Last Sunday morning, we looked
at the first half of Romans 8, verse 31. And this morning, we're going
to look at the second half. Romans 8 verse 31 says, If God
be for us, who can be against us? To a child of God, I don't know
if there are any more comforting words than that. Really. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, to a person who's not in
the Lord Jesus Christ, to a person who's outside of
Christ, Christ is all. Christ is all. He's all. Everything. To a person who's
outside of Christ, I can't think of more damning words than these. Because the flip side is, if
God be against us, Who can be for us? Who can be for us? This whole
book speaks of two types of people. It talks about believers and
unbelievers. It talks about the elect and
the non-elect, the just and the unjust, the righteous and the
wicked, right? The Lord told those Pharisees
right there in John 8, we were there just a minute ago, right
after that, Lord willing, if we're there next week, we're
going to be there right after that, He said, you're of your father
the devil. That's what He told them. Well, if God be for one
side, then He has to be against the other. The world says, this is what
religion says, if you go to your average place of religion, this
is what they're going to tell you. God is not against anybody. God's not against anybody. That
doesn't make sense. You ever heard of God being against
somebody? God wants everybody to be saved. That's what God wants. Everybody
to be saved. He's not against anybody. Why
do you have to be so hard? You just finished on something
positive. Why are you negative again? It's not being hard. It's just telling the truth.
That's all it is. Just telling the truth. See if
you can find the book of Nahum with me. In the Old Testament,
it's toward the back. I don't know if it will help
you or not, but in my Bible, it's page 1159. Nahum, Old Testament. This is the Lord speaking to
Nineveh. Nahum, look at chapter two, verse 13. Behold, I am against thee, saith
the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke,
and the sword shall devour thy young lines, and I will cut off
thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall
no more be heard. He said, I'm against thee. Look
at chapter three, verse five. Behold, I am against thee, saith
the Lord of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy
face. He's telling him, I'm gonna pull
your kilt up over your head. I will discover thy skirts upon
thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the
kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth
upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing
stock, And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon
thee shall flee from thee and say Nineveh is laid waste. Who will bemoan her? Whence shall
I seek comforters for thee? If God be against us, who can
be for us? Scripture says that the world
holds the truth. And this is the truth right here.
The world holds the truth in unrighteousness. They hold the
Bible in their hand that has page after page of the Lord saying
the same thing. The same thing. And this is what
they say, I don't believe that. In Deuteronomy 32, you don't
have to turn there. This is what the Lord said in
Deuteronomy 32. He said, I kill. Now God is God, and He doesn't
change from the day He started. He doesn't change. He never has,
and He never will. So that's not an old-fashioned
thing. We have not evolved from that. Here's what He said. If
anybody dies, I did it. I kill. And the majority of this
world says, I don't believe that. I just don't believe that. God's
not against anybody. God wouldn't kill anybody. We'll
look back with me at our text in Romans eight. This is shocking. Romans eight verse 32 says he spared not his own son. Think about that. Is there a clearer picture of
the truth than that? The truth is our God said, I
kill. Now the good news is if God be
for us, who can be against us? Why did God kill his son? Why
did God kill his son? The Lord Jesus Christ, he was
not killed by the hands of men. He wasn't martyred by a man.
God killed his son. God killed his son. Now, if the
Lord Jesus Christ ever reveals to a person why God killed his
son, that's the issue. That's the issue. The issue is
not how to build more wells in foreign
countries, although that's a wonderful thing. Oh, I want them to have
fresh water. I do, but that's not the issue of life. That's
not the missionary issue of life. If the Lord Jesus Christ ever
reveals to a person why God killed his son, that person's going
to realize God is not like I thought he was. I thought I knew who
God was. I thought I knew something about
God, but he's not like I thought he was. If God is against us. God ought to be against all of
us, you know that. All have sinned, all have rebelled. We just read all these things.
