Respond with Faith.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] I pray all this in Jesus’ name, amen. [0:03] All right, go ahead and have a seat. [0:05] Welcome to Village Church. [0:06] If this is your first time here, [0:08] my name’s Steve, I’m one of the pastors [0:09] here at Village Church, and as always,

[0:11] I am thankful and grateful to see [0:13] each and every one of you. [0:15] Now, if you noticed on your seats [0:17] as you came in, there should be invite cards. [0:20] If you didn’t see them, you’re possibly [0:22] sitting on it right now, and that’s gonna cause a crease.

[0:26] So you’re gonna wanna get up and get that card. [0:28] But next Sunday, we’re pushing pause [0:31] on Romans for a brief season, and don’t worry, [0:34] we will return to Romans 9 in the coming days. [0:37] But we’re gonna push pause and have another series [0:40] for a few weeks, and the series is entitled

[0:43] Love is All, excuse me, All You Need is Love. [0:45] I keep messing, I wrote, I come up with the series, [0:48] yet I can never quote the titles accurately. [0:51] It’s entitled All You Need is Love [0:53] and Other Lies I Used to Believe, [0:55] and what we’re gonna do is for seven weeks,

[0:58] we’re gonna go through different phrases [1:00] that our culture and maybe we ourselves tend to believe, [1:05] and really look at those phrases [1:08] in light of what God’s word has to say. [1:11] And next Sunday, we’re gonna be starting [1:13] with the concept from the Beatles,

[1:16] All You Need is Love, which is a mindset [1:19] that really has saturated culture since it came out. [1:24] And so next Sunday, we’re gonna deconstruct [1:26] and do a little bit of reconstruction as well. [1:29] But with those invite cards, and that’s what they are, [1:32] I’m gonna ask you to do me a favor

[1:34] and invite your neighbors, maybe invite some family members, [1:38] coworkers, friends, to come out and hear [1:40] the gospel of Jesus Christ for the next few weeks [1:43] that we hold so dear. [1:44] I believe it’s gonna be a great series of going through [1:47] and really forming what is a biblical worldview

[1:50] about love and life and the gospel of Jesus Christ. [1:55] And so join us with that. [1:56] And this week, if you receive a mailer for that series, [1:59] that means that your neighbor also received [2:01] a mailer for that series. [2:03] And so that may be a great opportunity and a doorway

[2:06] to put an invite out there for them to come [2:09] and hear the good news of Jesus Christ. [2:12] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up [2:14] to Romans chapter eight. [2:15] We’re gonna finish Romans chapter eight today. [2:19] Took us three weeks to cover verses 28 through 30.

[2:22] It will take us one week to cover verses 31 through 39. [2:27] But today, what basically happens in the final part [2:32] of the book of Romans chapter eight [2:34] is that the apostle Paul is basically gonna spend [2:38] nine verses praising God for everything [2:42] that he has talked about between verse one and verse 30.

[2:46] Is that he seems to be overcome with gratitude [2:50] and thankfulness for the plan of God. [2:53] And what you see come out of that [2:55] is this pantheon of praise from verses 31 through 39, [3:01] where Paul’s going to ask basically four rhetorical questions [3:05] to you about your faith in Jesus and what it means.

[3:10] And he’s attempting to elicit a response of thankfulness, [3:14] but above all of that, the response that he desires [3:18] to generate from this section of scripture [3:20] is simply that if everything that he has said [3:23] from verse one through verse 30 is true, [3:26] then your response needs to be such an overwhelming faith

[3:30] in Jesus that nothing in life could possibly [3:34] overcome your faith in Jesus Christ. [3:37] The trust that he is who he says he is [3:39] and that he’s going to do absolutely what he says [3:43] he will do in your life through the gospel. [3:47] Because I don’t know about you, but in my life,

[3:50] there is constantly the temptation and constantly [3:53] just the overwhelming feeling that even though [3:58] I believe the gospel, that maybe this thing can condemn me. [4:06] Or maybe this area in my life isn’t what it needs to be. [4:11] Or even though that I know I have grace, [4:14] there’s this one part that I just haven’t given it over

[4:19] to God and if I don’t give it over to God [4:21] and if I haven’t given it over to God, [4:23] maybe condemnation can then overcome me. [4:28] And so what Paul’s going to do in this section [4:30] is that he wants you to be overcome not [4:35] by the duties that you have of obedience.

[4:42] Paul does not desire for you to be overcome by guilt [4:47] for the areas in your life that the gospel does declare [4:50] you need to give over to God and does declare [4:53] that you need to obey him. [4:54] But what Paul wants to do is he wants to come over [4:57] and under everything in your life and say,

[5:01] this is what is true about you regardless

[5:09] of the guilt that you may have, [5:11] regardless of what others are going to say about you [5:14] and they will, regardless of the pressure [5:17] that you feel in your life to do things. [5:22] And if you trust in Jesus Christ, [5:25] then every single aspect of what you should be

[5:31] needs to be motivated by and overcome by the truth [5:38] that God is for you and he’s not against you.

