This passage, you know, I would
never put one portion of God's word above another, but this
is a high peak in the mountain range of God's word, isn't it?
Passage of scripture that's been such a blessing to God's people
over the years. I don't know how many times I've
read this passage this week, preparing a message for it. I
read it again this morning and as Gary read it, It was just,
it was brand new. I mean, what a powerful passage
of scripture. I pray that the Lord will enable
me to preach it as it ought to be. I titled the lesson or the message
this morning, Five Important Questions. And Paul begins this
section of his epistle in verse 31 with a question. What should
we then say to these things? And what is these things that
Paul's talking about? Well, really it's everything
in this letter to the Roman church. Everything he's written so far
has been building up to these questions. But let's just stick
to what Paul has written in chapter eight. These things that he's
written are that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. These things
are that the believer is free from the reign of sin. Verse
two says, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from the law of sin and death. I'm free from
those things. He's written to us about the
nature, our nature, of total depravity. Verse seven, he says,
because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it's not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be, So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. That's our total depravity. But
then Paul tells us about the two natures, the nature of holiness
and the nature of total depravity that's in every believer. Verse
nine, he says, but you're not into flesh, but in the spirit,
if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man
have not the spirit of Christ, if a man says the spirit of God
doesn't dwell in me, that he's none of his. But if Christ be
in you, the body's dead because of sin, but the spirit is life
because of righteousness. And if Lord caused you to be
born again and given you that second nature, and you live with
those two natures, the nature of the flesh and the nature of
the spirit, you know exactly what Paul's talking about right
there. Then Paul tells us what a glorious truth. We couldn't
believe it if it wasn't in God's word. God's children are joint
heirs with Christ. Everything that Christ is the
heir of, you're an heir of, if you believe Christ. Verse 17. And if children, then heirs.
You're an heir of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that
you suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. And then Paul gives us the unbreakable
golden chain of salvation. And each one of these links of
salvation, it's all the work and doing and purpose of God.
Verse 28, Paul says, and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are 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 might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. This is the golden chain of salvation. God the Father foreknew a people.
He knew a people before they were born. He knew a people before
they created. He knew those people before God
created anything. He knew them and he elected to
save them from all of eternity. He knew them. Those people will
never hear the Lord say, depart from me, I never knew you. He's
known his people from eternity. And the father predetermined
that he would make all of those people just like his son. They're
going to be born in sin and flesh with the fallen nature of Adam.
But the father predetermined he's going to take those sinful
people and he's going to make them what they're not. He's going
to make those people just like his son. And in time, God, the
Holy Spirit is going to call all of those elect to faith in
Christ through the preaching of the gospel. When he calls,
you'll come, you'll come. And then Paul says, God has justified
all of his elect through the sacrifice of Christ, through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Paul also says this.
that God is also already glorified. Remember, all this that he's
talking about in verse 30 is in the past tense. God has already
glorified his people. As we sit here in the flesh this
morning, none of us think, I'm not glorified. I don't feel glorified. I don't look glorified. I'm still
in this sinful body of clay. But Paul talks about the glorification
of God's elect in the past tense. Because the purpose of God, the
will of God is just as sure as a past act of God. And if God
has predestinated you to be made like Christ and to be with him
in glory, then let me tell you, it's done. It's done. Listen
to what the scripture says. Right now, we're seated in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. We are glorified together in
him, in our forerunner. Now that's the golden unbreakable
chain of salvation. And it's unbreakable because
each one of those links of salvation will happen because God's gonna
see to it. God's the one that performs it. I don't have to do it. You don't
have to do it. You don't have to do something to make it effectual
for you. The Almighty will see to it. That can't get more sure
than that, can it? Can't get any more sure than
that. All right now. What does your soul say to those
glorious things? What does your soul say? How
confident should a person be who's trusting Christ? Well,
Paul answers that question with these five important questions.
