Romans 8

Thank you, Mr. Smith. As I mentioned, we're here on the Sabbath before Pentecost, and in one sense, while it's not biblical, sometimes we call it Pentecost weekend, because we take this time to be able to share a lot of the good news of the Gospel regarding the festival of Pentecost, which actually begins this evening. I'd like to draw your attention to Acts 2 and verse 38. I want to forewarn you that we'll be going there tomorrow afternoon in the course of my message in the afternoon, but repetition is always the best form of emphasis. But let's go to Acts 2 and verse 38, because in one sense, if we wanted to crystallize it, this is the message of Pentecost. In Acts 2 and verse 38, let's refresh ourselves with the words where it says, Then Peter said to them, Repent, and that every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, Mr. Star Wars has been focusing on that aspect of gift. What makes us so fascinating with Peter mentioning this in that square Jerusalem is what had occurred days and weeks before. We must understand the audience that he was talking to, for indeed this was profound. He is speaking to, not all, for many that were in that square were perhaps followers or disciples of Jesus Christ, but certainly mixed within that group were individuals that had been responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Perhaps individuals that had been there outside the palace, yelling, Crucify him, and are recognized now that rather than judgment from on a high, that God was offering through the words of Peter a gift, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit. They were being offered a gift. They were being offered a new start. They were being offered a new way of traveling in the future with a past behind, and they were being offered a companion. That is the Holy Spirit. Fascinating, powerful to think about it and to recognize that. Paul, nearly 30 years later, picks up on this. Join me if you would in the book of Romans, and join me if you would in Romans 8. I'm going to continue to use Pentecost as a framework in concluding Romans 8, because so often we do think of Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the gift of a new life. Incredible positivity. Joy unbounded. And we notice here, there is therefore now no condemnation, verse 1, to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Fascinating, powerful. A Spirit of life, the gift of God, a past forgiven, a past left in the dust, and that we can proceed forward. This is where Paul picked up with the Romans. We talked about this a lot last week, and I don't mean to dwell on that, because I want to move to another spot here as we move into verse 15, because much of our discussion is going to be about the Spirit today as we wrap up Romans 8. But again, I want to mention something. Maybe allow it to lock into our minds in a way that we've never thought before. Verse 14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, and we'll be talking about that more, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. Now, what makes this powerful, and I got to thinking about it this morning as I was going through these Scriptures, is the aspect, and I tried to relate it to Susan and myself.

I tried to relate it to our first-born daughter, Laura. Some of you have perhaps met Laura at one time or another. She's a lovely 33-year-old lady, same age as Christ was.

And to recognize that perhaps Laura was driving down a highway, and to no fault of her own, perhaps late at night because she had to be out late at night doing something, that all of a sudden a vehicle came across the lane, wobbling wildly, and you know what's happening there. Somebody is on the road that is drunk, and then plowed right into our daughter, Laura.

And perhaps the car went up in flames. Our first-born child, dead, due to an individual that should not have been on the road, an individual that had broken the law, an individual that humanly you wonder what kind of a person could that be that could have killed our daughter. That's what each and every one of us did, friends, to recognize that, in a sense, we were wobbling. We crossed the lines of good judgment. We were doing things that we ought not do.

But then let's pick up the story a little bit further, and then to recognize to be able to forgive that same individual that killed our daughter in a drunken bout, in an accident.

And not only forgive them, our daughter had died, Laura, not only forgive them, I want Susan to think about this too, but then to adopt that same individual, in a sense, legally, to become a part of our family.

And to push away that scene of highway, that scene of a car out of control coming your way with bright lights in the night, a scene of destroying a life at age 33, of somebody that Susan and I loved and loved, and to adopt them into our family.

And to say that you have now full rights and full privilege, and you take my name, and I will bless you, and I will be beside you, and I will keep you.

And nothing will ever come between us because of the love that I have now for you.

Got it? Got the story?

That is the power of Romans 8.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry of a Father, God the Father, the one whose Son was not only slain by those that were in that square at Pentecost on that day, but that each and every one of us had our hand, and our wayward heart on the spikes that went through His hand and through His limbs.

