Transcript

Good morning. I have a confession to make.

Do you guys remember last week when during Reagan's sermon at the very beginning, he addressed the elephant in the room, that new little earpiece. And he had talked about how some people had kind of given him a little bit of a hard time. I was one of those people that gave him a hard time.

And then I failed to remember that a hero week later, I was going to be standing up here in that exact same situation. So I had this wonderful joke prepared about how you will reap what you sow. But conveniently, the earpiece has disappeared, so we don't know where it is. So maybe Reagan liked it so much that he took it with him.

So I get to stick with this old one. I want us to think for a moment and before we get started as always, I just want to thank you guys for the opportunity thank the elders for the opportunity to be here, to be able to share some thoughts with you that have been kind of running through my mind the last week or so.

I appreciate every opportunity I get to To talk with you about things and the gospel, things that are on my heart. So I want us to think for a moment think about your favorite movie or some movie that left some kind of impact on you. Was there a scene in that movie that was so. or so dramatic that it gave you goosebumps.

And everyone's answer might be a little bit different. For me, it's whenever I think about the opening monologue from The Lord of the Rings, when Gladriel is whispering, The earth, the world has changed. I can feel it in the water. I can feel it in the earth. I can smell it in the air. I just remember as being like a 12 year old boy like, oh, wow, that is really cool.

Or maybe it's a different movie. Maybe it's Remember the Titans when Coach Boone is speaking to his team from the Gettysburg Graveyard. Where 50, 000 men died on this field, fighting the same fights that we're fighting amongst ourselves today. In an emotional plea to get his players to look past racial differences and just respect each other.

Or, when Mr. Bailey, in It's a Wonderful Life, from the bridge is praying that he wants to be able to live again. I think it's in our human nature to be impressed by these intense notions or concepts that are presented in a really And for some reason, we get goosebumps. And over the last couple of weeks months in our Bible class, we've actually been discussing the epistles, and I had this small little eye opening revelation that has really kind of changed how I read those letters.

Particularly when Reagan was talking through the book of Philemon, that it might just have been me, but sometimes I forget to think that these books of the Bible were letters that were read to their audience. And I can only imagine how impactful it would be for those people, that audience, to be able to hear those words for the very first time.

So, I would like for us to open up to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, and I think we're gonna enjoy it, to study a small segment of this amazing letter that I feel pretty strongly could have caused that goosebumps reaction in the the Roman Church. When Paul tells the Roman Church and us that we are made to be More than conquerors through Christ.

Romans chapter 8, starting in verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of God? 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.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation, Will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen So first I want us to understand What the mindset of the christians in rome likely would have been at this point whenever they were hearing These words that paul wrote we're told in first peter chapter 4 verse 12 that do not be surprised at the fiery Trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you and the early christians surely You The early Christians encountered some of the most gruesome persecution, even more so than we can honestly relate to.

This letter was written, and we talked about, we reviewed that, this letter was written in the late 50s, more specifically, 57 AD Right around the time after Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome during his reign Somewhere between 80 41 and 54 which likely would have included many of the Roman Church And by this time the letter was written many of those who were forced to leave their homes were likely to be Coming back to Rome, because it was after the point that Emperor Claudius had passed away.

And whenever he passes away, so do his edicts. So, coming off such a stressful time of life, hearing these words likely were just a very welcome thought to the ears of so many. So I want us to take it verse by verse. Paul carries himself through these verses. By first asking a question, and then immediately providing the answer.

So in verse 31, Paul asks, If God is for us, who can be against us? A simple question that carries significant weight. God is asking, who out there is more powerful than God? And the obvious answer is that there is no power. On earth, or in heaven, or the spiritual realm that can defeat our God. He is the creator of the universe.

So nothing can stand against his power. Think about the story of David and Goliath. This is a perfect example for us to dwell on because this is genuinely a story of the power of a seemingly powerful man versus the exceedingly powerful God who acts through a small shepherd boy. And all the men of Israel and the Philistines are able to witness that power and see that no power can stand against the power of the Creator of the universe.

And it doesn't matter who you are. Might have been a bear, might have been a lion, it might have been that bully at school, that co worker that ridicules you, that boss that weighs on you, that puts you down, that professor that's stressing you out, anything that we encounter that pressures our soul. All that matters is how the servant of God responds.

All that matters is that servant knowing that God is on their side. That alone should be enough to comfort us. Because there is comfort in knowing that the strength of our God is with us always. And alongside that strength there is nothing that can overpower us. And then in verse 32, Paul writes,

but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Does that sound familiar to you? I want us to think about one of the greatest human examples that we have in the Bible of loyalty to God. What comes to my mind is Genesis chapter 22, the account that we have when Abraham is instructed to sacrifice his son Isaac.

If you'll go ahead and open up to Genesis chapter 22, starting in verse 9, we'll read that there. While you're turning over there, Paul actually uses very similar words about God that were spoken about Abraham in this passage. That once Abraham proved his utter loyalty to God. by being prepared to sacrifice his dearest possession.

