our bibles together this morning and let's go to a non-traditional christmas passage we'll try to make the connection here as we move throughout the message but romans chapter number eight please the eighth chapter of the book of romans is where we will find our text this morning and we have been preaching here on sunday mornings throughout the month of december on our gifts in christ and of course we're thinking of the season that we're in and this is a last minute announcement but you have six days until christmas and so if you haven't bought those gifts let me encourage you to get it done it won't be long before Your family, your children, your wife will expect something from you under the tree. But I propose to you that we have some gifts that have been given to us in Christ beyond just the gift of salvation. The gift of salvation, of course, is the greatest gift that any of us will ever receive and will ever experience. But I want you to know something. We get so much more in Jesus than just eternal life. As if to say eternal life is insignificant, you understand what I'm saying, it is anything but insignificant. But we are blessed abundantly in the person of Christ. The first Sunday that we were together, the first Sunday of December, we talked about He gives us strength, He gives us the victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we talked about last Sunday, He gives us an example, an example of service. And then today, I want us to consider the gift that he gives us of victory today in Romans chapter number eight. I want you to look with me, if you would, in verse number 31, and we'll read down through verse number 39. Romans chapter number eight, begin reading in verse number 31. Familiar passage of Scripture. Most of you, this passage is not something that you've never seen before, but let's try to make the connection this morning if we can. Verse 31, the Bible says, what shall we then say to these things? And we'll talk about the things that he is referencing here, but he finishes the sentence, if God be for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 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. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thine sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us, we might say to defeat us, from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Church family, you and I, we have been given the gift of victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for the reading of your word, and we pray that you'd help us over the next few moments, Lord, to be able to preach this message from this passage of scripture. And we're asking that it would be a helpful resource and tremendous tool for our people living in this world in which we are called to live in. Lord, it's easy to live down here and to feel defeated and to feel overwhelmed, but remind us that we are victorious in the person of Christ. Help us today, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now, I would say that there is a universal desire within all of us to be winners, I don't know anybody that sets out to lose in whatever it is that they're competing in or whatever it is that they're involved with. Whether it's a game that you're playing, maybe an athletic competition, or maybe it's a board game, or a card game, or maybe Maybe it's in the realm of a financial investment, or maybe it's in the pursuit of a relationship, or maybe it's a specific race that you might be running and you might be competing with someone else. We all have this hunger, this burning desire to be on the winning side. I think there probably, you've seen this played out, there are some people that are more competitive than others. Some of you, I've played games with you, I've been involved in competitions with you, and you turn into a different person. I don't know who you are. There's this vicious nature that comes out in order to win. Some of you, you'll cheat, and you'll lie, and you'll steal, and you'll do other people dirty just to get out on the winning side of whatever it is that you're competing in. I don't know that I'm quite that competitive, but I have a respect for people that really have a hunger and a longing and a burning desire to win. I must tell you that I am what I would consider to be an optimist when it comes to winning and losing and specifically my teams. I think in order to be a Cleveland fan, you must be an optimist. You don't have a choice because there really isn't often much to be optimistic about and so you just kind of got to conjure that up within you, I suppose. But I view myself, I think of myself in that way as an optimist. And what I mean by that is when my team is playing, when my team is playing, no matter how far behind they may be, I am of the persuasion that they can come back and win. I just believe it. But even me, the eternal optimist, there are times in a competition, whether I'm sitting in the stands in person or I'm watching it from my television at home in which I say, you know, our team just doesn't have it today. Our team is either that much inferior to the team that they're playing, or they're better, or they're even with the team, but they just don't have it in the head, which is oftentimes a big part of the battle. It's a battle of the mind. And at that point, here's how I am. I'm sort of a sore loser. I'll turn the television off and I'll go do something else. Because I do not want to see my opponent celebrate. I hate the thought of my opponent being talked about and being celebrated and