God Is On Our Side | Frank Brancato

Today we have a wonderful crowd for which we are thankful and

has already been mentioned. If you do consider yourself a

visitor, we want you to know you are our honored guest and

welcome. It's good to see you.

It's good to worship together and as always is the case, I do

consider it an honor to speak concerning the word of God.

As Wade had announced, we're going to continue in the series

that I'm really, I've really enjoyed the series very much.

I've enjoyed the study of it. I've enjoyed preaching on these

things. These are some of the most

incredible, encouraging things that are practical in our life

to help sustain us as we journey along life's Hwy. on our way to

heaven. Unbelievable blessings.

And today the title of our lesson is God is on our side in

Romans chapter 8 and verse 31, an introductory text reads as

Romans 8 · chapter mention

follows. The apostle Paul says, what then

shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be

against us? Now remember by way, a very

brief review. There are five unbelievable

blessings that the apostle Paul Lewis in Romans chapter 8 to

Romans 8 · chapter mention

help sustain us as we go through life even with the challenges

and the difficult times. And I got to tell you, we're

going to have some difficult stuff.

It's just called life. That's just life.

But as we journey along from a spiritual perspective, we are

not alone. We have 5 unbelievable blessings

that were given from God to help sustain us.

Number one, we have hope, and as we noticed last time, we're not

going to elaborate on these again.

But as we noticed last time, hope is not postponed

disappointment. Hope is real.

Hope is trusting God for the future, just like faith is

trusting God in the present. Unbelievable.

The Christian has hope #2 God has given us the intercessory

work of the Holy Spirit. In Romans chapter 8, there are

Romans 8 · chapter mention

times when we need an intercessor, We need help.

And in Romans chapter 8, the Holy Spirit helps us in our

Romans 8 · chapter mention

weaknesses when we at sometimes are at the end of our rope and

we don't know what we ought to pray for.

We know about the signs of the groanings that are inside of us.

That's from the human spirit and we can't form the words.

We need an intercessor. We groan unutterable groanings.

The Holy Spirit takes those groanings to the Father.

The very next verse says the Father understands why?

Because he knows the mind of the Holy Spirit.

Who does what? Who makes intercession for us?

Unbelievable. Blessing and then blessing #3 We

talked about this last time. Because of all that, we have

knowledge that all things work together for good to them, that

love God to those that are called according to His purpose.

And as we mentioned last time, this is not talking about all

the individual things that happen in life circumstantially.

It doesn't mean that every circumstance, though, negative

or bad or terrible or whatever, is going to end up turning out

good, because sometimes things don't turn out good.

What this is talking about, this is an absolute promise that all

things are going to work together for our eternal good

and our spiritual good. God's going to make that happen.

OK, that brings us to lesson #4 or the fourth thing of these

great blessings. And that's today's lesson.

And that is God is on our side. And the apostle Paul says, if

God is for us, who can be against us?

Now you might remember the last thing I said.

I said, Tanner said to me, how many times that phrase?

You know, how many times that phrase don't be a phrase in the

Bible? I said, no, I really know.

He said, it's 365 times. And I looked it up and it was

right. So we ended our last lesson on

making the point. So there's 365 days in the year,

365 times in the Bible. You can find a passage or an

instance where God says do not be afraid.

And I don't believe that is an accident at all.

But I want to elaborate and go a little further in our

introduction here. Why would God make such a big

deal in the Bible so many times? Why would he say don't be

afraid? You know why?

Because fear is real. You know anybody that says I'm

not afraid of anything, you know, I'm not trying to be

disrespectful. Really, two things.

One, you're lying. Or two, you're touched a little

and maybe you're all right. Just give you a bowl of soup.

Everybody's afraid of something. I don't care how tough you think

you are or strong you think you are.

Everybody has fear. In fact, let me just say this.

There would be no such thing as courage if there were No Fear.

Fear is your response, or courage is your response to

fear. That's the difference between a

courageous person and a coward is your response to fear.

In other words, fear is a feeling and everybody has it.

