The Exclusivity Of A Shocking Promise (Romans 8:28)

Hey, good to see you. If you’ve got a Bible, go ahead and go with me. Let’s go to Romans chapter eight, and keep this good thing going. Okay, good. Thank you. But I’ll just preach to you then. Everybody here? You okay? Are you scared? Are you nervous? Would you rather be here than in jail? Okay, all right. Making sure. We’re in Romans eight. If you’re new, we’ve been in here a while. We’re next month. We’ll be three years in the book of Romans, and we’ve got a long way to go. We’re almost halfway there, but it’s going to slow down. The title. Not kidding. There’s a lot, right? You know, who wants to play around and miss out on the beauty of the depths of God’s Word, right? The title of this message is “The Exclusivity of a Shocking Promise” (Romans 8:28). We’ll be drowning in this over the next couple of weeks. A shocking promise. You’ll see clearly what it is. But you’re going to note that from last week, we’re using this word here again, “exclusivity”. Now, people get offended when they see something that is exclusive, but that’s an odd thing because the same people that get offended at that also like to be exclusive. Okay, I have a friend who has-I’m not bragging on his behalf. Here I go. He doesn’t live here. He has the Amex Black card. You can’t apply for it. They have to contact you. It’s when you have more money than you have sense, because you’re spending so much money, and he has this card, and it is metal, and it is heavy, and he can be sitting in a restaurant, and they’ll put that tray there, and he just goes clink, and it goes bing, and 15 people around him know he is excluding them, and that’s thought of as being cool. You know what the problem with that is? That’s because of pride, but the exclusions that the Bible makes are actually out of love. Let me give you one example. Every week that we do take communion, you probably hear one of the pastors say something like this: “If you’re not a disciple of Christ, if you have not repented of your sins and believed in Jesus, please abstain from taking these elements.” Now, what is that? What are we doing? Are we excluding people? We are, but do you know why? Because the Bible warns people, and if you don’t believe it, read 1 Corinthians 11, and it’s a warning. It is a life and death warning to take that cup and that bread in an unworthy manner. And so, maybe you say, “Well, I’ve been around church my whole life, no one’s ever told me about that warning.” I don’t know why they haven’t loved you better, and I’m sorry. But it’s a loving thing to say. I want to warn you. This is a danger if you do this. It’s the only reason we do it. We’re not mean people. We don’t want to keep somebody out of something. In fact, it’s a call for you to examine yourself and come in, so it’s a calling to joy. If you’ve ever felt excluded in a bad way, that’s different. But there are loving exclusions. When I was eight years old, my parents took me and my sister to the Grand Canyon, and yep, we rode mules down that path that’s about that wide, and they put me on this animal, and I immediately was terrified because it looked clinically depressed. It was like this is I’m on Eeyore it’s like this, clopity cloppity clop, and there’s death right there. Death! You been? It’s death. It’s a sheer drop, hundreds of feet. You’re dead. Anybody that falls off dies, and I’m terrified the whole time. And I wanted that animal to stay to an exclusive path. Right? Don’t deviate. Don’t become self-willed. Don’t get creative.

We’re to do the same thing. In fact, when we’re called into even looking into the Bible, we find exclusivity, don’t we? How many ways are there to God? There’s only one way to God, and what is that? There’s only one mediator between God and man-that’s the man Christ Jesus. Very exclusive.