[5:42] That God has given you life and he’ll never give you death. [5:46] That God has forgiven you and he’ll never judge you.

[5:50] That God is the God who seals you with the truth [5:56] of justification by grace alone that he’s talked about [6:00] all through Romans five through eight.

[6:04] Says every other voice that comes into your life, [6:06] whether it be from a thing, whether it be from yourself, [6:09] whether it be from someone else, [6:12] doesn’t ultimately define who you are [6:15] or what your destiny is. [6:17] The only one who determines what you believe

[6:22] about yourself, what you believe about God, [6:25] what you believe about everything is God himself. [6:28] And he’s not left us in the dark about it. [6:33] Instead, God has shown us concrete what we need to believe, [6:40] shown us concrete who we are, shown us concrete. [6:44] This is what needs to overcome your thought process

[6:47] in every moment of every day. [6:50] Why should you obey? [6:51] Not so that God will love you.

[6:55] But because he loves you and those are totally different.

[7:01] So join me in Romans chapter eight, verse 31. [7:04] Here’s what the apostle Paul writes. [7:07] He first poses a question to you. [7:09] And then he will pose four questions [7:11] about everything about you. [7:13] He says, what shall we then say to these things?

[7:16] In other words, if everything I said is true, [7:18] what should our response be? [7:20] If God is for us, who can be against us? [7:25] He who did not spare his own son, [7:28] but gave him up for us all, [7:30] how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

[7:36] Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? [7:40] It is God who justifies, who is to condemn. [7:43] Christ Jesus is the one who died. [7:45] More than that, who was raised, [7:48] who’s at the right hand of God, [7:50] who indeed is interceding for us.

[7:54] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [7:57] So tribulation or distress or persecution [7:59] or famine or nakedness or danger or sword, [8:03] as it is written, for your sake [8:05] we are being killed all the day long. [8:08] We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

[8:11] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors [8:14] through him who loved us. [8:17] For I am sure that neither death nor life [8:19] nor angels nor rulers nor things present [8:22] nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth [8:25] nor anything else in all creation

[8:27] will be able to separate us from the love of God [8:31] in Christ Jesus our Lord. [8:35] Now Paul has just finished an audacious promise [8:40] and then a defense of that promise [8:41] when he posed to us the fact that he says [8:45] that if you love God,

[8:46] if you are called according to his purpose, all things, [8:50] absolutely all things will work together for good. [8:57] And then he backs that up by saying [9:00] that God has foreknown all whom he would save. [9:04] He predestined all those whom he would be saved [9:07] to be conformed to the image of Christ.

[9:09] So he defines the good that God is working [9:12] to conform those who have faith in Jesus [9:15] to the image of his son Jesus Christ. [9:17] And then he finishes that with an order of salvation [9:21] to show us that God has been in control from all time. [9:26] From even before the creation itself

[9:28] was spoken into existence by God, [9:30] he determined what would happen in times past, [9:34] times present, times future. [9:38] That he foreknew you, he called you [9:40] through the truth of the gospel to himself, [9:43] through the power of the spirit, he then justified you,

[9:46] he took that which was unrighteous in my life [9:50] through the perfect life, the substitutionary death [9:53] and the resurrection of Jesus, and then through that, [9:56] he says that you are righteous, [9:59] as righteous as Jesus, if you believe.

[10:04] And then he says something [10:05] that’s even more interesting to me, [10:07] he says those whom he justified, he’s also glorified. [10:10] So he uses this term that none of us have experienced yet, [10:14] and that’s something that he promised in Romans 8, 21, [10:17] when he says that we would have glory with Christ,

[10:21] the redemption of our bodies, verse 22 from Romans 8 says, [10:25] when we are resurrected to live with God forever.

[10:30] But he uses the term glorified, [10:33] which is the past tense term, [10:34] he’s saying that it is so certain, [10:37] it is so fact-based because of the omniscient sovereignty [10:41] of God, that it’s as if it’s already happened, [10:45] you can bank on it, you can go all in on it,

[10:47] it’s absolute.

[10:51] And so then Paul basically asks the question, [10:53] he says okay Christian,

[10:56] because in light of all of this, [10:59] in light of this amazing sovereign plan [11:02] of the God who saves sinners,

[11:06] what will you say? [11:08] What do you say to that?

[11:12] And then he gives us four benchmarks, four questions. [11:15] He says here’s what you should say, [11:18] here’s what you should believe, [11:20] here’s what needs to happen in your life [11:22] when everything that is going on [11:25] seems to deny what God says is going to happen in your life,

[11:30] what God says is true about you and Jesus Christ, [11:33] when you’re struggling to believe that you’re righteous, [11:36] when everyone is coming down on you saying [11:39] you’re not doing enough, you’re not being enough, [11:42] you’re not measuring up enough, you’re pathetic, [11:45] you don’t really believe, you don’t really trust.

[11:50] Paul says what will you say?

