WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.000 Good morning all. We are reading from Romans chapter 8 verse 31 to 39 and you will find that on your Bibles on page 1135. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:26.439 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? 00:00:26.700 --> 00:00:34.900 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. 00:00:34.899 --> 00:00:42.500 Christ Jesus who died, more than that, who was raised to life. It is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:51.539 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 00:00:52.259 --> 00:00:59.259 As it is written, for your sake we shall face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:07.620 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, 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:19.780 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. 00:01:20.379 --> 00:01:21.680 That's the word of the Lord today. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:28.640 Thank you for reading for us, Marina. Let's bow our heads and pray as we come to God's word. Let's pray. 00:01:33.580 --> 00:01:43.400 Gracious God and loving Heavenly Father, we want to ask you this morning to be gracious to us and to speak to us from your word. 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:53.940 We want to come just confessing that we're easily distracted and put off. We think about many other things which are less significant or important than your word. 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:59.080 And so we ask, please, that by your spirit you might speak to us this morning. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:08.819 Please may I speak faithfully and clearly. And may you be at work for your glory's sake, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:15.219 Well, we've been in Romans chapter 8 for a few weeks now. 00:02:15.299 --> 00:02:21.219 And I think undoubtedly Romans 8 is one of the great passages of the Bible. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:29.719 In fact, it is such a significant chapter that Jamal and Nathan have spent, I think, almost a year trying to memorize it. 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:30.759 How's it going? 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:31.599 Jamal? 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:32.979 Yeah. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:34.259 So you can ask Jamal later. 00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:41.280 You can test him, you know, just pick a verse from Romans 8, ask him, and he will tell you which verse it is and what it is. 00:02:41.359 --> 00:02:41.859 Yeah, there you go. 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:47.340 But listen, if memorizing it seems a little too big a task for you, then fear not, 00:02:47.399 --> 00:02:54.639 because actually in verse 31, you'll see that Paul actually summarizes the whole of Romans 8 in just four words. 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:56.500 Take a look at verse 31 with me. 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:00.939 What then shall we say in response to these things? 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:05.280 If God is for us, who can be against us? 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:08.079 Now just notice how the sentence works, right? 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.840 Paul is responding to what he calls these things. 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:16.120 What then shall we say in response to these things? 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:22.139 So these things is a reference backwards to verses 1 to 30, what we've been thinking about for the last few weeks. 00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:27.579 God's comfort in suffering or the work of the Spirit in bringing power for the fight with sin. 00:03:27.579 --> 00:03:30.520 What shall we say in response to those things? 00:03:30.939 --> 00:03:38.359 And then really the response to those things is at the end of verse 31, which is, well, who can be against us? 00:03:39.379 --> 00:03:42.960 To which the assumed answer is nobody, right? 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:46.900 Or no one of any significance or nothing of any significance. 00:03:47.699 --> 00:03:51.879 And in the middle of that is Paul's four-word summary of everything that he's saying here, 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:56.039 which is God is for us. 00:03:56.659 --> 00:03:59.180 And that's the message that he wants us to hear this morning. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:01.560 God is for us. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:06.439 Perhaps we can illustrate the intention here with a story from the Bible. 00:04:06.519 --> 00:04:14.400 And I know I've used this as an illustration before, but I think it captures well what Paul is hoping will be our experience as we look together at Romans chapter 8 this morning. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:22.019 You might know the Old Testament story of Elisha, the prophet, being trapped in a city called Dothan. 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:23.780 It's in 2 Kings chapter 6. 00:04:24.340 --> 00:04:25.160 You don't need to turn to it. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.420 And if you don't know the story, don't worry. 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:27.439 I'm going to tell it to you. 00:04:28.280 --> 00:04:33.439 The nation of Israel at the time in 2 Kings 6 is at war with the people of Aram. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:42.079 And despite all the best efforts of the king of Aram, still he never seems to be getting a foothold with the Israelites. 