1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,720 Please take your Bible and turn to Romans chapter 8 along with me as we look at the 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:15,640 last paragraph in this beloved chapter of God's Word. 3 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:21,000 This paragraph not only concludes this chapter, but it concludes the section of Romans that 4 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,720 we've been dealing with. 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:30,040 You may recall that the theme of the whole book is the righteousness of God. 6 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:36,540 In the first three chapters or so we learn that we are sinners and need righteousness. 7 00:00:36,540 --> 00:00:42,880 There is nothing about us to commend us to God. 8 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:49,440 We are in need of righteousness if we are going to be right with God. 9 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:58,160 In chapters 4 and 5 we learn that God has provided that righteousness for us. 10 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:06,080 Jesus Christ has become the propitiation, that is, the satisfaction for our sins. 11 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:15,020 And just as our sins were laid upon Him, so when we trusted Him as Savior, His righteousness 12 00:01:15,020 --> 00:01:17,640 was given to us. 13 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:24,680 And now we are justified before God, that is, we are declared right with God. 14 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:30,360 As God sees us, we are legally without blame. 15 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:35,440 Chapters 6, 7, and 8 then deal with how to get that righteousness in our legal position 16 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:36,800 into our daily lives. 17 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:41,440 It's called sanctification. 18 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:48,080 We learn how to gain victory over sin that still indwells us. 19 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:54,880 In chapter 8 we come to the real pinnacle, not only of this section but of the book, 20 00:01:54,880 --> 00:02:00,480 because here the secret is given to us, and that is the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. 21 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:08,800 We have seen through this chapter a number of His works in the life of the believer. 22 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:18,320 He concludes His exposition of what God has done for us by reminding us that God has guaranteed 23 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:26,200 His purpose in our lives by five actions He has taken, those we have studied for the last 24 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,560 three weeks in verses 29 and 30. 25 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:35,040 And now He says, what shall we say to these things? 26 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:41,040 It is not only to those five actions that God has taken on our behalf, but also to all 27 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:42,360 that we have talked about in the book. 28 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,520 He says, what shall we say to these things? 29 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,480 You see, He is left almost speechless, almost. 30 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,240 Like most preachers, almost speechless. 31 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:56,700 He says, if God is for us, who is against us? 32 00:02:56,700 --> 00:03:04,060 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with 33 00:03:04,060 --> 00:03:08,040 Him freely give us all things? 34 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,280 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? 35 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:17,680 God is the one who justifies, and who is the one who condemns? 36 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:24,700 Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of 37 00:03:24,700 --> 00:03:29,400 God, who also intercedes for us. 38 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,480 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 39 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:40,400 From tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 40 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:45,920 Just as it is written, for thy sake we are being put to death all day long, we are considered 41 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,140 as sheep to be slaughtered. 42 00:03:48,140 --> 00:03:54,680 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 43 00:03:54,680 --> 00:04:00,940 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 44 00:04:00,940 --> 00:04:07,920 things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created 45 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:17,320 things shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 46 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:22,820 Perhaps the theme to that whole paragraph is found in verse 31 when the apostle says 47 00:04:22,820 --> 00:04:32,920 God is for us, the if at the beginning of that question does not communicate a doubt, 48 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:38,680 but rather it's better translated, since God is for us, or because God is for us, who 49 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:40,800 can be against us? 50 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:48,200 You see the truth is God is for us. 51 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:57,720 A week ago Thursday, a 29-year-old man in Ottawa, Kansas was at his place of employment. 