All right, Romans chapter 8 again. Now I closed my message Wednesday night, a week ago. I said that would be the last
message from Romans 8. And in closing my message, I
read these last nine verses rather hurriedly. without much comment,
thinking that tonight I would pick up at chapter 9. But these
9 verses, which are written in the closing words of this chapter
8, these verses are just too vital and important for the comfort
and assurance of God's people. That's what these nine verses
are all about, the comfort, consolation, and assurance of people who love
God, who are called according to his purpose. And it's just
not right for us to go over them quickly as I did last Wednesday
night. So I'm going to back up and talk
about these last nine verses. But if you look at verse 14 in
chapter 8, Paul said in verse 14, as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they're the sons of God, children of God. For
you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you have received the spirit of adoption, you're sons of God. Whereby we cry Abba, that's a
Greek word which means father, father. Apollo says we have not
received the spirit of bondage. What is this bondage? Well, it's
fear. It's fear. Because he says it's
a bondage again to fear. And this fear is the fear of
Satan. The fear of Satan, principalities
and powers, rulers of the darkness. It's fear of the law. The awesome,
perfect law of God is fear of death. It's fear of condemnation. It's fear of falling away. But
we children of God, we sons of God, talking about verse 14,
we have not received this spirit of fear. But he says we have received.
Now, we didn't earn it. We didn't earn it. We didn't
merit it. We didn't borrow it, we received
it. And that's the word Paul uses
so frequently when he's talking about redemption. He said, I received mercy. I
received grace. It was given to me. I received
it. I didn't pay for it or earn it
or work for it. I received it. And we haven't
received that spirit of bondage, but we've received a spirit of
adoption. We're sons of God. The children
of God. It's not a slavish fear, it's
the love of sons. Now then, he says whereby we
cry father, father. Our Lord said I go to my father
and your father, he's your father, my father and your father. He
said when you pray, say our father. That's our relationship. But
now, we cry father and we're children of a loving father.
And we respect our Father in Heaven. And we obey our Father
in Heaven. And we reverence our Father in
Heaven. And there is a sense in which
we fear our Father in Heaven. We fear his displeasure. But
we do not fear his rejection. Do you see that? We do not fear
his rejection and fear his desertion. But we do reverence our Father
in Heaven, and we fear his displeasure, and we seek to obey his will,
because we are children. Now, I want you to turn to Hebrews
2, and this is our confidence over here in Hebrews 2. This
is how we became his children in Hebrews 2. We have received
the spirit of adoption, and in chapter 2 of Hebrews he tells
us, how this blessing came to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 2 verse 10, For it
became him, that's talking about the Heavenly Father, it's becoming
to our God, who is a God of mercy, by whom are all things, and by
whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory, to make the
captain of their salvation, who is Christ, perfect through suffering.
For both he that sanctified, and they who are sanctified,
are all of one, one Father, my Father and your Father, my God
and your God. For which cause Christ is not
ashamed to call us brethren, we're sons of God, Abba Father. And he said, I will declare thy
name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing
praise unto thee. And again, I'll put my trust
in him. And again, I behold I and the
children which God gave me. I and the children God gave me.