There's none that do with good. No, not one. Don't turn, but
back in Genesis six, God saw that the wickedness of man was
great and it repented the Lord that he ever even made man. But
Noah found grace. That's the part that my ear gravitates
to. Noah found grace. God ought to
be against all of us and in the days of Noah, he was. He was. That story of Noah's Ark, man,
how glorious is the Ark. How glorious is the Ark. Thank
God for the Ark. I want to be inside that Ark.
You know who that Ark is? Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ. What a story that is. You know
the horrifying other side to that is? God killed the whole
world. And it's like our minds won't
even dwell on that. In Hollywood, they can't even come close to
picturing what that was like. But if they did, if they did,
you think everybody would just be swimming in the water as it
rises? It's a horrifying picture. It's the truth. It's the truth. God killed the whole world, but
here's the thing that I want to know about. But Noah found
grace. How did Noah find grace? You
know what the answer is? How did Noah find grace? The
God of all grace found Noah. That's how God came and found
Noah. He said, I'm come to seek and
to save that which was lost. If God be for us, how can God
be for us when God ought to be against us when we all know he
should? We do. Here's our question this morning.
How can God be for us? How can God be for us? Look at
Romans 8, verse 32. We just read it and we're gonna
read it again. He had to spare not his own son. That was the only way God could
be for us. That was it. Verse 32 says, he
had to deliver him up for us all. God has to be just. Here's the thing that we've got
to know. Everybody in here, we can all acknowledge that we've
sinned. All of us at least once. And
if we think it's only once, then we're sinning right now. And we all need to acknowledge
that one sin is enough to keep me out of eternity forever. One,
one broken law. That's it. That's it. God has to be just and he has
to kill sin. So how can God be for us? How
can God justify us? Verse 34 tells us Christ had
to die. Look at verse 34. It says, who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. God the Father laid on God the
Son the iniquity of us all. As we preach, we preach the gospel. And you know what the gospel
is? It's good news. And you know what that good news is? It's
how God justifies sinners. That's what it is. It's what
God did to Christ for us. And as we get into the details
of those things, our flesh begins to wander. It's like, well, I
know these things and then I'll snap back in whenever I get to
the interesting part. We know that. That's a sad, honest
confession. But may God cause my heart and
my mind and my eyes and everything that's in me to see Christ crucified. See my hope. That's my only hope.
It's my only hope. It's not about me living right.
It is not about me living right. What's going to get me into heaven?
Well, you got to live right. We read just a minute ago, all
our righteousness are filthy rags. The kindest thing I've
ever done. If I were to sell everything
I have and go give it to the poor, that still is not good
enough. to redeem me from the sins I've
committed. It still is not good enough.
You can do and you can do and you can do and you can do until
you're just done all you can do. And it's not good enough. And we could ignore that and
say, I don't want to hear that. And then one day go meet God
and find out it really was the truth. Or we can beg God right
now to open our eyes, open our ears, cause us to believe it,
cause us to bow to it, cause Christ to save us by showing
me Christ crucified. Christ crucified. That's the
only message of salvation. Christ crucified. God laid on
him everything I ever did. And I have things that tear me
all to pieces. They just tear me all to pieces.
And this is not a confession and I'm not going to tell you. By God's grace, he's allowed
me to bring them to the Lord. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Because Christ took all of my
sins. He took all of my guilt, He took
all of my rebellion, He took all the words I've said, He took
the heart that made the words out and He crushed it. And He
took all of that vileness and all that wickedness and He took
His pure and spotless and holy Son, the only love of glory,
and He piled all of that on top of Him. And he wore my guilt
and my shame. And then God looked at him having
all that sin on him and God killed him. He spared not his own son. And then God looked at me having
no sin on me. You know why? Christ took it. And he said, perfect, pure, you
are holy. Well done. Come on in. Now, why would God do that? Does anybody want to know that?
