[0:00] If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 is where we're going to be at this morning. Romans 8, starting in verse 26, going through verse 39.
[0:12] That'll get us to the end of the chapter, Romans 8, verses 26 through 39. Hopefully you have a Bible in hand. If you don't have one, find someone who does. Snuggle up next to them, look over their shoulder, put your arm around them, or any of those natures.
[0:25] It doesn't bother me so much if you open it up on your phone. I want you to see these verses because these verses are so powerful. So we're in Romans 8, starting in verse 26 and going through verse 39.
[0:37] If you're physically able and desire to do so, I ask if you'll join with me as we stand together and we read the Word of God found in the book of Romans, starting in the 8th chapter in verse 26 and going to the end of verse 39.
[0:52] The Word of God says, In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
[1:03] And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
[1:18] For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom He predestined, He also called.
[1:28] And these whom He called, He also justified. And these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
[1:47] Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies, and who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, and who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
[2:01] Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
[2:14] But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[2:37] Let's pray. Lord God, we thank You so much for this day. God, we rejoice at the opportunity we have to come and to worship You. Lord, to adore You through song.
[2:49] Lord, to grow closer to one another through fellowship. Lord, as we come to the time of the reading and the hearing of Your Word, we pray that it would be You who speak to our hearts. That You would speak to our minds.
[3:01] Lord, that You would do a work within each one of us that only You could do. God, we pray, as has already been asked this morning, there would be no hindrance, no cause for stumbling. But God, that it would be with clarity and certainty that we hear a word from You that would apply to us.
[3:16] And we ask it for Your glory and for Your honor. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. We have been going through the book of Romans for some time now.
[3:28] And I am so thankful and so excited that God has led us to this journey together as a faith family, where we can make our way systematically through this book, not mining every great truth or looking at every clearly taught doctrine as we've seen, but really just seeing the major themes of the doctrines of our faith.
[3:48] We have seen that this letter is unique to the author, which is Paul himself. Having neither been to Rome nor been the one who started the church at Rome, he is writing to encourage the believers there of how to be the church.
[4:03] He is really calling the church to be the church. He is showing them the major issues of which they have to base their lives upon. We call it the foundational doctrines of our faith.
[4:14] And we have seen how Paul very clearly articulates this thing about salvation. As a matter of fact, the major theme of the book is your salvation by faith through faith alone, not of works lest any man should boast.
[4:27] It is justification by faith. We have also seen that throughout history that God has used this book and blessed this book in such a way that a number of people have come to salvation through reading and studying the book of Romans.
[4:42] A number of people who are notable throughout history, probably one of the most notable being Martin Luther himself, who after reading the book of Romans and coming to the understanding that he was justified through faith, began to do a work that would shape history.
[4:58] We have also seen that there have been a number throughout the ages. I have told you my own testimony that my life was impacted through the encouragement of a pastor telling me to read the book of Romans and see what it says about salvation.
[5:12] How I came to faith in Jesus Christ through the study of the word of God found in the book of Romans. And everything we have covered so far has been, to me, some of the greatest truths you will ever find.
[5:25] But I tell you that I would preach this series on Romans, if nothing else, just to get to these verses. These verses are probably the verses that could impact your life and impact my life more than any other verses we would come across in Scripture.
[5:40] These verses, if rightly understood and rightly comprehended by the people of God, I believe would lead to a response of spontaneous praise. That it would cause us to worship where we are at.
[5:52] That if we could grasp these verses, just the tip of these verses, and kind of look at just the beginning of these verses, that they would cause us to jump up and down and shout hallelujah.
[6:05] They would cause us to break into a worship service that song could never lead us to. They would cause us to be so excited that people would think we were a little fanatical for Jesus because they really show us the truth of Jesus.
[6:17] They would cause us to get a little carried away that people may think we've went off the deep end. And friend, by the way, that's not always a bad thing. They would cause us to kind of lose ourselves in the wonder of the gospel.
