Good to see you this evening.
Trust the Lord will bless us as we come around his word together. Let's pray. Almighty God and loving Heavenly
Father, it is good for thy people to meet together. It is good
for us to share fellowship and to gather around thy word. We
rejoice that thou has given us once again an opportunity to
do so. that this will be a vain activity
if Thou art not here. And we ask that Thou wilt be
pleased to come amongst us even now, that Thou wilt give us the
privilege of Thy presence. Thou wilt be pleased to meet
with us here, to speak to us, to give us that which we require,
to bestow such mercies upon us that Thou knowest we have need
of. We come with a smile and with a happy word. We shake each
other's hands and we rejoice to have the company of those
who gather. But thou knowest what goes on
in our hearts. Thou knowest the challenges that
we face and the difficulties that we encounter, the trials
that we carry day by day, the uncertainties and the doubts.
we ask our God that thou wilt be pleased to speak to us this
night as only thou canst speak. For while the words of the preacher
might resound around the walls of this place, it takes a spiritual
work to enter deep within the heart and soul of a needy sinner
and to find that purchase which alone thou canst accomplish.
So we pray, our God, that this night will be a night in which
the Spirit of God will move with power in the hearts and in the
lives of those that gather here. And ere we part, we pray that
we will be able to say, thank you, Lord, for bringing us to
this place and under the sound of thy word. Amen. You don't need to turn to these
verses, but let me just read a couple of verses to you from
Luke's Gospel chapter 11. I'm reading these just really
to have a little bit of structure to the message that I want to
bring to you this evening. In Luke chapter 11 verse 21 we
read, When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods
are in peace. When a strong man armed keepeth
his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than
he shall come upon him and overcome him, He taketh from him all his
armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoil. The strong man armed in these
verses, I believe, is a picture of Satan. And that one who is
stronger than he has come into this world and spoiled his domain. He has gone against Satan and
he has brought him low. And I want this evening, for
a little while with you, to think about some of the ways in which
the Lord has overcome that strong man armed. Indeed, I've called
this sermon, 10 Strong Men Armed. And we're going to take our verses
from the end of Romans chapter 8, and we're going to look at
some of those aspects of life and death that
the Lord Jesus Christ has overcome by the sacrifice that He has
made and the love that He has for His people. In Romans chapter
8 and verse 38 we read these words, For I am persuaded that
neither death, the first strong man armed, life, the second strong
man armed, angels or principalities, the third and fourth, powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, ten strong men armed, none of them shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. You know, the subject of the
love of God is a subject which is terribly misused and abused
in these days. Indeed, there are those who tell
us that actually we don't really have to worry too much because
God's love is able to cover everything and really at the end of our
life, no matter whether we have been very bad or very good, whether
we've thought about God, whether we haven't, whether we've followed
the Christian life or we've lived religiously, It doesn't really
matter because actually the love of God is big enough to cover
all the problems. And there is this universal love
that is proclaimed from pulpits and from churches today that
speaks to men giving them peace. when there is no peace, giving
them reassurance, when in fact the calling of God's Word is
to bring them into condemnation because of the wickedness of
their hearts. Rather we find in Scripture that
the love of God not at all universal, is rather
to be understood as particular and definite and certain for
those individuals for whom the Lord Jesus Christ gave his life. That is why we read in Romans
chapter 5 and verse 8, God commendeth his love towards us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now here we see, we were
thinking a little bit on an earlier occasion about the limitations
that need to be brought into the preaching of the gospel,
the preaching of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
of the fact that that work of Christ was according to the will
of God, it was a vicarious sacrifice, and that the Lord Jesus Christ
stood as substitute for His people, paying the ransom price, the
cost of His blood, for the redemption of their souls. That is the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Christ died, to save
that people that God the Father had placed in His trust, gave
Him the responsibility within the covenant agreement that was
struck there in eternity for the well-being of that chosen
people, that Christ would go and lay down His life to redeem
His people, from their sins. And here we see that that sacrifice,
that shedding of his blood, that limited atonement, that particular
redemption is spoken of here in Romans 5 verse 8. Christ died
for us. Christ died for us. And the Apostle
Paul, I always say to people that when they are endeavoring
to study the Word of God, they have to think about who these
letters are addressed to. It is one of the most important
