SPEAKER_00: Well, friends, if you're like me, you might be, I wouldn't use the word I'm terrified of heights, but I have a strong discomfort with heights.
SPEAKER_00: And not too long ago, some of you are familiar with Lola Babb, when she celebrated her eighth birthday, my family was invited to the Greensboro Science Museum to do the high ropes course, obstacle course, if you're familiar with that.
SPEAKER_00: That's when you walk across these obstacles as you're stringed high up in the air and wearing nothing but a harness attached to a rope.
SPEAKER_00: And so, wanting to be brave, I said, okay, let me try that, which in hindsight, that's pretty brave for an eight-year-old.
SPEAKER_00: So shout out to Lola for your bravery at that age.
SPEAKER_00: But um, what was interesting is there was one particular course where, by God's grace, there were several people ahead of us, so I got to watch them go first to see how they would tackle this particular obstacle.
SPEAKER_00: And there was one where we all had to walk across this big open area with nothing but a rope with a small circular piece of wood attached to the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: And as I'm watching the adults go before me, I'm realizing I'm getting more and more nervous because they're all doing a horrible job at it.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they they warned us, like, hey, this is one of the most difficult parts of this particular course.
SPEAKER_00: And so just take your time because when you step on these little circular platforms, most people just tumble and fall down.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm watching people go, and you know, I'm I'm competitive, so I'm like, no, I'm not gonna fall, I'm gonna get it.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm watching what other people are doing wrong to try to correct and do it the right way the first time.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's my turn and got my harness on, take one step onto the wooden platform and immediately drop.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just suspended in the air.
SPEAKER_00: However, even though I don't like heights, I felt very confident I wasn't gonna die that day because the harness was secure.
SPEAKER_00: That harness was holding me to the safety rope above me, and so I just dangled in the air, looking embarrassed and tangled in a bunch of ropes, but was able to finish the course.
SPEAKER_00: That reminds me a little bit about how we understand as Christians God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Like we believe what our sister Marie just read to us.
SPEAKER_00: If you've been a Christian for a while, you know those verses.
SPEAKER_00: You know that if you're a child of God, God loves you, and that the text says we're secure in his love and it's never changing.
SPEAKER_00: But I think sometimes if we're honest in our inner man experientially, we sometimes in our walk with Jesus wrestle with, but is God's love is it really safe?
SPEAKER_00: Like, is it really secure?
SPEAKER_00: Can it really hold me up and do all the things that the Bible says it can do?
SPEAKER_00: What we're gonna do in this series is focus on the theme of stewardship and generosity.
SPEAKER_00: Now you might be wondering, okay, on a sermon series on generosity and stewardship, why are you starting with Romans 8?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because I believe the more we understand the heart of God and his love towards us, that then shapes our understanding of our generosity and stewardship towards others living in God's world.
SPEAKER_00: Because we are God's children.
SPEAKER_00: And as Paul says in Ephesians 5, we are to be imitators of God and to walk in love.
SPEAKER_00: And so if we want to imitate our Father, we need to understand the heart of our Father.
SPEAKER_00: And so what we're gonna do throughout this series is look at the Word of God through various texts of scripture and try to understand how we should as believers understand this theme of stewardship.
SPEAKER_00: And when I say that, I'm not just referring to our pockets, our pocketbooks, our wallets, our bank accounts.
SPEAKER_00: I understand sometimes in churches when you preach on the topic of stewardship and money, that's when some people say, I think it's a great time to go visit my in-laws now, right?
SPEAKER_00: But we want to know God's full counsel for every area of life.
SPEAKER_00: And so I pray that this series encourages us to think about what does it mean to be a faithful steward who has been entrusted with God's things and who will one day give an account to how we steward his stuff for his glory and for the good of others.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna focus this morning on verses 31 through the end of chapter 8 here, verse 39, and look at the gospel of Jesus Christ, the heart of God in saving sinners, and how that knowledge should shape our stewardship and generosity.
SPEAKER_00: But before we do that, we need to just develop some context because obviously we're jumping in the middle of a book, Romans chapter 8, and it would be helpful to understand what has led up to Paul's argument in chapter 8.
SPEAKER_00: So back in the beginning of the book, in chapter 1, Paul makes it very clear that we are all universally guilty before God.
SPEAKER_00: There is no one who is neutral on the planet.
SPEAKER_00: We are all born in sin because Adam felled in the garden and he was our representative heads.
SPEAKER_00: That means every person on this planet stands condemned before God.
SPEAKER_00: But he then talks about justification by faith, the fact that we are, if you are in Christ, you are declared righteous by God alone, judicially, forensically in the courtroom of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: He has determined to forever think of you as forgiven, as we see in Romans 4 and 5.
SPEAKER_00: But then he starts talking about the spirit-empowered life.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in Christ, you have God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out, sanctifying us, renewing our minds.