52 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:07,280 Somehow a stack of metal sheeting, each sheet being a quarter of an inch thick but 12 feet 53 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:19,120 wide and 30 feet long and weighing 60 tons was knocked over onto him. 54 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:28,080 He was not killed instantly, but for 25 minutes he pled for his co-workers to get him out 55 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:35,520 from underneath that load which was crushing the very life out of him. 56 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:43,520 His co-workers frantically grabbed the metal sheets with their machinery and began to remove 57 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,600 them as best they could one by one. 58 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,300 There were 52 of them. 59 00:05:50,300 --> 00:05:59,800 It took them 45 minutes to get to his body and by that time he was dead. 60 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:09,160 Four days after that he was to have had a seventh anniversary as an employee of that 61 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:10,780 firm. 62 00:06:10,780 --> 00:06:19,600 On that day his plan was to go in and to draw out his retirement and to leave this week 63 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,840 for Bible College to study for the ministry. 64 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:36,240 Instead, last Monday his wife and two little kids stood beside his casket. 65 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:44,880 You say how does that illustrate that God is for us? 66 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:49,840 There are two possible ways that we can respond to that and to some of the situations that 67 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:56,800 some of us find ourselves in today, serious though they be perhaps not as heart-rending 68 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:02,780 as the one I have used as an illustration. 69 00:07:02,780 --> 00:07:11,720 We can respond to our circumstances like Jacob did in Genesis chapter 42 when most of his 70 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:20,840 sons came back from Egypt after having encountered Joseph though they didn't know it. 71 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:26,360 They asked their father for permission to take Benjamin, the youngest son, back with 72 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:32,320 them so that they could ransom Simeon who had been kept. 73 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:44,240 When Jacob heard that he was in great distress and he said first I lose Joseph and now Simeon 74 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:49,840 has been kidnapped and you want me to give up Benjamin? 75 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,400 All of these things are against me. 76 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:58,040 Do you ever feel that way? 77 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:04,360 David was wrong but that was his perception at that point. 78 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:09,720 On the other hand, we can respond like David. 79 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:17,600 One occasion he fled from Saul, went down into Philistia to the city of Gath and when 80 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:24,200 he was there hoping to be unrecognized, there were those who did know who he was. 81 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:29,680 They began to whisper about that this was David, the one who had killed the ten thousands 82 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:34,400 while Saul had slain his thousands. 83 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:39,600 David knew that his life was in jeopardy though God did deliver him. 84 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:47,960 While he was there, his life being threatened, he wrote Psalm 56. 85 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:57,080 In that Psalm he recounts his wonderings to God, the tears that he had shed, the loneliness 86 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,960 that he had known. 87 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:05,840 He speaks about those who were lurking in the street watching his steps ready to assassinate 88 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,840 him. 89 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:14,280 As he explains to God how he feels in the middle of that Psalm, he makes this amazing 90 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:15,280 statement. 91 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:24,000 He said, this I know, God is for me. 92 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:31,920 Though everyone else was against him, this he knew, God was for him. 93 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:40,960 Do you know that wherever you are today, that if you are a Christian that God is for you, 94 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,540 He's not against you? 95 00:09:44,540 --> 00:09:53,640 And if God is for you, who would dare be against you? 96 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:59,040 You say, well there are times when I wonder if God is really for me or not. 97 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:07,760 The Apostle Paul gives us in our text today five proofs that God is for us, who are His 98 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,160 children. 99 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:18,760 Five evidences, five proofs that God is for you and for me. 100 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,600 He's on our side. 101 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:28,940 Proof number one, verse 32, he delivered up his son. 102 00:10:28,940 --> 00:10:36,880 He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with 103 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:43,560 him freely give us all things? 