For as much then as the children, that's you and me, every believer,
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, in all of it through death. He might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. and deliver
them who through fear, fear, this is what we are talking about
now, fear of the law, fear of condemnation, fear of judgment,
fear of death, fear of Satan, all their lifetime was subject
to bondage, to the bondage of fear, slavery. But he delivered
us, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels, But
he took on him the seed of Abraham. Therefore, and wherefore, in
all things, it behooved him to be made like unto us his brethren,
sons of God, that he might be a merciful, faithful high priest
in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the
sins of his people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor, comfort, give Consolation
to them that are tempted. Oh my, that's our comfort. That's
our consolation. Born of God, and we have no cause
to be under the bondage of fear. Now go back to Romans 8, my text. He says in verse 28, we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. 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.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he
also glorified. asked six questions. These six
questions arise out of this declaration right here, this declaration
of God's covenant mercies in Christ our Lord. And Paul asks
six questions, which declares our assurance and confidence
in him and covenant mercies. Now, here's the first question,
verse 31. What shall we then say to these
things? What things? Well, whom he foreknew,
whom he foreknew, foreloved eternally with an everlasting love, chose
in Christ. Them he predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ, and whom he predestinated he called by
his gospel, by the power of his Spirit, and whom he called he
justified. And everyone he justified he
glorified. Now, what do you say to these
things? all these things. But a lot of people have said
some awful ugly things about these things. I've heard people
say, well, I don't believe that. That's not my God. My God wouldn't
choose one and pass by another. But what do you say to these
things? Our Lord Jesus Christ, I'll tell you what he said to
these things. I'll tell you what he said. These things. Now, what
do you say to these things? These I'll turn to Matthew chapter
11, let's see what he said to these things. To these things,
Matthew 11, same thing we're talking about here, same thing
we read in Romans 8, our Lord Jesus dealt with in Matthew 11.
Matthew 11, he says in verse 25, at that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, sovereign
God. Lord of heaven and earth. Because
you've hid these things from the wise, the religious, the
prudent, you've hid these things from them. Our gospel will be
hid. Rather than just read that, it's
hid to them that are lost. It's hid to them. It's hid in
Christ, and because they don't love Christ, they can't find
them. If you find anything, you've got to look where it is. And
they look to works and flesh and tradition, and all these
things that don't look to Christ. So these things remain hidden.
But he's revealed them to us by his Spirit. All right, read
on. You've hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and
you've revealed them to babes. Why? Even so, Father, it seems
good in thy sight. Now all things are delivered
to me of my Father. No man knows the Son but the
Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son. and
he to whom the Son will reveal him." What do I say to these
things? I say the same thing my Lord
said. I thank you, Father. I thank you, Lord, Sovereign,
Almighty, Creator, Lord of heaven and earth. You've heard these
things from the wise and the prudent, which you revealed in
debate. And you revealed it because it
seemed good in thy sight. There's a man in Huntington,
West Virginia. His son was a preacher, a Baptist
preacher whom I knew, preaching this pulpit. His father was a
politician. He lived up on Mud Fork in West
Virginia, Logan County. And this preacher said to me
one time, my dad's the crookedest politician in Logan County. But
that old man started listening to me on television. And the
Lord did something for him. And he was up in the hospital
in Huntington. I never met him. He'd written, received tapes.
I never met him. But I went up to see him. He was in the hospital with a
fatal disease. He died several weeks later. And I walked in the door, and
he looked up and he said, you're the last fellow I'll ever expect
to see walk through that door. We greeted one and they said,
thank you for coming. And we sat and talked a while
about the gospel. He was in his late seventies. And I said, Brother
Mounts, I said, why do you think the Lord waited
so long to reveal the gospel to you? You never had much use
for the gospel all your life. He said, well, I read a scripture
over there the other day that explains it, I believe. And he
said this to me, even so father it seemed good in thy sight.
I said that's the answer. I preached his funeral up at
one of the big funeral homes in Huntington and all these friends
were there and I think he belonged to a Methodist church when he
was growing up and they were all there and none of them knew
me. His son asked me to preach his
funeral. So my first words to that congregation I know most
of you are wondering what I'm doing here preaching this man's
funeral. He's from Logan, West Virginia, or Mud Fork, West Virginia,
and I'm actually from Kentucky, and he wasn't a member of our
congregation. I said, I didn't know him near
as long as you people did. You knew him all his life. But
I knew the real Luther Mounce. I knew the one whom God saved,
who was a child of the King. And I said, I'm going to tell
you about him. I'm going to tell you what he believed. Even so,
Father, it seemed good in thy sight. What do you say to these
things? You know what I say? Thank you,
Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving, giving, giving to me thy great
salvation so rich and free. I didn't have anything to do
with it. I'm like old John Gill. Somebody said, how'd you get
that doctrine of divinity? He said, I never thought it,
sought it, or bought it. That's how I got salvation. I
neither thought it, sought it, or bought it. God gave it to
me. Why'd he do it? Because it pleased
him. It seemed good in his sight.
