All right, go with me back to
Romans 8. Romans chapter 8. Some of you
have been camping this weekend. And if the Lord is willing, Hannah
and the girls and I, next week we're going to go camping
for a couple of days. And some of Our loved ones complained
to me this morning of the lack of sleep, the horrible night's
rest that they've been getting on the ground, sleeping on the
ground. One of them told me they slept
in their truck. And I'm anticipating some very
questionable sleep for a couple of nights this coming
week. And for that reason, I thought
we could all use a little comfort. Just a little bit of comfort
tonight. There are a few portions of scripture. You know, we say
Romans 8, we say Ephesians 1, we say Psalm 23. There's just
a few portions of scripture. that I can always go to when
I need a minute to rest. I need a mini vacation. Sometimes
it's the best thing. It's just a little, just a break
from everything. And there's a few of those passages
of scripture and this is one of them right here. Romans chapter
8, verse 28 says, and we know, we know I love knowing what we know. You know it? I absolutely adore. I love knowing what we know. Do you know what we know? I love knowing it. We know the
gospel. You know that? We know the gospel. We're about to hear it in just
a minute, but we know that we are sinners, don't we? We know
that. We know that while so many people
don't. It's such a, you know, you stand
up and say man is sin and it shocks people. You invite people
to come knowing they're going to hear about sin, knowing it's
going to be shocking to them. But you know what? We know. It's
not shocking to us, is it? We know we're sinners. And we
know that Christ came to save sinners, don't we? We love hearing
about sin and then hearing the Savior of sinners, don't we?
We know that. And we know that he accomplished
everything he set out to do. I announced that and we all know
it. We all know it. And we know what that means for
us. And we know that it's all ordered
and sure. It's all paid in full, set in
stone, and I love knowing what we know. I just love it. I love it. In addition to all
of those glorious facts, knowing this right here eases my mind
every time the Lord brings me to it. Every single time. Verse
28, and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. I love knowing that I can't mess
it up and nobody else can either. I love knowing that. Everything that happens in this
life, every single thing is a work ordained by God. Every single
thing. Ordained by Him for the purpose
of good. That's just fantastic. It's ordained
for good to every soul that has been called by the love of God
into the love of God. Everything that happens. is a
work of God for good to every soul that's called by the love
of God into the love of God. We know that none of us deserve
heaven, don't we? I could say that right now, but
we know it. None of us deserve Christ. None of us deserve his
mercy. But God chose to call out some
sinners and make them his own. and do
great things for him. Our Lord told that demoniac,
you go tell him how great things the Lord did for you. He chose
to do great things for him through Christ his son. And this is what
we know. Whoever God reveals that to is
one of his own. Whoever God truly causes their
heart to lay hold of that and be convinced of that and cling
to that is one of His own. They see God. We know that all
things work together for good to them who love the actual God. And we do, don't we? The true
and living God, the God of Scripture, the God who truly is God, honestly
is God. And thank God we know that. We know that. I love knowing
what we know. Verse 29 says, For whom he did
for know. That means know before. Before what? Everything. Everything. Turn with me to Jeremiah
1. Jeremiah 1 verse 4 says, Then the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew you,
I knew you. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified you, I set you apart, and I ordained
thee to be a prophet unto the nations. I knew you. Before I ever formed you in the
belly, I knew you. I knew everything about you.
Turn over to Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse 12 says, Yea,
the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as
the day. The darkness and the light, they
are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother's
womb. I will praise thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and
that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written. which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them. Before any of my members
were formed, every one of them were written in your book. How
precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God. How great is
the sum of them. If I should count them, they
are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I'm still with
you." Isn't that wonderful? God foreknew every child of His. Every single child. I love that.
