I would like you please to open your Bibles to the book of Romans. And today we are going to continue in the ministry of the Apostle Paul to the Romans believers in the 8th chapter. And we are in the theme of sanctification. If you remember, while we are studying in the book of Romans, and we are now in chapter 8. And the theme of chapter 8 is the theme of sanctification. And we are in one of the most important chapters in the book of Romans, which deals with sanctification of the believer. And this is an essential chapter to understand. And I believe that you will be encouraged to know what the writer, Paul, and what, of course, guided by the Holy Spirit of God, what he intended to encourage the believers such as you and I to continue on as we are moving on in our lives until the coming of our blessed Lord to take us to be with him in glory.

And I'm reading today from verse 18. And I'll read from verse 18 of our chapters all the way to verse 30. And if we cover that today, they'll be fine. If not, we'll move on to the next verses of this chapter. So Romans chapter 8, beginning from verse 18, Paul say, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope.

Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but we ourselves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Likewise, the Spirit also helps our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. Because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknew, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. And that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. Now I'm going to stop here with this verse 30 of Romans chapter 8. Brothers and sisters, this is a wonderful chapter. Because Romans chapter 8 actually is the climax. It's the high note of the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. And why it is the high note is because the Apostle Paul is dealing with the theme of sanctification. And he has shown us in chapter 6 and in chapter 7, the struggles that the believer goes through in his or her life. And he wants us to learn one important thing as believers in Yeshua, in Jesus the Messiah.

He wants us to learn this principle of putting the old nature where he belongs. And to seek for guidance and help from the Holy Spirit of God. In order to live a victorious Christian or messianic life, a person needs the Holy Spirit of God to be his or her guide. Now remember that I said earlier in our ministry on chapter 8, that Romans chapter 8 is dividing itself into four sections. Number one, we said in the first four verses, there is no condemnation. Brothers and sisters, listen to this. I want to tell you this is something very important. A believer who doesn't understand that there is no longer condemnation for him or for her because he is in Christ, he or she are in the Messiah.

If a believer doesn't understand it, he or she will never be able to live a victorious life because they are always going to wonder if God really dealt once and for all with their sin and sins. I remember many times some come to me and say, Brother Gideon, I do not know if I am saved right now. I know I was saved yesterday, but I am not sure if I am saved today. Brothers and sisters, listen. You cannot be one day saved and the next day lost and the next day saved and the next day lost. You are either in or you are out. You are either saved or you are lost.

You are either a believer or you are an unbeliever. You either go to heaven or you go to the lake of fire. There is no such thing in between. And this is very important. The Romans believers were children of God and they were struggling in their lives and they needed to understand that if they are to live a victorious life, they must be under the guidance and the help of the Holy Spirit of God. So Romans chapter 8 verses 1 to 4, there is no condemnation for those that are in Mashiach Yeshua, in Christ Jesus. Then in verses 5 to 17, which we also covered in our last meeting together, and there we learn that there is no necessarily or we don't have to live a defeated life.

We can live a victorious life. And that's why he was saying, listen, they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh and they that are after the spirit do mind the things of the spirit. And he is speaking to believers and he says, listen, are you fleshly minded? Are you occupied constantly with everything that is down here on earth and not with the Lord Jesus? He says, listen, if you are to live a victorious life, you must be occupied with the Lord. Yes, you have to do things here on earth. You got to go to work. You got to earn a living.

You got to take care of your home. You got to take care of your family. But bring into all these situations, bring the person of the Lord Jesus into this life, into these events that occur in your life. And he will help you to live a victorious life. And if you remember, he said in the last verses that we have read last time, for as many as are led of the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. You see, you and I as believers can be led by the Holy Spirit of God who will lead us and he will direct us and that we can cry to the father.

And say, Abba, our father, and the father will assist us and help us to live a victorious life as believers. And so we don't have to be defeated. We can live a victorious life if we allow the Holy Spirit to take control over our life. And the Holy Spirit of God, as I said before, he's a gentle Holy Spirit. He will guide us, he will lead us, he will direct us if we only depend upon him as we look to him for grace and for help. Now he's moving on because the theme is sanctification. And in the verses that I read today from verse 18 to verse 30, here he is speaking about the Holy Spirit of God that he is now able to, as it were, as it were, you don't have to be discouraged in your life, even though you are going through tribulation.

Now, I have a problem when somebody say this statement. He says, Brother Gideon, if you have problems in your life, if you have sufferings in your life, that means that you must have had sin in your life and you really have a problem and you, and the reason that you have problems in your life is because there is sin in your life and you need to confess it. Well, it's true that sin would lead to discipline by the Lord. But I want you to see that in these verses, there is a principle that we learn here in those verses, that as long that you and I live here in this world, you and I are part and parcel of this world, a world which has so many problems and so many pains and aches and sorrows, and the believer is not exempt from that.

