Running To Win

Dave McAllister: From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Today we conclude a series from Romans chapter 8 on the blessings we've been given as children of an awesome God. Pastor Lutzer, I believe you'll be quoting C.S. Lewis in *The Screwtape Letters* as we try to comprehend the triumph that lies ahead.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: You know, Dave, I've not read all of C.S. Lewis, but I do have to say this: God has given him real insight. And one of the reasons the Lord has used him to bring others to faith in Jesus Christ is he not only reasoned with people, but it's clear from his writings that he was able to understand them and to lead them along to Jesus. And that's really what all of us have been called to do.

When you stop to think of it in the New Testament, do you remember when Jesus asked Peter to throw his net into the water? It was really at the wrong time—that was not usually the time when you fished. It was in the wrong place, but the net was full. Why? Jesus caused those fish to go into the net. And you know what God asks us to do? He asks us to throw out the net and He will fill it.

I'm so excited to offer a book entitled *Sent*. It's written by a couple who have been used in evangelism and who help all of us to connect with our neighbors and our friends and build those bridges to share the gospel. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you, and this is one of the last days we're making that offer. For now, listen, and at the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info.

But there's one section that has often touched my heart, and I'm giving it to you as a paraphrase. C.S. Lewis says in this that Screwtape, the lead demon, says to one of his demons: "The worst possible thing that can happen to us, and that which glorifies our enemy the most" (and he's talking about the Most High God), "is when a man looks around and sees no reason to go on believing in God's love and yet still believes anyway." Anyone who trusts God like that is a super-conqueror, no matter what possible thing could happen to him. And God is glorified in the midst of our faith in the midst of our circumstances.

Now the Apostle Paul has said that God's love not only endures, but God's love also triumphs. And then Paul thinks to himself, maybe I've left something out. Maybe in the back of somebody's mind as they begin to think about God's work in their heart—and of course he's speaking to believers here—maybe somebody will think there's something else that counts against God's love. So in addition to these seven circumstances, Paul lists eight personalities or events or circumstances, and he makes another list because he wants to include them all.

And so Paul begins, and he says, "I am persuaded." You'll notice verse 38. Notice what he's not persuaded of. He doesn't say, "I'm persuaded God is going to give you a job." "I'm persuaded that your child is going to be healed of whatever infirmity your child might have." "I'm not persuaded that you're going to have a long life that is going to be free of illness." "I'm not persuaded that you're going to be free of pain." No, no, no, no. But this is what Paul says "I am persuaded of."

I am sure that—and now he begins a list of eight circumstances or events or personalities that cannot separate us from the love of God. And number one, he lists death. Death, which is our greatest enemy, says that doesn't count against God's love. In fact, it says in the book of John that Jesus loved Lazarus and Lazarus died. God loves His people, and He loves to take them to heaven.

When Barnhouse, that great preacher, when his wife died, he was coming home from the funeral, and he was trying to comfort his children who were in the car crying. And suddenly a big truck drove up beside them, and the truck, when it did, its shadow overcame the car and overshadowed the car. So he immediately thought of something and said, "Children, would you rather be hit by a truck or just the shadow of the truck?" And they said, "Well, of course, we'd rather just be hit by the shadow of the truck because the shadow doesn't hurt."

And he said, "You know, in the very same way, your mother has not been hurt by death. She's only passed through the valley of the shadow of death. She's not been hurt by it. We're saddened because she's gone, but death does not separate us from the love of Christ." Will life with all of its circumstances and its dangers? No. Then Paul says angels. Would they separate us from the love of Christ? Of course not. They wouldn't even think of it. But Paul here is just considering every possibility that one could possibly imagine.

Principalities—it's translated rulers here. That's a reference to the demonic world. Can it separate us from the love of Christ? Can demons who harass Christians, can demons who sometimes confuse Christians, can demons who sometimes struggle with Christians—can they in some way separate us from the love of Christ? Paul says no, principalities can't. What about things present? Today, events. Will they separate us from the love of Christ? Will a bare loss separate us from the love of Christ? Paul would say no, no, that won't happen.

Things present, things to come. Tomorrow. The events that you're going to face at work and the unemployment slip that you might be getting, will it separate you from the love of Christ? Paul says no, things to come won't do it. Will powers do it? This is another reference to demonic powers. Paul wanted to make sure that they were included—the supernatural powers and the superstitions of the day. And he's saying, in effect, curses can't. Living on the 13th floor of a building can't. It can't separate you from the love of Christ.

