finish up with the eighth chapter of the book of romans so you have to retrain your bibles to open to a new chapter starting uh... beginning next week anyway today is nine whole verses have not done nine whole verses in one sitting since we started uh... not because it is any less important or any less detailed uh... to be in fact martin louis jones been seven chapters on these nine verses okay uh... but i'm of the opinion that it is largely an affirmation and a confirmation of things that we have already covered at length and some of it at great length uh... this is the song summary culmination of all of paul's teaching and encouragement regarding our assurance of salvation which as we have said begins in chapter five, along about verse 21, and carries through to the end of today's text. Are you not yet persuaded? I think might be a good title for today's lesson. Yes, I know that our translation says, I am sure, but I kind of prefer the King James, where it says, I am persuaded, simply because that has been Paul's purpose all along, and that is persuasion. So after all that I have told you from chapter 5 until now, can there still be any doubt in your minds that your final glorification is assured? Considering all that God the Father has done on your behalf, considering all that God the Holy Spirit has done on your behalf, all that God the Son has done on your behalf, considering the how and the why that all of this was done on your behalf, How can you possibly doubt that God will see it through for His ultimate glory and thereby for your ultimate salvation? So, we begin with verse 31. He says, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised? Who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all of these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. So he starts with a question. What then shall we say to these things? Well, what things? Well, to the previous verses, 28 through 30, of course. But I submit that Paul is here referring to everything he has said all the way back to chapter 1. when he began to lay out God's plan of salvation. That this is a summing up of God's great plan and purpose of salvation beginning with the just shall live by faith. This is the gospel. The gospel of which he is not ashamed. The righteousness of God which is by faith. Justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ and his perfect work on our behalf. all of that being argued out in the first four chapters, followed by our union with Christ and how that is worked out by the Holy Spirit in us, all done in preparation for our complete redemption, sanctifying us in preparation for the glory that is coming, the final glory of believers as sons of God, the Holy Spirit in us guaranteeing our sonship and our adoption into God's family which guarantees our ultimate salvation. Guaranteed because we are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Christ is already glorified and so shall we be. Our suffering for him and thereby with him preparing us equally as much as our sanctification prepares us. culminating with how the Spirit helps us in our infirmities through prayer, offering us proof of our ultimate glorification, bringing us to the section which we just finished, offering the highest proof that our final glorification hinges on the fact that it is God's purpose and it is God who has worked out this purpose to the finest detail. And above all, in the sending of his only begotten son into this world to live and die and rise again. These are all the things that he's referring to. What then shall we say to all of these things? So what is our conclusion based on all of these facts? Well, if God is for us, who can be against us? So let's clarify that statement. who can be against us there are a whole lot out there that's against us we already know that right uh... there are the world the flesh the devil those are all against us their wicked evil forces with great power that are against us uh... do not be deceived the world at large is against you vehemently okay the world hates you uh... your own flesh is against you every day that you live. The devil hates you in particular. So that's not what Paul is referring to here. What he is saying is that by comparison, now we know we've got all these things that are against us, all these different forces that are against us. By comparison, if God is for us, what does it matter if they're against us? Who can be against us? If God has planned and purposed and bought our ultimate salvation, all these other forces have no power to thwart us. Powerful though they may be, don't make light of them, powerful though they may be, they have no power to hinder God. Now, there is no promise of an easy life for a Christian. Any teaching that says there is, is sheer heresy. your best life now are familiar with that that's your heresy okay uh... health and wealth and prosperity gospel that's heresy are terrible for these are terrible forces these are powerful enemies god's mercies it says are new every morning because the battles we face against our enemy are there to greet us every morning uh... There are no shortcuts to final victory. Our enemy is powerful and our enemy is also subtle. And we are required to put on the whole armor of God, to withstand, to fight the good fight, to resist, to always be on guard. And the best way of doing that is to remind ourselves that our enemy, although he is