In 1933, construction began on
the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Gate Bridge, many of you familiar
with that suspension bridge that would allow those to travel between
San Francisco and Marin County in California. And the price
of construction on that bridge was $35 million back then. And it was a common statistic
that in the construction of such a project that one man per million
dollars spent would lose their life. It was projected that 35
men would lose their life on this construction project. And
sure enough, not long after construction began, one man plummeted to his
death. And the designer and the engineer
of the bridge was a man named Joseph Strauss. After the loss
of the man's life, construction on the bridge was delayed and
became behind schedule because the workers became very slow
and very deliberate and cautious in their movements. Mr. Strauss
did something that was unprecedented at the time. He ordered a special
made safety net with a cost back then of $130,000. The safety net extended the whole
length of the Golden Gate Bridge, plus an extra 10 feet on each
side of the width. This was done so that if the
wind blew a man off the bridge, he'd still have the safety of
the net. And after the net was installed,
19 men fell due to wind or carelessness, but they were saved by the net.
The net caught them and saved them. And these 19 men went on
to be called, and it's just a fact, the Halfway to Hell Club. They
fell, but the net caught them and saved them. Reminds me of
a club that I once was a member of that was On My Way to Hell
Club. Anyway, because of the net, the
workers' fear of falling soon turned to comfort. because of
the safety net. Even so much so that many of
the men who worked construction on that project began to jump
off the bridge into the safety of the net for thrills. It got
so bad that the company finally made a rule that doing so would
result in being fired, being terminated. Now I tell you these
facts and this story for a purpose. Not long ago, I heard a preacher
say that Jesus Christ was our safety net. Now that may sound
good at first thought, but friends, Christ is much, much more than
just a safety net. And I'll tell you why. A safety
net only saves if one falls. That's right. We have already
fallen. We failed before we were ever
born in Adam. We've already plummeted into
the depths of sin, and we're already dead in sin and trespasses. We need much more than a safety
net. Towards the end of the construction
on the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, ten men fell to their death
when a section of the scaffolding fell through the safety net.
I'm not sure if the net was torn by the sheer weight, This caused
it to simply give away, but the safety net failed and ten men
died. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a Savior
who cannot fail. He's more than a safety net.
He cannot fail because of who He is. He is God and God cannot
fail. Now listen, we fail, we stumble,
we fret, we fear, but not our great God. He is our comfort. Comfort, what a comforting word,
comfort. And friends, He's much, much
more than just the net that catches us if we fall. So with all that
said, I want to talk to you just for a few minutes about the comfort
of believing sinners. You see, one of my commissions
from God as a preacher, as a pastor, is found in Isaiah 41. You don't
have to turn there, but it says, Comfort ye my people, saith your
God. As I was reading that familiar
verse yesterday and looking over it, four words stood out to me
like never before. Comfort ye, comfort ye. First,
two words, my people. Isn't that a comfort? And then,
saith your God. Wow. Oh, for God to call us His
people. My people. That title in and
of itself is a comfort. Sayeth your God, that too is
a comfort. He's my God. The God of heaven
and earth. He who spoke the worlds into
existence is my God. My Father. Oh, is He your God? Are you His people? There's nothing
more comforting than to know that. Now, my desire more than
anything this morning is that you might know God, this God,
the true God, the living God, and to be comforted in Him. And I have three points for you
to consider, all which are found in the eighth chapter of the
book of Romans, if you'll turn there with me. Romans chapter
8. My first point is found in verse
1. And the point is, no condemnation. Oh, what a comfort. No condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit." Now, you've heard it said many times that
whenever you see the word, therefore, you go, you look preceding verses
and see what it's there for. And that's a good rule. That's
a good thing to do. You need to look back at what
precedes that verse and see what it's there for. So let's do just
that. Look back to Romans 3 with me.
at verse 21, "...but now the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested." Oh, let me tell you something, that's
a comfort to know that. "...being witnessed by the law
and the prophets." You see, the child of God now sees the salvation
is in is in a person, it's not in the works of the law. That's a comfort because we cannot
keep God's law. The law was not given for us
to keep, but to show us our inability of keeping it. The law was our
schoolmaster, to what? To bring us to Christ. How does
the law bring us to Christ? It shows us that there's no salvation
in the works of the law. If we offend in one point, we're
guilty of the whole thing. Oh, there's no comfort there.
Our comfort is in a person. The righteousness of God is now
without the law, and that's being manifested by the law and the
prophets. We see that Christ is salvation. Look at verse 25 of chapter 3
here. Verse 25, "...whom God has set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare
His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God." Our salvation. Propitiation. That word means appeasement.
