I invite you to turn with me this morning to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8 as we read together verses 12 through 39, the text being verses 37 to 39. It was not my intention, I wasn't preparing to preach on this passage this morning, but when we received word Friday morning that Brenda's sister had died, then as happens when I hear of the death or the imminent death of someone here in the congregation, my mind goes to passages of comfort, those that are comforting to me, those that are favorites of many people in the congregation. And my mind went to Romans chapter 8, especially verse 1, that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And then, of course, that last part of Romans chapter 8. I have considered this with you before. It was back in 2001, so call it a repeat. Call it a rerun, whatever you will. But nonetheless, this is the passage that I felt led to preach on this morning. Romans chapter 8, the first part, of course, we know starts out with, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And it talks about life through the Spirit, that new life that believers enjoy through the Spirit. And when we take it up at verse 12, then we are reminded there of one of the great blessings that we have in Christ Jesus, being able to call our God, Abba, Father. Beginning at verse 12, as we give our attention to the reading of the Word of God, Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship, and by Him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. If indeed we share in His sufferings in order, that we may also share in His glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness, we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 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? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 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. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. In the words of the text, know in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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. A beloved in Christ the Lord, we live in the midst of a battle. There's a battle going on that constantly rages around us in this life. Boys and girls, it's not like the battle going on in Iraq or Afghanistan. It's not a battle between countries. It's not even a civil type of war where people, citizens within a country are fighting against each other, but it's a spiritual battle. It's a battle for our souls. Satan and his hosts, we know, work overtime. And they work overtime to try to force the wages of sin, which is death, to try to force those wages upon mankind, and especially upon God's people. Satan's goal, we know, is to destroy us completely. His goal is our complete separation from God, and instead our everlasting torment in the agony of hell. And Satan will use whatever means available to him, including the things and the situations and the circumstances of this life. And we too must confess that there are times when we feel the heat of the battle. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes the heat seems hotter than at other times. We must also confess that we do deserve to be destroyed because of our sins. Paul says in chapter 3, there is none righteous, not even one, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Paul teaches in this letter to the Roman church, he teaches that the sinner, and that includes each and every one of us, the sinner needs a right standing before God. The sinner needs a right relationship with God. That's our most desperate need. But he also makes it clear, Paul does in this letter, that that right standing is accomplished not because of Himself or myself or yourself, but it's accomplished only through Jesus Christ. Through Him and for His sake, God justifies the elect. Through Jesus and for Jesus' sake, God's people achieve a right standing before God so that Paul, so much so that Paul can confidently say as this chapter does begin, And therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In sin, mankind is condemned. He is guilty. He is sentenced to eternal hell. Eternal punishment. But in Christ Jesus, that condemnation is erased. It's completely wiped out. But God not only delivers His people from everlasting condemnation, but He also gives His people something unimaginable. This text and its context, which again is a favorite to so many and comforting has been of a comfort to so many, gives us wonderful assurance of the sovereignty of God. But not only that, the blessing that we enjoy because of the sovereignty of our God. Beloved, we consider the believer's triumph. through the victorious power of God's love. And that triumph, your triumph, and my triumph, includes the excellent position, the atoning reason, and the blessed assurance. First of all, the excellent position. What has God done for His people? Well, very simply, everything. Everything. Go back to verses 29 and 30 again. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified. God has done everything for His people. We are secure forever in Him. And that really is the correctly assumed answer to the question that we find in verse 31. If God is for us, who can be against us? And the assumed answer is no one. No one. We are secure forever in Him. He unites His people with Himself by faith. You know, Paul could have ended there. He could have very simply said from beginning to end, we are the Lord's. We are safe and secure forever. Amen. End of story. But He doesn't end there. He necessarily goes further. He puts it into everyday terms that you and I can understand. We are secure forever in Him. But that's not just future, is it? That means we are also secure today. Throughout this letter, we know that Paul has been talking about sin up to this point. He's been talking about the origin of sin and the results of sin and the wages of sin. He makes it clear, especially in chapter 6, that sin still reigns in the world. The wicked of the world are servants, slaves of sin. Sin does not rule over the believer. Believers are now servants of righteousness, but sin still reigns in the world and the results of sin affect everything in its path. Even the believer. Paul himself confesses that the good that he wishes to do, he does not do, but he practices the evil that he does not wish to do. And with the question, who can be against us? If God is for us, who can be against us? he is not saying