104 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:53,540 The son was the very special possession of God the Father, His own Son. 105 00:10:53,540 --> 00:11:01,200 It is hard for us to understand perhaps the dearness of that unless we try to get a hold 106 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:07,400 of it through the relationship that we have with our family. 107 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:13,320 God the Father dearly loved God the Son. 108 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,700 He found complete enjoyment in Him. 109 00:11:17,700 --> 00:11:27,340 He was delighted with His Son but He did not spare Him as one might spare something which 110 00:11:27,340 --> 00:11:37,920 is precious, but rather He delivered Him up or delivered Him over to crucifixion, to suffering, 111 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:42,800 to sacrifice for us all. 112 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:50,760 That does not mean that God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, was victimized by God the Father. 113 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:58,600 Jesus Himself said that He came to give His life as a ransom for many. 114 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:05,480 The very verb that says here that the Father delivered Him up is used in Galatians 2.20 115 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:11,720 of Jesus Christ giving Himself for us. 116 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,120 So it's not that He's a victim, for He gave Himself. 117 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,240 That's the other side of the truth. 118 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:24,920 And here the apostle is saying, look, God is for you because on His part He delivered 119 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:33,280 up His most prized, precious possession for the sake of you. 120 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:42,560 And having done that, He argues, will He not with Him also give you all things? 121 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:44,860 He argues from the lesser to the greater. 122 00:12:44,860 --> 00:12:53,480 He says, if God has given His Son in sacrifice for your sins, now that you are His, is He 123 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,960 suddenly going to turn against you? 124 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:04,620 Is He going to change His mind about you and withhold anything that you need? 125 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:07,200 Is God going to be against you now? 126 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:08,820 No, no. 127 00:13:08,820 --> 00:13:16,600 He says, God is for you, and the proof of it is what He did for you through Jesus Christ. 128 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,620 And having done that, now He will give you all things. 129 00:13:20,620 --> 00:13:27,360 He says later to the Corinthians, all things belong to you. 130 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:28,840 Peter put it this way. 131 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:36,960 He has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. 132 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:43,120 Every spiritual blessing is ours in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ. 133 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:50,920 Along with our basic salvation comes all things in Christ. 134 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,720 It's ours already. 135 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:54,720 God is for you. 136 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,280 He has proved it that way by delivering up His Son. 137 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:07,440 The second proof is found in verse 33, who will bring a charge against God's elect? 138 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:15,840 Who would dare call in one of God's chosen ones to give an account for something? 139 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:24,040 Who would press a charge or an indictment against one that God has chosen? 140 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:25,520 Would the sinners of the world? 141 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:32,080 Well, they might try, but they are in no position to. 142 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:33,080 Would Satan? 143 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:38,320 Yes, and there is indication that he does accuse us before God. 144 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:43,800 Revelation 12, 10 says he is the accuser of the brethren. 145 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,480 But he has no legal basis on which to challenge us. 146 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:48,480 Now why is that? 147 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:49,760 Well, he tells us. 148 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,980 He says, God is the one who justifies. 149 00:14:53,980 --> 00:14:59,200 You see, my friend, there is only one in the whole universe who is capable of bringing 150 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:04,760 a charge against you as one of God's elect. 151 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,980 And that is God Himself. 152 00:15:07,980 --> 00:15:11,080 Only He can bring a charge against you. 153 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:16,400 Only He can haul you into court before the bench and press an indictment against your 154 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:17,640 soul. 155 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:24,800 And that is because all sin is ultimately directed against whom? 156 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,000 That is right, against God. 157 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:34,480 After David had sinned so grievously with Bathsheba, after he had killed her husband, 158 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:41,600 after he had lied about it, when he confessed it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 159 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:48,840 in Psalm 51 he said, against thee, the only have I sinned. 