Romans 8:18-25: How to Persevere through Suffering

Romans 8:18-25: How to Persevere through Suffering

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 8. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 782. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Romans, and this morning, we find ourselves in Romans 8:18-25. Romans 8:18-25:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 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. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 

One of the reasons I’ve entitled this sermon “How to Persevere through Suffering” is that suffering is all too common in this world. Just a few weeks ago, I learned some sad news about a friend of mine named Kirk. A few of you may actually remember Kirk. He attended our church a few times back before it even was a church. We were simply meeting on Sunday evenings for a Bible study, and Kirk attended several of those meetings. Also, on one occasion, I was able to visit Kirk in his apartment and pray with him and meet his wife and his young daughter. But sadly, just in these past few weeks, my wife saw on Facebook that Kirk actually died back in October from a drug overdose. And even though I was aware that Kirk did use drugs from time to time, the news of his death was still kind of surreal to me. Just a few months prior to October, I had talked to Kirk on the phone and he was asking about the church and where we were meeting and things like that. And now, all of a sudden, Kirk isn’t alive anymore. It feels a bit surreal. And honestly, I didn’t even know Kirk that well. I can’t imagine what it must be like for his wife and his daughter, who’s only about 6 years old. Yet that’s just another reminder that this world is filled with suffering. This is a world where 6-year-old girls lose their daddy. And of course, to one degree or another, everybody suffers in various ways and at various points throughout their lives. And sometimes, our suffering can feel overwhelming to us. Several of you here this morning may feel overwhelmed by suffering right now. 

Yet this passage in Romans 8 shows us how we can persevere through the suffering we face. Of course, the Bible teaches us a number of other truths outside of this passage that are also helpful to remember in the midst of suffering, but I believe the truths we encounter in our main passage this morning are among the most precious. Here in Romans 8, we learn that the best way to persevere through suffering as Christians is to appreciate and anticipate our heavenly inheritance. That’s the main idea. The best way to persevere through suffering is to appreciate and anticipate our heavenly inheritance. So let’s look at those two ideas. Number one, appreciating our heavenly inheritance. And number two, anticipating our heavenly inheritance.

Appreciating Our Heavenly Inheritance 

So first, appreciating our heavenly inheritance. Look again at verse 18: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. So according to Paul, there’s no comparison between the sufferings of this present life and the glory of our future life. Those two things aren’t even worth comparing, Paul says. It makes me think of a person trying to make an important life decision about whether or not to do something by listing out the pros and cons of that decision. Maybe they’re a senior in high school trying to decide whether they want to attend a certain college. So they might make a list of the pros and cons of attending that college. Maybe, on the one hand, that college has a very reputable program and is located in a city that has nice weather. But on the other hand, perhaps that college declined to offer them a scholarship and is located far away from their hometown. So this prospective student might have a difficult time deciding whether it’s worth it or not attend this college. They’re going to weigh or, we might say, compare the pros and cons carefully because the pros and the cons are very close to being equal. But when it comes to the pros and the cons of following Jesus, there’s no comparison, Paul says. It doesn’t matter how many friends you lose as the result of being a Christian. It doesn’t matter what kind of unfair treatment you receive at work or how much economic loss you experience as the result of your Christian faith. It doesn’t even matter if you’re imprisoned or martyred. The glories of heaven are so much greater and weightier than whatever sufferings we may face in this life that the two aren’t even worth comparing. That’s the point of verse 18. 

Paul makes a nearly identical point in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Listen to what he writes after he speaks of his suffering: 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Did you catch what he said? “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” “Light momentary affliction.” Let’s explore for a moment what Paul considered “light momentary affliction.” Later on in that same letter, specifically in chapter 11, Paul describes the kinds of things he faced as the result of his Christian ministry. In verse 23, he describes how he was imprisoned numerous times, beaten numerous times, and often near death. He then states in verses 24-27: 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 

So all of those things are included in what Paul describes back in chapter 4 as “light momentary affliction.” When he talks about “light momentary affliction,” that’s what he’s talking about. So how in the world could he speak of his suffering that way? Well, the answer is in that same sentence. He’s viewing his affliction through the lens of what he calls “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” The glories of heaven are so wonderful that they make even the most difficult things we experience on this earth seem like nothing. And certainly that’s not meant to downplay people’s suffering or be insensitive to their suffering. People do experience some very difficult things in this life. Paul’s not denying that. But he’s saying that when you compare those things to the glories of heaven, there is no comparison. That’s his point in 2 Corinthians 4, and that’s his point back in our main text in Romans 8. “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” So have you ever considered the weight and the magnitude of that glory? In the wording of our first point, have you appreciated the glory of our heavenly inheritance? How you ever given serious thought to just how glorious it’s going to be? And if you haven’t, why not? 

