The Father of Mercies and God of All Comfort

Good afternoon, brethren. Welcome to some of the people that I haven't seen for a long time. It's nice to see you all here. I appreciate the sermonette, and it seems to go pretty well with the message that I'm going to give today. This message had a genesis that I was talking to some brethren in another congregation, and after services, one of those brethren came to me and said, sometimes in some areas or in some situations, we leave services discouraged, beaten down, and just with a down feeling. Brethren, that sometimes does happen, unfortunately, and sometimes it's our own fault. Maybe we just don't forgive ourselves, but we don't forgive others. Sometimes it's a problem that we're just not willing to let things go by and make peace. And is that the example God gives us? You know, sometimes we don't have peace around. Sometimes we don't have peace with brethren. Sometimes we don't have peace at work. But particularly in the Church, is that what God wants from us? You know, if we just quickly turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 3, and now we read Paul at the beginning of this letter, saying, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Have we taken time to meditate that God the Father is the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort? You know, a little later in that epistle, in fact, in the same chapter in verse 24, Paul says to the ministry, Not that we have dominion over your faith, but our fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand. You know, Paul wrote this letter, 2 Corinthians, after, as you probably are well aware, after he wrote a very disciplinarity, a very corrective letter, and after he had put a member out of church, and that weighed heavily upon him, and he hoped there would be repentance. And in this letter, because a little later you know that that individual was repentant and changing, he then is emphasizing the point that God is the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

In the very next verse, that's in chapter 2, verse 1. By the next verse, I mean after he said that we as ministers or fellow workers of your joy, he says, But I determine this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. Paul is taking the approach like God is to us, is the Father of mercies, obviously upon repentance. It is important to understand that repentance is required. And so today, I want to spend a bit of time to help us all see how God is the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. In other words, put it very simply, we want to comprehend a little bit better God's enormous grace. It is something for us to be encouraged and positive about because God is gracious towards us. And in return, it's something for us to grow in being gracious to others by growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's briefly look at the very example of love, compassion, mercy, and comfort that God asks towards us. Let's look at God's tremendous grace towards you and I. And the outcome that he desires in you and I is repentance. It's for you and I to be a new man, not just a repetition of the old man in sin, but changing. We know a very well-known scripture which is in John 3 verse 16 that says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him and that word believes in him literally means he that does and obeys him, therefore believes him, therefore he does what God says. So he says whoever believes in him, in other words in brackets, who obeys him and does what's pleasing to God, should not perish but have everlasting life. That is gracious kindness from God to us. Think about what God did by sending us his beloved Son. Jesus Christ left the glory. He left the glory of being in the form of God, the glory he had with God without any pain, with an ending joy, and he became man. And Christ himself at his lost prayer in John 17.5 said, And now, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory I had with you before the world was. Brethren, this was an act of enormous grace from God and from Christ. In Philippians chapter 2, starting in verse 5, we read, Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. You and I need to have the same mindset of being gracious.

But understand, God expects repentance and change. Yes, God is patient. But God expects nothing less than a new man and a new woman. But this is the mind that was in Jesus, a mind of gracious kindness. Verse 6, who being in the form of God, not considering it to be robbery as it translates there, but in other forms or something to be held onto, in other words, he didn't consider that he had to stay in that position. He was willing to let go. Because he was equal with God in the form of God. He was a person in the God Kingdom with the Father. But he let go and made himself of no reputation. Nobody knew who he was. When the demons tried to say, oh well, you're the Son of God, he said, shut up. Because he came about as a man of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, of a man, and coming in the likeness of man, and being found in that appearance, he further humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, the death of the cross.

Brethren, he was really dead. The Father had to resurrect him by his power, but Jesus Christ, think about it, gave up his eternal kind of being, or being God, in eternity, and he came to be a physical being. So it's not just the question of dying for another person, but he's leaving the God head of being in that Kingdom and dying for you and I. He gave up extreme joy, eternal bliss. He gave up quality of life for you and I. And why did he and the Father, they decided together to do? Why the Father gave his only begotten Son? And why did Christ do it for us? Obviously, because that was part of what they had planned to do. As we read in Revelation 13.8, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. As we read in 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ before time began.

