Our passage tonight begins with
a question. What shall we then say to these
things? What a question. What things
does he refer to? What shall we then say to these
things? What things? Well, we know in
verse 18, he had spoken of the sufferings the afflictions of
the people of God. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. What shall we say to these
things? That is the sufferings, the afflictions
that the children of God go through in this world. Shall we murmur
and complain about seeing them that they all work together for
good. Other thoughts are, he refers
to the blessings. What shall we say to these things,
the blessings which he had mentioned in verse 30? God's predestination,
God's effectual calling, God's free justification. God's glorious glorification. What shall we then say to these
things? I believe he refers to both,
although by his response, by his answer, it seems he is referring
especially to the afflictions that the children of God go through
in this world. What shall we say to these things? The fact that God has ordained
that his children experience many difficulties in this life. I say, I believe he's referring
to those by his response. What shall we then say to these
things? And his answer is, if God be
for us, who can be against us? If God be our friend, if God
be our Lord and Savior, if God be on our side as we journey
through this world, even with afflictions that we encounter,
who can be against us? David, the psalmist David, he
was a person, a man that knew both afflictions and blessings.
He experienced both great afflictions in this world and yet great blessings
also. And listen to what he wrote in
Psalm 118. He said, the Lord is on my side. That's what the Apostle Paul
says here, actually. What shall we then say to these
things if God be for us? Who can be against us? David
said, the Lord is on my side. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. When I was preparing these notes,
I thought about Joshua. Look back to Joshua with me,
if you will. The book of Joshua, chapter five. Joshua, chapter five. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, Joshua. At this point, he
has led the children of Israel across Jordan. God opened up
the river Jordan so that they passed over on dry land. And
the first city that they come to is a great city. It's the
city of Jericho. And it was a very well fortified
city. And we find here in this passage
in Joshua chapter 5, beginning with verse 13, Joshua goes out
to kind of scout out the land, it seemed like. And he's by the
walls of Jericho. And it came to pass when Joshua
was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and Behold,
there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his
hand. Who was this man? We know it
was one of the pre-incarnate appearances of the Lord Jesus
Christ before he actually was made flesh and came into this
world as a man. He appeared several times through
the Old Testament as a man. And when Joshua saw this man,
he had his sword drawn, and Joshua went unto him and said unto him,
Art thou for us? What is he saying? I want to
be on your side. I want to be on your side. Are you for us? Are you for us? And he said, nay, are you for
us or are you for our adversaries? Are you for us or are you for
the people in Jericho, the Canaanites? And he said, nay. And I think I'll read into this. He's saying, I'm not on your
side. You're on my side. You're on my side. Nay, nay,
but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto
him, what sayeth my Lord unto his servant? And the captain
of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off
thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua
did so, it was holy because the Lord was there. And Joshua was
given assurance of victory, of conquering the land of Canaan. Because if God be for us, who
can be against us? If this man be for us, this man
who appeared with his sword drawn, If he be for us, who can be against
us? Now, turn back to Romans eight,
if you will. I want us to consider in these
verses, very precious passage of scripture, but I want us to
look at four grounds of assurance. Four grounds of assurance to
answer a believer's doubts and fears. And we know that all of
God's children at one time or the other experience doubts and
fears. We have four assurances here.
First, God spared not his own son to save us, verse 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? How much is packed into that
one verse of scripture? How much is in that one verse
of scripture? Let me break it down for us a
little bit. First of all, God's own son. God's own son. He that spared
not his own son. The son of God is not a son by
adoption like you are. like all believers are sons by
adoption, but this son that he spared not, his own son is not
a son by adoption, he's not a son by creation, he's a son by eternal
generation. Now that's the term that the
writers use. It just simply means that he's
one with the father, that he is eternal. And every attribute,
every characteristic that is true of God the Father is true
of God the Son. We know that He became flesh
in the fullness of the time. He is one with the father who
was made flesh, and he is one who always, not most of the time,
but always did those things that pleased his father, his own son. When I was making these notes
and looking over them again, I thought about the fact that
many men in power, I thought about the Russian Premier Putin. I don't know if he has any children
or not. But it's one thing to commit
other men's sons to war, and another thing to commit your
own sons to war, right? But God spared not his own son,
and I might say his only begotten son. The second thing, he spared
not. When God made Christ to be sin,
as the scriptures tell us, he who knew no sin, he suffered
the full amount of God's wrath that every sin deserves. I'm going to repeat that and
take that home with you and think about it. He suffered the full amount of God's wrath
that every sin of his people deserves. Now every sin is infinite
because every sin is committed against God who is infinite. And every sin merits infinite
punishment. The Lord Jesus Christ, in bearing
the sins of his people, we cannot even begin, or I can't even begin
