If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to Romans, Romans chapter 8, we're looking at verse 35,
but I'm going to go ahead and start reading from verse 28,
and the title of my message is 5 Attributes of the Love of Christ. 5 Attributes of the Love of Jesus
Christ. The Scripture says, "...and we
know..." This is something that every believer knows. "...that
all things work together for good." Not to everyone we know
this, but to who? Them that love God. Them who are the called according
to His purpose. Those who believe in Jesus Christ
and love the Lord our God, we know this, all things, whether
they be good things or evil things, we know they will work together
and they will come to good for only those that love God. Only
those who are called. by the grace and power of God
to faith in Jesus Christ, according to what? His purpose. His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, He also glorified. Then Paul asks this question,
What shall we say to these things? What are you going to say? This
is what we're going to say, If God be for us, who can be against
us? Now how can we say that, that
God is for us? How do we know that God is for
us? Listen, He spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, those He foreknew, those
He predestinated, those He had called and justified and glorified
according to His purpose. He gave His own Son, delivered
Him up for our sins. How then shall He not with Him
freely, freely give us what? All things, all things. And Paul begins to deal with
three different things here in verse 33. The accusation. An accusation. He said, Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? If God gave His
Son to die for our sins, who then is He that will accuse us
of sin? Accusation. And next he deals
with condemnation. He said, Who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifies. 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? You see Paul dealing with accusation
and condemnation and then separation. See that order? In order to be
separated from God, first there must be an accusation of guilt.
And he says, who is anyone that's going to accuse you of sin if
God Himself has justified you? What comes after accusation is
condemnation. Who is He that's going to condemn
you? If He can't accuse you, who then can condemn you? Because
Christ died for that sin. Christ died for our sin. and
is now risen, and listen, He ever lives to make intercession
for us. He's at the right hand of God
right now, interceding for us. Who's going to condemn you, believer?
And if there is no accusation and there is no condemnation,
guess what? There is no separation. Who shall separate us? from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus? Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Have you believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Then you have this promise of
God. Since there is no accusation of sin, God justified you. Since there is no condemnation
of sin, since Christ died for your sin, then there is no separation. What is separation? That's hell,
isn't it? Being separated from the mercy
and the love of God is hell. That's what hell is. And God
promises those who are His elect, those who believe and are called
of God to faith in Jesus Christ, there is no accusation, there
is no condemnation, and there is no separation from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus. Remember, it was the love of
God that chose us. It was the love of God that sanctified
us. It was the love of God that justified
us. It was the love of God that called
us and glorified us in Christ Jesus. This is the grounds by
which all of the other has come, the love of Christ, the love
of God. Now, love in our day is nothing
more than a vague or philosophical term. We see people fall in and
out of love. You hear that all the time. Why?
I love you. Well, I don't love you anymore.
Well, that's the human nature of love. I remember when I married
my wife, Brother Don Fortner, he rightly told me, he said,
Fred, love is not a feeling as much as it is a commitment. Love
has feelings. He said, one day you'll be able
to look at your bride and you may not be able to say, I love
you with all of those feelings, but you are able then, if you
love her, to say, I am committed to you. Love is a commitment
as well as it has feelings. It's never based on feelings.
Love should not be based on feelings. It has them, but it's not based
on them. It's not grounded in them. Otherwise,
we are loving and we are not loving. We are loving and we
are not loving. Because our feelings fluctuate. Love, in human terms, is very
shallow and superficial. It's always about what pleases
me. Isn't that right? I love you
if you please me. If you make me happy, I will
love you. I will love you. If you don't,
then I won't love you. Adam, when he was created, he
had perfect love. He had love for God. He was created
in the image of God. And remember, God is the author
of love. God is love. And all love stems
from God. And Adam had love for God. But
when he sinned, that image of love was marred. It was broken. That love that did perfectly
reflect the love of God, when he fell, it marred the very image
of God. It's like a broken mirror. You
look into a broken mirror, you see an image, but it's marred.
