Romans 8:18–39

And read verse 11 with me. Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth. And, Father, as we approach your word this morning, we with the psalmist here echo, Lord, be gracious to us. Be gracious to us and teach us. Lord, be gracious to us and give us open eyes, open ears, and open hearts to what your word has to say. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word.

And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word.

And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word. And, Lord, be gracious to us and give us the grace of your word.

did not feel genuine at this point in time to just continue on. We would have finished up the book of 1 Timothy today. We will do that next week. I just didn't feel genuine to go on with a study as usual after this last week. And so I've decided to do this study out of Romans chapter 8, and I've entitled it, The Never-Ending Love of Christ. And just to paint the background for you, what I'm

actually presenting to you this morning is my dad's last message. So I want you to know that. So if you would indulge me in this moment. A few weeks ago, when we kind of knew the direction things were going and how quickly we were going in that direction, one of the things that the hospice nurse told us. If this is your first Sunday here, by the way, you're probably going, I have no

idea what he's talking about right now. So this last Wednesday, my father went home to be with Jesus, and for a long time he was our worship leader here at Calvary Chapel. And so that's kind of where this message is born out of. So anyway, just to paint the background here. So she said, to give to your family, you should probably go ahead and do that. My dad was getting more confused

and weaker. And so he called in all of his siblings, and he said, Ryan, I need you to help me give them a message. I want you to, we need to make sure that they know that nothing will ever separate them from the love of Jesus Christ. I just, I want them to know that. I want that to be clear to them that Jesus loves them no matter what. And so I said, Dad, I'd be happy to help

you give that message. And so that's what we did. We got together with them, and he spent a little bit of time with them, but eventually he hit a point where he said, Ryan, I'm too tired now. Can you finish what we talked about? And so I gave them that message. And so about a week and a half ago, I knew that we were probably within the last week. And so I had determined, and I think this

was from the Lord and not just from my flesh, but I had determined that what I was going to do is after Dad had gone home to be with Jesus, I was going to give you all his last message. And so that's what I'm going to give you this morning is that. And it's, again, based out of Romans chapter eight on the never-ending love of Christ. Just a little background on Romans chapter eight. Of course, the book of Romans is the treatise on the gospel, right? Like the first

three chapters, he paints for us justification. Actually, the first five chapters, he paints for us justification, our need for a Savior and God's provision of a Savior through Jesus Christ. In chapter six and seven, he paints for us the struggle of sanctification, the struggle that we have in life to become who Christ wants for us to be and to live as God wants for us to live. And in chapter eight, he gives us the victory of sanctification. And J. Vernon McGee put it best in his commentary

that Romans chapter eight is the high point of the book of Romans, if not the entire New Testament, because it starts with no condemnation. It ends with no separation. And in the middle, you have victory over sin and peace in life. It is truly a high mark of the New Testament. And so he's discussed no condemnation. And now we get to the victory, the peace, and the lack of separation from the love of Jesus Christ. And so we pick up in verse 18. There's

three things we're going to cover here this morning in chapter eight. We're going to talk about the hope. We're going to talk about the hope. And we're going to talk about the never-ending love. So first of all, let's talk about the groaning. It says in chapter eight, verse 18, 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 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 subject 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 until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. And so as Paul gets into this, he sort of gives us a blanket statement to tell us where he's going to be at the end of the chapter. And the blanket statement, the thesis statement that covers the

rest of the chapter, if you will, is verse 18, where he says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come. The sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to come. He starts off with an interesting phrase. He starts off with the phrase, I consider. It's an interesting statement

that he makes because that word consider means to come to a reasoned conclusion. In other words, in Paul's life, in his walk with Jesus Christ up to this point in time, which by the way was filled with a great deal of suffering, just read any of his epistles, read the book of Acts, and you will begin to understand a man who understood suffering. As a matter of fact, when Paul gave his credentials, he didn't give the credentials of the degrees that he had earned. He didn't give the credentials of the fact that he was fluent in Hebrew, that he was fluent in Greek, that he was fluent in Latin. He didn't give those kind of credentials about himself.