God's been appeased. It's only through faith in Christ's
blood. We now preach and declare what? His righteousness. That salvation
is His righteousness for the forgiving of sins through the
long-suffering and the forbearance of God. God has been long-suffering
with His people. Our salvation is by sovereign
grace and it's in a sovereign Savior, dear friends. It's not
by works of righteousness that we have done. It's by what? His righteousness. That's our
subject. That's our hope. That's our comfort. His righteousness. Look at chapter
4, verse 25. Who, speaking of Christ, was
what delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our
justification. Whose? Ours. Children of God. Those chosen before the foundation
of the world. Whose offenses? My offenses. Whose justification? My justification. Why was he delivered for our
offenses? Why was he raised for our justification? We're guilty. That's why. We're guilty. And that's the only way that
a man or woman will ever be saved is through Christ. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3.23. Romans 5.12
says, Wherefore is by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin. Did you know that's where death
comes from? By sin. And so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. There's not one here this morning.
that hasn't sinned. And your sin is against Him and
Him only. And He's not pleased with you. He's angry with you because of
your sin. But I thought God loved everybody.
God's holy and just, and He's angry with the wicked every day.
If Christ had not been delivered for our offenses and delivered
for our justification, if He had not been obedient for us,
dear friends, we could have never been made righteous before God. 2 Corinthians 5.21, you know
this verse, for He, God, have made Him, Christ, to be
sin for us, believers, who knew no sin. He knew no sin that we
might be made the righteousness of God, where? In Him. That's where our righteousness
comes from, in Him. And a child of God never grows
weary of hearing that. Were you preaching on Sunday,
Brother Dave, Christ and His righteousness? That's what we
preach on every Sunday. We just take it from different
texts. That's our message. Christ and Him crucified and
His righteousness given to undeserving sinners. That's what makes it
grace, friends. It's undeserving. We didn't deserve
it. I find comfort back in Romans
8. There is therefore now. No condemnation. Right now. If you're in Christ,
now there's no condemnation to them that are in Christ. You
know, Paul said in Romans 7.24, he says, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, the power
of this sin? Then here in verse 2, he says
that the Spirit of life hath made me free. That's Christ. That's God. He's made me free. He's delivered me from the guilt
of sin. It's Christ who delivers us.
Oh, what a comfort that is to a saved child of God. It's not
that just a man died for me. It's who that man was. He was God. There is therefore
now no condemnation. And that word now implies that
there was a time when sinners, before they believed, were under
condemnation. Every man and woman born of woman,
under condemnation. Those who trust in Christ? Not
now. Not now. No sirree. By nature we were under the sentence
of the law, but as believers we're under grace. Now which
would you rather be under? I find comfort in that. Under
grace. By nature we were the children
of wrath, but now we are what? Accepted in the Beloved. Oh,
I find comfort in that. We were conceived in sin and
shaped in iniquity, this book teaches us. Each one of us entered
into this world under condemnation, under arrest, so to speak. An
indicted criminal, a rebel in the fullness of rebellion. How
then is it possible for such a one to escape the execution
of such a just sentence? Only one way. Only one way. Christ, who has made sin for
us, made sin for us. Though He knew no sin in any
way. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus. Do you find comfort in that?
If you do, then there's a good chance God Almighty has done
something for you. Second thing, divine assurance. What a comfort look down at verse
28 here in Romans chapter 8 Romans 8 28 and we know that all things
work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose." Now through the centuries, dear
friends, God's people have drawn strength and comfort from this
verse. I draw strength and comfort from
it every day. Oh, when things don't go my way,
I go back here. This is the rock on which I stand,
all things. work together for my good. In
the midst of trials, in the midst of perplexities, persecutions,
this truth is a rock under our feet. It's a foundation that
we can build upon. It's a comfort. It's a comfort. All things work together. The
first thought occurring to us in this Marvelous truth is what
a glorious, glorious being our God is who is able to make all
things to work. When you consider the millions
upon millions upon millions of people in this world, then you
add the different circumstances of each person. It's mind-boggling. Then you consider the sovereignty
and omnipotent power of the being that we call Father. And He sits
high above it all. He's undisturbed, calm, the complete
master of every situation. From the throne of His exalted
majesty, He works all things after the counsel of His will. And friends, none can question
Him. None can stay His hand. None
can say, what are you doing? Our God is in the heavens. He's
done whatsoever He is pleased. You stand in awe before this
One in whose sight all nations are as nothing, and they're all
counted as less than nothing in vanity. You bow in adoration
before this high and lofty One that inhabits eternity. You lift
high your praises, dear sinner, to Him who causes the worst evil,
the greatest good. All things work. All things work. In nature, there's no such thing
as chance. No such thing as luck. There's
not one creature that fails to serve His designed purpose. Not
one. Even the evil of this world God
uses to accomplish His will. What a God. Can you draw comfort
from that? I want to comfort you. This is
the God with whom we have to do. All things work. Nothing is idle. Everything is
energized by God so as to fulfill its intended mission. No accidents,
no chance, no happenstance. It's purpose. Purpose. He's a God of purpose. All things
are laboring toward the grand end of the Creator's pleasure.
