This is the last paragraph: Romans 8:31-39. By now, I hope you have memorized these verses.
It begins in verse 31. Paul the apostle, closing this chapter, says:
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 shall condemn? 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.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 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.
I will read again verses 38 and 39. This is our text:
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.
Now, let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, we are so grateful for Your Word. Where would we be without Your Word? What would we do without Your words? As the psalmist said, if You withhold Your Word from us, we will die.
We tell You again, Lord, that You alone have the words of eternal life—no one else. Your words are spirit and life. We pray that the Holy Spirit would come this morning in our sharing time and quicken the thoughts, quicken the hearts, and quicken the spirits and minds of the saints, that we may hear and receive what is in Your heart.
Speak to us, Lord. We wait upon You. We need Your Word. We are thankful that You have given it, but we are praying this morning for an anointing upon it, that we could hear and enter into the reality of it. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.
Well, I think you know we have been sharing from this last paragraph in Romans 8. This is the closing. By the way, I will not be provoked, or even myself try, to extend the time. This is the closing on this last series that I have called the divine closing argument.
Now, a brother said to me, “Where did you get that from?” I am sorry, I do not know if it has spoken to you, but I read in many places about arguments in closing and concluding. I just felt compelled that what we are looking at is this great summary in Romans 8, where God unveils to us the depth of His Word in a way that is done in few other places.
This is God’s case for the gospel in Romans. This is God’s case against man as a sinner in the book of Romans. You see the depth when you read the early parts. This is God’s case for justifying man through the death of His Son. If ever there was a court case, this is the case—the eternal court.
This is God’s case for the revelation of His great purpose. And if you can imagine what that purpose is, just before Paul the apostle begins these closing arguments, he says that we may be conformed to the image of His Son. That is the purpose. That is the end.
If you think about it, it is almost too vast to take in. It is almost overwhelming. But in the end, as I often say from that verse in 1 John, when we see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Can a believer expect anything more than that great thought?
So this is the way I have been led. As you know, I painted a picture, a little bit, of a court case. All court cases, at least, have an opening statement. In an opening statement, it tells you what the case is about. It summarizes what the case will be about.
Then, if you have ever been in court—and I hope you never will be—there is the evidence, which is the biggest part of the trial. The evidence is presented, and sometimes it is months and even longer; sometimes it is days, depending on the case.
But in the end, every case has a closing argument. That is where those who represent the defendant, or those who represent the prosecution, state in summary and bring to light the high points of the case. They try, in the end, to make the last convincing remarks. That is the closing argument, and that is what we have looked at: the divine closing argument.
I read early on from a paper written by legal experts that described it this way: a closing argument is defined as a summation, or a summing up. It is the concluding statement of each party’s counsel, reiterating the important arguments to the trier of fact—often the jury in a court case. A closing argument occurs after the evidence has been presented.
Romans 1:1 through Romans 8:30 is the presentation of all the evidence. Then we pick up in verse 31, and we begin to see, through the close of that chapter, the concluding or closing argument.
Now today I want to speak about being persuaded. That is really the end of every closing argument. That is really the aim of every closing argument. The purpose is to convince.
When it is a defendant, they try to produce reasonable doubt. That is all you have to do in our system of justice. If you can produce reasonable doubt, that person can go free. Of course, in Romans 8, it is to produce unwavering faith in the believer, not reasonable doubt. That is what Romans 8 is about.
I think of the importance of these nine verses. I like what William Newell said in his famous book, Romans Verse by Verse. He said, “Paul here arrives at the mountaintop of Christian experience.” That is the importance of these words.
I remember I shared a little bit about O. J. Simpson’s trial in the beginning. Some people were a little upset that I was going to be attacked after that. I am sorry if that bothered you, but you may not know this: this is the twentieth anniversary of O. J.’s trial.
It was a trial that transfixed the nation, called the trial of the century—like no other trial before it in our history. They said that after the closing arguments, after those powerful closing arguments that turned that whole case around, people were so caught up in America, so transfixed, that Rodeo Drive and the roads in Beverly Hills were completely empty. Never had that scene been repeated. People were so waiting for the verdict, so waiting to hear, and so powerful was that closing argument.
You remember Johnny Cochran. I even shared it. He put on that old stocking cap and said, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” That rang in the ears of a nation, and it rang in the ears of a jury. The power of that closing argument made the guilty go free.
Now, I say this is where people thought I got in trouble: it made the guilty go free. Brothers and sisters, the power of the divine closing argument makes the guilty go free. And he whom Christ has set free is free indeed.
