WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.779 My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today. 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:20.820 We are continuing this morning our series in the book of Romans. We're actually finishing it for a little bit. We're at the very last section in Romans chapter 8. 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:29.560 If you've been tracking, you know that next week we are going to start the story of Isaac returning back to the second half of Genesis chapter 25. 00:00:30.060 --> 00:00:40.400 So this is our last hurrah for a little bit. You'll remember that Romans is a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s AD. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:46.799 You'll remember that Romans is called Romans because it is written to the churches in the city of Rome. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:54.159 And you'll remember that it is about the gospel. It's about the good news of Jesus' life and death and resurrection. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:03.259 And now we're at the very end of chapter 8, which I've been telling you is arguably the greatest chapter in the entire Bible. 00:01:03.879 --> 00:01:10.039 And we're not just at that chapter, we're in the greatest section of the greatest chapter. 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:20.500 We're in the climax of chapter 8 and in a sense then the climax of the first eight chapters of the book of Romans. 00:01:21.100 --> 00:01:28.460 I was talking to someone yesterday, I said, you know, so I'm preaching from Romans 8, which is the potentially the greatest chapter in the Bible. 00:01:28.660 --> 00:01:32.600 And then we're at this section at the end, which is potentially the greatest section of the greatest chapter. 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:33.780 So no pressure. 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:40.119 And the point is this, of this passage before us. 00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:47.679 If you belong to Jesus Christ, if he has chosen you, if you're one of his elect, 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:57.759 no matter what happens in this life, you cannot lose what matters most. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:06.580 If you belong to Jesus Christ, if you're one of his sheep, if your name is written in the book of life, 00:02:07.859 --> 00:02:14.040 no one and nothing can separate you from the love of God. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.960 And so it's with that I invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 8, starting at verse 35. 00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:22.680 You'll find it on page 7 of your worship guide. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.340 And as we come to this passage, remember that this is God's word. 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:33.360 Jeremiah chapter 23 tells us that God's word is like a hammer that breaks a rock into pieces, 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:41.539 which is a way of saying that there is nothing so powerful that God's word is not more powerful still. 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:47.180 And so that's why we read now Romans chapter 8, starting at verse 35. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.680 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:58.659 Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:05.260 As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. 00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:09.680 We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:16.100 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 00:03:16.099 --> 00:03:24.259 For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come 00:03:24.259 --> 00:03:31.099 nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation 00:03:31.099 --> 00:03:37.139 will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:41.859 I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word. 00:03:43.699 --> 00:03:50.239 Our Father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you this morning for your great mercy and grace to us. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:56.739 Not only in sending your son to die in our place, but for giving us your word. 00:03:56.959 --> 00:04:02.599 For instructing us, for guiding us, for adopting us as your sons and daughters and promising us an inheritance. 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:09.359 Father, for giving us something so sure and unshakable that nothing in this world can threaten it. 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:14.039 We ask that you'd help us by your spirit this morning to understand your word. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:18.100 That it would pierce to the center of our hearts. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:23.959 Father, that it would move our affections, it would shake our minds. 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:29.439 That it would grow our love for Jesus Christ and our confidence in you. 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:33.279 And so that we would be people who are filled with great joy. 00:04:33.739 --> 00:04:35.919 And we ask all of these things in Jesus' name. 00:04:36.299 --> 00:04:36.519 Amen. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:46.939 I have mentioned to you all before that my first time in the state of Colorado was in 2016. 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:50.339 It was my second year in seminary. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:56.620 And I took a road trip from St. Louis out to Utah with a bunch of other students. 00:04:56.980 --> 00:04:59.959 And it was a long drive, of course, from St. Louis to Utah. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:02.759 But we decided we were just going to drive straight. 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:06.540 So, you know, we're seminary students. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:07.459 We're young, poor. 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:09.220 So we drove straight. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.459 Just took turns driving, driving, sleeping, sleeping, driving. 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:13.540 We had two different cars. 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:15.720 Neither of the cars were my car. 00:05:15.840 --> 00:05:20.340 So I could kind of switch off between cars depending on circumstances and people. 00:05:21.140 --> 00:05:24.300 And on this trip, I had with me a secret weapon. 00:05:25.640 --> 00:05:31.620 My secret weapon was a book written by a man named Gary Poole called this. 00:05:31.960 --> 00:05:34.280 The Complete Book of Questions. 00:05:35.300 --> 00:05:40.160 A thousand and one conversation starters for any occasion. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:46.460 So if you were in the car with me, or more appropriately, accurately, if I was in your car, 00:05:46.760 --> 00:05:49.260 you got to answer my favorite questions. 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:57.640 And question 405 of 1001 is this. 00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:07.340 If you were able to retrieve only one item on the way out of your burning home, 00:06:07.640 --> 00:06:08.900 what would it be? 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:09.779 Survival. 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:10.839 Explain. 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:15.039 Now, item, by the way, means it's an inanimate object. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:17.659 So you are not allowed to name a family member. 00:06:17.819 --> 00:06:19.659 You are not allowed to name a pet. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:21.099 Those are not items. 00:06:21.659 --> 00:06:23.239 And the question, of course, reveals a lot. 00:06:23.299 --> 00:06:24.339 What sort of person are you? 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:25.959 Are you a practical person? 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:28.120 You know, you do say, well, I take my passport. 00:06:28.919 --> 00:06:30.359 Of course, that might not mean you're practical. 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:31.679 It may just mean you love to travel. 00:06:32.259 --> 00:06:34.039 Or are you a sentimental person? 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:38.599 Do you say, well, I have to take the family photo albums that cannot be replaced, right? 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:41.760 Or the letters that I cannot replicate. 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:46.540 The question forces you to answer, you know, what is most valuable to you? 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:49.460 What is irreplaceable? 00:06:50.220 --> 00:06:53.620 What can you not afford to lose? 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:59.899 Of course, it's hard because the question says one item, not three items. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:01.540 I don't make the rules. 00:07:02.019 --> 00:07:02.120 Okay. 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:07.660 This passage before us this morning is about that same thing. 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:12.579 What is it that you can lose in this world? 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:16.600 And what is it that you cannot lose? 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:19.399 What matters more? 00:07:19.540 --> 00:07:20.560 What matters less? 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:22.600 What matters the most? 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:29.420 No matter what happens in this life, there's one thing that you want to keep. 00:07:30.200 --> 00:07:31.180 That's God's love. 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:34.100 The passage is telling us even more than that. 00:07:34.180 --> 00:07:36.540 It's not just that that's one thing that you want to keep. 00:07:36.640 --> 00:07:40.500 It is one thing that you will keep. 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:44.040 It's the question Paul is asking in verse 35. 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:49.540 Is there anything that we can do to lose God's love? 00:07:50.260 --> 00:07:56.740 Is there anything that someone else might do to take God's love away from us? 00:07:56.860 --> 00:07:59.080 That's what he's asking at the beginning of 35. 00:07:59.820 --> 00:08:03.600 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:05.740 And then he lists some options. 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:11.160 Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:16.740 Now some people focus in on each of those items and try to figure out what's different between them. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.520 That's not wrong, but perhaps it misses the forest for the trees 00:08:20.520 --> 00:08:27.400 because Paul's larger point in having this list is to highlight the most extreme sufferings of this world. 00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:32.580 Whatever you go through, the worst thing that can happen to you in life, 00:08:32.660 --> 00:08:36.460 it fits into one of these categories. 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:44.259 Paul then, in verse 36, goes on to help us understand he's not exaggerating. 00:08:44.680 --> 00:08:49.379 Telling us in 36, hey, these things actually really could happen to you. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:56.259 And he does that by reminding us of the potential for suffering as a Christian. 00:08:57.259 --> 00:08:59.920 Verse 36, as it is written, 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.839 For your sake we are being killed all the day long. 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:07.519 We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:11.019 And Paul there is quoting from the Old Testament. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:13.939 He's quoting from Psalm 44, verse 22. 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:15.899 And the psalmist is saying, 00:09:16.079 --> 00:09:22.279 Look, God, we are suffering because we belong to you. