Super Victory (Romans 8:31-39)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.400 If you would please remain standing, if you're able, and let's hear God's 2 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:13.390 word now. From Romans Chapter Eight. Paul has been writing throughout this chapter 3 00:00:13.429 --> 00:00:18.190 telling us about how secure we are. He begins in Chapter Eight. He 4 00:00:18.230 --> 00:00:22.379 says, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ 5 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:26.859 Jesus, because the spirit of God has done what the Law of God could 6 00:00:26.859 --> 00:00:31.899 not do. Then after that he moves into various implications of this and talks 7 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:36.570 about our life in the spirit and these various consolations that God gives to us, 8 00:00:36.609 --> 00:00:39.929 even as he calls us to pick up our cross and follow him. 9 00:00:39.929 --> 00:00:46.130 And now he comes to this glorious conclusion in verse Thirty One, to the 10 00:00:46.210 --> 00:00:51.079 end of this chapter, before moving on to somewhat new train of thought. 11 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:57.679 So let's hear God's word now in Romans Eight, verses thirty one through thirty 12 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:03.359 nine. What, then, shall we say to these things? If God 13 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:07.430 is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare 14 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:11.950 his own son but gave him us, gave him up for us all. 15 00:01:12.909 --> 00:01:18.150 How will he not also, how will he not also, with him graciously 16 00:01:18.390 --> 00:01:23.379 give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect it is 17 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:29.099 God, who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one 18 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:32.620 who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the 19 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:38.290 right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us? WHO shall separate 20 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:44.730 us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine 21 00:01:44.769 --> 00:01:51.480 or nakedness or danger or sword, as it is written? For Your Sake, 22 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:56.159 we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep 23 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:00.840 to be slaughtered. No, in all these things, we are more than 24 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:05.269 conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, 25 00:02:05.989 --> 00:02:10.069 nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things 26 00:02:10.150 --> 00:02:14.750 to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else 27 00:02:14.789 --> 00:02:19.259 in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, 28 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:29.539 in Christ Jesus. Our Lord, you may be seated. Kids, 29 00:02:30.530 --> 00:02:38.569 sometimes you get yourselves into difficult situations, don't you? Tricky situations, situations 30 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:42.090 which you're not sure you know how to get out of. And it's not 31 00:02:42.250 --> 00:02:47.319 just you. Adults get themselves into difficult situations too. We remember, when 32 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:53.520 we were children, finding ourselves with a bully, someone being mean to us, 33 00:02:53.960 --> 00:03:02.110 someone treating US poorly. We like you have also had unfair teachers and 34 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:07.590 coaches and leaders and people who were not fair to us, didn't treat us 35 00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:10.909 well, no matter how hard we work, no matter how much we did 36 00:03:10.949 --> 00:03:16.780 the right thing, it just we found ourselves in these difficult situations. We've 37 00:03:16.819 --> 00:03:23.860 all been in situations where we've been lost or stuck or in danger. I'm 38 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:29.250 finding you know, we walk out into the desert and we find thorns in 39 00:03:29.370 --> 00:03:35.930 our legs, where we find ourselves lost and in these times, we know 40 00:03:36.650 --> 00:03:40.520 you remember adults when you were young and kids, you know, even now, 41 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:44.919 this is when you say, Mom, Dad, come and help me 42 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:49.680 find me. And even when we know that they're there and they've come and 43 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:53.520 they've grabbed US and they've picked us up and they're holding us, what do 44 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:55.310 we want them to say? We want to them to say it's going to 45 00:03:55.389 --> 00:03:59.629 be okay, I love you, I'm going to take care of you, 46 00:03:59.909 --> 00:04:04.509 I I'm rescuing you. That's what good parents do. Of course they're. 47 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:11.699 Love is more powerful than the dangers we get ourselves into