Number one is this, if God be for us, verse 31, who can be
against us? Now God is for his people. God is always acting for the
eternal good of his people, for the best of his people. Even
when it's painful for a while to the flesh, it's still for
our best because God's for us. He's not against you. He's not
doing something to harm you and he's not against you, he's for
you. This word for is translated in other places in scripture,
God is for our sake, for the sake of his people. God is acting
on the behalf of his people. And God is not just a little
bit for his people. This is also translated exceeding
abundantly for. He's exceeding abundantly for
his people. God is for his people in everything
that he does. He's for his people in grace.
Do you know why God saves dead, hopeless, undeserving sinners?
By his grace. He's for us by his grace. God
is for his people in the sacrifice of Christ. Do you know why the
father slaughtered his son? He's for his people. He's for
his people. That's the only way that they
could be saved. God is so much for his people. He made his son suffer untold
agony, untold. This is, it's unimaginable. He
suffered that so that his elect could be saved in justice. Injustice,
the sacrifice of Christ honored and glorified every attribute
of the father so that sinners like you and me could be saved
in justice. Justice and truth. The father is so for his people. He made his son sin. He took
the sin of his people and made that sin to be his son's so that
his people could be made the righteousness of God in him.
Now, if God made you righteous because he made his son sin for
you, God's for you. I mean, exceeding abundantly
for you. The father is so for his people, he made his son suffer. Everything that the sin of his
people deserves. Just because the Savior never
committed any sin, the father didn't hold back. He didn't say,
well, he didn't really commit it. I'll make this stroke a little
lighter. No, he made every stroke heavy, exact justice for the
sin of his people. He gave his son everything the
sin of his people deserves so that his people, the souls of
his people will never suffer. Oh, God's for you. The father
is so for his people that he killed his son so that his people
would never die. That's for you, isn't it? And
God is also for his people in Providence. Could we, why is
it that we imagine Everybody here, I'm sure, did not disagree
with one thing I said about what the Father did to the Son at
Calvary, being for His people. We know God's for His people
and the salvation of His people. What He did, there's just no
human words for it, is there? Then why do we think when something
bad comes up in our day that we think God's not for me now? It's just the frailty of our
flesh. God is for his people in every event of our lives. Whether we think it's good or
bad, painful or joyous, God's for his people. It's for the
good of his people. Now we know that. Our problem
is really believing it when it sounds painful, but we know it.
Paul said we know it, verse 28. And we know. I'm not in doubt
about this. This is not something that happens
sometimes. We know. that all things, not
some things, but all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. God's for us. Now God's the Almighty,
isn't He? He's the Creator. He has all
power. He's in control of everything
in His creation. God has the sovereign power and
right to do what He will with everyone and everything in His
creation. Isn't that right? Nebuchadnezzar
learned it. Nebuchadnezzar told us that.
Well, if that God is for our good, He's for our eternal good,
He's for our salvation, He's for our glorification, then no
one who's against us can possibly prosper, can they? If God's for us, anybody else
who's against us, they're going to fail every single time. They're
all going to fail. Let Satan rage and roar. He'll never harm the soul of
one of God's children. Not one of them. Let men do what
they will. Let men do what they will. I
know they hate God and they're going to hate his people too.
And Lord may allow them to touch my body, but he's never going
to allow them to touch my soul. The worst that man can do to
us is send us to be with the Lord. If we really believe that
the day of our death in this earth is the best day of our
lives so that we can go be with the Lord, we'd be a whole lot
less concerned about what men are going to do to us one way.
And I tell you the enemy I got the most trouble with is my flesh. Let my flesh do everything it
can do trying to get me to leave Christ and trust in my flesh.
Let it do its best. God won't allow it. He won't
allow it. He's going to keep me by his
sovereign power over all things. You see, Almighty God must give
his people every blessing that you find in this book. He must
do it because God's for his people. He's completely for them and
nobody in heaven, earth, or hell has the power to stop them. How
do you like them apples? Can you trust him? I believe
I can trust that God he's for me. How about you? Then here's
a second question. Paul asked in verse 32, he that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? How can God not
give his people all things freely without you doing something to
deserve it? God has to. He has to give us every blessing
freely. Freely to us. Because Christ
paid the price for us. It wasn't free to the Savior,
was it? No, He paid the price. And God gives it to His people
freely. God freely forgives the sin of
His people. As bad as our sin makes us feel.