congratulating one another. No, I want my team to be the one that is being talked about and is celebrating a victory and is walking off holding the trophy or whatever it is that they might be playing for. Let me ask you this question. In life, do you ever feel like a loser? You ever feel like a loser? Life can be really hard, can't it? It can be confusing from time to time. Living in this flesh often means, it often means, at least it feels like it means that before I even get out of bed in the morning, I'm already defeated. I've already lost. What's the point? Before I even make the first move in my day, I know what is waiting for me and what is in front of me and the temptations and the difficulties that will be there. And many times I feel defeated before the day even begins. You ever been there before? I'm talking specifically in the spiritual realm. I'm talking about in choosing to do the right thing versus choosing to go the wrong direction. Can I just share with you that you're not alone? The Apostle Paul, he struggled with these same thoughts as he navigated the conflict between his carnal flesh and his divine spirit. And you know where we find this? We find this just in the preceding chapter. Would you hold your place in Romans 8 and go to Romans chapter number 7? And look what the Apostle Paul says in this incredible, incredible chapter. Look at verse number 14. He says, for we know that the law is spiritual, but notice what he says about himself, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I not. Does that sound familiar? I don't know about you, but that sounds familiar to me. Paul is saying, in his life, he says, the things that I tell myself, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to go down that road. I'm not going to involve myself in that activity. And he says, I find myself doing the very thing that I told myself I'm not going to do. And then on the other hand, he says, the things that I tell myself I need to do, he says, I go a day, two days, I go a week, and I haven't done them. And he says, the things that I hate, I'm doing. And the things that I love, that I have a passion for, I struggle to do them. Does that resonate with you? Does that sound just a little bit familiar? I mean, how many times do we get up and we say, okay, yesterday I really struggled. Man, I lost my temper with my children. I lost my cool with my boss at work. And I didn't do this that I should have done. And the Holy Spirit of God impressed me to share the gospel with this person. I didn't do it. Today, the things that I was supposed to do that I didn't do yesterday, I'm going to do those things today. And the things that I know that I shouldn't be involved in, that I shouldn't be doing, that I did yesterday, I'm not going to do those things today. And yet you know as well as I do that the day comes and goes, and many times the things that we said we weren't going to do, we do. And the things that we said we need to do, we don't do. And the Apostle Paul says, hey, I can identify. I've been there before. Now look how he concludes this chapter. Look at verse 24. Oh, wretched man that I am. Now I don't know about you, but I don't know too many people that were living with the Apostle Paul and were ministered to by the Apostle Paul who would have made that statement about him. I don't know too many people that would have agreed with that. Not too many people that would have said, yes, the Apostle Paul is a wretched man. But listen, here's the point, here's the point. Doesn't matter what other people think about me or what other people judge me to be. Listen, only God in heaven and myself know exactly who I am. And the Apostle Paul says, I've lived long enough in this flesh to know, to know, regardless of how good you might think that I am. And oftentimes we build these facades and we look so good and we polish things up and we paint things and we make things look in a specific way. But I want to remind you about something. God in heaven knows exactly who you are. You know, the church family, they may not think anything about you. They may think that you're living a victorious Christian life, but you alone, you alone in God know exactly who you are. And I just have to tell you, I think most of us, if we're being honest with ourselves, we would have to say along with the Apostle Paul, oh, wretched man, oh, wretched woman that I am. He goes on to say, who shall deliver me from the body of the staff? Who's going to set me free? Who's going to give me victory? So clearly we see a major struggle going on, don't we, in the life of the Apostle Paul? A struggle that seems even to have gotten the best of him to the point where he feels like he's a loser and he's not even victorious. And yet, I love the writing style that's found here, because it's reminiscent to me of the book of Psalms, and it really even kind of connects with what I told you a moment ago about myself, that I like to think of myself as an optimist. I like to look down the road and say, okay, I know that I'm being defeated. I know that I'm losing right now, but there's still time on the clock. There's still an opportunity for me to come out on the winning side. The Apostle Paul, he's writing in chapter 7, he's detailing the struggles of living life here on this earth, and he gets to the point where he wants to throw his hands up, and he wants to say, who's going to deliver me? I'm just a wretched man. But there's a change of perspective, isn't there? Because when we move from chapter seven to chapter number