And then he says, what about height? He's actually referring to something that is the astronomy. Astronomy talks about the highest star. And of course, astronomy has often turned into astrology, which is condemned in the Bible. But 12 million Americans make their decisions based on their horoscopes, based on the stars. Will the height of a star at its point of zenith, at its strength, will it separate you from the love of Christ because it has power? No. Will the star that has depth, will it separate you from God's power? And the answer, of course, is no, it can't. Stars can't. Height or depth can't do it.

And then Paul says, "You know what? There's somebody out there who thinks maybe I've overlooked something." So he says, "nor anything in all creation"—or as it says literally, anything that has been created. It can't separate you from the love of Christ. Now think about this for a moment, theologically. Is there anything that exists that hasn't been created by God? I don't think so. Even Satan was created by God. He was created perfect, but then he fell. There is nothing in all of the universe that exists that has not been created by God. And Paul says that no created thing can separate you from the love of Christ.

You say, "Well, couldn't I do it myself? Couldn't I just choose to be separated from the love of Christ?" Not if you're a believer. And this is a message to those who have put saving faith in Jesus Christ. No, there's no way you can do it. Do you realize today that if you belong to Jesus—and that is an "if"—if you are a believer, therefore you belong to Jesus, there is nothing that you can do to get God to stop loving you? The love of Christ—what an assurance that God's decided to love you and no created thing can separate you from His love.

No wonder the hymn writer wrote:

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the sky of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

Now what we need to do is to make sure that this has come home to us. So let me give you some conclusions that should send you home rejoicing in God's love. The first is simply this: remember that divine love—this is critical—divine love is based on the lover. It's based on the lover. Now human love is based on the person loved. "I love you because of what you do for me. I love you because you're beautiful. I love you because you make life easier. I love you because I love to be seen with you. I love you and when you change, I'll love somebody else." That's human love.

Divine love is based on God. Now your text is open, isn't it? All of you have Bibles that are open. Look at what it says in verse 36: "We are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. How does Paul put those two ideas together? Sheep, victorious? Shepherds tell us that sheep are stubborn, they are difficult to get along with, they take false paths, they are weak, they're incredibly vulnerable to enemies. I mean, how in the world can a sheep be a super-conqueror? Maybe an elephant, maybe a lion, but a sheep a super-conqueror?

Hey listen, it has nothing to do with the sheep, really. It has everything to do with the Shepherd. That's why Paul says we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. This is all of God. This is all of God. It's not that we ourselves have all of this love within us. And when David said in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd," he in effect said, "Because the Lord is my Shepherd, there's nothing that I really, really need that I don't have." And so it's dependent upon the lover. It is God who has chosen to love us.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us and gave His Son as a propitiation for our sins. It is all dependent on God. And there is no other person out there who can dissuade Him from loving those whom He has chosen to redeem. So first of all, divine love is based on the lover. Secondly, divine love guarantees our security. It guarantees our security.

Now if you have been with us in these eight messages on Romans chapter 8, you know that the whole last part of this chapter is devoted to the subject of security. The fact that once God has decided to choose you and justify you and glorify you, you will arrive safely in heaven. If God lost you along the way, He would have more to lose than you would. His whole reputation would be at stake. He would have made a promise to somebody and given us the ability to believe that promise and then in the end have taken away that ability, or in the end have lost someone whom He chose to save. And that would not be a credit to God.

And so what Paul is saying, he says when he says nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, in effect, in context, he's saying nothing can really separate us from the power of the gospel to change a life. Nothing can separate us from what God is doing in our lives. And even though we at some times are not faithful, it says in the book of Timothy, when we believe not, yet He is faithful. Why? Because He cannot deny Himself. It's all in God's hands. We participate, of course, and we are to be obedient, but ultimately standing back of all of that is the will and the purpose of God. And divine love guarantees our security—if you are a believer in Jesus Christ.

Finally, divine love is really a matter of faith. It's not blind faith, but it is faith. It's faith in God's promises. Because there are times when you look around and you say, "I don't see love. What does God do with all of His power? Where is He when I need Him? Where is the love?" And it is at those moments that we recognize that it is a matter of faith. And that's why what God does in the midst of our tears and our hurt is He births hope. And we begin to look beyond this world to the next.

Larry Crabb says that this hope—it doesn't feel good, that is to say the hurt doesn't, but it does feel clean. Through our tears, we actually can sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." We don't sing without an ache, but rather with an ache, but we do sing. And that's why at the beginning of this message, I read that paragraph from that woman, that mother, taking care of two special needs children with a husband who's been abusive, from whom she's had to separate. And yet she says, "I teach my children the love of God."

