If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. I know if you
know your Bible at all, I'm sure that when I say Romans chapter
8, there's a smile. There's a smile. This is a wonderful
chapter, a wonderful passage of Scripture. And we're going
to confine our thoughts this morning to verses 33 down through
verse 39. And our emphasis will be eventually
taken from verse 38. Let's read this scripture together.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as shepherds and
slaughters. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. Here it is,
for I am persuaded 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. Paul said, I am persuaded, and
this is the title of my message this morning, The Power of Persuasion. The power of persuasion. Paul, in these passages, is persuaded
of two distinct things. First of all, in verses 33 and
34, he is persuaded of the four-fold justification of God through
Christ. He's persuaded, first of all,
that nothing can be charged to God's elect. Secondly, he is
persuaded that there is no condemnation to those who are justified because
Christ died, Christ rose again, Christ is at the right hand of
the Father, and Christ makes intercession, a fourfold justification. And the second thing we're going
to see in this persuasion is that Paul is persuaded of the
power of the love of God through Christ. He is persuaded this.
that nothing can separate us from the love. Being justified
by the power and grace of God, nothing can separate us from
the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. Paul said, I'm persuaded.
I'm persuaded of this. This is true. I know this to
be true. And this morning, I want you
to know this. Are you persuaded? Are you sure? Paul was sure. Like I said, any
other creatures. I've named a whole bunch of stuff
that nothing can separate, in case I miss something. Nothing. Nothing. Why? You justify it.
That's why. Nothing can separate you. So
the Apostle by the Holy Spirit displays to every believer, listen,
the triumph The triumph we have over every difficulty, over every
affliction, over every enemy, over every sin, over every objection
to our salvation both without and within. That no sin, here it is, let's
deal with this matter of the power of justification first.
Paul is saying by these in verse 34 and 35, he said there is There
is no sin of ours that will ever be able to be charged to us or
condemn us. No sin we've ever committed is
able to be charged to God's elect, to God's people. Look at that
with me. Paul asked this question. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who? Name one person who can
name one sin that they can charge God's elect. Well, how can you
say that, Paul? Listen, God justified us. If God justified us, who then
could charge us with sin? That's because God Himself justifies
us in sovereign election. By sovereign election, God justified
us from eternity by putting us in union with Christ. That's
where justification begins. Justification begins in election. God justified us by putting us
in union with Christ. The scripture says, according
as he had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Listen. That we should be justified. Now what that is? Holy. Without
blame. What is it to be just? It's to
be holy. It's to be without blame. So God in election justified
us by putting us in Christ. Thus we are not chargeable with
sin. Because of the covenant of grace,
Jesus was purposed and ordained to bear our sin. in his own body
on the tree. Here's a power of justification
Paul's persuaded of. He said, I'm persuaded that God
justified me. Who is anyone that can charge
me? God made Christ to be my Redeemer, to be my surety. Peter said this in 1 Peter 1,
verse 18, he says, For as much as we know. That's something
every believer knows. Listen to this. We were redeemed.
not with corruptible things as silver or gold, or your vain
conversation received by tradition. You're not nothing earthly. You were not redeemed by anything
carnal, not by any carnal religious acts of tradition. We know this. This is something every believer
knows. But we were redeemed with this, the precious blood of Jesus. As of a lamb without spot and
blemish, listen, who was verily, truly foreordained. before the
foundation of the world. This offering of Christ was foreordained
for our justification. And so then who can charge you? Do you charge you? Believer,
I'm talking to believers, do you charge you with sin? You're
included in that. Who are you to charge you with
sin? You're not the judge. God is,
and God said, justified. God justified us. Who can lay
anything to our charge? Second of all this, here's another
thing. There's no condemnation. He began
the chapter with that, didn't He? There is therefore now no
condemnation. Those are in Christ. And so now He explains why there
is no condemnation. Who is He that condemneth? Who
is He that condemneth? No condemnation can ever be executed
upon us because, first of all, Christ died. Christ died. It is Christ that died. He died for our sins upon the
cross, and seeing He has redeemed us and forever put away our sins, who can charge us with it? Who
can condemn us? For God justified us and Christ
died for them. So far hath He removed our sins
from us. How far? As far as the East is
from the West. So far has He removed our sins.
