Where do we need Help? Romans 8:26-39

In July I had the privilege of preaching at Woodlawn Baptist Church. My text was Romans 8:26-39 (and Psalm 121), and my title was "Where do we need Help?" Below are the notes from that sermon.

Where do we need help? Romans 8:26-39 (Psalm 121)

Intro—Help. Anybody here ever need help? We all need it. Maybe we need help with our computers. Maybe we need help with security. Maybe we need help getting up (I’ve fallen . . . ). Maybe we just need help getting something off of a tall shelf, or getting groceries to the care, or taking care of the yard, or with our homework, or with a project. 

Songs about “help” are everywhere. The Beatles had two: “Help!” and “With a little help from my friends”. The Beach Boys wanted help from Rhonda. The Four Tops couldn’t help themselves. Elvis couldn’t help falling in love. Billy Swan said, “I can help.” And even Stevie Wonder crooned “Heaven Help Us All.” Where do we need help?

Help is a very scriptural idea. Adam needed help and received from God a helper suitable to him named Eve. The Jews cried out to God in their captivity in Egypt and received help in the form of Moses. God sent Joshua to help the Jews to conquer the promised land. The Judges helped the people against oppression. God sent David to help the people defeat their enemies. Job cried out for God’s help. The Psalms are full of such hope (read 46 and 121). The prophets encouraged the people to turn to God for help and to avoid relying on the support of others or horses and chariots or governments etc. Where do we need help?

Luke 1:54—Mary sees Jesus as the “help” of Israel, and the Holy Spirit is described as Helper in John 14-16. Our passage today from Paul’s letter to the Romans offers us some “help” as well. Read Romans 8:26-39.

“Nearly every sentence is a new way of stating the promise that God has not abandoned ‘us,’ and is in fact working--across the past, present, and future--on our behalf. (While the first person plural verbs originally referred to Paul and those he calls "brothers and sisters" in 8:12, succeeding generations of Christians have of course understood themselves, also, to be directly addressed by the words.) The text has three units, and any one of them could be the basis of a sermon. Together, they offer a look into the way God's love bursts forth into help for us over time.” Commentary on Romans

Here we see three areas God offers us help: 1) words, 2) witness, and 3) warfare. Where do we need help? 

We Need Help With Words/Prayer vv. 26-27—"In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness," Paul begins in Romans 8:26-27. The language of these first two verses has more in common with the earlier verses of chapter 8 than those that follow them. As the Spirit had helped us to cry, "Abba, Father," (Romans 8:16), so also the Spirit helps us pray when we do not know what to pray.

William Willimon tells the following story about a hospital visit to a man who was diagnosed with cancer:  

Willimon admits that he entered the hospital room with apprehension. His friend George had gotten a bad diagnosis the day before. Cancer. Things didn’t look good. 

“George, how’s it going?”

“Preacher, I am glad that you are here. I need some help.”

“What kind of help?”

“I can’t figure out what to pray for. I mean, do I pray for healing? Surely God knows that I want to be healed. But why should I be healed, and not everybody else in this hospital? What makes me so special? A lot of people my age get cancer. Why should I think that my cancer is any different from their’s and why should God give me some special dispensation?

“On the other hand, I really do want to be healed. If I am healed, think of all the good things I could do. I could continue the work that I’m doing in the church, the work for others. But maybe I’m just being self-deceptive. Just like a frightened kid, who’ll promise God anything. 

"And who am I not to be coming to God asking for all of this? I have a lousy prayer life, don't give God the time of day on most days. So here I've come like a blathering idiot, begging, wheeling and dealing, who am I to be making such prayers?"

Paul reminds us that we do not know how to pray, and he includes himself in that! The spiritual giant who wrote 13 of the NT books admits here that he is with us in not always knowing what to pray. Maybe he is referring to times when we are overwhelmed beyond words (like the man in the story above). 