SPEAKER_00: And he talks about the beauty of the doctrine of adoption, that we are adopted as brothers and sisters, or sons and daughters, rather, beloved children of God, co-heirs with Christ to the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_00: And then he flows into our text here, into this logical, logical argument of if God has done all of that for the Christian, how will he not also do more good to you?
SPEAKER_00: Or if he's done all of that in saving you and justifying you, then what on earth can separate you from God's love?
SPEAKER_00: And the intent of Paul's words that I want us to see this morning is this, friends.
SPEAKER_00: God's radical generosity and redemption produces radical generosity in his people.
SPEAKER_00: So this sermon is going to be a little bit of a gospel primer.
SPEAKER_00: We're all just going to go back to the quote unquote fundamentals and let's focus on what does it mean that we are saved?
SPEAKER_00: What is the heart of God in saving sinners and how should that shape our own lives today?
SPEAKER_00: So if you turn, I'm sorry, if you look down in your Bibles, beginning at verse 31.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to look at first verses 31 through 34, where Paul says, What then are we to say about these things?
SPEAKER_00: If God is for us, who is against us?
SPEAKER_00: He did not even spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.
SPEAKER_00: How will he not also with him grant us everything?
SPEAKER_00: Who can bring an accusation against God's elect?
SPEAKER_00: God is the one who justifies.
SPEAKER_00: Who is the one who condemns?
SPEAKER_00: Christ Jesus is the one who died.
SPEAKER_00: But even more has been raised.
SPEAKER_00: He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: What I want us to look at first is this.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, if you're in Christ this morning, God the Father spared nothing to save you.
SPEAKER_00: God spared nothing to redeem you.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul asks this question, what shall we say then to these things?
SPEAKER_00: He's summarizing everything he has just argued.
SPEAKER_00: I would say specifically in chapters five through eight.
SPEAKER_00: And his conclusion is stunning.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like he's just bursting out in praise, saying, with all this rich doctrine I have just been unpacking, the doctrine of justification and union with Christ, all of this, the fact that you have been baptized into Christ, if all of this is true, what then shall we say to these things?
SPEAKER_00: How should we respond to such glorious truths of ourselves and how God has redeemed us?
SPEAKER_00: And his conclusion is stunning.
SPEAKER_00: What does he say?
SPEAKER_00: If God is for us, who can be against us?
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, that is a rhetorical question.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is essentially saying, brothers, if you understand this gospel I'm unpacking, if God is on your side, no matter how many stand against you, you are always a majority.
SPEAKER_00: If God is for us, who can be against us?
SPEAKER_00: Just think about that sentence.
SPEAKER_00: If God is for us, we got to stop with, well, who is God?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the one who existed before time itself.
SPEAKER_00: He created time, there was nothing in existence, and then all of a sudden everything that we know and still have yet to discover, he simply spoke it into existence?
SPEAKER_00: The God who wept and bled to redeem us, the God who sustains every particle, every atom in the universe, that God is for you if you're in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So if that God is for you, who can be against us?
SPEAKER_00: Of course, let's be clear, the Christian does have enemies.
SPEAKER_00: We face the flesh, the world, the devil.
SPEAKER_00: We face trials, persecution, opposition, suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is not minimizing any of those things.
SPEAKER_00: Those are real factors in the Christian life.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul would say, friends, they those things may trouble you, but they can never destroy you.
SPEAKER_00: They can afflict you, but they can never take away your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: They can do harm to you and cause havoc in your life, but they can never thwart God's plan for your life.
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this morning, what is it that you are afraid of in your Christian life?
SPEAKER_00: What enemy looms large in your mind?
SPEAKER_00: Is it your health, finances, relational conflict, job security, whatever it may be?
SPEAKER_00: Paul would look you in the eyes and just remind you if God is for us, who or what can be against us?
SPEAKER_00: It's a rhetorical question meant to exhort and encourage you.
SPEAKER_00: I love how David says this in Psalm 27.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to David.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is my light and my salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Whom shall I fear?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that very similar to what Paul just said?
SPEAKER_00: He's starting with a theology of God.
SPEAKER_00: Whom should I fear?
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is the stronghold of my life.
SPEAKER_00: Whom should I dread?
SPEAKER_00: When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
SPEAKER_00: Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident.
SPEAKER_00: That's God honoring cockiness right there.
SPEAKER_00: Even an army can break out against me, and I'm straight.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Lord of hosts is my light and my salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, whom should I fear?
SPEAKER_00: If God gave his son, that is the ultimate proof that God is for us, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Look down at verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: If God is for us, who is against us?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32, he did not even spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.
SPEAKER_00: How will he not also with him grant us everything?
SPEAKER_00: Paul doesn't stop with a rhetorical question.
SPEAKER_00: He gives us proof.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32 is the proof that God is for you if you're in Christ this morning.
SPEAKER_00: This is the foundation of everything.