powerful and nothing to sneer at, he is nothing. Our enemy is nothing when face to face with the one who is on our side and working on our behalf. So if God, Almighty God, Omnipotent God, Creator and Sustainer and Controller of all things, if God be for us, who can be against us? So, who is God for? If God is going to be for someone, Who would he be for? Well, those who are in Christ Jesus. Those whom he foreknew. Those whom he predestined. Those whom he effectually called according to his purpose. Those whom he justified. Those whom he made alive in Christ. Those that love God. That is who God is for. He is not for anyone else. And in spite of ourselves, in spite of everything that is against us, God is on our side, he is for us, he is working on our behalf, fighting our battles alongside us against our terrible foes. So what do you say, what then shall we say to all of these things? Can you possibly still say that there is a chance, any chance whatsoever that you could lose your salvation? This is not theoretical. Paul is here calling for us to give a verdict. What do you have to say about all of these things that I have told you for eight chapters? What do you have to say about that? Are you not yet persuaded? Are you in his purpose? Are you effectually called? Do you love God? Are you in Christ? Is Christ in you? All of these are easily answered. The fruit of your life is the proof and thus the answer. God will finish what He started. Now, why would God be obligated to finish what He started? Is there any danger of God's love lessening or of God changing His mind when confronted by especially weak believers, somebody like me? Is there any danger of God's love lessening or of God changing His mind when confronted by us who are especially weak believers? Verse 32, 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? So if God has already done for us the greatest of all things, the greatest act of love that even he as God could possibly do, how could he conceivably fail or refuse to do anything for us less than that? That is the argument. If God has already done the greatest thing of all for our salvation, Would it not be quite unthinkable that he would fail to complete the work begun by that act, until he has brought us to its final original goal, being our ultimate perfection and glorification? Now, there's a word used in the original that not many of the translations chose to include, and I'm not sure why that is. This sentence in the original begins with the word surely, not surely, surely. Surely, surely he who did not spare his own son, surely he could not, surely he would not. God had a plan and a purpose and God does not change. So surely if he has already given the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring that about surely there is no way that he will allow it to fail but the devil is always lurking seeking whom he may devour and he sometimes suggests to us well that might be true one might say of others But me, I am frail, and I am weak, and I am prone to more sin than God can possibly acknowledge and still love me. You ever felt like that? It happens. Now, this is where we have to study to show thyself approved, as the Scripture says. This is where doctrine comes into play. Paul is never subjective, and he's rarely emotional. It's all about the doctrine. There's a movement that has been around for a while that denies anything that is doctrinal. People don't want doctrine. They just want emotions. They just want the leading of the Spirit. A preacher can study for hours and hours and hours all week and get up and nobody's moved. But if he gets up and says, well, I had this sermon prepared, but the Spirit told me to do this instead. Oh boy, everybody's got to sit up straight and listen now because God's going to speak to them. That's not how it works. Just emotions and the leading of the Spirit. I've heard it multiple times this past couple of weeks. People saying that preachers don't need to go to school. Yeah. They're called to be preachers or they're not called to be preachers. They don't need to go to school. I'm not here to argue whether seminary is necessary or not. fact if you go to the wrong one you're far worse off than not going. There's a bunch of bad ones out there. I had a friend years ago went to seminary and told me that 75% of the people in his preaching classes were not even Christians. 75% and this was in early 1980s, 82, 83 uh... seventy five percent weren't even christians they were eight years but they were there because if they landed the right church if you plan the right church guess what you make a lot of money telling you make a lot of money on the flip side most of the people that i know of that did not go to seminary they are nothing more than emotional manipulators that couldn't explain substitutionary atonement any more than they could explain quantum physics. That being said, if you sit under a preacher that doesn't know the facts, doesn't know the doctrines, then you will never learn the doctrines or the facts. I figured out really fast that y'all had sat under Lonnie Barnes long enough that when they asked me to start after he retired and asked me to start teaching Sunday school, I knew that I better know what I was talking about or y'all was going to call me on it. That's a rare situation. Most things now that you hear preached or taught as current events or history or politics or