This is how far your sin is removed from you. This is how far it
is. Christ died. He paid the debt
of sin. How can God demand twice payment? He cannot. He will not. Second
of all, we are not chargeable or condemnable because Christ
rose from the dead. Now, what he said, he said, it
is Christ that died, yet rather is risen again. Listen, even
as God ordained. You know what Paul says in first
Corinthians chapter 15, he said he died, what, according to the
scripture. He was buried. and rose again,
what? According to the Scriptures.
It was ordained. It was purposed by God that he
should not only die, but rise from the dead. Believer, we are
justified because Jesus, who died for our sins, also rose
again. This morning, many people are
celebrating the resurrection of Christ, one day out of the
year. We tried to go to get some breakfast this morning and they
were closed today. Next Sunday they'll be open. We always talk about the resurrection
of Christ. The death of Christ would be
meaningless without the resurrection of Christ. It's necessary that
He rose from the dead. Why? Because this manifests the
truth that His death was accepted. God says, I am well pleased with
and satisfied with his offering. So you are justified. You can't
be charged and you can't be condemned because Christ, who bore our
sins, paid our sins, is now risen from the dead, even as God said. And thirdly, we are justified
because Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God. Now what
Paul says, look, he died. Rather, he rose again. who is
even at the right hand of God. Right now. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is at the right hand of God. As our High Priest, Jesus did
what no other priest could do. He sat down. No other priest was allowed to
sit. Jesus Christ alone, our High Priest, is sat down. Why? He finished the work. You're justified. You're unchargeable
with sin. You're uncondemnable for your
sin because He sat down. His work is finished. Jesus said,
I have finished the work which thou gave Me. What work is that?
That was salvation. In His death and His resurrection,
He did what? He finished the work. He finished
the work. And what was His reward? Father,
glorify Me. with the glory I had with thee
from the beginning." Over in Hebrews chapter 4, you
want to turn over there just a second and look at this. I
want you to take this in. This is what Paul is persuaded
of. He's persuaded of this justification. I'm persuaded of this. that we're
justified, you're unchargeable, you're uncondemnable because
of this, because Christ is now seated at the right hand. Hebrews
4, look at verse 3. He said, for we which have believed
do enter into His rest. We enter into His rest. And as He said, I have sworn
in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest. There are some
people who are entering into rest, and there are some people
who will not enter into rest. You know who will not? Those
who want to add to His work. Listen, if you are adding to
the work of Christ, anything you do, any religious deed that
you want to add to Him, you are saying this, He's not sat down.
You're saying His work's not done. And God says to you, you
will not enter into My rest. In verse 4, He says, He spake
in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, that God did
rest the seventh day from His works. And in this place again,
if they shall enter into My rest, seeing therefore there remaineth
that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first
preached entered not because of unbelief, Again, He limited
to a certain day, saying, David, He's saying in David, today,
after so long a time, it is said, today, if you will hear His voice,
harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest,
that's Joshua, that's not Christ. If Joshua had given them rest,
then they would not, after I've spoken of another day, there
remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God. And here's
the cause of their rest, the cause of every believer to rest. Verse 10, for he, Christ, entered
into his rest. Now, why should you rest? This
morning, why should you just breathe a sigh of relief? Why
is it that we should cease from work to earn our salvation? Because he entered into his rest. of which the Sabbath day and
Joshua were only a picture. We don't have a Sabbath day we
worship in the week. Why? Christ is our Sabbath. He is the fulfillment of the
Sabbath. That's what Paul says. He also
has ceased from his own works as God did from his. When God created all things,
what did he do? He ceased to create. What did
Christ do when he finished his work? He ceased to do any work
for salvation. It's done. And we who believe
on him, let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest. So as
you worship the resurrection of Christ and the ascension of
Christ this morning, you should just rest. What? Work's done. How do I know? You sit down. And as he is sitting
down, where is he seated? He is seated at the right hand
of God. And so I like what Gil says about
this. I'm going to read this, what Gil says about this passage.
He said, Jesus entered into his rest, not when he laid in the
grave, but when he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven.