James Dunn points out that Paul's syntax in verse 26 defines the problem differently than we sometimes think of it. The problem is not that we know what we need and merely lack the right words for requesting it. As Dunn puts it, we "do not know what to want," let alone how to ask for it. In the midst of this confusion, the Spirit intercedes, aligning prayer on our behalf to the will of God for us. The Spirit intercedes for us with unspoken groanings or groanings too deep for words. God helps us pray by praying for and through us with words we just can’t “get out”.

No matter how we read this section, we have to see it in the context of the rest of Romans 8. Paul reminds us in verses 21-23 that creation “groans” in anticipation of God revealing his work in his people. Creation groans in the pain of childbirth until God gives it freedom by finally and decisively making his children the free heirs of all his promises. In the meantime, the church remains puzzled about how to pray, thus the need for the Spirit's assistance. 

Paul challenges us to enter into deeper wrestling with the pain of the world. From the environmental to rundown communities to the devastation of humankind, all of God's creation groans in pain. We need help in our words, we need help praying. We need God’s help to groan with creation over its present state of decay. We need the Spirit’s help to groan with God over the present state of fallen humanity. We need Jesus’ help to groan with the church as it longs for God's ultimate redemption. We need help to pray as we ought.

Just think of it. According to Paul, God’s Spirit is praying through us! Prayer is one vehicle for spiritual maturity, yet prayer as a spiritual discipline remains grossly underused even though we have access to the greatest prayer teacher, the Holy Spirit. Interestingly, the best prayer instruction generally occurs in the midst of severe hardship and suffering that can leave us floundering and overwhelmed. It is then that the Spirit prays in and through us with groans that are too deep for words. We need the Spirit’s help to learn to pray—especially when words fail us. Where do we need the Spirit’s help with words today? Where are we incapable of finding the right words to even ask for God’s help? That is where we need help!

But prayer is usually a private thing, and we need help not only privately but publicly. Here Paul reminds us that God provides help with our witness.

We Need Help With Our Witness/Being Like Jesus vv. 28-30—this section contains a favorite verse for many people, but it also contains some theologically charged words that cause tons of discussion and controversy. Reading some of the discussions of these verses may make us cry out for help from theologians! 

At any rate, I want to focus on one main aspect here tucked away in these verses— In verses 28-30, Paul continues his discussion of salvation and our need for help. It is not just that we need the Spirit to help us by interceding for us in the present. The past tells the same story of God's intention for Christ to be "firstborn within a large family" (8:29), a family that includes us. God’s desire is to include a variety of people (not only Jews) in this plan. It is not an ethnic plan, it is a spiritual plan addressing a very spiritual need. 

Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, but their sin resulting in their fall created a problem for all humans. We still bear something of God’s image, but it is marred, blurred, or in some sense unclear. What Adam and Eve were supposed to be was damaged by their disobedience, and every human is affected by that fall. We need God’s help to be the people he intended us to be. We need Jesus to be the image of God as God originally intended. We need help!

Paul here points to God always having had something beyond wrath in mind for sinners and the decaying creation of which we are all a part. With Jesus’ help, we are brought into a family with brothers and sisters and obligations: we're to love one another and serve one another. Romans 8:29 seems to echo the creation story again when it speaks of recipients of God's call being "conformed to the image of his Son." 

Humans had been made "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27), so now God is working out the plan by which humans are recreated in that image which has been perfectly reflected in God's Son, Jesus. All the doctrinal words here may be summed up in the work of redemption brought about by the blood of Jesus. The goal towards which “all things work together” for God’s people is to make them like Jesus. Where do we need to be like Jesus? Do we need help in living a holy life? How are we doing in obeying God’s command? Do we need help to represent Jesus properly to the world around us? Paul reminds us that we have the Spirit’s help to be all that God intended. We have the help we need to be conformed to the image of Christ—we can serve in humility, we can live sacrificially, and we can be a help to point others to the One who can help them! And we need help to do it!

But witness is only one aspect of public life for Christ. As we pursue Christ-likeness we will find ourselves sometime facing hard times. When we face hardship, Paul reminds us that God provides help in our warfare.