or the dangers that 48 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:15.300 the come upon us. This is what's so great about a loving parent, 49 00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:20.740 as they can come in and rescue us out of these bad situations. We 50 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:25.850 don't know how to do any different. We don't know what we might do 51 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:30.250 to get out of something, but mom and dad know, they know how 52 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:33.689 to take care of it. Well. That's what God does for us. 53 00:04:33.850 --> 00:04:40.879 Is His children. As his children, we all face very difficult things in 54 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.959 this life and this is a passage where God has grabbed us up into his 55 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:50.600 arms and he says nothing can separate you from my love. Nothing. I 56 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:57.110 have you in my arms. I am very powerful, I can I control 57 00:04:57.389 --> 00:05:00.509 all things. As we read earlier in Romans Chapter Eight, our good God 58 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:06.579 works all things together for good. You know, when we think about our 59 00:05:06.699 --> 00:05:12.420 parents, we all know that they are somewhat limited in what they can do. 60 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:16.939 They can only run so fast and jump so high. They get tired 61 00:05:17.019 --> 00:05:24.889 and frustrated, but not with God. The greatest acts of love that we 62 00:05:25.089 --> 00:05:30.290 see in other people are infinitely supass surpassed by our God, who takes care 63 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:34.329 of us and loves us through all things, through thick and thin, and 64 00:05:34.449 --> 00:05:41.879 that's what he's telling us here. We do face difficulties in this life and 65 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.519 he names a many of them. Think about some of them that he names 66 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:51.389 here, some of the things that we as Christians must face. There are, 67 00:05:53.069 --> 00:05:58.470 he says, beginning in first thirty five, shall tribulation or distress, 68 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:06.139 persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. That list continues on. 69 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:11.540 When he talks about a whole host of things, I'm both good and bad, 70 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.939 death and life, angels, rulers, things present, things to come. 71 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:18.689 The list goes on and on. He says absolutely nothing. If you 72 00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:24.290 look at life from any perspective, if you point to anything, that thing 73 00:06:24.810 --> 00:06:30.370 cannot separate you from my love. If you imagine the image of a shepherd 74 00:06:30.410 --> 00:06:38.079 who's watching over his sheep, that shepherd says to his sheep nothing can hurt 75 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:42.399 you. There's no wolf, there's no bear, there's no lion that can 76 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:46.589 hurt you. There's no nothing in me that is bad, that can bring 77 00:06:46.629 --> 00:06:53.389 about neglect or or trouble. Our Good Shepherd never gets the vaccinations wrong. 78 00:06:53.509 --> 00:06:57.790 Our Good Shepherd never leads us to waters that are dry. He never takes 79 00:06:57.829 --> 00:07:01.779 us into a dangerous places, he never lets us out and forgets or falls 80 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:10.300 asleep. He's always, always there watching because of love. That's how it's 81 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:15.100 put here. There's this great power that's expressed right in the way that he 82 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:18.649 overcome hums, all these things, tribulations or danger, you name it, 83 00:07:19.050 --> 00:07:23.610 he is powerful to overcome it. But the word power doesn't really come up 84 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:28.769 here, does it. It's the word love, like at the end when 85 00:07:28.769 --> 00:07:33.680 he says nothing are nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate 86 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:43.560 us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. In verse thirty six, 87 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:48.350 there's a little quote says, as it is written, for your sake, 88 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:53.949 we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to 89 00:07:54.069 --> 00:07:58.550 be slaughtered. And when you read this, or maybe when you heard this, 90 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:01.540 perhaps this stood out and you said what, what is this? What 91 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:07.620 is what's being said here? What Paul's doing is he's quoting someone else, 92 00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:11.819 or rather a group of people that have been in the same situation I'm describing. 