Sean C. Capparuccia

11 October 2026

Romans 8 part II/III

Isaiah 40:27–31; Psalm 42:1–8; John 16:20–24; Romans 8:12–27

Last week we heard the first 11 verses of Romans 8 and, hopefully, came away knowing that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The past is your past, and it is in the past – what has been forgiven. The only one who would bring it up now would be Satan in order to make you question God’s truth (that He has forgiven you) or yourself, if you are putting yourself above God.

The next thing to think about is our present.  Today. Right now. We are also putting it in the context of our revival starting this evening. We have heard from Isaiah, and the idea there is waiting, waiting on the Lord. Strength will come; peace will come; revival will come – but it is the Lord who gives it and so we wait. We can’t manufacture a revival. Oh, we can whoop and holler, and cry and dance around and wave our arms and shout – but true revival only comes when the Spirit grants it. In other words, the Holy Spirit doesn’t answer to us!

Hungering & Thirsting for God

We also read in the Psalm that there are some things that God is looking for in us before He sends revival. One of those things is hunger. Do we hunger after God? I mean truly hunger after Him? As the deer pants for the water, does your soul pant – does it thirst – for God? Is your soul downcast? Are you remorseful that you sin even though you’ve been forgiven? I mean, consider it, God forgives you of your sins yesterday and with joy and thanksgiving you turn right and around and sin before Him again? Doesn’t it seem like a never-ending cycle? And yet, He forgives again. But have you resigned yourself to it and are able to simply throw up your hands and say, “Oh well, we’re only human after all”? God forbid that we should ever say that and mean it. And so, our soul is, at times, downcast. Our heart needs to be contrite; broken for how we behave.

And I really think this brings up an important point. If I’m telling you that there is no condemnation for you, but that you need to continue being remorseful for sin… well, how does that square? I mean, are we supposed to be mopey Christians that act like we’re always on the bottom of God’s shoe? Of course not! – “for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (II Tim. 1:7). We should act like we have power! And in the Spirit, we have peace, and joy, and all those things that are the fruit of the Holy Spirit. But listen, when we contemplate how holy God is, well, we realize how unholy we are and that is why we are – before Him – contrite and remorseful.  Sorry, but full of joy! Repentant, but ready to take on the devil!

Revival

But how should we understand revival? Revival isn’t a party, folks. It’s not just some emotional high that we create to make ourselves feel good. It’s not a “hyping up.”  Revival is a very real movement of the Spirit of God in the hearts of His people to awaken them and help them see the realities of our sin, His Word, this world, and the truth of His love for us. It is a reawakening. And it is not something that His people get to experience very often; but when they do it is joy unspeakable. Which is why we should each one long for it. 

In the Gospel lesson, Jesus says, “Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.” Well, I can tell you many things that I have asked for because I thought for sure they’d bring me joy, but I have yet to receive a lot of them. So, perhaps, Jesus isn’t saying just what we think He’s saying here, or maybe even what we want Him to be saying. And maybe, just maybe, His idea of what our joy should be is different than what we think it is. Well, all these things come together when we think about revival and how God fills us with His spirit.

I don’t know what “revival” means to you but to me it is a rare and special outpouring of the Holy Spirit on His people in various places and at various times when they relate to God in a very special way. There is a closeness that happens; there is a “warming of the heart” as Wesley famously put it; there is a feeling of unspeakable joy and love that washes over you. It’s not an act of salvation, because the Spirit is re-viving – which means it is an action upon the saved already. It is a divine affirmation or reaffirmation of our salvation and His love for us. And then, just as suddenly as it comes, it can disappear and you are left with the memory. And I think that because it is such a special feeling some people try to manufacture it; they get themselves all hyped up and pretend it’s happening so much so that they think it did. I’d say some churches do this every Sunday. But, Beloved in Christ, the Holy Spirit of God doesn’t work that way. Spiritual revival begins when the people of God recognize their utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit, turn from their sin, recover their identity as His children, begin seeking Him earnestly in prayer, and, as Isaiah said, wait upon Him.

