told quite clearly that as Christians we are not to complain or argue but we are expected to groan and yearn for the inheritance that awaits us. (Philippians 2.14) If you are not groaning inwardly for a life without sin, and for a new body that is perfectly adapted to worship God, and for a new world of righteousness, you may not be saved or you are not where you should be in your relationship with God.

-Every believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit has the hope of Glory and groans for the reality of that hope. This morning I want you to be a group of groaning Christians. Not moaning Christians. Not complaining, arguing, negative, joyless, irritable, crabby, short-tempered, cranky Christians. But Christians that yearn and long to be with Jesus because you are sick of sin, and sick of a world filled with sin. May your groaning for your adoption as sons increase with every passing day as the Glory of God becomes more real to you through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

-The Greek word translated as groan is used four other times in the NT and I want to take you to those verses. 2 Corinthians 5.1-5 teaches us the same truth as we have in Romans 8. [Read]

-Paul uses the imagery of a house for our bodies. If you read the passage carefully you will notice in verses 1 and 4 that Paul calls the house of our present sinful bodies a tent, while he calls the house of our future glorious bodies a building from God. The sinful body your presently inhabit is fragile and temporary, so don’t spend a whole lot a time and money on it. The sinful body your presently live in is nothing more than a temporary tent to live in until God calls you to your eternal building, your redeemed body which brings your salvation to completion. We are just camping here. We are aliens in this world and residents of heaven. Our permanent dwelling place is in heaven and we groan to be there.

-In John 1.14 we are told that when Jesus came to earth, He tabernacled among us. Jesus came and pitched His tent for a while on earth in his human body. He was here to fulfill God’s purpose but He did not intend to stay permanently. In the same way we are only here for a short time until we reach our heavenly home. God has called us to serve Him with passion in this world while we are here, but always remember this world is not your home.

-In Hebrews 11.9-10 we are told that Abraham, “made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For Abraham was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” That is the city we are groaning for.

-All true believers long to be clothed with their heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Verse 5 reminds us once again that the Spirit that lives inside of us is a deposit that guarantees our new bodies and our eternal life with God.

-These verses would make a great passage to read over and over for meditation.

-We find this same word in Mark 7.31-35. [Read]

-The same Greek word is found in verse 34 translates as “sigh”, “deep sigh”. The sigh that came from Jesus’ lips was not a sigh of complaint over this man coming to see Him, but a sigh over the corruption of evil and the bondage of sin that had crippled this man and has brought so much pain and evil into this world. The groan that came from Jesus was a yearning for the full freedom and righteousness that God will one day bring to His creation in the kingdom of God. When you read this passage you can sense the love of God for sinners who are lost and living under the burden of sin and God’s desire for sin to be done away with forever.

-We find this same word in James 5.9. [Read]

-Here the Greek word is translated as “grumble, grudge, complain”. We are not to groan against our brothers and sisters, no matter how difficult they may be. We are to be patient and loving with each other with the patience of Job. Lets groan together for the hope that is before us but not groan against one another.

-This word is used one last time in Hebrews 13.17. [Read]

-Here the Greek word is translated as “burden, grief”. We are not to behave in such a way in the church fellowship that it drives leaders to the place of groaning. Rather we are to try and make the church fellowship a place of joy. Lets make sure that we are groaning for the fulfillment of hope and righteousness and not causing others to groan by our behavior. We are to groan over our sin and our sinful world. We are to groan for the fulfillment of the hope that is ours and that the Spirit within us has guaranteed.

[Good example of how to learn by using a concordance to do a word study]

-I want to close by looking at the signs of the Second Advent of Christ. Jesus came in the first Advent as a Savior to save mankind from sin. He is coming the second time to get those whom He has saved from sin and who are groaning for His coming. He is also coming to judge those who have rejected Him. Jesus is coming a second time to usher in the full Kingdom of God.

-First, we have OT prophecies of the final establishment of the Kingdom of God. (Daniel 7) Jesus has also prophesied that He would return. (John 14.3; Matthew 24; Acts 1.11; Revelation 22.20) If Jesus is truly God in the flesh then we must believe that He is coming back as He said He would.

-Second, we have the Global preparations that are being made to fulfill what is prophesied in the book of Revelation. The world is being prepared for a global economy and a global government, through massive greed and debt, and a focus on global warming. Persecution of Christians is on the rise through secularism and tolerance which calls for acceptance of all religions as equal, and the rise of Islam. Preparations are being made for a global church through growing liberal theology, mysticism and new age thinking, and a focus on humanitarian causes, peace, ethics and love. Young Christians are being directed toward service but are not being given a Biblical foundation and worldview that will keep them in the truth. We are quickly abandoning a focus on Biblical doctrine, the uniqueness of Christianity as the only way of salvation, Jesus as God incarnate and His substitutionary atonement, and the absolute authority of the Word of God.

-Third, God is raising up men who will have the ability to charismatically lead the world to follow them. Obama is a good example of a man who can quickly rise up and be revered around the world. God is raising up people and institutions and world conditions that will usher in the Antichrist and set up the final battle of Armageddon outlined in the book of Revelation. The end is near. I have seen changes I would not have believed possible even 5 years ago. I would not have believed 5 years ago that the world could move to a global economy. Now I believe this will happen with the next economic collapse caused by the debt of world governments. If we were in the days of Noah it would be time to load the animals into the ark.

-Finally, I believe God is still in control and that God is working out His purposes by the power of the Holy Spirit in this world just as He has always done. God still controls History and Time. By His Spirit God is still speaking to local churches that will listen and follow Him. By His Spirit God is still calling men and women and young people to repentance and to saving faith. We are in the last of the last days. The Second Advent of Christ is going to take place soon. We are living in exciting times.

-If you belong to Jesus Christ this morning you need to get serious about prayer, and reading God’s Word, and sharing the Gospel with those around you. God has called us to Himself and to this local Church to worship Him, and to groan for His return, and to call as many as we can to come along with us into eternity. If you choose to live a godly life that honors Jesus Christ you will be persecuted. If you love Jesus and truth and righteousness you will groan for the fulfillment of your hope and for the righteous and just kingdom of God to come. If you believe in hell and know the Grace of God that offers salvation to lost sinners you will plead for others to come to Christ and be saved. Christ is coming soon and we need to get serious about following Him.

-Enjoy Christmas with your family and friends, but always remember that you are God’s people, the Church. You are called to worship God. You are called to advance the kingdom of God through prayer and evangelism. You are called to live under the authority of God’s Word. You are called to work with God to fulfill His purposes until Christ returns.