And I am sorry I couldn't be
here last year. It was unavoidable, obviously.
But Brother Nybert is better than a substitute. He's a dear
friend, faithful man, outstanding, gifted preacher of the gospel
of God's grace. And I know you're profited by
his ministry here. I would like for you, if you
will, to turn to Romans, the eighth chapter. I've been preaching through the
book of Romans for about four years now on Sunday mornings
at home. And for the last year and a half,
I've been preaching from Romans chapters 8, 9, and 10. In three days, I'm going to give
you the last year and a half's messages. But we'll sum them
up. The Lord willing, I'll preach
to you tonight from the 8th chapter. If you want to go home and read
this chapter and then chapter 9 and chapter 10, I would encourage
you to do so. The Lord willing, tomorrow evening
I'll preach to you from Romans 9 and then Sunday morning from
Romans chapter 10. Like you, I get a lot of mail. Like you, I throw a lot of mail
in the trash can. If I get a letter that doesn't
have my name on it, addressed box holder, or resident, or occupant,
I never bother opening it or even seeing who sent it. This
goes in the trash can. If I get a letter that begins,
Dear Friend, I will at least look to see who signed the letter.
And if I don't know the person, it goes in that round file sitting
on the floor beside me. But when I get a letter that
begins, Dear Don, that gets my attention. Somebody was thinking
specifically of me for some reason and wrote to me personally, took
the time to address me personally for some reason. For some reason,
that letter calling attention to me means that my response
is important to that person. And that letter becomes important
to me. When we read those words that
address us personally, it ought to get our attention. Well, open
your Bibles, if you will, to Romans chapter eight, and give
me your personal attention. Here is a letter addressed to
you personally, if you're God's. If you're a believer, a sinner
saved by the free grace of God, if God's given you life and faith
in Christ, if you've been redeemed by the precious blood of God's
dear son, this is a letter addressed to you personally by God the
Holy Ghost. The title of my message is No
Condemnation, No Accidents, No Separation. No condemnation,
no accidents, no separation. If you're without Christ, I pray
that God will cause you to hear every word I have to say. It
may be that this message will be the means by which God will
be pleased to grant you life and faith in his dear son. But
the letter is addressed specifically to you who are God's people.
This is manna from heaven sent by God to feed his Israel in
this wilderness where no bread is to be found for your souls.
And I promise you, if God the Holy Ghost who wrote the letter
will write it upon your heart, it will be a message that will
help you to understand the troubles you go through in this wilderness.
It'll help you to understand the temptations, trials, and
conflicts you meet in this strange and bearable land, more bearable. And it will make you yearn more
for the blessedness and glory of heaven's fair and happy land. The message will quieten your
fears as you face those sons of Anak giants in the land who
constantly oppose you. Just keep your Bibles open at
Romans chapter 8. Everything I have to say in the message
will come right from this chapter. We'll begin in verse 1. It begins
with no condemnation. It ends with no separation. And
everything in between is just grace, grace, grace, grace. Everything here is all about
God's grace. Romans chapter 8 is glorious
in its description of the believer's freedom from all condemnation
in Christ. In its description of our privileges
as the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the sons and daughters
of God Almighty. And it is glorious in describing
the blessed, absolute, everlasting, unconditional security of God's
elect in our Redeemer so that we can never be separated from
Him or even from His great love, not even for a moment. That's
the message of Romans chapter 8. Let's begin in verses 1 through
4. This chapter begins by describing
the believers' complete freedom from the curse, the bondage,
and the condemnation of the law. When I say complete freedom,
I mean there is no possibility for any sinner who trusts Christ
to ever experience any curse from God's law, any condemnation,
any judgment, any wrath, Because we're free in Christ There is
therefore I love that word therefore whenever you read therefore you
ought to ask what's it therefore? There is therefore here's the
reason because we're in Christ Because we're justified as your
pastor just described in his reading of the article. They
wrote in Congolations 221 we're because we're justified from
all sin and Because we've been crucified with Christ. Because
we are risen with Christ. Because we are made righteous
by Christ. Because we are not under the
law but under grace. Because we are dead to the law
and married to Christ. There is therefore now. Isn't
that wonderful? There is therefore now. At this
very moment from now on forever. There is therefore now. No condemnation. No condemnation. No punishment. No sin. No guilt. No possibility of sin being imputed. Nothing to fear. No judgment. No curse. Nothing to dread. To them which are in Christ Jesus. You and I who are gods are in
Christ. In Christ. in Christ just like
we're in this room. In Christ, just like this finger
is in this hand, this hand is in this arm, this arm is in this
body. In Christ, just like my soul
is in my body. In Christ, just like my heart
is in my chest. In Christ. In Christ, in a marvelous,
mysterious way, none of us can possibly apprehend or understand
why we live in this world. It's not possible to grasp the
depth of that. We are in Christ. In Christ. As Christ is in the Father, and
the Father is in Him, we are in Christ. In Christ. There's
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ by
God's election. And by faith given us by the
Spirit of God, joining us to Jesus Christ, drawing life from
Him who is our Savior. Who walked not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. To them who live by faith in
the Son of God. That's exactly what Paul is saying
here. We walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now let
me tell you who he's talking about. Folks who walk after the
flesh are men and women and boys and girls who live all their
