WHAT THEN SHALL WE SAY? 

September 11, 2011

 Romans chapter eight, verse thirty-one--what then shall we say to these things? If God be for us who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all . . . Sometimes it disturbs us greatly to see on the news that a judge has let a criminal get off with less a sentence than apparently he deserves. We constantly hear of cases where it seems to the layperson that the Judge has cut the offender an awful lot of slack. When Jesus died on the cross God did not spare His own Son. God did not cut Jesus any slack on the cross. Nothing was done to make it easy. No pity was shown. He died for all of my sins. So Paul asks this question. “What then shall we say to these things?” What are these things? Look at what goes before the question.

NO CONDEMNATION

He said, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” The Devil likes to quote part of that verse. The Devil says, “There is therefore now no condemnation.” He has convinced millions that this is the way it is. No condemnation for anyone. Everyone who dies goes to Heaven. I have noted the death of some notorious sinners and then heard people say that at this moment he is looking down at us from Heaven. God is too good to send anyone to hell. One man was buried with a bottle of whiskey and a cartoon of cigarettes. One of the mourners said on a televised broadcast that Heaven would never be the same. There is no Hell. God made us as we are. He is too good to damn anybody. Relax and enjoy. There is therefore no condemnation.
Actually that verse says there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ, how did you get in? Paul says in Romans six, “As many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death.”
In Colossians Paul says, “Christ in us is our hope of glory.” That is a paradox. How can we be in Christ and Christ can be in us? If we are in Christ that reminds us of justification and Christ in us reminds us of sanctification.
When we obey the Lord in His terms of pardon we are justified. We are in Him. Then He comes into us and helps us live the sanctified life. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. What then shall we say to these things?

LIVING AND DYING

Verse six says, “For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.” The big difference in the Christian and the non-Christian is, the non-Christian is dead, and the Christian is alive. Sometimes we get the idea from the non-Christian that Christianity is for losers. Being a Christian is a miserable way to live. Actually it is the other way around. It is the playboy who is dead. The shacked up person is dead. The drunkard is dead. The person addicted to drugs is dead. The Christian is the one who is alive and knows what life is all about. As A Christian I live in the Penthouse of life. I am on the top floor. I am having a ball. The non-Christian is living in the cellar, no windows, living in the dark. What a miserable way to live. The invitation of the Christian to the non-Christian is come on get a life! What then shall we say to these things?

LED BY THE SPIRIT

 Verse fourteen says, “As many of you as were led by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God.” Everyone is led by a Spirit. Sometimes it is the spirit of the Devil. Jesus told the Apostles that when the Holy Spirit is come He will guide you into all the truth. One area where the Holy Spirit leads is in the matter of salvation. On the day of Pentecost, we are told that when the Apostles preached, they spake as the Spirit qave them utterance. When they heard that they had crucified the Lord they asked, what they should do? Peter led by the Spirit of God told them to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who obey are led by the Holy Spirit, are called sons of God. What then shall we say to these things?

THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT

Verse sixteen says, “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” This leading of the Spirit is not subjective. Some say I know I am saved because I feel that I am saved. This is true if your spirit is led by the teaching of the Holy Spirit through the Bible.
One man said one time as he thumped his chest, “I would not trade the feeling I have in my heart for all the Bibles in the world.” Another said, “I don't care what that Bible says, I know I am right because God told me so.” Ladies and Gentlemen, God no longer speaks to us by dreams and visions. In these last days He has spoken unto us through His Son. His Son sent the Holy Spirit to guide the Apostles in giving us the New Testament. When your spirit agrees with the spirit you have the testimony that you are a child of God. Verse seventeen says that since we are children of God we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. John says in Revelation regarding Heaven, “He that overcometh shall inherit these things and shall reign forever and ever.” What then shall we say to these things?

THE RESURRECTED BODY

Verses twenty-two and twenty-three tell us, ”For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now. And not only so, but we ourselves also, groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit the redemption of the body.”
The earth groans. Think of the earthquakes and the spewing of lava from the volcanoes. The earth groans. Paul said in Hebrews, “Thou Lord didst lay the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the works of Thy hands: they shall perish but thou continuest: And they shall all wax old, as doth a garment.” We also groan within ourselves. How many times have you bent over and as you straightened up said, “Oh my aching back?” We wait for the redemption of our bodies. As long as we are in this body we will have trouble with sin. Not until this body is redeemed at the resurrection will we be free from the carnal desires of the flesh. John said when the Lord appears we shall see Him as He is and we shall be made like Him. We anxiously await the redemption of the body.
We know also that all the dead shall be raised, but the Bible is silent as to the nature of the resurrected body of the unsaved. We cannot go beyond that which is written. Could it be that they are raised up in the same old abused and crippled up body they lived in while on earth? What a morbid thought to spend eternity in torment with such a body. What then shall we say to these things?
Verse twenty-four says, “In hope we are saved: But hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?” We are saved by hope. How much hope do you have of going to Heaven? Let me put it another way. How much hope do you have of not going to Hell? The answer to those questions is the fact that you don't have much hope, because you only have one hope. You don't have two hopes or three hopes, or a dozen hopes. You only have one hope of going to Heaven. one hope or one chance is all there is. Paul said, “There is one body and one Spirit even as ye were called in one hope of your calling.” You only have one hope of going to Heaven. Again Paul told Titus that we look for the blessed hope and appearing of the great God our Saviour Jesus Christ. Jesus is our only hope. In Dante’s inferno according to his imagery there is a sign over the doorway to Hell. Lose hope all you who enter here. Hell is the place of no hope. What then shall we say to these things?

