You want to follow along, I'll
be in Romans chapter eight to start with. And not verse 28, although it's
still there. And I may mention it later. Romans
chapter eight, I want to begin reading in verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, say that again, nay, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him that
loved us. For I am 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. My title is The Love of God. Go figure, from that text, right?
In Christ, the love of God in Christ. That's my title, and
here's what I got to say. The love of God is an inexhaustible
subject. And the love of God is more than
I can ever know. And it's more than you can ever
know. And the love of God is more than I could ever say. The
scripture writers and the songwriters are correct. The love of God
is greater than any man's tongue can tell. So I might as well
sit down, all right? I can't tell you. Well, no, I
can't tell you, but I can tell you what the scripture says.
And I'm not gonna sit down anyway. I don't have the words because
there are no words that can actually relate it. There's no words to be able to
teach a man about the love of God. You have to have experienced
it to know just a little bit and to know what I'm gonna talk
about. Because what I have to say is from the
scriptures. It's the only authority we have.
I don't wanna hear about your imaginings, or my imaginings
I don't wanna hear about, about the love of God. Because chances
are we're wrong. And even if we're not wrong,
we're gonna fall way, way short of what the truth actually is.
The scripture tells us, and we'll get to it, God is love. The world wants to do the opposite. They want to say love is God. No, it ain't so. God is love. Love, man's imaginings of love is not
the standard. Because this world, this religious
world in particular, has it exactly backwards as usual. It's not that love is God, it's
God is love. And you need to find out what
love is by seeing who God is. But anyhow, he starts here in
verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Wait a minute, I thought you
said you were gonna talk about the love of God. I am. The love of Christ is the
love of God. Because Christ is God. The Father,
the Son, and the Spirit, these three are one. They don't just
think like they're one. They don't act in all agreement,
and so they're considered, no, they are one. I can't explain
that either. And you can't explain it. But
it's so, it's so. Jesus Christ is God, but who
shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation or
distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril Or sword? No. That's what Paul tells us. No, nay. No one, nobody can separate
us from the love of Christ. Now, does that include you and
me? Well, I'm a no one and I'm a
nobody, so that includes me. Understand you can't separate
yourself from the love of Christ. No one nobody and also he goes
off nothing No thing Can separate us from the love of Christ? Whatever you think of it doesn't
matter no one and no thing can separate God's people from God
not even you yourself. Here's the thing about the truth
of salvation. You didn't get salvation, it
was given to you, and you can't push it away, because he's keeping
you. And if he's not keeping you,
it's because you're not saved. And that's as plain as I can
say it. He keeps his people. The scripture is very, very clear. It's not up to you. It never
was up to you, it's not up to me, and it never was up to me.
And no one and nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. I like that. But also, I do want
to notice who Paul is writing about here. He uses the word
us, we, we, we, and us. I think he's talking about a
particular people. He's talking about who he wrote
this book to. Let's see, just for the fun of
it, Romans one, okay. Where is it? To all that be in
Rome, here's the word, beloved. Beloved of God. What? Called to be saints. Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. and
who can separate us from him? The beloved of God. In his son. In his son, we'll get to that. He's writing about the only ones
who could possibly know anything about the love of God. Believers. Believers. Saints. Called to be saints. Especially
called as a reference to Romans 8 and verse 28. That is believers
in Christ Jesus. It's written, for thy sake we
are killed all the day long. And for thy sake we are accounted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. That loved us. Oh my. Believers are the only ones to
whom the love of God, the love of Christ is revealed. The world
is gonna look at it the wrong way. And they do every time. They go looking for love and
think they're gonna find God. They're not seeking God. As he
is. As he is. Because believe it
or not, even though God is love, there is more to God than love. There's holiness, and righteousness,
and judgment, and justice, and God is love. And God is love. And they all fit together in
one supreme being that we naturally know absolutely nothing about. It has to be revealed. John tells
us, this is in 1 John chapter four, of course. Verse six, we,
there we are again, we are of God. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. I like that. He that is not of
God, heareth not us. And isn't that the truth? Isn't
that the truth? Walter, you were talking, I think
it was on the TV today, about somebody read Romans 8.28, just
read it to him. Well, I don't believe it like
that. The guy hadn't even talked about the scriptures. He just
read it. This is what the scriptures say.
