Amen. It's good singing.
Let's turn in God's Word to Romans chapter 8.
I'm going to break into the chapter.
We're going to read from verse 28 through to the end, Romans
chapter 8. As you're turning to the place,
just want to inform you that at the month of February, then we
will return to our studies and 1st Thessalonians, and then
we'll slowly work our way through dealing with chapter 5.
So do you remember that in prayer?
And I appreciate that. But just for today we will turn
to this portion Romans chapter 8.
Let's read from verse 28. Let's hear God's word for those
online, the words that come up on screen, reading of course,
from the King James Bible, Romans 8.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose,
for whom He did for know, He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first
born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did
predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called them
He also justified, and whom He justified them He also
glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with them also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yeah,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is written, for thy sake?
We are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, their things present, or things
to come, their height, their death, the only other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
We know God will stamp with His own approval and blessing this
reading of His own precious, infallible Word.
My text this morning is taken from Romans chapter 8, verses 38
and 39. Paul says, For I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, their height
nor depth, the other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now my theme today is in the form of a question.
Are you fully persuaded of an inseparable love?
Notice that this text comes at the very end of one of the most
wonderful chapters in the whole of the Bible.
Romans chapter 8 stands as one of the great mountain peaks of
Holy Scripture. It begins with the words in
verse one. No condemnation, and it ends
with the words, no separation. And our text is the very summit.
This text is the top of that very mountain peak, and it
extolls and highlights the unsearchable, unchangeable,
eternal life transforming love of God for us in Christ Jesus
our Lord. 1 Commentator by the name of James Montgomery Bush
used the analogy here of a mountain climber.
Think of a mountain climber tied to his guide with a rope.
The root is treacherous. It's difficult.
He often slips and slides, sometimes he even falls, but the
rope that ties is secured to the mountain guide, and he doesn't
fall to his death because of that rope.
Now the Lord Jesus Christ is our mountain guide, who never slips
or falls the rope that ties as securely to him as his great
love for us, as seen in his atoning death for us on the
cross. You see, I want you to
understand that the apostle Paul doesn't write these words from
an ivory tower of comfort, but from the battleground of
affliction, the chapters filled with words suffering, groaning,
weakness, persecution, death. Yet it rises to this triumphant
confession. Nothing can separate the true
believer from the love of God in Christ, and a grasp of that
truth will transform your life To the extent that you
understand it, to the 10th. The extent that you fill your
heart and mind with this truth, to the extent that you feel it
in your soul, to the extent that you live with it in a deep sense
of reality, you will live in victory over temptation, over
sin, and you will be enabled to joyfully persevere in the midst
of trials and troubles. Now, this is not mere
sentimental optimism. This is a gospel certainty.
Paul doesn't say I hope, or I think, or I feel.
Look at the text, verse 38. For I am persuaded.
The old apostle stands fully assured.
He's absolutely convinced because this love that he's
writing to us about, it doesn't rest or reside in US per SE.
This love is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What does he say? Nothing nor any creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Now I want you to think of this.
Paul, under divine inspiration, brings us up this mountainside.
He brings us to the summit, and he does so by a series of seven
rhetorical questions. Look at chapter 8, verse 31.
It's asked this if God be for us or or verse 31.
What shall we say then to these things?
There's the first quest. Notice the question mark the
second question, verse 31 B if God be for us, who can be
against us then he tells us in verse 32, he that spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all.
Here's the question, how shall he not with them also freely
give us all things? Here's the 4th question, verse
33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Notice the question mark.
Then we have verse 34. Who is he that condemneth?
And he gives us the answer. It is Christ that died.
Yeah, rather that is risen again is even at the right hand of
God. He also make up intercession for
us. And then he asks this 6th
question, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
And then he adds, these words shall tribulation or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.
And there after sword, you've got the 7th question.
Mark 7 rhetorical questions. And then the apostle Paul does
something amazing. He quotes from Psalm 44 verse
22. He says as it is written where
Psalm 44 verse 4022, For thy sake we're killed all the day
long. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. He quotes this verse to show
that experiencing and during these trials and troubles, even
death and martyrdom for Christ's sake, is nothing new for God's
people. And then he boldly affirms the
words of verse 37. Nay, and all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us.
And then he answers our text. He concludes with his firmly
settled conviction. For I am persuaded that they
their death nor life, their angels, their principalities,
their powers, their things present, their things to come,
their height and their depth. Any other creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. To sum up, this is what he's
saying. God's great love for us in
Christ Jesus our Lord enables us to be more than conquerors.