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:43.500 They always seem one step ahead. 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:44.920 And it keeps happening. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.920 So much so that the king of Aram concludes, listen, there must be a spy in our camp. 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:54.680 Because every time I plan something, the Israelites seem to know it ahead of time. 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:58.040 But there's no spy, he's told. 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:04.900 Instead, what's going on is that the God of Israel keeps telling Elisha, the prophet, what Aram's plans are. 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:07.060 And then he tells the king and they respond. 00:05:08.379 --> 00:05:14.420 The king of Aram is told by one of his advisors that even the very words spoken in your bedroom are not safe, he says. 00:05:15.780 --> 00:05:23.340 So the king of Aram realizes, OK, if I'm going to win this war, what I'm going to have to do is put all of my efforts into killing Elisha. 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:25.840 Because no Elisha, then that will be fine. 00:05:25.939 --> 00:05:26.720 We'll be able to win. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:32.020 So he sends his army to Dothan to capture Elisha and kill him. 00:05:32.740 --> 00:05:35.200 And they arrive overnight at the city and they surround it. 00:05:35.280 --> 00:05:41.760 Horses, chariots, fighting men, the best of his fighting men, a force that's easily going to conquer the city. 00:05:41.840 --> 00:05:43.500 And they surround the city overnight. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:52.380 And the next morning, Elisha's servant wakes up and he discovers that the city is surrounded by this vast army. 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:59.240 And he's panic stricken and he runs to Elisha and he says, oh, no, what are we going to do? 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:02.439 We are surrounded by the king of Aram and his armies. 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:05.240 And Elisha answers like this. 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:07.800 Let me just read to you a couple of verses from 2 Kings 6. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:09.000 He says this. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:20.459 Now, on the surface, that is utterly ridiculous, isn't it? 00:06:20.899 --> 00:06:23.639 There is a vast army outside of the city. 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:35.019 There is not a chance, right, that the few able-bodied men and women who are in the city of Dothan could overwhelm this vast army that's on the fringes of the city. 00:06:35.539 --> 00:06:40.759 And yet Elisha is saying, no, listen, those who are with us are more than those with them. 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:44.079 So who is Elisha talking about? 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:45.339 Who is with them? 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:47.399 Well, he continues, verse 17. 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:53.560 Elisha prayed, oh, Lord, open his eyes so that he may see. 00:06:54.120 --> 00:07:01.779 Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:09.180 Really, that is the servant's sort of Romans 8, 31 moment, isn't it? 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:14.800 He realizes and he sees, oh, God is for us. 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:16.180 God is for us. 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:22.500 And that's, I think, a story that captures what Romans 8 is supposed to do for us this morning. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:25.040 You and I, we are like Elisha's servant. 00:07:25.220 --> 00:07:28.579 We've perhaps run here with a great sense of the trouble in our lives. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.019 The enemy forces on the hills around the city. 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:39.399 And Paul here is like Elisha and he is praying and saying, Lord, open their eyes that they may see that God is for them. 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:43.859 I wonder if it's perhaps just even worth pausing here. 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:47.659 We've been looking through the book of Romans since, I think, September. 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:50.459 And we've seen lots of different things. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.699 Maybe this is kind of preaching that you're not really used to. 00:07:52.739 --> 00:07:55.039 We've been in some deep stuff, haven't we? 00:07:55.419 --> 00:07:57.219 We've been thinking about some big words. 00:07:57.220 --> 00:08:00.540 But really, this is the conclusion of this. 00:08:00.780 --> 00:08:06.260 That if you're a Christian this morning, if you've heard God's call to put your trust in Christ, 00:08:06.340 --> 00:08:10.720 if you have a new heart by the Spirit that loves Christ and is united to him by faith, 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:13.720 then what you need to hear simply is this. 00:08:13.900 --> 00:08:15.980 God is for you. 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:17.560 He's for you. 