Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter eight. Charles Spurgeon once said that Romans chapter eight is like a Bible in itself. This one chapter. My father, I listened to him preach from this. I listened to the same message twice in the last few days. But he said it's like a gold mine. that you can just start anywhere, anywhere in this chapter, and you'll find great treasure and riches, and the riches of Christ. It begins in verse one, and I hope to make this very simple and short and brief, although this is a long chapter, we're not gonna deal with every verse, we can't, for the sake of time. and for the sake of our poor children in that nursery and the ladies that are watching them. But I hope to make this simple. Scripture speaks of the simplicity that is in Christ. That's how it begins.

Does this sound familiar? There's no condemnation to them which are There's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Does that sound familiar? Look at verse 10. And if Christ be in you. We just looked at that, didn't we? Because salvation, that's what it means. To be in Christ, to be saved by Christ, be found in Christ.

No condemnation. It ends with verse, well, look at verse 39. He says, there's no, neither height, depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So it begins, no condemnation, and the last verse, no separation. them that are in crime. Nothing shall be able to separate us. All right, what does it mean to be in crime? In crime. But it says no condemnation in crime. This book begins with condemnation.

Romans 1 talks about the world that doesn't believe God, doesn't believe Christ. Romans 2 talks about the religious world. And the last verse in Romans 1 talks about the judgment of God. Romans 1 talks about the wrath of God revealed from heaven upon this world, unbelieving world.

We don't begin the gospel, you don't begin telling a world that doesn't have any interest in God, in Christ, that God loves you. That's not where this book began. The Lord didn't say that. Christ didn't preach that. John didn't preach that. No apostles, no prophets ever got up and told everybody, God loves you. Jesus died for you. Never, nowhere, not in this Bible, anywhere. It began because if you tell people God loves you, then they think, well, what have I got to worry about? But if you tell them you're under the judgment of God, you're under the wrath of God, you're under the condemnation of God.

Creates the fear of the Lord, which brings repentance. Our Lord preached repent, didn't He? John the Baptist preached repent. This is what the Holy Spirit does. Our Lord said when He comes, He'll convince the world, that is a people, out of every kindred nation tongue in the world of sin.

You see, it talks about those in Christ and it begins in chapter one to those who are called to be saints. And all of these promises in Romans eight, it says us, us, If God be for us, it's not talking about everybody in the world. It's talking about those in Christ. It's talking about those whom God has called, those whom God has chosen.

The whole book of Romans, you know this, Romans 9, he talks about there's an election, and people hate this. God's people don't. They know it's so. They know if God hadn't chosen me, I would never have chosen them. If God hadn't called me, I wouldn't come. If God didn't keep me, I wouldn't keep coming. God didn't call me, I wouldn't call on Him. God didn't give me faith, I wouldn't believe.

Right? And I'm going to illustrate all of this by Noah's Ark again. But to be in Christ, there's no condemnation. Outside of Christ, there's judgment and wrath and condemnation. No, God doesn't love everybody. He loves those in Christ. No condemnation.

Our Lord said in John 3.18, which very few people know.

They know John 3.16, they think they know it.

But John 3.18 says, he that believeth not is condemned already, under condemnation.

John 3.36 says the wrath of God abides upon them that believe not. You can't have wrath and love abiding on you at the same time. You can't be condemned and not condemned. There's no condemnation to them that are in Christ. Outside of Christ, judgment, wrath, condemnation. All right, how did you get in Christ? How does anybody get in Christ? Did you decide?

Wouldn't that steal God's glory? Wouldn't that steal Christ's glory from His work, the Holy Spirit? What's He got to do with it? If you can put yourself in the Kingdom of God, what's the Spirit of God got to do with anything? No. This is about the Spirit of God calling through the Gospel His people predestined, called, justified, glorified, put in Christ, kept, sealed, shut in, can't be separated, fixed, shut up, shut in, pitched.

Some of you are smiling and laughing and love this because this is our hope, the hope of His calling. Now I got to get started here. It says in verse three, verse three, what the law could not do and it was weak through the flesh, God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. What is all that talking about?

We're under the judgment and wrath and condemnation of God. We hear the law, look back one chapter, look at chapter seven. Look at chapter seven, verse nine, look at it. So I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment, when the law came, I died, it killed me.