Though we face trials and troubles, though everything that
we face in life's journey comes against us, we can still be more
than conquerors. So we're thinking this morning,
are you fully persuaded of an inseparable love?
And I have three points. One, Paul's persuasion is a
settled conviction. If you look at verse 38, Paul
says for I am persuaded that see Paul writes here, he he speaks
with the language of a settled conviction.
For I am persuaded. Why is he persuaded?
Not because of particular feeling in his him, his heart
and mind. Not because he is hopeful, like
hoping against hope. No, the words imply certainty,
for I am absolutely certain I am fully persuaded.
And the word persuaded in the Greek New Testament is put in
the passive case. That means that the word
persuaded implies a conclusion reached after a process.
Paul is saying I have come through a process of persuasion
that has led me to this settled conviction.
This persuasion has been reached after a process of testing and
trials. This persuasion has been forged
in the furnace of suffering and the facing of persecution and
near death experiences. He hasn't persuaded himself.
Someone else has persuaded him. He has persuaded.
He is passive in this process, and as a result of this process
of persuasion, he has come to this settled conviction.
He's absolutely certain he is beyond doubt.
He is brought to this conclusion by the evidence God has put
before him and the evidence goes all the way back to Romans
chapter 8 verse 28. Listen to these words and we
know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
This certainty didn't arise from Paul being in an emotional
state, it arose from God's sovereign purpose.
It's interesting in verses 30 or 29 and 30, Paul brings home 5
great truths. If you think of the words who
are the called according to his purpose.
And then he talks about a people that God did for no, a people
that God did predestinate, a people whom God called, a people
whom he also justified, and a people whom he also glorified.
And since all that has happened, and in light of this golden
chain that cannot be broken, Paul is drawn to this great
conclusion and no other conclusion.
And we'll ask the question what he's fully persuaded off.
And here's the answer. For I am persuaded that they,
their death nor life, their angels, their principalities,
their powers, their things present, their things to come,
their height and their depth, or any other creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
the Lord. Nothing shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. That is Paul's persuasion.
Paul's persuasion is a settled conviction.
Now let me ask the question, Do you know the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord? It's the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus the Lord, the rope that binds you, the rope that
ties you to the heavenly guide going up the mountainside.
I want you to think of a ship. It's left the harbour, we'll
call it the harbour of birth. You're sealing out towards the
harbour of death. That ship is going to be beset
by many violent storms. It's going to be tossed
violently. There's going to be the fear of
the loss of life. There's going to be despair.
There's going to be hardship, but in the midst of those
storms, if you have an anchor that holds secure, then your
ship will not be destroyed. Your ship will not drift.
And that anchor is the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. So I'm changing the analogy from
a rope tied to a mountain guide to an anchor in a ship.
Remember, the apostle Paul is writing to born again believers.
They're suffering hardship. They've got trials and troubles.
They've got persecutions. They've been put out of their
homes. Their possessions have been
taken from them. They face death.
They face martyrdom, All because of their love and loyalty to
Jesus Christ. All because they've been sealed
by God's free, sovereign grace, All because they're fully
committed to Christ and Christ's gospel.
And Paul is equipping the Saints of God with the knowledge that
not only can they persevere in the face of these trials and
troubles in life for Christ's sake, but we can be made more
than conquerors in all of these things.
The apostle Paul's persuasion is a settled conviction.
Paul's persuasion is also a scriptural conviction.
When I think of the words in verse 39, nor height, nor death,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I'm writing over that text. No separation, nothing can
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. You see, we live in a world that
thinks that Bible believe in Christianity is just one of the
big religions in the world on a par with Judaism or on a par
with Islam. It is not Bible believe in
Christianity is the only true religion in the whole world, and
I could preach a whole sermon in that, but you're not.
But Bible believe in Christianity is different from
all the rest of the world religions.
And there's many reasons why it's different, but here's one
Ephesians one verse 6 talks about being accepted in the
beloved. And our acceptance in the
beloved begins and takes place at the moment of true
conversion, when we're born of the Spirit and washed in the
blood and brought into a saving union with Jesus Christ.
So our acceptance begins and takes place at the start of
having a relationship with God, and we discover at the start of
that relationship that salvation is of the Lord, that salvations
by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as
revealed in the Scriptures alone.
