Sermon by Rev. Julius A. Harper Senior Pastor Santa Clarita Christian Fellowship Church
God’s Great Assurance to Believers
Part 2
Romans 8:31-38 (NLT)
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.
34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of HIS holy and mighty word.
We are returning with part II of our previous sermon, which was entitled God’s Great Assurance to believers.
In that sermon there were three points we explored which were incredibly uplifting and encouraging.
We learned firstly as Christians that we can be assured that God is working all things together for our good.
All things, mean that whatever twists and turns and unexpected developments that may come into your life, no matter what it looks like, will be handled and managed by God himself.
And that is a word that we want to hold on to in good times and bad, so that as you navigate through the treacherous waters of life, you can take peace in that reality.
We learned secondly that God has a plan to fulfill his purpose in you, for the scripture declares in Romans 8:29 that he predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son.
We learned 3rd and finally, that the believer should be assured that God is going to bring us to glory.
I want to encourage you to review and or pick up that sermon on our you-tube channel and be blessed by the word.
AMEN.
This morning, there are four points to the sermon, regarding God’s great assurance to the believer and again these are very practical and relevant to the trials and struggles that we go through today.
God’s great assurance to the believer number one is that…
- God is on your side and the evidence of his favor is overwhelming.
Romans 8:31 (NLT)
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 8:32b-c (NLT)
32b “he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all”
1 Corinthians 6:11 b-d (NKJV)
11 b-d But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
In this first point of the sermon this morning, I’d like us to talk about the concept of EVIDENCE and to do so within the context of something that Christian’s sometimes struggle with, yet this struggle and fear is rarely addressed openly and taught about or discussed with others.
Paul here is teaching and assuring the believers in the early church that they had favor with God.
And he offers a series of evidentiary statements of fact, for the purposes of doing just that and the first three points that we discussed last week should be considered as part of the evidence that Paul presented, that documented and confirmed our status with God.
Remember now that Paul is writing and speaking to Christians in the early church who were going through tough times, and persecution and struggles.
Paul writes of calamities and hunger and threats, as you saw just a moment ago in Romans 8:35
And he is talking to them about that, because he doesn’t want them to be overwhelmed by those things.
You and I don’t have the same kind oppression that the early church was going through but we do have our day-to-day struggles and stresses in modern life.
Thought:
First of all there is often the struggle to survive. Now this may not apply to some of you here today, but I want to let you know that not everyone in the church today is sitting pretty, some folks who look good and who have a talent for covering up the realities in their life, are in fact struggling to survive,
Some struggle in the church today with hunger, some with calamities or troubles in this life of one sort or another.
Some folks struggle with the flesh and the mind and these issues can become to you….. overwhelming.
And finally there is a constant struggle and the trick of the enemy, who is very crafty and works on the mind and emotions of the believer, so that he or she begins feel weighed down as though it’s not just the world that is against you, but a person can feel as though God himself is also against you.
Thought:
I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this in your life, but I feel that many believers today can relate to having a sense of carrying a load and that load at times seems so heavy, that it feels overwhelming.
And here is where the trick of the enemy comes in…
If you are not careful you can start to believe that God is part of what makes life tough, because God is always stretching and challenging you.
We can become confused, we can become discouraged and insecure thinking that God really doesn’t favor or find favor in us, but instead he’s just another bell that we have to ring, another task you must meet, another set of accusing and condemning eyes that you need to think about along with the other mountains and issues of life.
And to that perception Paul assures the believer that NO, that is not what the evidence says.
He is not against us, we don’t have to strive to be accepted by him, we don’t have to worry about our standing or favor with him, in fact the evidence is over-whelming that God is FOR US and he is completely on our side and with him we have tremendous favor.
Romans 8:32 declared that God didn’t even spare his own Son.
He favored us so that he gave up his only begotten Son for us.
Romans 5:5 said that God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 8:33 said that God has chosen us for himself.
Don’t forget what we learned in the sermon, last week.
You’ve been washed.
You’ve been sanctified.
God has given you right standing with him, not because of works of righteousness which you have done.
Not because you hit another goal in the list of biblical deliverables.
Not because you’ve rung another bell or hit another mark.
He is on your side and in your corner because you’ve been given a firm standing with HIM and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
God’s great assurance to the believer 2ndly is that…
- Christ does not condemn the believer, in fact his actions demonstrate the very opposite of condemnation.
Romans 8:34 (NLT)
34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
1 Peter 2:24a-d (NLT)
24a-d He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right..
