More Than Conquerors, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

0:00 As we prepare to receive a word from the Lord, I want you to bow and be in prayer with me that we may open our hearts to whatever it is God would speak to us on this day. Lord, we come before you in the midst of troubled times in our lives and our nation. We lift up our eyes to you, believing that you are the only source of our true and eternal help, that our hope rests in you. You've given us the gift of your holy word to guide and lead us through the valleys of life. I pray now, God, that your spirit would anoint both the preaching, the receiving, the living, and the doing of your holy word. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen. Beloved, to say that 2020 has been difficult is probably the understatement of the year.

0:53 2020 has been the year that just keeps on giving. This year has been flooded and filled with the unexpected, the unwanted, the unplanned for, the undesired, the undeserved, and even the unbelievable. Just when you think it can't get worse, it does. And just when you think you've seen it all, you're bombarded with more evil and crisis and bad news. This has been the year my father described as if it's not one thing, it is another. This has been a difficult, a depressing, a devastating, and even a deadly season that we've been forced to live in. just when we think we've had it with COVID-19 and a global pandemic that has changed and challenged the world, just when we've had to make the adjustment to quarantine and social distancing and the wearing of masks and the carrying of hand sanitizer and Zoom meetings and online schooling.

2:12 Just when we think we've had enough with 175,000 deaths right here in the United States of America, there's been more. Hurricane waters and winds have once again punished and destroyed the coast of Louisiana and Texas. And just when we thought we'd seen it all, with the horrible hunting and killing of Ahmaud Arbery, just when we were frustrated with the failure for justice around Breonna Taylor, just when we had to watch the execution of George Floyd and all the other countless lives around Black Lives Matter, we now have had to add the name Jacob Blake, an innocent black man unarmed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who walks away from the police and is shot not once, not twice, not even three times, but seven times in the back. And as a result, our streets have once again been flooded with both peaceful protests and sadly, but understandably, righteous riots.

3:30 and add to that now a president who refuses to acknowledge the existence of racism in America. A president who gave an hour-long speech and never even whispered the name Jacob Blake. A president who denies racism and the police brutality against black people, but rather calls police who shoot unarmed black men. He calls them golfers who choke on a three-foot putt. This president does not call for unity and peace, but rather flexes and threatens law and order, inciting violence between his supporters and the Black Lives Matter movement. this president's language fertilizes the action and the spirit of a Kyle Rittenhouse an underaged illegally openly armed young man who crosses state lines to protect a community he doesn't even live in and he's not arrested by the police he's waved at by the police he enters a crowd of protesters and with an automatic rifle shoots three kills two is he shot in the back is a knee placed on his neck no he's peacefully arrested and then is lifted up as a shining example of the fighting american spirit and the president's own lawyer is hired to defend him As if that were not enough, we are now gearing up for one of the most monumental and critical elections in the history of the United States of America between totally different divergent visions and versions of what America should be.

5:33 And in the midst of it, we've been subject to the hateful, ignorant, racist language. the language of one who would say that white supremacists are fine people on one hand and on the other hand have the audacity to call a black woman running for vice president a nasty woman that language encourages the karens of the world who believe that they can call the police on black people being black encourages the corals of the world who get angry when they're denied service because their freedoms and rights are being infringed upon because they don't want to wear a mask for the general safety and public safety of others. And if that were not enough, it seems that since the beginning of this year, we have been inescapably trapped in the valley of the shadow of death.

6:33 Started with Kobe Bryant, John Lewis, just recently Chadwick Boseman, John Thompson Jr. Many of us have experienced death in a personal and intimate way during this season. Right here at Alfred Street, just a little while ago, we had to bury Sharice Eatman, 33 years old, dies of a brain aneurysm. We've had to say goodbye to our own beloved Faye Gunn. Friend, 2020 has been the epitome of what Thomas Paine said when he declared that these are the times that try people's souls. And if you've been like me, it's been a year of an emotional rollercoaster. Moving from hurt to anger, to hurting someone to anger, to disbelief to anger, from sadness to anger, from shock to anger, from depression to anger.

7:44 And what's scary is that it's only September. And if the last third of this year looks anything like the first two thirds we've already experienced, we've got a long way to go. my own personal devotional time seeking spiritual stability and sanity has pressed upon my heart a series of sermons that I want to bring to this pulpit to this worship experience to help us endure what we've already been through and what may await us in the last third of this year I want to guide you into a series that's a little different than any of the series we've done before. The series that we've done before have always been thematic or topical, meaning that there was an issue we discussed over a period of time. Today, I want to begin a different kind of series, an exegetical series, an expository series, where we don't follow a theme, but rather I want to guide you through an extended walk through one of the most powerful passages in all the Bible.

8:58 I want to invite you for the next few weeks to journey and walk with me through Romans chapter 8. Hear me, beloved, when I share with you that I believe that all the word of God is powerful. I suggest to you that every page, every passage, every chapter, every verse, that within all the Bible, God is speaking to us. I agree with Moses when he said that we don't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out the mouth of God. I agree with Paul, who said that all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. That's why I say to our congregation, as I say to you right now, read your Bible. You'll be a better Christian. Yes, I believe in all the word of God.