That's when he entered into his rest. He sat down on the right
hand of God, having done his work, and this is the ground
and foundation of every saint's rest, that he ceased from his
own works, as God did from his. You know the difference between
true and false religion is this, was Christ successful? Did he
actually save at Calvary? Or did He just make it possible
for people to be saved? That's the difference between
true and false religion. True religion is this. The work is
done. How do you know? God raised Him
from the dead and He sat on His throne. He sat Him down. He's
finished. He's done. Therefore let us labor
by faith. That's our labor. Faith. To enter
into this rest. Because you're struggling with
this right now. You're struggling. The flesh is always wanting to
do something. But faith says, no. Faith says,
it's done. It's done. The fourth thing about
this power of justification Paul was persuaded of, he says, he
ever liveth to make intercession. Go back to your text, look at
this. He died, he rose again, he's at the right hand of God
who also maketh intercession. Now listen, when Christ died
and rose again and sat down, you and I were free from the
penalty of sin. That was ordained by God. We
were justified by God in eternity. Christ came and actually accomplished
it. When He accomplished it, this is true, we were free completely
from the penalty of sin. Now listen, when salvation comes
and you are able to believe, you are free from the power of
sin. What's a root sin? Unbelief.
That's a root sin. You're free from that, aren't
you? Why? Because I can believe. I can love Him. I can serve Him. I can obey Him. I can, now that
I have a new life. So I am free from the power of
sin. But I am not yet free from what? The presence of sin. I'm not
free from the presence of sin. This is why this is important.
Because He ever liveth to make intercession for who? Sinners.
Though I'm free from the penalty of sin and the power of sin,
I'm not yet free from the presence of sin. And He takes us into
account and He says this, He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. He intercedes for us. Our sins have been imputed, paid
by Christ. He bore them away. Yet we still
have this old nature of sin. We still feel the weight and
guilt of our sins. But our comfort is this that
John said, if we confess our sin. If you want to know the wickedness
of our own heart, how many times have you tried to hide sin from
God? If I don't say anything, surely
He doesn't see it. And then you're so reluctant
to confess it. Why? Like he doesn't know? Congresses. Lay it out. Lay it out. Why lay it out? Why lay out all
this garbage of my sin before my Father? Why lay it out? Because
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Faithful and just. This should settle all doubts
concerning inward sin. We are in Christ. We're free
from the charge and condemnation of sin. And what does this justification
prove? What does the power of this justification
prove? It proves the love of Christ. The love of Christ. Paul said,
I'm persuaded that no one can charge me or condemn me. Why? God justified me. Christ died. He rose again. He is seated at
the Father's right hand. And He ever lives right now making
intercession for me, constantly cleansing me of my sin. What does this prove? It proves
the power of His love. And so Paul goes on here. He
said, Now, concerning this love, I'm persuaded of this, who can
separate us from the love of Christ? Who? What external thing? Okay, now we've taken care of
sin, which is internal, right? That's the thing that separated
us from God. Paul said, well, you can't be
charged with it, you can't be condemned with it, because of
what Christ has done. But what about this matter of
external things? What about distresses? What about
afflictions? What about trials? Read it with
me here. Let me go back. Who shall separate? Shall tribulation?
Oh boy, that's a tough one. Shall distress or persecution
or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? He's saying, is there
any external event that will ever be able to separate
me from this love and this justification? The answer is no. The answer
is nothing. Nothing. Even though all the life of the
believer is made to suffer. Isn't that what he says in the
next verse? He says, as it is written, for
thy sake we are killed all the day long. He's not negating suffering,
friends. He's taking it into account that
we will have tribulation, we will have distresses. He's taking
into account we will have persecution and famine and sorts. Why? God
said you would. He said, for thy sake we are
killed off. This is written down. This is written down by God.
You will have suffering in this world. You will have tribulation. Well, how does the world view
this? Look at what he says. He said we are killed all the
day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. How does the world view us in
our suffering? If you've been justified and
you believe on Lord Jesus Christ, you are, you are, your life is constantly filled
with trouble. If not without, within. You have
a battle that no one else in this world has. A struggle with
sin. How does the world view God's
people? They say, look at those Christians, how they suffer.
Man, they're so low. They're so poor, they're sick,
they're weak. Surely, God must be cruel to
account them as sheep for the slaughter. One noble Roman, he wrote this,
he said, The only people that Christians can get to believe
in Christ are poor, weak, and sick folk. Well, that's true, because only
poor, weak, sick sinners need Christ. Those are the only ones
ever going to come. But how it appears to the world
is not how it really is, Paul says. He says, yes, we suffer. Yes, we are killed all the day
long. Yes, the world will count you
as sheep for slaughter. They will count Christ cruel.