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:24.939 The New Testament would put it this way. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.439 We're suffering because we're Christians. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.500 I mentioned this before. 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:32.740 The New Testament repeats this in 2 Timothy chapter 3. 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:39.480 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:47.140 So the question is, hey, will we be able to hold up if and when persecution comes? 00:09:47.560 --> 00:09:52.180 Is God powerful enough to sustain us through that? 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:57.439 Is God so faithful that we will be able to persevere? 00:09:58.479 --> 00:10:02.579 Is verse 28 of Romans chapter 8 really true? 00:10:03.459 --> 00:10:09.519 Will God actually work all things, and we mean all things, for our good? 00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:13.599 Are verses 29 through 31 actually true? 00:10:13.959 --> 00:10:18.240 Does God actually guarantee that those he chooses, he elects, 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:21.560 really go all the way to glorification? 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:28.539 Can we survive the worst forms of suffering? 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:31.519 Or will they take us? 00:10:32.779 --> 00:10:33.960 Will they take us under? 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:43.399 It's more, verse 37 gives us the answer. 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:44.919 Will we mess it up? 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:46.759 No. 00:10:48.979 --> 00:10:56.179 No, the worst suffering in the world, persecution for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ, 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:03.219 is not powerful enough to separate you from God's love. 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:17.580 Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, and nakedness, danger, and sword are no match for God's steadfast love. 00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:25.320 Paul tells us, though, it's more than a no. 00:11:26.420 --> 00:11:28.600 It's not that it just, it won't tank you. 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:36.080 Actually, all of those things will result in you coming out on top. 00:11:37.340 --> 00:11:40.920 Those things are actually going to work out really well for you. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:42.560 Verse 37 again, 00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:46.659 In all these things we are more than conquerors. 00:11:47.560 --> 00:11:51.899 Now what does it mean to be not just a conqueror, but more than a conqueror? 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:57.100 Well, it means that verse 28 of Romans chapter 8 is true. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:03.860 If all things work for our good, and they do, 00:12:04.860 --> 00:12:11.600 all of these things, all these sufferings, will result in our good as well. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.779 God will use them. 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:21.159 God will use tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, and nakedness, danger, and sword. 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:26.519 God will use them as part of your ultimate glorification. 00:12:27.700 --> 00:12:30.600 So it's not just that these things can't separate you. 00:12:31.500 --> 00:12:34.220 No, they're actually going to be at work for your good. 00:12:34.220 --> 00:12:40.200 There's a concept that's become recent, popular in recent years called antifragility. 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:44.399 It's actually a new word coined by a man named Nassim Tlaib, 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:45.980 who wrote a book by the same name. 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:50.500 And if something is antifragile, it is the opposite of fragile, 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:54.940 which is to say suffering actually makes it more powerful. 00:12:56.980 --> 00:13:01.100 Hardship, if something is antifragile, hardship is for its benefit. 00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:04.139 The classic example is the muscles in your body. 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:08.860 If you lift heavy weights, you get micro tears in your muscles, and what happens? 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:10.920 You get stronger. 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:15.100 So your muscles are not fragile, they're antifragile. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.019 Suffering and hardship make them greater and better. 00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:24.680 Paul is telling us the same thing is true of the Christian life. 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:30.060 When we encounter suffering, when we encounter tribulation, distress, persecution, 00:13:30.059 --> 00:13:36.959 famine, and nakedness, or danger, or sword, it grows and increases our faith. 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:39.179 It works for our good. 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:45.699 Those things increase and multiply the fruit of the Spirit in your life. 00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:53.040 Those things mean that your eyes are more easily fixed on heaven. 00:13:55.080 --> 00:14:00.759 Those things mean our trust in God grows and grows and grows. 00:14:02.040 --> 00:14:06.780 So those things, they're not, it's not just that they're not going to separate you from the love of God. 00:14:06.779 --> 00:14:10.279 They're actually going to make you more than a conqueror. 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:13.259 They're going to make your faith stronger than ever before. 00:14:14.100 --> 00:14:16.919 By the way, when Paul says more than a conqueror in the Greek, 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:19.779 it basically means you're going to be a super winner. 