Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male 1): Today on Sound Doctrine, Pastor Jeff asks you to mull over an important question: Where are you putting your hope today?

Jeff Johnson: If you hope in this government, if you hope in this world, you are going to get let down. If you hope in this society, you are going to be let down. But if your hope is in God, you will be lifted up. You'll be blessed. You'll be secure in your faith. You'll have something to say to those that are hopeless.

They're saying, "What's going on? Why, we ought to just nuke them all?" And it just goes on and on and man's thinking—hopelessness. And yet here we are today, the people of hope.

Guest (Male 1): No one likes to fail. We tend to take it very, very personally, don't we? Satan sees a real opportunity when we fail. He loves to whisper in our ears words of condemnation. "Loser. You can't accomplish anything." But God, on the other hand, wants us to hear His truth at such times. The truth is, He cannot fail. He won't leave you and nothing can separate you from His love.

Today on Sound Doctrine, we'd like to draw your attention to that marvelous truth from Romans chapter eight. Here's Pastor Jeff Johnson with his message titled, "No Separation."

Jeff Johnson: This morning we're finishing an incredible chapter in the book of Romans. And of course, that chapter has been Romans chapter eight. One of the most read chapters in the Bible and incredible. It's just so full of Paul's Pentecost. That's what we've been calling it because Pentecost is where the power of God fell upon the early church. And this chapter is where God's power fell upon Paul who was struggling with religion, with the whole thing of what it is to be religious versus a relationship.

Paul has been experiencing the Spirit of God coming upon him in a powerful way to do a number of things. Number one: to deliver him and us from guilt and from shame. Remember over in chapter eight of Romans, verse one, "There is now therefore no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus." Number two: to protect him, to protect us from any doubt, unbelief, or confusion. And so we read in Romans 8:28, "Now all things are working for the good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose."

That's number two. And then number three is to bring security and assurance to the believer. To Paul back then and to us today, that verse 39, which we're going to cover this morning, nothing is going to be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can come between us. No separation.

It's like in a marriage. The Bible says concerning marriage, and marriage is an institution set up by God, and He says a man will leave his mother and father and cleave. You guys know, cleave. And if you look that up in the Hebrew, it means Super Glue. Cleaving. Nothing. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder. That's what He's talking about here.

The key to a lasting marriage of course has always been submission. And I'm not talking about, "Hey wives, you're to submit." I'm talking about equal submission one to another. That's what makes it happen and especially to the Lord as we walk in the light. He that has started a work in us is going to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. There is no fear as we abide in Him. That's why we're here this morning. We're seeking to abide in the Lord and we're secure in Him as we're abiding in Him.

John says it best. John's Gospel, just jot this down, John 10:27. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never, they shall never, they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand." Isn't that great? What a promise that we have from the Lord.

After all that He's done, this is Paul's conclusion now here in the last portion of chapter eight. He's saying, "I'm not condemned. I'm justified. I'm called. I'm made holy." He took me from a sinner to a glorified saint and He's given me such hope. Even in the midst of a hopeless society, a hopeless civilization, a hopeless world that Paul was in. It was just going downhill constantly as he saw the governments and what they did and how they maneuvered and man's inhumanity to man as they would slaughter and put many into slaves and just the brutality going on all around him.

Look at it today. Look at our world today and what kind of hope... if you hope in this government, if you hope in this world, you are going to get let down. If you hope in this society, you are going to be let down. But if your hope is in God, you will be lifted up. You'll be blessed. You'll be secure in your faith. You'll have something to say to those that are hopeless. They're saying, "What's going on? Why, we ought to just nuke them all?" And it just goes on and on and man's thinking—hopelessness.

And yet here we are today, the people of hope. The people that have been saved from a horrible pit, a miry clay, whose feet have been put on a solid rock with a new song in their hearts. That's what Paul is saying here. There's no fear of past, present, or future. I'm born again and this is not business as usual. This is a guy who has been transformed. He's been conformed into God's Son's image and everything's new in his life.

Remember when David tried to build God a house and David started gathering all the things. "I'm going to build God a house." It's a great idea. In fact, Nathan said, "Oh David, great idea. Go do what you feel led to do. Go for it. Bless you, brother." And then God woke up David and told him, "No, no, no. Listen David, David, David. You're not going to build Me a house, but I'm going to build you a house. And from your seed, David, the Messiah, the son of David, Jesus Christ, would come."

I love David's reaction to this in Second Samuel 7:18. "Then went King David in and sat before the Lord. And he said, 'Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that Thou hast brought me hitherto?'" This is such an awesome thing to even think about. What You're going to do through my seed, what You're going to bring to this world. So He changes us. He constrains us, Paul says, by His love.

