Pastor Alex Feliciano

Good buddy. Good morning everybody.

Happy to be here again with you guys.

I'm so blessed to be amongst you guys.

Also, I'm blessed because my buddy Wes is here like John,

John Michael was saying he's one of my best friends and we work

together. And so I'm so blessed every time

he gets to come out and be here and and hear me preach and I'm

amongst you guys. You know, God is God is so good

that sometimes we have to be reminded of things and we have

to be humbled. And sometimes I, I forget that

I'm still a charismatic and I was there during the worship and

the Holy Spirit was just moving in me.

And God is so good that he tells us to test the spirits.

And she gave a word for somebody today.

And you gave your scripture. And John Michael had originally

asked me. He said, hey, man, can you

preach something more uplifting to the body?

And as somebody who comes from a Hellfire and brimstone

background, that's like asking me the camel to go through, I

have a needle for me, right? But praise God, you know, God is

good and he always gives us what he wants for the people.

And the sermon title today is unshakable trust, living in the

assurance of God's love. So just as she was giving that

word to somebody today, I don't know who it was, but for

somebody, just know that God is speaking to somebody today

because that was the the the title of my sermon today.

And John Michael read in the scriptures.

And we're just going to be just reassuring that.

So whoever it is here today that is just struggling, or if you

are whoever multiple people that you're struggling, thinking

about how you fit in God's Kingdom, just know that if you

are saved, God loves you that his, his sacrifice wasn't for

nothing, right? So let us pray before we, we, we

get started. Father God, we give you thanks,

Lord, for today, Lord, we thank you for your word.

Lord, we thank you for your people.

Lord, we thank you for your sacrifice on the cross.

Lord, we thank you for all that you do Lord, we thank you for,

for everything that you have done in each and every one of

our lives here today. Lord, we pray Lord, that if

there is someone here that hasn't accepted you into their

lives, Lord, and in your in their hearts, Lord, that you

just threw this message today that you just reached Lord, and

that you use this as an opportunity to save someone's

soul. And for those of us that are

saved here today that you just reassure us, Lord.

And for that individual, whoever or the individuals that are

struggling in their faith today, Lord, let this message be

encouragement and just something that you can hold on to in their

lives, that they can just know that you are God and that your

truth of the word is true for them today like it always has

been, Lord. They can rest in their assurance

that you have saved them, Lord, and that they are destined to be

with you one day, Lord. And I thank you, Lord, again for

your sacrifice, that we can be called friends of of Jesus,

friends of God, Lord, and that you call us friend.

Lord, we thank you all this and we pray all this in your name,

Jesus, we pray Amen and Amen. So the theme today is trusting

in God's justifying grace, present spirit, sovereign

purpose, and unbreakable love. And I'm just encouraged again,

because he said something that was so true.

We could just find so much love and joy in the spectrum of

Christianity, right? The the people of God, sure.

You know, there are more charismatic leaning and they're

more reformed leaning people. And praise God, we can call them

brothers and sisters, right? And I know we've had

conversations in the past about the Eastern Orthodox and our

brothers and sisters in those other different faiths.

But you know, we're, we're all one body and it's beautiful and

I just love that. I love the the rainbow of just

God's beautiful people. And it's, you just see it

throughout his creation. So today we stand on one of the

highest peaks of Scripture. We're going to be in Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8. And I invite you guys to just

follow along with me as we go along.

This chapter is often called the Great 8 because of how it

anchors the believer in the unshakeable love and promises of

God. It begins with no condemnation

and ends with no separation. And in between, it gives us

every reason to live with confident, unshakable trust.

Whether you're weary from guilt, struggling in pain, feeling

forgotten, or questioning God's plan if you're suffering from

loss, Romans 8 speaks directly to our souls.

Let let us allow its truth to shape our view of God, ourselves

and life. So we're going to begin with

Romans chapter 8 verses one through 4, Romans 8 verses one

Romans 8 · chapter mention

through 4. And it says, therefore, there is

now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you

free from the law of sin and of death.

For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the

flesh, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful

flesh as an offering for sin. He condemns sin in the flesh so

that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in US who do

not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit in

Christ. We are not just slightly

forgiven, we are completely acquitted, just as John Michael

was saying earlier, right? We're not guilty, we're free.

The penalty has been paid in full.

There is no now condemnation. None.

Not from God, not from Satan, not even from your own past.

So many people struggle with this truth.

Not just new Christians, but seasoned Christians as well.

And let me just tell you, brothers and sisters, we could

stand assured in the word of God.

It is true. There is now no condemnation for

those of us who find ourselves taking in the body of Christ.

We need to be reminded of God's truth in our lives and so many

struggle with this. You are not condemned now.

We are not condemned spiritually.

That doesn't mean that we don't have people in our lives who say

when we do something that we shouldn't be doing that say hey

man, hey brother, you shouldn't be doing that.

Or even our own flesh. When we sin, we stand before God

and we say, man, I shouldn't have done that.

I feel so guilty for the actions that I have done.