What's the second question? Well, he said, what do you say
for these things? Well, if God be for us, who can be against
us? If God be for us, if God be for us in eternal knowledge,
I knew you before you were born, before I formed you in your mother's
bed, I knew you. He was for me. He was for me
in purpose predestinated me to be like Christ. He was for me
when his Spirit one day crossed my path and called me. He was
for me when he sent his Son to the cross to bleed and die for
me. And he sits at the right hand of God now and intercedes
for me, and he's for me there. So I'd love to know who on earth
can be against me. Who on earth can possibly be
successful and prevail against me if God is for me? Well, the law can't be against
me because Christ honored that and obeyed it. It's got no charge. Justice can't be against me.
He satisfied that fully by his death. Satan can't be against
me because he met the Lord and the Lord defeated him and cast
him out. The prince of this world is cast
out, he said. God the Father is not against
me. He says he's pardoned me. If God the Father is pardoned
me, who can be against me? That's the reason I said these
verses are comfort. Comfort. Then the third question,
look at it here in verse 32. He that spared not his own son. God didn't spare his own son.
He made Christ our surety in eternity. He turned us over to
the Redeemer. He made Christ our guarantor,
our representative, and then sent him into this world. He
sent him into this world in human flesh and exposed him. to all
sort of suffering and temptation and harassment. He was a man
of sorrows acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces
from him. We despised him. He said, I have found no man.
What is it to you, all ye that pass by, and behold my sorrow?
Is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow, wherewith the Father
hath afflicted me? He spared him not. But he delivered
him up. He delivered him up to be tempted
by Satan and sin. He delivered him up into the
hands of sinful men, wicked men, to be nailed to a cross. He delivered
him up to justice and wrath to kill him. He forsook him in his
greatest hour of grief. And why did he do it? He did
it for us all. For whom? Whom he foreknew, whom
he predestinated to be like Christ, whom he called, whom he justified,
whom he glorified. That's for whom he spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for every one of us, all of
us. Now then, question. If that be
true, then here's the question. How shall he know? How can he
keep from also freely giving us all things? How can he? All things for which our Lord
undertook, accomplished, paid for, and earned by his death. If he bought it and earned it,
and the Father accomplished it in him, how shall he not freely
with Christ, in Christ, because of Christ, give us what? All
things. All things needful. Pardon of
sin, justification, righteousness, adoption, eternal life. To even suggest that the Lord
Jesus should take upon himself to redeem a sinner, and that
sinner not be redeemed, that's blasphemy. Now, that is definitely to question
the holiness of God. And that's what Paul's asking,
if God spared not his own son, but delivered him up to all of
this harassment and persecution and suffering and sorrow for
us. He did that for us in our sterling
place and room. Well, how shall the Father not
freely? abundantly, willingly, give us
all these things which Christ purchased. Of course he will.
You can be sure of that. You can rest on that. Then he
says in verse 33, well, who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? We're talking about those who
love God, those who are called according to his purpose, God's
elect. That's who we're talking about. We're not embarrassed
to say that. It's a shame to say it, we're
talking about God's elect. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Well, let me ask two or three
questions. Are the elect not chargeable? Yes, they are. They're charged
with Adam's transgression, in Adam we die. They're charged
with their own sin, with their own sins. All that's sin comes
short of the glory of God. They're charged with their lack
of righteousness. There's none righteous. No, not
one. Man at his best state is altogether vanity. They're charged
with a multitude of sins before conversion and after conversion.
Sure, they're chargeable. The second question, does anyone
charge them? Yes. They charge themselves. David said, my sins are ever
before me. against thee, and thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." The Apostle Paul
said, Oh, wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from
this body of death? Peter one day said to the Lord,
Lord, depart from me, I'm a sinful man. We charge ourselves. Satan
tries to charge He stood before the Lord and charged Job. He said, he just follows you
because you're good to him. He just loves you because you
hedged him about and all that he has. That's the reason. He's
the accuser of the brethren. Third question. They are chargeable. They charge themselves. Satan
charges them. Will these charges avail anything? No. Let them charge all they want
to. Why? Five words. It is God that justifies
them. You're wasting your breath, accuser
of the brethren. You're wasting your breath, fella
said. You got people down at the church
that they do certain, I know you're just wasting your breath.