Courage is a reaction. So why does God continually in

the Bible say, though, even though fear is real and it's a

real thing, don't be afraid here it is because he will never

leave us nor forsake us. That's why.

Let me notice one example. It's my favorite one example and

we got to move on. When Moses, who was a servant of

the Lord, died, the Lord said to Joshua, my servant Moses is now

dead. And as I was with Moses, he said

to Joshua, I will also be with you.

He said, therefore go over this land, you and all the people, to

the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel

arise, he said. And then he said this in Joshua

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, beginning in verse 5. No man shall be able to stand

before you all the days of your life.

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you nor forsake you.

Be strong and of good courage. And to this people you shall

divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their

fathers to get them. Only be strong and very

courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law

which Moses my servant commanded you.

Do not turn from it to the right hand, nor to the left, that you

may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not

depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and

night, that you may observe to do according to all that is

within it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and

you will have good success. Then notice.

Have I not commanded you? Do you see that it's a command?

Have I not commanded you? What?

Be strong and of good courage and do not be afraid, do not be

dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

You know, at the end of the book of Romans, the apostle Paul says

we are more than conquerors of him that loved us through him

that loved us more than conquerors.

Why are we more than conquerors? We're more than conquerors not

because of our own personal strength, because true inner

strength can only come from God. You might call it faith and

courage. I call it God and guts.

It's the way that it is. It comes from God.

That's so very important in our life, though, because life is

about handling losses. You know, in life we lose more

than we win. We have contractors in this

audience, and I guarantee you, those of us that are

contractors, when you bid work, you lose more than you get.

And if you can somehow get half of the ones you bid, man, you're

so excited. You know why?

Because that's life. And in our world of

construction, you're going to get less than what you bid.

So in other words, the losses will exceed the victories.

Kind of like life, though. Trevor Brazil, rodeo cowboy.

He won 26 world titles. Now, you may not understand what

that means, but for a rodeo person, that's huge.

That's 26 gold buckles. Some people go their entire life

in search of one. That rodeo professionally never

get one. Most people don't.

OK, he won 26 gold buckles and he was asked after it was all

said and done and he retired, they asked him.

They said, what was the secret To persevere and keep grinding

forward in your pursuit of 26 world titles?

You know what he said to remember every day that I'm in a

sport that I will lose more than I will win and not be

discouraged and pick myself up and persevere and move on down

the road and keep on going regardless of the outcome.

That's the greatest bit of advice I can give because it's

going to come with a whole lot more losses than victories.

He said this, but without the losses, the victories would have

no meaning. And when it comes to life, we

have to realize that God is on our side.

And when God is on our side, it changes our perspective.

And I got to tell you, perspective is everything.

Attitude is everything. Like somebody so rightly said

one time, your attitude is the aroma of your heart.

And sometimes you got to lay aside you're stinking thinking.

Attitude's everything. Perspective is everything.

Now I got to tell you, I quote my father.

My father died way too young. And if I could have had one, one

deep burning desire that I could have had in the rearing of my

own children is that they could have known my father like I knew

my father, but he passed away way too young.

I loved my father's perspective and I quote from him all the

time. But I got to tell you, when I

was a teenager, my father was unbelievably annoying.

My father's perspective was unbelievably annoying.

My father would walk down the hall and here we are at 594 Rice

Rd. hardwood floors. You can hear somebody coming a

mile away. And when you're a teenager,

you're trying to sleep all you can for as long as you can.

I'm sound asleep. And here comes my dad singing as

loud as he possibly could. Oh, what a beautiful morning.

This is every day by the way. Now my father was one of those

if he couldn't hit the note, instead of softening the tone

the the the volume and reaching the note, he just shouted even

louder, even more annoying. And I knew when that song got

fired up every day. It was just a matter of seconds

before he was coming to my door, opening up the door.

I was cringing waiting for her and he said get up son.

Today's a beautiful day in wish to excel.

Now I get it. Sometimes when we're young our

parents annoy us. I would imagine that maybe once

or twice I annoyed my kids. Maybe perspective though his

perspective made me feel better at the most difficult times in

my life. He would say things to me like,

son, the only time you fail is the last time you try.