We Need Help With Warfare/Persevering in trials vv. 31-39—Our passage ends with a divine hymn that boasts of God's incredible and invincible love. Nothing can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul begins this section with some questions about the situation of Christians. In verses 31-34, Paul essentially claims that the people who put their faith in Christ have found their need for acceptance met. The need for belonging is met in the body of Christ. In fact, the answer to the questions Paul asks is “No one but Jesus!” Paul seems to be saying that what we need is found in the redeeming love of Christ, in his death and resurrection. By giving us Jesus, God has provided all we need, and Jesus (like the Spirit) even helps us in prayer. Paul reminds us that the world may be a scary place, but God has us in his hand and has provided a place of refuge and rest. We need help, and that help is found in Christ.

In biblical times, people feared many apparent "powers," including angels and astrology. Paul addresses some of these things in this hymn, but the specifics aren’t as important as the conclusion—we need help to win in spiritual warfare. God has provided us that help in Jesus. Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is the means by which we overcome the stuff the world throws at us. In fact, Paul says that nothing the world throws at us can separate us from God’s great grace. Paul says that we are "more than conquerors." 

Suffering is not something to be feared. Rather, as Gorman reminds us, "Believers do not ignore suffering because it has no effect on the true self, but rather they see in the suffering of Christ the full involvement of the self of God and of Christ in and for the world" (Cruciformity, 329). In other words, God and Christ are fully involved in suffering and involved in it "in and for the world."

What's more, because of God's faithfulness in raising Jesus from the dead, both the present experience of suffering and what we can expect of the future are transformed. We not only know God's solidarity with us now but also anticipate a time when even the worst that the powers of Sin and Death have to offer will be shown to be a "slight momentary affliction" (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:17) when compared with the "glory about to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18). What do we need? Why are we afraid?

What stands in the way of us enjoying God's love? Paul offers a laundry list of challenges resident in his time. What challenges do we face in which we need God’s help? Are we allowing something to separate us from God's love today? If so, what is it? Fear of sex offenders in the neighborhood? Concern over violent crimes? Alarm over terrorism? The inability to control one's life and circumstances? Fear of the future? What might happen if we fully commit? What do we need? 

We need God’s help to recognize that NONE of these things can separate us from his great love. Many distractions attempt to sever our attention from God. Each distraction claims to be more powerful, important, or influential than God. But God’s love and God’s grace are ours in Christ. There is one word that describes the relationship between God's love for God's redeemed: inseparable. We need that kind of relationship!

Conclusion—Now what?

How do we respond to this word?

Pray—even when we don’t have words—pray. This week identify specific areas where we need the Spirit’s help, and then let him help. Groan before him. Groan for the state of the world. Groan for the lost who do not know the love of Christ. Groan for the state of the church and its lack of love. Groan for those areas where we are not yet free but long for liberty. Spend at least 5 minutes a day in God’s presence this week, and just groan for the needs around you.  

Witness—seek opportunities to share and to discuss the great kindness that God has shown us. Look for broken people and help them. Look for lost people and share the good news with them. Look for places where there is a need, and ask God to help you meet that need. Seek opportunity to be conformed to the image of Jesus!

Warfare—recognize that Satan wants to distract us from the goal of being like Jesus. Focus most importantly on the fact that no matter how hard Satan tries, he CANNOT separate us from God’s love. If we are God’s children, then we have God’s grace. Look for places that distract or that try to keep us from the focus on God’s invincible love. Address those issues specifically. Bring them into proper focus to see how small they are compared to Jesus.

Where do we need help? Do we need a little help from your friends? Do we need someone to help? This week, remember that God doesn’t help those who help themselves, rather God helps those who are broken and who ask for help. We need to humble ourselves and receive help. 

Thank you for reading! 