I think Richard Baxter is very helpful when it comes to appreciating the glory of our heavenly inheritance. Baxter was a Puritan pastor in England who lived back in the 1600’s and who wrote a book entitled The Saints’ Everlasting Rest. And in this book, Baxter lists a few of the things that are included in our inheritance. These are all features of heaven that make it so wonderful. And we don’t have time to really drill down into each of these, but I would at least like to go through them. First, our inheritance will include “a ceasing of the means of grace.” “A ceasing of the means of grace.” “Means of grace” refers to the spiritual disciplines through which we obtain God’s grace. And in heaven, there will be no more need for them. For example, there will be no more need for prayer, Baxter says, because there will be no more lack but rather the full enjoyment of things we would have prayed for. Also, there will be no more need to study the Bible because we’ll already know everything we need to know and will already be perfectly conformed to the likeness of Jesus. So we won’t have any more need for any of the means of grace because we’ll already be in a state of perfection. 

And that leads us to the second thing that makes heaven so wonderful, which is “perfect freedom from all evils.” All of the sin that plagues our world will be gone entirely. All of the suffering that plagues our world will be eradicated. There won’t be any more grief or sorrow of any kind but rather “perfect freedom from all evils.” 

Then third, Baxter says, we’ll enjoy “the highest degree of personal perfection, both of body and soul.” And here’s what that means. Not only will heaven itself be more glorious than we can imagine, but we ourselves will have a greater capacity to enjoy that heavenly glory. Think of an amusement park. Let’s say a child goes to a world-class amusement park like Disneyworld but then gets sick during their visit. Disneyworld might be amazing, but if that child is sick, they’re not going to have the capacity to enjoy all of the things Disneyworld has to offer. And in the same way, our enjoyment of heaven would be limited were it not for the fact that God will give us a glorified body and a perfected soul that are able to take in all of the glories of heaven. In Baxter’s words, “The more perfect the sight is, the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical the ear, the more pleasant the melody. The more perfect the soul, the more joyous those joys, and the more glorious, to us, is that glory.”

Then, fourth, Baxter says that our inheritance will consist of “the nearest enjoyment of God, the chief good.” And truly, this is the very crux and the very center of what makes our inheritance so glorious. Our inheritance consists first and foremost of God himself. 1 John 3:2 states that “we shall see him as he is.” Hopefully it goes without saying that there’s nothing more wonderful or more delightful than that. To see God and be in his presence and bask in the light of his glory—what greater state of blessedness could there be? It’s a state of blessedness that’s infinitely beyond anything we can imagine. Our minds can’t fathom the glory of being in God’s presence because they can’t fathom the glory of God. Baxter compares it to an ant standing on the top of his anthill and looking up at a human being.  That ant can’t even come close to adequately grasping what he’s looking at. There’s no way that ant with his puny little ant mind can grasp the thoughts or the nature of the human he sees. And yet that example is just an example of one finite creature trying to grasp the nature of another finite creature. How much less are we, as finite creatures, able to grasp the glories of the infinite God? Yet this is the God we’ll get to enjoy in heaven. What an incredible thought! And what indescribable joy awaits us in heaven!

Then, the fifth and final feature of heaven that Baxter lists is “a sweet and constant action of all the powers of soul and body in this enjoyment of God.” Our existence in heaven won’t be a passive existence but rather a very active one. Our strength in its entirety will be employed in the enjoyment of God. And remember, as we already mentioned, we’ll have a glorified body and a perfected soul with which to do that. And we’ll be doing it constantly. We’ll be able to enjoy God with all our strength and without any kind of interruption or intermission. Baxter calls it “a rest without rest.”

So that’s what makes heaven so glorious. And coming back to our main text, that’s why Paul can say, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Heaven is so wonderful that it makes all of the things that may happen to us here on earth seem like nothing in comparison. So here’s the question: are you living that way? Are you living with that in view? That’s what’s going to help you persevere through suffering. 

Some time ago, I shared the story of David Livingstone. And I’d like to talk about him again because I believe he’s such a good example of someone who persevered through suffering by appreciating the glory of our inheritance. David Livingstone was a missionary to Africa in the 1800’s. And he was one of the first Europeans ever to navigate through the African interior. No European had ever before set foot in many of the places where David Livingstone set foot. And to say the least, it was quite dangerous. This guy was attacked over thirty times by lions and other wild animals. His life was constantly threatened also from illnesses like malaria and dysentery. At one point, he completely lost contact with the outside world for six years and was presumed to be dead. But the reason he did what he did and went where he went was because he understood that Jesus has called us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. He believed in advancing the gospel so much that he was even willing to die in the course of doing so. 

And many of us would look at David Livingstone’s life and admire him for the sacrifices he made as he worked to spread the gospel. But listen to what he says about that. Listen to what he says about the idea of him making a sacrifice: “For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. . . . Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.” 