The believer cannot assume that he is going to live here in this world of sin and problem, and he will live without problems in his life. You will see that the Apostle Paul shows us that even the believer is going to go through trials and tribulation here in this world. And so in these verses, verses 18 to 30, you find out three times the word groaning is mentioned. That means that you are kind of heavy in your heart. There is a heaviness that exists here in this world. Not three times the word groaning. First of all, we find out that the whole creation groans. This is verse 22.

This is verse 22. Look at this. The whole creation groaning. Verse 22. Secondly, not only that the whole creation is groaning, we find out that the believers are groaning also. Verse 23. And not only they, verse 23, but even we ourselves, which have the first fruit of the Spirit, even we are groaning within ourselves, Paul is saying. So the creation is groaning. The believers are groaning. And thirdly, notice that in verse 26, even the Holy Spirit of God is groaning. It says in verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit also help our infirmity, for we do not know what we should pray for as we are to, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now, I would like to speak today to you about the three divisions of this section. The fact that creation is groaning, that's number one. Secondly, the fact that the believers are groaning, that's number two. And thirdly, the fact that the Spirit of God is groaning as well. Let's go over those verses one verse at a time. And so, verses 18 to 22, the thought that Paul, Shaul, is presenting here is the groaning of creation. What a sad world we live in. What a sad, miserable world we live in. Wherever you go, open the television, go on the internet, open the radio, open the newspaper. Wherever you go, look at the bulletin boards and signs on the highway.

Wherever you go, wherever you look around, you see the pain and the sorrows and the sadness that exists in this world in which we live in. Look around the world, look what's going on in Sudan today. Look what's going on in countries in Africa and places where people have no food to eat. Look at the creation in which you and I are part of today. The Apostle Paul tells us first of all, in verse 18, he says, listen. He's saying to those brothers and sisters in Rome, which needed to go through the process of sanctification and set apart their life for the Lord. He's saying to them in verse 18, listen.

Listen, brethren, he said to them, for I reckon, in verse 18, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. He's telling to these brothers and sisters at Rome and he's telling you and he's telling me and he says, listen, brothers and sisters, do you go through suffering today? Do you go through challenges in your life today? And you and I live in North America, we live like queens and kings here. When other believers live in a former Soviet Union, in China, in Muslim countries, they don't have the privileges you and I have.

And yet, brothers and sisters, they are going through suffering. They are going through trials in their lives. And the apostle is telling them, listen, he says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, they have been going through suffering. He says, listen, Roman believers, he says, the suffering that you experience today are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is yet will reveal in us. He's directing their attention, not to the sufferings, not to their trials, but to the wonderful coming days. When we, the believers, are going to be glorified with Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. And he says, listen, you can't even compare the suffering that you go through in comparison to the future that is yet awaited for you when you are going to come to be in the presence of the Lord.

If you turn in your Bible to for a moment to 2nd Corinthians, I want to show you that he mentioned there this thought as well. 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verses 17 and 18. The apostle is speaking to the Corinthians and he say to them in verse 17 and 18. In 2nd Corinthians 4, he says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. You see, the reality is like this brothers and sisters with you and I.

When we are going through a trial, through a suffering period of time in our lives. What is the inclination to do is that we are occupied with the problems. We have problems with our children. We have problems with our jobs. We have problems with our finances. We have problems with our fellowships and believers, other believers. We look at this and we are so engaged with those sufferings, those experiences that we go through that we don't even think. Because we are so bogged down with our own nature. We don't even think that all the trials that we are going through here in this world are only for a season.

It's only temporary. It's only for a moment. It's only for a season. Because soon and very soon, the Lord Jesus is coming. Yeshua is coming. And He is going to take us away from this sin. And we will never, never anymore need to suffer. And so through suffering, the Lord is teaching us lessons. Through exercises and problems in our lives. He is teaching us tribulations, Romans 5, workers patience. How do you get some patience in your life? Well, you got to give some problems. You remember when we studied Romans 5? We cannot ask God, God, could you give me patience? If you're going to ask from God for patience, you know what He's going to give you.

He's going to give you tribulations. Because the only process of learning patience is through trials and tribulations. And so, brothers and sisters, what the Apostle Paul is saying, and especially him. You know, if you read the chapter 4, when the Apostle Paul is speaking about himself and all the suffering that he has to go through. He's calling it light affliction in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. He says, listen, for the light afflictions of ours are only for a moment, he says. But it works in us, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. A believer who goes through trials, God is teaching him or her to be occupied with the upcoming glory.

