Romans 8:18–39

Good morning. I'm glad you're here. I want to welcome you and invite you to stand with us, stand with me, me, myself, and I. We'll pray and we'll get started.

Lord God, we just thank you for another day, and Lord, just thank you for another opportunity, Lord, to be in your house this morning, Lord, just to lift praise to you and to spend some time in your word. And Lord, as we praise you, Lord God, I pray that we would be able to focus our hearts on you this morning, Lord, and just lift a joyful noise to you, God. Lord, your word says that even if we don't praise you, Lord, even the rocks will cry out. So Lord, I just pray that we would sing to you with all of our hearts, Lord God, and just lavish praise upon you this morning, Lord.

And may your word go out with power. Lord God, just work mightily in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Man, you guys can go ahead and have a seat if you like.

Lord God, I just want to take a moment, and Lord God, I just want to say thank you for making a place for us, Lord, in your home. Lord God, thank you for giving us that opportunity. Lord God, we just cannot begin to express our gratitude and our thanks for how much you love us, Lord God. Lord, nobody else could have done what you've done, Lord Jesus, and we just thank you, and we praise you.

From the darkness, I called your name. And into darkness, your mercy came. You called me. It is your love. Perfection.

Would you guys stand with me for the last one? Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken everything. We take their salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living God. Break the gap between.

I could not be sinned. I turned to heaven and spoke your name. Tore through the shadows of... Oh, Lord God, we just praise you this morning for the hope that we have in you, Lord. Lord, hope for a new life. This side of eternity, Lord, but also hope for a new life in the next. Lord, you are our hope for victory, Lord God, over sin and death, Lord. You are our living hope because you are alive.

Because you overcame the grave, Lord Jesus. You are our living hope. You are alive today, Lord God. And we just praise you. Lord, we lavish praise upon you. Lord, we just praise you. Lord, we lavish praise upon you. morning god all honor and glory due to you jesus this morning as pastor ryan comes just pray that you would overflow him with your holy spirit or give him a new word to speak the lord prepare

our hearts to receive it but i don't want to just be another hearer i don't want to come and just and get all worked up but then lose it in the 30 feet to the front door lord prepare our hearts to receive your word this morning but also to do it father god we love you and we praise you in jesus name all god's people said amen let's take some time and greet one another good morning if you could begin to locate your seat grab a bulletin we'll get ready to go over some announcements welcome to calvary chapel i'm glad that you have joined us this morning we're going to be talking about the gospel of the gospel of the gospel of this morning a handful of things to take note of in your bulletin as always the things on the left

hand side but some things in the middle here that i want to point out to you a reminder that uh next sunday is our baptism and family picnic and swim time uh so it'll be from 5 30 to 8 30 5 30 to 7 we'll eat over at the uh paris park uh shelter and then after that at seven we'll head over to the pool and have a baptism and a little swim time together again if you have not been to the pool and have not been baptized and you would like to please either come talk to me or put your name on the list that's out on the foyer by where you got your bulletin or both i would love to be able to visit with you about that a reminder that at the end of this month there's going to be a new

earth no not the end of this month the end of next month there's going to be a new grief share group starting up so take note of that if you are looking to get involved and then ladies this friday is the last day to get signed up for the women's retreat the calvary chapel of wichita hosting all of the info is right there so take note of that if you're interested and then our memory verse for this week is romans 8 38 and 39 which is what we're going to cover this morning so those are the things that are going on if you would make sure that your mobile devices are silenced and for our responsive reading this morning we are going to be in psalm 57 psalm 57

looking at the new american standard for this part of it if you need a copy there should be one in a minute or two and as you are turning to psalm 57 if you are able please stand in the honor of the reading of god's word psalm 57 i will read the odd verses if you will follow along with pastor allen and the even verses psalm 57 for the choir director director said to altisheth a mischdom of david when he fled from saul in the cave be gracious to me oh god be gracious to me for my soul takes refuge in you and in the shadow of your wings i will take refuge until destruction passes by i will cry to the most high god to god who accomplishes all things for me he will send from heaven oh he will send from heaven and save me it's a great verse

he reproaches him who tramples upon me say law god will send forth his loving kindness and his truth my soul is among lions i must lie among those who breathe forth fire even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword be exalted above the heavens oh god let your glory be above all the earth they have prepared a net for my steps my soul is bowed down they dug a pit before me they themselves have fallen into the midst of it say love my heart is steadfast oh god my heart is steadfast i will sing yes i will sing praises awake my glory awake harp and lyre i will awake in the dawn i will give thanks to you oh lord among the peoples i will sing praise to you among

the nations for your loving kindness is great to the heavens and your truth to the clouds and read verse 11 with me be exalted above the heavens oh god let your glory be above all the earth and father we do pray that you would be gracious to us this morning lord be gracious to us and that we need to hear from you and so father speak lord for we're listening to what you have to say to us through your word and so father i just pray that you would be gracious to us this morning lord be gracious to us in jesus name amen amen to the lord amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen you may be seated if you would open up into your bibles to the book of romans chapter 8