We've heard the call repent ye and believe the gospel and we've
received Christ by faith and we've rest upon him alone for
salvation and we discover something wonderful.
We discover not only that we can have an audience with God and
access into his presence and we can come and ask him for things
in prayer, but we discover this and this is a wonderful message
that we are accepted in the beloved.
It says to the praise of the glory of his grace, for in he
had made us accepted in the beloved.
Our acceptance is in Christ, and God accepts us in Christ at the
beginning of the Christian life, not the end.
And that's one of the great reasons as to why Bible belief
in Christianity is different from all the religions of the
world, because the religions of the world are a workspace
religion. Bible belief in Christianity
proclaims that the work is done and the work is done by Christ.
And the moment we receive Christ by faith and rest on Him alone
for salvation, we're accepted in him as legally righteous.
That's the whole theme of justification.
This world's not getting better. Some people believe that the
world is getting better and all trials and troubles will
gradually come to an end, and people will begin to love God
and they'll live out the sermon and the mind.
And as they do so, the world will gradually change and the
people will become good and moral and uprighted.
And at the end of their days, then they'll be accepted,
thinking about good deeds outweighing the bad deeds.
God will be the judge. That that's the thinking of
many. But that's not the teaching of
Bible and Christianity. That's not the teaching of Paul.
Look at Paul's teaching. The world's not getting better.
People are not becoming good and morally upright.
People are not on a process of being accepted through good
deeds. Look at verse 36 as it is
written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
No people will be LED as sheep to the slaughter.
That is, God's people will face martyrdom.
God's people will not be delivered out of all trials and
troubles. Trials and troubles will not be
removed from life's journey. Note the words here.
Paul says Frank, persuaded that neither death.
Paul commences with this final climax with the extremes of
human existence. One day we will all face death.
Death is the last enemy. Dost thy fear?
Death is a good question, and it's one of the believers
greatest fears, and yet it is rendered Paris.
Even if we're martyred, who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.
For I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, their hate, their death, nor any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? 3539 Separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Who's the US here? Do you see this?
Nothing shall be able to separate us.
That's the people whom God for knew.
That's the people whom God predestinated.
That's the people whom God called and justified and
glorified. God's love to them alone is
important. Not only is God a God of love,
but God is also a God of wrath against all others whom he has
not for you predestinated, called, justified, and
glorified. And here's the chief question
you have to ask on the journey. Am I the Lords?
Am I one of God's people? Do I belong to Christ?
Am I in Christ Jesus the Lord? You see people today say they
believe in the love of God. They never darken the door of
the church, never read their Bible.
They reject the great truths about the Lord Jesus Christ and
His personal work. They neglect, reject His
incarnation, don't believe he's the Son of God.
They reject his virgin birth. They reject his sinless life.
They reject his atoning death from the cross.
They reject his bodily resurrection.
They reject his ascension to glory, his universal priest of
the second coming. They reject that the God of the
Bible is a God of rather hate, sin, a God who punishes sin, and
God must punish an either in his Son or in the Sinner.
And you see those who say that God is love or we believe in a
God of love, they don't understand the Bible.
They don't understand Bible, believe in Christianity.
Let me explain John 3 and 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I want to tell you this now listen to me carefully.
No love of God can be known except in and through Christ
Jesus our Lord. The love of God is always in and
always through. Jesus Christ was speaking to one
of the men at the Junior Youth on Saturday and Friday night.
He was showing me 21 articles penned by a particular Unitarian
church close by. The first one is God.
Is love undefined? Of course.
But many have their own conception of what that
scripture means. God is love.
So I'll ask the question this morning.
Is it a holy love? Is it a just love, a righteous
love? Is it a love that's always and
only seen in Christ? And I don't care who they are, a
Christian, a church, you cannot know the love of God apart from
Jesus Christ. You can't divorce the love of
God from the love of Christ. Do you know him?
Do you believe in him? Believe in his incarnation, that
He's the Son of God, His virgin birth, his sin, his life, his
attorney death. The Bible teaches Galatians 4:00
and 4:00. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made under the law to
redeem them that were under the law. 2nd Corinthians 521 For he
that is God have made him, that is Christ to be sin for us, who
you know, sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him, and the penalty for sin, and the punishment where sin was
dealt with and atone for in the death of Christ.
And the only way we can know the love of God is in Jesus Christ.
All the love of God comes to us through Him alone.
Look at verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? We'll link it up with verse 39.
Separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. The love of Christ, verse 35,
and the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, are one
and the same. And what really matters is not
our love to Him, but that's important.