He also used to say, you know, look at it differently, son, you

didn't fail, you just took a strategic move to the rear.

You got to look at it differently and press on.

The point is life is about fighting back from adversity.

Life is about getting knocked down, having regardless of what

happens, getting back up, regardless of the outcome.

Please get that. I've often believed in the

concept that that outcome determines effort.

It does. But if you want to succeed in

life, you have to realize that your effort cannot be

proportionate to the outcome. In 1991, the Buffalo Bills went

to their first Super Bowl following the 1990 season.

Those of you that are older like me might remember that that was

during the Gulf War Desert Storm.

Whitney Houston sang the national anthem, Our country was

coming together. People were raving flags.

It was a big deal and the New York Giants played the Buffalo

Bills in the Super Bowl. Buffalo had the ball at the end.

They drove all the way down the field.

They have a chip shot field goal to win it and guess what

happened? Missed wide right.

Team was devastated afterwards. Mark Levy, the coach of the

Buffalo Bills, got his team together and he quoted a

Scottish poem about a naval battle in 1511 between Admiral

Sir Andrew Barton against English ships, a man that showed

immense resilience with the refusal to surrender despite

heavy odds. And he said these words.

Fight on my men, Sir Andrew said a little.

I'm hurt and not yet slain. I'll just lie down and bleed a

while and then I'll rise and fight again.

You know what happened? They fought back.

There was the Super Bowl the next year.

You know what happened? They lost again.

They rallied the troops the third time.

Third time's the charm, right? They're going to win.

The third time, they go and they get blown out by the Dallas

Cowboys, 52 to 17. One more time.

They rally again, they prepare. They get to the Super Bowl.

Fourth straight year, crowds cheering.

This is our year. You know what happened?

I lost again. What's the entire point?

The point is, that's a microcosm of life battling back from

adversity without letting outcome determine effort.

You know what? When I was young and dumb, I

thought it was my own personal strength that got me through

times like that. But when it comes to the

difficult times in life, it is only the Lord's strength that

gets us through. And from a spiritual

perspective, that is abundantly true.

Notice 2nd Thessalonians 3 and verse 3.

Notice, Please get this, the Lord is faithful.

Now I got to tell you, sometimes the word faithful refers to one

who is truly obedient, like you might say, a faithful Christian.

Now what's that? A faithful Christian is somebody

faithful to the Lord, somebody that's faithful, obedient to

Jesus Christ. We get that.

But in this context, this word faithful doesn't mean that it

doesn't mean truly obedient. It means that God can be trusted

and will make good on His promises.

I got to tell you, you may have doubts in your life, I get it.

And you may have people that you don't have any confidence with,

I get it. And you may have people in your

life that have let you down, and I get it.

And there may be people that you cannot trust because trust is

earned. And I get it.

But in all the times and in all the concepts and in all the

times in your life that you doubt, don't ever doubt God.

Why? Because God never lies.

He can always be trusted. He will always make good on His

promises. Specifically in this regard.

What's 1 of the great promises He's going to do, He's going to

keep. He's going to establish you.

You know what the word establish means?

I love this to strengthen, make firm and confirm one's mind.

You don't have to be weak if you realize and you trust that God

has promised I will strengthen you sometimes in your prayers.

Let me just suggest something if I may.

If you have something in your life that you don't think is you

don't think is fair or you're going through something that's

difficult. And what we tend to do is we

pray that God will remove it. I get it, Me too.

And we pray that God will give us relief.

And that's usually the first thing that pops in our head.

How about let's do this? Dear God, please give me the

strength to overcome, to endure, to persevere.

Give me the strength. I believe in all my heart.

When you tell God these words, when you say to God, I'm

vulnerable. When you say to God, I'm nothing

without you. And when you tell God I can't do

this without you, that's when the Lord shows up.

You're stopped to consider. And I don't want to go down a

rabbit hole. Not one of them not doing that.