Why did they do it? For one, Christ did it because of the hope that you and I would change through this action. He hoped, in fact, he trusted that this would have the right outcome, and he trusted that the Father would resurrect him. He had, Christ had absolute faith and trust in the Father because he knew he was going to be dead, really dead. And once you're dead, you can't resurrect yourself. And therefore, we read in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, that he says, we look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. You see, he's the one that sets the example of absolute trust that you and I have to emulate, who for the joy that was set before him, for that hope and vision that he hoped that we would repent, that we would change. That was a joy. Doesn't it say angels in heaven rejoice when a person repents? Because God wants you in his family, in his kingdom. You see, his kingdom is not limited like a trinity. No, it's open to you and I to be in that family. And so he says, who for that joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. But he says he's the author, he's the perfecter of our faith, he's the finisher, he's the one who's going to perfect our faith. This is an enormous act of graciousness and kindness towards you and I. There's no way you and I can pay back. This is an enormous act of grace, the kindness of God towards us, so that we could be in his kingdom. Paul in Romans talks about this, and we'll look at a number of scriptures in Romans today, but in Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 3, we read in verse 24. Romans 3 verse 24. He says that in verse 23, in fact, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and verse 24, being justified freely by his grace.

Now this is where some people go wrong, because they read there being saved freely by his grace. It doesn't say the word saved, it says the word justified, which means made just, made right. That means our sins are forgiven. That means we reconciled with the Father freely. But what is done is paid for us. There's no way you and I can obey whatever we can, and in reality, we can't really obey. We just are not capable. We're just such sinners.

And so you and I are made right freely by his loving kindness, and his act of kindness towards us, of giving his life, and backing us up, and being our defense advocate. You see, God pronounces us righteous and free for nothing. Gratas. Look at verse 28. Verse 28. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. You are made right, righteous with God, not because you're such a good, good, good, for instance, Sabbath keeper, or whatever, or that you've never done anything wrong. And even if now you'd never do anything wrong, things you and I have done in the past, the wages of sin, is death. So we already have death on us. So by keeping the law, even if we were to keep the law, and we could keep it, it would not make us right. It would not free us, quote unquote, out of the death penalty. And look at verse 31. This is an important verse to take note of, still in Romans 3, verse 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. Do we abolish the law through grace? No. No. Absolutely no. It says, on the contrary, we establish the law. Now this appears a paradox. It appears to be an apparent contradiction. Because both are true. You need to obey the law, and you need God's grace. They are complementary truths. You see, God's grace is enormous, but it does not invalidate God's law. God's law, have you thought about this? God's law is part of grace. What? God's law is part of grace. Because God's law gives us the light, the way, the direction of how to live, he gives us the way how to avoid heartache, pain, and suffering. Because pain, heartache, and suffering is a result of breaking God's law. In Romans chapter 2, just a page before, in the same book, the same author, Paul is saying, in Romans 2 verse 13, he says, for the years of the law are just in, in other words, for not the years of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. You see, justification is a process. You are made right with God. You reconcile, your sins are forgiven, but now you have a way of growing and overcoming, and now you have to obey. You see, this act of grace, this act of absolute trust of faith on the part of God, number one, towards us, hoping that we would repent and knowing that many of us will repent because of this such enormous act, but also on the part of Christ, because he also absolutely trusted in the Father, the Father would resurrect him. Therefore, he gave his life and his blood for us.

And this does what? This does what? What builds a relationship, as we heard in the sermon, a relationship of trust, of mutual trust from faith to faith. We need to learn absolute trust in the Father. We need to grow in the grace that he has and understand and know he is the knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We need to grow in that.

And brethren, there's nothing you and I can do to repay God and Christ for what they've done for us. Nothing. But you and I are obliged. You and I are obliged, which in a sense is like you are, in a sense, obligated to show gratitude. Shouldn't we show gratitude for that? And how? By doing what's pleasing to him, by obeying his laws and commandments and doing his will, fulfilling his will. In other words, you and I are obliged to give a full offering of our lives. And that's what you and I read in Romans chapter 12. In Romans chapter 12 verse 1, I beseech you, brethren, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. He is the Father of mercies, right? So I beseech you, due to his mercy, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, that you obey, that you change your attitude, that you don't have a root of bitterness, that you be loving and kind towards others, even if they're not kind towards you. Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. It's like saying it's the least you can do.

And so that's why it says, it says, yeah, be transformed by changing your mind completely. And the word is a metamorphosis. And you know what it is, a little bug, a worm, which becomes a butterfly. That's a complete metamorphosis.

And so grace does not annul God's law. It establishes the law, as Paul said in Romans 2, 3, 2, I think, 2, 31, 3, 31. We establish the law, the law, the grace.

To do away with God's law, think about it, to do away with God's law, is to abuse the gift of grace.