But what really matters is God's love to us because that's what's
in view here, God's love to us. Notice God's great love for us
is not diminished or terminated by our failures, our sins, our
followers, our shortcomings. Yes, our love for Him waxes weak
and weans, but this is an all powerful love because our love
or our salvation depends on God's choice of us, God's call
to us, God's hold on us, and it goes all the way back to God
choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1 and 4. Remember, He has called us
according to His purpose, to be conformed to the image of His
Son. In fact, He loved us and His Son
so much, He delivered His Son up for us all.
And that's what we read in Romans chapter 8 and verse 32.
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.
How shall He not with them also freely give us all thanks?
He did all that for us when we were yet without strength, when
we were sinners, when we were ungodly, when we were enemies.
And if He did that for us in this state and condition, then
how much more will He now by His life continue to save us until
the day we finally enter heaven? It's an all powerful love.
I'll tell you more than that. Christ has proved His love for
us. Look at verse 34 in that He died
for us in that sinful condition, and the power of Christ's love
holds us up and guarantees our continuance to the end.
It's a purposeful love because Christ stayed for His church,
not merely so that the Church could be forgiven of all sin of
thought. Word indeed, but that Christ
ultimately might present her to himself, perfectly cleansed,
perfectly washed, perfectly purified.
And that's exactly what we read there in Ephesians chapter 5.
Listen to these words in Ephesians 5.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it. Note the word, that which is a
demonstrative, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the Word, verse 27.
Here's another demonstrative that he might present it to
himself. A glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be
holy and without blemish. Christ set His heart on His
church for this end. His love was all powerful.
His love has been proven by His death in the cross, and His love
is a purposeful love. His love was not conditioned on
our worthiness or our performance.
It is His love that is in view, not our love for Him.
Notice God's love for us is not threatened or diminished by all
sorts of adversity. 835 less a possible list of things that
will try to separate us from the love of Christ, tribulation,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword.
Remember the quotation from the Old Testament, Psalm 44, verse
22? You see, these tribulations do
come. They have come to many people.
They will come. Why?
Well, often times they come because we're Christians,
because we're born again, because we're God's people.
And sometimes we fear and the fear is this that is the result
of some of these severe trials and troubles.
We shall feel the Lord or, or that we'll fall away and and
that these trials and troubles will separate us from the love
of Christ. And Paul is teaching, no, God's
love for us is rock solid. It's like a foundation and
whatever we face and when the trials and troubles come, we
must come again and continually to the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. The word tribulation is a
general word for trials and troubles.
The word distresses. Here's in light of these
tribulations, the heart and mind can have a feeling of strange
emotion. And these feelings, of course,
come whenever we we battle through these trials and
troubles. Think of an old soldier and he's
captured, he's a prisoner, he's put into the cell and what they
used to do, they used to get heavy weights and put it on his
chest and and they would distress him until he was
crushed to death. At other times they took old
soldiers and put them into cages and sails where there was no
room to stand, no room to sit, no room to lie, and it caused
great distress. That's the picture there.
Think of the word persecution, pursuing someone to do them
harm, verbal persecution, physical persecution, famine,
nakedness, extreme poverty and deprivation, all because of 1's
love and loyalty to Christ. Some countries, of course, you
can't get a job if you're a Christian, you can't provide for
your family basic needs. Why?
Because you profess the name of Christ.
What about the word perils here? That has to do with dangers.
Because of a man's labour for Christ, he he faces danger.
And think of the word sword. It has to do with martyrdom.
It has to do with execution, again due to 1's love and
loyalty to Christ. But notice what Paul says, verse
36 as it is written. For thy sake we're killed all
the day long. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. I've already emphasised that
this is nothing new to God's people.
God's people have experienced martyrdom down through the
centuries from the very first martyr, which remember, was
able. Listen to me carefully.
Trials and troubles will come even though you're a child of
God. Notice these words, for I'm
persuaded that neither death, death will come come eventually.
Death will usher us into God's presence, he mentions, nor life,
Life with all its complexities, with all its anxieties, with all
its pressures. Often times life is even a
bigger threat than death because in this life we have to suffer
the allurements and the enticements of the world.
We're tempted to sin and thought and word and deed, and we do sin
and thought and word and deed, and that's where we feel and
that's where we get most distressed, Spurgeon said.
I'm not so much afraid of dying as I am of sinning.
That is 10 times worse than death.