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:26.939 Even if you're under siege from declining health or uncertain work or difficult relationships or family troubles or financial woes or past trauma, 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:31.540 still because the gospel is true, because Jesus died and rose, 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:38.019 because we can see with new spiritual sight and eyes that above everything, 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:43.100 overshadowing all of those things is the God who is for us. 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:47.059 And that doesn't necessarily mean that those troubles will magically disappear. 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:48.279 We'll think about that in a moment. 00:08:48.699 --> 00:08:53.519 But ultimately, it means that those things will not destroy you or finally defeat you, 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:57.679 because the God who is for you is greater than whatever is against you. 00:08:58.719 --> 00:09:00.579 Now, really, that is the whole point, okay? 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.500 If you're the kind of person who can listen for the first five minutes of the sermon, well done, 00:09:04.579 --> 00:09:06.659 because you've learned everything that there is to know. 00:09:07.099 --> 00:09:08.039 God is for you. 00:09:08.579 --> 00:09:09.379 God is greater. 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:10.259 Do not fear. 00:09:11.079 --> 00:09:14.219 But our passage this morning works it out in two specific ways. 00:09:14.220 --> 00:09:18.340 One in regards to condemnation and the other in regards to love. 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:21.000 So let's take the first one first and then we'll deal with the second one. 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:23.560 Firstly, no one can condemn us. 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:25.379 Verses 32 to 34. 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:32.060 Here at the beginning of our section, Paul effectively sort of takes us back to the courts of God's justice, if you like, 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:33.940 and he reminds us of what's happened there. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:40.580 He points out in verse 32 that God the Father did not spare the Son when it came to clearing us of guilt. 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:46.320 So the Son, notice verse 32, was given up for us all. 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:50.940 Not to mean that the Son was given up for everyone without exception. 00:09:51.160 --> 00:09:54.980 Paul isn't saying that everyone benefits from the cross, whether they believe in it or not. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:59.900 No, rather he is saying those in view are those who have their faith in Christ, 00:10:00.040 --> 00:10:02.379 those whom God has chosen according to verse 33. 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:04.860 For them the Son was given up. 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:09.399 And because the Father gave the Son, then the end of verse 32, notice, 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:12.840 you can be sure that everything else you need will also be given to you. 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:17.840 It's one of those greater to lesser arguments. 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:21.820 You might remember, do you remember Louis and the sack of potatoes? 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:22.879 Do you remember that Sunday? 00:10:23.419 --> 00:10:24.659 Maybe you do, maybe you don't. 00:10:25.139 --> 00:10:28.940 We tried to prove that Louis could pick up one potato, right, off the floor. 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.039 How did we prove that Louis could pick up one potato? 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.679 Well, he picked up a whole sack, right? 00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:37.099 And then when he's carrying the sack, you know that he's able to pick up one potato. 00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:38.439 It's a greater to lesser. 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:40.139 The greater proves the lesser. 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:46.539 And so says Paul here, God has given up the Son for your salvation to justify you. 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:51.879 Do you think now that he will withhold from you anything else that you might need? 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:53.279 Of course not. 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:55.659 That would make no sense at all. 00:10:55.659 --> 00:11:04.819 Would God give you what is most precious and valuable to him and then withhold from you what is less valuable? 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:05.980 It would be nonsense, wouldn't it? 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:09.779 It's like giving someone your iPhone and then refusing to give them a polo mint. 00:11:11.339 --> 00:11:16.419 So the Father won't send the Son only to let you be ruined for lack of strength or comfort or courage. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:21.439 He won't surrender his Son to the cross only for you to live your life under his hostility. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:29.180 He has given Christ for you to access future glory and he has every intention to get you there. 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:33.540 All that you need will be graciously given to you. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:39.020 There's a second greater to lesser argument though in verses 33 and 34. 00:11:39.220 --> 00:11:40.360 Look at those verses with me. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:44.340 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:46.920 It is God who justifies. 