But I'm just going to say, every time the disciples failed, even

back before the crucifixion, they were all relying on their

own strength. Every time when they trusted in

the Lord and the Lord's promise and they remembered that and

they were fulfilled or filled with the strength that God said

I will give you, they were fine. Even when the outcome wasn't

fine, even when they crucified Peter upside down, even when

they beheaded Paul, even when, even when, even when one thing

God's going to do is going to keep us firm #2 I love this.

He's going to guard you from the evil one.

That's the new King James. The old King James says guard

you from evil. In a general sense.

Really, it's talking about something very specific.

And this is really going to make sense at the end of our lesson.

Who's the one that God's going to guard US against?

Who's the one that's the evil? 1 James 47 Therefore, submit to

God resists the devil, and he will flee from you.

That is a promise. So the promise is this.

God can be trusted. He's going to strengthen us,

He's going to establish us, He's going to keep us.

He's going to do all that, and He's also going to guard us from

the devil. What do we got to do though?

We got to do our part. Here's what we got to do.

We have to submit to God #1 #2 you got to resist the devil.

And I'm going to tell you, when it comes to temptation,

temptations are real. And the way that you resist the

devil is don't put yourself in compromising situations.

If there's people in your life that are dragging you down the

wrong path, stop hanging out with those people that are

dragging you down the wrong path.

Hang out with some better people.

If you frequent places that are causing you to stumble and fall,

then stop frequenting those places that'll that'll cause you

to stumble and fall. That's what resisting the devil

is. You have to submit to God and

then resist the devil and he will flee from you.

OK, with those words now it leads us right into Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8. Actually, let's back up one more

verse, First Corinthians 10/13 about temptation.

This is an unbelievable promise. No temptation has overtaken you

except what is common to man. God is faithful.

There he is again, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond

what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way

of escape that you may be able to bear it.

I'm going to tell you something. If you are struggling with

something, whatever it is, and by the way, everybody struggles

with something. If you will go to your heavenly

Father in prayer, you're submitting yourself to God.

You're resisting the devil. I'm telling you, the temptation

will go away. It's coming back.

But you can keep the devil on the run, just like Jesus did

when he was tempted for those 40 days.

All right, now notice this phrase right here.

Then Paul says, what shall we say to these things?

Now here we go again about context.

The words, these things in context refer to the same things

that go back to verse 28. Remember in verse 28, and we

know that all things work together for good to those who

love God, to those that are called according to His purpose.

OK, so those things in verse 28 are the same things he's

referring to in verse 31. Those things go all the way back

to verse 18. One commentator put it this way.

From all that has been said, what comfort may we derive from

it? We are persecuted and despised,

it is true, but as God has called us to love Him, and all

things work together for good to them that love Him, and if we

continue to possess that faith that works by love, it will

bring us both body and soul to His eternal glory.

Seeing therefore, that all these things are So, what comfort in

our tribulation shall we derive from them?

Now notice the next phrase He says.

What shall we say about these things?

All the things that he just said?

Then he says, if God is for us, who can be against us?

Do you know what the phrase actually, literally means?

If God is for us, it means God is on my side.

Now, the actual phrase is rendered my side.

And I want you to not just pass over that, please.

I want you to know that in your life that's personal.

And when you go through your day, when you go through your

life and things are difficult, Please remember God is on my

side in the circumstance that is before me, that is bad against

me. God is on my side.

I'm telling you, my dad used to say, me and God, that's the

majority. We got this.

God is on my side. The world may turn their back on

you. God never will.

Paul's language here echoes many biblical sources, one of which

is found in Psalm 118 and verse 6 where the psalmist David says

the Lord is on my side. It's the same thing.

He's on my side. That phrase my side is in both

places. One commentator said it this

way. This was actually Reese and

quoted in the contending for the faith commentary.

He said this since God is for us means he is on the Christian

side. He is our friend.

When he planned out in eternity, carries out in time had men's

ultimate good in mind. Whether it's pronouncing the

removing of a curse or sending his Son to pay the price for our

sins, or given the indwelling of the Spirit to help live the

Christian life, or over ruling even the circumstances that seem

to militate against us. All these plainly show that God

in his person and His Providence is for US.

And for that David says, because of that I will not fear.

