I Am Not Ashamed: More Than a Conqueror

I Am Not Ashamed: More Than a Conqueror

Text: Romans 8:31-39

Theme: If God is for us, who can be against us. The Scriptures promise triumph to all believers in spite of suffering and difficult circumstances.

Date: 10/02/2016 File name: Romans_2016_26.wpd ID Number: 221

This morning we will conclude prolonged stop in Romans chapter 8. I think you’ll agree with me that it is an amazingly rich chapter in the things it teaches us about the Christian life and eternity. As a passage, the verses before us are probably the most well-known of this chapter and the most loved, having brought comfort to the lives of countless Christians throughout the millennia.

“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31–39, NIV84)

John MacArthur, one of my favorite Baptist preachers, calls this passage “The Christian’s Hymn of Security.” You would think after vs. 28-30 that there is little left to be said about the believer’s eternal security. But in the closing verses of this passage the apostle reaches a spiritual crescendo of praise and thanksgiving to the God who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.

The Apostle Paul wants his reader to know that nothing can separate the believer from the love of God.

I. WE CAN BE SECURE IN OUR FAITH BECAUSE IF GOD IS FOR US WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? (vs. 31)

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, ESV)

1. the Apostle Paul loved rhetorical questions — we find them throughout his letters

a. a rhetorical question is a oratorical device used to persuade or subtly influence the audience to arrive at the “correct” answer

1) it's a question asked not for the answer, because the answer is obvious — it’s a question asked for the dramatic effect

2. the Apostle begins this section with the rhetorical question

a. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

A. GOD’S GRACE AND GOODNESS LEAVE THE BELIEVER NEARLY SPEECHLESS

1. what then shall we say to these things?

a. what are the these things the Apostle refers to? — it’s everything he’s mentioned since the beginning of chapter 8

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who no longer condemns us, but has set us free from the law of sin and death? (vs. 2)

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering (vs. 3)

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who has given us the mind of Christ, and a new nature that seeks to please Him? (vs. 5-8)

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who gives us His Spirit and makes us righteous in His sight (vs. 9)

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who has adopted us, and given us a Spirit of sonship, that lets us cry ‘Abba, Father’? (vs. 14-15)

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who gives us His Spirit to pray for us when we don’t know how we ought to pray? (vs. 26-27)

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who has foreknown us and predestined us since before the foundation of the world? (vs. 29)

• how do we respond — what do we say about a God who has called us, and justified us, and glorified us? (vs. 30)

2. what do we say about — how do we respond to these things?

a. we confess with glorious assurance If God has done all these things for me who can be against me?

B. GOD HAS CLEARLY PROVED THAT HE IS FOR US

1. He has proved it by all He has accomplished for us, and in us by His grace and for His glory

2. when Paul says, “If God is for us,” he is not calling into doubt God’s protecting care, love, and promises

a. on the contrary, this “if” means, “because … and refers to the certainty of God’s providential watch care over His children

“What then shall we say to these things? BECAUSE God is for us, who can be against us?"

b. to that question the Apostle responds, and we must respond with an emphatic, “We have nothing to fear. The victory is certainly ours. We are more than conqurers.”

3. these verses forcefully speak of our heavenly assurance!

a. Christianity is a "know so" religion

1) we don't have to guess if we're saved

2) we don't have to hope that we're saved

3) we don't have to work hard to try to be saved

b. we're saved because God is constantly working on our behalf to keep us saved

4. many forces align themselves against God and against God’s purposes, and many forces align themselves against those who believe in God, and in his Christ, and against those who try to obey and follow him

a. but none of those forces will win, none of those forces can prevail, none of those forces is to be regarded as ultimate, and none of those forces is to be taken too seriously

5. We Can Be Secure in Our Faith Because If God Is for Us Who Can Be Against Us? ... But There’s More ...

II. WE CAN BE SECURE IN OUR FAITH BECAUSE OF THE HEAVENLY INVESTMENT THAT GOD HAS MADE ON OUR BEHALF vs. 32

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, NASB95)

1. think of what the Apostle has just told us — God the Father delivered over His only- begotten, and fathomlessly beloved Son for us all — that is for those who call upon his name

A. GOD SPARED NOT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

1. Paul points us backward to the cross of Calvary and reminds us that God spared no expense so that we might have eternal life, and a real assurance that our eternity is secure

2. God the Father, the final Judge of all things, has a Son, an only Son, very precious to him

a. that Son never committed any sin

1) in all he did he was ever pleasing his Father (John 8:29)

b. on the other hand — “We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isa. 53:6) “We’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory”

c. yet, on this precious and beloved Son God now pronounces the sentence we deserved

1) God did not spare his Son, did not mitigate the severity of the sentence in any way whatever, the Son himself agreeing with the Father and the Spirit in all this

d. the Son then fully bore that horrendous curse

1) he drank the cup of unspeakable agony to the very last drop

2) he was handed over, or surrendered into the hands of sinful men who then crucified the very one who became the ultimate sacrifice for sinful men

3. so deeply, so intensely, so completely did God love the world that his Son, the only-begotten, willingly gave up his preincarnate glory, and then his life, in order that everyone who believes on him should not perish but have life everlasting

B. GOD SPARED NOT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON SO TO GRACIOUSLY GIVE US ALL THINGS

“ ... how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?"

