I'd like for you to turn with
me this morning to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 begins with
the good news of gospel truth as it's revealed in the hearts
of chosen sinners. I wondered. I used to wonder
when I looked and listened to adults. I was just a young kid,
10, 11 years old, and I would look and wonder at these adults
in the church and wonder what it was that inspired them so. What it was that worked in their
hearts and made them feel the way they felt and say the things
they said and talk about this salvation and talk about the
glory of God. Well, this tells us what the
good news of this gospel truth is when it's revealed in the
hearts of chosen sinners. Listen to this. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit, for the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death." Now, if you want to know what these two laws
are, you are going to have to go back up to Romans chapter
7. And He's going to tell you what this law of sin is. That it works in us continuously. So that the things that you would
do, you don't do. The things that you would not
do, that's the very thing you do. That's the law of sin. It
works in you all the time. Trying to bring you into captivity. Trying to keep you from doing
that which you would do. And then there's the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ. And that is, my friend, the mind
of Christ. Paul said, with the mind, I serve
the law of God. What mind? What's he talking
about? He's talking about the mind of Christ. The mind of faith. And that's the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus. In Philippians chapter 2, it's
called the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ. In Ephesians
1, verse 13, it is called the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation. And in other places, it is called
the word of life. And then in James 1, verse 21,
it is called the engrafted word. The engrafted word. Every man and woman brought to
faith in Christ have the mind of Christ. Every one of them. They have the mind of Christ.
They understand that apart from Him, apart from His appointments
of God, apart from His becoming one with His people, apart from
His representative obedience and sacrifice and His presence
and power and glory, that there is no hope for them. Every one of them have one hope.
They have one mind. That mind is that salvation is
in Christ alone. They look to Him alone. Come
what will, they look to Him. They look to Him. All their eggs
are in one basket in Christ the Lord. And this truth is a fixed
principle. And it's called here in Romans
8, verse 2, a law. A law. As the holy law of God
could not be compromised, even so the gospel message of salvation
by grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ cannot
be compromised. It is a law. It is a fixed decree,
an unchangeable principle. Listen to Peter's message to
the Jews in Acts chapter 4, verses 11 and 12. Listen to what he
tells them. Talking about Christ, he said,
this is the stone which was said it not of you builders. Have you ever seen a stonemason
work? You might not down here, but we have a lot of stone in
Kentucky, and there's a lot of stone work done, especially around
on those horse farms. And I used to watch them, and
there'd be stones laid out all over the place. And those stonemasons
can look at that stone and tell by the grain of it what's good
and what's bad, what they can pick up and hit with a hammer
and shape it, put it in that wall. But here He says, you builders,
you called out the stone. Christ is the stone. He's the
chief cornerstone and you looked at Him among all these other
stones and you called Him out. You called Him out. You set Him
at naught. You determined Him to be unfit
to go in your temple. You set him apart as being flawed,
and God made him the head of the corner. Now listen, verse
12, Acts chapter 4. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There is no salvation in a priest. I don't care if they call him
Pope, Father, Pontiff, Whatever you want to call him, there's
no salvation in a priest. There's no salvation in a pool. There's no salvation in your
works and will. There's no salvation in your
determination and decisions. Neither, Peter said, is there
salvation in any other. For, here's the reason, that
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. Now, if you just want to be religious,
you can do anything you want to. You can just about do anything
you want to in the name of religion. It doesn't take anything to be
religious. Satan is religious. I'm going to tell you something.
To be born of God is not to possess spiritual gifts like healing
and speaking in tongues. To be born of God is not to become
a zealot. doing anything and everything,
hoping to be blessed for your efforts. To be born of God is
to be sealed with a Holy Spirit of promise. That's what it means
to be born of God. God burns into your heart that
promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you fixed on Him, you see
Him, you lay hold of Him, you hope in Him, you rejoice in Him. That's the mind of Christ. And
that's what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
It's to be shut up to Christ. Shut up to Him. There's no other
where, no other place to go, no other way, no other stone,
none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. It's
to be shut up to Christ. To see that He's all. He's not
part of the big picture. He is the picture. He's all! Christ is all! And this Paul tells us in Ephesians
1, verse 14, is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption
of this purchased possession. Now having established this truth,
Paul moves on in Romans chapter 8, verses 6 and 7, and tells
us that there's two minds. Two minds at work. There's a
carnal mind and there's a spiritual mind. The carnal mind is the
driving force in unregenerate men and women. It's that driving
force in them. The carnal mind evaluates itself
and finds within itself things of value. I preach to people who, I listened
to a man here one night telling me what an awful sinner he was.
