We come this morning to what will probably be the last sermon from this eighth chapter of Romans that we have been studying these many weeks. And I would ask you, please, to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. And I would like to read the conclusion of the chapter, Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him 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 Jesus that died, yea, rather that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Now, 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 things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You remember that all of the book is written in such a way as to bring encouragement and hope to the people of God, especially following Romans chapter seven, which is filled with so many discouraging truths about the Christian life. Paul writes Romans chapter eight to stir us to hope and to give us spiritual vigor. And one of the last things that he writes in chapter 8 is in verse 28, where he says that we know that to them who love God, all things work together for good. And he goes on to establish that all things work together for good to those people with these words in verse 29. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his son. that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, and whom he foreordained, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. And in those phrases he makes it abundantly clear that salvation from first to last is God, That it is God who has taken some and foreknown them. It is God who has taken some and predestined them to be made like Christ. It is God who has taken some and called them and justified them and glorified them. And he says, what shall we say to these things? What shall we say to this truth that God from first to last is responsible for our salvation? And he says, this is what we shall say to these things. And through a series of questions, he makes four assertions. Number one, no adversary can succeed against us. Number two, no good will be withheld from us. Number three, no charge can be laid against us. And finally, number four, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. It is that last assertion that we have been studying, that nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Last time I said that in these verses, verse 35 to the end, that you really have two prominent ideas. One is the idea of Christian assurance, that we are to be assured that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. And under that heading, we spoke of the certainty of the love of Christ and of the love of God for every Christian, that nothing shall divorce us from that love. Number two, we spoke of how the love of God and suffering are not incompatible. We considered the legitimacy of confident assurance. That there are some people who think it's not legitimate to have confident assurance, but Paul was not of that persuasion. It is very legitimate to have confident assurance that we are Christians. And the fourth thing then that we considered was the necessity of confident assurance. It is necessary that we be soundly assured that we are forever in the love of Christ. Number one, if we are to have sustained communion with God. Number two, for comfort and stability. And number three, it is necessary if we are to be useful. Well, that was the first emphasis that is in this passage, the emphasis of Christian assurance. The second emphasis that is so closely related is the note of Christian victory, the note of Christian triumph. And again, that is throughout, but it is especially sounded in verse 37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. And this morning it is that verse in particular that I would like us to consider, Romans chapter 8 and verse 37. The major Phrases in this verse are, number one, in all these things. Number two, we are more than conquerors. And number three, the last phrase, through him that loved us. And taking up those three phrases, we really have three headings to the sermon this morning. Number one, the Christian life is a struggle against powerful forces. Number two, the Christian will certainly overcome these forces and gain from the struggle. And number three, the Christian will overcome these forces through Christ. So let us take those up then together in their order. Number one, the Christian life is a life of struggle. Now try to get the picture which the words of verse 37 and the context bring before you. Here is a Christian who's likened unto a soldier, who's likened unto a warrior. And here are all these evil forces that are arrayed against him, all these things that have come out to do battle with him. And there's the question that goes up, shall these forces succeed against him? And the resounding answer is no, they will not only fail to succeed against him, but he will prove himself to be more than a conqueror. because there is a source of strength that is far beyond his own ability to war. Now that is the picture that is before us. The picture is a picture of struggle against certain powerful forces. And I would like us to take a few minutes under this heading to try to identify what those forces are in this context that the Apostle Paul is referring to. What are these things that are arrayed against the Christian over which the Christian will prove to be more than a conqueror? Well, you get a general answer from the context, and I'll only remind you briefly of what we considered last time. Look in verse 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Even as it is written, and then the quote is from Psalm 44, verse 22, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. Shall these things separate us from the love of Christ is the question. No, these things shall not separate us from the love of Christ. We will triumph over them. Now, remember, and I won't take the time to go into everything that we looked at last time, but just remind yourself of what those phrases, what those words rather are signifying. Tribulation is a general word. It literally means pressures. There are pressures in this life and tribulations in this life which are common to all people, Christians and non-Christians. The second word is the word that is translated in some versions anguish, in some versions distress. It probably refers to mental distress. It's a word that refers to a tight, constricted, narrow place where you might get into and panic because there seems to be no deliverance, there seems to be no way of escape. Mental agitation, distress. Well, that too is common to all people. People who are not Christians know much of distress and anguish and almost a desperate sense that there's no hope in their situation. People of God are subjected to that in different ways and in different circumstances, where there's pressure so much put upon the soul that it seems to despair of hope and there's distress and anguish. But then the third word is a word that refers not to problems common to all people, but it refers to problems that are unique to the people of God, to persecution. referring to things that are done against the people of God because they are Christians. And it may be that the words that follow are meant to be like subheadings under persecution, famine, peril, and the sword. It is true that normally you do not see the righteous begging bread. It is true that normally you seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness and all these provisions of food and clothing will be added unto you. But it is also true that in certain extraordinary circumstances God is pleased to withhold those ordinary provisions. And