tell cute emotionally manipulative little stories to get the audience worked into a fervor, but never say anything of any weight. I went to a church one time, and the preacher was wiping sweat and blowing snot and running back and forth in front of the church. And Ted was standing up in front of me and watching the preacher. And he'd look at me, and he'd go, whoa. Run back and forth and hoot and hollered and never said nothing. Never said anything that had any bearing on anything. nonsense uh... so if that's your background if that is your background if that's what you have grown up under that kind of teaching is what you've grown up under and the devil says when the devil comes along and says that god loves the sinner but hates the sin or that your dear departed loved one is now an angel Or that God exists to serve you and make you happy. Or that God couldn't stand the thoughts of living in heaven without you. Or that God will stop loving you if you don't do everything correctly. You're going to swallow that nonsense hook, line, and sinker. Because you haven't been taught the doctrines that matter. Okay? All of those are nonsense. If you don't believe me, I'll give you the scriptures to back it up. Paul not only gives us only the facts, he also gives us the meaning and the significance of those facts. That's called doctrine. That's the meaning of the word doctrine. Doctrine is that which explains the meaning and the purpose of God's plan. The person of Christ, the meaning of Christ's death on the cross, and on and on. Will God cease to love me based on what a failure I am? Well, soteriology tells me that he didn't start loving me based on anything that he saw in me. Therefore, why would he cease to love me on the same grounds? The more you know, the more assurance you can have. Real assurance, not deception from the enemy. There's nothing more foolish, nothing more self-defeating than for a professed Christian to say that he is not interested in the doctrines i say profess because a true christian always has a desire to know more and more about the one they claim to love modern day preachers tasked with paul's uh... job of sending a letter to a fledgling congregation in rome would have sounded something like this got this from body balkan This is what modern day preachers would have sent to Rome, not the book of Romans, not the letter of Romans. It says that it would have sounded something like this. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Just accept Jesus and your life will finally be complete. The end. P.S. You can support our ministry through prayer and by your monthly gift through the link at the bottom of this letter. Y'all know it's true. That's what American ministry is about. Okay? Paul's entire argument to this point depends on the meaning and upon our understanding of what has taken place on our behalf all the way back to the foundation of the world. The purpose and the plan of God. What was happening when our Lord died on the cross? God did not even spare his own son. God gave him up. Yes, the Jews and the Romans killed Jesus. Yes, our sins killed Jesus. But in reality, who did this? God did this, okay? God delivered him up for us all. God did this. We ain't gonna go there this morning, but if you care to research on your own, Isaiah 3 is replete with statements that confirm that Christ's suffering, 53, sorry, I left out the 5 there, is replete with statements that confirm that Christ's suffering and death was first and foremost the work of God the Father. As is Christ's own words to Pilate and Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, all of them say the same thing. God did this. God did this. And if God would go that far to do this thing, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Now, don't miss that with him. It's kind of hidden there in the middle of that last line. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Again, This was all done in order to glorify the son. He gave him up for us all so that he might be glorified. And so all that are in him are going to receive equally all things that are given to the son. That's why it says with him, how shall he not also with him graciously give us all things. There's no way that God would give his only begotten son to that kind of humiliation and pain and suffering and separation from his father and then fail to give his son the reward of his suffering. You and I are the reward of his suffering. Did you know that? We are the reward of his suffering. Therefore, we are assured to receive all things just as he. What God has done is my guarantee of that which God will yet do. So here is the doctrine. God has delivered up his own son for us all. All being all who love God, that's who the all is, all who love God, and are called according to his purpose, delivered up for us all as a body, but also delivered Christ up for each one of us in particular, And if God has delivered up His Son for me in particular, He is not going to abandon me. Do you get that? Even in spite of me, even in spite of anything I might do, even in spite of anything I might be, if He has given up His own Son for me in particular, then He is not going to abandon me. Every one of us is covered by the action of God which He undertook on the cross on Calvary. God freely gave up His Son for us all so that He could freely give us all things pertaining to life and godliness. That's what it means when He graciously gives us all things. He's not talking about houses and cars and mansions and swimming pools and whatever else. All things. pertaining to life and godliness. All things that he is working together for our good. This is the perfect picture of God's perfect love seen clearly in the substitutionary atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ. 