You know, people think they're alive and well and doing well, and preachers have told them God loves them, have nothing to worry about, and when you come to die, you can just make your decision for Jesus, and go on to glory, and go be with mama. That's what they say. Live it up until the end, and then get serious about it, and make a decision, and it's all good. And God sends the word of God, which convicts you of sin, Our Lord said this in John 16, he said, when the Spirit of God, and this whole chapter speaks more of the Spirit of God than anywhere in the Bible. He said, when the Spirit of God comes, John 16, John 8, he'll convince you of sin, of righteousness, and judgment, and it all has to do with Jesus Christ.

Sin, he said, because they believe not on me. It was a time I didn't have any interest in Jesus Christ whatsoever. I could care less if he lived or died. And that's everybody that doesn't come to worship Jesus Christ. They don't care if Jesus Christ lived or died.

Who cares? And preachers have so dishonored our Lord by saying, well, he died for you. Well, who cares? You wouldn't do that with your child's blood in their life and lay it down for people who didn't care. Well, that's who Christ died for, but God's going to make them care. He's going to make them see that it took the death of Christ for them to live. Not their decision.

The blood of Christ. Sin. Look at chapter 7. Here's what happens. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. He convinces through the preaching of the gospel, what I'm doing right now, what the world calls foolishness, of sin. This is why Christ had to come and die. Look at chapter 7, here's what it means. He said the law, the word came and it just killed me, it slew me. Verse 14, the law is spiritual, that is, It looks on the heart, it demands perfection in thought, word, deed, everything about me must be as holy as God.

I can't do it. I'm flesh, I'm sin. I'm a sinner through and through. I can't do it. And this is what happens. Verse 15, he says, that which I do, I allow not. That is what I do, I don't want to do. And what I would, I do not. What I hate, that's what I do.

There was a time before we're born again, love the world, love sin, love yourself, love everything but God. But God, who chose a people, quickens you by his gospel and causes you to start hating sin, and hating yourself, and loving God, and loving the truth, and loving the gospel, and hating yourself. Look at verse 18. It says, I know in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

I was talking one time to a fellow who was helping my wife learn how to upholster furniture. He was teaching her to upholster furniture so she could cover some of our furniture. And he was religious, and I found out very fast. People like to tell you that. And we began to talk, and I asked him, what do you think about yourself? What do you think about yourself? And he said, well, I'm a pretty good fellow. I used to be.

Now this is Paul talking, the apostle. He said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Look at verse 19. The good I would, I don't do. The evil I would not, that's what I do. He says, Verse 21, I find a law, a ruling principle when I would do good evils present with me. My thoughts, my deeds, my everything. It says in verse 22, I delight in the law of God, the word of God, the truth of God after the inward man.

Oh, what? There's two people and when a new birth comes, there was an old man who never gave God a thought. He's dead in trespass sin. He can't think on God. Chapter 8, verse 7, the carnal mind is enmity against God. Brother Chapman, I listened to him preach on this too. And you always hear things, you know, you knew it, but it's like you hear it for the first time. And he said, talked about this warfare, and condemnation, he said, what it is, is God has to break down in us this enmity we have against God. Man, we hate God.

We don't want any authority, and it all begins with God. It all comes from God. It started with Satan, I'll be God. Free will. That's what free will said. And it went down through Adam and Eve, but they said, we'll be God. And God said, no, you won't either. I'm God. And they died, killed them. Brother Chapman said, God's got to break down this enmity in us, this hatred, this natural hatred we have for God, the God of the Bible. And that's what he did.

In verse, look at verse 23 of chapter seven, I see a law, a warring, ruling principle in my members, warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity. The law of sin, the old wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death, this old man that's in me, that I can't get rid of him. Do you know, do you have this struggle? Every single person born of God has this struggle within them, the two creatures, two men.

An old man that hates God and hates the truth, loves himself, loves the world, loves sin. And a new man's opposite of that, loves the truth, hates himself, loves God, loves truth, loves Christ, loves the people of God, loves the worship of God. Do you have that? If there's no war, there's no life. There was a time, Paul said, I was alive without all, I thought I was doing fine. And then it just killed me, it just slew me. If there's no struggle, there's no new birth.

Let me show you that in Genesis 25. Genesis 25, if you've never seen this, that's why I wanted you to turn to it. Genesis 25. The book of Genesis, you know, is the beginning of everything. The whole Bible is built on the book of Genesis, you know that? Genesis 25, Isaac's wife, Rebekah, was barren.

There's no life in her. Neither is there life in any son of Adam. Isn't that right? The Bride of Christ. There's no life in us until Christ sends the Word of God, Spirit of God, the Gospel of God, and creates life. You don't accept life. He gives you life. It's a power of God.