Jesus said it very clear: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There’s a wide, wide, wide gate and road that leads to destruction, but the way that leads to life is what? It’s a narrow gate. It’s a narrow road, and few there be that find it. It’s very exclusive of those who don’t come through that one way. This should not shock us, and that’s a loving thing to warn about, isn’t it? It is. So, we’re going to see a promise in 8:28 of Romans, but I need you to see it’s exclusive, lest we misquote it, and some people hear it and hear it taught here. And they say, “Oh, I put that on my refrigerator, and I’ve been claiming that promise.” You can claim it all you want to, but that doesn’t make it yours. We want to see what does make it ours. That’s what we’re contending for here. Let’s look at the text. I’m going to read 26 through 28. Kind of wrap us back into the context. “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought (right? oftentimes that happens) but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Well, in the next verse, we see who the “us” are. It’s exclusive. It says, “And He who searches hearts (that’s God the Father) knows what is the mind of the Spirit (that’s the Holy Spirit) because the Spirit intercedes (look specifically for who?) for the saints.” And who are the “saints”? The word just means holy ones or called out ones or separated. Okay, it means those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and are regenerated and now have the Holy Spirit living in them. That’s who He intercedes for. He doesn’t intercede for the world. We covered that last week. If you want to go back and listen to it, “And He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” And then we come to verse 28, “And we know.” Now what you’re about to read is known because the Holy Spirit is interceding for you if you’re in Christ, and He’s the one ensuring that it’s going to happen. But notice this. I’ll just read the verse, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.” Now, the world-ling-I should say the worldling-or if somebody who has no interest in the gospel, at all, grabs this verse and they take it. They change it, and it says this. They mark this, and it would go this way. “And we know that”…“All things work together for good.” There, it’s called the Arminian highlighter. No, anyway, that’s a joke, sorta. And you want to say that “All things work together for good”? Do all things work together for good for every single person? No, they do not. There is an exclusion to this in that, there are qualifiers in the promise, and it’s a shocking promise to think all things work together: that’s good and bad and mediocre. Yeah, but there’s a qualifier to it. In fact, there’s two of them, and we’ll start looking into the depths of that today, so that when you come to this passage, the richness of it will hit your heart as it was determined that it should be in the authorial intent, not that you would just glaze over it and be like, “Okay, I guess all things work out together in the end.” It’s not what this is talking about. It’s talking about something much more wonderful, and it’s more assurance than most of us have ever attained to that God is going to do this for us as the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. So, here’s what I have in outlining this passage. It’s going to take more than more than one message. Obviously, I’m going to do two words and I’m going to do two statements. Okay, so simple, two words and two statements. Here we go.

Here’s word number one: 1. “God”

God. Now that may seem like a silly point to you, but it’s one of the words used in Romans 8:28. And here’s what we have to ask: Which one? Which one? Now, if you’re a good monotheist and you’re here, you go. “Well, there’s only one God.” You’re right. There is only one God, but there are many false gods. There are many idolatrous forms of God, and people tend to make up the own God of their making, which is an idol, and they tend to call that “god”. And so, you might be hearing you’re sharp, and you say, “Well, I mean the God of the Bible.” Well, you’re close, but may I suggest to you that the God that’s being talked about in verse 28 of Romans eight is the God of the entire Bible. He’s the God of the entire Bible. He’s not just the God of John 3:16. He’s not just the God of Romans 8:28, right? He’s not just the God of the cherry-picked verse that tells “you can do all things through Christ” in a verse taken out of context. See, that verse isn’t talking about scoring touchdowns, but that’s what people do. They say, “I like this God, and as long as it doesn’t it doesn’t shape out with the whole counsel of God, I can cherry pick what I like, and that is what I’ll call “god”.” And if the God you made is the God you love, the promise isn’t for you. The promise is for people who love the God of the entire Bible. You say, “Well, I don’t know the entire Bible yet.” Well, hang on, we’ll get there. But here’s the thing: the more you learn, are you willing to say, “I love You. I love Him”? And if He says it, “I believe it” and if He says it, “It’s good,” and if He says this is the way it is, “This is the way it is.” That is coming under the Word, not standing up over it. So, we say “God”. We’re talking about the God of the whole Bible. In other words, nothing’s been added to it, and nothing’s been taken away from it. So let me say it this way: It’s exclusively one God. It excludes every man-made God, including man-made Jesuses. Did you know there’s man-made Jesuses? There are. There’s 1000 of them, and people try to tell me who He is all the time. “Well, Jesus said,” and then they quote like three words, and they leave out the whole volume of the rest of the scripture, and they basically paint Him as somebody who they want Him to be, and rather than letting Him tell you who He is. Now, how would you like that if I did that to you? If I learned your name, what color truck you drove, and how old you are, and then I just went ahead and filled in the rest, and then I tell you this is who you are. You’d say, “You don’t even know me.” Checkmate, right? That’s right.