But what does Paul say? Verse 37. No. That's not how
it really is. Here's how it really is. In all
these sufferings, afflictions, temptations, trials, difficulties,
in all these things, what? We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. This is how it really is. Through the merits of Christ,
Through the righteousness of Christ, through the blood of
Christ, through the resurrection of Christ, through the continual
love and mediation of Christ, we always triumph over all our troubles, all our
afflictions, all our griefs, all our sorrows, all our pains.
We always triumph Because Christ always loves us. I know you don't always feel
loved. But it doesn't matter how you
feel. We are constantly eternally loved
of God. And whatever we're going through,
we will always triumph. Not in our strength. We will triumph because of His
justification and His love. His love. We will always triumph. Because Christ loves us with
an eternal, immutable, perfect love. He said, I have loved thee. What kind of love? An everlasting,
everlasting love. Let us therefore then fight the
good fight of faith. Let us by faith take every thought
captive that goes against this. When we are cast down by distresses
and persecutions, what? We are more than conquerors through
Christ who loved us. Take that thought captive and
kill it. It's wrong. It's evil. It's not true. Believer in Christ, though we
are sheep of Christ, Seated in the very presence of
all our foes. Get this picture, you know, in
that Psalm 23, He prepares the table before me in the presence
of mine enemies. Isn't that exactly what He's done? Here's a feast
of justification. You just eat on that. You eat
on the feast of my love. And I'm going to put you in the
midst of wolves. And then, I'm going to defy them
to touch you. I mean, you think about it, if
I guess I was a shepherd, I'd try to get my sheep as far away
from the wolves as possible. But God puts us in the midst
of our wolves to prove his love, to prove his power, to prove
his glory. He puts us in the midst of our
foes and defies the armies of earth and the legions of hell.
Touch him. If you can. Take him, if you
can. Kill him. if you can. Remove
them from my love if you can. Illustration. Job. Who started that conversation
between Satan and God? Who instigated Satan to attack Job? It was God who said, has thou
considered My servant Job? Listen to what He said. A man that fears God and hates
evil, there's none like Him. And what was the result of that?
How'd that turn out for Job? I'll tell you what, he hurt. I don't imagine I could understand
the pain that my brother Job endured. He lost all of his children
in one day. He lost all of his property. His wife wanted him dead. And what do the Scriptures say?
Job's last estate was better than his first. It was better
for him to suffer. Here it is. He was more than
conqueror through Christ. And this is true. I'm persuaded
that all our sufferings in this, we are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. We will overcome every difficulty
because He has overcome it. He's in this same triumphant
language. Paul continues to defy our foes. He concludes that all the powers
of the universe, all men, beasts, angels, demons, weapons of flesh
and of the spirit, things invented and things not yet invented.
Paul says this, I am persuaded 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, not that they won't try, You pay attention,
they will seek to remove you from God's love. Paul said, I'm
persuaded, just as much as I'm persuaded nobody can charge me
with sin, just as I'm persuaded nobody can condemn me with sin,
I'm persuaded that nothing, no external event or external creature No power in heaven or earth will
be able to separate me from the love of God. I'm persuaded. I'm
persuaded. That's what I want to deal with
this last portion. I want to take the rest of my
time with this. Paul said, I am persuaded. The apostle shows
us his own personal persuasion. Paul said, I am persuaded. of God's love will never depart
from me or any other believer. That we will never need fear,
the lack of God's presence, power, love, or support to enable us
to overcome every trial, endure every affliction, and be delivered
from every foe. I'll say it again. Paul says,
I'm persuaded that we will never lack the presence of God, the
love of God, and the power of God. So as to make us enabled to overcome
every trial, endure every affliction, and be delivered from every enemy. I'm persuaded of that. We lack
nothing. Now, the language of Paul is
not based on a theory. It's just not an opinion. He's
not persuaded by a personal opinion. He's not persuaded by some theory
or creed. He's not persuaded by some tradition. But this is his experience. This
is his personal experience. He expresses his persuasion is
confidently based in truth he knew personally. I am persuaded of this. How was he persuaded? By divine revelation and the
power of the Spirit working in me. This is his experience. This is what God works in every
believer. We are persuaded. Every believer
is persuaded. Why? God said it. This is my experience. This persuasion of the Apostle
Paul is one every believer in Christ possesses to some degree. Which is nothing less than this,
faith in Christ. That's what he's saying, I believe.
