Alright, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. We're going to be looking at verse
31 and verse 32. It's entitled this message, What Shall
We Say to These Things? What shall we say to these things? That's what Paul writes in verse
31. What shall we say to these things? And here is the answer. If God be for us, who can be
against us? And what's the proof that God
is for us? Here it is. 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? What shall we say
to these things? Now Paul stops right here at
this verse to recount. He calls to mind and recounts
all of those things that he had just told them. What shall we
say to all of these things that I just said? What things? There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. He said, What shall we say concerning
the great God who has sent His Spirit into our hearts, crying,
Abba, Father? What shall you say to that? What shall you say to this, that
the Holy Spirit now intercedes for you in your prayers? He is interceding for us. What
shall we say to God's predestinating grace that we should be conformed
to the image of His Son? What shall we say to the calling
of the Holy Spirit through His Word? What shall we say of the
justifying work of His Son? What shall we say of the glorifying
work of both the Holy Spirit working in us and the Holy Spirit
and the work of God for us in the future? For whom He did foreknow, He
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son that
He might be the firstborn of many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, what did He do? Whom He called, He also
justified. Whom He justified, He also glorified. What shall we say to these things? Or rather, what can we say against
them? What objection would you bring
to these things? Are these things so? What objection might you bring
to them? What shall we say? Is it possible that we would
value these things too highly? Is it possible that you could
value these things enough? What shall we make of such consoling
truths? What comfort shall we draw from
these truths? Do you need any comfort? Well,
these things are here for your comfort, for your assurance. Can any detract from the peace
that these things afford God's saints. This Scripture, matter
of fact, defies anyone. This text here defies anyone
who does not believe in the perseverance and preservation of the saints.
This whole text is so comforting that God who chose us, Christ
who redeemed us, who called us, is a keeping God. What shall
we say to this? That He predestinated us to this
purpose. And Scripture opposes all who
are against the perseverance and preservation, those who believe
your salvation could be lost. You know, I've said that for
many years and I knew there were people out there who believed
that, but one day a man came into this building here recently
and confessed that. You just think, how could that
possibly be that you would even think that? Those that believe that things
and circumstances of life might somehow ruin those who are justified. These are ignorant of the glorious
promises that are contained in these things, these sayings.
This verse tells us, in fact, the reverse of that conclusion
by all that is previously said forth. Look, if there is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, if Christ
Jesus and the law of the Spirit of Christ has made us free from
the law of death, Scripture says, for what the law could not do
and is weak to the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. You
see, my sin was already condemned. How then can God twice condemn
it? He can't. He won't. The Spirit of God now dwells
in us and God predestinated us to be conformed to the image
of His Son. You suppose He'd change His mind? No. God says, I am God, I am the
Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And so then Paul exclaims this
truth. What shall we say to these glorious
things? Who can oppose these glorious
things? And this is the only conclusion
he can come up with. If God be for us. Now all of
those things tell us one thing. God's for us. God is for us. And if God be for us, who in
the world can be against us? Who can be against us? The word, if, is better translated,
since. So when you read that text like
that, since God is for us. After all these things that I've
said, I've proven it. God is for us. And since God
is for us, who can be against us? This is meant to give comfort
and security to God's people. It is meant to support us under
the sense of our own weakness and inability to keep ourselves. Do you know that's true of yourself,
that you can't keep yourself? Now I know this, there would
be no perseverance or preservation of the saints if we were to keep
ourselves. I couldn't believe in it. There's
no way for us to keep ourselves. We have no strength to keep ourselves. But when we are under the sense
of our own weakness and inability, If we have to rely on our own
strength, then there is no hope of perseverance or preservation
of the saints. In fact, we would have great
reason to doubt and despair that we could ever make it to
heaven if left to ourselves. But, listen to this, since God
is for you, since God is for us, And all things are secured
by His mighty hand. Since He is the one that has
made the chain that links us to heaven, and it is by His hand
that He holds this chain, we are sure of eternal glory. We are sure of heaven as though
you are already there. You know I like that in Ephesians
1 when he said, He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. You
know when that hath was? It was in eternity. He hath in
eternity made us accepted in the Beloved. So since God is for us and all
