Sermon
delivered on January 15th, 2017
Morning Service
By: Pastor Greg Hocson
Scripture Text: Romans 8:28-39
Introduction
Romans
chapter eight is one of may favorite chapters in the Bible. It was written to
encourage God's people. It is meant to remind us of who we are and what
we have in Christ Jesus. It is meant to remind us of the hope we have in
Jesus Christ and the promises God has given us specially when we feel
discouraged, defeated and overwhelmed by life.
Our
theme for this year 2017, I trust would help us understand that as children of
God, we are more than conquerors. You may not feel like a conqueror today.
But regardless of how you feel, this verse offers words of hope, peace and
encouragement.
According
to the Bible, the children of God are overwhelmingly victorious people. We don't
always see it. We don't always feel it. We don't always live like it. But it is
true nonetheless.
Consider
with me the facts that are revealed in these words of the Apostle
Paul in ...
Romans 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the
day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37: Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
I - We Are At War
Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
The
word conqueror implies that we believers are at
war. The word conqueror has to do with conflict. It has to do with struggle.
Understand that the Christian life is not a picnic. It is not a field trip. It
is not a game we play. It is a spiritual war. We are not in a playground, we
are in a battleground. And in a battleground expect enemies.
David
acknowledges his enemies.
Psalm 27:1 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? 2: When
the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh,
they stumbled and fell. 3: Though an host should encamp against me, my heart
shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I
be confident.
Our
enemies are not flesh and blood as Paul said in ...
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Our
struggle is not against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and
authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and
against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
This
explains why it is easier to do wrong than to do right. It is because you and I
are in a war. Wars are not easy. The reason that everything is so
hard for you and I, is because Christ has enemies and those
enemies are yours as well. Our enemies are determined and serious.
They are relentless. They attack us on every side and every direction. That is
what we should expect.
Romans 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we
are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter.
Because
of our relationship and attachment to Christ, whether you are aware of it or
not, we are killed all the
day long - we are continually and constantly
exposed to death. That is the nature of Christian life.
Romans 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Our
Lord regards us as His sheep. He compares us to sheep.
Ezekiel 34:6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains,
and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the
earth, and none did search or seek after them.
Ezekiel 34:11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I,
will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12: As a shepherd seeketh
out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will
I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have
been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
Luke 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his
friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my
sheep which was lost.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am
known of mine.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me:
John 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love
thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17: He saith unto him the third
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said
unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou
knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed
my sheep.
Oh,
how tenderly and graciously our Lord regards us as sheep to be sought out and
cared for. Likewise, our enemies regard us as sheep, but not as sheep to be
sought out and cared for, but sheep for the slaughter. That is how the world
sees us. The world regards us as sheep that are good for nothing but to be
slaughtered. And more and more the world is becoming bold to actually say and
show that.
This
is the nature of the Christian life. Christian life is not a wayfaring
life, it is a warfaring life. If we are going to succeed in this Christian life
we must be sober and be vigilant.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
There
must be a constant watchfulness and prayerfulness.
II - We Have Weapons
In
a war, in a conflict, we need weapons to win and thank God we do. We do have
weapons. And I am going to talk about our weapons in the coming weeks. But
today, I just want to remind us that in this warfare we have weapons.
2 Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
The
weapons of our warfare not of this world, not of the flesh. The weapons of our
warfare are not made by human hands, but they have divine power and able to
destroy powerful defense and fortresses. The weapons that we have are able to
pull down strongholds, breakdown barriers, and conquer our enemies.
III - We Are Winning
Paul
uses the phrase "more than conquerors". The Greek word is hypernikomen and
it only appeared one time in the New Testament. It refers to those who "gain a surpassing victory." It means, "to
be completely victorious; to carry away an overwhelming victory." It literally
has the idea of us being "Super-conquerors".
How
can one be more than a conqueror? A
win is a win. Victory is a victory. How can you be more victors? If you win you
win.
Let
me illustrate. United States won the Battle of Iwo Jima. Men and women were
killed in that battle. Americans incurred casualties (dead and wounded) and
the American casualties even exceeded the Japanese casualties. But in
winning we lost countless soldiers. We won but we lost. In that battle of
the Iwo Jima, we were conquerors, but in order to say that we are more than
conquerors it would be to win without casualties. To be more than
conquerors would be to win without any incurring any lost. That's when you can
say that you are more than conquerors.
O,
Christians that is what we are! We are more than conquerors! We win without
incurring any lost.
Romans 8:31: What shall we then say to these things? If God be
for us, who can be against us?
This
is the question that the people of the world want answered. Is there a God, and
if there is a God, is He for us or against us?
When
Paul says if God be for us, he is not questioning whether God is for us or not.
What he is saying is, "since God is for us, who can be
against us?" Paul is not saying that no one or nothing is against us, the
answer is no one and nothing that are against us that will prevail against us.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?
Trouble
can take many things away from the people of God. It can take our happiness
away, it can take our prosperity away, trouble can take our health away, it can
take our friends away, but there is one thing that trouble cannot take away
from us. Trouble cannot take away the most important thing in life - the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus. That is why we can overwhelmingly conquer even
in the worst that life has to offer.
So,
what do we lose in this victory. Through Christ, we are not just conquerors, we
are more than conquerors! And this truth is not in the future. It
does not say, we will be more than conquerors, it says, we are more than
conquerors. Now, right now. This is a present reality. In the midst of all
kinds of conflict and struggle and even with the sense of lost. If you are in
Christ you are more than conquerors.
Even
Satan's overwhelming attacks are made to serve the believer's greater good.
That is not to say that the hits don't hurt, they do hurt, the conflict is
real, it is not a picnic, but even hurt is blessed by God some way to increase
our blessedness.
I
will close here. Next Sunday, God willing we will consider the when, how and why of
our conquest.
Closing Thoughts
We
are still in the battle, and we still have enemies who seek to take us down.
Our enemies are relentlessly throwing fiery darts at us, and they hit us and
they hurt, but we are more conquerors through Him that loved us unto
death.
Satan
is a defeated enemy. He is a conquered foe, it is just a matter of time till we
all trample him under our feet. The issue has been decided, if you are a
child of God, your sins cannot condemn you, death has lost its sting, the grave
has lost its victory and the devil cannot destroy you. If God is for you
who can be against you. Christ died who can condemn you?
As
we face the year 2017 and the conflict of this life may we focus entirely on
Christ, the glorious captain of our salvation. May we focus on the triumphant
nature of His work for us. May we begin to live and behave for what we are; we
are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.
AMEN!