THE ANSWER TO PRAYER

Verses twenty-six and twenty-seven, gives instruction about prayer. Likewise the Spirit helpeth us with our infirmities: for we know not how to pray as we ought: but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth---the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
We don't know how to pray. One reason we don't know how to pray is because we do not always understand what the mind of God is. So the Holy Spirit helps us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Sometimes we, not knowing what to pray will pray a crooked prayer. The Holy Spirit takes that crooked prayer and hammers it out on the anvil of faith and straightens it out and then lays it before the Throne of Grace. God hears our prayers, not as we prayed them, but as we should have prayed them. What then shall we say to these things?

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

Verse twenty-eight tells us that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord even to them that are the called according to His purpose. All the big things, all the little things, all the sweet things, and all the sour things, all things work together for good. Not as we planned it, or not as we want it, but all things work together for good.... He did not say you would not get sick. He said if you did, it worked together for good. He did not say you would not get fired, he said it would work together for good. He did not say you would not be born handicapped, he said if it happens all things worked together for good. Perhaps we say how could all my misfortunes work together for good. I don't have the slightest idea. You will have to take that up with God. At the end of life I am sure you will know the answer. Not now but in the coming years, It may be in the better land. We'll read the meaning of our tears, and there sometime we'll understand.
We'll know why clouds instead of sun, were over many a cherished plan.
Why song has ceased when scarce begun, Tis there sometime we'll understand.
God knows the way, He holds the key, and He guides us with unerring hand.
Sometimes with tearless eye we'll see, yes, there we'll understand.

PREDESTINATION

Verses twenty-nine and thirty tell us what the Spirit says about predestination. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, He also justified: and whom He justified, He also glorified.
Some believe that God has predestined and foreordained everything. It is already pre-arranged that certain people will go to Hell and certain people will go to Heaven. The elect that the scripture speaks about have been elected by God to go to Heaven and the rest elected to be lost forever. Ladies and Gentlemen, as long as there is a whosoever will in the Bible I have something to say about my salvation. As long as there is a statement in the second chapter of Acts that tells us Peter said: “Save yourselves from this crooked generation,” I have something to do about my salvation. It is true however that we are elected to go to Heaven or to Hell. In this election for eternity God votes for you and the Devil votes against you and then you cast the deciding vote. Whosoever will may come. Save yourselves from this crooked generation.
Some people are like the woman that told me she believed in predestination. Everything is pre-arranged and happens according to plan. She believed it so strongly that what will be will be, even if it never comes to pass.
One preacher who believed that God predestinates some to Heaven and some to Hell visited a preacher who did not believe this. The preacher had a large dog in his yard that moved toward the predestination preacher and growled. The preacher called to the other preacher and said, “Call off that dog. He is going to bite me.” The other preacher said, “That dog has been foreordained and predestined before time began to either bite you or not bite you. I really don't know which it is. So, I am not going to call that dog off and interfere in the Lord's business.” Those who are predestined to go to Heaven are all those who when hearing the gospel, believe it, repent of their sins and are immersed for the remission of sins, and live the Christ like life until death. If you are one of those you are one of the elect. You have been elected to go to Heaven and you will win by a landslide. What then shall we say to these things?

CONCLUSION

In conclusion Paul asks another question. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” He mentions some great separators. He says that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of Christ. Actually death draws the Christian closer to Jesus. To be absent the body is to be present with the Lord. Again Paul said, “I have a desire to depart and be with Christ which is very far better.” Remember also how Stephen said, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.” Death cannot separate us from the love of Christ. It even helps the situation.
He says that neither thing present, nor things to come can separate us from the love of Christ. The passing of time does not alter His love. No matter what the changes will be in the passing love remains the same. I personally lived in the remnants of the horse and buggy days and now in the day of space travel. His love is the same. His plan of salvation is the same when I wrote with a fountain pen just as much as now when I write on a computer keyboard. Times have changed. My phone number in the early days of my ministry was 57. There was no area code or zip code. You could reach me from any place in the country by calling the operator and asking for 57 Lynchburg, Ohio. You did not dial; you talked to a real live operator. I remember when the name of all the operators was the same. Her name was Central. You picked up the phone and rang not dialed, and a voice answered and you said, “Hello Central,” and then gave her the number you wanted to call. Today we have cell phones, pagers, email, voice mail, fax numbers and other gadgets. But the love of God is still the same. You don't need a cell phone, a pager, or a voice mail number to keep in touch with God for “God Is Just A Prayer Away.” The passing of time has not changed His word or His love.
Paul also said that neither heights nor depths could separate us from the love of Christ.
Think of it. Heights cannot separate us from Christ. This broadcast comes to thousands by satellite. First it goes way up there in space and bounces off a satellite and is heard on the other side of the world. In that case heights do not separate but help us show the love of Christ to man who would not have heard the gospel of Christ otherwise.
One of the devices of the devil is to make heights separate the human race from the love of Christ in the bogus science of astrology. How many times have you heard folk ask the devilish question, “What sign were you born under?” As though our lives are governed by stars. The Christian is free from such superstition and can boldly declare that we were born again under the sign of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And ever since-we have been in orbit around the bright and morning star.
Nothing can alter the love of Christ. His love is the same. His Bible is the same. Hell has not changed it is just as hot as ever. Heaven has not changed. It is still the future home for the Christian. Nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

IT’S IN YOUR FACE
You, don't have to tell how you live each day.
You don't have to say if you work or you play.
A tried, true barometer serves in the place,
However you live, it will show in your face.
The false, the deceit, that you bear in your heart
Will not stay inside where it first got a start;
For sinew and blood are a thin veil of lace
What you wear in your heart you show in your face.
If your life is unselfish; if for others you live,
For not what you get, but how much you can give
If you live close to God In his infinite grace
You don't have to tell it, it Shows in your face.