Wasting your breath. It's God that justifies them.
Who? God justifies them. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. Justifies whom? Those whom he
foreknowed, those whom he predestinated, those whom he called, those whom
he justified, and those whom he glorified. He justified them for us all, for us all. Well, look at that fifth question.
Who is he that condemneth? Who can condemn us? I said that's
some of the fears, you know, fear of condemnation, fear of
condemnation, fear of judgment. Well, we're not afraid. Look
at these four things that he says in verse 34. Who is he that
condemneth? It's Christ that died. The death
he died was the death of the cross. The death he died was
the death of substitution. The death he died was the death
of satisfaction. And the person from whom he died,
the person from whom he died, God's elect. So no one can condemn
him. He died. But look at the next
line. He's risen again. Let me make
a statement here and you listen to it. His resurrection is as great a security from condemnation
as his death. His resurrection is as important
as his death, and as great a contribution to our confidence as his death.
Why? Because if Christ be not risen,
you're yet in your sins. A lot of martyrs died, but they
haven't risen. There are a lot of so-called
saviors that died, but they haven't risen. But this is the proof
that God accepted him. Let me read it to you in Acts
17. Listen to it. Just read it right
here. God hath appointed the day in which ye have judged the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he raised him from the dead." That's our assurance. Who can condemn me? Christ died
for me, and God raised him. But now another step. He's even
at the right hand of God. This man Christ Jesus, now he's
not a spirit, he's a man. There's a man in glory. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. There's one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus. He's there in glorified flesh
at the right hand of God, the man Christ Jesus. He went to
prepare a place for us and he entered heaven and took possession
of it. And as our forerunner, he sat down at the right hand
of the majesty in the heavens, and he listened to the last statement,
and he makes intercession for us. How does he make intercession
for us? By the appearance of his person
there, the man of Christ Jesus. Our righteousness, our sanctification,
our redemption, our wisdom, his very presence our forerunner,
our representative, our federal head, our head with the body,
we're in him, we're with him, he's there and when God accepted
him, accepted us, we're accepted in the beloved. That's the intercession
by his very presence, by the presentation of his sacrifice.
And of course, I know by the offering up of his prayers and
by applying to us the benefits of his death. Who can condemn
us? Christ died. Yea, rather risen. Who is even at the right hand
of God? Who make it? Not made, make it. Intercession. Here's the last question. Fear
of separation. Fear of falling away. You ever
think about that? Falling away. Someday hearing God say, depart
from me, I never knew you. No, we don't fear that. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Verse 35. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Now, the love of Christ is not
meant our love for him, but his love for us. That's the love
of Christ for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ for us? Now we do love him because he
first loved us, and we love him with a love that won't be forgotten.
We'll continue to love him, and he won't be destroyed. But the
apostle here is talking and speaking about God's love for his people.
He comforts our souls and gives us assurance and encourages us,
and nothing, nothing more effectively serves that purpose like the
eternal love of Christ for us. He said, I have loved you with
an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness I've drawn
you. Who can separate us from the
love of Christ? Listen, shall tribulation, trials,
afflictions, burdens? No. Shall distress, distress
of body or soul? No, sir. Shall persecution from
the world, religious world? No, sir. A famine or nakedness,
want of food or clothing? No, sir. Or peril or sword or
war, shall these things separate us? No, sir. Not from his love
for us. Verse 36 says, As it is written,
now this is quote from Psalm 44, For thy sake we are killed
all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Here's
what David says when he writes that in Psalm 44. For the sake
of God, for the sake of true worship, for the sake of the
gospel of grace, the people of God have been persecuted, martyred,
despised, put to death, and reckoned as nothing but sheep for the
slaughter. That's all. We are counted as
sheep for the slaughter. Nothings, nobodies. Nay, look
at verse 37, does that separate us from him? No, sir, nay, that
won't separate us from him. In all these trials, we're more
than conquerors. We're not overcome, we're not
defeated, we actually are strengthened by these things. We're more than
conquerors through him that loved us. We don't get our strength
from our love for him. We don't get our strength from
our faith. We get our strength from the object of faith. We
get our strength from his love for us. This is the consolation
and comfort of God's people. If God be for us, who can be
against us? He inspired not his own Son. I should not freely
with him give us all things. Who can lay anything to our charge?