It don't make us feel as bad as it ought to. But as much as
it grieves us, the father freely forgives our sin, the sin of
his people. You know why? Because he delivered his own
son to satisfy justice for us by suffering and dying as a substitute
for his people. God freely forgives your sin
because Christ paid the price for you. The father made his
son sin for his elect, and then he delivered Christ. He delivered
him to the father's justice and the father spared him not. I
already touched on this. The father didn't spare his son
anything that sin deserves. He suffered until the debt was
paid. He suffered until that sin was
gone. Now justice is satisfied and
it will demand nothing else from you. So God forgives your sin
freely because Christ satisfied justice for you. God gives his
people righteousness freely. Not because you earned it, but
because Christ earned it for you. The father will declare
his people righteous because he made his son sin for his people
so he could make his people the righteousness of God in him.
The father is going to give it to his people freely. Righteousness. You think of that. Righteousness.
Because Christ earned it for his people. He earned it by his
perfect obedience and he earned it by his bloody sacrifice. And then God's people must be
freely justified. They must be made without sin
freely, without you doing anything to put your sin away. God's going
to justify his people. He's going to declare them to
be justified because the son shed his blood to justify them
and wash all their sin away. Now, justified is to be made
without sin. Not pretend, not someday, but
right now. Now, how is that possible? It's only by the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son cleanses us, washes away what? All sin. Now I don't have to be right
bright to understand this, but Earl, if all sin's gone, then
I don't have any. I'm justified by the blood of Christ. I didn't
do anything to deserve it. Christ earned it for his people.
And God gives it to us freely. Freely. And God's going to give
his people eternal life. He'll give them life and he's
going to do it freely without us doing anything to deserve
it. The only way we can deserve eternal life is to never sin
against God. Well, that boat's done sailed, hasn't it? Then
how can God give his people eternal life freely? Because Christ earned
it for us. Christ earned it by his death
as the substitute for his people. Christ died for his people. Then
his people must have eternal life. They must. You think about this now. The
Father's going to give you life freely and happily. He's not going to be grudgingly.
He's not going to hate to give it to you because of your sin.
He's going to give it to you freely and happily because Christ
earned it for you by His death as your substitute. The Father
is not going to withhold any good thing from His people. Not one, nothing. If I think, well, there's this
good thing that I want, if God's withholding it from me, then
it must not be for my good. It must not be for my good. He's
not going to withhold anything good from His people ever. You know why? The Father will
never let the sacrifice of His Son be wasted. He's going to give His people
all things freely. And all we are is His little
children just coming with an open hand. Aren't we? All right, here's the next question. Verse 33. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. I've
already touched on this. Christ justified his people.
He made them to have no sin. Well, a person that doesn't have
any sin, no charge could ever stick against them. No charge. And no charge can stick because
God justified his people. Now we may not understand that.
How is it that I can be in this sinful flesh where everything
I say, do, and think, and everything I want is sinful? How can I be
without sin? How can I be justified? Well,
I can't explain that, but here's what I know. God did it. God
said he justified his people. And if God's justified his people,
then it's done. And it's right and it's perfect,
even though I don't understand it. If Christ justified you by
his blood, you have no sin. You're perfectly sinless and
innocent. Now that's not going to stop
people from bringing charges against you. They're going to
bring charges, but not one of them will stick. Not one. Satan,
who's the accuser of the brethren, you can rest assured he's going
to bring charges against you. He's going to rage and he's going
to accuse and he's going to say things that are true about you
and me. And you know what God says? What's in? It's been put away
by the blood of Christ. No charge can stick. Other people
will accuse you. Well, just turn your back for
a minute, they will. But not one of those charges
will ever stick before God. Not one. And again, the problem
with my greatest enemy is me, my flesh. My flesh constantly
condemns me. My flesh is constantly saying,
You sinned again. You sinned again. You failed
again. You failed again. Where's your
faith? Where's your trust? Where's your peace in Christ?