33 and 34. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Okay. So we have to know that this is not a reference to people accusing you of things or saying bad things about you. That's not what this is talking about. I'm well aware that most people can only tolerate me in small doses. My wife is one exception. Well, she's tolerated me for 43 years. Yeah, so ain't nobody else going to do that. This is not even a reference to the religious leaders of the day who were the self-appointed spiritual judges. or the worldly enemies of God who hate you simply because you belong to Christ. They can bring charges. All of those can bring charges. They might even put you to death for those charges. But that has no bearing on your ultimate destination. This is in reference to the accuser of the brethren. Have you heard that phrase? Who is the accuser of the brethren? Satan. Constantly pointing out to God all of our shortcomings. Constantly charging us with this sin or that sin. Condemning us to final and eternal judgment alongside himself. They need to be right here with me because they did the same things I did. Problem is, he's bringing the charges before whom? The one who has already declared us to be justified. So Satan's up there accusing us of all of this stuff, accusing us to the one who has already declared us to be justified. There are no charges that are going to stick. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now imagine if you will, Satan before God, we know that this is what he does, says, when God told him, have you considered my servant Job, okay? society bringing charges against adam on the final day he's going to be bringing charges against adam or no or abraham or paul or me or you or whoever we've got a really good case especially where i'm concerned maybe not y'all but he says listen god you said yourself that the wages of sin is death all of these Adam, Noah, Abraham, Paul, me and you, all of these deserve hell. Same as Satan. Now that's the truth. Satan just spoke the truth. Wages of sin is death. And he just told God, he says, all of these deserve hell. Same as me. Truer words never spoken. Anybody here believe that you deserve anything other than eternity in hell? That's scripture, folks. That's all we deserve. That's it. Even Satan can speak the truth when it suits him. So he's bringing valid, justifiable charges before God, and he demands a verdict. Trouble is, Satan has brought these charges against who? God's elect. Are you not yet persuaded? one more statement stacked on top of all the other statements multiplying our hope and our assurance god's elect those whom god foreknew those foreordained god's chosen people god's peculiar people as peter refers to us a peculiar possession for himself we are not people who have made a decision for christ We are not people who have accepted Christ. We are not people who have repeated a silly superstitious prayer. Not people who have found God. We're not good men trying our best to live a good life. All of that, all of those things put the emphasis on the wrong end. We have been elected. We have been chosen. We are God's purchased possession and we are precious for that reason alone. Notice that Paul doesn't even say here, who shall bring any charge against those who profess faith in Jesus Christ? That's not the words he used. We know from scripture that there are a whole lot more that claim to believe than actually do. We are God's elect. It is God who elected us. It is God who will preserve us. And it is God who will bring us ultimately into glory. So that's where our focus needs to be. This is how we need to think of ourselves as God's elect. When Satan attacks our conscience, and our conscience tells us that if we were really a Christian, we would not have done that, we would not have said that. Does your conscience ever do that to you? I'm not the only person that has all these problems. When our worldly enemies attack us with accusations of hypocrisy and failure, what is our response? We are God's elect. Such is our hope and our assurance on earth as it is in heaven. Yes, it is taking place in heaven even as we speak, just as it will take place on the last day. Are you not yet persuaded? So what do you think of when you think of intercession? That's the key word there. I've heard so many say that it is Christ pleading for us, begging God to forgive us. It's not even close. It's not even close. How can God declare us to be justified? Christ Jesus is the one who died in our law place. But more than that, more than that, what we just read, more than that, Christ Jesus was raised and he is sitting at God's right hand and is indeed interceding for us. his position at the right hand of god his position at the right hand of god is the only intercession that we require so satan says god how can you declare any of these wicked people to be justified there are no words of response needed because why all you have to do is say he's sitting right there how can you declare any of these people to be