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[0:00] Good morning to everybody. Good morning. I want to say from the beginning this morning, welcome back to Katie Dean.

[0:16] ! Actually, Katie was here from last week, but I think we did not publicly acknowledge you.! So great to have you back, Kalisha.

[0:26] Thank you, Kalisha, for whatever time you're able to spend with us over the summer. I'll be happy to have all of our college students, all our university students here, including my daughter, Alexandria.

[0:39] And in a few weeks, we are hoping to have a message that we hope will especially benefit you. So in the not too distant future, we hope to share that with you.

[0:53] Also, I want to acknowledge the Moss family, everyone who's here today and those who are not here. In particular, the children and the grandchildren of Angeline Moss.

[1:08] We have been expressing our sympathies to you over the last few days, and we want to do that publicly again. Right now, Mrs. Moss was a great source of encouragement to me personally.

[1:25] When I led the praise team, there were many, many Sundays when I would finish leading and I would come down and she would make a point to say to me, you know, you're doing a good job to keep it up.

[1:38] She was always encouraging. And to be quite honest, there were times when I really knew that things didn't go well, that I didn't do a particularly good job.

[1:49] And I would classify some of those times as truly disasters. But despite that, she always made a point to encourage me. So we do have a good idea of what has been lost to your family.

[2:05] And so we will continue to pray for you as you prepare for Thursday.

[2:16] So, I hope that this message would actually be encouragement to you and to all of us in general. Let's have a look at our text for this morning, Romans 8, verses 31 to 39.

[2:32] Romans 9, verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

[2:47] He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

[2:58] Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died.

[3:10] More than that, who was raised? Who is at the right hand of the Father? Who is at the right hand of God?

[3:24] Who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

[3:41] As it is written, for your sake we are killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

[3:54] For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else, nor creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[4:14] Let's pray. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that this morning you will indeed show us your truth.

[4:26] That you would open up our understanding. That you would indeed show us Christ in your word. Father, we pray that your word will go forth with power.

[4:39] That you will open eyes. That you would make hearts fertile ground for seeds to blossom and fruit to grow. We pray that there will be good fruit born from your word.

[4:54] And Father, we pray that we will see that we have a God who is an eternal God, an everlasting God, a steadfast God who keeps his word.

[5:05] And we pray, Lord, that we will encourage each and every heart. May you keep me from error. May you keep me from excess. And may you, Lord, be glorified, you and you alone.

[5:21] In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let me ask you an interesting question. It's a question about romance and love.

[5:38] And, Lyndon, I know you're the most romantic person here this morning. So all the men are going to be looking to you. But I don't want you to answer. Okay?

[5:50] Just keep your thoughts to yourself, Lyndon. And I want everyone else just to ponder this question in your mind. Turn it over and over and ask yourself, how would Lyndon respond?

[6:01] Okay? The question is this. How far would you go to prove your love for someone? How far would you go, and Shelly looks over.

[6:16] How far would you go to prove your love for someone? And as you think about that, let me give you a concrete example.

[6:29] Suppose someone who had the power to do it offered you one-third of the world. You could rule one-third of the world.

[6:41] You would have what is worth trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars. You would have hundreds of millions of subjects who would wait on you hand and foot.

[6:54] You would want for nothing. All the desires of your heart would be met. But there was one catch. And that is, you could not be with and marry the man or the woman that you love.

[7:11] What would you do? Well, I see the minds are turning over here. It's a big decision. But for us, that's a hypothetical question.

[7:25] But for the Mordock of Britain in 1936, this was a very, very real question. And those of us who are maybe in our late 30s or younger 40s and up, we would know how this ended.

[7:42] But some of the younger ones might be surprised that the British Mordock in 1937 decided he would leave his throne, give up being head of what was the grandest empire the world had known, to marry Wallis Simpson.

[8:05] And she was a woman who was incredibly undesirable in terms of how people would have been thinking about a suitor for him.

[8:17] She was an American. She was a commoner. And to British subjects, she would have been considered stained by not one, but two divorces.