All things work together for God to those that love God, to
those that are called according to his purpose. I don't believe
that. then you don't believe the Bible,
which is what I knew to start with. Or I don't believe it that
way, I'm sorry, I'll have to give you a different inflection
or something. I can't change the words, I'm not going to change
the words. People wanna change the words all the time, but we're
not gonna get into that. He that knoweth God, heareth
us, and he that is not of God, heareth not us, hereby we know
the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Why? If they won't
hear the scriptures, that's the spirit of error. That's it. And if I'm reading the scriptures
and you won't hear me, you're not of God. That's what it says.
I mean, it's plain. I'm not making this stuff up. Beloved, let us love one another. Wow, here's a way to look at
it. For love is of God. Love is from God, not love is
God, love is of God. For God is love. In this was
manifested, what? The love of God toward us, toward
believers, toward his children, toward the elect, toward those
he chose in his son. because in this was manifested
the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
son into the world, that, there's a purpose here, that we might
live through him, through him. How do we know God loves his
people? He sent his son. He sent his son. And he sent
his son to live and to die and to be resurrected. He sent his
son to be the substitute. God will provide himself a sacrifice. And God did provide himself a
sacrifice. I don't have to make a sacrifice.
Mac, you don't have to make a sacrifice. Paul, you don't have to make
a sacrifice. Paul, you don't, nobody. God provided himself a sacrifice. Oh my, that's glorious. God sent
his son, his only begotten son. And the end purpose is this,
that, what? We live through him. We live through Jesus Christ. Verse 10 says, herein is love,
not that we love God, but that he loved us. Sin is Son. To be the propitiation
for our sins. Goodness gracious. That's love. That's love, folks. That's God's
love for us. In His Son. In His Son. God's
love is greater than man can know. I've already said that,
I'm gonna say it again. The love of God is greater than
man can say. All we can say is this, God said,
this is my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. Well pleased. Hear ye him. What did Christ say? What has
Christ told us in his word? Now I'm gonna give you four things
about the love of God from the scripture. This is what I got. There's more, and there's more
on each and every one of these, but I'm only gonna go so far.
First thing I wanna tell you about God's love. God's love
is sovereign. You gotta start there, I believe. Because if God's not sovereign,
he's not God. And God's love is sovereign.
And here's the thing about God's love being sovereign. This is
what most people will not have. I don't know if you're watching
this on TV or on streaming, and welcome to you people streaming.
Here's the thing. God loves whom he pleases. And I don't know any other way
to say that. Romans nine and verses 11 through
13 tell us plainly For the children, being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, for the purpose of God, according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,
it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. Now
most people would be really, really happy if Paul stopped
right there. But he said this, as it is written,
and it's written in the Old Testament, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Now, you people may have heard the
same things I've heard. And I've heard people, preachers
from pulpits, try to explain this away. And that's exactly
what they're trying to do. They're wanting to get rid of
it. They'd have been really happy if it had never been put in there.
And it wouldn't surprise me if that goofball origin back in
the old days took that verse out. Because they say Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I loved less. Okay. You can look at the Greek
word. You can look it up online. Studylight.org
is a wonderful resource for this. That word is hated. It's not
loved less. Jacob I have loved, Esau I have
hated. That's what it says. And I'm gonna tell you this,
that's what it means. God is sovereign, he doesn't
love everyone. He has never ever said that he
loves everyone. Preachers say that. It's a lie,
but preachers say it. Here's the thing. God has mercy. God has love,
God has loving kindness on whom he will. You can keep reading
in Romans chapter nine. Let's see. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated, that's verse 13. 14 says, what
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Yes, people say it all the time. God forbid. There is no unrighteousness with
God. He told Moses, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. God's love is sovereign. He bestows
it where he will. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, it's of God that shows mercy. It's of God that shows love. Oh my. Go down to verse 18, well,
verse 17. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Now here's what he says. Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will,
he hardeneth. He hardeneth. I gotta say something. God does not harden in love. You'll never hear that anywhere
where it says God hardened his children. You will hear this. God chastises every son that
he has. But here's the thing, that word
chastisement in the definition of it is punishment with correction. It's not hardening. You don't
wanna be hardened. Look at Pharaoh's end. Look at
the end of Pharaoh's army. He has mercy on whom he will
and whom he will, he hardens. Excuse me. I don't like bursting
anyone's bubble. Well, okay, maybe some days I
do like bursting people's bubble. But God doesn't love everyone.
