I said to you last Friday night,
I was gonna be preaching to you from one of my favorite texts
of scripture, and I qualified that by telling you that my favorite
text is usually the one that's in front of me. Well, here's
my favorite text today, Romans chapter eight, Romans the eighth
chapter. I want, as God the Holy Spirit
will enable me, to talk to you for a little bit about the love
of Christ, the love of Christ. What a subject, the love of Christ. God help me, God help me to speak for your
soul's benefit in the knowledge of the love of Christ. and to
say nothing to diminish or cover or hide in any way the wonder
of the love of Christ. Let's read about it in Romans
8, verses 31 through 39. Romans 8, 31. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? 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? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 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. 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're accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 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
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Apostle asked
who shall separate us from the love of Christ and then he asserts
with emphatic dogmatism that nothing in heaven or Nothing
in earth, nothing in hell, nothing in time, nothing in eternity
shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. What a blessed word of assurance. Paul is writing by inspiration,
but the writers of Holy Scripture, as they wrote by inspiration,
were used of God and used of God as individual men. As Paul
was inspired of God the Holy Spirit to write these words,
it was not just a mechanical thing that he's, what would you
have me say next? No, no, no. It was that which
he himself was moved of God to write. And it seems to be stretching
for words to describe the blessed security that belongs to all
who are loved of Christ. Loved of Christ, we have no reason
to fear anything. Loved of Christ, we have no reason
to lament anything. Loved of Christ, we have no reason
to grumble and murmur and complain about anything. Loved of Christ,
we have no reason to covet anything. Oh, what blessed, blessed, blessed
security is that which belongs to those who know the love of
Christ. Paul had been talking to us about
our struggles and conflicts in this world. The fact is once
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, once you confess him
and begin to follow him, you will begin to suffer many things
and your sufferings will continue so long as you live in this world. The believer's life, is a constant
struggle, a constant warfare with the world, the flesh, and
the devil. It is not always pleasant and
joyful. When you come to follow Christ,
as Brother Lindsay dealt with this morning in the opening of
his study in Exodus 4, you take up your cross. And day by day, as you follow
him, you take up your cross. That is, you deliberately choose
the path that will cause you difficulty. The believer's life
in this world is a relentless life of warfare, conflict, and
struggle. The struggle against the temptations
of Satan, the allurements of the world, the trials of life,
and more than anything else, with ourselves, with our flesh. our sin, our inward corruption,
our own depravity. Paul's been telling us about
these things. He cried at the end of chapter seven, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the bondage of this death?
But suddenly he seems to just shake himself. And he, from these
distressing realities of every believer's life, he has his eyes
fixed upon the world to come. And it says, I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
to the glory that shall be revealed in us. His eye of faith catches
the vision of the believer's security in the love of Christ. It's as though he were saying
to us, why should we be cast down? Why should we be distressed
by these trials and troubled by these things? They do us no
harm. After all, who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? We're more than conquerors through
him that loved us. Throughout this section of scripture,
Paul is driving this one blessed truth home to our hearts. And
this is the thing I want to set before you in this message. Though
tempted and tried, from without and from within, God's elect
are safe secure in Christ. God's elect are safe and secure
in the love of Christ. The Apostle Paul, I've already
called your attention to it several times, let's look at it again.
He shows us our security as the people of God in the love of
Christ by raising and answering remarkable questions. Standing
as it were upon the highest mountain of faith, Paul looks up to the
very angels of God. And he looks out at God's holy
law. He looks down upon earthly trials
and the demons of hell. He looks within at his own corrupt,
depraved, sinful heart and says, if God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, God our God. If he indeed is God, If he has
the government of all things at his disposal, if he rules
all things, if he always does his pleasure, if God be for us,
who can be against us? Now, the weak, pathetic God of
this modern religious world, who really controls nothing,
is not worthy of trust. But our God, Mark, is worthy
of implicit, complete trust. He's God indeed. If God be for
us, who can be against us? Paul raises this challenge in
the face of every imaginable trial, in the face of every imaginable
temptation, in the face of every spiritual foe. And even when
we raise this challenge in the face of the old serpent himself,
we raise the challenge with confidence because God is for us. in all His saving providence.
In all the sovereign work of providence, God works all things
for us. He's for us. God is for us in
all His saving purpose. He chose us, He predestined us,
He redeemed us, He called us, He justified us, He saved us,
and He keeps us. Paul speaks in this eighth chapter,
verses 28, 29, and 30, and gives us a golden link, a golden chain
of grace that every link is connected together and cannot be broken.