He talked for 30 or 40 minutes about what an awful sinner he
was. When he left, after I told him what a sinner was, he said,
I wasn't all that bad. The carnal mind evaluates itself
and it finds something within a value. It finds a goodness
of which it approves. It's a good man, a good woman.
It finds a righteousness worthy of God's reward. It's a faithful
giver. He visits the sick. He prays
in the marketplace. He keeps the Sabbath. He's sympathetic
to those in need. He reasons that God would reward
him for his good works and righteousness. That's the carnal mind. It reasons
that men and women with such values are worthy of God's blessing. It reasons that because they're
willing to compromise that God is willing. The carnal mind believes in self-rule,
no power. It's not going to have any power
above their own to determine anything without their approval.
And therefore, Paul said, the carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's enmity. And this carnal
mind is death. To think like this and reason
like this and hope like this is death. Romans 8, verse 6. For to be carnally minded is
death. That's death. To think like,
that's death. That's what spiritual death is.
But to be spiritually minding, having the gospel come not in
word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance,
having been convinced of our sin and depravity of nature,
having been convinced that all our so-called goodnesses and
righteousnesses are as filthy rags, having been convinced that
Christ is our righteousness and our salvation, that by himself
he purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the Father.
To be spiritually minded is life and peace. So then, Romans chapter
8, verse 8, they that are in the flesh, they that are carnally
minded, those who have not the mind of Christ, cannot please
God. I don't care if you give your
body to be burned, you cannot please God. I don't care if you
sell your estate and give it all to the church, you cannot
please God. I don't care if you dedicate
your life and live every day from this minute to that minute
in the church, working in the church, preaching the gospel,
traveling around, being an evangelist, going overseas, you cannot please
God. Hebrews 11, verse 6 said, without
faith it is impossible to please God. Believers please God by
living and walking and worshiping God with the mind of Christ.
Romans 8, verse 13. Here are these two minds. The carnal mind and the spiritual
mind. The mind of Christ and the mind of this world. If we
live after the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live." What's he talking
about? He's talking about recognizing
this flesh and its works and its potential for what it is,
an abomination before God. There's nothing good in it. There's
nothing good about it. And we are not, Romans 8, 12,
debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh. That's where
God found us was in the flesh. That's what He saved us from.
Men talk about being saved from this and saved from that. Let
me tell you something. When God saves a man, He saves
him from himself. From himself. He's the problem. The problem's not out here in
the world. The problem's in here. The problem's
not in the bottle. Isn't that what our Lord said?
It is not that which goes in the mouth that defiles you. What
comes out of your heart. We are not debtors to the flesh
to live after the flesh, but we are debtors to God who chose
us and saved us and called us out of darkness and death and
condemnation. Now, Romans 8 verse 14. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, These are the sons of God. You wonder who God's elect
are? Here they are. They walk after
the Spirit. These are men who, by the power
of the Spirit of God, by the revelation of the Spirit of God,
by His work in us, have the mind of Christ. These are the sons
of God. The revelation of the truth of
the Gospel which is Christ in you, is how the children of the
living God are made known. And we know if we have this revelation,
we know if we have it because we walk in it. We live by it. That's our daily practice. That's
our hope. That's the way we worship. That's
the way we pray. That's the way we live. And we
long for it and rejoice in it. And then the Apostle gives us
an even bigger picture. Verse 19, listen to this, "...for
the earnest expectation of creation," that's what that word creature
means there, creation, "...the earnest expectation of creation
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." Creation
is here for one purpose, God's everlasting purpose of grace
to save a people for the glory of His name. That's why He preserves
it. And men stand on their little
soap boxes and talk about men are going to destroy the earth.
