In Romans chapter 5 and verse 1, we read these words,
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.
Your word which testifies that you are for us and not against us.
Your word that testifies that Jesus now is God with us,
and that the Holy Spirit has now come to dwell in us.
Our Father, we pray that we would hear your voice speaking to us,
that we would heed your voice, and that we would trust you and follow you wherever you go.
We thank you for the word of God.
We thank you for the people of God.
And we thank you for the work of the gospel,
that work that is taking place in each of the lives of your people,
and that work which is reaching people who are not yet trusting in Jesus.
So we bring our prayers before you.
We thank you for this access that brings us into your presence,
that we have through Jesus this peace with you, our God,
and this access through faith into the grace in which we now stand.
We pray for our church family.
We pray for everyone connected to it.
We pray for each individual member of that family and each of their individual families.
Lord, you know them each one and you love them.
It's our prayer that they would know your blessing and presence in their lives.
We pray for everyone involved in the work of ministry.
We thank you for the service that Kellen provides every week with the music.
We thank you for James' preaching and teaching ministry.
And we pray that he and Vicki would have a good break over the summer.
For Sebastian and Casper, that as a family, they might know your presence and encouragement.
And for each one of us, might we all have a time of rest and refreshment with our families, with friends,
and that you would comfort us and encourage us and strengthen us.
As we pray for our church and our church family, we pray too for our community.
We pray for the city of Edinburgh, the nation of Scotland, the peoples of this world.
As we realize the great blessing that it is that you are for us,
and that we have access to you through Jesus, that we are now at peace with you.
We ask, Lord, that your word would go forth, whether through the internet or person to person,
and that those who do not yet know would come to know.
That those who have not yet heard would come to hear.
And those who have not yet trusted would come to place their faith and trust in your Son, the Lord Jesus.
So we give you thanks that you are with us, that you are in us, and that you are for us.
And we ask, Lord, that you would remind us that in Jesus Christ,
we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Because we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Our reading today comes from Romans chapter 8,
and we'll pick up reading at verse 18, and we'll read down to the end of the chapter.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children 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 freedom and glory 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 to sonship, 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 they already have?
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 through wordless groans.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.
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 image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
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 these things?
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 then is the one who condemns?
No one, 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 a sheep to be slaughtered.
No, 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.
Amen.
And may God add his own blessing to this reading of his word.
Well, let's turn together to those words at the very end of Romans chapter 8,
where Paul says these remarkable words.
He says,
What then shall we say in response to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
We might be inclined to say,
it's not a particularly good time to be a Christian.
The church is numerically small and is divided.
There are cultural divisions.
There are theological divisions.
Some take the message of Jesus and add to it.
Others take the message of Jesus and take away from it.
Some try to make this message more palatable to the culture that surrounds it.
We can also say that the culture itself is not particularly sympathetic.
It's strangely tolerant of all things,
but it seems completely intolerant to the Christian message.
So politically, socially, economically,
Christians and the Christian church are finding the going tough.
They are not in the ascendancy.
They are not the powerful.
They are not the movers.
They are not the shakers.
And if we're honest,
it looks like things might get worse before they get better.
Now, if Walter Cronkite,
the famous CBS anchorman for CBS News,
were to say,
and that's the way it is.
City of Rome,
57 AD,
long time ago.
But that description sounds very contemporary.
It sounds very much like today.
It's not an easy time to be a Christian.
The culture in which we live professes to be tolerant,
but in practice is rarely tolerant.
The Christian church is not strong or numerous.
And there are divisions,
we have to be honest.
So it seems like the going is tough,
and it's going to get tougher
in this process,
or in this life of following Jesus.
But what we're told here,
as we begin with these words,
God being for us,
what shall we say if God is for us?
Who can be against us?
And this passage continues by telling us
that we are more than conquerors
through Christ who loved us.
Now, we find this very difficult to accept.
We can find it easy to accept
that the Christian faith is marginalized.
We can find it easy to accept
that the society is not sympathetic,
and that the Christian church is not vibrant,
and that individual Christians
are not particularly strong.
