WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.759 For more information in our church, please visit grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:06.320 Amen. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.679 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Romans chapter 8. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:10.960 Romans chapter 8. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:13.359 If you don't have a Bible, there should be one on your row. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:19.039 I'm on page 944, and we will finish one of the greatest chapters in the Bible this morning. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.559 And I want to talk to you this morning about how to think about God. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:23.920 How to think about God. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.399 And while you're finding me in Romans chapter 8, let me just begin with some confession of my own. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:29.839 I have a bad habit. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.600 I didn't realize this until I started working closely with people here at the church and my family. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:36.719 I have a bad habit. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:38.079 Here's my bad habit. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.600 I ask rhetorical questions to make a point. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:45.359 And it drives some people I work with crazy. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:51.119 It drives my 15-year-old daughter crazy because I'll ask her questions and she's like, Why don't you just come out and tell me? 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:55.119 Because I'm smarter than you and I'm inviting you to kind of step your game up. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:02.880 And she's like, And I'm like, if you think you're the first woman who's made that noise in response to something I've said, you've lost your mind. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:09.519 And then she marches through the house to her mom and goes, Mother, and I'm like, My work here is finished. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:10.319 Thank you. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.519 My daughter is so frustrated she doesn't have words. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:16.799 And my wife just rolls her eyes and says, Just don't give in to it. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:18.239 Don't let it have power over you. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:24.959 And then my 15-year-old starts announcing to my wife, who I've been married to for 20 years and have been dating for 22 years. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.760 And by the way, when you get married, you don't stop dating men. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:28.319 That's free. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.000 Bam on Mother's Day. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:31.840 Just bam, right there, ladies. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:32.719 Got your back. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:34.879 And then she's like, How do you put up with this? 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:36.480 This is so frustrating. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:37.439 What's frustrating? 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:38.400 That I'm smarter than you. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:39.840 You can't think on my level. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:47.280 Ah! And now I have proof in the Bible that this is the right way to relate to people. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.480 So this will be, yes, yes. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.319 I won't say anything, but some lady on this side of the room just went, Oh, really? 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:56.560 Wow. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.599 Read with me, and you'll see what you're talking about. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:04.159 Romans chapter 8, verse 31, Paul says, Then what then shall we say to these things? 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:06.959 If God is for us, who can be against us? 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:14.800 He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how we not also with him graciously give us all things? 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.599 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:19.360 It is God who justifies. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:20.639 Who is to condemn? 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:22.639 Christ Jesus is the one who died. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:28.479 More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:30.800 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:41.840 Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.879 We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:57.840 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, for I am sure, I am convinced, I am persuaded it is not lost on me. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:12.879 I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation in case I left something out. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:20.960 Anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:29.439 Paul finishes Romans 8 with this annoying habit of asking four questions to which there is no answer. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:30.400 And I can't wait. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:34.639 I'm gonna go home and reopen my wife's Mother's Day card and write this in there. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.479 By the way, happy Mother's Day. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:41.840 I got this from the Apostle Paul, so I'm gonna keep asking questions to make a point. 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.080 Bam! He asks four questions that there's no response to. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.039 But the reason he asks these questions is to make this point. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:57.919 And if we're not careful, we're gonna miss it because to grasp kind of the significance of these questions, we got to grasp why they can't be answered. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:03.520 See, there's this truth that's contained in the question or in the if clause that's connected to the question. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.639 So let's just look this morning at these four questions. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:12.719 And and by the way, what he's the point he's trying to make is I want hey, this is how you think about God. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:20.480 Hey, this is how I want you to think about God, or this is what I want you to never, ever, ever forget about God and yourself. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:25.120 The first question is simply this if God is for us, who can be against us? 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:33.279 Now, before we get to that, we've got to stumble over that first sentence in verse 31 where he says, What then shall we say to these things? 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:38.639 In other words, what is your response going to be to these things being? 