When we are going to be with Yeshua, our Messiah, forever in His presence. Never to suffer any longer. And so, the suffering of this present time, Romans chapter 8 and verse 18 are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. Notice it says, revealed in us. You know, God is teaching us through experiences and sufferings here in this world. He's going to train us and teach us because He intend in the coming day to reveal His glory in the believer. That's what He is doing. That's what He is doing. He is going to reveal His glory through the believer. That's why it's mentioned here in verse 18, the glory which shall be revealed in us.

God is going to reveal what He has done through the Messiah in the believer. And so, in verse, we are talking about the creation groaning. And so, in verse 19, it says that the creation is waiting. In the King James, it used the word creature, but it should actually be creation. The whole creation. It says here in verse 19, for the earnest, the sincere expectation of the creation is that the creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. You know, the whole creation is waiting. You know what the creation, this creation, by the way, that you and I live in. This creation even waiting for the revelation and the manifestation of the children of God.

The whole world, the whole universe is waiting for the day when the children of God, this is the redeemed company, the believers in Yeshua the Messiah, that God is going to reveal in this world what He has done through Yeshua the Messiah for the race that He has called to be part of the family of God. That is the expectation. Do you know this world, this sad and miserable world, that all the leaders trying to fix it, you see, they're trying to fix the economy, they're trying to fix all sorts of system, the problems that are existing in this world, military problem, political problem, financial problem.

They're trying to fix this so there will be a nice world in which you and I can live in. But it doesn't work. Humans cannot provide and fix this problem which they cause it by themselves. It is only God who can bring this to pass. We are not looking for a great leader from this world who will fix the problems here in this world, but we are looking for the coming of our blessed Lord Yeshua, Jesus our Messiah. So the whole creation is waiting for the revelation, for the manifestation of the sons of God, of the children of God. When the Lord Jesus will come and we are going to be revealed with Him into this world, then this world going to have the peace that the world, that the creation is looking forward to have.

And you know, brothers and sisters, that when sin came in, in Genesis chapter 3, when sin came in, in the garden of Eden, that's where the problem began here in this world. Sin brought about separation from God, separation from men, between men and men, separation between men and the animal kingdom, separation between the animal kingdom and another part of the animal kingdom. The hatred and the hatred and the disharmony and the envy that happened here in this world, all came because of sin. All came because of sin. So the creation is longing and waiting for the manifestations of the sons of God. When God is going to reveal what He has done through His beloved Son, Yeshua the Messiah, in the life of the believer.

Let me show you a verse in the book of Peter. Turn to 2 Peter also, please, for a moment. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 11. Peter now is writing to Hebrew believers of first century. And he said to them, verse 11, he says, "What manner of persons art ye to be in holy conversation, in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." You see, sin brought unrighteousness. And unrighteousness has been spread around the world.

And all the creation is suffering because of this. And the creation itself is waiting for the manifestation of the children of God. In this meeting we read today in Isaiah chapter 11. And you remember what we read in Isaiah chapter 11, that all the animal kingdom one day will dwell together. You remember what was read in Isaiah 11? We read of the fact that even when the Messiah will come and when He will reign, we read that in these verses, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard will lay down with a kid. And a calf and a young lion and a fattling together. And a little child will lead them.

Well, do you know that now you cannot put a wolf and a lamb together? You're going to leave wolf and a lamb and go for a while, you're going to come back and you're going to see wolf and no lamb, right? You know that. That's what's going to happen because they cannot dwell together. They cannot dwell together. A leopard shall lie down with a kid? A calf and a lion together? And a little child to lead them? It's only going to happen. In a future day the whole creation is waiting, as we read in the book of Peter, waiting for the time where God will establish a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.

And so we have the new heaven and the new earth of the millennial age. And we have the new heavens and the new earth of the eternal order beyond the millennial age. Even in the millennial age there will still be sin and God will have to deal with this as well. So the whole creation is groaning. Don't be surprised when you see the pain and the aches and the sorrows and the hatred and the sickness and all the problems that exist here in this world. The whole creation is groaning and waiting for the manifestations of the sons of God. Well, look in the next verse.

In verse 20, the creation was subject to vanity by the fall. Look in these verses, verse 20. For the creation was made subject to vanity. The Hebrew word for vanity is emptiness and vanity, wasteful. The creation was subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the creation the same in hope. You know, we learned that how this creation condition came about, as I mentioned just a few minutes ago, that it came not willingly, but when the fall came. When sin came in. When Adam disobeyed the word of God and he plunged the whole human race into sin. And that's why every one of us that was born into this world, we are sinners by nature and by practice.