SPEAKER_00: This is the ultimate demonstration of God's radical generosity and love.
SPEAKER_00: He gave up his son for us all.
SPEAKER_00: This is a reality, brothers and sisters, that we will spend an eternity learning more about, basking in the glory of God, on how on earth could you reconcile sinners to yourself through the person of Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_00: How is it that you were willing to offer up your son freely, sacrificially for all of us who were your enemies, who had no desire to love and serve you?
SPEAKER_00: This is the foundation of the Christian faith, the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But it is also the clearest evidence.
SPEAKER_00: If you ever wrestle with does God love me, does God do good towards me, all you gotta go is to Romans 8.
SPEAKER_00: If he offered up his son on your behalf, how could we ever question his love for him?
SPEAKER_00: For us.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to the left to Romans chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: Romans chapter 5, verses 6 through 10.
SPEAKER_00: Paul echoes a similar truth in verse 6 of chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ Jesus died for the ungodly.
SPEAKER_00: For rarely will someone die for a just person, though for a good person, perhaps someone might even dare to die.
SPEAKER_00: But God proves his own love for us, and that we and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_00: How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath?
SPEAKER_00: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?
SPEAKER_00: And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom we have been whom we have now received this reconciliation.
SPEAKER_00: Do you notice the language?
SPEAKER_00: We were, does it say he died for us because we were lovable?
SPEAKER_00: He died for us because we were just like the kindest people, he died for us because he knew we were really gifted and he could really use us on his team.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, it says while we were still helpless.
SPEAKER_00: It says, while we were ungodly, while we were his enemies and rebels, that's when Jesus said, I will voluntarily strip myself of glory and die for them.
SPEAKER_00: So that means when we were actively hostile to God and gave him every reason not to redeem us, Jesus said, I will initiate salvation towards them.
SPEAKER_00: This is why the text the Bible says we love because he first loved us, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not the other way around.
SPEAKER_00: He gave his most precious treasure, his only son, to save sinners like you and me.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the logic Paul wants you to grab onto the that he wanted his audience to understand.
SPEAKER_00: If God was willing to give his one and only son for you, an enemy, will he withhold anything that's good for his children now?
SPEAKER_00: Logically, it makes no sense, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: If he was willing to give his greatest possession, his greatest treasure to save his enemies, how will he not also do good to his children?
SPEAKER_00: Let me illustrate it for you.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine a father finds out that his child has a cancer diagnosis, but he doesn't have the finances to get his son the medical care he needs, and so he sells his home and everything he possibly can to give his son the treatment he needs.
SPEAKER_00: And by God's grace, the cancer's in remission, the child's doing well, and that child one day says, Hey dad, I'm hungry.
SPEAKER_00: Can we go to the grocery store and get some groceries?
SPEAKER_00: And the dad says, Oh, I don't know, son, I've already did a lot for you.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think I can I can feed you.
SPEAKER_00: That is absurd, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: That's how we project onto God, though, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, God, you were willing to send Jesus to hang on a cross to pay for my sins, but certainly you don't care about the suffering I'm going through or this trial that is afflicting me.
SPEAKER_00: We tend to think that God is only generous one time, but he's certainly not going to do that again.
SPEAKER_00: He was generous on the cross, but now he just tolerates us.
SPEAKER_00: But when we look at the text, brothers and sisters, that's not what Paul is trying to help the church in Rome understand.
SPEAKER_00: He's trying to help them understand, no, it gets better.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he saved you, and he has so much more in store for all of his children, and he desires to lavish you with all of his spiritual blessings that he has for you.
SPEAKER_00: That is our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: That is the logic that Paul is trying to help his audience understand, which then challenges us in our Christian walks here in America.
SPEAKER_00: Why are we always so anxious?
SPEAKER_00: Why do we struggle to trust God?
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is because we don't believe verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: We believe it in our heads.
SPEAKER_00: I think we do a good job of getting theology right, but it doesn't turn into experiential, practical theology that we live out.
SPEAKER_00: We say he did not spare his son, but do we actually believe it in our hearts?
SPEAKER_00: Is it a reality in our lives?
SPEAKER_00: Do we read verse 32?
SPEAKER_00: He did not even spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.
SPEAKER_00: How will he not also with him grant us everything?
SPEAKER_00: We need to be praying, God, help me believe that.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I believe it, but help my unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: Like I know it's true because it's inspired scripture, but if I'm honest, it's not consistently what I'm experiencing in my Christian walk.
SPEAKER_00: So help me there, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Because that, friends, is the true test of whether you truly believe something or not.
SPEAKER_00: And when we don't believe these things, to an extent, we're hindering our own sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: Because we're not experiencing the fullness of all the blessings and goodness that God has for us.
SPEAKER_00: When you believe that the God who gave us his son will also give you all things, it changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: It literally changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: This is why I'm always gonna beat the drum on.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be people who are fluent in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I don't mean, you know, the ABCs of the faith, Jesus came, he died, and rose on the third day and ascended back into heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, that is true.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get that right.
