Sunday Sermon: More Than Conquerors (Romans 8:37-39)

You're listening to the preaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on this podcast we feature teaching through a New Testament book, an

Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday. Each Sunday we are pleased to present our sermon series.

Here is Pastor Gabe. We come back to our study in the book of Romans.

Let's go to Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter eight, once again, and as you turn there,

I want to share with you about Robert Bruce, Robert Bruce, not Robert the Bruce.

If you're familiar with the movie Braveheart, the King of Scotland from the, was it the 13th or 14th century?

Not that guy, but Robert Bruce of Cunard, who actually was a student of John Knox.

He was a, a minister in the church of Scotland. He died on July 27th, 1631.

And on the last day of his life, he ate breakfast with his children.

And as his daughter came to attend to him at his bedside, he said to her, hold daughter, hold my master calleth me.

And if you've ever read anything about Robert Bruce, you've probably heard that those were his last words.

It's commonly attributed to Robert Bruce that his last words were hold daughter, hold my master calleth me.

But he actually said a little bit more after that, a little bit beyond those words. He had asked his children that a

Bible be brought to him and read to him at his bedside. He was old in age, his eyesight had failed him.

He couldn't read any longer, but he would have his children read the Bible to him. And he said to them, cast me upon the eighth chapter of Romans, set my finger on these words and as the last words of the eighth chapter were read, he said,

God be with you, my children. I have eaten breakfast with you on earth and I shall sup with my

Lord Jesus this night in heaven. I die believing these words.

And what were those last words of Romans eight that Robert Bruce cast himself upon as he breathed his last in this world?

Those are the words that we will be studying today as we come to the close of what's been a months long study now going back to October that we've been in this chapter in Romans chapter eight.

Let's look once again at Romans eight verses 31 to 39 in honor of the word of the king.

Would you please stand? I'm reading from Romans chapter eight beginning in verse 31.

This is from the English standard version. Hear the word of the Lord. Then what shall we say 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 with him graciously give to us all things?

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is

God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written, for your sake, we are being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

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

Lord. You may be seated as we pray. Heavenly Father, we come to these verses today and I pray that we come to them by way of reminder.

Surely all of us here have heard the good news of Jesus Christ, God who put on flesh and dwelt among us, who lived a perfect life, who died on the cross for our sins as the spotless lamb, the atoning sacrifice to take away the sin of the world.

He was buried in a tomb. He rose again on the third day. Surely all who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life.

As we've even read here, he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God interceding for us on our behalf.

And he is coming back again to judge the living and the dead. We have heard these words.

We have come to believe them. That is why I would say we as Christians are gathered here today to celebrate the goodness of God in Christ our

Lord. But I pray Lord that as we come to these words again, having heard the good news of the gospel, we are reminded of Christ who died and who keeps us in the perfect love of God.

He who conquered death itself will not allow us to be conquered by anything.

But as we read here, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Teach us what this means. By your spirit illuminate to us the truth of your word that we may be all the more confident in Christ and be delivered to him on the day that we come before God in glory.

It's in Jesus name that we pray and all God's people said, Amen. Brother Allen read for us this morning, a very, very common

Bible story. One that you have been hearing since you were a small child. Even those who are not

Christians and don't regularly attend church have heard the story of David and Goliath. One of the number one movies in the country right now is a computer animated film entitled

David that highlights not just the conflict between David and Goliath, but some other things that happened in David's young life all the way up to the point that he was, he became king in Saul's absence, a king over Israel.

Though this story is very, very common, it's often very, very misunderstood. And the most common way that you hear the story of David and Goliath taught is that Goliath is your problems and you are

David. And just like David, if you have God, you will be able to conquer your giants.

That's most often the way that the story of David and Goliath is communicated. Now, is that true that we will be able to conquer our giants if we are in Christ Jesus?

Certainly. But that's not the main point of the story. In fact, the main point of the story points us even higher that our confidence may be even greater than just thinking that we can slay a giant.

When we heard the text read from 1 Samuel chapter 17, David comes to the battlefield where the

Israelites are lined up against the Philistines. And he was there because his father had sent him to go check on his brothers and see how they were doing.

Take some of this food with you and give it to your brothers and even help to feed some of those people that are there lined up for battle against the

Philistines. By the providence of God, David happened to be there that day when he hears the giant come out and mock

Israel and the armies of the living God. He mocked them by his gods, the texts tell us.