I think about it. It's a glorious thought, but
if you stop and think about the God who doesn't need people,
we need people. I need you all. I don't want
to be alone. God doesn't need us. He's self-sufficient. He is complete and happy. He does not need us. He doesn't
need our praise. He doesn't need us. So why would
God do that? Why would God spare not His own
Son for us? I have a reference in my Bible
in verse 32 by the word spared. And in my Bible it says John
3.16. Don't turn over there. John 3.16,
we know that verse of scripture, don't we? John 3.16. John 3.16. For God so loved. You know, the only explanation
for salvation, for the grand scheme of salvation, all the
glory of what Christ did, you know, the only explanation, love. Why did God do that? For God
so loved this world, he made it, he loved it. He loved it. The love of God
is amazing. Amazing love, how can it be that
thou, my God, would die for me? For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son. That's amazing. That is amazing.
Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his
life for his friend. Greater love. Well, that's universal
atonement is what that is. God so loved the world. God loved everybody. It's not. Well, it says, look right here
in Romans 8 verse 32. Verse 32 says, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. It says all. I know. And right before that, it says
us. You see that. Look at verse 31. What shall
we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? 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? So you don't want anybody else
to be saved? No, I would that the whole world were saved. I
would that all men were saved. Lord, save them all. SOS, save
our souls, save us all. 53,000 in Kingsport, Lord, save
us all. But I have to acknowledge God's
truth that says there's an us. There is an us. Who are the us? That's an important
question, isn't it? Who are the us? Look at verse
33. It says, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God's elect. I have a reference
right there, and mine says chapter 16, verse 13. Romans 16, verse
13, this is what it says. Romans 16, verse 13, it says,
Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother
and mine. Chosen in the Lord. When you
go to an election, you're going to choose somebody. At some point,
sometime we're going to have another presidential election
and I'm going to go and I'm going to choose somebody. That's who God's elect are. Those
who are chosen in the Lord. Chosen by God the Father to be
put in the Lord. Who are the us? Who are these
us? Look at verse 28, it says, We know that all things work
together, back in Romans 8, I'm sorry, Romans 8, 28. We know
that all things work together for good to them that love God. To them that love God. Truly
love this God, being the Almighty God. Verse 31 says, it's those I'm sorry, verse 29 says it's
those that he foreknew. It's those that he predestinated.
Verse 30 says it's those whom he called. It's those whom he
justified. That means died for, paid their
sins. And it's those whom he glorified,
made them pure, made them perfect and raised them up. That's who
God's elect are. If God be for us, nobody can
be against us. Nobody. If God be for us, then
that means, listen to this. If God be for us, then that means
the Lord God of heaven will not be against us. Every sinner is
going to go meet God. You know that? The old Western
say, prepare to meet your maker. Every sinner is going to go meet
God. And if God be for us, when we get there, he will not be
against us. Isn't that wonderful? He cannot
be against us. God is not against us because
he spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. And God is just. God is just. You know what that
means? God is right. That means if somebody has already
died for that sin, he will not punish it twice. He will not
punish it twice. He cannot punish the innocent. Verse 33 says, Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Here's the good news.
The Lord God won't. He won't. It's the Lord God who
justified us. There's no more sin on our record.
Verse 34 says, Who is he that condemneth? The Lord God won't. Christ died. 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 I've always loved this thought.
Our scripture, the word of God that we hold to and read and
love and believe, this is what it says. He is at the right hand
of God making intercession for us. You know what that means?
That means that as this vile creature lives his life out,
I have got sins that I have already committed this morning, sins
that I have committed during this message, sins I will commit
throughout the rest of my day, and this week, and my life. I haven't even been committed
yet. But if Christ died for me, he paid for all the sin that
I haven't even committed yet. The start to the end, they're
all paid. They're all paid. And as this
foul creature who is a slave to sin continues out this life,
everything's being accounted. And as I go through these things,
Christ says, tells his father, I paid for that one. That one's
covered. That one was on me. Don't kill
him. That one was mine. I took that
on myself. He is making intercession for us. Spare him, save him. I paid that. I've already paid
that. He makes intercession for us.