that there is nothing against us. He's not saying that there is nothing out to get us. But in a sense, he is speaking of the vanity of something rising up against the sovereignty of God. He is saying it is foolishness to take God on. Much like the psalmist in Psalm 2. Why do the nations rage? And the people speak out against the Lord and against His anointed. The Almighty laughs. He scoffs at them. See, Paul makes it clear here that there is so much against us. There is so much out to get you and me. There is so much that tries to separate the believer from the love of God in Jesus Christ. The Roman church was all too familiar with that. The truth is the Christian life is not a walk down easy street necessarily with no cares or frustrations or burdens or sorrows or problems. There are dips in the road of life. There are potholes on the path that God has set before us. It does rain on our parade. There is, as Paul says in verse 35, trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword. Paul suffered all of these things except the sword, And that was on its way for him. But against all of these things, Paul says that the believer enjoys an exalted position. No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors. What a powerful statement. And a wonderful fact. Now, a conqueror is one... Boys and girls, you know what a conqueror is. A conqueror is one who has won the battle. the conqueror is one who is triumphant he enjoys the victory we all know this the conqueror is the one who comes out on top and the conqueror also enjoys the good things and the benefits that come along with being the conqueror like allegiance and respect and ruling power and ownership ownership for example over the physical things in life think of Israel as they conquered Canaan in the conquests. And as God blessed them with one city after another, with one nation after another, they took it all. They were the conqueror. And God enriched them as well with physical blessings. Think of David as the king. The conqueror in his own right. But to the world, Christians don't look like conquerors. And we don't always feel like it either, do we? But to the world, certainly a conqueror does not turn the other cheek. To the world, the conqueror does not love his enemy. He does not pray for those who persecute him. He is not poor in spirit. A conqueror never mourns. A conqueror is not meek and merciful. All those are signs of weakness to the world. You see, one who suffers trouble and hardship and persecution and famine and nakedness and danger or sword is not conqueror material in the eyes of the world. Yet for the believer, brothers and sisters, these are the very things that God uses for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. These are the things that God uses to prepare us and make us ready for that heavenly glory that Jesus Christ has secured for you and me. That good that Paul speaks of here includes the truth that even the worst of sinners who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith is more than a conqueror. See, notice how Paul says that. He's not content. It's not enough to simply describe believers as mere conquerors, as just conquerors. Because that could mean that one barely wins. Just a small margin of victory. But Paul coins a new word that's used only here. It means, if you will, to hyper-conquer. To win a most glorious victory. A shutout, if you will. A sweeping, overwhelming victory by one who is super invincible. There's never a question, there's no question about the victory of this conqueror. And the solid fact is that those who are called of God, those who are justified by grace through faith, are not even threatened by these things that attack us in this life. Did you hear how I said that? I didn't say these things don't attack us. They do. but those who are justified by the grace of God are not even threatened by these things that attack us in life. They can never eternally damage or harm a child of God. Instead, these things, as we face them, they work for good. Just as fire purifies gold and removes the scum and the impurities, in this conquest, The Christian is purified by the Holy Spirit as through the fire of hardship and trouble and persecution and that host of other things, the Holy Spirit burns away from you and me all that is unholy, all that is untrue. And instead, day by day, He remakes us and molds us once again in that gorgeous image of God. As long as Satan continues to shoot his flaming arrows at us in his life, the believer continues to overwhelmingly conquer until all these things pass away. But again, we don't always feel like it, do we? Sometimes we do become overwhelmed. There are times when we feel like we cannot take another step. The burden is so great, we simply cannot go on. But our comfort comes, beloved, because as Paul quickly points out, the believer is not a hyper-conqueror because of Himself or because of His own strength. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Praise God that our victory, our triumph, does not depend on how we feel, but it depends on what God has done. There's only one reason that we are more than conquerors, and that is, in the second place, an atoning reason, and through Him who loved us. Notice the nature of this love. It's already been demonstrated. With results that are eternal, the results aren't here today and gone tomorrow. The results don't fade out over time. The results don't lose their effectiveness. But that love has already been demonstrated and the results are ongoing. They're eternal. We're talking here about the victorious power of God's love through Jesus Christ demonstrated on the cross. The cross is the supreme act of God's love in that, as Paul says in Romans 5, verse 8, but God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And as He says in Ephesians 2, verse 1, and you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. What love! Christ's overwhelming victory was Paul's confidence. And it is the believer's confidence. It is to be your confidence and my confidence. His victory over sin and Satan on the cross. And therefore, too, over all the trouble and the hardships of this life, Jesus says, These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. You see, beloved, all these things that Paul speaks of in this text that would seek to separate us from the love of God, all these things serve to destroy peace and instead promote