there is the suffering of famine, and there is the suffering of nakedness, and there is the suffering of peril and the sword. Well, Paul says, in all these things we will not be defeated. In all these things we will prove to be more than conquerors. He establishes that it is certain that we will have these things by the quote from Psalm 44. It is written. This is certain. The scriptures say these things will happen. And what that passage refers to is referring to suffering for Christ's sake. The passage in Psalm 44 is not so much a general statement that the people of God will suffer like the rest of the world, it is a suffering that is, quote, for thy sake. It's interesting, it would be, I think, practical for you to think through what it is to suffer for God's sake. We usually think of that in terms of suffering for the faith at the hands of unbelievers, and that's generally what it does refer to. You have somebody who's a Christian. They live consistently in the world. Their family may oppose them, may ridicule them, may ostracize them. They may lose their job. There may be all sorts of things that the ungodly will do against them. They're suffering because of their connection with God. They're suffering because of their relationship to Christ. But there's a whole other realm of this suffering for thy sake that I think should be considered. Would you say that Job suffered for God's sake? Of course he did. Job suffered because of his godliness. Job suffered because of his relationship to God. Satan saw that godliness. Satan saw it and Satan believed he could break Job down. Satan believed that Job loved God for impure motives. Satan believed that Job only pleased God because God was so good to him. Satan believed that if you get God to stop being good to Job, he'd break Job's godliness. And so what happened? Job brings all these afflictions upon him. Unrighteous men did not rise up and persecute him. There were things that would be considered natural calamities that came upon him. There was the loss of family, the loss of wealth, the loss of possessions, the loss of financial prosperity, his own health. It wasn't that the ungodly people in the world rose up and stoned him, but for God's sake and because of the relationship that Job had with God, Satan made him the object of special trial. Well, I'm only trying to say that suffering for thy sake does not only refer to when you're being stoned by an unrighteous person because you're a Christian. That many of the things that the evil one brings into our life may very well be for thy sake because of his knowledge of our godliness and his desire to destroy us. That many sufferings in this life are for thy sake inasmuch as they are from the hand of the evil one to destroy our faith. So what are these things? Well, you have a general reference to these forces against which we struggle in the context. But Paul says many other things which are much more specific about the things that we struggle against in the Christian life. And I would like to briefly And specifically, take your mind to some of the texts which outline this. Specifically now, what are the things which the child of God struggles against? These things over which he is more than conquerors. Well, number one, he struggles. He carries on a warfare with sin within himself. And we should all be familiar with some of these texts. Romans chapter 7, verse 22, Paul says, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." There's a struggle, the whole of chapter 7 and all the weeks that we spent on that were given to explaining that struggle, that warfare, that constant strife that is going on within the people of God. There is another struggle. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10. It is not only that we struggle with sin within ourselves and war against it. According to this passage in Ephesians chapter 6, we also have a struggle with evil forces. spiritual, evil, spiritual forces. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. The point of such a passage is obvious. The people of God are not only struggling with their remaining sins, but the people of God are also struggling in a deadly conflict with evil forces, with the devil himself and the rulers and principalities of the powers of the air. Now, we are accustomed in our modern materialistic age to belittle the influence of Satan. We are accustomed to make jokes about the influence of Satan. We are accustomed to caricaturize him with physical forms of horns and tails and ridicule. And we, even in the Christian Church, it seems that we go from one extreme to another. You have some who want to see Satan under every leaf. You have others who don't want to think about spiritual struggles at all and don't want to take into account the reality of the spiritual conflict that goes on between the believer and the devil. Well, it's important that you appreciate the scripture says a very great deal about Satan's influence upon the believer and that we are in a struggle with him. His influence does not reach the point of demonic possession, to be sure. And we need not to fear that Satan can actually come or a demon can actually come and take possession of our facilities. But freedom from that threat does not mean we are free from his influences totally. The Scriptures say much about this struggle in which we are with Satan. Just notice some of the details of that struggle. The scriptures say that he can transform himself into an angel of light and deceive Christians. You might be surprised to know he really doesn't come with his horns on and his tail dragging. He transforms himself into an angel of light. And so, appearing to be an angel of light, that is, appearing to be a purveyor of truth, an angel of light, he deceives us to believe wrong doctrine. He deceives us to believe, to interpret our experience wrongly. He deceives us to accept anti-Christian behavior in conflict with the law of God. But he deceives us so frequently in terms of guidance. He is an angel of light. He doesn't try to deceive us in terms of guidance in an open manner, but he manipulates circumstances in such a way as to create apparent open doors. He deceives us in terms of guidance in that he manipulates circumstances to create apparent open doors from God that are actually snares to deceive us from biblical principles. We had a good illustration of that in one of the members of our church, and I think it would not be embarrassing to say this. The situation arose, many of you know of it, where a job was offered. It seemed like a wonderful job. The need was real. Everything seemed to be of God. It would have been so desirable to take this job. It seemed so much like the Lord was opening the door to take this job. The need was there. The providential circumstances were there. But the job required Sunday work. Well, is that all the providences, all the circumstances to be seen as God's working to give this job? Absolutely not. It's much more likely that the evil one, disguised as an angel of light, was trying to manipulate things to make it look like God's open door in order to bring the person to a disobedience to biblical principles. Well, Satan can transform himself into an angel of light and deceive people in terms of doctrine, in terms of behavior, in terms of guidance. According to 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 5, Satan can use sexual abstinence in marriages to bring destruction to marriages and to the people of God. Difficulties in marriages may well be the result of his operations among us to bring us to destruction. According to 2 