to understand the weight of the punishment that fell upon God's
dear son. He spared him not. Not one iota,
not one drop in that cup that was filled With the wrath of
God, not one drop did he not drink when God spared not his
own son. Third, God delivered him up for
us all. And we know that all here means
for all believers. It was not merely the apostles. When Paul says he delivered him
up for us all, it's not just that he delivered him up for
the apostles, the apostles. It's not that he just was delivered
up for the rich and the great of this world. Those that God
uses in any way in his providence, but for the most humble, most
obscure believer that has ever lived on the face of God's earth. God delivered him up for us all. And the fourth thing I see here
is God gives us freely all things. The God of all grace. He gives
us freely all things. God gave his son freely. He could
not have been compelled, coerced in any way to give his son. He
gave him freely. And something that needs to be
said here is that God's mercy, the death of Christ doesn't merit
you God's love. God loved you and gave his son. And his mercy, his death doesn't
merit mercy for you. God's mercy is free and God gave
his son out of his love and grace and mercy. Gave him freely. Thus, the apostle says he will
freely give us all things. Now, this would include material
things, things needful for the body, Our Lord said that God
closed the fields, closed the lilies of the field. God freely
gives us all things, all things that are needful, food and raiment
and shelter. God gives us these things freely,
but especially we think about spiritual blessings, such as
forgiveness of sins. God's forgiven you. not part
of your sins. If you are a believer tonight,
he's forgiven you all your sins. And he didn't forgive you because
you merited it, because you did anything to earn it, or you ever
will do anything to earn it. No, he gave you forgiveness of
sins freely, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
us. Adoption, being made a son or
daughter of God, freely. Justification, being declared
righteous before God, eternal life. The wages of sin is death,
but eternal life is a gift of God through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Did you know the only thing that
you and I really can call our own? Sin. That's the only thing that any
of us can really call our own, our sin. God freely forgives
us our sins. The second assurance is God justifies
his elect in verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. It's beyond reason to think that
after God justifies his elect, that for some reason, some failure
on that person's part, that God then will condemn that person. I cannot understand how people
who read this Bible and have the Spirit of God, if they do,
can teach and believe that God would justify a person and then
later, because of something that person does or doesn't do, condemn
that person. That's not the God of the Bible.
That's just not the God of the Bible. Have you ever read John Bunyan's
experience along these lines? John Bunyan testifies, and I'm
going by memory here, But he was walking along one day in
the fields, and like most believers at one time or the other, his
feelings were up and down, doubting his salvation, believing his
salvation. And the thought came to him,
my righteousness is in heaven. My righteousness is in heaven. And while I may change, and I
do, and my feelings change day by day, but my righteousness
never changes. For God hath made him to be wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for us. Christ
is our righteousness. And he doesn't change, he's the
same yesterday, today, and forever. Third, Christ will not condemn
those who trust in him, verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. In this verse, we see
four reasons why every believer, everyone who trusts in Christ
will not be condemned. First of all, shall Christ condemn
those for whom he died? Shall Christ condemn those for
whom he died? He died to save them, not to
destroy them. He will not condemn his elect. Number two, Christ rose for their
justification. Yea rather than is risen again. Let me give you John Gale's comment
on that phrase there. The resurrection of Christ is
rather a greater security from condemnation than his death. Christ's death expiated sin,
but His resurrection brought in the everlasting righteousness. Notwithstanding Christ's death,
had He not risen again, we should have been in our sins and so
liable to condemnation. Christ's dying showed that He
was arrested and condemned, but His resurrection shows that he
is discharged and we in him. Yes, he took our sins, Peter
tells us, in his own body on the tree. And he took those sins
with him to the grave and when he arose on the third day, God declared him justified. What's that verse in chapter
Here in Romans, let me see if I can find Romans 4, I believe
it is. Yes, Romans 4 verse 25. Who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. Yes, when he came
out of that grave, God declared he was satisfied. The debt was
paid, paid in full. Third, here's a third reason
in this verse, Christ is now at the right hand of God. Now,
he's not only at the right hand of God, but he's at the right
hand of God with all authority and all power, both in heaven
and in earth. And he's there to rule and reign
to provide for his body, that is, his church. He's the head, and every believer
is a member of his body. Think about that. You've got
your head here, and you've got members. You've got your fingers
and your toes and knees and all these parts. You wouldn't allow,
if possible, one member of your body to perish, would you? I
remember a brother that was here for a long time. He had lost
his thumb on his right hand. And he didn't do that on purpose,
by any means. It was an accident in a shop,
I believe it was. But we're not going to let our
members perish. We love ourselves. No man, the
apostle Paul tells us, hath yet hated his own body. No. There was a shortstop that played
for the Astros several years ago. I remember he was very good,
very good shortstop. And in the off season, he was
working, I guess he liked to work with wood, and he cut the
tips of his fingers. Not the fingers, just the tips. And you know what run his career?
