Please turn to Romans chapter 8. God's timing is always good. We were a little bit longer with the sharing this morning and that'll match me perfectly because I'm going to preach a little longer. I'll try to be quick, but we've come to the end of chapter 8. and what a glorious passage this is. I know that some of you love this passage and so it's a joy for us to share it together. So I think we'll just begin by reading this morning Romans chapter 8 and I'm going to begin in verse 28 and read through the end of the chapter. Romans 8 verse 28. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. 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 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. Father, thank you. Lord, if we stopped right here this morning, it's been a blessing to be with your saints, to sing your praises, to listen to the power of your word. Lord, I pray that as we think together now, this will just be the icing on the cake, and that you will sink these truths deep into our hearts, that we will know you love us, and nothing can ever change that. In Jesus' name, amen. after the powerful statements in verses 28 through 30. I'll just give you a very brief review. Then he says in 31, what then shall we say to these things? And then he's going to answer that with five questions. If God is for us, who can be against us? In other words, there is nothing that can sidetrack God's plan of salvation from beginning to end. He will take us to glory. And then in 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? If we should question, does God still love us like he did back when he justified us? Surely if he did the greater thing, he made us his own. Now he will do the lesser thing. He will give us all we need to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And then the question is the courtroom scene. But what if someone brings a charge, especially the accuser of the brethren? What if he charges you're not worthy to belong to him? Who is he who justifies? It is God who justifies. Nobody can substantiate a charge against his children. And then finally in verse 34, who is to condemn? We look at ourselves and when we're honest we're not worthy. that jesus would die for us but he says but it is christ jesus who died for us not only that he was raised he's the right hand of god and he's interceding for us that what he did on the cross and in his resurrection is continually being applied to us and then we come to verse thirty five where he's going to ask the fifth question and that's where we're going to be this morning so we start the question Can anyone separate us from Christ's love? Or as he puts it in 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Now the first thing we need to do is talk about the love of Christ. So what does that mean, the love of Christ? You can interpret that, I mean even grammatically there's two different things it could mean. It could mean our love for Christ, or it can mean Christ's love for us. So in this verse is there any way to know which he means? Now you know what the answer is? Context. Go down to verse 37. Know in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And then go down to the end of verse 39. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God Christ Jesus our Lord and so it is in 35 he's talking about Christ's love for us who shall be able to separate us from the love that Jesus Christ has for us now verse 35 You might take this, well, he asked two questions in 35, and yeah, he does, but the second part is just an extension. It all goes together. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger sword can any of these things separate us from the love of Christ now he says who shall separate us from the love of Christ why doesn't he say what shall separate us from the love of Christ I'm not sure I know the answer to that although if you take persecution it's people who are dishing out the persecution so I think we could think of it can anything or anyone ever separate us from the love of Christ Now, remember the context. This is all coming in response to what he said in verses 29 and 30, where he talks about God foreknowing us, predestining us, calling us, justifying us. and glorifying us. It's all in response to that. God initiated salvation. He completes salvation. And 31 through 39, the point is to remove all doubt. If there is any question about that, let me set your mind at ease. Nothing, no one, no person can separate us from the love that is demonstrated in verses 29 and 30. Let's pause for a minute. So who is it who loves us? Is it God the Father or is it Christ the Son? Now, we can find verse after verse after verse that will talk about the love that God the Father has for us. For God so loved the world. that he gave his only begotten son or 1st John 4 10 this is love not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins if you keep reading Norman read it in Sunday school this morning I didn't advise him to read it but the verses that say God is love it's talking about God the father God the Father loves us and he demonstrates it through what Christ did for us on the cross. Jesus humbled himself even to the point of death, death on the cross, out of obedience to and love for the Father. Now, but let there be no question, Jesus himself loves us. Yes, He obeyed the Father, He loved the Father, but let there be no question, Jesus loves us. John 13, 1. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Later in the chapter, a new commandment, Jesus speaking, a new commandment I give you, that you love one another just as I have loved you." And we can read passage after passage. God the Father loves us, so Christ the Son loves us as well. Paul is asking if there is anyone or anything that could separate us from this love that Christ has for Us. Now, I remind you when he says us, he's not talking about the love that Jesus has for the world in general. He uses the word us. Paul is one who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. It's the ones he's talking about in verse 28. