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The Spirit

The Spirit - Helps Us in our Weakness

Josh Combs · Sunday, 24 August 2025 · Romans 8:18-27 · 42:24 · 4,748 words

Romans S18 · 8:18-27 Goodrich

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

Romans 8 and Revelation 21 are woven together to show that present suffering, creation’s groaning, and personal pain are real, but they are not the final story. The speaker explains that believers have a living hope in Jesus, a down payment of the Spirit, and the promise of future bodily redemption. He urges those without hope to turn to Christ, and encourages those who know Him to hold fast while the Holy Spirit intercedes. The message closes with an invitation to be baptized as a public declaration of faith.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

hope 59 glory 38 creation 22 groan 16 firstfruits 7 suffer 18 spirit 40 number 15 imperishable 5 futility 6 reveal 14 wait 15

Topics

Hope 12 The Holy Spirit 10 Salvation 3 Adoption & Sonship 3 Prayer 3 Suffering 2 Baptism 1 Freedom 1 Sin 1

Scripture referenced 34

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Revelation 21 3:37 Philippians 3 6:01 Philippians 3:20 6:01 Romans 8 6:41 Romans 8:21 6:41 Revelation 21 6:57 Romans 8 7:10 John 14 7:41 John 14 8:03 1 Corinthians 15 8:56 Romans 8 10:25 Romans 8 11:08 Romans 8 11:46 Romans 8:19 12:22 Romans 8 13:21 Romans 1 14:32 Romans 2 14:32 Romans 2:20 15:45 Romans 5 16:06 Romans 5:20 18:45 Genesis 3 18:48 Genesis 3 18:51 Titus 2:13 22:52 Hebrews 6 23:02 1 Peter 3 23:09 1 Timothy 1:1 23:19 Ephesians 1:13 26:26 Ephesians 1:26 27:01 Acts 4 28:11 Acts 4:12 28:13 Acts 4:26 28:47 Ephesians 2 33:11 1 Thessalonians 4:13 33:22 Hebrews 6 36:29

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 18 lines, 0:46. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Joanna.

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Let's open our Bibles this morning

to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number 8.

If you don't have a Bible,

I want to encourage you to share with someone

sitting next to you

or you can take out your phone.

You can download a Bible app or the River Church app.

There's a Bible feature on there.

I encourage you as much as I can

to be following along

and the Word of God was reminded this week.

The Scripture says that the Bible,

the Word of God is alive and powerful.

One of my favorite sayings about the Bible

is it's the only book that while you're reading it,

it is reading you.

So I want to encourage you to be seeing the Scripture,

the words of God for yourself.

Your guests want to welcome you.

Thanks for being here.

Honored to have you with us.

If you're watching online,

I certainly want to welcome you as well.

Romans chapter number 8

beginning in verse number 18.

Paul is writing here.

He says,

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worth comparing with the glory

that is to be revealed to us.

Just a verse prior in verse 17,

the last few phrases there,

the Scripture says,

Provided we suffer with him

in order that we may also be glorified with him.

So Paul speaks of glory,

meaning the victory,

the prize,

the eternal triumph.

He says what's happening now

in the present time

is not worth comparing to

the extraordinary,

incredible glory.

And the Scripture says there

that is to be revealed to us,

that will be unveiled.

It's as if we're sitting in a beautiful,

cedar in the seats.

The orchestra has ceased to warm up.

The curtain is closed

and we're waiting for the lights to dim

and the curtain to open

and the glory, if you will,

to be revealed.

I want you to hold your spot in Romans

and turn over to the last book of the Bible,

and the second to last chapter there,

Revelation chapter number 21.

We'll pick up there in just a moment.

verse number 3,

we begin to see some of that glory

in detail being revealed.

I heard a loud voice from the throne

saying,

the dwelling place of God

is with man.

He will dwell with them

and they will be his people

and God himself

will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear

from their eyes

and death shall be no more,

neither shall...

Neither shall there be mourning

nor pain anymore

for the former things

have passed away.

Jump down towards the end of the chapter

to verse number 23,

that dwelling place of God

and man together

and the city has no need

of sun or moon

to shine on it

for the glory of God

gives its light

and its lamp is the lamb.

Here is that glory,

and I love the passage

that speaks of every tear

being wiped by God

from our eyes.