SPEAKER_00: But what are the implications of that?
SPEAKER_00: What are the implications of the gospel in every aspect of your life?
SPEAKER_00: And how you confess sin and how you address conflict in your marriage, and how you parent your children, and how you work in an unbelieving workplace.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel touches every fabric of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: So when we understand it, it changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: We live more sacrificially.
SPEAKER_00: We serve God and others generously.
SPEAKER_00: We take quote unquote risks for Christ's glory because we trust his provision and his sovereign hand guiding our lives.
SPEAKER_00: This is the foundation of all Christian generosity and stewardship.
SPEAKER_00: We're not generous out of guilt or obligation or tradition, tradition, or to check a box or to earn blessings, but it's confident trust that the God who gave everything to save you will provide everything you need as we pour out ourselves for others.
SPEAKER_00: But notice in verses 33 and 34, Paul goes on with his argument Who can bring an accusation against God's elect?
SPEAKER_00: God is the one who justifies.
SPEAKER_00: Who is the one who condemns?
SPEAKER_00: Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more has been raised.
SPEAKER_00: He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just add a quick disclaimer, real quick.
SPEAKER_00: I think as Christians, something we can be guilty of, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, is we focus on Jesus' death and resurrection as we should.
SPEAKER_00: That is the epicenter of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: But I would encourage you, wherever you're at in the pages of scripture, whatever, whatever that passage is highlighting of the ministry of Jesus, like pause and celebrate that.
SPEAKER_00: What I mean is don't just focus on Jesus' death and resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: We should celebrate his transfiguration and what that implies.
SPEAKER_00: We should celebrate his ascension as well.
SPEAKER_00: And we should celebrate what we see in these verses, 33 and 34, the fact that right now Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God praying on behalf of his saints.
SPEAKER_00: That is a part of your salvation as well.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's part of the package deal you get.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is praying for you this morning if you're in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I sometimes just play that in my head when I'm weak in faith or I'm discouraged or I'm struggling to trust God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, God, if I could just, if you could just leave the door cracked and I could just walk in and just hear just 30 seconds of just one prayer that Jesus is praying on my behalf, I probably would have the faith to conquer the world.
SPEAKER_00: But knowing that should give us that type of confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, prays for his children.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul keeps building his case in verses 33 and 34.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Who can bring an accusation against God's elect?
SPEAKER_00: God's the one who's just who justifies, who is the one who condemns?
SPEAKER_00: Notice Paul is using forensic legal language here.
SPEAKER_00: This is courtroom language.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying an accusation, a justification, condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: He's painting a courtroom scene here and he's asking, pay attention, who can legitimately accuse you?
SPEAKER_00: Who can legitimately condemn you?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because God the Father is the judge, and he is the one who justifies you.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus Christ is the one who died in your place and rose again.
SPEAKER_00: He is the one interceding for you as your defense attorney to the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: So think about the contrast Paul is setting up here.
SPEAKER_00: First, you have your enemies bring accusations, but God is the one who justifies.
SPEAKER_00: Your enemy can be the devil, which is not his name, it's just a title, the adversary, Satan.
SPEAKER_00: It means the accuser of the brethren.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Satan does.
SPEAKER_00: Does spending his time accusing you to God.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul says, your enemies might bring accusations, but the question we need to ask from our understanding of God's word, even if the enemy brought an accusation to the Father against us, is it legitimate?
SPEAKER_00: Could it hold up in court?
SPEAKER_00: According to Paul, our enemies can bring accusations, but God's the one who justifies.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one who slammed the gavel down and said, This one is forever forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Our enemies may try to condemn us, but the question is, according to God's word, can they legitimately condemn us?
SPEAKER_00: But according to Paul, Jesus died, rose on your behalf, and reigns on the throne.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, can our enemies or can anything in the created order separate us from God?
SPEAKER_00: Well, according to Paul, no.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely nothing can separate us from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that later.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to Psalm 118.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is for me, I will not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: What can a mere mortal do to me?
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is my helper, therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, y'all need some of y'all need to memorize that one.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's just be fair here.
SPEAKER_00: Most of us don't have enemies in the sense that the Bible describes enemies.
SPEAKER_00: I think some of y'all might declare some people enemies, but I don't know, man.
SPEAKER_00: David was on the run from people trying to kill him, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But notice how understanding who God is, so let this be an encouragement to you to know your Bibles, to know good theology, to know a doctrine of God, who is God, what are his attributes?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what's shaping and fueling how these brothers speak.
SPEAKER_00: That is why he can say, The Lord is for me, I will not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: What can a mere mortal do to me?
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is my helper, my helper, therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
SPEAKER_00: What a perspective.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when we go through life, our circumstances might not change.