points you will ever grasp when you come to read the Word of
God, is consider to whom these things are written. These are
letters written to believers, and therefore the Apostle Paul,
writing to the believers at the Church of Rome, and writing to
all those who are in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, uses
this term, us. And there is that familiarity
in the usage. Christ died for us. The point that Paul is also making
is that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for us is also the
manifestation of the love of God for us. Therefore, outside
of the death of Christ, there is no love of God for sinners. outside of the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ, outside of the sacrifice, outside of that mediatorial
role and responsibility that was committed into the hand of
the God-man within the covenant of grace. God is a consuming
fire and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. So you must not Believe the false
teaching of these peddlers of lies and heresies who say to
you, God loves you. And these signs and billboards
that are plastered along the street when people are driving
along the car, God loves you. How do they know? God doesn't
love you except you are within that covenant relationship with
Him and Christ died for your sins. Now it may well be that
the Lord has not revealed these things yet to a wandering soul
and it may well be that there is some truth in that claim for
those who are within those covenant constraints. But we must not
play fast and loose with Scripture. The Word of God clearly says,
He commendeth His love toward us. He gives His love to us. He bestows His love upon us. In that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. You cannot have a limitation
within the death of Christ and have a universality within the
love of Christ. These two things are intricately
bound together. God's love is commended to us
and the manifestation of that love is that Christ died for
us. Therefore when we turn over to
the 8th chapter of Romans and think there about the nature
of that love. We can see that it is a formative
love. It is a love which finds the
source of all the blessings that flow to the child of God. We sometimes refer to the 29th
and 30th verses of Romans chapter 8 as
the order of salvation or as a golden chain which speaks about
the way in which the blessings and the mercies of God are fulfilled
and conveyed to men and women, to sinners. 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, then He also called, with an effectual
call, And whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He
justified, them He also glorified. This is a completed work. This
is a comprehensive work. This comes from the foreknowledge
of God to the glorification of the sinner. and it is a completed
work. That little word there, foreknowledge,
that does not have to do with God looking into the future and
seeing how men would react based upon certain criteria and based
upon certain decision making processes. That word foreknowledge
has to do with an intimate knowledge. It has to do with a deep knowledge. Indeed the word is love. It's another way for God expressing
the love that he had towards sinners. You remember in the
earliest chapters of Genesis we're told there that that relationship
that God provided for man, Adam, that he gave him a help In Eve,
we're told that Adam knew Eve. Now in that little word new,
we understand all of the affection and all of the union that exists
in a healthy marriage situation. It speaks of that love and affection,
that coming together, that bonding between, to such an extent that
as far as God was then concerned, the two became one. Such was
the strength of that union and that was knowledge. It was the
knowledge, the one of the other. Adam knew his wife and she conceived
and bear a son. And so we see that that knowledge
is spoken of here in the term foreknowledge. God loved before,
before we were born. Before even that plan of salvation
was revealed to us in its various stages, we find that the undergirding
foundation, the fabric, the framework, the structure upon which this
covenant purpose is revealed is the love of God. It was those
that he loved beforehand, those that he foreknew that he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his son. It was those that
he loved way before time ever began that he would call into
that relationship with himself, that he would justify in the
eternal purposes of God and that he would glorify. The Apostle
Paul writing to the Ephesians says that we are seated together
in heavenly places with him, that even now those who are written
on the palms of Christ's hand, those who are his people for
whom he died, those that he looked upon, says Isaiah in chapter
53, that were the travail of his soul, those that he knew
from before time, They are already glorified together with Him.
Such is the certainty of their position in Christ because of
the elective purpose of God and because of the completed work
of redemption upon the cross at Calvary. So we see that here
the love of God is manifested to us in the way in which God
secures our redemption and bestows his blessing upon us. The apostle
writes in verse 38 of Romans 8, I am persuaded. That is, he knows. I wanted to sing the hymn that
we sang, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is
able. so that I could say this little
bit in my message. Knowledge and persuasion in this
context are the same thing. I am persuaded, I'm settled in
this matter. I understand it to be this way.