I probably should have been turning over there with you guys. Genesis chapter 22, starting in verse 9.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound his son, and laid him on the altar, on top of that wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand, and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, Here I am.

He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy, or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, beyond him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

So Abraham called the name of the Lord. The name of that place the Lord will provide as it is said to this day on the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. And we can take from that verse that God is so loyal to us that he was willing to sacrifice his only son. And surely, surely we can trust a loyalty like that to provide for us in our needs and in our salvation.

And that's not a new theme through the Bible. Open up to Psalms chapter 34. Psalm chapter 34, verses 9 through 10. Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good. And we're reminded that those who seek the Lord lack no good thing, that those who are willing to obey him will want for nothing.

And the Lord can be trusted to provide for his people. So how does that apply to us right now? Think about what was said to Abraham in verse 12. For now I know that you fear God. Abraham's loyalty was proven. And Paul is telling us here that God's loyalty and love to us has been definitively proven in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

So when the disappointment that you might feel that you you didn't make the sports team or the disappointment that you feel when you did not get the job that you felt like you needed or When you're experiencing something in your life That's causing you anxiety and you pray and you pray and you haven't started to feel better yet Take comfort in the fact that we can trust God and His provision for us, because He has already proven that.

He's proven His love for us. There needs to be no doubt in our hearts that God is loyal to us. And important for us to remember, our earthly scope for seeing what is good for us is very narrow. While, in comparison to the scope of what the Creator of the universe sees, oftentimes, we might hope and pray for one outcome, But might not get the outcome that we expect and we're going to talk a little bit more on that later So moving on to verse chapter verse 33 of chapter 8 of romans verse 33 Who shall bring any charge against god's elect?

It is god who justifies we are god's elect other words that might be used are words like god's chosen people And while satan or the people around us might bring charges against god's chosen people They don't need to have concerns about their standing with God, because God is the judge who has acquitted them and forgiven them of their sins.

And we shouldn't care about anything that the world might throw up against us, because we know our true standing with God is that we are forgiven and we are loved. And then in verse 34, Who then is the one who condemns? Jesus Christ is the one who died. More than that, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

And Barclay writes in his commentary that the early Christians wrote and held to four tenets of their belief in the gospel. He was crucified, dead, and buried. The third day, he rose again from the dead. He sits at the right hand of God, and from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. But Paul does not emphasize Christ's justice,

just that he intercedes. Why? Because Paul has already spoken of the judgment in several different places throughout the book, but instead of portraying Jesus as this prosecutor who is trying to condemn and drawing all focus into the sins of the He portrays Jesus to be a lover of the souls of men. And he intercedes for us at the right hand of God, that this Jesus who was scourged, this Jesus who was brutally beaten, this Jesus who was mocked for the sins of others, sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for the very same sinners who caused him so much pain.

How much love does someone have to have to not only endure such pain, but also to be to advocate for their accuser's redemption. Jesus had that love.

And then we move into verse 35.

This is by far one of the most lyrical and poetic segments that Paul writes in any of his epistles. Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine ness, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Paul loves his run on sentences. But this is obviously a rhetorical question, because he has been building up to this very moment.

He's not listing all of the possible dangers in the world that could possibly separate us from the love of God, and waiting for that one person that says, That's it! That's it! That's the one thing that separates me from the love of God. That's not what Paul's doing here. Paul is making a statement. He's driving home the point that no affliction, no hardship, no peril can separate us from God's love.

God's love is the only true constant in our life. The disasters of the world do not definitively separate a man from Christ. They tend to bring him closer. For instance, think of David after his waterfall sin with Bathsheba, what happens? He loses a son. In his grief, he writes Psalm 51. Let's turn over to Psalm chapter 51.

Starting in verse 10.

David writes, create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence. And take not your Holy Spirit from me, restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Does that sound like a heart that is running away from God? Even in the pain of his grief, David understands his need for God.

And prioritizes growth from tribulation instead of allowing that pain to become a stumbling block to his faith. Paul even quotes from Psalm 44 to drive home this fact that the difficulties that he listed in verse 35 do, in fact, happen to Christians. We're not exempted from suffering because of our faith.

And there are many verses that support it. We've already referenced 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12, but then even more, 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 12, Romans, chapter 5, verse 3, 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 6, James, chapter 1, verse 3, all point to the truth of suffering. Will occur in our lives no way around it,

but he doesn't end there He moves on back in romans chapter 8 with the next verse No In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for 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 You And all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now Paul's not asking rhetorical questions anymore. Paul is making a definitive statement. I am sure there is nothing that will be able to separate us from God. There's no doubt in that statement. He talks about death. Death cannot separate us from the love of God because if Christ has saved you then death ushers us into his presence.

While death might be a scary thing from a purely physical perspective, Christians are blessed with a comfort that nobody else has, that our life begins after our death. And it's also interesting that Paul chooses to mention that life can't separate us from God's love. Well, life can be a threat to our relationship with God.