That's a good thing, yes, but because we stand righteous in

the Lord, we can run back to Christ.

We can run back to the Holy Spirit and say, forgive me,

Lord. And, and, and often that's how

we can separate those of God and those who are not of God.

Because when John Michael says to me, brother, you've crossed

that boundary, if I'm a true Christian, a believer, sanctify

with the indwell, with the Holy Spirit, I say thank you,

brother, I needed that. I needed that in my life.

Those that fight against the Spirit of God, you have to

question yourself, why are they fighting against the Word?

Why are they fighting against the Spirit of God?

And if you find yourself today as that person and you're saying

to yourself, I'm fighting with the Spirit, I'm trying to

justify my actions, you have to look and analyze where you stand

with God at this very moment. This is the very essence of the

gospel, that there is no condemnation now for the

believer. Not that there will be none in

some far off future, but there is none now.

God sees you in Christ, not in yourself.

The law has been fulfilled, justice has been satisfied, and

therefore you are free. Free from condemnation, free

from fear, and free to draw near to your God with confidence and

peace. Written by Charles Spurgeon, the

preacher of preachers. You're not on trial if you are

in Christ, your record is clean. Stop living.

Stop living under shame or some self giving pressure to prove

yourself. And I know how difficult that

can be through the sermon. A lot of times you're going to

hear me say easier said than done.

But just know that when we get to those moments that's and you

find yourself saying the same things, you can run to the Holy

Spirit and lean on the Holy Spirit to help you in those

times. Stop trying to earn God's

approval because guess what? We all fall short of the glory

of God. We are all sinful and we all

fall short of the glory of God. Now, grace doesn't lead to

laziness, it leads to worship. Gratitude fuels holiness.

Live in freedom and gratitude. We should be falling on our

knees. We should be crying out to God.

We should be saying thank you. And you know what we say.

How can I share this with someone else?

How can I share this gift that God has given me to with someone

else? It fuels us to go out and say, I

need to preach the gospel. You are welcomed at God's

throne. Come confidently.

Approach God boldly in prayer. Just know that you are forgiven.

You can pray when you struggle. Go to God, go to God.

So often we're trying to figure out how we can do these things

on our own. We're trying to figure out how I

can fix these situations. How can I fix my marriage?

How can I fix my, my son, my daughter, my, my work situation?

How can I fix my boss? And we're lacking one thing

prayer. We're so trying.

We're trying to figure out everything.

We go to ChatGPT, we go to the Google, we go to our friends, we

go to all these people and we say, I need help with this.

But the one person we should be going to, we don't and we should

be. We need to have boldness and

know that God is good and that we are his children and we

should be running to him in those times and asking for Ben

saying, I don't understand how to do this.

I can't do this on my own. I need your help.

Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 says let us then approach God's

Hebrews 4:16

throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and

find grace to help us in our time of need.

I didn't say it. It's not me.

Whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has

eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over

from death to life. John chapter 5, verse 24, He

John 5:24

gives us life. If anyone is in Christ, the new

creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here.

Second, the Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17, he who began a good

work in you will carry it on to completions.

Philippians chapter one, verse 6.

Who's going to complete it? Me.

Me on my own strength. No, the God that we serve, the

God that we serve, we can trust and be confident that the

completion of this work is not in me, it's in God.

The God, the God who died on the cross of Calvary is not a liar.

He's giving you this confidence. He is giving you this promise.

Hold on to it, cling on to it. When you struggle and you're

weak and you find yourself questioning God, questioning

where you are in in your walk with God, hold on to the promise

that he is going to complete the work in you.

It's not you, it's him. My sheep, listen to my voice.

Praise God, I know them. Praise God and they follow me.

Praise God, I give them eternal life.

Praise God and they shall never perish.

Praise God, no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Praise God my Father who has given them to me.

Praise God is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my

Father's hand. Praise God.

John chapter 10 verse 27 through 29.

John 10:27–29

No one can snatch them. Last I checked, you were

someone. Last I checked you were someone.

And guess what? Your hands are too short to bop

the God, right? That's right.

Our second point, Life in the Spirit.

Romans chapter 8 verse 5 through 17.

Romans 8:5–17

Romans chapter 8, verse 5 through 17.

Romans 8:5–17

For those who according to the flesh set their minds on the

things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit,

the things of the Spirit. For the mindset on the flesh is

death, but the mindset on the Spirit is life and peace.

Because the mindset on the flesh is hostile towards God, for it

does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even

able to do so. And those who are in the flesh

cannot please God. Stop right there for a second.

Here we have this section where Paul is showing us that those

that who do not have God can do nothing to please God.

They can't because they don't have God.

And he's making a bold proclamation that they don't

live in the Spirit, right? And he's giving you this, this

section right here and showing you what it's like to live apart

from God. And you say, wow, there's

nothing they can do to please God.

But he's talking about people who don't have Jesus, people who

don't have the Holy Spirit and dwelling in them.

Look, because right after that he says this, However, you are

not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

He's making a bold proclamation there.