[11:54] He begins by saying well if God is for you, [11:56] who can be against you?

[12:01] See number one this morning, [12:02] Paul wants to bring you to a place [12:05] where you believe that the gospel proves [12:07] that God is absolutely trustworthy.

[12:11] The gospel proves that God is absolutely trustworthy.

[12:17] Friend, God is for us.

[12:22] That is very difficult to believe, [12:26] especially if you’re a sinner like I am, [12:29] because there’s no reason that God should be for me. [12:32] And let’s be honest,

[12:35] we are not good.

[12:39] We can’t even handle our own thought processes [12:42] the right way that God has told us to. [12:46] Yet in the gospel, this God who spoke everything [12:50] into existence that does exist, [12:53] he came down, humbled himself to be like us, [12:56] and then lived an absolutely perfect life.

[13:00] And at that point you could look at Jesus and say [13:02] you show off. [13:04] Of course you can do it right. [13:08] You wrote the law, you are the law.

[13:12] But then he does something absolutely extraordinary, [13:14] he proves that he’s not just here showboating. [13:17] He goes to the cross and dies a criminal’s death [13:19] by the hands of man. [13:22] And in that, shows that his love is absolutely for us.

[13:29] That this God who has the power to create, [13:32] this God that Romans 8, 28 through 29 and 30 [13:36] say absolutely that he is a sovereign Lord.

[13:44] At the same God, [13:47] when you think about someone with that power, [13:50] when you think about someone with that sovereignty,

[13:55] then you think about disobeying him. [13:59] When I was a child, I was scared of my parents. [14:02] That was good, I needed to be. [14:04] By the way parents, that’s your goal. [14:07] If parenting books say differently, don’t believe them. [14:10] It’s good for your children to be afraid of you.

[14:12] That’s why we’re bigger, I mean think about it.

[14:15] Yeah, that’s right.

[14:19] But I was scared of disobeying them, [14:21] but I did it anyway. [14:23] Off and over and over.

[14:26] But then when I think about that type of fear, [14:28] and my parents though, and I am not to my children, [14:31] I’m not omniscient, I’m not all knowing, [14:33] and that’s why they get away with things. [14:35] But then I consider who God is [14:37] and the fact that he’s all knowing, he’s omniscient.

[14:39] He has this crazy power where he can look into [14:42] the vastness of everything that is [14:44] and make something out of nothing. [14:47] You can’t do that. [14:49] More than that, he looks to the past [14:51] and sees it the same way that he sees the future.

[14:53] He sees it all the same. [14:54] He has an overarching view of everything for all time, [14:58] Romans 8 and Isaiah 46 teach us.

[15:02] And so when you disobey that being, [15:07] it’s not a light thing. [15:10] He can just say, okay, you’re dead and you will. [15:13] Doesn’t have to lay a finger on you. [15:17] Jesus said, don’t fear him who can kill the body [15:21] and then do nothing else.

[15:22] I’ll tell you who to fear. [15:23] Fear him who after he kills your body, [15:25] he can damn your soul to hell forever. [15:28] That’s who you should be afraid of. [15:29] That’s God.

[15:32] And so this God that has that type of power [15:35] shows us an amazing love where rather than [15:39] simply condemning us for our sin forever, [15:41] he himself is condemned for us. [15:44] And that’s what you see on the cross.

[15:47] And that is God’s proof. [15:50] And quite frankly, that’s all you ever need. [15:54] That’s his proof right there that he loves you.

[15:58] Because rather than taking his wrath out on you, [16:00] he took it out on his own son. [16:03] When he’s so united with their one.

[16:08] Romans 5, 8 says that while we were yet still in our sin, [16:12] Christ died for us.

[16:17] It’s an amazing statement of the love of God, [16:19] but the thing that it proves is what Romans 8, 31 states.

[16:24] God is for us.

[16:27] God is for you. [16:29] God is not against you.

[16:33] But friend, I know that each and every one of you,

[16:37] because of your limited mindset, [16:39] that there has been a day this week [16:41] where you possibly even ask yourself, [16:44] God against me? [16:47] I mean, think about the things [16:48] that have happened in your life.

[16:49] I mean, some of them have been very uncomfortable, [16:52] to say the least, unpleasant. [16:54] And in the moment of pain, [16:56] there’s this temptation inside of me [16:58] to say, God, why are you doing this to me?

[17:06] And it can’t be because he’s against you, [17:08] and Jesus proves that. [17:11] But what does it take to believe that? [17:13] It takes faith. [17:15] It’s Paul’s point here,

[17:18] is that your response needs to be to believe [17:21] that God is for you and not against you, [17:23] regardless of what happens.

[17:27] Because he who did not spare his own son,

[17:36] how will he not also graciously give us all things?