David comes out there and he hears Goliath saying these things and he says, who is this uncircumcised

Philistine that he should mock the armies of the living God? And he goes before Saul and he says,

I'll go fight him. Now Saul was supposed to be the man that was going to go fight

Goliath. Saul was God's anointed. Saul was even said to be the tallest man in Israel.

You probably missed that part of the text. It comes up a few chapters earlier when Saul of Benjamite was found and he was anointed to be the first king of Israel.

It was said that Saul was taller than every man in Israel from the shoulders upward. So he was

Israel's giant. The Philistines had an even bigger giant. And Saul was no longer in the favor of God and did not have the courage to fight him.

And you see that in chapter 17 where Saul comes up with all of these incentives that he will give to the person who goes out and fights

Goliath. Whoever goes and fights him, I'm going to reward him with all of this. So instead of going out and fighting the giant himself, he wants somebody else to go and do it for him.

Here comes this teenager named David who says, I'm going to go fight the giant. David can't even wear

Saul's armor, but he's going to go fight this giant. And we know from the text that he gathers up five smooth stones and he goes out to the battlefield and draws up against the giant to slay him.

And David is absolutely 100 % sure that he's going to put him to death.

He says it to Saul, God has delivered the lion and the bear into my hands. This giant is not going to be any different.

I will go out and I will slay Goliath. And even when he's out there and Goliath starts mocking

David, are you a boy that comes to me with sticks? I'm like a dog to you. And he starts once again cursing

David by his gods and mocking the God of Israel. Well David can jaw with the best of them.

And he says this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the

Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth and all the earth may know, all the earth may know that there is a

God in Israel. And all of this assembly will know that the

Lord saves not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into my hand.

And it was less than a minute and a half later. David slings a stone into Goliath's head, sinks into his forehead it says.

He falls down on the ground dead. David draws Goliath's sword, cuts his head off and then the rest of the chapter he's walking around with Goliath's head.

Now one of the phrases that comes up repeatedly in 1st Samuel 17, it's a

Hebrew word but the way that the Hebrew word is often translated into English is mock.

And that word mock comes up six times in 1st Samuel chapter 17. This really is the theme of what's going on in this chapter.

That Goliath is mocking God. Mock, mock, mock.

It's said over and over again. And it keeps referring to Goliath as the Philistine. The Philistine, the

Philistine, he mocks, he mocks. David comes out and says this battle is the

Lord's and he will give you into our hands that the world may know there is a

God in Israel. So what is this chapter really about?

That you can slay your giants? No that you may know there is a

God who governs all. This is about the honor of God.

Not what we can do but what God does. And has done for us.

Even as we have read here in Romans chapter 8, conquering death itself through his son that we may know

God. And we may know he has triumphed.

And in Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors.

Through him who loved us. And that's what we are to know from Romans chapter 8.

As we have been looking at this chapter, we started with hearing.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. We end with hearing.

Nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. So we heard at the start there is no condemnation.

And we hear at the conclusion there is no separation. We are

Christ's. By God's love for us. We have three more verses that we're looking at in Romans chapter 8.

We focus on today verses 37 to 39. And as we do this I'm going to focus on three

C words that are used here. So we have first of all in verse 37 the word conquerors.

We have in verse 39 the word creation. And then at the end of verse 39 Christ. So there's my three

Baptist points today using alliteration. Conquerors creation Christ.

We're more than conquerors through him who loved us. Nothing in creation will separate us from the love of God.

And that love that has been given to us is in Jesus Christ our Lord. And we know that in Christ we are more than conquerors.

Let's come back once again to verse 37. Where Paul says no in all these things in all of what things.

Everything that we have read previous particularly in this section verses 31 to 39.

We considered last week where Paul said who shall separate us from the love of Christ.

Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or set or sword. Seven things that are mentioned there.

Many other things we could put in that list. But Paul mentions those seven to say there is nothing.

There is nothing. No other example that you could stick in that list will separate us from the love of God.

Now what do those things have in common? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword.

What do all those things have in common? They could all kill you. They could all be the cause of someone's death.

Someone may die because of tribulation. Someone may die of great distress.

That could be distress that comes upon them from outside sources. It could be distress that wells up in their very soul.

