THE HYMN OF REFUGE

 

Romans 8:31-39

 

There is nothing better to close out a sermon than a hymn that reaffirms the truth that was spoken. And that is exactly what Paul does here in the closing of this chapter. The battle hymn of the saints as we go through sufferings in this life for the glory of God, and the glory we await for in heaven.

 

If I could title this text into a hymn I would call it

“God’s unstoppable love”

 

My suffering will never prevent me from entering eternity with the one who is the answer to all the questions Paul rhetorically asks in this portion of Scripture. These series of questions are not questions of uncertainty, but of great strength to persevere in the days ahead. “If God is for us” is a rhetorical question because what it could easily be read, “Since God is for us who can be against us?” My first stanza of my song would be “As a child of God, the believer is secure that nothing in the universe can separate him or her from the love of God.” The answer to this question that Paul asks is explained in (v32). A holy God who did not spare but gave us His Son. How could you doubt a holy God despite your suffering that He spared your life to see, and taste the gospel in your life? God has gone to great lengths to effect our redemption. God didn’t spare His Son, but gave Him up for the son and daughter of the King. Think about this! God told Abraham to do what for Him? After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." Gen 22:1-2

 

Abraham does as the Lord commands and takes his son, prepares area to sacrifice his only son and within inches away from killing his own son, God in His divine providence intervenes. And says, “But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." Gen 22:11-12. God spared Abraham from killing his only son and provided a suitable sacrifice. “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided." Gen 22:13-14

 

Fast forward some many years later to the same place

now known as MT Calvary, not MT Moriah.

 

The Son of God, the Son of man, The Lamb of God, The Christ, was praying this to His Father. “And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Mark 14:36. But this time… God didn’t spare His only Son’s life as He did for Abraham, but gave His Son up for you and me. According to Isaiah, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” Isaiah 53:10

 

(v32) God the Father, “gave Him up” or “He freely gave Him up” “Freely gives” means, “to bestow” or “to graciously give out of grace.” So to answer this question that Paul ask; the hymn cry of our hearts is that if God is for us what do we have to fear. He sent His Son to pay the penalty that each and every one of owe. See, it’s inconsistent to consider that God would give His most treasured possession “His Son” to secure our salvation…. And then not also give all else that is necessary to bring that salvation to completion. All things have been given to the Son and in this Divine blessing we are heirs to this reality. (v17)

 

If God is for us, who can be against us? I think we

know the answer to that question.

 

In the present! This fallen world system, powerful forces, and those blinded to the truth of God’s Word. Paul asks another question! “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? Paul raises this question as a defense of what he said previously in his letter. In Chapter 3 all have sinned, all have fallen short, but all who believe are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came through His Son. And God as the Judge was and is perfectly just in paying the penalty for and declaring “free to go: to the unjust. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Rom 3:23-26. As a result of this truth, no charge can be brought against those whom God has chosen. (v28-v30)

But many will try to bring a charge against the elect….

especially the prince of darkness.

Satan is always trying to slanderously bring a charge against God’s elect. Satan never ceases accusing the bride of Christ. Satan never stops harassing and trying to get into our consciences.  Satan is constantly reminding you and me that we are not worthy of God’s fellowship. Satan is always working to disrupt and break the body of Christ and its sweet fellowship. Satan is always telling us of our short comings and downfalls. Satan does everything he can to get under your skin, your heart, and mind, to distract you away off of Christ. The best way to approach this question is “Who has the power and the right to bring any charge against the elect? Better yet! This question could be firstly given this way!

 

Who has the power and the right to bring

a charge against Christ?

 

He is the only reason why we can say “no one” to Paul’s question! Our lives are hidden in Christ and this charge against the elect must first be charged to Christ. Considering we are under the security of Christ and He himself was accused many times by the religious elites! “Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God." John 8:42-47

Here is the sinless Lamb of God, who intercedes (v34b). The Christ, who on our behalf prays/communions with the Father, being charged by unregenerate religious elites who hated Him. We have divine intercession “Intertrinitarian communication” amoung the Godhead in Heaven and here, now, through the Spirit and through Christ.

Any charge against Jesus is

an exercise in futility.