[17:46] You see, when he writes that in verse 32, [17:50] he’s expounding on Romans 5, 8. [17:53] See, look at what God has done for you. [17:58] He gave you his son. [18:01] He gave you the one that he shared eternity with. [18:05] He gave you the one who’s completely united with him

[18:09] in being, in purpose, in personhood, [18:13] the second part of the Trinity. [18:15] And he came down and he died. [18:17] And he says, if you believe that, [18:19] then how would you not also say, [18:21] this God loves me so much to the extent

[18:24] that he will graciously give me all things? [18:28] I know he will because of Jesus. [18:30] That’s what he wants to bring into your life, [18:32] a rock solid trust in Jesus.

[18:39] You may say, well, I don’t feel like [18:42] he’s giving me all things.

[18:46] I had a flat tire this week, didn’t have all things then. [18:49] Didn’t want everything, just wanted a tire [18:51] that wasn’t flat. [18:53] Just wanted a starter that wasn’t broken. [18:55] I just wanted my body to be healed. [18:57] I just wanted my friends to love me.

[18:59] I just wanted my marriage to be healed. [19:01] I just wanted my child to respond to me in positive ways. [19:04] I just wanted to find my spouse. [19:06] I just wanted this. [19:07] I just wanted money. [19:08] I just wanted those things.

[19:11] I don’t need everything, I just need that thing.

[19:16] That’s where it’s very important to understand [19:18] what he meant in Romans 8, 29.

[19:22] See, because the all things that God has defined for you [19:26] is not based on your understanding. [19:29] It’s based on his understanding of what exactly [19:31] will conform you to the end of Christ.

[19:36] When things happen to us in our limited mindset, [19:40] when there are miscarriages, when there are illnesses, [19:43] when there are diseases, you lose loved one, [19:46] people turn their backs on us. [19:49] It’s very tempting for us to look at those issues [19:52] and those situations and say, I have no idea

[19:54] how God is possibly going to work this to good.

[20:00] But he says, friend, the only evidence [20:02] that you really need to believe that God is sovereignly [20:06] going to work all of it to your good [20:08] is the fact that God did not spare the life of his son. [20:13] He said he took it so that you could have it. [20:17] He says, in light of that, how will he not also

[20:20] graciously give us all things? [20:21] And he qualifies it with the term graciously.

[20:25] Because the all things is defined by his grace [20:28] and who is the one that dispenses the grace, God? [20:31] It is his gift, it is freely given, [20:33] but it is from his sovereignty into your life. [20:35] It is not from your knowledge, it’s from his knowledge. [20:39] He says that in light of God’s grace,

[20:41] he will give all things into your life. [20:45] This is not the prosperity gospel. [20:49] They would look at this promise and pervert it [20:53] by saying, oh, God will give you money, [20:56] oh, God will give you health, God will give you healing [20:58] if you just trust enough, if you just believe enough.

[21:00] See, there it is, all things. [21:01] He’s gonna give it into your life. [21:03] That’s a con, that’s a scam, that’s a lie. [21:06] It’s not true. [21:09] You will endure very hard things in your life [21:13] by the will of God, and God will use them to mold you

[21:18] and conform you more into the image of his son [21:21] than you would have been molded [21:23] and conformed to without those things.

[21:29] And through it, every situation, [21:33] every circumstance, all things, [21:36] he’s going to give it to you. [21:39] And when you are elevated by God [21:42] to the glory of the children of God in eternity, [21:46] you will look and say thank you, God, for conforming you.

[21:51] It will not be easy in this life, [21:54] but I promise you, according to the word of God, [21:56] it will be glorious when we see Jesus.

[22:01] Endure.

[22:03] Keep struggling. [22:05] Keep fighting. [22:07] But above all things, keep trusting Jesus. [22:12] Because he is the one who’s working all things to your good.

[22:21] If you trust.

[22:23] Secondly, this morning, I want you to understand [22:26] that what these texts mean is that God’s voice [22:31] needs to be the loudest one in your life. [22:34] God’s voice needs to be the loudest one in your life. [22:39] Look at verse 33. [22:41] Note that the apostle Paul writes,

[22:44] who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?

[22:50] Next rhetorical question that he moves on to, [22:52] question number three.

[22:56] This is so hard because, I don’t know about you, [22:58] but people are constantly bringing charges against you. [23:03] You even bring them against yourself.

[23:08] What he’s saying here when he responds to that question, [23:11] he says it is God who justifies.

[23:14] He’s saying ultimately, the only thing that’s going to matter [23:16] in your identity and in your life [23:18] is what God thinks about you.

[23:22] It’s important to get wisdom from people. [23:24] It’s important to listen to wise counsel from other people, [23:27] but the only way that that will ever happen [23:29] is if you believe God above anything else.

[23:34] In the past, do you believe God above anything else? [23:35] In the days, there have been so many camps [23:38] within even the faith in Jesus Christ [23:41] of how we should respond to different things [23:43] that are going on in our culture [23:44] that it is the easiest time ever in my lifetime

[23:47] to feel condemned by very many people, [23:49] regardless of where you stand on any issue. [23:53] You’re either not doing enough [23:54] or you’re doing way too much. [23:57] Typically though, the hardest part [23:58] is when you feel like you’re not doing enough.