[6:32] They would cause us to worship. You know, I am one of those unique individuals. I can worship with the old saints and sing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
[6:44] I can worship with Pastor Jenkins of Chicago and sing, My God is awesome. He can move the mountains. I can worship with John Newton and sing, Amazing Grace, how sweet to sound.
[6:55] I can worship with Trip Lee and sing, That though I may be limping, I'm still running because I have sweet victory in Jesus. And some of you are like, who's he talking about? He's a Christian rapper, alright, pastor in Atlanta.
[7:06] I can worship with the old who would write about, Oh, come thou fount of every blessing. Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. And then at the same time, turn around and worship to Chris Tomlin and sing about how great is my God.
[7:21] Because it is really not the song or the atmosphere or the attitude that leads me to worship. It is the object of my worship, which is, They are all about my Lord and Savior, who is Jesus Christ, my King.
[7:32] And I have found that worship is not necessarily dictated, dictated, though I love music and I love songs and I love those things. I have found that God has set the rhythm of the hummingbird just as much as He has set the rhythm in the guitar.
[7:46] I have found that when I look hard enough and I look far enough, I find every matter of worship to be true because the Word of God rings real throughout my life.
[7:56] So my prayer this morning is that you would begin to worship like you have never worshipped simply because you see the truth of what the Word of God contains. This morning, I want you to see the security of the saints.
[8:10] I want you to see the security of the saints. And you may be here this morning and you're like, Well, I don't know if I'm a saint. I know I don't act like a saint. I know I don't behave like a saint.
[8:22] Well, if I had to be honest with you, I would say that none of us in this room at all times act like saints. None of us in this room behave like saints. Just as the believers in the city of Corinth were called saints simply because of their relationship with God, so can we be saints simply because of our relationship with God our Father.
[8:42] So my friend, you may not consider yourself a saint, and maybe you're not. Maybe you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your King and as your Savior. But I want to tell you, it is not that you have to become a saint, it's that He makes you a saint the moment you accept that free offer of salvation.
[8:59] But this morning, I want to tell you, friends, listen to me. There is security for the saints. We see it here recorded in Romans 8, verses 26 through 39, in probably some of the most influential passages of Scripture for our walk in a world that seems to be questioning so much.
[9:18] Can we really know that we are saved? Can we really know that we are secure? Though we fail and though we falter, can we really be certain that God's plans for us are consistent? Can we really trust Him with our salvation?
[9:32] Because that's the main goal. Can we give it to Him and be certain that He is going to keep us until the day of fulfillment? Because Satan loves to whisper in each one of our ears, you're not a believer.
[9:45] You don't really trust in Jesus Christ. Look at your life. Look at what you've done. Look how you fall. There's no way you trust in Jesus Christ. Well, my friend, I want to show you that it's not all about you.
[9:57] As a matter of fact, it's all about Him. And the beauty of the gospel is, it's His good news to you, not His good news about you.
[10:10] Because as Paul laid out for us in Romans 1, 2, and 3, there's really nothing good I can say about myself. Because Paul says, all of my righteousness, that is, all of my good deeds, are like filthy rags in the sight of a holy God.
[10:24] And there's really nothing good I can say about myself. Paul would write somewhere else that if I'm going to boast in anything, I'm going to boast in Jesus Christ, my King. And I want to show you why this morning.
[10:35] The security of the saints rests, I believe, according to this passage, on three key things. Number one, I want you to see the active participation of God.
[10:46] The active participation of God. It says in verse 26, In the same way, I don't have time to take you to back to see in what way, because it would take much too long for you to see everything that has transpired in the first 25 verses of Romans 8.
[11:01] But I want you to know that we see that God is working throughout creation, waiting for the redemption of man, so that all the world could be put right. But it says here, In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness.
[11:13] Just stop right there. Because the first thing we have to understand is our weakness. We have to all be in agreement when it concerns our weakness.
[11:25] In the same way, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. What is our weakness? It is the state of humanity. It is the fact that every one of us are weak. It is the fact that none of us can earn our salvation.