160 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,640 You see, David recognized and reveals to us a great truth there. 161 00:15:52,640 --> 00:16:02,680 Though we may in fact sin against other people, ultimately all sin is against God. 162 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:08,880 And God is the one who can bring a charge against us if He wishes. 163 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,620 But the fact is, He doesn't wish to do it. 164 00:16:12,620 --> 00:16:18,640 You see, He has already made His declaration about us. 165 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:29,040 And He has said about us, since we've trusted Christ, you are therefore now without condemnation. 166 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,240 God says there is no basis for accusation. 167 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:37,260 There is no reason to bring a legal charge against you. 168 00:16:37,260 --> 00:16:44,120 He has justified you in His sight. 169 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:49,900 Turn with me to Colossians chapter 2 and let's get another word that gives us further insight 170 00:16:49,900 --> 00:16:53,520 into this blessed truth. 171 00:16:53,520 --> 00:17:03,760 Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 says, When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision 172 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:18,080 of your flesh, He made you alive together with Christ, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 173 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,840 past, present, or future. 174 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:25,760 Someone went to Dr. Harry Ironside one time who was a great Bible teacher and pastored 175 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,240 the Moody Church in Chicago for a number of years. 176 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:34,520 This lady said, Pastor Ironside, I thank God for forgiving me all of my sins that are in 177 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,840 the past, but what about all of my sins of the future? 178 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:45,840 He turned her to this verse and showed her that God has forgiven us all of our transgressions. 179 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:50,600 And he said, Lady, consider how many of your sins were in the past when Christ died for 180 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,000 you. 181 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,320 She recognized that they were all in the future then. 182 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,560 You see, when Jesus Christ died for our sins, when we were forgiven for our sins, it was 183 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:05,240 for the whole package of them. 184 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:13,200 We stand before God in a permanent state of having been forgiven, period. 185 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:14,200 That's great news. 186 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:20,800 But it goes on to say verse 14, this is how it happened, having canceled out the certificate 187 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:29,880 of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us. 188 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:34,560 And he's taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 189 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:43,520 The apostle Paul is drawing here upon an image familiar to his writers, rather to those who 190 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,400 are reading, his readers. 191 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:52,160 And that was the image of one who was being crucified. 192 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:58,600 For as one was led out to the place of his execution, he was given a placard. 193 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:07,520 And on that placard was written his crimes so that all might know why he was being led 194 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,560 to execution. 195 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:16,720 And then when he was nailed or tied, as was the case sometimes, to his cross, that placard 196 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:22,880 of decrees against him was nailed to his cross. 197 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,560 That happened to Jesus, didn't it? 198 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:35,480 There was a placard put on his cross by Pilate that said he said he was the king of the Jews. 199 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:44,360 What is said here is that that placard listing the reasons for our condemnation, the writings 200 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:52,780 of condemnation against us containing our transgressions, that placard was nailed to 201 00:19:52,780 --> 00:19:55,240 a cross already. 202 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,680 And that is the cross of Jesus Christ. 203 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:07,000 So that no longer do we have this placard with condemnation written on it. 204 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,320 It's already been nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ. 205 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:17,100 It's been removed and taken out of the way so that we stand before God with our penalty 206 00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:20,880 already having been paid by Jesus Christ. 