00:11:47.520 --> 00:11:49.440 Who then is the one who condemns? 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:50.560 No one. 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:51.600 No one. 00:11:52.920 --> 00:11:58.840 Here the greater part of the argument is the justification that is yours through the death of the Son. 00:11:59.260 --> 00:12:05.260 Justification you might remember is the declaration by God that you are righteous, in the right, perfect. 00:12:07.580 --> 00:12:14.480 Here the case is that that declaration by God means that anyone else's condemnation is a lesser thing. 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:18.320 No one can declare you guilty if God has declared you righteous. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:27.140 In other words, if you've been cleared by the Supreme Court, the provincial court of human opinion shouldn't matter. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:31.920 Now, just for clarification, Paul is not saying that the Christian is above the law. 00:12:32.520 --> 00:12:35.280 He's not talking about crimes that should be punished by the state. 00:12:35.380 --> 00:12:37.500 He'll actually come to those in a few chapters time. 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:41.139 He's talking here about spiritual and moral justification. 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:50.259 Saying that if the father of divine justice, God himself, declares you not guilty because of the work of the Son, 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:54.139 why should it matter so much to you what the opinion of others is? 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:56.019 No one can condemn you. 00:12:56.539 --> 00:12:57.679 Not if God justifies. 00:12:58.819 --> 00:13:05.600 If you have now the verdict of not guilty, pure and righteous in your hand, even ahead of the day of final judgment, 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:08.919 then you can be sure that you will not be condemned along the way. 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:12.939 Just ponder this with me for a moment. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:16.299 Because I think, if you think about this, I think there is a surprise here. 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:19.579 Notice what Paul is saying. 00:13:20.059 --> 00:13:24.279 He's, if you've been tracking with us in Romans chapter 8, he's been talking really about suffering. 00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:24.719 Yeah. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.079 He's been talking about the world groaning. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.960 He's been talking about us groaning. 00:13:32.520 --> 00:13:35.580 That actually we live in a broken world and we suffer. 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:41.400 And so he's been talking about suffering and now he ends up talking about moral guilt and justification. 00:13:42.420 --> 00:13:44.300 And that should be a surprise to us. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.680 You should think in these verses, oh, Paul, you've suddenly switched categories. 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.580 We were talking about suffering and comfort and help. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:54.720 And now you're talking about moral guilt and justification. 00:13:55.160 --> 00:13:56.100 Why that? 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:57.840 Why bring that into the equation? 00:13:57.840 --> 00:13:58.960 What's that got to do with it? 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:03.920 Well, I think if you've ever suffered, you will know exactly why. 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:12.220 It's because whispered into the ear of the suffering Christian is your suffering because God is punishing you. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:21.720 That somehow your sickness or your struggle with poor health or your relational pain or your unemployment or your difficult marriage or your unwanted singleness, 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:27.160 your struggle to come to terms with past trauma, that's because God is paying you back. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:28.960 For something that you've done. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:29.200 For something that you've done. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:33.620 Or God is withholding from you something that you need. 00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:36.200 Something that would make life livable and bearable. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:41.100 That maybe if you've been a better Christian, if you'd read your Bible more, if you'd attended church more regularly, 00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:47.040 if you'd known more answers to more Bible questions, if you'd prayed properly, then God would have given me those things. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:47.980 But he hasn't. 00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:49.279 And he's punishing me. 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:53.639 And Paul says, that is not true. 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:54.779 It can't be true. 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:56.459 Why? 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:00.620 Well, because who can charge the not guilty with guilt? 00:15:01.959 --> 00:15:05.339 If God has cleared you in Christ, no one can condemn you. 00:15:06.179 --> 00:15:08.039 Now, we're so slow to learn this, aren't we? 