What I'm doing is a mystery. And I look around and I say, well, this person needs this, and I hope that I'm going to shoot this word at them. And no, the Spirit blows where it's listed. And I shoot and shoot and shoot, and they're asleep. And they never wake up. I failed. No, this person over here had it. There's no flesh that's going to glory. And the Spirit of God moves.

We all need this, but God sends it to whom He will. Well, Isaac's wife was barren, she had no life in her. And he entreated, verse 21, the Lord, asked the Lord to give her life, put life in her, and she conceived. Now, John 1 says, as many as received him, to them gave he the right, the privilege to become the sons of God. That's what it said.

Receiving is not accepting. I've illustrated that so many times to you. A huge difference between receiving and accepting. Accepting is it's your choice. Receiving, you don't have a choice. If I had an empty glass and poured this in that empty glass, that glass doesn't have a choice. It's receiving it, isn't it? I'm giving it. And the glass is receiving it. It's empty. It doesn't have the ability. It's dead. But I say, receive this. I don't say, would you accept this? Receive this.

John 1, 12. Which were born, not of bloods, not because you're a Jew, not because your parents were saved, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. Born of God. God said one day to you, Joseph, receive this. You know what? You did. You did. Who gets the glory? Did you have anything to do with it? That baby boy had nothing to do with his life. It was given to him. Well, verse 22, she conceived And how do you know she's got life in her? You have it? Genesis 25, 22. Are you there? If you've never seen it, I want you to look at it. You have it? Genesis 25, 22.

The children struggled within her. She didn't have a struggle before, Tom. And she said, why am I thus? What's going on in me? There's a war going on. kicking and fighting, two men, twins in her. And the Lord said, two nations are in thy womb, two manner of people are in your bowels, shall be separated.

And this is what happens when the Spirit of God takes this gospel, puts this new creature And you got this old man and this new man that are constantly struggling with one another and will be till the day you die. Until this old man is laid in the grave finally, this body of death, that's what Paul said, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Oh, wretched man that I am. And when Christ went to the cross, he took that old man with all his sin. Christ was made sin on the cross. that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

The Holy Spirit comes with the gospel and preaches this gospel of Christ crucified for you, buried, risen again, and you're quickened together with Him by the Spirit of God. This new creature in Christ created in you that hears this, new eyes, ears, heart to receive it, you're born of God. You had nothing to do with it. No decision asked on your part. It was all God's decision before the world began. You say, but what? No question? No, no, no. So, is there the struggle within you? Huh? Is there?

Look down in our text, chapter 28. Chapter 28, it says in verse 11, the spirit of God that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead and dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwell in you. That is, you're gonna be given a new body someday, a brand new body without sin.

Verse 14, but as many as are led by the spirit of God, they're the sons of God. And verse 15, they receive the spirit of adoption, they cry, Abba, Father. Father, my Father, our Lord said, pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Holy, holy, holy. And the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God.

Now down in verse 22, here's what I want to dwell on and have been, verse 21. It says the creature, the creation, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. What's that? Sin. This whole world, our Lord called it this present evil world. And like Noah's ark, God's gonna destroy the world again someday, completely by fire. It says in verse 21, this new creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption, the bondage of sin. This old man's going to be gone. Sin's going to be gone into the glorious liberty of the children of God. And we know the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now because of sin. Because God and his purpose allowed or purposed for sin to come into this world. Could he have stopped? Yes, he did. Did it? No. Why? For Christ to come.

The whole creation groaneth. My father dealt with this a good deal in death. The animals are such subject to man's cruelty. They bite and devour and eat one another. Before sin, they didn't do that. They dwelled together in peace, didn't they? The sea is raging, angry seas. The wind's howling. The whole world is shaking. And these last days, Hebrews 13, 12 talks about the last days will shake the whole world. And that's what's happening there. Trembling and fear. Why? The love of God? Rat.

Rat. groaning, waiting for the glorious liberty, freedom of the children of God, the manifestation of the sons of God, a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, and nothing that shall defile it, nothing shall spoil it ever again. The meek shall inherit the earth, the new earth, new creation. And verse 23 says, we, have the first fruit of the Spirit, that is repentance, faith. It's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance.

You never would. Hardest thing in the world for a person to do is say, I'm wrong, or I'm sorry. Give somebody credit for the whole thing. We have the first fruit of the Spirit is repentance. In my flesh dwells no good thing. God, be merciful to me. I'm nothing but a sinner. That's repentance. Faith, what's your hope, sinner? I have only one hope. There's nothing in me at all. In my flesh dwells no good thing. I hope and pray and my hope of salvation It's completely in Jesus Christ alone. That's faith. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. You love God as God. You love the truth as the truth. Whatever it says about you, it's true. Whatever it says about God, it's true. Whatever it says about salvation, it's true.