And God's children do sin. And God's children do fall into
a state of worldliness and they can grow cold for a time and
they can be careless of the things of God.
Place of prayer, Bible reading, the House of God, attendance at
the House of God on the Lord's Day.
They can get out of the habit of coming.
And if they're fit and able, they should be here.
We encourage them to come. Just don't sit at home if you're
fit and able and should be present amongst us.
But we do sin. But let's remember the Lord and
love take steps to convict us, to discipline us to to restore
us. Why?
Because life cannot permanently separate us from God's love.
And these trials and troubles that come, they don't single the
absence of God's love. They are proofs that God loves
us. You think of a Goldsmith and he
gets some gold. He puts it into the fire to melt
it down. The fire doesn't destroy the
gold. No, it, it purifies it.
And you see, trials and afflictions that come don't
separate the believer from God. Love these trials and troubles.
I'll tell you what they do. They help to refine our faith.
It it, it drives us deeper to our knees and a deeper
dependence on the Lord. Notice what else he says very
quickly here. Nor angels, nor principalities.
That's neither holy angels nor fallen principalities, neither
Satan nor a host of demons can separate us from the love of God
in Christ. Isn't this a very bold
confession in a world where true believers often feel spiritually
assaulted? But Christ is sovereign, Christ
re and supreme. Christ is our Saviour.
He adds this nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, present circumstances or things that will happen to us
tomorrow in the future before we die as we live out our life.
Think of the mountain gig and up the mountain and you're
beginning to slip and fall, but you're hailed by the rope that's
attached to the gate. And that rope is the love of God
in Christ. And what is Paul saying here?
Nothing in this present age or nothing in the world to come.
He's sweeping across time and space.
He's thinking of anything that could possibly happen to us.
All unknown things. No bad circumstances now are in
the future, can separate us from God's great love for us.
Neither height nor depth, nor any creature, even us.
We're believers in Christ. We're full of weakness.
We're human. We're full of doubts and fears.
We're sin, but nothing can sever the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing in heaven, nothing in
hell. It's his love for us that's the
rope, not our love for Him. And one final thing, because our
time is gone. Paul's persuasion is not only a
settled conviction, it's not only a scriptural conviction,
but it's also a spiritual conviction.
Listen to this as we finish the love of Christ, the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is a divine love. This is a demonstrated love.
It's in Christ Jesus, the one who gave himself for us in the
cross, who died on atoning death for us.
It's a defined love. It's only in Christ.
It's always in Christ, and it's a durable love.
So there's a little outline. It is divine, demonstrated,
defined, and durable. It's eternal.
It's unbreakable, It's unchangeable.
It's unfathomable. So let me say this as I finish.
When trials and troubles come into your life as they have
done, those trials and troubles are not designed to separate us
from God's love. It's not a sign of God's
abandonment that he's allowed them to come.
It's a sign of sonship. Why does He allow trials and
troubles to come? Well, trials and troubles expose
the weakness of self-reliance. Trials and troubles drive us to
pray to God. Trials and troubles draw us to
trust in the Lord at all times. Trials and troubles are designed
to help the conformers to Christ, the fellowship of his
suffering. And trials and troubles are
designed to make us more than conquerors.
Don't look at yourself, don't look at the situation you face.
Look to the Saviour. Think of the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus the Lord. See, here's a question as I
finish. Is it not possible that under
the weight of such trials and troubles we will feel, we will
fall away? Are we not weak?
Are we not in the flesh? Are these not powerful enemies
that are designed to bring us down?
What did Paul say? Ned and all these things.
We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Not loves, but loved. It's past tense.
See, Paul just doesn't answer this objection.
He rubbishes it. Are we able to stand up?
Are we able to overcome all of these trials and troubles?
Anything that we face completely?
The answer is yes. So I put it to you this morning.
Let every true believer be fully persuaded.
Not because life is easy. No, because God's love is
sovereign. Because God's love is a
redeeming love. Because God's love is an
electing love. Because God's love is eternal
and unbreakable and unchangeable and unfathomable.
And this persuasion is only found in Christ Jesus.
Trials and troubles will come, but let's remember, let's be
fully persuaded. Paul's persuasion is a spiritual
conviction. May the Lord bless you this
morning. Thank you for coming, thank you
for listening. I pray the Lord will take these
few words. I I hope it's been
understandable to you, but it's been something that's been on my
heart and it's difficult when you're trying to expound such a
deep passage all just in one sermon.