would you open your Bibles with
me to the book of Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Last week I concluded the message
with Romans 8 and verse 28. A passage of scripture that's
familiar to just about all of you and to anyone who calls himself
a Christian. where it says, and we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. Well, this morning,
I want to start with that verse and go as far as I can go, hopefully
to the end of the chapter. But what I'm going to talk about
this morning is this subject, the whole of salvation in Christ. entirety that's what I mean by
the whole of salvation in Christ all of it now the Apostle Paul's
he's inspired by the Holy Spirit here to write the book of Romans
he's leading up to some grand and glorious truths concerning
Israel in chapter 9 he begins talking about Israel he mentions
physical Israel His kinsman according to the flesh Paul was an Israelite
as you know before his name was Paul it was Saul that's a Hebrew
name or an Israelite name and then he was a he was a Jew of
a very religious nature very religious man Paul describes
it in Philippians chapter 3 But what he's dealing with, and
he really carries this through Romans 9, Romans 10, and Romans
11. And really, when I began to study
for these messages in this part of Romans, I was really wanting
to talk about the issue of Israel. People talk about Israel today,
over in the Mideast, Palestine. And we see a lot in the news
about it, especially here of late, you know. How are we as believers to view
Israel? And I believe we have the answer
in God's Word. But in the book of Galatians
chapter 6, you don't have to turn there, in verses 14 through
16, read that sometime. Just Galatians 6, 14 through
16. I believe what you have there
is like a statement that you could call the Christian's motto.
This is what we believe. And he starts off in verse 14,
he says, God forbid that we should glory, save or accept in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that word glory there has
to do with having confidence in something. It's our glory
because we're confident of it. It's the basis and the ground
and the assurance of our salvation. What do you glory in? You know,
some say, well, I walked and I got baptized when I was 12.
Is that what you glory in? Or I joined the church, or I've
never missed a Sunday, or I've done this, that, or the, you
know, whatever. I've done a lot. What do you glory in? What is
your confidence of salvation? Well, Paul says my confidence
is one thing, and I'm going to tell you something now. Whatever
it is you glory in, if it's something that you've done or think you've
been unable to do, I'll guarantee you, you wouldn't be able to
stand even on the same level as the Apostle Paul. Whatever
you've done, I don't care if you've crossed the globe three
times on a missionary effort. You can't equal what Paul did,
what he was unable to do and how he was used of God. And yet,
what does he glory in? He says one thing. The cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ, the finished
work of Christ, the righteousness of Christ is another way of saying
it. That's Christ himself and what he accomplished on Calvary. And what he says there, he says
that that's the whole of my salvation. That's everything to me. Christ
is everything to me. Not just Christ absolutely considered
now, but Christ the God-man in his glorious person and in his
finished work. Listen to me now. If Christ,
if he just, if he came to this earth and became incarnate and
walked the earth as God-man, but didn't go to the cross, what
good would that do you? What good would it do me? He told Peter and the disciples,
he said, I came to this earth for this reason, that's to die
on that cross. That's why he came. And I want
to show you that in Romans chapter 8. But in the end of that little
motto I'm telling you about, Galatians 6, 14 through 16, what
he says basically is that now anybody who works by that rule,
that doctrine, that truth, God forbid that I should glory save
in the cross. That's the ones to whom God's
been merciful. You want to know if God is merciful
to you? I want to know that about myself. Listen, I'm a sinner in need
of mercy, and I want to know for certain, has God been merciful
to me? Well, what do I glory in? That's
what Paul's saying there. That's what the Holy Spirit inspired
him. What do I glory in? Now, if I glory in anything but
Christ and Him crucified, I can tell you there's no mercy from
God. Christ is the mercy seat. Christ is the seed of all mercy
from God. There's no other place you can
go. The baptismal pool is not the seed of mercy. Church membership
is not the seed of mercy. Being a child of Abraham physically
is not the seed of mercy. Circumcision is not the seed
of mercy. Keeping the law will not bring
you mercy. The law has no room for mercy.
Did you know that? The law is not of faith. The
law doesn't give mercy. The law just says do and live.