eight in the book of Romans, there's a completely different mindset. There's a different tone in this chapter. Do you see it? Look in verse number one. He says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. So we go from Romans chapter number 7, which sounds sort of like it's defeated, and it's a struggle, and it's gloomy, and it's doomy. And then we come to chapter number 8, and we find, listen, that it's one of the greatest chapters in all of the Bible on victory, on succeeding, on success. It reminds me of the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms. So many of the Psalms begin with a lament and a complaint, don't they? I mean, there's just, Lord, why do I have to experience this? Why am I suffering in this way? Why am I going through all of this? And usually somewhere around the middle of the chapter, there's a change in the writing. And all of a sudden, the writer is no longer saying, why, and how come, and why me? But all of a sudden, he's He's had a perspective adjustment and now he is seeing things in a victorious manner, in a victorious way. And usually the Psalms end in great victory and great confidence and great triumph. Apostle Paul writes similarly here. And he says this, he says, listen, I sometimes, I feel like a loser, but listen, I cannot, and you cannot, and the apostle Paul could not live their lives, we cannot live our lives based on our feelings alone. Way, way too many people, way too many Christians that are living life based on their feelings. That's a problem, that's a recipe for disaster. You say, well, what should I live my life based upon? I propose to you that you should live your life based upon this book. I propose that you should live your life based upon the facts of the Word of God, not necessarily how you feel from day to day. Here's why. Because feelings change. They do, don't they? They change. You know, this book never changes. It's the same. By the way, our God who sits in the heaven, he says of himself that he is the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. So don't you suppose that as believers, as Christians, as followers of this book that never changes, and of this God that never changes, that we should live our life based upon this book and not based upon our feelings that, listen, change moment by moment and even hour by hour. Now notice, notice that the Bible is our final authority in life. It's not how I might feel or what I might think, but what we find is that victory is given to those who find themselves in two places. According to chapter eight and verse number one. By the way, victory is the idea of no condemnation. I'm not condemned. Notice he says, there is therefore now no condemnation. There's no losing. You're a winner if these things are true about you. Number one, if you are in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ Jesus this morning, I want you to know something. You are a winner. I don't care how you feel. You might look back over the last week and you might think, boy, I made a mess out of some things. I have some real regrets. I have some real disappointments over the things that I have done. But hold on a minute, if you are in Christ Jesus, you're still a winner, regardless of how the previous week played out. You say, what does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? To be in Christ Jesus means that you've been born again, that you have been saved, that your heart has been transformed from the evil heart, the wicked heart that you had before that we're all born with as sinners, and it's been replaced with a heart that is given to you, a divine heart that is given to you by God's Holy Spirit at the moment that you repented of your sins and you trusted Christ as your Savior. So if you're here today, and you can look back over your life, and you can think, you know, there was a time in which I was lost, but I heard the message of the gospel, and I repented of my sin, and I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior, therefore I am born again. According to Romans 8 and verse number one, you are victorious. Because there's no condemnation. To be condemned is to lose. For there to be no condemnation is to win. Now listen, Jesus said this to his followers in John 14, verses 19 to 21. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but ye see me, because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I, here it is, I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. So the point is this, listen, when you get saved, God does a supernatural work and he places you in Christ Jesus. Think about this, Jesus said he also, God the Father places Jesus Christ in me. Well, that's pretty incredible, isn't it? It's pretty amazing to think about. And why is that significant? Because Jesus is in His Father. Therefore, I have a connection to the Father and I have a connection to the Son. I am in Christ Jesus. Therefore, I am victorious. Now notice, notice there's a second element. In verse number one, there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Some of you are not in Christ Jesus, and you need to get in Christ Jesus today. You need to trust Jesus as your Savior today. You don't need to put it off any longer. That's the decision that you need to make, and you'll have an opportunity to do that in just a moment. But can I tell you that there are many of you that are in Christ Jesus, but the second statement is not true about you. Notice he says, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. I've met folks, I've been a