But sometimes we find it very difficult
to accept when something positive is said.
I was listening to Radio 4 a few weeks ago,
and a psychiatrist was on,
and they said that
for every one negative thing
we hear about ourselves,
it takes at least five positives
to balance that out.
Now, you might be inclined
to discount Radio 4.
I encourage you not to.
It's one of my favorite sources of news.
You might be inclined
to discount modern psychiatry
and your liberty to do so.
But just to give you
an interesting perspective,
the secular psychiatrist
said about five to one,
whereas Christian counselors
suggest that that number
is much higher,
that the Christian needs to hear
at least seven positives
for every one negative.
So as followers of Jesus,
we're far more likely
to believe negative things
about ourselves,
negative things that others might say.
We might believe the negative rhetoric
that the culture or the society
has to say about us.
But Paul has something positive to say.
And because we believe
that the Bible is God's word,
God has something positive to say.
He wants us to hear it.
He wants us to believe it.
And he wants us to live
in the light of this truth.
Because if we live
as those who are more than conquerors,
if we live as those
for whom God is for them,
not against them,
our lives will be transformed.
Our church will be transformed.
Our testimony,
the words that we say
and the life that we live,
will be transformed.
Because the alternative is,
we hear the negative
and we live accordingly.
We hear those words of failure.
And strangely enough,
we find ourselves living as failures.
We find ourselves
not living as conquerors,
but living as those who are conquered.
Not living as victors,
but living as those
who are vanquished.
So whatever you might think
this morning,
or whatever you might feel,
now your thoughts are important
and your feelings are important,
but I want to say this,
that what God has to say
about you
is more important
than what the society
has to say about you,
than what the culture
has to say about you,
and even what you have to say
about you.
So when we look at the Bible,
particularly the New Testament,
there are two great redemptive events.
The first is the incarnation,
that great word Emmanuel,
God is with us.
The second great redemptive event
is the Pentecost event,
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
And that means that God is in us.
We are temples of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus comes to dwell among us.
The Spirit is poured out at Pentecost,
and now the Spirit takes up
residence in the human heart.
Now John Wesley put this together
so helpfully.
He said,
if any doctrines within the whole compass
of Christianity
may be properly termed fundamental,
they are doubtless these two.
The doctrine of justification
and that of the new birth.
The former,
relating to that great work
which God does for us,
and in forgiving our sins,
the latter,
to the great work
which God does in us.
In renewing our character,
renewing our lives.
So now we turn to Paul,
and he wants to focus on these words,
God for us.
Remember the incarnation?
God with us.
The Holy Spirit?
God in us.
Now the atoning work of Jesus.
The work of Jesus on the cross,
God for us.
What shall we say?
How can we respond?
God?
In many ways,
I teach theology,
and theology is an attempt
to say something,
to say something in response
to these things,
to say something in response
to what God has said,
and to say something in response
to what God has done.
Whatever we say is inadequate,
but God has something to say to us.
He wants us to hear it.
He wants us to believe it,
and he wants us to live
in the light of these truths.
God is for us.
If God is for us,
who can be against us?
Who is this us?
This us is that great numberless
group of people
from the past,
the present,
and even into the future.
From all different places,
all different cultures.
They're Jews.
They're Gentiles.
They're poor.
They're rich.
They're northern.
They're southern.
They're eastern.
They're western.
They are all different kinds of people
from all different kinds of places.
They're young,
and they're old,
and they're rich,
and they're educated.
They're illiterate.
Whatever it might be.
But what I want you to see
is as we read this passage,
the Apostle Paul is using
an illustration.
He's using a courtroom illustration
to illustrate this point.
And he asks us three questions.
And he,
in so doing,
he mirrors
what is happening
in a criminal case.
Because in a criminal case,
someone is in the dock.
And the case will begin
with some form of accusation,
some form of charge.
He has done that.
She has done that.
Then the course,
the case will take its course,
and either the person
is acquitted
and found innocent
and dismissed,
or the person
is found guilty,
in which case
they are judged
or condemned.