They're all moved by His sovereign bidding and He says, My people. You're God. This is your God. This is your
Father. This is the one whom loves you
with an everlasting love. And it's by His sovereign grace
that He intends to do good unto you. All things work together. One old writer said, not only
do they operate, they cooperate. They work together. All things. They act in perfect And I love
his terminology, in perfect concert, and only the anointed ear can
catch the beauty of their harmony. I wish I could write like that,
but that's how I feel. It's perfect. Perfect unity. All that God does. They work
together. I'm sure that's why the psalmist
wrote, He drew me out of many waters. He drew me out of many
waters. All things work together, what?
For good. For good too. These words teach
us as believers that regardless of the adverse circumstances
that we experience, that all things are not only working,
but they're working for good. Towards the possession of our
inheritance. Chosen child of God is being
conformed to the image of Christ. God is going to see to it. God
is going to see to it. Well, I don't much feel like
a believer. It doesn't have anything to do with your feelings. It
has to do with what God said. Well, I'm not very faithful.
It doesn't have anything to do with your faithfulness. That's
everything to do with His. And let me tell you something.
I'll just throw this in. If you want His, you'll be faithful.
But salvation is not by your faithfulness, it's by God's.
Oh, how wonderful is the sovereignty and providence of God in overruling
things that seem in disarray, seem to be in disorder, and God
turns them into good things. That brings a smile to my face.
God's on our side. Who can be against us? Oh, we
marvel at His mighty power which holds the heavenly bodies in
their orbits. We stand in awe and wonder at
the reoccurring seasons, year after year, perfectly on time. That's God's doing. Let me tell
you something, none of those things, as marvelous as they
are, as amazing, is God bringing good out of evil. And in all
the complicated situations in our lives, He's working them
for good. I don't see good in that. You
will. Maybe you won't. This side of
glory. But you can rest assured that God's working them together
for good. And He works them together for
good, three quick reasons. First, because all things are
under His absolute control. He's the governor of the universe.
That's one reason. Second reason, because God's
desires are good, and nothing but are good. And thirdly, because
even Satan himself cannot touch a hair of your head without God's
permission. And then, if he does, it's for
our further good. You remember when the Lord said
to Peter, He said, Peter, Satan has desired to sift you as wheat.
He didn't say, I'm not going to let him. He said, I pray that
your faith fail you not. Peter got sifted. Oh yes, he
did. He said, Lord, I'll never leave
you. All these others here, they may leave you, but I'll never
leave you. He denied the Lord three times before that next
morning. Satan has desired to sift you.
I prayed. I prayed. Who prayed? God prayed. Let your faith fill you to die. Can you find comfort in this?
Everything is subservient to God's eternal purpose. All suffering,
all sorrow, all loss, they're used by our God to minister to
the benefit of His people. To them that love God. That's
what it says. And this is an amazing and distinguishing
feature of every true child of God. They all believe in Christ. To them that love God. They all
love God. They love Him for the gift of
the Savior. They love Him as a Father in
whom they can confide. Have you taken your problems
before the throne of grace? If you haven't, then you're missing
out on a blessing. They love Him for His personal
attributes. They love Him for His holiness.
They love Him for His wisdom. They love Him for His faithfulness.
They love Him for His conduct. They love Him for what He withholds
and they love Him for what He grants. They love Him for what
He rebukes and they love Him for what He approves. And they
know He doeth all things well. They even love Him for the rod
that disciplines, knowing that He does all things well. There
is nothing in God and there is nothing from God, dear saints,
that we do not love. Because we've been made. to love
Him who is our God. Well, you might like me say,
well, I'm ashamed at how little I love, and I am. So frequently
I mourn my lack of love for Him and hate myself for the coldness
of my heart. There's so much love of self.
I love myself. love of the world, that sometimes
I seriously question if I have any real love for God at all.
And I know it's the same with you. I ask you, isn't our very
desire to love God a good sign? You, I once hated. Just the desire
to love Him shows the work of God in our hearts. Isn't not
my very grief that I love Him so little a sure evidence that
I don't hate Him? Yeah. He who I once hated. Now, I pray, Lord, help thou
my unbelief. I pray, Lord, I love you, but
help me to love you more. That's what a child of God does.
Who are called. Now the word called here is never
used or applied to those as some Proclaim it recipients of a mere
invitation of the gospel? That's how men call, but not
God. Oh, won't you just give your
heart to Jesus? Ralph Barnard once said, God don't want that
wicked thing. He's got to take that heart out
and give you a new one. and it belongs to him. The word
called, that term always signifies an inward and an effectual call. It was a call that we had no
control over. It didn't originate with us.
