There are three, actually four,
but three that I wish to deal with. There are three remarkable
questions in the closing verses of this chapter. The second one,
which will be the first one I'll mention tonight, is found in
verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? The Apostle Paul stands as a
free man, free from the curse of the law, free from the condemnation
of the law, free from the guilt of the law, a free man, acquitted. He stands as a man justified,
just as if he had never sinned, justified by God, by the grace
of God, by the will of God, by the mercy of God, through the
blood of God. clear of all sin, absolutely
clear of all guilt in Jesus Christ, and he faces the holy angels,
and he says, who can lay anything to my charge? The angels who
never sinned, the angels who never knew evil, the angels who
are called the elect angels by the old timers. He looks them
in the face, this fallen son of Adam, and says, who can lay
anything to my charge? And then the second question,
verse 34, who can condemn? Who is he that condemneth? Here's
where we get our assurance. It's not how good you feel. It's
how great Christ is. It's not how much you've prayed
today that gives you confidence and assurance. It's who's praying
for you today. get a hold of this, and you get
a hold of a little assurance and confidence. Who can condemn
me, he said, who is he that condemneth? Christ, my representative, has
died. Christ has died. Who it is that
died? What did he do? He died. He bore
my sins. He died for my sins. Christ died
for our sins, according to the scriptures. He was wounded for
our transgressions. He died. He didn't swoon. He didn't make believe he died.
He died. under the charges of our sins,
under the wrath for our sins, under the judgment of our sins,
under the condemnation of our sins. He died. But it goes on,
he says, yea rather he is risen again. My justifier, my substitute
died and my justifier arose. It's not just some little event
that we meet together on Easter Sunday morning at 6 a.m. when the sun rises in the football
stadium and wear a lily on our lapels and say we believe that
the dead shall live. This resurrection of mine justifies
a heap more than that. His resurrection signifies that
my debt's been paid and all that he did the Father has accepted. If my sins had not been sufficiently
paid for and the justice of God sufficiently satisfied and the
law of God sufficiently honored, he'd have never come out of that
grave. But the fact that he came forth signifies that tis finished,
tis done, the great transaction's done. That our justifier has
borne our sins, paid for them and buried them. Our scapegoat
has borne them away and he bears them no more. They're not even
there. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ says a whole
lot more than the dead shall rise. It says the dead shall
live. That's what it says. It says
the guilt has been put away. It says the debt has been paid.
It says the God of heaven is satisfied. It says God can be
just now and justify. That's what his resurrection
said. And then Christ the man is seated
on the right hand of God. There's a man in glory. That's
what Brother Moore said, a man in glory. That gives me good
hope that this man may someday be in glory. There's a man seated
at God's right hand, the right hand of the majesty. The right
hand is the place of power. The right hand is the place of
love. The right hand is the place of
glory. The right hand is the place of
acceptance. And that's where that man is,
on God's right hand. the man Christ Jesus, and the
scripture is careful to say the man Christ Jesus too. And you
know what he's doing there? My mediator is interceding for
me. He's actually calling my name,
he's actually praying for me, he's actually making intercession
for me. And he doesn't plead my good
works, he pleads his wounds. He doesn't plead my righteousness,
he pleads his. He doesn't plead my obedience,
he pleads his. So Paul looks to the throne of
God and he says, who is he that condemneth? Is any judgment forthcoming
from God's throne? And God says, I'm satisfied.
My son, I'm well pleased. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. Paul looks to the justice and
righteousness of God. Any condemnation there? No. Satisfied. Paul looks to the law of God.
Any curse? Any condemnation? No. Honored. Fully, completely, sufficiently
honored. No condemnation. Look across
the page at Romans 8.1. There is therefore, now, right
now, not later, now, not at the judgment, now, There is therefore
now, right now, no condemnation, that word, no judgment, no charge,
no judgment, to them who are in Christ Jesus. Not to them
who are in the church in Christ. Not to them who are in the religious
movement of this generation. They're in Christ, and they walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. They're spiritual
people. They are regenerated people,
they are special people, they are a people of God, and being
in Christ, like Noah's family was in the ark, they are protected
and provided for and sustained and kept, and there is no judgment,
there is no wrath, there is no destruction, there is no condemnation,
there is no death. They live. And then the third question,
verse 35. who shall separate us from the
love of Christ. Now here's where I'm going to
get, I guess to some people, a little offensive. But I don't
want to be offensive. And I don't mean to be offensive.