That was my testimony verse after I was saved. Everybody said, “What is your testimony?” I said, “My testimony is John 8:36: ‘If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’”
So that is what we have been looking at: how powerful, then, is this closing argument?
We have looked at three things before. I hope you remember some of them.
First of all, God is for us. Can you think of the number of believers who still have difficulty with that? That is the great declaration in this closing argument: God is for us.
Brothers and sisters, we need to know that. If we somehow doubt, somehow do not believe, or somehow cannot lay hold of in the Spirit that God is for us, then we are lost.
What proof is there? There is incredible proof: He who spared not His only Son. That is the proof. That is the unbelievable proof. Can He do anything more to prove to you the number-one point in this closing argument? God is for us. That is number one.
Then we shared that God defends us in these other verses. Verse 33: “Who shall bring an accusation against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”
Brothers and sisters, this is the good news. This is the second main point that the apostle made in these closing arguments: God defends us. If you want someone to defend you, think of it—I would hope it would be God.
It was said of O. J. that he had the dream team. Jim is a basketball player, so he will know. They use “dream team” often for basketball teams that they cobble together from all these unbelievable, pro-gifted athletes. But I think maybe the first time that could have been used was when it spoke of O. J.’s lawyers, his counsel.
They had an unbelievable plethora of lawyers—outstanding lawyers—on this man’s case. I am sure glad, for his sake, that he had millions to spend. Lawyers do not come cheap.
But we have the number-one defense counsel in all of creation. Dream team? We have the team. “If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall bring an accusation against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”
That is the second point. Finally, the last point is that God is with us in verses 35-37. He is with us in the deepest and darkest of circumstances.
Those seven things are spoken of in those verses: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword. The point in the closing argument—the point the apostle Paul makes—is that in the most difficult, in the most trying circumstance you can go through as a believer, God is with us.
Not only is God for us. Not only is He our defense counsel—God defends us. But number three, God is with us in every circumstance. Can you imagine?
Griffith Thomas called this the exultant assurance. We need exultant assurance. Another called this the magnificent climax. We need to know the Lord in this assured way. This is what this is about.
Today we are going to look at just three things. You know, I cannot handle more than three. Some more gifted people handle more; I handle three.
We have already read verses 38 and 39. They are the text. They are the summation of the closing argument and the conclusion of the final remark.
Paul gives a testimony here. This is Paul speaking. In that summation, he had a forthright testimony. He said this: “For I am persuaded.”
Brothers and sisters, that is the whole point of a case. That is the whole point of the closing arguments. That is the whole aim: to persuade you, so that there is no doubt and you can say, like the apostle Paul, “For I am persuaded.”
There is no better testimony than that. That was the testimony of the apostle Paul. I read in another legal paper, “Persuasion is the objective of the closing arguments.” What is the main thing you are trying to do in this summation? It is simply this: to persuade.
To persuade. Brothers and sisters, we need this testimony that the apostle Paul had. That is what this closing argument is about.
Now here is the question. Paul is persuaded, obviously. He says, “For I am persuaded.” There is no equivocation in his testimony. Here is the question: Are you persuaded?
Here is the question I have to ask myself: Am I really persuaded? Have I laid hold of these great truths? Do I really believe that God is for me? Do I really believe that God will defend me? Do I really believe that God is with me in the darkest and the brightest circumstances?
Here is the testimony of Paul that we need: “For I am persuaded.”
I like what Griffith Thomas said: “The love of Christ is so certain, so constant, and so changeless that it elicits perfect persuasion.” That is quite a statement.
Nothing in space or time will be able to separate believers from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. That is the persuasion the apostle Paul has. The vital question this morning is not whether Paul had it. It is clear Paul had it. The vital question is: Do I have it?
I want that to be the burden when we think about being persuaded. Are you persuaded that God is for you? Are you?
I cannot tell you how many believers I have been with, counseling and talking to them, fellowshipping with them, and they equivocate. They say, “I do not know if God is really for me.” Can you imagine?
What hope would drain from our hearts? What lifeless form would we take as believers if, for a moment, we believed God is not for us? Do you believe it?
Are you persuaded that God defends you? Think of David. I love the Psalms. David said over and over, using all these war words, “You are my high tower. You are my defense. You are my shield.” How many times have you read, “You are my buckler,” and wondered what on earth he was talking about?
He knew something. He knew something tremendous that took him through the darkest days and the darkest nights. He knew that, number one, above all, God defends us. That is what he knew.