I know what I believe. I'm persuaded. You've got me. I've learned the lesson. I see
it now. I understand. 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. But here's the thing as well,
that we are living in this world and we have, although we may
be persuaded on these things, although we may have an understanding
of what God accomplished in the death of his son at Calvary,
although we see these matters clearly set out in Scripture,
yet we have to live day by day as fallen creatures in a fallen
world. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
come as that stronger man and redeem us and take us to Himself. You know what He has done? He
has spoiled Satan's domain. He has delivered His people out
of the clutches of sin. And these strong men, these that
are enumerated here in these verses, are the enemies that
he has overcome. Let us look upon them. Let us
think about them one by one for a few minutes, if we can. The
first one that the Lord Jesus Christ has overcome, the first
one that the love of God has overcome, is death, and how appropriate
that that one should be quoted first in this list. Death. Death is something that goes
with us all the days of our life. It's good to see some of the
youngsters here again. When you're young, you don't
think too much about dying. Well I didn't. I thought I was
invincible. I thought I could run faster
and jump higher and do things that no one else could do. When
you're young you have a confidence in your own strength and ability. But see when you get older, and
the bones start to ache, and the joints get sore, and the
chest starts to heave, you know very well that death is a reality. And we do so much, do we not,
endeavouring to cheat death, to steer wide of
death, to be careful with all our medicines and all the health
care that we can. The end of the day, we know the
reality will finally come upon us. Our bodies are mortal and
death will catch us. Death separates. I've been hearing
just within the last few days of a gentleman in the other congregation,
the Faith Baptist Church, who I think lost his brother and
there's a funeral going to be taking place. Maybe it was earlier
today. Death separates and those that
we love have been taken from us. Those that we were once close
to, we no longer see. Death separates and it does a
good job. It completely takes away men
from this world, from their homes, from their wealth, from all that
they have laboured for. It separates the soul from the
body. Friends and family, husbands,
wives, children. It breaks the closest bonds. But here's what it can't break.
It cannot break the love of God. The love of God overcomes. Death itself. And that is why
we have such confidence as those who know what Christ has accomplished
on the cross. We know that physical death in
this world Though it may be sad for those that are left, and
though there is a place for mourning and grieving, we are told that
we are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those
who weep. There is a place for tears in
this world, and the separation that death brings. But we know
that for those who die in the Lord, that to leave this world
is to enter into their eternal rest with Him. It is to be in
the presence of God. And indeed then we see that death
is no longer that specter which haunts us throughout life, but
it is merely the entrance into all the fullness of the blessings
that God has prepared for His people. And if we can properly
understand that, then how much the Lord will bless us and comfort
us in this life, whether it be in the face of our own mortality
and the weariness of the flesh that we have to carry through
with us in this life, or whether it be with the loss of those
that we love and care for. In Isaiah chapter 25 and verse
8, the prophet there writes, he will swallow up death in victory. And the Lord God will wipe away
tears from off all faces. And the rebuke of his people
shall he take away from off all the earth. For the Lord hath
spoken it." This is what He has promised to do. This is a benefit,
this is a blessing of the love of God towards His people. He says, again thinking about
that work of Christ upon the cross, I will ransom them from
the power of the grave. I will ransom them from the power
of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. And repentance shall be hid from
mine eyes." What a statement. How appropriate, how right that
we should fear death. But what a blessing has been
bestowed to lift that fear from off the shoulders and the heart
and the mind of those who have faith in Christ. Who know that
that work accomplished is accomplished for them. The last enemy that
shall be destroyed is death. And the Lord Jesus Christ, having
been that firstborn from the tomb, has given us this earnest,
has given us this confidence that death no longer has a sting
for us. but indeed it will be employed
by God as every other thing is in this world to accomplish his
purpose and fulfill his end. So that's the first strong man
and we see that a stronger has come and spoiled his palace. Then we think of life. If death
cannot separate from the love of Christ, from the love of God,
what about life? And by that I understand the
natural life in this world. It is, of course, fleeting. We've been in a number of places
in recent days and we've seen some old gravestones. Men come
and they go and all that's left of them is a few scratch marks
on a piece of stone, if they're lucky. Mostly they're just forgotten
and gone forever and no one ever knows anything about them. Job
chapter 5 and verse 7 we read, man is born unto trouble as the
sparks fly upward. And sure it is, I'm confident
that each of us could tell a story of the way in which the life
that we live is full of troubles. We go about our business day
by day, but we carry with us the challenges of that life,
and we have to face them each one, whether it's the concerns
for our own well-being, or the concerns for those that we love,
whether it's for the future and the plans that we might have,
or whether it's for the things that we have done in the past.