starting in verse 18 romans chapter 8 starting in verse 18 well this just seemed like another one of those times that it just didn't feel right to just continue on with the regular old study that we'd been doing matter of fact i can't think of any other time i've been doing this questioned whether or not I was going to take today off until about a week or so ago, really even before dad went home to be with the Lord. Several weeks ago, this is really my dad's last message. I just want you to know that. So I'm going to share this with you, okay? Several weeks ago,

we knew kind of things were drawing to a close and we knew that he was getting a little bit more confused and having a little bit harder time communicating. And the nurse had told him, if you have things to say to your family, now would probably be a good time to go ahead and start doing that. And so he called all of his siblings together. And before he did so, he said, Ryan, I need you to help me because I'm struggling with energy and I'm also struggling to remember things. He said, but I want to convey to my family that nothing can separate them from the love of

Jesus Christ. And we went through this very ending portion of Romans. He said, that's the message that I want to deliver to my family. Can you help me do that? And I said, of course, I would. And he said, I would. And I said, I would. And I said, I would. And I said, I would. And so we met with the family and he and I together delivered this message. And about a

week or a week and a half ago, I decided, felt like it was the Lord, hopefully not my flesh, hopefully just the Lord, that after he passed, I wanted to give this last message. So if you'll indulge me this morning on this, I would really appreciate it. And so I've entitled the message this morning, The Never Ending Love of Christ. And we'll be looking at this last half of Romans chapter eight. And there's three things that I want to tell you.

About Romans chapter eight, we're going to talk about the groaning, we're going to talk about the hope, and we're going to talk about the never ending love. And so starting in verse 18 of chapter eight, we'll discuss the first of those, which is the groaning. Just a little background on Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight is the victory chapter of Romans, really. He spent the first

three chapters declaring, first five chapters declaring the justification that we have through the blood of Jesus Christ. Chapter six and seven are the struggle of sanctification. Chapter eight is the victory of sanctification, the victory that we can have in the Lord Jesus Christ. I think J. Vern McGee puts it best when he said, chapter eight begins with no condemnation, or begins with no condemnation,

ends with no separation, and in the middle you have victory and peace. It is truly the Alps of the New Testament. And so as we look at this, he's gone through the fact that there's no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ, and that there's victory over sin. There's no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. And now he deals ultimately with the peace

and the no separation. And so this is what it says in verse 18. It says, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because

of him who subjected it in hope. That the creation itself, also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but we also ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. And so as he,

as he discusses this groaning, the first thing that he does is he sort of lays the groundwork for what he's going to share in the rest of this chapter. And the groundwork is laid for us in verse 18 when he says, I consider that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory which is to be revealed to us. He says, I consider. That phrase means I reckon or I have come to a reasonable conclusion. I have come to a reasoned conclusion of these things. In other words, I have come to a reasonable conclusion of these things.

In other words, I've come to a reasonable conclusion of these things. In other words, as, as Paul H. walked with the Lord, as Paul H., had walked with Jesus and experienced the things of life, and had seen the things that he was able to see and had learned of Jesus and had spent time with Jesus, he began to understand something. And his, his reasoned conclusion is this that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory.

Can we all just admit the fact that, that in life there is suffering? That, in life there is, there's the difficulty. We talked about this a few weeks ago. And if anybody understood suffering, it was Paul because of the things that he went through. As a matter of fact, if you were to go through his, if you will, credentials, his credentials have nothing to do with the degrees that he earned or how well he could speak both

Greek and Hebrew. No, the credentials that he earned were the suffering that he experienced, were the things that he had gone through in life. And in the midst of going through those things, he could still say, but God is still good. God is still my savior. And it's not worthy to be compared with what's coming. And I can tell you right now that I've seen suffering in my life.

I've experienced a little, although not very much, but I've watched it quite a bit here recently. And I can tell you that in watching the suffering, it gives me great hope to know that someone who has gone before has says, I consider it is a reasoned conclusion that I've come to that the sufferings of this present life, though they are many, are not worthy to be compared to the glory. That word, worthy means of no weight in comparison. That's the idea of worthy there to be of the same weight.

In other words, the sufferings of this present life are in no weight of comparison to the glory that's to come. In other words, if the sufferings that we experienced and the glory that was to come were to be put on the scales, the glory to come would far outweigh. And I'm reminded, I've been reminded of this over and over again this week. And that's that eye has not seen, ear has come into the mind of man, what God has prepared for those who love him. And it isn't amazing how it

changes our perspective to know that what's coming is so much better than what we're facing. I can endure the hardship now because I know what's waiting for me in the end. I can endure the difficulty now because I know that there's a crown of glory waiting for me. The one statement that we have continued to make over the, especially the past three weeks is, I don't know how to face cancer without Jesus. I don't know how you face the end of life without knowing that you're