And I don't want to sound harsh. But I know, now listen to me
and think this through, that scripture says, Isaiah wrote,
come let us reason together. I know every man has a God. I'm
afraid most men worship the God of their imagination. They have
a God as they think God is. They worship the God of their
denomination, or their imagination, or the God of their tradition,
or the God of their creed. They read into the Word what
they want God to be like, and that's the God they choose to
bow down to, or worship, or honor, or whatever. But the whole religious
world is talking about the love of God, right? The whole religious
world is talking about the love of Christ. But they talk as if
this love of God and this love of Christ is really a common,
meaningless thing. Now think with me. Everybody's talking about the
love of God, the love of Christ. Jesus loves me, this I know.
We're taught that from the time we're infants. We go through
life singing it. Jesus loves the little children,
all the children of the world. The common expression today is,
God loves you and so do we. We tell the whole world indiscriminately,
God loves you. And then we say, and this is
the popular cliche of today, smile, God loves you. Now what is that saying? Whoever I am, I may be the greatest
rebel inside of hell. I may be the greatest self-righteous
rebel this side of hell. I may be the most rebellious,
indifferent, careless, no-good son of Adam that ever lived,
but this religious world, preachers, tell me, smile, God loves me. I am to smile. I am, in other
words, to find comfort in this fact that God loves me. I am
to be content. Although I face death, I may
die any moment. I may drop dead in my tracks,
but I'm to be content. I'm not to be troubled by the
fact that I may die any moment, because God loves me. I face
judgment. There's condemnation awaiting
me. There's a holy God for me to stand before. There's sins
written against my name. I've had no time for God, no
time for Christ, no faith in His Son, but I'm to be content. I'm to smile. I'm to find comfort
because God loves me. God loves me. I face eternal
damnation. I face eternal separation from
God because of my sins. But I'm to smile through this.
I'm not to be troubled. I'm not to weep. Dry your tears
and smile because God loves you. A man on death's row finds nothing
to smile about. A man who has murdered some person's
son or daughter. And the law has charged him,
and the law has convicted him, and the law has condemned him,
and the law has sentenced him, and the law waits to gobble him
up and destroy him, and you come to him and say, now the law loves
you, and the people love you, and the state loves you, and
the executioner loves you, and the judge loves you, and we all
love you. So smile. Be content. be happy. Now let's see if that is really
so. Let's see if we have any basis
whatsoever for making a statement like that. Back here in verse
31, will you go back to verse 31 with me? It says in verse
31, what shall we say to these things? If God be for me, no
one can be against me. If God be for me, no one can
be against me. If God be for me, in elective
grace. Now, these things we're talking
about, it says, whom he foreordained, he predestinated to be like Christ. Whom he predestinated to be like
Christ, he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. Now, what shall we say to these
things? If God be for us in elective
grace, in predestinating mercies, in Holy Spirit calling, in effectual
justification, and in persevering holiness and sanctification and
glory. If God be for me in all those things, then no one can
be against me. But if God's not for me, everybody's
against me. That's what he said. What shall we say to these things
that Paul's just been talking about? Verse 28, all things work
together for good to them that love God. Now what shall we say
to these things? We say this, if God be for me,
no power in heaven can be against me, no force on earth can be
against me, and no power in hell can be against me. But if God's
not for me, then heaven is against me, and earth does bind and enslave
me, and hell's waiting on me. if God's not for me. Now let's just say this, we say
smile, God loves you, let's say to the lost man, smile, God's
for you. God's for you. But God's not for you. If God's
for you, who can be against you? Now what he said, if God's for
me, he's on my side, I'm on his side, we're together, he's for
me! That's like a little little boy
in school, you know, and everybody's beating up on him, and the biggest
boy in school comes along and stands between him and the rest
of them, saying, anybody that's going to get to him is going
to deal with me. I'm for him. Well, the trouble
stops. I'm for him. And I've got God
for me. And my reply is, all right, verse
33 says, it is God that justifies, therefore who can lay anything
to my charge? God has justified me, then no
one can lay anything to my charge, because God says I'm not guilty.
God says that I'm free from all sin and all the curse and all
the guilt. God says I'm justified. So if God justified me, then
no one can lay anything to my charge. Wouldn't do them any
good. Who are they going to go to?