lives trying to do something to make themselves accepted with
God. All legalists walk after the flesh. All people who seek
righteousness by their doing walk after the flesh. All who
seek to make themselves accepted with God walk after the flesh. There is no condemnation right
now to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. Walk after the Spirit is to believe
on the Son of God. To walk after the Spirit is to
walk as one led by the Spirit, living by the Spirit, taught
by the Spirit, following the Spirit. For the law, the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that is the gospel of
God's free grace, the only means by which dead sinners are made
to live, hath made me free from the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death? What's
that? What's that? Well, that's the
old ceremonial law. No, that's not what it is. That's
not what it is. That's somebody who observes
Sabbath days and who keeps holy days and has sacrifices and keeps
the ceremonial law. No, that's not it. That's not
it. The law of sin and death. is the law described by what's
called the Ten Commandments. That's exactly what it's talking
about. The law of sin and death, thou shalt, thou shalt not, it's
a word that constantly ministers death and condemnation. It never
gives life, never inspires life, never causes life, never gives
life. For what the law could not do,
Not because there was something wrong with God's law. Oh no,
the law is holy and just and good. But it was weak through
the flesh. Because the law couldn't give
us life. Because the law couldn't justify
us. Because the law couldn't make us righteous. God sending
his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. The word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. God stepped into humanity. God became all that we are, sin
alone accepted. The Lord Jesus came into this
world as our surety. God sent his own son in the likeness
of sin for flesh, now watch this, and for sin. That is because
of sin. In order for him to make a sacrifice
for sin. In order for him to put away
sin. In order for him to redeem us
from sin. Condemn sin in the flesh the
Lord Jesus Christ When he was condemned for sin when he was
put to death for sin forever Put to death sin in all its condemning
power for his people, you know Why did you do all that that
the righteousness of the law? Might be fulfilled in us Who
walked not after the flesh but after the spirit? Why did Paul
say that second time? Why is it in our translation
the second time? Why is it emphasized here? Why
is it stressed here? Because most folks won't get
it. Most folks will stumble right over it like a stumbling stone
and fall into hell. They'll say, we're saved by Christ,
we're justified by Christ, but we gotta make ourselves holy.
We've gotta sanctify ourselves. We've got to be good. God looks
for righteousness for us too. Several years ago, I went up
to Louisville, Kentucky to preach. In fact, many, many years ago,
Redeemer Baptist Church that was started and pastored by Brother
M.B. Magruder, the highway State Highway
came through there, Interstate came through and bought their
property, and they joined up with First Presbyterian Church.
And for many, many years, for 30 years, they supplied the pulpit,
First Presbyterian Church supplied the building, and that was doomed
for failure to start with. But the fellow who was pastor
asked me if I would help him get together some folks to have
a Sovereign Grace Conference. I'd be glad to. And so I went
up, and when I got there, he had invited three fellas that
I had recommended, and he had invited a whole stew of fellas
I wouldn't have thrown out. I mean, I wouldn't have thrown
them out of anywhere. I wouldn't have ever had them in. And one
of them was one of these Reformed Baptist fellas. Now, if you don't
know what that is, that's a Presbyterian who ducks. Let it sink in. You'll get it.
That's all. He got up right in front of me
to preach, and obviously he had heard about Mr. Fortner, and
he had some things he just had to get off his chest. And one
point in his message, he stepped out in front of the pulpit, it
was about three feet out in front of the pulpit, still on the platform,
and he said, living the Christian life is like walking a tightrope. He said, when you walk a tightrope,
you've got to have a balance beam. And you walked a tightrope,
and he illustrated it, and he said, if you have too much weight
on this side, you'll fall off over here. And if you have too
much weight on that side, you'll fall off over here. He said,
we have this balance bar. On the one side is the righteousness
of Christ. And on the other side is our
righteousness. If you get too much of either
one, you'll fall off. And then the crazy fella had
little enough sense to sit down and listen to me preach. And
I had already decided what I was gonna preach, and I wasn't about
to back off. Now I was preaching from 1 Corinthians
1.30. him are ye in Christ Jesus who
of God is made unto us righteousness and I stopped there for a little
while as you can imagine and when I wanted to emphasize my
point I stepped out from the pulpit and I pointed to this
fellow sitting right there and I said live in the Christian
life ain't walking a tightrope It's standing on a rock. And
this is the rock. Well, where does our righteousness
come in? It'll take you to hell. That's where it comes in. You
don't have any. You can't perform any. Not even
now. Not even now. What is this then
to walk and fulfill the law? Walking not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. I come to God. And you too, if
you know God. Just exactly today as I came
to him 50 years ago. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply
to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress,
helpless look to thee for grace. As ye therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. my friend Maurice
Montgomery once stood in my pulpit at home and he said uh... the
way the gate is so so straight and the way is so narrow that
you can't come through the gate carrying any baggage with you
and you can't pick any up along the way this is what it is to
walk after the spirit it's to live looking to Christ and looking
to Christ We bring to God everything God requires. Perfect righteousness,
perfect satisfaction, perfect holiness. Everything demanded
by the law, we fulfill bringing God his son. We bring God what
God gives. We bring God what God requires.