SPEAKER_00: God might not alter our emotions in the midst of our circumstances, but he might graciously just shift our perspective by reminding us of the truth of his word, or just reminding us of who he is and the fact that we belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like for some of you, you know, maybe you were that kid in school when you were very young, maybe you had some conflict with another kid in school and you say, you know what, my dad can beat up your dad.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: But in this sense, as Christians, that is true all the time.
SPEAKER_00: If you belong to God, that should give you a level of confidence that meant that doesn't make sense to the world.
SPEAKER_00: Or think of it this way, like when you're a child, and maybe you're scared that there's a monster in the in the closet or under your bed.
SPEAKER_00: And as parents, what do you do?
SPEAKER_00: You come in, you turn the lights on, you say, Look, there's nothing there.
SPEAKER_00: You're safe, you're secure.
SPEAKER_00: That's like kind of what Paul is doing in Romans 8, where he's like, Hey, Christian, if you wrestle with does God really love you, or will God ever forfeit his love for you, or can you lose your salvation, or can anything separate you from God's love?
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like Paul is saying, Look, look under the bed, look in the closet, turn the light on.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing there.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that can legitimately make an accusation against you, there's nothing that can legitimately condemn you, there's nothing that can even come remotely close to separating you from the love that your Heavenly Father has for you.
SPEAKER_00: So even if you feel that to be true, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: It's an unjust fear because it's not based on truth.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we can sing.
SPEAKER_00: How's that song go?
SPEAKER_00: God is bigger than the boogeyman.
SPEAKER_00: He's bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on TV, right?
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Veggie Tales.
SPEAKER_00: It's true.
SPEAKER_00: When you have sound doctrine, when you understand the character and power of God, it shapes how you view life.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to verses 33 through 34 again.
SPEAKER_00: Who can bring an accusation of God against God's elect?
SPEAKER_00: God is the one who justifies.
SPEAKER_00: Again, these are rhetorical questions.
SPEAKER_00: He's encouraging, instructing the church in Rome.
SPEAKER_00: Who is the one who condemns?
SPEAKER_00: Christ Jesus is the one who died.
SPEAKER_00: But even more, has been raised.
SPEAKER_00: He is also at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
SPEAKER_00: The only person who can legitimately accuse you, the only person who can legitimately condemn you is the same person who died for you to free you from condemnation, to justify you.
SPEAKER_00: So the only person in the universe who can legitimately accuse you and condemn you for all eternity is the one who died on your behalf so that you never have to experience the wrath of his father.
SPEAKER_00: That's how secure you are in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul also explains that a part of God's love, a part of your security in his love, and whether you can trust it is the fact that God chose you before you chose him.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to notice something important in verse 33.
SPEAKER_00: Paul calls us, if you're in Christ, God's elect.
SPEAKER_00: That word means he chose you.
SPEAKER_00: And it connects back to what Paul said just a few verses earlier in verses 29 through 30.
SPEAKER_00: If you just look up a few more verses, verse 29 says, For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: And those he predestined, he also called, and those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified.
SPEAKER_00: That word foreknew just means he had intimate, loving knowledge of beforehand, which means before God created anything in this universe, he already knew his church by name, he already set his affection on you, and Jesus was sent in real time in history to die on the cross for his bride, the church, to atone for their sins.
SPEAKER_00: Now some struggle with passages like this and say, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: I think what that's saying is that God just predestined that you would be sanctified and holy.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, but it says for those he foreknew he predestined.
SPEAKER_00: And those who he predestined, yes, are going to be sanctified.
SPEAKER_00: But verse 30 says, and those he predestined, he also called, which is an effectual call, meaning God, when whenever whoever in this room, whenever you came to faith in Christ, whether you heard a preacher standing up like me proclaiming the gospel, or someone was sharing it with you one-on-one, or you read the word of God yourself, something happened when you transferred into the kingdom of light.
SPEAKER_00: You had the word of God illuminated to your heart, and God effectually called you through his gospel.
SPEAKER_00: But it says, and those who he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, that that is a eternal love.
SPEAKER_00: That's how secure you are in God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Before you even knew about God's love, he already had his affection set on you.
SPEAKER_00: I love how Charles Spurgeon articulates the doctrine of predestination.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm grateful that God chose me before the foundations of the earth, because if he chose me after, I probably would have never chose him.
SPEAKER_00: An election, as we saw in the book of Ephesians, if you remember, has nothing to do with anything in us whatsoever.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't elect anyone because, well, I think, you know, so-and-so will be great at this, or so-and-so could be used like he doesn't need any of us.
SPEAKER_00: It's all solely by his grace.
SPEAKER_00: One of the most helpful ways I could illustrate it is imagine all of humanity is in a bucket.
SPEAKER_00: And according to Romans 1, that Paul unpacks very well, as I said earlier, everyone is born in sin.
SPEAKER_00: No one is neutral, no one is on the fence about do I love God or not.