Let’s see how God feels about it. This is Deuteronomy 4:2. God speaking to His people, He says, “You shall not add.” You shall not. This is a commandment. “You shall not add to the word that I command you.” In other words, don’t put your words in My mouth. “Nor take from it.” Don’t add to it, and don’t take away from it. Have you ever heard somebody say this? “Money’s the root of all evil.” You took away from it. Money is not the root of all evil, according to Scripture, “The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.” Do you see the difference? Because if money is the root of all evil, you got to get rid of all your money. And if that’s what you believe, do it right here. We’ve got orange boxes, man. Divest yourself of that horrible stuff. I’m glad y’all laugh. They’re gonna stone me in second service. Think about this. Don’t add to it, and don’t take from it. Look at Jesus, what He commands. Look at Matthew 4:4. And remember, He’s being tempted. But the point is, watch this. He’s going to quote Deuteronomy eight to the devil. I wanted you to see the Lord say it, “But He answered, ‘It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but (by what?) every word (every word) that comes from the mouth of God.’” Not some of the words, not a few of the words, not the words I like, but the whole counsel of God. Speaking of that term, Acts 20:26-27. This is the apostle Paul giving instructions to the to the elders at the church of Ephesus, and here he says this: “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all.” In other words, I’ve done my job. My hope is that when the Lord either returns or He takes me home by my death, I’m able to say this: I’m innocent of the blood of all. And here’s how a minister is innocent of the blood of all, verse 27, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Now, why in the world would somebody shrink from telling somebody the whole counsel of God? It’s the fear of man, right? Or they want the love of the world, they want praise, or they want to be looked at like they’re successful in the outward, and it causes people to shrink back. But telling the whole counsel of God, this is the will of God for you, that you know who He is. This is the God of the entire Bible. The first word, God. Now you know what it’s talking about.

Here’s the second word, 2. “Love”

And we have to ask, don’t we? Which one? There’s a lot of loves these days, aren’t there? There’s a lot of definitions. If you asked 100 people on the street what the definition of love is and some of its, you know downline implications, you might get 100 different answers. What does it mean by “love”? Let’s see the verse again. Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God, (and we know which God we’re talking about-the God of the entire Bible, the 66 books of the Old and New Testament) that for those who love Him.” This is an exclusive promise for those that love God. It’s exclusive, so only those who love God get this promise, and only those who love the God of the whole Bible get this promise. It’s exclusive, and this is very important for your theology, for your growth, to know this, there are people who hate God, and guess what? There are people who say they love God, but it’s the wrong God. And there are people that say they love God, but their definition of love is not the Bible’s definition of love. I’m going to figure out how to talk by second service. Y’all can come back. Let me say it to you this way, okay? I’m going to prove this to you, but I want you to hear it first, from God’s perspective, okay? This doesn’t matter about your perspective. It does not matter about my perspective. From God’s perspective, there are two kinds of people. Two. Two only two. Let me say it to you this way: there are those who love Him, and there are those who hate Him. No one’s in the middle, according to the Bible, from God’s perspective. Now, you in your philosophy might think that’s not true, but I, in my theology, don’t care. Exodus 20:4-6, this is in the Ten Commandments, isn’t it? Right. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me. But (verse six) showing steadfast love to 1000s of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Do you see the distinction? God is saying, “I treat those who hate Me this way.” Then God is saying, “I treat those who love Me this way.” And you say, “But God loves everybody.” Yes, we’re talking about who loves Him. We’re talking about who hates Him, and if God makes a distinction between those who love Him and between those who hate Him, that has to play in to your understanding of who God is because it’s in the Bible. In fact, it’s replete. Look at Deuteronomy 7:9-10. God says, “Know, therefore.” This is He’s actually being quoted here.

