Today I preached a sermon entitled "Secure Because of the Spirit". The mp3 is available to download. This message was a follow-up to last week's message, which I called "Free Because of Jesus". Here are the notes I used . . . .

SECURE BECAUSE OF THE SPIRIT (Romans 8)

This message is really Part 2 of last week�s talk. If we had more time, I would have preached one "mega sermon� � instead you get to hear it over two weeks. The message of last week was simply, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." God wants us to FEEL not-condemned � just like the man in court who has just been declared NOT guilty!

We spoke a fair bit about condemnation and the wrath of God against sin. This week, I want to focus on the experience of a Christian � don�t forget, however, that wrath and love, holiness and forgiveness are like two sides of the same coin � you cannot understand one without the other. Romans 11:22 "Note then the kindness and the severity of God.� Jesus himself said some hard things � his followers once said, �Who can bear the things you say?� So if last week we spoke about the severity of God, this week it will be more on the kindness . . . My key verse for today is: "If God is for us who can be against us?"

We will look at the effects of that on us, but first: How can we KNOW if God is for us? Let�s listen to the WHOLE CHAPTER - CHAPTER EIGHT . . .

1. Because of Jesus� Death

Romans 5:8
�But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

1 John 3:16
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us."

DON�T say "I am not sure if God loves ME." � HE SHOWED US THAT HE DOES!!! SO IF GOD IS FOR US and showed it by sending His son to die . . . who can be against us?

2. Because the Spirit has set us free from the law of sin and death.

There is inside us a desire to follow Jesus � a MIND SET CHANGE. Who is responsible for this? The Holy Spirit!!! This passage seems to show TWO distinct works of the Spirit. FIRSTLY, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. THIS MEANS Anyone who does have the spirit belongs to Christ.

All Christians DO HAVE the Spirit�The Spirit is the one who:

• Convicts of sin




• Removes blindness




• Shows us Jesus




• Makes the Gospel attractive�STORY OF POD CASTING GYM RUNNER




• GIVES us faith�BORN AGAIN.

John 3:5
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

Ephesians 3 says
"We were dead," but God "made us alive," and we were saved by faith, which was a "gift of God."

SO IF GOD IS FOR US � and showed it by giving us saving faith and making us come alive in Him �WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?

BUT we can have the Spirit and not be aware of it.

All the above can have happened to us and we may not have FELT anything � we may not have EXPERIENCED anything. BUT God did not intend for us to have a form of salvation which is not assured and does not make us SECURE.

Unless we are sure that we are one of the ones who are IN CHRIST, knowing that those who are in Christ are not condemned only makes us worse! Not every Christian is aware of the work of the Spirit in internally assuring us of our salvation-bearing witness. Therefore:

(a) get your salvation right.

(b) get your feelings right�DON'T feel condemned.

Be assured � THE SECOND WORK OF THE SPIRIT.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
Such assurance acts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (Ephesians 1). Thus, we can say with Paul:

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

We have already seen some glory � the Bible says we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another � if you have known something of the Spirit, there is MORE to come � we can taste something of the powers of the age to come right here, right now!!!

The Spirit helps assure us when times are tough.

• The struggling pregnant mum � who knows a glorious future child is coming �

SO IF GOD IS FOR US . . . and showed it by our consciously receiving the Spirit and hearing His testimony in our hearts that we are the children of God . . . WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?

He helps us pray. He prays for us. He reminds us of the glorious truth that:

Romans 8:28 � ". . .we know that all things work together . . .�

• The woman who lost her job and gets made redundant with pay-off just at the time they were about to offer her resignation in favor of another.

SO IF GOD IS FOR US . . . and works all things together for our good�who can be against us?

Once saved always saved? AMEN � provided you really ARE saved in the first place! He reminds us that there is an unbroken chain stretching from eternity past to eternity future which GUARANTEES our salvation! Those who God foreknew . . .

SO IF GOD IS FOR US . . .and has been for us since eternity past, and will be for us to eternity future . . .who can be against us?

WHAT SHOULD BE OUR RESPONSE?
If God is for us, how can we be anything other than a conqueror, and how can we doubt that ANYTHING can separate us from the love of God?

No, in all these things we are more than conqueror . . . separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.