As you well know, that's one
of June's favourite songs, so I like singing it for my friend.
Because that's what the scriptures say, is that we sing to each
other. But the words, the words in that
refrain come from 2 Timothy chapter 1. And he knows, he knows, he
says he knows. and He is persuaded and He is
entrusting all of His life, all of His salvation, everything
into the hands of His great redeeming Saviour. Romans 8, if you turn
there in your scriptures, a remarkable passage of scripture and I like
Probably every other preacher that's ever delved into it, you
feel inadequate. immensely inadequate because
of the depths of the beauties of the things that are revealed
here about the redeeming love of our Saviour. And as you know
from just recently we spent some time looking at Romans 7 and
here's a man who was and is a wretched man. A wretched man and a delivered
man. but a thankful man and an honest
man. He says, so then with my mind
I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. He's an honest man about the
failings and the trials of his flesh. Then he begins this great
chapter, and all I can do in introduction is skip over some
of the most remarkable things. He says now, right now, for him,
for every believing child of God, there is no condemnation. With his mind he serves the law
of God, with his flesh the law of sin. So sin is there alive
in him and there is no condemnation. There is no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. What a gift from God. Verse 4
is remarkable, isn't it? The law requires perfection. It must be perfect to be accepted. It must be holy to meet the approval
of a holy God. The righteousness of the law
is fulfilled. in us. It's not fulfilled by
us. It's fulfilled in us by God's
dear and precious Son. Verse 15, He's given us the Spirit. We haven't received the Spirit
of bondage again to fear, but we have received the Spirit of
adoption. Adopted by God the Father, in
verse 17, we are made heirs. We are children and heirs. We are heirs of God, brothers
and sisters, joint heirs with Christ. And back to verse 15,
God's children cry, Abba, Father. The very words that our Saviour
spoke of His Father in those times of His deepest suffering.
Abba, Abba, Father. In verse 23 to 25, He's given
us the hope of resurrection. We wait for the adoption to with
the redemption of the body. We are saved by hope, but hope
that is seen is not hope. For what a man sees, why does
he get hope for it? But we hope for that which we
see not. Then we, then do we with patience
wait for it. And then we are given in those
amazing verses in 28 and 29 and 30, we are given the knowledge
of the assurance of His good and perfect providence. We have that golden chain that's
spoken of there. And the beginning is foreknowledge. It means to love. the source
and the fountain of all of this is God who is love. Those who are foreknown are predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren, He might be the preeminent one
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." Notice that
it's put in the past tense. It's a finished work. Whatever
God does, He does forever, says Ecclesiastes 3. His works were
finished from the foundation of the world Hebrews 4. Whatever
he does is settled in the heavens forever. And then we have these
questions which precede the passage we're going to look at. What
amazing questions. What shall we say then? How do
we say, what do we speak in response to all of this? What's our declaration? What's our testimony? If God be for us, who can be
against us? The Lord is with us. The Lord
is with His people. If He is with His people, nothing
else matters, brothers and sisters. The next question is, How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? He spared not His own Son, but
He delivered Him up for us all. He's given us His Son. Won't He then give us all things? He's given us the best. Imagine
if I said, I'm going to give you a mansion by the ocean and
a lawnmower. And if you've got the keys and
the title to the mansion, would you be worried about getting
the lawnmower? We've got the best that God can
give. And he spared not his own son.
He spared him not temptation. He wasn't spared humiliation.
He wasn't spared slander. He wasn't spared betrayal. He
wasn't spared agony. He wasn't spared being made sin. He wasn't spared death. His Son wasn't spared any of
the things that you will go through. Who, the next question. Who shall
lay any charge to God's elect? Who can make a charge against
them? Who can make any accusation against
them? Can Satan, can the law, the law's
been fulfilled. Can the world, he's defeated
the world, he's overcome the world. Can the justice of God
bring any charge against us? It's God who justifies. It's God who justifieth. It means that no doubt justification
was done in eternity and justification was done at the cross and at
the resurrection. We know that from Romans 4.25. But here it is pronounced as
something that has an ongoing impact. To be justified is to
be declared or pronounced Righteous. It's to be declared as righteous
as God is. It's God who justifies. Who then is He? Who is it? Is He that condemns? It is Christ that died rather,
yea rather, and is risen again. is even at the right hand of
God and he makes intercession. There is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus. He is at the right hand of God.