[11:37] It is the fact that none of us will ever be good enough to deserve the grace and the mercy of a holy God. The weakness of man is this, that though God has created him perfect and put him in a perfect world, man messed it up and made it imperfect, and now we are too weak to do anything about it.
[11:55] We make mistakes. We fall. We stumble. We do the things we don't want to do, the things we don't want to do. We keep doing repeatedly the things we do want to do. We don't seem to have the strength to do them.
[12:06] We seem to desire to do one thing, and the flesh leads us another way. And the one thing we have to admit is that we are weak. Now, for many of us men, that is a hard thing to admit.
[12:18] If we just want to be honest, we don't want to say that we are weak. But when it comes to earning the favor of a holy God, when it comes to earning the desire of heaven, when it comes to thinking that we can reach heaven, we all, before a holy, just God, have to say, we can't do it.
[12:38] We're weak. But here's the good news. The Spirit helps in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
[12:49] Now, let's just stop right there. I'm talking about the active participation of God. We can know we are secure because of the active participation of God. The first way we see him participate is in our prayers.
[13:01] The Bible tells us, we are so weak in the flesh, we don't even know how to pray. If you think about that, prayer is so important throughout Scripture.
[13:12] We are told to pray without ceasing. It says, Jesus says, if we have the faith of a mustard seed, and we ask God to move the mountain, and he would take the mountain, and he would cast it into the sea. The Bible says that if we could pray, and ask God for anything, according to the name of Jesus Christ, then he will give it to us.
[13:28] The Bible tells us that we have not, because we ask not. And we are repeatedly told to pray, and we are told to pray. And we wonder why men struggle so much at prayer. It's because we don't know how to pray.
[13:41] We are weak. When we bow our head and we close our eyes, unfortunately, our prayers tend to go towards the flesh. They tend to go towards selfish desires.
[13:52] Prayer is an exercise. We must discipline ourselves. Some of us are farther along in prayer than others, because we have exercised that prayer muscle. Some of us have moved a little farther ahead.
[14:04] Some of us are still on the elementary levels of prayer. But here's the deal. Though we may be asking for one thing, God may desire something else. Because you say, well, I've asked God to do this, and I've asked him to do that, and I've asked him to do this, and I don't see him doing any of that.
[14:18] Well, it is simply, my friend, because you are weak, and I am weak. We don't know how to pray. In the flesh, we would love to pray, God, keep us safe from everything that may hurt us.
[14:28] God, make sure nothing happens to us. God, keep all my friends and family safe. Make sure everything goes good. God, put a bubble around everyone. But we don't know if the sufferings are what God is using to produce the character he desires in that individual, and even in us.
[14:44] But in the weakness of the flesh, we don't know how to pray. But God is actively involved in our lives because it says the Spirit himself intercedes for us.
[14:55] Why? Because he who searches the hearts and knows the mind of the Spirit is, because he who searches the hearts and knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
[15:06] This is good news. God actively participates in the life of the believer because he has the Holy Spirit interceding, it says, and groanings too deep for words, which means that the Spirit within us is groaning.
[15:21] I don't know, maybe you've experienced this, maybe you haven't. I have been in times of prayer where I so wanted God to do something. I so wanted God to move, and I didn't even know how to ask him.
[15:32] I just knew I wanted to see God do something. And those are times where you can't say anything because you don't know what to say. And maybe you've never reached a place of groaning in prayer where you don't even know how to ask God to do what it is God wants to do because you don't know what God wants to do.
[15:49] Well, here's the good news. The Spirit knows, and the Spirit understands those groanings. And he begins to intercede for us. Now, Paul kind of jumped ahead of himself because we're gonna see this.
[16:00] Why? Look, we're looking at the active participation of God. Romans 8, 28 is one of the most well-known verses throughout Scripture right after John 3, 16, right? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
[16:14] Now, the most well-known set of Scripture is do not judge. Even though the world loves to put that verse up there, do not judge, they tend to take that verse way out of context, but we're not in that sermon, okay?
[16:26] So we'll do that in another day. But now we come to another very familiar set of Scripture, Romans 8, 28. God causes everything to work together for good, right? Isn't that what it says? No, just shake your head, no.