1. these “all things” are what eye hath not seen, nor ear heard

a. in the end, there is no good thing that the Father will with hold from His children

b. everything He gave to the only begotten Son, He gives to us

2. it is hard to imagine that the apostle does not have in the back of his mind the story of Abraham as the model for Paul’s argument (Gen. 22:1–19)

a. because Abraham did not withhold his son, his only son, Isaac, God blessed him with everything else that he could be blessed with

3. because God has given us His most treasured possession — his only Son — to secure the salvation of sinners, will he not also give all else that is necessary to bring that salvation to completion?

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3, NASB95)

4. We Can Be Secure in Our Faith Because of the Heavenly Investment That God Has Made on Our Behalf ... But There’s More ...

III. WE CAN BE SECURE IN OUR FAITH BECAUSE OF GOD'S ACQUITTAL AND CHRIST'S CONTINUING INTERCESSION vv. 33-34

“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 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.” (Romans 8:33–34, NASB95)

1. here are another pair of those rhetorical questions that the Apostle likes so well ...

• Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

• Who is the one who condemns?

ILLUS. Paul pictures a scene in a courtroom. A cry goes out, "Who can lay any charge against the children of God?" From the prosecutor’s table Satan jumps up, and cries out, "I can!" There is a hush in the courtroom. God's response is, "No. You can't. Satan, you’re out of order so sit down and shut up! I have justified my children thoroughly through the shed blood of my son. I have declared them not guilty!"

2. the only one in all the cosmos who actually has the right and the authority to condemn us is the one who died for us and who is interceding on our behalf

a. do you get that?

b. do you understand that?

c. isn’t that amazing?!

3. if you would look at any study Bible or commentary on the book of Romans you would see that this passage of Scripture is often given the heading “the perseverance of the saints”

a. a better heading for this passage would be “the preservation of the saints”

1) it’s not so much that the believer is persevering against all the trials and tribulations and issues of life

ILLUS. If you were to look up the word persevere you would see that the synonyms used to describe the word are hang in, hang on, and hold on. As Christians, yes, we are called to endure in this life, which means hanging in, hanging on, and holding on. And there are lots of places in the Scripture that provide us examples of previous saints who have done this.

2) but in this chapter what we really see is God’s preservation of the saints

b. when the world, and the flesh, and the devil all conspire to accuse us of wrongdoing, God is the one who preserves us and protects us by his grace

A. GOD THE FATHER WILL NOT CHARGE US BECAUSE HE HAS JUSTIFIED US

1. justified — there’s that word again, a word used by the Apostle a dozen times in his letter to the Romans

a. he repeatedly comes back to it as the base event of the Godhead’s redemptive work in the believer’s life

b. God justifies believers on account of the righteousness of Jesus Christ

“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;” (1 Peter 3:18, NASB95)

2. it is not that the accusations made against believers by Satan and the unbelieving world are always false

a. the fact that we are not yet sinless is obvious

b. but even when a charge against us is true, it is never sufficient grounds for our damnation, because all our sins-past, present, and future-have been covered by the blood of Christ and we are now clothed in His righteousness

B. GOD THE SON WILL NOT CHARGE US BECAUSE HE HAS EXONERATED US

1. by means of Christ’s death our sins were blotted out

2. but, by means of Christ’s resurrection he continues to intercede on our behalf

a. the climax of assurance is reached in the clause, “who is also interceding for us”

b. speaking of Messiah’s redemptive work 500 years before it took place, the prophet Isaiah prophesied …

“Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12, NASB95)

3. We Can Be Secure in Our Faith Because of God's Acquittal and Christ's Continuing Intercession ... But There’s More ...

IV. WE CAN BE SECURE IN OUR FAITH BECAUSE OF GOD'S GUARANTEE vv. 35-39

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35–39, ESV)

1. Okay, if you like rhetorical questions here is one more, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

a. after establishing that it is impossible for any person to take away our salvation, Paul anticipates a similar question that some will ask: “Is it possible for any circumstances to rob a believer of his salvation?”

b. the apostle now proceeds to show that that, too, is impossible

1) there is nothing that can separate a child of God from the Heavenly Father

2. Paul surveys all the fearful things that can take place in an individual's life

a. he alludes to the full range of human experience

1) death and life

2) hostile supernatural forces

3) the uncertainties of time

4) then, lest any threat be overlooked, he adds "Nor anything else in all creation."