He's saying you as a Christian are not those people.

You can please God if indeed the Spirit God of God dwells in you.

But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not

belong to him. If Christ is in you, though the

body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is alive because of

righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who

raised Jesus from the from the dead dwells in you, he who

raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal

bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh, to

live according to the flesh. For if you are living according

to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are

putting to death the deeds of the body, not by me, but by the

Spirit, you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will

live for all who are being led by the Spirit of God.

These are sons of God. For you have not received the

spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you have

received the spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out

ABBA, Father, the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that

we are children of God, and if children heirs also heirs of

God, and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with

Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

So what does Paul do? He gives us not only a

reassurance to us, He paints a picture of who?

Who do you constantly hear in those verses?

You see Father, you see Son, and you see Holy Spirit and he

interchanges them constantly because he's giving us a

beautiful picture of God's omnipotence and how we fit in

there. Those of us that are saved by

God's grace. He's giving us the reassurance

by saying the beautiful picture. We are intertwined when we

become Christians into the beautiful picture of not only

God's Trinity, but who we are as family.

And that's beautiful. That's beautiful.

Praise God. The Holy Spirit just doesn't

make us better people. He gives us new life.

He rewires our desires and reminds us that we belong to

God. We begin the sanctification

process in our lives. The Holy Spirit begins to

conform us and change our lives to be more like Christ.

We are not perfect, but we don't need to be.

Throughout all of Scripture and time, God has used flawed men

and women to share the truth of God.

And it's amazing because in this, Spurgeon said when talking

about this, this this versus here, he said, you here you see

a picture of familial aspects. So in the Old Testament, it was

more of a a relation of God and of obedient servant, right?

God gave you the law, you competed the law.

But here it's talking about us as family, as family to God,

family to Jesus. The relationship has changed

from one of just obedience to family.

And that's beautiful. Praise God.

Because sure, if you had a king, you would serve the king and you

would do what the king said because you're under obligation

to do what the king tells you to do.

But if the king was your father, how much more would you be

willing to go to what he says and obey what he says to do in

your lives? Because he's your father,

especially if he's a generous good blessing.

Father, you run and you say, yes, Father.

Yes, Father, Yes, Father. My dad is a great dad.

And I've never had an I've never had a reason not to obey what he

told me to do. He never gave me a reason

because he's a loving father. What more, the Father of all

fathers, the God who is in heaven, who sacrificed his only

Son for us so that we may be made righteous in the sight of

God. The Spirit leads gently but

persistently. Obedience keeps our hearts

tender and our lives aligned. Walk in obedience to the

Spirit's promptings. You're not an orphan, you're

adopted. You can go.

You can call God ABBA Father, Replace your fear and anxiety

and anxiety with confidence as God's child.

Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the

flesh. Galatians chapter 15, verses 16

through 18. God sent the Spirit of his Son

into our hearts, crying ABBA, father.

Galatians chapter 4, verse 6. So Paul is reassuring us again

Galatians 4:6

outside of Romans, that we can call God our Father.

I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my

statutes. Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 27.

Ezekiel 36:27

So who's putting his spirit in me so that I can walk upon the

statutes? Is it me?

No, it's God. So that brings us to our third

part, our third suffering with hope.

We're going to read Romans chapter 8, verses 18 through 27.

Romans 8:18–27

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be

revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the

creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but

because of Him who subjected it, and hope that the creation

itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption

into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the

pains of childbirth together until now.

And not only this, but also we ourselves having the first

fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grow within ourselves,

waiting eagerly for our adoptions as sons, the

redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved.

But hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he

already sees? But if we hope for what we do

not see with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do

not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself

intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the

Spirit is, because he intercedes for the Saints according to the

will of God. And again you see that beautiful

picture of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God the Spirit in US.

The Holy Spirit intercedes for the Spirit that's within us,

Jesus Christ just painting this beautiful picture of how we've

been adopted into this formula. Just beautiful, even when life,

I'm sorry. Suffering is real, but it's not

the end. Pain now is preparing glory

later. Even when we don't know how to

pray, the Spirit intercedes for us with groans deeper than

words. Just because you can't hear God

doesn't mean he is. He isn't working.

Don't interpret. Silence is absence.

So those of you that are praying and not hearing that, that voice

and not hearing your answers to your prayers, don't interpret

that as absence. I made that mistake in my life

before. I remember there was a time

where I was praying on to God for things and I was praying,

earnestly praying, and I just didn't hear anything.

And I was praying for several different things and I felt like

I wasn't being hurt. And I continued to struggle and

struggle and struggle with this prayer weeks and weeks and

weeks. And then ultimately I said it to

myself, you know what? I'm just going to stop praying

for that stuff. And as soon as I did that, I

mean as soon as I did that, the doors start opening up just.

Amazing stuff. Miriam becomes pregnant.

I get a new job at work. I mean, just all this stuff

starts flooding in. And it made me feel ashamed.