And the scripture has never said that. Too many preachers have
said that. And it's not so, it's not so. It doesn't make me happy, it's
just, this is the truth of God. And you're either gonna stand
with the truth of God, or you're not. Because no matter what the world
says, no matter what preacher says, no matter what your mom
and dad have said, brother, sister, anybody else, friend of yours,
okay? There are vessels of wrath fitted
for destruction. That's what it says. That's Romans
chapter nine. That's why in most churches today,
even most Baptist churches, you will not hear any sermons from
Romans chapter nine. Because they don't like it. And
at best, if they do talk about it, they're gonna do their best
to sweep it under the rug and explain it away. I'm not here
to do that. God's love is sovereign. God's
love is sovereign. He loves whom he will, and he
is gracious to whom he loves. He shows his grace to those same
people whom he will, whom he will. The second thing, God's
love is eternal. Let's see, Ephesians chapter
one, verse three through six. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. I like that, I
like that. that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. In love, in love, in love. Oh, I like that. Having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure
of his will. I like that. To the praise to
the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. In the beloved. Oh my. We are
going to be holy and without blame before him in God's love. In Christ's love. Why? Because
we are accepted in the beloved. The beloved. Oh, I like that.
Now maybe I should have made that one of my points. God's
love is a blessing in Christ. Bless us with all spiritual blessings. God's love is a blessing. But
this is my point here. God's love is eternal. Understand,
not only did God love you before you were born, God loved you
before there were people. That's another part of that God
being sovereign stuff. God loved you before there were
people. Before Adam, before Eve, we were
what? Before the foundation of the
world, chosen us in Christ. Oh my gosh. God's love is eternal. And he has made us accepted in
the beloved. We didn't deserve to be accepted.
He made us. You understand? It is he that
made us and not we ourselves. That's from the Psalms. Oh my,
God's love was on his people chosen in Christ Jesus before
there were people. I wish I could lay hold of that.
Really lay hold of that. Both Jeremiah and Paul wrote
about being known of God, loved of God in their mother's womb.
In their mother's womb before they were born. Wow. God's love is eternal. It has no beginning, it has no
end. It's been in Christ since the
beginning, since before the beginning, before the foundation of the
world. God's love is eternal. This is not something new. God
is not picking people as he goes along. That's what some people
preach. No. God chose them in Christ,
in love, in love. Oh, I like that. And we're going
to be together with Christ in love. The love of God, the love
of Christ. God's love is sovereign, God's
love is eternal, and here's the other thing. Number three, God's
love is infinite. That's why we can't understand
it. We are what is known as finite. You know, compared to God, what
is man? A red maggot, a worm, and no
man? Less than the small dust of the
balance. You don't even bother cleaning
it off, because it's not gonna change the balance whatsoever.
It has no effect on anything whatsoever. That's us. That's
us. But God's love is infinite. There
is absolutely no end to the love of God. There is no, here's the other
thing about it being infinite, there's no lack in the love of
God. Nothing lacking. Galatians two
and verse 20 says this, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, in me, in you. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, what? Who
loved me. How much did he love me? He gave
himself for me. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. The church, Ephesians five and
verse 25. God's love is infinite, there's
no lack. There's no shortage. Titus two and 14 says, who gave
himself for us in love that he might redeem us from all iniquity
and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. The scripture tells us that God
is going to gather all of his people together to be with Christ. Understand what Paul wrote about
that day coming? And he says those wonderful words
at the end of it. He says this, he says, and so
shall we ever be with the Lord. Now I'm gonna put two words on
the end of that. In love. In love. We are in the beloved. We are chosen in the beloved.