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. That's not just anybody. That is for us who have been redeemed. by the blood of Jesus Christ. Christians, if you want to use the term, are believers. Now, why does Paul list all these things at the end of verse 35? He noticed there are seven things he lists. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. Why does he list all of these things? You may just want to think about that for a little bit. It's obviously not an exhaustive list. There could be other things that threaten us. He lists these, and I'm not going to try to define them one by one. I think we get the idea. Perhaps they're summed up in the first one. Shall, tribulation. This is the squeeze word. As we go through this world, we get squeezed. These are the tribulations that come to us. No one escapes them. Sometimes the squeezing is extremely uncomfortable. We don't like it. Paul speaks of these tribulations because these are the kinds of things that believers will experience. Persecution, distress, even the sword. We read in Hebrews that some were sawn into. That's the persecution of which he speaks and the sword that comes to some. Now, how does he answer the question? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall any of these things separate us? Well, he doesn't answer the question right away. Instead, he quotes scripture, verse 36. As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Now hopefully you remember, we've already read that this morning. Do you remember where we read it? Come on. Psalm 44. Jacob, I hope you remember that because you read it. And if you go back, I'm just gonna read verse Psalm 44 verse 22 yet for your sake we are killed all the day long We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered as you can see it is I'd a direct quote out of Psalm 44 Paul emphasizes that this treatment is not unusual for God's people now I can't read that without hearing echoes from Isaiah 53 which is a prophecy about our Lord he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before it shears is silent so he opened not his mouth no matter how bad it gets if you take those seven things in verse 36 and you pile them on top of one another no matter how bad it gets nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. That's what he's getting at. And then finally he answers directly in verse 37. Shall anything separate us from the love of Christ? No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Literally, most translations say no. Literally it's but. but in all these things. But the idea is certainly when he asks the question, the answer is a resounding no. No one, no thing shall separate us from the love of Christ. Now, verse 37, it's interesting. I want to read you, this is out of the New Living Translation. It reads like this. No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ. No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ. The translators are interpreting, that translator is interpreting this to mean that in spite of all these terrible tribulations We cannot be separated from the love of Christ, but that's not what the text says. The text doesn't say despite all these tribulations, it says in all these tribulations. Know in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Right in the midst of these things, and God even uses these things, We have victory in these things. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Now, I want you to get the picture that he's painting. It's not the picture that is kind of like this. Yes, it's true. I don't have anything to live for, and these adversaries have been beating me down till I can hardly make it. But though I'm worn and discouraged, I know that Jesus still loves me. You can't get that out of verse 37. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Now those words, we are more than conquerors, that is a translation of one single word. The only time it's used in the New Testament. It's a preposition plus the verb. The verb without the preposition is used 28 times in the New Testament. 17 of those times are in Revelation. So I want to just read you some verses. Don't take time to look them up, but I'm going to read them. You can get them later if you want to. And this word is usually translated overcome or conquer. John 16, 33. Jesus says, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. 1st John 5 little children you are from God and have overcome them for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world revelation 321 and this used in this sense seven times in chapters 2 & 3 The one who conquers, there it is, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. Revelation 6-2, and I look and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow and a crown was given to him and he came out conquering and to conquer. Revelation 21-7, the one who conquers will have this heritage and i will be as god and he will be my son i could i could read others so the the word that is translated or more than conquerors is made up of this conquer word and then a little preposition and a little preposition e pair it means uh... above we might think of it is above and beyond we are more than conquerors we are all bob and beyond conquerors. It's a word that is used with the prepositions used with the verb in Romans 520. Remember in Romans 520, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. It's the word abound with this little preposition above and beyond added to it. So when we come here and he says we are more than conquerors in 837 back here, we are super conquerors. through Him who loved us. It's a strong word. We don't just conquer, but we demolish our enemies. We crush them. So get a glimpse of what Paul is saying. We don't just endure. We just hang