It made me feel ashamed that I stopped crying out onto God.

And it humbled me because I had to be reminded that it's not in

my time, it's in God's time. And I had to be reminded that

not all my prayers for things that I want are things that are

going to be beneficial to my life.

And so I also have to be OK when God says no and I have to be

reminded of that, that sometimes God knows what's best for me and

I all the time he knows what's best for me.

And I need to be reminded of that.

And at that very moment, I said to myself, man, O wretched man,

that I am, that I, I, I, I actually took my eyes off of God

even for that split second and said, you know what?

I'm tired of this. And I had to be humble for it.

And I thank God for that. God doesn't waste your tears.

Suffering is the soil in which deep faith grows.

Let your trials drive you deeper into prayer and hope.

At that time, I realized that all the suffering that I was

going through, it strengthened me.

Even though I had to go through that moment, it drew me closer

to God because at that moment I realized I needed to pray more.

I needed to pray more earnestly because He answered my prayers

not when I wanted, but when He wanted.

And I had to go and say, you know what?

Forgive me, Lord, forgive me. And those things, they, they

strengthen us. They strengthen us.

They make us cry out to God and say, I need you because I don't

know how. I don't know how I'm going to

get through this next trial in my life.

I've tried everything on my own. I'm still struggling and I don't

know what I'm going to do. And we cry out to God and he

reaches out to us and he reaches us.

And sometimes in that lowest moment of our lives, he saves

us. The light momentary, this light

momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal

weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Second of Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 17.

These things sharpen us. They sanctify us.

They remind us that we need God, we need him.

If we didn't have any trials, we wouldn't need to run to him.

But we need these trials, We need these hardships in order

for us to run to God and say, I'm just a man.

I'm just a man. The Lord is near to the broken

hearted and saves those who are crushed in the spirit.

Psalm chapter 34, verse 18. If you find yourself today

Psalms 34:18

crushed in your spirit, you've you've had a loss, you're going

through some hardships, you don't know what you're going to

do. Cry out to the Lord.

He saves those who are crushed in spirit.

And that's not my words. Again, it's not my words, it's

God's word. And once again, I say it like I

said, easier said than done. We're human beings, right?

We tend to want to do things on our own accord, but God is good,

Amen. That leads us to point #4 Romans

Romans 8:28–30

chapter 8, verse 28 through 30. And we know that God causes all

things to work together for the good to those who love God, to

those who are called according to His purpose.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become

conformed to the image of His Son, so that he would be first

born among many brethren. And these whom he predestined,

he also called. And these whom he called he also

justified. And these whom he justified, he

also glorified. Amen.

I know that this can be off topic for some people, you know,

they don't really like getting into predestination and

election. That's I'm not here to argue any

of that. What I'm here to tell you is

that you can trust in God's promises.

And so our our fourth point today is God's sovereign's

purpose. Even when life feels chaotic,

God is not confused. He's sovereign.

His plan is still unfolding. He's working in all things, even

the hard things for our ultimate good and all think God's work

for the good of those who love him who have been a called

according to his purpose. Those of us who are saved here

today, we can trust in that promise.

When we don't understand why, when we don't understand why

we're going through these situations, why we're in this

struggle, we can trust in God that he knows, right?

The guy who created everything is going to work out this plan,

not only for our benefit, but to his glory.

Amen. So you don't need to know

everything. Just trust the one who does.

So we're under control. You know, I, I often talk about,

you know, as as a person who preaches and teaches people come

to us for answers, right? And they want solid concrete.

I need to know how you feel about this.

I need to know what you think about this.

I need to know what the word says about this.

And that can be challenging at times, but I've learned, I once

heard a sermon where a preacher was talking about why did God

choose men to be the head over the woman?

And he was like, you know, often times people have asked me, why

did God choose men to be the head of a woman?

And I'm going to tell you today, I don't know.

Because he decided that that's how we have to be.

That's what he decided. He's God.

Who am I to question that? And at that moment I was like,

man, because I was just waiting for him to come with this and

this verse and that verse and never.

And you know, here we go and just exegeting the text.

And he was like, because God chose it that way.

And sometimes we brother, sister, we have to be

comfortable with that. We have to be comfortable with

not knowing what God has planned for us, but trusting that his

plan will work out for our for his glory.

And that can be again, easier said than done, right?

Easier said than done. But we can trust in the Holy

Spirit. And that's so comforting for me

now where I am in my walk with God that I can, I can put my

hands up and say, I don't know God.

I don't know why, I don't know why.

But ultimately I know that you will reveal this to me at some

point, why you have me in this situation.

And often times, sometime down the road, a month later, two

months later, a year later, 10 years later, you can look back

and be like, aha, that's why I had to go through that.

You know, I had to go through that because God was sharpening

me. He was strengthening me and

preparing me for the road ahead. And guess what?

I can help someone else who's going through that same struggle

through that same time. Maybe I can give him a word that

will help them through that time.