No, the credentials that he gave of himself were the sufferings that he experienced in his furthering of the work of Jesus Christ because after all, when Paul was saved, he was told these are the things that you must suffer for the gospel. And so he says, I consider because he had lived his life suffering and as he had lived his life suffering, he had also lived his life in the faithfulness of God. And so he said, I consider that the sufferings of this present life. And can we just say that this life is filled with suffering? Can we just be honest about that with

ourselves? We would love for it to be painted with all of the beautiful things that nothing bad ever happened that, that everything is sunshine, rainbows and, and world peace, but it's not, there's not always sunshine. There's rarely rainbows and sometimes they're used for the wrong reasons. And oftentimes there's no peace because there is suffering in the world that we live in. It's the reality of the world that we live in. But he says the sufferings, I consider

that the sufferings of this present life, they are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. That word worthy means to be of the. Speaker 2 same weight. So, so literally what he says is this, there is no weight of comparison between the sufferings of this life and the glory that is to come. In other words, if you were to put the two

on a scale, the sufferings of this present life and the glory that's to be revealed in the future to us, there's no comparison because, because the weight of the glory that is to be revealed will far surpass the sufferings that we experience in this present life. And brothers and sisters, if we can begin to live with that.

If we can begin to live with that understanding, if we, like Paul, can come to a place where, where we can say, I have come to a reasoned conclusion as I have seen the suffering of life and the faithfulness of God. And if the faithfulness of God is the way it is on this side of eternity, can you imagine how glorious it will be on the other side of eternity? If we could live with the understanding that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory, how much that changes our perspective in all of life. I watched this happen in my father's life.

I watched it happen his entire life. I watched it happen as he thought cancer the first time. And, and he saw that the sufferings of this present life weren't worthy to be compared with that which is to come. I watched him battle through the fact that he was blind his entire life and, and knowing that the sufferings of this present life were not worthy to be compared with the glory which is to come.

It colored everything that he did in his life. And he goes on to explain further what he means about this suffering, this groaning that he's talking about. Notice what he says, for the anxious longing of the creation. He says, creation groans, for the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God, for creation was subjected to futility.

Jump down to verse 21, the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption. Look at verse 22, for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. One of the things that we know about the suffering of the world is that we see the groaning that takes place in creation. See, all of, all of creation right now is not really what it is.

It's not really what God intended for it to be. And it's kind of amazing because, because when you go on vacation to some of these most beautiful places in the world and, and, and you see God's amazing creation, you think, and this is what it looks like to be subjected to futility. This is what it looks like to be bound by corruption. This is what it looks like to groan.

But then in the midst of the beauty, you realize what nature has done throughout, especially the past few weeks. And I believe what we're seeing right now is we are seeing the groaning of creation. I don't know what you're thinking. I don't know what your thoughts on weather patterns are, and I don't care what your thoughts on weather patterns are, because we don't really get to control that much of, as much of the weather as we like to think that we do.

I don't know what your thoughts on cloud seeding. I don't care what your thoughts on all that are. Listen, God is in control of the weather, okay? God's in control of all these things. And what we're experiencing right now is we are experiencing the groaning of creation because creation right now is groaning, longing to be set free from the futility to which it has been subjected because of sin of humanity.

As a matter of fact, creation is groaning so much that. That we're seeing earthquakes in places that we've never seen earthquakes before. We're seeing volcanoes erupting all over the world. We're seeing weather be crazy like we've never seen before. And the reason why is not because of some manmade thing other than the fact that man brought sin into the world and creation is groaning.

But not only is creation groaning, we are groaning. I want you to notice what it says down in verse 23, excuse. Yeah. Verse 23. It says, When he uses that phrase, those who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, he's talking about believers in Jesus Christ because that's what we received when we came to Jesus as our saviors. We received the firstfruit of the Holy Spirit.

And so those of us that are believers that have tasted of the goodness of God, that have received of the. Firstfruits of the Holy Spirit, those of us who know what God has planned for us and those of us who can see what's going on around us, we have this groaning on the inside of us. Can we all just agree with that? Like I feel it. I feel the groaning inside of myself.

I groan because I see what sin is doing to people. I see the world right now being lost in sin and it hurts so bad to see people whose lives are given over to the addictions of the world, whose lives are given over to the emptiness of the world, to the self-righteousness of the world, and their lives are being destroyed because of sin. And because of that, on the inside, I groan. Every time I see it, every time someone comes to me and shares with me the things that they're seeing happen in their family because of the destruction of sin, I groan on the inside because of it.

And me, as someone who is the first who has the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit, as a believer in Jesus Christ, I groan and I hear it from you all, too. I know that this is what's happening inside of you guys. I groan because I see the pain of the diseases that are in the world right now. I groan because I see what it does to people, because I see how the diseases that come about because of sin that's in the world.