Well, just run and tell Satan I'm a sinner, but I'm not in
Satan's hands. I'm not going to deal with Satan. Satan's not
going to be on the throne. God's on the throne. I'm not
going to stand before the judgment seat of Satan. I'm going to stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. And if Christ says I'm justified,
what difference does it make what Satan says? See, if God's for me, then no
one can be against me. If God's not for me, everyone's
against me. If God's justified me, then you can't lay anything
to my charge. But if God hadn't justified me, no matter who else
does, I'm in trouble. I may justify myself, but it
won't do any good. My preacher may think I'm alright
and won't do me any good. You may think I'm alright and
won't do me any good, or somebody else. Because God, who I've got
to deal with. The hands of Him with whom we
have to do. Alright, look at the third one
now, verse 34. Christ died for me. Who is he that condemned? Christ died for me. He not only
died, he rose again, he ascended, he's intercedes for me. Alright,
if Christ died for me, then I face no condemnation. There is no
condemnation, because Christ has already been condemned. There
is no punishment, Christ has been punished. There is no judgment,
Christ has been judged. There is no death, Christ has
died. There's no condemnation if Christ
died for me. I'm free forever if he died for
me. Not if I join the church, not
if I do good deeds, not if I pray through, not if I pay my tithe,
not if I'm faithful to this or that. If Christ died for me,
there's no condemnation. Right in every bit of that comes
the fourth question, verse 35. Who can separate us from the
love of Christ? Brethren, if God loves me, if
God loves me, there's nothing now or ever will be that can
separate me from that love. Nothing. If God's for me, no
one can be against me. If God justified me, no one can
charge me. If Christ died for me, there's
no condemnation. If God loves me, no one can ever
separate me from his presence and from his promises and from
his blessings which flow from that love." In other words, his love is as
meaningful as his covenant. In other words, his love is as
meaningful as his righteousness. In other words, his love is as
meaningful as his redemptive work. What does the average preacher
say? The average preacher says, number
one, God elected everybody. You know what the average preacher
says? God votes for you, every one of you. The devil votes against
every one of you. You cast it aside and vote. God's
voted for every one of us. God's elected every one of us.
All right? The average preacher says God
has justified everyone. You know what the average preacher
says? Christ died for everybody. You know what he says? He justified
everybody. All right, God elected everybody,
God justified everybody, Christ died for everybody. And God loves everybody. Now
if that be so, if that be so, if that be true, there is no
hope. There is no hope. There is no
confidence and there is no assurance in anything God's done. You see what I'm saying? If God
elected everybody, if God chose everybody, if God justified everybody,
if Christ died for everybody, if God loves everybody, then
there's no hope, no confidence, no assurance in anything God
has done, really. Because what God has done has
been done for everybody. What God has decreed has been
decreed for everybody. What God Almighty has planned
in purpose has been planned in purpose for everybody. And so
there's really no hope at all in what God has done. If we are
to attain any hope or any assurance, it'll have to come from what
we do, not from what God's done. That's so clear. I hope that
you see that. The apostle finds his confidence
and hope in what God did. The Pharisee found his hope and
confidence in what he did. He stood in the temple and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank you I'm not like other men. I
fast twice in the week, I pray, I give alms, I tithe, I'm not
like this publican. He found confidence in what he
did. Christ said he was unjustified.
The people at the judgment in Matthew 7 found hope in what
they did, assurance in what they did, Lord. We prophesied in your
name. Cast out devils in your name.
We did many wonderful works. Paul found his confidence in
what God did. He said, if God be for me, no
one can be against me. Not if I be for God, if God be
for me. If God justified me, then no
one can charge me. If Christ died for me, then no
one can condemn me. If God loves me, then no one
can separate me from that love. The Apostle's confidence was
not in what he had done, but in what God had done, and what
God had done was sufficient. If God be for me, you think of
this, if God. That's high as you can go. That's
as powerful as you can get. That's the riches of all riches. That's the sovereignty of all
sovereigns. That's the king of all kings
and the Lord of all lords. If God be for me, in substitution,
in eternal grace, in eternal election. If God be for me, no
one can be against me. I have no fear. But if I base
my confidence and hope on the fact that I'm for God, what if
I ever stop being for God? What if my faith falters? Does
yours ever falter? What if doubts flood my soul?