these things are secured by His hand, since we are indissolvably
united with Christ, In this there is no language to express the
wonder and gratitude that we owe to God. Can you account what
you owe to His grace? A debtor to mercy alone. Of covenant
mercy I say, nor fear with thy righteousness on thy covenant
and offering of to brave. This text should bring forth
gratitude. What shall we say to these things? How glorious are these things! And since these things are true,
God is for us. And if God is for us, who then
can remove us or be against us so as to take us from God? Who? Who, who shall match, shall
in thy presence stand and match omnipotence? Unfold the grasp
of thy right hand and pluck the sinner thence. Who? I like the way God defies anyone
to drive. God, He sets His children in
the, He prepares us a table in the presence of our enemies. takes his sheep, sets them right
in the middle of a wolf pack, and says, I dare you to touch
one. Since God is before us, who can be against us? There is no doubt. There is no
doubt that we as believers have enemies. When God saves us, He does not
remove our enemies. We have an innumerable company
of enemies. Satan is an enemy and all his
wicked hosts stand in array against us desiring nothing more than
to remove you from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. You have the world and all its
hosts surrounding you, bombarding you, tempting you, drawing you,
seeking to remove you from the things of Christ. Consider all the suffering that
believers face. This flesh desires to remove
you. Indwelling sin. And although
we are utter weakness. Is that not an accurate description
of you and me? Utter weakness. Utter weakness is a great description
of us. Yet if God be for us, who can
be against us? I remember the illustration,
I got an illustration of Gideon, old Gideon. Israel committed
the great sin and God allowed the Midianites to come in and
burn all their crops. And God sent a prophet. And God
said to Israel, remember, I'm the one that delivered you from
Egypt. I will deliver you from the Midianites. Now Gideon heard this and he
was so bold that he went out at midnight, snuck in and grabbed
some wheat and he thought he was really bold. Grinding that
wheat at night and hiding. He thought he was really faithful.
But the weakness of him, he heard what God said and yet he really
didn't believe it. And the angel of the Lord who
is Jesus Christ himself appeared unto Gideon and he said this
to Gideon, the Lord is with thee. Now listen, not the Lord's going
to be with you. Listen, the Lord is with thee.
I'm right here. I'm right here. The Lord is with
thee. He said, the Lord is with thee. In Isaiah 54, it says this, that
no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. Do you believe
that? If you believe this, since God
before us, there is no weapon formed that shall prosper. Now,
it's not the weapons formed. It didn't say that there ain't
no weapon going to be formed at all. No, the weapons are formed. They just won't be able to stand
against you. They won't be able to remove
you from Christ. Remember that scripture we just
went over Sunday. He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved. He won't allow it. You got that? He won't allow your foot to be
moved. And so now we are surrounded
by enemies. We are surrounded by a host of
enemies. Remember Elisha, how he was surrounded
by those armies? And his servant was afraid. His
servant said, Alas, what shall we do? And Elisha said, Lord,
open his eyes that he see this. They that be for us are more
than they be against us. And you remember he's seen myriads
of angels surrounding them. Remember what one angel did? What about myriads of angels
surrounding them? They that be before us are more
than they that be against us. Don't be afraid. So this passage
tells us the same thing. Fear not. Hezekiah said this, with them
is the arm of flesh, but with us Is the Lord our God to help
us and to fight our battles? Are you in the midst of your
enemies? Listen to this. Since God is before you, which
one of them can stand against you? Who can stand against God? If God's for you, they have to
stand against God. Now, anybody can stand against
you. But if God's for you, who can stand against you? And so there are two propositions
in this text. First of all, that God is for
us. And second of all, that nothing
can prevail against us. Now, we are not promised that
our enemies will not oppose us or fight us. They are arrayed
against us every day, both enemies without and within. And we in our strength confess
we could not withstand our enemies. But God says this, I'm for you. I'm with you. So then consider that He that
is for us holds us. He that is for us holds us in
His hand, and no one shall be able to pluck you out of His
hand. Isn't this what He said in John
chapter 10? Our Lord said it very plainly. John chapter 10
verse 28. He said to this, verse 27, My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them. How does He know them? He chose them. They're His, by
choice, by right, by creation, they're His. And this is always
the response of His sheep, they hear My voice. You've heard His
voice? How do you know you've heard His voice? Do you believe?
Do you trust in Christ alone? Then you've heard His voice.
You believe on Him. My sheep hear My voice and I
know them and what do they do? They follow Me. They follow Me
all their days of their life and they've got no one else they
want to follow. They've got nowhere else to go and they don't want
to go anywhere else. They follow Me. And what does He do for us? I've given to them eternal life.