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:09.600 I am so slow to learn this. 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:11.159 I don't want to accuse you of being the same thing. 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:13.279 We must keep revisiting it. 00:15:13.939 --> 00:15:18.779 We are hardwired in our nature to think that we have to continue to earn God's favor and forgiveness. 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:22.000 You know, grace is a divine instinct. 00:15:22.199 --> 00:15:24.179 It's not a human one that we have very much. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:29.879 And so we keep thinking, don't we, that our guilt is the spark of our suffering. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:30.799 But it's not. 00:15:31.339 --> 00:15:32.579 Guilt has been dealt with. 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:35.399 And our suffering cannot atone for our sin. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:40.399 It just is not possible for us to suffer enough in this life to atone for our sin. 00:15:40.620 --> 00:15:42.939 That requires something way more significant. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:48.139 Our guilt before a holy God can only be dealt with by his son. 00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:54.179 And God the Father gave the son because he is for you. 00:15:54.959 --> 00:15:57.899 And if he is for you enough to give you his son, 00:15:58.419 --> 00:16:03.299 don't listen to any voices that tell you in your head something different to that. 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:08.399 God justifies the sinner whom he has chosen, who has faith in him. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:10.519 No one can condemn them. 00:16:12.079 --> 00:16:14.220 In a way, we should just kind of pause. 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:17.939 We should take the next hour just to roll that around in our minds. 00:16:18.779 --> 00:16:20.379 God is not irritable. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:21.799 He's not annoyed with you. 00:16:22.459 --> 00:16:25.199 He's not looking to take revenge for every moral failure. 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:30.139 He's not waiting just to poke you with a stick because you didn't read your Bible this morning. 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:32.500 Father, God is for you. 00:16:33.339 --> 00:16:35.579 If you are trusting in him, your sin is cancelled. 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:42.019 Your suffering cannot take that away or change that or undermine it because God gave himself for me, 00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:46.779 for you, in the person of the son dying in human flesh on the cross. 00:16:47.220 --> 00:16:50.100 And along with him, he will give you everything you need. 00:16:51.579 --> 00:16:52.620 Who can be against you? 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:53.179 No one. 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:54.059 That's the first point. 00:16:54.439 --> 00:16:56.720 Second point, nothing can defeat us. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:01.560 Here we move, don't we, from the work of the father in sending and giving the son 00:17:01.560 --> 00:17:04.900 into the work of the son in loving those he saves. 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:06.200 I'm going to read the verses to you. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:07.940 We'll pick it up partway through verse 34. 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:11.500 And just notice how many times the love of Christ gets mentioned. 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:13.960 Okay, verse 34, partway through. 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:20.279 Christ Jesus who died, more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God 00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:22.819 and is also interceding for us. 00:17:23.840 --> 00:17:26.620 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 00:17:27.259 --> 00:17:33.440 Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 00:17:33.620 --> 00:17:36.440 As it's written, for your sake we face death all day long. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:38.500 We're considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:46.160 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:51.880 For I'm convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:57.900 nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation 00:17:57.900 --> 00:18:03.680 will be able to separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:10.779 Over the last few months or so, Vanessa and I have been watching a little bit of that Netflix show, 00:18:10.840 --> 00:18:11.519 The Good Doctor. 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:13.660 You seen The Good Doctor? 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.279 I'm going to talk about it, but I don't necessarily recommend it, right? 00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:20.160 So if you go away and go, oh, Steve recommended it. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:21.360 I didn't, yeah? 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:25.880 If you hate it, it was not my fault that you watched it, right? 00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:26.820 Don't come running to me. 00:18:27.580 --> 00:18:31.420 Anyway, in that the show is Good Doctor set in a hospital, maybe unsurprisingly, 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:36.940 and in one of the episodes, a mother whose daughter has died in a car accident is asked 00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:40.700 to donate her daughter's organs to another child. 