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:21.839 You're not just a regular winner. 00:14:22.319 --> 00:14:23.100 You're a mega winner. 00:14:24.019 --> 00:14:24.179 Okay? 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:27.079 To be a Christian is to be antifragile. 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:29.480 It's more than winning. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:30.919 It's actually a net positive. 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:34.860 All those things are going to end up for your good. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:44.799 In 1967, the pastor, Richard Wurmbrand, published his book called Tortured for Christ, 00:14:45.079 --> 00:14:51.019 and it told his story of 14 years in a communist prison, or communist Russia, 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:53.740 and he had suffered there for his faith in Christ. 00:14:53.839 --> 00:14:54.399 He was a pastor. 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:57.299 He was sharing the good news of the gospel, so they threw him in prison. 00:14:57.299 --> 00:15:01.139 And in it, he tells the story of a woman named Veria. 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:03.359 Veria converts to Christianity. 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:08.500 She becomes obsessed with her new faith, and she is sharing it constantly. 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:14.500 And so because of that, she gets thrown into a Russian labor prison. 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:15.799 Okay? 00:15:15.819 --> 00:15:17.559 She's in a slave labor camp. 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:22.139 While she's in this slave labor camp, under communist Russia, 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:26.099 she writes a couple letters that Richard records in his book, 00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:29.460 and there's an excerpt from one of them on the back of your worship guide. 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:33.159 She's drawing here from Romans chapter 8. 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:37.360 Who can separate us from the love of God in Christ? 00:15:38.180 --> 00:15:39.960 Nobody and nothing. 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:43.980 Neither prison nor suffering. 00:15:45.060 --> 00:15:51.820 The suffering that God sends us only strengthens us more and more in the faith in him. 00:15:51.820 --> 00:15:58.300 My heart is so full that the grace of God overflows. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.180 At work, and when she says at work, that's a euphemism. 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.860 She's saying in my slave labor camp under communist Russia, okay, 00:16:07.260 --> 00:16:14.000 at work, they curse and punish me, giving me extra work because I cannot be silent. 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:16.860 And what is it that she's not silent about? 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:20.080 It's not her love for marinara sauce. 00:16:20.539 --> 00:16:25.399 She can't be silent about the grace of God in Jesus Christ. 00:16:26.060 --> 00:16:31.120 And when she refuses to be silent about the grace of God in Jesus Christ, 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.120 they curse and punish her, giving her extra work. 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:39.700 I must tell everyone what the Lord has done for me. 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:48.279 He has made me a new being, a new creation of me who is on the way of perdition. 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:52.600 Can I be silent after this? 00:16:53.779 --> 00:16:55.580 No, never. 00:16:55.580 --> 00:17:04.039 As long as my lips can speak, I will witness to everyone about his great love. 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:07.660 And that's verses 36 and 37. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.019 Verse 36, she's suffering for the name of Jesus Christ. 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:18.600 Verse 37, that suffering doesn't separate her from the love of God. 00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:20.360 In fact, it does something even more. 00:17:20.460 --> 00:17:22.720 It makes her more than a conqueror. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:26.500 Her faith is greater than it was before. 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:28.640 She's a super winner. 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:35.259 God is using her as part of his mission. 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:38.360 By the way, that was the last letter she sends. 00:17:39.339 --> 00:17:44.539 And Warren Brand goes on to tell us she was never heard from again. 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:53.599 Baria was more than a conqueror through him who loved her. 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:04.319 That's Paul's next statement in verse 37. 00:18:04.619 --> 00:18:10.779 He answers the question, how or why is it that this suffering actually increases our faith, 00:18:10.899 --> 00:18:11.799 grows our faith? 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:15.500 It is through him who loved us. 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:21.059 Now, commentators make a big point of the fact that loved is in the past tense. 00:18:21.940 --> 00:18:24.599 Could have easily said him who loves us currently, right? 00:18:24.639 --> 00:18:25.339 Which is true. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:27.659 God does love his people currently. 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:33.440 But the past tense is to emphasize what God has already accomplished 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:37.039 through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:43.839 In other words, Paul's reminding us he's presenting the greatest act of God's love, 00:18:43.899 --> 00:18:46.740 which is what Jesus did for us on the cross. 