Men would destroy the earth if they could, but they can't because
God preserves it. He preserves it. And He preserves
it for one purpose, to call out His elect and manifest His name
in the salvation of sinners. And though it's tainted by sin
and suffering because of the sinners who inhabit it, yet it
will continue every day until every one of God's elect are
manifested. It's waiting, listen to this,
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God, groaning
in pain, suffering because of the sinners who inhabit it. for
one purpose until all the sons of God are manifested. It will
continue until every one of God's elect are manifested, and then
God is going to ease its suffering. Verse 20, For the creation was
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope. Because creation itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. All my soul, creation itself,
shall be raised in newness as pristine as it was when it first
came from the fingers of God." Think about it. And we know,
verse 22, that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they,
but we ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the spirit.
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption
to wit the redemption of our body. We're waiting for the same
thing creation's waiting for. We're waiting for that manifestation
of the full inheritance of the same. We're waiting upon that
day when even the thought of sin will disappear. Even the thought of sin. All
the serpent's slime shall be removed. You won't see it in
creation, and you won't think it in this mind, and you won't
feel it in your heart. It'll be gone forever. Gone forever. And we've grown for that. And
all creation under the sovereign purpose of God suffers and groans,
waiting for God's redemption, waiting for it to be done. And
even so, believers are still in this flesh, and we suffer
because of it, waiting for the day when all the serpent slime
should be removed forever, waiting for the day when even the thought
of sin will be gone. Verse 24, for we're saved by
hope, saved by hope. But hope that's seen is not hope.
For what a man seeth, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope
for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for
it. Now listen to this, verse 26.
Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Now, I want you to hear me for just a minute. The intercession
of the Holy Spirit is not the same as the intercession of Christ. The Holy Spirit's intercession
is not in heaven. It's in the hearts of sinners.
His intercession is in here. Christ is in heaven. Ever liveth
to intercede for us. He intercedes between us and
the Father. But the Holy Spirit's intercession
is not in heaven. It's in the hearts of chosen
sinners. His intercession is not with the Father, but with
the saints. His intercession is not to make
us acceptable to God, but to move in us and enlarge our hearts
and minds and to show us what our needs are, to show us how
to pray. We don't know what to pray for. I tell you, I find myself a lot
of times, and I know better, but I find myself going to the
Lord with a shopping list. I do. Give me this, give me that,
give me this. We don't know how to pray. We
don't know what to pray for. He works in us. He intercedes
in us to show us what our needs and wants are and to help us
to form words and arguments to give us clear understanding and
increase our faith and give us assurance in His promises and
a boldness to ask for what we need based on the worthiness
of Christ. That's the intercession of the
Holy Spirit. He helps our infirmities by revealing
to us that God in Christ is a God of peace and grace and mercy
to all who believe. He makes the believer to groan
under the burden of hope and to long for his change, to long
for his inheritance. And let me tell you this, the most
effectual prayers are groanings which cannot be uttered. All
of my soul. You ever groan? Just groan in
here? That's the most effectual prayer
there is. Groanings that cannot be uttered.
And knowing all these things, we should be assured in our hearts,
verse 28, that all things work together for good. to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. How do we know this? How do we
know that? We know it by gospel truth revealed,
taught, and applied in the heart by the Holy Ghost. That's how
we know. That's how we know. He's already
told us that in the beginning of the chapter. We have the mind
of Christ. We have the mind of the Spirit. We have the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus working within us. And we know that creation,
He's already told us that, and providence, And the Word and
the Holy Ghost, the church and the preaching of the Gospel like
a giant machine with wheels and cogs and things that we can't
begin to grasp are all moving and turning and meshing together
for one great purpose in the end. And it's all working together
for your good and His glory. When I was a kid, we used to
tear things apart to see how they worked. He would never give
us anything good. He'd always give us something
he didn't care about. One time he gave me an old clock and I
tore that thing apart and looked at it. You ever look at a clock? Little gears going here and there,
big gears and little gears, and they're all going around. And
somehow, when all that's done, that thing just clicks and keeps
perfect time. That whole thing. He worked with
all things after the council. of His own will in our predestination. Everything. And a believer knows
that. He has the mind of Christ. He's not deceived. He knows that. All things, he sees this. He
can't begin to perceive it, I mean, as far as the immensity of it
and the power behind it. I don't care. It's all new to
me every time I read it. But you look in there and you
see this. unfathomable mesh of things, all of it working together. Providence and all these things
working together. Little minute things like germs
and diseases that you can't even see with your naked eye and powers
and principalities and all these things are working to one great
end. The manifestation of the children
of God. And he said, we know that. Oh, I tell you, you're a happy
man if you do. I tell you, you bless beyond
anything you can imagine if you do. Otherwise, the things of this
life just crushes. It just crushes. Oh, my soul. We know that. We know it's all
working for our good and His glory. Verse 29, 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. God has both predestinated the
means and the end of our salvation. And in Ephesians 1.11, He tells
us that we've obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will. And we all shall be in that day
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Verse 30, Moreover, whom He did
predestinate, them He called, and whom He called, them He also
justified, and whom He justified, He also glorified. What we got to say about that?