And now we have the privilege of saying, Abracadabra, Father. Now, here comes in the importance of the Holy Spirit as we come up to Pentecost. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit. That spirit which proceeds from God, which is His Spirit, which is Holy and which is Spirit, unites with our human spirit, that spirit which is in man, to tell us that we are the children of God.

Fascinating, powerful, and that spirit needs to continue to remind us of that sometimes, because sometimes it's hard for you and me to even fully grasp or understand the love of the Father and what He has pushed away and what He has placed towards us, filled us with His Spirit to bring us into remembrance of what He is doing on our behalf.

And if children, then errors of God and joint errors with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we also might be glorified together. Now, verse 18 is fascinating. I hope you'll look at it for a moment. I looked at it this morning. I noticed something that I do not do enough. And I shared it with Susan as we were going over to the funeral this morning.

And it is simply this, 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. Now, so often we run over the Scriptures of the Bible and we don't let them sink in. We don't look at the words. 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.

That word considered when you take it to the root Greek word actually means to reckon. Know that expression that we have in Americana? I reckon. What do you mean, I reckon? I reckon means that you have measured. You have measured. How do we measure? That means you begin to calculate. That means you begin to, as we've often done, where maybe we're making a major decision about finances or a house or a move or a job. I'm sure we've done this before.

Where we put down pros and we put down cons, right? And you start writing down all the pros and then you start writing down all the cons. And what are we doing? We are calculating. We are measuring and we are reckoning. And Paul says here, I reckon, I measure. I've looked at the pros. I've looked at the cons. I look where I'm at. And yet I recognize what the Spirit above has revealed to me that God wants to do in me for Him, to glorify Him, wants me to be a part of His family. And yet, why is it so often, brethren, that instead of looking at the glory that God wants to give us, we get saddled with our challenges?

We get saddled with our problems. We talk about our woes. We talk about our ills. We talk about everything that's wrong. We get steeped in the world. And what we're doing when we're doing that, we are not considering the way the Holy Spirit ought to be guiding and leading us to consider.

Why is that? If we do that, are we alone? No, because notice verse 19, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. This begins a whole series of thought about the glorious hope that the Holy Spirit reveals to us. And we're going to kind of take it part by part here, the earnest expectation. What is fascinating about this is that, again, the Greek language is so rich. But the original Greek word for eager expectation gives you an insight of what was really happening in Paul's mind as the Holy Spirit was empowering him.

It is a word used to depict a man waiting for something to happen. In other words, if you look up here from him, this is the PowerPoint. It's as if he's actually craning his neck forward, almost like this. I don't know if you can see my feet. It hurts. I'm on my tiptoes. But I don't care because I'm looking forward to what God wants to do.

When it says that the earnest expectation of the creation, the Phillips translation actually captures this imagery when it renders the words of this verse this way. The whole creation is on its tiptoes to see the Son of God, God's coming, into their own. It's fascinating what Paul is saying, something that we don't always understand of the seamlessness of the creation. That we are not apart from nature. We are part of nature. We're part of this physicality. We're part of what God is doing down here below.

We pull one another along or we pull one another down because it's interesting. Verse 20, for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope. What happened was when humanity rejected God, creation was drug along for the ride. Against its will, as it were, is what Paul is saying. When we go back to Eden and recognize what that world was like, and I wrote about it recently.

If you'll read that column about what Eden was like and what occurred there. And to recognize how perfect it was and how wonderful it was. Can you imagine a world in which everything is in harmony and in unity? Perfect harmony, perfect unity, seamless in all of its ways. No dysfunction, no disorder, no disunity, everything in balance, everything measured.

You and I have never experienced that world. You and I have never experienced a world that God provided for Adam and Eve before they made that fatal choice. Creation was working perfectly. And yet what Paul says here is when man made his discomboburated, began to be something that God never intended. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption. What's fascinating here, when you take a little bit further, is that actually Paul in a sense is alluding to the second law of thermodynamics. The law of entropy, of decay, of breakdown, of breaking apart, of moving apart from that which was whole.