I groan because I see the sin in my own life that keeps me from being who I know God wants me to be and holds me back from everything that God has for me and sometimes keeps me from being the man of God that I want to be. And I groan because of that. And what I'm groaning for, really, is I'm groaning for the day when the adoption of the sons of God is complete. Creation is groaning for the day when the adoption of the sons of God is complete.

You know what that means? It means I'm groaning for the day where I am who God intended for me to be. Creation is groaning for the day that we become who God intended for us to be. It reminds me of that scene towards the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. If you watched that movie, at the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when the evil winter witch is put to death and she's defeated and all of a sudden there's this huge meltdown of winter and everything turns back into spring and it's beautiful and it's glorious.

It's kind of like that's what nature's waiting for. Nature is waiting for us to be. Nature is waiting for Satan to be bound and for us to be revealed as God has intended for us to be, no longer bound by sin. But in the world right now, there's groaning. But in the midst of that groaning, I will remind you that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come.

And that brings us to the second thing. We see the groaning in the world. But the second thing that we see in Romans chapter 8 here is the hope. The hope. Notice what it says. For in hope we have been saved. Verse 24. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he has already seen? But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it.

You see, we have been saved in hope. What's the hope that we've been saved in? The hope that we've been saved in is what he told us in verse 18. That the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory which is to come. That's the hope. That's the hope that we have. But it's not something that we see yet. Because what is hope if it's something that you can see?

We only hope for that which we have not seen. And if we hope for that which we have not seen, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance, right? This word hope is important because this word hope is not usually what we think of with hope. The word hope here is not wishful thinking, right? I use this illustration all the time, but it's the best one I can come up with.

When I was in junior high, I really wanted to dunk a basketball. But in junior high, I had not quite hit 5'6", and I still had the vertical leap of a 2-year-old, right? It was not hope. It was wishful thinking. And now that I'm 45 years old, it's still wishful thinking. It's not going to be able to happen. That's not what he's talking about here. He's not talking about some wishful thinking off in the distance that maybe if some miraculous thing can happen,

maybe if God would go against the laws of nature, I could do something that I've never been able to do. No. It's an eager expectation. It's something that we know is going to happen because it's a promise that has been made by a God who has kept every promise that he's made to us through all of us. He's kept every promise that he's made to us through all of us.

And so he says, in this hope, we have been saved. But listen, we don't see it yet. Because if we see it, it's not really hope. But if we hope for it, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. We eagerly wait for it with perseverance. I like to use the illustration of Christmas morning, right? Like you know it's coming. It's not just wishful thinking. You know it's coming.

And you eagerly wait for it with perseverance, right? Every morning you wake up. Little kid, you wake up and you're like, oh, three days till Christmas. Two days till Christmas, right? One day till Christmas. And it's because you have this hope. And so you eagerly wait for it. Can I just tell you, I watched my dad eagerly wait with perseverance for the hope that he had.

I watched him wait his entire life for it. Because his entire life was spent serving the Lord, particularly in the area of worship. My dad was a good teacher, but my dad was a great worship leader. And I felt like always when he led worship, the, the, the curtains of heaven were pulled back for just a minute and you went directly into the throne room of God.

I don't know if that's overpainting the situation, but I don't feel like it is because that's what it was like when he would lead in worship. And I remember he, he eagerly waited for the day when he would be able to see clearly, right? And he eagerly waited for it with perseverance. And, and as his body began to deteriorate and he got to the place where he couldn't do worship anymore, I remember him being so brokenhearted over that.

Matter of fact, that was the hardest thing he ever faced was not being able to lead worship anymore. There were times over the past few weeks where he really couldn't listen to worship music very much because he would just burst into tears because he couldn't do it anymore. And it was so hard for him. And I remember when he got to the place where he could no longer lead worship, he said, I just want to keep serving the Lord.

Matter of fact, when he received his diagnosis, uh, a little over two years ago, when he received that diagnosis, my mom went to him and she said, what do you want to do? We'll do anything that you want to do. We'll go anywhere you want to go. We'll do anything you want to do. What do you want to do? You already wanted to do his words, not mine. He said, I just want to serve God.

He said, I just want to serve God. He said, I just want to serve the Lord. See, that's eagerly waiting with perseverance. It's because that's all he wanted to do. And I remember when he got to the place where he could no longer lead worship anymore. He couldn't even attend church anymore. He said, I can still do one thing. I can still pray for people. And he did that faithfully.