“Know therefore that the Lord your God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him, and keeps His commandment to 1000 generations. (Look at verse 10) And repays to their face those who hate Him by destroying them. He will not be slack with the one who hates Him. He will repay it to His face.” Family, He’s going to repay those who hate Him to their face. You’ve got to have that in your theology. You’ve got to be able to sit underneath that and say, “Well, well, I’ve only been taught that God’s only a loving God.” He is a loving God, and part of Him loving is doing the most just loving thing. And somebody that hates God is under His wrath. They are under His under punishment from Him. There are two kinds of people. And by the way, I told you this: no one is neutral. There’s none who can say, “I just haven’t decided.” No, it’s very clear. We went through this three years ago in Romans one. It’s like you reject God. There’s only one path, and it’s the down path. There’s only one of two destinations, right? Those who love God and those who hate God. Jesus says it this way in Matthew 12:30, “‘Whoever (that’s all people, whoever) is not with Me is (what? is) against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.’” This is exclusive language. So, if you’re here and you’ve been taught that Jesus is just this rainbow-colored includer of everything. He just walks around, binging you know what’s that called confetti, glitter, some people’s image of Jesus. What He’s doing here, He’s drawing a hard line. “You’re either with Me or you are against Me. You either gather or you scatter.” In other words, “You either love Me or you hate Me.” Two kinds of people.

In fact, look at John 3:19-20. People love to cherry pick verse 16, don’t they? Well, that’s a great verse. I like that verse too. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him not perish but have everlasting life.” Praise the Lord. But that’s not the only verse. Look at 19 and 20, Jesus says this, and this is the judgment so we’re talking about something bad. He says, “‘The light has come into the world.’” Now I have a question for you: Who or what is He talking about? Who is this? Jesus. He’s talking about Himself. He said, “I am the light of the world.” Right? He says, “The light has come into the world.” In other words, this is a personification of light. He’s describing Himself this way. “‘And people loved the darkness rather than the light (that’s Jesus, why is that? Oh, because) their works were evil.’” Now you’re like, “That’s not very positive.” Yes, it is. I’m positive this is true. And then look at the next verse, “‘For everyone who does wicked things, (look) hates the light.’” Again, who is the light? Jesus. Everyone who is doing that now. Now, who does this? Who is this? Who is it that does wicked things? It’s every person ever born, except for One. Okay, this is everybody. Without a heart change, you were born to hate God. You were going to grow up and hate God, and that’s the way it is because you were born in Adam. But if you’re rescued and you’ve been given a new heart, then you love God. There are still two kinds of people, because everyone who does wicked things-in other words, that’s headlong unrepentant, staying in their unregenerate condition-they hate the light. “Does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” But Jesus says, what? “‘Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. I’ll give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I’m lowly and meek, and you’ll find rest for your soul.’” Come on, Matthew 11. And what do people say? “Nope, hard pass. I don’t need that stuff. I don’t need a Savior. I don’t think I’m in sin. In fact, I don’t believe in sin.” I saw a guy ask R.C. Sproul one time. Actually, it was somebody that wrote a letter in and asked a question to a panel, and RC is sitting there. If y’all know who he was, and the question is this: It said, “My brother-in-law does not believe sin exists. How do I illustrate or demonstrate to him that sin is what it is, and that it still exists?” And RC goes, “Steal his wallet.”

What about John 7:7? This is Jesus talking to His half brothers, and the language suggests it could have been sisters as well. Remember, even His family didn’t believe at first. He says this because they were goading Him. They were like, “Hey, you should go show off at the festival. Come on, and if anybody does these things, you should let everybody, the whole world, see it.” And He says this to them: “‘The world (now that’s a lot of people, the world) cannot hate you, but it (what?) hates Me. (Why?) Because I testify about it that its works are evil.’” Why do people hate the real Jesus? Because the real Jesus, when you get to know the real Jesus, the Holy Spirit tells you what’s wrong, and He doesn’t do it out of hate. He does it out of love. And what people do with their unregenerate heart is they say, “I hate that.” I want to tell you something, people that hate truth, when they hear truth, they think it’s hate speech. Yep, that’s right. People hear things come out of this pulpit sometimes. They’re like, “That’s hate speech.” It’s love speech. This is called a joy. Do you think? Number one, I don’t want your blood on my hands. I don’t want your blood on your hands. We broadcast the gospel so that people can hear it, repent of their sin, and believe. No one will be standing before the throne of God who heard the gospel and believed from this pulpit or any other and be mad at the pastor. “Well, I’m up here in heaven, but you sure ticked me off back then.” Anybody that talks like that won’t be in heaven.

Two words and two statements.