Do you ever doubt? What if I fail the test? Do you
ever fail? But he is faithful. If I believe
not, he's faithful. He says, I change not, therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He said, the gifts and calling
of God are without change. I change. Everything about me
changes. He never changes. He changes
not. And if he's for me, that's the basis of my hope, he's for
me. That's the confidence of my soul,
he's for me. That's the assurance that I have,
he's for me. If he justified me before his
law, before his justice, before his throne, if he has personally
Because Christ satisfied his justice, if he has personally
pronounced me acquitted, I'm acquitted! And there's nothing
anybody can do about it. God won't change his verdict.
If Christ died for me, if Christ on that cross bore my name, the
Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, who lived for
me and died for me and rose for me and intercedes for me, if
he, Jesus Christ, actually bore my sins in his body, they are
not, they don't exist. God's cast them behind his back,
wherever that is. God remembers them no more. God's
never forgotten anything but my sins, and I can't explain
that. That's what he said. If God loves me, if God loves
me, I can never know his wrath. If God loves me, nothing can
separate me from that love. If God loves me, I can never
know his anger, I can never feel his will. If God loves me, there's
no love like God's love. The love of Christ, who can separate
me? When did the love of Christ begin
for me, for you, if he loves you? When did it begin? Jeremiah said,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Christ's love for us is
as old as the Father's love for the Son. The river of love flows
from everlasting to everlasting. In 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13
he says, I thank God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord,
God hath from the beginning, beloved of the Lord, God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Chosen to salvation,
those who were beloved of the Lord from the beginning. That's
how long he's loved me, from the beginning. How much did he
love me? God so loved the world, he gave
his son. Christ loved me and gave himself. John 13 says, having loved his
own, he loved them to the end. Infinite love. That's how much
he loved. What did it cost him? Old Jacob loved Rachel, didn't
he? He worked seven years in the hot sun, sweated and tall
for that girl, and didn't get her. So he worked seven more. Fourteen years. That's love. No, it's not. Jonathan loved
David. He loved David as his own soul. He loved David more than the
love of a woman, the scriptures say. He loved David enough that
he took upon himself the wrath of his father Saul, for David's
sake. He became an outcast from his
father's throne, for David's sake. You say, that's love. No.
Christ's love, oh, beyond description. beyond description. I believe
Rachel loved Jacob, and I believe David loved Jonathan, but we
didn't love Christ. He loved us. Here in his love,
not that we loved God, he loved us and gave himself, his son,
a propitiation for our sins. God committed his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God's love is put upon an object that is unlovely, unresponsive,
undeserving, ill-deserving, hell-deserving, what joy there is in the love
of Christ, what misery there is out of the love of Christ,
but he that believeth not on the Son, Scripture says the wrath
of God abideth on him. The last point I would make is
this, who shall separate us from God's love? Brethren, what I'm declaring
unto you is the love of God is in Christ. And the love of God
is upon those who are in Christ. And outside of Christ, God is
a consuming fire. God is wrath. God is righteous,
holy judgment. There's no mercy outside Christ
any more than there was mercy outside of the ark. Who would separate us from the
love of Christ? Well, Satan would if he could. Look at him standing
before God, accusing Job. Why, he says, does Job fear you
for nothing? Job doesn't love you. You've
hedged him about. Move the hedge. Let me move in
on him. You'll find out he doesn't love you. Satan's a tricky devil. The world would separate you
from the love of Christ if it could. The world's not a friend
of grace. The world's not a friend of grace.
The world's not a friend of God. The world travels under a disguise. The world hates God. The world
hates your Lord. They despise him with a passion. They love their God. They hate
your God. They hate the God of the Bible. They hate the living
God. They hate the God of sovereignty. They despise him. The natural
mind is enmity against God. And the world would wean you
away from God if they could. They'll try, they'll keep trying
to your dying day. But the true believer won't let
them. David said, I hate them that hate you. You know what
he said? I hate them that hate you. Now
you'll have to understand that in the context in which God tells
us to love even our enemies. But David is speaking the truth
there. Our flesh. would separate us
from the love of God. Don't be deceived. Your flesh is not a spiritual
ally. It is not and never will be.
Your flesh wars against your spirit. Your flesh is an enemy
of the spirit. You'll never conquer that flesh.
You'll never bring that flesh into subjection to God Almighty.
You never will. You may think you've got it lassoed
and roped and hogtied and in prison. It'll break out. I'm
not just talking about this out here. I'm talking about this
in here. That's flesh too. He then lists quickly, and I
close, seven forms in which trouble comes. Look at it. Verse 35,
who shall separate us from the love of Christ? distress, persecution, famine,
nakedness, peril, sword. Let's look at these just 30 seconds
each. The seven forms in which trouble
comes. Now every believer is going to
have trouble. Don't be amazed when fiery trials
come upon you. Some of you have, you feel like
more than you share. But maybe God's doing more for
you. Huh? Maybe God's doing more for you.