00:18:41.800 --> 00:18:44.759 But it's not her heart or her kidneys or anything else like that. 00:18:44.820 --> 00:18:50.779 Rather, it's her daughter's face that she is asked to donate for a transplant onto another 00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:54.360 child whose face has been disfigured by an accident with a gun. 00:18:55.800 --> 00:19:00.380 Now, listen, I told you I'm not recommending the show, and I don't know how the science of 00:19:00.380 --> 00:19:05.040 this works, and I don't really understand why it's the same like two or three doctors 00:19:05.040 --> 00:19:09.880 who seem to be able to perform any surgery in the entire world successfully every time. 00:19:10.360 --> 00:19:13.780 So I'm doubting that, but that's not really the point. 00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:21.800 Anyway, what is fascinating is she donates the face of her daughter for the girl who has 00:19:21.800 --> 00:19:22.980 been horribly disfigured. 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:29.160 And what's fascinating is the angst of the mother in deciding to give up, in effect giving 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:32.019 up her daughter's identity to somebody else. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.740 And the gift is made, and the child receives the face transplant. 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:40.640 And then at the end of the episode, the mother comes into the room where the girl is recovering 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:43.339 from surgery, and she talks to her. 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.420 She gives her some pictures of her daughter who's died. 00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:49.680 This is what she looked like. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:52.920 And then she kisses her on the forehead before leaving. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:58.960 And what's amazing is that the bond between those two is obvious, right? 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:06.880 The affection for the lost daughter has been planted onto this daughter as she has been given 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:07.660 her identity. 00:20:09.019 --> 00:20:15.660 And you can't give so generously without forming a bond of love, can you? 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:17.940 And in a way, it's a virtuous circle, isn't it? 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:22.279 Because it's sort of love and affection for the other, which leads to the gift. 00:20:22.420 --> 00:20:26.380 And then the gift itself leads to the sort of cementing of that love. 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:28.160 And it goes round and round. 00:20:29.600 --> 00:20:31.259 In a sense, that's the image here. 00:20:32.220 --> 00:20:34.540 You and I were horribly disfigured by our sin. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:37.920 We lived for ourselves in a world that God had meant. 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.300 We rejected the God who made us, though we were made for him. 00:20:42.299 --> 00:20:48.659 We knew God, but we turned from him and lived for ourselves and our own glory. 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:52.079 And we were horribly disfigured by that. 00:20:52.819 --> 00:20:58.139 And yet, whilst we were in that state, the Son, in loving obedience to the plan of the Father, 00:20:58.379 --> 00:21:04.299 died on the cross for us and for our salvation, so that his righteousness might be transplanted 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:08.639 onto us to cover over the horrors of our sin. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:14.940 And the receipt of that gift of love makes you and I the bearers of his image, 00:21:14.940 --> 00:21:18.000 which further cements this bond of love. 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:21.759 You are the one that I love in Christ. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:26.120 A love that cannot be broken because we look like his son. 00:21:27.900 --> 00:21:31.560 Paul goes on to list, doesn't he, the things that will not break that bond of love. 00:21:31.559 --> 00:22:01.539 He says, 00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:06.500 See the link here, right? 00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:09.859 So verse 37 says that we are more than conquerors. 00:22:09.940 --> 00:22:13.519 We are more than conquerors because we cannot be separated from the love. 00:22:14.339 --> 00:22:19.659 Now you know, don't you, that a more than conqueror is a logical impossibility, right? 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:22.759 You cannot more than win, can you? 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.359 You cannot more than win a game of football. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:27.219 It's impossible, isn't it? 00:22:27.679 --> 00:22:32.759 The word here is a combination of the word super or hyper and victory. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:34.679 This is a super conqueror. 00:22:35.959 --> 00:22:37.539 Again, it's not meant to be possible. 00:22:37.719 --> 00:22:39.799 It's really to emphasize a truth. 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:46.179 That defeat for the Christian is not the presence of struggle or difficulty in their lives. 00:22:46.180 --> 00:22:52.880 True defeat for anybody would be separation from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:57.940 And that is impossible for you if you're a Christian this morning. 