As always, it's been good to
be with you again. Great to worship God with you,
be in your company, hear the gospel of God's grace so faithfully
preached, and to join you in the worship of our God, singing
his praises. I thank God for you. Thank God
for your fellowship in the gospel, your pastor, his dear wife, such
dear, dear friends. And I appreciate so much your
concern for me, for my welfare. Please forgive me for not being
able to jump up and down and get around to visit everybody
like I normally do, maybe next time. But I have my family doctor
at home. He's just a little older than
I am. That means he's the same age as my wife. Just in case
y'all were wondering. And the years have been a little
rougher on him than they have her. He's not married to me. But he had hip surgery a couple
of years ago and his head got long very well. So when we go
see him, the patients don't wait in the room for him to come to
them. They'll take you, get your vital signs, all that stuff.
And then they take you in the room where he is. He never gets
up. He sits down. If you drop something,
you pick it up for him. But he's a good doctor. We keep
going to him. He's a very good doctor. We're
very thankful. But I felt kind of like him this week. I just
had to sit down and let you come see me. And if you want to see
me this afternoon, come see me. I won't be moving around a whole
lot. All right. Let's turn to Romans chapter
8 again. Romans, the 8th chapter. I want
to pick up right where I left off last night. I want to start
with a question. Ruth just sang, it is well with
my soul. What a great, great hymn. Let me ask you a question. Why
do you think so? Why do you think so? What makes
you think it is well with your soul? What is the basis of your hope
before God? Why do you think that you're
one of God's? Why? Some of you, as you hear that
question raised, immediately go back to an experience. A few years ago, or many years
ago, a decision you made, a time when you were in a church service
and heard somebody preach just as you have this morning, and
you made a profession of faith, and you are confident that salvation
is yours because of that. Are you suddenly quit drinking
and quit smoking and quit chewing and all that stuff? And so you're
sure you're saved because of that. You think that you're saved
because of the emotional religious experience, a profession of faith,
a change of life, a change of conduct. If that's the case, I fear for
your soul. I fear for your soul. There are
many who would have you be in doubt of yourself because
of who was preaching when you professed faith, or how much
you knew when you professed faith. Pay no attention to that kind
of nonsense. Pay no attention to it. I mean
none. None. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? That's it. That's it. I don't care what you believed
yesterday. That's unimportant. Doesn't matter what you believed
a hundred years ago, or five years ago, or five minutes ago. Do you believe on the Son of
God? If you believe the Son, you have
life. If you believe not on the Son
of God, you have not life. But the wrath of God abideth
upon you. What's the basis of your hope?
Many, many years ago, J.C. Ryle preached a sermon that he
put into print called A Good Hope. And he said, a good hope
is a hope that is based upon and arises from faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believing on the Son of God. And then he said, a good hope
is a hope that is felt in your soul. It is a hope that a man
has living in him, a living, lively hope, a hope within that's
felt in your soul. A good hope is a hope that continues
to the end. And then Riles said, a good hope
is a hope that is based upon the written word of God. If you have a good hope through
grace, you should be able to point to something in the word
of God and say, there, that's the basis of my hope. Martin
Luther put it this way. Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. I trust the written Word of God,
naught else is worth believing. My subject this evening, or this
morning, is five bold challenges of faith. Romans chapter 8, verses
31 through 39. In verse 31, the Apostle Paul
says, what shall we then say to these things? Obviously, he's
talking about all that he had said in the previous part of
the chapter, at least that much. We're declared to be free from
condemnation. We're declared to be the sons
of God. God has made us heirs of God
and fellow heirs with his son Jesus Christ. The Lord God has
put in us this hope of everlasting glory. We know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to his purpose. We know that God has for eternity
accomplished salvation for his people, for every sinner who
trusts his son. What shall we then say to these
things? Our confidence and assurance
regarding the everlasting salvation of our souls. doesn't depend
on our outward circumstances, it doesn't depend on something
that we do, but rather it depends upon the person and work of Jesus
Christ our Lord as he is revealed in this book. That's all. Our whole salvation depends not
on our obedience, but His obedience. Not on what we do, but what He
has done. Not what we feel, but what He's
accomplished. The whole of it depends upon
Him. How we rejoice in the blessed
declaration of God's providential rule of the universe. knowing
that our Heavenly Father governs the universe absolutely. That He made all things for us
and disposes of all things as He will for the everlasting salvation
of our souls according to His eternal purpose which He purposed
in Christ Jesus the Lord. Let's read it one more time,
Romans 8, 28. We know, we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Now, having said all of that, Paul suddenly seems to change
gears. He seemed like an old southern
preacher would have it. He'd been preaching a while and
he said, somebody hold my Bible and let me just shout. He writes now not like someone
who is writing methodically, but rather he seems to break
out in uncontrollable praise to God in verses 31 through 39. In consideration of all that
he has just written, he says, what shall we then say to these
things? And he makes five wondrous declarations
in form of questions. Five wondrous declarations given
in the form of questions. What shall we then say to these
things? First, I'll say this, verse 31. If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Turn back to Psalm 56. We'll