Can I Get A Witness? 1 John 5:6-12, Theology Matters Series

Hello all:

I teach an Adult Bible Community at Thomas Road Baptist Church called the G.A.P. (for Graduates and Professionals), and each week I post the outlines and discussion questions from my lessons on the G.A.P. page on Facebook. A while back I started posting these notes on the blog too. So, here is the outline for our meeting on June 5, 2011. A while back we started a new series on 1 John entitled "Theology Matters." This lesson looks at 1 John 5:6-12 and discusses the idea that Christians should live in response to the testimony and evidence God offers in the Incarnation. In fact, if we take the Incarnation seriously, we will realize that God is calling us to a life of humble service to others just as Christ came among us. His life is not merely an example for us, it is a call for us to take God at His Word and live as he has called us. In this lesson, I put the audience in the jury box and ask them to consider several pieces of evidence and some testimony. Then I ask them to make a decision based on that evidence. The decision will reveal itself in our own testimony to what God has done. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!

Can I Get a Witness?
1 John 5:6-12
Theology Matters Series

Introduction
Jury duty
These words usually do not make people happy
When you receive a notice of jury duty, it doesn’t usually bless you
I served on juries before—two in Waco and a grand jury in Campbell County
We heard testimony, observed evidence, and rendered a verdict

Our passage today, 1 John 5:6-12, makes me think of a courtroom

Twelve times in 1 John our author uses the Greek word for witness, testify, or testimony
Ten of them show up in our passage today

I am going to ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to be a jury today

I am going to present to you some testimony and some evidence, and I will be asking you to render a verdict

Are you ready?

The Evidence
In chapter 4, John reminds his readers of the importance of faith in the Incarnation. Now he addresses the issue: How can we be assured that the Incarnation is a fact? In these verses John lays out the evidence for the Incarnation.

We live in an age where uncertainty and a lack of “dogmaticism” is enshrined as a valuable virtue.
We are told the no one can be certain and that truth is relative
We are often reminded that things are subjective and truth is a personal decision or opinion
I even saw a letter to the editor that declared that faith in the resurrection of Christ is based on “blind faith” and cannot be known by “fact” or historical data

That is the world WE live in

John would say that such a view of the world is foolish

I would agree with John

John gives us three pieces of evidence and a contrast to say to us, “You can be bulldogmatic on the topic of the incarnation”

In 1 John 5:6-9, he lists his three witnesses as follows: the Spirit, the water and the blood

Verse 6 tells us that Jesus Christ came by the water and the blood and not by water only

What in the world does John mean by this?
To what do the words “water” and “blood” refer?

Here are some options:
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
The Incarnation (Jesus’ birth) and the Crucifixion
Some connection to blood and water coming from Christ at the crucifixion (John 19:34)
But none of these are satisfactory given the context

Let’s remember a bit of our history here
John is dealing with opponents to his teaching
These opponents apparently were teaching a doctrine that said that God is Spirit only and cannot be “flesh” or “human”

In fact, some of them even claimed that Jesus only “seemed” human, he was really a spirit being (Docetism)

Some even went so far as to separate the man Jesus from the Messianic Divine Spirit called “Chirst” (Cerenthus). This teaching claimed that the spirit of Christ came on the man Jesus at his baptism, but left him at the cross. That is, Jesus the man was endued with power at his baptism, but this divine power left him at the cross. The Spirit of “Christ” couldn’t suffer or die in this view

For these individuals, redemption is not important but enlightenment is needed. They have a baptized Jesus but a “bloodless” Christ. They are happy to be initiated into a “mystery,” but they shy away from suffering as a means of redemption

These are the people resisting John’s teaching

John is writing not only to reassure his people but to also resist the false teachings of his opponents

The language in verse 6 indicates a past historical kind of witness
With that in mind, it seems likely that water and blood refer to the baptism of Jesus and the crucifixion of Jesus

John says that it is not by “water only” but by the blood as well
John refers here to God’s testimony in Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion
These two historical events testify to the truth of the Incarnation

As if these two were not enough, John reminds his readers that there is also the testimony of the Spirit of Truth (verse 7)

The word “Spirit” here refers to the Holy Spirit of God.