And we handed over because of our nature to our children and they to their children and to the children. From Adam till today, the whole creation is really subject to emptiness and vanity. And there is only a hope to look forward for the future day when the Lord will set up things in order in the future day, when he will reveal the sons of God in the coming days. And so in the next verse, verse 21, the creation will be delivered from this bondage and corruption. He says for the creation, because the creation itself also shall be delivered. You see, the hope for the creation shall be delivered from the bondage and corruption unto the glorious liberty of the children of God.

You notice these words here, vanity, bondage, corruption. That's what's going on here in this creation, in this world. Emptiness. People are in bondage to sin. There's corruption on every hand. That's what happened here in this world. We should not be surprised and we cannot improve that. We cannot fix this problem. Of course, we need the Lord to do any measure of fixing in this present day, but that's going to be ultimately need to be dealt with once and for all. And so again, as I mentioned before, there are leaders who rise up into this world and they say, we're going to fix the problem. Listen, man has a problem that is greater than the external problem.

Men have an internal problem. Men have an internal problem that needs to be dealt with. And this is the question of sin. Sin needs to be dealt with. God is the only one through Yeshua the Messiah who can forgive sin and restore a person to himself. But the creation shall be delivered one day from the bondage and the corruption that the whole creation is under. People do not understand it. They look for happiness and they try to find it everywhere else. They try to find it with drinking, with drugs, with pleasure, with music, with sex, with everything else. They fix their problem. And they cannot do that.

Because the only answer to the problem of man is found in this wonderful person by the name Jesus, Yeshua, Jesus our Messiah. So the whole creation is waiting. There is a hope. There is a day coming where the creation is going to be delivered and it is connected with the glorious liberty of the children of God. It is when the Father will reveal us, the believers, in Jesus the Messiah, will reveal His own people to the world. When that world will enjoy the liberty that God had intended for this world. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, creation groans. And I want to emphasize again in verse 22, he says, For we know, Paul is saying, we don't think, we don't suggest, he said.

We know it on the basis of the word of God. We know it by experience. That the whole creation groan and travail in pain together until. Until when, Paul? Until now. For you and I, it is until now, even though he wrote it about 2,000 years ago. It is an until now, brothers and sisters, just go to the hospitals and you will see it. Go to homes and you're going to see it. Go to many places in this world and you will see the groaning of the creation. The sadness and the sorrows that exist in this miserable world in which we live in. So the whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain.

It's just like a woman, a wife, a woman that is married and is getting ready to be delivered of a child. She is in extreme pain until the child is being born into this world and the pain is ending. Those of us who have children know. We remember that with our own wives. I remember when being in the delivery room with my dear wife Irene and the pain that she had experienced. And I couldn't do anything to help her except to calm her down and to just put my head on her shoulder and so on. But the pain that she had experienced until the Lord had given us our three sons, our three boys.

And then the delivery come and then there is no longer that same pain. Well, that's what's going on, beloved brothers and sisters, in this world. The pain, the sorrows, the sickness, the sadness, the corruption, the bondage that exists here in this world. Waiting for the day when God will finally bring about his own people whom he had redeemed into this world and restored this world to what he intended to have in mind. But everything is only through the finished work of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. So, look at this. In the first verses, verses 18 to 22, he teaches the believers at Rome. He says, listen, the whole world is in pain.

The whole creation is groaning and waiting the day when God is going to reveal his sons, the children of God, those that have been redeemed by Yeshua the Messiah. So, now he's saying, after he talked about creation, he wants to lead the believers at Rome to recognize that they should not be surprised when they are going through trials and tribulation. He says, listen, you can be freed from discouragement even if you go through tribulation. Look at history, brothers and sisters. Do you know, you look at history, whether it is the history of our own people Israel or the history of the Christians, of the believers, you will see the whole history is full of tribulations and trials and challenges that the people of God had to go through.

They are people who were suffering because of their faith in the Messiah. They suffered tribulation and challenges in their lives because they are in this world, in this creation, that part of this creation. They had to experience even sufferings in their bodies, the sicknesses, the diseases that exist here in this wicked world in which we live in because of the consequence of sin. And so he now leads them in verse 23 to 25, not only to the groaning of creation, but to the groaning of believers. And so notice that in verse 23, he began in verse 23 and he shows us that the believers are groaning because of the fact that they are looking for the future.

Look at this, it says here, and not only they, this is the creation, this is the world and the unbelieving world and the creation. Not only they, but even we, ourselves, this is the believers, the Christians, which have the first fruits of the spirit. Even we, ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our body. Somebody, he asked me the question, he says, do we have healing in the atonement, healing for the body? The answer is yes, there is healing in the body. There is also heaven in the atonement. There is healing of the body in the atonement. There are many things in the atonement.