person who's been born again, and yet because I'm not walking after the spirit, I'm walking after the flesh, therefore I'm as carnal and I'm as worldly as anybody else. We've met people like that. They claim to be saved, they claim to be believers, but when you look at them you see little to no evidence whatsoever that they're born again. It is possible, listen, it is possible to be saved, to truly be in Christ, but to still walk after the flesh and not after the Spirit. That is possible. That's what led the Apostle Paul to write these words to the churches of Galatia in Galatians 5, 16. This I say then, walk in the Spirit. That's a command. That's an instruction. That is, we might say it this way, that is a choice to be made. He's writing to a group of believers. These are saints in the churches that made up that region of Galatia, and yet they still needed the instruction. They still needed the warning. Hey, listen, walk in the Spirit, because listen to what happens if you don't walk in the Spirit. He says, if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Well, that would lead me to think that if I don't walk in the Spirit, then guess what's going to happen? I'm going to begin to fulfill the lust of the flesh. And I'm telling you, the moment that you begin to live life that way as a born-again Christian, boy, you're gonna struggle with victory. You're gonna struggle to be victorious. Which leads us to this thought, every believer, listen, every believer, every person who's truly in Christ Jesus is positionally victorious. But can I tell you that not every believer, not every believer is at the same time practically victorious. In other words, there may even be people in this room, you're saved and you're on your way to heaven. Therefore, death is not something that you fear because you know that you've been born again. But while you're living life here down on this earth, you're really struggling from day to day, aren't you? Struggling maybe in reading this book consistently and living according to this book. Struggling in the area of living out your faith and fleshing out what the Holy Spirit of God has done inside of you. Struggling in the area to be honest, to be morally pure. Struggling in the area to be faithful to the Lord's work and to church and to the preaching of the word of God. Just struggling every step of the way. In other words, you have a positional victory You are already seated with God in heaven. He's preparing a place for you. Nothing can change that. But practically down here, it is a great struggle and it is a great battle from day to day. Listen, I've lived that kind of life throughout my life to know that that is possible and to know that it is frustrating. And that's why I'm coming to you today to tell you, listen, that Christ's gift to you is that you don't have to live that way anymore. that you can have victory. As we consider the gifts that we've been given in Christ, I wanna point out to you today that according to Romans chapter number eight, that he gives us victory. Can I tell you that this is one of the greatest gifts you and I could possibly ever receive? Because it's the one thing that we all have a universal desire for. We want to win. That's born and bred in every single one of us. May God help everyone in this room, number one, to be positionally victorious. In other words, if you're here today and you're lost, you're not certain that if you were to die today that you'd spend eternity with God in heaven. I pray that when this service comes to a conclusion, you run to the altar and allow one of our personal workers to take a Bible and show you how you can be positionally victorious. But then my burden is expanded just a little bit and the word of God tells us that there's a practical victory that we ought to have and that we ought to long for as well. And I wanna share just a few brief thoughts about that as we wrap things up today. Number one, I want you to notice that our victory is sure. Our victory is sure. Would you look with me in verse number 31? What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? What a great verse. Listen, if God is on your side, if God is for you, there's no one that can withstand you. There's no one that can defeat you. There's no sin that can weigh you down. There's no pressure that can overwhelm you and overcome you. Now listen, if God is for you, then who in the world can be against you? That's sort of a rhetorical question, because the answer is no one can be against you. People can be against you, but they can't defeat you. They can't bring you down. They can't destroy you. Now the Bible reveals ways in which God is for us. Ways in which God is for us. Ways that he's demonstrated, he's revealed that he is for us. I want you to notice two of them that are found in this very text. And that is this, number one, how do we know that God is for us? Well, number one, he has chosen us to be his son. Would you look with me in verse number 14 of Romans 8? The Bible says, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now, how do we become sons? According to verse 15, for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. You know, adoption is such a beautiful picture. It really is, because in adoption, the parent is choosing the child to be their own. I remember when my wife and I felt like, okay, we feel like we're ready to be parents. Well, that was the silliest thought we ever had in our life. No one's ever ready to be a parent, but we thought we were ready. And we'd been married for, I