Period. disobey and die so I don't know
if God's been merciful to me and then he says these are the
children of God and then he calls them the Israel of God the Israel
of God this is the Israel of God who's he talking about those
who walk by that rule God forbid that I should go now that's what
Paul's leading up to show in Romans 9 10 and 11 And he summarizes everything
in the first eight chapters right here in these verses in beginning
at verse 28 with this. The whole of salvation is in
Christ. There's no salvation. There's
no being a member of God's family without Christ. I don't care
if you can trace your bloodline right back to old Abraham. I
don't care if you've been circumcised, I don't care if you're trying
to keep the law every day of your life. There is no membership
in the family, in the nation that is called God's people.
Spiritual Israel, apart from Christ. And so whether you're Jew or
Gentile, here's the reality. Verse 28, we know Who's the we
there? Believers. Those who walk by
that rule. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Paul
went on there in verse 14, he says, You know what that new
creation is? It's his church. You know, we talk about joining
churches. And that's okay if you're united
with a church where the truth is preached, where Christ is
honored and lifted up and preached consistently, not just once in
a while, but the whole time. But what I want to know is am
I a member of God's church? What is the church? It's the
chosen of God, the redeemed of God, the justified of God, the
called out. That's what it literally means,
called out. being called out of the world into the family
and the fellowship of God in Christ. I want to know. Well, that's who he's talking
about. We know. Now, why do we know it? Because God said it.
Not because we feel it, because we don't feel it a lot of times.
Not because we dreamed it. And not just because some preacher
told us. I'm glad a preacher told me the truth, but what he
told me must be based on God's word. So we know that all things
All bad things, all good things. All terrible things, all glorious
things. All things that just look like
it's the end of all things and all things that look like I'm
on the downhill slide and everything's going my way. All things work
together. Literally, God's working them
together. In the original text, that's
what it would say. Are being worked together. By
whom? By me and you? by a committee that we've built
by God, the sovereign Lord who's in control of this universe.
Whom brother Jim read in Ephesians chapter one there, verse 11,
God who works all things after the counsel of his own will.
All things working together for good. Now that's eternal good.
That doesn't mean everything that happens to me is good. But
it's going to work for my eternal good. And it says to them who love God,
Well, who loves God? Well, no man by nature, the scripture
tells us. No man by nature. The love of
God is a gift from God. If we love God, it's a gift.
And how do we love God? Through Christ. If you don't
know Christ, you don't love God, you don't even know God through
Christ, except through Christ. He's the revelation of God. We're
reading in Revelation 1 this morning. He's the Alpha and the
Omega. He's the alphabet. He's the communication of God
to his people. He's the word. He said, you neither
know me nor my father. How are you going to know God
as a loving father through Christ and what he accomplished at Calvary?
And then he says to them who are the called, That word called
there is like a summons I brought out last week. When the law serves
a summons, you have to appear. It's a command. And that's what
the called are. When the gospel was preached
to the elect of God, it's a summons, it's a command. And they believe
it in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the invincible, irresistible
call of the Holy Spirit. through the preaching of the
gospel, wherein Christ and his righteousness is revealed as
the only way of salvation, of justification, of sanctification,
of preservation, of glorification. And it's according to his purpose.
Now, what is his purpose? Well, his purpose is to glorify
himself in the salvation of his people through Jesus Christ. That's God's purpose. In other
words, it's all about Him. It's not about you. It's not
about me. It's about Him. And you know,
there's a marked difference there between true religion and false
religion, because in false religion, it's all about men. It's all
about men. It all revolves around you and
me and what we've done or enabled to do or how we've been blessed.
Now, hear me now. We've been blessed greatly if
we're in Christ. Blessed with all spiritual blessings, he says.
But this thing is not all about me, and it's not all about you,
it's about Christ. He must increase, I must decrease. And you know what that is? That's
true worship. If you've come today to truly worship God, and
you leave today thinking Christ increased and I decreased, you've
worshiped. He must increase. There are two
things here in this last part of Romans chapter 8. First of
all, there's God's eternal purpose of salvation in and by Christ. And secondly, there's the believer's
eternal security in and by Christ. Let me show you. He says in verse
29, now he summons his people according to his purpose. It's
all to the praise of the glory of his grace. That's why the
gospel is the gospel of the glory of God. Doesn't glorify man,
doesn't, listen, doesn't make man feel good about himself.