Not by their merit, not by their power, not by their strength,
but by My grace. I've given to them eternal life
and they shall never perish. never perish neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand why my father which gave them
me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out
of my father's hand the eternal God Deuteronomy 32
27 the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting
arms. What a beautiful picture that
is. See the foundation on which you stand? The everlasting arms
of God. How strong are His arms to hold
you up? I like this, in Psalm 139 He
says this, I have set thee before and behind. You got that? Everything that
has happened to you in your life, I did that. And everything that's
gonna happen to you in your life, I did that too. I am in front
of you and I'm behind you. I'm underneath you and I'm your
refuge. You're surrounded by God. You got that? Since God before
you, you are surrounded by God. Is that not an awesome thing
to know in the very midst of your enemies. God set you before
and He set you behind. He is underneath you and He is
above you. He is in you and working through
you. He is for you in every possible
way. Since God is before you, what
enemy can stand against you? The truth that the God is for
us and none shall prevail against us. None shall stand against
us. God stands as a lighthouse to
those in the dark sea of life. He is shining forth, and He says
this, I am by your side, and I will bring you safely to the
harbor. Jesus, Savior, Pilate, Nathan. O, her life's fitful sea. Our Christ, our Savior is constantly
abiding with us. God be for us, no one shall prevail
against you. But there are things that bring
dark clouds of doubt to the minds and hearts of God's And so we often strain to see
the light of this truth. So Paul sets forth in verse 32
to confirm and give confidence in God to prove this truth that
God is for us. And that we shall receive every
blessing He has promised, that every child of God shall not
fail to inherit the kingdom that God purposed to give. Every child
of God shall not fail to inherit all that Christ purchased for
you. Every child of God shall not
fail to inherit all that the Spirit of God promises you. Not one shall fail. Now what
is the proof? How do you know this? How do
you know God is for me? I know this. God is good to Israel. But as for me, as for me, I don't know. Have
you been in the darkness like that? I don't know if He's for
me. I know He could be for you. But
is He for me? Paul sets forth to prove it. To prove it. That God is for
you. How in the world could God be
for you? How can you be sure that you're
going to inherit all of these things? Look at this in verse 32. Because
of this. Because He spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with
Him freely give us all things. Now there are two things that move and inspire
distrust in the mind of every believer. Two things that move
and inspire distrust in every believer. First of all, outward
afflictions or circumstances. These things often move us to
distrust that God is for us. Second of all, inward sin, guilt, shame, guilty conscience. These things often inspire distrust. First of all, outward afflictions,
sometimes troubles and difficulties come in waves and they overcome
the believer and cause us great despair. How many times do you
hear this poet, the David, saying this about his soul being cast
down? O soul, why art thou cast down? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God. Sometimes it's sickness, pain. These things move us to distrust
that God is for us. Death comes to believers and
these things press the mind and heart to doubt that God is for
us. Oh Gideon, you know when the Lord said, the Lord is with
you. The Lord's standing right in front of him. A lot of you
say, well Lord, if you'd just appear and you'd just tell me
that you're for me. Ben, I would believe you. Liar.
Gideon, the Lord stood right before Gideon. And Gideon, you
know what he said? He said, if the Lord be for us,
then why are we like this? If God be for us. Then why are
these things befalling us? Rebecca said this. She knew that
she carried in her womb the seed of promise. And she was struggling. The twins were struggling within
her own womb. And she said, if it be so, Why am I thus? If God be for
me, have you not said this to yourself? If God be for me, then
why am I thus? Why am I like this? Why do the
wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? If God be for us. Second of all, it's not just
outward troubles that inspired disbelief, it's also inward sin. When God saved you, He did not
remove the old man of sin. Now, anybody could believe that.
I don't understand it. I mean, they could not possibly
look at themselves in the mirror with a straight face and say
that. And I actually know people that
believe that after they believe on Christ, they don't sin anymore.
I can't imagine somebody looking me in the face and saying that.
When John says, if we say we have not sinned, we make him
a liar. And the truth is not in us. We have this old man of sin and
this old nature surely causes us much grief. I like what Philpott
said about the old man. He said self is the worst enemy
we have. The enemy of self. The old nature
that pricks our conscience. Paul said this concerning his
own self, O wretched man that I am. who shall deliver me from
the body of this death. But believers, take heart. Don't
rest in how you feel. I can't say that enough. Don't
rest or trust in how you feel. Do you always feel the same?