He tells us plainly that all that God knew in eternal love,
he predestined to be like Christ. All that he predestined to be
like Christ, he called. All he called, he justified.
And all he justified, he glorified. So that not one of God's elect
can by any means perish. What shall we then say to these
things? What can we say in addition to
that? Nothing. What can we say because these
things? Well, we can say just this, if
God be for us, who can be against us? Look at verse 32. God is
for us in the substitutionary sacrifice of his son. Here is
the amazing love of God towards sinners. Here is the super abundance
of God's mercy and the wonder of his grace toward us. In order
that he might save us, God spared not his own darling son. He spared him nothing. Nothing
agreed upon in covenant grace. He spared him nothing of the
shame of our nature. He spared him nothing of the
strict demands of his law and justice. He spared him nothing
of his infinite wrath. But in love, grace, and mercy,
God spares us. because he spared not his own
son. The Holy Lord God delivered up
his darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as a substitute to die
in our stead. He delivered him up in the covenant
of grace from eternity. He delivered him up in the incarnation. He delivered him up into the
hands of wicked men. He delivered him up into the
hands of the law. Christ was delivered up for us
all, all the host of God's elect. He died just as fully, just as
completely for one as he did for all the others. That means
there are no degrees in his love, no degrees in his atoning sacrifice. He died as much for Don Ranieri
as he did for Don Fortner. He loved Bob Biestas as much
as he does Don Fortner. There are no degrees to his love,
no degrees to his sacrifice. God will most assuredly then
give all his elect, all that Christ purchased for them at
Calvary as our substitute. Justice demands it. But others,
if they dare, and most everybody does, scoff and mock at the efficacy
of our Savior's blood. As for me, I rejoice in this
glorious foundation doctrine of the gospel. Our Redeemer is
an effectual Redeemer. If He's not an effectual Redeemer,
He is no Redeemer at all. The blessed old gospel doctrine
of particular effectual redemption is the sweetest joy of my soul.
Christ is God. All that he intended to redeem
are redeemed. All that he purchased with his
blood are sure for heaven. If Christ died for me in my place,
it is not possible for me to die. Christ didn't die in vain. This is what the Holy Ghost tells
us in verse 32. Every soul for whom Christ died,
every soul for whom Christ died shall possess everything Christ
purchased for him. shall have all the fullness of
God's grace and of God's eternal glory. Believing as I do in the
full satisfaction of Christ is my substitute. I'm not reluctant
to join Paul in raising this next question. Verse 33, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Paul looks up
to the holy angels. He looks down to the accusing
devils. He looks around at the scoffing
world. He looks into his own conscience
and he says, who can accuse one of those for whom God has sent
his son? Who can accuse one of those chosen
of God? Who can accuse one of those redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ? It is God who justifies. The holy God has declared that
His elect people, His redeemed ones are perfectly clean, righteous,
freed from all sin. I have been working this morning
on this message, sitting here trying to prepare to preach to
you. And all day yesterday working on the messages for today. overwhelming sense of my own
sin, an overwhelming sense of my own
depravity, an overwhelming sense of my own filth and corruption. But God declares, in the teeth of all that I feel
and experience right now. God declares I'm clean. God declares I'm clean. Empty,
dead, hard, cold, vile as I know I am by nature. God declares
I'm clean. That means, Alan, I'm clean.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies. God will not charge his elect
with sin. God not only will not charge
us with sin, he will hear no accusation against any redeemed
sinner. Not now, not in the judgment
day, not in eternity. Those whom the father has justified
through the blood and righteousness of his son shall never be charged
with sin. Never held accountable for any
transgression. That's what it means not to be
charged with sin. Never held accountable for any transgression. And they shall never suffer for
their iniquities. But pastor, Don't you think God
punishes us for our sins? No, no. Not yesterday, not today,
not tomorrow, not forever. He punished our sins in our substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and found full satisfaction for sin. He corrects us for sin in his
divine fatherly chastisement because of his love, but he never
punishes for sin. Resting in Christ alone as my
Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord, my righteousness, I say to the
angels of heaven, to the inhabitants of earth, and to the fiends of
hell, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, verse
34. It is as much as if Paul had said, since Christ has paid
the full penalty of sin in the place of his people, every righteous
basis of judgment must declare, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. I call you, right where you are
right now, believe on the Son of God, and there's no condemnation to
you. Not for anything past, not for anything present, not for
anything to come. Not for anything done by you,
not for anything in you. Not for anything you perform,
not for anything you are, no condemnation. You're in Christ. You're in Christ. Believe on
the Son of God and go home freed forever from condemnation. Who
shall condemn to endless flames? The chosen people of our God.