It says, the whole creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know, how do we know? We don't know apart from God's Holy Spirit. It's a revelation.

We know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

Fascinating Scripture. Let's talk about it for a moment.

What do you mean, we know? We can know nothing apart from man, save the Holy Spirit.

We only know because of the revelation of God. He shares the past, he shares the present, and what the future will be like. He says, the entire creation groans and labors with birth pangs. It's as if it's just wanting to burst forth.

I've had the opportunity, if I can put it that way, of being at the birth of our three children. All of you ladies know that I've had children, what it's like to burst forth. You're just at that point, but it's not quite there yet. You're in that point of transition. See, I know a little bit about this. You're at that point of transition, and you're pushing, and you're pushing, and the baby's not quite out yet. You're pushing, and there's a longing, and it's almost there, and then just, not me, you.

It's just as if the creation is on the edge. It's on its tiptoe. It knows that it is missing something that God ordained from the beginning.

It's just right there.

Paul says, the entire creation groans within itself eagerly, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one still what he sees? It's very interesting. Verse 24, I want to share something with you, because this shows our unity in Christ before God doesn't say that you shall be saved. It says, for we were saved. Salvation is not just simply an event. It is a process. It says here that, in a sense, as we know that we have already been redeemed from our sins, our body has not yet been redeemed. There is a process that is occurring here, and the creation is waiting for it.

Verse 25, but if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

What is very interesting as we go through this, I want to share something with you. You might want to jot this down to stay in the message.

In life, there will be groaning. The creation groans. We groan. We're even going to find that the Spirit groans.

If we only leave it at groaning, though, we will not grow.

The groaning that you and I experience, recognizing that something is missing, is to one day allow us to understand God's glory.

Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. This is a gift that Mr. Star Wars was talking about.

For we do not know what we pray, should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now, He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Let's talk about this for a moment. Break it down. There's a couple of ways of looking at this.

It is interesting here that it says in the sense that here we are, that the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings.

Like I said, it's very interesting. Nature is groaning, we're groaning, and the Spirit groans. What does this lead us to?

Because sometimes we just simply don't know how to pray.

It kind of reminds me of the story. Maybe I've shared it with you before, but there was a grandfather that was going by a bedroom at night on the second floor.

The grandkids were visiting, and he listened in for a moment, and he heard his granddaughter mentioning all of these letters, not in any certain order.

She was mentioning them reverently. So Grandpa looked into the door and said, Honey, what are you doing? She said, Grandpa, I'm praying to God. I don't know quite what to say. The words aren't coming, so I'm just giving him the letters.

And he'll put it together.

Cute story. Powerful point. Sometimes you and I are just like that child.

And we don't know how to put it. We don't know how to say it. Susan and I experienced this two days ago. We had a situation of a person that we know and love, who in turn has a loved one, that had done something.

And in a sense, because of what they had done, they rightfully bore a penalty upon what they had done.

And yet we recognize that the same individual, a product of this world, is also a child of God, made in his image, and that God has a future for them just as much as you and me.

And I was asked to pray for this individual, asked in a sense to pray for intervention, asked to pray for God's kindnesses.

How do you pray for an individual that has done something very, very wrong and most likely should deserve the Mth degree of man's judgment because of the law that they've broken?

And yet you also recognize that that same individual has parents, has siblings, has in the future a potential that you and I have as an individual.

Where do you begin and what letters do you offer up to God, especially when somebody's asked you to pray about this?

The Spirit guides us in that process and allows us to hopefully pray in the right way.

And the way that I prayed that prayer of Susan and I were praying in our room at that time was simply this.

Father, you know this individual by name. You also know that this individual has done something dastardly. They have broken the law.

They know that. The family knows that. I know that. Susan knows that. You know that, Father.

And yet, perhaps they do not know all the extenuating circumstances revolving around this individual.

They do not yet know the future that you have in store for that individual.