think, maybe three years or so when our firstborn was born. And when she was born, we had no choice in whether she was a boy or a girl. Now, whether she had dark hair or light hair, whether she had blue eyes or green eyes or brown eyes, this is what God's given us, even whether she was healthy or whether she was unhealthy. But you know what I think about with adoption? Adoption's a little different, isn't it? In adoption, a parent, and again, I've never adopted, maybe some of you have, but a parent, they choose essentially, boy or girl, dark hair or light hair, dark skin or light skin, blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes, healthy, unhealthy. I know parents that have traveled to different parts of the world and they have brought a child into their home with incredible health and physical deficiencies and they have chosen that specifically because they believe that they can give that child the care that that child could not receive anywhere else. Can I tell you something? Listen, listen, God chose you. You look at yourself, and I look at myself, and we say, what a wretched man that I am. But the only side of this, God specifically picked you out and said, I'll take you. I'm for you. I want you to be close to me. Can I just tell you that God has chosen every man? God has chosen every woman. Jesus Christ, listen, he died for the sins of the whole entire world. There's not a person that you'll ever meet that God is not for them, that God is not interested in them becoming a part of his family, his son or his daughter. And so we are chosen to be his sons. Our victory is sure why? Because we're part of his family. God has chosen us to be on his team. But notice our victory is sure not only because he's chosen us to be his sons, but because he has also given to us his Holy Spirit. Would you look with me a little bit further? In verse number 16, the Bible says, The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Would you look in verse 26? Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us. There it is. If God be for us, what's the Holy Spirit doing? He's making intercession for us. with groanings which 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. Here's why you can't lose. Here's why you can't lose, because you've been chosen to be God's son, and because, listen, he has given to you his Holy Spirit. In other words, there's not a scenario, there's not a place that I can go in this life in which the Holy Spirit of God doesn't go with me. There's not an enemy that I face without the Holy Spirit of God fighting for me and being there on my side. Oh, there are times, no doubt, when I grieve the Holy Spirit and when I disappoint the Holy Spirit. But I want you to know something, the teaching is clear. that victory is sure, it is certain. Because why? We are the sons of God. And because He's given us the Spirit of God to dwell inside of us. Therefore, listen, with God giving us these things, God being for us, who in the world, who in the world can stand against us? The answer is no one. No one. Therefore, listen, if you're struggling in a certain area, if you're struggling in a certain area, victory is yours, it can be yours. What do I need to remind myself of? Number one, I need to make sure that I'm a son of God. that I've been adopted into God's family. And when I've been adopted into God's family, then he gives me the Holy Spirit. And as a result, listen, victory should be sure. It should be certain. But notice, notice secondly, we discover that our victory is not only sure, but our victory is solidified in Christ's suffering. Would you look at me in verse number 32? The Bible says, 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? I think with this question, why do we have victory? And Paul writes that we have victory because of Christ's suffering and his sacrifice. In other words, here's what he's saying in verse 32. He's saying, if God the Father was willing to allow God the Son to die for you, which is the greatest gift that you and I will ever receive, then He, listen, it is not a problem at all. He will also make sure that you have victory in this life as well. In other words, if you look at what God did for you on the cross, and how he sent his son to die for you, is it any problem for us to think that God can give us victory over the sinful habits and the flesh that we deal with? The answer is, well, of course not. If he's willing to do that for me, then I know that he's willing to do this for me as well. Notice what does God do for us as a result of the suffering of Christ. Number one, He supplies all of our needs. We see that in verse number 32. The Bible says, Think about what God has done for me. He has saved me. He's made me His Son. He's given me His Holy Spirit. He's favored me with love and blessing. Listen, and then on top of all of that, He promises to supply all of my needs. I think of what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 84, 11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. And then I think of the very familiar passage, Philippians 4, 19. But my God shall supply. all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus. You know, you could come to me and you could bring a need to me and I might say, you know, I can't help you there. I don't have the ability to meet that need. But can I tell you that you and I will never encounter a need in which God looks at us and says, I can't help you there. I can't do that for you. No. According to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus, as we talked about the first week, Christ gives us His wealth. There is no limit to the resources of God. So, My victory is solidified in Christ's suffering. What does that look like? It means, number one, he supplies all of my needs. But notice, number two, he answers all of my accusers. Look in verses 33 and 34. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. 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. You know, when I was a kid, I remember the one tool that we had in our bag as kids was the fact that if you did something wrong, I could tell on you. And sometimes we would use that tool, wouldn't we? I remember telling on kids, going to the teacher, maybe going to my parents, and so-and-so did this and so-and-so did that. And I can remember a time when my parents sat me down and they said, you gotta quit telling on everybody. What is wrong with you? The Bible calls the devil the accuser of the brethren. I was doing his job for him. As a little kid, I was fitting right into his plan. Just going and accusing everybody of everything. Telling on this person, telling on that person. The other day, one of my children said, Dad, I'm gonna tell on this person. And I had an opportunity to sound like my parents all those years ago and just say, relax, let God take care of it. There are times in which we probably do need to tell on people. But you know what I love about this passage of Scripture? When the devil comes to tell on me, and he does because he's the accuser of the brother, And maybe even a fellow believer sees me and accuses me of something, maybe even to God. The question is asked, who shall lay anything? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? You know what? You know when God hears someone come and accuse me of something, God says, I don't know what you're talking about. Because when I look at that person, his sins, his iniquities, his wickedness, listen, those things are covered up by the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, listen, listen, God answers my accusers. You know, I would submit to you that probably some of us, the greatest accuser we have in all of the world, beyond the devil is our own selves. Constantly we're berating ourselves and beating ourselves up and I'm just here to tell you that some of us need to get into the bible And begin to read the word of god and begin to claim the promises of god And to begin to understand hold on a minute I am I am not what I'm accusing myself to be if I am in christ And I I begin to walk after the spirit and not after the flesh then no one no one can lay a charge Against me the holy spirit of god. Listen, he stands up and he answers every single one of my accusers Well, there's victory there, isn't there? I can't lose. If God is not just my judge, but God is also my legal counsel. He is my lawyer. Therefore, I cannot lose. He answers all of my accusers. Did you know that in Christ, according to the Bible, my sins are buried in the depths of the deepest sea? That's pretty deep. That's a long way away, isn't it? According to the Scriptures, my sins are separated from God as far as the East is from the West. Those two never meet. Therefore, God and my sin will never meet. My sin has already been paid for. It's already been dealt with. Did you know that according to the Scriptures, my sins are cast behind God's back? You can see behind me, but I can't see behind me. I I can't look behind me and god chooses not to look behind him That's what he's done with our sin. And did you know there's a fourth analogy that god gives according to according to the truth of god's word My sin is remembered no more by god the father Listen, there's a fourfold protection there. Depths of the deepest seas, far as the east is from the west, behind his back, to be remembered no more. Therefore, listen, he answers all of my accusers. Notice thirdly, he preserves me from all harm. He preserves me from all harm. Verses 35 and 36, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. There's a lot of people that have never familiarized themselves with that verse. You say, what do you mean by that, Pastor? Well, there's a lot of people that believe, they literally believe that because they're in Christ, they should not have to deal with persecution. They should not have to deal with tribulation. They should not have to deal with hunger and peril and nakedness and so on. The Bible never says that. It just simply says that those things won't separate us from the love of Christ. Those things will be present in our lives. Those things are a reality for many of us. But listen, listen, we understand, listen, in this world we are threatened by many things. We're threatened by tribulation, we're threatened by distress, by persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword. In fact, according to verse number 36, for his sake we're killed all the day long and we are counted as sheep heading for the slaughter. But despite, listen, despite all of these threats, I am in no danger of being separated from him. I am victorious in spite of these things. He is with me through these calamities and he's there to preserve me from all harm. I love Psalm 23, for yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? For thou art with me. Psalm 46, 11, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our strength. Matthew 28, 20, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Thirdly and finally this morning, I want to share with you, not only is our victory sure and it's solidified in the person of