So you see,
a charge moves,
if accurate,
to condemnation.
And then condemnation
would then move
to some form
of separation.
So if a guilty person
is fined,
that means
some of their money
is separated from them.
If a person
is in prison,
I work as a prison chaplain,
so I encounter
prisoners all the time.
If somebody is in prison,
they are separated
from their home.
They are separated
from their loved ones.
And in a capital case,
where capital punishment
is allowed,
the guilty party,
the condemned party,
could be separated
from life itself.
So with you,
very briefly,
I want to look at
this magnificent passage
that may be precious
to many
whom I'm speaking to,
but I'm aware
that some
may never have read it before,
or may have never
considered it before.
But I want you
to hear
what God has to say
concerning those
for whom
he
has done
this great work.
Those for whom
he is on their side.
Because the first question,
we see this,
that 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?
So you see,
the Apostle Paul
is saying that
in Jesus Christ,
God has given us
the most precious
gift he could give.
And if he has given us
this gift,
the life of his son,
the death of his son,
the resurrection
of his son,
there is no limit
to what he will do.
There is no limit
to what he will give.
Because if he gives
that which is greatest,
and if he gives that
which is most precious,
he will be not likely
to give any other gift
or provide any other need.
So the first question
we see is in verse 33,
who will bring any charge
against those
whom God has chosen?
So Paul is the great preacher,
and he uses these
rhetorical devices,
question and answer.
So you hear a question,
and you're brought
into the talk.
Who's going to bring
a charge?
Who's going to bring
a charge against
God's people,
God's elect?
And he goes on
to answer, he says,
it is God who justifies.
So you might say
there are many charges,
and there might be
many charges that are true.
There are many things
that I've done,
said, or thought
that are wrong
and are culpable.
But if God has justified,
Paul is saying
there's no charge.
No charge can be made.
No charge can stand.
No charge can be prosecuted.
Why?
Because another has been
prosecuted in our place.
Another has been charged
in our place.
And another,
ultimately, we see,
has been punished
in our place.
So if you're tuning in today
and you're not yet a Christian,
you might know very little
about the Christian faith,
the message of the Bible
is predominantly a message
concerning God
and his son.
That God sent his son
into this world
to live, to die,
to rise again
so that you and I
could have life.
Jesus describes this
as life that is abundant
in John chapter 10,
verse 10,
and life that is eternal
in John chapter 10,
verse 28.
So life is on offer.
But the reality of life
is this,
that we are guilty.
We do things that are wrong.
We see things that are wrong.
We think things that are wrong.
So therefore,
this idea of being charged
connects.
And we think,
well, there's much
that I can be charged with.
But Paul says,
who will bring any charge
against those
whom God has chosen?
Who can do it?
The answer, of course,
is no one.
No one can bring that charge.
Why?
Because Jesus
has taken the charge.
Jesus has stood
in our place.
He has been declared guilty.
Remember those two charges
that he was convicted
of treason
and he claimed to be a king
and he was accused of blasphemy
because he claimed to be God.
So he was accused
of the most serious of crimes
and he was punished
and condemned
and was separated
from the land of the living.
So God is for us.
So this charge,
charge number one,
who will bring any charge?
The answer is no one.
The second question,
who is he that condemns?
We see this in verse 30.
Who is then the one
who condemns verse 34?
No one.
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.
So you move from a charge
to a condemnation.
And the same problem exists
because we are by nature guilty.
So not only does the charge stick,
but then the charge brings
some form of condemnation.
But Paul says,
no, no charge will stand
and no condemnation will happen.
And why?
Why will no condemnation?
Because Jesus Christ,
Christ Jesus died
and he was raised.
And more than that,
he is at the right hand of God
and is interceding for us.
You see,
it's all about Jesus.
If we are united to Jesus,
if we are trusting in Jesus,
then all that pertains to him
pertains to us.
His innocence,
his righteousness,
his goodness,
his obedience
becomes our innocence,
our righteousness,
our justification,
our obedience.
And all that pertains to us
goes to him.
