I recall when I first met Brother
Henry Mahan in 1969 in the fall of September, shortly after his
son Robbie was killed in Vietnam. And someone asked him how many
children he had. He said, I have three in Ashland
and one in the city of Foursquare. What a blessed, blessed confidence
God's people have of life everlasting in the city foursquare. Turn with me to Romans, the eighth
chapter, if you will. Sixteen years ago, long about
the middle of August, sixteen years ago, might have been a
little bit earlier, but it was sometime in August. I got a call
one Saturday afternoon late, and the man on the other end
said, this is Bob Duff. I live in Junction City. He said,
God has laid me flat on my back for the last, I think he said
six weeks, and I haven't been able to do anything except lay
here and read, watch you on television. He said, I've been teaching Sunday
school in these religious organizations around here for 25 years. And I've just discovered I don't
know the gospel. I wonder if it'd be all right
if I came out and listened to you, maybe God teach me the gospel. And Sunday morning, he's sitting
right there. And God taught him the gospel.
I baptized him just shortly after our conference, September 10th,
I think it was of that year. And now Bob is in the city Foursquare. I was talking to Brother Fred
Tuttle just before services. The wonderful thing, if believers,
the wonderful thing of everybody, believers and unbelievers, were
fully conscious as they were dying, But I thought so much
the last couple of weeks after speaking to Bob the last time
he was able to speak with me. He told me he picked up on the
bullets and pointed to it. Actually, he said, I read every
word. He said, I love you, and I pray for you. And I've thought
so much. I wonder what's going through
his mind about to leave this world. I hope. The Lord kept him cognizant
of things, even when he couldn't express himself. Now, you who've
never been in such a condition might think that sounds silly,
but I recall back a few years ago, my family and nurses and
doctors standing around talking as though I weren't in the room,
and they said, he won't remember any of this. And I couldn't say
anything. I couldn't express myself. Nobody's
talking to me. I couldn't initiate any kind
of conversation. But later on, I told him everything they said.
I remembered every word, fully aware of what was going on around
me. I hope God will give me that when I'm leaving this world.
And I hope God will give you that. But upon what basis do
you have hope with regard to eternity? What is your hope before
God? What is it? What is it? Is it something you have done?
Something you have experienced? If the Lord willing, I will go
to visit with my sister Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon,
who's dying with cancer. And she made a profession of
faith when she was a little girl. And if God will give me an opportunity,
if God will just open the door, I want to speak to her about
her soul. And I am dreadfully, dreadfully fearful that I won't
be able to talk her out of her experience and her own supposition
of righteousness, because she hasn't been as bad as some folks
have. What's your hope? I made a profession of faith
when I was a little girl. I made a profession of faith when I
was a little boy. If you got to go back to something you experienced
yesterday or 20 years ago, you don't have any hope. You don't
have any hope. What is your hope before God?
Is it your inward grace, your own works of righteousness? I
know I've got to believe in Jesus, but I've always treated folks
like I'd want to be treated. Doesn't that count for something?
No, that'll take you to hell. That'll take you to hell. What
is your hope? Is it your faithfulness, your
stirring of love for Christ, your devotion to Christ, your
faithfulness to the church, your reading your Bible, your good
works? If it is, you have no hope. No hope. What is your hope? The believer's hope. is the person
and work of God, our great God, Jesus Christ, the Lord, in the
accomplishment of redemption by His obedience and His death
as our substitute. The believer's hope is the hope
that's found only in the free grace of God in Jesus Christ,
the Lord. The believer's hope of faith
is a hope, a confident hope, a confident hope founded upon
the Word of God that reveals to us the person and work of
the triune God in the saving of our souls, in the person and
work of Jesus Christ, God's darling Son. This is the believer's hope. Some folks are even so foolish
as to imagine that they have a good hope because they have
the high opinion of other people. And they wouldn't give that up
for anything. Other people think I'm such a fine Christian. Other
folks think I'm such a good person. A good hope is a hope of grace. That's all. Not grace in works,
not grace in feelings, not grace in your goodness, not grace in
your mercy. A good hope is a good hope through
grace. And the hope is all together
outside ourselves. The Apostle Paul said, we have
an anchor for our soul, sure and steadfast, that enters into
that within the veil. Now, I'm not a sailor, and I
don't know much about sailing or boats or anything of that
kind, but I've got a little bit of sense when it comes to an
anchor. An anchor is useful only when it is outside that boat. That's the only time it's useful.