That's what some men make a call out to be. Well, I decided that's
not God's call. God's call didn't originate with
us. And let me tell you, it cannot
be frustrated by us. It's an effectual call. Has this
call reached you? Ministers may have called you.
Why, even the preaching of the Gospel may have called you. Your
conscience maybe has called you, but has the Holy Spirit called
you with an inward and an irresistible call? That's the question. Have
you been spiritually called from darkness to light, from death
to life, from the world to Christ, from self to God? That's God's
done if you have. And those that God calls, they
love God. They just do. They say, not my
will, but Thy will be done. And they mean it. They once hated
Him, but now they love Him. They once fled from Him, but
now they seek Him. And before His call, they could
care less about honoring Him, and now their deepest desire
is to please and glorify Him. That's how out of God it is.
They hate their sin. Detest it. Wished it wasn't so. Deliver me from this body of
death. is their cry. And it's according to His purpose.
That's what the verse says, isn't it? And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose. This call is not according to
the merits of men, but it's according to the divine purpose of God
Almighty. And that's what makes it sure,
and that's what gives us comfort. Paul wrote to his son in the
faith, Timothy, and he said, God who has saved us and called
us with a holy calling. This is a holy calling, dear
friends. And it's not according to our works, but it's according
to His own purpose and grace which was given us, I bet you
can guess the next word, in Christ Jesus. Before the world began,
oh, what an assurance. And what a comfort there is in
Christ Jesus. The great third point, and last,
the great Giver. The great Giver. Oh, what a comfort. God is the great Giver. Look
at 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?" God delivered up Christ for all His
people, first of all. That doesn't mean all the world.
It means all that the Father gave Him before the foundation
of the world. And if God delivered up Christ,
let me ask you, is there anything else that is needed by us that
God will not be sure to give us? If He gave us His most prized
possession, doesn't it just stand to reason that He'll give us
everything else that we need? Christ is all we need. He is
the one thing needful. But the Scriptures teach us,
if God shall clothe the grass of the field, which today is,
and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more
clothe you? Why are we worried about that?
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5.10. If ye, then being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, How much
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things
to them that ask Him? Matthew 7, 11. Doesn't this verse
just go straight to your heart? If you're a child of God, it
does. Oh, the gracious character of our loving God. The gift of
His own Son is God's guarantee to His people of all needed blessings. The greater blessing of life
in Christ includes all the others. His unspeakable spiritual gift
is the pledge of all needed temporal mercies. If you've got Christ,
you have it all. So I'll say it one more time,
and may God truly give us ears to hear. In Christ, we have all
we need, spiritual and physical. And in Christ, we have all that
God requires. Does that give you comfort? Your
salvation and comfort are found real quick in these four things,
and I'm done. First, God's costly sacrifice. What does this verse say? Verse
32, God spared not His own son. What a costly sacrifice that
was. What must it have meant to the
heart of the Father when His beloved Son left His heavenly
home?" Now, I do not believe for one minute that deity, God,
is emotionless. I just don't. The way those of
you that have sons and daughters love your children, To think
that God didn't love His Son the same way is really blasphemous. I believe that sending forth
His Son, His only Son, was something which the heart of God felt.
And it was a real sacrifice on His part. Especially when you
consider that it was to save those that were at that time
enemies against Him. Would you sacrifice your child
for a notorious criminal? God did. But God commended His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Second thing, God's gracious
design. He delivered Him up for us all. You can go back to the beginning
of this book and see who the all is. It's the elect of God,
those that He gave to Christ. but He delivered him up for us
all. Here we're told why the Father made such a costly sacrifice. He spared not Christ that He
might spare us. It was not with lack of love
to the Savior that He did this, but it was with wondrous, matchless,
fathomless love for you, the sinner, that He did. Oh my, what
comfort! Can you find comfort here now?
Thirdly, God's divine conclusion. How shall He not, with Him, with
Him freely give us all things. He did spare not His own Son,
but delivered Him up. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? How conclusive that is. how comforting
this is. God assures the child of God,
the believer of God's readiness to also freely bestow all needed
blessings upon them. This is not just me, a man, making
promises for God. These are God's promises to His
people. This is what God said. Oh, I spared not my son, my only
son, but I delivered him up for you. And lastly, God's comforting
promise. He shall freely give us... Notice
that last part. All things. The same as all things
that work together for good. It means all. It don't mean some,
most. It doesn't mean the biggest part
of. It means all. What reassuring confidence both
for the present and the future. Shall. It's timeless. It doesn't
say he has. It doesn't say he's going to.
It says he shall. Timeless. Nothing for His glory
or for our good will He withhold from those that He loved in Christ. Oh, find comfort in Christ, dear
believer. That's the only place that's
to be found. And I say to those of you who are yet without Christ,
He is truly the only comfort that you can have in this life
and in the life to come. Christ is our comfort.