discord and discontentment and sorrow and anxiety and a host of other negative feelings and troubles of life. but the cross of Jesus. The cross of Jesus brings true peace with God and therefore we overwhelmingly conquer these things because Jesus Christ has overcome the world. All these things that try to separate you and me from the love of Christ, as verse 35 says, serve the purpose of God. You might say, how? How in the world did this hardship and trouble and anguish that I experienced serve the purpose of God. Well, let me ask you, have you ever been driven to your knees to the throne of grace because of trouble or hardship or persecution? If you have, then you know how these things serve the purpose of God. He draws his own closer to himself through these things. The believer is not a slave to these things because he enjoys freedom in Christ. And these things instead in God's good purpose serve the believer's good. Our guarantee is that we will reign with Him forever and ever as more than conquerors because of that greatest love demonstrated by Jesus Christ laying down His life for His people. And His victory, that very same victory that makes us more than conquerors, that victory stands firm. That victory will never be shaken. It will never be moved. It will never be less than Satan can never, ever, ever take away from the value and the power and the result and the effect of the cross of Jesus. He can't do it. And through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, boys and girls, the fact that Jesus sacrificed Himself in your place and mine, our sins are paid in full, everyone. And the wrath and punishment of God has been endured in our place. We say this often, boys and girls, but He took the punishment that you deserve and I deserve. Sin and the power of death has been vanquished. We face death, don't we? It is that last enemy, but it's that. It's that last enemy. Christ has conquered it because He lives and reigns today. He is risen. Through His substitutionary atonement, we are overwhelmingly reconciled with God. And I say it that way because it's not simply that God no longer will hold our sins against us. That is an awesome truth. He will no longer hold our sins against us. But we know that we can, as I said a few weeks ago, sort of forgive each other, but not necessarily be favorable toward each other. Not God. We are overwhelmingly reconciled with Him. He will not hold our sins against us and instead, He looks us, He sees us as righteous in Jesus Christ and He calls us children, sons and daughters. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. By Him we cry, Abba, Father. Hebrews 7, verse 25 says, Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. Paul asks, in verse 33, he asks this question, Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? Well, very simply, Satan does. Satan brings a charge. And he always will, until our Lord comes again. He always will continue to accuse us and condemn us before the face of God, pointing to the greatness of our sin and misery and trying to claim rightful ownership of you and me because of our sin. But as Paul goes on, it is God who justifies. In verse 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. In other words, it's a waste of time for Satan to accuse us because it has no effect. He has no ground to stand on. Satan is a failure because Jesus Christ stands firm for His people against the devil's accusations. As Jesus Christ stands before His Father in our place, He holds in His nail-scarred hands, as it were, the ownership papers of His people signed and sealed with His blood. And as He points to His elect, to you and me, as He points to those who are accused by the devil, He says, I died for them. They are mine. They are more than conquerors because I love them. Brothers and sisters, there is no greater proof of God's love for us than the cross of Jesus. He can prove it in no greater way. Not by taking away your sickness or bringing back our loved ones from death or giving us all the riches in the world. That's not proof. There is no greater proof of God's love for us than the cross of Jesus. Our triumph. is not because of our love for God, but because of His love for us. Our love is often shaky, and it's on again, off again kind of love. It's often lacking zeal, but God's love never fails. We sing of that comfort in a beautiful hymn, in our psalter hymnal, Thy love to me, O Christ. Thy love to me. Not mine to Thee, I plead. Not mine to Thee. We don't plead on the basis of our love for Him, but His for us. Only that love gives us the confidence that Paul had so that he could say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And all of this then points then finally to that blessed assurance described in verses 38 and 39. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, either 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. That is how we are conquerors over all those things that would seek to separate us from that love of God in Christ Jesus. What a solid foundation. Paul's assurance was immovable. It was founded solid upon the rock of Jesus Christ. He was convinced. I am convinced, he says, I am persuaded. He was convinced or persuaded by a work that had been done in Him through that gift of faith. A work worked by the Holy Spirit. He credited God through the Holy Spirit as beginning that work in Him. And He's speaking about an abiding conviction. Again, not a confidence that fades away. Not a conviction that's here today, gone tomorrow. It continues. In fact, he lives with this certainty day by day, more and more, the certainty of the blessed assurance of everlasting unity with God. And that abiding conviction, beloved, is for all believers. It's not just for himself. He says, for I am convinced that nothing shall be able to separate who? Him? Us. Us. And his abiding conviction was in the sovereignty of God over those situations that he speaks of in verse 35, and then now the causes of those situations that would seek to separate us. Notice, in verse 35, he asks if situations, trouble, hardship, persecution, and so forth, if situations shall separate us from the love of Christ. And the answer is no. And now in verses 38 and 39, he boldly goes a little further and states that the things that cause those situations, Death, life, angels, demons, and so forth. In other words, creaturely power cannot even cause that separation. The Christian's