The passage says there will be no more death.

There will be no more mourning.

There will be no more physical or emotional or mental pain.

This is the glory that Paul is speaking of.

Let's go back to Romans chapter number eight.

So Paul says, what is coming?

The glory that is to be revealed to us.

He begins through the next verses to speak of that glory.

Look at verse number 19.

Last phrase of that verse, he says, the revealing of the sons of God.

In the same chapter, he says, for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God.

So children of God, sons and daughters, and we've received the spirit of adoption as sons.

So what does the revealing of the sons of God mean?

What does that glory mean personally?

In Philippians chapter three, in verse 20, Paul says, but our citizenship is

in heaven and from it, we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.

So the revealing.

So when we talk about the glory that is to come there, the next verse talks about the revealing.

So the transformation, the literal transformation of our lowly bodies to be like the glorious body

Look at verse number 21, Romans chapter eight, verse 21.

Scripture says there, the last phrase, obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Later on in Revelation 21, the Bible says, he who was seated on the throne said, behold,

I am making all things new, all things new.

Look at chapter eight here in Romans verse number 23.

We see the phrase,

the adoption towards the end of the passage, the adoption as sons.

So the imagery here, Paul is saying is at salvation, the adoption paperwork, so to speak,

was signed and glory heaven is where we move into the father's house.

Jesus said in John 14, in my father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare

a place for you?

If you know Jesus, there is a room reserved personally, especially for you in the heavenly

Later on in John 14, Jesus said, I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come for you.

So we have the revealing, the freedom, the adoption.

And look at verse number 23, last phrase, as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Hold your spot in Romans nine.

And go over to the right, just a book to first Corinthians chapter number 15.

We all listen closely.

Someone is reading it over here.

That'd be nice.

First Corinthians 15, verse number 50.

I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,

nor does the imperishable inherit the, nor does the perishable, excuse me,

inherit the imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep.

But we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of a twinkling of an eye at

the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and

we shall be changed for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal

body must put on immortality when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts

on immortality.

mortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory

oh death where is your victory oh death where is your sting so we see here glory is a few things

and i got one of them out of order here and this is testing my spelling and my penmanship but i

think i'm doing okay this is what the glory looks like that paul talks about in romans chapter 8

it's the revealing finally it's freedom from sin and corruption it's the literal redemption of our

body it's the culmination of the adoption as we move into the father's house that's glory and that

is what believers in jesus have to look forward to that and much much much much more that's the

glory sounds incredible but that's not right now

seems far off it's not the present time that paul talks about romans 8 18 you might be thinking

that all sounds great right now i'm just just trying to pay my bills we're just trying to

keep our marriage together i'm just trying to survive school i'm just trying to survive the

semester i'm just trying to stay sober go back to romans 8 18 because the bible speaks of the

glory that sounds awesome sounds great but uh right now it's a little different than that

right now the bible speaks of sufferings trials difficulties look at verse 19 the creation waits

with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of god yes the revealing of the sons of god

sounds awesome but here we are in a broken world doing what all of us hate to do we are waiting

it's the now

and in this passage here in romans 8 paul personifies creates a character of creation

he's not speaking of humanity he's talking about plants and animals and so forth one paraphrase

that i really enjoy from jb phillips of the new testament paraphrases this verse saying the whole

creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of god coming into their own meaning

creation is waiting with eager longing for the coming of the son of god and the son of god is

eager longing anticipation and here's why look at verse number 20 for creation was subjected to

futility so futility meaning frustration kept from what it once was creation was subjected to

futility not willing but because of him who subjected it so god creates everything genesis

chapter one genesis chapter two a little bit of a zoom in on day six the creation of humanity

man and woman placed in this beautiful garden together they are perfect relationally they're

perfect physically they're in perfect harmony with god the world is in perfect harmony it is

absolute perfection perfection we could only dream of and yet sin entered the world

And when God cursed Adam because of his sin,

part of what God who subjected creation says to Adam,

he says, cursed is the ground because of you.

Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.

So creation once enjoyed this perfect unmarred existence

and now because of sin it has been subjected

and it is stuck in futility, stuck in frustration,

longing for glory, but here in the now.

Look at the end of verse 20.

It says, in hope that the creation itself

will be set free from its bondage to corruption

and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

So because, early in Romans 5,

because of one man's trespass, death reigned.