Corinthians 3, Satan can take advantage of one Christian not showing proper forgiveness to another. You remember that is where Paul said that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices. He was telling the people of God that they must be more forgiving. They must restore this brother that had been excommunicated. They must communicate their love and their forgiveness to him. If they don't, Satan would take advantage of that, harden the heart, and cause discouragement. According to 2 Timothy 2, Satan can take some into such a snare that unless God intervenes, they will be lost forever. According to 1 Timothy chapter 3, Satan can take advantage of young church officers and drive them to pride so they'll be brought finally into condemnation. He is always tempting us and whispering doubts into our ears and always trying to make us question God's goodness, God's love, God's law, even as he did with Eve. What a great struggle. We must not be so smug as to say that he has been defeated at the cross and greater is he that is within us than he that is without. And therefore, we have no trouble here. We're carrying on a great struggle against sin within ourselves and against Satan. In the third place, we are carrying on a great struggle with the world. First John, chapter five and verse four says, whosoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." That's a positive statement. It's a wonderful statement. But appreciate the assumption of the statement. It says that every Christian overcomes the world. The assumption is every Christian's in a struggle with it, especially with the people of the world. the people of the world who would tempt us, the people of the world who would mock us, the people of the world who would dissuade us, the people of the world who would discourage us. And the most powerful of those are the members of our families who are part of the world system. There's a struggle that goes on with remaining sin. There's a struggle that goes on with Satan. There's a struggle that goes on with the world. And I'd like you to turn to the book of Revelation, the second and third chapters, I'd like you to see some more dimensions of this struggle that the people of God are engaged in. You remember, Revelation chapters two and three contain short messages which Jesus addressed to seven churches in the first century. And at the end of these messages, in the messages, he identified some area of problem, some area of struggle. And then he would end each one, he would give an admonition in each one, and then he would end each one by saying, he that overcometh, certain things would be true, certain blessings would be theirs. That's the base word that we have back in Romans chapter eight, more than conquerors, more than overcomers is the word in Romans chapter eight, verse 37. This is a historic illustration to these seven churches of their overcoming of the necessity of their overcoming in the way that Paul guaranteed they would in Romans 8, verse 37. What I'd like you to see is what it is they had to overcome, what the struggles are that they had to overcome. The first church is the Ephesian church in Revelation 2, verses 1 through 7. There were many wonderful things about this church, but there was one problem that they had, according to verse 4, and it was that they had left their first love. They had lost the ardor of their initial love. They didn't love the brethren like they used to. They didn't love the Lord like they used to. They didn't love truth like they used to. They had lost the ardor of their first love. And Jesus calls upon them to repent and to go back and to do the first works. And then he says to them in verse 7, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches, to him that overcomes. What did they have to overcome? They had to overcome dullness. They had to deal with the sin of coldness. They had to deal with the fact that there was a diminishing of the ardor of their love. And if they didn't overcome that, they'd be lost. If they did overcome that, they would have these blessings. The second church is the church in Smyrna. They had a different context in which they struggled. It says in verse nine, I know thy tribulation, their pressures and thy poverty. They were poor, but thou art rich. It says in princes, I know thy I know thy pressures and I know thy poverty and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death." What did they have to overcome? They had a lot to overcome. They had poverty to overcome. They had pressures to overcome. They had the opposition of the Jews to overcome. They had imprisonment and martyrdom to overcome. The third church? I won't go into all that is said in reference to these other churches, but in reference to the churches of Pergamum and Thyatira, they had to struggle against false teachers. They had to struggle against doctrines that led to immorality. They had to struggle against what the text calls the deep things of Satan having an influence in the church. They had to struggle against the ridicule of the world. And in the midst of that context, it was as if you overcome then thus and thus blessings will be given unto you." And of course, the church in Laodicea was a struggle similar, perhaps worse, but similar to the Ephesian church, where there was pride that had set in, lukewarmness had set in, they were in danger of being spewn from Christ's mouth, but if they would overcome, they would indeed enter into heaven. Well, the point that I'm trying to make from going through this extended list of scriptures is that we would see that there is a great deal of struggle. There are many enemies. There are many anti-Christian forces in the world, within ourselves, remaining sin from the evil one, from Satan himself, from the world. And according to these texts, even some influences within the professing church. We have to struggle against false teachers. We have to struggle against teachings that would lead to immorality. We have to struggle against apostasy. There are these things that we have to struggle against and we must overcome them. Well, the point of all this is that the people of God must expect difficulties and distresses as Christians. We are engaged in a great struggle. which, according to the scriptures, will be filled with threat and hardship. The struggle is both inward and outward, it is serious and it is real. We must not promise ourselves exemption from trials and pressures, and we must not secretly hope for exemption. from trials and pressures. Trials and pressures have always been the lot of the people of God. It is written that it should be so. We must not be surprised. We must not act as if God has given us something he has no right to do. We must not act as if God is obligated to remove these things. It is written in both Testaments that such will be the portion of the people of God. Now, when we do have peace and freedom, when we do have tranquility and rest, we should bless God and not take that for granted. We in this country, from a political and economic standpoint, have known so much of tranquility and peace and rest, we've begun to take it for granted and act as if that is the blessing of God which we have right to expect. It's not so. If we are sometimes spared pressures, it is because of the goodness and forbearance of God. And again you think, what goodness we have enjoyed in this land. We have enjoyed it so much and taken it for granted that when any part of it is gone from us, we act as if we are somehow the special objects of trial. When we come into temporary unemployment, if we're forced to live in small