Since in the book of life, their names are clearly writ in Jesus'
blood. He for the sins of all the elect
hath a complete atonement made and justice never can expect
that the same debt should twice be paid. No court in the earth
that is just, no court of justice in all the world requires anyone
to pay twice for the same offense. God charged all our offenses
upon his son who was made the offense for us and he satisfied
all the claims of justice. God in justice cannot charge
us for that for which he punished his son. We rest our souls upon
the glorious work and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our freedom from the fear of condemnation It doesn't rest
in the measure of our repentance or the measure of our faith or
even the reality of our repentance or the reality of our faith.
It is not our holiness. It is not our obedience to the
law. It is not our zeal or our good works. It is not our self-denial
that gives us peace with God. Rather, our freedom from the
fear of condemnation is the fact that Christ died in our stead. Now, look at this 34th verse.
Paul gives us here four reasons for the eternal security of God's
elect. Four facts that guarantee that
not one person who believes on the Lord Jesus shall perish.
First, since Christ died in our stead, we cannot be condemned. It is Christ, the Son of God
who died. If Christ died for me, I can't
die. If Christ suffered for me, I
can't suffer. If Christ satisfied for me, I
cannot be compelled to make satisfaction. If Christ endured the penalty
of the law for me, I cannot suffer the penalty of the law. It is
Christ that died. I firmly believe there is not
a single sin left in God's book against any believer. It is not
possible that any particle of punishment shall ever be exacted
from any believing soul because Christ has been punished to the
full extent of divine justice for us. Second, we shall never
be condemned because Christ has risen from the dead. If Christ
had not risen from the dead, he would have been proved an
imposter. Now people debate and argue about the reality of the
resurrection. If Jesus Christ had not been raised from the
dead, everything he said, everything he claimed, everything he said
he did would prove to be a lie. He began his miracles declaring
in three days, I'll destroy this temple and in three days, I'll
raise it up again. Had he not done so, he would
have been proved an imposter. Our Lord Jesus, inasmuch as he
is risen from the dead, gives us reason to boldly defy the
possibility of condemnation for any believer. The resurrection
of Christ is God's public testimony that he's accepted Christ's satisfaction,
that he's accepted Christ's atoning sacrifice, that he's accepted
all that Christ did for us. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. So it is now possible for God
to be just and justify the ungodly. Is it then possible for God to
deny his own testimony and reverse his own decree, alter his own
law? Oh, no. Christ died and rose
again. That means we cannot be condemned
again. God's elect shall never be condemned
because at this moment, Jesus Christ, our substitute, is sitting
at the right hand of God. seated in the heavens. What does
that posture imply? Somebody said, well, he never
seen standing. He was standing to receive Stephen.
This is a picture of something. He is our high priest, our mediator,
our surety. He sat down because his work
was finished. He sat down because his atonement
was accepted. He sat down because all his redeemed
are safe. He sat down and claimed heaven's
glory as our forerunner. He shall therefore see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. And then fourth,
we have no fear of any of God's elect ever being punished for
sin. because Christ, our priest, our
king, intercedes for us. The Son of God intercedes for
me. If so, I'm perfectly safe. I need no more than this to secure
my soul. God cannot reject those for whom
his Son prays without rejecting his Son. Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears, the bleeding sacrifice in thy behalf
appears. Before the throne my surety stands,
my name is written in his hands. The father hears him pray, his
dear anointed one, he cannot turn away the presence of his
son. Here is one great high priest
who is worthy of your faith and trust. in our modern day have access
to all kinds of communication and I find it sad and strange
in a sense. that almost every representation
of religion that's respectable on television, almost everyone. Sometimes you do have a picture
of a preacher, but it's an Elmer Gantry. Sometimes you do have
a picture of some kind of a faith healer or somebody selling tonics,
you know, for curing disease. But almost every respectable
representation of any kind of religious leader is either a
rabbi or a Roman Catholic priest. and you see me and Gordon confessing
to their priest. Shelby and I were watching an
old wagon train last night, and the little Mexican boy thought
he was gonna die, and he got to see a priest, got to see a
priest. Oh, I've got to see a priest. I've got to purge my soul. You
can't trust a priest. He's just a sinful man. And the
sacrifice he offers is a blasphemous sacrifice. God doesn't accept
him, and he won't accept you because of him, but there is
a priest you can trust. One priest. Jesus Christ, our
high priest, makes intercession for us at the right hand of God,
and this priest, with his sacrifice, is accepted of God in our stead. so that God Almighty has given