Here’s statement number one: Only True Saints Truly Love The True God

Only. This is exclusive. I’ll say it again: Only true saints truly love the true God.” John 15:18-19, He’s speaking to His disciples. He says, thus, by extension to us, “‘If (here it is that word again, “if”) the world (that’s a lot of people) if the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.’” Seems like we just covered this in another point, right? Now watch verse 19, “‘If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.’” I get it. People hate me for what I say when I’m just representing what He said or directly quoting it. I have quoted scriptures, and people are like, “I don’t like your interpretation of that.” I’m like, “I just quoted the verse.” I’m not doing it to make anybody mad. It just is a natural byproduct. If you wonder why, here it is. That’s why. And Christian, if you’re a true disciple and you stand up for the faith, the real faith once delivered to the saints for all time, you’re going to have people who will hate you because of that. Why do you think people back off? It doesn’t change the verse though, and it doesn’t change the truth. So, what is this a descriptive of? Somebody out of brought out of the world is a saint. That’s a saint. Saint simply means a holy one or one separated or brought out from. That’s what the word actually means. And so, this is what we’re seeing: only true saints. What about Romans 5:5? Speaking to believers, right in chapter five is about what? Justification. He says, “And hope does not put us to shame.” Who’s the “us” here? Well, it’s justified, so it’s saints. Why? “Because God’s love.” There’s “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through (who?) the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” How can someone who’s not been justified love God if the Holy Spirit has not put that love in their heart for Him? Now let me just warn you: it doesn’t mean they can’t say they love God, but the question is, which God and what love? It’s odd to me that if you sang country and western music for long enough, suddenly you’re in. It doesn’t work that way. That’s not what that’s not what my Bible says. Hopefully, yours neither, or you’ve been marking it up wrong.

1 John 4:19, very clear. “We love because He first (He first, He first) loved us.” How? Well, He laid His life down for us, but then He revealed Himself to us by His Spirit, and He regenerated us by grace through faith, raised us from the dead to repent and believe and to follow Him. Now, therefore, we love Him back. Now, let me just say this to you: Do you love him perfectly if you’re a Christian? No, you don’t. You don’t love anybody perfectly, even yourself. Your loves are still tangled. You don’t necessarily have your whole heart. But the more you grow to know Him, the more you grow to love Him. Will you ever love Him perfectly? Only when you see Him. Yes, you will. But you won’t in this world. Please don’t think we’re talking about perfect love, if you loved God perfectly, there would be no place for you on this earth. That’s called go to heaven. But we’re talking about people who do love God. They love the God of the Bible, and you love Him because He first loved you. Why do you think we constantly remind each other of the gospel, of what He’s done, of how He’s loved us? And Romans eight is like being taken and just drowned at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in this truth. And if you have a love for God and you’re here, He put that in your heart, and therefore, that is exclusive. It’s exclusive to the saints. Therefore, we’re not going to let anybody who attends here just take verse 28 and steal it, or misuse it, or misunderstand it. We want people to know what it actually says, means, and how it applies to their current life, based upon the finished work in the person of Jesus. The goal of our instruction: love from a pure heart, a sincere faith, and a clear conscience. What’s that? 14:15, 1 Timothy. Here’s 1 Peter 1:8, speaking of believers. “Though you have not seen Him.” Okay, so forget all these kooks that say Jesus shows up in their bathroom while they’re shaving. If He did, you’d slit your throat. Though you have not seen Him, you what you love Him. That was one of Sproul’s great questions. Do you have any love for the Jesus of the Bible? Because if you love the Son, you love the Father. But if you hate the Son, it’s very clear you hate the Father. Jesus said that. Do you have love for Him? Yeah, I know it’s a stumbling thing, but when you read the Bible and you hear about Jesus, you hear what He says. You hear that, and you hear the hard parts. You hear the parts where you go, “Ah, I got to wrestle with that. Oh my gosh, that just that almost offends me. It hurts my feelings. It makes me afraid.” I mean, does that push you away, or do you say, “Yeah, but where else can I go? You alone have the words of eternal life.” That’s the heart cry of a true believer. “Though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” That’s the true heart condition. Only true saints truly love the true God.

Here’s statement number two: People Who Truly Love The True God, They Obey Him.