Why? She looks beyond the circumstances. She can see more than most of us can. Because she can see in it that what God does is He oftentimes takes us and He takes good food away from us that we might hunger for something that is even better. It was Spurgeon who said, "Oh, blessed axe of sorrow that cuts a pathway to my God by chopping down the tall trees of human comfort." Paul says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Who's out there? What created being can separate us from a God who has chosen to love us, love us, love us, and love us all the way into eternity and, of course, beyond?"

There's nobody out there that can. Circumstances can't, the devil can't, you can't. God's love transcends it all. Now for those of you who are listening, you need to understand that there are times of doubt in our Christian life. And I'm speaking first of all to those of you who've never trusted Christ as Savior. This message, you may say, it just blows past me because I don't believe that God loves me like this. And it may well be because you've never trusted Christ, you have not had the love of God birthed in your own heart. And I urge you today to believe in Jesus and receive the free gift of eternal life.

But for those of you who know Christ as Savior, are there times of doubt when we doubt God's love? Yes. 1842, a man by the name of George Matheson, who was born blind—or at least he became blind—went through college because his sister read all the textbooks to him, the University of Glasgow. He became a pastor. And he memorized all of his sermons, he memorized all of the scripture that he would use every Sunday. And therefore, really knew the word. But he went through a time of depression and a time of doubt. He doubted God's love. "Why is it that I can't see when everybody else can?" His doubt was so severe he left the ministry.

But then after leaving the ministry, he came back. And he came back with renewed vigor and renewed faith. And he wrote these lovely words:

O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee;

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? If you're a believer, nobody. Not even you can do it, because God has chosen to love us. Let's pray together.

Our Father, as we think about all that God has done for us in Jesus, we want to thank you. And even as we have communion together, we're reminded of the fact that this is the supreme example of the fact that you do love us, that you would give your Son for us. Now Father, we ask in Jesus' name that you shall birth faith in our hearts. I pray for those who've never trusted Christ as Savior. May they know, may they know that they need to believe in Jesus. And for those of us who do know you, we ask, Father, we pray that we might love you back because you love us so much. Help us to be secure in that love. We thank you that it is based upon your word and the rock of your promises. In Jesus' name, amen.

Dave McAllister: Now, my friend, after listening to a message like that, I want to ask you a question. Don't you think that we owe it to others to introduce them to Christ? Maybe one of the reasons we don't witness is that we think God expects us to convert people. Well, he certainly does not expect that. Only God converts people. Our responsibility is to introduce them to Jesus. And then God takes it from there. We answer their questions, we do all that we can to help them to understand the good news of the gospel.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: I'm holding in my hands a book entitled *Sent*. It's written by a couple that is used in evangelism. And what this book does is it helps us to see that all of us can evangelize wherever God has planted us. Very quickly, here's what you do: go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And because this is one of the last days we're making it available, once again, go to rtwoffer.com.

Dave McAllister: It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Many of us have relatives and friends whose behavior is not pleasant. A listener named Jennifer asks: "Can cussing and smoking keep people from getting to heaven? I think it can."

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Jennifer, I need to clarify a couple of things. First of all, cussing and smoking may be sins, but they're not the only sins. And the real issue is not these sins. The real issue is one's relationship to Jesus Christ. And so it is very important for us to realize that when we see someone doing this kind of obnoxious, sinful behavior, it is not the behavior itself which is the important thing that we should look at as much as whether or not they've come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, if they've come to saving faith in Christ, hopefully their lifestyle will follow who they have become in Christ and they'll stop doing some of the things that they were doing previously. But that's not really the issue. The issue has to do with one's relationship with Christ. And you see, besides the two sins that you mentioned, there could be a whole catalog of sins that we could name. And it's not the sins that we should focus on; it's the relationship with Jesus Christ. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Also, the Bible says God made Christ to be what he wasn't, namely sin, that we might be made His righteousness. It's that message that gets us to heaven. It's not stopping certain kinds of behavior.

Dave McAllister: Thank you, Pastor Lutzer, for that wise answer to Jennifer's question. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can. Go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life.

Some people say they have faith, yet their lives show little evidence of it. Others who have faith are willing to take risks to live out that faith. Next time on Running to Win, we'll focus on this latter kind of faith, the kind that will carry us through when times of testing come. Don't miss "Faith That Survives the Fire." Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.