facing glory, without knowing that you're going home to be with Jesus. I have zero idea how you face that. It has to be the most hopeless, fearful, awful experience that anybody could ever go through. Because the only thing that has brought us hope, the only thing that has brought us peace, the only thing that has brought joy in the midst of a terrible, terrible few weeks of our lives is knowing that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory which is to be revealed in us. And so as he lays this thesis statement, this groundwork, if you will,

he begins to talk about the groaning. He says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, verse 21, that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption, verse 22, for we know that the whole world groans. Have you ever thought about the fact that creation right now is groaning? And the thing that it's groaning for is because it is longing to see the sons of God revealed. In other words,

it is longing for us to become who God has always intended for us to be. Creation is longing and groaning for the sin of this world to ultimately be put away from it eternally so that creation can be what God has always intended for us to be. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation

waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation

waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God revealed. And so he says, for the anxious longing of creation and we can feel this groaning in creation, can we not? I don't know what your thoughts are

on the weather patterns right now. I don't care what your thoughts are on the weather patterns right now. It's the groaning of creation. Listen, it's not cloud seeding. It's not all the things that you think it is. Quit going down the rabbit hole. This is creation groaning. And it's groaning because it is longing for sin to be put away with. It is groaning because it is longing

to be what God intended for it to be. I'm reminded of that scene in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when eternal winter has set in on the entire place until finally the sons of God are revealed and the winter melts down and creation finally becomes what it's intended to be. Why? Because creation is groaning to be set free from the sin with which God has subjected it to because of us.

Because he longs for the sons of God to be revealed. And though creation right now is a slave to the corruption of sin, it's groaning. For that man of God to be completely revealed. But not only is creation groaning because of the sufferings of this present life, but notice who else is groaning. And not only this, verse 23, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,

even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. We who have the first fruits of the Spirit. That's talking about us as believers. But as believers in Jesus Christ, even though we have the joy of knowing the Lord, even though we have the hope of what is to come, in these bodies we groan. That word groan is a very powerful word

in the Greek here. The word groan literally means an inward, unexpressed feeling of sorrow. An inward, unexpressed feeling of sorrow. It can also be translated a sigh. In other words, groan. In other words, groan. In other words, groan. We as believers are just sighing because we're longing. We have this unexpressed sorrow that we don't know any other way to express

other than just to groan sometimes. And we groan in these bodies that we live in. We groan in this world that we live in. What do we groan over? We groan and we sigh over the sin that we see around us because it hurts so bad to see what's happening to the world around us. It hurts so bad to see people so lost in sin. Every now and then as a pastor, you can kind of get a little bit jaded

to the things that go on around you because people take advantage of you when you try to help them out. But in those moments when I'm able to set aside my flesh and I'm really able to feel, I just hurt on the inside because of sin. I just hurt on the inside because of what I see take place in the lives of people. What I see sin doing to people that I love so much and how much it's destroying their lives.

I groan because I see a world of people who want to reject the God who created them because in their minds, they can't fathom what he must look like. And their minds, they can't fathom what he must be like. And in their minds, they can't fathom how a God of love would still allow evil in a world. And so they're losing their faith. And I groan over that as I see that begin to take place

in the world that is around us. And I, you who have the first fruits of the spirit, we groan because we wanna be set free from this world so that God could do what he has always intended to do with this place. And that's set us free from sin so that we can live forever in his presence. But not only that, I groan over the sin that I see in my own life. I groan because I still see

that I'm not who God has intended me to be yet. I groan because even though I'm not who I used to be, I'm not who I wanna be. And there's a groaning that takes place in my life. And quite frankly, physically speaking, there's just groaning because I'm so tired of the pains of this life. And I'm tired of watching people go through the pains of this life. I'm tired of doing funerals.

Can I just be honest about that? I'm really tired of doing them. Matter of fact, you know, I'm on the list with the funeral homes here in town. And eventually I just had to say, guys, I gotta take a break. I can't do it. I can't keep doing funerals for a little while because I know what's coming and it's just too hard for me. And so I've just had to take a little bit of a break

because sometimes you just groan over the human loss that takes place. And we ourselves, along with creation, are all groaning. Why? Because even though we know that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory which is to come, we're still enduring the sufferings of this present life. And if it weren't for knowing that the glory is coming,

if it weren't for knowing of the glory that is to be revealed, quite frankly, I'm not sure we could take it. Which is why Paul changes subjects now. And now he goes from the groaning of this world to the hope that we have in Jesus. Notice what he says in verse 24. For in hope we have been saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance, we eagerly wait for it. I love the way he puts this. In this hope we have been saved. In what hope? Well, the hope he talked about in verse 18. That the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's to come. That's the hope in which we've been saved. And that word hope doesn't just mean, gosh, I hope someday.

I've always used this illustration, but it's the best one I know of, right? I remember being in junior high and I always hoped I could dunk a basketball. Listen, that's not an earnest expectation of something that I know is going to come, right? That is just a pipe dream that's never gonna take place. I remember somebody telling me one time, oh, sure you can, you just need to jump more.