Mankind might want to write that individual off, but you alone in your perfect righteousness, in your perfect way, and recognizing even that the law must be fulfilled whether spiritual and or physical.

Yet, nonetheless, Father, we know that you are a Father of Mercy, that you love this person, you gave your Son for him.

And thus, we petition you humanly that you match your righteousness, you match the law with your mercy and your purpose.

And may your will, not ours, be done. Up go the letters. How do we pray? How do we put together the righteousness of God, the need for the law to be fulfilled, the need for action, for misaction to be accomplished, and yet to render God's perfect will in dealing with just one of his children. The Spirit of God reminded me of an example of the Gospels in Jesus Christ, when that woman was caught in the midst of adultery. Of course, they always just mention the women. What about the men? Right, ladies? But the woman is dragged out of the house. She's thrown on the street. And it's fascinating how Jesus validated the law in what he said, but he accorded mercy. He never threw out the law. He never threw out the aspect that that woman had everything coming to her that the law spoke. And yet he exercised mercy. I'm just sharing with you one way that I throw up the letters sometimes to God, just like that little girl dead, and ask that Spirit, guide me.

And that's what it's there for. All of us want to pray, but sometimes we have to acknowledge that we just simply don't know how to pray adequately. And we don't even know what to pray for. And sometimes we also have this urge to pray. We know that something is wrong, but sometimes we get stymied and we stop.

We think, well, God's going to do what he's going to do anyway. What is my part in this? What we need to do as the Spirit guides us is we need to lift up, as it were, our souls to God, and in prayer, at least minimally, express our bewilderment at life's circumstances. We can also, in that prayer, say we don't, of and by ourselves, have the wisdom to pray accurately or accordingly. But just like that little girl, we put the letters up and we then expect God, through that Spirit, to make things right. And also understand that, as we do pray, I want to show you something here over in Romans.

Join me if you would. Let's go to Hebrew 7. Hebrew 7, verse 25. To recognize that the Holy Spirit is also synonymous with the Spirit of Christ. They can be interchanged. Remember, the Father is holy and he is Spirit. Jesus the Son is holy and he is Spirit. The Spirit is nothing less than the Father and the Son and the gift that they send down here below. But notice that, when we do not even know what to pray ourselves, notice what it says here in verse 25 of Hebrews.

Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him. Notice, since he always lives to make intercession for them. And to recognize that, when we do pray, let's think about this for a moment, that when we pray to God, that Jesus is not only in the heavens as our Savior, but he's also in the heavens as our high priest. That we can come to God in his name, but he also serves as that heavenly high priest and takes our offering, takes the sacrifice of our prayers, and lays them before the Father.

And is able to interpret them in a way that you and I can't because, well, after all, he is the Christ. But he's also been one of us. He's also been one of us.

And he knows exactly where we're at and what we're going through. Notice in what it says in verse 28, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8, 28 is probably one of the most spoken about verses and sometimes, perhaps, the most misunderstood. Sometimes people that become believers, they look at this and their visors are on or whatever. They say, I'm now on God's A-Team. It's a straight train into the kingdom. Everything is going to be alright. I've given my life to God.

I've accepted Jesus Christ. I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. I'm abiding by the Scriptures. Life couldn't be better. Everything is going to be okay. And because God said this and I do this, therefore this is going to happen. I'm on the express train to all good things. That's not what the Scripture says. And we know that all things work together for good. It doesn't say that all things are good, but they all work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose.

As human beings, I want to share something with you. Maybe you're going through one of these verses or chapters in your life right now. Every human being and every Christian, from the book of Acts, from that square in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost, we are all going to go through different chapters of the 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He leadeth me. It goes down through the paths of righteousness. There are still waters.

There are green pastures. But, you know, with the still waters and with the green pastures and with that table that is laid before us, there is also the valley of death. That is a part of the experience of a Christian. We don't just get the good parts of the book.