9:51 I believe that God is speaking through all 66 books. I believe that all 1,189 chapters are good for our spirit. I believe that all 31,102 verses will bless your soul. I believe that all 801,316 words found in the Bible are edifying to our walk with God. I believe that we need all of that. But I would suggest to you that verse by verse, page by page, word by word, that nothing can anchor us more in this season than Romans chapter 8. It is arguably one of the most powerful chapters in all the Bible. Now, I know if you're like me, you say, well, wait, Reverend, I like Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd.

10:44 I love John 1. In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. I like Isaiah 40. They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. I hold on to Jeremiah 29. I know the thoughts I have for you. I'm addicted to Hebrews 11. Now, faith is a substance of things hoped for. But I would suggest to you that when you really get into it, that there's no passage of scripture that can anchor us more right now than Romans chapter 8. You know Romans chapter 8. All things work together for the good of them that love the Lord. That's Romans chapter 8. Now therefore, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That's Romans chapter 8. I am persuaded that the suffering of the present age is not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

11:39 That's Romans chapter 8. We don't know how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit makes intercessions for us with groanings and utterings. That's Romans chapter 8. What can separate us from the love of God? That's Romans chapter 8. For I am persuaded that neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God. That's Romans chapter 8. if God be for us, who can be against us? That's Romans chapter 8. And I am persuaded that in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. You know where that is? That's Romans chapter 8. As a matter of fact, that's a good title for this series, more than conquerors.

12:35 And for the next few weeks, I want to walk you through Romans chapter 8 in the hope that it will help your faith. It will strengthen your resolve to hold to God's unchanging hand. It'll help you make sense of what you see in the world. And it will remind you that no matter what comes our way, we are more than conquerors. Before we get into the series and begin walking through these verses, I would suggest to you, as I would with any passage of scripture, that if you would handle the Bible correctly, you must put what you read in context. The Bible taken out of context is one of the most dangerous writings in all the world. and damage has been done by those who've picked chapter and verse, pulled it out of context and used it at their own discretion.

13:38 And so before we get into any shouting in Romans chapter eight, before we get to all things work together for good, before we lift up, we are more than conquerors. Before we shout over the fact that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, we've got to get into the context of Romans chapter eight. Before we shout about what is said, we have to know why it was said. Before we embrace what it means, we got to take a step back and look at what it meant. Somebody say context. Here it is. This sixth book of the New Testament. this letter to the Roman church is written by the apostle Paul sometime between 55 and 64 AD as Paul is returning to Jerusalem from his trip to Greece. What you need to know is that at the time of this writing, Paul has never been to Rome. So these Christians that he's writing to are strangers to him. He's never met them. These are not Gentiles or Jews who he preached Jesus to and led them in their conversion. He did not establish the church in Rome. He's writing to a group of strangers whom he's never met, but plans to meet on his next trip as he lays over in Rome on his way to Spain. Teach the Bible, Pastor Wesley. Scholars would argue with you that this letter of Paul, written to strangers he's never met, is Paul's literary masterpiece.

15:26 Romans is Paul at his preaching best. Romans is Paul's magnum opus. It is his greatest work. and mark if you go to any theological library on the campus of any seminary and you go to the section on the book of romans you will find more articles more commentaries and more books on the letter to romans than any other book in the entire bible more scholarship has been done on Romans than any other book in the Bible. Historically, prophets and preachers and leaders of the church have run to Romans to anchor the body of Christ during times of trial and trouble. When the Roman government begins to crumble, Augustine runs to the book of Romans to try to understand survival strategies for Christians in a government that is failing.

16:33 In the time of the Reformation, when the Catholic Church had perverted the practices of its people, Martin Luther and John Calvin ran to the book of Romans to try to find the correct structure that lifted Jesus Christ above anything and everything. when Karl Barth saw the dangerous blending of faith and culture. He wrote an exposition on the book of Romans to remind the body of Christ that saying yes to God sometimes means you have to say no to the world. And in 1956, Dr. Martin Luther King used the book of Romans as the foundation for his sermon, Paul's Letter to the American Christians, where he calls out exploitive capitalism, racial segregation, and spiritual arrogance. The history of the book of Romans is that it has anchored us in times of trial and trouble. And one of the reasons the book of Romans remains relevant in 60 AD as it does in 2020 is that at the time Paul writes the book of Romans, he's writing to the church in Rome and Rome at that time is the political the military and the economic capital of the world I'll suggest to you that if Paul were writing this letter today it would not be addressed to Rome it would be addressed to the United States of America specifically Washington DC the book of Romans is relevant because at the time Paul writes there's been a transition in emperors. Claudius has been replaced by Nero. Let the church say Nero. If you remember anything about Roman history, you'll remember that Nero is a narcissistic egomaniac. Nero is going to cause Rome to be burned to the ground and Nero is going to blame

18:40 the Christians for his own fault and mistake because Nero can never own up to the fact that his own policies are causing his own cities to be burned. So in this time, Paul writes to Christians who are struggling to remain faithful in the midst of a government that is hostile to the cause of Jesus Christ. He's writing to Christians who are trying to balance their role and responsibility between their citizenship and the lordship of Jesus Christ. Don't you miss this? He's trying to write to them to give them doctrinal evidence about the rooting of their faith. He's trying to help them understand the implications of what it means to be a Christian in the midst of troubling times in which they live. This is Paul at Paul's best. He's trying to help us understand what it means to be justified by faith. Now listen, before you run into the book of Romans, let me give you a word of warning. This is not some easy or elementary writing.