It's of the Lord, isn't it? It's His will. It's His choice. It's His work. It's His powers. It's His glory. It's Him. It's Him. It's Him. It's not me. It's Him. You love it. Love. You love the worship of God. There was a time you didn't. That's the first fruit of the Spirit. The time you'd rather do anything than come to the house of God. Love. Joy. Your joy in God, your joy in Christ, your joy in the worship of God, the people of God. You didn't have that before. Love, joy, peace.

In the world, the world doesn't have any peace. People don't have peace. I look at people all the time. They look miserable. Try and act happy. God says there's not gonna be any peace for the wicked, those outside of Christ. Nuh-uh. Love, joy, you have peace. This war going on, but you still have peace. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, and on and on it goes.

And we groan within ourselves, waiting, waiting for the adoption. We groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Verse 24, we're saved by hope. What are we hoping for? New heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Who is our hope? What is our hope of being there? What is your hope of salvation? What is your hope that you're gonna be in God's kingdom someday? If you don't, if your hope is in anywhere, anywhere and anything but Jesus Christ, you don't have hope. Our hope's in him.

That's why we preach Christ. And so we hope and wait. And I like this, verse 26, we don't even know what to pray for. Groanings that cannot be uttered. In verse 28, you see, it all leads up to this, we know, here's what we know, God's people have the Spirit of God.

All things work together for good because God's doing it. It's all according to His purpose. Those that love God, love him because they first loved him. He called according to his purpose and whom he did foreknow, that is elect, love before the world began. He predestinated, down in verse, predestinate, be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, that is a man, and thus be just like him. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, he called whom he called, and he also justified whom he justified. He glorified, what shall we then say to these things?

If God be for us, who can be against it? Nothing and no one can be. Who shall lay anything, verse 33, the charge of God's elect. Who's elect? Who did elect him? Who did choose him? Spirit of God shows everyone. Anybody doesn't believe that, they're not elect. It's God that justifies. Who's he that condemns? Why is there no condemnation? You know, don't you, John? Christ died. The condemnation and the wrath of God fell on Jesus Christ.

That's why you want to be found in him, not having your own righteousness. There's so many out there trying to keep the law. Paul said, I know they have a zeal for God, but they're lost because they're trying to establish their own righteousness by the law. And he said, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified. If keeping the law will do anything for you, Christ died in vain. That's how serious it is. So the spirit of God teaches you, no, you're condemned by the law. You're not saved by it. You can't keep it. You can't keep it. Quit trying. Start looking.

It's what the Spirit of God teaches everyone. And it goes on to say, who shall separate us? Verse 35, from the love of God that is in Christ. The last verse says it's in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now let me just illustrate all this. I've only preached 30 minutes. Give me two more minutes. and you go see about your babies. What does it mean to be in Christ? How do you get in Christ?

I keep using the illustration of Noah's Ark, no, no, because I don't know of any better, clearer picture, illustration in all the Bible, what it means to be in Christ than Noah's Ark. And there's a reason why in the sixth chapter of Genesis is the clearest, longest, six, seven, eight, nine, this great glorious picture of Noah and the Ark and the animals and the people on that Ark saved one way. There's a reason why God used that as the greatest, clearest, most in-depth, comprehensive, long picture of this man building a vessel and bringing all these wild creatures into this vessel to save them and bring them into a new world.

That's a picture of Jesus Christ. And most religious people don't have a clue. People in the world sure don't. What that Ark is about, what Noah is about, and what salvation is about. It's the clearest picture I know of. Alright? That Ark of Noah is a picture of Christ and Him crucified. Every one of those animals were chosen by God.

Were they not? Did Noah go out and say, does anybody want to come into the ark? Did he? No, he did not. God said, Noah, go out and bring them into the ark, didn't he? You can stand there all day and tell a lion, would you like to come into the ark? A wolf, won't you please come into the ark? He ain't coming. He's wild. What's going to have to happen? We're going to have to change His nature. We're going to have to make Him willing. He ain't coming.

Now you're hollering, preacher. I wish the whole world would hear this. You ask every animal in that ark, ask all the people in that ark, why are you in that ark? God brought me in here. Oh wolf, oh skunk. Ask them all, how'd you get here? I was called. I was brought. I was led. Something came over me. Spirit of God. They were called. Noah went out and called them. Come! Who came?