207 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:26,000 That's why he can declare us righteous. 208 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:33,080 Prollways against us has been destroyed by the very one who alone has the power to accuse 209 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:34,080 us. 210 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:43,600 In your case and in mine, we who have trusted Christ, the Judge has already ruled, and he 211 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:49,240 has said case dismissed. 212 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,320 And there is no double jeopardy with God. 213 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,140 Is God for you? 214 00:20:55,140 --> 00:21:02,340 My friend, and he has proved that because he has already declared you righteous before 215 00:21:02,340 --> 00:21:03,340 his sight." 216 00:21:03,340 --> 00:21:11,060 There's a third proof, verse 34, and that is that he has received our advocate into 217 00:21:11,060 --> 00:21:12,060 heaven. 218 00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:16,620 Who is the one who condemns or judges? 219 00:21:16,620 --> 00:21:25,380 Do you remember who it is that Jesus said, the Father has committed all judgment to? 220 00:21:25,380 --> 00:21:26,380 Who is it? 221 00:21:26,380 --> 00:21:29,340 To Jesus himself. 222 00:21:29,340 --> 00:21:37,800 Back in John chapter 5, Jesus says, and the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. 223 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:42,780 So now the apostle says, who is the one who will judge us, who condemns us? 224 00:21:42,780 --> 00:21:46,900 He says, Christ Jesus, is he who died? 225 00:21:46,900 --> 00:21:54,060 Yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for 226 00:21:54,060 --> 00:21:55,060 us. 227 00:21:55,060 --> 00:22:00,340 You see, Jesus Christ is no longer our judge. 228 00:22:00,340 --> 00:22:08,180 We shall stand before him someday to be examined and rewarded, and yet in our essential relationship 229 00:22:08,180 --> 00:22:13,420 to him, he is no longer our judge, but rather he is our advocate. 230 00:22:13,420 --> 00:22:18,140 He stands before God on behalf of his people. 231 00:22:18,140 --> 00:22:26,900 For him to condemn us now would be for him to renounce and to deny his own saving work 232 00:22:26,900 --> 00:22:30,020 on the cross. 233 00:22:30,020 --> 00:22:35,260 Skevington Wood, in his book on Romans 8, shares with us an illustration about Frank 234 00:22:35,260 --> 00:22:44,980 Crosley, a British Christian industrialist who, on an occasion, was performing a service 235 00:22:44,980 --> 00:22:51,760 as a magistrate or as a judge in Manchester, England. 236 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:57,520 This was many years ago, at the time when the Salvation Army had just begun under General 237 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,620 William Booth. 238 00:23:00,620 --> 00:23:06,740 Before him that day in court came a young lady who was a member of the Salvation Army. 239 00:23:06,740 --> 00:23:10,500 She had been arrested by some policemen. 240 00:23:10,500 --> 00:23:16,020 The charge against her was that she was disrupting traffic. 241 00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:20,700 She was actually holding a street meeting telling people how to get saved. 242 00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:24,380 They're in the streets of Manchester. 243 00:23:24,380 --> 00:23:29,100 She used that occasion to explain exactly what she had been doing and to tell all of 244 00:23:29,100 --> 00:23:35,860 her listeners there in the courtroom why they too needed to be right with God. 245 00:23:35,860 --> 00:23:42,180 Frank Crosley, this Christian industrialist and that day magistrate, did something very 246 00:23:42,180 --> 00:23:44,220 unusual. 247 00:23:44,220 --> 00:23:51,140 He got up from behind the bench of the judge and he walked out around it over to where 248 00:23:51,140 --> 00:23:54,860 the young gal was and he stood beside her. 249 00:23:54,860 --> 00:24:03,860 That day the judge served as her advocate, her lawyer, before the court. 250 00:24:03,860 --> 00:24:06,620 You see, that's what Jesus Christ has done for us. 251 00:24:06,620 --> 00:24:13,380 He to whom all judgment has been committed has left his judgment thrown in our case and 252 00:24:13,380 --> 00:24:21,080 now comes and stands before the God of the universe to intercede on our behalf. 253 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:25,480 He is our advocate before God. 254 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:33,380 His cross work of death, his resurrection is a basis for his present ministry at the 255 00:24:33,380 --> 00:24:36,220 right hand of God. 256 00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:43,300 It says in Hebrews 3, 1, when he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right 257 00:24:43,300 --> 00:24:47,340 hand of the majesty on high. 258 00:24:47,340 --> 00:24:55,140 Here in the book Hebrews 7, verse 25 it says, He is able to save forever those who draw 259 00:24:55,140 --> 00:25:06,140 near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 260 00:25:06,140 --> 00:25:10,480 You and I do sin, don't we? 261 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:16,300 Having been justified legally before God, we nonetheless recognize that we do fail and 262 00:25:16,300 --> 00:25:19,060 we do sin. 263 00:25:19,060 --> 00:25:27,380 And Jesus Christ is there as a permanent advocate before the Father, pleading our case. 264 00:25:27,380 --> 00:25:32,700 And though Satan may come and accuse us before God, Jesus Christ is there to show that he 265 00:25:32,700 --> 00:25:39,700 has paid the price and that Satan has no legal basis upon which to bring accusation against 266 00:25:39,700 --> 00:25:40,700 any of us. 267 00:25:40,700 --> 00:25:48,220 That's what John says in 1 John chapter 2, he says, My little children, these things 268 00:25:48,220 --> 00:26:00,140 I write unto you, that you stop sinning, but if any man sins, we have an advocate with 269 00:26:00,140 --> 00:26:08,420 the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, and he is the propitiation for our sins. 270 00:26:08,420 --> 00:26:10,460 He's the satisfaction. 