houses, If we're forced to work long hours, if we have to go a couple of years without a vacation, we consider these as exceptionally terrible events, events which many of us use to nurse self-pity and to excuse extreme actions. How foolish we are. We have been blessed with many withholdings of pressures. We ought not to expect it to be so. The difficulties that we consider to be so great would be like mosquito bites to other countries in the world. We have the privilege of living in an unusual time, and we should bless God in this country for these kind of freedoms from trial. But the norm throughout the world, and certainly the norm throughout history, has been tribulations, distresses, and anguish for the people of God. We are not to expect ease, even though God has given us so much. And we must not, we must not mistake Christianity for what some people call the American dream. You know what the American dream is? The American dream is if you work hard, if you work hard, get a good education, work hard, you can make your life more and more pleasant and free from difficulty. You can own a car, you can own a home, you can have vacations, you can have money in the bank, you can have a carefree retirement if you just work hard enough. Well, people think that's what Christianity is. You become a Christian, you have a few initial difficulties, but you learn to trust God, you know the Bible, you learn to pray, you become a member of a good church, and eventually things are going to get better and better and more and more carefree and happier and happier and more and more joyful. That's not the way it is. That's not the way it is, and we ought not to expect ease in the Christian life. That's the point of this passage. We're in a struggle against all of these things. And if we are not willing for that, and mentally prepared for that, we may very well find ourselves disappointed with the gospel. Can you imagine anything more inappropriate than to be disappointed with God's gospel? But because some people expect it to lead them to ease and to deliverance from all trials, they do become disappointed with God's gospel. It's because they don't understand this. The Christian life is a life of struggle with seriously evil, destructive forces. Alright, the second point of this passage is the best, is certainly better than the first point. The second point of this passage is that the Christian will certainly overcome these forces and profit from them. Now look at your Bibles, this passage in Romans chapter 8. Look at the language of verse 37. This is not altogether the best translation, but it certainly brings forth a wonderful truth. Notice what it says. It says, we are more than conquerors. Now, what does this mean? Well, in the original language, that phrase that's translated more than conquerors, in the original language, it's a compound word. You know what a compound word is? It's where two words are put together. We have lots of compound words in the English language. One compound word is the word hyperactive. It's two words. The main word is active. You put the prefix hyper on it, you put those together, and now you've got somebody who's superactive, hyperactive. Children sometimes are said to be hyperactive. They're not merely active beyond that. They're hyperactive. All right. This is a word in the original language, which is like that. The main part of the verb is translated to overcome or to win or to be victorious. The other part of the verb is the word from which we get the English prefix hyper hyper means to hyper win. It means to have a super victory. It means to go beyond an ordinary victory, to have a hyper glorious, superlative victory. And so you have this translation. We are more than conquerors. There's something beyond mere conquering that is to be our portion. According to this text, we overcome all of these things that we've been talking about. We overcome these things in that we defeat their purpose. They are designed to separate us from the love of Christ, especially those things that arise from the evil one are specifically intended to break our relationship with Christ. They are designed to separate us from Christ and his love. We defeat them in that they are not able to separate us from Christ and his love. But that is not all. We more than defeat them. We super defeat them. We more than defeat them. We get positive advantage. from our engagement with them. The idea is not merely that we are winning a victory, it is that we are greatly benefiting from the battle. We win the victory, but more than that, we are more than conquerors, we benefit from the battle itself. Now you may ask, I hope you ask, if you're thinking you'll ask, you may ask, how can this statement be made? It looks in many cases as if the people of God are losing. It looks in many cases as if we are having exactly the opposite of a superlative victory. After all, we're the ones that are persecuted. We're the ones that are losing our jobs. We're the ones that have this problem, this problem, and the next problem. How can it be that Paul would use such language as this? And you'll get very many fanciful ideas about what Paul is saying here because it seems to be so opposite from what you observe. But I'd like us to consider this question. How can this statement be made? Well, there are four things about this victory that have to be taken into account. The first is this. The people of God are not necessarily victorious in terms which the world recognizes. Now, don't sit back and say, well, I knew it wasn't real. Just think this through a little bit. The victory is not necessarily in terms which the world recognizes. There may not be powerful interventions from God in our pressures and in our situations. There may not be a work of God which vindicates us in the face of the world. God's victories may not be easily recognized by the world. Look, please, at two passages. The one is where we were in Revelation chapter 2. In Revelation chapter 2, this letter that is written to the church in Smyrna concerning all their problems. You remember what I read in verse 9? Jesus says, I know your pressures and your poverty. Then he says in verse 10, fear not the things which thou art about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and you shall have tribulation 10 days, but be thou faithful unto death. And I will give thee the crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." Now get the picture here. He's saying to them, these things are going to come upon you. Don't be afraid, verse 10, because of the things which you are going to suffer. The devil is going to cast some of you into prison and you are going to be tried. Be faithful. He doesn't say, be faithful and wait for the deliverance. He doesn't say, be faithful and I will vindicate my name before your persecutors. He doesn't say, be faithful and I will do something that will stop their mouths and cause them to give praise to God. He says, be faithful and you'll die. Be faithful unto death and overcome in that situation. He that overcomes, it says. unto death. Look at a similar passage in the same context in chapter 3 and verse 26. Verse 25. Nevertheless, that which you have hold fast till I come and he that overcometh and he that keepeth my words unto the end. To him will I give authority over the nations." Well, what was overcoming in that situation? There's no promise that the teachers of error are going to be routed. There's no promise that those who would lead the people of God to sins will themselves be thrown out. The overcomers are the ones who, in that situation, keep