[8:30] Yet, Edward VIII considered her worthy of marriage. So Edward became Duke of Windsor.

[8:43] And he came to the Bahamas. He was exiled here and served as governor. And that's an incredible story. It sounds like a fairy tale.

[8:54] It sounds like one of those lifetime movies that makes some people go, ah. But as incredible as that is, incredible of a love story that is, it pales in comparison to the love that we see on display in the text this morning.

[9:16] And the simple truth that shines in the text this morning is this. God's unfathomable love is an unbreakable shield of assurance to the believer.

[9:32] And I will attempt to show that as we work through the text in two main sections. One, God's unfathomable love.

[9:43] And two, God's unbreakable shield. And we see God's unfathomable love in the evidence of his love. That's the evidence of his love.

[9:57] And we are taken to the evidence of his love almost immediately in the text. Let's look at verses 31 and 32. What then shall we say to these things?

[10:11] 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 with him graciously give us all things?

[10:26] It was said last week, and I'll say it again this week. We could stop right there. And that would be a complete sermon in itself.

[10:37] It's a very simple message. It's easy to understand. But though it's simple in its delivery, it's very powerful due to the profound truth it contains.

[10:52] What shall we say to these things? Well, immediately you would ask, what things? And to answer, we have to point to Paul's letter up to this point.

[11:03] Paul had written this letter to the church of Rome to explain the gospel and how it should shape the reality of the believer. So he explains how a righteous God saves his elect, not through the law, but through faith.

[11:23] And we see how God creates a new order of things. We can call it a new pattern of humanity. At man's beginning there was Adam, and we had the pattern of Adam.

[11:35] Adam disobeyed God. He went his own way, the way of the flesh. And then we had Christ. You can call that the new Adam. And Christ was perfectly obedient to God.

[11:49] And you can call that the way of the Spirit. So we have two different tracks now. And then, thankfully, in chapter 7, we see that God imputes Christ's righteousness to his elect.

[12:04] We are no longer bound the same way to the law as before. But we are called to live by the Spirit of God. Then in chapter 8, we learn that there is no condemnation.

[12:20] So the believer will not face an everlasting punishment for not fully living up to the law of Moses. And then finally in chapter 8, just before we reach our text this morning, we are told that the believer's present sufferings can't even be compared to his future glory that's to be revealed.

[12:42] Instead, we see that the believer is predestined to belong to God. We are called by him, justified by him, and glorified by him.

[12:53] Paul counts this all as evidence that God is for us. And God being for us is evidence that God loves us.

[13:06] And what do all these things have in common? There are two things they have in common. They're all decreed by God.

[13:17] And this is the thing that's motivated by God. God's motivation is love. Those are the two things they have in common.

[13:28] God's motivation is love. And they're decreed by God. So this is God's doing. And we understand that a decree from God is a done deal.

[13:41] We all understand that, right? We understand that if God says yes, then the answer is yes. And if God says no, it is a hard and fast no.

[13:52] What Paul is saying is that it is absolutely futile to oppose God. If God is for us, who can be against us?

[14:03] So in other words, if God says we're justified by faith, then we truly are justified by faith. And there's no question about it. But there's no one to overrule that.

[14:16] And here's how Nebuchadnezzar put it in Daniel 4 verse 35. He says, all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.

[14:28] And he does according to his will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?

[14:45] This is who's on our side. He has given us very favorable odds, more than favorable odds. The most powerful being, the creator of the universe, is on our side.

[14:59] And it's because of his own sovereign choice. And no one can hold him back from blessing us in that way. He is on our side.

[15:11] And that is the end of the story. But how else do we know that God's on our side? Well, Paul says it, but is there more evidence that God is on our side?

[15:23] And is there more evidence that God loves us? And the answer is yes. It's in the very next verse. He did not spare his own son.

[15:36] But he gave him up for us. Now, many of us here today, we have children. We have sons. We have daughters. Ask yourself.

[15:48] What would you sacrifice your son for? And what would you sacrifice your daughter for? It's a very sobering question if you think about it.