So creation itself feels the effects of the fall.

Here we are coming to the end of summer.

We're literally going to be in the season of fall.

And as best as we can as humanity,

we celebrate the beauty of the changing leaves.

And we say the changing of the seasons,

oh, it's so beautiful.

I can't wait to make the drive to see the leaves changing

when what we're doing is we're just concealing the reality.

What are the leaves doing?

They are dying.

Dying right before our eyes, frustrated, stuck in futility.

So we see death in creation, the decay, we see disease,

we see natural disasters and forest fires

and storms and floods and drought and too much rain

or too little rain.

We see that just in creation, the effects of the fall,

corruption, we see animals die.

Beautiful little deer just born a few months ago,

a little spotted fawn dead on the side of the road.

A reminder of the futility that creation is stuck in.

It's sad.

Death of a pet, a dog, maybe a cat.

Just kidding, cat people.

I like my cats.

But we see that frustration in creation.

So it is stuck in suffering, waiting.

Bible says it is frustrated, corrupted.

That's the now.

That's where creation is.

And the scripture says in verse 22,

for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together

in the pains of childhood.

This phrase is really important.

You kind of have these bookends here, until now.

So verse 20 was subjected.

There's Genesis 3, until now.

So from that moment in Genesis 3,

all the way through human history,

until this moment right now.

So the suffering of now, the waiting of now,

the frustration of now, the corrupted,

that it's broken and it is groaning.

Paul imagines this is what creation is doing in the now

under the broken.

The broken system of the world.

Verse 23, and not only creation, but we ourselves.

We ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit

grown inwardly as we do what?

As we wait.

So here we are in the now,

waiting eagerly for the adoption of sons.

Waiting for this, but this is where we are.

The redemption of our body.

So the groaning is a groaning inwardly.

It's a,

It's an ache in our souls. It's a groan because of the sufferings, not only that we see in the world, but that we experience ourselves. Physical pain, disability and disease, hospitals, doctors, hospice, senior adult facilities are all reminders of that groan, broken world we live in.

Maybe the suffering for you is a mental health struggle or a sick child or an aging parent. Maybe it's less physical. Maybe it's more family issues, a marriage problem. Maybe it's divorce, a betrayal, the collapse of trust in your life.

That's what the present time looks like for you. When Paul talks about the sufferings of this present time, that's what's heavy in your heart right now. Maybe it's financial trials, trouble at work.

Maybe there is an overwhelming sense of loneliness or sadness. And like creation, our hearts are broken. And this is where we live, the now.

We love to talk about that, think about that, but this is where I am now. This is what I came in with today. The physical suffering and the waiting for answers or the path or what God is doing.

And I'm frustrated by that and I see the corruption and just this inward groaning in my broken heart.

How can we endure that? The sufferings of this present time, the longing in our souls, the waiting, the groaning. What can sustain us, give us strength when we want to give up?

Look at verse 24.

For in this hope, that glory is coming, that there will be a revealing, that there will be freedom, that there will be redemption, that there will be the adoption. In this hope, we were saved.

Now hope that is seen.

Hope is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. So we see it in faith, meaning we can't touch it. It's not like right in front of us, not like we possess it fully in the moment. It's this hope.

The Bible speaks of hope in lots of different ways. In Titus 2.13, hope is called our blessed hope.

Hebrews chapter 6, hope is like a sure...

...and steadfast anchor of our souls.

In 1 Peter, it is a living hope. In 1 Peter chapter 3, it's a personal hope. The Bible describes a hope that is within you.

What is our hope? 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 1, Paul says, Christ Jesus, our hope.

Hope meaning the expectation of good. This is where we are, but this is what we hope for.

And we're able to hope for that, that expectation of good. Here's why. Because of Jesus Christ.

How do we know Jesus' word is dependable? Look back at verse number 23. This little phrase there says,

Not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit.

The firstfruits of the Spirit. Firstfruits is a concept you'll see in the Bible. It really means the firstfruits.

I went to seminary.

I went to seminary for that, everybody. Your minds are blown. It's the fruit that comes first. You're even more impressed now.

Do you see what I did there? Often in the Bible, folks would sacrifice the firstfruits, meaning the first crop, the first harvest,

not knowing if more was going to come, but in hope of more growing. So what is the firstfruits of the Spirit?