God is the ultimate Redeemer. He takes what the enemy meant

for evil and turns it for good. Trust that He is weaving even

your mess into His masterpiece. I think about, and I share this

a lot with people I think about because the world doesn't

understand things the way we understand things, right?

They don't understand God and they look at things and they say

this is bad. That was bad.

That's sure it might have been bad things happen in the world.

We're human beings, right? They look at things like the

Spanish Inquisition and they say evil.

Sure it was it was bad. They think the Holocaust, evil,

evil things happen, but how often God uses those things for

his glory. You see the spreading of the

people across different worlds and people were able to be saved

because this and ultimately that's what matters.

No matter what evil happened in the past and what, no matter how

many people died, that stuff is horrible, sure, but people are

being saved through this. You think of you think about

stories like Corey Tenbaum, right?

And she was in the mix and during the the the Holocaust and

she was preaching Jesus to these people while she and flee

infested where she was at. You know, God used that she was

able to to years later talk to her captor and he saved.

He was saved. So just God's ways are not our

ways, right? And we often struggle with this

and we say that's bad, or this was bad.

I was hurt and this thing happened to me.

And why did God allow this thing to happen to me?

And why did this happen? If he's so good, why did he let

evil happen to you? But you don't see the bigger

picture. Man is flawed.

Man is falling. People do bad things because

they're not, they're not God, but God is good.

And you can have one or two reactions.

You can stay in that bad thing, and you could just plant your

seed there and say, I'm this way because this bad thing happened

to me. Or you can give it on to God and

you can use that as a testimony. Like Corey Tenbaum, how many

people have been pushed in their faith because of her story?

How many people? Yeah, exactly.

Praise God. Pray we have one here.

Praise God for that. You know, and growing up, we had

a, you know, I grew up in a Spanish speaking church.

So there was a missionary that all the Puerto Ricans, all those

Caribbean people knew. His daughter was murdered.

She was cut into pieces. And he went, that preacher went

to the prison where that man was and he preached to that guy and

that guy became saved and he prayed for that man and he

hugged that man. It was a big news article and

everything at the time. This is like back in the

probably in the 70s and that man went on to preach and and help

save so many people through his testimony pointing back to Jesus

because it wasn't him. It was the grace and the Holy

Spirit that was in him that was able to forgive this man.

And so many people were pointed to Christ just through that

testimony because how can you tell a man whose daughter was

killed by another man who he forgave?

What can you tell that guy that he was wrong, that he should

have continued to hate that man? How can you say that?

Instead, what what happens is you see, I've suffered far less

than that. I want that same grace.

I want that same humility. I want that same spirit that

resides in that man, in me so that I can forgive others.

That's what happens. Just know that you are being

conformed to the image of Christ and that's the end game.

Find peace in God's long term plan.

And again, easier said than done.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever

you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the

testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and

complete, not lacking anything. James chapter one, verse 2

through 4. After you have suffered, he will

restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you first to Peter

chapter 5, verse 10. Again, I didn't say that that's

the word of God. He who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion. Philippians chapter one, verse

6. And I have this quote from

Augustine, who's an early church father.

Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to his love,

and the future to his Providence.

In other words, we survived the past because of God's mercy.

We are currently being taken care of because of His love for

us, and we can trust that He will take care of us because of

His Providence. That same guy that took care of

us in the past now is going to take care of us in the future.

That brings us to our our fifth point, Romans chapter 8, verse

Romans 8:31–34

31 through 34, 31 through 34. What then shall we say to these

things? If God is for us, who is against

us? He who did not spare his own

Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will he not also

with him freely give us all things?

Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who?

Who is the one who condemns Christ?

Jesus is he who died, yes, rather who was raised, Who is at

the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us?

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

The one who gave his Son for us will withhold nothing good from

us. Jesus now sits at the right hand

of the Father, interceding for you and for me.

The cross is the guarantee of the continuing, unfailing

generosity of God. If he did not spare his own Son,

He will never abandoned those for whom that Son died.

Christ Jesus is our intercessor, not our accuser.

The only One who could condemn us died for us.

John, stop. Just think about that.

He died for us. And if we don't believe in the

assurance that He gave for us, that we are not condemned, His

sacrifice was for nothing. If we don't believe in His

promise, we're spitting in His face.

We're saying that we don't believe you.

If we're saying it's not enough for me, I need more, we're

saying it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough for the God who

created all things and that sacrifice.

We need more. I rebuke that in the name of

Jesus, right? That is nothing.

If you're thinking like that, you need to correct your

thinking. The same God who died on the

cross of Calvary confirms that he is our intercessor.

We can run to him. We can cry out to him.

We can cry out to to our Lord and Savior and say I need you.

I am weak, I am failing. I don't know what to do.

I need your intercession right now for me.

We can do that. We are His children.

He is for us. Let me say, with all the

affinity of His heart, with all the omnipotence of His love for

us, with all His boundless wisdom arrayed in all the

attributes which make Him God. He is for us, eternally and

immutably for us. Martin Luther, He is for us.

You may be attacked, but you are never abandoned.