[16:02] As I prepared, I thought about Prince Harry. Prince Harry fought in the war in Afghanistan. And I put forth in quotation marks.

[16:16] Harry was sent to Afghanistan. He did two tours there. And he never saw one battle. And you would think to yourself, how is that possible?

[16:27] Because we all watched the news. We've never been to Afghanistan, many of us. But we see on the news, there are bombings. There were all sorts of skirmishes here and there.

[16:38] How is it that this person had missed all of them? Just completely missed all the battles. But then we think, Harry's father, Prince Charles, sent him there.

[16:49] Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, sent him there. And then we kind of reason out that it's not too far-fetched that he would miss every single battle.

[17:02] And that's the whole point here. That's the nature of parenthood. As parents, we don't knowingly put our children in danger.

[17:14] Some of us wouldn't even put our kids in an uncomfortable position. So how much more would we do to keep them out of harm's way?

[17:26] We certainly wouldn't send them to suffer. We certainly wouldn't send them to death. But God did that. And just a quick aside here. For probably if our young people, or if you're not so young, but if you're single, and you desire to be married, God is very gracious to us because we all seek this thing called love.

[17:50] But we're not all able to identify it. But God has graciously shown us how we can identify genuine love. And it's not in talking, it's in actions.

[18:03] I mean, we know about good talkers in the Bahamas. If you don't know, just wait until election season comes around again and you'll hear promises that you can't believe. But we know, we kind of want people who are smooth talkers sometimes.

[18:19] And singles, when a suitor comes around, you're going to hear a lot of smooth talk. You know, some of these guys are very good. One of our brothers, who Linden always refers to, one of our real brothers would say, the guy's doing a rap.

[18:35] Right? So they put on the Barry White voice and they'd be like, hey baby. You know, baby, baby, baby. When I look in your eyes, I see the sun rise and set all at once.

[18:51] You're heaven to me. You know, they got that smooth kind of talking. But God shows us that love is not about talk. Love is about our actions.

[19:04] Thank God that our God is not about talk. He backs up his promises with all the actions.

[19:15] My mother is present here this morning. And I recall being punished by her.

[19:27] And we actually preferred to be punished by my mother rather than my father. But despite her size, she's a little small. But despite that, she could be very, very stern.

[19:38] And she would say things like, you know, you think I talk and hear myself talk? You know, I think a lot of us have heard that. Some of us who are parents now might have used that as well.

[19:50] Well, God is not like that. He doesn't talk to hear himself talk. In Isaiah 55, he says his word has a purpose.

[20:02] And when he sends out his word, that purpose is accomplished. It never returns to him void. So when he speaks, you can take that to the bank.

[20:14] That's as good as gold. He gave his only begotten son. That was the action. That is the evidence of his love for undeserving sinners like us.

[20:27] God's unfathomable love alone sent Christ to the cross for his elect.

[20:38] And we can trust that evidence as proof that he will do even more for us. How will he not also with Christ graciously give us all things?

[20:53] That is evidence that God will do what he said he will do and more. So God has set his unfathomable love upon us.

[21:11] And we know it because we have the perfect evidence of his love. Now let's look to God's unbreakable shield. You have to forgive me because I'm having a bit of trouble with my tablet.

[21:30] Let's look at God's unbreakable shield. So throughout this passage we see the unbreakable shield that God's love provides. And we've already talked about a lot of it.

[21:46] But the all powerful nature of God is so that whatever he does cannot be opposed.

[21:58] But the shield is also seeing in the incredible effects of God's love. And it's posed in the form of a question.

[22:09] Paul is telling us that God's love gives us the divine protection of a sovereign ruler. We go back to this idea of if God is for us, who can be against us?

[22:25] In other words, who can oppose the all powerful one? And in verses 33 to 37, Paul places us in a legal setting. It's as if we are all put on trial and we are in an open court.

[22:41] And Paul concludes that whatever accusation is brought before us, any accusation against God's elect, it will be summarily dismissed.

[22:54] Notice the legal terms that are in verses 33 and 34. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies who is to condemn.