Now look at verse 36. It says, as it is written for
thy sake, we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. We are killed all the day long,
accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Back in verse 17, it says, if
children than heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him. Suffer with him that we
may be also glorified together. Why will we suffer? The reason
is because as he is, so are we. As He is, so are we. There's
a verse of scripture that says, But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that you have suffered a while. Make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, and settle you after you've suffered a while. In John
16, our Lord said, In the world you shall have tribulation. But
look at Romans 8 verse 18, it says, I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. This is what we need to
remember for our comfort as we go through this life, the rest
of this life. Anything and everything that
we go through, how much more did He go through for us? If God be for us, we are going to have afflictions.
We are. But they are so light. They are
really so light. And the reason is because His
afflictions were so great. Verse 35, Romans 8 verse 35 says,
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? We're gonna suffer tribulation,
but not like he did. Isaiah 53 talks about his affliction. Tribulation is affliction. In
Lamentations 3 he said, I am the man that had seen affliction. Verse 35 says, Or distress. That means anguish. Did our Lord
suffer anguish? He said, Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass for me. That's hard for me to get my
mind around him saying that. If it's possible, let this cup
pass for me. Nevertheless, not my will. Done
be done. Verse 35 says, or persecution. We're going to suffer persecution
for the truth's sake. We are going to suffer persecution
for the truth's sake. If we begin preaching lies at
Kingsport Sovereign Grace, if we leave the Word of God, and we get a packet like many
do, And we are no longer preaching the truth here. All our persecution
will go away. We'll all be accepted. We'll
band together. It'll be a happy time. And we
are happy, aren't we? In Christ. In Christ. Outside
of Christ. There's nothing to be happy about.
But we are happy in Christ. But as long as we preach the
truth, our Lord said, you're going to be persecuted for the
truth's sake. You're going to be persecuted
for the truth's sake. Our Lord was persecuted for everything
he did. We're going through John 8. Those
Pharisees, the whole book of John, the whole
Bible, they called him a drunk. They said he eats and drinks
with publicans and sinners. You see that glass of wine in
his hand? That man's a drunk. Did you see that marriage he
went to? What was it? Five barrels of wine. He made wine. They called him a lawbreaker
for performing these wonderful healings on the Sabbath. You
did it on the Sabbath. I understand the man is walking
now, but you shouldn't have done it on the Sabbath. They called him a blasphemer.
They said, this man makes himself to be God. Was our Lord persecuted? They
hung him on a cross for all that. Oh, he was persecuted. Look at
verse 35. It says, or famine. Our Lord was tempted in the desert
40 days and 40 nights without food. It says in verse 35, or nakedness,
do you know how they hung our precious Lord on that cross? Peril, it means danger. They were always sending lynch
mobs after Him. Sword, that means death. Did His death separate, He died. Did His death... Now think about
this. Physically speaking, we have
loved ones who have died. And I can't hug them, and they
can't hug me, and I can't tell them how much I love them, and
they can't tell me how much they love me. And we've been separated. Did His death separate us from
the love of God? These are the things that confirm
the love of God does. Confirm it. They meant it for
evil, God meant it for good. All for good. Verse 36, as it is written, for
thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. This world considers God's people
to be nothing more than sheep for the slaughter. You tell them
the truth, you believe the truth, this is where I stand, and you're
just a sheep for the slaughter. Are we? Verse 37 says, Nay, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that
loved us. More than conquerors through
Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death Whatever we're going to go through in death, He's going to be there. Everybody's
enamored by death and afraid of death and curious about death.
For all of God's people, if God be for us, as soon as we cross
over, we're going to see Jesus Christ. He'll be right there
waiting on us. Right there waiting on us. I'm persuaded that neither
death nor life, whatever happens to us through the rest of this
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. That means if God be for us,
who can be against us? Nothing and no one can be against
us. And I said it last time and I'm
going to say it again. Chapter 9 verse 1 says, I say the truth
in Christ, I lie not. That's the truth. That's good
news, isn't it? I hope the Lord will bless His
word. Let's stand together.