00:18:47.579 --> 00:18:50.500 That's the love that we don't want to be separated from. 00:18:51.159 --> 00:18:54.839 That, by the way, is how Paul defined God's love earlier in the book. 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:57.159 Remember, Romans chapter 5, verse 8, 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:04.880 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:07.720 So this is not touchy-feely love. 00:19:07.820 --> 00:19:09.420 This is not abstract love. 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:10.700 This is not vague love. 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:13.759 It's not love as an idea or a concept or a philosophy. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:17.759 No, Paul's saying you know Jesus' love because of what he did. 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:21.420 You know it because of what he did in the past. 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:28.019 And Romans chapter 8 is now cataloging the consequences, the effects, the impacts, 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:31.160 the benefits, the privileges of that love. 00:19:32.299 --> 00:19:36.700 So when we say that we cannot be separated from the love of God in Jesus Christ, 00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:37.720 we are saying this. 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:43.480 It means that you cannot lose what Paul taught about in Romans 8, verse 30. 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:46.279 You cannot be separated from glorification. 00:19:47.099 --> 00:19:52.440 You will have a perfect body and you will be sinless in the presence of God. 00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:57.799 It means you cannot be separated from the reality of verse 28. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:03.299 You cannot lose the fact that all things in your life work together for good. 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:09.759 It means you cannot lose what we talked about last week, verses 32 through 34, 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:15.660 your protection against successful accusation and successful condemnation. 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:18.819 Nothing can take that away from you. 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:24.019 It means you can't lose verse 18, that your glorious future in heaven, 00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:30.700 remember the future against which it is not worth comparing the present, can't be lost. 00:20:30.700 --> 00:20:36.680 It means that no matter what comes, verses 26 and 27 are true for you, 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:43.120 that God's Holy Spirit is groaning for you, praying on your behalf to God the Father 00:20:43.120 --> 00:20:45.759 with groans too deep for words. 00:20:46.600 --> 00:20:49.600 That is the love that you cannot lose. 00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:54.980 It means that verses 14 through 17 of Romans chapter 8 are true and cannot disappear, 00:20:54.980 --> 00:21:00.759 that you are God's child who's been adopted with a glorious future and inheritance. 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:06.460 That is what it means that you cannot lose the love of God. 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:12.960 All the benefits of Jesus' death and resurrection. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.019 Because that's what chapter 8 is. 00:21:17.019 --> 00:21:24.380 Remember, chapter 8 is life in the Spirit, life basking in the love of God. 00:21:25.980 --> 00:21:33.220 Life lived with all the benefits that come with being a child of God. 00:21:40.099 --> 00:21:43.279 Now, Paul has listed persecution and suffering. 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:47.000 He then goes on to list everything else. 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:49.740 This is verses 38 through 39. 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:55.700 For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:59.059 nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation 00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:03.319 will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:09.720 Now, commentators love to talk about what is the difference between height and depth and angels and rulers 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:11.419 and what kind of rulers are these? 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:13.579 And when we think about things present and things to come, 00:22:13.679 --> 00:22:15.179 like how do we distinguish between those? 00:22:15.419 --> 00:22:20.939 The point is not to hyper-focus on any of those obstacles. 00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:24.799 The point of Paul is to capture everything. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:29.059 Paul's goal here is to be comprehensive. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:33.779 You think of something that can separate you from God, it's on the list. 00:22:34.580 --> 00:22:36.220 Whatever you come up with. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:43.059 You know, I was a school teacher for a while and you have kids raise their hands and just say the craziest things. 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:45.460 Yeah, but what if such and such and such? 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:46.680 It doesn't matter. 00:22:47.660 --> 00:22:53.340 Anything, everything, whatever you think of, it cannot separate you from God's love. 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:59.840 And just in case Paul thinks he might have missed something, he adds at the very end, verse 39, 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.019 nor anything else in all creation. 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:05.940 Okay, that's Paul being a really good lawyer. 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:09.680 Okay, you think you can find a loophole? 00:23:10.360 --> 00:23:12.880 Well, I got the anything in all creation clause. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:16.640 So you're done, okay? 00:23:17.340 --> 00:23:20.820 You think you can find something that can separate for you from God? 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:21.800 I've covered it all. 00:23:22.100 --> 00:23:24.140 This contract is watertight. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:25.380 It's impenetrable. 00:23:25.780 --> 00:23:29.240 I am the best lawyer you will come up against. 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:37.040 No, nothing, nothing that you imagine, nothing that you fear will get in the way. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:43.539 Now, this passage lists a lot of bad things. 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:48.139 And it doesn't say that those things won't happen to you. 00:23:49.379 --> 00:23:53.240 It doesn't say you won't have persecution or tribulation or trials. 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:57.079 It says they won't thank you. 00:23:59.460 --> 00:24:05.000 It says that no matter what happens, no matter what you lose, you can't lose what matters most. 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:13.920 No matter what someone in this world can touch in your life, they can't touch this. 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:23.440 Whatever happens with artificial intelligence or the stock market or Iran or your marriage or your kids, 00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:29.880 none of it will separate you from the love of God. 00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:38.920 Verse 39, Paul gives us a clarifying category. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.780 He says we'll be able to separate us. 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:45.060 Us is not everyone. 00:24:46.520 --> 00:24:51.980 Us is Paul's audience, that is the Christians in the churches in the city of Rome, 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:57.880 and by extension, Christians throughout time and around the world. 00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:05.560 So the promise is for those who love God and follow him in faith. 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:09.380 Is that you? 00:25:12.740 --> 00:25:19.680 Do you want the type of security that Paul speaks of here? 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:28.940 Do you want to know that no matter what you come up against here, now, or in the future, 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:32.220 and no matter what you fear from the past, 00:25:33.580 --> 00:25:36.440 God's love cannot be lost? 00:25:39.019 --> 00:25:42.200 If you want that, you can have it. 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:48.740 But it is for those and only those who follow Jesus in faith. 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:54.700 It's the great inheritance, blessing, the promise for Christians. 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:03.279 Romans is the fifth gospel. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:08.940 And whatever Paul teaches, Jesus taught first. 00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:11.460 John chapter 16. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.839 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:19.180 In the world you will have tribulation. 00:26:19.399 --> 00:26:20.480 It's a promise, by the way. 00:26:21.500 --> 00:26:23.660 People like to talk about claiming the promises of God. 00:26:24.639 --> 00:26:27.619 Never heard someone claim the promise that they will have tribulation. 00:26:27.619 --> 00:26:33.739 But take heart, I have overcome the world. 00:26:35.459 --> 00:26:36.979 Jesus has overcome the world. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.039 Nothing can separate you from his love. 00:26:41.899 --> 00:26:43.359 Romans is the fifth gospel. 00:26:44.479 --> 00:26:47.559 What Paul teaches, Jesus taught first. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:48.719 John chapter 10. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:53.959 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:57.980 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. 00:26:58.600 --> 00:27:03.980 And no one will snatch them out of my hand. 00:27:05.980 --> 00:27:11.980 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. 00:27:13.120 --> 00:27:17.620 And no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:21.539 I and the Father are one. 00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:33.180 I started out this morning by telling you about question 405. 00:27:34.460 --> 00:27:39.620 If you were able to retrieve only one item on the way out of your burning home, 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:41.160 what would that be? 00:27:42.140 --> 00:27:42.660 Explain. 00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:45.799 Praise God. 00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:51.680 It is not our job to rescue God's love out of a burning building. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:55.180 Instead, the very opposite is what is true. 00:27:55.900 --> 00:27:59.080 It is God who rescues us. 00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:06.400 We can't lose it, no matter what comes. 00:28:07.860 --> 00:28:08.480 Let's pray. 00:28:10.120 --> 00:28:15.900 Our Father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you for the greatness of your love in Jesus Christ. 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:20.620 We ask that you would help us to understand it, to comprehend it, to see it, 00:28:21.420 --> 00:28:23.480 and that it would change our lives from the inside out. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.500 We ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:28:25.980 --> 00:28:26.220 Amen. 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:26.360 Amen. 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:26.360 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:26.360 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:26.360 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:26.360 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:26.360 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:26.360