It makes man feel good about Christ. And his standing in Christ. And he says, look at verse 29,
he says, for whom he did foreknow, that word foreknow is foreordained. That's what it means, folks.
I didn't write it, God did. It means foreloved, foreordained. And that's the foreordination
of God in Christ before the foundation of the world. And those whom
he foreknew, he also did predestinate. There that word is. The religious
world even, who call themselves Christian, don't like that word.
But there it is. I didn't write that either. God did. He put
it in there. I didn't even define it. That means fore-appointed. That's
what it means. He also did predestinate. Well,
now, people say, well, God doesn't predestinate people. He predestinates
events. Well, read verse 29 again. For
whom? What's a whom? That's a personal
pronoun that refers to what? A person. Not an event. Whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate. And what did He predestinate
and do? What did He foreordain them to do? To be conformed to
the image of His Son. Now, is He going to conform events
to the image of His Son? No. He's going to conform His
people. He is elect to the image of His
Son. Now, somebody says, well, if
that's so, we might as well just give up. Well, that's not what
this book says. Now that's what the natural reasons
of the natural man says. That's why he concludes things
because he can't wrap his mind around these things. God, before
the foundation of the world, chose the people and gave them
to Christ, foreloved them, not because he foresaw what would
happen. He's not a crystal ball gazer or a fortune teller. He's
not a reactionary God. The Bible says his love is unconditional. That means you can't earn it
and you don't deserve it. If God loves you, you didn't earn
it and you don't deserve it. 1 John 4, 10, herein is love. Not that we love God. He didn't
look down to foresee who would love Him. Herein is love. Not
that we love God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to
be the propitiation, the sin-bearing satisfaction, atonement, sacrifice
that brought satisfaction, the propitiation for our sins. Well,
there it is. You say, well, I can't grasp
all that. It doesn't matter if you can grasp all that or if
you can figure it all out. I would be worried if you thought
you could. But the Bible doesn't say here for you to close up
the book and go home. The Bible says, seek the Lord,
because that's your only hope. The Bible says, look unto me
and be ye saved all the ends of the earth. I had a fellow
tell me one time, he said, here's the way I've got it figured out.
He said, when I go into heaven, he said, I'm going to read above
the gate, and there's no gate, but I mean, but he said, I'm
going to read above the gate. He said, he said, I'm going to
read above the gate that whosoever will shall enter in. And he said, when I get on this
side, I'm going to pray on the other side of that gate, it's going to say
elect according to the foreknowledge of God. And I told him, I said,
well, there's one problem of that. I said, both those saints
are on the front side of the gate. Because right there it
is. I don't have to wait to enter
the gate to look back behind me and see that. There it is.
Right there on the front of the gate. God tells you this going
in. Not just when you get in there. And not only here. And some people
say, well, now that's Paul lying to y'all. That's just Paul, and
you don't have to listen to Paul. He was a male chauvinist anyway,
wasn't he? Know what they say? Well, Paul did believe this.
But this book wasn't written by Paul. This book was written
by God. Isn't that right? And look over at Ephesians chapter
1. Brother Jim read. He talked about
being blessed of God here. Verse 3. Ephesians 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Go through and read
this and see how many times it says in Christ or by Christ or
in Him. Verse four, according as He hath
chosen us in Him. There's that four, no. Same thing. Chosen us in Him, when? Before
the foundation of the world. That's before the world was created.
That's in eternity. That we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, predestinated to be conformed to the image
of his son. That's what he's talking about. Same thing, just
different language. Verse 5, having predestinated.
Oh, there's that word again. Having predestinated us, not
events, us. unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
not our will. You see, it's not that God looked
down through a telescope of time and saw what men would do in
their will. He said it's according to the good pleasure of his will.
This is the sovereign will of God. And he said the reason that
it's like this is verse 6, to the praise of the glory of his
grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, accepted
in Christ. God chose us in Christ. It's
not just that God chose us, it's God chose us in Christ. Verse
7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grace. You've got no hope
of redemption or forgiveness but through the blood of Christ.