We bring God what only God can provide. Read on. Verses 5 through
14. Here the Apostle Paul describes
the believer's life in the Spirit. There's no condemnation to them
that walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. What is he talking about here?
Walking after the Spirit. Well, Paul tells us. Walking
after the Spirit and not after the flesh. We receive Christ
Jesus the Lord we continually walk in him verse 5 For they
that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh But they
that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Now he explains
exactly what that means those who after the flesh are folks
who live by by the rule by the dictate by the direction of their own carnal
minds. For to be carnally minded is
death. Carnally minded. Observing carnal
ordinances. Observing carnal religious days. Observing carnal religious activity. To be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. to be spiritually minded, to
be taught of the Spirit, to trust Christ, to recognize I am complete
in Christ, to think constantly of Christ crucified, to eat and
drink Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is to be spiritually minded.
He's not talking about deeper life or higher life. He's talking
about life. He's talking about life. I live. Watch me breathe. That's it. That's it. We live in Christ,
live by faith in him. Read on. Because the carnal mind,
every effort to be saved by your works is hating God. That's exactly
what it says, is enmity against God. Every effort to make yourself
righteous and holy and acceptable is hating God. It's saying, no,
I won't have him. Read on. For it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. The natural born son of Adam
can't please God. Your children can't please God.
You can't please God. Religious folks can't please
God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God by anything
they think, let alone anything they do. Now, watch this next
line. Ah, if God'll seal this to your
heart, it's been worth the trip. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit. Ye are not in the flesh, but
in the spirit. But Brother Don, here we are
in these bodies of flesh. That's not what he's talking
about. That's not what he's talking about. We know we must live with
this body of flesh, this physical body, as well as our depraved
nature. We must live in this body of
flesh, but we're no longer in the flesh. The Lord Jesus, by
his almighty grace, has given us a whole new realm of life. We're in the spirit, in the spirit. This life in the spirit is not
some charismatic foolishness. It's gospel reality. Gene Harmon,
you and I live in God. We live in Christ. We live in
the Spirit. Read on. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you, if God dwells in you, you're in the Spirit. Now
if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, if God doesn't dwell
in you, he's none of his. Just that simple. How do you
identify believers? Believers have the Spirit. Unbelievers
don't. It's just that simple. Well, I can tell what a Christian
is by looking at him. No, you can't either. I can tell
what a Christian is by what he eats and drinks. No, you can't.
No, you can't. I can tell what a Christian is by the way he
talks. No, you can't. No, you can't. Everything that
impresses you is just the stuff that you're impressed with, nothing
else. Nothing else. What's the difference between
the believer and unbeliever? The believer's in the Spirit, and
the Spirit of God's in him. The unbeliever doesn't have the
Spirit of God. The Spirit of God's not in him. It's just that
difference. Christ is either in you or is not in you. You're
either in Christ or you're not in Christ. If any man had not
the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead. Now, wait a minute. Last time I checked, it's still
alive. I have to take my blood, test my blood sugar every morning,
and I can still feel that needle going in that finger. And I still
don't like it. But that's a pretty good indication
there's still life in there. This body's not dead. What's he talking
about? He's talking about the body of sin in you. The body
of sin in you. No? Mike, you've had a problem
with your nature today, haven't you? It's very much alive. What you talking about? The body's
dead. The body is dead before God at the law. Dead! Condemned! Put to death! And
it's only awaiting execution. That's all. That fellow on death
row, he's dead. Dead at law. Now these days that
doesn't amount to much. Somebody might discover that
putting him to death is going to offend And so he'd go free. But legally,
he's dead at law. Dead at law. And you who are
Christ, who have Christ dwelling in you, sin has been condemned
by God at Calvary and now in you. Dead. The body is dead because
of sin. The body is dead because of sin. Now watch this. But the Spirit, the Spirit, Christ
in you, the hope of glory, is life because of righteousness.
