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[0:00] Our Father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you again for gathering us together this morning. And we thank you that you speak to us day by day and week by week in your word.

[0:12] We confess that we need your help, that we are finite and faltering people. We're plagued by our own sin, our own imperfections, and we need your help.

[0:25] We ask that you'd send your Holy Spirit in a special way. That you'd be at work speaking clearly to us in your word. You'd help us to understand it, to believe it. Most of all, that you'd set our eyes on Jesus Christ.

[0:37] You'd grow our love and our affection and our obedience to him. And we ask all of these things in his mighty name. Amen. I heard a story years ago about a seminary professor who told his students, when you become a pastor, when you graduate, and you're in a church, and you're preaching your sermon on a Sunday morning, and you look out to the back of the church, I want you to imagine that I am standing there.

[1:08] And as you get near the end of your sermon, my arms are crossed, and you hear me say, so what? So what?

[1:19] Why does any of this matter? You've said all these things, pastor, and why should we care? Paul, the apostle, the preacher, the pastor, at the very end of chapter 8 is asking that exact thing.

[1:36] So what? That's the meaning of the first half of verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? What are we supposed to do?

[1:47] What's our conclusion? What is the point of all of this? What's the takeaway? What's the bottom line of chapter 8? What's the bottom line of verse 1, that there's no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ?

[2:00] What are we supposed to make of verse 6, that if we set our minds on the things of the Spirit, we'll have life and peace? What are we supposed to do with verses 9 through 11, that every Christian has the Holy Spirit that gives new heart and new power?

[2:17] So what about verse 23? That you're going to receive a new body full of disease and pain. Or verse 28 from last week, that God works everything for good in the lives of his people.

[2:29] How do we put all of those things together? How do we summarize them? How do we keep them from being all these different facts that just float around in our mind? How do we respond to the great salvation that we have in Jesus Christ?

[2:44] Another way to put it is this. Why does any of this matter on Tuesday morning at King Soopers? So what?

[2:55] Thankfully, Paul doesn't leave us hanging. He tells us right away. That's the second half of verse 31. If God is for us, who can be against us?

[3:12] That's it. It's one sentence. It's a question, although it's not really a question, right? It's a rhetorical question. Paul's actually making a point. He's not looking for us to answer.

[3:24] And the point is this. No matter what happens in this life, if God is for us, and by the way, he is, in the end, we can't not win.

[3:43] No matter what we face or endure or suffer in this life, if God is for us, and by the way, he is, we know that the end of our story is glory with him.

[4:03] No matter what, no matter what, you can't not win. That will be the last word on your life.

[4:16] Now, Paul is not saying, when he says, who can be against us, he's not saying, we'll never have opposition.

[4:28] Of course, there's all sorts of things that can come against us. What he is saying is, none of those things will be successful. So when he says, who can be against us, he's really saying, who can successfully oppose you?

[4:41] Who can conquer you? Is there any force that can come up against you? No. Any force that opposes you is laughable. God is so big, he's so great, that there is no threat that can enter into your life that is actually a credible threat.

[5:03] No, when compared to God and his power, it fades away. And it's not just that God is so big, although he is, but Paul's point here is that this big God is for us.

[5:19] That's the main point, by the way, of chapter eight. Paul's telling us the summary, summing it all up in one sentence. And as we've looked through chapter eight, the point is not that God is so great, although yes, we know that he is.

[5:30] The point is that God is for his people. You already saw one way last week, verse 28. He's for us, and so he's weaving together all the events of our lives so that no matter what happens, ultimately it's for our good.

[5:49] Not just 28, though. It's what the whole chapter's about. Verses 26 and 27. God is for us because he's for us. The Holy Spirit is crying out.

[6:00] He's praying on our behalf with groans too deep for words. Same reason we have the promise of verse 18. We have a glorious future that allows us to persevere with everything that happens in the present.

[6:18] Why do we have that glorious future? Why does God show it to us, remind us of it? Because he is for us. So the point is this.

[6:32] Whatever you face in this life, the world, the flesh, the devil, sickness, disease, slander, pain, poverty, destruction, or war, none of those things get the last word.

[6:52] If God is for us, who can be against us? It doesn't mean you won't suffer in this life.

[7:04] It does mean whatever you face fully, finally, ultimately, will not, cannot win if you are in Christ.

[7:22] God is for us. Who can be against us? This week and the next two weeks, we're going to finish chapter 8 and we are going to see three different ways over these three weeks that God is for us.

[7:40] three reasons that we can't not win in the end. This week, we're just going to look at the first of those three reasons, which is the second half of verse 32.

[7:55] He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

[8:07] Now, one pastor illustrates verse 32 this way, and I've told you guys this a couple times. Imagine that there's a young man, he's madly in love with a young woman, he decides it's time for them to move forward, and so he goes to the jewelry store and he buys her the best diamond he can afford.

[8:30] And then he gives it to her. She says yes. If he gives her that ring, will he not also give her the box it came in?

[8:46] If he gave her something so great, why would he hesitate to give her something small? That's what Paul's saying here. God gave you his only son.

[8:58] Is there anything he would hold back from you? Another pastor illustrates it a different way. He gives us a scenario. He says, imagine you win a free Rolls Royce.

[9:13] Kids, a Rolls Royce is a very expensive car, okay? Imagine you win a free Rolls Royce, and you go to pick it up, and you're so excited, you get the car, but they refuse to give you the key.