I've got no hope of redemption or forgiveness but through the
blood of Christ. Verse 8, wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, that's in the gospel, the preaching. What
is God's will? God's will is to save all who
come to him pleading Christ, the blood and the righteousness
of Christ. And he'll save nobody else. And it's according to his
good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, the purpose
of God to glorify himself, Verse 10, that in the dispensation,
that's segmentation or different segments of the fullness of times,
he might gather together in one, not two now, not one group over
here bowing to Christ and another group over here thinking they're
saved because they're children of Abraham. Not one group pleading and submitting
to the righteousness of Christ imputed and another group over
here saying, well, I know I'm saved because I'm circumcised. Not one group over here pleading
the blood of Christ and another group over here and say, well,
I'm trying to keep the Ten Commandments to be saved. No, he's going to
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven and which are on earth, even in him. There's the Israel
of God. Right there. All who are gathered
in one in Christ. under the headship of Christ,
under the leadership of Christ, under the lordship of Christ,
not one denying Christ, not standing on a stage, and don't mention
the name of Jesus because you might offend our Jewish brethren? No, sir. You remember when Peter
and John were brought up before the Sanhedrin? And they'd healed an impotent
man? And they asked him, they said, in whose name did you heal
this man? Do you know Peter could have
said, well, we did it in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and he would have been right to say that? That
would have been doctrinally correct? He could have said, we did it
in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But do you
know what he said? He said, we did it in the name of Jesus of
Nazareth, whom you with wicked hands crucified and slain. Don't mention the name of Jesus.
Jesus. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall what? Save his people from their sins. Our hope is in that name, Jesus.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's something about that
name. That's right. Don't mention him,
because we might offend this one. If that offends, let it
offend. What Christ tells his disciples,
blessed are those who are not offended. Ephesians 1 and verse
11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Not your will, not my will, his
own will. That we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Somebody said, well,
if that's true, I won't seek the Lord. Well, go on about your
business then. But I'm going to tell you something right now.
Unless you seek the Lord, you'll never find him. Go back to Romans
8. Let me show you something. He says in verse 29, for whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of the Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. That word firstborn, what he's
talking about is that Christ might have the preeminence among
many brethren. That's what that means. The firstborn
under the old covenant, the family had the preeminence in the household. He was to be the inheritor of
the spiritual leadership of the family. That's why it was so
awful when Esau gave up his birthright. See, he didn't care about spiritual
things. He didn't give up money and land. He just gave up his
spiritual leadership of the family because he didn't care. He didn't
believe. But the preeminence in the family
of God in spiritual Israel in the church is Christ. That's why he's our firstborn
brother. And so who are the brethren here? They are those among whom
and in whose hearts Christ has the preeminence. Does Christ
have the preeminence in our lives, in our mind, in our doctrine,
in our life? That's the brethren. We believe,
trust, rest in him. So look at verse 30. He says,
now this purpose, this purpose of God. And somebody says, well,
that's just what Paul believed. Well, Christ said it too in John
chapter six. He said, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. And this is the will of him that
has sent me that of all which he has given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Peter spoke
of it in 1 Peter 1, verses 1 and 2, he talked about how we're
elect according to the foreknowledge of God. This book was written by God.
But look here, not only has God purposed that all this come about,
but He has ordained and given all the means by which it's going
to come about. God's a God of means. I had a
primitive Baptist one time he called me a means Baptist and
I said well I'm not mean he said no means I said I said well I
do believe God has means that he uses to bring his people to
himself and here they are look at verse 30 moreover whom he
did predestinate them he also called there's that call what's
he gonna do he's gonna call you how's he gonna call you through
the preaching of the gospel. Paul said, for I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. To who? To everyone that believes
it. To the Jew first and to the Greek
also, the Gentile also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith as it is written, the justified shall
live by faith. Are you interested? Have I heard the gospel? He said
therein is the righteousness of God revealed. What is that?