Go with me back over to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29 says, For whom
He did foreknow, He also did predestinate. That means to limit
in advance. We adults put up the gutter guards
when our kids go bowling, don't we? That's what we do for them. We're going to take them bowling,
we're going to put up the gutter guards. What we're going to do
is we are going to predestinate. determine where that ball is
going to go. Right? We're going to limit in
advance. Don't you love knowing that's
what your Heavenly Father did for you? Don't you love knowing? Because outside of that, I would
be going into this lane and into that lane. That's where we're going. He predestinated. I adore that. I just adore that. He limited
me in advance. Verse 29 says, For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son. That's what 1 Corinthians 15
is talking about. conforming us to that precious,
precious image of His Son. Us, us, conforming us to His
Son. Verse 29, whom He did foreknow,
He also did predestine us to be conformed to the image of
His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. The word brethren means family. That's what it means, family.
I believe it was Bob's daughter, Carrie. I think that's who it
was. When she was a little girl, she was visiting over at Henry
and Doris' house in Ashland, and she crawled up in Henry's
lap, and he hugged up on her like that, and he said, you're
pretty good company, you know that. And she said, Ball Ball,
I'm not company. I'm family. He said, Oh, I'm
sorry. Not company, family. He's made
us family. That's amazing, isn't it? Not
company. Family. Family. Many, many brethren. He's conformed
us to his own image. He's going to, we're about to
find out, He's going to give us all things. He's going to
make us a joint heir with all that He has been given. And He
has made us to be members of His family. How did He do that?
Verse 30 says, Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He
also called. What does that mean? Look over
a few pages at 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9 says, God
is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of
His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God made His elect to be members
of His family by bringing them into the fellowship of His Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what He did. He brought
us into the fellowship of His Son. Called us into a union with
Christ. Look with me at 1 Peter chapter
2. First Peter chapter 2 verse 9
says, but ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood. I was reading this thinking in
my study, how can anybody read the Word of God and deny God's
election? How can anybody do that? How
can anybody read his word and die? He said, you're a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,
that means purchased, a bought people, that you should show
forth the praise of him who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light. which in time past were not a
people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy." What that means is in
Christ we're not company, we're family. That's what it means,
we are family. Go with me now back to Romans
8. Romans 8 verse 30 says, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified." He made them innocent. He made them innocent. He made them completely and totally
innocent. He did that through the death.
of his own son, his own death, never to be made guilty again.
Innocent, totally innocent. Don't you love knowing what we
know? Don't you love knowing what we
know? People in religion are miserable and they're worried,
they're scared to death. They try to put on a good show,
but there's a lot of work for them to do. There's a lot of
work to be done. They got a lot to undo. And they
never stack up. They just never stack up. And
if God ever goes to work on their conscience, there's a lot of
guilt there. But don't you love knowing what
we know? Now that he has revealed to us
that we have been justified, he made us innocent through his
own death, never to become guilty again. Don't you love that? I
just adore that. I'm so thankful for that. I love
knowing that. Verse 30 says, Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What that means is the actual
word means glorious. He made them glorious. It means
full of glory. He made them to be full of glory. That's amazing. He seated them
with Him in glory. I love knowing that. We are seated
with Him. We're seated with the King. We
are seated with God Almighty. Isn't that amazing? Verse 31 says, What shall we
then say to these things, knowing everything that we know? Knowing
everything that Our Lord has revealed to us everything that
he's called us into. How do you respond to that? How
do you respond to it? How do you respond to the amazing
gospel of God, the amazing, amazing news, the good news? How do you
respond to such grace? Let me ask you a question. If we have been called into fellowship
with Christ, if we have been made partakers of Him, called
into a union with Him, is God for us? Based on everything we've
just read already, is God for us? Verse 31 says, if God be for
us, who can be against us? Who can be against us? You know
my, I love that song, a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark
never failing. I think about men who could be
against us, but do you know who my favorite one, my favorite
protection against is? My own self. I cannot be against
me. I love, don't you love knowing
what we know? Don't you love that? I just love it. Who can be against
us? Verse 32 says he that spared
not his own son. That, you know, no center deserves
to comment on that. No center deserves to comment
on that. Everybody knows that Jesus Christ
died on the cross. Everybody knows that. But what
the Lord reveals to his people, what he causes them to know is
why. Really and truly, that's what
it all boils down to is why. Why? You can hear a person claim
and believe and know that Christ died on the cross. They can know
and believe with all their heart that he was buried and that he
rose again. They can believe with all their
heart that he died for sinners. But the question is why? Why? What did he accomplish in that? It's not just that He did it,
it's why He did it and what that means for us. And the truth of the matter is
we know. We know, don't we? We know why Jesus Christ died
on the cross. Verse 32 says, 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? Christ died to
redeem us. That's why. He died to redeem
us. Redeem means pay the price in
full and it also means reinstate what was lost. He died to pay
that price in full and He died to reinstate what was lost. And
I just adore knowing that. I truly do. Verse 33 says, Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. Well, now wait a minute. I thought you said it was Jesus
Christ that justified us. It is. Then why does it say that
it was God that justified us? Because it was. Jesus Christ
is God himself. And I'm going to tell you this.