We are filled with trouble and our hearts and our consciences
are full of regrets. We are under a labour. We have doubts and fears. But this verse tells us that
the love of God is greater than them all. None of these can cause
us to forgo the blessings that we have in Christ. He has accomplished. He has finished that work. And they are our inheritance.
The blessings that He has for us, the comforts of His grace,
are bestowed liberally upon the people of God. Though we have
to face the difficulties and trials of this life, we can constantly
resort to Him. and find him to give us that
comfort that we need. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me, thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. The rod is the power of God. The staff of God is the word
of truth. And we find as believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ, in that work which he has accomplished, the
comfort to lead us through each day of this troubled life. James chapter 4 verse 14 says,
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is
your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away. But then he goes on to
say in verse 11 of chapter 5, Behold, we count them happy which
endure. You have heard of the patience
of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy. Life itself with all its troubles
and problems cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ. What about angels? Well, by angels
I understand the evil angels, those that with Satan fell from
the presence of God, who, it appears, endeavour to separate
the Lord's people from His love by whichever way they can. They attack the church with false
doctrine. They tempt the saints as they
go through their life. They bring them into trouble.
They are the accusers of the brethren. They spawn persecution
against the church. Let us remember we are but a
minority in this world. And this world is not designed
to please those who go through it. It is designed to persecute
the church of Jesus Christ. That's what all this is about.
It's about separating us from the love of God, if it were possible. Even if it were possible to deceive
the elect. But by the love of God, by that
great love which has forged this relationship, this union between
God and His people, we find that the very demons of hell cannot
separate us from God. is the power of His love towards
us. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 says,
For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil. The devil himself and all of
his demons, all of his minions, cannot separate us from the love
of Christ. Because God has so ordained that
we would be delivered even out of His clutches. What about principalities? Well, principalities speak to
us of civil authority, speak to us of government, speak to
us of those who pass the laws by which we are obliged to live
our lives. Principalities can pass laws
that will accuse us if they decide that we are not living according
to their way. They can convict the saints and
there have been many occasions throughout the history of the
church that believers have found themselves on the wrong side
of the law because of the wickedness of perverse men who would seek
to pass legislation that would jeopardize the saints' worship
of God. It may come to that again in
your country and in mine. Already they are passing laws
which make wicked things compulsory upon the believer in Christ. If I were a pastor of a church,
it's soon going to be the case that I'm going to be obliged
to marry gay people. Well, it won't happen. Not in
my congregation. And it may well be that ministers
and pastors and preachers of the gospel will have to carry
their convictions behind bars if that is brought upon them. Principalities, can they separate
us from the love of God? I trust not. I trust that when
that day comes, we will be bold enough to stand regardless of
the consequences that might come upon us. They may even condemn
God's little ones to death. but they cannot separate us from
the love of God. You remember how in Daniel, those
three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they refused to
bow down to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. When all of the instruments played,
when all of the nobility of the land of Babylon fell on their
faces, Three men stood still. And these men, for their boldness,
for their faith, found themselves hurled into the fiery furnace. Well, I'm sure you know the account,
how it appears that the Lord himself came and met with them
there. The flames that slew those who
threw them into that furnace could not even leave the smell
of smoke upon their raiment. The Lord will not allow His people
to be touched beyond that which is good for them, even by the
principalities of this world. Such is the love of God for us. What about powers? Could powers
separate us from the love of God? What are these powers? Well,
if we have principalities being the civil government of the world,
the powers are the religious authorities. And in many places
throughout the ages of the church, true believers have had to contend
against the religious powers and church governments of their
day. False teachers that come with
error and appear to be able to sway the minds of many. And yet, Though many false teachers
come, though many deceivers come, saying, I am Christ, or I am
Christ, and deceive many, they shall not be able to deceive
the elect. For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And many false
prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. For there shall
arise false Christs and false prophets, And shall show great
signs and wonders in us so much that if it were possible they
shall deceive the very elect." Are we not seeing exactly that
today? Has there ever been a time when
false religion has appeared to be so dominant at the expense
of the truth? And why is it that it's just