What Paul is saying here is that no matter what comes our way, it all serves God's purpose. All things work together for good. Join me if you would for a moment as we move away from Romans. Join me if you would in 2 Corinthians 4, because I'd like to show you something here for a moment. 2 Corinthians 4. And join me if you would in verse 16. We're going to reckon here a little bit. Remember what I said about reckoning or considering? But what we want to do is reckon and to consider for one. Because sometimes what can happen is a novice, a new person coming to this way of life, full of optimism.

And you need to have that. You need to have those booster rockets. And all of a sudden, your whole life changes. You've surrendered to the Father. You've surrendered to the Son. You're filled with the Spirit. You're observing the Bible the way that it was written. You're observing all of the commandments, including the fourth. You're keeping the festivals of God rather than extra-biblical days. You're giving God offerings. You're doing this. You're doing that. Therefore, because you're doing this and this and this, therefore you think that there's a counterbalance that God's got to give you this and this and this right now.

But this life is not to be an end in itself, and this is not the end. But notice what it says. Therefore, verse 16, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Let's take this for a moment in relationship to Romans 8, 28. All things work together for good. It doesn't say all things are good. And this really discourages people. Because when the tough things happen and when the suffering begins, we begin to think that somehow, what's the use? Why did I develop this relationship with God? Why have I gone there? And because I've gone there, this is it. This is all it's about. But that's not what the Scripture says.

Paul, specifically, under the inspiration of God, says, when you are saying, I can't go any further and this burden is pulling me down, notice what Paul says. It's light.

But it doesn't feel light. But it's light in comparison to what God is doing and the purpose that He is drawing us to, and the Kingdom that He is preparing for us, and the welcoming of Jesus Christ at the resurrection, and the welcoming of the Father saying, come, inherit the Kingdom which I prepare for you. But it can seem so heavy. And notice what it says here, which is but for a moment. How often have you and I sometimes said, when will this ever pass?

I can't believe this. It just goes on and on and on. Do I dare say it one more time because you have. And on. Notice what Paul says. It's but for a moment. A moment for what? In comparison. If we are not utilizing the Holy Spirit to reckon, see, all of you are going to start reckoning more.

Reckon. If we are only looking at this lifetime, and we are only looking at this world, and we are not reckoning, measuring, calculating, getting out the spiritual ruler to see what God is offering, we can get bogged down here. And we will stay bogged down here. And then if we, as the saints of God, get bogged down with our friends and just remind them that it seems so heavy.

And it seems forever. Without, as fellow Christians, helping our brethren, helping our sisters, helping our fellow members, reckon, see the promises of God, get the big picture, remember the gift that Mr. Star Wars said. If we just... Oh, it's so horrible what you're going through. Oh, you poor thing. God must be suffering from amnesia. He does not even know that you're down here. He's lost. His marbles.

Oh. Poor you. But I'm here for you.

Or do we remind, as we reckon, to remind people that the burden that seems so incredibly heavy physically is light in comparison. Seems so long, physically, is but for a moment.

I remember one of the first things that I ever heard when I was young coming into this way of life is, I remember a minister, I was in Long Beach, California. It's amazing how things stick to you. And he said, you know, this life is not an end in itself. That we're just passing through.

And yet, sometimes we can act as if this life is but an end in itself. And we need to remember that something powerful is happening here. Notice verse 29 now. Because what happens is, Paul, in just a few short verses, is going to wrap up everything that he's been saying in the first eight chapters. And it's going to go very quickly. For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of the sun, that he might be the firstborn amongst many brethren. More over whom he predestined, these he also called, and whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, he also glorified.

Sounds like a lot of fives. What is happening here? What we basically have are five steps to salvation that are being mentioned here. First of all, Paul reminds us, for whom he foreknew.

God did not hatch a plan on the moment and for the moment. God knows exactly what he is doing. We've got down Isaiah 46, 9-10. We won't go there for right now. But he says that he has declared the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end, that his purpose might be served and that his pleasure might be had. Our Father, and the confidence that we have, is that he is a God that has a plan, that has a destiny, that has a purpose.