Face opposition with courage. Face those hardships knowing

that you are a child of God. There's somebody here who's

struggling, struggling in their faith.

And I just want to reassure you. Or there are several people here

struggling with their faith. Just know that He is for you.

You are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

He died on the cross of Calvary for you.

His promises are true. We can run to Him.

Let this be your shield in battle and your song in peace.

Declare it daily. God is for me, not against me.

Don't blame God for your hardships, but ask the better

question of why. Pray on to God, seeking why this

trial has been placed before you and pray for guidance to seek

how you can glorify God in these times when you're struggling.

You don't know why. Ask why am I going through this

and for what reason do you have me in this trial so that you can

glorify God again? Easier said than done, right?

Because when you're in the midst of that, it's hard to be like, I

need you God, because you're so worried and you're so focused on

whatever you got going on, whatever hardship you have

becomes the overwhelming thing in your mind.

But we need to turn to God. I often think about the

difference between happiness and joy and you say, what do you

mean? There's a difference?

And, and if you look at the etymology of the words, which is

a fancy way of saying what they, this the root of the word

happiness and whether it be hap or happenstance is a

circumstantial thing. In fact, hap comes from a word

that means luck. So you're happy because of the

circumstance you're in. But joy is different.

Joy is an almost, if you look at the root words, the etymology of

it, it's almost a divine thing. Joy is divine and we get, we

receive joy from God, not happiness, joy because it's

everlasting, it's long, it's, it's divine.

It's something we cannot always comprehend.

So when we're struggling in the midst of our struggle, if we

have joy in God, right, we still have that joy in God, we will be

able to overcome those hardships because we can rest in his

assurance. He provides that joy.

It's divine in nature. You can have joy because you

know that ultimately whatever is going on in that struggle, God

is going to use it for your benefit and to glorify Himself.

Jesus is interceding for you. He knows your weakness and

carries you. Take comfort in Christ's

intercession. Like a child runs to a parent

when they're scared or lost, so too we should run to Jesus who

intercedes for us before the Father.

Praise God. And again, easier said than

done. The Lord is my light and my

salvation. Whom shall I fear?

Psalm chapter 27 verse one. Therefore, He is able to save

Psalms 27 · chapter mention

completely for those who come to God through him, because He

always lives to intercede for them.

I didn't say that Hebrews Chapter 7 verse 25.

Hebrews 7:25

That is the word of God. We can trust in His assurance.

And that brings us to point #6 unbreakable love.

Let's Romans chapter 8 verse 35 to 39.

Romans 8:35–39

Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or

nakedness or peril or sword, just as it is written for your

sake, we are being put to death all day long.

We were considered a sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these

things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us through

me, not through me through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor

principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor

powers, nor height, nor death, nor any other created thing will

be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ

Jesus our Lord. Praise God, praise God.

You know, when I was preparing this sermon, I was, I got to

this point of the sermon and I was thinking to myself, myself,

how can I make this more palatable?

How can I make this so it doesn't sound the way it's read?

And the Holy Spirit just was moving as I was preparing.

And I said, no, you need to give the word the way it is.

And we can trust and be comforted in his work.

And thank you, Lord, that you have given me the strength and

the courage because for so long, and this is true for so long in

my in my walk in my Christian life, I struggled so hard with

this because I wanted and I was taught that I needed to be

holier and I needed to do things to make me holier.

And why are you doing this? And why are you doing that?

And I struggled and I struggled and I prayed and I prayed and I

prayed and I said, God make me holier, make me holier, make me

holier, make me holier because I thought that there was something

I could do within myself to make me a better man of God.

And I struggled. And then as I'm reading and I

get to this point, it just opened my mind and I was just

enlightened and the and the Spirit flowed through me and I

just was just so thankful to God.

And I realized, wait a minute, wait a minute.

There's nothing I can do to make me closer to God.

He's already given me the promise.

He sealed me with the Holy Spirit.

I believe in his sacrifice. I am redeemed.

I'm covered by his blood. He has washed me white.

I am righteous before his eyes. That's his promise, not me.

What can I do to make me more righteous in His eyes?

Absolutely nothing. How can I become holier?

By trusting in the Spirit of God, believing His Word,

completing His Word. And there's a difference of

following His, His word by obligation, then willingness to

do it. And when I understood the

difference, it changed who I was fundamentally, not only as a

person, but as a as a Christian. I understood that there was

nothing I could do in order to become more righteousness in his

eyes. And I struggled for a long time,

brothers and sisters, by by his grace, he he gave me this word

came and is true today as it was back then.

There's nothing I can do. And I just took confidence in

knowing this because guess what? There's nothing I can do,

nothing I can do, nothing anyone can do to snatch me from his

arms. Nothing.

Nothing. Praise God.

You know why? Because if that were true, his

sacrifice on the cross would be for nothing.

That would be for nothing if I was able to do it on my own

accord, if me as a human being was able to snatch myself back

from his grasp, how would that make of the God look?

How would that make my God look? Weak.