The firstfruits of the Spirit.

fruits of the Spirit is a promise, an expectation of glory to come. The Holy Spirit here is kind of

envisioned as like a down payment. I'm going to give you this as just kind of to hold the deal,

but there's more coming. It's an engagement ring because there's a wedding coming. I was reading

this week and I thought this quote was incredibly powerfully said from a commentator named Douglas

Moo. He says, it is just in bridging this gap, the now and the later, the now and glory,

bridging this gap between our present status and our future deliverance, that the Spirit plays

a crucial role. The Spirit is the first fruits of the pledge or first installment of God's gifts

to us that both anticipates and guarantees the gift of glory yet to come. The Spirit connects

our life to the Spirit. The Spirit is the first fruit of the pledge or first installment of God's

gift to us that both anticipates and guarantees the gift of glory yet to come. The Spirit connects

our life to the Spirit. The Spirit connects our life to the Spirit. The Spirit connects our

already with our not yet, making the hope of glory though unseen as certain as if it were already

ours, which in a sense it is. That's what the Holy Spirit does for us. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13,

when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, you were sealed

with the promise of the Holy Spirit. So the gift of the Holy Spirit is what bridges this great gap.

The Holy Spirit is called the comforter or the helper. So God has done this here in our now,

in our present sufferings. He's given us a hope and he's giving us a helper. Look at verse 26.

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. I hope that you'll

see the...

The repeated words, creation is groaning and we are groaning and the Holy Spirit is groaning with

us, intercedes for us. So this is the beauty we have. Let's imagine it this way. This is the only

way my simple brain can visualize it and see it. We have God the Father and how do we pray? How do

we go to God the Father? Well, we're able to go to God the Father because of Jesus, the intercessor.

We read earlier Acts chapter 4,

verse 12, no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. He's the one mediator between God,

between man. So he's our mediator. But what happens when we don't know what to say to the mediator?

What happens when this now, this suffering, this waiting, this frustration, this groaning,

this corruption is just so overwhelming. We just don't even know what to say. We go in our prayer

life. We say, God, I don't even know where to start. And some of us may not even say that

because we're just so overwhelmed.

The Bible says here in verse 26, we're in that weakness. And when we don't know what to pray,

the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. So the Holy Spirit from the very depths of our being goes

to Jesus, our heavenly intercessor. So several authors point this out. So beautiful. We have

the Holy Spirit as our intercessor in our hearts who goes to our heavenly intercessor,

who approaches the throne of God on our behalf. So when we feel hopeless and helpless,

in our weakness, when we don't even know what to say to God, the Spirit intercedes for us.

I can only imagine what that intercession looks like. You have the Spirit. Here I am. I don't

know what to say. Here you are. You don't know what to say. So the Spirit goes to Jesus,

says, I'm here on behalf of Josh. He doesn't know how to pray or what to say right now.

He's afraid. He's unsure. He's confused. He's overwhelmed. I'm here to help him.

Can he?

says it this way

the Holy Spirit

expresses those

things we feel but cannot articulate. Those deep recesses of our soul where we have that groaning

and we look around and we see the corruption, we're frustrated and we're tired of waiting and

we're suffering and we just don't know what to say. The Spirit says, I'll take care of that.

The beauty is, look at verse 27, and he who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of

the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

So you and I pray some things sometimes. Let's be honest, they can be silly. This week I was

struggling whether in my heart or in my mind to pray for some concert tickets. You say, you are a

loser. I know. It's a concert me and my kids really want to go to. Well, that might not be the will of

God. That's okay. Sometimes we pray things and we just kind of have to put this little caveat, this

little stamp there. God, this is what I'm praying for. But whatever your will is, right? We see that

in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Father, if at all possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be

done. Well, when we're in the depths of this now and we're holding on to the hope of then, we have

a helper who knows exactly what to pray. And his prayers are always aligned with the will of the

Father. So here in the now, in between, before glory, we have a hope and we have helper. Colossians

says it this way, Christ in you, the hope of God.