I remember the last two or three weeks of his life. Matter of fact, this is the last two weeks. He was so out of it all the time. It didn't make much sense when he talked. And I was sharing with him some things that God was doing with the ministry of Fellowship of Christian Athletes that I'm working with. And some kids. We're coming back. And I was excited about them coming back to be student leaders.

And as I'm sharing with him all of this, and he's not making much sense in anything he says, his one moment of clarity is he broke out into just some spontaneous prayer and started praying for these kids that were coming back. He started praying for the leaders that they would lead well. He started praying for the kids that they would receive God's word well. Because that's what he wanted to do.

See, that's hope that you eagerly wait for with perseverance. Amen? He said, we're saved in this hope. Are there sufferings in this present life? Absolutely. But they're nothing to be compared with the glory that is to come. So eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Now, he tells us that we have hope on this side of eternity. Notice what it says. Verse 26. 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 that are 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. I love this because he tells us that we have hope that is future. But we also have hope that is present.

And the first thing that he tells us about the present hope that we have is that the Holy Spirit will help us in our weaknesses. And you know what our greatest weakness is? Prayer. And if prayer is our greatest weakness, do you know what it also is? Our greatest weapon. And so we don't always know how to use it. Right? And so he says, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

For we do not always know how to pray. But he intercedes for us. With groanings that cannot be uttered. Do you know what the word groan there means? The word groan there means to sigh. Let me explain to you what he means when he says this. Sometimes you hit a place in prayer where you don't know what to say. Sometimes you hit a place in prayer where there are no more words.

And you just, all you know how to do is just sit back. And I call it sighing in the Spirit. Where eventually you just kind of go.

And the Holy Spirit is like, I got you. This is what he meant. Because you just hit that place. Where you don't know what to say. You don't know what else to say. And that's what the Holy Spirit does for us. He comes in and he helps us in our weakness. And I got to tell you, as a pastor, this is one of the most freeing verses that I can read. Because as a pastor, you're always supposed to know what to say.

You're always supposed to know how to pray. And you're always supposed to know how to do the right thing. And I'm here to tell you right now, a little bit of honesty. Taking off the vest here. I don't always know what to say. I don't always know how to pray. And I rarely know how to do the right thing. And so I'm kind of like, Lord, I don't know what I'm going to do at this point in time.

I'll never forget teaching a message on forgiveness one time. And I hit it pretty hard. And I talked about the necessity of forgiveness. And afterwards, somebody pulled me aside and said, hey, I need to talk to you when everybody leaves. And I said, okay, no problem. So we go into my office. And they start talking to me. And they're like, I really struggle with forgiveness.

And they explain to me why. And after they explained to me why, I was like, I get that. Like, that's really hard. Because what they walked me through are things no human being should have to go through in their life. And they're like, I don't know how to forgive that. I'm in a place where I don't know how to forgive that. And I remember thinking, I'm supposed to be able to say something.

And I'm supposed to be able to pray right now. And I have no idea how to because I am so shook by what that lady just told me. So all I need to do is put my arm on the shoulder, my hand on the shoulder, and just say, Lord, I have no idea what to say. I have no idea how to pray. But I know you get it. In Jesus' name, amen. And that was all I know how to do. And I know that in that moment, because of the promise of this scripture, that the Holy Spirit was like, I got you.

This is what he meant. This is what's needed. This is what's needed here. Because that's what the Holy Spirit does for us. And we have hope on this side of eternity because we know that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses because we don't always know how to pray and he intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. But not only that, there's a second reason why we have hope on this side of eternity

because I want you to notice what it says. And we know, verse 28, I've got this one underlined and highlighted. And we know that God causes all things to work together. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purposes. Listen, this is the refrigerator verse, right? Like, this is the doily verse that's on the table or it's hanging in your mom's bedroom or you name it.

Like, this is the verse, right? It's the patented Bible verse that we all love. But don't let that strip it of its power. Because this is a powerful verse. I read something the other day and it kind of made me mad. It said, things you don't say to people who have lost loved ones. All things work together. You know what? You better say that to me. Because that's the only thing I'm holding on to right now is that all things work together for good.

That God is going to bring something good out of the hardest week of my life. That God is going to bring something good out of watching my dad suffer like I've never seen anybody suffer before. That God's going to bring something good out of that. I don't want you to not say that to me because I have to believe it. That has to be said because no matter what's going on, we've got to believe God is going to bring something good out of it.

Otherwise, it's just some cruel. Cosmic joke. All things work together for good. To those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. Let me tell you a little story about my dad. My dad was born premature. Everybody wants to know, when did your dad become blind? My dad was born premature. And in the 50s, they thought when you put a premature baby in the incubator, if a little bit of oxygen is good, a lot is better.