When Jesus the Messiah finished the work on the tree, he had dealt with every issue, with every question of sin. But we don't go to heaven right away after we got saved. We still have to wait until heaven. And the body is not going to be fixed perfectly as long as we are here in this world. Even though we'd like it to be completely free from pain and diseases and problems in our life, in our body today. We would like to be freed from that. But let me tell you, I have yet to see a person that didn't get old. I have yet to see a person that didn't get a headache.

I have yet to see a person that didn't get some small boulder and maybe gray hair and decay in his or her body. I have yet to see a person like this. And I have yet to see a person that eventually didn't die. Except the two exemptions that we have in the scriptures. Chanoch, in the book of Genesis, who the Lord had taken. He walked with God, Enoch walked with God, and the Lord took him. And of course, Eliyahu Hanavi, Elijah the prophet that had been taken outside of this sin. But every person that was born into this world ended up getting older or died younger.

The consequence of sin brought death into this world. And so the Apostle Paul said, listen, not only the creation is groaning, but even we are groaning. We are groaning within ourselves, he said. We are waiting. What do we wait for? We are waiting for the adoption that is the redemption of our body. Now, this is important for us to understand, beloved brothers and sisters. This is essential to understand. What does that mean that we are waiting for the redemption of our body? Well, let me say this. The Bible teaches us that once and for all, when we have accepted Yeshua the Messiah, we have been redeemed by his precious blood.

1 Peter 1:18 and on. You were not redeemed with corruptible things of silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition, but you have been redeemed with the precious blood of the Messiah as of a lamb without blemish and without fault. But the soul had been redeemed. The body is still here on earth. Walking here on this world, part of this creation, experiencing all what the unbeliever experienced when it's come to the body. We get sick a time. We get tired a time. Our eyes are not seeing as good as we used to see 20, 30, 40 years ago when we were younger. We need to have eyeglasses to be able to see a bit clearer.

Our back a little bit aching. Our knees are not as strong as they used to be. Our hands are sometimes feeble and so on and so on. And we are longing for the day when we don't need to get up in the morning with holding our back. And we don't need to get up in the morning with having a headache or something like that. We don't need anymore to worry about how we can see when we are going to be in the presence of Yeshua, the Messiah, seeing clearly, enjoying him, never paying them and so on, never so on any longer. Brothers and sisters, that's what we're waiting for.

And here the apostle is saying, listen, even we, including himself, Paul, we ourselves, which are the first fruits of the Spirit. In other words, we have received the Holy Spirit of God. We are the token, the first fruit token of the Holy Spirit of God. He says, even we grow within ourselves, waiting for the redemption of our body. You know, brethren, some of you that have gotten older, that are a bit older than us, younger a bit, you, I'm sure, feel it a lot more than the younger generation in your bodies, in your experiences, in your life. You can definitely say, we are longing for the day that we are no longer will have to experience all the pain and sorrow that here in this world.

And so groaning, we find out in verse 23, believers are groaning of the fact that they really desire to have the future of their body, no longer to be going through this pain and aches and sorrow that they are experiencing here in this world. Now, let me show you some of the groaning that we find in the scriptures. Turn with me to Mark, chapter 7, in the Gospels, and we see even Jesus the Messiah groaned when he was here upon the face of this earth. Mark, chapter 7, in verse 34. I'll read in context, in connection with this, verse 31. We read, and again, departing from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, he came into the sea of Galilee through the midst of the coast of Decapolis, and they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech.

And they beseeched him that he would put his hands upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and he put his fingers into his ears, and he spit and touched his tongue. And listen to that, verse 34. "And looking up to heaven, he sighed." He groaned. That's the same word, "stenzo," "stenazo" in the Greek. "And he said, "He patach." "Be open." And it shoo straight where his ears were open. Here, Jesus our Messiah. Can you imagine? He walked here in this world, and he lived among his own people, the Jewish people, the people of Israel, and they bring before him somebody that had so much problems in his life.

He couldn't hear. He couldn't speak. And the Lord Jesus, sighing, like you and I sometimes sigh, "I cannot take it anymore." In our case, he says, "He, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua HaMashiach, looking, walking among his people, the beloved nation that he loved so much, the Jewish people, the people of Israel, and he saw the consequence of sin that brought about deafness and dumbness and blindness and lame, all that which came as a consequence of sin and decay and disobedience. And he said, "He patach," in Hebrew, the word "he patach" means "open, be open." But he sighed when he said it.