I'm persuaded. That's what faith is, isn't it?
It's being persuaded. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 1, look
at this. Same language. Same language here. 2 Timothy
chapter 1. And verse 12, Paul said, For this cause I also
suffer all things. See, there's tribulation, persecution,
distress, famine, nakedness, sword. We suffer for the gospel. When we preach this gospel, we're
going to suffer. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of this gospel
for which I suffer for. Why, Paul? For I know whom I
have believed. And what? Am persuaded. What are you persuaded of, Paul?
That He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him
against that day. Make no mistake, the cause of
Christ will cause us to suffer physically, spiritually, mentally. Both within and without. Yet
the Spirit, yet in spite of what we feel, what we see, and what
we do. Listen, we are not ashamed. I'm
not ashamed of this gospel to you. I'm not ashamed to preach
the gospel of God's sovereign election. I'm not ashamed of
that. Anybody who doesn't preach it should be ashamed. If you
don't believe in a sovereign election, you listen, you should
be ashamed of yourself. We are ashamed. I preach that
God has a sovereign election, chose a people. I believe, we
preach, we are not ashamed of the victory of Christ, are we?
The success of Christ's death and justification. We preach
the victory of His resurrection from the grave and ascension
to the throne, and He sits on the throne working all things
after the counsel of His own will for one purpose, to save
His people from their sins. That's what He's doing. He's
seated on the throne, and He has power over all things to
do what? to give eternal life to as many as the Father has
given Him. I'm not ashamed to preach that. Without a doubt, He's going to
do that. We're not ashamed to declare
that all the Father gave Christ shall come to Him, not by their
free will, but by the power of the Spirit of God giving them
life, they come willingly. thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power." We're not ashamed of that, are we?
We steadfastly proclaim that all who come to Christ by faith
shall never perish. I was reading this this morning,
it says, can a man lose his salvation? He said, that depends on who
does the saving. You listen to this, if Christ
does the saving, There is no possibility of Him losing His
salvation. He shall never perish. Why? He
gives unto them eternal life, and no man shall pluck them out
of My hand. That's what Christ said. If that's
not your Christ, then your Christ's not Christ. We're not ashamed of that. And
those who believe in Christ, you cannot be charged or condemned
or separated from God's love. You cannot be. We're not ashamed
to preach this. Why are you not ashamed to preach
that? Because I know whom I have believed. Not what. If you know a what, you're in
trouble. If you believe in a what, you're
in trouble. What do you believe? Who cares
what I believe? It's who I believe determines
what I believe. I know whom. Do you know whom
you have believed? then you're not ashamed, are
you? If you know whom you have believed. And if you know whom
you have believed, listen, you're persuaded. What are you persuaded
in? Are you persuaded that you are
able? No, I'm persuaded that He is
able. He's able to do what? To keep
my soul, body, and spirit unto the day of Jesus Christ.
He is able. I am not able. I'm persuaded
that aren't you? I'm persuaded that if left to
myself, these beasts would devour me and I could not resist it.
My sin would consume me and I would run from God. If left to myself,
I would surely flee Christ. I would go to hell as though
it were heaven if it's not for Christ. Why do I still believe
today? Why are you still here? Why do
you believe? Because I know I have faith. And I'm persuaded, he said. I'm persuaded of this, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come. I don't even know what
it is. Nothing. Any other creature shall be able
to separate me from the love of God that's in Christ. I know
whom I have believed. I know that He is able to keep
me. Therefore, this is why we fled
to Him, isn't it? Isn't this why you fled to Him? Because
I believe Him. I believe in that covenant that
God made with Him. Don't you? God, matter of fact, reveals
this covenant so that you might have a strong consolation. He
said, by two immutable things. What are those immutable things?
It's his counsel and his oath. He said, God willing more abundantly
show the heirs of promise the immutability of counsel confirmed
by an oath that by these two immutable things. in which impossible
for God to lie, that you might have a strong consolation, who
have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us."
Have you fled? If you've laid hold of this refuge,
I know this, you are persuaded of this refuge. You're persuaded
that God in eternity chose you by counsel and confirmed it by
an oath And Christ justified you, the Spirit called you, and
if you're ever going to be kept in the midst of your enemies,
it's Him keeping you. I am confident in the oath of
God and the counsel of God. Have you been persuaded by God
the Holy Spirit to flee to Christ? If not, why? And if you have, I know this,
you're persuaded of this. Who in the world can separate
me from the love of God that's in Christ? Can death, death,
can that separate you? No. Friends, listen to this.