[16:37] That's not what it says. That is taking half of a verse and using half of a verse to say what you want it to say, which we mean pulling it out of context. I can take you to Mark right now and tell you that in the book of Mark, it says we can pick up snakes, they'll bite you, and you won't die.
[16:52] Now, the problem is, I'm not in one of them snake-handling businesses right now, and we would be taking it out of context, okay? I don't want to use that out of context because it's set in the middle of something else that is going on there in Mark.
[17:05] We can make the Bible say anything if we want it to. I can take you to the Old Testament and prove you that donkeys can talk, but that would be taking it out of context because God moved in one donkey and let that donkey talk because he wanted it to at that time.
[17:20] So we don't want to make this verse say anything it doesn't, but we're looking at the active participation of God in the life of the believer. Look at what it says. The Spirit intercedes for us because he knows what the will of God is.
[17:32] Verse 28 says, And we know, this is a certainty, we know this is a good time just to go ahead and say hallelujah to yourself, and it's a good time to get a little carried away.
[17:42] We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purposes. That's what it says, called according to his purpose. This is what we know.
[17:54] We know that God is in control. He is actively participating in everything that comes my way. Not only is he actively participating in my prayers because he's helping me pray when I don't know how to pray, he's also actively participating in my circumstances because everything that comes my way is coming my way according to his purpose so that he could do his work.
[18:16] And he is so involved in my life and he is so involved in your life, he's allowing these things or he's even ordaining these things to come to you for the good of his purpose to those who are called.
[18:28] And that means that God is doing something for his people. And not only is he actively involved in the events, he is actively involved even in your salvation. This is where we come to this great news.
[18:40] We're looking at the active participation of God in the life of the believer. These verses, they're so rich. I will never do them justice, but look at them. We're gonna read on. I'm coming back to verse 28 in a minute, okay?
[18:51] But to understand verse 28, we gotta get to verses 29 and 30, okay? For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren.
[19:05] We'll come back to that in just a minute. And these whom he predestined, he also called. And these whom he also called, he also justified. And those whom he also justified, he also glorified. What is Paul saying?
[19:15] Well, let's just go ahead and lay it out here, okay? Paul is not trying to set forth some new Christian doctrine. Paul is just trying to explain to you a Christian application. He's trying to show you what happened in his life.
[19:28] Now, there have been men throughout the ages who have used this to build a doctrine of man upon. But I want you to see what Paul is doing. Paul is showing you a Christian experience. And an experience is so much different than a church doctrine.
[19:42] He is laying something out there that is true to him and is true to every believer. God knew I was gonna be his child. That is the foreknowledge of God. The foreknowledge of God entails the active participation in God.
[19:54] If God did not know that I would become his child before the foundation of the world, then he is not God. The Bible says that he predestined me to adoption before the foundation of the world, okay?
[20:05] We have to say this in agreement. If there's anything that God does not know, he is not God. Because God is all-knowing, he is all-sufficient, and he is all-encompassing. He knows it all.
[20:16] And here's the beauty of it, okay? That while he wooed me to himself through his love, and he began to show me how much he loved me, just as Brother Jerry's song said this morning, he began to display that love, and I responded to that love.
[20:31] Here's the wonderful participation of God. Salvation is not a result of me choosing God. Salvation is a result of God choosing me. And that makes all the difference in the world.
[20:42] So many times we see people make a decision for Jesus Christ. And they, unfortunately, they made that decision. Maybe some of you in the room have done this, and I'm not trying to be judgmental.
[20:53] I'm just trying to be honest with you. Maybe you went through life, and you tried this, and you tried that, and you tried this, and you tried that, and you finally had somebody give you the option of Jesus and say, why don't you try Jesus?
[21:05] So you thought you would choose Jesus. And you chose Jesus, and evidently Jesus didn't live up to what you thought you were choosing, just like nothing else lived up to the way you thought you were choosing.