look at a few other passages as we go along. Psalm 56, verse
9. If God be for us, if God's for
us in his sovereign providence, God's for us in His saving purpose. God's for us in the substitutionary
sacrifice of His Son. God's for us in all His saving
operations. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Psalm 56, verse 9. When I cry
unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. When I cry unto thee, then shall
mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me. Not a dog shall bark against
the children of Israel. No weapon formed against thee
shall prosper. You're mine. The Lord God declares
that he keeps us as the apple of his eye. He sits around about
us as a fire to guard and protect us all the time. Look at Psalm
118. Psalm 118, verse 4. If God be for us, if God be for
us, who can be against us? Let them now that fear the Lord
say, that his mercy endures forever. Verse 5, I called upon the Lord
in distress. The Lord answered me and set
me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. I will
not fear what man can do unto me. The Lord taketh my part. with them that help me, therefore
shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better
to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Verse
14, the Lord is my strength and song and has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of
the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is
exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth
valiantly. I shall not die, but live and
declare the works of the Lord. That 17th verse has a special
meaning to me. 36 years ago, I had severe case
of cancer, going through cobalt chemotherapy. The doctors didn't
expect me to live. Family and friends all over the
world praying for me. But I couldn't pray for myself,
Joe. I just couldn't. I couldn't ask God to heal me.
I didn't know what his will was. Couldn't ask him to cure me of
the disease. I didn't know what his will was.
One morning, reading this portion of scripture, God spoke plainly. And for the first time I could
ask him to heal me of the disease. I shall not die, but live. and declare the works of the
Lord. If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, Moses understood
that God was for him. He understood that he belonged
to God, he was God's servant, sent to deliver God's people
Israel out of the hands of Egyptian bondage, and he walked into Pharaoh's
palace, the king, the mightiest king on the earth, of the mightiest
nation in the world, as the meekest man who ever walked on the earth
at that day. Moses walked in there, a meek
man. He said, let my people go. How dares a man come to the king
of Egypt and demand that he let the children of Israel go? God
sent him. God sent him. That's all. God sent him. He belonged to
God. He was owned of God. He worshipped
God. He believed God. And that gave
him backbone and strength and confidence in his God. If God
be for us, who can be against us? Children of God, as you seek
to serve our God, serve him with confidence. Our Lord Jesus said
concerning his church, on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. The gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Storm the gates of hell. Storm the gates of hell. under
the name of the Son of God with the gospel of the grace of God
and watch the gates of hell fall before you. Oh, you don't really
expect that. Oh, I do indeed. I do indeed. I've got to answer a letter as
soon as I get home. A young man asking me about missionary
work and how to go about it. Another written to me asking
about preaching and how to go about preaching. And I'm not
going to tell him a whole lot, except if God's in it, if God's
called you, you do it. You just do it. Well, but don't
I need? No, you don't. But how do I? You don't. You just serve God and watch
the gates of hell fall in front of you. And they do. And they
do. And they do. And they do. The
gates of hell are not offensive weapons. They're defensive weapons. Never saw an army charging somebody
with gates, did you? The gates of hell, what hell
hides behind. And it's our business to tear
them down. Not by marching against abortion
clinics and marching against dance halls and marching against
theaters and marching against whatever else somebody wants
to march against. No, no. We preach the gospel. The weapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual. And we preach
the gospel by every means God gives us and watch the gates
of hell fall. All right, back here in Romans
8. The second thing I have to say
is this. What shall we then say to these things? Look at verse
32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him freely give us all things? Now that's heavenly logic. He spared not his darling son,
but delivered him up for us all. That is, for all who trust him,
all who are redeemed by him, all who believe him, all God's
elect, he delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with
him? freely give us all things. The Lord God Almighty spared
not His own darling son. He spared him nothing. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. Not just to die, but gave his
son in every detail, bringing him
at last to death. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ? How that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. Our Lord Jesus, rich in all the
glory of his eternal being as God, rich in all the majesty
of heaven's dominion, rich in all the felicity of his holy
being, became poor. He came into this world in human
flesh. He who is God, came here as one
of us. He who is God became a man. He came here as a child of a
poor man and a poor woman, born of the Virgin Mary and her husband,
the carpenter Joseph. Our Lord Jesus lived in this
world in humanity, in obscurity, And when he became of any age,
confessed God in baptism, and confessed himself as our Redeemer,
the Christ of God, by his baptism, confessing the accomplishment
of redemption by his death and resurrection on our stead, he
was tempted of the devil, driven by the spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil. Tempted at all points, like as
we are, yet without sin. Tempted. Tempted. People want to argue about things
of God, things written in this book that are so wondrously majestic, glorious,
and gracious. Wasn't temptations real? You've never known temptation
like he knew it. Yes. Our Lord Jesus, while
he walked on this earth, was ridiculed and slandered of men.