The ones that God chose. See, there were seven out of all the clean animals. How many cattle were there on the earth at that time? Billions. Seven came. Why'd they come? They were chosen out of the flock, weren't they? How many unclean animals? Two, male and female. Lions, tigers, bears, wolves, so on and so forth. They were called. They were led. They were brought by Noah.

The Lord said, go out and bring them into the army. They won't come unless you call them. They won't come unless you bring them. They won't come unless the Spirit of God leads them. And you wouldn't come either. You wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here.

You're looking at the prodigal son. I wouldn't be here if God hadn't called me. If God hadn't sent the Holy Spirit and says, bring that young man into the army. Bring him to hear the gospel. Sit him down. Open his eyes, open his ears, open his heart to receive life. He doesn't want it. He's not looking for it. He doesn't have it. He's not asking for it. He can't. Christ said, no man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me, draw him. Didn't he say that? This ought to give you some hope. Why are you here? Not of your own free will. at the will of God, made willing in the day of his power. Why are you here? Are you enjoying it?

Everybody's not. He's got to make you joy. The first fruit got to enjoy this. Brought by Noah. And as I said, now you had lions and lambs. You had wolves and sheep. How in the world are they going to lie down and get together? Huh? Before they were enemies. They were biting and devouring and eating and hating one another and bloodshed. How are you going to get them to dwell peaceably together in this ark?

Got to change their nature. Got to give them a new nature. So the lion would lie down with the lamb. And the wolf would lie down with the sheep. They wouldn't eat each other. They wouldn't hate each other. The enmity's broken down. Their natures are changed.

I grew up, you know, in the 60s and 70s. I'm not proud of it at all. I'm ashamed of it. But I'm a young, rebellious hippie. All right? Henry Sword from Corn Valley, old country fella. Hard-working, and you know, we were as different as daylight and dark.

Before the call of the gospel, he wouldn't have been my bosom buddy. We wouldn't be together. I wouldn't look forward to spending days with him. I wouldn't go to his house and sit, go to his filling station and sit and talk to him. But God broke down the enmity made of two, one flesh. He brought us together in Christ, in the ark. See, when God called those animals out of the world, they left their buddies, they left their former wild friends to come be with God's people in the ark.

Isn't that right, brother? They all changed. They're all one. They all eat the same food. No, there was no death. There was no bloodshed in the army. They all ate the same food. What was it? The lion ate straw. Wait a minute. Lions don't like straw. Horses eat straw. Lions, they changed its nature. That lion ate that straw and said, boy, this is the best food I've ever had. I thought that Dead meat was good. This is good.

There was a time, this gospel didn't appeal to me. Singing Rock of Ages cleft for me, that didn't appeal to me. I'd rather listen to the Rolling Stones. Not the Rock of Ages. But God. Who creates you? Does that mean the Rolling Stone doesn't appeal to me anymore? No, it doesn't. That's not what that means at all. There's an old man in me. Turn it on and he comes out. That means you turn it off. Don't feed that old fellow. There's a new man and I hear Rock of Ages.

Yes, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flow be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Boy, I know what that means. Now I can sing it from the heart. Before, I don't sing that. New creature. Food. What's your food? What do you feed on? What do you live on? The gospel. I've got to have it. I've got to be here. Every one of these animals, there's nowhere they wanted to be but in that ark.

The ark is also a picture of the church, the kingdom of God. Where would you find those that were saved? With God's people in that ark. Anybody outside the ark say? Wrath of God. Fellowship in the ark. You know in the ark there were no There were no chains, there were no bars, there were no cages. There was liberty, there was freedom in that ark. The lion wasn't chained up, he wasn't in a cage, they were all dwelling together in peace and harmony. Liberty in Christ, a new creature.

All one. Waiting, what are they all waiting for? What's everybody in that ark waiting for? What were they hoping for? A new world. A new world. Did it happen? Yes, it did. That ark rested. And there's going to be an end to this calling out of the people of God out of the world into the kingdom, into Christ. There's going to be an end of it someday. And we're in the latter harvest, it's obvious. A few, but it's all going to end.

Are you in crime? Do you want to be in crime? Yeah, that's a good sign. I see some of our young people coming here on their own on Wednesday night, not forced to do it. And I went, why? Why do you do that? Do you want to be in crime? The wannabes of the Lord, isn't it? Well, if you do, call on him, confess him, believe him. Those in Christ, those found in Christ in that day, and only those are gonna be saved from destruction, from wrath. Does that make sense? What does it mean to be in Christ? All right, let's sing a closing hymn.