00:22:57.940 --> 00:23:11.100 Because God did not spare his own son, but gave him up for you and you bear his image and you cannot be separated from his love. 00:23:11.099 --> 00:23:25.079 And in love now the son prays for you, intercedes for you, brings you to the father, making you a super conqueror, more than a conqueror, who can never be separated from his love. 00:23:26.539 --> 00:23:29.399 Let me speak to you this morning if you're perhaps not a Christian. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:31.519 It's great that you're with us this morning. 00:23:31.639 --> 00:23:32.679 We love having you here. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:35.699 This, I think, is a sober warning for you. 00:23:35.700 --> 00:23:43.059 Listen, future defeat is not visible in your present circumstances. 00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:49.160 Just like future victory is not visible in present circumstances for the Christian. 00:23:49.900 --> 00:23:55.200 Because victory, in Romans 8 sense, is not about having everything you want. 00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:58.460 Victory is not living your best life. 00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:00.340 Victory is not being in good health. 00:24:00.339 --> 00:24:08.179 The super conquerors of Romans chapter 8 are not those who are full of great health or have full wallets. 00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:15.500 No, super victory in Romans chapter 8 is being defined as being with God in love. 00:24:15.899 --> 00:24:17.379 That's victory in Romans 8. 00:24:18.139 --> 00:24:19.740 Not without God in judgment. 00:24:21.139 --> 00:24:27.899 And that means, doesn't it, if you're not a Christian this morning, what you desperately need, it doesn't matter what your circumstances are, 00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:32.900 what you desperately need is the love of God in Christ Jesus. 00:24:34.140 --> 00:24:39.060 Because without that, you are more than defeated, if I can put it that way. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:44.780 To be a super conqueror, you need to come to Christ. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:46.160 You need to trust in him. 00:24:46.740 --> 00:24:48.980 You need to receive his unbreakable love. 00:24:49.740 --> 00:24:51.480 So please, can I plead with you? 00:24:52.100 --> 00:24:53.000 Come to him. 00:24:53.840 --> 00:24:54.820 Don't be defeated. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:57.280 Turn in faith to Christ. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.339 Receive this identity from him. 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:01.099 This unbreakable bond of love. 00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:09.000 We thought earlier, didn't we, how there's a surprising link between suffering and guilt. 00:25:10.059 --> 00:25:13.119 And how sometimes we think that God is punishing us when we suffer. 00:25:13.819 --> 00:25:16.740 Now you have the link between love and suffering. 00:25:16.980 --> 00:25:18.720 Which is perhaps less surprising, right? 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:25.600 We often, even as Christians, think that God maybe doesn't love us because we're suffering. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:32.660 So we ask questions like, don't we, you know, if God really loved me, would he be letting this happen to me? 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:38.740 Or, you know, if God really loved me, why would he let me experience such grief? 00:25:38.740 --> 00:25:41.880 If God really loved me, wouldn't I be married? 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:43.220 Wouldn't we have children? 00:25:44.140 --> 00:25:48.559 But Paul's point is that you don't understand God's love just by looking at your circumstances. 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:51.920 Circumstances are not a good indicator of the love of God. 00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:59.000 Instead, you see God's love by looking at Christ and his work for you. 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:01.980 You see the love of God in the work of the Son. 00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:06.940 He died, he rose, and now prays for you in the presence of the Father. 00:26:08.380 --> 00:26:11.360 Again, think about how this works because we must cement this in our thinking. 00:26:11.860 --> 00:26:16.799 You see, you know, you think, don't you, if you really love someone, you'd do anything for them, right? 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:18.240 You know that, don't you? 00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:21.720 People that you love, you would do anything for them. 00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:23.420 Anything that you could for them. 00:26:23.779 --> 00:26:27.799 And so you assume, don't you, well, if God loves me, he would do anything for me. 00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:32.619 And surely it's within his power for me not to suffer, for it not to be so difficult in life. 00:26:32.919 --> 00:26:35.099 So why, if God loves me, does he not do it? 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:40.200 But the problem is that we have forgotten the good that God is working for. 00:26:40.399 --> 00:26:42.859 What is the good that God wants for us? 00:26:43.460 --> 00:26:48.859 You see, you and I think that good lies in the temporary pleasure of a passing world. 00:26:50.139 --> 00:26:54.799 Or a life of comfort where we're left unchanged and unchallenged in our motives and desires. 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:57.700 But that's not the good that God is working for. 00:26:57.799 --> 00:27:07.440 If you're a parent and you love a child, you will want that child to be taught and to learn. 