Do you feel the same you did yesterday? Ten minutes ago. Your feelings are fluctuating
so rapidly you dare not trust them. And then what it just,
we just, I dare not trust the sweetest praise, but wholly lean
on Jesus name. We dare not trust how we feel. Feelings come and feelings go.
Feelings are deceiving. And the Word of God, nothing
else is worth believing but God's Word. Feelings are deceptive. And don't look at circumstances.
Circumstances, how about them? Don't they change rapidly? Circumstances are constantly
moving, but know this, that our circumstances are determined
by the God who is for us. I've read this to you, and you
should keep this close, because I have to keep this close. In
Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 1 it said, For all this I considered
in my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous
and the wise in their works are in the hand of God. all our righteousness,
all our salvation, where is it? It's in the hand of God. No man knoweth either love or
hatred by all that is before him. You cannot tell the love
or the hatred of God by circumstance. The Scripture bears this out
so many times. Rich man and Lazarus. By appearances, who do you suppose
God loved? If you were just to judge by
appearance? The rich man. And there's Lazarus. He's begging every day at the
rich man's gate for just a daily supply of bread. And yet God
loved Lazarus and hated the rich man. You cannot tell God's love. How do you know God's for you
then? Not by circumstance. Not by feelings. You have it
right here. You've just read it. Since God
be for us. Since all... What should we say
to these things? Who can oppose these things? If God be for us,
who can stand against us? If God says there's no condemnation,
then listen. There is no condemnation. If
God says the sin was condemned in the flesh of Christ, then
the sin was condemned in the flesh of Christ. And the righteousness
of God was given to you. God said that. Now who can stand
against that? Who can oppose that? Only a fool
would oppose what God said. And now look for the proof. Look
at the proof here. The proof is in verse 32. God spared Dotta's
own son. Look for a moment now at who gave His Son. God spared not His own Son. It was God who gave His Son. Behold the greatness of the One
who gave His Son, the One whose being is infinitely higher than
all else, being the Creator of all things, who is subject to
none, obligated to none. And yet He willingly gave His
own Son. He spared not His own Son. He wasn't obligated to do that.
You didn't earn that. Yet this is the proof God is
for you, is this. spared, not His own Son. Behold the infinite goodness
and love of God to do so. Behold the One who humbled Himself
to even behold things in heaven and still draws near to raise
us up. We who are nothing before Him.
He being the Creator of all things has set His love upon us such
poor and miserable creatures, and His love is so infinite and
great that He, knowing the cost to receive us, to redeem us,
was this, that in order to be for us, He could not spare His
own Son. He must deliver Christ up! for us. In order for God to be for us,
so that none can prevail against us, sin must be paid. Redemption must be bought. The law must be honored. Life and faith must be applied
to the objects of His love. And this was only accomplished
one way, by God sparing not the Son of His love, but delivering
Him up for us all. Look at John chapter 3. Our Lord
deals with this very thing. After telling Nicodemus that
he must be born again, and that this birth comes only by the
sovereign Spirit of God. This is what the Spirit of God
reveals, to everyone that is born again. Look at verse 14. This is what He reveals. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Now you remember
that history, how they were bitten by those serpents and God commanded
Him to put a serpent of brass upon a pole and lift it up. And He said everyone that is
to look will live. Look and live. This was to be
a picture of this. Even so, just like that, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Even so must the Son of Man
be lifted up. What does this mean? He must
be lifted up as a substitute, as an offering to God for the
sin of His people. He must be lifted up on Calvary
Street. He must be delivered to the justice
and wrath of God and bear our sins in His own body on the tree. Our Lord Jesus Christ was given
over by the Father to suffer the shame
and sin of His people on the cross of Calvary. We read that in the prophecy
of Isaiah. We read this, that we all like
sheep have gone astray and turned everyone to his own way. And
the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Behold, Calvary,
you see how God can be for you? The only way God can be for you
is this. He could not spare. his own son, but he must deliver
him up. He must be delivered up. And
being delivered up, he said, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. And he shall see of the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. Now listen, I know God is for
me and God is pleased to be for me simply because of this. He's
satisfied. He's satisfied with his son. He's satisfied with that one
offering for sin. Behold God's utter hatred for
sin. that He had to deliver up His
own Son. And when Christ bore our sins
in His own body, do you realize this? That God showed no mercy
to Christ. No mercy. He spared not His beloved Son.
Remember Abraham was told to go take his son and kill him? Offer him a sacrifice to me.