Well, Brother Dunn, you're confusing God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. No, no. If you separate them,
you're confusing them. Where God the Father is, God
the Son, God the Spirit is. Where God the Son is, God the
Father, God the Spirit are. And where God the Spirit is,
God the Father, God the Son are. The Holy Trinity is one God. And in everything the triune
God does, all three persons in the Godhead are constantly active.
Read on. But if the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken, constantly make
alive your mortal bodies. And in the resurrection day shall
quicken, make alive your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth
in you. Therefore, brethren, therefore,
brethren. Now, what's that therefore? Since
you're not condemned, since God accepts you, Since Christ dwells
in you, since you've been redeemed by the blood of Christ, since
you've been called by God's grace, therefore brethren, we are not
debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh. Not debtors
to our carnal nature, that's certainly included. Not debtors
to the body of flesh, that's certainly included. Not debtors
to the lust of the flesh, that's certainly included. But in the
context, he's saying you don't owe the law anything. You don't owe the law anything. Now, I'm sure somebody, if this
is being recorded, if you post it somewhere, some yay who's
going to jump all over that and say, Brother Fortner is preaching
antinomianism. He's telling the folks to go
out and live like hell. No, but if that's what you want to do,
you're going to. God's people don't live after the flesh. We're not motivated by law. We're
not directed by law. We're not inspired by law. We
don't give by law. We're not constrained by law.
We're motivated and we live and we give and we're constrained
by the spirit to live after the flesh. We're not debtors to the
flesh to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh,
you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify, just keep on killing the deeds of the body. Just keep
on putting them to death, you shall live. For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they're the sons of God. You're not in
the flesh, but in the Spirit. What a statement. John tells
us, as he is, so are we in this world. Our Lord Jesus lived on
this earth a man called the Anointed One. Do you know why he was called
the Anointed One? The anointing throughout all
the Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies identified that
person or that thing as distinctly belonging to God. But the anointing
oil by which the anointing took place throughout the scriptures
represents God the Holy Ghost. Is that correct, Pastor? Throughout
the scriptures. Why was Christ called the anointed
one? He is that one. upon whom God poured out his
spirit without measure, the one man on this earth who fully possesses
God the spirit, the one man. And he, being that one in whom
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, is the only
man, the anointed one, who gives you the anointing. He gives His
Spirit to you. So that we now live in the Spirit. We are men and women who are
as Jesus Christ was in this world. As He is, so are ye in this world. God's chosen. God's redeemed,
God's purchased, God's property, God's possession, God's instrument,
God's servants, God's anointed, God's anointed ones, Christians. Now, look at the next line, verses
15 and 16. Here the apostle describes for
us the blessed witness of the Spirit. And this is the source
of our assurance. I hope you'll get this. This
blessed witness of the Spirit is the source of our assurance.
Your good works, if that's your assurance, you ain't got much.
Your Bible reading, if that's your assurance, it ain't much.
Your changed life, well, I know, I'm saved because I used to be
a drunk, now I quit. You can go to AA and accomplish
that. I know a good many folks who have. Well, I used to be
a dope head, now I'm sober. Well, you can go to a clinic
and get that accomplished. That don't mean you're a Christian.
That don't mean you're a... Well, I used to love to go to bars,
and now I like to go to church. That don't mean you're a Christian.
That don't mean a thing. That don't mean a thing. What's
he talking about? The witness of the Spirit. The witness of
the Spirit. How is it that the believer has assurance before
God? because of the witness of God
the Holy Ghost in here. Look at verse 15. For ye have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. The law said do
this and live, do that and die. Do this and live, don't do it
and you're gonna die. And you live in constant fear.
I don't know whether I've prayed enough. I don't know whether
I've read enough. I don't know whether I've given enough. I don't know whether
I've repented enough. I don't know whether I feel bad
enough. But we've not received that spirit,
not from God. That spirit that brings fear.
No, no, no, no. Find me a place in this book.
Find me a place in this book. Find me one, just one, where
there's any man or any woman or any child who knew God, who
spoke like he was afraid of God. Find me one. Now churches and
preachers use that all the time. But if you're in Christ, you
got no reason to be afraid of God. They have no more reason to be
afraid of God than Christ should be afraid of God. You understand
that? Our acceptance is in Christ.
Well, what's he talking about? You've not received the spirit
of bondage you gained to fear, but you've received the spirit
of adoption. God the Holy Ghost comes to every sinner redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ, and he sends forth his spirit
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Let me see if I can illustrate
it. Before God saved me, you don't
need to know anything about that. You don't need to know anything
about that. But I was terrified of God for a long time. I'm not talking about days or
weeks. I'm talking about months. Terrified. Terrified. I was raised in a day when boys
weren't supposed to show fear, and I don't think any man's ever
seen fear in my eyes. And if I thought so, I'd turn
around so he couldn't see my eyes. It's just not something
that a man ought to show. But God terrified me. The thought of God terrified
me. The thought of meeting God terrified
me. just terrified me. And I would
pray for God to let me live through the night, stay awake all night
long, finally go to sleep terrified and have horrible, horrible,
horrible nightmares of God's wrath and wake up in the morning
and forget everything and go to bed the next night and just
cry and cry and cry, scared to death of dying, scared to death
of dying. Until one day, sitting right
where you're sitting, I heard a man preach the gospel of God's
free grace and God revealed his son in me. And I've never been afraid of
God since. Why? Why should I be afraid of
God? I'm in Christ. I'm redeemed. I'm justified. I'm righteous.