justified God how can you let them buy with this when you condemned me for the same thing God, they were your enemies. They hated you. There was nothing good to be found in any of them. How is this righteous? How is this fair? How is this just? The answer is right there. Christ's very presence at the right hand of God is all the intercession that you or I or any who belong to him will ever need. That's it. to tell us that possibly my favorite means it means it is finished that's what it means last words jesus it's finished tell us that what is finished cross work on my behalf for god's glory is finished Any punishment that I deserve has already been meted out. He is sitting right there. God's own righteousness and justice and truthfulness rather than demand that I be punished again for something that has already been punished and paid for, they rather demand that I be pardoned completely. Are you not yet persuaded? people who care nothing for doctrine no none of this stuff their only hope their only assurance comes from from their own experience and from their own profession of faith when you ask somebody how they know they're saved well i said this prayer when i was four that's their response that's the only thing they know It's only in as much as you understand the doctrine of justification by faith alone that you will find security and safety and joy. The more you understand that doctrine, the more secure you're going to be. This was the basis for the Protestant Reformation and the basis for the hope that lies within us. It is because of the death of the Son of God that our condemnation is impossible. Because of Christ, we have been delivered from sin, delivered from Satan, delivered from the law of God, delivered from death, and delivered from hell. Once in Christ, always in Christ is the basis for the final preservation of the saints. 35 through 39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. When all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I'm sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have reached the end and the grand climax as it were of what many consider to be the most wonderful chapter in all of scripture. Are you persuaded yet? All of this being said, all of this that we have said from chapter 5 until now, over and over, our hope and assurance laid out and proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Is there anything left in your mind that even hints at the possibility of being separated from the love that Christ has for you or from the love that God has for you in Christ? Something may be even from life itself. see we as americans know nothing of most of these things verses thirty five to thirty nine are since seventeen seventy six we have no idea what the what this is even pop not whatsoever imagine if you will however being a christian in present-day north korea or Yemen, or Somalia, or Sudan, or Iran, or most any other country, pick up a copy of the Voice of the Martyrs, if you're familiar with what that is, it's a magazine, and see what Christian life is like in so much of the rest of the world. Not much opportunity in anywhere other than America of running into pretend christians there are no other countries in this world on this planet that you can go and run into pretend christians or false preachers that we have discussed and which we all know are so very prevalent in america why is that i wonder Mostly for the simple reason that professing Christianity in the majority of the world that we live in brings immediate reprisals from those that hate the one that bought us with all of their being. They hate Jesus Christ with all of their being. Now what sort of reprisals you might ask? He says, tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. Let word leak out that you are a Christian anywhere on this planet other than America. And the repercussions are going to be swift and they are going to be terrible. assaults, beatings, defamation. They will refuse to sell you food, take away any way that you have of earning food or clothing, imprison you, burn your house down, chain the doors of the church that you are worshiping in, and burn it down around you with you and all of your Christian family in it. Or simply drag you out in the street and behead you with a machete. That's why he says, as it is written, for your sake, that is Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ's sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. A profession of faith in Christ for the majority of the world is and for 2,000 years has always been something that one does not announce flippantly or offhandedly. How and why is America different? Spoiler alert. These things are coming here sooner rather than later. We've not seen them for 250 years or whatever, but it's coming. But the only difference even now are the means that are being used. See, our enemies are the world and the flesh and the devil. all around the world all around the world satan uses physical fleshly attacks to try to get professed believers to abandon their faith that's the whole purpose of all of that you just renounce your faith everything's fine you don't get in no trouble they don't burn your house down they don't do any of this stuff to you all you gotta do is just renounce your faith that's the whole purpose of it Beatings and prisons and starvation and even death are his tools of choice. Yet these believers, they