He is sitting, as Hebrews 3 says, at the right hand of God. The Levitical priests worked
and worked and worked and never sat down. He finished at work
and he sat down. The next question, who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? He lists seven things
here, doesn't he? Seven things that are external
things in a sense to the people of God. Tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword. Can any of these things separate
us from the love of Christ? See, he has seven things there,
and down in verse 38 and 39 there's that list of ten, isn't it? Death,
life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things
to come, height, depth, or any other creature. Can they separate
us from the love of Christ? And then in verse 36 we have
that really fascinating verse which seems in some sense out
of sync with the rest of this verse until we read where it
came from. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter. Let's turn back to Psalm 44 where
this comes from and just look. briefly at why God the Holy Spirit
has written it there for us. You see, the whole basis of Paul's
persuasion. The whole basis of his confidence
is that God who has acted in faithfulness in history and then
must act in faithfulness throughout all time, because He cannot change,
He will not fail. The psalmist says, we have heard
with our ears, O God our Father's Our fathers have told us what
work you did in their days in times of old, how you did drive
out the heathen with thine hand and planted them, and how you
did afflict the people and cast them out." And then he describes
their conquest of the land of Canaan. by their own sword. They didn't
achieve it with the work of their own sword, neither did their
own arm save them. They had an army, they had a
significant army. But here they say it wasn't by
our swords, it wasn't by our arms, but by Thy right hand,
by hand of power and Thine arm." And, isn't this remarkable, how
did they overcome? They overcome, they overcame,
and the light of Thy countenance, God shone upon them. God smiled upon His people. and because Thou had favour unto
them." God shone His face upon this particular group of people
and they were well pleased. He says He had favour on them.
He was well pleased with them. He took delight in them. He chose
them to be a special people to Himself above all the people
on the face of the earth. And the psalmist goes on to say,
Thou art my King, O God. Command deliverances for Jacob. Time precludes us from reading
the rest of the psalm, but if you can read on in the psalm,
you'll find that this people went into a decline. And they went into hard times. And then in verse 22 he says,
Yea, for Thy sake we are killed all day long, we are counted
as sheep for the slaughter. In the midst of their difficult
times, in the midst of the tough things that are around them,
They see themselves as belonging to God and in His hands. And then in verse 23 of Psalm
44, there is this prayer, isn't there? Awake! Why sleepest thou? It seems as if God is asleep. Isn't that the situation we find
ourselves in so often, brothers and sisters? It seems like things
are out of control. It seems like the circumstances
of my life are too big. It seems like God is asleep. The Sama says, why sleepest thou,
O Lord? Arise, cast us not off forever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face
and forgetest our affliction and our oppression. It seems
to me so often that that is how I speak to my God. I don't know
if it's the same with you. Why are these things happening? Why, why is my soul downcast? Our soul, verse 25, is bowed
down to the dust. Our belly cleaveth unto the earth. And then the psalm finishes with
another prayer. Arise for our help and redeem
us for thy mercy's sake. Got to remember that in Romans
8, beginning With the last verse of Romans 7 we have a people
who are suffering, suffering real things, suffering personal
things, suffering those things of verse 35. Real suffering. Tribulation, distress, persecution,
famine, nakedness, peril or sword. You can read Paul's own testimony
in 2 Corinthians of those very things that came upon him again
and again. But then he has this triumphant
return, doesn't he? Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Verse 37. Nay, no, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. We
are more than conquerors. What a remarkable statement.
Psalm 44 talks about the conquering of the land of Israel. But here
Paul says that we are more than conquerors. Of course, the conquering
is done by the God-man, the Lord Jesus. He's defeated death and
Satan. He's disarmed the law that stood
against us. And victory is certain. The enemies
of the souls and bodies of His bride will never hurt or harm
on His holy hill. And we believers, We absolutely
conquer in Him who is unconquerable. To get to the head of our body
you have to get into heaven. You can't get into heaven. We are conquerors because of
our union with Him. We conquer. We saw In the Song
of Solomon, the king is held. He's bound by his covenant in
the galleries. He's bound by his covenant union. He's bound by his promises. He's bound by his love for his
bride. We are more than conquerors.