[24:02] Even harder is when you look and you say, [24:03] I have no idea what to do.

[24:08] In those moments, what you do is, [24:10] is you begin and you say, [24:11] who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?

[24:16] So when you don’t know what to do, [24:18] you don’t start with, okay, I got to figure out what to do. [24:22] No, friend, that is a quick way [24:24] to get yourself to condemnation in your own mind.

[24:29] You start with, I know one thing, [24:32] and one thing above everything else is [24:36] that if God is for me, no one can be against me [24:39] because it is God who justifies and not you.

[24:45] I love every part of Village Church, [24:48] but understand that none of you are my justification.

[24:52] None of you. [24:54] And I hope you love me, I hope. [24:58] But I am not your justification.

[25:02] It is God who justifies and God alone.

[25:09] Therefore, when you’re attempting to build a life [25:11] in which you say, God, how do I follow? [25:14] God, how do I obey? [25:16] God, how do I set a strategy forward in my life [25:19] where I bring you glory? [25:21] You begin with one certain unchanging thing,

[25:24] that if Jesus Christ died for my sins [25:26] and rose from the grave to give me new life [25:29] and to make me righteous above God, [25:30] no one can take that away from me no matter what.

[25:37] God needs to be the loudest voice in your life. [25:41] And if you trust Jesus, that is what he says about you [25:44] all day, every day, for eternity. [25:47] And that’ll change your life. [25:50] That’s the only thing that will change your life.

[25:54] Friends, if you are seeking to find your identity [25:58] in all that you are doing for God, you will never do it.

[26:06] I’ve tried that road. [26:08] It’s the most unsatisfying life you’ll ever find. [26:11] Filled with guilt, filled with shame, [26:14] and filled with guilt.

[26:17] Friend, you need to build your identity [26:19] on something far better than that. [26:21] You need to build your identity on the fact [26:23] that if God is for you, no one can be against you. [26:26] And if God says you are righteous, [26:28] then no one can make you unrighteous, not even yourself.

[26:33] God has declared that all who trust in Jesus are righteous.

[26:40] Look at what Jesus himself said in John 5, verse 24. [26:43] He says, truly, truly, I say to you, [26:46] anytime you see Jesus or anybody else in the scripture [26:48] repeating something twice, that means listen. [26:52] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word [26:55] and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

[26:59] But note the next sentence. [27:02] He does not come into judgment, [27:06] but is passed from death to life.

[27:13] There’s no Christianity apart from that.

[27:18] You need to find your identity in Jesus. [27:21] You need to find your identity in believing him [27:25] more than you believe even yourself. [27:28] If you trust Jesus, your judgment is over. [27:31] It is complete. [27:32] You are free from any burden and strain

[27:35] that the fear of condemnation puts on you. [27:38] In Romans chapter five and seven, [27:40] just to bring a reminder into your life, [27:41] Paul reveals that Jesus met every requirement [27:44] that the law has for us. [27:46] He had to do it because we could not do it for ourselves

[27:51] even more than that. [27:52] He didn’t just meet the requirements of the law. [27:55] He died under the penalty for breaking God’s law [27:59] that we deserve. [28:01] He took his righteousness, gave it to me, [28:03] took my sin, put it on himself,

[28:06] and then paid the full penalty for it. [28:12] Through faith then. [28:14] Here’s the truth about Jesus for your life. [28:16] If you have faith in Jesus, [28:18] you can walk through this world [28:21] as though you have met every requirement of the law

[28:25] because Jesus did that for you. [28:28] That’s what he means in Romans eight, one [28:30] when he says there’s no condemnation [28:31] for all who are in Christ Jesus. [28:33] None. [28:34] You’re gonna try to invent some for yourself.

[28:39] That’s the temptation that happens in your life [28:40] is you’re going to try to condemn yourself somehow. [28:43] In Jesus, if you believe in him, [28:45] he constantly says no, no, no condemnation. [28:51] In the original language. [28:52] It’s very complicated.

[28:54] That verse means no condemnation.

[28:59] No, no condemnation, condemnation, no condemnation. [29:04] You do not have to be great at grammar [29:06] to figure out what that means. [29:08] It means there is no condemnation. [29:11] You can try to put it there, [29:13] but it’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole

[29:16] with no hammer to fix it. [29:18] It’s not gonna work. [29:21] If you believe in Jesus, [29:23] it is only what God says that matters about your life. [29:28] Nothing can take it away from you, not even yourself. [29:32] You did not qualify yourself.

[29:35] Therefore, how can you disqualify yourself?

[29:40] You can’t. [29:41] It is God who justifies. [29:43] It is not you who justifies. [29:46] It’s God, justify.

[29:50] It is the same God who predestined all things [29:54] to work according to his glory.

[29:58] Same God. [30:00] So as you live this life, [30:03] with the different voices that enter into you [30:07] about what you should be, what you should do, [30:12] how you should fill your life with this thing or that thing, [30:17] understand that the only real thing ever

[30:20] to build your identity on is what Jesus has done. [30:24] That’s it. [30:27] Everything else will disappoint.