These truths were simply overwhelming Paul. Christ in me, Christ through me, Christ around me. This is too much, Lord. Paul can hardly take it anymore. He definitely was overwhelmed. And here's how he expresses this overwhelming at what God has been telling him, what he's been writing down so we could get into it in these last few weeks. Romans eight. Five questions concerning his revelation that God has given to him.

We've looked at question number one in verse 31. This is the first question: Since God is for us, he asks the question, who can be against us? And that's an awesome question. Now, we know that God is for us because chapters one through chapters eight are true. So definitely God is for us. So who can be against us? The simple answer is no one or nothing. And that's good.

Then he gives us this incredible, powerful illustration in verse 32. Let's look at it. "He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" So, question number two: how do we know He's for us? Well, He gave His Son, Paul simply says it. That's how we know. Do you remember Abraham's son? Do you remember as he was around 33, he was just an incredible type of Jesus Christ and Abraham was bringing him up to Mount Moriah?

He had the fire, he had the wood, he had the knife. And the son kind of looked at him and said, "But Dad, where's the sacrifice? You don't have the sacrifice." "Son, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that God's going to do something about that and the bad news is that you're the sacrifice." And so he put his son on the altar. His son literally laid down obedient to the father. And the father went so far as to raise the knife in the air and then all of a sudden there was a ram caught in the thicket.

God said there in Genesis chapter 22 that He would provide Himself a sacrifice. Thousands of years later on that very spot, Mount Moriah, the hill of Golgotha, the place of the crucifixion, the top of Mount Moriah, Jesus was crucified. God did provide Himself a sacrifice for our sins. Isaac was alive but God provided that sacrifice in and through His Son.

I like how Peter says it. Peter says in First Peter chapter one, verse 18, he says, "Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by the tradition of your fathers, but you've been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Jesus Christ purchased my salvation. God sent His Son to die for me.

When I was yet a sinner, this is the fact. When I was cursing God, when I was living my life the way I wanted to live it—no one's going to tell me how to live my life—Christ died for me, bled for me. That's what finally got to me when I heard the Gospel, the good news, that Jesus, who was without blemish, without spot, died for me. So this is proof.

The next time you're tempted to gripe—I pray the Holy Spirit brings this to our remembrance—the next time we're tempted to turn our backs upon God because He's let us go for some reason or another, we get in these pity parties. I would say that He would have us turn and look at His back. What are you talking about? Well, we have communion once a month and hopefully you're in a study or in a smaller gathering where you have it more than once a month.

Communion speaks of not only His great sacrifice, but it speaks of by His stripes we are healed. They literally ripped open His back. He bore my sins. He gave His best for me. God did. In other words, God is saying, "Don't worry, be happy. Be focused on this fact that I gave My Son for you." There's a song, and what more could He do to prove His love towards us? Think about it. There's nothing more He could do. He gave His only Son.

He'll give us, Paul says, all things. And you go, "Good, I need all things." No, He's not going to give you all things. He'll give you all good things and what's good for you because He's a good Father. He'll give you all good things. And I like what Matthew, Jesus in Matthew chapter six, verse 25 of Matthew six. He says, "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, or yet for your body, what you're going to put on."

Is not life more than meat and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air. They sow not, neither do they reap, they don't gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are they not much better than... are you not much better than they? And then in verse 28, He says, "And why take ye thought for your raiment, what you're going to wear? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin."

Finally in verse 30, He says, "Wherefore, hey, if God so clothe the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" God's going to take care of everything in your life, in my life, because He gave His Son. He's going to freely give us all good things. He makes it very clear. To believe this is victory over our enemy.

What he's trying to do in your mind through the economy or whatever, or through the world that's around us, he's going to try to use anything. But this is Calvary grace given to us. This is powerful. That's the second question: how do we know? We know. Third question is in verse 33 now. Going back to our text, he says, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies."

When we say who, we think well, Satan definitely will try. I mean, isn't the Bible in Revelation 12:10 say he's the accuser of the brethren? I mean, he's the great accuser. He's going to try and lay all kinds of things on me. Do you remember with Job? How Satan came up and of course God brought Job up, and I'm sure Job wasn't going, "Thanks, God. Thanks for bringing my name up to him." "Have you considered My servant Job?"

Satan says, "Hey, you know, he's a mercenary man. If you just go ahead and because he's just being good and loving You because You give him a lot of things. You've blessed him so much. You just take Your hedge away from him and you watch what'll happen." And the Lord says, "Okay, I'll take My hedge away." And He did. You see, our enemy is going to try. He is a liar. And he was lying about Job.

Job loved the Lord deep within. He wasn't a mercenary. He didn't do it for money and for the things he had. He truly loved God. And the end result proved that. Satan, you're a liar. You lie about everything. And he does. He's the father of lies. I wish he was more scriptural, you know. When he came to Jesus one time, two times, three times, and Jesus said, "It is written, Satan. It is written." And then he fled, it says, after the third time.