Glory, hope of glory, the expectation of good. You square in the face and ask you a question

that I hope by the power of the Holy Spirit will echo into the very being of your soul. Do you

have hope? Because we're all here. We're all in the now without Jesus. Folks that are sitting here

struggling or you're watching, struggling and suffering in the present. I want you to understand

that your future is much worse. Ephesians chapter two,

speaks of those without Jesus having no hope. First Thessalonians 4.13 says those who don't

know Jesus have no zero expectation of good, zero expectation of glory. Difference is not if you're

a good person. If you're a church member, try to be nice, try to avoid the supposed big sins.

The only thing that gives hope in the here and now for glory is Jesus. That's it. Bible says that

Jesus Christ is the one who gives hope. He's the one who gives hope. He's the one who gives hope.

He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus was buried. Bible says that Jesus

didn't stay dead. Jesus rose from the dead. That is the good news. It's the best news. It's the

greatest news of all time that there's a way for you to be forgiven of your sins. There's a way

for you to receive eternal life. What is eternal life? It's the hope of glory. It's the hope that

my broken body will suffer. It's the hope that my broken body will suffer. It's the hope that my

day be redeemed it's the

a hope that one day I'll receive the freedom from my sins. It's the one, it's the hope that one day

Jesus is going to take me by the hand and say, Josh, I came here. I prepared a room for you.

Let me show it to you. It's in my father's house. That's the hope of glory. So that hope can sustain

us here. But it's only if you have Christ, it's only if you've come to Jesus. Bible says, if you've

confessed him as Lord and believed in your heart, Jesus was raised from the dead. That's the only

way to be saved from a future that's worse than the here and now. If you're sitting here, you don't

have hope. You can have your eyes closed. You can have your eyes open. You can stay seated. It doesn't

matter about the physical posture of your body. What matters is your heart. And right now you can

call out to Jesus to be saved. The Bible says, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be

saved. In this way, you can be saved.

In this moment, you can receive the hope of glory, Christ in you. If you're here and you know Jesus,

this is reality. Bible says in Hebrews 6, we who have fled for refuge might have strong

encouragement. Strong encouragement to do what? To hold fast to the hope set before us.

Second Corinthians, Paul says, for this light momentary affliction. And I don't want to pretend

that the affliction that you're going through feels either light or momentary.

But the Bible says, light momentary affliction is preparing us for the eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison. So I want to encourage you, hold fast to the hope. You're physically

suffering, hold fast to that hope that Jesus has given you. And he's given you a down payment of

the first fruits of the spirit so you know he's good for the rest. I see across the room, just

bow your heads and close your eyes. My hope is that if you are here and you're here, you're

don't know Jesus. You do not have hope. When we talk about salvation and eternal life, you feel

something. I would say you may be feeling the Holy Spirit of God knocking on the door of your heart.

The only way to receive hope, hope of glory, is to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart

that Jesus was raised from the dead. That's the only way to be saved. Maybe you're here, you've

been around church a long time, but the truth is you don't have hope. You might have religion,

you might even serve, but you don't have hope. You don't have hope. You don't have hope. You don't

serve. Here on Sundays, during the week, the truth is you don't have that hope of glory

because you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Right here and right now in

the quietness of this moment, maybe for the first time in your life, you need to be honest with God

and you need to confess Jesus as the Lord of your life. No more playing, no more pretending.

Bible says when we are born again, we are given a hope and we're given a helper. With every head

bowed and every eye closed, in just a moment, I'm going to pray. Band's going to come and lead us in

a song. Maybe you're here and today you have come to Christ. You've confessed him as Lord. You've

believed in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead. You've been saved today. When a person

is saved, one of the very first things we see in the Bible that they do is they get baptized.

They don't get baptized to be saved. They get baptized because they've been saved. Baptism is

a public announcement. It's showing on the outside what the Lord has done on the inside.

Maybe you need to do that today. I'd love to invite you to be part of that. Just a moment,

I'm going to pray. When the band comes up to lead us in a song, you can walk right through these

curtains on my left, your right. There'll be some folks back there with some t-shirts, shorts, and

towels. They'd love to help you get baptized today just to declare that you are a follower of Jesus

Christ. Maybe you've been delaying on that. Maybe you're embarrassed. Maybe you're like, oh man,

people are going to think I...

I was already born again. Who cares what people think? It's an awesome opportunity to honor the

Lord. Maybe you're here and you're suffering. I want you to know the Holy Spirit of God comes

alongside of you as the helper, the comforter, and he groans. God groans along with you.