SPEAKER_00: We are born in rebellion to God.
SPEAKER_00: We don't love God, we don't treasure him, we have no desire to love and serve him.
SPEAKER_00: Let me put it this way: imagine if we had a plate of vegetables and we put that plate of vegetables in front of a lion.
SPEAKER_00: That lion would have zero interest in that plate of vegetables.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it goes against its nature.
SPEAKER_00: It's a carnivore.
SPEAKER_00: It wants to hunt, prey, and eat meat.
SPEAKER_00: That was us before our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: We didn't love Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We could care less about the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We were slaves to sin by nature.
SPEAKER_00: That is all of us in that bucket of humanity I described.
SPEAKER_00: But God and his infinite grace and mercy, before the foundations of the earth, decided, I'm going to glorify my name by reaching into that bucket and extending grace and salvation to some, called my church.
SPEAKER_00: And my son will die to purchase their salvation, to deal with the sin debt that has to be dealt with so that they can become my adopted sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: That is how deep and har how far back God's love for you goes, brothers and sisters, if you're in Christ this morning.
SPEAKER_00: This these verses 29 through 30 is what some theologians call the golden chain of redemption.
SPEAKER_00: And notice every link in that chain is God's initiating action, not our own.
SPEAKER_00: God foreknew you, God predestined you, God efficaciously called you, and God justified you.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're in Christ, He promises to one day glorify you.
SPEAKER_00: What part do you play in all that?
SPEAKER_00: None.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why does all this matter?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because it shows us two things.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, first, that God's love is an initiating love, not a reactive love.
SPEAKER_00: God didn't call an audible in the garden and say, Oh, snaps, I didn't know that was gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: How can I make a good thing out of a bad thing?
SPEAKER_00: God's love is an initiating love before the foundations of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: But second, your salvation is certain, it is secure.
SPEAKER_00: If God started the work, he will finish the work.
SPEAKER_00: This is why Paul says in Philippians, I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Your security in Christ does not rest in your own strength, it rests in the mighty strength of your heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: It rests on God's sovereign choice and his faithful promises.
SPEAKER_00: This is one truth that I am so grateful for as a Christian, that our security in Christ is never determined on how powerfully we're holding on to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It reminds me of a mother carrying her newborn baby.
SPEAKER_00: That baby's being carried around by that mom all throughout the day, but we would never say that baby is secure because it's holding on to the mom.
SPEAKER_00: We would say, no, that baby's secure because that mom is holding on to that baby.
SPEAKER_00: That is us in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He is holding on to us.
SPEAKER_00: And let's just be honest, we're sometimes like a kid, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're wailing and kicking, trying to get our socks off and run away from the father.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, you can keep trying, but you ain't going nowhere.
SPEAKER_00: Because my son died to secure my love for you.
SPEAKER_00: So think about this, brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: When the enemy whispers in your ear, you're gonna fall away.
SPEAKER_00: God certainly doesn't love you.
SPEAKER_00: You know what you've done.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna lose your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe he whispers to some of you, you're not strong enough.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe some of you grew up in some really broken homes and you had parents who said very demeaning things to you growing up.
SPEAKER_00: You're never gonna amount to anything.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've experienced some marriages like that.
SPEAKER_00: When the enemy whispers in our ear to tempt us, you're gonna fall away.
SPEAKER_00: You're not good enough.
SPEAKER_00: You're not worthy of God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Sure, he saves you, but you know, he doesn't really want you.
SPEAKER_00: You know what we can say back?
SPEAKER_00: We can say, you know what, Satan?
SPEAKER_00: You're right.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not strong enough.
SPEAKER_00: But God is.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not worthy of his love.
SPEAKER_00: But my worth never earned his love.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm not strong enough to hold on to him.
SPEAKER_00: Praise be to God that he's holding on to me.
SPEAKER_00: I know there is past shame and guilt for all that I have done, and yet my Savior took my shame on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: That's the comfort of God's sovereign election.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus knew absolutely everything.
SPEAKER_00: I tell people this all the time when I meet with them for counseling.
SPEAKER_00: Before you walked in this room, I already knew the worst thing about you.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing I know about myself.
SPEAKER_00: You killed Jesus on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: That's the same thing about all of us.
SPEAKER_00: This is the comfort of God's sovereign choice in saving sinners.
SPEAKER_00: It's about God's radical, initiating, securing love.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul ends verse 35 with a question that sets up my next point.
SPEAKER_00: He says, in light of all he has been unpacking, not just in Romans 8, 31 through 39, but all through five through eight, he says, Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
SPEAKER_00: Which brings me to my second point.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, if you're in Christ this morning, nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate you from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what it is, absolutely nothing can separate you from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Look down at verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just read through 39.
SPEAKER_00: Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Can affliction, notice all the things he's naming, can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
SPEAKER_00: As it is written, because of you, we are being put to death all day long.