Thirdly, are you persuaded that God is with us? When you wake up in the morning, do you think, as a believer, that you somehow leave your knees and go into the world alone? Do you believe it?
Brothers and sisters, we would be the most desperate people. We would be like those people it talks about in Ephesians 2:12: without hope and without God in this world.
But thank God, this is the closing argument. We do not go out that day in that way. We go out knowing God is with us. We go out knowing that when difficult times come, He does not vacate and leave us, but He is with us in the most difficult and trying experiences of life.
This is the key. The main question is: are you a persuaded man, woman, or child? Are you persuaded, like the apostle Paul is convinced?
Now let me tell you, there is a very big difference here. You may be convinced in your head, but you may not, in fact, be convinced in your heart. That is where the trouble comes.
What the Word of God is dealing with is a heart conviction. As a matter of fact, one brother I read said, “Persuaded is a heart word. It is not a head word.”
I do not sort of, with my intellect, convince you to believe these things. It has to be the Holy Spirit coming upon you with light and revelation. Your heart becomes overwhelmed and is captured, and you know these things. That is the difference between head and heart.
Newell said, “Let us lay to heart this word ‘persuaded,’ for it is the key to Paul’s triumph as he goes shouting up the mountain heights of Christian faith.” Persuaded. He was a persuaded man.
There is a difference between knowing a truth and being heart-persuaded of it. To know a Bible truth, you only have to read it. How many of us can quote verses? Now, I am not against reading the Bible. Please, if you take that away from this, you take the wrong message away.
Read your Bible over and over, and then ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten His Word and make His words flesh once again. To be persuaded of it in the Lord Jesus means, first, that the truth in question touches your own personal safety before God; and second, that your heart has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit and your will has been won over.
Persuaded means that your confidence is a heart-satisfied persuasion. Do you, brothers and sisters, have a heart-satisfied persuasion? Or do you have a head persuasion?
People say derogatorily, and I may have been called this before, that someone is a head case. Are we a head case, or are we a heart case? You see the difference? It seems to me to be vital.
This is not presumption—to be persuaded. I do not presume; this is persuasion. There is a difference. Persuasion comes into our heart and captures our heart. Then we can say with the same definite emphasis that the apostle Paul said, “For I am persuaded.” With the same intensity.
I was thinking more about the apostle Paul’s testimony later. I think all of you know Paul’s last book was 2 Timothy, shortly before he was offered up as a sacrifice and killed in Rome.
Maybe you have even quoted these verses: 2 Timothy 1:12, “For I know Him whom I have believed.” And what did the apostle Paul say? “And am persuaded.”
That was his last word. That was what he had to offer up to his dear son Timothy. He said, “Timothy, this one thing I know: I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”
That is persuaded. That is persuaded.
I think of Abraham’s testimony. If you are familiar with Romans, it talks in Romans 4. Abraham is one of the most prominent Old Testament characters. But Abraham is also one of the Old Testament characters spoken of in the New Testament as much as almost anyone—Moses being another.
Romans 4:20-21 says:
Yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God,
and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
Here is Abraham’s testimony. We have heard Paul’s testimony: “For I am persuaded.” We have heard how he said, “I am persuaded that He is able to keep.” But here was Abraham’s testimony, stated in two words: fully persuaded.
Notice the difference, brothers and sisters. Abraham was fully persuaded. Somehow this idol worshiper, who was called out and called unto God, came to this place that eventually he believed God to such an extent that his testimony was that he was fully persuaded that whatever God said, He could do.
Notice that the confidence was not in Abraham. I suppose you figured that out by now. The confidence is in God Himself. Fully persuaded.
Brothers and sisters, I believe the Lord is looking for those of us who are fully persuaded. I believe that the intent of this closing argument is to find ones who have so entered into the reality of these three things that they can say, like Father Abraham, “I am fully persuaded.”
It goes on to say, therefore God reckoned it to him as righteousness. Look at the connection. When we are fully persuaded, God reckons that faith to us as righteousness. It goes on to say, if you read Romans 4, that it was not for Abraham alone, but for us also that it will be reckoned.
Do you think being fully persuaded was a testimony for Abraham alone? It makes it very clear in the book of Romans: it was for us also to be fully persuaded. I hope you are getting the point.
Then I think, on this matter of summation, of Paul when he spoke to Festus and Agrippa. You know the story in Acts 26, do you not? You remember Paul’s argument—his closing argument in his own defense—was so powerful that King Agrippa said, “This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.” He even declared that if he had not appealed to Caesar, he could go free.