Weak and pathetic. But no, my God is eternal.

He's the King of kings, the Lord of Lords.

He died on the cross of Calvary so that we may be made righteous

in his sight. And there's nothing I can do to

do that. And guess what?

He confirms it. And he goes in death, Paul,

right here through the Holy Spirit, right?

He goes in death to make sure that he mentions everything I

can think of and says, guess what?

None of that. For I am convinced that neither

death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things

present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death,

nor any other created thing. Last I checked, everybody in

here is a creation will be able to separate us from the love of

God. Praise God, praise God.

I am so thankful to God because you saw a wretched man like me,

a chubby little bald guy from the greatest state on this

planet. Why are you guys laughing?

He saw me in my wretchedness and he found me.

And he and praise God for that. And he, he found me and he took

my heart of stone and he made it a heart of flesh.

And I can run to him as His Son with confidence.

And when I fall, I fall hard because guess what?

I'm I'm held to a different standard as a Christian, as a

teacher, as a minister. And I fall hard.

But guess what? He still reaches me.

It's the same for each and everyone of you here.

Those of you that are struggling in your faith, just know that

you are a child of God. Paul gives us a list of

everything that might try to separate from God's love and and

boldly declares that none of it can praise God.

Feelings change. God's love doesn't.

Preaches love to your own heart. When you feel unloved or

abandoned, stand on truth. God's truth is the same always

and forever. Amen.

When life is hard, let praise be your protest against despair.

Worship in every season. I'm just now learning as a 42

year old man that there's something so intricate and

beautiful about singing worship to God and how intricate it is

in our lives. And when God, when you're

struggling, praying and worshipping God, singing to God

can do something so profound in your life because it just

humbles you. You know, as we were singing the

songs earlier today, I just be felt overwhelmed by the by the

Holy Spirit and it humbles me. It humbles me because I could

have all the knowledge in the world.

I could have all the biblical knowledge.

I can recite verses and contexts and Koine Greek and Hebrew and

Latin and the Vulgate. I know a lot of that stuff, but

it means nothing before the throne of God.

And when that Holy Spirit just hits you right in the center of

your heart and he reminds you of who you are, and you're just a

man like a flower, you spring up and one day you'll be gone.

But God's word is eternal. Praise God.

And we have to be reminded of that.

So when we come before the throne of God, when we worship,

let's worship in truth, let's worship in spirit and say, and

even then, I don't know how I should be worshiping God.

Your, your, your, your, your word guides us in that.

Yes. But me as a person, I struggle.

I struggle with worship. I'm a pretty introverted guy.

I don't like attention. I don't like people looking at

me or I don't like it naturally the natural man in me.

But who am I when the Holy Spirit is moving in me to open

my mouth and to worship and to sing?

I praise God I we're blessed that we're in a congregation now

that I don't know what it is about the way it's set up or I

don't know, but when these people sing, it feels like we're

in heaven. I mean, just truly like it, just

I'm amazing and I'm just so humbled by it.

And I find myself when I'm sitting in those pews and I hear

Leilani sing and I hear other people singing and I all my

worries just wash away because I'm focused on God.

I'm focused on, on, on the worship.

And we need to be reminded of that.

And I know for some of us that are men, that can be a little

difficult. You know, hands in pockets.

I'm cool. You know, I got my beanie on, I

got my hat on. You know, I don't want to look.

I want to look weak. You know, I'm, I hunt people.

I hunt not people, but I hunt, I fish.

I hope nobody's talking to people.

And I, I hunt, I fish, you know, you know, I love America, you

know, but we need to be reminded of who we are.

I love America, by the way, but we need to be reminded of, of

who we are in Christ. And sometimes we need to humble

ourselves. Brother, when I hear you singing

the doxology every time it just does something right in my

heart. Yes, I'm like man, that that,

that baritone that he has man, I'm like, praise God.

It just every time I hear it, I'm like, man, I've heard I love

the doxology and I hear you singing.

I'm like, man, it's just something to me just humbles me

and praise God for that. So let's just be reminded of

that perfect love casts out all fear.

First to John chapter 4, verse 18.

John 4:18

Stay rooted in his embrace. Fight fear with the reality of

God's love. When you're anxious, a lot of us

struggle with anxiety. I struggle with anxiety.

We need to turn to God. We need to give it over to the

Holy Spirit and say, I don't know, I'm struggling right now.

Please help me. I have loved you with an

everlasting love. Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 3.

Jeremiah 31:3

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

No one will snatch them out of my hand.

My Father who has given them to me is greater than all.

No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.

I and the Father are 1 John chapter 10, verse 28 through 30

words from our Lord and Savior Himself.

Again, are you going to call him a liar?

Are you going to say he's a liar?

Absolutely not. Instead, we should be thanking

God instead of working around how we can figure out how this

verse doesn't mean what He says. And I think maybe if we use this

verse, maybe he. No, no, no, no, no, no.

We can have confidence before the throne of God that He saved

us and that his sacrifice is eternal and it was enough.