93 00:08:13.089 --> 00:08:15.170 What I'm saying to you, what Paul says to you, is that 94 00:08:15.250 --> 00:08:20.129 we all find ourselves in these situations of peril and distress and we go where 95 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:24.129 is our God? Has He left us? Has He neglected us? Is 96 00:08:24.209 --> 00:08:31.079 there in fact something that can separate us? He quotes some people that for 97 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.519 feeling that, just like you, it comes from Psalm forty four, which 98 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.840 I'm going to preach on this evening, so you can come back for that. 99 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:41.950 But to touch on it just briefly here. It's from Psalm four, 100 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:46.870 be four, verse twenty two. I'm here in the ESV. It's translated. 101 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:50.070 Yet for your Sake, we are killed all the day long. We 102 00:08:50.149 --> 00:08:54.509 are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. What is the context of this thing 103 00:08:54.629 --> 00:09:01.460 that's being said? WHO's saying it? It's a little difficult to know who's 104 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:05.940 saying it. We're not exactly sure on the Bible doesn't say. But here 105 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:11.690 we have the Holy Spirit putting into giving Israel these words at some particular point 106 00:09:11.769 --> 00:09:18.169 in her history, and they're very surprising words for two things. First of 107 00:09:18.250 --> 00:09:22.450 all, this cry of desperation, says we are being killed all the day 108 00:09:22.690 --> 00:09:30.519 long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered, begins with a very 109 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.799 confidence sound at the beginning of the Psalm. Let me read you the first 110 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:39.990 few verses. These same people that are saying this about their troubles say at 111 00:09:39.029 --> 00:09:46.389 the beginning this, Oh God, we have heard with our ears, our 112 00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:50.710 fathers have told us what deeds you have performed in their days, in the 113 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:54.620 days of old, with your own hand, drove out the nation's but them 114 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:58.899 you planted, you afflicted the people's but them you've set free. For Not 115 00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:03.659 by their own sword did they win the land, nor bought nor did their 116 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:07.690 own arms save them, but your right hand and your arm in the light 117 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:11.250 of your face, for you delighted in them. You are my king, 118 00:10:11.450 --> 00:10:16.409 Oh God, ordained salvation for Jacob. This is a happy song, right. 119 00:10:16.809 --> 00:10:20.799 It starts out with this very confident feeling. We know what you've done 120 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:24.240 in the past, how you've rescued your people, how you've brought salvation. 121 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.000 They say, we didn't, we didn't earn all of these things, we 122 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:31.840 didn't earn these blessings, we didn't defeat these people on our own. You 123 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.549 did that, Oh God. But then when it comes to they there's some 124 00:10:37.669 --> 00:10:41.509 more of that kind of confidence. And in verse nine there's this Butt and 125 00:10:41.629 --> 00:10:46.470 says, but you have rejected US and disgraced us and have not gone out 126 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:50.980 with our armies. They're saying, we've seen your salvation in the past. 127 00:10:52.460 --> 00:10:56.419 We know the goodness that the goodness you've done in the past. But what 128 00:10:56.580 --> 00:11:01.500 about now? Have you ever had this feeling too? You say, I 129 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:05.169 know that God has given his own son, I know that he's taken care 130 00:11:05.210 --> 00:11:09.009 of me in the past, but what about now? I'm hurting, now, 131 00:11:09.250 --> 00:11:11.730 I'm struggling. Now I feel like a sheep to be slaughtered now, 132 00:11:13.730 --> 00:11:18.000 not a sheep that's being protected, a sheep that's being watched over. That's 133 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:22.519 how these people felt. You have rejected us, you have disgraced us, 134 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:26.399 you have not gone out with our armies. You have made us turn back 135 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:30.840 from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. You have 136 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:37.230 made us like sheep for the slaughter. You have scattered the nation's and it 137 00:11:37.429 --> 00:11:39.789 in a lot of other places we would say, well, of course we 138 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:43.750 know