It's not the very image of the thing, it's just a fraction,
shattered image. Friends, our love is marred,
and how we view love is very marred. It's marred because of
sin. And so man then strives to generate
love, to generate love in himself. But all love must come from its
source. If it is true love, it must come
from God. We as believers are to reflect
the love of God to others, but again, because of sin, what is
our reflection but a marred reflection, isn't it? When I love you, brethren,
I do love you. When I love Christ and I do love
Christ, it is a marred reflection of His love. As a husband, I'm
to love my wife as Christ loved the church, but I guarantee you
it is a marred love. It is not the same as the love
of God. It is not. Why? Our love goes
up and down. Isn't that right? I imagine,
Brother Scott, if I went over there and punched you, I imagine
your love would go down. It would just go down. Now it
may heal and it may go back up, but it goes down and it goes
up. I love you, I don't. I love you,
I don't. Our love is up and down. It fluctuates
by our feelings. We love by passion. But friends,
God does not love like you and I love. His love is not a passion
that goes up and down. It is a constant, steady, immutable,
unchangeable love. Now think of the highest love
you can think of. Think of the greatest love that
God is, that God gives, and you won't be near as high as it should
be. But I promise you this, however
high it is, it won't change. It does not go up and it does
not go down. God loves eternally, immutably,
just as His other characteristics are immutable and unchangeable. So is His love. Now what He said,
Therefore I have loved thee with a, what? Everlasting love. His love is the same as His purpose. We say God's purpose is immutable,
right? Everything God has determined,
He determined before the world began. And all that is happening
in the world is according to the eternal purpose and plan
of God. That's what separates God from
all other gods, is that He is sovereign, that He has purposed
all things and all things move after the counsel of His own
will. Even so is His love the same as His purpose. It's immutable,
it's unchangeable. He purposed in eternity to love
His elect, because His love for you is in Christ. He puts you in Christ
out of love, and in Christ then He is able to love you perfectly. Now notice in our text, look
at this in our text, it says, Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Now notice it does not say, Who
shall separate Christ from your love? Does it? It says, Who shall
separate you from the love of Christ? I know this, many things
can and do separate Christ from our love. Do you love Him as much as you
should? Right now, do you love Him as
much as you should? Do I love Him as much as I should? No. How many things separate us and
diminish our love from Christ? What does this mean? There is
no comfort to rest in or look to our love for Him. Now I know
you want to love Him believer, you do love Him. Never ever look
to your love for Him. Our love is weak and feeble and
is not even worthy at times to be called love. We do love Christ But we are
never to hope or trust or look at our love as any merit for
Him loving us. That's how we love others, isn't
it? We love others based on their
merit for us. You can never look at your love
as any merit for Him loving you. Otherwise, you're always going
to be distressed. You're always going to be conflicted.
Your faith is always going to fail. Jesus said, ìThe iniquity shall
abound, and the love of many shall wax cold.î What causes
our love to wax cold is iniquity. It is our sin. But our Lord said,
ìHe that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.î ìHe
that endureth shall be saved.î Endure in what? In love, in faith,
looking to Christ. Sin and iniquity cause our hearts
to grow cold toward Christ. We become dull of hearing of
the things of Christ. We may stroke our pride and intellect,
but they no longer strum the chords of our hearts. We become
like that sleeping bride in Song of Solomon. He's knocking at
the door and says, Open to me my love, my dove, my undefiled. And instead of looking at His
love, He said, Open to Me My love, My undefiled. He did that. He saved us. And instead of looking
at what He did, the bride looked at what she was capable of doing,
and all she could do was roll over and go to sleep. She looked
at her love, which was empty and vain. This love of ours, if left to
itself, will die. Now isn't that true? If your
salvation is based on your love for Christ, do you suppose you
would ever enter in heaven? Do you suppose He would ever
love you based on your love for Him? No! Never would we imagine
a thing. Left to ourselves, our love would
die. Therefore we are not to look, rest, or rely upon our
love. But what? We look and rest and
rely upon this, the love of Christ. Who shall separate you from the
love of Christ? That's a question, is it? If
our salvation is based on His love, then what would comfort
you? What would give you assurance that nothing shall separate you
from the love of Christ? Well, what is the love of Christ? What are the attributes of His
love? Remember, believer, the whole
reason we love Him at all is why? He first loved us. Now,
are you estranged from Christ this morning? Is your heart cold?
Are you indifferent? Do you feel separated from Him? Do you desire to love Him more? Then listen, you must not build
love on your love. I remember our house in Houston
had been in a flood and me and my dad were in the living room.
It's a house on blocks and we were trying to raise this house,
trying to build it up. And every time we'd put a board
down and then put another board down, that board would sink.