don't falter. They knew that their effectual call from Christ was to come and die. They knew that that's what they were being called to do, to come and die. They knew what they signed up for and they signed up for it anyway. so what about america uh... so so much more so it's the world that is placed before us most of american preaching is not come and die most of american preaching is come and prosper or it's just come and avoid hell that's the only thing, don't worry about anything else, just come to jesus and avoid hell The temptations that are laid before us are not fear of death or imprisonment or starvation or anything like that. Temptations that are laid before us are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the boastful pride of life. And we latch on to those things and we refer to them as blessings from God. All of our stuff, all of our accolades, all of our talents, all of our abilities We say things like, God has blessed me with these things. But we don't use them for Him in most cases. We use them to satisfy our own appetites. If all of our money and all of our stuff and all of our opportunities are keeping us from serving God, it's a good bet that we shouldn't call them blessings from God. See, Satan is the ruler of this world and he gives worldly things out like candy to those that serve him. Remember when he tempted Jesus Christ with all the kingdoms of the world? If he would just forget what he came for and bow down and worship him, I will give you all of these kingdoms. So how does this statement apply to us? In a nation overcome by greed and avarice and immorality, are you able to stay the course? In a nation overcome by greed and avarice and immorality, does the lure of the world cause you to deny your faith? Just like the threats of death might cause you to deny your faith. See, denial is denial, regardless of the means used to bring it about. You know, in some of these countries, these Christians have to be thinking, they might come and burn my church down tonight with me and all my family in it. I'm going anyway. You see how that works? where in America it might be that there's a really good ball game on during church time, but I'm going anyway. It takes just as much faith to overcome materialism and self-gratification and sloth as it does to overcome persecution and starvation and fear of death. Possibly even more faith Considering that we have been taught from birth, as Americans, that there is nothing wrong with materialism and self-gratification. It's the American dream. It's what we're supposed to be shooting for. But it's killing what we should be. Just the same. Now, here's the thing. Can any of this separate us from the love of Christ? Turning away is proof that we were never effectually called. But for those that are God's elect, he says no. None of those things can separate us from the love of Christ. Knowing all of these things, we are more than conquerors. We are surrounded, we are forced into materialism and self-gratification. Every day. You can conquer that. We are more than conquerors. Through Him who loved us. Get that part. Through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can conquer the materialism and the idolatry that we face now. We can conquer the persecution that is soon to come. We cannot conquer any of it on our own. We don't have the ability. But we can through who? Jesus Christ our Lord, Him who loved us. Do the persecuted all over the world, do these persecuted people have a desire not to be persecuted? Of course they do. Of course they have a desire not to be persecuted. They don't want to be beaten and have their homes burned and starved to death. They don't want any of that. but yet they overcome they conquer through the indwelling of the spirit in them through christ in the m do we as americans as american christians we have a desire not to be materialistic and i'd all of course and self-gratifying question that will keep you up at night. Do we have a desire not to be materialistic and idolatrous and self-gratifying? Do you have that desire not to be? I hope so. Because if you have that desire to not be materialistic and idolatrous and self-gratifying, guess what that means? Who does that mean is in you? That means that Christ and His Spirit is in you, okay? And if you have that desire, you can be more than conquerors through Him who loved us. You can. You can. I know you can, just like I know I can. How do I know? Because I am persuaded. I am sure. Because the Word of God has persuaded me. Because all that Paul has told me about all that God has done for me, what the Spirit has done for me, what Christ has done for me, the knowledge of all of this persuades me, it makes me sure, it gives me assurance that there is nothing in all of God's creation, which is everything by the way, there is nothing in all of God's creation, that can ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your love. Thank you for your word that brings us assurance, that persuades us. Thank you for your spirit in us that persuades us that we have nothing to fear from this world. We have nothing to fear from our persecutors we have nothing to fear from our accusers we are in Christ and Christ is in us and therefore we are sure we are assured of our place in your heaven be with us as we Go through the remainder of our service. May everything said and done be for your glory in Christ's name.