Groaning Now, Glory To Come - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise! The glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace!

This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Lift me up above the shadows when my feet are higher ground. Lift me up above the clouds on where the pure sunshine is found. Lift me up above my weakness. Lift me up into thy strength. Lift me up above the shadows till I stand with thee at bay. Lift me up above the shadows. Lift me up above the shadows. Lift me up and let me stand and let me stand.

On the mountain tops of Maury let me dwell. Lift me up above the shadows for the storms are raging high. Lift me up my blessed Savior. Lift me to thy bosom fly. Bear no evil think and touch me over on the shining side. Lift me up above the shadows.

Let me evermore abide. Lift me up above the shadows. Lift me up and let me stand.

On the mountain tops of Maury let me dwell. Lift me up above the shadows out of sorrow into joy. Lift me up above my grief.

Lord, give me gold for my alloy. Then when death must claim my spirit and the storms of life are past. Lift me up above the shadows till in them I stand at last. Lift me up above the shadows. Lift me up above the shadows. Lift me up and let me stand. On the mountain tops of Maury let me dwell.

Lift me up above the shadows till in them I stand at last. This is anniversary month for the Baptist Bible Hour as we've completed 69 years on the air. And we encourage all of our listeners to make it a special point to write us during this month. We'll be glad to send you a special message on CD related to the theme of this month. Our theme is help in trouble.

We all would concede that the past couple of years have been full of all kinds of troubles. And it's good to be reminded that there is help in the Lord our God. So just request the message if you would like on CD.

Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. I'm but a stranger here, M is my home. Earth is a desert rear. M is my home. Danger and sorrow stand. Round me on every hand. M is my former land. M is my home. There at my Savior's side, M is my home. I shall be glorified. M is my home. There are the good and the bad.

Those I love most and best. There too I soon shall rest. M is my home. Now we bring you the second part of a message entitled groaning now, glory to come. We've considered the fact that the creation groans. Secondly, that we groan. But then the good news is that there is glory to come. It doesn't mean that when you're groaning you become slothful and neglect your duties. Say, well, I'm just thinking about what's to come.

I don't care about today. No, while we're yet here, we have an obligation. Slothfulness is condemned throughout scripture, but particularly in the book of Proverbs, that the person who is indifferent and not accepting their responsibilities is not pleasing God. You know, that was part of the problem that Paul had to write to those who had decided because they looked to the coming of Jesus Christ, they just quit their jobs and depend on somebody else to feed them until the Lord came back. And he said the man who won't work ought not to eat. So even while you're looking ahead and while you're groaning, that doesn't mean you're exempt from day-to-day responsibilities.

You have a responsibility to your family. You have a responsibility to the church, to Christ as you serve Him in the church. So, our groaning goal is unique. This separates the groaning of the Christian from the groaning of every other human being because we have the first fruits of the Spirit. Now, the first fruits are a promise of a harvest. We find reference to the offering of the first fruits in Old Testament times.

As they gathered in the first fruits, they were encouraged to believe, this is not all of it, this is not the harvest, this is just the first part, but the harvest is coming after a while. We have the first fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit of God dwelling in us to give us the assurance that we are His.

The Spirit of God dwelling in us to guide us in the way that we ought to go. So because of the Spirit in us, because of what we've experienced through the blessing of the Holy Spirit, when He has sometimes given us peace in the midst of a storm, when He has sometimes blessed us with comfort when we were so distraught, when He sometimes has lifted us up when we were so cast down, we have the first fruits of the Spirit, therefore we eagerly await the redemption of our body. We look forward to it.

What a day that's going to be! How we rejoice to consider what is to come. And so, as we wait, we have the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Verse 26, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. Now all of us would concede, would we not, that we are weak, we're infirm in ourselves, we need help on a daily basis, and we're able to say, the Lord is my Helper, so I'm not going to fear what man might do, but not only do we have that general declaration that God our Father is our Helper, Jesus Christ the Savior is our Helper, but here He speaks to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit helpeth our infirmities. And here's how He does it, For we know not what we should pray for as we ought. You sometimes try to pray and just feel like you're not able to do it.

You can't get the right words together, you feel that maybe your mind is not focused like it ought to be, your heart is not in the state you'd like for it to be. We know not what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. This is the third groaning we've read about in this portion of scripture. The creation groans, we groan, and the Holy Spirit makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. 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. So you might struggle in your prayer and feel like I'm just not praying it right, but the Spirit of God will formulate the words with groanings that cannot be uttered, and it will be according to the will of God, a prayer that will be pleasing to the Father.