And so they gave them too much oxygen. So when they were taken out of the incubator, their eyes reacted weird. And it caused detached retinas. And so in my dad's right eye, it was a completely detached retina. And in his left eye, it was a partially detached retina. It was always funny to hear him tell stories that he thought it was funny. It was always funny to hear him tell stories about every time a new eye tech, when he would go to the doctor, eye doctor, every time one of the new techs would take a look at his eye because they'd go, hold on, I've got to go grab a doctor.

He's like, no, no, no, no, no. It's OK. I know it's wrinkled back there. That's it's from my it's from what happened to me because that's just the way he was. Well, most of us would look at that. And we would say. That's the worst thing you can imagine happening to your child. That's the worst thing that you can imagine happening in your life. Do you realize that's the single most important event in my dad's life?

Because it started a domino effect that led him to where he is today, because my dad ended up having to go away to a school in Kansas City because they didn't have special ed programs here. They didn't have special ed programs in most of the public schools at that point in time, like they do now. And so he went to a school with nothing but a bunch of other blind kids. And there was a music teacher there that took interest in my dad.

They said, we see a gift in him. I think he he could be a pretty good singer. And so he started working with him and he taught him what it looked like to really sing. And he started teaching him how to play musical instruments. And so because of that, my dad developed the ability to sing and through all of that, the ability to lead worship. Do you know what he had to do every Sunday morning?

Because at that point in time, the state of Kansas said the best thing that you can do with a young person is make sure that they're in church every single week. Is it? Everybody had to find a church to go to. And so my dad started going to a church. And so he had the foundation of God. He had the foundation of Godliness laid in his life. And it was at that school that he gave his heart to Jesus Christ.

And in those moments, because he was trained how to sing, because he was led to Jesus and because he was in some ways protected from some things, he became the man of God that he is today. Because God causes all things to work together for the good to those who love him and to those who are called according to his purposes. See, brothers and sisters. We're saved in this hope.

Hope that doesn't just extend into eternity, but hope that's here for us today. But not only do we have hope for today and that the Holy Spirit gives us what we need and that all things work together for good, but we also have hope for 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.

These whom he predestined, he also called. And these whom he called, he also justified. And these whom he justified, he also glorified. You see, there's a path that our lives follow when we start walking with Jesus, and it starts off with the fact that God predestined us. I don't know what your thoughts on predestination are. I don't care what your thoughts on predestination are because the Bible says that if you're here this morning and you're born again, you were predestined.

You can try to exit out of the Bible, but you just can't do it. You should know, and if you're here this morning as a believer in Jesus Christ, that should make you feel incredibly loved because God, before the foundations of the earth, looked and he saw you and he said, I want them. And he called you out by name. And those whom he foreknew, in other words, he knew you before you were ever formed in your mother's womb, he predestined you, but he predestined you for a purpose.

And the purpose that he predestined you for is to be conformed to the image of his son. Now, predestination doesn't mean that you don't have some sort of a choice in it because you still have to decide. Choose who you're going to serve. But you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you're serving Jesus, it's because God called you. It's because he predestined you.

And if you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you're like, how do I know if I'm called? Well, put your faith in Jesus today and you're going to know beyond a shadow of a doubt God chose you. But he chose you to be conformed to the image of his son. And you know how that works? This is how we become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

It starts off with him calling us. You see, there was a point in time in your life. When God started calling you. When God started laying on your heart the fact that you're a sinner. When God started laying on your heart the fact that you were not being filled with all of the garbage of the world. That it wasn't doing the right things for you. You started realizing your need for a Savior.

You didn't even know what that meant. You just knew you needed something. And then you heard the message about Jesus. And you just knew that you needed something. Jesus promised to give it to you. So you came to faith in Jesus Christ. That's being called. God called you. If some of you are here this morning and God's been calling you. And you ain't been picking up the phone.

It's time for you to answer. Because God's been calling you. And God's saying you need to come to me. Because you need a Savior. Because you are a sinner. Because you are separated from me. And so God called you. And when he called you. And you answered that call. He then justified you. Justify is a legal term. It means to be declared not guilty. That's the idea of justified.

In other words, at that point in time, God took away all of your sin. And he gave you all of his righteousness. And then through that process, you were also sanctified. Set apart unto God. And now you're living in a process that we call sanctification. Though in God's eyes, you're as holy as you could ever be. On this side of eternity, you are learning what it looks like to become who God has called for you to be.