SPEAKER_00: We are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
SPEAKER_00: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him who loved us.
SPEAKER_00: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I don't even need to unpack that, do I?
SPEAKER_00: Paul is explicitly clear, but do you see what Paul is doing?
SPEAKER_00: He's piling up everything that he can think of.
SPEAKER_00: Anything that he can possibly think of to threaten us, and he says, none of it, not a single thing can truly separate you from your Heavenly Father's love for you.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you can imagine, Christian, I don't care how long you've been a Christian, take as much time as you need to try to think of something that you think, well, maybe this, maybe there's a loophole, maybe this can actually separate me from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Paul would say, nope, absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00: Just to be clear, anything in existence, anything in the spiritual realm that you can't even see with your eyes, that you're not even aware of yet, nothing can separate you from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: And look at this list.
SPEAKER_00: This is very particular.
SPEAKER_00: I I appreciate this about Paul.
SPEAKER_00: He says, um, where was it at?
SPEAKER_00: So, okay, we have the obvious that we experience in life affliction, distress in verse 35, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, a sword.
SPEAKER_00: But notice in verse 37, no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him to love who loved us.
SPEAKER_00: For I am persuaded, now he really is just bragging here, neither death itself can separate you from God's love, nor life, nor angels or rulers.
SPEAKER_00: So that even includes Satan and fallen angels.
SPEAKER_00: They have absolutely no power to separate you from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: But notice this nor things present nor things to come.
SPEAKER_00: Now that is dope.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, so even the stuff in the world right now can never separate you from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Even the stuff to come that you don't even know about yet, even when that comes on the horizon, it can't separate you from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: But not only that, no powers.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some wonder is it referring to like government, kingdoms, or spiritual powers?
SPEAKER_00: Really, it doesn't matter because either or it can't separate you from God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Nor anything from above, nor anything down below, nor any created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is saying, whatever you can imagine, whatever you fear, it has no power to break God's love for you.
SPEAKER_00: But notice in verse 39, it's a particular type of love.
SPEAKER_00: He says the love of God in Christ Jesus, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_00: That's how specific he is.
SPEAKER_00: It's not some, he doesn't just say the love of God.
SPEAKER_00: He says the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't some generic sentimental love.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't God loves everybody in a vague, feel-good way.
SPEAKER_00: He's referring to the covenantal, sacrificial, redemptive love on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: That is the love that you are securing.
SPEAKER_00: That is the love that was demonstrated when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to secure your salvation and all the spiritual blessings that come with that salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Which means God doesn't withhold goodness from his children, does it?
SPEAKER_00: God does not hold, he's not a stingy father.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say, Well, I'm gonna send Jesus, but I'm gonna hold some of this back because you're not ready for this yet.
SPEAKER_00: God lavishes his children with all his goodness that he has for them.
SPEAKER_00: Church, do you see what Paul is saying here?
SPEAKER_00: God's love for you wasn't cautious, it wasn't measured, it's not stingy.
SPEAKER_00: It is a lavish love that he pours out on people who deserve absolutely nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why I'm and that's why I have a little bit of grace for some Christians who wrestle with like, I think you can lose your salvation, maybe they just haven't studied their Bibles well.
SPEAKER_00: But I think some of the struggle there spiritually is it just doesn't make sense that we get so much goodness and we can't forfeit it.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's how we think, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like if you have a really good career and you earn a good income, like you're obligated to get paid because you provided your time and skills and service.
SPEAKER_00: So there's an exchange.
SPEAKER_00: I give you my skills and time, you pay me my money, right?
SPEAKER_00: But if you do a poor job, if you steal from the job or whatever it may be, and you get fired, we understand that.
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, you forfeited those benefits, and that's what we're used to, right?
SPEAKER_00: If children disobey, there's consequences, right?
SPEAKER_00: So I think sometimes we wrestle with, well, it doesn't make sense that God, when I'm his enemy, would send Jesus, his perfect son, who stepped down from the throne and put on flesh, he would die for me.
SPEAKER_00: I did nothing to deserve it, and not only am I saved, but I'm a co-heir with Christ for all eternity.
SPEAKER_00: I will reign with my brothers and sisters in the new heaven and the new earth.
SPEAKER_00: And it just melts our minds.
SPEAKER_00: Like, that doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: I can't work to earn that, and I can't do anything that like keeps me on my toes to make sure I do a good job, because if I don't, I'll forfeit that love.
SPEAKER_00: God's like, nope.
SPEAKER_00: That's how great my love is.
SPEAKER_00: We need to understand that this is a covenantal love.
SPEAKER_00: God lavishing his love on us.
SPEAKER_00: And friends, when you were weak, when you were ungodly, a sinner, Christ came to secure God's love for you forever.
SPEAKER_00: And that that's not just love, that's that's radical, blood-bought, unshakable generosity towards rebels who na who had nothing to offer him.