[21:16] So you chose to quit on Jesus. That is a valid option if salvation is dependent upon you. If it is me choosing Jesus among a bunch of other things, then I can choose to deny Jesus as well.
[21:28] But salvation is this. God loved me so much. He called me to himself, and he chose me. And he made his love known to me so that I could respond to him through faith.
[21:39] That is the beauty of it. You say, well, then who has God chosen? Well, I want to be honest with you and say, well, you're here this morning, and God loved you enough to bring you here. You say, no, well, I came this morning because somebody invited me.
[21:50] Right. God moved that person to invite you. Well, I came this morning because I drove by, and the doors were open. Right. God dwelt, spurred you to be here. Because the Bible says, no man seeks after God, no, not one.
[22:02] The Bible says that inside of us, there is nothing inside of us that desires to do anything for God. God, and that if we have this longing for God, it is simply because he is pulling us to himself.
[22:14] I don't know why you're here this morning other than this. God wanted you to hear this message that he loved you enough to send his son to die for you, and he wants you to respond to that invitation. That he is calling you to respond to that love.
[22:28] He is calling you to respond not to the fact that you can choose him, but the fact that he has chosen you, and you belong to him, and he longs for you, and he desires you, and he is doing everything in your life for your good, for his good, for his purpose.
[22:45] See, this is where we get the active participation of God. You know, I've heard so many believers say this. Long before I was a believer, I became a believer. God had grace and mercy upon my life. I became a believer shortly before my 21st birthday.
[22:58] I was 20 years old. And after I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I mean, I went all in. I threw my heart, I threw my whole life upon Jesus Christ.
[23:09] I didn't choose him. I understood he was calling me to himself. And then I look back now, and I say, man, for those 20 years, God was doing things to show me how much he loved me. For those 20 years, God was drawing me closer to him.
[23:23] For those 20 years, God was extending grace. I don't know how many saints there are in the room that could testify to this, that if it wasn't for the mercy of God, I would have died at such and such age, and I would have never accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
[23:37] I accepted him at the age of 20, and I can promise you there were things I did at 16 that should have killed me. I can promise you there were things that I should have done at 17, 18, and 19 that should have killed me.
[23:48] And there were things that I got involved in that should have ended my life. But for the mercy of God, and him showing me how much he loves me, and him wooing me to himself, in his grace, he sustained me because he knew that I would respond to that invitation someday.
[24:06] Friend, what am I telling you is that God is pulling you to himself. He is actively involved. And this is good news because everything else in this passage builds upon this. You do not come to Jesus Christ because you think he's a good idea.
[24:20] You come to Jesus Christ because long before you ever thought of him, God was thinking of you. You come to Jesus Christ long because you even considered him God cared about you enough to draw you to himself.
[24:32] You come to Jesus Christ because while you were living in disobedience to him and you were rebelling against everything God so loved you, he drew you to this moment to say, won't you fall in love with me?
[24:46] Tony Evans gives the illustration of marriage and says, you know in the Bible people weren't married because they were in love, people got married to fall in love. That when they were kids they were wed together and they fell in love through marriage and some of you can testify to that.
[25:00] Carrie and I working on our 21st year in marriage and I know I thought I knew what love was when we were married but I had no idea what love really was until about year 20. I'm just now learning and I'm just now figuring it out.
[25:15] And you say, well I don't know if I love Jesus. Well I'm not asking you if you can fall in love with Jesus, I'm asking you if you can understand Jesus loves you. In spite of you, no matter what you've done, friend listen to me, salvation is all about Him and He loves you.
[25:32] You give your life to Him and you will fall in love with Him. We're talking about the security of the saints because it is the active participation of God.
[25:43] Number two, not only is it the active participation of God, it is the all-consuming purpose of God. It is the all-consuming purpose of God. So we move on.
[25:54] We say, well God has participated. We don't know how to pray so God helps us pray. We don't know what it is He wants to do so He intercedes for us. God is so actively involved in our lives, He draws us to Himself and He uses the circumstances to show us our need.