Who is he that condemneth? Who can separate us from the
love of Christ? Look at verse 38. I'm persuaded,
I am fully persuaded, by the Spirit of God, by the Word of
God, by the promise of God, 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,
can separate me from the love of God, God's love for me, which
is in Jesus Christ, settled, sealed, committed to him, in
him. And this persuasion arises from
these five things I'll give you and let you go. It arises from the nature of
God. What is the nature of God? I
am the Lord, I change not. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. I change not. Therefore your
sons of Jacob are not consumed. When Paul wrote it, it's true
now. God doesn't change. Secondly, the nature of His love. His love's everlasting. It's
not a thing of time or conditions. Ours is. Ours is a thing of time
and environment and conditions and what comes along. But His love's
everlasting. They want anything in us to cause
Him to love us. The cause is in him, so there's
not anything in us that's going to stop him loving us. That's
the cause. That's the reason people stop
loving each other, because there's some cause in them, or in themselves,
but not him. The nature of his love is everlasting,
and then the nature of his words. Heaven, he says, and earth will
pass away, but my word will never pass away until it's all fulfilled. This is the thing that troubles
me about what we call preaching today, is they're not using the
word. They're not going down verse
by verse to the word. But God promised who cannot lie. And he said this, by two immutable
things we have confidence. His promise and his oath. His
word and his oath. He made an oath to Abraham. And
he swore by himself, because he couldn't swear by any greater.
Nature of his word. And then fourthly, the nature
of his sacrifice. His blood is righteousness. His
righteousness is perfect holiness. His blood is perfect satisfaction.
We are both justified by the blood and sanctified by his obedience. We are redeemed by the blood
and we are righteous by his obedience. It never changed. That's the
nature of it. It's perfect. And then last of all, his purpose.
His purpose. His covenant. Years ago, King David was king
of Israel. He'd been king 40 years. And
he was then about 75 years of age. And he lay on a bed dying. And I just imagine that was some
event in that city of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. The lights were turned down,
the candles and the burning lights were low, and the people were
whispering, not talking much, and heavy hearted, and David
was dying. The castle, palace where he was
Lying up there in his bedroom, dying was quiet. Servants were
walking around whispering and doing their duties quietly. And
in his room surrounding his bed, there was some of his faithful
servants, captains and generals. His son Solomon was there, that
other son or two, his daughters, grandchildren probably. Everybody
in the room, Davis died. sweet psalmist of Israel, the
mighty warrior, David killed his, they said about Saul, Saul
killed his thousand, David killed his ten thousand. David, a sweet
word on everybody's lips because he was such a good king, such
a faithful king, such a great writer of the Psalms, sweet psalmist. I know there's all listening
for one thing. They wanted to hear the last thing David said
before he died. I think that's what they were
listening for, the last thing he said before he died. Wonder
what he's going to say. Think of all the experiences
he's had. Think of what God did for him. Think of the battles
he won. What was he going to say? They
all gathered around, and these are the last words of David,
found in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5. Although it be not so with my
house, and that was true, it wasn't
so with a lot of his people, a lot of his children. God made with me an everlasting
covenant, everlasting covenant. ordered in all things and sure. And my friends, this is all my
salvation, all my desire. Although he make it not to grow,
and he died. And that's our hope. That's all
our salvation. And that's all my desire, to
be with him, to be like him. And I will be. Because he foreknew
me, predestinated me to be like him, and one day called me with
his gospel. And he justified me by the blood
and obedience of his son. And I'm already in his mind and
purpose glorified with all of you, and with all of these faithful
brethren. Already glorified.