It says here, "He groaned when he saw the condition that existed at that time among his own people in this world." Turn to John 11 also, another verse. And you remember the story of the family of Miriam, Martha, and also Eliezer, Lazarus. And you know this wonderful family, believing family, but apparently Lazarus, Eliezer, was sick. And so we find out in these verses earlier that Martha came to him and she said unto him in verse 24, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." And Yeshua said to them, "I am the resurrection and the life." And then he went down, if you go down in these verses, it says in verse 32, "When Miriam was come where Yeshua was and she saw him, she fell down at his feet and she said unto him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died." And then it says in verse 33, "When Yeshua therefore saw her weeping, and the Jewish people also weeping, which came with her," "He groaned in his spirit and he was troubled." Now can you imagine the Lord of glory going to a funeral service?

Can you imagine the resurrection and the life going to a funeral service when he saw the condition, the sorrow and the sadness that existed among his own people? The weeping of Miriam, the weeping of Martha, the weeping of the Jewish people there. He groaned within himself. He groaned in his spirit and he was troubled. He like the Hebrew word, "Le-he-anach." It's like almost to breathe heavy in light of the condition that existed. And brothers and sisters, the Lord groaned, as it says here in his spirit, he was troubled. And he says, "Where did you lay him?" And the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept." Is in John 11:35, when he saw what existed, the sorrow that existed there, he was weeping.

He was groaning. And then he went and he raised Lazar Eliezer from among, from the dead there. And he brought him to life and he says, "Lazarus, come forth." And he came forth. And so we learn, brothers and sisters, that not only creation is groaning, not only creation experiencing sorrow here in this world, but even the believers. Because we are part of this world. That does not mean that we shouldn't eat healthy and exercise and do the right thing that we need to do. But I can assure you that it will not solve the things here in this world because of the sin question. We're still going to experience the challenges of this world because we are part of this falling creation.

And so the whole creation groaning, verse 22, but not only they, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to the redemption of our body. You see, our body is still here. We are still experiencing here in this world the pain and the aches that every person experienced, even unbelievers. Let me show you another verse, please. Turn to the book of Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 1. I just want to connect this with the deliverance of our body. That we see that the Bible does teach that there is not only that the Lord have saved us and delivered us in the past, spiritually speaking, our soul, but He is delivering us today from challenges and problems.

And He will yet deliver us one day in the coming day when we are going to be with Him in glory. Look at this, 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verses 9 and 10. "But we had a sentence of death in ourselves," Paul is saying, "that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raises the dead." And then verse 10, "who delivered us from so great death." This one. Secondly, He does deliver us. And thirdly, "in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us." You notice that? Three aspects of deliverance and salvation here. He delivered us once in the past. Our souls have been delivered when we became believers in Yeshua.

He delivers us every day in our life. Today, you don't even realize how many times the Lord preserved you from all kinds of things that could have happened to you and I. But He delivers us daily. He protects us and He guides us and He delivers us. But not only that, He will yet, we trust as it says in verse 10, that He will yet deliver us. Looking to the future, that He will take us away once and for all out of this sin. The redemption of the body, of our own body. Deliver our bodies from all that which it experiences here in this world. Sorrow, and pain, and aches, and all that which we experience here in our body.

So, back to Romans, chapter 8. The believers groan, verses 23, 24, and 25. We talked about verse 23. And then in verse 24, He is saying, "For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why does he yet hope for?" Now, don't make a mistake. It says here, we are saved by hope. It doesn't mean that our salvation, it doesn't talk here about our eternal salvation. No. He is talking here about the salvation, the redemption of our body. We are hoping, and this is not I hope so, but it is the glorious hope, the known hope that we have. That we are going to be with Him, and we have this assurance that one day we are going to be with Him no longer to experience the trials that are here in this world.

This is the future day that is ahead of us. So, we are saved. In other words, we know that when He is going to come, we are going to be with Him. So, we are saved. This is the body is saved by the hope, the known hope of the coming of Yeshua to take us away from here. And finally in verse 25, "Believers wait patiently for the glorious day." But if we hope for that we don't see, then do we with patience wait for it. See what He is saying? We are waiting patiently for that which He has for the believer in the coming day. See if we would have, you know, hope is something we don't see.

We don't see yet what's going to happen. We know it. We believe it. We accepted it. It is told us in the Scripture. But we are still having the hope, the Christian hope, the believers hope is to be with the Lord Jesus, no longer to sin and to have this groaning that we experience here in this world. So, we talked about creation groaning. This is verses 18 to 22. We talked about the believers groaning. This is verse 23 to 25. Now, let's talk a little bit about the Holy Spirit of God's groaning. And so, look at this. Verse 26 to verse 30 is the Holy Spirit groaning. First of all, in verse 26, we find out that the Spirit making intercession for the believer.