I will not let you go, says Jacob, unless you bless me. The Lord
Jesus looks at his bride, And He says, Turn away thine eyes
from Me, for they have overcome Me. He's overcome with love for
His Bride. We are more than conquerors. The church in heaven has conquered,
isn't it? Over and over again in Revelation
3 when the letters are written to the churches, as to he who
overcomes, to he who overcomes, all the ones in heaven overcome. And they are singing triumphantly
as we are here now. And their troubles are past.
But the church here is a church that has troubles. that the Church
here is made by its God to be more than conquerors. They are
made to rise above them. We are kept, we are guarded,
we are garrisoned by the power of God through faith. And these
trials come, these trials come from His good hand of providence. They come from His foreknowledge. They are part of His predestination. They don't come by accident to
us. And they come that we might discover
something more of His love and faithfulness and be assured that
what His love sends He controls the afflictions,
and God's children are more than conquerors. because we gain from
the battle. Brothers and sisters, many of
you have walked with the Lord for some considerable time. Has
there ever been a circumstance and a trial that you have been
through where you cannot look back now and think, how desperate
was my situation, how helpless I was, and the Lord was faithful? He is faithful. We are more than
conquerors. The trials strengthen us and
grow us. We are conquerors over them all. See, Paul is a man, in verse
38, who was persuaded. He was convinced to his heart. He was confident. He was assured. He believed. He trusted. He was persuaded. He was persuaded of God's love. He was persuaded that in all
these things we are more than conquerors. The love of God,
the fountain of all of these blessings, controls them all,
brings them all, sustains the saints in the midst of them all,
and causes Him to be glorified. To overcome, we are more than conquerors,
through Him that loved us. And the word to be persuaded
there means that he's been persuaded not by his own activities. It's
in the passive tense. It means that someone has persuaded
him. God has persuaded him. God has persuaded him through
his circumstances. God has persuaded him through
his word. God has persuaded him through
revelation. Paul was a man that was assured,
and he writes to people in these verses to assure those that are
worthy of God's assurance. You see, so many people ask about
assurance, and so many people are looking for assurance, and
they always are troubled if they are looking in the wrong place. Such is our life, isn't it? If
our confidence and our assurance depends on the outward circumstances
of our life, if our confidence and our assurance depends on
inward feelings, if our confidence and our assurance is dependent
upon something that we do, our own personal obedience, We have
no Biblical reason for assurance. So many, even of God's children,
as our friend Mr Hawker said, are looking to something that's
done in them rather than looking to someone who's done something
for them. Paul and the Holy Spirit here
is wanting us to take our eyes off all of these things. They
are realities, but beyond those realities is another reality. That's the real reality, isn't
it? Our assurance rests entirely upon the person and the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Word of God. Martin Luther was right, wasn't
he? He said, feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are
deceiving. I trust the written Word of God,
nor else is worth believing. Feelings come and feelings go.
Enemies come and enemies go. We just look through this list
briefly. Death. He's persuaded. that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, and he wraps it all
up by any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The world spends
billions We are trying to deal with death and we must applaud
medicine for what it gives us in so many remarkable ways. But death is an enemy. We are mortal. is there waiting and lying before
us. And death is a real enemy, isn't
it? It's a real enemy of our peace
with God, because death really does separate. It really does
take people away from us. It has a finality. Death breaks the closest bond. but it cannot break the love
of God. Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah
25 verse 8. In Revelation 21 he speaks of
death as if it was a beating. He says death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. In Isaiah 28 he says
he will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will wipe away
tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall
he take away from off all the earth. For the Lord has spoken. He will wipe every tear from
our eyes. Death is swallowed up in the
victory of the Lord Jesus. He reminds them of the term of
Lazarus, doesn't he? That he is the resurrection and
the life, he's overcome death. And as if to prove those remarkable
words, that God's children do not die. He goes to that tomb,
weeping with those who weep, and he says, Lazarus, come out. And the dead man came out. Such
is the victory of our Lord Jesus over death. Death in the scriptures
is likened to falling asleep. It's just a sleeper. Your body,