Amen. Amen.

So conclusion, we should be walking in assurance.

Romans 8 is not just a theological mountain that people

have been going back and forth about for 2000 years, right?

It's a spiritual shelter for the storms of life.

When we're struggling, open up the word.

When we don't know how, turn to Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

When you're struggling with your anxiety, when you're feeling not

enough, when you're feeling ashamed, turn to the word.

It begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation.

In between. We find life in the Spirit, hope

and suffering, purpose and pain, and confidence in God's love.

So today, I pray that we can trust deeply in the God who

justifies us, the Spirit who empowers us, the Savior who

intercedes for us, and the Father who loves you forever.

Let the Word of God be your anthem, your confidence and your

comfort. Live in unshakeable trust

because nothing can shake the love of God.

Amen. Praise God, let's bow our heads

so we can just pray over the Word.

Father God, we give you thanks, Lord.

We give you thanks for your word, Lord, because it is true,

Lord, and it never comes back. Not true.

We thank you, Lord, because you have given us confidence and we

can know we can trust in the unshakeable love that you have

given us, Lord, that nothing, nothing can separate us from

your, from your love. Those of us that have been saved

by your grace and your mercy, Lord, we thank you for your

grace and your mercy that finds people like us, just normal

people. And you just change this over,

Lord, because we trust in you. We trust in the word that you

have given us. We trust in the promises that

you have given us. Lord, I pray right now that if

there is any amongst this, Lord, that hasn't received that

unshakable love, Lord, that confidence, Lord, I pray right

now that they understand that Jesus Christ, God, came down

from heaven and became a man and died on the cross of Calvary for

our sins, Lord, For all those things that we have done against

you, all those wrongs that we've committed against you, Lord, all

those things in the past that we have done, they can be washed

away through your sacrifice, Lord.

If we just believe in your word, Lord, and we have confidence in

your word, You will be, you will mark us as righteous, Lord.

And if there's any among us, Lord, that have not put their

faith in you, Lord, I pray right now, Lord, that you just

intercede for them with the Father, Lord, and you give them

this opportunity, Lord, to receive you as Lord and Savior,

Lord, as King. And we pray that you just do

this miracle, Lord, because it is a miracle that you change us

over into family, Lord. Let us just be reminded of that

as well, Lord, that we are family and that when we

struggle, we can run to our Father, Lord, and that he takes

us in his hands, Lord, and He just glorifies himself through

us through our struggles and our pains.

All of it is to glorify you, God.

And we thank you, Lord. I pray over our Salt family,

Lord, that you just continue to grow them and strengthen them,

Lord, and draw them closer to you, Lord.

I pray over my brother John Michael, Lord, who's just been a

blessing not only to this congregation, but to me as well,

Lord, and to my family. I thank you for him and placing

him in my life. Lord, I thank you, Lord, for his

wife, Lord who's just so good at just helping him.

Such a great help man and a leader Lord amongst the the

women here and that she's just a, a shining example of what a

woman of God should be. Lord, I pray over his children,

Lord, that you just help them, Lord and just strengthen them as

well. I pray over all the the the

married couples in this church, Lord, as they go forward that

they just be blessed by you, Lord, as they begin to have

children, Lord and and raise children.

They've raised them, Lord, in the ways of God, Lord, that we

can send out a generation of believers out into Gloucester

and Matthew and and Deltaville and all the surrounding area,

Lord, that they may proclaim your glory and your honor.

Lord, I pray over those of us who are older, Lord as well,

Lord, that you just strengthen our faith in you, Lord, as we go

forward being a beacon of light amongst this community, Lord,

that people can see the people of this church and say, I want

that whatever they have, I want that, Lord, that they just be a

blessing to the community in this area and everywhere they

go. Lord, just testify to your glory

and to your mercy. Lord, we ask you all these

things. Lord, in the name of the Father,

Son and the Holy Spirit, we pray Amen and Amen.

Thank. You, my brother, I love you man.

I love you too. Would you stand so I can bless

you as you go? Lord, we thank You for Your

Word, and we thank you so much for the fellowship that we have

around it and the unity that we have in it, the comfort that

comes from it. Holy Spirit, You know exactly

what each of us needed. You know exactly how to care for

your flock. You're the Father who knows each

of His children individually. You see us clearly.

You know us deeply. I pray that You will continue to

cause Your Word to marinate inside of us, that You would

open up the eyes of our hearts and bring us even more light and

revelation. We don't.

Although we might walk away from the gathering for this morning

now, we don't walk away from You or from Your Word.

We carry Your power, Your presence, and the truth that you

brought us with us. Throughout the week will we pray

in advance for friends, for family, for loved ones, and for

persons of peace. Help us to simply testify to

what we see, what we've known, what we've enjoyed, the new

birth, the new life, and the gift that came from Jesus.

We love you God, We thank you in Jesus name, and now the Lord

bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face Shinedown

upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance

upon you. I give you great peace in Jesus

name, Amen. We just missed.