Because of that I will not fear. Now, folks, please get this.

That's a choice because fear is going to come to every one of

us. You got to make a choice because

the Lord is on my side, David said because of that I will not

fear. That's a choice.

Now, it doesn't mean we don't have adversaries, and it doesn't

mean we don't have enemies and people that are against us,

because that's just not true. We do have those things and we

could not stand against them alone.

In fact, Paul says in this very chapter, some of those things

that are against us. So let's just get real.

Here are some things that are against us.

Romans 835 and 36. Who shall separate us from the

love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,

or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,

as it is written, for your sake? We are killed all, all day long.

We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Then in verses 38 and 39. For I am persuaded that neither

death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor

things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor

any other creative thing, shall be able to separate us from the

love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The point is this. We're not alone because God is

on our side, and God is greater and stronger than all those

things that we just noticed combined.

No match for God. And in the next two verses, God

gently but firmly rebukes any who would even consider the

notion that the forces of evil might overthrow God's purpose

and plan for the faithful. That brings us to the next verse

in verse 32. He who did not spare his own

Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him

also freely give us all things? Notice this phrase right here.

He begins with the greatest thing that He has ever done for

man. He begins with that, You know,

have you ever noticed? I mean, not only is the Bible

God's holy inspired word, it's all those things.

It's all the things that we wonderful things that we talk

about. It guides us, it rules us and

all that. It's also brilliant.

It's also incredibly brilliant. He begins with the greatest

thing. He's making a point here.

He's giving encouraging blessings.

Don't give up, don't let go. It's all going to work out

because why? God's on your side.

And He begins with the very first thing, which is the

greatest thing God's ever done for us, and that is, He did not

spare his own son, but the phrase his own son.

It's the same phraseology as John 316, the most noted passage

perhaps in all the Bible. For God so loved the world that

he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him

should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Now it's true. God is our Father, we are his

children. Yes, that's true.

Bringing many sons to glory. Like the song that we sing?

Absolutely. So why is it that there's a

distinction between his own Son, his only begotten son?

Does that have anything to do with his relationship with us?

Well, it doesn't have anything to do with this relationship

with us, meaning it doesn't do away with the fact that we cry

ABBA Father Galatians chapter 4, meaning he's not only our

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

Heavenly Father, but he's our own personal father too.

The Aramaic term of endearment. All that's true.

So why is there a distinction between that phraseology?

His own Son and his only begotten Son reset it this way,

and this shows the greatest aspect of His gift for us.

The phrase's own Son means there's no other who stands in

the same relation to the Father as Jesus does.

It intimates that the Son was and is of one nature with the

Father. In other words, it shows how

great the price actually was. He could have sent me.

And what kind of a price is that?

Could have sent any one of us. And what kind of a price is

that? He sent the one that was on the

same nature with himself, one of the Godhead that was perfect.

That's the first thing willing to pay that price.

Then he says this but delivered him up for us all.

Now I got to make a point about those two words us all.

It is true. Jesus came to die for every

person in the world. That's true.

OK, we all agree with that. And you know, sometimes we even

say if there's a really bad person in the world, and I knew

no, that there are bad people in the world.

What I don't believe in, I don't believe in the concept that the

world's all gone bad. And I don't believe in that at

all. It's just not true.

There's a lot of good in the world and there's a lot of

wonderful people in the world. That's true.

But that being said, there are some people that are not good.

And it's also true that when Jesus went to the cross, he went

to the cross to die for them too.

However, the blessings in Romans chapter 8 are not for everybody,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

us all. Those two words right there is

referring to those that receive the benefits of the cry of the

death of Jesus. So Jesus died for everybody.

But stay with me here. He died for everybody.

Those that have the benefit of his death are those that are

obedient Christians, those that make the choice to come to

Jesus. Those are the ones that are

considered in the promise of us all.

Those are the ones that are considered with that benefit.

Give you some Bible on that in Philippians chapter 2 and verse

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

12. This from the Amplified Bible.

I love how this reads. Notice so then, my dear ones,

just as you have always obeyed my instructions with enthusiasm,

not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence,

continue to work out your salvation.