To do away, to abolish God's law, to say, oh well, now I don't have to to obey. That is an abuse of God's grace. It's an abuse of God's mercy and kindness and willingness to forgive us. In Jude chapter 3, Jude chapter 3, we read Jude chapter 3. Well, verse 3, I mean there's only one chapter, so Jude 3. Right, Jude 3 and 4, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, you know, I wanted to write a letter to you. That's what Jude is saying about our salvation. But I found it necessary instead to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Yes, I wanted to write to you about the gospel and the kingdom of God and salvation, but in a sense he says he was inspired that he had to write to us in this letter, it is a sippesso, a sippesso, about the faith that was once delivered to us. Why? Verse 4. Because of four certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. These people that say, by grace only, now you don't have to obey God's law, they are denying the only Lord God and Jesus Christ. They are abusing this grace because they turn this grace into a license or a carte blanche to go on living in immorality or whatever it is. Living, for instance, if bitter attitudes or whatever it may be, we have to change, brethren. We have to change. We have to stop blaming others and look at ourselves.

If we don't, we deny Christ and we deny God. How do we deny Him? In works, as in Titus 1 verse 16 says, we deny Him in works. How? By not obeying. By not obeying. Brethren, it is important for us to understand the amazing, the enormous grace that God is giving to us as the Father of mercies, but that is not a carte blanche to go on and stay in that old man or woman lame in that old way. We have to look at ourselves and change and repent. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26. For if we sin woefully after we receive the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. If we know what Christ has done for us and what God has done for us, and if you and I have been baptized and we woefully keep in a BIA, as I'll call it, a bad attitude, or in a sin of immorality, in other words, as we read in Jude, in Ludmus, whatever that sin is, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fire indignation which will be followed adversaries. Anyone who was rejected, Moses, the law died without mercy on a testimony of two or three witnesses. If we go around, for instance, committing adultery or fornication and saying, well, that's okay, and we know the truth, we've got to be careful.

Verse 29, of how much more worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has trampled the grace and the mercy of what Christ has done for us underfoot, and counted the blood of the covenant, the blood of what Christ has done for us by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace.

You see, there's a fearful indignation if we profane the blood of Christ, if we deny the value of his sacrifice, if we say, well, that their blood is that's okay, it's just whatever, I can go on living now whichever way I want. We are rejecting the covenant, the promise that we made at baptism, the promise you and I made at baptism, that's the covenant, the new covenant. You know, when Christ changed the symbols and says, this is the blood of the new covenant, the wine of the new covenant, that covenant is established by blood, symbolized by the wine, and that requires repentance, faith, obedience, and a transformed life. That is the covenant that we made, that we're going to change. But if we choose sin over Christ, so if we choose sin instead of obeying Christ, you know what we don't accept Christ's lordship in our life, we are denying Christ. That's what we read in Jude 4. You know, what we repudiate, we reject the only way of salvation, and as it says in verse 29 of Hebrews 10 at the end, it says, we've insulted the spirit of grace. Because God's spirit is God's power, is God's mind that helps us to overcome, that He gives to us graciously, He gives to those that obey Him, Acts 5.32, and so He gives us that. But if we reject that, if we're not overcoming, if we're not changing, we are committing the unportable sin. Matthew 12.31. Because we are blaspheming against the spirit, and that will not be forgiven man. And that's what it says. You are insulting the spirit of grace. It's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of God. But God is the Father of mercies. And that's why I say, is that a paradox?

No, because grace does not void the law. Because grace and obedience are both required. Grace and obedience are both required. Upon repentance and faith, we are baptized. We make a commitment to obey God. In words, we, in a sense, sign the new covenant between you and God in front of the minister and those witnesses at your baptism. You made a new covenant, and now you know that from your own words, you come out of that water to live a newness of life. That's a new commitment.

So grace and obedience go hand in hand. But the paradox continues even further. Why? Because the question is, do we stop sinning immediately after baptism? I think the answer is obvious. And that's why this truth is even more difficult to comprehend. In 1 John chapter 1 verse 8 through 10, 1 John chapter 1 verse 8 through 10, it says, if we say we have no sin, and now John is writing to baptized members, it says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. So even though you are baptized, you still sin. Deliberately? No. Willingly? No. Intentionally? No. Because your intention is to obey God. But you and I are frail and weak. We are carnal. And therefore, verse 9, if we confess our sins, what do you mean confess? Confess means stop doing what you were doing and live a new life.

So it says, if we confess our sins, it's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we say, if we stand, we have no sin not sinned, we make God a liar and his word is not in us.