I want to sound like a broken record on purpose. I love knowing
that. Do you realize that those of
us who have been blessed with that revelation, with that knowledge,
do you realize We are among very few a chosen remnant to know
who Christ is. God Almighty. God Almighty. How blessed we are. So, so blessed. Verse 34 says, Who is he that
condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that is risen again. who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Now, don't you love knowing this?
God's elect cannot be condemned. They cannot be condemned. And
the reason is because Christ who is God Almighty, Christ who
is God Almighty died Alright, now the punishment had to go
out, right? And so he died punishing himself. The punishment had to go out.
Wages of sin is death. He cannot clear the guilty, so
he died punishing himself. And he rose again satisfying
himself. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I lay it down. I take it up again. And then he made intercession
to himself. He makes intercession. Maketh means he is still doing
it. He maketh intercession to himself
on our behalf. He died punishing himself. He
rose again satisfying Himself and He makes intercession to
Himself on our behalf. Go with me over to 1 John chapter
2. 1 John chapter 2 verse 1 says, My little children, these things
write I unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We
have an advocate with the Father. We have one who died punishing
himself, rose again satisfying himself, and makes intercession
to himself on our behalf. Philip said, Lord, show us the
father. And he said, have I been so long
time with you? I and my father are one. We're
one. Look with me at Hebrews 7. Hebrews chapter 7. Verse 25 says, Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. He forever lives, forever
lives to make intercession for them. I love knowing that. I
just love knowing that. Now go with me back to Romans
8. Verse 35 says, Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation distress, persecution,
famine, nakedness, peril, sword. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. That means this world accounts
God's people as worthy of nothing but death. And in this flesh
they're right. But in Christ, verse 37 says,
Nay. Nope. In all these things, we
are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. More than
conquerors through Him that loved us. And we give Him all the glory
for that, don't we? every ounce of it. He said in
verse 38, for I am persuaded. What that means is I know. Paul
said we know, and we know. He said I'm 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." We know that's
true, don't we? We read that and we know for
a fact that's true, don't we? You know, last Sunday night or
whenever it was, we were in Hebrews and we looked at God's guardian
angels. And I had a lot of facts on angels that I did not give
because they were just too much. But he said he charges his angels
with falling. And those were the angels who
fell with Lucifer, the angel. And all of them are mighty. We're
no match for them. We saw how mighty they were and
how powerful they were. But you know what I'm convinced
of? They are not able to separate us from the love of Christ. The love of God which is in Christ. I'm persuaded that no man on
this earth And no thing that's not on this earth, nothing, height,
depth, life, death, principalities, powers, nothing. And we know
that's true, don't we? We absolutely know that's true. God has convinced us of that. And he's caused us to know it,
not only in our mind and not only in our heart, but in our
soul. We know that. And I love knowing what he's
caused us to know. I truly do. I'm so thankful for
it. It's so comforting. It's so restful. It's so peaceful. Now, if you
all don't get any sleep tonight, and if we don't get any sleep
for a couple of days this week, maybe we can rest on this right
here. The things that we know, I love knowing what we know,
what God has revealed to us. Okay, let's all stand together.