That is, cultivate it. Bring it to full effect.

Actively pursue spiritual maturity with all inspiring fear

and trembling, using serious caution and critical self

evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or

discredit the name of Christ. Man, I love that these are the

ones that have the benefits of the death of Jesus Christ.

Oh, by the way, can a bad person have the benefits of the death

of Jesus? Yeah, as soon as they stop their

path and follow Jesus. As soon as they decide I'm going

to follow Jesus. It's all about the Lord, folks.

That's it. The point is, if God was willing

to do all that for us, he didn't spare his own Son, He delivered

him up for us all, then how shall he not with him also

freely give us all things? Whiteside says this Certainly if

God gave us the greatest, the most precious gift, the gift of

his Son, he will not withhold any of the lesser things that

might be good for us and are not all things that he gives us with

Christ, the all things that work together for good.

What do we say? Things that are for our eternal

good and spiritual benefit? Gospel Advocate Commentary If

God so loved us that he did not spare his own Son, but delivered

him up to supper for us, willing not with him freely give us all

things needed to gain the salvation Jesus died to gain for

us. In as much as God has done the

greater giving, the most precious being in his sight,

that's Jesus, He will with him give all less costly gifts that

are needed to perfect our salvation.

I don't know about you, but I look at that and I think, man, I

can't lose. I'm going to ask a question, I'm

going to put it on the screen, and I want you to really see

what I'm putting on there and listen to my question here, OK?

Don't misunderstand me, but I think it's very important.

All that stuff being said, if God has so freely made such

provisions for man's salvation, can we actually believe that he

will permit a single soul willing to accept the gospel and

be saved to die without the knowledge of it, not bind it?

I have said for years, I believe with all my heart, if somebody

in fitting with what Jesus says, ask and you shall receive, seek

and you shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you that if

somebody's looking for the Lord, they're going to find the Lord.

Oh, I believe that. I also believe that that's the

reason the world still stands is because there's people that are

still willing to come to Jesus and there's still good people

that want Jesus and need time. So all that being said, you

really think that God's going to allow time to go away if there's

somebody that is willing to come to Jesus, but they never get to

hear it. So let's get aside, let's throw

aside the argument. What about that person on the

other side of the world? I'm not worried about that.

You know the, you know what the Lord said, go preach the gospel,

go preach the word. Just go preach the word.

That's what he said. I'm going to let the Lord handle

all that. Does that mean that the Lord's

going to put me in their life, you in their life somewhere in

the life? I don't know and I don't care.

I just believe he's going to get it done.

And if there's somebody that's out there willing, it's going to

happen. I believe that.

Now give me some Bible. Why do I believe that?

Second, Peter 39, The Lord is not slack concerning His

promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering

toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all

should come to repentance. Second Peter 315, And consider

that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.

You know, the Bible says that God is no or shows no

partiality. In fact, the King James says,

and I'm going to get to that passage in a minute, the King

James Version renders that God is no respecter of persons.

But let's look at the actual passage and the context of the

passage because sometimes we use that phrase as a negative, like

something bad is going to happen to somebody.

God has no respecter of persons just because whatever.

Well, let's look at the context of the passage and maybe have a

little different perspective about God showing no partiality.

In Acts chapter 10, the Holy Spirit declared through Peter

Acts 10 · chapter mention

these words Acts chapter 10 beginning in verse 35.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

Then Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth, I perceive that

God shows no partiality. Then he says that in every

nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted

by him. The Gospel Advocate Commentary

summed it up like this. He Peter, declared on this

occasion that God sent the gospel to Cornelius, a Gentile,

because he saw that he was desirous of knowing and doing

the will of God, if God shows no partiality.

And he called Abraham while he was an idolater, Paul while he

was a persecutor, Cornelius and Lydia in the midst of idolatry.

Why? Because he saw that they were

anxious to know and do the truth and had courage and perseverance

to be true to the end. We may rest assured that he is

never permitted, nor will ever permit a single soul with the

same willingness and ability to know and continue in the truth

to perish without the knowledge of the same.