The best iron, they work on it a little longer. The best diamond,
they cut on it a little more. The best gold is put in the hottest
fire. It's a compliment from God Almighty
for God to deal personally with you in affliction. That's a compliment. He knows what you can bear. He's
not going to try you any more than you can bear. But he's doing
this for his glory, for your good, for my good. He knows what
needs to be done for us. So there's seven forms in which
trouble comes. First is trial, tribulation,
or affliction. Man that's born of woman is a
few days and full of trouble. Wish we could get that through
our heads. In this world ye shall have tribulation. Sorrow, that's part of life. Pain, that's part of life. Sickness, you're gonna have to
expect these things. Old age, there's no way around
that. These are afflictions, these
are tribulations, these are to be expected. Why do we count
it strange when these things come? They're not going to separate
me from the love of Christ though. These things will draw me, I
can't be any closer to him positionally, but they'll draw me closer to
him in attitude and spirit. I hear people pray, Lord, draw
us closer to yourself. I can't be any closer. Nearer
so near to God, nearer I cannot be. In the person of his Son,
I'm as near as he. But now in spirit and attitude,
I can be a better son. You can be a better daughter.
All right, the second trouble is distress. Not only in body,
but in mind. Distress of mind and emotions
causes us trouble, doesn't it? Our faith is so weak. Our powers
of reason are so weak. Our wisdom is so foolish and
frail. But I take great confidence in
that scripture, though we believe not, he abides faithful. He abides faithful. I don't know
about you. I've had days, I had a day not
long ago when I just about was ready to put
the whole thing to bed and shut the door and leave it. Just about. Have you ever been there? Just
distressed, just weary, just weary with the worklessness of
the whole effort. But that's not right. That's
not right. But that's distress, you see,
and these things are for God's glory and for our good, to make
us lean on him. It's not in your hands anyway,
you dumb-dumb, you ought to know that. This is God's battle. He fights the battle, it's not
your battle. These aren't your people, they're
God's people. They're not your sheep, they're his sheep. It's
not your church, it's his church. He'll do with it what he will.
That's all right. That's all right. Do you ever
have distress? Sure you do. But it's not going
to separate me from the love of Christ. I might grumble and
gripe and find fault with God's purpose. You know, Job got on
God, didn't he? He shouldn't have, but he did.
He sure did. And David, David used to argue
with the Lord. And did you ever do that? Persecution. Persecution is the third form
of trouble. Persecution from your family.
They don't understand. It's alright if you get religion,
but don't come to Christ. Don't be a fanatic. Don't be
a sovereign gracer. Don't sell out your family. They
don't understand you. They just can't comprehend where
you are and where you're coming from. And your religion's not
their religion. Persecution from the folks you
work with. I don't work in public works,
but I know what you fellas go through. Persecution from the
world, even from those who name the name of Christ, who ought
to help us, who ought to put forth an effort to make our way
easier, but they don't. They make it harder. They make
it harder. Well, our Lord said in Matthew
5, turn over here a minute, let me read Matthew 5 just a moment. In the 5th chapter of Matthew,
in verse 11 and 12 of Matthew 5, Blessed are ye
when men shall revile you, doesn't matter who it is, persecute you,
say all manner of evil against you falsely, it's not true, they
don't know what they're condemning, what they don't understand. for
my sake, rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Great is your reward in
heaven." They persecuted better men than you, greater men than
you, Henry T. Big Jim, bigger men, greater
men. They whipped them and burned
them at the stake. I ought to count it an honor
to move in that company. And then famine, the fourth source
of trouble, famine. Now we don't know much about
this, but we could. want of so-called necessities
of life. They won't separate me from the
love of Christ. But man's life doesn't consist
in the things he possesses. The richest man in the world
may be a pauper, and the poorest man in the world may be a king.
You don't judge a man by what he has, you judge a man by his
relationship with Christ. And then the fifth word is nakedness.
John Gill, Jim Ferguson, all these fellas say that this is
the want of proper clothing or covering. But you know, I think
there's a whole lot more here than this proper clothing. When
I think about my sins, when I think about my guilt before God and
how God knows my every thought and my every imagination and
my every motive, how God knows all about me, I feel naked, don't
you? Don't you feel naked before God?