I was reminded this morning that Charles Spurgeon died in his late 50s. I believe at the age of 57.

And he was a man who was plagued with deep depression for most of his pastoral ministry.

Despite that he knew and loved Christ and preached Christ and said such glorious things like the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which we can lay our heads and sleep in peace at night.

And though he knew this, his earthly body was vexed with the problems that exist in this world.

And it's probably that that caused him to die at such a young age compared to what most ministers were living to at that time in England.

Distress can even take a person's life. Persecution, those who would persecute the body because of what you believe and who you love.

We see this going on in the world right now. In Nigeria, the Christians that are being persecuted and put to death by the

Islamic radicals there. In China, the government that is afflicting pastors and tearing them out of their churches and throwing them in jail.

It's happening all over the world. We seem to be a little bit more isolated here in the United States.

And because we enjoy the freedom of religion, sometimes we get kind of myopic and lose sight of the fact that there are

Christians all over the world being persecuted for their faith. They will die because of their faith.

But shall that persecution separate them from the love of God? Famine, there's still famine in the world.

We haven't solved world hunger yet. Nakedness, a person having no clothing or shelter.

And the elements would take their life. Danger, putting themselves in perilous situations.

Persecutions, sword, the affliction that could come from the government for any number of reasons.

Or some criminal, somebody robs your house, kills your family. All of these things could take a person's life.

The examples that Paul gives there in verse 35. And yet, do any of those things separate us from the love of God?

Now specifically, the context here is talking about persecution. The emphasis is mainly on persecution.

Because as we read in verse 36, as it is written, for your sake, we are being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. I read that verse last week, but I kind of brushed over it very quickly.

This comes from Psalm 44, 22. And let me read to you in context from that psalm exactly what's going on here.

This is from the sons of Korah. And the sons of Korah are crying out to God because affliction has come upon them by their enemies.

But it's not because of anything that Israel has done. So this is not punishment by God because they are in sin.

Yet they are being afflicted by their enemies. And so it is said, starting in verse 17, all of this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, they pray.

And we have not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way.

Yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.

If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign

God, would not God discover this? For he knows the secret of the heart. Yet for your sake, we are killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. That verse that's in Romans chapter 8. Awake, why are you sleeping,

O Lord? Rouse yourself, do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust.

Our belly clings to the ground. Rise up and come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

I wonder how often this psalm may have been on the Apostle Paul's heart as he was being persecuted for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But it wasn't just the Apostle Paul. These Christians in Rome are undergoing that persecution themselves.

I talked to you before in the background of this letter, how the emperor in Rome had heard about people becoming

Christians. He had heard about this proselytizing that was going on. And when he's looking into it, he's finding out they're worshiping this

Jewish carpenter named Jesus. Oh, okay, well, that means the

Jews have gone against our arrangement. We were going to allow them to worship their one

God as long as they paid their taxes and didn't proselytize anybody. So now, since they're worshiping this

Jewish carpenter, apparently the Jews are proselytizing. So the emperor banished all of the

Jews from Rome. Well, he got the wrong group of people. Because it wasn't the

Jews that were doing that. It was the Christians. And this church ends up being made up of primarily

Gentiles, this church in Rome, because all the Jews have been banished. Well, then when Nero becomes the

Caesar, although Nero was a guy that would later persecute Christians, he didn't start out that way.

He lifted that banishment and the Jews were able to come back in. This is important, too, for some of the things that we're going to be addressing later on in Romans.

So you'll hear me say this. You'll hear me remind you of this again. But the Jews come back and then they come into this church that looks quite a bit different than when they were driven out the first time.

Now there's a bunch of Gentiles in there. So now you have more Gentiles than Jews that are part of this church that are in Rome.

That creates a little bit of conflict in some of those things Paul is going to address a little bit later on. But that's all to say persecution was going on at this time.

And then once the Jews come back in with the Gentiles and you have a mix of Jewish and Gentile Christians together in this church, that doesn't relieve the persecution.

Now they're both experiencing persecution. Now both the Jews and the Gentiles. Once Nero figures it out, oh, it wasn't just the

Jews, it's also the Gentiles. Anybody who's a follower of Jesus Christ and persecution comes upon them all the more.