You're a sailor, is that correct? That anchor doesn't do anything
for that boat, no matter how big or little, as long as it's
in the boat. When the anchor is outside the
boat, it holds steady. Our anchor is not here. Our anchor is yonder in glory. Have you got that? Our anchor,
the anchor of our souls is Jesus Christ the Lord. Now the title
of my message this morning is five bold challenges of faith. We're gonna begin in Romans chapter
eight and verse 31 and go through the end of the chapter. In this
great, delightful, soul-cheering portion of Holy Scripture, God
the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to speak as a believer,
giving us an example of how believers have faith in God. Faith in Christ. Faith in the grace and purpose
and work of our great God. Faith. What is it? It is that
which believes God. It is that which believes God. Not believes what you think about
God or what somebody told you about God or your idea and opinion
of God. Faith! believes God as is revealed
in this word. And that faith, that faith is
a confident faith. It's a confident faith. Well,
Preacher, don't you ever have any trouble with assurance? I
do. I do. You know when I do? Every time
I start looking somewhere else for hope. Every time they come
when you were raised in a fine religious home, raised up believing
the things that we believe theologically anyway. But if your faith looks
back to those things, nothing, nothing. And then God brought
you up here and taught you the gospel. But if your faith looks
back to that experience, you got nothing. But I had such a
Great transforming experience. If your faith looks back to that,
you got nothing. Faith is confident faith only
as it looks out of self to Jesus Christ the Lord. Dare you, dare
you, dare you cast off all righteousness, all goodness, all that you think
makes you stand out from others, by which you hope to have acceptance
with God. Cast it all away as done, and
trust Christ alone. That I do. And casting away everything
else as done, I make these five challenges of faith, full assurance
of faith, the confident hope of grace. We'll begin in verse
31, where Paul raises this question. What shall we then say to these
things? What things? We're the sons of
God. In Christ, there is for God's
elect, no condemnation. We have a declaration here that
our great God, in his wise, infinitely good providence, works all things
together for good to them that love God, for them who are the
call according to his purpose. Our confidence and assurance
regarding the everlasting salvation of our souls doesn't depend on
ourselves, but rather upon our God. What shall we then say to
these things? Ah, let's look at what Paul says
here. Romans chapter 8 and verse 31. The apostle just breaks out
into this exalted praise, having established the great, great,
great truths of God's rich, free, abundant grace in Christ. He
seems not to be able to contain himself. Look at verse 31 again.
If God be for us, who can be against us? If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Turn to Psalm 118. I want you
to see this. The psalmist says in Psalm 56,
when I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This
I know, for God is for me. God is for me. The God of all
power, sovereign dominion, and eternal love is for us. for us
in His sovereign purpose of grace, as Paul described it in Romans
8, 29 and 30. He's for us in His marvelous
providence, as he described it in verse 28. God is for us in
the substitutionary sacrifice of His Son who died in our stead
at Calvary. He is for us. Let earth and hell
then unite in rage against us. All is well if God be for us. Look here in Psalm 118, verse
4. Let them now that fear the Lord
say, that His mercy endureth forever. I called upon the Lord
in distress. The Lord answered me and set
me in a large place. I was in a pit before. I was
in a prison before. But I called on the Lord in distress
and he instantly set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. You see these stupid bumper stickers. I hate religious slogans. I hate
them with a passion. Jesus is my co-pilot. God's on
my side. I'm on his side. But here the
psalmist says, the Lord is on my side. He takes my defense. He takes up my cause. That means
I will not fear. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. But don't you know how powerful
men are? Yes, I do. Don't you know how
powerful governments are? Yes, I know. I will not fear
what men can do unto me. The Lord taketh my part with
them that help me. Therefore shall I see my desire
upon them that hate me. It's better to trust in the Lord
than put confidence in man. It's better to trust in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes. Verse 14. The Lord is my strength
and song and has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of
the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is
exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live and
declare the works of the Lord. The first time I really read
that 17th verse was 46 years ago. I had been going through. long
series of treatments with cobalt chemotherapy. And the doctors
still thought that I might not survive, probably wouldn't survive
more than five years. And I had folks praying for me,
and I appreciated it. I had folks all over the world
praying for me. I'd get cards and letters and telephone calls,
folks praying for me. And I would hear folks pray in
my presence when I'd be places preaching with their own place
or own pulpit or other places and pray that God would heal
me. And I couldn't ask him to do so. I just couldn't ask him
to do it. I just couldn't ask him to heal
me of that disease because I didn't know what God's will is. And then one morning early, I
read this 118th Psalm. I shall not die, but live and
declare the works of the Lord that I knew The work was done
and asked God to heal me and never raised the question again.
