Okay, last study in 2017. The last study for the year,
this year 2017. Good way to finish out the year
of 2017. Looking at, reading through,
and resting in the unfailing promises of God. For all the
promises of God in him are yes, and in him, and amen, and to
the glory of God. These unfailing promises of God,
they never change, they never need upgrade, they're never altered,
they're always new, alive, real, and fresh. As Jeremiah said,
his mercies are new every morning. Every morning His mercies are
new. We find grace to help in time
of need every, every day. Now, let's take a look again
at verse 31. What shall we say? What shall
we say to these things? These things of God's eternal
purpose, of God's predestinating call. What shall we say to these
things? Well, if God before us God be
for us in that eternal covenant of grace. If God be for us in
sending the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins, tell me,
Paul asked this question, by the inspiration of God, who can
be against us? If God is for me in that covenant
of grace, who in heaven, earth, or hell can be against any of
God's elect? Many who are unbelievers, when
we would ask this question about what has been said about God's
predestinating purpose, what shall we say about these things?
Many who are unbelievers would speak against the precious promises
of the gospel of God's eternal purpose and grace in Christ Jesus. And they would respond with a
statement similar to, well, that's not fair. Well, that's not right. Well, I've never heard it like
that before. But my friend, who are you to
reply against God? Who are you to bring into question
the eternal sovereign will and purpose of God Almighty? Shall
not the judge of all the earth do exactly what is right? And whatever he does, it is right. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. We read in the book of Psalms,
whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, earth,
seas, and all deep places. That's Psalm 135. Every believer
does rejoice in and bow to God's sovereign will and purpose. We bow before the sovereign throne
of God or we bow before God who is absolutely sovereign and we
do so willingly only by his power. Now if God be for us in eternal
election, and eternal grace, and eternal salvation, tell me,
who in this universe, heaven or hell, can be against the elect
of God? Well we know this, not the law
of God, it's been honored. Remember back over here, don't
turn, I'm just reading to you, for sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. He has redeemed us from the curse
of the law. At one time the law of God was
against us, but the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the penalty
of that law and put it away. Therefore sin shall not have
dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under
grace. The law is not against us, now
the law of God is for us. The law of God is for us. Satan
cannot be against us, The seed of the woman has crushed the
serpent's head. Satan has been defeated, destroyed,
and for the most part, put out of business. And we know our
sin. Who can be against us? Not the
law, not Satan, not sin, because the Lord Jesus Christ has put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's what it says
in Hebrews over and over. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Not even
death. Death is not against us. Who
can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? If God be for
us, who could be against us? The Lord has even changed the
character of death for the believer. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. To be absent from this body is
to be present with the Lord. Our Lord said in John 14, I'm
he that liveth He said because I live you shall live also and
then in Revelation 1 he said I'm he that liveth and was dead
behold I'm alive forevermore you see the character of death
for the believer has been changed it's no longer punishment it's
promotion it's promotion be absent from this body to be present
with the Lord for me to live as Christ and to die is gain
it's gain now If God before us, who can be against us? Now, take
a good look at verse 32. He that spared not his own son. There's only one son. The only begotten, well beloved,
the Lord Jesus Christ. God spared not his own son. Notice the reference there is
John 3, 16. God so loved, His world, the
world of His elect, that He gave His only begotten Son. God spared not His own Son, spared
Him not from the wrath of God, being made sin for us, nor the
scourge of men. But He delivered Him up for us
all. He was delivered by the determinate
counsel and full knowledge of God. Now we would look in our
finite eyes and we would say well Judas betrayed him, Judas
delivered him up and we would say that the Pharisees and Sadducees
we would say that they delivered him up, they did go out and hold
a counsel and determine how they might destroy him but what we
must see with the eyes of God, revealed in the Word of God,
that the Lord Jesus Christ, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Our Lord said, no man takes
my life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. God spared not his own son, but
he gave himself for us. And he delivered him up for us
all. Now, here is one of the most
vital questions that the gospel deals with. Who did the Lord
Jesus Christ die for? Whom did he die for? Now I know
what this religious world has been saying for years and years
and years, that Christ died for all of the sins of all men. But
did you know this book does not teach that? He delivered him
up for us all. Who are the us all? Well, to
them who are called according to his purpose. whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of a son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. The us all
here are all of his elect, all of his sheep. How shall he not
with him? Now that's a key, is it not? How shall he not with him? How shall not God with him? because
of Him, through Him, and in, talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, all that He has done for us. How shall God not with
Him also freely give us all things? Everything we need, all things
are freely given unto us without money and without price. were
justified freely by His grace, freely by His grace. The Lord Jesus Christ fully paid
our sin debt, fully satisfied the holy justice of God for us.