That's why I believe the world still stands.

Talking to a friend of mine on the phone the other day and I

said, you know, when it comes to perspective about the Lord's

return, we all long for the Lord's return.

We just sang a song about heaven.

Unbelievable. The gates open wide, we come

inside, we're home at last. Oh, someday I want to go home,

but not yet. Hear me now.

I haven't gone off the reservation.

I got work to do. Paul says for me to live is

Christ, to die is gain. I've got work for the cause of

Christ to do. I'm not ready.

I'm ready. It's the Lord decides to blow me

out here. Yeah, that's right.

But I got work to do #2 #2 I want the world to continue to

stand. You know why?

Because I see people every day that are on a journey toward the

Lord and I want them to have time.

I think that's the only reason the world still stands today.

Because if you look in the Old Testament, every time God had

enough because there was no one left, that was it.

Judgment came every time. I got to tell you something,

folks, and this isn't, I'm going to say something I think is

really encouraging, but what I've seen with my sleeves rolled

up, talking to people every day, there's a trend happening in

this town that is for the great. People are trying to get to God.

People are trying to get to the Lord.

People are trying to study. People are getting together and

studying the Bible. People are trying to find Jesus

and know what he wants them to do in their life.

You know something? It might be better than it's

ever been in this area for the years I've been around.

So don't have the mindset. No, it ain't all that.

Roll your sleeves up. Tell people about the Lord,

because I'm telling you there's a trend happening and the world

still stands because of them. One final verse.

Then in verse 33, he sums it up. Who shall bring a charge against

the God's elect? It is God who justifies.

Look at the image here. The image is a courtroom.

Here's the courtroom. Now I know at the end of time,

and Jesus, who is our Savior now, will be the judge.

That's what it says, and it's rightful because he's the one

with the nail prints in his hands.

OK, I get it. But these blessings are

something that's happening right now while you're living, not the

end of time. The image here is a courtroom,

and the judge on the bench is God.

The defendant is God's elect or faithful Christians.

The prosecutor is the devil and this is the best part and the

defense attorneys, Jesus. Now one commentator just said it

all that this way I'll just put it on the screen.

The judge on the bench is God who is forced.

That's verse 31. The lawyer is Jesus, God's own

son, who died for us, thus paying the penalty of our sins.

The prosecutor is the devil who accuses the brethren before God

day and night, but actually he's the one that's banished from

heaven because of his rejection of God's authority.

In such a scenario, as in all situations, the devil stands no

chance before God to bring down the elect of God.

God justified them by forgiving them of their past sins upon

their faithful obedience to the God gospel, and He continues to

justify them for their occasional sins committed as

Christians because of their repentance, confession, and

prayers to God for forgiveness. Acts 822 through 24 and 1st John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 and verse nine. OK, but as we're wrapping up, I

have to make a point of clarification about the 2 words

God's elect. I'm not going to go into divine

election and do all that. I'm not going into all of that.

I'm just going to say this, OK? This does not mean that God pre

selected a specific individual before time begin.

That's going to have these benefits.

When you look at the context of Romans 8, God's elect is the

summation, or it is the basic summary in 2 words of everything

that Paul has ever described, the people that are going to

have these benefits, and they are as follows.

He called them already the sons of God.

He called them already the children of God.

He called them already those that love God.

He called them those who are called according to his purpose.

So who's that? All faithful Christians, Don't

you see, all these blessings we're talking about are for all

faithful Christians. Faithful to who?

The Lord? Just keep following the Lord.

All faithful Christians, when we remain faithful to God, the

devil's accusations have no merit.

Why? Because it's God who justifies

justified. By the way, one translation

actually renders it like this. It means to have acquitted you

go through the court of law and you and you've been tried and

the judge says not guilty. In reality, the phrase actually

means he declares us blameless. Why?

Because we're worthy? No, because we're forgiven.

You never underestimate the power of being forgiven.