Romans 4:25 (NLT)
25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
1 John 2:1 (NLT)
1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
In point number one we were talking about the weightiness, the struggle, the feeling that leads us to began to relate to God as though we have to make sure that he’s stays on our side and to somehow have to earn that.
Here in this second point, I want to address the idea of living and existing as a Christian, and the reality that we as Christians are often living under the feeling of being condemned.
And this feeling of condemnation happens because we sometimes struggle with sin and temptation.
Now again I understand that this second point may not apply to everyone who is listening today.
I understand that there may be those among us, those who have the unusual experience of having a Christianity that is characterized by a perfect record of achievement in which everything works out.
But to everyone else including myself, the issue of sometimes feeling condemned, is what we are going to talk about here.
God’s great assurance for you child of God, is that God is not in the business of hovering over you with condemnation.
God number one is ON your side and the evidence is overwhelming, that is the first thing we need to be assured of, secondly be assured that God is not hovering over you as a God of condemnation.
Now don’t get me wrong God is not pleased when we sin or give into the weakness of our flesh, he’s not saying, YES I understand that a brother or sister has needs.
What is being shared here in this second point as noted in the words of Romans 8:34 is that he is not condemning us, but rather he has done and is doing everything in his power to keep us from being in a place of condemnation, even as the words says, that Christ is pleading for us even as he is sitting at the place of honor at the right hand of God.
Listen and embrace it and let faith fill you heart…embrace this wonderfully awesome word of encouragement.
Though you may fail and fall short of God’s desired and deserved standard for your life, there is no Lord of condemnation hovering over you; on the contrary Jesus took care of the sins and failures that He knew you were going to be struggling with and he nailed the issue to the cross, so that we could be dead to the power of sin and set free to live for God.
I like how the Apostle Peter worded this as recorded in 1 Peter 2:24, where it said that He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.
Think about this reality as reflected in the life of Jesus Christ when he came here to live on planet earth.
When Jesus lived among us, he didn’t waste his time condemning folks.
He didn’t spend his time being a policeman, but rather his placed his effort on securing our salvation.
He allowed himself to be handed over to evil men, for the purpose of securing your salvation.
When they stripped him down and tied him to a stake and began to tear the flesh off of his back, he could have stopped the entire thing.
But he humbled himself and gave his body to be slain, because it was you who was on his heart.
It was you child of God.
It was you that he saw in the realities of your struggles.
He died for YOU so that He would be raised by God and taken into heaven and HE would be seated at God’s side……to be there….at the moment you messed up, some two thousand years later…NOT to condemn you, but to intercede with the Father on your behalf.
Thought:
When the flesh fails you once again, don’t believe the lie of the devil who generates condemnation.
Yes you messed up.
Yes you missed it, but our mediator, our advocate, our attorney who represents us, is there in heaven at the side of God advocating on your behalf.
I don’t know what he is saying about you, but what I do know is that you don’t have to worry, because Jesus is there on YOUR behalf, standing between God the Father and whatever the failure may be.
I don’t know what Jesus is saying about me, but I don’t have to worry because Jesus is there on my behalf and because of that God processes me not through the weakness of my flesh, but through the goodness of HIS Son and therefore I am not rejected by him, but instead I am declared to be IN RIGHT STANDING because I’ve accepted and trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord.
The scripture says in John 2:1 “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
Thought:
This is what it means to be born again.
It means having a right standing with God, in spite of the fact that nothing about you is worthy of being in that position.
My unsaved friend I want you to know that you too can come into this reality, by first by acknowledging your sinfulness BEFORE JESUS THE SON OF GOD; repenting of your independence; giving your heart and life to Christ Jesus as Lord, knowing and believing that he died for your sins and rose again to bring you to God.
We who are born again exist in this blessed reality, where condemnation is not a factor; but for the person, who dies in this life, without having given their heart to Christ in faith, condemnation is real and the result is eternal separation from God almighty, with life eternal in a devil’s hell.
God’s great assurance to the believer 3RDLY is that…
- Victory is ours through Christ and nothing can cause Christ to turn away from the one who believes in him.
Romans 8:35 (NLT)
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
Romans 8:37 (NLT)
37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
John 10:28 (NKJV)
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Romans 10:11 (NKJV)
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
This third point of assurance is written to those who are suffering.
Again there are two different ways that you can process and or think about the idea of suffering.
Suffering can be seen within the reality of the issues and things that were addressed in verse 35, where it speaks about calamity, persecution, hunger, danger and or threats of death.
Suffering can also be processed within the context of those forces within the world and in our lives, that seem to be pulling us apart and putting pressure on our relationship with Christ.