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:48.160 What we talked about last week, how God begins a process that he sustains and he brings the culmination to fruition to fruition, to consummation. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:52.800 God doesn't start something, run out of energy and ideas to see it through. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:57.360 No, he who began a good work in you will continue it to the day of Christ Jesus. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:03.120 He who, as he finishes up there, those whom he foreknew, he's gonna bring you all the way to glory. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:07.759 And the Bible says to sit there and remain indifferent to that is to miss the point. 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:10.480 That's why he says, What then shall we say to these things? 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:11.279 Hello. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:14.959 And then he gets to the question. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:17.600 And the first question is right there in verse 31. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:25.360 Hey, if God is for us, and it's not, hey, we don't know if God is for us, it's really uh so overstated. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:30.879 Hey, because God is for us, because God is on the record, is going first. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:35.199 If God is for us, who can be against us? 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:48.800 And then, as if to drive the point home, he says in verse 32, he who did not spare his own son, in case you're wondering if God is for you or not, or if God kind of knows what he's doing, he didn't spare his own son, but he gave him up for us all. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:54.399 How will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:59.120 He says, now, if God is for us, who can be against us? 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:03.120 The cross is both indictment and also indication. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:04.879 And his indictment. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:14.399 Now, why does Christ have to die? 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:20.480 Because I, by nature, am a sinful person who is separated from God. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:22.399 I am not born a child of God. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:29.199 I can't say, I can't appeal to the universal fatherhood of God and say, well, God's my father, you know, we're all God's children. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:29.839 No. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:30.319 No. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.480 If we could all be God's children just by nature, then we don't need the cross. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:37.360 It is indictment, but it's also indication. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:38.720 That's what Paul is getting at. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:40.800 He says, if God be for us, who can be against us? 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:42.319 You're like, who can be against us? 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:43.120 Are you kidding me? 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.759 Let me just list all these people that are against us. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:53.040 And what Paul says in a biblical way is listen, when you ponder this, it's kind of like riding the seesaw with a fat kid. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:54.879 You're gonna get the better end of the deal. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:57.920 You're gonna get the perpetual better view, okay? 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.800 Because God is for you. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:03.439 So it's not, hey, who's against us? 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.560 It's hey, whoever is against us, it doesn't really matter. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:07.040 Why? 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:09.600 Because God is for us. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:12.160 How do you know God's for us? 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:14.480 Because he didn't spare his own son. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.519 Focus on that little word, own. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:19.680 His own son. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.199 Not one of his adopted children like me and you. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:42.079 If you're sitting in this room and you're a Christian, no, but his own son, his homousias, his son from and of the same substance, way that he foreshadowed way back in Genesis 22 when he said to Abram, Hey, get up and take your son, your only son, Isaac, and offer him upon a mountain that I will show you. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:48.399 God's kind of given a little peek into the divine plan for redeeming people whom the cross indices. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:08:02.240 The cross says to me that I am so born, so depraved, and so by nature and choice of sinner, that Jesus, for me to know God and go to heaven, Jesus has to die for me. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:08.879 But I'm so loved and so valued by God that Jesus was glad to die for me. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:14.319 And so I cannot anymore the rest of my days wonder how God feels about me. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:14.800 Why? 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:20.079 Because God spared not his own son, but he offered him up for us all. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.399 And then he, having said that, he didn't leave us there. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:27.920 He says, Oh, by the way, here's kind of let me connect the dots so it's not a bunch of little little dots on a map. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:29.040 It's a picture. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.720 He who spared not his own son, but freely offered him up for us all, and then he lays this on us. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:41.919 How shall he not also along with him in the same way he offered up freely his own son? 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.000 How he not also along with him graciously give us all things. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:52.080 See, the Bible doesn't leave you alone at any point and say, Hey, you get a hall pass, just a little thing here. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:09:02.080 No, he just kind of spools it out like the guy making cotton candy at the Fort Bend County Fair, just a few swirls, and you got a buffon pink wig of happiness. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.360 Some of y'all are like, Have you been eating cotton candy this morning? 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:08.559 Maybe. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:10.159 I don't want you. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:16.240 See, if God be for us, who can be against us? 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.240 What Paul is saying is, hey, bring on anybody and anything. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:20.720 Why? 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:22.879 Because God is for us. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.240 You say, What do you mean? 