I have no sin. Christ put it away. The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit. That we're the children
of God. How does he do that? By convincing
us. By convincing us. Now I'm talking
about convincing. When he, the spirit of truth
has come, he will reprove the world. Most folks translate the
word convict. And we don't use that word convict
as we ought to anymore, so we've got to come up with another word.
That word reprove means to convince. To convince. Somebody said, well,
when God saved me, I got convicted of dancing, and he took the tip
out of my toe. Well, old age is taking the tip out of my toe,
but not the spirit of God. I can't dance like I used to.
I still want to tap my foot when the music comes on. It sounds
good to dance to. That's not what it is. That's
religion and self-righteousness does that to you. Well, the Holy
Ghost convinced me that I ought not to wear tassels on my shoes.
No, he didn't. No, he didn't. Somebody else
did that. Somebody else did that. But when the Spirit of God comes,
He convinces you of your sin because of unbelief. And that's
the issue. That's the issue. And He convinces
you of righteousness. Righteousness required. righteousness
done because I go to my father because Christ finished his work
and he convinces you of judgment judgment over because the prince
of this world is judged I stand convinced I stand convinced
of my sin and of my perfect righteousness in God's Son and of no possibility
of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. My redeemer
has died. You understand that? Now this
is the witness of God in you. Before he was translated, anybody
know what it says? Enoch had this testimony that
he pleased God. That he pleased God. Now I hope
I can be clear and be understood. My name and my reputation are
important to me. I want to behave in such a way
that you cannot rightly and justly speak evil of me. That's my goal. I want my daughter and my wife,
my grandchildren, my son-in-law, the folks I pastor, my friends,
and I want you to be honored to be associated with me. That's
how I want to live. But that ain't my testimony.
That ain't my testimony. The world can't see godliness. They don't know what it is. The
world can't see righteousness. They don't have a clue what it
is. The world doesn't know what holiness is. So all of those
things folks talk about, say, well, I've got a good testimony,
he's got a good testimony where he works. That's just stuff folks
look at and say, wow, it needs something. That ain't it. What's
the testimony? Enoch had a testimony that he
pleased God. His sons and daughters and his wife and his grandchildren
and his neighbors said, boy, Enoch's a godly man. No. No. That's not what it means. That's
not what it means. God spoke to Enoch. And God convinced
Enoch of sin, of righteousness, and judgment, because Christ
finished the work. And God said to Enoch, you're
righteous. He pleased God. That's the witness
of the Spirit. He takes the blood of Christ
and sprinkles the heart of the regenerate soul and gives us
peace of conscience before God so that we walk with God, having
the testimony of his Spirit within us by the witness of the water,
the word of God, by the witness of the Father, and by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God, by the Word
of God, declares, he that believeth on the Son of God hath to witness
in himself. This is the evidence of faith,
or the evidence of salvation, the evidence of grace, the evidence
of righteousness. Now listen to me. The evidence. The only evidence
there is, the only evidence there is that Jim Nunes is born of
God is God-given faith in his son. That's all. That's all. Well, that takes
all the fun out of this thing. We've been all our lives taught
that You know, folks look at me and say, Mother, Don dresses
good, and he talks good, and he don't smoke too much, he don't
cuss much, except when folks aren't around much, and he doesn't
drink too much, and he doesn't lose his temper too much. Boy,
he's got to be a Christian. That's what they used to say
about Pharisees and publicans. If there are any two people who
go to heaven, one will be a Pharisee and the other a publican. That's
the kind of religion I'm talking about. No, no. Not for God's
people. For God's people, the witness
is the Spirit of God within, who gives us faith in His Son.
Brother Todd Niber and I were talking a couple of weeks ago.
He was preaching about Peter's fall. And he made a tremendous
statement. He said, he said, just after
Peter had cussed and denied the Lord, he went out and went bitterly.