That in the very beginning in Genesis 1, 26-27, he said, let us make man in our image and after our likeness, after our similitude, God knew from the very beginning that he wanted to bring many, many children ultimately to glory. For whom he foreknew. Not what, but whom. This is not about simply people being saved and people being damned. That's all. Some people, Calvinism, they make it black and white. And that's it. This is not about what, but whom. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined. He predetermined. He recognized that there would be individuals that he would called at this time to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Join me if you would for a moment with thoughts of Pentecost, Ephesians 1. Join me over there real quickly, Ephesians 1. And let's take a look at verse 11. In him we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined, predetermined, thought out, chosen, according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. And that we recognize, then, that we have this opportunity now, that God is calling certain ones at this time, firstfruits as it were, people that now are being worked with. Then notice what it says here in verse 30. More of whom he predetermined or predestined, he also called.

Now, very interesting, and this again goes to credit. We must give God the credit. I know sometimes people think that, well, I joined a church, or I've joined the church, or I found a church that agrees with me. What do you mean agrees with you? What Paul is specifically bringing out in this Revelation is that each and every one of us that are in this room were called. That we were led by God through life circumstances, through him working with our spirit.

As Jesus said in John 15, 16, you did not choose me, I chose you. Why is that important? I'll share a thought with you. It helps me. That is simply, it's not about me. It's just simply not about me and what I'm doing, but what God started in my life. I didn't add God to my life. Are you with me? I didn't add God to my life. God invited me into his kingdom experience. And he opened the door, which is Jesus Christ, that I might enter.

And he gives me the Spirit of God, which we are reminded of on this Pentecost day, that I might dwell with the Father and with the Son as a child. And to be reminded that I'm a child, to be reminded that I'm a family member. Maybe you've never thought about this before, and maybe if I can get this point across to you today, that one of the specific purposes of the Holy Spirit is to remind you that you are a child of God.

And to bring that into remembrance every day, every way, every need, every deed of our existence. Because of the experience that we have around life, where people cut us off, we get fired from the job. Sometimes we get disowned out of a family. Sometimes we are shuffled off as the ugly duckling amongst our siblings.

One of the specific purposes of the Holy Spirit, and I hope you will always remember this, is to remind you and remind me that we are children of God, no matter what we have done. Just like that person coming down that road, figuratively, and striking the firstborn of Susan and I. The God who is so much greater than me and thee, is able to forgive that and literally then take our unworth and make it righteous before him through the sacrifice of Christ and adopt us into his family as if nothing, nothing ever happened.

Thus, when we are called, we are justified. We are made forgiven. We are cleansed. We are accepted. All of us want to be accepted. Dennis spoke about the gift of God. What a great gift acceptance is! To be accepted. To say, you are a part of all that I want. I'm going to be your father and you will be my child. And then to be glorified. Now, let's wrap this up because this is fascinating, the way that the Apostle Paul handles this through the revelation of the Spirit. With all of us stated now, what stated?

That we, in that sense, God foreknew, God predetermined, he called, he sanctified, and he glorified. The reason why I'm saying this, how often, and gentlemen, you think about this, elders, speakers, how often do we go to Romans 8.31 for a closer and a sermon? You've all done that. I have. I'm watching my elders. Maybe I'm the only one to do that. What's a really good verse to end up with to inspire the brethren?

So we say, I know I'll go to Romans 8.31, if God be for us, who can be against us, right? But why is that being said? So often we take that out of context. The context is this, that God has been planning this from time immemorial before the foundation of the world, that he foreknew, he had a plan, he predetermined us, he has called us, he has justified us through his Son, and he has even glorified us. That means that his righteousness is imputed to us. It begins to change our mind, our hearts, our actions, and it begins to glorify him. He's done all of this. And if he has done all of this, Paul says, if he's done this, what then shall we say?

Question. See, it's in the three verses before that. Romans 8.31 must be understood in what precedes it. What then shall we say to these things? And now there are three responses and three questions that come up. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? The first point that the Spirit reminds us of through Romans is this. God is for us. And the Spirit reminds us that we can be secure in God's love, which is greater than any event that is occurring in our life.