We'd put another board on top of that board and that board
would sink. And then another board and it would sink. It just
kept going lower. That's what it is to build your hopes on
your love. If you try to build love on top
of your love, it always sinks. It never grows. It won't. What
then is the ground and foundation of our acceptance and love? It
is His love. It is His love. The more we are allowed to see
the greatness of our sin, and to see how low Christ condescended
to reconcile us, we will love Him more. The more we see those
two things, your sinfulness and His love and His great work,
the more then we will love Him. Remember when Jesus was talking
to that Pharisee and He had that woman come and that harlot come
and wipe his... with feet, with her hair and
tears on. And he said, if he'd known what
kind of woman this is, he wouldn't let her touch. And you remember
that parable he gave? He said a certain creditor had two debtors.
One owed fifty and one owed five hundred pence. And when they
had both of them nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.
He said to that Pharisee, which do you suppose would love him
more? And he said, the one he forgave most. And he said, you've
rightly judged. You see, the more we understand
our sin and the greatness of His sacrifice, the more we will
love Him. But we have to view His love
and His sufferings. Now listen, if you view His love
and His sufferings and your sin as a small thing, your love will
always be small. But the more we see and look
to Him of His great love, the greater our love will be. Now
listen, I want to comfort you this morning. I'm going to give
you now five attributes. of that love, the love of Christ
that constrains us, that stabilizes us, that gives us hope and peace,
no matter what happens in this life, nothing shall separate
you from the love of Christ. And why is that? Here are five
things. First of all, His love is eternal. His love is eternal. Secondly, His love is unconditional. Thirdly, His love is sacrificial. And fourthly, His love is effectual. And lastly, His love is transforming. His love is transforming. Let's
look at this first. The love of God is eternal. Remember in
Jeremiah 31 and verse 3, He said what? I have loved thee with
an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. Dear believer, rest in this love,
for the love of God fills eternity. Can you imagine eternity? How
big is eternity? How wide is eternity? How deep
is eternity? Can you eternally, when you go
backward eternally, how far is that? When you go forward eternally,
how far is that? When you go high eternally, how
high is that? When you go low eternally, how
low is that? When you go deep eternally, how
deep is that? You cannot measure the height
and the width and the breadth and the depth of the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus. If we with ink the ocean fill
and were the skies of parchment made, The love of God, it says, the
love of God would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. You could not, you
could not ever exhaust the love of God. Believer, it's eternal.
Before there was ever created being, God's love song echoed
in the halls of eternity. God's love was from everlasting
and is to everlasting on those that fear Him. There is never
a time that God did not love you. This eternal love was manifest
in His election. Paul said, Beloved of the Lord.
Beloved of the Lord. Remember, God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. God has chosen you from the beginning
out of love. Look at God's infinite love and
see that it never fluctuates, but is eternally constant, sure
and steady. How do we know that? Because
God is eternally constant. He tells us in the Scripture,
Behold, I am God, I change not. Now we would, religion would
have you believe that God, He doesn't love you and then you
make a decision and all of a sudden He loves you. That's not it. Friends, if God loved you, He
always loved you. Now listen to this, if He never
loved you, He will never love you. For Jacob have I loved. But Esau have I hated. When did
he love them and him and hate Esau? From before they were born. So if you are a believer, this
is something, election is something that we grab hold of as a comfort
to our souls. Because God hath eternally loved
us. He doesn't change. Therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He loved all His elect from eternity,
and in love put us in Christ, adopted us, isn't that what the
Scripture says? In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. So then, will
God ever cease to love you? Who then shall separate you from
the love of God? If God's love was eternal love,
and He chose you in love from eternity, if God sent His Son
in time to die for your sins, sent His Spirit to you to call
you and quicken you and give you faith, how then shall He
not freely give you all things? Why? How can I be sure of this?
Because His love is not like yours. His love doesn't change. It's eternal. Comfort yourselves
in this. Who shall separate you from the
eternal love of Christ? Nothing and nobody. Look at the
second thing. His love is unconditional. This
love as expressed by God in eternity was based on nothing. Nothing. we should ever do to
merit it. Nothing merited by its objects. This love is given freely, unconditionally. One word used by God's saints
to describe the unconditional love of God is what? Grace. Grace is the unmerited favor
of God. That's why we call it amazing
grace, isn't it? Amazing grace. We don't know
anything of this kind of love, do we? We say unconditional,
I love you unconditionally. That's not true. That's not true. You and I could never do that.