Hold on here. He calls us by the preaching of the gospel in
the power of the Holy Spirit. How do I know if it's preached
to me in the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you believe it? What
the book says. You rest in Christ. Can you say
God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ? Or do you glory in other things?
He said he called, and look here, verse 30, and whom he called,
them he also justified. What is it to be justified before
God? It's to be not guilty. It's to be made righteous in
God's sight. That's what it is. Justified. standing before God having no
sin charged to my account. Wow. Who is that? Those whom he called.
Now what he says here? How's he called us? By the preaching
of the gospel. And it says in whom he justified
them he also glorified. Do you notice all this is past
tense? What does that glorify? That means we're going to come
to glory. All whom he predestined, all whom he foreknew, all whom
he predestinated, all whom he called, all whom he justified,
he's glorified in Christ. We're going to reach eternal
glory. They're not going to be lost. There's not going to be
any vacancies in heaven. Not at all. Now look at verse
31. Now that's, that right there,
that's God's purpose of salvation in and by Christ right there.
But now here's the believer's eternal security in and by Christ.
Now listen to what he says. Now what shall we then say to
these things? Now listen to what he's saying
here now. Now he's revealed some awesome
truth, hasn't he? And I mean some mind-boggling
truth. And I'll tell you what, I don't have any problem saying
that, you know. I've told you all a thousand times, you know,
that people will come and they'll say, well, I just can't wrap
my mind around that. And I'll say, well, join the
club. Let's give badges. We'll wear them. We just can't
wrap our minds. All right. These are great truths. I'll
tell you what they do. What they do for me, and I know
they do this for everybody, they exalt God. And they show me what I really
am, the speck of dust in this universe. And I'm not just trying
to make everybody negative or anything like that. But you know
man's problem since the fall is that we walk around this earth
thinking we're worth something. That's the problem. And what
I want people to see, what I want myself to see is that I don't
have any worth except as I am in Christ, who is my worthiness. And think of what he says, now
what shall we say then to these things? How are we to react to
these things? Well, here's what we're to say.
If God be for us, who can be against us? All right, now, if
God's for me, I'm eternally secure. How do I know God's for me? Is
it because I'll never get sick? That's what the Pentecostals
would have you believe, basically. And a lot of others. Well, you
must have done something wrong, you know, or you wouldn't get
this. You know, like Job's three friends? Job, let's figure out
what you've done wrong to figure out why you deserve this. What
did God teach him? Well, you all deserve it. And
if you don't get it, it's just his mercy. It's of the Lord's
mercy that we're not consumed. How do I know God's for me? Is
it because the stock market won't crash and my stocks will go up
while everybody else's goes down? No. How do I know that God is
for me? One way. One way alone. In what? In whom do I glory?
As long as I glory in Christ, I know God is for me. You know
why? Because he's for his son. As
long as I plead his blood, What God say to the children of Israel,
the Hebrew children in Egypt? He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over. He didn't say when I see you,
or when I see your accomplishments, or when I see you on your knees,
or when I see you doing this or that. He said, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. I know God's for me if I plead
the blood of Christ. If I, if I have, if I stand before
God having no righteousness but Christ, I know God's for me.
He said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased, hear
ye him. That's how you and I can know that God is for us. Now
you plead anything or anyone else, I can tell you for sure
God's against you. And how do you know that's so?
Well, look back. He said, if God be for us, who can be against
us? Verse 32, here's the basis and ground of it all, right here.
He that spared not his own son, his only begotten beloved son,
he spared not his son, but delivered him up for us all. Now, who's
the all there? Is that all without exception?
No. He's already identified the all. all whom God's for, all
whom he foreknew, all whom he predestined, all whom he called
justified, glorified. He delivered him up for us all.