my word and bear to the end. There's no promise of dramatic, wonderful, divine intervention that will vindicate the name of God or vindicate the position of the Christian. Turn back to the passage in Hebrews chapter 11 that we read last Lord's Day morning together. In Hebrews chapter 11, I don't mean to wear you by reading again, but it's so fundamental to this point. You remember the passage is that passage which describes the heroes of faith. And from verse 32 to verse 35, you have a record of those who triumphed in faith, where God came and did extraordinary things. He was the God of deliverances to these people. He showed his power through these people. It says, according to verse 3, that they subdued kingdoms. They obtained promises. They stopped the mouths of lions. God of deliverances to these people. He showed his power through these people. It says, according to verse 3, that they subdued kingdoms. They quenched the power of fire. They escaped the edge of the sword. They were mighty in battle and so forth. It says of other ones in verse 36, and others had trial of mockings and scourgings. Yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, they were cut in half, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they went about in sheepskins and goatskins and so forth. And it says, these all, in verse 39, having had witness borne to them of their faith. Now the point is, those people overcame. Both groups were overcomers. Both groups triumphed. But some of them didn't look like they triumphed. Some of them triumphed in ways that the world would never have recognized. It doesn't look very triumphant to be lying in half with your blood in your intestines lying over having been sawn asunder. It doesn't look very glorious. Your clothes are worn out and you're running from persecutors and you're living in animal skins in the caves. It doesn't look very glorious to be torn asunder at the mouths of lions. But they were all conquerors. Now, you'd like to be those that wax mighty in battle and subdued kingdoms and put to death the lions that were coming at you. The point is that this victory that is spoken of in this passage is not necessarily a victory that the world would recognize. You have to consider these first century Christians that Paul is writing about. Some of them were Jews who became Christians and who were ostracized by their race, and they were kicked out of their homes, and they were kicked out of their businesses, and they were thrown out of their former associations. These people that he's writing about were outlawed eventually in Rome. Christians were outlawed in Rome. They were sawn asunder again, like those in the Old Testament. They were thrown to the lions again, like those in the Old Testament. They were burned at stakes and hung on crosses. but they're all described as being more than conquerors over all these things. The point again is that this victory which God promises is not necessarily a victory in terms which the world would recognize. Now the second thing that is to be said, before we go to the second thing, may I just underscore this. If we're not willing to accept this first part of the definition of God's victories, we should really stop trying to be Christians because eventually we will fall away. If we're always of this belief that we're going to triumph, and that triumph means that God will and must do something to vindicate His glory in my situation. God will and must deliver me from this pressure, from this anguish, from this vexing problem. If that is our disposition, we will be ultimately disappointed with the gospel and leave the gospel. God has not promised that. One of the other passages that I might have turned you to, I'll just say it to you, is that statement that Paul makes in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14 in reference to his ministry. This passage in Romans 8 is in reference to all the people of God, but the passage in 1 Corinthians 2 is specifically in reference to Paul's own ministry. And he says in verse 14, Thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge to us in every place. Well, think about that. The apostle Paul was shipwrecked. He was beaten. He was left for dead. He was cast out of cities, had to flee for his life. But he can say, in every place, Christ was always leading him in triumph. Well, how could he say that? It didn't look triumphant to be fleeing in the night. It didn't look triumphant to be left in the heap of stones, everybody thinking he's dead. It didn't look triumphant. But it was triumphant in this sense, that that which God wanted accomplished, Paul accomplished. He did bring a savor of the gospel every place he went. To some, it was a savor of death unto death, and others, it was a savor of life unto life. It didn't look triumphant, but it was triumphant in that it accomplished what God wanted accomplished in his life. We've got to have that perspective. We've got to get away from this idea that God's going to deliver us from all of our trials. He's going to make all our marriages wonderful. He's going to make all our employments wonderful. He's going to make all our political situations wonderful. He isn't. He hasn't promised to. He may, but He hasn't promised to. And the victory that He's promised does not guarantee that the world is going to see these dramatic interventions. All right. The second thing, then, that is true is that our victory includes many failures. Now, that's self-evident, right? Our victory includes many failures. This triumph, this over-hyper-triumph includes many failures. We won a dramatic victory in the Persian Gulf. But there are some families who yet weep because of loved ones who died. Well, there was a tremendous victory from a military standpoint. There were also failures in that victory. The Christian life is like that. There are many failures against remaining sin. There are many failures against satanic deceptions. There are many failures under the pressures of the world and the pressures of our families, unconverted families. There are many failures before the evil influences that come into the church. And we must not allow ourselves to come to this text and say, well, I haven't in every incident triumphed over my remaining sin. I must not be a Christian. I'm not triumphing. No. The triumph that's envisioned here includes many failures. The third thing that has to be said about this is that the triumph is in terms of God's present purposes in our lives. We are triumphing in many ways. We are persevering in faith. And that, of course, I think is the main point of the passage. These things are meant to break down our relationship with Christ. But we're winning in that we are persevering in faith. We're winning, to use that word, in that we are growing in conformity to Christ. We're not merely persevering. More than that, these struggles in these areas are causing us to be Christ-like. We are learning obedience to the things that we suffered, even as Jesus did. We are, according to Romans chapter 8, in that context where all things are being worked together for our good. We're learning humility. We're learning the graces of being a Christian. We are being transformed and changed. We are victorious in that. We too can say with David that it was good for me that I was afflicted. It was good for me that I was brought under pressures, because before that time I ignored certain commandments, but after that time I became very sensitive to God's law. It has been good that some of you men have been out of employment. It has been good that there have been certain marriage