Likewise, the Holy Spirit, this is the Spirit, capital S, that's the Holy Spirit of God. He also helps our infirmities, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. Do you have sometimes problems with knowing what to pray and how to pray? Sometimes when we go through trials, we can't even say a word. We just have to be quiet before the Lord. We don't even know what to say. The pain is so heavy. The challenge that we face, it's so high, so far beyond what we are able to even comprehend why we are going through these trials. So, the Holy Spirit of God is coming to our aid.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit of God is to aid, to assist, to comfort. That's why he is called the comforter, to comfort the believer. And so, Paul is saying, even the Holy Spirit, he helped us in our infirmities because we do not know what we have to pray for. But the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groaning that we cannot be uttered. The ministry of the Spirit of God is so important here, beloved brothers and sisters. The beauty of the work of the Holy Spirit of God when you are down and out and you are discouraged. When you cannot face the challenges that are before you and you cannot even pray anymore.

Or maybe you can just say, God help. And the Holy Spirit of God, what does he do? He assists us. He helps us through those experiences. And he makes intercession. He actually presents before the Father the need of the child of the Father. And he does it with groaning which cannot be uttered. That's what the ministry of the Spirit of God is doing for us. That's why every one of us, if we are children of God, the Holy Spirit of God is indwelling us. He takes residence in the body of the believer. And he guides us. And he molds us. And he shapes us. And he helps us.

He's assisting us. That's why we need him so much. If we are to live a victorious Christian life, we need him so much. And so, he makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. You cannot even say things. And the Spirit of God take it and present it before the Father. Even the Lord Jesus, we find out in Scripture, he's raising up, lifting up holy hands on behalf of the people of God. And he says, Father, for these sins I have died. Father, for these, this is my child. He says, Father, I present his need before you. And that's what the Holy Spirit of God is doing.

And this is very precious to know that when you go through trial and you cannot handle, it seems to me that things are so difficult, so heavy. Then we can be assured on the basis of the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit of God is interceding on our behalf. With groaning. This expression that we have, like le'e anach, like with the heaviness in a sense. But the groaning is on behalf of the people of God. And he's presenting us before the Father. What precious truth to understand. And in the next verses we can see the whole three persons of the Godhead involved in the challenges that the believers go through.

The Father, the Son, the Spirit. All the three persons of the Godhead involved in ministering to the people of God. Notice verse 27. And he that searched the heart. That's the Son, the Messiah. Knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit of God. Because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. That's God the Father. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, here we have the whole three persons of the Godhead involved in the experiences that the believers are going through. The Son, the Spirit, the Father, the whole triune Godhead is involved in the experiences of the children of God.

He that searched the hearts. That's Yeshua the Messiah. He knows the mind of the Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit of God. Because he makes intercession for the saints. This is Yeshua. According to the will of God. According to the will of God. He knows what's the will of God. And he makes intercession on behalf of the people of God. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are involved in the experience of the believer, of the Christian here in this world. And so, brothers and sisters, you see what he's telling us? We are in the theme of sanctification. And we need to realize that we cannot trust the flesh.

We have to deal with the Holy Spirit of God. We are to lean hard on the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. That is victory in a Christian life. This is victory in the life of the believer. Not to do in the energy of our flesh things. But to do everything as we submit to the Lord under the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And so, he's telling them now in verse 28. This fundamental fact. That the believer ought to know that whatever happened to the believer in his life is ultimately for his good. Verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.

To them who are they called according to his purpose. Now, if I would write this verse, I would write it like this. For we know that all good things work together for good. And all bad things are working together for bad. But that's what I would write. But the Spirit of God says that all things work together for good. You have problems today? God says that it is ultimately for your good. You have challenges today in your life. And you do. And I know you do. And I do. All things work together for good. Ultimately, God has a lesson for you and I. God has a purpose in his mind for you and I.

Because perhaps there are things you need to be corrected in your life. And I need to be corrected in my life. God allows us to experience some challenges in our lives. So we will be drawn a little bit closer to Yeshua, the Messiah. For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. A believer loves God because he was first loved by him. We love him, 1 John tells us, because he first of all loved us. And if you love God, and if I love God, whatever he allows us to experience in our lives, whether it is good or whether it is not so good, ultimately it is working to form us a little bit longer, a little bit more to be like his son.

To them who are the called according to God's purpose. God has a purpose for us. He has a plan for us. And we are going to be shaped and mold according to the purpose that God had for us. Whatever you and I are going through in our life today, God has a purpose for this. He has a purpose, even though you and I don't see it quite clearly today. And so brothers and sisters, we know, he says Paul, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. I know it's easy to read it. I know it's easy to preach about it.