Listen, I am five foot six with the vertical leap of a two year old, okay? I am never gonna be able to dunk a basketball. That's all that there is to it. That's not hope, that's wishful thinking. That's not the hope he's talking about here. The hope he's talking about here is an earnest expectation. It's something that you know is gonna take place. It's like Christmas morning.

You wait for it, but you know it's coming. And he says, in this hope we have been saved. But hope that's seen isn't really hope, is it? But if we hope for what we have not seen, then we earnestly wait for it with expectation. We earnestly wait for it. How's he word it here? I wanna make sure I word it. If we hope for what we do not see, verse 25, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

And I love this, because that perseverance is what brings hope to fruition, amen? That perseverance is that hope at work in us. I always like to use the illustration because it's one of the best ones I know of, of being a wrestler and cutting weight, right? And you had this hope that once you made weight, life was gonna be good and you could eat what you wanted to eat.

But you knew that if you were gonna make weight, it was gonna take perseverance because you had to work hard. You had to stay focused because the hope was coming. And that's the way it is in this world that we live in right now. We have a hope that's coming, but that hope creates perseverance inside of us, right? We have a hope that we're looking for. We have this expectation that we're looking for.

We know that the glory is to come, but it produces a perseverance in our lives. And we say, if I know that that's what's coming for me, then I want to continue to push towards it so that when the glory is revealed, I'm there for it. I'm ready for it. And it creates that perseverance. Can I just be honest with you and say that my dad had that perseverance in his life?

He had that eager expectation, that perseverance in his life. Do you know, not many people know this, but towards the end, he was so discouraged. There were times it was hard for him to listen to worship music. You know why? Because he couldn't do it anymore. And that was hard to watch. But I remember him saying, I cannot serve God the way that I used to, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop serving God.

Because he used to tell clients all the time, you can always pray. You can always pray. And he said, I have to put into action what I've always taught people for my entire career. And that's that if I can't serve God any other way, I will serve God through prayer. I remember telling my dad towards the end, and his head was not up. He was not very in it at this point in time.

This was one of his few moments of clarity in the last two or three weeks of his life. I was telling him about some ministry stuff that I was excited about, and some college kids that are coming back that are going to be student leaders for me on the campus there. And as I was telling him about it, and kind of his confusion, he just stopped right there. And he just broke into spontaneous prayer for these kids that are coming back.

He just broke into spontaneous prayer for the campus and for the city and for what God's doing in some of these different areas. And I just remember thinking, that's perseverance. As he eagerly waits for the glory. It means you don't stop just because, well, there's going to be glory someday. I'm just going to sit here and wait. No, it means you actively persevere

because you know what's coming. We who have this hope eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Well, he goes on to talk about the hope. And the first thing he tells us is that we have hope on this side of eternity. Notice what it says in verse 26. It says, In the same way, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses for we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us

with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. See, on this side of eternity, we have some hope. The first hope that we have is that we have the help of the Holy Spirit. And what's the biggest way we need the help of the Holy Spirit? We don't always know what we should pray for.

You know what that should tell you? Prayer is one of the greatest weapons that you have. Because when Paul said, in the same way the Spirit helps in our weaknesses, what's the first weakness he mentioned? Prayer. That should tell you it's one of the greatest weapons that we have. He said the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses because we don't always know how we need to pray.

Can I just tell you that there have been more times in my life than not that I have been in this exact situation where I'm like, Lord, I have no idea what to pray right now. I have no words. I don't know what the right direction to go is. I don't know what the right words to say are. Lord, you know, because that's literally what that word groanings there means.

It's a little different word than when it says to groan earlier. This word's only used twice in Scripture, once here and once in the book of Acts, and it speaks of grief in the book of Acts. But the idea is just a, it's a deep guttural sigh that takes place in our lives. He says, we don't always know what to pray for as we ought to, but the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses because he interprets our groanings that are too deep for words.

In other words, when you don't know what else to say, we sigh in the Spirit. And as we sigh in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit says, got you. Okay, this is what he meant. This is what he needs to have happen. This is what's going on. And he just interprets it for us. One of the things that I've dealt with over the, probably the past four months is, is I'm a people person.

I'm around people a lot. Sometimes I don't even know what to say around people here lately. I don't know why. It's just, it's just what's been happening to me. And that especially has been happening in my prayer life where I sit down and I'm like, dear God, and I got nothing. I don't know what to say. It's like my mind just goes blank. It's buffering, right?

Like I need that little spinny thing on my head right now. It's been, it's been happening a lot here lately. As a matter of fact, last night someone was like, what's that person's name? And I was like, and I sat there for about two minutes until one of my daughters came up with it. I'm like, thank you. Cause that buffering just happens. And sometimes in the hardest times of life,

that buffering is all we know how to do. And the great thing is, is that unlike our computer, when our brain is buffering, the Holy Spirit's like, I got you bro. And he interprets for us. He interprets the buffering and the sighing and all the things that go on. And he helps us in our weakness. And I don't know about you, but that brings me a great deal of hope.