3. he concludes that not one of them can separate us from the love of Christ

4. because of the indwelling Holy Spirit the believer can be triumphant over spiritual insecurity

A. WE ARE CONQUERORS

1. in vs. 35 the apostle brings up a number of circumstances that believers of all ages have experienced

a. tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword

b. these are the tools of the world, and the ruler of the age use to bring anxiety and doubt into the believer’s life

1) why would a good God who loves his children allow these things to happen to his children?

c. his conclusion? – these things will absolutely not separate us from the love of Christ

ILLUS. Justin Martyr told his congregation as they were all being led off to prison, and death said, “They can kill us, but they cannot hurt us.”

1) if you live long enough, one of these days the authorities will come for you because you refuse to bow the knee to the state

2) when they do, “play the man” and remember the words of Justin Martyr,"They can kill us, but they cannot hurt us."

2. over all of these things we are more than conquerors

a. our English translations simply do not do this passage justice

1) 1st, the word conqueror would be better translated overwhelmingly conquer, overwhelmingly victorious, or even super invincible’s

2) 2nd, the word is a verb in the present tense and means we are overwhelmingly conquering right now even if we are unaware that we are doing so

b. there are Christians in the world right now who are experiencing tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword, and even though they may not feel like it they are conquering — they are super invincible’s

3. and, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us

a. the apostle quickly reminds us that we do not conquer in our own power

ILLUS. One of the best testimonies that Christians can provide a lost world is for that lost world to see them conquering. I have a sister-in-law, who is actually my ex-sister-in-law, but whom I still consider my sister-in-law because she is the mother of my nephew and nieces. She is very dear to us. She is been on and off of our prayer list for going on two years because that’s how long she has been fighting pancreatic cancer. We have seen what she’s gone through. It’s been hard. The shock of the diagnosis, the uncertainty of the future, breaking the news to the family, the difficulties associated with cancer treatment, the waiting period to see if the treatments have worked. And, I cannot begin to explain to you the admiration I have for her because of the Christian witness she has provided family, and friends, and doctors, and nurses, and hospital technicians, and the list goes on. She has been a super invincible, and has probably done more to witness of the grace of God in these last two years than all the sermons I have ever preached in my entire life.

b. this is what the world is looking for — this is what attracts people to Christ — to see Christians prevailing, and overwhelmingly conquering

c. the world wants to have an explanation

B. WE ARE CONVINCED — NOTHING WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD

1. the apostle now sums it all up — Paul is convinced, fully persuaded, absolutely sure that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, or anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate him from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

a. and neither will any of those things separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

ILLUS. John Chrysostom, earned the nickname “golden-mouth” because of his eloquent sermons against the lavish excesses of his day. This earned him no favor with Roman authorities, and when he was brought before the Roman emperor he was threatened with banishment if he remained a Christian. Chrysostom’s reply to the emperor reflects the insight of one who understands that true freedom in life comes with freedom in the Spirit and security in the love of God:

“You cannot banish me for this world is my father’s house.”

“But I will kill you,” said the emperor.

“No, you cannot,” answered Chrysostom, “for my life is hid with Christ in God.”

“I will take away you treasures.”

“No, you cannot for my treasure is in heaven and my heart is there.”

“But I will drive you away into exile, and you shall have no friend left.”

“No, you cannot , for I have a friend in heaven from whom you cannot separate me. I defy thee; for there is nothing that you can do to hurt me.”

2. Chrysostom understood what Paul wanted the believers in Rome to understand — that once we are liberated from the condemnation of sin and death, we are truly free

a. nothing else matters — not geography, not possessions, not relations, not life or death

3. There’s No More, So Let Me Help You Apply this ...

IV. APPLICATION

ILLUS. Let me wrap this up by telling you about one of the great super conquerors of our era. His name is Charlie Brown. In one of Charles Schultz’s cartoons, Lucy is telling Charlie Brown what a loser he is. “You, Charlie Brown, are a foul ball in the line drive of life. You’re often in the shadow of your own goal post. You’re a miscue. You’re 3 putts on the 18th green. You are a 7-10 split in the 10th frame. You have dropped a rod and reel in the lake of life. You’re a missed free throw. You’re a shanked 9-iron, a called 3rd strike, a bug on the windshield of life! Do you understand? Have I made myself clear?” With friends like that, right?

1. there may be times when we feel like Charlie Brown

a. there may be some days when we feel that life itself is against us, like we are always coming up short, like we are just missing our victory by a hand’s length

b. many of us have become our own worst enemies

1) because of past failures and disappointments we are filled with doubts, anxieties, and phobias

ILLUS. Charles M. Schulz, has said of Charlie Brown that he is a caricature of the average person.

2. in spite of these things, the great truth before us, is that God is on the believer’s side

a. and if God is on our side, in the end, we win whatever life hits us with

ILLUS. Why do I call Charlie Brown a super conqueror? In spite of everything, Charlie Brown hangs in, hangs on, and holds on. He’s still trying to kick the football. He’s still trying to strike out the batter in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded and two outs. He’s still trying to fly the kite. He’s still sending valentines to the little red-haired girl.

b. the world may look at Charlie Brown and consider him a loser, but he’s no quitter, and that makes him a super conqueror, and so are you