00:27:08.180 --> 00:27:12.799 And you will allow them even to face difficult things, even for them to learn those things. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:19.599 Because you're not just looking at their feelings in the moment, but you're looking at the character over years to come. 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:24.799 It's why the term spoil your children is true, right? 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:29.879 Because if you give them everything that they want, you will, by definition, spoil them. 00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:32.139 Because you need to think to the future. 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:37.240 And God has a good in mind for you this morning if you're a Christian. 00:27:37.619 --> 00:27:39.399 It's there in chapter 8, verse 29. 00:27:39.539 --> 00:27:40.419 We looked at it last week. 00:27:40.639 --> 00:27:41.299 Look at it again. 00:27:41.700 --> 00:27:43.700 What is the good that he is working for? 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:48.259 He wants you to be more like Jesus. 00:27:48.259 --> 00:27:50.460 That's the good that he's working for. 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:55.480 He wants us to be like the one whose identity we already have. 00:27:55.779 --> 00:28:04.539 He wants us to dwell in glorious union and communion with him forever and ever in a resurrection world, liberated from the curse of death. 00:28:04.539 --> 00:28:11.839 And because God loves us, because that's what he's fitting us for, so he will allow suffering in our lives. 00:28:11.879 --> 00:28:18.859 Because his good is not our pleasure in the moment, but our eternal transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ. 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:28.500 And so in infinite wisdom and in ways that we can't always understand, he allows us to suffer, not as a contradiction of his love, but even as a sign of his love. 00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:32.259 Not to defeat us, but to transform us. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:37.759 C.S. Lewis captures it really well in the book Mere Christianity. 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:38.759 He says this. 00:28:39.339 --> 00:28:41.559 He says, imagine yourself as a living house. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:44.619 God comes in to rebuild that house. 00:28:44.700 --> 00:28:47.059 And at first, perhaps, you can understand what he's doing. 00:28:47.619 --> 00:28:49.220 He's getting the drains right. 00:28:49.339 --> 00:28:51.319 He's stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. 00:28:51.380 --> 00:28:54.400 You knew those jobs needed doing, and so you're not surprised. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:59.820 But presently, he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably. 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:02.240 Doesn't seem to make any sense. 00:29:03.040 --> 00:29:04.660 What on earth is he up to? 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:10.280 The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of. 00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:12.660 He's throwing out a new wing here. 00:29:12.740 --> 00:29:14.180 He's putting on an extra floor there. 00:29:14.280 --> 00:29:15.780 He's running up towries. 00:29:15.860 --> 00:29:17.019 He's making courtyards. 00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:21.040 You thought you were being made into a perfectly decent little cottage. 00:29:22.540 --> 00:29:24.160 He's building a palace. 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.240 Where he intends to come and live himself. 00:29:29.600 --> 00:29:30.920 That's it, isn't it? 00:29:31.860 --> 00:29:36.460 So for you this morning, Christian, God is for you. 00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:38.759 And he's at work in you. 00:29:39.140 --> 00:29:44.519 Not to punish you and not to defeat you, but in love to change and transform you. 00:29:45.220 --> 00:29:47.320 He's not saved you to lose you along the way. 00:29:47.800 --> 00:29:50.660 He's not withholding from you anything that you truly need. 00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:55.720 Instead, he is for you and will graciously give you all things. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:57.759 Praise his name. 00:29:58.759 --> 00:29:59.580 Let me pray. 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:15.379 Let's just take a moment to pray in your own hearts. 00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:19.159 Maybe respond to something that you've heard. 00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:48.920 Heavenly Father, it is incredible that you, the King of kings, 00:30:49.160 --> 00:30:59.920 and Lord of lords, the God of all glory is for me, for us. 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:13.360 Thank you that nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love that you have for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:16.159 Thank you that we carry his identity. 00:31:17.099 --> 00:31:19.779 Thank you you're transforming us into his likeness. 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:26.819 Thank you that one day we will be with you eternally in the glories of a remade world. 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:29.939 Oh Lord, come, Lord Jesus, we pray. 00:31:30.819 --> 00:31:31.159 Amen. 00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:31.600 Amen. 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:31.600 00:31:31.599 --> 00:32:01.579 Thank you.