And it brings me a great deal of peace. It means I don't have to be perfect in my prayer life. It means I don't have to always have the right words to say. I don't always need to be perfect. I need to know the right way to do things because the Holy Spirit helps in my weakness. And as a pastor, that's a really good thing to know. Cause I'm supposed to always know the right thing to say.

I'm supposed to always know the right prayer to pray. I'm supposed to always know the right thing to do. And quite frankly, sometimes I don't. I don't know how many times people have come to me for prayer and they lay out their life and it hurts me so bad to hear what they've just laid out for me. I remember I taught on forgiveness one time and somebody said,

can I talk to you in your office? And I said, yeah, that's fine. So after everybody left, almost everybody, we went into my office and this person said, I'm really struggling to forgive. And they started laying out everything that had been done to them in their life. And I'm here to tell you right now, not only was I heartbroken, but I wanted to take some justice into my own hands

to know what had happened to someone in their life. And I said, can I pray for you? They said, that'd be great. I put my hand on their shoulder and I got ready to pray and I just had nothing. Like, Lord, I don't even know what to say right now. Because you know how bad this hurts and you know how much trouble they're having. And we cried together for a minute

and that was all that needed to be said. Because God heard it all. He interpreted it all. And he who knows the mind of the Lord, he who searches the heart of man and knows the mind of the Lord, he's interpreting for you. Isn't that great? Doesn't that bring you just a little bit more peace in your prayer life? Dear Jesus, sunshine and bubbles. Got it. Right?

And he knew exactly what you meant. He says, there's hope on this side of eternity because first of all, the spirit helps in our weaknesses and helps us pray when we don't know how to. But the second reason why there's hope on this side of eternity is given to us in verse 28. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose.

This is the refrigerator verse, right? Anybody have this one in their fridge or somewhere in their house? This is a great verse. You should have it. I know it's like the patented verse. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good. I actually read this thing this week. It said, please stop telling people that are hurting that all things work together for good.

I'm like, really? I want you to tell me that. Okay? I want you to tell me that God's gonna work all these things together for good. That all of the things that have happened aren't just for no good reason. That all of the things that have happened aren't just so that God has some cosmic joke he wants to play on me. I want to know that it's all gonna work together for good.

I want to know that God's gonna use all of these things in the most powerful way possible. I want to know that God's gonna bring something out of this that is more powerful than any of us could have imagined because God takes the awful things of life and he does something good with them. Because God takes the ugly things of life and he does something great with it. I want to know that.

Please, tell me that. And I think everybody needs to hear that. Again, to tell a quick story about my dad, the man was not born blind. People ask me all the time. I don't know if I've ever shared this from here or not. He was not born blind. He was born premature. And as he was born premature, they gave him too much oxygen. And that too much oxygen caused the retina in his right eye to completely detach

and the retina in his left eye to mostly detach. Matter of fact, the back of his eye looks wrinkly. Any new eye tech that ever would take a look at him would say, hold on, let me grab the doctor. And he'd have to say, no, no, no, it's okay. It's supposed to look like that back there. It's because I'm blind. And you know how many people have said to me, so did his parents sue?

No, they didn't sue. This was life. These are the things of life. Well, was your dad bitter about it? No, because he knew that God used that for good. Because of that, my dad went to a school where there was a teacher there who saw something in him who said, that kid can sing. I like that that kid can sing. I'm going to teach him how to sing. And because of that, my dad had a powerful voice for worship.

Because my dad went away to a school in Kansas City because he was blind, he went to church every Sunday. That's what he had to do. Because at that point in time, the state of Kansas had the distinct understanding that going to church was a positive thing. And so they had to go to church. And it was in Kansas City that he found Jesus. Because God causes all things

to work together for the good. Because that's who he is. And listen, that brings a lot of hope on this side of eternity. Because you can find yourself going, Lord, I don't know what you're going to do with this one. I don't know what you're going to do here. But you're going to do something really good. I believe it. And I'm going to believe it. I'm going to continue to believe it.

I shared yesterday, I don't know who all was here and who wasn't because there was too many people here for me to keep track of. But I watched God use things together for the good. And all of these things can be a little bit tough sometimes. And it can test your faith. And I've gone through two times in my life where my faith has really been tested by something

really, really deep and really heavy. And the first one came about four and a half years ago with the loss of a really good friend of mine. And the second one is this one. And they've just been really kind of hard to process. Matter of fact, there's been a few times where I'm like, Lord, I don't know why you allow a servant of yours like this to go through the kind of things

that my dad has gone through. But both of those times, God has reminded me that he uses all things for good. And it's been through Psalm 40. And I shared it yesterday. So if you have a chance, look up Psalm 40, verses 1 through 3. Because in those moments, both of those times, within 48 hours of the loss of both of those people, God brought me to the exact same place in Scripture.