Now, does anyone obey Him perfectly? If that’s you, would you please raise your hand and let us acknowledge you so that we can write some songs about you, like “How Great Thou Aren’t.” This is Exodus 20:6. “But showing steadfast love to 1000s of those who loved Me.” Remember we went over that? But look what’s tagged onto it, “And keep My commandments.” Now I want to show you something, and I’ll prove it to you in the Bible. Listen, “And keep my commandments” is the fruit. This is the fruit. This is the root. “If you love Me, better get on the stick. Come on, step it up”. Nope, He’s saying cause and effect. If you’re obeying Him, it’s because you love Him. Now, if you’re obeying religious rules and it’s for outward pretense, I’m telling you, men might appreciate that God sees the heart. Think we covered that, okay? But if you actually have a love for Him, it’s going to result in you obeying Him. All the desire is there if you’re regenerate. Will you do it perfectly? No. Will you stumble in it? Yes. But your heart’s desire will be to follow after Him, and you look forward to the day, either His return or when you see Him face to face, and you no longer have these weaknesses in your flesh of sin, because you’ve been given a new body. He’s making it clear, Deuteronomy 7:9. Remember, we went through this before, but we didn’t highlight this. “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him, and (look) keep His commandments (I don’t know. Sometimes I can’t see it on this) to 1000 generations,” cause and effect. It’s still that way. John 14:15. This is pretty clear. “‘If you love Me, you will (you’ll what? You’ll) keep My commandments.’” He’s stating a fact. He’s stating a fact. Now I’ve heard these verses be used like a club to beat somebody over the head. Now get your behavior under control. No, look at your heart. Let Him examine your heart. If you’ve got an area of headlong, ongoing, unrepentant sin, and you’re not grieved over it, you don’t recognize you’re quenching the Holy Spirit. You don’t recognize that you are breaking a relationship that you would have with your heavenly Father. If that’s not you, then you don’t actually love Him. That means you’re not regenerate, and you need someone to warn you. I’m warning you. But a stumble, a struggle, a headlong, where you’re repenting, but you’re headed in this direction, and you still have your past dragging you back. That’s Romans seven stuff. John 14:21a, verse 21 of the same chapter says, “‘Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me…’” Is it possible to have His commandments and not keep them? Yeah, absolutely, because your love for Him would just be this. That’s what I would argue. You look at somebody at the end of their life, and you can look back over 80 years of their life, and you say, what? “Well, they said this, but their life said something else.” Now you know where their heart really was. Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” Why? Because they don’t love. They will not obey Him. Those are people that take the Word and they simply say this: “I’ve picked the parts that I’ll let Jesus say, and if He says things that are out of bounds from this thing that I want Him to say, then I’m not going to walk with Him. I’m going to ignore those things.” I mean, read John six. That’s what happened in John six. Many of His disciples said, “Forget about this,” because Jesus made it clear you only want Me for the things you can get. You don’t really love Me. It’s good to draw these lines. Here’s why, because as the Holy Spirit examines you and assures you of who you are in Christ, the promise will mean even more than maybe you’ve ever thought it before. Titus 1:16a, the first part talks about people like that right that it says, “They profess to know God but they deny Him (how?) by their works.” Not by their words but by their works.