There are Christians in this church in Rome that when they come to church on Sunday, on the

Lord's Day, they look around and they see, well, where's

Luke this week? I'm just using a name, not the gospel writer. Where's Luke this week?

He was here last week. What happened to him this week? And they come to find out, well,

Luke was confronted by a Roman guard and he wouldn't bow the knee to Caesar, and so they killed him.

And he's not in church with us this Sunday. And the brotherhood mourns because they've lost one of their own.

A brother with whom they were being sanctified is no longer with them, but it's been killed by the sword and delivered up to who knows where.

And so Paul reminds these brethren, is that going to separate you from the love of God?

Can Caesar do it? Can the sword of Rome separate you from the love of God?

Can any of these things take away the salvation that you have in Christ?

If you know and understand there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, can that be taken away from you?

And that's the reminder that Paul puts forward to these Christians when he says that none of these things will separate us from the love of Christ.

For your sake, for God's sake. He points to the Old Testament scriptures. This has been going on for centuries.

The people of God have always been persecuted for being the people of God. For your sake, we're being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. And again, it's for the sake of the name. It's that God's name would be highly revered and exalted.

And it's because the people hate God that they hate the people of God. Remember Jesus saying to his disciples, remember when they hate you, they hated me first.

And so Paul gives them this reassurance. This has always been the case with people who hate righteousness.

But in all these things, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Now that's more, that's more than Paul simply saying, we're victorious.

If we heard Paul say that, that would be enough. Amen, sister? It would be enough.

It would be enough to hear Paul say, we're still victorious. Even though these things are happening to us, we still have victory in Christ.

We would say, amen, hallelujah, sing our closing song, and go home with the hope of the gospel filling our hearts.

If that was all he said. But that's not all he says, is it? He doesn't simply say, we're victorious.

He says, we're more than that. We're more than conquerors through him who loved us.

And again, recognize the context in which he says this. Before I came here to Arizona, as I was a pastor in Texas, I was part of a program called the

Expository Workshops, where three or four times a year, we would conduct these workshops and invite pastors from all over the area to come in.

And we would teach them how to exposit scripture. Now, what's interesting when I got involved in this program is that I was unaware that seminary was not really properly equipping pastors to do this.

I did not attend seminary myself. I learned from very seasoned men how to exposit scripture and teach it accurately.

And here I was becoming part of these workshops in which I was teaching other pastors how to do exposition. Men who had been through years of seminary had even gotten master's degrees and doctorates, though I don't have one.

And it was kind of intimidating when you're sitting around a table and you're expositing a passage of scripture. And I've got a guy with a doctorate across from me, and he gives me his exposition of particular text that we're working through, and I have to sit there and go, no, that's not accurate.

Who am I to say that to such a seasoned man and hopeful expositor of the word?

But we would go through text together and try to understand those texts in the proper context and teach these men how to outline text and prepare for sermons and things of this nature.

We would have these small groups that we would break out in and do that one -on -one, like close associational fellowship with each other, other pastors sitting around the table and working through text together.

But then in between those small group sessions, we would have the plenary sessions where everybody's gathered like this in a lecture and somebody is leading the particular lecture lesson, and I might do one or two of those myself.

There was an exercise that we did in those plenary sessions where we would have all the pastors open up to Romans chapter 8.

And we would say, look at Romans 8 verses 31 to 39. And here's your assignment. We're coming up with greeting cards for a

Christian bookstore. So find the verses in this section that you think would sound really good in a

Christian greeting card. Go. And so for the next three or four minutes, you hear pastors kind of talking to each other and murmuring to one another and going through different verses.

And what sort of verses do you think they came up with? We're more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Nothing will separate us from the love of God. What shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us? All the victory verses that come out of this, right? And whoever's leading the session would probably ask the pastor.

So what's the theme that you would say we're finding in this particular section? If you were, if you were going to be writing a book now on this and it's going to be sold in most

Christian bookstores, what's the theme? Put the title on the book and the pastor would say victory. That's the theme here.

Victory is the theme. All right. So we've got that from verses 31 to 39.

Let's understand the context a little more broadly. Then the pastors are given another assignment.

Go back up to verse 17 and start reading from there. And what sort of themes do you see start coming up?

And as we give them time to do that, you hear the pastors start saying, we're identifying these word pairs.

Verse 17, we are heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him.