[23:11] So this is replete with references to a court of law. And Paul is building the case that the believer cannot be found guilty under the law of Moses.

[23:25] Now, we might be guilty, but we cannot be found guilty because of how God has treated us. And that is because God himself has declared that the believer is justified.

[23:39] That's another legal term. And by declaring us justified, God has given us the status of righteous. We are in good standing with him.

[23:51] Though we certainly do not deserve it, it is by his own sovereign choice. So we see this clearly even in our own justice system.

[24:02] We have what they call a nollie prosichai. I'm going to look to Shambi now. This is a Latin word, so I have to look to Shambi. Did I pronounce it close? Nollie prosichai?

[24:14] No. I didn't. But I can send you the spelling. So we have this nollie, which really means no prosecution.

[24:28] And the crown can just bring a nollie against someone who is an accused. It's really on behalf of someone who is accused. You stand accused before the court.

[24:40] And the crown, of its own choice, decides we're going to not prosecute this person. And they don't have to give any explanation. The crown does not have to rationalize it or justify it.

[24:55] The accused simply goes free. And that's what God does for us. He allows no charge to succeed against us.

[25:08] We simply go free. Why? It is due to God's love. God's love alone.

[25:20] He has set his affection on you and you are the beneficiary as a believer of perfectly effective love. We see God's love throughout this passage.

[25:35] But in verse 34, we also see God's justice. And I mean, it's just amazing how God does something like this. Because he covers all the bases.

[25:47] Everything is thought out, perfectly executed. And it's in a way that only an all-wise God can script out. So we've seen that God shows mercy because he justifies us.

[26:05] He just declares us righteous. Which he has the authority to do. And no one can accuse God of not having the right to just go ahead and do that.

[26:20] However, on the other side, God is not being accused of being unjust either. No one can do that. No one can accuse God of being unjust.

[26:31] Because he also ensured that the penalty for our sins was paid. That was not paid by us. But it was paid. And if you look at verse 34, you see it.

[26:44] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised. Who is at the right hand of God.

[26:55] Who indeed is interceding for us. So Christ paid the penalty for our sin. God is being just in doing that.

[27:07] How wise is that? We see mercy through God's perfect love for us. The clearing us justified. And at the same time, we see God's perfect justice laying on Christ the punishment for our sins.

[27:21] All the bases are covered. And though he died, it didn't end there. Christ did not remain dead.

[27:32] He rose again. And the one who died. The one who bore the punishment for our sins. Who paid the price. The one who rose again from the dead.

[27:44] The dead became our lawyer. So we have a perfect lawyer whenever we are accused.

[27:56] He's at the right hand of the father interceding for us. He is an advocate for you and me. All of us. All of us. Who are the Lord's.

[28:08] That's the effect of God's love. We have the perfect lawyer. We stand before the perfect judge. And we get the perfect outcome.

[28:20] Each and every time. The accused. Goes free. No wonder Paul was led to ask.

[28:32] Who shall separate us from the love. Of Christ. Because not even in death. Will we separate from the love of God. Will we separate from the love.

[28:43] Of Christ. So with that in mind. Shall tribulation. Or distress. Or persecution. Or famine.

[28:54] Or nakedness. Or danger. Or sword. What. What will separate us. As it is written. For your sake. We are being killed all.

[29:07] The day long. We are regarded as sheep. To be slaughtered. Now at the time. That Paul was writing. This letter.

[29:18] The church in Rome was. In the midst of extreme. Persecution. Persecution. Romans were oppressing. The believers. Because of Christ.

[29:29] Because they held to Christ. And Paul with this in mind. He directly quotes. From Psalm. 44. So verse 36.

[29:40] Actually quotes. This 22nd verse. Of Psalm 44. The Psalm begins. By recalling how. God had. Been with Israel. How he had. Brought them out of bondage.

[29:51] How he had led them into the. Promised land. How he drove out nations. Before them. But then things take a turn. And God seemingly withdraws his hand.

[30:04] He withdraws. His favor for that moment. From Israel. From Israel. And many. Many calamities. Fall on them.