And both times, God said, I got you. And he reminded me that he causes all things to work together. For good. God doesn't waste suffering in our lives. He uses it for good things. So we have hope on this side of eternity. First of all, because we have the Spirit helping us in our weaknesses. Second of all, because God causes all things to work together for good.

But we are also reminded that we have hope on the other side of eternity. Notice what it says in verse 29. 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. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.

I don't know what your thoughts are on predestination. And once again, I don't care what your thoughts are on predestination. I don't care what the Bible says about predestination. And that's that if you're born again, you were predestined. That God chose you. He knew you before you were born. He knew you before he formed you in your mother's womb. And if you're here this morning and you're a believer

in Jesus Christ, God chose you to be a believer in Jesus Christ. Does that X out your will? It absolutely does not X out your will because we are also told that everyone has to choose for themselves who they're going to serve. Everyone has to choose whether or not they're going to accept Jesus. You say, I don't understand that. That's too much for me to understand.

Welcome to God. Allow yourself to be amazed. He'll be doing this for the rest of your life. But we are reminded that as believers in Jesus Christ, God chose us. God chose us before the foundations of the earth. He knew you. He knew your name. He knew your life. And he knew you were going to become his child. If you're here this morning and you're not born again,

it's time for you to decide to follow Jesus and you too will realize you've been chosen. You've been chosen. Because whom he foreknew, he also predestined. And what did he predestine us to? What did he choose us for? To be conformed to the image of his son. What does it look like to be conformed to the image of his son? Well, he goes into details. Those in verse 30, those whom he predestined, he called.

Those whom he called, he justified. Those whom he justified, he glorified. What's it look like to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ? Well, it first of all starts with you being called. That was the day that you found yourself realizing that you needed a Savior. And maybe it was the day that you slipped your hand up in church when someone said, would you like to receive Jesus as

your Lord and Savior? Or like me on an old dirt road on the way home from a camp, you decided to fully surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Or whether it was at a camp that you were at where you came forward or whatever the moment was for you, when you felt the calling of Jesus Christ in your life, when you felt the need for a Savior in your life and you were told that Jesus could take care of all of your sin, that Jesus loved you just the way that you are but he didn't want to leave you that way. In that moment, he called you and that began the process of you being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

The next part of the process is that he justified you. And so when you were called, you felt that calling and you came forward to Jesus and you came to Jesus and you said, here I am, Lord. Just save me. And in that moment, you didn't realize it because all you knew was you were a sinner and you needed a Savior. But in that moment, he justified you, which is a legal term for

being declared not guilty. And in that moment when he justified you and declared you not guilty of sin, he also gave you all of his righteousness. And in his eyes, you were conformed to the image of his Son. And then you lived life being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This is what we're doing right now. Though in Jesus' eyes we are conformed, we are sanctified, we

are justified, you are in the process of becoming who God wants for you to be. But that process will be completed with what we call glorification. That's the day that you go home to be with Jesus. When you shed this shell, this shell that is confined to the things of this earth, this shell that is defined by the things of this earth. This shell that is held down by the things of this earth.

You will shed this shell. And you will go to be with your Father. And in that moment, you will be glorified. In other words, brand new. No longer held down by sin. See, that's the eternal hope that we have. The first thing that I could think after my dad took his last breath is he can see now. That one got me. He can see now. He's not held down by all this garbage anymore.

And the first thing he saw was Jesus. I know scripturally speaking the only time that Jesus is not sitting at the right hand of the Father was when Stephen was martyred. But I can't help but think, it's my own fantasy, I can't help but think that Jesus didn't stand up. When he saw my dad. That and $5.95 will get you the drink I got at Starbucks this morning.

But that's just what I think. And it's the hope we have for eternity. And remember, the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come. And so, in this life, there is groaning. But in this life, there is hope. But now we get to the main point. The thing I've been wanting to get to. And that is the never-ending love of Christ.

Notice what Paul says in verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died.

Yes, rather, he who was raised, he who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us. 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 were considered as sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these things we will 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 created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. As he begins to describe this never-ending love for us, he does so with several questions. In the first one he asks is, what should we say to these things?

If God can be for us, or if God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for you, who really is against you? I want you to really think about that this morning. If God is for you, what can be successful against you? I think that's how you do it. I think that's how the Amplified Bible translates that. If God is for you, can anything in this world be successful against you?

And I want you to ask yourself a question. What in your mind is greater than God being for you? What in your mind are you saying, but the world's going to be pretty successful in that? No, because if God is for you, what can really be against you? You see, this is the line of someone whose faith has been tested and has been proven true because of the power of the Holy Spirit in his life,

and he now has a different focus in his life. And the different focus that he has in his life is, you can't hurt me anymore, because if God is for me, who can be against me? You can't bring me down anymore, because if God is for me, who can be against me? See, this is someone who eventually is going to say, I don't count my life as dear to myself. None of these things can move me,

because I just want to finish my race. Because he realizes, if God is for me, then who can be against me? I watched my dad live that his entire life. I watched him live according to that. That if God was for him, then nothing else can be against him. And nothing else moved him. He goes on to ask a second question. Or he goes on to explain what he means by this.