Verse 18, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth, are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.

Verse 19, creation waits with eager longing. Verse 23, we wait eagerly for adoption as sons.

Verse 20, the creation was subjected to futility and going on in that verse, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.

Verse 22, we know that the whole of creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth.

Verse 23, not only creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption of sons.

So what is the context here? Does it sound like everybody's in a happy place?

Or does it sound like that Paul is talking to a group of people who are really struggling? And my friends,

I pray that this chapter meets you there as well. Whether times are good for you or times are bad, but it meets you in the place where you are struggling.

And you are reminded that though these things we struggle with and we suffer through now, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

More than conquerors. What does it mean then to be more than conquerors?

Not just that we have victory once again, but that we have more than that. We are more than conquerors.

Let me tell you what this means. We as Christians who are being sanctified by the

Holy Spirit of God, as we've read about here in chapter 8, being sanctified, being made holy, we take those things that we go through and what do they do for us?

It's through those situations that we actually draw nearer to God and become more like Christ.

It's more than just having victory over this. We go through this that we would be made more like Christ.

Remember verse 29 again. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his

Son. And we're being conformed with Christ. Remember that Christ suffered. We just read about that last week, even in this section.

Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Christ suffered on our behalf. And when we suffer, we share those sufferings with him and we're being made more like him.

We're growing in holiness. We are conquering over those things that would otherwise conquer us.

And now we who are being made into the image of Christ, who will be delivered into the presence of God, who will reign with him forever over all of those things that it might look like reign over us now.

In this, we are more than conquerors. Through him who has loved us, you can actually go through your trial and make it your slave.

Not to mean that you won't have this trial anymore, but that you are going to use the trial to draw nearer to God and rely on his strength and not your own.

You're going to use that trial to grow in holiness and put to death the desires of the flesh, the despairs of the world, and put your hope and trust in Christ and walk in his righteousness.

You through this trial are being made more like Christ, are more than just a conqueror.

You have more than just a victory. This thing that you're going through now is making you more like Jesus.

In all of these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And Paul goes on in verse 38.

Let's look at the creation aspect of this passage. We're conquerors. What about creation?

Verse 38. I'm sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God.

So what do all these things have in common? All of these things, Paul tells us in verse 39, they're all created.

So they all have a creator. And the creator sits triumphant over all of this.

So in Christ Jesus, we likewise are greater than these things.

And none of these things are going to separate us from what we have in Christ. I'm sure that neither death nor life,

Paul cuts right to the heart of it at the very beginning. Death is not going to separate you from the love of God. But even life itself, whatever happens to you in your life, will not separate you from the love of God, nor angels, nor rulers.

And in context, both of these are probably the same. Angels being those holy angels and rulers being the demonic forces in the spiritual realm.

And we often talk about how there's this war that's going on all around us, this spiritual battle that's taking place.

And we can't see it. It's happening behind this spiritual veil. But there's angels and demons at war right now over your conscience.

And, you know, the angels winning so that you're not falling asleep in the middle of church, but you're listening to what it is that the preacher is saying.

And those of you who lived through the Frank Peretti, this present darkness era back in the 80s and 90s, you know, the spiritual war that's going on in this, what we have in our minds whenever we talk about spiritual warfare, we think about the spiritual swords, clashes, battles that are going on between angels and demons that are all around us all the time.

That isn't necessarily what Paul is referring to here. It was a belief even among the

Christians and the Jews and even unbelievers at that time that there's all these spiritual forces that are trying to rule over us.

And even if that were the case, if there are angels or rulers that are vying for your soul, not even they can separate you from the love of God.

You might think of them as greater or more powerful than you are, but they can't separate you from God's love.

If God has secured it, no one can take it. Not even the spiritual forces that exist. We read in Hebrews 1 that angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.

Angels don't exist out there for our harm, but for our good. And they're not going to separate us from that which we have gained in Christ.

Paul said, nor things present nor things to come. The things in your life or whatever it is that's down the road.

Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 6. Don't worry about tomorrow. Today is enough trouble of its own.

Whatever's coming down the road is not going to separate you from the love of God. Nor powers, maybe earthly authorities, whoever's in the

White House is not going to separate you from the love of God. Nor heights, nor depth.

The highest highs, the deepest lows, as David talks about in Psalm 139, if I go up into the highest heavens, you are there.