You see, the point gets down to intent, to the heart. Are we striving to obey? Wanting to obey? We are a new man, we are a new woman, we want to obey. We've got a new heart. We've got God's law written in our hearts, no more in tables of stone, but now in our hearts. And we want to live God's way. Do we fall through weaknesses of the flesh? Yes, we do. Yes, we do. But the point is our intent. We are striving to obey. We have the law of God in our minds and we want to do what's right. We want to reconcile, we want to be peaceful, we want to make peace. And we're going to stop blaming the other person. Blame ourselves. We've got to do our part. You know, Jeremiah 79 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

Can you say that of your heart? Put your name there. Can you say that of my heart? Can I say it of my heart? Can you say it of your heart? My heart is desperately wicked and I don't even know it. And then he says, the Lord searches the heart and tests the mind. And so he allows you and I to go through tests. He allows. You know, Paul described this in Romans chapter 7. In Romans chapter 7, verse 14 and 15, he there describes this struggle he had. And he says in verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. Paul, an apostle, maybe for over 20 years, admitted he was still carnal.

Can we say that about ourselves? So, in a sense, for what I'm doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. Obviously, Paul is not saying that he was committing adultery and he was not saying it was stealing. But the point is, his intent was right. But he could see a desire in the flesh sometimes to say the wrong thing or to say it in a way that would cause hurt. And he didn't want to do it. Have you ever come across a time in your life that you said something and you wish, I hadn't said that because it didn't come out right? But Paul realized that he was struggling with this. Look at verse 21 and 22. He says, I found then the Lord that evil is present within me, the one who wants to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. I've got the spirit in my mind. I want to do what's God. The intent in the heart is to do what's right. But he said there's a law in my members. Verse 23, there's a law in my members. There's a law in our members, in our physical body. You can't help it. That's the way you are. You are physical flesh. You can't change that. It will only be changed when you become a spirit being. And so he continues in verse 23. He says, a law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. It is a continuous fight, continuous struggle, internal struggle. And verse 24, O Richard man that I am, who can deliver me from this body, this physical body of the flesh of death. I thank God that through Jesus Christ our Lord, you and I will have a new body, you and I will have a new body, a body in which there will not be these carnal pools.

And so then with the mind I serve the law of God and with the flesh the law of sin.

You know, that's where a lot of us are, or should be, in this internal warfare. We may say something not exactly correct, maybe upsets others unintentionally, and that's where God's grace goes over and beyond. Because in the next verse, which is Romans 8 verse 1, says, there is therefore now no condemnation to you and I.

You are not condemned. There's no condemnation provided you do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, provided you are walking and being guided and led by God's Holy Spirit, provided your intent is to serve God. Look at verse 6. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually reminded is life and peace, is our mind, our intent, to be spiritually minded, to have life and peace.

Brethren, God looks at your heart, at my heart, He said in Jeremiah 17.10, as I mentioned before, I the Lord search the heart, I test the mind. If you and I know something is wrong, we must avoid it.

As simple as that, because God's Spirit breaks your conscience and tells you it's wrong. We must follow the lead of God's Holy Spirit, Romans 8.14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. That's what we're going to be doing. As begotten children of God, because we've received the seed of the Holy Spirit, we've received God's spiritual DNA, in a sense. We need to have this desire and follow this desire, have this intent in our heart, in our minds, to obey and please God.

The intent must be to obey and please God. 1 John 3, verse 20. 1 John 3, verse 20. 2 John 3, verse 20. 4, if our heart condemns us, does your conscience prick you? Does your heart prick you? 5 John 3, verse 20. God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Which means God knows our heart and knows that we are not doing it right, because our own conscience says that to us, and God knows it even better. Beloved, verse 21. If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence towards God. So, you ask God's grace. Because your intent is right. Yes, you slip and fall.

But your intent is right. You go to God's throne and ask for forgiveness, and God forgives you, because Christ says, forgive him, forgive her, and there's no condemnation on you, because your intent is right, because you try to live by the Spirit. That's why, then, in verse 22 says, and whatever we ask, we receive from him. Why? Because we keep his commandments. Full stop.

Well, you know, if you're reading your own Bible, there's no full stop there, right? So, keeping the commandments is not enough. And do those things that are pleasing in his sight. We've got to go over and beyond the letter and the Spirit of the law. We've got to do what's pleasing to God. Are we striving to obey God, and are we striving to please God?

And what if we slip? Well, we read in 1 John 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful to forgive of our sins and cleanse us from holy unrighteousness. And remember, confess means more than just confess and go on doing it. Because in Proverbs 28 13, and make a note of Proverbs 28 13, it reads, he who covers his sins will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. God is the father of mercies, but you and I have to forsake sin.