Never raised it again. This is done. How can you be
sure? The Lord's on my side. The Lord's
on... He takes my part always and here
gives me his word. All right, here's the second
thing. What should we say to these things? I'll say this.
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Now, I never was much for studying
logic. I never cared much for it. And that is pretty obvious
to most folks, I'm sure. But here is great logic. This is heavenly logic. And heavenly
logic's the only kind that counts, after all. He despaired not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all. God, who gave his
son, Don Rennery for you and for Don Ford. Are you listening
here? Are you one of God's? Do you
trust Christ? God gave his son for you. God gave His Son for you. He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Josh, if God gave His Son for
you, what do you suppose He'll withhold from you? Well, that just makes good sense. The Lord God spared not his own
son. He spared him not the humiliation
of taking on himself our flesh. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. How that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. He spared not his son. A life
of constant sorrow. Of constant sorrow. We think sometimes we have trouble. You heard me just laugh, didn't
you? Find me somewhere in this book
where it's ever spoken of our Redeemer while he walked on this
earth that he laughed. The only joy I read of in this
book he ever had was the joy set before him, which is the
saving of our souls by the death of his person, by the sacrifice
of himself. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. Oh, what sorrows, the temptations
of Satan, the slanders of men. the unbelief of his own disciples,
the slanders of his own family, the reproaches of multitudes
constantly cast upon him, being looked upon by men as he was
walking in mercy, doing wondrous things for men, looked upon by
men as a glutton, a wine-bibber, One who's demon-possessed, an
evil man, a divider of men, a hard man, just constantly reproached,
constantly. Then forsaken by all of his disciples
in the hour of his greatest trial. Cursed and denied by his apostle
Peter. Betrayed by his familiar friend. And then the agony of Gethsemane,
the painful, shameful, ignominious death of the cross, being made
sin for us and abandoned as he suffered the wrath of God by
his own father upon the curse tree. So that he cries, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, would you tell me what might
I reasonably expect God now to withhold from me? Will He withhold something good
from me? Will He withhold from me anything I need now or tomorrow
or through the endless days of eternity? Will He withhold from
me any good thing? Oh, no. Oh, no. He gave his son
for me. Be assured my brother, my sister,
with his son, God freely gives all things. Christ is God's free grace gift
to his elect. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. And all the bounty of God in
Christ is ours. All that Jesus Christ is as the
God-man, our mediator, is ours now and forever. He so loved
us that he gave his son for us. And he who gave his son for us
will give his spirit to each one for whom his son died that
he may effectually apply to the chosen and the redeemed sinner
the precious blood of his darling son. All right, here's the third
thing. What shall we say to these things?
I'll say this. Who shall lay anything, verse
33, to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Many would. Many would. In our folly and
unbelief, we often would lay things against ourselves. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? No one can. No one can. The politicians, I guess the first
time I recall it happening was with President Clinton, and then
happened a lot since then. I won't say anything about current
folks. But the media would say it's like a Teflon skillet. Doesn't matter what you throw
at him, it doesn't stick. It just doesn't stick. It just won't
stick. Well, it doesn't matter what
you throw at Don Fortner. It just won't stick. It just
won't stick. It doesn't matter what you throw
at Mark Medley. It just won't stick. Not if you're
in Christ. Not before God. Who should lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Not even God. For it is God that justifieth."
Listen to this word from David. Nathan came to David and David
said, I've sinned. And Nathan said, the Lord hath
put away thy sin. And David went home and wrote
a psalm. He said, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity. It isn't marvelous. Look, preacher,
you don't know what I've done. I got a hunch. I got a pretty
good hunch. It may have involved adultery. Probably did. It may have involved
deceit and cunning. Likely did. It may have involved
misusing a trusted friend. It probably did. It may have
involved murder. It probably did. It probably
did. Anybody here not guilty of those things? Anybody here? I'm not talking about what I
can say. I'm talking about what goes on inside you. All of those things, David acknowledged
when he said, I have sinned against the Lord. And all of those things
are included when David wrote by divine inspiration, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Blessed is the
man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin. Notice the word justifieth. It is God that justifieth. It's
in the present tense. Not because justification is
continually being accomplished. Oh, no. Our justification was
accomplished at Calvary. But why does it say it is God
that justifieth? Because justification is continually
experienced by God's people as we continually acknowledge and
confess our sin to our God. If we confess our sin, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sin, Open up your heart before God. God is faithful. Faithful to
his word, faithful to his son, faithful to his covenant, and
just. Just because God accepted the
sacrifice of his son, he's just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All right, here's the fourth
thing. Trust in Christ. Believe in God. Having God as
my father, Christ as my savior, God the Holy Spirit as my comforter,
I issue this confident challenge, verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? Who is he that condemneth? If you condemn yourself, nobody
can. Who is he that condemneth? Nobody
can. Nobody can. Not if Christ died
for me. Look what it says. It is Christ
that died. It is Christ that died. Now,
there is not a stronger statement in all of this book with regard
to particular effectual redemption than what we have right here
in verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. And yet
we're told by the religious world, by preachers all over the country,
all over the world, Fundamental and liberal, conservative and
liberal, Baptist and Papist and Pentecostal and every other kind.