[26:08] I know He used circumstances in my life to show me how much I needed Him. That was for my good, right? Let's go back to that 828 passage. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
[26:25] What is the purpose of God? What is the purpose of God? Now I am a full believer in the once saved, always saved. I'm a believer in the security of the saints, but I'm also a believer that salvation always shows forth fruit, which means that so many of us make a, not in this room, but so many people make a profession that really was not one of genuine salvation.
[26:46] Because a profession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is an agreement to the purpose of God, to see God doing something in your life. And here's what it is. He says, the purpose of God for those whom He foreknew, that is, everyone that responds to Him, I can't tell you who they are, I can't tell you where they are except for they're everywhere.
[27:05] God, I believe in the fullness of Gentiles, that when the fullness of Gentiles comes, the church will be raptured and since the church is still here, then there must be a lot of people that God knows are going to accept Him as Lord and Savior, right?
[27:15] So we know that the need for missions work is still there. The need to call the whosoever will is still present. But we see this, here look at this, for those whom He foreknew, here's the purpose, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.
[27:32] Well you say, what does that mean? That means that God was working in your life. God was moving in your life and He allowed certain circumstances in your life to come to bring you to a place of desperation, to bring you maybe to a place of brokenness so that you would respond to the love He was showing you and that when you responded to the love He was showing you, you said, Lord Jesus, I will allow you to be both Lord and Savior of my life.
[27:57] And God says, great, you've responded to my invitation of love and now that you've responded, I'm going to continue to fulfill my purpose that I had designed for you. Long before you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God had a plan for your life.
[28:11] And God's plan, He had predestined in your life to conform you to the image of His Son. Here is the purpose of God to make you look like Jesus Christ. The purpose of God is to conform you to the image of His Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn among many.
[28:29] That there would be a lot of Jesuses walking around. There would be a lot of individuals who represent the Son. A lot of individuals who represent the Savior. God's purpose once you accept Him and even before you accepted Him is to conform you, to shape you, and to mold you.
[28:46] This is where we get into this eternal security which means that if there's anything going on in my life habitually, I'm allowing it to go on that runs contrary to the image of Jesus.
[28:57] You say, what do you mean? If I can find anything in my life that Jesus wouldn't be doing, that's just to put it in regular or war-traced terms, right? If I can look at my life something that I continually do and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt Jesus wouldn't be doing that while He was walking the face of the earth, then the options are this.
[29:14] Either God is wanting me to change it or I'm not living close enough to God I've never really accepted Him and allowing Him to change it. It's only two options I have because the purpose of God is to conform me.
[29:26] The purpose of God, friend, and I don't mean this to be discouraging and I don't mean this to be disheartening, I just mean this to be absolutely biblical, accurate. God's purpose for your life is not to give you a good, happy life.
[29:38] God's purpose is not to give you comfort, it's not to give you ease, it's not to give you prosperity. You may have those things and that could be a part of God's purposes in your life. God's purpose in your life is not to give you happiness, according to the world's standards.
[29:51] God's purpose in your life is that when you die, you will be as He is, you will be as Jesus and God will allow and bring about whatever it takes to get you there.
[30:04] Some of us, like me, it takes a little bit more. Some of us are like that. I remember when I was growing up, I used to break horses every now and then.
[30:15] I had horses that, you know, I had some that were pretty calm and some that were very uncommon. I had some horses you could get on them and ride them and everything would be fine. I had other horses that you had to really work on and you had to really, I tend to be that second kind, right?
[30:27] The one that is stubborn. You have to put every strap and tie down on me and you have to hold me and you've got to conform me and you have to mow me and you have to shape me and you have to, you have to really work on me. Some of us have a very gentle spirit and it's good and it's calm and it's okay.
[30:42] God has to work a little extra hard on me. Maybe that's where you're at. Paul says, I have a thorn in my flesh and that thorn, God says, His grace is sufficient but that thorn there is to keep me humble.
[30:54] That thorn is to make sure that I'm conformed to the image of Jesus, not conformed to the image of Paul. I just want you to understand this. The all-encompassing purpose of God in your life is that you would be like Jesus.