God is full of grace, but grace establishes the law. And so repentance is required. In Romans 5 verse 8, Romans 5 verse 8 through 10, it says, at the end there, it says, we've been justified by his blood while we're sinners. Look at the love of God, and then look at the end of verse 10. For if when we were enemies, we're reconciled to God, in other words, we are justified to God through the death of his son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Shall be future by his life. That's why Christ had to die to pay for our sins, but he had to resurrect so that he is next to God in the throne as our defense advocate, fighting for us, defending us. First John 2 verse 1, he is our defense advocate. Why? Because our intent is right, and he defends us. When Satan accuses you, and he's got many reasons to accuse you and I, Christ defends us. You see, Christ came into the world, and you should spend a bit of time reading, for instance, obviously the whole Bible, but focus also a little bit in Hebrews chapter 10, because in Hebrews chapter 10, it's talking about the Word came into the world in a physical body, and he says, you didn't desire sacrifice, but I'm the sacrifice.

You gave me a body. I am he. I am the sacrifice in Hebrews chapter 10, and then in verse 10, it says, by one only sacrifice, by one only sacrifice, once for all. And then look at verse 14.

This is an important verse. For by one offering, he is perfected forever. You and I have been perfected forever by one offering, provided, he says, those who are being sanctified, provided you are in the process of sanctification, provided you are being led by God's early Spirit, and God's early Spirit is the Spirit of sanctification for obedience. In 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 2, sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. You see, Christ is our defense advocate. You and I fail. You slip up.

We slip up. Our intent is to do the right thing, but we slip up. What happens? You recognize. You confess. You commit to change. And you and I get on our knees, and we are fulfilling what Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19 says, having boldness to enter the holiest part of the blood of Jesus. At that moment, when we confess, we get on our knees, we have boldness to enter the very throne, the Holy of Holies, in heaven through the blood of Jesus. Because Christ is our defense advocate.

The Holy Spirit is preaching our conscience to do the right thing, and we are doing the right thing. We are confessing. We are changing, and we come through Christ, and Christ then sprinkles His blood again for us. That's why in 1st Peter 1 verse 2 says, in the certification of the Spirit for Obligious and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace be multiplied.

That's what it says in Peter. You see, because of through that, grace to us, loving kindness, is multiplied to us. And in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 20 says, this is a new and living way, which Christ has consecrated for us through the veil that sees His flesh.

Because He's our high priest. And so, brethren, we have great mercy from God, great mercy from God. And I want you to turn to Romans chapter 8 again. And it says in verse 15, Romans 8, 15, For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship by, in other words, that we are going to be sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. And the spirit itself hears or bears witness with our spirit, with our human spirit, the spirit of man and man, that we are the children of God.

And if children then heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. There is going to be great glory, great glory. And therefore, verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

You know, we go through a lot of sufferings and pain. Many are suffering, but this is nothing to be compared with the glory that we'll receive. And that is because God is the God of all comfort and is the Father of all mercies. Verse 19, for the earnest expectation of creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sense of God. The whole creation of the whole mankind, even the saints, are eagerly waiting to see the revealing of the sense of God. For the creation, for us as human beings, we're subject to futility to this carnal mind, to this carnal weakness.

Not willingly, not because God willingly wanted you to be subject to this, but because of Him who's subjected in hope. God has hope that this, you're going through these trials and difficulties, and you're learning to overcome and understanding the mercy of Christ and God for us as the Father of mercies, you and I will change and become like Him so that you and I can be glorified in the glory that Christ said, give me the glory I had with you.

Brethren, we need to be encouraged with this. That's why it says in verse 23, not only that, but we also, we have the first fruits of the Spirit. We are the first few that have God's only Spirit. We ourselves ground within ourselves as we go through our trials and difficulties. We eagerly wait for the sonship. It was to really be children of God. It was for the redemption of our body, for our body to be changed from physical to spiritual. We wait for that.

Brethren, as Paul, towards the end of this chapter in Romans 8, says, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? You know, God is for you. God is for me. Provided you and I repent, and our intent, and our heart is right, and we keep striving, and we keep on keeping on, not giving up, striving to obey His law, striving to do what's pleasing in His sight.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. There's no charge against us. Look at verse 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Turbulation? Distress? Persecution? Famine? Nakedness? Peril? Sworn? You know, in all these things we're more than conquerors, through Him who loved us. Verse 38, I'm persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor demons nor whatever it is, or principalities or powers, nothing, nor height, nor depth, or any other thing, shall be able to separate you from the love that God has for you, which is in Christ Jesus. Brethren, let's be grateful for God's enormous grace to you and I.