There is the power of closing arguments. But Festus, while Paul was going on with this anointed summation, said, “Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning is turning thee mad.”
I suppose those of us who are fully persuaded, the world will say, “You are mad.” That is what they will say. Those of us who are fully persuaded simply that God is able to do what He said He can do, without equivocation and without doubt—there will be many Festuses out there who say of us, “You are mad. Much learning has brought you to madness.”
But Paul declared with joy, “I am a fool for Christ’s sake.” Let the world call us mad, but let us be fully persuaded.
Then you think of Agrippa. Festus was not persuaded at all. Most of the world will not be persuaded at all. They will say you are mad. They will say, perhaps in kindness, “You are a bit strange. You fell out of a tree. You must have hit your head.”
But think of Agrippa. Agrippa was gripped—pardon the pun—by the testimony of the apostle Paul, gripped by the closing argument of the apostle Paul, challenged by the closing of the apostle Paul.
In Acts 26:28, he said:
With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes I think that is us: almost persuaded. We are like Agrippa. We have been moved by these arguments. We have been touched by the Word of God. They mean something to us. But then the best we can say is, “Almost thou persuadest me.”
This is the summation. What are you? What are you today? More importantly, what am I today? Can I say like the apostle Paul, “For I am persuaded”? Can I say like Abraham, “I am fully persuaded”? Or do I say like Agrippa, “Almost persuaded”?
I think it is true for many Christians. May the Lord have mercy on us.
The second thing we want to look at is the security. I want to read these verses again:
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.
Now, brothers and sisters, there is a very important word repeated here. I guess you saw it. The word is “no.” The word is “neither.” It begins with “neither,” and then it says “nor” again and again.
That is a very important word. It simply means that our security is this: nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Absolutely nothing.
When you read this, it is good English, by the way: neither/nor. Either/or is the positive; neither/nor is the negative. Neither death, nor life, nor any of these other things—is it even remotely possible to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? That is our security.
Eternal security. Unwavering security. Complete security.
The world is obsessed with security. We now have a new department after 9/11: Homeland Security. Many of us have a security system on our house. We have security systems in our cars. We have security systems on our computers with antivirus software. We have security for our finances. We are obsessed with security.
I am not suggesting you throw away your alarm system. I am not suggesting you rip it out of your car. I am suggesting there is an eternal security that far exceeds any security this world can begin to offer.
This is what the second point is. One key word: nor. You might not think that is such a powerful little word, but it is a powerful little word, man. You could get a tattoo, if you want to: “Nor.” You would have to explain it to everybody.
What a powerful word. This is our eternal security, and it means nothing—nothing—can separate.
Paul lists ten things. When you read this, he lists ten things, and in those ten things some are extremes. He captures anything and everything a believer can experience that could possibly—or that you might think could possibly—take away your security.
Many of them are opposites. Look at the first one: neither death nor life. Many of us think, “Boy, death—that is a problem.” But the first thing he says is that neither death can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
You remember 1 Corinthians 15:26. In that great chapter on resurrection, it says, “The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.” You remember how Hebrews 2 says that He delivers those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Death is huge. He mentions it right away.
But brothers and sisters, death is not our end. Thank God, death is not our end. Recently, when some brothers and sisters have gone to be with the Lord, I think about it. You may think I am crazy to think this way, but I think about what that moment was like when they entered into the presence of the Lord.
I cannot imagine. I wonder, when the veils of life were taken away and that unblemished, unhindered glory of God was at last made manifest, what that moment of entry must have been like.
We often feel sorry for those who have gone home to be with the Lord. I think we should rejoice. Surely we will be in sorrow, but what must it be like?
Neither death. Death is not our end, but we go into uninterrupted communion.
Then he says another thing: nor life. Think of the extremes. You have death here—about as low as you get to mankind—and then you have life. Death and life.
It seems to me it is easier to die than it is to live. Living is the hard part.
Spurgeon said this in a discussion with a dear old sister. He said, “I must confess that I am more afraid of life than death.” “Oh,” she said, “death is such hard work.”
Then he said, “Do you think so? Why, dying is the end of works. It is the living that is hard work.” Do you not know that, brothers and sisters? Living here is hard work.
Do you agree? How we need the grace of God. How we need the assurance of God. How we need the love of the Lord to keep us, because the hard part is daily living here on earth. There is not anything harder than living.