The question this morning is this: Are you spiritually alive, or have you simply become spiritually comfortable? If you recall from last week what we said the point of our salvation is, you will recall that it is to be in union with Christ. God the Father wants to conform us more and more to the image of God the Son – Jesus Christ. There are a number of Christians who are content with simply being “saved.” Now I don’t want to get into who’s a real Christian or what genuine faith is, but there are some, maybe many, I don’t know, who are content simply calling themselves Christians. Ok. But let’s remember that a Christian is literally a “Christ-follower.” And you’ll remember from last week that we talked about “walking.” I said, “When we are walking with the Spirit, we are moving, we are transforming, we are becoming holy.” To follow somebody denotes walking after, or moving after, doesn’t it? To be a Christian, then, is to actively and purposely follow after, walk after, Jesus by and through His Spirit. Therefore, to be a Christian is to be someone whom the Spirit of God brings into greater conformity to Christ. So, I ask, what is revival to you? What would it look like if God awakened us? Let us read then from Romans 8, beginning in verse 12.

Debtors

:12-13              “So then, brothers [and sisters], we aren’t debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if [you live] by the Spirit, [and] you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live.”

And I swear I feel I sound like a broken record to keep talking about sin, but throughout the Scriptures sin is a big deal. Sin is the thing that keeps us from God, from experiencing true joy, from blessedness, from revival! And so, revival must begin with repentance. And repentance isn’t an appeal for God to change everyone else, it’s an earnest appeal for God to change me! “Show me my sin, Lord. Change my heart, Lord. Change in me all the things that rebel against You, Lord.” Bitterness, pride, secret sins, big sins, little sins, neglecting God’s Word and prayer, love of the things of this world. Whatever it is in your life, in your heart, in your mind that replaces a love for God, Beloved, ask Him to reveal it and change it. And then do what He calls you to do. 

Whose Child Are You?

One thing we must have learned from our Genesis study is this: there are two kinds of people in this world: God’s people, and not God’s people. I may have said this before but one of my biggest pet peeves is when people say everybody is a child of God. This is simply not true, according to Scripture. God has a certain love for everybody, sure, though not the same kind of love, but all people are certainly not children of God. Right here Paul tells us who God’s children are, listen:

:14-17  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

Those who are led by His Spirit are His children. And His children, what Paul is saying here is, God’s children intentionally and purposefully and actively put to death the sinful deeds of the body. Why? Because the Holy Spirit leads them to do that and they obey. This leading is constant in the life of the believer; it doesn’t come in fits and starts. Sure, there are times when we have a special experience, but every day the Spirit is leading. And here is the synergistic action of “working out your salvation;” the Spirit leads, but we actively follow. There is our responsibility.

Paul moves from mortification of the flesh, putting to death our sinful deeds, to adoption as a child of God. The connection here is simple: we repent because we are His children. We repent because we love Him. Now there may be some stubborn sin(s) that you are having a difficult time putting to death. Does that mean you’re not a child of God because you struggle? Well, I don’t think so; in fact, I think that the struggle itself may testify to your standing with God. And we know because “the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are His child” (16). One way the Holy Spirit testifies to this is by having a direct influence on our heart and mind – we can feel His influence. Another way is by applying the Word of God to our heart and mind. How many times have you read a particular passage or heard the Word and it just resonated with you and you were drawn to action? That’s how God works in His children.

Present Sufferings

Continuing on with verse 17:

:17-23 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 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. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Are you a child of God? Then you are also an heir of God. There is an inheritance. We were out on the Intracoastal Waterway on a pontoon boat last week and it was really neat to see all the houses and things from the water side. And as you know, these homes on Topsail Island, well, the small ones go for a million dollars. So, I got to thinking that it probably wasn’t 50 years ago that a lot of that land was selling quite cheaply. Now if my grandpa had only picked up 10 acres or so back then, wow, what an inheritance that would be for me! Alas, he didn’t. But, you see, we know what money is. We’ve seen that; we buy things all the time; we know the value of money. Paul is directing our attention to an even greater inheritance that awaits us. And we don’t even know what all that is – only that it’s going to be really awesome and eternal.