Now our God is able to justly save us and deliver us from the
wrath to come because the Lord Jesus Christ drank the cup of
damnation dry. The wrath of God fell on the
Lord Jesus Christ and He consumed all the wrath of God that was
due our sin. Therefore, in Christ right now,
how much wrath? are due to the believers, none. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. God, because of
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we studied in Romans
3, 26, now He is the just God and the justifier. Now He can
justly save sinners, not at the expense of His holiness. He is
a just God and Savior through the Lord Jesus Christ. And because
of that, He freely gives us all spiritual blessing through Christ
in Him crucified. We bless God who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly, in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we're justified freely by His grace. Remember
I told you about that verse, Romans 3, 24, that's one of my
favorite verses in all the book of Romans. Justified freely by
His grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We've not received the Spirit of this world, but we have received
the Spirit of God, that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. That's the promise in 1 Corinthians
2 verse 12. Now, look at verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Now here's the question. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? His bride, His
church, His body. I love what the Holy Spirit gives
the Apostle Paul by way of inspiration. The answer comes back, well it
is God who has justified them. Who justifies the ungodly? God
Almighty, He has justified His elect. That is, He has cleared
us of all guilt and He declares us now to be righteous in His
sight. In His sight. In His sight. Let me just read that to you. Therefore by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin, but now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifest in his sight, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe, there is no difference. He justifies us freely
by His grace through the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore there is therefore
now no condemnation to those who were in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Romans 8 verse 34, Who is he that condemneth? Who
can condemn us? And the answer comes back, It
is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, he just keeps climbing higher and
higher doesn't he? Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea rather, now he did die, He did die a
real, bloody, agonizing death under the judgment of God against
our sin. It is Christ that died, yea rather,
He is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, when
He ascended, when He came forth from the tomb the third morning,
lived among men forty days, and then what happened? he ascended
bodily ascended bodily resurrection bodily ascended to the throne
of God wherever that is and he sat down on it that's where he
is right now there is a real throne with a real body of a
real man the God-man mediator the Lord Jesus Christ seated
in the heavenly right now whoever lives to make intercession for
us. Boy, that's good news. That is
good news, is it not? Who is he that condemneth? Christ
died for us being condemned with our sin charged to him. That's
the only reason he could die. He had no sin of his own. You
remember the wages of sin? is death. When our sin was made
to be His, when He became guilty for our sin. Remember now, He
had no sin of His own. He personally never committed
one sin in word, deed, thought, or motive. Such a high priest
became us who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin. But when our sin was charged
before God, it demanded death. That's why He died. The just
for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God. Christ suffered
once for our sin, bearing our sin in His own body on the tree, that He may bring us to God justly. Since the Lord Jesus Christ put
away our sin, we cannot be charged with our sin. It's already been
charged and acquitted, fully paid in my substitute. I was
thinking about this scripture the other day. Turn back to Romans
4. Remember from Romans chapter
4 verse 6, even as David also described it, the blessedness
of the man to whom God imputed righteousness without works,
saying, now look at these two verses carefully, saying, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered,
now watch this, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not
impute, charge, sin. You mean to tell me the elect
of God who are resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty
will not charge their sin to them? That's what that says. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord will not impute, charge our sin. You see the sin of God's
people has already been charged to the Lord Jesus Christ. If he paid that debt fully and
he did, we don't know it. Therefore God has justified us
in Christ and he cannot condemn us. Who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died and then he says, yea rather, is risen
again. Now let's go back and look at
this verse. I want you to see it. In Romans
chapter 4 verse 25. Romans 4.25. How important is
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, my friend,
if he be not raised up, we have no gospel. If he be not raised
up and ascended to the throne of glory, he's an imposter and
his soul is in hell. That's right. Look what it says
here. Who is delivered for our offenses, raised again, That
word therefore can be rendered raised again because He justified
us. Now having put away our sin,
sin has no more dominion over Him. That's why on the third
day, according to the promise of God, He must come out of that
tomb demonstrating that what He did was accepted of God and
successful and complete. We have the eternal redemption
He obtained for us, eternal redemption with His own blood. The proof that all of our sin
is put away is the fact that the Lord is risen from the dead
who is even at the right hand of God. Remember from our study
in Hebrews where it said that when He had by Himself purged
our sin, he sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Now,
sometime look that phrase up through the book of Hebrews and
see how many times it tells us that he is seated on the right