271 00:26:10,460 --> 00:26:18,620 That's why Charles Wesley wrote the words to that hymn, Arise, my soul, arise. 272 00:26:18,620 --> 00:26:21,660 Shake off thy guilty fears. 273 00:26:21,660 --> 00:26:28,140 The bleeding sacrifice on thy behalf appears. 274 00:26:28,140 --> 00:26:37,780 Before the throne my surety stands, my name is written on his hands. 275 00:26:37,780 --> 00:26:41,660 So you have one who stands before God, but there's another truth that's intertwined 276 00:26:41,660 --> 00:26:50,580 here and it's this, that when God received your advocate, he received you. 277 00:26:50,580 --> 00:26:57,160 There was a day some 2,000 years ago when the Son of God left his disciples, his followers 278 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:03,180 on the earth, and was taken up into glory. 279 00:27:03,180 --> 00:27:09,940 He was received into heaven, and I can't imagine what heaven must have been like when 280 00:27:09,940 --> 00:27:13,700 he came back. 281 00:27:13,700 --> 00:27:21,340 When he was received by God and welcomed home, when he took his place at the right hand of 282 00:27:21,340 --> 00:27:25,380 God the Father, you were there too. 283 00:27:25,380 --> 00:27:31,400 You were received with Jesus Christ, your advocate, when he was accepted by God the 284 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:32,400 Father. 285 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,580 Is God for you? 286 00:27:35,580 --> 00:27:37,260 There's no question about it. 287 00:27:37,260 --> 00:27:43,860 He's already received you in Jesus Christ, the very one who stands on your behalf to 288 00:27:43,860 --> 00:27:48,420 plead your case before God. 289 00:27:48,420 --> 00:27:57,220 The fourth proof that we have the joy of knowing that God is for us is found in these following 290 00:27:57,220 --> 00:28:01,740 verses where it says that he assures us victory. 291 00:28:01,740 --> 00:28:07,020 We are not guaranteed trial-free lives of happiness. 292 00:28:07,020 --> 00:28:10,940 Indeed, suffering is to be expected by the child of God. 293 00:28:10,940 --> 00:28:17,660 It says here from this verse in the Old Testament, verse 33, for thy sake we are being put to 294 00:28:17,660 --> 00:28:20,060 death all day long. 295 00:28:20,060 --> 00:28:24,820 We are counted like sheep to be slaughtered. 296 00:28:24,820 --> 00:28:29,940 That is the position of the child of God in this world because we stand now in the place 297 00:28:29,940 --> 00:28:32,940 of Jesus Christ. 298 00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:39,500 Our lives will be lives of suffering as his life was. 299 00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:43,740 And there are some of us who get troubled by that. 300 00:28:43,740 --> 00:28:48,900 And we think that somehow when we suffer we're separated from God. 301 00:28:48,900 --> 00:28:56,500 Or we may wonder as we pass through the various trials, how do I know I'm not going to fail? 302 00:28:56,500 --> 00:29:01,540 Paul mentions a number of things, he says, what shall separate us from the love of Christ 303 00:29:01,540 --> 00:29:16,980 shall tribulation, testing, shall distress, pressure, anxiety, persecution, famine, the 304 00:29:16,980 --> 00:29:21,020 nakedness, dangers. 305 00:29:21,020 --> 00:29:27,460 What about the sword of the executioner? 306 00:29:27,460 --> 00:29:32,740 Have you ever wondered how you would respond if you were stood up against a wall and there 307 00:29:32,740 --> 00:29:38,620 were some men with machine guns and they said you either now renounce your faith in Jesus 308 00:29:38,620 --> 00:29:45,860 Christ and get in line with the rest of us in this world or you're going to die. 309 00:29:45,860 --> 00:29:48,300 Have you ever wondered how you would respond? 310 00:29:48,300 --> 00:29:50,500 I have. 311 00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:54,220 And I've wondered frankly what I would say in that moment. 312 00:29:54,220 --> 00:30:04,460 Would I have the faith, would I have the courage not to deny my Lord but to profess my faith 313 00:30:04,460 --> 00:30:08,300 in him to that degree? 314 00:30:08,300 --> 00:30:13,980 Let's think of lesser cases. 315 00:30:13,980 --> 00:30:16,340 What about in case of a famine? 316 00:30:16,340 --> 00:30:18,740 You say well we have a lot of food in this land. 317 00:30:18,740 --> 00:30:23,580 We do now. 318 00:30:23,580 --> 00:30:28,660 Did you know that our federal government is quite concerned about credit card and debit 319 00:30:28,660 --> 00:30:33,620 card thievery and forgery? 320 00:30:33,620 --> 00:30:39,740 Billions of dollars every year are lost in the economy and to the government because 321 00:30:39,740 --> 00:30:41,900 of this. 322 00:30:41,900 --> 00:30:46,420 I think that visas coming out very shortly with a new card, which will be very difficult 323 00:30:46,420 --> 00:30:50,020 they say to duplicate, to forge. 324 00:30:50,020 --> 00:30:55,820 But the government is concerned so much so that they are trying to find a way to make 325 00:30:55,820 --> 00:30:58,940 that foolproof. 326 00:30:58,940 --> 00:31:03,700 A friend of mine who works for the Department of Labor that I talked with yesterday said 327 00:31:03,700 --> 00:31:09,540 that right now the government is considering this option of having each person who's a 328 00:31:09,540 --> 00:31:17,060 citizen of our nation tattooed with a laser beam, it would be painless, it would be invisible. 329 00:31:17,060 --> 00:31:26,340 But it would be a tattoo which would be apparent to a computer scanner so that you would have 330 00:31:26,340 --> 00:31:33,640 a number like a social security number and that number could not be duplicated by anybody 331 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:39,380 else because it would be tattooed right onto your body in a particular place and you alone 332 00:31:39,380 --> 00:31:44,740 then would be identified that way. 333 00:31:44,740 --> 00:31:50,860 You can see if something like that should come to pass how perfectly that fits with 334 00:31:50,860 --> 00:31:56,620 what is prophesied will happen under Antichrist during the tribulation. 