There is a famous quote: “Life is hard, then you die.” That is sort of a depressing quote, but every once in a while we tell people that. It is true. How we have grace—unbelievable grace—for life.
What he is saying to you is neither death nor life. What he is saying is that in life, every provision will be made for you so that you can live victoriously in this life. That is what the extremes mean.
Then there is another grouping: neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers. My version puts powers later, but the King James Version, and probably your version, groups these three together.
There is much debate about what these angels are talking about. Is it talking about the good angels who kept their estate? Or is it talking about the bad angels, the fallen angels, which Revelation 12:4 speaks about when it says that he took a third of the stars of heaven?
It does not matter what he is talking about. What matters is that no heavenly being, good or bad, can take you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. That is the good news. Nothing.
Then he goes on to principalities and powers. When you read Ephesians 6, you discover those words in that great section between verses 10 and 18, where it talks about warfare. In verse 12, it speaks about the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Brothers and sisters, what the apostle is saying in his testimony and from his experiences is that no demonic or angelic force, no heavenly power, can take you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. That, dear ones, is our security.
I remember last night—I do not know if it was coincidence or what—I went to bed and had this horrendous dream. I had one of those nightmares where you cannot move. You are frozen, trying to move your limbs. Have you had one of those?
I felt like I was being attacked by demonic forces. I was trying to speak, but it sounded like a robot. You cannot speak in those dreams. Linda usually wakes me up when I do that. She elbows me and says, “You are having a nightmare.”
But I was having one of those nightmares, and I could not speak. Then all of a sudden, I woke up and said, “The blood of Jesus.” And that nightmare disappeared.
There is no angelic force that can take us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Remember that simple word: nor—nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers. That is what it says.
Then there is another thing: neither things present nor things to come. Notice that. It is interesting to me, when I meditated on this, that it did not say, “Nor things past.” It does not mention the past.
I think, as believers, we live too much in the past. Paul gave a recipe for victory in Philippians 3. I think it is verse 13, though I may be wrong. He gave this simple and profound advice: “Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on.”
That is the secret. Forget the past. You cannot do anything about the past. Now, there have been cases when you have to make some amends for the past.
I remember one time—I told this story long ago—we were with the brothers praying down in Deltaville. There was a fellow there named Kenny. I grew up with him, and I sort of bullied this guy as a young man. I was quite the fighter.
I remember beating him up on more than several occasions and calling him all kinds of names. I remember being convicted. He was there with his family, and I had not seen him. The Holy Spirit said, “Go to him. Tell him you are a Christian. Tell him you are sorry. Make amends for the past.”
I went to him. I used to call him, on a regular basis, a terrible, offensive name. Please do not get offended; that was my name for him. I cannot imagine what damage this foolish sinner did.
I went to him and said, “Kenny, I am a Christian. God saved me. I am not the same person. Will you forgive me for the past?”
He was stunned. I think he must have thought I fell out of a tree. I think he must have thought, like Festus, “You are mad.” But peace—peace came into my heart.
Then I went back and had to help Jerry finish all those Alaskan king crab legs. Sometimes in the past, you need to amend. Not always. Do not live in the past.
It says, “Nor things present.” Our problem is with the present. Our problem is with the here and now. Do you know that everything you go through presently cannot separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? That is the good thing.
Then it says, “Nor things to come.” How we sometimes worry about the future. We think, “What am I going to do when I retire? What am I going to do if I get sick? What am I going to do with the children and the grandchildren? What am I going to do?”
We worry and live in the future. He says, “Nor things to come.” Let me put it in plain English: whatever comes to you—and I do not know what it will be, and you do not know what it will be for me—whatever comes to you cannot separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
Neither height nor depth. You cannot get any farther apart than that, can you? Neither height—the highest place, the highest things—nor depth, the lowest things, can separate you.
You remember what David said in Psalm 139:7-8:
Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there:
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there.
How many believers have made their bed in hell? Yet David said, “Thou art there.” Neither height nor depth.
I think of personality. You may be the highest optimist who ever lived, always living in the heavens. You may be the deepest melancholic who ever lived, always living in the depths. I suppose you are like me: you go between the two.
The Word of God is clear: neither height nor depth shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
Finally, the last one: “Nor any other creature.” Notice that. That is just a little added phrase. The Holy Spirit is so wise. “Nor any other creature.”
It seems to me the Holy Spirit put this in to make the list comprehensive, if there is any doubt. Nor any other creature.