If you're a believer in Christ, death is only an usher. That's it. Have you ever been
ushered somewhere? Somebody grab you by the arm
and just take you? I know when we got married, we had ushers
in our wedding, and they just kind of escorted my mom and her
mom. They just escorted. That's all
it is. Death can only do this. It can
only escort you into the presence of Christ. Death is real. It's an enemy. It is that. It
separates us from those we love. It separates us. And it's final.
When death, when a man dies, that's it. He that is just, let him be just
still. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. When a man
dies, that's it. But believer, when you die, what
happens? Death cannot sting you. Death
cannot separate you from the love of Christ. Death only brings
you into the fullness of God's love. That's what death does. What about life? Is that going
to separate you from the love of God that's in Christ? I'm
talking about every event in your life from birth to death.
Is there any event that has happened to you in your life that is intended
to separate you from the love of God? In fact, in the believer's
life, every event that has happened to you in your life was leading
you to Christ. And every event after you've
come to Christ is drawing you to Christ. So shall life separate
you? No. Everything before and everything
after brings you to Christ. What about angels? Fallen or
otherwise? No, they have no power. Satan
cannot separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
He can't even accuse you. I like that high priest Joshua.
Remember that? He's in those filthy garments standing before
God and Satan's ready to accuse him and God speaks before he
can even make one accusation. He's just not a brand plug from
the burning. Is this not mine? Shut up. Is
this not mine? Be silent. This is mine. You
take that filthy garment off of him, you give him my garments.
You put a crown on his head. He's mine. You don't charge him,
you don't condemn him. Principalities or powers? Governments.
Our government is changing, isn't it? Everybody's real scared about
that. Or is that going to separate you from the love of God and
Christ Jesus? No. No, it won't separate you. It
has no power. God says, don't fear them that
kill the body. Had no power over the soul, but
fear Him that kill the body and the soul. Fear God. They're not going to separate
you. They're only going to do My bidding. Which is what? Bring
you closer to Me. What about things present or
things to come? He's saying, look, what's happening to you
right now? Think about what's happening to you right now. Is
that going to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus?
No. Matter of fact, what's happening to you now is only drawing you
closer to Christ. What about things in the future?
We're always worried about things in the future. What's going to
happen tomorrow? I am. I worry about that a lot. What does he say? Is that going
to separate you? No. No, that ain't going to separate you.
Nor height nor depth, poverty or wealth, sickness or health. That's not going to separate
you, nor... Listen, in case I didn't get
everybody, that's what Paul says in this next part, in case I
missed something, any other creature, name it. Any other event, name
it. In case I missed something, you
have a question. Well, what about this? What about that? What about
this person? What about that? No, any other
creature. What's his conclusion? I'm persuaded of this. Because
of the power of his justification, because God justified me, because
Christ died for me, because Christ rose again from the dead, because
Christ is seated on the right hand of God, ever living to make
intercession, because He loved me, listen, I am persuaded that
nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus. Nothing. Nothing. Paul is arguing from a persuasion
of union in Christ Jesus. Nothing shall
separate us from the love of God, which is where? Where is
the love of God? Is it based on what you do, think,
feel, or see? No. The love of God is in Christ
Jesus. Do you suppose Noah was persuaded
of the ark? Do you suppose he truly believed
the ark was capable of protecting him and his family? I tell you
this, if he wasn't, he wouldn't have went in. If you are persuaded that Christ
justified you, Loved you then this if you are in Christ Jesus,
then listen, nothing will ever separate you from that love I Didn't say you wouldn't feel
separated you do I Wouldn't say that you wouldn't
pray that God would unify or manifest that love to you But
I know this, whether you feel it or not, nothing shall separate
you. Why? There is no sin to separate
you. There is no more sin to separate
you. You're justified. I'm persuaded
of this, are you? And I tell you this, in those
moments of dark providence, the best thing to do is to be persuaded
of this. Nothing can remove His love from
me, not even me. Oh God, be merciful. Even now persuade our hearts that we may rejoice in your justifying
love give us the power of persuasion
by thy holy spirit and in that we will find all the comfort
we need i pray you do this in jesus name