[30:15] Where it seems. To the psalmist. That God has appointed them. To be sheep. Destined. For slaughter. That their very purpose. Was to be devoured. By others.

[30:27] They will meet. Raised for the slaughter. For the slaughter. For the slaughter. For the slaughter. That's not just something that. God simply allowed. Instead the psalmist.

[30:38] Is convinced that. This was something that God. Ordained. For them to go through. And the truth is. That we will have those seasons. Of suffering.

[30:50] We'll have those very. Difficult seasons. That God. Has appointed. For us. To walk through. I want you to notice. How. Similar. The language is.

[31:07] In Romans 8. About. Being. Sheep. That'll be slaughtered. With the language of. Isaiah.

[31:19] Isaiah 53. Verse 7. This is speaking of Christ. He was oppressed. And he was afflicted.

[31:31] Yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb. That is led to the slaughter. And like a sheep. That before it shares.

[31:42] Is silent. So. He opened not. His mouth. Very very similar language. And really really shows us that.

[31:54] There are times. There are times. When God appoints us. To walk through suffering. Sometimes it's. Being persecuted. For our belief. Sometimes it's just.

[32:05] The regular sufferings. That come with life. But there are times. That we appointed. To walk. Through seasons. Of suffering. And it really shows us.

[32:16] If you look at. Romans 8. Verse 29. It really shows us that. We are called to this. We are called to this. Because Romans 8.

[32:27] 29. Says we were. Foreknown by God. We were predestined by God. But we just weren't. Predestined to be. His. And that was the end of it. We were predestined.

[32:40] To be conformed. To the very image. Of Christ. Christ. Christ set the pattern. He was. A lamb. To the slaughter. For us.

[32:51] And sometimes. We'll be lambs. To the slaughter. For Christ. Sometimes. We'll be persecuted. For the name of Christ. And sometimes. We'll walk through.

[33:02] A season of suffering. But in it all. We have to remember this. We have to remember. That God's love. Remains. But whatever difficulty.

[33:18] It is that we. That we face. Let's. Let's. Let's remember that. Because Paul insists. That we remember it. God's love. Will remain. Through it all.

[33:30] Nothing shall separate us. From the love. Of Christ. Not tribulation. Not distress. Not persecution. Not famine. Nakedness. Danger.

[33:41] Or sword. And nothing. Is absolute. Even if he didn't list. Every single. Condition. And situation here. Nothing. Is absolute.

[33:52] So it includes everything. If you don't see it in the list. Whatever you can think of. There's nothing that can separate us. From the love.

[34:03] Of God. We have. That divine. Assurance. And. And. And. Paul says that. We will overcome every situation.

[34:13] He says. We will conquer them. He says. We will. More than conquer them. Because we will be. Than conquerors. And it seems to be. A silly thing to say. How are you more.

[34:24] Than a conqueror. Either a conqueror. Or not. Right? But sometimes God. Puts us in these situations. Where. It seems that there's.

[34:35] Absolutely no way. That we could win. Absolutely no way. We could overcome. We could make it through. But by his hand. We do.

[34:46] And it's done in such a big way. It becomes. Pretty much a spectacle. You. You know that. The hand of God. Must have been it. It's not just. A win. It's a big win.

[34:58] And I like to think of it. As. Like those action movies. Where there's a scene. The hero is surrounded by. 30 or 40 guys. And they're all out there.

[35:09] To get him. And after about 30 seconds. Of karate kicks. And you know. A blow here. A blow there. He dives over the car. Et cetera. By the end of that. Whole action sequence.

[35:20] There are 30 or 40 guys. Lying. Defeated. And one hero. Remains. And he didn't even. Break a sweat. It's. It's like that.

[35:31] It's such. A big win. But you know. There is no way. Someone should make it. Out of that situation. God makes it. Almost. A spectacle. Of how.

[35:42] We are delivered. So. In that. When. Think of the. The church in Rome. At this time. And they had.