And Abraham believed God. He trusted God. And he put the
knife up. And he was ready to kill his
son. And the Lord Jesus said, Stop. Lay not your hand. Why? Because his blood won't do anything.
He's just a picture. He's just a time. Behold, the
ram caught in the thicket. There's a better picture right
there. The ram caught in the thicket. Our Lord Jesus Christ. took our
place as a substitute, as a sacrifice. Why? Because God delivered him
up. Consider that. Those Jews and
those Gentiles, they took him. They seized him. They brought him before the judgment
seat of Pilate. They nailed him to the cross.
And yet all the while they were doing exactly what God before
determined to be done. God delivered up His Son. So take comfort in this. Take
comfort in this. You that believe on Christ. That
God delivered Him up in order to restore you. In Psalm 69 verse 4 He said,
I restored that which I took not away. He did this for you. You who believe on Christ, all
of His elect, He has redeemed you by the blood of His Son. And His Son took upon Himself
unparalleled sorrows and humiliation and even death. Not just physical,
but the wrath of God for our sins. And God delivered up His
Son that He might rescue us from Himself. from His own justice. Who were you saved from? You were saved from the justice
of God. Our Lord God put us in Christ
just like He put Noah in the ark. And it was the ark that
bore the wrath of God. Even so, it was Christ who bore
the wrath of God for our sins. that we might have all of His
heavenly promises given to us. Scripture says, He spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How then shall
He not with Him freely give us all things for us? For us all. Who is this all? If you follow
the text, you can go back to 28. We know that all things work
together. For whom He did foreknow, He
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Moreover,
whom He predestinated, He also called. And whom He called, He
also justified. And whom He justified, He also
abhorred. It's a whom, isn't it? It's a people. And if you
look in verse 33, He says this. Who are these people? Who are
the us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
You want to know who the us are? Us all? All the elect. That's who it is. That's who
it is. All of the elect. To those He predestinated, called,
justified, and glorified. To the worthless, helpless, vile
God-haters. That's who it is. That's who
it is. It is for them He delivered up
Christ. Therefore, we praise God that
He came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Who's God for? Before sinners. Before sinners. He came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Otherwise, we'd
have had no hope at all of Him being on our side. But He delivered
up His Son to be the propitiation, the mercy seat for our sins,
to justify and cleanse us and forgive us of all our sins. And if God gave the greatest
gift of His Son, how then shall He not with Him freely give us
all things? Paul's arguing from the greater
to the lesser, isn't he? If He gave us the best, how shall
He not freely give us the rest? I remember that time Don gave
that illustration, a man that married faith. His son-in-law, when he married, he went and
talked to Don. Don called him in his office
and said, come here. And he started pulling out his
key. He said, OK, here's the key to my house. Here's the key
to my safe deposit box. Here's the key. He said, well,
what are you giving me? He said, son, you've got my best. How can I not freely give you
everything else? How much more God who sent His Son, shall He
not with Him, because of Him, freely give you all things? How could you doubt He would
not give you these lesser things, seeing He gave you the greatest?
And know this, when you ask for something and He says no, it's
for your good. is for your good. I will not, I will not turn away from them
to do them good all the days of their life. How do I know
that? Because God spared not His own
son. And because our sins are removed,
how shall He not freely give us to Him? Listen to me. All things are
yours. You can say that over and over
again because it's true. All things are yours. Why? Because all things are Christ's. all that belongs to Him. Be sure. How in the world can you doubt
He'll predominantly give you all things? Therefore the songwriter says
this, Be still, O my soul, the Lord is on my side. Bear patiently the cross of grief
and pain. Leave to thy God to order and
provide. In every change He faithful will
remain. Be still, my soul, thy God doth
undertake to guide the future as He has the past. Thy hope,
thy confidence let nothing shake. All now mysteries shall be bright
at last. Be still, O my soul, the winds
and waves still know the voice that ruled them here below. Be still, my soul. Why? If God be for you. Is God for you? If He spared not His own Son,
how would you dare think that He's not for you? How shall He not with Him freely
give you all things? Be still. God is for you. Therefore, none can stand against
you. Not circumstance, not the world,
not Satan, and not your seeing, not even your seeing can oppose
God from being for you. Why? He removed it, took it out
of the way. At that he took it out of the
way. I pray God will keep this to
you. Keep it close to your heart. God be for you. can be against
you. Now what are you going to say
to these things? God give us the grace to say
amen. Now stand and be dismissed in
prayer.