Friday, May 1, 2020

Romans 8:31-37


Romans 8:31-37
If God be for Us Who can Stand Against Us?

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
  
       1.      The Great Question is: If God Be for Who Can Stop Us? – vs. 31
a.       This is not the question that one might think Paul would ask on the eve of one of the fiercest persecutions that the Church has ever endured. If we were Paul we would probably be spouting endless meaningless platitudes that have no relevance. Instead Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, goes on the offensive. Daring even to mock fear and stand with utter confidence in the victory secured by Christ.  Paul levels five emboldening questions that should bolster the confidence of even the most timid of Christians.
                                                              i.      Jeremiah 1:19 
      2.      If God Would Give Up His Own Son for You, would be Mock Your Pleas for Provision? – vs. 32
a.       Matthew 7:8-11 
      3.      Who Can Condemn You When it is God that Made You Righteous? – vs. 33
a.       Romans 5:6-11 
      4.      What Accuser Would Dare Step Forward When it is Christ Who Broke Your Chains of Sin? – vs.          34
a.       Christ died for you
                                                              i.      Philippians 2:6-8 
b.      Christ rose from the dead for you
                                                              i.      1 John 4:9-10 
c.       Christ obtained glory for you
                                                              i.      Philippians 2:9-11 
d.      Christ pleads on your behalf
                                                              i.      John 17:8-10 
       5.      Is there Such a Thing as a Trial so Fierce that it Could Separate You from the Love of Christ? –            vs. 35-36
    1. None of the following can separate us from God’s enduring love.
                                                              i.      Tribulation (Hard times)
                                                            ii.      Distress (The many pressures we all endure in this life)
                                                          iii.      Persecution (Others mistreating us for the cause of the Gospel)
                                                          iv.      Famine (lack of food like – like the dust bowl and depression years)
                                                            v.      Nakedness (The inability to purchase proper clothing and shelter)
                                                          vi.      Peril (The jeopardy that we experience in life)
                                                        vii.      Sword (Government driven persecution)
                                                      viii.      Slaughter (Wholesale slaughter of Christians like the Armenian Genocide in 1915)
       6.      The Love of Christ Conquers All – vs. 37
a.       How can you stop an army that is unafraid of death or the outcome of the battle? That is secure in the victory secured by such a wonderful Savior as Jesus Christ.
                                                              i.      Hebrews 11:32-40 
                                                            ii.      1 John 5:4-5 
                                                          iii.      Revelation 12:11 

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