Preachers tell us all the time, Christ died for everybody. If
Christ died for everybody, then nobody's condemned. Or this word
doesn't mean a thing. This word doesn't mean a thing.
Or if Christ died for everybody and somebody is condemned, this
word still doesn't mean a thing because his death doesn't mean
anything. Who is he that condemneth? If Jesus Christ died in your
stead, Bill Raleigh, you can't go to hell. You can't go to hell. It cannot
happen. Not as long as God sits on his
throne, it cannot happen. It is Christ that died. He died
bearing all the weight of my sin, all the guilt of my soul,
all the curse of God's holy law against me, all the wrath, all
the fury, all the justice of God. Christ absorbed it all. So that God says to Jacob, fury
is not in me. Not only did he die, yea rather
that is risen again. Christ died for our sins, according
to the scriptures, and rose again the third day, according to the
scriptures. He went into the grave as a sacrifice
made for sin, burying our sin in his own body on the tree,
until at last he said, it's finished, and sin was purged away with
his blood. And three days later, he comes out of the grave justified. Justified. And yonder he sits,
Peter tells us, freed from sin. But Peter tells us more than
that. He tells us in chapter four, verse two, that we, for
whom he died, are freed from sin because he's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God. There he is, seated in
heaven. This man, when he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of
the majesty on high. He sat down because there's nothing
else to be done. He sat down because all His work
was over. He sat down because He had finished
all that the Messiah came to do, all that Messiah was appointed
to do, all that Messiah swore to do as our covenant surety.
Look at the next line. Who also maketh intercession
for us. Jesus Christ God in human flesh,
the son of God, the object of his father's delight and love,
seated in the heavens, makes intercession for us, maketh,
continually, constantly intercedes for us. We have a marvelous picture
of it in Zechariah chapter three. Joshua, the high priest, has
been in Babylon. and he's taken a Babylonian wife
and he stands before the Lord in filthy garments. The filthy
garments representing our corruption, our depravity, our sin, all the
actions of our lives and all that we are by nature. All that
Joshua symbolized having been in Babylon. That's what we are,
just corruption and sin. And Satan arose to accuse him. And the angel of the Lord stood
by. And he didn't raise any railing
accusation. He said, the Lord rebuked thee,
O Satan. He just stood by. He just stood
by. He just stood by. Strip away
his filthy garments. Put a priestly minor holiness
to the Lord on his head. And put a priestly robe on him,
perfect righteousness. The angel of the Lord stood by
and he said, now watch this, watch this. I'm telling you something.
I'm going to take away all your iniquity in one day. That's what
Christ did as our substitute. And now he makes intercession
for us. I don't know what to make of
the intercession. We're not told anything he says. We're not told anything he does
except he maketh intercession for us, pleading constantly by
the merit of his blood and the perfection of his righteousness,
the non-imputation of sin to us. and the perfect righteousness
of God himself in his son as ours, so that we stand continually
accepted in the beloved. John said, my little children,
these things write out unto you that you sin not. Children of God don't sin. Don't ever make an excuse for
sin. Now, make an excuse for mine,
but not yours. Make an excuse for your brothers,
but not yours. By all means, do everything you
can to cover up the other man's evil. Oh, how prone we are to uncover
Noah's nakedness. Eventually, that's abominable.
That's abominable. That's how Ham behaves. That's
how the cursed folks behave. Believers cover it up. Well, just being honest, I can
do without your honesty. You ain't being too honest. You're
not talking about yourself. Just cover it up! Just cover it up! I wouldn't do that. That's not
right. What's not right about it? Love covers a multitude of
sins. Is that what the book says? Is
that what it says? That's what it says. Just cover
it up. Well, don't talk about it then. Don't talk about it.