on. Well, we're going to make it through all these difficulties. But as the difficulties come, we conquer them triumphantly. How? by recognizing that all things work together for good to those who love God. Yes, we counted all joy when we fall into various trials. We rejoice, I'm back in chapter 5 now, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character. character produces hope and that hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us Now listen, sometimes trials can tend to wear us down. It's not just one, but one comes and we're not even done with it, here comes another one. We become weary, perhaps discouragement sits in, we just want it all to go away. But all of it together can never change the truth that Christ loves us. And we are more than conquerors, we are super conquerors through Him who loved us. Now do you notice what he says? He doesn't say through Him who loves us, but Him who loved us. Now, he's not saying, well he used to love us, he doesn't anymore. That's not what he's doing. He's pointing to an event in the past. This is a point in time. That's the sense of the tense that's used here. Through Him who loves us. And what event do you think He might be talking about? He's talking about the cross and the resurrection. That's how He demonstrated His love for us. You remember, I won't get it right because I get my translations conflated, but... How does Galatians 2.20 start? Help me, I'm having a brain freeze here. What? Yeah, I've been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. And he goes on and he says, and the life I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me at the cross and in his resurrection from the grave. We are super conquerors through him who loved us because Jesus conquered at the cross. Jesus spoke when it came close to the time of his death. He talked about the defeat of the prince, the ruler of this world. And as Jesus conquered, so now we are more than conquerors through him. We do not have the ability to conquer anything on our own. It is through him who loved us and gave himself for us. So there's the question. Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? And he makes it very clear what the answer is. No, never. Now, we come to the end of the passage, 38 and 39, and now we don't have the question, we have the certainty. Nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ. Now, on the surface it may sound like repetition, but it's not repetition. He's going to give us more depth in verses 38 and 39, and he's no longer asking the question. Now he starts it with, for I am sure Note the certainty. This is not speculation. This is not guesswork. This is not a theory. I am sure. Now it's very interesting if you were to translate that literally, the I am sure, it's I have been persuaded. Now think about that for a minute. I have been persuaded. It's passive. It's not I persuaded myself. I have been persuaded. Now if you're going to be persuaded That's a deep word. If you're going to be persuaded, you've got to think about things. You've got to roll them over in your mind. You've got to get all the arguments from all sides. And then once that has happened, then you can say, I have been persuaded. And the tense of it means, to be persuaded in the past and remain persuaded in the present and that's what Paul said I have been persuaded and I remain persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord it's very similar I think back to verse 18 where he says I consider that the present sufferings of this world are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. That is, after considering these things carefully, I've come to that conclusion. That's the same ideas here. I have been persuaded and I remain persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, that's what he was persuaded about. especially when you come to the end of 39, that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Now we've already talked about that we are loved by both the Father and the Son, and that's what we see here at the end of verse 39, the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's the Father's love channel through the Son. If you go back to chapter 1 verse 7, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and call to be saints, and I'll come back to that again in a moment. Now, the question arises, Doesn't God love everyone? I keep talking about distinguishing us from the rest of the world, but doesn't God love everyone in the world? Does He? Yes, He does, in a sense. Jesus tells us that God makes His Son to shine on the just and the unjust. He brings rain to all people. he withholds his wrath at this point from everyone in the world so yes he loves but there is another sense in which God loves his own in a way that he does not love everybody in this world if you go back again to Romans 1 7 me read it again to all those in Rome who this is to whom he's writing the letter to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be Saints now that implies that everyone in Rome was not loved by God right he's only writing to those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be Saints He's saying he has a special love for his own, and it's just a worldly illustration, but I think it's appropriate. You take a mother who's raising four or five kids. She loves all the kids in the neighborhood. They're coming over to her house all the time. She loves all those kids, but she doesn't love them in the same way that she loves the four or five that are her own. so it is with God he has a special unique love for those and notice how it talks about the love of God in Christ Jesus most people in this world are not in Christ Jesus but for those of us who were in Christ God loves us with this special undying love and he loves us so deeply Paul says that nothing can ever separate us from that love. Now when I say nothing, I'm abbreviating what he says in verses 