Book of Romans - Ch. 8, Vs. 27-39 (10/24/2004)

Park Meadows Church

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We begin with the 27th verse of the 8th chapter of Romans, but I want to back up one verse.

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Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the

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Spirit itself, himself, maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

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And he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the

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Spirit, because he make intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

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And he that searches the hearts... Who is this,

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Dennis? All right.

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So the Holy Spirit searches our hearts. Why does he do that,

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Joy? All right.

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He that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the

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Spirit. Now we're talking about the Holy Spirit. He knows his own mind, he knows because it is

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God's mind, because he that maketh intercession for us, for the saints, according to the will of God.

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What is the purpose of prayer, John? All right, well said.

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To strengthen us spiritually. Does it do that,

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Greg? To cause our mind to be, to come, to become in tune with God's will for us at any given moment.

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Wouldn't it be nice if all of the time, a hundred percent of the day, we could be in tune with God?

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Is that possible in this life, Russell? Brandon, does prayer change things?

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No. Why doesn't it, John? I guess that's one of the most misunderstood phrases that people use.

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We hear it all the time on the television, prayer changes things. What does it change?

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If it doesn't change things, what does it change? If it changes anything, Debbie? What?

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Us. 28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love

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God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Now, Dennis, we know that all things work together for good to them that love

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God. Doesn't it work together for good for those that don't love

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God? Then each of us, right now, in this spot,

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God is working all things. Is that true, Greg? Yes, right now.

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Now, all things, that includes everything in the world, and we know that all things work together for good.

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We know that. We don't suppose it. We know it. If you don't know it, then you study it until it becomes a way of life with you.

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Yes, that's true.

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They think it's an accident, or they were just lucky, or many other things, and all the time it's

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God working through the Holy Spirit in this world to produce a world like he wants.

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Now, we know that all things work together for good to them that love

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God, to them who are the called. David, are you in here?

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Why, why does it say the called? All right.

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To them who are the called, not called, but the called, and all of this is according to what,

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Joey? To his purpose.

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We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called, according to his purpose.

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John, is it possible to be called for something other than his purpose? No. Now, let's get back to this all things.

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All right. Sorry to say, a lot of people in church this morning think they're there because they chose to go, and we did choose.

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It is difficult to explain how

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God controls everything, and still I'm responsible for everything in my life.

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But it's true. I don't try to explain it. It's just true. In Ephesians 1 11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

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There again. Now you should read Romans 8 28 and Ephesians 1 11 together.

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This is the way all things are working.

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Now, God is the originator of everything except sin.

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Now, how can that be, David? Yeah, David. That's right.

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Do you all understand that? I can't see you.

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Yes. Now, why do we have evil in the world,

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David? All right.

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It follows that line of thinking, then, that everything is good, pure, holy, in its first state.

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Satan can only use what God sends. Satan cannot generate anything except sin.

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And everything God sends, Satan twists and perverts to fit his design.

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He is totally against, and he's against the Lord, not God. He's fighting the

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Lord Jesus. And his fight is always evil.

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For whom, going back to scripture now, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate.

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And he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son. That he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

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The foreknowledge of God exists only in the mind of the believer.

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Explain that, Russell. Yes. All right.

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Greg, the foreknowledge of God exists only in the mind of the believer.

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Explain it. All right. David, Dennis, John, don't say the same thing.

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Joy. God has hid it from him,

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Russell. We have to have foreknowledge.

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That's ours. But it does not exist with the heavenly father. Here on earth, everyone can think only in the relationship of time.

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Try to think outside of time, John. You can't.

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You can say the words, but your mind is clicking and that's time. We can and we do have foreknowledge, ours.

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It would be impossible for man to function without it. Without foreknowledge would be like forgetting everything as soon as it was finished.

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And you can't even think how that would be. But with God, not so.

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He has completed all things in eons past.

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So I beg of you, do not think that God depends on the ability of knowing what you're going to do in order to work all things to the right end.

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God does not depend upon his ability to know what you're going to do in order for God to work everything to the right end.

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Do you get that? You understand that, Joey? All right.

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God does not respond to nothing. Poor English, but good theology.

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God does not respond to anything. Ever. 30.

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Moreover, whom he did predestinate and who are those, John? All right.

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Them he also called. And who are they called, David? Them he also justified.

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And what's that mean, Russell? And whom he justified, them he also glorified.

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What's that mean, Dennis? Well, David, has our glorification taken effect yet?