How did he deliver him up? He sent him to die on the cross,
to shed his precious blood unto death, to put away my sins and
to establish righteousness whereby God could be just and justify
me. He says, if he spared not his
own son, the son of his love, the apple of his eye, how shall
he not, and underscore these two words, with him also freely,
unconditionally, undeservedly give us all things. You know
what he's saying there? If God sent him to die for you,
he's gonna have you. You're gonna have all things
unconditionally, undeservedly in Christ with him. If you have
Christ, you have it all. With him. With him. There's the
basis of it all. And look at this. He says in
verse 33. Now listen to this. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Now don't miss this. The first thing, when he talks
about the death of Christ, when he talks about God justifying
his people, When he talks about what Christ accomplished on Calvary
and giving us all things, and that includes spiritual life,
the work of the Holy Spirit in us, the new birth, that's part
of that all things now. If he spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, Christ died for his people, his
sheep, he laid down his life. How shall he not with Christ
freely give us all things, spiritual life, a new heart, faith to believe,
repentance, all of that, see. What's the first thing he mentions
here as the foundation of it all? Here's what he says. Here's
what he says. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. You
know what truth is being promoted there? The truth of imputation. Write that down. If you don't
know what it means, make it your business to find out what it
means. God will not and cannot charge
me with my sin. Who shall lay anything to the
charge, to the account? Who can impute anything of sin
to God's elect? That's what he says, God's elect.
Somebody said, well, I don't like that term elect. We'll take
that up with God. He's the one who put it there.
Tell him you've got a better word for it. And I'm not just
being facetious there. We better study and read and
bow to God's word. Who's going to impute anything
to me? Now listen to me. In the history
of the church, There have always been men who, because of ignorance
and self-righteousness, want to belittle and devalue and even
cheapen the glorious gospel truth of imputed righteousness. The
merit of Christ's obedience unto death charged to me. And the
fact that God cannot and will not impute charged sin to me
because he imputed it to Christ. There have always been men who
fought that, belittled it, calling it some sort of legal fiction,
or as one said, a righteousness merely imputed, like that's something
small. And there are falsely accused
God's true preachers who see the glory and value of Christ
in this matter of denying or diminishing the work of the Holy
Spirit in the new birth, regeneration, and conversion, and it's not
true. You know it's not true. It's just as true in our day,
but child of God, do not listen to them and do not follow their
heresy. Don't do it. Consider how God the Holy Spirit
inspired David to speak these words. This is Romans chapter
four in verse six. Quoting Psalm 32 verses one and
two. He said, even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without worth. Saying blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Does that sound
like a mere imputation to you? No, sir. That sounds like the
blessedness of God's grace to me. Rest assured that the non-imputation,
the non-charging accounting of sin to me and the imputation
of Christ's righteousness to us is no legal fiction, brother. It's no mere righteousness. It's not God seeing his people
righteous when they're really not. It's a blessedness of the
reality of being justified before a holy God for the child of God
in and by Christ. What does he say? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? We cannot be condemned. Why?
There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.
It's Christ that died. And He died because of my sins
charged to Him. That was no mere imputation. They became His sins. He became
a curse for me. He became guilty for my sins
charged to Him. Don't let anybody belittle that
now. If they do, call their hand on it. Tell them, I'm sorry,
my friend, you don't know what you're talking about. Blessed
is the man, David said, to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Blessed is that man. We're blessed
of God. Christ died, yea, rather is risen
again, who's even at the right hand of God. Why? Because he
died for my sins, and he established righteousness that's given to
me in him. he's right now making intercession
for us on that basis right now and for me to stand before a
group and belittle that or diminish that or to bring that into question
my friend that's you know what they're trying to shake the foundation
right there I'm telling he makes intercession for us well let
me read these last verses now here and we'll close There's
no condemnation, there's no separation. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Now, the answer to that is nothing.
But here's how Paul puts it by inspiration, shall tribulation,
that's trouble, Distress, that's the trouble of soul, mind. Persecution, famine, will nakedness
do it? Peril or sorrow, if we're in
danger by sorrow, will that separate us from the love of God in Christ?
No, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day
long. We're counted as sheep for the slaughter. This is how
the world looks at God's people. Nay, in all these things, we
are more than conquerors. Why? Because we're such good
people. No, through him that loved us,
through Christ, who is our conqueror. For I'm persuaded, this is faith,
for I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, that's authorities, kingdoms, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, past, present, or future, 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. You talk about security. There
it is, isn't it? All right. Let's sing as our
closing hymn, hymn number 204, Turn Your Eyes Upon Me.