hand of God. A place of power, a place of
acceptance, a place of preeminence, a place of love, and we are seated
in him right now. who is even at the right hand
of God, and then it goes on further saying, who also makes intercession
for us. Again from Hebrews 7.25, remember
he was delivered for our offenses, rather Hebrews 7.25, wherefore
he is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him,
seeing that he ever liveth To make intercession, who's he making
intercession for? For us, for his elect, for his
church, who also make it the intercession for us. So in the
Lord Jesus Christ, we can truly say we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us, through him that loved us. Thanks be
to God who has given us the victory. We have the complete victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I was watching some of those
football games yesterday. This time of the year we have
all those college bowl games. And one thing that I took notice
of was this. The attitude of the winning team
and the attitude of the losing team. Boy, what a difference. What a difference. Boy, that
winning team, they raise the trophy. That winning team, they
dunk the coach. That winning team, they jump
up and down. They hug each other. They're
so happy. They're on the winning team. That other team, heads
hang down, and they don't jump. They don't shout. They walk to
the locker room full of heartache because they lost. Isn't it a
good thing to be on the winning team? Thanks be unto God who
has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Every
believer in Christ, he's not a loser. Ah, those Christians,
they're just a bunch of losers. Oh, no. No, because Christ has
won the victory. For He has conquered death, hell,
and the grave. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. So then, verse 35, so then, who
can be against us? None. Who can charge us? None. Who can condemn us? None. And
then the question here is, verse 35 of Romans 8, who shall separate
us from the love of God? Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Having loved his own, John 13,
1. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Tribulation? Will that separate
us from the love of Christ? No. Distress? No. Persecution? Will that separate
us from the love of Christ? No. Famine? No. Nakedness? No. Peril? No. How about a sword? You may be able to separate my
head from my body, but you cannot separate a believer from Christ.
Impossible. We're one with Him. Nothing can
separate us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. What an exhaustive list of things. Nothing and no one can, shall
be able, to separate us from His eternal covenant of love. You see God just did not love
us lately. You see the love of God is everlasting. He has loved His own with an
everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness does He draw
us to Himself. Jeremiah 31.3 We call that electing
love. We call that covenant love. Ordered
in all things and is sure. Herein is love. How do we know
He loved us? Herein is love. Not that we love
God. He loved us. He laid down His
life for us. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. His love given to us is not based
upon any condition found in us. We do not merit His love. We
do not merit His mercy. We do not merit His grace. The book of God says that He
loves us freely. There's that word again. He loves
us freely. The reason that God loves His
elect is not found in us. It's found in Him. God is love. He is love. and he does love
his own in Christ. Therefore, no trial in this life
can change his love. Tribulation, distress, persecution,
famine, nakedness, peril, or sword, nothing can separate us
from the love of God. Look at verse 36, as it is written,
for thy sake, for the sake of God and his gospel truth. Believers
down through history have been killed all the day long. Because
they despise God and hate God and they can't get their hands
on Him, they persecute those who love the true and living
God. And they're counted, they're counted as sheep, sheep, they're
His sheep, people of His pasture, sheep of His hand, He is our
Good Shepherd, and they're counted as sheep. for the slaughter,
this world despises the elect of God, the off-scouring of God's
people, they despise God, they despise His people, verse thirty-seven,
Nay, in all things, in all things, bring it up, name it, all things,
in all things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. We don't conquer,
He has conquered for us. He always causes us to triumph
in Christ Jesus. That's what it says over there
in 2 Corinthians. He always causes us to triumph
in Christ Jesus. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Remember, that as sin has reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. For I am persuaded,
verse 38, what persuasion are you? I'm persuaded, like Abraham,
that all that God has promised, He's able to perform. And I'm
persuaded, as the Apostle Paul here, I'm persuaded that neither
death, death won't separate us from
the love of God, nor life can separate us from the love of
God. Angels, principalities, powers, things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, mountain or valley, nor any other
creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's a comprehensive promise,
is it not? Say, well, I don't feel His presence,
I don't feel His love. He didn't ask you to feel His
presence or to feel His love. Well, God just doesn't love me.
Really. If you're a believer, He does.
He didn't ask you to feel His presence or to feel His love. He asks you and tells you to
believe My Word. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe
Him. I'm of that persuasion. I'm persuaded, aren't you? I didn't twist your arm, did
I? Did I twist your arm and make you believe? No. It's because God has given you
life and salvation in Christ. And He has made you willing in
the day of His power. You see, we love Him only because
He first loved us. He loved us in Christ. And nothing
can separate us from the love of Christ, which is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, consider this. No condemnation
to those who are in Christ. no separation from those who
are in the Lord Jesus Christ and no accusations against them
and nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in our
Lord Jesus Christ.