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As far as God is concerned, it's been done. There is no escaping

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God's will. I don't care who you are or what you do. It's the will of God.

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Is that a true statement, Joey? And my mind's running to the election.

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It's running to the Mideast. I don't understand.

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I don't try to understand. But there's no escaping

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God's will. What would it be like, Debbie, if God was overlooking everything or looking over everything and planning everything just as we go?

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That's true. That's true.

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That's such a joy to know and I wish I could think of it more often. What shall we say then to these things?

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If God be for us, who can be against us? He is for us in substitution.

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And I'll take that up again in a moment. 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

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Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?

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It is God that justifieth. So it cannot be God because what did he do?

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He justified us. Who is he that condemneth?

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It's Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

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It can't be Christ to condemn us because he died and he intercedes for us.

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So it's not Christ. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

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Shall tribulation or distress, persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.

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We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

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Now, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed, why is it that I am killed?

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Debbie, do we need

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KK here to answer? All right, all right.

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Is it not also true that we're liberated from the bond of anything by being killed?

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We were killed in Christ, we're killed every day, and we're liberated from the bond of anything.

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This word refers to facts, not to supposition. Nay, in all of these things we are more than conquerors.

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Now, what is more than conquerors?

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Dennis, all right.

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John, what's more than a conqueror? All right, could it be to use the problem to an advantage?

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You have a problem. The tire on the car is flat.

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Now, to be more than a conqueror of that, use that for an advantage.

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Use it for something good rather than just fix the tire.

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It's good that you can fix the tire, but take every situation and try to find something good or new in that situation.

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Why else do you think you had the situation? Did not

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God ordain the flat tire, David? So he wants us to do more than just repair the tire.

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For I am persuaded, Paul says, and the persuaded here is an absolute persuasion, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, neither height, nor depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ, Jesus our

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Lord. Now, this us is talking about you and me. We're in Christ Jesus.

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God's love in Christ, and we are in his love that is in Christ that is the

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God and the Father. What shall we say then?

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What shall we say then to, what shall we then say to these things?

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If God be for us, who can be against us?

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If God is for me, then who can be against me? The common interpretation of this scripture is that if God is for our side, on our side, we can do, we can win any fight, any or all the fights in the world.

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That's the common interpretation. God's on my side so I can't lose. Well, the correct interpretation goes like this.

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In the Greek, there is many words for the word for, and the

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Greek hinges upon the translation of for in this verse. The believer stands justified in the imputed righteousness of God.

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Substitution. What's that mean, Greg? The believer stands justified in the imputed righteousness of the substitute.

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All right, so in Christ, in Jesus Christ, is justification, the imputed righteousness.

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Satan can never impeach the character of the believer. Now, you'll have to listen close through this.

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He would first have to deal with our substitute, Jesus. Jesus is for me in substitution.

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Having a substitute, neither the devil nor God can be against the believer.

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Instead of the devil dealing with the believer, he has to deal with the substitute,

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Jesus. Likewise, instead of God dealing with the believer, he too has to deal with the substitute, even

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God himself. God is morally bound to deal consistently with himself.

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Jesus the Christ is for us in substitution from eternity past to eternity future.

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Romans 8 29. Not only was Christ our substitute in death, but he is our substitute now and eternally.

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He will be my substitute. Therefore, Satan can never attack our souls.

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The reason no one can ever be against us is because we have a substitute.

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God can no more be against the believer than he can be against himself.

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Are you following all this? He did this.

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If he did this, he would cease to be God. Therefore, his existence is the guarantee of our existence.

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To condemn the one for whom he is the substitute, he would have to revoke the death of Jesus on the cross.

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If the substitute could be annulled against one believer, then the sacrifice would be annulled against all believers.

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This would be an impeachment of his own character and a division of his own nature.

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The believer's security is identical with the character of his existence of God.

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Safety reaches its ultimate assurance in the immutability of the eternal

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God. The next time you study if God before us who can be against us, go over these points.

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Think that in substitution, Christ took my place.

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It's so beautiful that he did that. Yes, that's true,

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Russell. Yes.

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That's true. In our position, we're hid in Jesus Christ, which is in God the

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Father. We're buried in him way down deep in Jesus.

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The world has got to deal with our substitute Jesus before he could ever deal with me.

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Any other word? Any other questions? Well, we're going to stop there and we'll start chapter nine next week.

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It's a little bit early, but I won't mind that.