Just as God testified of Jesus as the Christ at his baptism and at his crucifixion, so also the Holy Spirit continues to testify about Christ and his work of salvation (John 15:26)
This witness is the truth (John 14:6)

These three: The Spirit, the water, and the blood all agree (verse 8)—they are united in testimony
They agree about the witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Incarnate Word of God
Their testimony is God’s evidence of Jesus

John closes this section with verse 9, in which he contrasts human testimony with God’s testimony

Simply stated, John reminds us that we often receive the testimony of humans
We usually accept the word of human agents without asking for more
How would you respond if every time you spoke to a friend he said, “I just don’t know if I can believe you. Is your testimony true?”
Most of us expect to be believed in most cases, and we tend to believe other human witnesses in general

Parent, Authorities, Pharmacists, Doctors, even the people on TV or in the newspaper
We often accept their testimony without hesitation
If we can accept the testimony of humans, then we ought to recognize that God’s testimony is greater than human words

God’s testimony is pretty straightforward: He has testified/borne witness to his Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17)

In other words, the evidence for the Incarnation is historical and supernatural
The historical events speak of Jesus as the Messiah and God’s witness supports these facts/events

God has spoken his witness in history and in his Scripture, what is the effect of it?

The Effects
1 John 5:10-12 outline the effects of the witnesses John offers above

The evidence John presents brings the reader or hearer to the place of a decision

Just like a judge or jury must make a decision and respond to the witnesses and the evidence presented in a court of law, so also the hearers/readers of John’s letter must now respond

There are two possible responses

1. The negative (5:10)
One possible response to the testimony/witness John provides is to say, “It isn’t true. I will not act on it in faith. God lies.”

John depicts unbelief not as a position to be pitied, but as a sin of which to repent

The person who looks at God’s evidence and God’s testimony and says, “It is not true” is calling God a liar.

Remember, “faith” as we defined it last week is an action—it is acting on what we know and placing our trust in something bigger than us—it is total reliance on Jesus and what God has accomplished in him

John’s opponents did not accept the full testimony of God
They belittled the truth of Christ by making him less than the Incarnate Word of God
They tried to avoid the blood of the crucifixion and to rely only on a mysterious enlightenment that led one to a mystical experience
Such actions/faith claim that God lied in his Word

This position does not accept the truth of God’s full testimony regarding Jesus

2. The Positive (5:10-12)
The person that responds to God’s testimony with faith (i.e., that trusts completely in God’s works in Christ for salvation) receives as a result an internal testimony
This is the testimony of the Spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:15-17; Gal. 4:4-7)

All who place faith in God’s truthful witness will have an internal testimony of this Truth

The person that responds to God’s truthful testimony with faith also receives an eternal testimony and eternal life

This life is not just a heavenly reality in the future, it is a spiritual reality now—the believer in God’s truth lives a life full of God
His life is centered on God, directed by God, filled with God
That is abundant life—the certainty of that life is focused on Jesus as the perfect revelation of God (John 1:1-3; 14; Hebrews 1:1-3) and as the one who gives abundant life (John 1:11-12; 10:10)

John even says that eternal life is in Jesus, and those who have Jesus have that eternal life—those who deny the truth of Jesus do not have eternal life

Embracing Jesus equals life, while rejecting Jesus results in no life

So what is the verdict?
Will you reject the evidence and God’s testimony?
Will you accept the evidence and the witness and have life?

What does the Jury say?
We stand in a place of decision today. John has offered us testimony and evidence regarding the divine Messianic status of one Jesus of Nazareth

We must now make our decision, we must render our verdict

Is Jesus the Christ? Is he the perfect expression and reflection of God’s divine nature?
If so, what are the ramifications for us?
If not, what will happen?

The Verdict
If we reject the Word of God as presented today, we must acknowledge that we are labeling the testimony of the evidence and of God as false. We will call God a liar and we are spiritually dead

If we accept the testimony, then we must place our trust completely in Christ for the life that only God can bring. Our life will exhibit that quality of life that only Jesus offers

If we accept God’s testimony then, our lives will look like Jesus—we will be his witnesses, we will add to the evidence our own testimony

What is your decision?

Thanks for reading!