SPEAKER_00: And now, because of that, according to Paul, nothing, not one single thing can break that love towards us.
SPEAKER_00: Not your worst day as a Christian, not your deepest failure, not even death itself that can forfeit God's love for you.
SPEAKER_00: That's how powerful it is.
SPEAKER_00: That's how generous your father was.
SPEAKER_00: So if God was that generous when you were his enemy, how will he not provide everything you need now that you're his adopted beloved child?
SPEAKER_00: Now, sometimes we wrestle with this because I think we we equate God's generosity and love with earthly prosperity on this side of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll address some of that throughout this series.
SPEAKER_00: But friends, if God is your treasure, then where God is is what makes you happy.
SPEAKER_00: Not material gain.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not one of those Christians who thinks we all need to be monks and just poor in poverty and just praying 24-7.
SPEAKER_00: But when God is truly your treasure, it shapes how you live on this side of heaven, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: The word of God tells us this is not our home.
SPEAKER_00: We are exiles.
SPEAKER_00: We are waiting for future grace when we get up out of here and we get to be with our Father for all eternity, which means we shouldn't live primarily for this world.
SPEAKER_00: Now we should be wise stewards as we're on this side of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: We should work hard.
SPEAKER_00: We should, uh I think as if Christians have a God-honoring understanding of the Bible and God's glory and stewardship, you should try to be as wealthy as you possibly can so you can be a big blessing to as many people as you possibly can.
SPEAKER_00: But God has to be our treasure.
SPEAKER_00: His love is what leads to him being our treasure.
SPEAKER_00: God's love is like a great sea, which has neither a shore nor a bottom.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: If I remember correctly, I believe there's fact check me, but I believe there's more ocean on earth than land.
SPEAKER_00: However, the ocean has Boundaries, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's shores.
SPEAKER_00: But God's love has no boundaries.
SPEAKER_00: There's no shore to the ocean of God's love.
SPEAKER_00: There's no point where you would dive to the bottom of the ocean of God's love and say, okay, I reached the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: I've comprehended all of God's love.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, we'll be in eternity for like 5,000 years and still like running into each other.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, yo, it just clicked.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know God blank?
SPEAKER_00: Still learning and celebrating.
SPEAKER_00: Augustine once said that God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Sit with that.
SPEAKER_00: God loves each of us as if there was only one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Let me bring this home with a few words of application.
SPEAKER_00: So we started with the idea that God's radical generosity and redemption produces radical generosity in his people.
SPEAKER_00: We saw that God spared nothing to redeem us according to Romans 8, 31 through 39, and that nothing, absolutely nothing, could ever separate one of God's children from his love.
SPEAKER_00: So here's my question for you this morning, brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe what I'm preaching at you this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Is it experiential knowledge?
SPEAKER_00: Because if it is, it will change everything.
SPEAKER_00: It will change how you love and serve others.
SPEAKER_00: Your understanding of the gospel, God's generous love towards you, will change how you steward your time, your resources, your relationships, and it will shape how you live as a joyful partner in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That's why I wanted to start with the gospel at the beginning of this series.
SPEAKER_00: We're not interested in just talking about money and tithing and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: We'll address some of that and some misconceptions and all sorts of things.
SPEAKER_00: But it starts with an understanding of God being generous towards us and redeeming our souls when we were his enemies, and how that, as his adopted children, should then shape our understanding of generosity and stewardship of all that God has entrusted to us as we seek to be imitators of God.
SPEAKER_00: So as we start this series, I would challenge all of us, let's prayerfully ask ourselves and honestly answer the question: Is God my treasure?
SPEAKER_00: Here's how one theologian put it.
SPEAKER_00: Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God.
SPEAKER_00: And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there will not be there.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven, it is a way to get people to God.
SPEAKER_00: It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God.
SPEAKER_00: If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta constantly ask ourselves, preach the gospel to ourselves, and make sure, Lord, reveal any sinful way in me.
SPEAKER_00: Are you truly my treasure?
SPEAKER_00: Or is my security my treasure?
SPEAKER_00: My good health my treasure, my children my treasure, my finances my treasure, my career, whatever it may be, if something else is on the throne of our hearts, brothers and sisters, that is a sign, maybe that we haven't been converted by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you come to faith in Christ, Jesus is your treasure.
SPEAKER_00: This is why I love the story of Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Someone would do the church a service if they did a good biography on the Apostle Peter, because that brother certainly had a change of heart after that beach encounter with Jesus when he restored him.
SPEAKER_00: And then ultimately, because Jesus was his treasure and his wife's treasure, he was willing to be crucified upside down for the sake of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And to look at his wife as they're about to be separated and say, Remember the Lord, and to give their lives.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because they knew that what can mortal man do to me?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is my Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Death simply ushers me into his presence for all eternity, and I don't live for this life.
SPEAKER_00: You're just helping me get to the next.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.