He says, He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us, how will he not also freely give us all things? You see, in our understanding that if God is for us, who can be against us? That is colored for us by the understanding that he gave his son for us, so why is he going to withhold anything else good from us? That if he gave Jesus for us, that if he was willing to give of himself to lay aside his glory and come down and dwell among us, how is he going to withhold anything good from us?

How is he going to not freely give us everything that we need? Because if God can be for us, who can be against us? He goes on from there to ask a second question. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who's the one who condemns? Christ is the one who died. Rather, who was raised and who is at the right hand of the Father

and also intercedes for us? Who can bring a charge against God's elect? Anybody here battle condemnation in your life? You just feel like you're never going to be enough? You can never measure up and you feel like you're guilty of something all the time? Listen, full disclosure, my dad battled with that and so do I. Okay? We battled with feeling like someone was mad at us all the time,

that we've done something all the time, and the only thing that brought either of us comfort is knowing who can bring a charge against God's elect. Who can ultimately condemn you? Because Christ died for you. And not only did Christ die for you, but he is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you. That idea of intercession is the idea of a defense attorney.

In other words, you have a holy defense attorney that says if the glove don't fit, you must... That's not what he says at all. Sorry, that's a terrible O.J. Simpson joke. I had to lighten things up in here just a little bit. We have a great defense attorney who says one thing. I know they're guilty, but they're covered in my blood. I know they're guilty, but I've paid for it all.

They belong to me. They're with me. And that one statement alone, they're with me, is what ultimately brings freedom into our lives. It's what ultimately makes us realize the love that we have in our lives. That's what Paul had told us earlier in the book of Romans. In chapter five, he said, God demonstrates his own love for us, and that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. You see, that's the idea that he gives here when he says, who can bring a charge against God's elect? Who condemns? Because it is Christ who has died, who is also raised, and who is now seated at the right hand of the Father who makes intercession for us, because every time a charge is brought, and unfortunately the charges are usually true, every time a charge is brought against us, Jesus says, but I've already paid it.

Right? I grew up listening to J. Vernon McGee, and if you make it all the way through his radio broadcast, at the very end, there's this hymn that's played, and it says, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Right? That's the idea that's presented here. And so we know that Jesus loves us, because who can be against us if God is for us?

Who can condemn us because Jesus died for us and is interceding for us? And he goes on to say, who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, distress, persecution, or famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? I love the way the, I think it was the New Living Translation, hold on, I gotta find my place in my notes here. I love the way that the New Living Translation put it.

It says, does it mean he does not love us if we go through hard times? Does it mean he doesn't love us if we go through hard times? That's what Paul is saying. If we go through hard times, does that mean we've been separated from the love of Christ? And of course it begs a negative answer. Of course not. And he goes on to answer it. He says, for your sake, we have been put to death all day long.

We're counted as sheep before the slaughter. And if you just read that line, you're like, that's so sad. What kind of an existence is it as a Christian if we are counted as sheep before the slaughter? Until you go on to realize that if nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, if God is for us, who can be against us? No one can bring a charge against us.

Verse 37, in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. That even in the hardest of times, when you find yourself going, so am I separated from the love of Jesus Christ because of how hard my life is? No, because in all these things, you are more than a conqueror through him who loved us. I love that it uses that adverb of overwhelmingly more than a conqueror through him who loved us.

In other words, there's nothing that can come into your life that through the power of Jesus Christ, you cannot overcome. Listen, I want to make sure you understand my words clearly here. I did not say that God will never give you more than you can handle. Going to Walmart is more than we can handle. Especially this summer. I never knew where anything, and they've changed all the grocery stores again.

Speaking of things that are too hard for me, I have to pray every time I go to Dylan's now too. I'm like, Jesus, take the wheel. Right? Because I do not know where anything is. And I'm going to lose my business in there. Listen, I didn't say that he won't give you more than you can handle. Life is more than we can handle. What I said is through him, we are more than a conqueror.

That we can handle anything through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that he gives to us. Amen? And then he goes on to say this. 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.

I want to define a few words for you there. First word I want to define for you is the word separate because I think it's an interesting word. The word separate here literally means, lost my place in my notes again. Christ died interceding separate. There it is. To divide, to put asunder, or to divorce. That's what that word separate means. In other words what he's saying is

nothing can divide you from the love of Jesus Christ. Nothing can put asunder between you and the love of Jesus Christ. Nothing can divorce you from the love of Jesus Christ. From the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. But the second word that I want to define for you is this. He says, for I am convinced. That word convinced means I have come to know through a process

of persuasion to a settled conclusion. I have come through a process of persuasion to a settled conclusion. It's a strong word. It means in my life this is something that I have learned. In my life this is something that has become distinctly clear to me that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. The Amplified Bible puts it like this. I am convinced and I continue to be convinced

that nothing can separate us. from the love of Jesus Christ. You see, those are the words of a man who's been through things in his life. And as he's been through things in his life, he's come to a distinct realization of something. And the distinct realization is that neither death nor life, that's the things of this life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,

nor powers, those are supernatural things, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things. Those are natural things. The course of life, supernatural things or natural things can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why? Because in his life he had learned it distinctly. And can I say that as I've gone through some hard things in life,