Now, your own sin, that's another thing. That's another thing.
We confess our sin. We confess our sin. And if we
confess our sin, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.
John said, now these things have I written to you that you sin
not. Don't sin. Don't sin. But preacher, you know we sin
in everything we do. I know, but you oughtn't to. And this is
our goal. Don't sin. Don't sin. Don't dishonor
God. Don't do harm to others. Don't
sin. Don't sin. And if any man sin, if any man
sin, that is to say, Mother Lindsay, when you do sin, when you do
sin, cause you do, I just told Lindsey, I hope you profit as
much by his exposition of Exodus 3 this morning as I did. Great
job. Full of sin. Full of sin. Full
of sin. Great job. But what sin did you
sin? I didn't, but I guarantee he
did. Guarantee he did. Full of sin. If any man sin,
Then you're going to have to spend some time on probation,
and we'll let you know when you get off. If any man sin, we have, immediately
have, constantly have an advocate with the Father, one to stand
by our side and plead our cause at the throne of God. We have
an advocate with the Father. and the Father will hear him. His name is Jesus, our Savior. The Christ, that is the anointed
one of God, the Messiah sent of God to save his people from
their sins. The righteous, that one who has
fulfilled righteousness and put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself, and he is the propitiation for our sins. He has satisfied
justice for our sins. So the justice seeks nothing
more and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. That
is not just for you who hear this word, not just for you who
read this word, but for any sinner found anywhere in the world who
believes him. Oh, I wonder if you could take
your place there. By God, I take my place, my right
place before you. I am a sinner. Inside out, nothing
but sin. Top to bottom, nothing but sin. And you've said in your word,
you've said in your word, if you'll confess my sin, you're
faithful and just to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from
all unrighteousness. I believe you. I believe you. Do you? Do you dare cast away
every hope but Christ? Do you dare cast away every confidence
but Him? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and this blessedness is yours. Here's the fifth thing. Look at verse 35. Who shall lay
anything, or who shall separate us from the love of Christ? No
power, no being, no act of men, no act of Satan, no act of the
demons of hell can separate us from the Savior's love. Look
what it says, 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 counted as sheep
for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. When I was growing up, I was
a scrapper, like a lot of you boys. If you're the biggest boy
in the class or the smallest boy in the class, first week
of school, you got to fight. That was just way of life. First
week of school, smallest boy, somebody going to whip him, and
the biggest boy, somebody going to try to whip him. Every year,
first week of school. And I didn't often come out on
the losing side of things. You always lose because you're
going to get hurt. I didn't often come out hurt worse. But I tell
you what I never did. I never whipped a fella so thoroughly
that I was confident he wouldn't give it another shot. Not even
once. Not even once. And some did.
Some did. Christ has made us more than
conquerors. What can that mean? He has so
thoroughly He has so thoroughly, he has so thoroughly conquered
Satan, crushed his head beneath his feet that he shall never
rise again. And none can separate us from
the love of Christ. We're more than conquerors through
him that loved us, for I am persuaded, I am persuaded, I stand absolutely
convinced of this, 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." That takes in everything. That takes in everything. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter
14. I've got to share this with you. Just before I started working
yesterday morning, Shelby reminded me of this passage of scripture.
Jeremiah chapter 14. You've all heard about John Jasper,
the black preacher up around Richmond, Virginia, back in the
1800s. And Jasper was well, well known,
both in the white community and black community. Somebody asked
him one day, said, John, what if after all, You should get
to the end and you lose your faith and die and go to hell. He said, that ain't going to
happen. How can you be sure, John? He said, because the Lord's
got more to lose than I do. Old John Jasper lose his soul,
but the Lord lose his glory, because his glory is wrapped
up in the saving of his people. His glory is wrapped up in the
saving of his people. This is his word. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Merle Hart, do
you believe on the Lord Jesus? If you go to hell believing him,
God's glory is gone. God's glory is gone. Let's see
if I can make good on that. Jeremiah chapter 14, verse 21,
verse 20. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers,
for we've sinned against thee. Lord, we're wicked. We come from wicked ancestry,
and both our fathers and us, we've sinned against thee. Do
not abhor us for thy namesake. Do not disgrace the throne of
thy glory. Remember, break not thy covenant
with us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Nothing in heaven, nothing in
earth, nothing in hell, nothing in time, nothing in eternity. because the purpose of God cannot
be altered. The blood of Christ cannot be
nullified. The seal of the Spirit cannot
be broken. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them. They follow me. I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, no matter what. Amen.