a remnant of believers that are left and yet so many name the
name of Christ and attend places of worship and go about their
business believing that they are acceptable with God. They are deceived in their souls. but not the elect. The elect
will not be deceived. The very powers that arise in
this world that may well be able to excommunicate us, may well,
as far as they are concerned and those who support them, condemn
us to hell and damn us for the teaching and for the preaching
that we do. They will never separate us from
the love of God. Rather, they will themselves
be held accountable. For vengeance is mine, saith
the Lord. I will repay. What about things
present? Can things present separate us
from the love of God? Things present are today's trial. Today's trial. Things present
are the loss and the illness, the poverty, the pain. Those
things which daily beset us in our Christian walk. Things that
are a result of sin in our life. And yet the Lord has said that
His mercies are new every morning. He has said that every day He
will provide that grace that is required for that day. We pass signs on our roads as
we're travelling around about preparing for the future. We're
engaged all the time in our labours about putting something away
for a rainy day, making sure our pensions are in order, making
sure that we've provided for things in the future. Those problems
of today, these are the things which so often seem to crowd
in upon us. Maybe it's our present sin. Maybe
it's the fact that we cannot go through a day without sinning. Maybe it's the awareness that
we cannot go through an hour without sinning. Maybe it's an
awareness that every single thing that we do and every single thing
that we say is tainted and ruined and spoiled with the wickedness
of that corrupt nature which yet resides within us because
of Adam's legacy upon us. These are the things present
that bring us down. These are the things present
that cause us to grieve in our soul, that bring us day by day
into doubt and uncertainty about whether or not we have any interest
in this whole matter at all. Because how could it possibly
be that someone like me should ever attain to somewhere like
glory in the presence of Christ when I've gone through all that
I've gone through and still I'm the man that I am. Can these
things present separate us from the love of God? You see, that's
the beauty of the completed work. That's the glory of the rest
that we have in Christ. That He has accomplished all
things that are necessary. That when God looks upon the
sinner, He doesn't see the sin that we feel. He doesn't see
the corruption that weighs so heavily upon us and is like a
burden upon our shoulders. He doesn't see that which with
which we struggle in our consciences, but he sees the righteousness
of our representative. He sees that the work has been
completed. He sees a purity and a perfection
and a holiness that doesn't come from inside me, but comes from
the one who has stood in my place, the one who has taken my part. the one even now who represents
me before his Father. Things present cannot separate
us from the love of God, for Christ has accomplished all that
we require. Do you know this? God knew what
you were like before he placed his love upon you. God knew what
you were going to do, what you were going to say, what kind
of person you would be and yet he loves us and yet if we have
faith in Him, and yet if we are in Christ, that love is our portion. That love has broken through
all our corruptions, all our wicked nature, all our sin, and
in that relationship with Him, despite our failures and our
falling and our backslidings, that love yet holds us firmly. If things present cannot separate
us from the love of God. What about things to come? You
see, we don't know what the future holds. And for very many of us,
there is a fear of the unknown. There's a dread in the anticipation. We worry about what's going to
happen. We worry about the results of the next test. We worry about
what the doctor's going to say next. We worry about whether
or not we're going to be able to withstand all the troubles
that we face. We worry about these things,
things to come. Things that have not yet been
experienced. Unseen events. They may be good,
they may be bad. They may be prosperity, they
may be adverse. But it doesn't matter. Whatever
the future holds, it cannot separate us from the love of God. And
we have that confidence. We can face tomorrow with the
confidence that we rest in Him. Deuteronomy 31 verse 8 says, Isn't that a lovely thought? The Lord is in tomorrow before
we get there. The Lord goes before us. He will be with thee. He will not fail thee, neither
forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed. Whatever the future holds for
those who are His people, the love of God will ensure that
they are protected and provided for and given that grace that
is necessary for every eventuality which they must face. Have I
not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage,
be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God
is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. Those words were spoken
to Joshua. He was anxious about what lay
before him. He's the general and commander
of the Lord's people. But the Lord told him to be of
good courage and be not afraid. Things future cannot bring you
down. What about height? Well, we speak
of the heavens, don't we? Is there anything in heaven that
can separate us from the love of God? Nothing of God's glory,
Nothing of God's justice, nothing of the holiness of God's wrath
and anger against sin, nothing of the perfect righteous holy
law of God which condemns sin in us all, nothing in heaven
at all. can separate us from the love
of God. Isn't that amazing? God himself has settled this
matter and not a thing can come between us. He has foreknown
his people and he has provided for their providential care.