But one day, one day, you will be glorified. Because those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. To be glorified means to be taken home to be with the Lord. To be given your brand new body. That is no longer held down by the garbage of this world. The statement that we all said. When my dad breathed his last breath on this side of eternity.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt he took his first breath on the other side of eternity. And though he closed his eyes on this side of eternity. I know in that moment he opened his eyes on the other side of eternity. On the other side of eternity. And he saw clearly for the very first time. And you know who the first person he was when he saw clearly for the very first time?

Jesus. Now listen. The Bible tells us that there's only one time that we see Jesus stand up. From the right hand of the Father. Other than that, he's always painted as seated at the right hand of the Father. Except when Stephen was martyred. And it says that he stood up when Stephen was martyred. But in my own mind. Don't correct me theologically later. I said that on my own between me and Jesus.

In my own mind. When my dad opened his eyes on the other side of eternity. Jesus was standing there waiting for him. As a matter of fact. Somebody after first service said. I don't agree with you Ryan. I think Jesus was running to meet him. I said I'm willing to go with that. If we can both be theologically wrong. Because he was glorified. And that's the idea.

That's the hope that we have for eternity. All of this was laid aside. And he was given something brand new. And I can't imagine what that's going to be like. And so he says. We have this hope. And so we've seen the groaning. And we've seen the hope. But now it's time to get to the point. The never ending love. Bear with me as I read all of these verses. 31 through 39.

It says. 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. 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. Who was raised.

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 peril. Or sword. Just as it is written. For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We're considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we are overwhelmingly. 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. Will be able to separate us. From the love of God. Which is in Christ Jesus. Our Lord. As he begins to tell us about this never ending love. He uses a question to call to mind. To teach us some things.

The first thing he asks is. What shall we say to these things? If God is for us. Who can be against us? The Amplified Bible put it like this. If God is for us. What on earth could ever be successful against us? Do you ask this question? Do you live that way? Do you believe that way? Do you believe that if God is on your side. That is always a majority. No matter what you're against.

Do you believe that if God is for you. That nothing ever could be successful against you. That if God is for you. Who dare to stand up against you. The temptations of the world aren't too much for you. The attacks of the world aren't too much for you. The depression you are battling with isn't too much for you. The anxiety you struggle with isn't too much for you.

The fact you don't feel worthy of love. is not something that you should live with because if God is for you, who can be against you? You can rest in that. You see, that's Paul's conclusion to though there's sufferings in this present life, they're not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to come. Why? Because if God is for us, who's gonna stand against us?

He goes on to ask a second question. He says, or he goes on to explain that. He says, 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? If he didn't withhold Jesus from us, how much more is he not gonna withhold every good thing from us? He goes on to ask a second question. Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

God's the one who justifies. Who's the one who condemns Christ Jesus? Is he who died? Yes, rather, who was raised and who is at the right hand of God and who also intercedes for us? He says, who? Who can bring a charge against God's elect? Any of you in here deal with feelings of condemnation? I do, and my dad did. I would say if there was one major struggle

that my dad dealt with in his life, it was feelings of condemnation, feelings of not always feeling like he could do enough. And I know he always had to fight those, and he always had to fight them with verses like this. Who can bring a charge against God's elect? Who can condemn? Christ died for us. And he is raised for us, and he is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

Can I paint this with another picture from Romans chapter 5? You see, Christ died for us, and we are told that God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And because of that, we can know that who's going to condemn us? Christ died for us. Not only did he die for us, but he's sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

You know what that means he is? That means he is our defense attorney. And he is sitting at the right hand of the Father saying, if the glove don't fit, you must acquit. That's an O.J. Simpson joke. I don't know if that's appropriate to make at this point in time, but I had to lighten things up just a little bit. It got a little heavy there for a minute. Sorry, kids.

But God is a real defense. Jesus is a real defense attorney. Because you know what he says? The best thing you can do right now is plead guilty. But don't worry. I've already paid the penalty. And so as our defense attorney, he says, I know he's guilty, but I've already paid the penalty. He's with me. And that one sentence, he's with me, is the thing that provides protection for every believer in Jesus Christ.

And the thing that reveals the love of Jesus Christ greater than anything else. Because as we said, God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Right? And so we know that we can't be separated from the love of Jesus Christ. Because first of all, if God's for us, who can be against us? Second of all, who can be against us?