problems. Not that the things themselves are good, they were evil. but God uses them for good, and that He makes us more submissive to Him, He makes us more appreciative of biblical principles, etc., etc., etc. Turn, please, to 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, for what I think is a wonderful illustration of triumphing in the way that we are just now speaking of, triumphing in terms of God's present purposes for us. 2 Corinthians, chapter 12. You know the context. Paul was in a situation where he had to deal with Satan. Satan had brought a thorn to his flesh. Satan had brought many afflictions into Paul's life. Notice how Paul understands that in verse 7. By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted over much, There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, that I should not be exalted over much. Concerning this thing, I besought the Lord three times, that it might not depart from me. And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my weaknesses that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore, I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong." I would just like you to appreciate the ways in which this passage illustrates the point. Here is a situation that Satan had brought upon him. It's a messenger of Satan to buffet him in the body. He asks God for it to be taken away, but God doesn't give him that kind of triumph. God doesn't give him the triumph of being able to say, praise God. I fasted and sought him. Look what he's done. Look how he's delivered me. Look how he's removed this satanic problem. No, God doesn't do it. The victory that God gave to Paul was not what the world would recognize. Now notice what the advantages of this thing were. Number one, it kept him from pride. He was aware of that. He says the reason this is happening, because I've been given all these revelations, it'd be so easy for a mortal man to be all puffed up and arrogant like the Pope. But God gave me a thorn in the flesh so that I could not have that position in my mind. Taught him humility. But notice this also. It also caused him to glory in distresses, because in those distresses, the power of God was made known in the context of his weaknesses. So it also taught him submission. It taught him to happily, not with a grudging spirit, but to happily embrace the distresses and the pressures and the anxieties of life, because in those contexts where he was more broken down, the power of the Lord was more displayed. So here's a wonderful case that he was triumphing in terms of God's present purposes for him. It was conforming him to Christ's likeness. It was making him more useful. It was keeping him from pride. But it was not what the world would measure as triumphant. All right, we've talked about three things. Then the fourth thing is that we are triumphant in terms of God's ultimate purposes in our lives. It's not merely that we're triumphant in terms of God's present purposes. But we are also triumphant in terms of God's ultimate purposes in our lives. As was said before, we are persevering. We shall ultimately be brought to heaven. Now, we might depreciate that only because we stand at this point in history. But when you stand on the other side of the river, you'll see that as the most ultimate, glorious triumph that can be imagined. That with all the forces that have been arrayed against us, that we made it, that we got to heaven. And that's part of the point of this passage, that in terms of God's ultimate purposes for us, we will triumph over these things. We will be in heaven. We will never be separated from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Look at the context of this passage in Romans chapter 8. Remember verses 17 and 18 of chapter 8. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to usward." There is triumph there. He is suffering. It is involvement in these sufferings with Christ which guarantee that we will ultimately be glorified with Christ, triumph, not only in terms of God's present purposes for us, but in terms of future purposes and ultimate purposes. Notice what it says, though. It says that the glories which are to come are not even to be compared with these hyper-victory, hyper-glorious in victory. Another passage to the same effect is 2 Corinthians 4. Please turn there. You see these same principles in Paul's victory again and again. In 2 Corinthians 4, verses 7-10, he speaks of real sufferings from which God does not deliver him. But we have this earthen, we have this treasure and earthen vessels that the exceeding greatness, the power may be of God and not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side, yet not straightened, perplexed, yet not unto despair, pursued, yet not forsaken, smitten down, yet not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus. Those were pressures, tribulations, distresses that God did not deliver him from. But it goes on to say. In verses 11 and following, how he did triumph. Verse 11 through 12, he triumphed in that he brought the gospel to people and God saved people through them. In verses 16, he triumphed in that in the midst of all these things, he was renewed in the inward man. Now look at verse 16, wherefore we faint not, but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. And now he talks about the third way in which he triumphed, for our light affliction which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." Hyper-triumph. He was in distresses from which God would not deliver him, but he triumphed. in that he succeeded in bringing the gospel. He triumphed in that he was renewed in the inward man day by day in the present time. And he triumphed in that all of these distresses were working for him an immense weight of glory that was to be given to him at the last day. And when he would enter into the gates of heaven, it would not be that a few sick angels would be there saying, oh, you made it, Paul. You overcame. You just got in by the skin of your teeth. It would be a glorious choir that would be saying, you hyper-triumphed. There is an immense weight of glory that is laid up for you as a result of your triumphing in all these distresses and sufferings, which were your portion in this life. There's a fifth way in which it can be said that we triumph over all of these things. And that is that we triumph in terms of God's ultimate triumph over evil. And I would not like to expand on that here, but I trust you appreciate what I'm saying. There is the prophecy in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 that the seed of the woman, there will be enmity between the serpent and the seed of the woman, that there would be one person who would rise up to represent the woman and would crush the head of the serpent. Colossians chapter 2 says Jesus has done that, that at the cross he despoiled, defeated, overcame gloriously all the forces of evil. Romans chapter 16 says that the people of God will shortly crush Satan under their feet. They will triumph over the evil one. God is going to win over the forces of evil. Christ has already struck the death blow And in some way that is somewhat mysterious, under our feet, Satan will be finally destroyed at the end. We partake in that. We are more than conquerors. We hyper-conquer over all these things that are brought against us. Well, the third phrase and the third emphasis of this passage The third phrase is, through him that loved us. And of course, that phrase in Romans chapter 8 and verse 37 is drawing our attention to the fact that it is through Christ Jesus that this great triumph is won. We have