So how could Livingstone say that? How could he say “I never made a sacrifice”? It was for the same reason that Paul could describe his suffering as “light momentary affliction.” Livingstone understood that the glory of heaven far outweighs anything he could suffer here on earth. That’s why he regarded trading earthly comfort for heavenly reward as no sacrifice at all. That’s how he could say, “I never made a sacrifice.” And if you were listening closely, you may have noticed that Livingstone actually quoted our main text from Romans 8 when he said that “all these [that is, all these difficulties] are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us and for us.” Even the greatest earthly suffering doesn’t even begin to compare with the glory of heaven. And eventually, Livingstone did end up dying in a remote African village from a combination of malaria and internal bleeding caused by dysentery. Not exactly a nice way to die. But well worth the glory of heaven. And listen: you also can persevere through whatever difficulties you may face by appreciating the glory of heaven. Regardless of whether your difficulties arise from your service to Jesus or just come about as the result of living in a broken world—either way, you can persevere through them by appreciating the incomparable glory of what’s to come. 

Anticipating Our Heavenly Inheritance

So that’s the first point, appreciating our heavenly inheritance. Now very briefly, point number two, anticipating our heavenly inheritance. And here’s how these two points are different. The first point dealt with not thinking highly enough about our inheritance, while this second point deals with not thinking often enough about our inheritance and losing sight of it. Yet look at verses 19-25 of our main text: 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 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. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 

Look at the words Paul uses to describe our anticipation of heaven in these verses. First, he talks about groaning. And this groaning isn’t a groan of despair but rather a groan of anticipation and longing. Both creation and believers groan in this way. Then, in verse 23, Paul talks about waiting eagerly for our adoption to be completed. There’s a sense in which Christians have already been adopted into God’s family, but there’s another sense in which our adoption won’t come in its fullness until we get to heaven. Yet, we “wait eagerly” for that day, Paul says. Then, in verses 24-25, Paul talks about hoping. That’s the third term he uses. We as believers should look forward toward heaven in hope. By the way, when Paul talks about hope, he uses that word throughout his writings in a way that’s much different from the way we often use it. We might talk about hoping for something that’s uncertain—something that may or may not happen. We might say, “I hope the Steelers win the Super Bowl.” But when Paul talks about hope, he’s talking about a confident expectation of something that’s absolutely certain. That’s what he means in verse 25 when he mentions hoping for what we do not yet see. 

So how much are you doing those three things? How much are you groaning as you long for heaven? How eagerly are you waiting? How persistently are you hoping? In all three of these activities or states of mind, our focus is on our inheritance. It’s prominent in our thoughts each day. We’re anticipating it. It’s similar to the way a lot of us get through the winter, isn’t it? For me at least, the key to getting through the winter is to think frequent thoughts about the spring. Pretty much every day during the months of January and February, I’m anticipating springtime. That’s what helps me persevere. And likewise, we’re able to persevere through suffering in life by anticipating heaven. And as a matter of fact, not only can thinking of heaven help you persevere through that suffering, but the suffering itself can be a catalyst to help direct your gaze more fully toward heaven. Your suffering can actually serve you by reminding you to fix your eyes on what we should be looking at anyway—on heaven and the glorious inheritance we’ll receive. 

So let me encourage you to set your gaze on the glory God has in store for his people. That’s what will give you strength to persevere. And in fact, that’s what gives us the strength to do everything we do as Christians. If you’ll permit me one more quote from Richard Baxter, he said, “Our liveliness in all duties, our enduring of tribulation, our honoring of God, the vigor of our love, thankfulness, and all our graces; yea, the very being of our religion and Christianity depend on the believing, serious thoughts of our rest.” In other words, everything in the Christian life depends on thinking believing thoughts and deep thoughts about heaven. Those thoughts are what energize us to do the things we do. So how prominent are those kinds of thoughts in your mind?

Conclusion

And lastly, as we think about eternity, I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that this eternal inheritance isn’t for everybody. It’s only for a certain group. You see, the Bible teaches that all of us stand condemned before God and are utterly unworthy of heaven because of our sin. Sin is what the Bible calls it when people rebel against God—and we’ve all rebelled. Every one of us is guilty of cosmic treason against the God of the universe and deserves nothing except God’s judgment for all eternity. So how is it that we can have the hope of heaven? Well, that hope comes not by us doing enough religious things or being good enough for God but rather by us looking to Jesus as the only one who can save us from our sins and make us fit for heaven. You see, Jesus is God in human flesh, and he walked on this earth 2,000 years ago without sinning even one time. He then died on the cross to take the punishment not for any sins he had committed but for our sins. Jesus endured God’s judgment on the cross so we wouldn’t have to endure it in hell. He was the sacrifice that atoned for our sins. Then after Jesus died, he didn’t stay in the grave. No, three days later, he triumphantly resurrected from the dead as a picture of what can happen to us one day. As we put our trust in Jesus for rescue, we too can enjoy victory over death and eternal glorification in heaven. So have you done that? Have you turned away from your sins and looked to Jesus to provide the rescue you so desperately need? You can, even this morning.