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Christian Growth

In All These Things

By Pastor Craig Ledbetter

*What Does it Mean to be More Than a Conqueror * Romans 8:28-39 DATE: 16 Sep, 2001 AM PLACE: BBC Blarney

I. Introduction (Rom 8:37)

A. Before we can concentrate on jut what God means by us being “more than

conquerors”, we need to see what “in all these things” refer to

B. You see, there are two great phrases

C. This world has seen come great conquerors - not great in God’s eyes,

but great in the world’s eyes

  1. Pharaoh of Egypt - conquered the then known world
  2. Sennacherib
  3. Nebuchadnezzar
  4. Alexander the GREAT - died 33 years old
  5. Augustus Caesar (AUGUST means GREAT)
  6. Roman General Titus - crushed the Jewish rebellion of 70 AD
  7. And loads of others, until recently
  8. Hitler - just 60 years ago folks

D. This world needs to see some folks who are not Conquerors, but

MORE than those kind of Conquerors

E. And the test of our ability is found not in the mountain-tops we live in,

but the valleys we conquer

F. It is THOSE valleys that I want to focus on this morning!

II. Background

A. Our God is At Work (Rom 8:28,31-34; Ps 121:1-4) - today and

always

  1. Evidently, God is at work - notice that God is “working ALL things together for GOOD!”
    • The good things - the great days, the sunny days
    • The bad things - the hurt and sorrows, the heartaches, and burdens
    • The impossible things - if He couldn’t, I wouldn’t follow Him
  2. God has a PURPOSE for allowing such troubles in our lives, and in the world in general
    • If God didn’t have a purpose, and is constantly struggling to keep up with our dilemmas, He is one sad case folks!
    • But if God is in control, then the Christian can always be encouraged that there is

A Plan in force 2) A Purpose behind everything 3) A Place we will get to 3. The Focal-point of everything - God’s SON

  • Not world peace
  • Not the unity of the world - note the Newspaper Headings!
  • Not the betterment of all mankind
  • Not the exploration of faith in general
  • But the exaltation and worship of Jesus Christ and HIM alone (Philp 2:9-11) Interfaith activities, such as those conducted today at the National Cathedral (a modernistic Episcopalian church) in memorial of the victims of the recent terrorist acts, pretend that all religions worship the same god. Did anyone else notice that the opening prayer by Nathan Baxter, dean of the Cathedral, was addressed to “the God of Abraham, Mohammed, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ? This is blasphemy, and Billy Graham should have exposed it as such when he spoke at the same event. The god of Mohammed is not the God of Abraham and is NOT the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. The god of Mohammed has no Son and did not make atonement for the sins of his people. The god of Mohammed requires works for salvation. The Muslim religion denies that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God and denies His blood atonement on the cross. Muslims, when they can control the government, do not allow freedom of religion. Christianity is restricted in most Muslim states, and Christians are actually being slaughtered in Muslim Indonesia and the Sudan and in other countries. WAKE UP folks! The one world religion is almost in power! Just wait for the Pope to make a move now!
  1. The goal of everything - a family, full of brethren - in heaven!
  2. Our study is not finished. Notice vss 31-34
    • “What are we going to say?” That is a searching question. What are you going to say this day to these things?
    • Shall we say, “Well, that is interesting. I am glad that it is that way. But I am going to go on living as I have always lived. Certain things I like to do, and I am going to keep on doing them”? If you do say that, you do not know God! No true Christian can be brought into the presence of these truths without having them grip his heart and lead him now in the path of righteousness.
  3. There are four questions here (you need to ponder these):
    • “If God be for us, who can be against us?” The answer: “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?” (v. 32).
    • “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” That is to say (and he is issuing the challenge to a universe), “If there is any man, any angel, any demon who can bring forth a charge and lay it at the door of God’s children, let him stand up!” There is no answer. Why? Because “it is God that justifieth” (v. 33), pardons, forgives. Who is the man then that can bring a charge against God’s elect when the very word elect shows that you can never do it? This is a foretaste. God has declared them righteous; and no other man can undo it.
    • “Who is he that condemneth?” Anybody can issue a charge, but there is only one who has the authority to condemn. God has committed all judgment into the hand of whom? The Son of God! (Jn 5:22). There is not a being - not even the Father nor the Holy Spirit - no angel or archangel
  • there is only one person who can condemn any man. That is Jesus Christ! The only person in the world who can condemn you died for you! And He is at the right hand of God making intercession for us. How can He condemn us? It’s impossible!
    • “Who shall separate us?” He is thinking now of those “present sufferings.” Some say that present sufferings have a tendency to separate us from God. But these things cannot separate the true believer. Paul is talking about his own personal experience here too. He suffered every one of those things except the sword, and he was yet to suffer that at the hands of Caesar. For we are told that he lost his head on the Appian Way at the hands of the Roman governor. Not only can these things not separate us from Christ, but that is not all. In every one of them “we are more than conquerors.” Are we that? No, let us finish it - “through Him that loved us.”