He was betrayed by his own familiar friend. He came to Gethsemane
And there in Gethsemane's garden, in the anticipation of being
made sin for us, he cries out to his father three times, Oh
my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, thy will be done. And as he prays, he breaks out
in a sweat of blood, falling to the ground, anticipating,
anticipating, anticipating the agony of being made sin for us. The Lord Jesus then goes up to
the cursed tree, and he endures not just the tortures of cruel
men, their spit and their lacerations and their beatings he endures
being made sin for us he endures the tortures of his
soul forsaken of God his father at the height of his obedience He cries out, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? And at last dies in our stead. God, our Father, because of his
great love for us, delivered up Christ into the hands of justice
and death for the redemption of our souls. for our salvation. Now, be assured of this. He won't withhold anything from
you. He who gave his own son, who
spared his son nothing, But delivering him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? What a word! Freely! Freely! That means, Brother
Gene, You don't have to beg, wrestle, and grovel. You go boldly to the throne of
grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in every time of
need because God's anxious to give it. Freely give us all things. Freely. I'm sure I've told you
this before, but I like to tell it because it makes me look good.
I had just one daughter, unlike most of my brethren, the Lord
just gave us one child and filled our quiver with her. And this
young fella, decided he wanted to marry my daughter. And he
came to the house one night. And having just one daughter,
I felt it my duty to make him as uncomfortable as I possibly
could. And so I put on my stern face. That's hard for me to do.
And kind of stilted a little bit with him. And said, OK. I'll be glad to give her a hand
to you in marriage. And then I performed the ceremony.
And they went on their honeymoon, and they came back home. And
the first visit to the house, I gave him some keys. Keys to
the house, keys to the garage, keys to my toolbox, keys to my
gun safe, and I gave him keys to my truck and car. And I said,
now that's yours. It's whatever you want, take
it, use it however you want to. That's yours. And people sometimes
think that's strange. You know, I've had folks actually
ask me after I got done telling that story, did he really do
that? Scott would think that's strange.
I gave him my daughter. You think I would give him a
monkey wrench? I gave him my daughter. The apple of my eye. The delight
of my heart. I gave him a daughter. I have a father. Gave us his son. And gave us his son through the
agony of Calvary and gave us his son in the new birth. Now how dare I question that
he might not supply something I need. In fact, he has declared
all things are yours. So what is it? All things are
yours for ye are Christ, and Christ is God's. All things in
heaven, and in earth, in the sea, and in all deep places,
all are yours. All are yours. God created the
world for you. Now, I realize that I'm in California,
and I have to be very careful how I say things here, because
y'all do things different than we do in the South. And I know
there are a lot of animal rights activists in this state. And
I want you to know that I believe in animal rights. I believe it's
my right to trap them, or tame them and make a house cat or
a house dog, or skin them and wear the furs, or eat them, or
hook them and broil them, any of them. Any of them. Now I've said that all on purpose,
a little bit humorously, but a whole lot more seriously, because
I want you to understand something. Just in case you were influenced
by this insane society that thinks rats and human beings have got
something in common. God made the world for you. He didn't make you for the world.