Christ, because he was willing to die for us, that he's also willing to supply all of our needs, to answer our accusers, to preserve us from all harm. But notice thirdly and finally, our victory is superior. I must tell you that I've struggled with verse number 37 for quite a while. The idea, the thought of more than conquerors. What exactly is God saying? How can you be more than a conqueror? I mean, isn't conquering enough? Isn't that sufficient? Isn't that all that we should want and all that we should desire? But instead, God, and by the way, we believe that every verse, every word is carefully chosen by God. Therefore, more than a conqueror is put there for a reason. What exactly does it mean to be more than a conqueror? Can I tell you that the victory that Christ gives me, it means that I'm not just a winner, but I'm a superior winner. You know, I remember going to Bible college, and when I went to Bible college, the kids came from all over. You know, they came from Christian schools all over the place, some of them public school kids, some of them homeschool kids. And I remember, you know, you'd run into people, you're just getting to know them, tell me something interesting about yourself, and they would tell you, I was the valedictorian of my class. Wow, that's impressive. Because I was not the valedictorian of my class. I was sort of middle of the road type of thing. And then a little smirk would come across their face. I'm like, what are you laughing about? You're not pulling my leg, are you? You were the valedictorian of your class, right? And they would say, yes, I was the valedictorian of my class, but there was only one student. I was the valedictorian by default. In other words, it didn't matter what my grade point average was, because I was the only one I was destined to be. I want you to listen. You're not just a winner that way. You are a superior winner. You've earned it, essentially. You're a superior winner. You've earned the victory. Notice what he says here. He says, in all these things, we are more than conquerors. And we must think about, first of all, this idea of calculated loss. When you're a superior winner, that means not only do you win, but you win easily. You win by a lot. Listen, you win and you don't suffer any casualties in the loss. That's what it means to be more than a conqueror. I told you that I enjoy sports, and there have been times in which my team has won a game, but I walk away from it feeling like they didn't win. Maybe they didn't play very well, or maybe one of the best players on the team got hurt, and we don't know when he's gonna come back, and without him on the team, we say, well, that victory was nice, but I don't think we're gonna have too many more victories. in the battlefield itself, an army could go into battle and they could come out victorious at the end of the day, but they could have sustained such casualties and such loss that they don't really feel like they're much of a conqueror. But I want you to know something, in Christ Jesus, I am more than a conqueror. In other words, listen, if I lose anything at all, the things that I lose weren't worth anything to begin with. See, as a believer in Christ, what are the things that he's trimming out of my life? What are the things that I'm losing? I'm losing shame. I'm losing regret. I'm discarding some of those sinful habits that have been a part of my life. I'm not walking there anymore. I'm not going there anymore. I'm not involving myself in anything. Therefore, listen, the loss that I sustain, it is a loss that I embrace. It is a loss that I desire. It is a calculated loss. I choose to lose those things because in reality, by losing those things, I haven't lost anything to begin with. I think to myself, sometimes the devil convinces us, oh, you poor Christians, you poor believers, you're missing out on all that the world has to offer. I want you to know something. Yeah, you're missing out. You're missing out on shame. You're missing out on regret. You're missing out on disappointment. You're missing out on failure. Listen, those are things that we choose to lose to begin with. I don't need those things in my life to begin with. Therefore, listen, when I win and I lose those things, then I am more than a conqueror. Not only do we think of the calculated loss, but we think of the great gain. Listen, I am not only victorious because I haven't lost anything that isn't worth losing, but I'm also victorious because I've acquired, listen, I've acquired great gain along the way. Here's the thing, the gain that you can get in this world of a physical or carnal nature are things that the Bible says they rust and they corrupt. Can I tell you the gain that you can get is more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus under no condemnation. That gain, according to the Bible, is treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal. And I wanna share with you, church family, today that in Christ Jesus, he's given you the gift of victory. Now, you may sort of feel like a loser because of some of your activity and some of the things that you've been involved in over the past week, but I'm here to tell you, listen, if you're in Christ Jesus, you are positionally victorious, and if you'll determine from here on out to begin to walk in the Spirit and not to walk after the flesh, you can be practically victorious as well. God wants to give you victory over your sin and over your flesh, over yourself. May God help us to claim the victory that is available to us.