But it's much harder to go through it. When a believer suffers, only the Lord can enter into this experience. And that's why what I'm reading here, I'm reading the text, but I know that some of us are going through challenges that we cannot even enter through, enter into this situation. Only the Lord Jesus is the one that is able to minister and to encourage during this time. It is according to his purpose. And finally, listen, what is the purpose of God for his people? We have in verses 29 and 30. And look at this. It tells us what is the purpose of God in verses 29 and 30. And we know for whom he did foreknow, he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son.

You see, God wants many like his son. He wants you and I to be conformed, to be shaped, that our life will somehow reveal something of the Messiah in our life. His kindness, his patience, his love, his forgiveness, his grace, his holiness. Something like the Lord Jesus, God is intending to form, to make it in our life. He wants you and I to be in some small measure like his son. So whom he did foreknew, he foreknew us in eternity past. He also predestined us that we will be conformed to the image, not only the external image, but the moral image of his son. Why?

Look at the next statement. That he might be the first born among many brethren. The Hebrew word for brethren is Achim. Many times in the Old Testament, in the Tanakh, we have this expression, Achim. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren, Achim, to dwell together in unity. Psalm 133. And Psalm 22, he is not ashamed in calling us his brethren, Achim. And you see what God wants, that he, Yeshua, going to be the first born among many brethren. Many brethren. You and I, who are saved and redeemed by the precious blood of the Messiah. God predestined us that we will be conformed like unto his son, to the image of his son.

Jesus, our Messiah, gave such a joy to the heart of the Father when he was here in this world. Every footstep he took, he brought glory to God. Every word he spoke, he brought joy to the Father, glory to the Father. Can you imagine when you and I are doing some things with all the failure that we have in our life? If we do some things that are depicting the person of Yeshua, can you imagine what a joy we give to the Father? Can you imagine, brothers and sisters? That's why the more we are occupied with him, the more we can be like him. We can learn of him.

He said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." God wants us to be like his son. That's what he wants us. And so we are going to be like him. We shall see him as he is, for we shall be like him, John tells us in other passages. But now, right now, God wants to see something like his son formed in the believer. So he says, "Whom he did foreknow, then he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." And look at the process, brothers and sisters.

Predestination, foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, glorification. We have those five words here, found in the next verse. And that's the last verse we're going to speak about today. "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called." See, he destined, he predestined us to become children of God. Now I know there is a lot of differences of views on those things, and we're going to leave it at this at the moment. But I tell you what I understand, that we have been not only God foreknew us, he knew us in eternity past, knowing in his purpose to bring us to be the children of God, but also he destined us.

He have chosen us in eternity past, but in time he called us. That's why it says here, "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called." To you it might have been five years ago, to another ten years ago, another one fifteen years ago, he called us. For me, almost thirty years ago, he says, "Gideon, come." I didn't hear any voice, but I suddenly heard the message of the Gospel, that I am a sinner, a Jewish sinner, who need my Messiah to forgive my sins. And he called me. And he says, "Gideon, I know that you need a forgiveness of sins, and I have provided, I am the Mashiach, I am the Messiah." And so in time, he called us.

And whom he called, them he also justified. He declared us just because of what Yeshua, the Messiah, have done. He justified us. All our sins so great, so many. He have set them aside, removed them. And he said, "You are just." And finally, notice it says, "Whom he justified, them he also glorified." And the glorification here is positional glorification. Even though practically we are still here, we are still groaning, we are still suffering, but he have already glorified us. As far as God's concerned, every believer positionally is already glorified, is seen in the Messiah, in the presence of God. And so brothers and sisters, listen.

In conclusion for this meeting today, the world creation is groaning. Don't be surprised when you look around. But not only they. You also are groaning. I also groaning. Waiting for the day when this body will be redeemed. When God is going to give us a body that is suitable for his presence. A glorified body like we have in 1 Thessalonians. He is transforming us. Giving us a body that is suitable for his presence. Until then, we are going to go through the process that is happening here in this world. We are going to groan. But it's not only that creation groans. Not only that we as believers groan, but also the Holy Spirit of God.

He sees it. He knows your need and mine. He knows the challenges that we face in our life. And He, on our behalf, making intercession for us. He is groaning with groaning which cannot be uttered. And we are waiting for the day where we are going to be with the Lord. In a meanwhile, brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us in the process of sanctification in our life. To depend not on our nature, on the old nature. But to depend on the Holy Spirit of God to help us. We don't have to be defeated. We can also, we don't have to be discouraged. We can be encouraged because the Holy Spirit of God is there on our side.

To help us to live the life for the Lord Jesus our Messiah.