How wonderful to know this. We have Jesus Christ who is our Intercessor and ever lives to make intercession for us, and the Holy Spirit in our heart making intercession for us. How often do we give thought to that? We put emphasis upon the fact that Jesus Christ is our Intercessor, and we should, but maybe we haven't thought that much about the intercession of the Holy Spirit. He intercedes for us. So how favored we are, how blessed to have the Son of God, Jesus Christ, sitting in the right hand of the Father in glory, whoever lives to make intercession for us, plead our case not on the basis that there's any worth in us, but on the basis of his perfect sacrifice, his substitutionary death at Calvary's cross, and to have the Holy Spirit of God formulating our prayers and making intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Now, nobody may say, well, I hear you're talking about all this groaning. I thought we were supposed to rejoice.

Well, we are. Philippians chapter 4, verse 4 says, rejoice all the way in the Lord, and again I say rejoice. And 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 says to rejoice evermore. But how are you going to groan and rejoice at the same time? Well, we can rejoice even as we groan, because this groaning is not a groaning of despair, it's one of anticipation, it's excitement, it's looking forward to something wonderful that is to come, and we can rejoice because we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. We have the testimony of the Spirit within us to confirm that we are the children of God. We can rejoice because we can claim that 28th verse that God is working all things together for our good. When we don't understand, when we can't figure it out, we commit it all to His hand, knowing He is in charge.

We can still rejoice because our groaning is for glory. We get a little foretaste of things when the Lord pours out a special blessing. You may have sometimes had a time like that when you were reading the scripture. There was a surge of joy that came up in your heart.

One instance that stands out so vividly in my mind when I think about that kind of experience was in Poland. Brother Lyle was with me over there, and we were traveling around ministering to people as we had opportunity, and there was a day when the car had broken down and I couldn't go. And I sat out in front of that apartment, watched the little kids play.

I tried to interact with them and be friendly, but since we didn't speak the same language, we didn't make much progress. But I just sat down on the porch there and began to read the scripture. And I was disappointed because we weren't able to fill our appointments that day. But if I've ever had a day of spiritual uplift in the reading of God's Word, it was that day. It was just a joy that was beyond expression to thank God for the truth of His Word and to believe that the Spirit was applying it to my heart. And so while we are groaning, we have seasons of spiritual uplift in His Word. Or maybe it's when you've listened to a sermon and you just felt like today God spoke to me. I had somebody call me this week and said, I just want to praise God for that message I heard on the radio today.

It was designed for me. God used it to give such comfort to my heart. Well, we groan, but we groan not in despair, not in anger like Jonah did, but we groan in hope. We groan for glory.

We say the little four takes we've had is wonderful. I want the whole thing. I want that glory that is promised, that glory that is to come. So we see the creation groans, we groan, and there is glory to come. We are waiting for the redemption of our body. Verse 23 says, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. That's when the adoption will be complete, that the body itself is redeemed. The body is now weak, but what a change is coming. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 42, the apostle writes, so also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown in corruption. These old bodies are decaying. They're going downhill. I get ads in the mail or sometimes on my phone or someplace that's saying, you order our pill and you'll just be like a young person all over again. Well, I want to tell you, it doesn't matter how many pills you take out of any bottle. You're going to still get old. You're going to still grow wheat.

You're going to still find out that when you get up in years, you can't do the same thing as you could when you were young because these bodies are fragile. They're already in this position of looking toward the grave. It's raised, though, in incorruption.

There'll be no corruption in the resurrection. It's sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness.

It is raised in power. Sown in weakness. I think about the many funerals that I've preached over the years. I think about the fact that death not only comes to old people, sometimes comes to young people. One of the most touching scenes to me was one time I'd been called by an undertaker who had a little storefront facility in downtown Cincinnati. He said, Preacher, there's a lady down here whose baby has died.

She has no family to help. I wonder if you'd be willing to come down here and preach at the funeral. I said, I certainly will. And I went, and when I'd finished, he said, Preacher, do you mind us riding in your car? Would you take us to the cemetery? And the lady sat in the back seat, and he put that little casket in her lap. And it was just such a touching scene to me that there was a woman that had no family at hand, no one to personally offer her comfort, and she's holding that little infant. Well, whether it's a baby, whether it's one of middle age or one that's lived out a long life, the fact is it is sown in weakness. It's raised in power. It's sown in a natural body. It has raised a spiritual body.

