Do you remember what he prayed in 2 Corinthians 12, and what the Lord's answer to him was in verse 9? This is what the Lord said to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” And do you remember what Paul said in response to that? Remember, he's ministering in the strong-crazed Corinthian community. Is that how you view yourself? Do you view yourself as weak? That's how Paul viewed himself. But as far as Paul is concerned, we are weak. And those who struggle, we so often ignore or even look askance upon. We like the businessmen who make the most money, and who are most successful. We like the students who get the best scholarships. We like the scholars that give the most prestigious fellowships and residences. We like the professionals that get the most prestigious positions. The number two team is a washed up has-been. They may have beat all sixty-three other teams, but they lost the championship game, and so as far as we're concerned, they’re a bunch of bums. In sporting events, we like the teams that win the championships. We like it when the underdog shows himself to be strong. Have you ever thought how often Paul talks about ministering in weakness and ministering to those who are weak, and Christians being careful not to harm those brothers and sisters who are weaker than themselves? You know, we live in a world and a culture and a community where everyone is working very hard to look strong. Jesus not only ministered to those who are weak, but on one occasion at a crucial point in the history of redemption, in the Garden of Gethsemane when His disciples slept while they need to be praying, He would say of them kindly, but very truthfully, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Those who can't protect themselves, those who are oppressed, those who are poor, those who are despised, those who are weak. The Psalmist often prays that God would come to rescue the weak. The Old Testament is filled with such assurances. Have you ever noticed how often that the Bible emphasizes that Christ and the gospel come especially to the aid of those who are weak. Make the Word to be plain to us and understandable and cause our hearts to respond with joy and comfort, we ask these things in Jesus’ Name, Amen. And that we would be encouraged by Your fulfillment of this promise, even in our hearing of Your Word this day.
And so we pray right now that you would bring to pass the promise to Your people contained in this word. Lord, we do need the help and the understanding of the Spirit to understand this inspired and infallible word about the work of the Holy Spirit, especially with regard to our prayer. May He write its eternal truth upon our hearts.
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“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”Īmen, and thus ends this reading of God's Holy, inspired and inerrant Word. So let's hear God's holy and inspired word here in Romans 8:26. But there's another sense in which Paul slightly changes the focus in verses 26 and 27 to talk with us about not simply suffering, but our weakness. There's a sense in which Paul is talking about suffering from verse 18 all the way to the end of the chapter, as you will see. We turn today then to a passage which slightly shifts the focus. And so this was the first of the comforts that Paul offers to us in this passage. But, he held out to us the hope of glory to help us endure our present suffering. He reminded them that that was going to be the state, that they were going to expect in this fallen world that all believers were going to endure from time to time in different ways, various types of suffering. In fact, the last time we were together looking at verses 18 through 25, we saw the first of a number of comforts that Paul offers to believers who are enduring suffering. You are undergoing trials and tribulation and suffering, and we've already found great encouragement in this chapter.
And no wonder, for this chapter not only shows us about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, but so much of that work concerns comforting believers who are really in the midst of it. This great chapter is a favorite of so many of us, and we turn to it time and again in our times of need.
If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Romans, chapter 8.
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