[31:09] Not that everything would be good. Because when I see Jesus in the world, I see a world mocking Him, spitting on Him, beating Him, ridiculing Him, hating Him.
[31:24] But then I turn the page and I see Him on the white horse. I see Him sitting on the throne. I see Him ruling. I see the saints ruling with Him. I see eternity compared with the temporary existence of the world.
[31:36] Friend, listen, I would much rather be like Jesus because I know how it ends than to be like the world because I know where it ends as well. The purpose of God in our life, the one thing that dictates God's all things, for we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
[31:57] It doesn't mean everything's going to be fine. It doesn't mean everything's going to be great. It doesn't mean everything's going to be daffodils, buttercups, and ice cream, right? It means that God's doing whatever He has to do to conform me to the image of His Son.
[32:09] And that's the all-encompassing purpose of God in my life. And you know what I have found? I have found that when I accept everything that comes my way as that, then I get a lot less bitter, I get a lot less upset, I get a lot less angry at my circumstances, and I get a lot closer to my Savior.
[32:31] God, what do you want me to do because of this? What are you wanting me to get rid of as a result of this? What are you wanting me to add because of this?
[32:42] All-consuming, all-encompassing purpose. Number three, not only do you have the active participation of God and the all-consuming or all-encompassing purpose of God, you have the all-sufficient protection of God.
[32:57] Here's the security. Here's the security. Friends, stay with me. I'm a very linear thinker. Okay? So I think in a line. Everything seems to line up. That's just the way it tracks with me.
[33:08] If this is true, then this must be true. And if this and this are true, then that must be true. Okay? If the reason I am saved is because God so loved me that He called me according to Himself.
[33:19] If I am a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, not because I made a decision, but because God loved me so much, He showed me how much He loved me.
[33:30] If I am saved because He called me to Himself. All right? You understand this? When God was picking the teams, He picked me. That sounds great. Now, some people are like, well, that's a bad analogy because that means there are some people He didn't pick.
[33:43] Well, now, wait a minute. We don't want to take it where the Bible doesn't take it. Okay? Sometimes we read things in the Scripture that's not there. But let me just, we're talking about the experience of the believer. This is an experience of the believer.
[33:56] If before the world was created, God called me to Himself to be His child. And that's what the Bible very clearly says. If He was actively involved in my salvation because He wants to build the image of His Son in me, which means I belong to Him because He did it, then this next thing is true.
[34:19] Look at what the Word of God says. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
[34:31] If God is for us, who is against us? You know, I'm reminded in the book of Matthew, Jesus said, there will be many people who come up to me and say, Lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons in Your name?
[34:45] Did we not perform mighty works in Your name? Lord, Lord, did we not do all these things in Your name? And Jesus will look at them and say, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.
[34:57] What was He saying? You might have been for me by the works I could do, but I was never for you. You wanted my power. You wanted my prestige.
[35:10] You wanted the ability to cast out demons and to do miraculous deeds, but you didn't want me. And when you didn't want me, I'm not for thee, get away.
[35:23] But here's the beauty. When we know God's calling us to Himself and we respond to nothing other than the love of God expressed in Jesus Christ, we know that God is for us and if God is for us, who can be against us?
[35:35] The Word of God says it keeps going on. What then shall we say to these things? Verse 31, if God is for us, who is against us? How do you know if God is for you? Well, look at what He's done. Look at this.
[35:45] He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Do you know why God is for you?
[35:56] How much is God for you? God is so for you, He sent His Son to die on a cross for you. That's how much God is for you. If He is that much for you, then why would He ever be against you?
[36:09] Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. We have security and because we know that our salvation rests in the work of God. We have security because we know that the one who has redeemed us and called us to Himself is our judge who can bring a charge against God's elect because He is the one who justifies.
[36:29] Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. I don't know if you saw this in this passage. You have the Spirit interceding for you when you don't know how to pray and then you have Jesus Himself sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for you.
[36:44] So you have two members of the Trinity interceding for you. That's pretty good, right? That's pretty strong right there. You have the Spirit within you and Christ beside the Father interceding for you.