With security and the love of God, even death, death itself, loses its sting. The other night, when I was sitting with one of the saints of God as they were beginning to die, I sat down with them on the bed, just kind of laid in the bed and talked to them. Guess what I talked to them about? What would you talk to somebody that's dying about?

I've had that opportunity many times in my life to be on a bed, right on the bed with somebody, leaning down, and reminding them of one thing, the love of God, of what they're going through. Because even as we understand that, death can have an edge. We know the stinger's been taken out, but we're thinking it might still be in the room a little bit. And so what we've got to do is secure that person, the love of God, of what has occurred.

Why do we know that? He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall we not with him also freely give us all things? Then the second point comes out, the second question, who shall bring a charge against God's elect? Who's going to point a finger at you?

It is God who justifies. The second grand response that the Holy Spirit reminds us of us in this chapter about the Holy Spirit is God justifies us. It is his work that is in us. The judgment of condemnation is removed. Paul is saying, don't listen to the accuser anymore.

Don't listen to yourself. You know, so often we go back to Flip Wilson, well, the devil made me do it, or the devil's trying to accuse me. Let me share something with you. A lot of people that I talk to as a pastor, their biggest accuser is themselves. They can't let go of their past even though God has. They continue to condemn themselves. They continue to bring judgment upon themselves. And Paul is saying, through the inspiration of the Spirit, let it go and let God stop it. There is no more condemnation, not guilty.

Two of the most beautiful words that can be offered to an individual. Not guilty. God does not condemn us. Then he saves the grandest for last. Allow me just a moment to kind of go through this, what's happening. He asks a question, then. We know that God is for us. We know that God justifies us.

And then he asks a question, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And Paul has a mind just like you and me. So he fills it up with every conceivable thing that he can think about. Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? I mean, he's just going down the Rolodex of terror of things that somehow we think can separate us.

As it is written, for your sake, we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. And yet in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. More than conquerors means super conquerors, extraordinary conquerors, not because of us, our story, but God allowing us to become a part of his story and what he is doing. Super conquerors through him who loved us. Yes, Paul list all the possibilities. But recognizing all three that God is for us, that God justifies us, and nothing can separate us. He comes to a conclusion. And what he's telling you and me, as we begin to conclude, is simply this.

That as a Christian, that is redeemed, that is cleansed, that is accepted, that is in the family of God. And knowing that, that way through the auspice of the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are adopted, and that we do have that inheritance through the blood of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Father, that when we are under trial, it does not move us further apart, but it moves us closer to God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Now, I know what I'm saying to you, and please hear me. It is extraordinary. That is not our natural human reaction under trial, under tribulation, and under stress. But those that are led by the Spirit, the same are the sons of God, that when these matters come, it does not push us apart from God, but draws us closer. Why do you know that? What is the Spirit in my mind? You might want to jot this down, to recognize the greater the need, the greater the grace.

How can I say that? Why am I sharing that with you as a pastor? Because Paul reminds us that we are secured in God's love. We have also been justified by the process that God has put in play through Jesus Christ. And Paul says, nothing can separate us through Him who loved us. Notice verse 38. Powerful. Because Paul has basically laid out this aspect of the Holy Spirit in Romans 8 to remind us of all that God has done, and remind us of what God has done. Notice what he says.

I am therefore persuaded, having made the case, and the Spirit of God has made that case in me, I am convicted, I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, things shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Fascinating. You might want to jot this down.

This is very easy to jot as students of the Scriptures. There are four enemies that fall. Four enemies that fall because we are secure in God's love. We know that we are justified, and we know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Number one, death falls. Death, the enemy, falls. Number two, anything in the angelic, spiritual, demonic realm cannot hold us back from the love of God. It mentions height or depth. What does that mean? Are we touring the Himalayas or what?

No, that's not what that's being talked about. It's thought that the height and the depth is actually talking about the stars, the rise and the fall of the cosmos, the rise and the fall of the constellations that people of antiquity often thought affected them.

Paul is saying there is nothing, not death, not spiritual dominions, not the pull of the stars or the constellations. Not even anything in this present age of man can separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.