us a priest who is able to save to the uttermost all who come
to God by him. Come to God by that priest seated
yonder in heaven at God's right hand and God cannot refuse you. God will not refuse you. Here's the fourth of Paul's bold
questions. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Look over the world. All the things that distress
you, all the temptations and trials and heartaches, all that
vexes your soul within, Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Nothing. No one. Nothing. No one. Oh, my friends,
I want you to see this. Believers are safe in the arms
of Christ, more than conquerors through him that loved us. I
want you to know the love of Christ. That love which is revealed
in the redemption and full salvation of our souls. Truly, this is
love that passes knowledge. It's like the blue sky into which
you may see very clearly, but you can never see really its
vastness. You can never really comprehend
it. It's like the deep, deep sea
into which you look. and look with wonder, but you
just can't see the bottom. The love of Christ is seen in
many places, but the greatest, fullest, clearest revelation,
the greatest, fullest, clearest revelation of the love of Christ
is in His sacrifice, in His dying for us at Calvary. Herein is
love. Not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our
sins. What's this tell us? It tells
us that there is a people in this world who are loved by the
son of God. There is a people in this world
who are loved by the son of God. Our text is talking about that
special love which our Lord Jesus has for all his elect. That love which secures the everlasting
salvation of his people. Now, I know there are people
who want to talk about general love and general grace and general
benevolence and all that general stuff. Let me tell you what good
general stuff is. None. General stuff. If God loves everybody,
that means the love of God doesn't mean anything to anybody. If
Christ loves everybody, what difference does that make? If
Christ loves everybody, and some are saved and some are lost,
what difference does it make that he loved them? Oh, the word
of God never speaks in that way. If Christ loved all men, he would
surely pray for all men. But it tells us twice in John
17, I pray not for the world. If he loved all men, he would
surely have shed his blood for and redeemed all men, but he
didn't. He said, I give my life for the
sheep. If Christ loved all men, he would surely reveal the gospel
to all men, but he doesn't. On one occasion, Paul said, I
believe I'll go over here to New York City and preach the
gospel. And the Holy Ghost said, no, you can't go there. Go down
to the Gulf Shores in Louisiana and preach the gospel. Exactly
what he said. He hides the gospel from some
and reveals it to others. If Christ loved all men, he would
surely save all men. If he loved all men, surely he
wouldn't send anybody to hell. Surely not. So well, the justice of God demands
that, and you're right. You're right, it does. But if I loved somebody, if I loved
somebody, if I loved him, nothing could compel me to send him to
hell. Nothing could. Let me see if I can illustrate
it. Our daughter growing up, I often
caused her pain on her backside. But never, never, never just
to punish her. Never. Meryl Hart, I wouldn't
injure that girl for anything in this world if it wouldn't
help her. You got that? And I ain't nothing
like God. I ain't nothing like God. If
Christ loved everybody, nobody'd go to hell. The word of God nowhere
speaks of God's love being in a universal sense, something
given to everybody or exercised toward everybody in the world.
In fact, you have no reason to imagine that God loves you until
you're united to Christ by faith. People, God loves you and has
a wonderful plan for your life. Wouldn't that have been insane
if you'd seen a bumper sticker like that on the back of the
Ark? That'd be insane. This notion
of universal love is insane. The blessed truth of our text
is that there are some people in this world who are loved of
Christ. When did this love begin? He
said, I've loved you with an everlasting love. It began before
ever angel loved angel or man loved man. It began before ever
time was, before the world was, I loved you. Therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn you. Who is this one who loves us?
He is God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The great lover of our
souls is himself God. He loves me, though all knowledge
is his. He knows everything about me. The one time in scripture, we
see a picture of God getting in a hurry. The prodigal son
is coming home. And when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him and loved him, had compassion on him. Compassion, that's love that
moves you. His father saw him and had compassion
on him and he ran. and fell on his neck and kissed
him. His love for us is love knowing
everything about us. He loves us still. The father
knew where his son had been. The father knew what his son
had done. The father knew what was in his
son. The father knew how corrupt his
son had been. And the father knew what he was
gonna do for his son. The father knew what he would
make of his son, so he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Who does the Son of God love? Us. Us. Hmm. In your mind's eye, I often
say to you, look at one another, don't do that, don't do that.