And now what Paul says. What should we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? If God be for us. We worry about Aunt Jenny being
for us. If God be for you, who can be against you? Who can
be against you? That's the mind of Christ, the
spiritual mind, the faith of God's elect. All their hope is
in the sovereign God of glory. And if anything He's ever decreed,
anything He's ever purposed to do, anything He ever has done,
is doing, or yet shall do, is subject to change, we have no
hope whatsoever. If there's a force, a power,
a principality somewhere in this universe more powerful than the
living God, then chance sits on the throne and not God. But if such a God, such an all-powerful,
all-wise, all-knowing God is purposed to save my soul, then
who can be against me? And why am I so against Him? If such a God spared not His
own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? There's no higher
source of knowledge than God Himself. There's no higher source
of justice and righteousness than God Himself. There's no
higher power or authority than God Himself. They're no higher
source of mercy and grace than God Himself. And if God be for
us, who can be against us? Will some contest these doctrines?
Will some contest my salvation or your salvation? You bet. Will
some deny the full justification of the saints and their spotless
righteousness in Christ? Sure they will. Sure they will.
Will some accuse us of being hypocrites? They always have.
They always have. Will not Satan himself try to
press our guilt upon our consciences? He surely will. He's the accuser
of the brethren. But hear this. Hear what I'm
saying. Hear what I'm saying to you this
morning and cherish these words in your heart. Verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. It's God that justifies. Several years ago, there was
a former football player turned actor who was accused of killing
his wife. Everybody knew he did it. Everybody
believed he was guilty. But the jury and the judge declared
him innocent. They declared him innocent. And
no matter what this country believed, and no matter what the multitude
said, he was an innocent man in the eyes of the law. An innocent man in the eyes of
the law. But listen to me, brethren, one infinitely higher than that
court has justified his elect And his judgment was just and
righteous. It is God that justifies. Who cares what the multitude
says? Huh? Who cares what religion says? Who cares what Satan says? It
is God that justifies. Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? Oh, how Satan condemns the soul.
He condemns, condemns, condemns. Everything you know, condemns,
condemns. It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. You cannot condemn the believer
because Christ bore his sins in his own body on the tree.
He put them away. He put them away. And this is
why we don't preach universal redemption. If universal redemption
were true, you'd have to take this promise out of the Word
of God along with a lot of other ones. If universal redemption
were true, there would be no further need of judgment or hell
anything concerning man. The basis of our assurance is
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and having bore our sins in His own body on the tree, He justified
us. He paid the sin debt. They're
gone. They're gone. So much so that
the Scripture said, God remembereth our sins no more. And God raised Him from the dead
to declare the full and complete justification of His elect. And
our Advocate now sits at the right hand of God, interceding
on our behalf, pleading His blood and His righteousness for us. Now then, what in heaven, earth,
or hell can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord? Huh? Nothing. Nothing. He goes through three or four
verses here, naming everything in heaven, earth, and heaven.
What's going to separate you from this love? God spared not
His Son. God Himself justified you. Christ Himself died for you.
Christ Himself was risen from the dead to declare your justification
and raised up and seated at the right hand of God and given all
power in the universe to guarantee what He's already purchased.
Now, what's going to separate you from that love? Huh? Oh,
my soul. This is the gospel. This is the
mind of Christ. And all those who are sons of
God live with that mind. That's how they live. That's
how they work. That's how they worship. They
have the mind of Christ. Oh, my soul. Paul says, and we
know. Do you? Do I? Do we know? Well, I tell you,
those who do have peace with God. They have peace with God.