He says, though, that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.” Think about that. We’ve all heard about the glory that will be heaven; being in the presence of Christ Himself. But he says here that this glory will not only be revealed to us, but in us. The eternal glory won’t just be something we experience, like as a tourist in the Bahamas or something, but this glory will be a part of us.

For another thing, he mentions the redemption of our bodies; bodies that are fit for eternal life and that will never again wear out. And though that is a future thing to hope for and wait for, there is a present joy in the waiting. We can look at our bodies now as they wrinkle up and get pains in the knees and hands and know that without a doubt – these old things are going to be refurbished and made to last.

And as we said a couple weeks ago, all creation is groaning and waiting for all the children of God to be revealed. I’ve always thought of it as a big Easter egg hunt. Imagine Easter Sunday, church is out and you’re getting hungry and they want to do the egg hunt and you’re looking at your watch thinking Boy, I hope this doesn’t take too long. And they say, “We’ll eat when every last egg is found.” And you’re thinking, maybe I should go help the kids find them. And all the while your stomach is groaning waiting for all the eggs to get found. Beloved, like little eggs hidden within the world are the sons and daughters of God waiting to be found; waiting to be told the Gospel so they can respond to it, and yet they don’t even know it. But you know it: and so, there is God’s will for you, Christian! Share the truth!

Yes, Beloved in Christ, we are groaning, too, because His sufferings are our sufferings. This world doesn’t like Christ and it for sure doesn’t like Christ in you which is precisely why you don’t go around saying, “I’m a Christian,” or tell everyone you see about Jesus or explain to people in your own family what the Bible says about this and that. As believers in Jesus, we do suffer. We suffer when we see the sin that is tolerated in our country. We suffer when we think of the sin that is tolerated in our own families. But listen, whatever we suffer here and in these bodies is nothing compared to the glory of what is to come. Wait. Just wait.

And so, when we think about revival, it’s not with some expectation that all our suffering will end. Rather, it’s with an expectation that our strength will be renewed to be able to suffer more for Christ’s sake. As Christians we aren’t a people who try to avoid life’s problems, but we are a people who seek God in the midst of them.  We hunger and thirst to share our troubles with Him because we know in Him we have an Advocate; and even more, a Father to whom we can bring anything and everything.

When You Don’t Know What to Pray

Picking up in verse 24….

:24-27  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

What should we be praying for? The best answer is that we should be praying for God’s will to be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. And what is God’s will? Well, some things must be obvious, but because of our inherent weakness and sinfulness, we often miss it. His will is not always clear to us. And so isn’t it a comforting thing

that we don’t have to know? His Spirit, placed within us, prays and intercedes for us. He knows the right words. He knows the Father’s will. Our faith doesn’t need to be perfect; it simply needs to be tried. In other words, do what you know to do.

Pray

And one thing we can know to do is to pray, “Lord, revive me. Lord, search me. Remove whatever stands between You and me and make me whole. Fill me with Your Spirit, Lord.” We need to pray for our families, “Lord, bring our wandering sons and daughters home.” We need to pray for our church, “Lord, make our church a faithful witness to our community. Let this be known as a house of prayer and right worship. Pour out Your Spirit on Trinity, O holy Trinity.”

Our revival starts tonight, but revival isn’t something we turn on and off. We wait for it and hope for it and expect it every day and so we ought to live our lives accordingly. I encourage you then to pray every morning, “Lord, what do You want to change in me?” Confess all of your known sin. Pray by name for someone whom you know doesn’t know Christ. Invite someone – your neighbor, a stranger – to revival tonight and Monday and Tuesday, and to church on Sunday. And come expecting God to speak through His Word.

Before we ask God to fill this church, let us ask Him to search our hearts. There’s lots of room in this church for more people, that’s obvious. But is there room in our hearts for more of His Spirit? More God? More faith? Before we ask Him to save our community, let us ask Him to revive His people. ~Amen.