335 00:31:56,620 --> 00:32:01,420 I am convinced the teaching of scripture is we will not enter into the tribulation as 336 00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:03,060 the Church of Jesus Christ. 337 00:32:03,060 --> 00:32:06,580 We've been delivered from the wrath of God. 338 00:32:06,580 --> 00:32:13,340 But I do believe that we will enter into tribulation and there may come a day, my friend, when 339 00:32:13,340 --> 00:32:22,540 in our own society that to have that mark upon you, you will have to meet certain standards 340 00:32:22,540 --> 00:32:29,580 or compromise certain things and fit a certain way into our culture, our society. 341 00:32:29,580 --> 00:32:41,260 What will you do if you cannot buy food for your children, if you cannot gain employment 342 00:32:41,260 --> 00:32:45,140 without a certain mark on you? 343 00:32:45,140 --> 00:32:51,580 My wife and I have commented a number of times how grateful we are that we have food to buy 344 00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:55,900 for our children. 345 00:32:55,900 --> 00:33:00,420 They eat us out of house and home but nonetheless we are grateful that we can buy that food 346 00:33:00,420 --> 00:33:04,940 and feed them. 347 00:33:04,940 --> 00:33:15,100 Can you imagine the kind of pain that millions of parents experience in our world right now 348 00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:18,900 who have to listen to their children cry and beg for food and they have nothing to give 349 00:33:18,900 --> 00:33:22,540 them? 350 00:33:22,540 --> 00:33:28,020 Talk about distress, talk about heartache. 351 00:33:28,020 --> 00:33:30,140 What have we got in a situation like that? 352 00:33:30,140 --> 00:33:34,260 Would your faith fail? 353 00:33:34,260 --> 00:33:36,140 Look what he says in verse 37. 354 00:33:36,140 --> 00:33:43,660 He says, in all these things, whether famine or persecution or execution, whatever, in 355 00:33:43,660 --> 00:33:49,380 all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 356 00:33:49,380 --> 00:33:56,660 You and I won't conquer ourselves but whatever life may bring, whatever the stress or the 357 00:33:56,660 --> 00:34:03,460 test may be, we are super conquerors through Jesus Christ. 358 00:34:03,460 --> 00:34:06,420 He enables us to have victory. 359 00:34:06,420 --> 00:34:08,700 He assures us victory. 360 00:34:08,700 --> 00:34:10,780 Is God on your side? 361 00:34:10,780 --> 00:34:12,300 Is God for you? 362 00:34:12,300 --> 00:34:19,140 My friend, He is so much for you that in advance He has committed Himself to your victory through 363 00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:21,340 Jesus Christ. 364 00:34:21,340 --> 00:34:26,980 It doesn't mean that you will have food, that you won't hear your children cry out. 365 00:34:26,980 --> 00:34:30,340 It doesn't mean that you're going to be saved from execution any more than it meant 366 00:34:30,340 --> 00:34:39,900 that that man in Ottawa, Kansas was spared from death under that load of metal last week. 367 00:34:39,900 --> 00:34:45,500 My friend, Jesus Christ has already promised us that we are going to be super conquerors. 368 00:34:45,500 --> 00:34:52,940 Our faith will not fail and that the ultimate victory is already ours. 369 00:34:52,940 --> 00:34:55,980 That's how much He is for us. 370 00:34:55,980 --> 00:35:01,100 That brings us quickly to the last of the proofs that God is for us. 371 00:35:01,100 --> 00:35:08,100 Verses 38 and 39, He secures our position in Jesus Christ. 372 00:35:08,100 --> 00:35:19,700 You and I are not ships left to float out on the sea of life, but we have been anchored. 373 00:35:19,700 --> 00:35:25,980 We have been secured to Jesus Christ. 374 00:35:25,980 --> 00:35:30,780 The Apostle mentions all kinds of possibilities that might be thought to separate us from 375 00:35:30,780 --> 00:35:31,780 Christ. 376 00:35:31,780 --> 00:35:38,900 Death, life, sometimes life is rougher than death, isn't it? 377 00:35:38,900 --> 00:35:48,300 Angels or principalities, spirits, anything in the present world, the possibilities of 378 00:35:48,300 --> 00:35:59,100 the future, whatever powers there are, however high we may go or to whatever depth we may 379 00:35:59,100 --> 00:36:01,660 be exposed. 380 00:36:01,660 --> 00:36:15,660 He says there is nothing that is created that can separate us from the love of God, which 381 00:36:15,660 --> 00:36:19,580 is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 382 00:36:19,580 --> 00:36:24,100 You and I have an anchor to our souls. 383 00:36:24,100 --> 00:36:28,700 That anchor does not go down like most anchors on a ship. 384 00:36:28,700 --> 00:36:31,540 Our anchor goes up. 385 00:36:31,540 --> 00:36:39,260 And over in Hebrews, the writer says that that anchor goes behind the veil where it 386 00:36:39,260 --> 00:36:45,540 is fastened to the very throne of God. 387 00:36:45,540 --> 00:36:48,900 We are moored. 388 00:36:48,900 --> 00:36:59,940 We are secured by the very omnipotence, the very sovereignty of God Himself. 389 00:36:59,940 --> 00:37:04,420 We are secured in Jesus Christ. 390 00:37:04,420 --> 00:37:06,260 Is God for you? 391 00:37:06,260 --> 00:37:08,300 You better believe it. 392 00:37:08,300 --> 00:37:12,380 If He weren't, He wouldn't have anchored you. 393 00:37:12,380 --> 00:37:20,700 It's impossible for you to be rejected or overlooked or somehow otherwise miss out on 394 00:37:20,700 --> 00:37:24,420 the destiny that God has purposed for you. 395 00:37:24,420 --> 00:37:30,860 More likely would it be that Jesus Christ would cease being the Son of God than that 396 00:37:30,860 --> 00:37:36,900 you should fail to be with Him one day in glory. 