Who can bring a charge against God's elect? And then third, he says, who will separate us from the love of Christ? That word separate is an interesting word. It's kind of a powerful word. The word, hold on, I lost my place in my notes again. The word separate, can't hardship separate us? No, no, no, no. If God is for us. Hold on, I lost my spot. Nothing can separate us in all these things, does it?

Oh, there it is. Okay. What can separate? The word separate there means to divide, to put asunder, or to divorce. It's a powerful word. In other words, who can divorce us from the love of Jesus Christ? And he brings up the first question, can hardship divorce us from the love of Jesus Christ? In other words, as the Amplified Bible says, excuse me, the New Living Translation says,

does it mean that he does not love us if we go through hard things? And it, of course, necessitates a negative answer. Of course not. Matter of fact, he goes on to say, just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long, and we are counted as sheep to the slaughterhouse. So what is he saying there? We're just going to go through hardships?

Yes, but because nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, in the midst of the hardships, I want you to notice what it says. But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. Can hardship separate us from the love of Jesus Christ? Absolutely not. Because through him, we are overwhelmingly conquerors. Do you live your life like that?

Do you live your life in that love? Do you live your life in the love of Jesus Christ to the point where no one can touch you anymore? That's the way Paul lived. Remember a couple weeks ago, we went over that verse in Acts chapter 20, verse 24, and none of these things move me, so that I may go and finish my race? How do you get to a place in life where you say, none of these things move me?

How do you get to a place in life where you can say, I'm overwhelmingly a conqueror? In spite of all of the hardship, in spite of all of the difficulty, in spite of all of the things, how do you get to that place? Because you start to realize, nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate you. Because if he died for you, if he is going to glorify you,

if he is sanctifying you, if he is for you and who can be against you, then what's going to separate you from him? He gives one more statement on this. He says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, angels or principalities, things present or things to come, powers or height or depth or any other created thing will be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. That word convinced is another great word.

The word convinced literally says, I have come to be convinced through a process of persuasion to a settled conclusion. I have come through a process of persuasion, to a settled conclusion. Amplified Bible puts it like this. I am convinced and continue to be convinced. In other words, every new thing that happens in the life of Paul reminded him that nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ.

Can I share with you a couple of stories? One's a repeat from what I shared yesterday, but the second one's a new one. Can I do that real quick? I don't care if you say yes or no. I'm going to do it anyway. So I just thought I'd ask. It seemed nice. Two of the hardest weeks. I've ever been through in my entire life have taken place in the last four and a half years.

The first one was four and a half years ago when a good friend of mine is my cousin. More like a brother. He passed away very unexpectedly. And after that happened, I was really struggling to wrap my mind around it. Matter of fact, I was really, I was starting to question some things at that point in time because I was just like, what on earth is going on? And I remember sitting down that morning

because the only thing I knew to do was just to get back into the world. And I remember sitting down that morning. It's either the morning after or two days after. It's all a little blurry at that point. But I remember sitting down with my Bible and I was going through the Psalms at that point in time. I almost always read a Psalm of the day. And I opened it up and I read Psalm 40,

verses one through three. And I've shared it before, but what the hay we're here, right? It says, I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and he heard my cry. And he brought me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay. And he placed my feet upon a rock, a true song in my mouth. Praise unto our God. Many will see it and will fear the Lord. And I remember reading that in that moment.

And it's one of the few times in my life where I sensed so clearly that God was right next to me. And it was like he was saying, I've got you. It's gonna be okay. We're gonna get through this. So fast forward four and a half years later and it's Thursday, no, Friday morning of this week. And I wake up and we're going through this. We're going through the Psalms in our daily reading right now

in the back of the bulletin. And I'm a little bit ahead. Shocker, right? I'm a little bit ahead. And I wasn't even paying attention to where we were in the Psalms because my head was just not in it. But I open it up and I start reading. I'm sitting down on my front patio and I'm reading. And what do I read? Psalm 40, verses one through three. And in that moment, I sensed God is sitting right next to me.

And he said, I still got you. And I was reminded, nothing. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Well, so yesterday morning, I get up and I do my devotions. I couldn't sleep very well. So I woke up pretty early. I do my devotions. And a lot of times if I really need to clear my head, especially to do a message, which is what I was doing yesterday afternoon,

I just gotta run. That's just all that there is to it. I know that makes me a freak, but it's the way God made me. And so I got up and I did my devotions. And I'm like, man, I've just gotta go clear my head. I'm gonna go run. And I don't run with a phone. I run with my watch because I don't want text messages or calls. That's me in Jesus' time, right? And so I take off and I turn the music on on my headphones

and I get to the end of the driveway. And apparently, I had not charged my watch all the way. And so I get this little alert on my watch, 10% battery left. Well, I'm using a run tracker and music. I'm like, great, it's gonna last like five minutes and it's gonna die. Well, I wanna run anyway. But I just threw up this little arrow prayer, right? This is a ridiculous story.