Now again, remember that I am not saying that the things we go through can in fact cause us to become separated from Christ, what I am doing is addressing the reality of the feeling and fear of the danger and struggles, that can be processed in such a way as to cause a Christian to fear, that loss.
In this third point the message that we want to communicate is a faith building declaration, which embraces the truth that victory is ours through Christ and that nothing can cause Christ to turn away from the one who truly believes in him.
Thought:
Today, I don’t know anything about the personal of your life, but based on my experience with people, I can pretty much guarantee that someone under the sound of my voice is worried that they are not going to make it.
You see the evidence from your perspective is that you are DONE and you don’t have a chance.
Maybe it is the circumstances and struggles in your life.
Maybe it is that sinful relationship that you are hiding and praying that no one knows about.
Maybe you went back to an old habit and now your life is messed up and full of troubles, that you brought on your own self.
To this reality, to this suffering, to this level of trouble in your life, I believe that Paul would say if he were standing here today…can anything separate us from the Love of Jesus Christ?
Because you messed up and did that, does it mean that God no longer loves us?
Because the pressure is so thick you can cut it with a knife, because you stopped talking to God and stayed away from the fellowship does it mean that you’ve been separated from the love of God?
Does the fact that hell is breaking loose, does it mean that the devil has won and you are on your ways to a devils hell?
To this the word of God says NO…despite all these things; victory is our through Christ who loved us.
I don’t care what you think; I don’t care what your heart says, my bible declares and documents the words of Jesus Christ himself.
Jesus said in John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand”
Even when you get knocked down, even if you knocked yourself down by your sinful disobedience and rebellion you my friend are not destroyed.
No devil can snatch you out of God’s hand.
No demon in HELL can take the child of God away from him who bought you with the blood of his precious Son.
Though your sins are as scarlet, Christ has already died to wash away the stain of everything you could bring to the table.
Thought:
I’ve got to tell you folks that this kind of provision, is too much for me to process because even though I am a preacher and teacher of God’s word, when it comes to the level and love towards me that God declares here in his word, my flesh cannot process it.
How could God be so good to me a filthy sinner who stinks up the room with the very breath of his thoughts?
How could God declare in such strong and undeniable terms, victory and peace for those who constantly fall short?
It’s hard for me to process it, until I bring it back to his love.
The lack of condemnation, the evidence of HIS favor and his commitment to our victory, can only be understood and embraced within the realty of God’s love.
You were NOT worth saving, I was not worth saving, he didn’t do it because there was anything worthy in US, but it was his LOVE that lifted me and lifted YOU.
4th and finally…
God’s great assurance to the believer is 4th and finally that…
- We will be protected and kept eternally secure; nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God.
Romans 8:38 (NLT)
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
Romans 8:39
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I kind of got ahead of myself in the previous point, but it’s ok as we close, for the word of God pretty much sums up the previous thoughts and points.
Here we see that the Apostle Paul was totally SOLD OUT and locked into this conviction with complete and unshakable faith.
To the question posed earlier in point # 3 when Paul asked about the possibility of being separated from God’s love, we see the answer broken out in the crescendo of truth.
Paul was convinced, that nothing could frustrate and or defeat God’s plan concerning the born again child of God.
He says neither death nor life can separate us.
That is extremely powerful if you are willing to embrace it, because it points to the issue of our greatest fear and our greatest hope.
Then he talks about the reality of “worries” and I love that because it speaks to the struggles we have often that people cannot see, but worrying about things are real and we are often tortured our minds and emotions, by the things we worry about.
Then he says that not even the powers of hell itself; no power in the sky, no power in the earth or below the earth, not the future not the past, not your failures not your successes, indeed NOTHING will ever separate us from the love that is revealed in Christ Jesus.
- This is what made it possible for Paul to go through such incredible trials and still to count it all joy.
He was convinced because of the love of God that was revealed to him through and in his relationship with Christ.
Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that he counted everything in his life as worthless rubbish, that he might know Jesus Christ.
He was convinced. I am convinced; we are convinced because of what is being revealed to US in and through our relationship with Christ.
What about you my friend ?….
Do you know him as Lord of your life and as your savior and God ?
Do you have that assurance? Do you have the right standing, do you have the favor the acceptance that we learned about today…
If you don’t have this reality you can come into it today, by making the most important decision to ask Jesus into your heart by acknowledging your sinfulness.
Then having acknowledge the sinfulness of your life you must repent of your independence; giving your heart and life to Christ Jesus as Lord, knowing and believing that he died for your sins and rose again to bring you to God.
Today while all eyes are closed and heads are bowed we are going to give you an opportunity to do just that.
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