B. What we see here:

  1. The Love of God - so few comprehend what that really is!
  2. The Commitment of the Lord
  3. The Security of the Believer
  4. The ROCK-SOLID foundation upon which we stand
  5. There is no better thing in this universe than being saved folks! AMEN and AMEN!

III. Message - In All These Things (Romans 8:35-39)

A. If all the above is true - and it is…

  1. If God is working everything together for Good…
  2. If God has a purpose for EVERYTHING in your and my life…
  3. If God is directing all the world’s attention upon His Son…
  4. If God is so committed to us that
    • No one can be against us - stand against us
    • No one can rightly condemn us
    • And no one can separate us
  5. THEN, WE REALLY ARE “MORE THAN CONQUERORS!”

B. What is a Conqueror?

  1. A Roman Conqueror
    • Wants to be a god
    • Set out on a campaign - to conquer lands and peoples and religions
    • Massed an army capable of defeating any enemy
    • Humbled and humiliated every city and town, bringing them in submission
    • Destroys, murders, and crushes anything that is in his way
    • Included - the Caesars, the Hitlers, Tyrants, Terrorists
    • But they also:

Fail in their conquests 2) Die 2. Satan the conqueror

  • Wants to be God
  • Set out 6,000 years ago, and has been storming heaven ever since
  • Destroys, murders, and crushes anything that is in his way
  • He too:

Fails - praise God 2) And will lose - in a lake of fire forever! 3. Let me also introduce to you Jesus the Conqueror

  • Christ did some Conquering too (Col 2:15,16)

Our Guiltiness 2) Our Sinfulness 3) Even, our Potential to sin again

  • He did it exactly the opposite way than man or devil! AMEN!
  • And because of Jesus, ALL who are believers actually are MORE than Conquerors (2Cor 2:14) - which mean, we are more than any Roman, or Tyrant, or Dictator, or Despot
  1. So now we meet the Christian - the MORE than a Conqueror - the OVERCOMER

C. The Things we can conquer (Rom 8:35-39)

  1. Tribulation - hard times, disasters (Rom 5:3-5; Jn 16:33)
  2. Distress - emotional worries, concerns, fears (2Cor 6:4-10)
  3. Persecution - (Mt 5:10-12) - we get very little of it today
  4. Famine - economic collapse - is anyone in this room ready for this?
  5. Nakedness - when you have been totally stripped down, and humiliated, you still are better off than the wealthiest person alive (Cf Rich man and Lazarus)
  6. Peril - danger of life - health-wise, or physical as you try and serve God
  7. Sword - even war - Christians not at war, but caught in the middle of a war trying to serve the Lord and win souls, and start churches
  8. HEY! It is IN all these things that a Christian is more than a conqueror. I don’t know what kind of Christianity you got into, but mine is aligned with some good examples (2Cor 11:“3-27). God hates Christians “IN THEORY!” Only in REALITY are we real! EX: of kids in abstract and in the concrete

D. Notice that it is only when it is FOR Jesus (Rom 8:36) - how you feel

Christian, is REAL!

E. And our conquering doesn’t stop there -

“nothing shall be able to separate me from the love of God”

  1. He goes to the realm of death-he looks at it, he searches it. He says, “There is nothing there that can separate us.”
  2. He turns then to the realm of life. He finds nothing there.
  3. He looks to the angelic or spiritual world. He finds nothing there among the good angels.
  4. He regards the other side-the principalities, representing Satan and all his hosts. There is nothing there!
  5. He then begins to examine “things present.” In all the vast realm of “things present” he finds nothing!
  6. Then he peers out into the future, “things to come.” Who knows what those three words comprehend? Judgment-the ages of eternity! But he says, as he looks through the ages of eternity, “There is nothing there!”
  7. But he does not stop. He scans the entire universe-the heights and depths of the universe. He finds nothing there!
  8. There is NO CREATURE ANYWHERE or at ANYTIME (Goliath, Satan, etc) that can separate us from our victory!

IV. Conclusion/Application

A. To Be a Conqueror - that is hard, but some people do it - by

destroying millions of lives, and ruling a world of their design

B. To Be MORE Than a Conqueror - much harder

  1. By getting saved, and outlasting all your enemies
  2. By serving the Lord
  3. By enduring the hard times, and conquering the real enemies
  4. By retaining the Joy and Peace that only the Christian has, even in the midst of disaster

C. Which are YOU?

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