this tent, the one thing that separates us from this most extraordinarily
intimate communion that our brothers and sisters in heaven right now
have with the Lord Jesus is just this body. It's a tent, says
Peter. It will be taken away and it
will be rebuilt by God on the day of resurrection. Death has
been swallowed up. in victory. As the lady, the
shulamite, the church in the Song of Solomon chapter 8 says,
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for
love is as strong as death. The love of the Lord Jesus. I
am persuaded, says Paul, I trust you are persuaded. that death
is not going to separate people from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I'm persuaded that death is not
going to do that. I'm persuaded that life, natural
life in this world, a man is born into trouble as sparks fly
upwards, says Joe. The cares of this life, the things
that are around us all the time, the sins that entangle us, As
the psalmist said, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Our life is like a vapour. What in this life is going to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? You see, we were foreknown from
the foundation of the world. We were predestinated. The things of this life are not
going to separate us from the love of God. The things in time
are not going to undo the things in eternity, whether they're
things that are before us and things that are around us, or
even the angels. This probably is a reference
to evil angels who try to separate believers from the light of God. Satan sends his fallen angels
and they masquerade like him as an angel of light. They claim
to see and they claim to know and they claim to do. and they assert a right to lead
others into the light. They are accusers of the brethren. They are and they inspire false
teachers and persecutors. They cannot separate us from
the love of God. They are ultimately God's servants. Can principalities, can civil
authorities and governments separate us from the love of God? There
will come a time, there is coming a time and it's gaining momentum
throughout the world where to stand up for the things of God
with regard to homosexuality, with regard to marriage and so
many other things. We have enjoyed a remarkable
freedom in this Western world for several hundred years from
governments that actively persecuted the people of God. that time
may come again. These things just go in waves. Wicked men have used the laws
of the land to persecute the saints and stop them worshipping
God. Can it separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus? You think of Nebuchadnezzar.
He took our brethren Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and by
the laws of his land, he threw them into the burning furnace,
heated seven times hotter. And who was there with them?
Who was there? The only thing they lost in that
furnace were the cords that bound them. They didn't even smell
of smoke when they came out of there. And who was there? Who
was there, brothers and sisters? There was a fourth one there.
There was someone there. The Lord Jesus. Nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. The powers
are probably a reference to religious authorities. They will come,
false teachers and religious authorities will come and to
deceive the very elect if possible. Thank God it's not possible. They'll come and they'll excommunicate
God's people. I'll condemn them. It's a separation from themselves. They might even condemn them
to hell, but they cannot separate us from the love of God that's
in Christ Jesus. Can things present, the things
around us, today's trials, can loss and illness, poverty and
pain, can the results of sin that's in us separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Mercies are new every
morning, sufficient unto the day are the things thereof, isn't
it? Our sin and the sins of our brothers
and sisters and the sins of this world cause us to grieve and
to doubt and to be uncertain. that God knows these things to
around. He knows what's around you right
now. He looks on His bride and says
He loves her and says there is no condemnation for her. See,
Paul is persuaded that as a wretched man and as a man who honestly
acknowledges the sin that entangles him, He says, I'm persuaded,
I'm persuaded of the love of God. Things to come. So much of the troubles and the
anxieties of our lives are about the things of the future. Things
that we know nothing about generally. Things where we take the things
of the future and we put them in a negative light and we bring
them into our present. And then we wrestle over them
and try and work out how we're going to deal with them. Isn't
it wonderful to remind ourselves what Paul was reminded of when
the Holy Spirit caused him to pen these words. They got the
victory. They got the victory in that
land because of the light of His countenance, because of His
delight upon them. You see, brothers and sisters,
we don't have that strength. And may God protect us from taking
the things of the future. and bringing them into our lives
and letting them be things that cause us to question the character
and the providence and most of all the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus, shall heights It may be a reference to heaven.