We are brought into the beloved. We're his body. He's the head. We're his body. We are members
and members in particular of his body. Oh my. God's love will be on his chosen
people forever. It is infinite. There's no lack
in it, and there's no end to it. In the book of Revelations,
you can see them around the throne of God. Around the throne of
God. And here's the thing. Back in
the Old Testament, he said it. I am the Lord, I change not. Now if from before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy without blame before him
in love, you know what's gonna happen? We're gonna be before
him without blame in love. Because God said it. And that
makes it so. He's gonna do it. I've said it,
I'll do it. I've purposed it, I'll do it. Nothing can be put to it, nothing
can be taken away from it. God does it that men should fear
before him. Oh my, the fourth thing. The fourth thing, the love of
God is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, our Lord. What's it say? Romans 8, 38 again, I am 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 ever able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Again, no one and nothing can
separate us from God. and the love of God is in his
son. We were chosen in his son. We live and move and have our
being in his son. He's the elect. We're just elected
him. My son, the elect. Oh my. Here's the thing. God loved us,
Christ loved us, when we didn't love him. And I understand it
happened from before the foundation of the world, but I'm gonna tell
you, after you got here in this world, you didn't love God. When
you were growing up in this world, you didn't love God. You didn't
even know God. I was the exact same way. But
even then, God's love was upon you if you know Christ right
now. If you are one of the called
according to his purpose. Excuse me. Again, John wrote
this. Here in his love, not that we
love God, but he loved us. He loved us. Oh, I like that,
I do. He loved us and sent his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. When we didn't even know
him, he died for us. When we didn't even know him,
he was made a substitute for your sins. Or you'll never know
him. He was made a substitute. He
was a sacrifice for sin forever. One sacrifice, one offering to
God forever, forever. Jesus Christ was our Lord even
when we didn't know him. Now that's grace, that's grace. That's mercy, that's love, that's
compassion. Jesus Christ was sent to be our
mercy seat, our propitiation, our atonement, because of the
love of God in Christ Jesus. You understand, he did say, this
is my beloved son, my well-beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased. Oh my. To know Christ, to believe
Christ, is the only way to know of the love of God. And that
has to be given to you. God is love. And God loves his
people in Christ. In Christ. And here's the thing,
of his kingdom, whose kingdom? Christ's kingdom. There is no
end. There is no end. The reason I picked this song
today, I was looking at it in the old book I got. There's a
verse from this, "'Twas with an everlasting love, that God
his own elect embrace, before he made the worlds above, or
earth on her huge columns place." There's a verse left out. And
I can understand maybe why they left it out, but I really like
it. It may just been a space thing, I don't know. I don't
care, but here's the verse. when a wretch defiled with sin. At war with heaven, in league
with hell. Now, if you were never there,
you don't know the love of God. A slave to every lust obscene. That might be why they left it
out. Who cares? Here, it's true. Who, living,
lived but to rebel. Then it says, believer, here
thy comfort stands. From first to last, salvation's
free. Loved when a wretch defiled with sin, at war with heaven,
in league with hell, a slave to every lust obscene, who living,
lived, but to rebel. And yet, God loved us. Love, and he still loves us.
Even though we might still rebel. Ah, you know that help thou my
unbelief is a good saying. If it wasn't for the fact that
God kept us, we'd all be lost. If you could lose yourself and
separate yourself from the love of God, you would. You would,
that's how depraved we still are in the old man. That's where
we are. But thank God we have the new
man. And then you have that battle
in Romans 7. In your mind and in your heart
and in your flesh. And sometimes your flesh wins
and sometimes the mind wins. Most of the time it's a mess. But here's the thing. He loved
us when we were nothing but rebels. while you were yet sinners. Christ
died for who? The ungodly. That's the love
of God. That's the love of Christ. He
died for ungodly, unrighteous, unruly sinners. Now, are you an ungodly, unrighteous,
unruly sinner? If you do, I got some hope for
you. Christ died for you. You understand what Henry said,
I remember Walter repeated it, I'll repeat it too. You know,
sinners go to heaven. Christ died for sinners. But
a sinner's a hard thing to find. Honest people don't go to hell
because honest people know they're ungodly, unruly sinners. But if you think you're pretty
good, I've got nothing for you. Christ came and died for sinners.
while you were ungodly, while you were unrighteous, oh my,
that's the love of God in Christ Jesus. He has saved us from our
sins. And our sins are still here.
We still commit them. This body's still here. In my
flesh still dwells no good thing. But, The love of God is in Christ
and his people. That's a great thing. That's
a gracious thing. And that's what I need. Our Heavenly
Father, I'm thankful again for this time and this place. Help
us. Help our unbelief. Help us to
know more of the love of God. You have given it to us graciously,
mercifully, in your son. Help us to walk as we go forth.
Keep us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Be with Walter and
Paul as they come to preach today. Give them the words we need to
hear and bring us the message we need. In Jesus' name we pray,
amen.