why, Israel, because you've sinned. This is what happens. But 139 00:11:43.950 --> 00:11:50.220 listen, in a very unique way, what this psalm says. The spirit 140 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:58.259 puts these words in his people's mouths, they say in verse seventeen. All 141 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:03.169 this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you and we have 142 00:12:03.289 --> 00:12:07.450 not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor 143 00:12:07.730 --> 00:12:11.730 have our steps departed from your way. Yet you have broken us in the 144 00:12:11.769 --> 00:12:15.919 place of jackals and covered us with a shadow of death. If we had 145 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:20.000 forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign God. 146 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:24.600 Would not God discover this, for he knows the secrets of your heart, 147 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:26.679 of the heart. Yet, for your Sake, we are being killed 148 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:31.710 all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. And 149 00:12:31.870 --> 00:12:35.309 then they call on God to a awake. Why are you sleeping, a 150 00:12:35.470 --> 00:12:41.470 Lord, rouse yourself. Do not reject US forever. You see what they're 151 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:48.340 saying. They're kind of saying what job says. Why? You say you 152 00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:52.779 are my God, you say you love me, you say that you are 153 00:12:52.940 --> 00:13:00.049 great, and yet I am suffering and I haven't done anything wrong, I 154 00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:05.049 haven't committed idolatry, I haven't rejected you, I haven't been false to the 155 00:13:05.210 --> 00:13:09.129 covenant. Even my heart has been with you. Notice how they appeal with 156 00:13:09.289 --> 00:13:13.799 this great confidence, even to their own hearts. They say, if we 157 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.720 had neglected you, are forgotten you in our hearts. You, of course, 158 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:22.159 would know this. You are the one who searches these things out. 159 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:31.710 This is a cry of desperation and it's a cry that each of us have 160 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:35.149 felt. Sometimes we get into our own bad situations, don't we? We 161 00:13:35.149 --> 00:13:39.429 sin, we mess up, we make bad decisions and then boom, there 162 00:13:39.470 --> 00:13:41.620 we are in the middle of our mess and we go to God and we 163 00:13:41.779 --> 00:13:50.539 say, Ah, this is very embarrassing and I'm ashamed, but here is 164 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:56.370 where I am. But there are other times when we go before God and 165 00:13:56.450 --> 00:14:01.409 we say, of course I know I'm sinful and of course I know that 166 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:07.250 I don't deserve anything from you, but nevertheless I've done the right thing here. 167 00:14:07.330 --> 00:14:11.919 Think about Christian martyrs who have confessed the name of the Lord, who 168 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:18.279 have endured great suffering and pain and yet still find themselves in jail or being 169 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:24.230 burnt at the stake or hung on across to cry out, my God, 170 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:30.350 my God, why have you forsaken me? I feel alone, I feel 171 00:14:30.389 --> 00:14:37.549 separated from you. This is the cry of these people, these Israelites, 172 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:43.740 in some forty four and Paul reminds us of this, to remind us that 173 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:50.059 God knows he does here, even as we, under the new covenants, 174 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:56.850 also feel these ways. It's not like tribulation or distress or persecution or famine 175 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:03.809 or nakedness or danger our sword are sort of easy to shrug off, as 176 00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:07.919 if they don't hurt. I barely miss a meal and I'm finding myself a 177 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:16.279 crumpy and needing some kind of snack. But famine, I don't know about 178 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:22.429 famine, to go long periods of time hungry, waiting, waiting, not 179 00:15:22.590 --> 00:15:26.230 being able to find or know when your next meal is to going to come, 180 00:15:26.309 --> 00:15:33.230 or nakedness, to not be able to clothe yourselves, to be ashamed, 181 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:43.980 to be persecuted by the sword or otherwise, to feel the way of 182 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:50.090 the government or your neighbors coming down hard upon you. Because you believe in 183 00:15:50.250 --> 00:15:54.129 Jesus, because you have been born of the spirit, because you belong to 184 00:15:54.210 --> 00:16:00.169 the Kingdom of God and our citizens of his