You understand that? God created the universe for
his people. He created the whole thing for
you. to use for His glory and your
benefit and your enjoyment. God made it for you and He'd
given all things to you to enjoy. Alright, here's the third thing. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Romans 8.33 Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who shall lay anything to your
charge? Many would. Many would. I've been preaching the gospel
now since I was 17 years old, and I've had a few fellas lay a few things in my charge.
And when I was younger, I used to get real upset, and I'd defend
myself. I'd make a business to make sure
that, you know, my name's got to be defended. And I quit doing
that a long time ago. We've done it a long time ago.
John, you hear something bad Don Fortner did, all you got
to do is call me and ask me. I'll tell you. Call and ask. I'll tell you. But you won't
hear from me. Won't hear me say anything about it otherwise.
How come? I'm God's. I'm God's. If he wants my name defended,
he's perfectly capable of doing it. He doesn't need my help.
And if he wants your name defended, he's perfectly capable of doing
it. He doesn't need your help. Who shall lay to things the charge
of God's elect? Lots of folks would, but nobody
can. Nobody. Satan can't. He's defeated. The world can't. It's condemned. The law can't. It's been honored. God's justice
can't. It is God that justifies. Now I love that word justifieth. One of the sweet beauties of
our King James translation is the ETH ending on verbs that
are used in what's called the linear tense. That ETH ending
means something that is going on and continues to go on. It is God that justifieth. Now, I'm certain that some brilliant
theologian will hear what I've got to say. You know, one of
those brilliant theologians you find on those internet garbage
sites where folks like to show you how much they know. And as
our brother Fortner, he's confused. He doesn't realize that justification
was accomplished at Calvary. Well, I do realize that. I'm fully aware of that. I'm
fully aware that justification was accomplished from eternity.
I'm fully aware that Jesus Christ, when he cried, it is finished,
justified us from all our sins. I'm fully aware of the fact that
when we believe on the Son of God, we receive free, full justification
with finality. But it is God that justifies
us. So how can it be something that's
in this present, continual, ceaseless state. It is God that justifies. The scripture says, the blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. But that was
done a long time ago. That the blood of Jesus Christ,
God so cleanseth us from all sin, who forgiveth all iniquities. But God forgives, seems a long
time ago. I preached down in San Diego
back, oh, six months ago, maybe more. I can't remember. And got
done preaching, and some brilliant fellow, the corner of that service,
didn't want to talk to me about asking for forgiveness. He said,
we shouldn't pray for forgiveness anymore, should we? I said, what? We shouldn't pray for forgiveness.
I said, the Lord taught us to pray. Our Father which art in
heaven, forgive us this day. Forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against you. But that was back
then. We shouldn't pray for forgiveness now. It's already done. Why don't
you do that then? And he kept pushing it, pushing
it. I tell you what, if you don't
need it, don't ask for it. If you don't need it, don't ask
for it. Yes, He forgiveth all our sins. He cleanseth us from
all sin. He justifies. Because His blood
has perpetual efficacy. Constantly making us sure before
God in our consciences. Now understand this. Justification was done when Christ
died as our substitute. No question about that. Our faith
doesn't justify us. Our faith receives what Christ
accomplished. We receive justification by faith. And leave, as often as we sin,
and we confess our sin, we receive justification by faith. We receive
continual cleansing, looking away from ourselves to our Redeemer. You understand that? You have the bite of the serpent
in your soul. And suddenly, you're seized with
guilt. And you look away to the Redeemer. And the guilt flees. Because
we're justified. We're justified. Cleansed before
God. Well, that was done before we
asked for it, yeah. But I experienced it when I asked for it. I experienced
it when I looked to the Savior. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us Who shall lay them into the charge
of God's elect? Nobody. It's God that justifies. All right, here's the fourth
thing. Romans 8, 34. Who is he that condemneth? Who is he that condemneth? You remember how Jude speaks
to Michael the archangel? It does not bring a railing accusation
against Satan, but says the Lord rebuked them. You have a picture
of it in Zechariah chapter 3. There's the angel of the Lord,
Christ Jesus our Redeemer. And Joshua, the high priest,
standing there, has took the garments. And Satan comes to
heal Joshua. And the Lord Jesus stands by. As there's a... clean him up,
put clean garments on him, he's mine. He says, even so, I will
remove the iniquity of the land in one day. The Lord Jesus is
that one who died. Who is he that condemneth? Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Died under
the penalty of divine justice when he was made sin for us.