In your mind's eye, look at yourself right now in a mirror. Honestly,
this is what God loves. This is what God loves, sinners. The son of God loved me and gave
himself for me. Had He loved one glorious as
Himself, we wouldn't be surprised. Had He loved the holy angels
who reflect His holiness, we wouldn't wonder. Had he even
loved the lovely, the good, the righteous among the sons of men,
the kind, the general, the moral, the rich, the good, the great,
the noble, we wouldn't be greatly amazed. But oh, my soul, he loves
me. The poorest, the vilest, guiltiest,
most sinful wretches that crawl upon the earth are the objects
of his love. Let me give you some illustrations.
Manasseh was a man who murdered his own children in the worship of a false god. But he was the object of the
Savior's love. Zacchaeus was a gray-haired old man who in
his old age was still a swindler. He was the object of the Savior's
love. There was a woman named Rahab the harlot, a woman named
Mary Magdalene, out of whom the Lord cast seven devils. There
was a lascivious Samaritan woman who'd had five husbands. Actually, she just shacked up
with the last one. They were the objects of the Savior's love,
the dying thief. who cursed and railed upon the
Savior as he was dying was the object to the Savior's love.
Saul of Tarsus, that man who spent his life trying to rid
the world of the name of Jesus Christ, putting to death his
people and putting them in prison, he was the object to the Savior's
love. Those lascivious Corinthians, Oh, how clearly God describes
them for us, objects of the Savior's love. You and I, fornicators,
adulterers, lascivious, thieves, murderers, rioters. Because with
the objects of His love are washed and sanctified and justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
We were as black as hell, when he looked upon us. Under the wrath and curse of
God by nature, yet he loved us and said, I will die for them.
Turn back to a text of scripture that I've just been amazed at
this week. Sometimes you read a passage
and God just blesses your soul with it, Isaiah 38. This is amazing love. He that was so great, so lovely,
so pure, so righteous, loved us, chose us, died for us, and
redeemed us. Many women who are black as hell
and filthy with sin. Look at Isaiah 38, 17. Behold, for peace I had great
bitterness. But thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption. Thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption. For thou has cast
my sins, all my sins behind thy back. What did this love cost the Lord
Jesus? When Jacob loved Rachel, he served
seven years to have her. He bore the summer's heat and
the winter's cold. But when Christ loved us, he
bore the hot wrath of God and the winter blast of his father's
anger. Jonathan loved David with love
greater than a man has for a woman. And when he did, he suffered
the cruel anger of Saul, his father. But because Christ loved
us, he bore the wrath of God poured out upon him. It was love for us that made
him leave the happy surroundings of heaven's glory. It was love
for us that made him assume our nature. It was love for us that
drove him into the wilderness of temptation. It was love for
our souls that made him the man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief. It was love for us that caused our Savior to set his
face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem at the time of the
sacrifice. It was love for us that took
him down in the dark Gethsemane and love for us that nailed him
upon the curse tree. Oh, come, come, come again to
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. See the son of God bruised, beaten,
stripped, mocked, bleeding and dying. Hear him as he cries,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And there you'll
see the love of Christ for us. It cost him his glory. It cost
him his honor. It cost him his holiness. It
cost him his life. It cost him his all because he
loved us. He took our sins and made them
his own. Well might we sing as we did
earlier. Would to God we could sing with
rapturous heart and soul. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me. a sinner
condemned unclean. Christ showed his love for us
by taking our sin upon himself and dying in our place. Let me
give you this and I'll wrap this up. He didn't have to die. Our Lord
Jesus died voluntarily. We had no claims upon him. There
was no appeal made for him to come here and die for us. He
knew that if he laid down his life for sinners, he would get
no love in return from those for whom he died, except he created. He died by the hands of men,
as well as for the sakes of men. He died for men who wished that
he should be made to die. And in dying for us, He took
upon himself the awful mass of shame and dishonor and an infinite,
intimate relation to sin. He was made sin for us. Oh, my soul, can you get hold
of this blessed fact? Christ loves sinners. Christ died for sinners. Christ lives in heaven to save
sinners. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ, who's done so much, who's given so much for
us, who lives for us, who rules for us? who exercises all his
Godhead and all his manhood for the people who are the objects
of his love. Oh, God help you. God help you.
God help you. Oh, God help you. Come to Christ. Believe him. and go home today
rejoicing in the love of Christ. Amen.