Please bear with me. This is silly. It won't mean anything to anybody else, but it meant the world to me, okay? Because I had my praise list playing and I just needed to worship the Lord in this moment, right? So I said, Lord, would you please just let this last the entire run? It's a three-mile run. That's a lot longer than five minutes because I'm old and I'm slow.

But I was like, can you just let it last? And then I didn't think about it. I just ran and me and Jesus had our time together. And I got to my driveway and I walk up to the driveway and I walk in the door. And you know what happened the minute I walked in the door? My watch died. And it was just that moment. And in that moment, I almost sensed God saying, I still got you.

Because nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And God loves to do little things like that that are incredibly insignificant in the big scheme of eternity. They're incredibly insignificant in the life of anybody else. But for you, they're the most important thing that can happen for you that day. For you, that's the most important thing.

And God just wants you to know he loves you. So he does little things for you to say, I love you and I got you. Because nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ. Because it is truly the never ending love of Christ. Amen. And what I want you to do this morning is I want you to know it and I want you to rest in it. See, I bet you in this crowd of people,

there's some of you that don't really know the love of Jesus Christ. You're not experiencing the love. You're not experiencing the love of Jesus Christ. And you're not experiencing it for one of two reasons. Either one, you're not experiencing it because you've never come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You've never hit that point where you have finally surrendered.

You've been hearing the calling. That's how you ended up here this morning is because you said, you know what? I need to start going to church. Hey, the bald guy's fun to listen to. Let's go listen to him, right? And you showed up to church this morning. You didn't really want to be here. Maybe your friends drug you here. Maybe your parents drug you here. Maybe just the Holy Spirit drug you here

and you showed up. And God's been calling you. And you don't know the love of Jesus Christ in your life because you've never accepted the love of Jesus Christ in your life. You can't tell stories like that because you've never known Jesus. And you're completely separated from the love of Jesus Christ. He still loves you. You're just not experiencing it. And somebody in here this morning,

I feel like probably needs to give their life to Jesus because you don't know that love in your life this morning. And some of you are in here this morning and you're not experiencing, you're not experiencing the love of Jesus. Even though you've known it in the past, you're not experiencing it right now because now you're walking in sin. Now sin is separating you from Christ.

He still loves you, which is why you're hearing this right now. He still loves you, but you're not experiencing it because sin has cut off the flow. And you're a believer, you've experienced it in the past, and you're like, man, it's just dry. I don't feel it right now. Well, maybe, maybe it's time for you to confess some things to Jesus to get things right,

to get things right between you and the Lord because that's cutting off that experience of God's love in your life. But everybody in this room this morning, I want you to begin to rest in the love of Jesus Christ because it's so much greater than you can ever imagine. It is so much more powerful than you can ever imagine. I want you to know it, and I want you to rest in it.

Amen? Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me.

Father, we come to you this morning and we pray. And Lord, I praise you for your word that's a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Lord, I praise you for that working of your Holy Spirit that I just have felt so strongly in here this morning. And God, I just pray that only the words of you would ring true in people's minds. Lord, that anything of me would just fall by the wayside

and be forgotten. But Lord, may your word stand true. And Lord, I do just want to pray for those that don't know you this morning that they would make that decision. Lord, that they would come to a place where they would just say, you know what? I just gotta know Jesus. I gotta know that love in my life. Lord, I pray for those that are living in sin. Lord, they've been battling with that sin

and they're just not experiencing that love right now. And they need to. They need to know once again that you love them. But Lord, we know that that starts with some confession. And Father, I know that there's some that live such a performance-based life. Lord, they feel like love must be earned. Like respect. And they struggle to just sit back and know they don't have to earn it.

They don't have to try to gain it. Lord, you give it freely. And they need to rest in that. And so Lord, I lift us up to you today and just ask that your Holy Spirit would do the work in hearts that needs to be done. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed. Be blessed.

God, from whom all blessings flow.

He raised him.

He's by. Sing that again. God, from. Lord, God, I just thank you for the day and thank you for your word this morning. And God, this morning as we leave here, I just pray that your Holy Spirit go with us and continue to minister to our lives. And Father, we love you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.