[9:27] They wouldn't do that, right? That's absurd. Of course, that would never happen. You would never gift someone a car and say, you know what?

[9:39] We're so glad you can have the car. We're going to keep the key. No, the car includes the key. In the same way, it would never happen that God would give you his beloved son and then hold back anything else that you need to follow after him.

[10:07] God isn't trying to cut a deal. God is not looking to save 10% on your salvation by buying in bulk. God is not going to Costco to get your redemption.

[10:19] Okay, he's not trying to cut corners. He did not give you his son so that he could then leave you to figure out the rest on your own. No, if he gave you his son, he will give you all things.

[10:35] now in context, I have to clarify what all things means.

[10:48] God is not promising to give you a Rolls Royce. Paul is talking here, remember what we just saw last week, he's talking about your salvation, that what God has determined to start, he will absolutely finish.

[11:02] So God is going to give you all things necessary for your life as a Christian. God is going to give you everything you need to make it to the end.

[11:13] He's not going to hold back what you require to make it to glory. The Apostle Peter in 2 Peter chapter 1 says it a different way which helps us understand what Paul means by all things.

[11:28] He says, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Do you need something for life and godliness?

[11:44] God has promised to give that to you. Do you need something to make it to the end still trusting Jesus and following him?

[11:57] God has promised to give that to you. whatever you need. If he gives her the box or the ring will he not also give her the box?

[12:11] If you get given a Rolls Royce of course you're going to receive the key. He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things.

[12:33] Years ago I read about this concept from the history of the church called arguing in prayer which is that when we pray to God there's a couple things that we do.

[12:45] We remind him of his promises the things that he said he's going to do and we remind him of what he says that he loves. And so when we bring our prayers before and we filter them through that and we say okay am I praying for something that God has said he's going to do for me?

[13:02] Am I praying for something that God says that he desires he delights in? And then we tell him hey I'm praying for this I'm not praying that you know I would just have a comfortable life no I'm aligning myself with the Lord's prayer that your kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.

[13:19] And you've said you love this so do it. And so after I read this you know every time that I preach now throughout a number of years I ask that God would send his spirit to be with us as we're here together on Sunday morning in a special way.

[13:38] I ask him that he'd be at work to show us Christ that God would make him more beautiful than he was before. I pray that God would be at work changing our hearts and our minds and our lives that he would honor his promise in Isaiah 55 that his word will not return to his void.

[13:53] And then I tell him I remind him that he's made a promise in Romans chapter 8. He gave us his son. Will he not also give us all things?

[14:06] God you promised this. You said it goes along with our salvation. We need it. So do it. We need it for life and godliness. You can do the same thing.

[14:20] Lord we need wisdom. We're trying to raise our kids to love and follow you and you said you would give us all things. Honor the promise.

[14:32] Do what you said you would do. We're not asking for a sports car. We're not asking for a fancy vacation. We're asking for life and godliness. Lord we need your help.

[14:43] We have this impasse. We're both Christians and we cannot figure out how to get along. We need the wisdom and the humility and the repentance that we don't have within ourselves. And you said if you gave us your son you would give us all things.

[15:01] Honor the promise. We need it for life and godliness. Lord we want to grow. We need more of the fruit of the spirit.

[15:12] We need more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And you know what? All of those things pertain to life and godliness.

[15:24] And you made a promise. You said that because you gave us your son you will give us all things. So do it.

[15:36] Honor the promise. You gave us the ring. Give us the box. You gave us the Rolls Royce. Of course you're going to give us the key.

[15:49] You gave us your son. Will you not also graciously with him give us all things?

[16:01] That's God's promise to you. He said it clearly and explicitly here in his word. So what? Why does it all matter?

[16:14] It matters because if God is for us then nothing can be against us. It raises another question though.

[16:29] Why are we so confident that God is for us? What's the proof? I focused on the last half of verse 32 that he would give us all things.

[16:44] Of course there's also the first half. He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all. When it says did not spare it is saying that God did not go easy on Jesus when he hung on the cross.

[17:04] God did not say you know I'm going to I'm going to put the weight of sin on you but we're going to make it a little easy. You know we're going to we're going to tilt the scales a little bit. No.

[17:15] When Jesus hung on the cross he bore the full the entire weight of our sin our rebellion against God.

[17:27] And he gave him up for us all. That all is speaking about the audience of the letter. Remember Paul's writing this to the churches in the city of Rome. By extension he's writing it to the entire church throughout history.

[17:42] God gave Jesus up for us all that is Christians throughout all time and space. And he gave up what was most valuable.

[17:56] It says it doesn't say he who did not spare a random person. No. He who did not spare his own son.

[18:11] If you're a parent is there anything in this world that you love more than your children?

[18:21] he who did not spare his own son.

[18:33] The most intimate relationship that is the relationship enjoyed by the persons in the Trinity suffered the most intense separation.

[18:48] The most intimate relationship suffered the most intense separation. If God was willing to do that and he was and if God did that and he did he will do everything else.

[19:15] And he'll do it because of Christ. he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all.

[19:26] How will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Let's pray.

[19:38] Our Father in heaven we do praise you and thank you for your love. Love beyond what we can fully comprehend or understand or imagine.

[19:49] We ask that you would remind us of that this morning. That it would give us the deep security confidence joy that Paul talks about here. That we would live life knowing that because you are for us nothing can be against us.

[20:05]  We ask all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.