It's an amazing thing what God has done. Matter of fact, there's
every merit should merit the hatred of God. Everything we've
done and do should only merit His hatred. Yet God says, I love
you without your merits. Nothing in you. Amazing grace
how sweet the sound. Why? It saved a wretch like me. We who believe understand that
God has every right not to love us. God would have been right
and just to send us to hell at any moment. At the very first
breath, isn't that right? At the very first breath, He
had every right to send us into eternal torments and separate
us from Him forever. But God, who is rich in mercy,
chose us and set us by His love in Christ. Rich in mercy, He
chose some of Adam's fallen race Not based on them. Isn't that
what it says? I just told you that in Romans
chapter 9. It says, "...the children not yet being born, neither having
done..." What? "...good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand." Now lost men view this as unrighteous
and unfair, don't they? That's what Paul said. Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is that unfair for God? God forbid
He told you, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then,
it is not of him that willeth, or him that runneth, but God
that showeth mercy. But those who know our sin, those
who know our sin confess, if God were to act in strict fairness,
and not out of unconditional love, who then could be saved?
None of us could be saved. You see, I don't want fair. Do
you? I don't want God to act in strict
justice against me. I want mercy. I need mercy. I need grace. What does that
mean? I need free mercy. Is there any
other kind? Is there any other kind of grace besides free grace? Is there any other kind of mercy
besides free mercy? No. This love must be unconditional,
and it is. It's unconditional because it
was set on us while we were yet sinners. Isn't that what it says?
While we were yet sinners, Christ died. Isn't that true? I'll tell you this, I have not
yet committed my first sin and Christ has already taken my sin. in His own body on the tree.
Even while we were dead in trespasses and sins, it says, But God, who
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, hath
quickened us together with Christ. By grace you are saved. We were altogether unlovable.
But here is the reason why you will never be separated from
the love of Christ, believer, because His love has nothing
to do with your merit. The only merit of His love for
us is Jesus Christ. Now, does He merit the love of
God? That's the question, isn't it?
Does He merit the love of God? Yes. Therefore, all that are in Him
merit the love of God by Him. He is my source of and foundation
by which God may love me. Thirdly, His love is a sacrificial
love. The love of God did not cost
us anything, but make no mistake, it cost God everything. It cost Him something very precious
to heal. In order to love us, it costs
the death of His Son. The love of God costs Him something. To say, I love you, is easy,
isn't it? But true love always has a cost, doesn't it? True
love is always sacrificial. The eternal, unconditional love
of God was only manifest in what? The giving and offering of His
Son, Jesus Christ. You want to know if God loves
you? You cannot find any reason why God loves you except by looking
at His Son and His death at the cross. Go to 1 John chapter 4. John gives us this definition
here. 1 John chapter 4 and look at verse
9. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us. Now listen, I know a lot of times
you and I think like this. We think, well, if I'm healthy,
if I have these feelings for Christ, then I know God loves
me. Isn't that right? We look for feelings. We look
for things to manifest God's love for me, that God is for
me. We're sick and we want God to heal us. And when God heals
us, we say, ah, see, He loves me. No, that's not the manifestation
of God's love. God heals the lost as well as
He does the saved. I'll tell you this, lost men
and religious men are more zealous than God's people. Isn't that
right? You're not thinking an Islamic man is more zealous than
you. He's willing to blow himself up for his God. Now that's zeal,
isn't it? But that doesn't manifest God
loves him because he's zealous. What manifests the love of God?
Look at this. This is the manifestation of the love of God towards us. "...because that he sent his
only begotten Son into the world, That we might live through Him. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. Don't you ever base God's love
for you on your love. But He is. But that He loved
us. And how do we know? He sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. God so freely loved us, He sent
Christ to redeem us. The only possible way we could
be redeemed, propitiated through the blood of His Son. He sent
Him to be the propitiation, the mercy seat. The place where the
offering, the blood was spilt, so that we might have atonement
for our sins. The only atonement for our sins,
the only reconciliation for us with God is the death of His
Son, Jesus Christ. God was not just... Friends, God is not just upset
with sinners. God is just not a little angry with sinners.