[36:56] Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or wickedness or neckedness or peril or sword? Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long.
[37:07] We are considered or we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we are overwhelmingly conquered through Him who loved us. Friend, listen to me. I believe in this all-sufficient protection of God.
[37:20] We have to be careful here. There's a word right there in verse 37 that we miss sometimes. It is the word in, I-N, right? It doesn't say but from all these things God delivers us.
[37:31] What are all these things? It is tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, neckedness, peril and sword. In all these things. While going through all these painful experiences.
[37:44] While going through all of this difficulty. While dying daily. We overwhelmingly conquer through Jesus Christ our Lord. Why? Because if God has called us to Himself and God has a purpose for us.
[37:58] Friend, listen to me. Nothing can touch us. I believe in a God who that when He has in His mind to do something. It happens. I believe in a God that when He created the heavens and the earth it happens.
[38:14] Just like He said. I believe in a God just like in the book of Job. It says in the book of Job that if God was to call His spirit back to Himself all flesh would die. I believe in a God that is so consumed with everything.
[38:26] That He is so in control of everything. That there is nothing He intends to do that He cannot and will not do. And I believe in a God that if He's called me to Himself to conform me to His image He will do it no matter what comes my way.
[38:39] I believe the security rests not in my goodness or worthiness but in His power and in His provisions. I believe it does not rest in the fact that I maintain my relationship but rather that He is doing His work to bring me into that relationship.
[38:55] Because look at what it says. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing.
[39:11] By the way you are a created thing. Nor any other created thing. Which means there's nothing in creation that can do what?
[39:22] And that includes us by the way. Will be able to separate us from the love of God. Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The reason I believe in the security of the saints is because the Bible says there's nothing that can separate me from the love of God displayed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[39:44] I can't even do it myself because I'm a created thing. But where is the ticket there? Every word of God absolutely accurate. Christ Jesus our Lord.
[39:59] Here's the question. Is He Lord of your life? There's a lot of truth in these passages. There's a lot of weight in these passages.
[40:12] History has shown a lot of confrontation over these passages. But it really rests on this one thing. Is He your Lord? If you can say yes He is my Lord.
[40:25] How do I know if He's my Lord? Well if He's telling you to do something will you do it? If He's asking you to stop something will you stop it? If He's asking you to move will you move? If He's asking you to stay will you stay?
[40:38] Does He have complete control of everything you own? Is He Lord? Is He Lord? Does He dictate your every step? Does He determine your every move?
[40:51] Do you surrender your every thoughts? Is He your Lord? Because if He is your Lord friend listen to me the rest of this passage makes all the sense in the world.
[41:05] Because when I was explaining that some of us said I don't want that Jesus. Oh we do if we know how much He loves us. We do if we know how much He cares for us.
[41:17] And we do if we know how much He promises us. Because if He is our Lord there is nothing that can separate us from that. Nothing.
[41:30] Nothing. Not even my failures. Not even my stumblings. Nothing. Because my relationship with Him is dependent upon His love.
[41:44] The love of God in Christ Jesus. Not my love. Do I love Him? Yes. Oh I love Him. The supreme love of my life is Jesus Christ.
[41:58] And I say that unshamingly. My wife knows that. I love Him more than anything. But the greatest love I could ever give Him would never be enough.
[42:09] Because it will always be messed up and tainted by my actions. And no matter how much I love Him listen I will always fail Him. but the beauty of the gospel is He loves me.
[42:26] And He loves you. Not when you get it right. Not when you are cleaned up. As you are He loves you.
[42:38] And what a thought. And if that doesn't cause you to sing hallelujah and if that doesn't lead you to worship my friend nothing will.
[42:58] Let's pray. God I thank you so much. I thank you that you love us. That's all I can say. I thank you for your love.
[43:11] I pray that love would resonate within each one of us. Maybe some for the first time. Maybe some of us for the millionth time. But Lord that it would lead all of us to worship.
[43:24] Have your way. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[44:29] Amen. Amen. Thank you.