talked about phrases similar to that before, and for that reason I do not intend to try to open that phrase up this morning. But I do want to draw your mind to one thing that I trust is obvious that must not slip from our view. This great triumph in the present and in the ultimate sense, this great triumph, according to this passage, is not because of ourselves. It is because of Christ. It is through Him who loved us. It is because of His work on our behalf in the past and in the present. It is because His grace is sufficient for us. It is because He provides grace. It is because He succors. It is because He rules over all flesh and defeats the world for us. It is because He provides a way of escape for us in every dilemma. It is because He holds the evil one at bay. It is because He intercedes. It is because He forgives. It is because He is strong. If Paul had said, in all these things, we are more than conquerors, because of our resolution, and because of our capacity to endure, and because of our strength of character, and because of the strength of the church, and because of all these things, we would have no comfort from this passage, because we would know him to be a liar. We would know that there is no sufficient strength in ourselves. We would know that our resolutions are not strong enough. That our affections at the best moment wax or wane and melt away. And so he makes this very important statement. We are more than conquerors. Not through our efforts. Not through our resolutions. But through Him who loved us. And therein is our hope. Therein is the guarantee that this victory will really be ours. It is interesting, and the commentators make a big point of this, it is interesting that he makes the statement in the past tense, through him who loved us. It would have been a wonderful statement to say through him who does love us, and of course that would be true. But Paul writes in a way that draws our mind not to the present expressions of his love, but he writes in a way that draws our mind to the past demonstration of his love, who did love us. As we've talked about on other occasions, that's a reference to the love of the Lord and the love of God the Father that was displayed at the cross. And I think Paul, in a subtle way, is trying to make a point by using the past tense. You get into these persecutions, there may not seem to be any evidence that Christ is loving you. You get into these pressures and these distresses and these afflictions. You get into these situations where Satan is taking advantage of his opportunity. And there may not be any tangible evidence that you can point your finger to and say, oh yes, the evidence of the Lord's love is here. But it's Him who loved you. You can always point to that. It's always true. You can always put your eye upon the cross and refresh yourself to whatever it looks like now. It is certain that he loves me because he's died for me and demonstrated his love in the most cogent, unassailable manner that his love is fixed upon me. So when the child of God is in some situation where there is no evidence, where there seems to be no apparent display of the love of Christ, he remembers he loved me and nothing can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate me from Christ's love. And therefore, I will believe. that we are always conquerors through Him who loved us. The applications of this text are many. Perhaps the most important one to make is that we simply must govern our lives by the perspective of this passage. This passage is not a statement of potential. It is a statement of fact. You know what a statement of potential is? If you'll really work hard, you can be a millionaire. That's a statement of potential. Some pep talk you might give your child. If you really work hard, you've got all that it takes. You've got a mind, you've got energy. If you really work hard, that's a statement of potential. This is not such a statement. This is not a statement that you'd get a hold of yourself and trust in Christ more and have faith and so forth. You would triumph. It's not a statement of potential. It's a statement of fact. It's a statement of fact. I don't mean to dispute, and this might quickly come to your mind, well, some people seem to be more triumphing than others. That may be true. But all of God's people, according to the statement, are triumphing over these things. It's a statement, a fact. Now, we must bring our lives into line with the perspective of this passage, and that means a few things. It means, number one, that the reality of victory does not wipe away the genuine sorrow of these struggles. Now, follow me. You're going to bring your mind and your life into line with the teachings of this passage. It means, in the first place, that the realities of victory, the certainty that you will overcome, does not wipe away the pain and the sorrow of the, quote, these things in the passage. It is very painful to be in the situations that are described in this passage. We are not called upon to play games with ourselves and to act like, you know, Pollyanna's story where we just make ourselves be happy in every situation. Some of the pressures, some of the tribulations, some of the anguishes are exceedingly painful. Some of the things bring great shame and great sorrow. It would have been a great unkindness to go up to him and say, oh, cheer up. Paul's not so bad, don't you know? You're an overcomer. Lift your spirits. That would have been a horrible abuse of your friendship with that man. Some people are suffering the ostracism of their families. You don't go up to them and say, oh, it's no big deal. You're going to triumph. It'll all turn out well. Lift up your heart. No. The anxieties and the pressures and the trials that this passage is assuming are very harmful, are very hurtful and very painful. And the fact that you'll triumph does not in any way negate those pains. Those pains will elicit tears. They will elicit broken hearts. And they ought to elicit sympathy from the people of God. We ought not to be so cold and callous and flippant. You're an overcomer, no problem. No. So that's the first thing. In the second place, the reality of struggle must not lead to despondency. The reality of struggle and the reality of all the pains and the hurt and the emotional distress and anguish may not lead us, must not lead us to despondency. That's where you have to remind yourself, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. We are not going to break under this. There will be a way of escape. We are going to triumph in this. God is going to conform us to Christ's image through this. Nothing is going to separate us from the love of God in this. We are going to ultimately have an exceedingly great weight of glory in the heavenly places. And somehow, in the midst of all the pain, and all the sorrow, and all the anguish, and all the uncertainty, and all the lack of knowledge as to what to do, we may not be despondent because we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us in the present and in the ultimate sense. And we say to ourselves, God may not intervene in a way that the world will see. He may not give me a great job. I may have to work two jobs all my life. He may not do this. He may not do another thing. But I'm not going to be despondent. Because in the present and in the ultimate sense, we will triumph through him. It is a very sad thing to me to see despondent Christians. I have known despondency in my life of which I am ashamed. We ought not to be sobered, we ought to be made serious, but not despondent. We ought to stir up hope and the vigor of zeal and faith within our lives. The reality of struggle and victory ought to lead us to great efforts to please God in our situations. The passage in Ephesians that I quoted to you earlier, verse 10 through 12, that talks about the reality of the spiritual warfare, has verse 13 after it. And he says, Paul says it, verse 13, after making a statement that we are going to struggle against Satan. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand. The knowledge that there is going to be the struggle and the knowledge that you are going to win in it is meant to be an incentive. Get going. Don't be despondent. Don't be indifferent. Don't let the tide flow. Stand up. Quit yourselves like men. Resist the evil one. Fight in these struggles. Be faithful unto God. The same is true. It's true in many passages, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, where Paul has been writing about this, the Christian life being an athletic contest, a great struggle. Well, in the light of the knowledge that it is so, he says, But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. The certainty of the struggle did not lead him to apathy. And the certainty of victory did not lead him to apathy. It led him to strife. It led him to zeal. It led him to vigor. Well, if we're going to bring our mental attitudes and our spiritual lives into conformity to this passage, It means that we stir ourselves up. Some people really do act like they're not in any struggle. Some people act like they have no other struggles than the people the world have. And so they focus on getting an education. They focus on getting a job. They don't act like they have any struggles that are peculiar to the people of God. Well, if you understand this passage, you'll know that you do, and it won't lead you to discouragement. It will lead you to get on the ball and be faithful in spiritual things. Some of you don't pray. And really, some of you don't pray. You go through your little times. But you're not pleading with God for Him to save your children. You're not pleading with God for this and for that. You're acting like you don't have any spiritual struggles. You're fools. Some of you don't apply any spiritual means to anything. You don't search the scriptures to find out what the scripture says about how you're supposed to act as an employee, or how you're supposed to act as an employer, or how you're supposed to act in this situation. You're just going with the flow and trying to bounce along, expecting God to do this. You're in a struggle that requires the engagement of spiritual means. If our life is to be conformed to the perspectives of this passage, we'll not be like the world. We'll not be using the things which they use only to care for ourselves in this life. We'll be fully engaged in the spiritual means that are at our disposal. The second application would have been to make the statement and then to ask the question, the statement being that not all people triumph equally. And why is it? Why is it that some seem to more gloriously triumph than others? All God's people persevere. All God's people, through these pressures, are conformed to Christ's image. All God's people, through these things, will have a large weight of glory. Some people are more conformed to Christ's image. Some people will have greater rewards. Why is that? I think it's because they more thoroughly understand the principles of the passage and live in their light. But we'll not take that up this morning. The last application. that I would simply state is this. As certain as it is that all of God's people will triumph over these things in Christ Jesus, as certain as that is, it is equally certain that all people outside of Christ Jesus will be slaughtered by these things. There will be no glorious overcoming for those who are outside of these things. And you can see something of the paradox of this. The child of God looks like the loser in the present age. He's torn apart. He's losing his job. He won't work on the Lord's Day. He looks like the loser. God says he is hyper-conquering in terms of the things that we said earlier. People in the world look like they're winning. They're having all the fun. They've got the fast cars. They've got the prettiest girlfriends. They've got the most gorgeous this. They may have the most money. You know, they have their motto. He with the most toys wins. They're winning. But it's certain that all those that are out of Christ Jesus will suffer the wrath of God in this life and in the life to come. It is absolutely essential that the perspectives of this passage govern the minds of everyone here, not only of the people of God. The people outside of Christ must realize that there is a triumph for Christian people. There is an absolute defeat for non-Christian people in this life, but primarily in the life to come. When God will reject you, And when God will say, depart from me, you cursed. When he will say, like he said to the rich man in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, you have had your good things in this life. Now depart from me into the fires of hell. This passage, like so many other passages that set forth the glories of being a Christian, ought to encourage the people of God. But the very same passage ought to bring a measure of terror to those who are outside of Christ. They will not triumph, but be destroyed. May God give to you who are outside of Christ a longing to be a Christian, that you might be forgiven and that you might be the object of grace and the help of God. Let us pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we do earnestly pray that you would please help us to have our minds renewed and to have them conformed to the teachings of the Bible. And we, many of us would confess that there has been despondency among us and there has been a sense of routine and wearily going about the duties of being a Christian. And we are ashamed of that and sorry for that. And we pray that you would lift us from that despondency and that you would help us to have this vigorous attitude that was expressed by the Apostle Paul. that you would help us by thy grace, enable us to face all the distresses and anxieties and pressures that are upon us, to face them squarely, and yet to have this disposition which he writes of. Grant to us by the Spirit that would not just be a sermon or words on a page, but by thy Spirit that you would impress upon our minds and upon our souls and upon our affections the truth that nothing can separate us from your love and from Jesus' love. We pray that you would make us to appreciate the dimensions of this triumph that Paul writes about, that you would grant to us a sense of glory and a sense of wonder and a sense of delight in this privilege that is ours, and that you would help us to live in the face of everything that you put before us, that you'd help us to live in the face of that with faith and with hope and with a sense of giving ourselves up to your ways in our life. We do plead with you. for people that are not Christians, that you would please help them, that you would please cause them to sense and to know an inward need of salvation and that they would be brought to Christ. We especially ask that as we gather later this afternoon that you would come upon us with much blessing and much joy And as we observe Jeff's baptism, that you would grant to him and to all of us a wonderful sense of the great privileges of being a Christian and having sins forgiven, that you would please richly bless that time. We commit ourselves now to you in Jesus' name. Amen.