assurance, as Paul points out, is that there is no condition of his existence, not death or life, that can separate us from the love of God and Christ Jesus. Death, we know, to this life, is being cut off from the world. But for the believer, It is not being cut off from God. Paul says in chapter 14, verse 8, If we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. And he goes on and he says, No beings, no angels, whether they're good or bad, or whatever rank they might have, not even the angel Gabriel, no angels, no principalities or powers, even powers among men shall be able to separate us. Nothing in time, today, the present, or to come. We don't have to worry about the future. Nothing in space, height, or depth shall separate us. And not only shall these things not separate us, they cannot separate the child of God from the Heavenly Father. And notice the icing on the cake of this comfort as He says, nor anything else in all creation. God is the creator of the heavens and the earth and man and the animals of the galaxies, of the angels, of even Satan. He's not the creator of evil, we know, but He is the creator and nothing else in all creation, not even Satan, can separate us from His love. People of God, this is the Word of God. This is His truth. He dispels, He wipes out any fear we may ever have. Again, Christians will face opposition. It's expected. Expect it. That love of Christ that sets His people apart from the world will draw opposition. It will invite it. In fact, it will beg for it. Paul quotes from Psalm 44, verse 22, in verse 36, when he says, For your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. There will be opposition for you and me for the sake of Christ. There will be difficulties for you and me because of sin. But Paul's point is that these things lack the ability to destroy that gift of faith of the child of God. These things lack the ability to loosen the grip of God's love that holds His people tight. These things are nothing more than stepping stones to glory. We face these things differently than the world. When the world tries to conquer over troubles, tries to escape from troubles, the believer, by the grace of God, and the strength of the Spirit conquers through them. Brothers and sisters, the believer triumphs through the victorious power of God's love. Why? Because God is for us. Verse 31 could read, If God is for us, and He is, because that's exactly what Paul is saying, if God is for us, and He is, who can be against us? What a beautiful teaching. This passage also points to the perseverance of the saints. Not because of our commitment and our strength, our commitment to God and our strength, But because of his everlasting and unfailing commitment to his people, we persevere because he preserves us in that faith and in the gift of salvation he has secured for us through Jesus Christ. Again, God's promise that we can take to the bank, take to eternity, if you will. Again, verses 29 and 30, For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified. Children of God are not conquered, never separated from His love, but instead are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. Those who are saved, those who are justified by grace through faith, will never lose their salvation because they can never lose it. Instead, we live in the confidence that He who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. We live day by day with the confidence that whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say it is well with my soul. We can face each moment of each and every day, beloved. We can handle disappointments which are many. They will be many. Boys and girls, young people, understand this. We will face disappointments. Many joys. Many joys. But we will also face disappointments, but we can do so with the encouragement that God's plan is the best for us. We can face death one day with confidence that we will be with the Lord. We can mourn death of a loved one with hope that our believing loved ones have been delivered from misery and sin and enjoy the glorious presence of God. And we can endure hardship and persecution with the comfort that we are safely held in the hand of God in Christ. One is not condemned, but is more than a conqueror. However, those who are not in Christ are not conquerors, but are both conquered, separate from the love of God, separated from that love, and condemned to eternal hell. Apart from Jesus Christ, one will suffer the wages of sin, that everlasting death and the agony of hell, which is very, very, very real. And there's only one escape. But there is an escape looking to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. And if you've not yet done that, you are being called seriously today to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, trust in Him alone for your salvation. And you too will be more than a conqueror and you will never be separated from the love of God in Christ. Is that your comfort? Are you gripped? Does the Word of God grip your heart with assurance? You see, the things in this life may change for better or for worse. Satan might try to turn up the heat of the battle. Your friends and your family might turn against you. Yet as a child of God, you have the assurance that the love of God for you is changeless. It is steadfast. It is eternal. And you are triumphant in the victorious power of Christ. And therefore, beloved, may our confession be with Jude, to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. To the only God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen. Let's pray. Our great God and Heavenly Father, we praise Your most holy name that You have once again by Your Spirit opened Your Word before our eyes and our hearts this morning. Indeed, O Lord, many of us have heard these things over and over again, but we continue to need to hear this, Your truth, of the comfort of the security that we have in Christ Jesus. And Father, when we do face the heat of the battle in this life, when we do face sadness and difficulty and persecution and hardship and trouble, whatever size or shape or form it might come in, Help us to always remember, O Lord, that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, that nothing shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We praise Your most holy name because indeed You have done it all for Your people and it is all for our good in Christ Jesus. Amen.