kingdom. These are not things 185 00:16:00.210 --> 00:16:04.759 that we just say, no big deal. They hurt and, like the 186 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:10.840 feet the people in Psalm forty four, we feel like we are being killed 187 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:15.000 all the day long, because sometimes Christians are killed all the day long. 188 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:25.389 They feel like they are being regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. But the 189 00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:30.029 beginning of these words, the beginning of their confession, for your Sake, 190 00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:37.500 is what really grounds there their cry in faith. They cry out to the 191 00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:41.179 Lord. They feel separated from him, they feel on distant from him, 192 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:45.740 they feel like they are not under his protection, not under his love, 193 00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:51.490 but at the bottom of their souls they know, even though I can't explain 194 00:16:51.649 --> 00:16:56.769 this, God knows what is right for your sake. It's not because the 195 00:16:57.169 --> 00:17:03.119 armies that are overthrowing them want to overthrow them. No, it's not because 196 00:17:03.160 --> 00:17:07.640 of their great weakness or anything else. It's only because God is doing what 197 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:12.039 he wants to do. This, by the way, it is always the 198 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:18.029 the response of a Christian who finds him or herself in a situation they do 199 00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:22.710 not understand, faced with some kind of truth that you can't just fit put 200 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:26.190 together, and yet you know it's true, what do you say? You 201 00:17:26.230 --> 00:17:33.819 say you are God and I am not. And this is what they do. 202 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:44.769 Well, Psalm forty four expresses this perilous situation from the perspective of us, 203 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:51.569 the people. Romans eight expresses this perilous situation from the perspective of God. 204 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:56.329 These are the words of God, swooping them up and saying, I 205 00:17:56.609 --> 00:18:06.359 know things are bad, but nothing can separate you from my love. He 206 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:11.480 gives a three questions. It starts with this kind of umbrella category. If 207 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:15.509 God is for us, who can be against us? Think about just that. 208 00:18:17.549 --> 00:18:19.869 When you think about the things that are powerful in this world, what 209 00:18:21.109 --> 00:18:26.029 comes to mind? Money is powerful right that can accomplish things. You hear 210 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:30.380 people or you read of people sometimes saying things like don't worry about it, 211 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:34.460 we have plenty of money right it can do things, it can make problems 212 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:41.730 go away, it can take care of difficult situations. Money is very powerful. 213 00:18:41.890 --> 00:18:45.809 There are lots of other things that are powerful. Governments are powerful. 214 00:18:45.210 --> 00:18:52.809 On leadership is powerful. Food is powerful. You can list on and on 215 00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:56.880 and on many things that are lifted here on things both in this world and 216 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:03.880 and spiritual things as well. When the people in the Bible see angels, 217 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.759 they they don't pass by them and take no notice. They bow down before 218 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:12.390 them, they shaken their boots before them. They are fearful, for for 219 00:19:12.630 --> 00:19:19.309 them not just the angels but the demonic powers as well. The Bible says 220 00:19:19.309 --> 00:19:25.940 that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion waiting to devour someone. That is 221 00:19:25.980 --> 00:19:30.299 a picture of power, is it not? There are very powerful things in 222 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:34.180 this world, but what this passage tells us is that each and every single 223 00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:41.769 one of those things doesn't even begin to compare to the power of God's love. 224 00:19:42.490 --> 00:19:47.609 If God is for us, who can be against us? If you're 225 00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:51.170 not sure about this, you can think about your own lives, the ways 226 00:19:51.250 --> 00:19:56.519 in which God has exercised his powers at vary as power at various points to 227 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:00.759 bring things together, to make good things out of bad things. Or you 228 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:04.720 can look at the