I wish he would be more scriptural and flee after the third time, but he doesn't. He keeps coming back, doesn't he? He brings, he takes things out of context and twists the word. We know his deceitful ways. He's always trying to accuse. He even tries to use the Bible to accuse us as Christians. But he's a created being and we need to put him where he is. I mean, think about it. He's not equal with God.

A lot of people think Satan, God, oh big warfare, light and darkness, and they're having a battle together. Give me a break. He is a created being. He's not equal with God. He's not God's opposite. He's not even close to His opposite. He cannot create. God can create. He can duplicate. And we saw that back in Exodus when the magicians over all duplicating all of the... God brought forth frogs and so the magicians said, "Okay, we can do that too. We'll bring more frogs."

You just continue to bring forth stuff and I'm sure the Pharaoh said, "Hey, thanks a lot, guys. You're causing more of this?" "Well, we just want to show you our power." And then it came down to the place where God created lice from the earth. Do you remember that plague? Created out of the dust of the earth, the lice that would go throughout all of Egypt. And so they would try to do that, magicians trying to create lice. They couldn't do it because Satan can't create. He can only duplicate.

God cannot accuse us. Do you remember when the woman was thrown at Jesus' feet and then they all departed after He wrote in the dust there in the sand? They all left. "Woman, where are your accusers?" She says, "I have none." And what did Jesus say to her? "Neither do I accuse you. Go and sin no more. I don't accuse you." I love it. And we accuse, for sure. Others accuse us. There's all kinds of accusation.

He will never accuse us. Why? Because He justifies us. He's not going around accusing. He takes me and changes me. You see, Isaiah says that our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. In fact, over in Isaiah chapter 61 in verse 10, it says, "For He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." That's what God does to those who call upon His name.

Then over in Zechariah, Zechariah says it this way because there's a lot of drama in heaven. There's drama going on all the time. Well, God showed Zechariah Joshua the high priest and there's the angel of the Lord standing by him, which is the Lord Jesus, and then there's Satan standing there in Zechariah chapter three standing at his right hand to resist him or to accuse him. And the Lord said unto Satan, "The Lord rebuke you. Is not this," He says, "a brand plucked out of the fire?"

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments. See, the enemy was immediately looking at and bringing up Joshua's dirt, his filthy garments. And he stood before the angel who is our advocate. And then He answered and He spoke unto those that stood before Him saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And unto him He said, "Behold, I cause thine iniquity to pass from thee and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment." That's God's whole work is taking away as the dirt is brought up. He removes the dirt and He clothes us in His righteousness for His name's sake.

I'm forgiven. I'm cleansed. I'm secure in His love and sacrifice for me because that's why He did that. He did that so He could take sinners and cause them to become saints. Verse 34: "Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."

Wait a minute. Who is he that condemns? There's no condemnation, we've already talked about that. Anyone can issue a charge though, and Satan will try, won't he? He'll seek to condemn you. He'll seek to condemn me. But only one can truly condemn. You see, he cannot truly condemn. Oh, he can lie and he can lay a trip on you. But there's an interesting scripture in John's Gospel in chapter five and verse 22. John 5:22 says, Jesus is speaking, "For the Father judges no man but has submitted all judgment to the Son." He's the one that condemns.

Don't worry about what man can do. You better be concerned about what God can do because He's the one that can just judge your soul and send you to an eternity without God's love, without Him. So He's the one that truly condemns. But yet He died. See, that's what he's saying here. He doesn't go around condemning. He died for this world. He died for me.

Remember, condemnation drives us from God. Conviction, which is a different word altogether, draws us. By the Spirit of the Lord, we're drawn to the Lord. We're convicted by His Spirit and the outcome is way different on either one of these. I mean, look at Peter and look at Judas. Peter was convicted by the Holy Spirit and what did he do? He wept out loud and he was broken and he cried out and he confessed. And he was convicted and it drew him to the Lord.

But then Judas, what happened to him? Well, he received condemnation from the enemy. He was condemned and what was the fruit of that whole thing? Well, it was taking a rope and killing himself, hanging himself. Two different results. Condemnation is not good. Conviction's good.

Guest (Male 1): Such an encouraging passage here in Romans chapter eight and this is Sound Doctrine. Pastor Jeff Johnson will finish up the chapter next time. If you enjoyed today's message from Pastor Jeff Johnson from the magnificent book of Romans, I'd like to remind you that you can hear it again on several different venues. First, you can go online to sounddoctrineradio.org where you can hear today's study as well as make a donation to this radio outreach. That's at sounddoctrineradio.org. You can also listen at oneplace.com and also through the Sound Doctrine Radio podcast app.

And of course, speaking of podcasts, Sound Doctrine can be heard wherever you enjoy podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Be sure to join us again next time we meet for another encouraging and challenging study with Pastor Jeff in the book of Romans. That's here on Sound Doctrine, a presentation of Calvary Chapel Downey.