Matthew 7:21-23, famous passages here. I want to point this out. Really, one thing out to you. Jesus says this: “‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who what who does the will of my Father in heaven.’” Now, why would somebody do the will of the Father in heaven? Are they earning heaven because of this? No. This is a fruit, and the fruit will be because the root is love. They love Him and they obey Him. He goes on. He says, “‘On that day, many (right? that’s an understatement, many) will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not (watch the resume) prophesy in Your name and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’” In other words, they were spouting “Jesus” over all of their wicked religion. Sounds familiar? But in the next verse, He says, “‘And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me. (And then what does He say?) You workers of (what? lawlessness.’” In other words, there is no obedience because there is no love, and the things they do in His name are all self-motivated. They’re all selfish, self-willed, self-pleasing, self-serving. That’s what they are. And He says, “This you don’t love Me. It’s obvious.” He says the same thing. Only listen. You’re getting to wrestle and reason with this in the dearest place on earth, and that is in a real church. And if God deals with your heart, isn’t that a good thing? Wouldn’t you rather do that here in a warm September, warm understatement, warm September in 2026? Maybe this is the time then God will get a hold of you and look into the deep parts of your heart, and maybe you’ll get introduced to you, and you see where you really are, and you’ll feel a cry coming up from the deepest part of your being you’ve never felt before, and it will be saying the same thing: “Have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. I can’t save myself. Help! Help! Help!” That’s the sinner’s prayer. It’s not when somebody quotes a prayer and says, “Repeat after me.” I mean, can people get saved that way? Yes, absolutely. But there’s no magic in those words. What intimate relationship starts that way? Are you guys married? Okay, how would you feel, ma’am, if you met him for the first time, and there I’m standing there, and what’s it? What’s your name, sir? You don’t have to tell me. We’ll call you “Joe”. And I say, I say, this is Joe. Joe’s a great guy. You’re gonna love him. It’s gonna be great. Now, would you hold hands and repeat after me? No. You’d be like, “Freak!” Joe might have liked that, but that’s the same principle. “Hey, come on forward! You’ve never met Jesus, but I’ll give you the words that go into your mouth, and all you got to do is repeat this thing, and then you’re going to be in covenant with God, and you’re going to walk intimately, and you’re going to know Him, and you’re going to love Him”? Nonsense! Doesn’t mean it can’t be from the heart, but you got to recognize if it’s not from the heart, the words don’t mean anything. That’s all I’m saying. We want to know that we know Him.

Look at 1 John 2:3-4, “And by this, (look at this, and by this) we know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments.” There’s an “if”. Why is that good news? Because if you’re here and there’s a part of your life where you’re going, “You know what? This is the area I stumble with. This is the area I struggle with. This is where I know I grieve the Spirit. This is where I’m always having to repent. It seems like, and listen to me, those are signs of life, not death.” But maybe you’re here and you’re going, “Dude. When will the dude shut up?” Six minutes 46 seconds. Verse four says, “Whoever says, ‘Oh, I know Him,’ but does not keep His commandments, he (or she) is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”  Why? Because there’s no love. There’s no love. That’s what the verse is meaning. 1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. His commandments are not burdensome.” They’re not burdensome. It’s a call into joy. God doesn’t put limitations to damage you. He does them to bless you. 1 John 2:1 is great for real believers here this morning. It’s “My little children. I’m writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we’ve got an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.” It goes on to say, and He is the propitiation for our sins. He’s the only one in the world.

So, if you’re here and you’re saying, you know, “I’m a little uneasy about this because you got me questioning some things.” Listen, go with that. Go with that. What could possibly be wrong? Paul admonishes us to examine ourselves. We should always do it when we’re going to take communion. “Lord, is there an area I need to confess and walk in repentance with you right now? I want my life to be an open book.” That’s a godly desire. Don’t cover up. Don’t hide it. He sees your heart. I don’t see your heart, and you don’t see mine. But He does. He’s looking right at your heart right now, and you can just simply say this. “This scares me a little bit, Lord, and this makes me worry and doubt about these things. And what do I need to do?” And for some people, prayerfully this weekend, the answer will be call upon Him and let Him save you. And for others, it’ll be repent, confess your sins, and He’ll be faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness again and again and again, and that’s a walk of sanctification as you progress and move forward. But you’ll know who the promise pertains to. We’ll see it one more time here. Romans 8:1. We’ll start at the beginning of the chapter, just so we see the context, and we’ll wrap up. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This is not to condemn. This is to open our eyes to what reality is. And then our two main verses, Romans 8:27-28, “And He who searches hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is, because the spirit intercedes for the saints (exclusively) according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God (and we’ll look at this next time. It’s overwhelming) all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.”

KEYWORDS

Romans 8:28, God, Love, Exclusivity, Exclude, Saints, Holy Spirit, Intercession, Obedience, Sin, Repentance, Grace, Faith, Salvation, Scripture, Purpose, Bible Churches In Grayson County, Non-Denominational Churches In Grayson County, Non-Denominational Church Texoma Area, Non-Denominational Church Sherman Texas, Bible Churches In Sherman Texas

Speaker

Steve LeBlanc