[35:53] No special privileges. They were ordinary people. And they were being. Oppressed. Oppressed. They were being. Persecuted. By. The Roman Empire. The.

[36:05] Greatest empire known. Ever. At that time. They were being. Fed. To lions. In some cases. And they. Held fast.

[36:17] They persevered. They overcame. They were more. Than conquerors. We continue. To see.

[36:28] How much. Of an. Unbreakable shield. God's love is. And we continue. To look. At the effects. Of his love. For I am sure.

[36:41] That neither death. Nor life. Nor angels. Nor rulers. Nor things. Present. Nor things to come. Nor powers. Nor height. Nor death.

[36:52] Nor anything else. Nor creation. Will be able to separate us. From the love of God. In Christ Jesus. Our Lord. Paul in these closing verses.

[37:03] Speaks the extremes. He's speaking about things. That are great in power. Angels. And rulers. Such as the.

[37:14] Emperor. Caesar. That the Romans faced. Christ. He's speaking about. Extreme height. Extreme death. Extreme death. But we get the picture. No matter how high.

[37:26] An obstacle. Seems to be. God can get higher. His love can reach it. No matter how low. It seems to be. God can reach those steps. As well.

[37:38] But what really. Really strikes me. Are the examples. That he uses.

[37:49] About God's eternal. Eternal. Nature. The first thing. Paul mentions. Is our great enemy death. Paul says. Not even death.

[38:01] Can separate us. From the love of God. In Christ Jesus. That's because. God's love. Is an eternal. Love. It's not bound by time.

[38:12] We have God's love. In life. And we will also have it. In death. The God of the universe. Who can do all things. His love stretches.

[38:25] Into eternity. The truth is. Death to the saint. Is our beginning. Of eternal life. And again. I want to.

[38:36] Especially encourage. The Moss family. As you prepare for Thursday. Thursday. Because. There's absolutely no doubt. In my mind. It's settled with me.

[38:47] That your mother. That your grandmother. Your loved one. Is resting. In the safe. Arms of the savior. But for you.

[38:59] Who are left here. It's another example. That. We do have these. Very bitter blows. In life. That we must walk through. Walk through. But we have to remember.

[39:11] That no matter. What life throws at us. God's love. Will keep us. Paul says. Nothing. Nothing present.

[39:24] And nothing to come. Can separate us. From God's love. Notice he doesn't give. An expiration date. Nothing to come. Is left open.

[39:35] Is left open. It reaches. Into infinity. There is absolutely. Nothing. That will be created. That will be invented. Between now.

[39:46] And how many. However many years. You want to count. Into the future. That can separate us. From the love of God. And if you're like me. You marvel at technology. You marvel.

[39:57] How every year. They come up with some gadget. Some. Software. Some electronic. You know. I always wonder. How many iPhones. They're going to make. It's like. I think they're like.

[40:08] I don't know. iPhone 50 or something. Samsung Galaxy. 20 something. Yeah. They got a lot of them. That's the point. They got a lot of them. Every year. They come up with something else.

[40:19] It seems to be. An app for everything. But no app. No technology. Is going to outdo. The love of God. We are promised. It is an eternal.

[40:30] Love. So we have the blessing. Of the effect. Of God's love. Even. In death. Even in death.

[40:42] The enemy can't bring a charge. Against us. Even in death. We are justified. And even in death. There is. No condemnation.

[40:54] If you want to be sure. That. What we're saying today. Is true. We just have to look back. At one of our early points.

[41:06] Look at the evidence. Of God's love. God did not spare. His own son. But he gave him up for us all. How then.

[41:19] Will he not. Also graciously with him. Give us. All things. That's love. 45 years.

[41:30] People have asked themselves. Now what made. Edward the eight. Give up his throne. And a brilliant person. Of camp.

[41:41] Person came. For this Calypso song. That said. Love alone. Said it was love alone. That caused. King Edward. To leave his throne. Well that may be true.

[41:52] That may be true. But no matter. How great. Edward's love was. It was an imperfect love. Because it was human love. Human love. But we have seen.