And if you'd have walked up to him and said, Peter, where's
your evidence now? Peter, how can you show me that
you're a follower of Christ now? Peter, do you consider yourself
a Christian now? I suspect Peter would have bowed
his head in shame and said no. But if you ask him, Peter, Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? He is, oh yes he is. Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God, that I know. That's called
faith in Jesus Christ. And that's the evidence. Hebrews
chapter 11 verse 2. Now look at verse 17 through
25. Let's see if I can make good on what I've been saying. I'm sorry, verses 17 through
18. The believer, the person who's born of God, redeemed by
the blood of Christ, the one who lives in the Spirit, lives
in hope of eternal life, as is described in these verses. In
verse 17, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. We're heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon, I reckon,
I'm gonna preach on that word reckon one of these days. I reckon,
I reckon, that's a good North Carolina word. I reckon that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be put
on the same set of scales, are not worthy to be compared with
the glory that shall be revealed in us. We're heirs of God. That means all that Jesus Christ
possesses, all that Jesus Christ earned, all that Jesus Christ
won by his mediatorial obedience to God as our surety and mediator
is ours in him. He said, the glory thou gavest
me I have given to him. Look at verse 19. We had the
earnest of this. That is, we had the pledge, the
down payment. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God. We're always anxious to run ahead
of God, aren't we? We're always anxious to do things
God not yet purposed to be done. And we want to prove everything
now. Our Savior said to his disciples,
said, you preach the gospel and Satan will come along wherever
God sows his wheat, Satan will sow his tares. Wherever God gathers
his sheep, Satan will gather in some goats. And it's going
to be that way from now on. Well, what are we going to do
about that? Let's go separate the goats and the sheep. Let's
tear up the tares, get them out of here. And the Savior said,
leave them alone. Let them both grow together until the harvest.
There's a day coming when God's gonna make the whole world see
who's his. He's gonna make the whole world
see who's his. It's called the manifestation
of the sons of God. The Lord God Almighty will spread
his ransom bride, his church, his kingdom before wandering
worlds and say, these are mine, my jewels, whom I've gathered,
the crown of my glory. And we're waiting. We're waiting
for that day. And what a better day it is.
For the creature was made subject to vanity. not willingly, but
by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope." I read Dr. Gill on that passage again today.
I've been studying it for a long time, and I'm not sure all that
it means, but every time I read it, I get just a little bit more.
The creature, the whole creation, was made subject to vanity. Vanity
is nothing. The whole creation made subject
to nothing. The whole creation reduced to meaninglessness. The
whole creation reduced to utter insignificance. Then he adds those words, not
willingly. That fit all right with the creation.
Those giant redwoods you got out here were made subject to
vanity. They're going to soon be brought
to nothing. And if you need to cut one down to build a bridge
to your house, it'll be all right. I know you get arrested if you
do it, but don't go get arrested. The tree's nothing. It's nothing. I mean that. I can't stress it
enough. It's nothing. It's nothing. But this has got
to be talking about something else. It's got to be talking
about men. The creature, the whole race
of humanity, was made subject to vanity. Read the history of
mankind. Worshipping stumps and stones
and frogs and snakes and lizards. And worshipping other men, worshipping
women, worshipping dreamed up monsters, worshipping the moon,
worshipping the sun. The whole race of humanity reduced
to vanity. Living after the lust of their
flesh. Living for the gratification
of their flesh. I often say to folks, we are living in a generation
now, you young people, it's bad enough our generation, but I
don't know what to expect from this generation now. You've been
taught for 50 years in public school, from the White House
right down to the very kindergarten. And you're taught in prison,
and you're taught at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, and you're
taught at the meeting where folks go for sodomites, or for divorced
folks, or for dopeheads. You know, everybody's got a touchy-feely
group. And the problem is that folks don't realize how important
you are. And the world's going to have
to provide for you. The reason the world exists is for you.
And the whole world thinks like that. Let me tell you something. The world doesn't exist for you.
You exist for the world. There's a big difference. You're
not very important. I'm not very important. The sooner
we learn that, the better off we are. But the whole creation
has, from the beginning, been subject to vanity. Every man
living for himself. subject to vanity, subject to
vanity, until God steps in. Now he lives for God. Now he
lives for Christ. Now he lives for his brethren.
Read on. Not willingly, not willingly, but God arranged this. By reason
of him who has subjected the same in hope. God brought the
world by purpose. Into this condition you see it
in the beginning In the beginning god created the heavens and the
earth and the earth was without form and void. The word is the
earth became darkness and chaos And it's a picture of what happened
in the fall of adam. We all became darkness and chaos Not by willing
subjection of ourselves, but god did it in hope God did it
with an eye to the future, looking for one who was to come by whom
God would be glorified in the saving of his people. Read on
verse 21. Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. This world, when
God makes all things new, delivered from the bondage of corruption
that was brought upon the earth itself by Adam's transgression.
