Morning Prayer: 19 August – Romans 8:28 ~ God’s love: 5 unshakeable convictions

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 8:28 (NLT)

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
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Reflection: Romans 8:28 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

God’s Spirit in God’s children (8:1–39)

The Christian life is essentially life in the Spirit, that is to say, a life which is animated, sustained, directed and enriched by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit true Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, indeed impossible.

(vs 28–39) The steadfastness of God’s love

Our Christian hope is solidly grounded on the unwavering love of God…. The eternal security of God’s people, on account of the eternal unchangeability of God’s purpose, …is itself due to the eternal steadfastness of God’s love.

(vs 28) Five unshakeable convictions

First, we know that God works, or is at work, in our lives…. He is ceaselessly, energetically and purposefully active on their behalf.
Secondly, God is at work for the good of his people. Being himself wholly good, his works are all expressions of his goodness and are calculated to advance his people’s good.
Thirdly, God works for our good in all things…. All that is negative in this life [has] a positive purpose in the execution of God’s eternal plan. Nothing is beyond the overruling, overriding scope of his providence.
Fourthly, God works in all things for the good of those who love him. This is a necessary limitation…. If the ‘good’ which is God’s objective is our completed salvation, then its beneficiaries are his people who are described as those who love him.
Fifthly, those who love God are also described as those who have been called according to his purpose…. So God has a saving purpose, and is working in accordance with it. Life is not the random mess which it may sometimes appear.

We do not always understand what God is doing, let alone welcome it. Nor are we told that he is at work for our comfort. But we know that in all things he is working towards our supreme good.
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Canticle

Christ, as a light illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 18 August – Romans 8:26-27 ~ the Spirit’s intercession

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 8:26-27 (NLT)

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
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Reflection: Romans 8:26-27 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

God’s Spirit in God’s children (8:1–39)

(vs 18–27) The glory of God’s children

‘Suffering and glory’ is the theme throughout this section: first the sufferings and glory of God’s creation (19–22) and then the sufferings and glory of God’s children (23–27).

(vs 26-27) Prayer and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Christian prayer is in itself an essentially trinitarian exercise. It is access to the Father through the Son and by the Spirit. The inspiration of the Spirit is just as necessary for our prayers as the mediation of the Son. We can approach the Father only through the Son and only by the Spirit.

In general, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, that is, in the ambiguity and frailty of our ‘already-not yet’ existence. In particular, he helps our weakness in prayer. In this sphere our infirmity is our ignorance: We do not know what we ought to pray for. But he knows what we do not know. In consequence, the Spirit himself intercedes for us.

Thus ‘the children of God have two divine intercessors’, writes John Murray. ‘Christ is their intercessor in the court of heaven …,’while ‘the Holy Spirit is their intercessor in the theatre of their own hearts.’

Why do we not know what to pray for? Perhaps because we are unsure whether to pray for deliverance from our sufferings or for strength to endure them. Also, since we do not know what we will be, or when or how, we are in no position to make precise requests. So the Spirit intercedes for us, and does so with speechless groans…. The Holy Spirit identifies with our groans, with the pain of the world and the church, and shares in the longing for the final freedom of both. We and he groan together.

So three persons are involved in our praying. First, we ourselves in our weakness do not know what to pray for. Secondly, the indwelling Spirit helps us by interceding for us and through us, with speechless groans but according to God’s will. Thirdly, God the Father, who both searches our hearts and knows the Spirit’s mind, hears and answers accordingly.
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Sanctify – Annie Karto

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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 17 August – Romans 8:18-25 ~ patient expectancy

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 8:18-25 (NLT)

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
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Reflection: Romans 8:18-25 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

God’s Spirit in God’s children (8:1–39)

(vs 18–27) The glory of God’s children

‘Suffering and glory’ is the theme throughout this section: first the sufferings and glory of God’s creation (19–22) and then the sufferings and glory of God’s children (23–27).

First, the sufferings and the glory belong together indissolubly. They did in the experience of Christ; they do in the experience of his people also (17)…. Sufferings and the glory are married; they cannot be divorced. They are welded; they cannot be broken apart.

There is therefore going to be both continuity and discontinuity in the regeneration of the world, as in the resurrection of the body. The universe is not going to be destroyed, but rather liberated, transformed and suffused with the glory of God.

Secondly, the sufferings and the glory characterize the two ages or aeons. The contrast between this age and the age to come, and so between the present and the future, between the already and the not yet, is neatly summed up in the two terms…. Moreover, the ‘sufferings’ include not only the opposition of the world, but all our human frailty as well, both physical and moral, which is due to our provisional, half-saved condition. The ‘glory’, however, is the unutterable splendour of God, eternal, immortal and incorruptible.