I want you to know this, God is at war with sinners. And you pay attention, man by
nature is at war with God. Scripture says the carnal mind
is what? Inmity against God. Hatred against God. Not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And listen, God is angry
with the wicked every day. There's a war going on here,
friends. A warfare. Thus there must be a propitiation
made in order to have peace. An atonement must be made. Justice
must be satisfied. The wrath of God must be appeased. for those loved of God in order
for them to be accepted. God cannot love like we love. I can love you and you can treat
me bad and I can just forgive you because, you know what, I'm
just as bad as you are. So we can kind of overlook one
another's faults. God is holy and can by no means
clear the guilty. How then can God love the guilty? The only way is that they be
justified, that they be innocent And there is only one way that
God can be just and the justifier of the ungodly, and that is by
the death of His Son. He sent His Son to be the propitiation. This is a paradox. If God is
just and must punish sin, how can He love the sinner and save
him? Only by a willing, sinless offering in the place of the
guilty. Behold the love of God the Father
in giving His Son. And you want to know if God loves
you? You need to look at the gift He gave. He gave His only
begotten Son, and in love the Son willingly came for one purpose,
to die. It was His purpose that He laid
down His life for the sheep. Isn't that what He told them
early on? He said, I am the Good Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd
what? Giveth His life for the sheep. Greater love hath no man
than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. That's what He came to do, to
be a propitiation. He willingly laid down His life.
And as a sheep before his shears is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth. He said, No man taketh my life, but I lay it down freely
of myself. I lay it down, and I take it
again. Jesus Christ took all the sins of His people, so much
so that He was made a curse, made a curse for us. He who knew
no sin, was made sin for us. To propitiate, to be the mercy
seat for rebels and sinners, to stand, we should stand and
wonder at such great love that Christ offered Himself without
spot and blemish for you and me. Can you think of a greater
love? Can you think of a more sure
foundation of love than this? He laid down His life. He is
a sacrificial love. And what do we know of this love,
this sacrificial love? It accomplished the redemption
of His people. This is why you can't be condemned. This is why
God is able to love you and will never separate that love from
you because Christ endured the condemnation that belonged to
us. And by that endurance, what does
Paul say at the beginning of this chapter in Romans chapter
8? There is therefore now what?
No condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Why? What the law could not do and
that was weak through the flesh, God sending His Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin. condemn sin in the flesh that
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. There is the
foundation of His love. Now, fourthly is this, His love
is effectual. His love is effectual love. What
does this mean? It means it gets the job done. Whatever His love intended to
do for its objects, He will do. He will do. All for whom the
Father chose in predestinating love, all for whom Christ loved
freely unconditionally, all for whom Christ died, He will in
love effectually experience the love of God in time. They will,
all of them. All of them. Every one of the
objects of God's love are born under condemnation. But those
who are quickened by the Spirit of God to faith in Christ alone
for salvation have then experienced the love of God. You see, God
loved me long before I ever experienced it. Long before He ever came
to me, He loved me. In eternity, He loved me. In
Christ, He came and died for me. Unconditionally, without
any merit in me. But in time, that love had purposed
something. You remember that infant polluted
in the blood? That's a picture of us. left
out there to die, and the scripture says, and I passed by thee. When I passed by thee it was
a time of love. I saw thee polluted in thine
own blood, and I said unto thee, out of love, live, live. He washed us. and robed us in
the robe of Christ's righteousness, cleansed us with His blood. In
Romans chapter 8, verse 15, he said, Then the love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts. Why do you love God? Tell me
that. You love God because of the effectual love of God, because
God effectually, powerfully gave you a new heart by which you
may have faith and love for Christ. That's the only reason you love
Him, is because He loved you and gave you a life of love and
faith. This love that was manifest at
the cross was not in vain, but it will be fulfilled by divine
purpose. Why? He said this at the beginning,
He shall save His people from their sins. And that's exactly
what He did at Calvary, isn't it? Scripture says, He hath by
His one offering, He hath perfected. You got that word? Perfected? How long? Forever. Them that
are sanctified. And God's love in time exposed
our sin. Isn't it a good thing when a
man is convicted of his sin? It is because this is the working
of the Spirit of God. to be convicted of your sin is
a work of God. But it doesn't stop there. He
effectually gives us the Gospel. And that Gospel comes in power.
And we hear of Christ's love. We hear of His blood. We hear
of His resurrection. We hear of His ascension. We
hear of His sovereignty and His mercy. And what is it? We are
drawn to Him. We flee to Him. We run to Him. This is the effectual working
of love is that we now love Him. This is what God does for every
one of His people. He calls them, quickens them. Jesus told us this, didn't He?
All that the Father giveth me shall, what? Come to me. This is the effectual work of
God, the effectual love. God calls His people. And listen,
when He called you, was it an invitation or a command? When God's people, at the very
beginning, we hear this, it sounds as an invitation, doesn't it?