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:26.480 And then maybe this will get at it a little bit better. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.240 Uh, I've got many since we announced last week that I'll be on sabbatical this summer. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:32.879 Uh, I've got emails and phone calls and texts from you all. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:36.159 And here's the one prevailing question that y'all have, what are you gonna do? 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:37.279 What is a sabbatical? 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:39.120 Oh man, what are you gonna do all the time? 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:44.639 One thing I'm gonna do, because I like to ask my children, because I want them to understand the fatherhood of God. 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:46.879 And there's no pressure, mom and dad. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:54.559 Uh, but but if you want to, your your children's first understanding of the fatherhood of God is gonna be from their relationship with you. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.960 And it's not pressure, it's just it's it's an incredible privilege. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:03.360 And so I say to my children every once in a while, hey, what can I do to bless you? 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:04.480 What would bless you? 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:07.919 Now I asked my nine-year-old and she's like, uh, I don't know. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:09.440 Uh let me think about it. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:12.240 I asked my 15-year-old, she's like, hang on a second. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:13.440 It's funny you ask that. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:14.720 I got a list in my room. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:16.480 I was writing it down just the other day. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.600 And so I said, she said, Well, Dad, what are you gonna do in your sabbatical? 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:20.879 I said, Max, what do you want to do? 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:23.200 I want to go see movies, and I got a list. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:26.080 I don't know if you know, Superman's coming out this summer. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:27.919 Bam, it's on the list. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:29.360 They're making a sequel. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.080 This week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:34.559 They're making a sequel to the Hunger Games. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:41.440 And my wife, my 50 year old can tell you all the little, all the really intense plot twists. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:42.559 Bam, it's on the list. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:43.919 Is that coming out this summer? 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.840 I don't know, but we got it on the list. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:48.480 And so that's my that's my daughter's love language. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:49.840 I'm like, yeah, we go see movies. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:50.639 Case in point. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.559 A couple months ago, we went and saw a movie called Jack the Giant Slayer. 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:55.519 Okay? 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:02.080 And my grown-up 48-year-old jaded cynical mind, it's like, oh, Jack and the Beanstalk, you mean? 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:04.240 No, no, Dad, it's Jack the Giant Slayer. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:04.799 It's not Jack. 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:09.840 Well, it's the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but it's in kind of contemporary. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.799 I'm like, okay, it's Jack and the Beanstalk, is what it is. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:23.440 Just boil it down for me because I just I don't want to miss one juicy morsel of this incredibly predictable movie. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:30.480 But I don't say that because she's 15 and we got to go to the Starbucks and get that$9 drink they serve there. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:32.159 I'm like, hello, what is this? 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:33.440 Liquid gold? 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.320 Then we roll up to the movie and oh, we can't go to matinee. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:40.559 Because I said, hey, why don't we get up early this summer and go to 11 o'clock matinee? 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:41.039 It's like$5. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:42.879 Oh, I won't be up then. 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:47.360 Let me just ask the people over here. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:51.120 Can you ever remember saying to your parents, you wouldn't be up by 11? 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:54.720 That is cracolactic. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:12:00.799 I would have, that would not have crossed my mind to say to my dad, hey, hey boys, we've got to be up at six, we've got to gather these eggs. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:04.240 11,000 chickens lay a lot of eggs, in case you're wondering. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:05.519 Hey, Dad, you know what? 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:06.639 I'm not gonna be up by 11. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:12.320 Hit me up, give me a little stark, mocha frappuccino, with some extra shot in there, and then see me about 1145. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.159 And can you get Chick-fil-A, please? 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:16.080 Because I like Chick-fil-A on Saturdays. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:20.879 We go see Jack the Giant Slayer, and I'm like, here is$18. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.279 That's how much it costs for two of us to go to a movie. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:30.639 By the way, she likes to go to the late movie, like 10 45 at night, and is wired like a chihuahua on crack. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:37.360 Just and I'm like, can we get to the Starbucks before it closes? 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.440 Because I need some caffeine to get through this. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:44.720 And I'm sitting there thinking, I just paid 18 bucks to see something I read when I was six. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:56.399 But there was a little subtle twist in the movie Jack the Giants, in case you didn't see it, it is about these giants that are up there at the top of the beanstalk, and they are ruled by somebody. 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:02.720 There's this magic crown you gotta get, and whoever has the crown, they're subject to that person who wears the crown. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:05.120 And so the whole movie is twisted around. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:10.879 Not the goofy love story between Jack and the princess, and my daughter's like, oh, I'm like, that's so predictable. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:11.360 Oh, really? 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:12.480 They're gonna fall in love? 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:14.559 Oh, I never saw that coming. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:22.799 What I didn't see coming was there's a great scene in the movie where this one guy, he's a valiant soldier, he's kind of defending everybody, he's got a sword. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:25.440 And these giants are giants, okay? 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:27.360 I don't mean like Manute Bowl. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:37.919 I mean like as tall as this building, and they have power and they sling stuff, and the guy's got his sword in for the brief, and they all just kind of stop and they bow down. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:48.240 They all take a knee and pay homage, and he's kind of like living under the illusion that they're afraid of me and my little bitty wooden, my little metal toothpick here. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:54.159 And then it dawns on him, there's someone behind me, isn't there? 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:58.320 And he turns around and someone behind him is wearing the crown. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:02.720 And the giants are subject. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:07.360 They bow and pay homage to whoever wears the crown. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:13.120 Fast forward to right here, when Paul says, if God be for us, who can be against us? 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:16.399 What he's saying is, God wears the crown. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:28.799 When he died and was buried and rose again, and he has ascended to the right hand of the Father, he's saying that every knee is gonna bow, every tongue is gonna confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:36.480 And so just relax because all the giants in your life, in my life, are subject to whoever wears the crown. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:40.240 And so I'm in a goofy, overpriced movie. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:42.879 Did I tell you it was nine dollars to go to a movie? 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:47.039 I mean, that is just like, I mean, we're going to hell for that right there. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.240 And don't even try to buy a drink when you go in there. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:51.200 It's like$7. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:15:02.480 And I mean, by the time the movie starts, I'm so angry I want to punch somebody in the neck because it's not enough that we go to Starbucks and they go, you can't bring it in, so you slam it down and get brain freeze. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.639 Then I kid announces, Dad, I'd like an icy. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:08.559 There's six dollars for an icy. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:17.840 So I'm sitting there just simmering in my own juices, and then this begins to kind of un kind of unfold, and I didn't see it coming. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:24.159 And I'm good thing it was dark because the Holy Spirit just kind of whispers, Well, by the way, it's that way in your life too, Jack. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.480 They're all subject to the one who wears the crown. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:37.039 All the giants, all the things that just are really big in your life are gonna bow and pay homage to the one who wears the crown. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:46.960 And when Paul says, hey, if God, the crown-wearing king of the universe, is for you, who can be against you? 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:51.840 Second question that he asked to make a point is who shall bring any charge against God's elect? 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:53.519 It's right there in verse 33. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:57.919 After verse 32, as if that wasn't enough, he just pummels us to the ground. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.440 We're like Mike Tyson on all fours looking for a mouthpiece because we want to get up and take another beating. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:06.960 Then he just drops this bomb on us in verse 33. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.840 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:13.039 And I don't have time to go into this, so let me just say it. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:21.600 Without this biblical understanding of the doctrine of election, you are forever open to the what-ifs of human nature. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.120 Let me say that again. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:28.639 Without a biblical understanding of the doctrine of election, what do you mean? 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:30.879 He says, Who will bring a charge against God's elect? 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.480 In other words, that my being a Christian wasn't my idea. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:49.039 God revealed himself to me and acted upon my hard heart and my indifferent will in such a way that me bowing before the one who wears the crown and saying, You are Lord of me. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:54.720 You have earned the right, you with your blood, you purchased me for God. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:02.639 God revealed himself to me in such a way that me doing that was the most natural thing I could do. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:06.400 You say, Well, I don't I don't get it. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.400 See, see, God, he said, who will bring a charge against God's elect? 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.240 Those whom God has chosen. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.559 You say, Well, how do we know whom God has chosen? 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:24.720 Anybody that knows Christ, if you're in this room and you have any inkling of a desire or a thought or a curiosity, don't be sitting there thinking, well, I'm probably not chosen. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:26.880 I mean, can you think of all the things that I've done? 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:30.799 God doesn't base, he doesn't, he doesn't choose you based on what you've done. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.680 He chooses you out of the kind intention of his heart. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:35.680 You say, Well, I'm kind of curious about this. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:37.039 I'm kind of thinking about it. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:41.279 That's an indication that God is revealing himself to you. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.160 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:45.200 Let me say it again. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:51.599 Without the biblical understanding of the doctrine of election, you're forever open to the what-ifs of human nature. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:58.720 Things that people have said to me who've come to my office and made an appointment and sat there and said, you know, I'm not sure if I'm a Christian or not. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.359 Here's what I mean by the what-ifs of human nature. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.400 What if I didn't do the right thing? 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.279 What if I didn't say the right thing? 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.599 What if I didn't really mean it? 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:14.160 What if I just wanted, what if I was uh I was little when I when I prayed the prayer? 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:17.039 What if what if I was just afraid to go to hell? 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:31.359 Or what if I was just doing it because everybody else was doing it because I went forward and prayed the prayer at youth camp once again without a biblical understanding of the doctrine of election, you're forever open to all the what ifs of human nature. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:33.519 What if I wasn't serious enough? 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:40.079 Paul says, Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:43.599 Oh, I just tell you, your conscience will. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:45.599 Your conscience will condemn you. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:46.559 The devil will. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.759 People who know your past and your failures will. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:19:00.559 They kind of look at you like, yeah, don't get too big for your britches, because I got right here in my pocket this little known fact about you, and I'm gonna whip it out and use it to kind of bring you down a few notches. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:05.279 The Bible says this in Isaiah chapter 50, verse 8 and 9. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.480 It says, He who vindicates me is near. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.200 This is the suffering servant of Isaiah. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:13.200 He who vindicates me is near. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:14.880 Who will condemn me? 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:19.200 The person that stands up and speaks on my behalf is near. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.839 So, so so who's gonna contend with me? 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:23.759 Let us stand up together. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:25.119 Who's my adversary? 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:26.480 Let him come near to me. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:28.640 Behold, the Lord God helps me. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.480 Who will declare me guilty? 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:33.200 Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:35.839 The moth will eat them up. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.720 See, here's this rhetorical question that is just unanswered. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.240 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:52.559 See, I I I don't I don't know what maybe think about it this way. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:54.960 Uh remember the Boston Marathon bombers? 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:06.319 And the one that one of them was killed, and one of them lived, and and for whatever reason, we're gonna spend taxpayers' money to make sure that guy gets three meals a day and whatever. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:08.799 I could save you a lot of money. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.880 That's all I'm gonna say. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:13.920 Nonsense is destroying this country. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:15.920 But that's a whole nother sermon. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:19.440 I feel my red neck rising up in me here this morning. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:21.440 Gotta get that thing down. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:29.680 But see, uh uh Tamerland Sarneev, the older brother that was killed, because he tried to kill, come against our country, he was killed and he got what he deserved. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:41.759 But anyway, uh uh, and now hey folks, justice is not something we have to apologize for. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:42.480 Okay? 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.160 You gotta stop becoming famous for what you tolerate. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:48.559 You need to become famous for what you believe. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:50.960 And so any. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.200 Anyway, uh, they got this cat up there, the older brother. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:00.720 And by the way, that's a human being. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:03.680 I mean, I'm not I'm not hating on him, I'm just telling you the truth. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:09.759 They got the older brother, and the big dilemma now is there's not a cemetery in America that's gonna say you can bury that cat here. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:13.599 That guy's been on ice since the day that night he was killed. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:20.000 They they can't find anywhere to put him because just as they get it figured out, people find out, oh, you're gonna bury him here, and they're like, oh no, you're not. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:21.359 People hold up signs. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.640 If you bury him on American soil, we will unbury him. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:28.480 And that's somebody's mom holding that sign. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:30.319 That's not a man, that's a woman. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:31.119 Can you imagine? 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:35.039 Her kids are kind of like, my mom is crazy. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:37.119 No, no, no. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:38.640 People aren't hating on that. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:40.480 We're not hating that person's religion. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:48.799 What they're saying is, it is unconscionable to think you can do this against America and then find your rest in peace on American soil. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:49.519 Uh-uh. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:50.720 Now, why did I tell you that? 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:51.759 To stir you up? 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:52.559 Not at all. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:59.359 It's to say, this is what Paul has in mind when he says, who I mean, I mean, who will bring a charge against God's elect? 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:07.519 Translation, what courtroom is going to convene this trial and who's going to sit on the jury? 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:15.759 Who's going to say, my opinion of you holds more weight and water than God's opinion of you? 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:28.640 Because at the core of this, you got to ask yourself, what did God not, what did what is it about you that God did not know when he chose you that had he known it, he would have never chosen you to begin with. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:42.160 Instead, Paul just says very simply and subtly, and without any adequate response, who will bring any charge against God's elect? 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:47.599 See, the doctrine of election brings great security to the Christian because we got to ask that question. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.640 You know, what did God not know when he chose you? 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:52.960 He knows everything. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.799 Well then, you don't think he knew? 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:58.880 Do you think anything surprises him? 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:04.559 Who can bring a charge against those whom God has chosen as his own? 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:14.079 That God looked down and said, I want this person to be in my family, and I want that so much that I'll give my own son to realize that it happens. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:20.000 Who's gonna stand up and say, but what about blank? 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:26.400 Third question that he asks is in the next verse Who is to condemn? 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:29.759 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:31.759 It is God who justifies. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:35.920 This all-knowing God has justified us, made us right. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:39.200 And therefore, verse 34, who is to condemn? 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:43.279 Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:48.880 When you see the phrase more than that, it's like a literal, like a literary speed bump. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:50.559 You say, what do you mean? 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:57.759 Because we talk about the death of Jesus a lot, but we talk about the resurrection of Jesus just around Easter. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:05.519 And you need to understand that the resurrection is indication that full and final payment has been made and accepted. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.200 He says, Who is to condemn? 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:11.279 Christ Jesus is the one who died. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:17.599 More than that, who was raised, who's at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:25.279 See, the resurrection is proof that God has accepted the payment of his son for my sin and your sins. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.960 These very same things that condemn us, these things that who shall condemn? 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.480 Let me tell you who condemns you. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:31.359 You do. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:34.880 You are your own worst enemy. 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:41.359 Somebody asked me one time, they said, Man, what do you think the biggest difference in you and me is? 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:48.559 I mean, I mean, besides, you know, uh, I mean, just but you you just seem so happy and content and you're always in a good mood. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.079 I'm not always in a good mood. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:51.599 That's my wife. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:55.680 She'll tell you, that's he's the most highly functioning bipolar I know. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:24:57.440 No. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:59.519 God's like, what is what is it, what is the difference? 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.839 I mean, just boil it down and don't hold back, be honest. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:06.240 Here's the difference I believe what the Bible says about me, and you don't. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:12.240 I don't believe that by hating myself I'm being spiritual. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:19.519 Matter of fact, I think that's the lazy man's shortcut to holiness. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:24.720 It's hard to find your identity and how bad you feel about yourself. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.279 Who is to condemn? 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:29.599 He says it was it was Christ who died. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:35.200 More than that, he's saying again, the resurrection is notification, payment has been made. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:41.680 And as if that wasn't enough, he then goes on to say in the very next verse, hey, don't forget this either. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:47.279 He said, He's at the right hand of God and who indeed is interceding for us. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:58.160 If there was something more to be done in relation to your sin, or if somehow Jesus didn't do enough, then what is he doing sitting at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you? 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:02.720 He should be pleading for God to forgive you, but no, he is interceding on your behalf. 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:09.759 Remember last week we saw in the Bible you have two intercessors, you have Jesus in heaven and the Holy Spirit in your heart. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:11.440 Why is he interceding? 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:18.319 By the nature that he has fulfilled that office, he is saying, I'm done being a sin bearer, I'm done atoning for sin. 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:21.599 That's what he meant on the cross when he said, It's finished. 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.200 It's finished, it's done. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:28.079 Who is to condemn? 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:31.279 It's the truth we started this chapter with. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:32.720 Look in verse one to four. 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:33.359 Are you still with me? 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:34.079 We're just about done. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:35.359 You still with me? 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:36.720 Look at verse one. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:47.920 He says, There is therefore no now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:52.720 For God has done finished, accomplished reality. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:58.880 God has done what the law weakened by our flesh could not do. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:26:59.920 How did he do it? 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:04.640 By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:06.720 He condemned sin in the flesh. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:07.920 Why did he do it? 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:17.599 In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:24.400 Because there is no condemnation, who is to condemn? 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:31.599 Fourthly and finally, he asks this question: Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.079 He picks up the dialogue. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:38.000