But we who are gods in this world, shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Oh, when Christ comes and makes
all things new, when we see him as he is and we're made like
him in resurrection glory, when we see him face to face and God
wipes away all tears from our eyes and there's no more sickness
and no more sorrow and no more pain and no more death and no
more curse because there's no more sin. Then we shall live
forever in the glorious liberty of the sons of God in the new
heavens and a new earth wherein dwells nothing but righteousness. Now for this we groan. We groan
within ourselves. Verse 22. We know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. When
I lived in West Virginia in the wintertime, we used to like to
go out when we'd have a heavy snow early in the fall. And sometimes
we'd get 10, 12, 13 inches of snow while the leaves were still
on the trees. And I'd like to go out in the
woods and just listen to the trees. Man, those things sound
like cannons going off when those limbs break. Just pop and crack. I just like to listen. I like
to listen to God's creation groaning. groaning. And it reminded me
of another groaning in this part of God's creation in here. Groaning
with a warfare. Flesh lusting against the spirit
and the spirit against the flesh all the time. Not only they,
but ourselves also, which had the first fruits of the Spirit,
that is, the gift of life and faith in Christ, even we ourselves
grow within ourselves. But we don't grow without hope.
We're grown waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,
waiting for the redemption, the redemption of our bodies. Verse
24, for we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if
we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait
for it. We live in the comfortable, confident,
reason, expectation of glory with the Lord Jesus Christ in
the glorious liberty of the sons of God. That's called hope. I have confident
hope, Pastor, that soon I'm going to see my Savior as He is and
possess with Him all His glory. I have a dear friend. She's 90
years old. Had a stroke last week. She'd
been getting feeble all the time, and you know, we'd fret and pace
the floor, and somebody said, pray the Lord will heal her.
What on earth for? Why? Who would want to live to be
91? Why? Oh, my. Oh, no. Oh, no, let go. Let go. Glory awaits the sons of God. Glory awaits the sons of God. We have a responsibility to exercise
care over our physical lives. I recognize that. You get sick, go to the doctor
and get a shot and get over the flu. Do that. Do that. Don't
misunderstand me. But children of God, there's
no reason to dread death. There's no reason to dread dying.
There's no reason to want to postpone this thing. But every
reason to anxiously await the Lord coming to take us to glory.
We live in the expectation of glory. In the expectation of
glory. Read on. In verses 26 and 27,
Paul assures us of God's persistent grace, describing the Spirit's
gracious groanings and intercessions for us. He describes the spirits
in a session within us. Likewise, the spirit also helpeth
our infirmities. Ah, what weak things we are.
For we know not what we should pray for as we ought. The sons
of Zebedee came to the Lord Jesus one time. They didn't come, they
had better sense to do it themselves. They sent their mama. These two
grown men sent their mother and said, go ask the master if we
can send one on his right hand and the other on his left hand
in this kingdom. Ah, they didn't have any idea
what they were asking. And the master told him, you don't know
what you're talking about. The apostle Paul had a thorn
in the flesh, and three times he begged the Lord to take it
away. Three times he begged the Lord
to take it away. And the Lord said, Paul, you
don't know what you're asking. You don't know what you're asking.
He refused. Didn't he match him? He didn't
say yes or no. He just left and live with it
and said my grace is sufficient for you We don't know what to pray for
as we ought So the Spirit itself maketh intercessions for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered He indicts prayer in the heart
and he speaks for us to our Father that which we truly desire. Groanings which can't be uttered. I don't know how to pray. I've read books on prayer, a
lot of them. I took a class when I was in school on prayer. Had
to write papers on prayer, and I don't know anything about prayer.
I don't know a thing about it. God forgive me, I don't know
a thing about it. I keep trying, but I don't know anything about
it. Nothing, nothing. But there is, in the depth of
my soul, some things I want. And to these things, I subject
everything. Everything. Everything. I want God's name to be honored.
I want God to save his people. I want God to do his will. And he hears that groan when
I can't put it in words. Groans that can't be uttered.
And he searches the heart. Knows what is the mind of the
spirit that is the lord jesus our intercession intercessor
in heaven He knows the mind of the spirit that is he hears what
the spirit of god teaches us to pray He hears what god the
holy spirit teaches us to want he hears what god the holy spirit
causes us to long for Because he the lord jesus maketh intercession
watch this now for the saints He makes intercession for transgressors.
He pleads his blood and his righteousness. But here Paul says he makes intercession
for the saints. Did you ever notice that God,
while throughout this book always teaches us that God's saints
in this world are sinners still, he never calls us sinners. Never. He calls us saints. Saints. That's it, Saint Mike Lovelace.
Isn't he pretty? Well, you don't look like much
to me. That's because you can't seem like God does. But you ought
to. He makes intercession for his
saints, for his holy ones, according to the will of God. But you don't. Verses 28 through 39. Understand
this. There are no accidents in this
world. The apostle here assures us of
the absolute security of God's elect in this world. And we know,
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son. that he, the Lord Jesus, might
be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. Whom he justified, them he also
glorified. I got a bunch of sermons on that.
I'll send them to you if you want them. What shall we then say to these
things? How do you respond to all that?