You sinned again. You'd better get to work to make
that up now. You better get to work. My flesh is going to constantly
condemn me. But not one charge is going to
stay. Because Christ made His people not guilty. When He justified
them by His blood. Look back a couple pages at Romans
4. Romans 4, verse 25, who was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. Christ
was made sin for his people and he put that sin away, all of
it, by the blood of his sacrifice. The proof that he justified his
people is he was raised again three days later. He was raised
again because all the sin that was charged to him was gone. His people are justified and
God, the righteous judge will always give a right true verdict
of not guilty for all of his people. God, the judge will never
allow any of his people to be condemned. You know why? Because
nobody knows better than the judge that you're justified because
he's the one who justified you. Then there's no fear. There's
no fear of the charges to be brought against us. Right, number
four, who can condemn any of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
than is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. And all those same people
try to charge me with sin, they're going to try to condemn me. That's
why they're charging me. They want to see me condemned.
Satan, the accuser of the brethren, he's still going to accuse. He's
going to rage. He's going to accuse. He's going
to do everything he can do to get God to say, that one for
whom Christ died has sinned too much. They must be condemned.
If he can cause it to happen to one, the whole kingdom is
gone. All of God's glory is gone. And
again, God says, what sin? They cannot be condemned. They
cannot be punished. I already punished my son in
their place. Other people, oh, they're going
to want to see me condemned. Oh my goodness. But the father
is going to say, an innocent person, a justified person can't
be condemned. And my own flesh is going to
constantly accuse me. My own flesh is going to say,
you deserve to be, you deserve to be condemned. And the only
hope when our flesh condemns us, what's the only comfort?
What's the only assurance for your soul you can find? Is to
look away from yourself and look to Christ. Look at Isaiah chapter
50. I saw this the other day. I don't
think I've ever seen this in this light this clearly before.
If Christ died for you, you cannot be condemned. any more than Christ
can be condemned. Christ suffered, He died, He
rose again, He's sitting on the right hand of the Father right
now, ever living to make intercession for His people. In your wildest
imagination, can you ever think that the Savior could be accused
and charged and condemned because of any sin? Of course not. Of course not. If He died for
you, it's just as ridiculous to think you could be condemned.
Look here in Isaiah 50 verse 7. Now this is speaking of the
Savior. Verse 5 says, He had opened mine
ear. It's talking about the Savior being the willing bond slave.
I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back
to the smiters, my cheek to them that plucked off the hair. I
hid not my face from shame and spitting. No question in your
mind, this is a prophecy of the Savior, is it? Look here now
at verse 7. For the Lord God will help me,
therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is
near that justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him
come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help
me, Who is he that shall condemn me? They shall all wax old as
a garment. The moth shall eat them up. And
this prophecy of the Messiah, the Messiah says he can't be
condemned. He can't be condemned of any sin. Anybody who comes
against him, they're just going to fail. The moth is going to
eat them up while they're waiting for Christ to ever be condemned
because he already suffered and died. He already put away all
the sin of his people. Now, if Christ died for you,
you can't be condemned either. In order to condemn you, somebody
is going to have to condemn the Lord Jesus Christ first. And
that can't happen. That's how confident we can be
in Christ. We cannot be condemned. And God
the judge will never condemn his people because he'll never
condemn two people for the same sin. If Christ was already condemned
for you, the father will never condemn you. And the father could
never forget that the price has already been paid. He can never
forget it because who's sitting in his right hand? The sacrifice,
sitting there as he had been slain, sitting there with the
scars of that sacrifice in his body, in his hands, in his feet,
on his head, in his side, reminders, sacrifice has been made. The
blood has been shed. The price has been paid. And
there he sits at the father's right hand, ever living to make
intercession for us. And what he's always pleading
is his sacrifice. Then he's always accepted and
you're always accepted in him, if he died for you. None of God's elect can ever
be condemned, ever. Don't ever let anybody make you
afraid of condemnation and shame at the judgment seat of Christ.