397 00:37:36,900 --> 00:37:42,460 It would be necessary for Jesus Christ to enter into the fires of eternal hell and their 398 00:37:42,460 --> 00:37:46,720 suffer again for sin. 399 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:53,940 If you should have to suffer for sin because we are linked with Him and where He is, we 400 00:37:53,940 --> 00:37:56,420 will be forever. 401 00:37:56,420 --> 00:38:02,700 We are secure in the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 402 00:38:02,700 --> 00:38:05,820 Let me close with these questions. 403 00:38:05,820 --> 00:38:15,020 Since God is for you and since He has sacrificed even to the delivering up of His Son, what 404 00:38:15,020 --> 00:38:19,820 sacrifice have you made for Him? 405 00:38:19,820 --> 00:38:23,980 What have you given up for His sake? 406 00:38:23,980 --> 00:38:28,300 Is it too much that we should imitate Him? 407 00:38:28,300 --> 00:38:35,980 Should we think that somehow there should be no cost to us in our service for Him considering 408 00:38:35,980 --> 00:38:42,440 the price He paid for our redemption? 409 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,780 God is for you. 410 00:38:45,780 --> 00:38:50,060 For what have you given for Him? 411 00:38:50,060 --> 00:38:53,220 What price have you paid financially? 412 00:38:53,220 --> 00:39:00,060 Do you sacrifice financially for the cause of Jesus Christ? 413 00:39:00,060 --> 00:39:02,180 What about your children? 414 00:39:02,180 --> 00:39:08,740 Are you willing, Mom, Dad, to see your child, your children go to the uttermost parts of 415 00:39:08,740 --> 00:39:10,940 the earth if God should call them there? 416 00:39:10,940 --> 00:39:16,820 That's a sacrifice for you to only see them every few years. 417 00:39:16,820 --> 00:39:21,660 Are you willing to make that sacrifice? 418 00:39:21,660 --> 00:39:26,420 Young person, are you willing to lay aside your aspirations, your dreams, your goals 419 00:39:26,420 --> 00:39:34,680 and say, Lord, what do you want me to do? 420 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:39,760 Considering the fact that God is for you, have you forgiven as He has forgiven you? 421 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:46,140 He's completely wiped out all of the debt owed. 422 00:39:46,140 --> 00:39:48,780 Have you forgiven others for their offense against you? 423 00:39:48,780 --> 00:39:52,320 Are you willing to be trampled upon? 424 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:57,900 Are you willing even to be ridiculed? 425 00:39:57,900 --> 00:40:06,940 Are you willing to forgive others as freely as God has forgiven you? 426 00:40:06,940 --> 00:40:07,940 God is for you. 427 00:40:07,940 --> 00:40:09,040 You can do that. 428 00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:10,060 You should do that. 429 00:40:10,060 --> 00:40:13,760 You must do that. 430 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:22,920 Since God is for you, will you appropriate the victory He's provided in Jesus Christ? 431 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:29,660 In that area where you now are failing, where temptations come and you just fall, in those 432 00:40:29,660 --> 00:40:34,440 areas of your life where you struggle, are you willing today, since God is for you to 433 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:40,240 claim the victory, you're not in the battle alone? 434 00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:45,580 Remember Elisha, when the enemy came against him and surrounded the camp and his servant 435 00:40:45,580 --> 00:40:49,300 said, Elisha, look here, what's going to happen? 436 00:40:49,300 --> 00:40:52,500 Elisha said, Lord, just open his eyes. 437 00:40:52,500 --> 00:40:59,260 And suddenly he saw the ring of God's angels around that city. 438 00:40:59,260 --> 00:41:01,300 He got the victory. 439 00:41:01,300 --> 00:41:04,100 My friend, yours is the victory through Jesus Christ. 440 00:41:04,100 --> 00:41:06,020 You're a super conqueror. 441 00:41:06,020 --> 00:41:10,600 Will you claim that in the battle you face today? 442 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:17,540 Since God is for you, will you today believe and accept the security that He's promised 443 00:41:17,540 --> 00:41:19,500 you in Christ? 444 00:41:19,500 --> 00:41:24,400 Will you stop struggling with doubt? 445 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:31,000 Will you no longer allow uncertainty about your continued salvation to rob you of peace 446 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:32,460 and joy? 447 00:41:32,460 --> 00:41:36,780 You did me for a number of years when I was younger. 448 00:41:36,780 --> 00:41:41,520 You don't have to go through that roller coaster ride, my friend. 449 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:49,300 God wants you to know that you can know that you're saved. 450 00:41:49,300 --> 00:41:54,780 Will you today accept that security in Jesus Christ and allow your faith to rest upon it, 451 00:41:54,780 --> 00:42:01,540 knowing that you're anchored behind the veil in heaven into the Holy of Holies itself? 452 00:42:01,540 --> 00:42:06,380 My father, thank you that you are for us. 453 00:42:06,380 --> 00:42:14,660 And if you're for us, who or what in heaven or hell or the earth can be against us? 454 00:42:14,660 --> 00:42:20,260 And if today there are some of your saints here discouraged in the battle, encourage 455 00:42:20,260 --> 00:42:23,460 their hearts with this message. 456 00:42:23,460 --> 00:42:28,580 If there are some who are doubting, who are wavering, speak to them. 457 00:42:28,580 --> 00:42:34,740 If there are some who need to claim a victory or who need to rededicate themselves and give 458 00:42:34,740 --> 00:42:41,380 themselves over unreservedly, sacrificially to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, may they 459 00:42:41,380 --> 00:42:43,340 do it today. 460 00:42:43,340 --> 00:42:48,540 If there be one without the Savior, may he today trust the Lord and be saved from sin 461 00:42:48,540 --> 00:42:56,060 and know the kind of security we've talked about. 462 00:42:56,060 --> 00:43:02,260 Thank you for Jesus Christ, in whom our hope is eternally placed. 463 00:43:02,260 --> 00:43:30,260 Amen.