38 and 39, okay? Let's talk a little bit about what all that nothing encompasses. You'll notice when you begin reading in verse 38, I'm sure that, and then he's gonna name nine things, count them, death, life, Angels, rulers, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth. Nine things. He's going to say none of these things can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, we need to talk a little bit about those nine things that can't separate us. Now, you'll notice, first of all, for the most part, with one exception, they are in pairs, like he starts out, neither death nor life. So, this kind of goes back to the question of 35. It's kind of like, can the adversities of life cause us to lose Christ's love? But here at 38 and 39, he's dealing with something more. These are not really the things now that nag at us and wear us down. But this is more powerful forces. Can some powerful force threaten us so much that it overwhelms us and causes us to lose the love of God in Christ? It kind of reminds me again of back to 31. If God is for us, who can be against us? these are some of the forces that come against us in 38 and 39 for the most part they are evil forces are used forces used for evil so let's start he says neither death nor life now I think as believers we've been conditioned, rightly so, to think of death as not an enemy but a friend because it ushers us into glory. Remember what Paul said, for to me to live is Christ and to die is what? Gain. Why? Because we go to be with Christ in his presence. But that is not the whole story. I'm just going to read these. Like I say, you can get them later. 1 Corinthians 15, 26. He talks about the last enemy. to be destroyed is death he talks about death as an enemy Hebrews 2 14 and 15 since therefore the children share in flesh and blood he that is Jesus himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery before we Christ found us, that's exactly where we were. Whether we realize it fully or not, we feared death. In the Old Testament, we don't get the whole picture. It seems like the saints thought of death as separating from the fellowship with God. But this death is part of the nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Even as believers, we can forget our identity in Christ at times and we can fear death. But he says we don't have to fear death because death is one of those things that cannot separate us from the love of God. He talks about in 2 Timothy 1.10 about how Christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And we could read other passages along the same line. Now, why does he include life? Neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God. I think in the life, it kind of goes back to those things in verse 35, all those seven things, these tribulations that come to us in life. These things can't separate us either. Romans 14, we do this in our catechism. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, We are the Lord's, so neither death nor life. Recently, Rhonda and I, we saw this on the news. There was a lady, she was elderly and she had a disease and she had some pain. I mean, she was very sharp, et cetera, but she had decided with the help of a doctor to end her life, to take a bunch of pills to end her life. This is what she said. She says, I'm not afraid to die, but I'm afraid to live. In Christ, we don't have to be afraid to live. Neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God. No matter what comes to us in life, we don't have to fear. Then he says, nor angels nor rulers. nor angels, nor rulers." What do you think of when you think of angels? Okay, some of the uneducated think of, yeah. So, in Revelation, often angels are talked about those who, they're doing the bidding of God. Hebrews 1, it talks about them being ministering spirits. But that is not the whole story. If you go to Revelation, chapters 9 through 22, 11 times we find the angels being wonderful ministers of God. But not always. I want to read you a little bit out of Revelation 9. I'm going to start in verse 10. He's talking about these locusts, this army of locusts. And he says in 9.10, they have tails and stings like scorpions and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek he is called Apollyon. Now back in Proverbs it says the locusts have no king. But these locusts have a king and his name means destruction. Now there's differences about how to interpret this. Some people believe that we're talking about the devil himself. Some people believe it's a powerful angel who controls the devil's forces. Take it either way. Here's the point. Not all angels are good angels. Some angels have rebelled against God, and they are evil to the core. 2 Corinthians 12, 7, you'll recognize it. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, Paul speaking, a thorn was given me in the flesh. messenger of Satan to harass me now that word messenger on gillows it's the word angel angel it can be translated angel or messenger so here it's an angel of Satan so I take it to mean here, he's not talking about the ministering spirits of the Lord, he's talking about the fallen angels. And he combines them with rulers. Rulers, there's all kinds, there's good and bad, there's earthly, there's heavenly. And we can read a lot of passages, but let me come directly to Ephesians 6.12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. So he contrasts earthly rulers with heavenly rulers. uh... flesh and blood that's the earthly but then he contrasts that with the heavenly rulers authorities cosmic powers and he sums it all up by talking about spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places the rulers are among them uh... four places and i'm not gonna i'm not gonna look them up for you but there are four other passages were paul combines the rulers authorities when speaking of these heavenly spiritual forces so in this passage right here