If I go down to the deepest parts of the earth, you are there. Not even height or depth. Nor anything else in all creation.

Whatever Paul doesn't fit into this list, it's not going to separate us from the love of God in Christ our

Lord. And I'll hear sometimes from brethren who will ask me about past sins.

You may have committed some sort of a sin for which you have to face the consequences. Though we know, as we've read here,

God is the one who justifies. So by faith in Christ Jesus, you are no longer guilty before God.

You've been declared innocent and you've been clothed in His righteousness. But that doesn't take away the effects or the consequences for that sin that you might have to live through in this life.

You may still have consequences because of bad behavior, wrong choices, sinful actions.

There was a young man who came up to me, he was in college, and he came to me and he said, I've been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease.

It was something that I contracted when I was living in this licentious life and chasing after the passions of my flesh before I became a

Christian. But now I have this disease and there's no cure for it. I can take medications to try to suppress the effects of it, but I'm always going to have it.

And he, as a new believer, had asked me, does this mean that God's not with me?

If I have this consequence of my sin that's attached to me and it's never going to go away, is that God saying to me that I can't ever be

His child? And I took him to this passage. And I said, there is nothing in creation that can separate you from the love of God.

My brother, rejoice in knowing your sin is forgiven. Whatever consequence you may have to suffer with in your body, give it to the

Lord. Conquer over it. We are more than conquerors in Christ. That will make you rejoice all the more in the

Lord, knowing He saved me from this, though it plagues my body, it does not infect my soul.

And I am in the hands of God for all eternity and will be delivered into His presence forever.

And you have no reason to despair for there is nothing in creation that will separate you from God that you have in Christ.

And finally, we look at the name Christ itself. Over and over, we've been coming back to that.

Verse 35, Paul says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Verse 39, nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ our

Lord. It keeps coming back to Christ. Friends, constantly look at Christ.

Whatever it takes, look at Christ. It is for the honor and the greatness of His name.

It was so the name of God would be proclaimed in Israel and in all lands that victory was given to David.

It is for the glory of His name that victory is given to you. And more than that, that you are more than a conqueror through Him.

Through Christ who loved us, He who died on the cross, who rose again from the dead, who is indeed sitting at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us.

As 1 John 2 says, He is our advocate before the Father. He is speaking favorably of us before God on our behalf.

And no matter what happens in this life, Jesus is there before the Father saying,

He's mine. She's mine. And nothing is gonna separate us from that relationship.

Sealed by the Holy Spirit, we're told in Ephesians 1, securing

Christ Jesus who says in John 10, no one will snatch them from my hands.

And also there, my Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them from my

Father's hand. We are in Christ. We are here and nothing is going to separate us from Him.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is no separation from those who are in Christ Jesus.

My friends, take heart, be comforted in the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our

Lord. I can't say this emphatically enough.

I can't make it real to you in your heart. But the Spirit can.

And He will give you these constant reminders of the goodness of God that we have in Christ.

We are more than conquerors. And it may feel like on this side of heaven that the stuff of this earth is winning.

It may feel that way. And even by human perception, that's even what it's going to look like.

And how can I say that? Because we're all going to die.

You have an appointment with death one day. And so your body is going to die.

So perceptively from our human vantage point, we're going to look at that and say, creation won.

Nature itself had its way with you and you died. But we don't see with our natural eyes.

We see with our spiritual eyes that we've been given in the Holy Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 2, the natural man can't perceive the spiritual things because they're spiritually discerned.

But we have the mind of Christ. We have the Spirit of God.

That when we look at those things that come our way and attempt to take our lives or put us down or suppress us or ravage our bodies or otherwise, we have nothing to fear of that.

We can look at that situation in that circumstance and we can say, I am more than a conqueror in the midst of this through him who loves me.

And so hold fast to those words as Robert Bruce did as he died. I set my finger on these words.

God be with you, my children. I have eaten breakfast with you. I shall sup with my Lord Jesus this night.

I die believing these words. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Nothing, not even death itself can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our

Lord. We've been listening to the preaching of Pastor Gabriel Hughes, a presentation of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.

For more information about our church, visit our website at providencecasagrande .com. On behalf of our church family, my name is

Becky, thanking you for listening. Join us again Monday for more Bible study when we understand the text.