I can wholeheartedly agree distinctly God has shown me nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus Christ. If you'll indulge me in a bit of a silly story, but I think it very much displays this. This won't mean anything to anybody else, but it meant the world to me. Yesterday morning I woke up and I did my devotions. Sometimes the best thing I can do when I'm getting ready to speak,

especially if it's going to be really hard, is I just got to go run. Because I got to clear my head. I get too many anxious thoughts going on. I get too much nervous energy going on. I don't usually run in the morning because I'm not a morning person. I usually stumble in the morning. That's what I do. I fall actually. It's getting up all the time. But it was early

and so I decided I was going to go for a run. And I do everything with my watch. I don't carry a phone with me when I run because I don't want phone calls or text messages. That's me in Jesus' time when I run. And so I put my watch on. I put my headphones on. And I get to the end of my driveway at the beginning of a three mile run and my watch blinks at me and says,

10% battery left. And I'm like, that's a bummer. Because I really like to run to music. And it was worth it. It was my favorite praise music playlist that I had rolling. And so I just said like, probably the silliest prayer anybody's ever said in their lives. And I just said, Lord, would you just make the music work till I'm done? And so I ran. And I did my run and I went all the way down.

I go all the way down A Street and I came all the way back. And I'm walking up my driveway and the music's still going. I didn't even think about it. I hit the front door. You know what happened? It died. The music. And in that moment, it was just another one of those moments where I was just like, man, God, you're just really good. Like, I know that that's silly

and anybody else would think that's the silliest thing they've ever heard. But it meant everything to me. Because I was able to allow the praise to Jesus to flow through my head while I was on that run and get my head clear to do everything that I had to do yesterday. And it was just another little reminder of the fact that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus, our Lord.

And so, my friends, as I wrap up here this morning, I want you to know something. First of all, I want you to know that love of Jesus Christ in your life. And the love of Jesus Christ begins to flow into your life when you allow that love to flow into your life. When you say, Lord, I just need you to show me how much you love me. I just need to be able to see

the love of Jesus Christ flow through my life. And as you begin to open up those doors to that, it's amazing what God will do. And it always starts with you first, making sure that your life with Jesus Christ is where it should be. The only thing that will cut you off from experiencing that love of Jesus Christ, not from him loving you, but from you experiencing that love in your life, is sin.

That's the first question that I ask somebody when they say, I just am not really feeling the love of Jesus in my life right now. I say, well, what kind of sin do you need to confess? Because that's the only thing that can cut off that experience in you. He won't stop loving you. You just want to experience it for yourself. And so sometimes the love that needs to be experienced

has to start off with a salvation moment. You've never been born again. You've never really come to a place where you've said, Lord, I'm a sinner and I need a savior. Would you come in and become my savior? And that's the beginning of experiencing the love of Jesus Christ in your life, right? These verses are important to me, not just because of what my dad shared with me,

but because when I first started walking with Jesus, my junior year of high school, I read the book of Romans, and I didn't understand what any of it meant until I got to chapter eight. And as someone who had lived away from the love of Jesus Christ, to know that nothing could separate me from the love of Jesus Christ, not only things created or things not created, but my own stupidity could not separate me from the love of Jesus Christ, it meant the world to me. And all of a sudden that love just began to flow into my life. And so if that's you this morning, if you've been playing church your whole life, then today's the day for you to make sure that you're right with Jesus.

That you come to him and say, Lord, I'm a sinner and I need a savior. Come in and do your work of love in my life. But if you're here and you're a believer in Jesus Christ, and you're not experiencing that love, then it's time to see what's keeping that from happening. Areas of sin in your life that need confessed. Areas of sin in your life that need dealt with

so that you can once again experience that love of Jesus Christ. And some of you just need to learn to rest in it. Because you're so performance-based in the way that you think. You're so performance-based in the way that you live your life in it. If you're not doing enough, you don't feel like Jesus loves you. I want you to know today, you don't have to do anything to earn his love.

You just need to rest in it. You just need to accept it. Amen? Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I just thank you for the time that we've had in your word here this morning. Lord, I want to thank you for the time that we've been able to be here and grow in you and learn in you. And Lord, I want to lift up every person in this room

this morning and everyone that's watching online. And Father, I just want to ask that you would do your work in their hearts and lives. Father, that we would be able to truly rest in the love of Jesus Christ. Father, the love that nothing can separate us from. And Lord, we just praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Father God, we just give you praise this morning

and we give you thanks for who you are, Jesus, and for the hope that we have in you. And as we leave here today, let's pray that your Holy Spirit go with us. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.