Can anything in heaven separate us from the love of God? God
is holy. God is just. God foreknew. God has redeemed. He looks on
the work of His Son who is making intercession for us right now.
and nothing is going to separate us from the love of God. It may
be the height of fame and worldly riches. It may be in contrast
to the depths of poverty like Lazarus who sat outside the rich
man's gate. Can the heights separate us from
the love of God? Can the depths, can the depths
of hell I have found a ransom, says God. He redeems and ransoms
the souls of his people from hell. There is no judgment because
there is no condemnation. There is no law that can be brought
against the children of God. It's a day of grace. It's a message of grace. And as if to wrap it all up,
He says, can any other creature, can anything else in all of the
universe, he's looked through all that's around him, he's looked
through what's in him, he looks to all of the universe, there
is nothing. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Nothing, nothing at all. See, the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus is the love of Christ. Because Christ is God. And God is love. And this love is unchangeable love. It is sovereign
love. It's love that's uninfluenced. It's love that is free. It's free. It's uncaused. He loves according to His own
purpose. And we love Him because He first
loved us. His love is eternal because His
love is like Himself. His love didn't have any beginning
and it has no ending. His love is sovereign. Jacob I have loved, Esau I have
hated. and it's sovereign because it's
according to the good pleasure of His will. His love is infinite. Everything about our God is infinite
and so is His love. His love is unchangeable, it's
immutable. There's no variableness nor shadow
of turning. His love is holy. His love never conflicts with
His holiness. He chastens and He scourges every
son He receives, but His love is never taken away from them.
And as we see in Romans 8, His love is gracious. Christ Jesus
went to Calvary because of His love at the cross. The cross
is that supreme demonstration of the divine love of God for
an elect people. You see, the love of God in this
verse is love that is in Christ Jesus, outside of Christ Jesus. There is no one who should content
themselves that God's love and the smile of God's approval is
upon them. The scriptures say the wrath
of God abides on them. What does all this mean for my
friends getting married? What does it mean for us in terms
of those relationships? They are in marriage. They are, as that song says,
in a sense setting an ebenezer, aren't they? The ebenezer means
that thus far God has been faithful. He has brought me to this place. He has brought my husband to
me. He has joined us together." What
God is saying. is that this union is an eternal
union. When we think of marriage, and
it's why Christians ought to be passionate about the marriage
as it's revealed in the scriptures, being the only marriage that
deserves a title, it is God's right to declare what marriage
is. He named it, it's His. It's not
for man to tamper with. They touch holy things, they
will suffer from our God. You see, that first marriage
was a remarkable event, wasn't it? The first marriage on this
earth was the marriage between Adam and Eve. What a glorious
marriage. Yet Adam was put into a deep
sleep. And then the Lord opened up His
side and took out a rib. And He fashioned Eve from that
rib. You can see the humanists in
our world scoffing at us. But it's a beautiful picture,
isn't it? That she was taken from what
was closest to His heart. She was taken from what was under
his arm, that she might be one with him. And Adam said, she
is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones. She belongs to him, but in a
love relationship. But that marriage in the garden
is just a picture of another marriage. The marriage that governs
all things in this world. And that was a marriage that
took place in heaven, wasn't it? A betrothal. A promise of
a marriage when the Lord Jesus was given a bride by His Father. And he looked upon that bride
with delight, and he took her to himself. She became united
with him in a love relationship. That's the foreknowing love of
Romans 8, isn't it? It's that love that had no beginning,
that love that was in before the foundation of the world.
And because of that love relationship, the Lord Jesus has given himself
to his bride. He's given himself to her in
self-sacrificial love. And it's a love That's a knowledgeable
love. He loved her knowing what was
going to befall her. He loved her knowing what this
world was going to do, knowing what Satan was going to do. And
he loved her as himself and he gave himself for her. That's
the love relationship. That's the marriage supper. that
God's people are looking forward to, the consummation of that
glorious marriage in eternity. But for us, who live here for
this short time, if we could be caused by God to love as Jesus
loved our brothers and sisters, the Bride of Christ, we do. We do sin grievously and in unimaginable
ways. We are sinned against grievously
and in ways that shock us. But Romans 8 is saying to look
beyond all of those things, all of those 17 things he has listed
that are against God's people, and he's persuaded that nothing's
going to separate him. Can we look, brothers and sisters,
beyond the flesh and beyond the things around us, and can we
look at our brothers and sisters and love them for Jesus' sake?
Can we look at their sins and look to the cross and look to
that love that put them away perfectly and completely forever? Can we view our brothers and
sisters, can we view our husbands and wives as God views them? Only by grace, only by grace
can we see how God sees and love what he loves for his precious
and dear son's sake. Let's pray.