when he says neither angels nor rulers he is summing up the heavenly forces that oppose us put them together they cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus and then skip the next two and you come to powers Now, why does he put powers after these? By the way, in some of the texts, the Greek texts, it has powers right after angels and rulers, and you can decide which one is right, I don't know. But powers, he's still talking about the same thing as angels and rulers. Twice, these powers are combined with rulers and authorities. such as Ephesians 119. He talks about the immeasurable greatness of God's power toward us who believe according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. and then in first Corinthians 15 24 then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom of God the father when he delivers the kingdom to God the father after destroying every rule and every authority and every power the powers are right in here so we got angels rulers and powers these evil forces can they separate us from the love of God he says no none of them none of them together can do that and then he comes nor things present nor things to come And present, I think that's summed up in verse 35. All of these things. But what about things to come? The future. Should we fear things in the future? I mean, look at our world. There are some scary things in our world. Read the book of Revelation. There are some scary scenes in the Revelation. And I'm not going to take time to go through all of it, but go read Revelation 5 about when we read this yesterday, some of us men. No one was able to open that scroll with the seven seals. Many believe that what was contained in the scroll were those scary scenes in Revelation. But who opened the seals, the scroll? Jesus, the Lamb opened them. He has the future in his hands he is lord of the present he is lord of the future he has conquered we need fear nothing in the future and finally he goes nor height nor I cannot read that without thinking about Psalm 139. Some of you will recognize this. Let me just read it quickly. 139.7. Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you. The night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. I think Romans 8 right here, it's the flip side of Psalm 139. Nothing, go as high as you can go, go as deep as you can go. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. He is in every corner of the universe and he is in control. None of these things shall separate us. And then if that's not enough, he comes down to 39 and he says, nor hither depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I think Paul is saying something like this, don't worry, if I miss something or someone, God has it all in hand. Rest assured that there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can ever separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Jesus is Lord of all. He is for us who can be against us. So Romans 8, there is nothing in scripture that can give us greater assurance than Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. to be conformed to the image of his son, and those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, those whom he justified he also glorified. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? For I am sure I've been persuaded and remain persuaded that nothing, absolutely nothing, shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ, from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The God who freely gave us the gift of salvation now guards us through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. We can't rely on our own ability to remain faithful to Him. Self-reliance is vain. We trust Him who is able to keep us from falling. We cling to Him who promised to complete the work that He began. I love Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Now, I must say one other word this morning, and it's this. In Ephesians 2, the first 10 verses, marvelous teaching about how we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God rescued us through Christ. But then he talks about how it used to be. He's talking to people who had been, they were Gentiles and they had been separated. Let me just read it. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ there's some of you here this morning that you don't have the assurance that is in Romans 8 because you have not yet been brought near by the blood of Christ. You are still alienated from Him. You have no hope. You are without God in the world. You can't have this assurance. So I want to be so emphatic that this assurance is fabulous but is only for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. I want to be really, really clear on that. There is no assurance, there can't be, for the person who is outside of Christ. That's why Jesus said, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Repent and believe the gospel come to him. He died for you that you might have real life Then comes the assurance and only then let's pray Father we stand amazed At your plan your eternal plan We could have never thought this up, but you designed it from the beginning. You have carried it through to perfection, and you will complete it in the end. And yet, Lord, we can't even explain that because there is no end for those of us who are in you. Praise your name. I want to give you a little time right now to just think about the assurance that is yours if you are in Christ, but also to ask the Lord to search your heart, because some of you aren't sure about that. Just be honest with Him. Say, Lord, search my heart. Let me know, do I really belong to you? We thank you, Father, that you sent us the Holy Spirit, assuring us that he is the author of the words we read, and we know that he can continue to give us understanding. Lord, may we go today rejoicing in your truth, rejoicing in you, We give you glory this morning. In Jesus' name, Amen.