SPIRITUAL GROANING?!
Romans 8:23
Sermon by:
Rev. J. Overduin
Published by the
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA
Rev. J. Overduin - Romans 8:23 1
Sermon by: Rev. J. Overduin
Liturgy:
Opening Psalter: 107
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:18-30
Text: Romans 8:23
Psalter 87:3
Sermon
Psalter 27:1, 4, 5
Psalter 32:3, 4
Psalter 117:1, 4
Doxology: Psalter 76:1, 4
Text: Romans 8:23
Beloved Congregation:
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the beginning of a new period in the history of salvation. When the apostle Peter explained what was happening on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, he said, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh,” and so on. In other words: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the beginning of “the last days.” We are still living in these last days which are more and more becoming the very last days. But in these last days the Holy Spirit is doing His work. He is gathering the church of Christ, which is His bride. This work takes up all the time from Pentecost to the second coming of Christ. And all the time the Holy Spirit is heading for the end of the world. We may even say that the Holy Spirit is looking forward to that day and hour of which the Lord Jesus said: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36) The Holy Spirit is looking forward to that day and hour. Yes, the Holy Spirit is waiting and longing for that day and hour. For so we read in Revelation 22:17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
So the longing of the bride for her Bridegroom is going together with the longing of the Spirit for the coming of the Lord Jesus. The Spirit is praying for His coming and the Church is repeating that prayer of the Spirit. The Spirit and the bride say: “Come!”
A true Christian, a living member of the church of Christ, which is his bride, feels that longing for the coming, the second coming of the Lord Jesus. That longing for His coming is an unmistakable mark of grace, which shows that you have received the Holy Spirit.
This is what the apostle Paul also says in our text: “And not only they” (namely, the whole creation), “but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,” we groan inwardly, “waiting for the adoption, to wit, namely, the redemption of our body.”
In the foregoing verse Paul says: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”
Sin is a burden to the whole creation. There is a general outcry of the whole creation against the sins of man. But the whole creation will be renewed. When there will be new heavens, there will also be a new earth. That is what the whole creation is longing for. And then Paul goes on to say in our text: “And not only they,” he means: “not only the whole creation, but we also are groaning.”
Isn’t that surprising? For we, says Paul, we have the firstfruits of the Spirit and yet even we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves. Looking at this verse let us consider the theme
Spiritual Groaning.
Notice:
1) Its character
2) Its depth
3) Its excellence.
I. Its Character
To understand the character of this groaning we need to ask what does Paul mean by the firstfruits of the Spirit? Let me give you an example. When the Israelites had been traveling for some time through the wilderness of Paran and had come to the borders of Canaan, twelve spies were sent by Moses to spy out the land. When they returned, they told Moses and Aaron and all the people of Israel that the land of Canaan was a good land and that they had seen giants there. They also told them that it was a land flowing with milk and honey; a land abundantly fruitful in proof of which they brought with them all kinds of fruits and also a big cluster of grapes which had to be carried between two men upon a staff. Now those fruits, and especially those grapes, were the firstfruits of the land of Canaan; the firstfruits which the Israelites already received when they still had to wander about in the wilderness for thirty-eight years!
And likewise, says the apostle Paul, we also have received, in and through the Spirit, we also have received from the heavenly Canaan the firstfruits of that which is awaiting us when we shall awake to view the glories that abide!
The Holy Spirit and His gifts are to God’s children the firstfruits of the coming glory! Just as in the wilderness of Paran those grapes and those fruits were meant to draw the hearts of the Israelites to that good land, to Canaan, so the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are given to the people of God to prepare them for heaven and to draw their hearts to heaven and to make them live in holiness, serving the Lord with gladness.
In fact, the example of the fruits from Canaan does not hold completely because those fruits did not do anything by themselves; but the Spirit certainly does something. When we read in the book of the Acts of the apostles what happened on the day of Pentecost and also afterwards, we learn what the Spirit of God does in the church and in the hearts of sinners. His first work always is that He breaks a sinner’s heart and that He humbles a man to the dust. You can see that in those three thousand souls who were saved on the day of Pentecost. They were pricked in their heart, so we read. All of them, not just a few gloomy persons among them, no, it is said of all of them that they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and the other apostles: “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
This is what the Holy Spirit does to prepare the heart for the gospel of salvation by grace and by grace alone. This is what the Holy Spirit does in order to cut off all glorying in man. The pricking in the heart is coupled with fear and trembling. No matter what people say to deny this, but it is a fact that when our eyes are opened to know God and ourselves, we will feel “a sincere sorrow of heart that we have provoked God by our sins,” and we will confess with David:
“Against thee only have I sinned,
Done evil in Thy sight;
Lord, in Thy judgement Thou art just,
And in Thy sentence right.”
This anguish of the soul is so heart-rending that Holy Scriptures speaks of “the broken in heart.” But oh, this is a gift of the Holy Spirit, yes, a gift. “The sacrifices of God,” says David in Psalm 51, “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” And why not? Because such a broken heart is not broken in despair but in humiliation and sorrow for sin. Such a heart, opened by the Holy Spirit, is a heart that is tender and trembles at God’s Word. A broken and contrite heart, therefore, is a sacrifice which is pleasing to God. Don’t misunderstand this. A broken heart is not a sacrifice of atonement. The sacrifice of Christ, once offered on the cross, that is the only sacrifice of atonement. But the breaking of our hearts for sin is a sacrifice of acknowledgment. “For I acknowledge my transgression,” says David, “and my sin is ever before me.”