Our guilt,
our shame,
our failures,
all those negative things
that we are inclined
to believe about ourselves
go to his account.
He pays the price.
So who will make a charge?
No one.
Who will condemn?
No one.
No charge can stand
and no condemnation can stick.
Jesus died.
He rose.
He's seated at the right hand of God
and right now
he is praying for us.
Sometimes we don't pray for ourselves,
but he is praying for us.
And the third question
that is asked
is in verse 35,
who shall separate us
from the love of Christ?
So that's the third question.
The charge.
Who can charge?
No one.
Who will accuse you?
No one.
Who can condemn?
No one.
Who will separate?
No one.
And nothing.
And the whole list here
is just quite a remarkable list.
Because the apostle tells us,
he says,
shall trouble or hardship
or persecution
or famine
or nakedness
or danger or sword.
All these external
and internal problems.
All these challenges
and difficulties.
And he says,
will they separate you?
And you might be inclined
to say,
yes, they will.
There are many hardships
and many trials
and many troubles
and they are far greater
than I am.
And they are far greater
than we are.
They are far more powerful
and far stronger
than we could possibly be.
So our inclination
is to agree
that these enemies
are many and varied.
But,
if Christ has died
and if Christ has risen
and if he is praying,
then the answer
to this third question
is the same as the answer
to the first two questions.
No one will charge,
no one will condemn,
and no one
and nothing
will separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
The apostle Paul
made up words
in the Greek language
to capture concepts
that the language itself
just couldn't capture.
Now, the idea of a conqueror
was an idea
that the Romans had.
The Latin,
the Roman,
and the Greek language
captured this idea
of one who was victorious.
Alexander the Great,
Augustus Caesar.
These were conquerors.
But Paul says,
no, no,
that's an inadequate word
to describe you
as a Christian
because you are more
than a conqueror.
So Jerome,
one of the early translators
of the Bible
into Latin,
he used a phrase,
he said,
what Paul is saying here
is that we are
over-overcomers.
You know,
a conqueror
is one who overcomes.
But more than conquerors
is one who over-overcomes.
You see,
it's difficult to express
in language
because it's such a big idea.
And you think of
all the dangers,
all the persecutions,
all the difficulties,
and then Paul goes on
to say in verses 38 and 39,
he said,
let me list out some more
if you want convincing here.
He said,
what about death
or life?
What about angels
or demons?
What about the present
or the future
or any powers,
height or depth
or anything else
in all creation
will be able to separate us
from the love of Christ Jesus?
So what he's saying
is here's everything.
You want angels
and demons.
You want height,
you want depth.
You want the present,
you want the future.
So he's saying,
let me tell you everything.
Let me put into words
all the possible challenges,
all the possible difficulties,
all the potential pitfalls.
Let me bring before you
all the enemies,
real or imagined,
all the dangers.
Let me bring them
all together,
Paul says.
And let me ask this question,
can any one of these
or all of them together
separate you,
separate me
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus,
our Lord?
And the answer is
absolutely nothing
and absolutely no one.
In the ancient world,
in the Roman Empire,
there was what was called
a Roman triumph,
a great general
or the emperor himself.
The Senate would pass
a resolution
that for a day
or sometimes three days,
there would be
a huge procession
through the city of Rome.
And this procession
was closely choreographed.
So you would have
the prisoners of war
and those captured
in battle,
the slaves.
You would have
the spoils of war.
You would have
the conquering soldiers.
You would have
the officers
and the generals.
And then at the end
of this great triumph,
this great parade,
you would have
the conquering general.
And he would receive
the acclamation
of the whole city.
the triumph
would wind its way
through the streets
of Rome
so that everyone
could see
what a conqueror
really looks like.
So if you were
a Roman Christian
in 57 AD
and Paul talked
about a conqueror,
you would have
an image in your mind
and you say,
I know what that
looks like.
Paul says that
is an inadequate image
to describe yourself.
Now a Christian
would never naturally
think of themselves
as a conqueror.