Jesus is the One who is the Just and the Justifier in the golden chain of redemption. (v34) He is the One who predestined by His grace. He is the One who calls sinner to Himself. He is the One justifies and declares you holy and righteous. He is the One who will finish your redemption for glorification. Who can bring a charge against the elect? When there is “No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (v1) This truth is the foundation of what Paul asks next……

 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

 

A great question! Paul goes from one extreme to the next to say that nothing can separate that seal, that bond we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Tribulation: carries the idea of being squeezed or placed under pressure or emotional stress. Distress: cares the same idea as tribulation, it’s the idea of strict confinement or the feeling of helplessness. The believer can only trust in the Lord and pray for the power to endure. Persecution: refers to affliction suffered for the sake of Christ, persecution is never pleasant but it does bring about blessing. Matt 5:10-12. Famine: this in this time period resulted in persecution, when Christians are discriminated against. History reveals that many Christians were thrown into prison for their faith and have gradually stared to death. Nakedness: this doesn’t refer to complete nudity, but a status of destitution in where a person cannot proper cloth themselves. this word is given as a way of expressing “vulnerable or unprotected”. Danger: this means simple exposed to danger including danger from deceitfulness and mistreatment. Sword: refers to a large dagger and was frequently used by assassins because it was easily concealed. This was a symbol of death by murder rather than dying at war.

 

Remember Paul was speaking by personal experience! “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” 2 Cor 11:23-28

 

According to Isaiah letter……Paul reminds us of God’s perfecting work of redemptive by offering His Son for our sin so that we can boldly and victoriously say. (v35-v36) We are lead out to the slaughter as the children of God because of Christ. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. 

2 Cor 4:9-12

 

Sheep are not very strong animals and the same is true for you and me. We are weak vessels of God’s grace walking, professing, sharing and praising our way into His glory through the unbreakable, immovable covenant relationship, which we have in the gospel.

 

Nothing can separate me from this Divine

relationship. Nothing!

 

Nothing can separate that bond, that love we have in Christ. R C Sproul said, “We may feel at times that God has departed from us, but that is when we have to believe His Word rather than our feelings.”

 

What Paul says next is not a feeling but a dogmatic truth. In all these things we are more than “Conqueror” Some of the most wicked and cynical attacks ever written against Christianity came by men like Fredrick Nietzsche. He was quoted saying “He declared the death of God.” He was recorded saying “Christianity with its false piety takes away the strength of humanity, leaving a race of impotent men.” According to him, what most defined humanness is the will to power, not weakness and saw Christianity in this light, weak. His ideology of Christianity made him obsessed as he called for the dawn of a “New Superman”. This superman would be a symbol of heroic super power to conquer all things, and he thought he was that man. History tells us he failed to do that! In the second half of his life he suffered from a psychiatric illness with depression. During his last years, a progressive cognitive decline advanced and ended in a profound dementia with stroke. He died from pneumonia in 1900. He failed and saw life as meaningless because it had no real value. Some superman he turned out to be. Lost, broken, and eternally separated, from the grace of God in Christ alone. Unfortunately the God he hated was the “ Great Conquer”. “Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:31-33

 

“Conqueror” is the Greek word that expresses this word as “Hyper-Conquerors”. In the Latin this word means “In all things we are supermen through Him who loves us.” Jesus overcame the prince of this world by his death in the gospel which made Him the great Conquer. “Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." John 12:28-32

We are conqueror in all these things!

What things?

The giant spectrum of life! 

Neither death………………….nor life

Neither in the angels…………………..nor principalities of demons

Neither the present (today)…………….nor future (tomorrow)

Neither heights………….nor depths

 

Paul gives us selective examples that might separate us from God. But his point is that nothing can separate us from God. Not powers, nor anything in all creation can separate this love relationship we have in the Godhead. Paul says these things because he was a man of unshakable confidence in the love of God and the power of the gospel. Paul never feared the hardships of life; nor did he fear the intangible fears that creep into the conscience. Paul wrote, “We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” 2 Cor 6:3-10

 

We can learn and glean a great amount of encouragement from Paul, as we go through our sufferings in this life. Remind yourself today and tomorrow and so on that “Nothing can separate us from the love of god in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is reason for our cheer and joy…..the Lord Jesus has conquered powers, principalities and every, yes every, wickedness in the cosmos. We are heirs to this King as R C Sproul said, “We are His elect. We have been chosen by God to be conformed to the image of Christ and to be Christ’s possession, not for a day or a week but for eternity. If we do not like the idea of God’s sovereign grace, if we are still kicking against it, why? It is our guarantee that nothing can separate us from the great love wherewith He loves us.” Remember what Paul said, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Cor 4:16-18

 

We are overwhelming conquerors in Christ because our ultimate reward surpasses whatever earthly and temporal loss we may suffer. And as the Hebrew writer said, “So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" Heb 13:6. Because we God’s infinite power we can say as David said, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3. In Psalm 4:8 David said, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

 

What then shall we say to these things? 

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? 

Who is to condemn? 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

 

The answer! “Nothing” (v37-39)