You feel like Adam did in the garden. When Adam sinned, he
was naked and he ran and hid from God. He was naked. And I think that's what we are. We're naked before God. Before men, you know, we put
on clothes and we put on smiles and we clean ourselves up and
comb our hair Try to present a good appearance and smile when
we don't feel like smiling, and greet folks when we don't feel
like greeting them, and all this outside man looks on it, but
God looks on the heart, and he sees all that guilt, and you
feel naked, unclothed. But that won't separate me from
his love. That won't. Peril! What is peril? Well, 2 Corinthians, we need
to refer to this peril, P-E-R-I-L, 2 Corinthians 11. Maybe we can
get some help here. Paul talked about his perils
in 2 Corinthians 11.26. In 2 Corinthians 11.26. In journeyings
often in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils
by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in
the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren. Danger. Perils. Danger. Brethren, I want to tell
you something here. I believe this. And some of you
folks that that have some qualms about whether or not God can
keep you from dying, wherever you are. You listen to this. Because of the protective hand
of God, and the scripture says he gives his angels charge over
us. keep us. His angels are ministers
sent to minister to the heirs of righteousness, the heirs of
salvation. Because of God's protective hand
and because of our ignorance, especially of the spiritual world,
the spiritual wickedness in high places, the demons and evil spirits
and evil forces and powers and principalities all about us We
really don't dream of the perils we face every hour. Do you know that schools and
public buildings have exploded? But this one hasn't, but it could. There's all the potential in
these gas furnaces to blow up any time, but God's not going
to let it. Lightning strikes public buildings. Earthquakes
occur right under public buildings. It could happen, but God's not
going to let it. If Satan were turned loose, if the powers of
evil were turned loose, they'd split this place right down the
middle. God's not going to let them. When you're driving your
car down 13th Street Hill, you're passing death, two feet, coming
up the hill. The driver, Satan, could make
him get sleepy the moment he rounded that hill and drive headlong
into you and your wife and baby. God's not going to let him. You don't know the perils because
you're ignorant. But two things, I'm not talking
to you, you're talking to me too. I'm not aware of the power
that's about me, the forces of evil that are about me. The germs
that are in the air, in this water. Enough to destroy me,
to paralyze me. There's enough germs in the atmosphere
to put my eyes out. But God's not going to let it.
There are perils in waters, and perils in the sea, and perils
in the air, and perils on the ground, and perils everywhere.
Ten thousand shall fall at thy right hand, a thousand at thy
left. It shall not come nigh thee. There are no accidents
with God. While you're trying to run away
from from some little danger here. You're trying to run away
from some little danger. There are dangers in you and
in front of you and beside of you and over your head ten thousand
times greater than that simple little danger you're talking
about. When you doubt God and question
His sovereignty, peril These perils are not going to separate
me from God's love. If He ever stopped loving me,
He'd turn me over to these perils, these dangers. That's what he
said. Job said, Satan said, you've
hedged Job about. I can't get to him. Oh, if I
could get to him, I would. Chuck, if Satan could get to
you, he'd do it right now. He'd destroy you, your home,
your child. There ain't but one thing keeping
him from it, and that's God's love. God's love. God's love. He shall give his
angels charge. Your angels are here tonight.
They direct my path. They guide my boat. They pilot
my ship. There's a hedge around me. There's
a protective hand over me. There's a power within me called
God Almighty that keeps any germ from doing anything to me that
God doesn't want done. You may believe that or you may
not, but that's so. And the last word is sword. Perils and swords. Death may
separate me from this world, but not from Christ. When death
separates me from this world, it will take me right to my Lord.
Death may separate me from my family and my friends, but not
from my Lord. Death may separate my soul from
my body, but not from my Lord. It cannot separate me from the
love of God. In all these things, tribulation,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and so on, I'm
a conqueror through him that loved me. It's
cause he loved me. Ain't no other reason. Cause
he loved me. So when you look at this world,
and you say God loves you, well you've given him a blank check.
Cause that's what God gave you when he loved you, a blank check.
You're giving him a joint inheritance with Christ because that's what
God gave you when he loved you. So don't feel harshly with me
if I don't make silly statements like that. I'm trying not to
make them. I hope God loves you. I hope he loves me. I've got
a lot of reasons to believe he does. I've got a lot of evidences.
Boy, if he does, I'm rich if he loves me. Our Father, bless
the Word.