He has redeemed them and he is bringing them to himself and
there is nothing can separate them from the love of God. In
John 14 verse 2, the Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples,
I go to prepare a place for you. He's gone to prepare a place
for His people. And He will welcome us safe into
that place. There's nothing that the Lord
is going to discover, or find or uncover about his people that
will cause him to renege upon that prophet. I'm going to prepare
a place for you, and I will come again and receive you unto myself. Lay not up for yourselves treasure,
lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through
to steal. If nothing in the heights of
heaven, what about the depths of hell? Nothing in hell can
separate us from the love of God. No judgment, no demon, no
chain or pit. In Matthew 25, 41 we read, Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me
ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels. What a terrible thing it is to
remember that there are those who are cursed of God. There
are those who are going to be eternally separated from Him. This is the day of grace. This
is the day when the message goes forth. This is the time when
the Holy Spirit is active in the deliverance of men and women
out of the bondage of their fallen state. These are the days when
the gospel yet goes forth in power. to the comfort of those
who hear its words and believing in Christ find Him to be all
that they require for time and for eternity. But there is not
a thing in hell itself can separate us from the love of God. And
though Satan might rage against us, though all of the legitimacy
of the accusations that he throws upon us, and a few extras as
well, no doubt, might appear to us in our own hearts and conscience
to be legitimate. The testimony of Scripture is
this, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. These things cannot separate
us. No, he says, not any other creature. Nothing. It almost appears as
if the apostle has run through every possibility that he could
conceive, everything that he could imagine. So he just makes
sure that he has a catch-all at the end. Not all of these
things, be it death or life or angels or principalities nor
powers, things present, things to come, height, depth. Listen. Not any other creature can separate
us from the love of God. Nothing in the whole universe. I always smile at the way men
appear to be so bold and confident about what they know, their science
and their ideas and their theories. Well, I've lived long enough
to see just about every major scientific theory. overturned
and replaced with something else. And they say, every time there's
a news item in the news of some new discovery, this is going
to rewrite the science books. Well, the publishers are very
happy about that. But I'm happy about it too, because
it reminds me that man's knowledge is finite, and who knows what
yet is to be discovered out there. Well, I'll tell you something,
whatever is discovered out there, it's not going to separate me
from the love of God. You see, there's our confidence.
That's what we have. They cannot touch us when we
have faith in Christ. The love of God, it brings us
into that comfort and that confidence. For we know that Christ has accomplished
all things necessary. And therein we find liberty,
we find peace, we find comfort, we find rest. which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. 1 John chapter 4 verse 9 says
this, has brought that love to fallen
men. I pray that the Lord will reveal
that love to you. I trust that you will be able
to experience something of that love if indeed the Lord be merciful
to you and bestows such gifts of his grace that you must have
if ever you are to experience heaven and have a knowledge of
God as your saviour. These things are brought to us
that they might comfort us in this pilgrim way. And to give
us a confidence and a certainty and a boldness and an assurance
that God has done all things well. And that He has provided
for all our needs according to His riches in glory. He shall
satisfy our every requirement. These strong men armed, that
might be a challenge to the bravest man that has to face all of these
troubles throughout the days of their life, not one of them
can stand against that stronger man who has come into this world,
who has spoiled the principalities and powers, who has taken captivity
captive, and has bestowed His grace and mercy upon the fallen
sons and daughters of Adam. Blessed be the Lord for that
love which holds us firm. And though we be unfaithful to
him, though we let him down a thousand times a day, that love is unchangeable,
it is constant, it is sure. That love has secured our eternal
well-being. And day by day, it is a new mercy
to those who trust in him. Amen.