[30:30] Thirdly, this morning I want you to understand [30:31] that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.

[30:36] Nothing.

[30:38] Oh, you’ll try to figure out something, [30:41] but nothing.

[30:43] Nothing. [30:44] I mean, got to admit, between verses 35 and 39, [30:49] Paul really tries to find something [30:51] that will separate you from the love of Christ. [30:53] I mean, he’s throwing all sorts of things at you. [30:57] You’re saying, nope, none of them.

[31:01] This is one continuous thought [31:05] in regards to this fourth question. [31:08] He says, what shall separate us from the love of Christ? [31:14] Understand that he is presupposing Romans one [31:18] through eight there. [31:20] He’s speaking directly into the life

[31:22] of the one who’s trusted in Jesus Christ as God and Savior. [31:28] He’s speaking directly into the life of the person [31:31] who says, I believe that Jesus justifies. [31:36] I believe that Jesus redeems. [31:38] I believe that he died for my sin. [31:40] I believe that he rose from the dead to give me new life.

[31:45] He’s speaking directly to you.

[31:49] So he asks this most important question. [31:53] Because in that question is the question [31:55] of the sovereignty of God, [31:58] is the question of the control of God, [32:00] is the question of the love of God, [32:03] is the question of the endurance of God,

[32:06] and is the question of the plan and purpose of God. [32:11] Because he says, he looks at it, [32:13] and he says, he looks at the whole scan of your life, [32:15] and he says, here’s the point A, [32:16] for when you come to faith in Jesus Christ, [32:19] from there on, what can separate you from his love?

[32:26] And what he means for you to understand [32:30] is that at one time or another, [32:32] everything on the list that follows [32:33] will come into your life to try to convince you [32:37] that you’ve been separated from the Lord.

[32:40] Note what he says here beginning in verse 35. [32:45] He says, shall tribulation, distress, persecution, [32:49] famine, nakedness, danger, sword, [32:53] I mean, that’s a pretty inclusive list.

[32:57] Even to the point, take all your clothes off. [32:58] Is that gonna separate you from the love of Christ?

[33:04] Have you had hard times?

[33:07] Have you seen people go through hard times?

[33:11] In those moments where you attempted to say, [33:14] Jesus doesn’t love me, surely God doesn’t love me, [33:18] if he loved me, this thing would not enter into my life. [33:20] See, this is the absolute death nail [33:23] into the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth garbage.

[33:30] Because Paul’s not saying these things [33:31] won’t enter your life, Paul’s saying, [33:33] these things are coming.

[33:37] Tribulation, distress, hardship, sword, famine, [33:43] they’re coming, but can any of them separate you [33:47] from the love of Christ? [33:49] No. [33:51] He then cites the Old Testament in Psalm chapter 44. [33:53] Here’s what Psalm 44 says.

[33:55] Let’s read it. [33:58] Beginning of verse 20, it says, [34:00] if we had forgotten the name of our God [34:02] or spread out our hands to a foreign God, [34:05] would not God discover this? [34:07] For he knows the secrets of the heart,

[34:09] yet for your sake we are killed all the day long, [34:12] we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. [34:15] Awake, why are you sleeping, O Lord? [34:17] Rouse yourself, do not reject us forever. [34:19] See, this is finding the nation of Israel [34:22] in a place where it seems like all of their enemies

[34:25] are triumphing over them, [34:26] where it seems like they’re going to die, [34:28] where it seems like, God, you have been silent to us, [34:32] you’ve rejected us, stop it. [34:35] So Paul quotes this passage, [34:38] because when you are enduring the hardest moment

[34:42] of your life, there’s going to be a temptation [34:45] to look to God and say, why have you distanced yourself [34:48] from me, is it something that I did? [34:51] I can’t find any sin. [34:54] I’m looking for it, I’m begging you, God, examine me, [34:57] show me my sin and I’ll repent of it,

[34:59] just please remove this suffering from me, [35:02] please remove this anguish from me, [35:04] please remove this heartache from me, [35:06] please give me this thing that I want, [35:08] or take away this thing that I don’t want, [35:10] because then I’ll know that you love me.

[35:16] Paul says, do not be tempted to believe that. [35:21] Why? [35:22] Because of Jesus.

[35:25] Why? [35:26] Because God has promised that even those things [35:29] will be used to conform you to the image of Christ.

[35:37] Friends, do not believe that simply because you’re hurting, [35:45] that God’s not right there with you, [35:47] that God’s not loving you through, [35:50] that God’s not using it to mold you [35:52] and make you his son, Jesus Christ, [35:57] and whom he is eternally pleased.