[42:06] What God's love. Can do. We have seen that God's love. Is a perfect. Love. Love. Love. And here's how. God's love. In Deuteronomy chapter 7.

[42:18] As he. Speaks to the people. Of Israel. He says.

[42:37] For you. Are people. Are people. To the Lord. The Lord. Your God. The Lord. Your God. Has chosen you. To be a people. For his treasured possession.

[42:49] Of all the peoples. Who are on the face of the earth. It's not because. You were more in number. Than any other people.

[43:01] Of people. That the Lord. His love upon you. And chose you. For you were the fewest. Of all people. But it is because. The Lord loves you.

[43:12] And is keeping the oath. That he swore. To your fathers. That the Lord. Has brought you out. With a mighty hand. And redeemed you. From the house of slavery. From the hand of Pharaoh.

[43:24] King of Egypt. Know therefore. That your Lord. Your God. Is God. The faithful God. Who keeps covenant.

[43:37] And steadfast love. With those who love him. And keep. His commandments. To a thousand. Generations.

[43:51] You see God's love. Is love we can trust. When God sets his love upon us. It's not a fickle love. He doesn't love us today. And tomorrow.

[44:02] If it's convenient. He falls out of love with us. He. Is the faithful one. He himself. Keeps us.

[44:15] Whisper sweet things. In our ears. Some of us do. And not really mean it. If God says it. He does it.

[44:26] He not only talks to talk. He does it. He does it. But he has the action. To back it up. The God of action. Had his son give up.

[44:37] Not an earthly throne. His son gave up the majesty of heaven. To come and live a humble life. As a human being. On earth.

[44:49] To die a cruel death. On a cruel cross. Not even for his sins. For our sins. God sacrificed. His greatest treasure.

[45:02] For those who were. Least worthy. So we've seen. God's unfathomable.

[45:14] And that unfathomable love. Is from. From. The all powerful being. Of the universe. Whose word. Whose actions. Are unbreakable.

[45:28] God is not like man. That he would lie. His ways are far higher than ours. He says it. He doesn't break it. And there is no one.

[45:40] Who can stay his hand. So again I say. We can trust the words. Of Romans 8. We can trust that God's love alone. Will cause us to triumph.

[45:52] Over the accusations. Of the enemy. God's love alone. Will cause us not. His love will keep us.

[46:03] Through the sufferings of this life. And he will hold us safely. Even. In death. Let's pray. Let's pray.

[46:14] Let's pray. Let's pray. Father we thank you. We thank you that. There is none like you. We thank you that. There is none like you. We thank you father that.

[46:26] You have an unbreakable word. And we thank you Lord that you have cast your affections. Upon us.

[46:39] And told us so. We thank you that you have cast your affections. Upon us. And you have showed us so. Lord we thank you for Christ.

[46:52] We thank you that. He did not seek to hold on to his majesty in heaven. But he left that throne. To seek a bride and pay for a bride.

[47:03] That did not deserve him. That did not deserve him. But even this shows us your nature Lord. Even this shows us your nature that. You seek the lost.

[47:17] And we cannot resist you. You pull us to yourself. And you. Cause us to be faithful. To be faithful. We thank you Lord.

[47:28] We thank you Lord. We pray that all the days of our lives. We will see and remember. The love you show. And right now. We pray for those.

[47:39] Who are walking through seasons of suffering. We pray for grace. For the loved ones of. Angelina Moss. God would you cause them.

[47:50] God would you cause them. To be comforted. Knowing that your love. Is an eternal love. That keeps us in life. And in death. Father we.

[48:03] Pray for so many situations that. I see in this congregation. Where there is lack. Where there is doubt. Where there is unbelief. Or let your love.

[48:16] There to rescue us. And we pray Father that. As you promise to show. Your love. To a thousand generations.

[48:30] That there will be a great inheritance. Of your saints. For generations to come. That your word will go forth with power. Not just now. But forever.

[48:44] May you be praised. May you be glorified in it. And we lift up your name. Now and forever. As the recipients. Of the greatest love.

[48:59]  We pray these things. In the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Yes. Yes.