I like what Spurgeon said. He said, “‘Nor any other creature’ may be read, ‘Nor anything in creation.’” Think of that. I think that is pretty comprehensive: nor anything that is created.
These five categories list every imaginable and every possible circumstance you can find yourself in, and every possible foe that can come against you.
The bottom summary of our security is this: one word—nothing. One word—nor. It is not able. It is not able. It cannot separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
Now let us look at the last thing. There is a secret. This verse ends with a secret. Thank God, it is not a hidden secret.
It says that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the secret of the Bible.
The secret of the Bible is that God so loved the world. Can you imagine? The secret of the Bible is that He had a grand intention for man. He would make man, first of all, outwardly, forming him in His own image. But His ultimate purpose was that man would be like Him.
We have already talked about that. We would be so conformed to the image of Christ that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. The secret—the great secret of the Bible—is the love of God.
Think if you did not know it. Think if you lived your life and never heard this, and it never touched your heart deeply to the point that you were persuaded. It is the secret.
It is the unbreakable chain. I remember going to Lowe’s, and I did not know this until a number of years ago: they had chains in every imaginable size.
As a matter of fact, I would hang a picture and get a chain that looked like one of Linda’s necklaces. I know she is hoping it is not. Then you see all these chains, and some pretty big chains with huge links. You think, “Whoa, what would you use that for?”
I remember as a kid, I used to love war stuff. I went to see the USS North Carolina in Wilmington. I was a little boy wandering around on the wooden deck of that ship, and I looked and saw this massive anchor chain.
You cannot get that at Lowe’s, brothers and sisters. You cannot go into Lowe’s and say, “Cut me a few links of that.” You would never get it out of the store.
But God’s unbreakable chain is more massive than anything you can imagine.
We talk about the weakest link. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You remember that phrase. That is when they are often talking about the one they are worried about: the weakest link in the chain.
God has no weakness. God’s chain has no weakest link. His whole chain is the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is unbreakable. It cannot be broken.
The second part of this secret is that it is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You will never be separated from Christ Jesus. Is that not a wonderful secret? In Christ Jesus our Lord.
Think about it. God put you in Christ Jesus. He could have saved you, He could have pardoned you, and He could have left you to your own wherewithal. Think if He had done that. Where would you be today? I do not think you would be persuaded.
But He has put you in Christ Jesus. If I can say a little more, this is almost unimaginable. Colossians 1:27 says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Can you imagine? It is one thing to thank God that He would take you and me, formerly sinners and a ruined creation, and put us in Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, it is another thing altogether to think that He would take Christ Jesus, the fullness of all things, and put Christ Jesus in you. Is that not amazing?
No wonder this exultant assurance can say, “I am persuaded.” Not because of me, but because of Christ Jesus in me. It is because I am in Christ Jesus, and it is because of Christ Jesus in me. This is the secret.
Well, my time is up. I hope this divine closing argument has meant as much to you as it has to me. If it was not very helpful for you, at least it was for me.
I am hoping that God will begin to really open our eyes, and we can respond the way Paul began and say, “What then shall we say to these things?”
I am hoping we will see with new revelation that God is for us. Would you wake up and say that in the morning? Would you go to bed and utter that at night?
I am hoping we can say, in every circumstance, God defends us. I am hoping the result may be that we can say, in every circumstance, God is with us.
Here was the summation: “For I am persuaded.” Here is the vital question: are you persuaded? Are you fully persuaded? Or are you like Agrippa, almost persuaded?
Then there is the great security: nothing. One word. You do not have to remember all these ten things. Just remember, whatever you come into and whatever you come against, one word: nothing shall separate me. Nothing. Nor.
Some versions, I think, use the word “nay” in places. That is our security.
Finally, the secret: God’s love is the great secret. It is the unbreakable chain. So deep is that secret that He has put you in Christ Jesus, and, unthinkably, put the fullness of Christ Jesus in you and me.
That is the summary. That is persuaded.
Brothers and sisters, I pray the Lord will make this living in us, at least in some ways.
Lord, we commit to You these thoughts and these words. We are praying that the Holy Spirit would breathe upon them so they would become real in our everyday experience.
May we too, like the apostle Paul, be able to say, “I am persuaded.” May we know a security unlike any other security that exists. May we also know, daily and hourly, the secret of God’s love keeping us through every circumstance.
Lord, write these words upon our hearts. We ask You, Lord, that You would be exalted, and that You would find a people like Abraham, fully persuaded—even in us. In Jesus’ name, amen.