Thirdly, the sufferings and the glory cannot be compared…. They need to be contrasted, not compared…. The magnificence of God’s revealed glory will greatly surpass the unpleasantness of our [present] sufferings.

Fourthly, the sufferings and the glory concern both God’s creation and God’s children…. The sufferings and glory of the old creation (the material order) and of the new (the people of God) are integrally related to each other. Both creations are suffering and groaning now; both are going to be set free together…. As nature shared in the curse, and now shares in the pain, so it will also share in the glory. Hence the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

May God give us a patient eagerness and an eager patience as we wait for his promises to be fulfilled!
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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 15 August – Romans 8:14-17 ~ a shared inheritance

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 8:14-17 (NLT)

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

"The Crucifixion" Georges Rouault (early 1920s) Minneapolis Institute of Arts — “The Crucifixion”
Georges Rouault (early 1920s)
Minneapolis Institute of Arts

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
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Reflection: Romans 8:14-17 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

God’s Spirit in God’s children (8:1–39)

(vs 14– 17) The witness of the Spirit

The whole paragraph concerns the witness the Holy Spirit bears us, that is, the assurance he gives us.

First, the Spirit leads us into holiness….

‘The daily, hourly putting to death of the schemings and enterprises of the sinful flesh by means of the Spirit is a matter of being led, directed, impelled, controlled by the Spirit.’

The new, rich , full life, which is enjoyed by those who put their misdeeds to death, is precisely the experience of being God’s children.

Secondly, in our relationship to God the Spirit replaces fear with freedom (15a).

The slavery of the old age led to fear, especially of God as our judge; the freedom of the new age gives us boldness to approach God as our Father. So everything has changed…. Freedom, not fear, now rules our lives….

Paul moves on from our relationship and attitude to God in general (not slavery but sonship, not fear but freedom) to the particular expression of it when we pray, from the nature of the Spirit we received to the witness of the Spirit in our prayers.

Thirdly, in our prayers the Spirit prompts us to call God ‘Father’(15b–16).

In such prayers to the Father we experience the inward witness of the Holy Spirit…. The Holy Spirit bears a strong inward witness to our spirit that we are God’s children…. The Holy Spirit’s ministry of inward assurance, convinces us of the reality of God’s love on the one hand and of God’s fatherhood on the other.

Fourthly, the Spirit is the firstfruits of our heavenly inheritance (17, 23).

The same indwelling Spirit who assures us that we are God’s children also assures us that we are his heirs…. For the essence of discipleship is union with Christ, and this means identification with him in both his sufferings and his glory.

Thus radical holiness, fearless freedom, filial prayerfulness and the hope of glory are four characteristics of the children of God who are indwelt and led by the Spirit of God. It is by these evidences that he witnesses to us that we are God’s children.
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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 14 August – Romans 8:9-13 ~ Spirit-led children of God

Reading through Romans

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.
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A reading from Romans: Romans 8:9-13 (NLT)

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
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Reflection: Romans 8:9-13 (John Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World)

God’s Spirit in God’s children (8:1–39)

(vs 9–13) The indwelling of the Spirit

Verse 9 is of great importance in relation to our doctrine of the Holy Spirit for at least two reasons.

First, it teaches that the hallmark of the authentic believer is the possession or indwelling of the Holy Spirit…. This makes it plain that the gift of the Spirit is an initial and universal blessing, received when we first repent and believe in Jesus. Of course there may be many further and richer experiences of the Spirit, and many fresh anointings of the Spirit for special tasks, but the personal indwelling of the Spirit is every believer’s privilege from the beginning. To know Christ and to have the Spirit are one.

Secondly, verse 9 teaches that several different expressions are synonyms… being in the Spirit is the same as having the Spirit in us… ‘the Spirit of God’ is also called ‘the Spirit of Christ’… to have the Spirit of Christ in us is to have Christ in us.

Although [the Father, Son and Spirit] are eternally distinct in their personal modes of being, they also share the same divine essence and will. In consequence, they are inseparable. What the Father does he does through the Son, and what the Son does he does through the Spirit. Indeed, wherever each is, there are the others also.
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Paul’s argument [in vs 10-12] seems to be this: How can we possess life and court death simultaneously? Such an inconsistency between who we are and how we behave is unthinkable, even ludicrous. No, we are in debt to the indwelling Spirit of life to live out our God-given life and to put to death everything which threatens it or is incompatible with it.

Verse 13 sets the option before us as a solemn life-and-death alternative…. According to Romans 8 it is only by putting our evil deeds to death that we experience the full life of God’s children. So we need to redefine both life and death. What the world calls life (a desirable self-indulgence) leads to alienation from God which in reality is death, whereas the putting to death of all perceived evil within us, which the world sees as an undesirable self-abnegation, is in reality the way to authentic life.
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