Isn't that something to look forward to? No matter how weak we may feel today, no matter how tottery we become, no matter how many of our facilities fail, we're looking forward to a day that we will have a spiritual body. But it will be raised a spiritual body. Philippians 3.20 says, For our conversation is in heaven, from whence we also look for the Savior. Do you look for Him? Do you anticipate His coming? Are you excited about His coming? We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.

Isn't that remarkable? Not only that He would save us, rescue us from hell, save us from sin, but that ultimately we'll have a body fashioned like unto His body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself. And so there's glory to come. And we wait in hope. We wait in hope. Philippians 3.24, For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For when a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with what? Patience.

With patience wait for it. Sometimes you can get so excited thinking about it and say, Oh, Lord, if you could just please come today. Well, there's nothing wrong with that prayer.

That's biblical. But still there must be patience exercise. Still in the time of our groaning, still in the time of our waiting and anticipation, but we wait with patience. Titus chapter 2 verse 13 says, Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. That glorious appearing. Maybe you sometimes have tried to visualize it. What would it be to someday be walking down the street and look up into the sky and see Jesus Christ coming?

Coming. It's a glorious, a glorious appearing. Think of it. Seeing Jesus face to face. You've read about Him. You've been singing about Him. You've been praying to Him. But what a privilege, what a joy to see Him as He is. And then to live with Him forever.

To live with Him forever and ever. In times of suffering, in times of discouragement, we remember the best is yet to come. So no matter how troubled the way may be for you at the moment, no matter what darkness you may be passing through, what heavy burden is pressing you down, the best is yet to come. So He said back in that 18th verse, For I reckon that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us. Oh, that we might have our attention focused on that coming of Jesus Christ. Yes, we groan.

We groan because we are excited about what's going to happen, the glory that is to come. Think in vivid contrast to what we read in the book of Genesis. And because of sin, Adam and Eve were driven from the beautiful Garden of Eden.

What a dark, depressing scene. And all of the suffering that has followed because of sin. But oh, there's glory. Glory to come. Revelation chapter 21, verse 1. And I saw a new heaven on the new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, adorned as a bride for her husband.

That's a scene of contrast between Adam being driven out and this great city coming as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. And God himself shall be with them and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Oh, how many tears you may have shed along the journey of life. Shed tears because of your own failure, because of your own sin. Shed tears because of the hurt of misunderstanding and the breaking up of friendships and even a marriage.

Tears, you shed because of the loss of loved ones. But there he wipes all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. So think a minute about what we've seen in this passage. We see that sin brings sorrow. Sin brings destruction. Sin ultimately brings eternal judgment unless the sin question is resolved through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. We've seen that Adam was driven out of Eden, that paradise on this earth. And as a consequence, the whole creation groaneth, groaned even now in anticipation of what will come when there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. We see then that the saints will be dwelling in the new Jerusalem. We long for that glory to be with Jesus and to think about it, to be like him.

Isn't that hard to visualize at the moment? In this time of our groaning, in this time of our weakness, to think of being with him and being like him and no disruption in that fellowship forever. Let us pray. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. And all of this glory that is to come is because of Christ's death.

None of it depended on moral reform, church membership, good works, any of the other things that people try to make it the basis of salvation. Verse 34 says, That's the basis of it. Because God loved his people, gave his Son Jesus Christ, laid down his life.

And so there's none that can possibly condemn those who were purchased by him. He's at the right hand of God wherever he is to make the intercession for us. The hymn writer described it like this, Just to be near the dear Lord I adore will through the ages be glory for me. Oh, that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me. Yes, there is trouble, heartache, sorrow, disappointment, but we anticipate that great glorious day that is to come. Our mourning differs from just that of the worldly who knows nothing about the fruit of the Spirit, about the firstfruits of the Spirit that have been given us. Yes, we groan in happy anticipation that there's a great day coming. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this precious hope in the midst of the struggles and toils of life. We do groan looking to that day when maybe realize when the body is raised.

Raised from its weakness, raised in glory to be conformed to the image of our Savior Jesus Christ. And we pray for any today who do not have this precious hope of that adoption of the body that they may see their need of a Savior and rest in Him by faith today. Here is for Jesus sake, amen.

There is coming a day when the heartache shall come, no more clouds in the sky, no more tears within the eye. All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore, what a day, glorious day that will be. I'm glad that you've been with us for the broadcast today and pray that this message, groaning now, glory to come, will be a blessing to you.

We'd like to hear from you. Address your letter to the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Till next week at the same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. And we pray that you will be with us forevermore on that happy golden shore, what a day, glorious day that will be.

No more burdens to bear, no more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217.

That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace. When He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land, what a day, glorious day that will be.