But David did not continue in that condition. A man cannot live on in sorrow and grief. The same Spirit who breaks the heart also “heals the broken-hearted ones.” He leads them to Christ and to all His benefits. He not only leads them to Christ, but He leads them into Christ. He makes them partakers of Christ and of all His treasures, namely, “the washing away of our sins and the daily renewing of our lives, till we shall finally be presented without spot or wrinkle among the assembly of the elect in life eternal.” The Holy Spirit, so to say, brings all those treasures of the righteousness of Christ to the heart that was broken and fills it with joy and gladness. “The fruit of the Spirit,” says Paul in Galations 5:22, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” These fruits are the firstfruits of the Spirit. And furthermore, the firstfruits of the Spirit are the promises of God; the communion with God. Paul says in our text, speaking not only of himself, but of all God’s children: “We have those fruits; we are in possession of the firstfruits of the Spirit.” The firstfruits come first. They come before the harvest. But they are also the guarantee that the harvest will follow. They are the signs of the coming glory! Yes, indeed, grace is glory begun.
II. Its Depth
But if this is so, is it not surprising then when we read in our text that those who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan within themselves? For that’s what Paul is saying here: “And not only they, namely, the whole creation, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves.”
As we have seen already in the foregoing verse the apostle says that the whole creation, plants and animals, are groaning under the curse of sin. For the Lord said to Adam: “Cursed be the ground for thy sake.” This curse works. It works in such a way that the whole creation feels it. Jeremiah 14:4-6 pictures the groaning of plants and animals in a time of drought: “Because the ground is chapped, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it because there was no grass. And the wild asses did not stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail because there was no grass.”
Plants and animals must also suffer. They also must die. But here, in Romans 8, verses 19-22, the whole creation is groaning because it is subject to vanity (first) and because all men are under God’s judgement (second) and especially because the people of God have not yet come to the fulness of their salvation! That is why the whole creation is groaning, because it is waiting for that great day when the sons of God, the children of God, will be manifested. And now, in our text, Paul says: “And not only they,” i.e. not only the whole creation, not only so many things in all creation, but we ourselves also groan within ourselves, even though we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. “For we are saved by hope,” says Paul in verse 24, or: “in hope.” That means: the salvation which we now possess is not yet complete. In a way it is, but in a way it is not. We are hoping for that which is perfect. Here we have the firstfruits, but the full harvest is still to come. And therefore God’s children, the redeemed of the Lord, are still groaning. They are living here on earth as a groaning people. However, this kind of groaning of which Paul is speaking here in our text, is a very noble and deep way of praying. It is a praying without words, because the pain which is felt in the heart cannot be expressed in words. It is a heart-felt groaning. The Bible recommends it. The Holy Spirit Himself, says Paul in verse 26 of Romans 8, the Holy Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. To a greater or less extent all God’s children feel it. This groaning is not the groan of murmuring or complaint, but it is the groan of a deep longing. Having received the firstfruits we desire the full harvest. And if you still have your doubts about this groaning, Paul says that “we ourselves groan within ourselves,” (i.e. inwardly). It is not the groan of the hypocrite by which he would make men believe that he is so holy, while in fact he is wretched. “Our sighs,” says Spurgeon, “our sighs are sacred things, too hallowed for us to tell abroad. We keep our longings to our Lord alone.” This is true. The groaning of God’s children is a groaning “in the hidden man of the heart.” But it is known to the Lord, as David says in Psalm 38:9: “Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee.”
Is there not much reason for God’s children to groan within themselves? They are groaning because of their own sins which burden their heart: sins of commission and sins of omission. They are groaning because of the sins of their own family and because of the sins of the place where they live; the sins of their fellow citizens; the sins of the church. They are groaning under the contempt and the slander which the upright must suffer at all times and at all places, even if they only desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus.
And then there is that groaning, that longing for the perfection of their full deliverance, when they shall fully enjoy the promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord! This moves a true Christian to say in the words of Romans 7:24 & 25: “O, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
O, yes, if it were not for Christ’s sake, even though we are born again, if it were not for His sake, this indwelling sin, this depravity which always cleaves to us would certainly be our ruin. This makes God’s children say at times with the psalmist: “I am weary with my groaning” (Psalm 6:6), for my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed” (Psalm 31:10).
III. Its Excellence
And yet, the groaning of God’s children within themselves is not a groaning in despair, but it is a groaning from a longing for the glory to be revealed. Think of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:4: “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” That is ultimately what God’s children are groaning for. They are groaning for something in the future, as it is clearly stated here in our text: “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, namely, the redemption of our body.”
“Waiting for the adoption?” you might ask, “what does that mean?” A believer who has received the firstfruits of the Spirit is a child of God, isn’t he? A child of God by adoption! How then can Paul say here that God’s children are waiting for the adoption?
Well, among the Romans (don’t forget Paul wrote this letter to the Romans) among the Romans a man might adopt a child and keep it private within his own family for a long time. But there was a second adoption in public. When the child was brought before the authorities, its former clothes were taken off and the father, who took it to be his child, gave to this child clothes which were suitable to its new condition of life.
So, here in our text the word “adoption” speaks of grace which will be given in the future. This is not in contradiction with the fact that those who have received the firstfruits of the Spirit are now already children of God by adoption. The word “adoption” is used both of a present privilege and of a future privilege. The adoption in the future brings to the fullest realization the adoption which is now already enjoyed here on earth. Remember what the apostle John says in his first epistle, chapter 3, verse 2: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be.” “We are still living here on earth in this flesh and blood,” says John, “but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Cannot you imagine that a child, taken from the lowest rank of society and adopted by a Roman senator, for instance, cannot you imagine that such a child would say to himself, “I long for the day when I will be publicly adopted. Then I will leave off these common clothes and be dressed as becomes my senatorial rank”? Although he is happy in what he has received yet for that very reason he longs to get the fulness of what is promised him.