lives of other people to think about the power of God 229 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:11.869 over the power of evil. You think about Paul sitting in prison, or 230 00:20:11.990 --> 00:20:17.309 you think about Paul of being regenerated. You think about Joseph sitting in prison 231 00:20:17.390 --> 00:20:22.299 or in a pit, or the Prophets of God being killed or shamed or 232 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:27.220 exiled. The list goes on and on. The Bible is full of these 233 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:32.299 kinds of examples, people that are doing the right thing, that are working 234 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:38.009 and striving for God, and yet find themselves in pits, in jails, 235 00:20:38.930 --> 00:20:51.319 on crosses, being beheaded and more. And yet these people did this willingly 236 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:55.559 because of what thirty one says. If God is for us, who can 237 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:59.000 be against us? Remember Paul sitting in jail, he says, riding from 238 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:02.519 jail and he says, well, here I am. And yet isn't it 239 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:07.190 great that the Gospel is going out to all the Roman guard amazing? Or 240 00:21:07.230 --> 00:21:14.309 Joseph out of jail, sitting in this great position of power, rescuing God's 241 00:21:14.349 --> 00:21:22.420 people from a famine and bringing them into Egypt. The list goes on and 242 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:26.500 on, God bringing about good things from evil. If God can be for 243 00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:30.099 us, who can be against us? If the one who created all of 244 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:34.930 these things, if the one who rules sovereignly over all of these things, 245 00:21:34.970 --> 00:21:41.250 is for you, is on your side, what possible power could come between 246 00:21:41.369 --> 00:21:47.960 you and him? Well, these are all very valid things to think about 247 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.279 and be reminded of, but Paul points us to one in particular, in 248 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:57.200 verse thirty two, and you must, you must rest your mind on this. 249 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.470 He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for 250 00:22:04.509 --> 00:22:10.309 us all, how will he not also, with him, graciously give us 251 00:22:10.349 --> 00:22:17.740 all things? Drop it down for a second and think about just human relationships, 252 00:22:18.539 --> 00:22:22.619 and you're asking yourself, is my boss going to give me a raise 253 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:29.700 this year? You think, well, he liked my midyear report, he 254 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:33.210 was pleased about the performance I did on such and such a project. I 255 00:22:33.410 --> 00:22:37.970 remember this thing he said at the dinner party a while back. You're you're 256 00:22:37.089 --> 00:22:42.210 pointing on these moments, these acts and which your boss or whoever has been 257 00:22:42.289 --> 00:22:45.680 affirming in some way, and you say, yeah, I think it's going 258 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.720 to happen. I think I'm going to get this race, or think about 259 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.880 a friendship. You say, boy, this is going to be a really 260 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.240 difficult thing, some kind of trying situation between you and a friend. But 261 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:00.190 you remember back and you say, you know what, she was there before. 262 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:04.670 She was there for me before. Think about all the fact when I 263 00:23:04.710 --> 00:23:07.069 think about all the things she's done in the past, I think she'll be 264 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:14.339 there for me again. We think on these actions. Right, if somebody's 265 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:17.059 just words, as we say, they are all words and no action, 266 00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:22.500 that word is pretty meaningless. Now raise it up again. What about God? 267 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:27.569 What about the past actions of God? Does God prove himself to be 268 00:23:27.730 --> 00:23:33.130 true or prove himself to be false? What kinds of things might we think 269 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:37.809 about? What kind of thing might we point to when we ask, will 270 00:23:37.930 --> 00:23:45.720 God be Foreigny in this situation? What about now? Well, he did 271 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:59.910 not spare his own son. He gave his son to you. Jesus humbled 272 00:23:59.950 --> 00:24:07.789 himself, having the glory of God, became a man who is hungry and 273 00:24:08.150 --> 00:24:15.779 tired and facing all these things in this list. God faced these things as 274 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:19.700 a man and you know what happened to him? He got put on a 275 00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:25.890 cross, he got beaten, he got whipped, he got spit upon, 276 00:24:26.130 --> 00:24:33.170 he got shamed, he got dead. When God became a man, when 277 00:24:33.250 --> 00:24:37.490 God put himself into the same situations that we face, you know what happened. 