It sounds like that. Come unto me. But once you are
exposed, it's no longer an invitation, it's a command. And there's nothing
else I can do but come. When you say believe on the Lord,
I tell you, Scott, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, guess
what? That's a command, isn't it? And you know what? We say,
yes! Yes! Lord, I believe! Help thou
my unbelief! What is that but the effectual
working of the Spirit of God in you? And know this, His effectual
working does not cease at our conversion, but is constantly
effectual. This love of Christ that we can't
be separated from, this love of Christ that nothing can separate
us from, is constantly pressing us to faith and love, isn't it?
And that's why you feel guilt when you don't believe, and you
feel guilt when you don't love, is because you know this is what
we are called to do. And then what does God do in
those times? He gives us love. And listen, He won't stop. This
love won't stop. Because it's effectual, because
it's eternal, because it's unconditional, because it costs Christ his life,
because it's effectual, it will never end. That's why Peter said,
you are kept by the power of God unto salvation ready to be
revealed at the last time. This power that quickened us
will keep us in the faith until the end. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this,
I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. This is effectual
love, isn't it? Isn't that effectual love that
never ends? It's a constant keeping until we are in glory. Now, the
fifth thing is love is transforming. When we come to Christ and we
see His great love for us, But as we grow in the grace and knowledge
of Christ, do we not see more of His love? I see more of His
love because I see more of my sin. When I came to Christ, I
was a dead dog sinner. And I didn't think you could
get much worse. But now I realize I am much worse. But in proportion, I also see
the greatness of His love. The more I see my sin, the greater
I see His love to be, where sin abounded. Now how much sin do
you have? Even so, grace much more abounds. You see, it grows
proportionally. And what does this do? The greater
view of His love causes us to love more. Isn't that what Paul
said in Romans chapter 12? I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God. Because of the mercies of God,
what do we do? Present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord, which is your
what? Reasonable service. Be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and prove
what is that perfect and good and acceptable will of God. This purpose of God. What was
the purpose of God at the beginning? His eternal love, His unconditional
love, His sacrificial love, His effectual love. What's the purpose?
Paul tells us that in our text. Look back up at verse Let me see. Verse 29, "...for whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate," what? "...to be conformed to
the image of His Son." Isn't that what happened when God saved
you? Did not you have the image of Christ given to you in the
new nature? Yes! That image is perfect. But I tell you this, we may grow.
That image does grow, doesn't it? And what does that do? It
transforms our thoughts. It transforms our mind. It transforms
our life. Now friends, I'm not what I want
to be. I'm not what I should be. But praise God that I have
grown in the grace and knowledge of Christ. I wasn't, was I? I'm
not still a babe. God has continually caused me
to grow. Now that's a result of what?
His love. His love is transforming. And therefore, we conclude this,
because His love is eternal. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Because His
love is unconditional, by grace you are saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Because His love is sacrificial,
because Christ laid down His life, Christ gave Himself for
our sins. And because He was successful,
therefore His love is effectual, His love is calling, His love
is quickening, His love is transforming. And His love is perpetual. Now,
listen, that is a love that we will never be separated from.
And you say, but preacher, I don't feel that. Does it matter? I
mean, our feelings. Usually we don't have these feelings.
You know why? Because we'll trust them. I was thinking about that
this morning. I want to feel your presence,
Lord. And I say, why do I want to feel
his presence? And then the sin was revealed that I want to trust
in that feeling. Therefore, he's not going to
give me that feeling. You're not going to give me that. There's
nothing wrong with that emotion. There's nothing wrong with that
feeling. We're going to have that in heaven forever, right? There's
nothing wrong with that. The problem is we trust in those
feelings. Instead of trusting Christ, instead
of believing on Him, instead of resting in His love, in His
sacrifice, we rest in our feelings and our love for Him. He won't
give it. But if we keep our eyes only on Him, those things come
with that, don't they? Therefore, let us have this as
our comfort this morning. If you take nothing away, take
this. Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, naked, peril, sword,
anything, He said neither height nor depth nor any other creature
shall be able to separate you from the love of God. Why? It's
in Christ Jesus. That's why. That's why God loves
you. And that's why He'll always love
you. That's why He'll never stop loving you. That's a good love, isn't it? May God give us faith in Christ. And by faith we may experience
such eternal, unconditional, sacrificial, effectual and transforming
love. Pray God will bless this to you.