It'll never happen. Never. And then here's the last
thing. Can anything make God stop loving
His people? Back in our text, Romans 8, verse
35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Should tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Well, the
obvious answer is no, because God's love is like Himself. It's
eternal. You know, God didn't hate his
people and then one day start loving his people. The death
of Christ did not make God start loving his people. You know,
I've heard it presented that way before. Well, you know, God
was angry with his people and then the blood of Christ was
shed. And suddenly now God is not angry with his people anymore.
He loves his people. The death of Christ didn't make
God love anyone. God loved his people from all
of eternity. He put those people in his son
to save because he loved them. The father made his son sin for
his people because he loved his people. He sent his son to this
earth as a man, not in order to make him love his people,
but because he already loved his people. And when Christ went
to the cross, it was because God already loved his people.
The father thrust the sword of justice into the heart of his
fellow, into the heart of his own son, because he loved his
people. The father demanded that his
son suffer and die because he loved his people. It's the only
way that they could be redeemed. The father raised his son from
the dead because he loved his people. The father glorified
his son. He said, I sit here on my right
hand. I make your enemies your footstool. You've entered now
as a forerunner into heaven because I love my people. You've entered
as the forerunner, and there's many more that's going to follow,
be made just like you. And the Father, whatever else
it is that happens here, however long this earth is spinning,
whatever events happen in it, the Father one day is going to
wrap this thing up. And when He does, He's going
to bring all of His people to be with Christ eternally. And He won't miss one. You know
why? Because He loves them. He loves
them. He loves them with an immeasurable
love. God saves his people. He calls
them by his grace. He feeds them with the word.
He shepherds them with the word. He comforts them with his word.
He causes them to grow in grace with his word because he loved
his people from eternity. God's always loved his people. Now, if God has ever loved you,
From eternity, from before the foundation of the world, nothing
you do in time will ever cause him to stop loving you. Nothing. Nothing will. Listen to these
verses of scripture. I'll just read them to you for
time's sake. Deuteronomy 23, verse five. The Lord thy God
turned the curse into a blessing unto thee. Why did he turn the
curse into a blessing? Because the Lord thy God loved
thee. Jeremiah 31 verse three. Yeah, I've loved thee with an
everlasting love. And that everlasting love means
something. Therefore, I did not leave you
alone. With loving kindness, have I
drawn thee. If you're there in Romans, look
back at page of Romans five, verse eight. But God commendeth his love toward
us, his eternal immeasurable love toward us, in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. See, that's what I was
telling you. Christ's death didn't make somebody God love somebody. Christ died for us because God
loved the sinful people. The Apostle John said in 1 John
3 verse 1, Behold, Behold, this is a miracle. Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we, us, we should
be called the sons of God. There is nothing in heaven or
earth or hell can stop God from loving his people, even my own
sinful self. How do I know that's true? Because
of what's written in the scriptures. Paul goes on, he says in verse
36, as it's written. So here's how we know this is
as it's written in the scriptures. For thy sake, we're killed all
the day long. We're as counted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things, we're more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I'm persuaded that neither
death Your life, your angels, your principalities, your powers,
your 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. That list is
pretty all-encompassing. Think it covers it, don't you
think? Then nothing can make God stop loving his people. I
want you to listen in closing to the words of this great song.
The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star. It reaches to the lowest hell.
Could we with ink the ocean fill? And were the skies of parchment
made? where every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe
by trade, to write the love of God above would drain the ocean
dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from
sky to sky, the love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless
and strong, it shall forevermore endure the saints' and angels'
song. And knowing that God loves a
sinner like me that way, It makes me amazed. Gary, I couldn't believe
it if it wasn't written here. It makes me amazed. It makes
me so happy. It makes me rest so peacefully
in Him. Who shall separate us from the
love of God, which is in, it's in, it's because of, it's in
Christ Jesus our Lord, not because of us. I hope that thrills your
heart. and makes you trust Christ. I
hope the Lord used that to give you faith in Christ and trust
Him and Him alone, because that's where it's all at. That's where
it's all at. I hope the Lord blessed that
to you. Let's bow together in prayer.