278 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:45.160 He died. He understands what it means to be in peril and in 279 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:52.319 danger and under persecution. He understands what it means to have the powers of 280 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:59.710 the enemy railing and arming themselves against him. Satan himself took Jesus out into 281 00:24:59.710 --> 00:25:06.230 the Wilderness and tempted him and pushed him to the brink. So far was 282 00:25:06.349 --> 00:25:14.940 his need that angels came and ministered to him after his temptations. This is 283 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:19.500 what God did. It's not just a sympathy either. It's something he actually 284 00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:26.970 accomplished. Jesus Christ went to the Cross. The father gave his son up 285 00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:34.839 unto death. Which of your friends has given you their child that you might 286 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:41.680 have something good? No one. I'm not going to do it. Can 287 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:48.359 you imagine? And yet this is what God has done. He gave up 288 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:57.829 his son, he gave up himself because he loved us. If God has 289 00:25:57.990 --> 00:26:07.579 given us himself, if God has given us himself, what will he possibly 290 00:26:07.819 --> 00:26:12.980 with old is he going to give you his son and then forget to take 291 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:18.210 care of you and your needs? Now, of course not. God's words 292 00:26:18.289 --> 00:26:25.170 are proved by actions, and this is true in the court room. Who 293 00:26:25.210 --> 00:26:29.089 shall bring any charge against God's elect? Well, no one even has the 294 00:26:29.170 --> 00:26:33.680 right, because it's God who justifies and who has the power to condemn? 295 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:37.759 Well, no one, because God is the one who has the power over 296 00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.279 that. And besides that, Jesus Christ is the one who died. Sin 297 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:45.960 has been condemned in the flesh, in the sun. But it's not just 298 00:26:47.230 --> 00:26:52.069 death that happened. Paul says more than that. who was raised and who 299 00:26:52.069 --> 00:26:55.910 now is at the right hand of God interceding for us. You See, 300 00:26:55.910 --> 00:27:00.900 Satan comes before God, I'm just like he did with job. Comes before 301 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:06.180 God and he accuses us. He says, I know the darkness of this 302 00:27:06.380 --> 00:27:08.619 person, I know the sins of their heart. I know that they've done 303 00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:14.859 bad things, things that are deserving of death. And you know what Jesus 304 00:27:14.859 --> 00:27:19.210 is saying? He says this one is mine and you have no right to 305 00:27:19.369 --> 00:27:26.569 even be here. God, in his courtroom, stands strong, he doesn't 306 00:27:26.609 --> 00:27:29.089 bad an eye. He never sort of thinks. Well, you know, 307 00:27:29.890 --> 00:27:33.279 the devil's kind of got a point. This person is evil, this person 308 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:38.759 does have wickedness in their heart. No, he says, I have justified 309 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:45.470 them through my son. There is no condemnation now for those who are in 310 00:27:45.869 --> 00:27:52.589 Christ Jesus. Begone, and we should have the same kind of confidence. 311 00:27:52.910 --> 00:27:57.190 When the devil whispers in us, a whispers in our own ears. You 312 00:27:57.309 --> 00:28:03.019 don't belong, you don't deserve when he tries to separate us from the love 313 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:07.619 of God in Christ, shut the door against him. I'm not going to 314 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:11.339 listen, for there is no condemnation now for those who are in Christ Jesus. 315 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:15.210 Nothing can separate me from the love of God. He has given me 316 00:28:15.329 --> 00:28:19.009 his own son. How can he not graciously give me all things? Get 317 00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:22.970 Out, get out. I don't want to listen to you, I don't 318 00:28:22.970 --> 00:28:26.920 want to hear you, I don't want to be around you. My Lord 319 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:32.799 is my Lord, my God is my God, and his love has conquered 320 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:38.240 all things. This is Paul's answer to these questions. Verse Thirty Seven a 321 00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:42.069 big and Oh, what part of no? Don't you understand? No, 322 00:28:42.750 --> 00:28:48.269 in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 323 00:28:48.309 --> 00:28:52.190 This is a great word. More than conquerors. It's actually one word in 324 00:28:52.349 --> 00:28:57.940 Greek. We translated into three because the word is. It's like, well, 325 00:28:59.019 --> 00:29:03.140 there's another word for victory or conquering, to be victorious, and this 326 00:29:03.180 --> 00:29:10.930 is like hyper victorious or even greater than Victoria, super victorious. There's this 327 00:29:11.049 --> 00:29:14.650 preposition added on to it. It's only with place. We find it here 328 00:29:15.009 --> 00:29:18.849 in the Bible. So it's like he could have said, in other words, 329 00:29:18.890 --> 00:29:22.609 there's another word he could have used that it says in all these things 330 00:29:22.690 --> 00:29:27.000 we are conquerors or victors through him who are through him who loved us. 331 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:32.400 That's not what he says, though, in this passage where he's saying nothing, 332 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:33.839 nothing, nothing, nothing can separate you from the love of God. 333 00:29:34.359 --> 00:29:38.029 He does he he doesn't just say you are victors, he says you are 334 00:29:38.470 --> 00:29:44.950 super victorious, you are more than conquerors. You of course know what it's 335 00:29:44.950 --> 00:29:48.589 like to win a fight but barely right, to get out of a situation 336 00:29:48.869 --> 00:29:52.940 but barely get on the other side by the skin of your teeth. You 337 00:29:52.059 --> 00:29:56.980 know, we say, that is not the case here. This is the 338 00:29:57.099 --> 00:30:07.289 case of complete and utter victory, entire conquering, glorious battle and a glorious 339 00:30:07.329 --> 00:30:18.329 win. That's what we are in Christ. This is what God is saying 340 00:30:18.369 --> 00:30:22.559 to us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 341 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:33.400 To conclude, I started by talking about children that find themselves in these 342 00:30:33.480 --> 00:30:41.069 difficult situations and desperately need their parents to reassure them and comfort them. In 343 00:30:41.150 --> 00:30:45.150 my house we have a at least a couple books that do this kind of 344 00:30:45.230 --> 00:30:48.670 thing, you know, kind of bedtime books, or there's a character in 345 00:30:48.710 --> 00:30:52.579 the book that asks this question, usually to a mother or a father. 346 00:30:52.579 --> 00:30:56.740 Yeah, I think we have both, but ask the question of their parents. 347 00:30:57.099 --> 00:31:00.660 Says, I'm how much do you love me? And then there's some 348 00:31:00.819 --> 00:31:03.529 back and forth in the story. You know, do you love me as 349 00:31:03.609 --> 00:31:07.289 tall as a tree? I love you taller than a tree. Do you 350 00:31:07.410 --> 00:31:10.130 love me as deep as an ocean? I love you deeper than an ocean. 351 00:31:10.849 --> 00:31:12.569 Do you love me as as big as the sky? I love you 352 00:31:12.650 --> 00:31:19.279 bigger than the sky? These books which describe to the child and give words 353 00:31:19.319 --> 00:31:25.359 to the parent to to say I love you a lot more than you can 354 00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:30.039 know. My Love is big, big, big. This is that kind 355 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:36.710 of story for us, and it's true. God says I love you beyond 356 00:31:36.750 --> 00:31:42.069 all things, beyond anything that could possibly separate you from me. I love 357 00:31:42.190 --> 00:31:48.140 you and I will take care of you and nothing can separate you. If 358 00:31:48.180 --> 00:31:53.859 a parent's love is beyond the trees and beyond the clouds, God's love is 359 00:31:55.339 --> 00:32:00.339 about beyond the farthest reaches of the universe. If God's if of our if 360 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:06.250 human love, will go to great lengths and even give up our own lives. 361 00:32:06.289 --> 00:32:13.289 Here we have God himself giving up the life of his son. God's 362 00:32:13.329 --> 00:32:19.960 love is infinite, unchangeable, unboundless. We cannot even begin to understand or 363 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:28.640 imagine how much love it is. So when you find yourselves in the situations 364 00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:32.750 that we find ourselves young, the situations that bear down on us, and 365 00:32:32.869 --> 00:32:38.029 we wonder where is God, trust in the words that he says here. 366 00:32:39.109 --> 00:32:45.380 Remember this bedtime story and know that it's not just for bedtime, but if 367 00:32:45.619 --> 00:32:50.819 but it's for all times, that nothing can separate us from the love of 368 00:32:50.900 --> 00:32:55.460 God in Christ, Jesus, Our Lord. And if you don't know Jesus 369 00:32:55.539 --> 00:33:01.529 as your Lord, then why are you waiting? Why are you separating yourself 370 00:33:01.569 --> 00:33:07.289 from so great a love is this? Come to him who gives and gives 371 00:33:07.329 --> 00:33:10.250 himself freely. Come to him who loves with a love that's greater than you 372 00:33:10.289 --> 00:33:21.400 can ever imagine. Come to him whose love is eternal and inseparable. You 373 00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:22.839 and God, let us pray.