Well, here are five bold challenges of faith given by divine inspiration
by a man who was a sinner saved by God's grace just like you
and me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, come on, hell,
do what you want to. I'm as serious as I can be. If
God be for us, who can be against us? Who? God is for us in his
sovereign providence. God is for us in his saving purpose.
God is for us in his substitutionary provision. God is for us in all
the sweet promises we have right here in front of us. Here's the
second challenge. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? He that spared not his son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? I'm just vain enough that I like
to tell things that make me look good. So I'm gonna tell you a
story. You've heard some of it many times. You remember me telling
you about my son-in-law coming to ask for face hand in marriage?
It's wonderful times. One time you can be kind of mean
to a fella and be justified. The object of a daddy is to make
that fella squirm a little. Don't make him too confident.
And we knew what he was coming over for, so Shelby fixed his
favorite meal. Pinto beans and cornbread. He came in after supper. He pulled
out a bag. He had his papers. Doug's sharp. Faith married well. He had a
business, construction business. He had things laid out. He'd
already bought a house. He had things, Doug's laid out in the
road. He was getting ready to show me all he could provide
for my daughter. I said, Doug, I'm not interested in any of
that. I'm not the least bit interested in what you have or what you
may have later. I just don't care. I'm only interested in
one thing. I want to hear you tell me that
you'll worship God with my daughter. That's all I'm interested in.
And when that was over, he said he, that's what he wanted to
do, and I said, I'm honored to welcome you to our family, and
you're welcome to marry my daughter. And then they got married. July
15th, was it? July 15th, long time ago. And
went to Tortola on a honeymoon. And while they were gone, I got
some things together for him. Shelby and I don't own any property,
but we have a little bit of insurance so they could get us in the ground.
I got the insurance papers and gave them a copy of the papers.
And I got keys, a key to the back door of the house, a key
to my car, a key to the truck. And I got him a key to the garage,
showed him where the toolbox was, took him over to the church,
showed him where the library was, and I said, you know, here
it is, it's yours, use it anything you want to. Just take it and
use it. You don't have to ask permission, it's yours. And I've
told that story many times. And somebody asked Doug one time,
said, did he really do that? And I thought, I just gave him
my daughter. You think I would give him a
monkey wrench? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely? Isn't that a wonderful word?
You don't even have to beg for it. Freely, give us all things,
all things. And then Paul challenges, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Lots of folks
try to. Sometimes Satan raises Moses
up and you need to turn to Zechariah 3 and listen to how the Lord
God puts him down. It is God that justifies. Nobody going
to charge you with anything, not for God. Who is he that condemneth? Who is he that condemneth? If you ever do anything right,
if you ever do anything for God's glory, if you ever make a stab
at trying to honor Him, if you ever make a stab at trying to
minister to somebody's needs, somebody's gonna cuss you and
condemn you for it. Pay no attention to them. Don't even respond to
them. Don't give them the pleasure of even knowing that you're aware
of it. I'm often challenged about things,
what do you do with that? Ignore him. Ignore him. Try your best to ignore him in
such a way he knows he's being ignored so you can aggravate him a little,
but ignore him. Just ignore him. Who is he to condemn it? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. Twice he's told us now, Christ
at the right hand of God, who died for us, that word is accepted
of God. He makes intercession for us.
What can be wrong then? Now look at verse 35. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or
distress Our persecution, our famine, our nakedness, our peril,
our sword, as it is written, for thy sake, we are killed all
the day long. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things, we're more than conquerors
through him that loved us. More than conquerors. My dear friend, Brother Harry
Grave, explained that passage to me one time when I was 19
years old. I hope I never forget it. Harry was 34, 35, maybe 36,
37 years older than me, but he was a dear friend. I was sitting
on his hearth, and he said, Don, son, you know what that means?
I said, I don't have a clue, Harry. He said, the fellow who's more than
a conqueror has so thoroughly whipped his enemies, he can't
possibly be whipped again. I've been in a few fights in
my time. But I've never so thoroughly whipped a fella that I wasn't
on guard to make sure he didn't come back after me with something
else. But our Lord Jesus has bruised
Satan under his heels. And the God of peace will bruise
Satan under your heels shortly. And that fiend of hell, so thoroughly
defeated by our Redeemer, that he can never, never, never do
us any injury of any kind. Never. All he can do is roar. All he can do is make a lot of
noise. He can do no harm. Verse 38, for I am persuaded,
I stand absolutely convinced of this, 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, not for a hair breadth of a second,
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No earthly trouble, no spiritual
trouble, nothing in heaven, nothing in earth, nothing in us, nothing
in time, nothing in eternity. Because the purpose of God must
stand. The blood of Christ shall not
fail. The promise of God will never
fall to the ground. The seal of God can never be
broken. This is God's word to you. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. No accidents to mess things up
and no separation forever from the love of God in any circumstance,
at any time, to any degree, for any reason. Amen.