Died for us because he was made as our substitute to deserve
to die. And when he died, we died in
him. Yea, rather, that is risen again. Our Lord Jesus was delivered
into the hands of divine justice for our offenses. Delivered at
last into the grave, buried as our substitute. And he was raised
again for our justification. Delivered to death because of
our sins made his and raised from the dead because our sins
that were made his he put away by the sacrifice of himself so
that now he being raised from the dead is freed from sin and
we being raised in him are freed from sin who is even at the right
hand of God the Lord Jesus Seated on the right hand of the majesty
on high. Seated there as the accepted
one. Seated there as the satisfied
one. Seated there as he whom the father
appointed and whom the father gave and whom the father accepted
as our substitute. And we're seated there with him. who also maketh intercession
for us. Maketh intercession for us. Thy bleeding wounds he bears,
Received at Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive him. Oh, forgive, they
cry. Nor let that ransomed sinner
die. He maketh intercession for us. Pleads our calls before our heavenly
Father. As our mighty advocate on high. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that you sin not. Children of God, don't ever take
sin lightly. especially your own. Don't ever take sin lightly. If you derive from what I say
something that makes you think lightly about your sin, I apologize
for what I said. Don't take sin lightly. We live in this apostate, godless,
reprobate religiosity. The thing sitting in our living
rooms, influenced by the news media, by Hollywood, with every
perverse imagination. So the homosexuality and adultery
and fornication and drunkenness Every vile imagination is promoted
as being something that is all right. And we ought to be nice
about it. Don't take sin lightly. But I'm talking especially now,
Ian, about your own, not your neighbor's, yours, your own. Don't take it lightly. But when
you see it, Don't despair. We have an advocate with the
Father. Jesus Christ is righteous. And
he's the propitiation for our sins. Do you understand that? He is the satisfaction of divine
justice on our behalf. Our Lord Jesus So that woman
was taken to the doctor in John chapter 8, called in the very
act. And the Pharisees brought her
up, and boy, I can almost see a smile on their face by their
picture of her being stoned to death. We're going to get the
killer right here, and we're going to have him about. And
the Lord stood down and wrote on the ground, I don't know,
probably some names and places. And they got up and left. One, another, then another, then
another. And the Lord had driven away
her accusers. He looked up to that woman and
he said, Who does now condemn thee? They're not one of us standing around
here. Neither so I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. He imputed my sin to his son. He won't impute it to me. He
charged my sin to his son. He won't charge it to me. He
punished my sin in his son. He won't punish any man. I have
no reason to think otherwise. All right, here's the fifth thing. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? No power. No being, no act of
men, no act of Satan, no act of the demons of hell, nothing
in heaven, nothing on earth, nothing in hell can separate
us from the love of Christ our Savior. Read verse 35-39. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Our distress? Our persecution? Our famine? Our nakedness? Our peril? Our sword? That's about all the
troubles you can name, isn't it? Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Now watch this. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loveth us. More than conquerors. From the
note I showed us a little bit ago. I was 19 years old and sitting
in the living room with my good friend, Billy Harry Graham. He's
been with the Lord now for a number of years. Much older preacher. I knew him when I was in North
Carolina. And Shelby and I spent as much time as we could with
he and his wife. I was sitting on his heart. Harry and I were
discussing this 8th chapter of Romans. We got to this more than
conquerors. He said, you know what that means,
son? And when Harry asked me a question, I always knew his
intention was to teach me something. So I didn't pretend I knew. I
said, no, Harry. What's that talking about? He said, did you ever whip anybody?
I said, yeah. I've done that a few times. He
said, did you ever whip anybody so thoroughly that you never
had to look over your shoulder to see if they were coming to
get some more? I said, no. He said, the Lord Jesus. has
conquered our enemies. Satan held in the grave and the
world with them. And so thoroughly conquered them,
they can never rise to oppose us again. More than conquerors. To be more than conqueror is
not only to conquer the enemy, but to spoil the enemy. To take
all his goods, Not only to conquer and spoil the enemy, but to parade
them as servants who have been conquered. And the Lord Jesus
has paraded them as our servants so that Satan That roaring lion
who seeks whom he may devour is but the vassal of God our
Savior and can do nothing but that which is good for his people.
Nothing. Nothing but that which is good
for his people. For I am persuaded. I stand fully
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature shall be able to separate us from the love
of God. which is in Christ Jesus, our
Lord. When peace, like a river, attendeth
my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot,
Thou hast taught me to say, It is well. It is well with my soul. Because Christ is mine. And I need Him. Amen.