He was never the shortstop after that. He never had the ability
that he had before. He didn't lose a finger, he just
lost the tips of his fingers. No, Christ, he has all power. Look with me in Ephesians chapter
one. For the good of his church, he's
not going to let one member perish. In Ephesians one, beginning with
verse 20, Paul is praying that the believers
in the church, you and I, that we might know the power of God
that raised Christ from the dead. That same power God puts forth
in saving a sinner. That same power. Here you were,
dead, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. Here Christ's body
was dead, physically dead in the tomb. And the power of God
raised that body. And the same is true of you spiritually. God's power raised you, which
He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and
set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far,
far above all principality and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named. not only in this world, but also
in that world which is to come. And hath put all things, not
most things, all things under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church, to his body, his mystical
body, the church, believers, which is his body. the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. Christ is now at the right hand
of God with all power. And the fourth thing in this
verse, back in Romans 8 in verse 34, Christ makes intercession. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. When you make intercession
for someone, when you're praying for some loved one or someone,
praying for some need they have, you're making intercession for
that person. You do it vocally. That's not
the way Christ makes intercession. He makes intercession for his
people just by his appearance there, by his appearance for
his people, and declaring in his will that the benefits of
his death be applied to them, for those for whom he made atonement. Well, fourth, no believer will
ever be separated from the love of Christ. the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And by the love of Christ he
is speaking, I'm convinced, not of our love for Christ. Some
of the writers believe he's speaking about our love for Christ, but
I believe it's his love for us. We'll never be separated from
the love of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul wrote to
that church saying, no man should be moved by these afflictions.
No man should be moved by the afflictions that they saw in
the apostle Paul. For yourselves know that we are
appointed thereunto. When in the book of Revelation,
In chapter 5, when the Lord takes the book and opens the seal,
the first seal he opens is that white horse, which I believe
the rider on the white horse represents Christ. It represents
the gospel that goes out. goes out and claims God's people,
saves God's people. But just as soon as that white
horse, the gospel goes forth. Remember, there's a red horse
that quickly comes after him. And there is a black horse and
a pale horse. And everywhere the gospel goes,
affliction follows, affliction follows. And it's all for Christ's
sake. If you notice back in Romans
8 here, in verse 36, he says, as it is written, for thy sake,
God's people might be the most congenial people in the world,
the nicest people in the world. I hope we are. And suffer affliction. Why? Not because they're nice,
not because they're mean. No, it's for Christ's sake. It's
because they follow Christ, because they love Christ. They suffer affliction. And Paul
named seven different things here. I'm not going to speak
of all of them, but the first one is tribulation. And this,
the word properly, refers to pressure from without, affliction,
affliction from external causes. Then there's distress or anxiety
brought about by trials and persecutions. Sometimes we're in such a situation,
we say, I don't know where to turn. I don't know what to do. Anxiety, and of course, should
turn to the Lord, I understand that. But Paul even said, without
were fighting, and within were fears, persecutions. And our Lord warned his people,
his followers, his disciples. He said, now the brother shall
betray the brother to death. Why would a brother betray his
brother? You think there's love among
siblings? There is. but for Christ's sake, because
one brother comes to know the Lord and begins to serve God
and his brother who isn't saved begins to hate him and misuse
him. Brothers shall betray the brother
to death and father the son and children shall rise up against
their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. Parents,
children doing that to their parents. Why would anyone do
that to their father, their mother? For Christ's sake. Because a
person has become a child of God. And you shall be hated of
all men, for my name's sake. Famine. In the early church, they had
what they called I'm not sure about pronouncing
this word, gills, gills. I would say a labor union. The
carpenter union, the carpenter gill, and the masonary gill,
and all of these various gills, they had a make-believe God. And you had to, when they'd have
fiestas or special services to worship that God, you had to
attend if you were in that trade. And if you didn't attend and
worship that God, what happened? You lost your job. You lost your
job. You had no way to support yourself
or your family. Famine. Yes, many of God's children
suffered famine in those early days. Nakedness. Nakedness. Some were in skins
of animals, right? We read that in Hebrews, I believe
it is. The world was not worthy of them.
Then there's peril. That would include every kind
of danger. Sword. The apostle James, we
know, was put to the sword immediately in the book of Acts. And tradition
tells us that the The apostle who wrote this letter of Romans
said he too met the sword of Caesar, that his head was taken
off by Caesar. Like sheep, he says. He quotes
an Old Testament verse. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter, as men would drive sheep or lead sheep to the slaughter. Or as in the temple there, every
day there was a sheep, a lamb slain in the morning, lamb slain
at evening and through the day. And people considered Christians
to be just like sheep, no better than sheep led to the slaughter. In one place in the Old Testament,
the church of God is referred to as a flock, that is a sheep
flock of slaughter. But even so, God's children are
more than conquerors, more than conquerors. And Paul ends declaring
his certainty, for I am persuaded I am persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of Christ, the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Let me finish my message by giving
us the comments of one of the commentators. He gives five things
here at the end of this chapter. Number one, that it is the highest
honor that can be conferred on mortal man to be a Christian. The highest honor that can be
conferred upon mortal man to be a Christian. Number two, our
trials in this life are scarcely worth regarding in comparison
with the future glory. Number three, calamity should
be born without complaint, nay, without a sigh. Number four,
the Christian has every possible security for his safety. The
purpose of God, the work of Christ, The aid of the Holy Spirit and
the tendency of all events under the direction of his father and
friend conspire to secure his welfare and salvation. And number
five, with what thankfulness then should we approach the God
of mercy? May the Lord bless his word.
This has to be one of the greatest passages in all the word of God. Amen. I ask David to lead us
in this hymn, Be Still My Soul, The Lord is on Your Side. Let us sing that hymn, David. Let's stand.