[36:02] Paul wants you to understand

[36:06] that your mindset and your belief [36:10] in what defines the love of God for your life [36:15] is not determined by your present situation [36:20] or your current circumstance. [36:23] The love of God in your life needs to be set [36:26] in the unchanging fact of Jesus Christ,

[36:31] what he has done for you [36:33] and what he will eternally do for you. [36:37] Note what he says in verse 34, he says, [36:39] who is to condemn? [36:40] Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that. [36:43] Who was raised, who’s at the right hand of God,

[36:46] who indeed is interceding for us. [36:49] He’s saying everything about God’s love [36:52] is defined by who Jesus is, what Jesus did, [36:56] and the fact that right now, if you trust in him, [36:59] he’s standing at the right hand of the Father, [37:02] constantly saying, this is one whom you love, Father,

[37:07] because of what I’ve done.

[37:10] Not because of what you’ve done, [37:12] but because of what Jesus has done.

[37:16] This is why in Romans 1-16, [37:21] Paul started the entire book by saying, [37:25] for I am not ashamed of the gospel. [37:30] The power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, [37:33] the Jew first and also the Greek. [37:35] Because you see, what’s going to happen in your life

[37:36] is you might begin the book of Romans and you’re like, [37:38] well, why would Paul be ashamed of the gospel? [37:41] Why would anyone be ashamed of the gospel? [37:44] Paul’s point is, is because there’s going to be times [37:46] in your life where it’s very hard to believe the gospel [37:48] because of what you’re enduring.

[37:51] You will either, A, suffer through a very hard time [37:54] and say, I don’t know if God’s love is for me [37:56] because I’m enduring this hardship, [37:58] or B, you will be so materially successful [38:02] that you will lose your vision for the love of God [38:05] and the purpose of God for your life.

[38:09] Paul says, both sides of that coin [38:11] are actually ashamed for the gospel. [38:13] I’m not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel [38:15] is the one that gives me a God who is for me [38:18] and not against me. [38:19] The gospel is one in which God does not spare his own son,

[38:22] but he will graciously give me all thanks. [38:25] I believe in a gospel where it is God who elects, [38:28] it is God who saves, it is God who justifies, [38:31] so no other voice in my life could ever possibly condemn me [38:35] because what God says is true.

[38:39] And he finishes and he says,

[38:42] there’s no tribulation, there’s no persecution, [38:44] there’s nothing that’s ever going to come into my life [38:47] that will ever separate me from the love of Christ. [38:51] And when he quotes Psalm 44, [38:52] he goes to this amazing moment where he’s like, [38:55] yes, this is what you’re going to be tempted to,

[38:57] you’re going to be tempted to say this, [38:59] oh God, we’re being slaughtered, I’m being killed, [39:03] everything is hurting. [39:04] Can’t you just fix it? [39:06] And then I love what he says next, no.

[39:12] But he’s just like, that’s harsh.

[39:17] Clearly, Paul was not a professional counselor.

[39:24] What about, no, no, no. [39:28] No.

[39:31] See, Paul confronts our errors with truth. [39:37] That’s the beauty of God’s word, it is corrective. [39:42] It sees me going down a wrong path and it says, [39:44] stop, get back on the right one.

[39:49] He says, in all these things, we are more than conquered.

[39:55] I said, you might say, like I’ve been tempted to say, [40:01] I feel pretty conquered.

[40:04] I’m in one of those days where it’s like, [40:06] I just want to go to bed and not get up. [40:09] Because I feel like I just don’t have [40:11] any more strength to fight. [40:14] So what does he mean when he says, [40:16] we’re more than conquered?

[40:20] What he means is, is what he follows that with. [40:22] Through him who loved us. [40:26] Who’s the one that loves? [40:28] Jesus.

[40:31] He always points us to the gospel. [40:33] Every gospel declaration or something [40:35] that should be true of you because of the gospel of Jesus, [40:37] excuse me, every gospel implication, [40:39] everything that should be true about you [40:41] because of the gospel, is always followed

[40:43] by a gospel declaration of why it’s true. [40:49] Did suffering separate Jesus from the love of God the Father?

[40:55] [40:55] Persecution? [40:57] No. [40:58] Death?

[41:00] No. [41:02] Why? [41:03] Resurrection.

[41:05] That is why you can believe absolutely all of it. [41:08] See, when he says you’re more than conquered, [41:10] he doesn’t mean that you’re like this warrior [41:12] with all your armor on and when like sickness comes, [41:16] you just take your sword and you’re like, nope.

[41:20] Bulletproof vest of the spirit. [41:22] It’s like, oh, financial problem, bing, [41:24] bounce right off me.

[41:30] Did Jesus do that? [41:31] No, Jesus really suffered. [41:34] But he really did. [41:36] He wasn’t just pretending. [41:38] When he was being whipped, he wasn’t just like, [41:40] ow, oh, don’t do that again.

[41:44] Ooh, that one had some stank on it.

[41:48] No, Jesus really suffered. [41:51] Physically, he suffered. [41:53] Emotionally, he suffered. [41:55] And yes, spiritually, Jesus suffered. [41:58] It was all very real.