And let me just say this too. If you have things from your

past that are holding you back because you can't get past

things you've done before, let me just say, if God forgave you,

let it go. And let me just tell you

something else too, Christian. I mean, this, some of the

greatest examples of those of Christian influence that I have

ever known in my life to people that are struggling in the world

that don't know Jesus are not the people that go through life

with having nothing that they've been derailed by or nothing that

they've struggled with. They've just kind of lived in a

glass house with no issues, right?

No, it ain't that guy. It's the one where the world

kicked him around a little bit. It's the one where they made

some bad choices, but you know what, they fought back.

It's the one where they kind of said, you know what, I don't

want this life anymore. I want Jesus, I want the Lord.

When people do that, you want to talk about having an influence,

unbelievable influence. Don't ever underestimate the

power of forgiveness. So in closing today, remember

we've got 5 unbelievable blessings in Romans 8 that

sustain us through life. 5 incredible things.

Number one, we've talked about in our introduction.

We got hope #2 the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit #3 all

things work together for our eternal good and spiritual good.

And we studied today. We got this because God is on

our side. And Paul says, if God is for us,

who can be against us? And that brings us to #5 and

that's next time when it next in two weeks or whatever it is my

next time. Jesus, as our advocate is at the

right hand of God, interceding for us.

Now think about it. You got God right here.

He's involved. He's part of the Godhead, right?

The Almighty God doing his part. You got the Holy Spirit, another

part of the Godhead, doing his part.

Next time we're talking about Jesus at the right hand of God

as our advocate making intercession for us.

And by the way, after we do that, we got one more lesson to

do before I leave Romans 8. I'm going to do it and we're

going to talk about this phrase right here because of all that.

And we truly are more than conquerors through Him who loved

us. And what does all that mean?

OK, so let me just say finally, don't ever quit.

Don't ever turn your back on the only one that can help.

Do you realize that every time you have fear, every time a

famous coach one time says fatigue makes cowards of us all?

I get it, when you get weary, the first thing you want to do

is have the mindset that maybe I want to tap out and I want to

quit. It's normal.

What I'm saying is don't. Why?

Because God's for us, God's with us.

God will strengthen us. God's not leaving us, right?

All that stuff. And it may get difficult, just

like in John chapter 6. Do you remember that story real

John 6 · chapter mention

quick? There were many that couldn't

handle what Jesus preached. He said unless you eat my flesh

and drink my blood, you can't have eternal life.

And they didn't know what that meant.

And it says it was too much for them to handle.

And many of the disciples failed.

Many of the disciples turned their back and and decided I'm

not going to follow Jesus anymore, right.

I want you to picture this please.

Then there's Jesus and he turns to his 12 and he says, will you

also go away? I can almost hear the sadness in

his tone. What about you?

Will you also go away? And Peter said, Lord, to whom

shall we go? For you have the words of

eternal life. I'm finished.

Thank you for your kind listening this morning.

Next we're talking about the work that Jesus does for us in

our life. We never close the time that we

teach from the Word of God without extending an invitation

to someone that might be subject to the gospel call.

The steps to become a child of God are very simple.

You got to hear the Word of God in Romans 10/17.

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

After you hear the word of God, you got a choice.

You got to believe in all your heart.

Hebrews 11 and 6. Without faith it's impossible to

please Him either. He who comes to God must believe

that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently

seek Him. Then what?

You got to change your life? You got to repent of your sins.

Acts 17 and 30. Truly these times of ignorance

God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

Then what? You got to be willing to confess

Jesus as the Son of God. Acts 837.

Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart you may.

And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the

Son of God. Then for a fit candidate to go

to the point of salvation and be baptized for the remission of

sins, Mark 16/16. He who believes and is baptized

will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Is it necessary for salvation first?

Peter 321 The light figure where to even baptism doth also now

save us, not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the

answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection

of Jesus Christ. If you've never taken those

steps to become a child of God, we would love to assist you in

that. Maybe you've just been away from

the Lord. You've taken those steps, but

you've drifted. You, you need to get right with

God. Then do it today.

Repent, confess those things. We'll pray with you and for you,

and God will forgive and restore like it never happened.

If you've been away from Jesus, come back.

You want to be baptized, the mission of sins.

It's open to you too. While we stand.

While we stand.