Think about the parable of the sowers. Jesus talks about the thorny ground. He identifies that as the worries and riches and pleasures of this life that rose up and choked out the seed that was trying to grow. But as God's children, His love will discipline us and restore us if we choose to fall into worldliness or sin, as long as we are willing to come back.

And he talks about nor angels nor rulers. Most commentaries seem to agree that Paul is not talking about earthly rulers. That, that was a surprise to me when I first started studying this, but instead he is making an illustration by drawing contrast by two extremes. So when we think about the angels, that the heavenly celestial beings, while the Rulers or principalities would be those fallen angelic beings or demons.

Satan would certainly be included in this category, but still Paul's point is that not even the celestial beings that we cannot see cannot separate us from God's love,

nor things present, nor things to come. Nothing in today's world or tomorrow's world can separate us from the love of God. of God, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation. Finally, Paul wraps it up by making this all encompassing statement that tells us that you can think of every terrifying thing on this or any other world that any world could produce.

Not one of them is able to separate the Christian from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, the Lord of every terror. The master of every world. Grief, pain, trials, tribulations are all a part of our earthly life. And we will feel the pangs that weigh us down at some point in our lives. And when we're in the midst of that storm, we often try to bargain and we try to reason our way out of it.

We want to know why, why am I having to suffer this, but sometimes the why is not as important as just knowing.

And Paul felt like the Roman Church needed to hear that. And some 2, 000 years later, we need to hear that.

But I want to last, I want to spend these last few minutes focusing on one verse that we haven't paid much attention to yet, verse 37. And Paul

makes this statement to answer that question that he posed back in verse 35,

And in this answer, some translations say that we overwhelmingly conquer through Him. Not that we scrape by. Not that we just barely make it. That we are more I think Paul uses this word intentionally because who would understand the word conqueror if not the people that lived at the heart of the Roman Empire?

The empire that perfected the art of conquering. Paul is trying to help the church in Rome see that because of their relationship with God, they can conquer the world. Be even more of a conqueror than Nero. Or the roman empire, but you see humans Often think of the word conquer in terms of winning when we overcome Our opponent but paul simply underscores this principle that god uses apparent defeat to produce ultimate victory Our lord's death on the cross would have seemed to have been a defeat but in god's wisdom Satan was defeated sin was defeated and death was overcome You

God uses the suffering of His saints to make them conquerors, more than conquerors. And Paul is trying to make us understand that we overwhelmingly conquer through all of these things. If you were bludgeoned by every single thing that Paul writes in verse 35, it would be very easy to feel defeated. But as we read in Romans 8, Verse 28, all things work together for good, for those who love God.

Not that it is good, but that it can yield good for our lives. Sin is still sin. Evil is still evil. But God is great enough that something seemingly wrong can bless us or even help us grow.

We started the sermon talking about scenes from movies that strike us with goosebumps. And I think that's a, that's a very real human reaction to things. And it draws our attention into the intensity of the situation. But the thing is, is those goosebumps moments. Because there needs to be a resolution for the scene to be Significantly meaningful.

If Coach Boone makes this amazing impassioned speech about respect regardless of skin color, and, but then if the players went on and kept acting exactly as they had been acting, then that speech was for nothing. Or if Mr. Bailey prays on the bridge to be able to live again but still chooses to jump, then, There was no opportunity for meaningful change.

So maybe this passage speaks to you this morning. Maybe it gave you goosebumps and has the power to do that. Whether you are a Christian who has forgotten or neglected the love of God that you learned long ago and you needed to be reminded that God's love is eternal.

Or maybe you are just now learning the extent of God's love and you're learning how His love and His mercy reaches past any of your failures and pulls you up from the pits of your despair and can complete you to walk in a new light. The thing is, is this letter was written to Christians. Paul himself says that this assurance and having all things work together for good only works together for those who love God, who have entered into a relationship with Him.

Without that relationship, you are separated from God. You do not have the benefits that we have talked about this morning. Maybe, you needed to be reminded of our God's glorious power amidst your trials and your tribulations, and you needed to be reminded of the question that if God is for us, then who can be against us?

And there, hopefully, is a resounding nothing that bounces through the mind of bounces through your mind.

And hopefully, You got goosebumps. But my hope for you is that you step past the goosebumps and step forward with a renewed desire to walk in the light of Christ, our Lord, without fear.

And the first step of that walk is this, repent and be baptized, each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And only then can we draw near to God with a true heart and the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

So if that's you, if you've forgotten the love of God, if you're learning the love of God. This is the time for you to be able to accept that love. To be able to come forward, let us pray with you, let us baptize you if that's what you need, we're happy to do that for you. So that you can become part of this church, but also step into that relationship.

Fills you with peace. Whatever the world is throwing at you right now, Whatever you're feeling is nothing in comparison to the all encompassing love of God that can carry us through anything. If that's for you, please step forward as we sing together.