[42:02] What Paul wants you to do is that every moment of suffering, [42:05] every moment of hardship,

[42:08] even in moments of success, [42:10] when you feel like you’ve fed 5,000,

[42:14] the only real important thing about your life [42:16] is what God says about you. [42:20] That you can trust. [42:22] He says it. [42:23] Gives you this list of gospel centered realities, [42:27] things that are going to happen.

[42:28] He says, I’m sure neither death nor life, [42:32] angels, rulers, things present, things to come, [42:34] nor powers, height, depth, anything else in all creation. [42:38] I love the way Paul’s writing here. [42:39] He’s throwing us these huge momentous things, [42:42] but then he knows, and of course,

[42:43] it’s the Holy Spirit that knows this, [42:44] that you’re going to say, oh, but this isn’t on the list. [42:48] Aha, this one thing that only I have ever gone through [42:50] in all of eternity. [42:52] Which, by the way, is never true. [42:54] You’re not that special, friend.

[42:57] That’s why he follows it up with, [42:58] by the way, anything else in all of creation [43:02] that you’re gonna try to manufacture, [43:04] none of it will be able to separate us [43:07] from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

[43:14] Friend, nothing will separate you from the love of Christ. [43:18] Absolutely not. [43:21] If salvation is the work of God, it is. [43:27] And it is victorious. [43:29] It is final, and it is absolutely eternal.

[43:36] Friends, my fear for some of you [43:39] is that the gospel has not served [43:42] to reorient the way that many of you think about reality. [43:47] You want the forgiveness of God, [43:50] but then you look at a daunting list like this,

[43:56] and you say, that is a list that I will spend [43:58] the rest of my life avoiding.

[44:01] So you’re gonna try to build your life, [44:05] avoiding absolutely everything on this list, [44:08] trying to build for yourself a kingdom, [44:10] and in the end, you’re going to come [44:11] and you’re going to find that you never had the love of God [44:14] because you didn’t really trust Jesus.

[44:20] The gospel exists because of the presence [44:23] of these things in the follower of Jesus. [44:25] Why would they exist? [44:26] Because you are obeying Jesus, you’re following Jesus, [44:30] and the fact that you still live in a cursed world.

[44:36] What do you base the love of God on?

[44:44] You see, the overarching thing about the gospel, [44:49] that God will use some amazing things in your life [44:53] to bring himself glory.

[44:56] In John chapter 11, God put a family through an angel, [45:02] an extremely terrifying, hard experience [45:07] so that Jesus could raise the dead.

[45:11] The response to the family in John chapter 11, verse 25, [45:15] Martha comes to Jesus and she says, [45:16] Jesus, if you’d just come a day earlier, [45:19] my brother wouldn’t have died.

[45:23] Jesus looks at her and he says, [45:24] I’m the resurrection and the life. [45:27] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. [45:31] And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. [45:36] Believe this.

[45:41] See, friend, the pathway of following Jesus is a pathway, [45:45] great risk, pathway where you’re very honest [45:49] about what you’re going to endure because of the gospel [45:51] and what you’re going to endure for the gospel [45:53] and what you’re going to endure just because life.

[45:59] And then when confronted with all of those realities, [46:03] Jesus looks to you and he says, [46:06] the resurrection and the life, [46:08] what’s the worst that could happen? [46:11] And in my mind, because I like to answer questions, [46:13] I say death, and Jesus says, okay, resurrection,

[46:19] now I got this trump card.

[46:24] And he always looks into my life. [46:26] Just like Martha says, believe it, believe it. [46:36] Life reflects that.

[46:41] Friend, sin cannot separate you from the love [46:47] of Jesus, rest him. [46:50] Life cannot separate the follower from the Lord. [46:56] God.

[47:00] Death cannot separate the follower from God.

[47:07] Because all of that is true. [47:11] Put your faith in it and live like it.

[47:17] As the band comes up, this is the reality that we proclaim [47:23] every time we reflect on communion.

[47:27] That the only pathway for us is following Jesus.

[47:36] Every week we reflect on the broken body, [47:39] which is the bread, shed blood, which is the cup. [47:43] A metaphor to represent what Jesus poured out [47:47] in order to give us life. [47:50] And when we eat the bread and we drink the cup, [47:52] what we’re actually proclaiming is,

[47:54] is that I trust the gospel of Jesus Christ. [47:59] I trust that the only thing that ultimately matters [48:02] about my life is what God says. [48:04] The only thing that ultimately matters about my life [48:06] is what God wants. [48:09] And the only thing that ultimately matters in my life

[48:12] is who Jesus is.

[48:15] Friend, if you’ve not trusted in Jesus Christ, [48:18] I invite you right now, even where you are, [48:22] to realize that you’ve sinned against God. [48:25] But more importantly than that,

[48:29] God has paid the penalty for your sins through Jesus. [48:32] And he’ll forgive you if you trust him.

[48:36] If you are a follower of Jesus, when you’re ready, [48:41] I invite you to reflect and proclaim your belief [48:45] through the bread and the cup.