They would more likely
think of themselves
as one who is conquered,
one who is vanquished,
one who is not
at the end of the procession
receiving the honor,
but one who is
at the front of the possession
a slave
or a prisoner of war.
But the Apostle Paul says
to you and to me,
if you're a follower of Jesus,
this is who you are.
This is what God says about you.
Now if you have anything else
to say about you,
you have to accept
that if God says something
and you say something else,
there's somebody wrong here
and God's never wrong.
So if this is God's
estimation of you
that you are more
than conquerors,
we are more than conquerors,
then his verdict
is the correct verdict.
It doesn't matter
what other people say.
It doesn't matter
what we think about ourselves.
It doesn't matter
what society,
how society judges us
or grades us.
But if we are
following Jesus,
the one who died,
the one who rose,
the one who's seated,
and the one who right now
is praying,
imagine that,
right now he's praying
for his people,
all of his people.
He's praying for those
who are weak
that they'd be strengthened,
for those who are discouraged
that they'd be heartened.
He's praying for those
who feel like giving up
to persevere.
This is not about
what you are doing
for Jesus,
but let me tell you
what Jesus is doing for you,
has done for you,
and one day
will bring into completion.
God is for us.
God is with us.
God is in us.
Nothing and no one
can stand against us.
No charge can stand.
No condemnation can be made.
And no separation will occur.
So if you're today
struggling,
maybe the way of following
Jesus is a tough way,
carry on.
Carry on because there's
no better way,
no better choice.
Turn to him
and ask for the help
and strength
because if he's sent his son,
he will send everything.
He will provide
all that you need.
And if you're not yet
following Jesus,
these are the terms
and conditions.
This is what he offers.
This is what he provides.
This is what he promises.
These are his guarantees.
Because without Jesus,
every charge that is true
will stand.
And every true charge
will ultimately bring
some condemnation
and ultimately separation.
So you need this Jesus
to stand for you.
You need this Jesus
to satisfy
God's righteous requirements.
And you need this Jesus
to stand with you,
to encourage you,
to strengthen you,
to equip you,
and to enable you
to stand.
And to know that
this image of a conqueror
is an inadequate way
to describe you and me.
We are far more
than a conqueror.
We are far greater,
far more powerful,
far more secure.
All those great conquerors
of the past
have been forgotten.
All their great victories
have long been forgotten.
But every follower of Jesus
is guaranteed a place
in his kingdom,
in his family,
and in his house.
And I'm telling you today,
not one of us
will be separated from him.
That's why we trust him.
That's why we love him.
That's why we follow him.
And that's why we believe in him.
Let me give you
one final illustration.
One of my great heroes,
I'll call him a hero,
D.L. Moody,
evangelist at the end
of the 19th century.
He said this.
He said,
doctrines are all right
in their places.
But when you put them
in the place of faith
or salvation,
they become sin.
So you see,
we cherish the doctrines
of justification.
We cherish the doctrines
of adoption
or of reconciliation.
He says,
if a man should ask me
to his house
to dinner tomorrow,
the street would be
a very good thing
to take me to his house.
But if I didn't get
into the house,
I wouldn't get any dinner.
Now,
a creed
is a road
or a street.
It is very good
as far as it goes.
But if it doesn't
take us to Christ,
it is worthless.
There is plenty
of theology.
There is plenty
of truths
about Jesus.
But if those truths
and that theology
and if these scriptures
do not take you
to him,
they will be
of no benefit
to you.
It is not enough
to know about him.
It is not enough
to admire him.
It is not enough
to gaze
at a distance.
But the scriptures
are intended
to bring you
to Jesus.
The gospel
is the power
of God
unto salvation
for all
who believe.
And for those
of us
who have believed,
the scriptures
are given
to strengthen us,
to encourage us,
and to equip us.
Because I guarantee you,
this week,
if you remind yourself
every day,
I am more
than a conqueror
through Christ Jesus
who loved me,
your life
will be transformed
by the grace
of God,
by the power
of God,
by the presence
of God,
and by the indwelling
spirit of Jesus Christ.
So may God
bless you
and may his word
dwell richly
in your heart.
Amen.