19:57 This is not, Barbara, the letter to the Corinthians. Because in the letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells them, listen, I want to give y'all meat, but you can only handle milk. Well, that's not what you're going to find in Romans. Romans is pure meat. If you're looking to mature in your faith, if you're ready to graduate from Jesus wept, if you're looking to go deeper than in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. If you're looking for something deep and doctrinal to hold you in the midst of a season like this, I encourage you to go to the book of Romans. Romans in its 16 chapters covers a variety of subjects, but the core teaching is found in chapter 5, 6, 7, and 8. I want you to read the whole thing, but but the core of Paul's argument is Romans 5 6 7 and 8 I've pressed that upon you time and again that if you really want to understand what it means to be a Christian if you want to have your faith cemented in Christ if you want to stand strong in your understanding of your calling Romans 5, Romans 6, Romans 7, and Romans 8. You can't get to the shout of Romans 8 without understanding the foundation that is laid in 5, 6, and 7. When you read Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8, you'll find that there are four rough realities that Paul presses upon us that set the stage for what we read in chapter eight. Don't miss this. You cannot fully understand chapter eight without understanding the four rough realities that Paul lays out leading us up to chapter eight.

21:56 Can I give you those four realities? Let me teach them so we can begin shouting next week. Here are the four rough realities that Paul presses on us in the book of Romans in preparation for shouting about all things working together for good. Here's the very first one, and you're not going to like it. The very first rough reality that Paul presses on us is this, is that you and I are sinners. I know that's a word we don't use in 2020, and it's politically incorrect and may be spiritually offensive, but here's what Paul writes to us, that you and I are sinners. What Paul argues and advocates is that sin is an inescapable and universal human condition. Sin is an inescapable and universal human condition.

23:00 this is what he writes in chapter 3 all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and I know you know some folk who feel that all does not apply to them but what Paul wants us all to understand is that each and every one of us is caught in an inescapable and universal condition called sin. That's what the writer John says in 1 John when he says to us that if we say we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves and there's no truth within us because at the end of the day, all of us are sinners. And it gets worse. Not only are you a sinner, not only am I a sinner, But watch this. There's nothing you can do to stop sinning in your own power. You do not have the ability to stop sinning.

24:01 If you woke up in the morning and laid in the bed all day long and never got up, never did anything. Guess what? You've still committed sin. It is not in your power not to sin. You will sin even when you try not to. So here's what Paul writes. He says, you know what? The good that I want to do, I can't do. And the evil I try to stop doing, I keep doing it. Oh, wretched man that I am. Every time I want to do good, evil is always there with me because even when I try my hardest, I sin. beloved what Paul understands is what I press upon you that because we are descendants of Adam not only are we born into a sinful situation but we are also born with a sinful inclination let me go and say that again not only are we born into a sinful situation but we are also born with a sinful inclination.

25:12 That Paul understands that sin is not just around us. Sin is inside of us. Sin has power over us. Sin controls us. We're all sinners. We can't stop from sinning. But watch this, y'all. It gets even worse. Not only are you a sinner, not only can you not stop sinning but there's nothing you can do to deliver yourself from your own sin you are caught in a prison that you imprisoned yourself in threw away the key and you cannot get out of your own sinful condition there's no class you can take there's no program you can sign up for. There are no steps you can make. There's no conviction you can have. You cannot will yourself out of sin. So here it is in the simplest form. Even at your best, you are the worst sinner that you know. Even at your most righteous, you are the most ratchet that you've ever known. Even at your best attempt, you continuously fail God and God's will. We are all the worst sinners that we know. Beloved, I think the church would fare well to remember that, that we are all sinners. And because of that, Paul knows you cannot judge someone else who's locked in the same predicament that you're in. You know what the church needs? The church needs a reminder that there's no hierarchy of sin. There's no gradation of sin. There's no little sin and no big sin. There's no bad sin and no worse sin. All of us fail God all the time.

27:14 And because of that, we cannot judge someone else. I've been around long enough to tell you this. it's always easy to call out a sin you've never committed. It's always easy to judge something you're now guilty of. But I came by to remind you, my sin may not be your sin and your sin may not be my sin. But Paul says that all of us are sinners, that we cannot stop sinning and we cannot deliver ourselves from sin. Inherently, you and I are sinners. That's the first rough reality. But here's the second one, and this sets up a shout. You and I are sinners, but here's some good news. That in spite of our sin, God remains faithful. Let me go and say that again. I feel like shouting in the sanctuary. We may be sinners, but God is faithful. And the shout is this, that as much as you sin, God always finds a way to continue to perform his promises in your life because your sin does not stop the faithfulness of God.

28:30 I want you to think for a minute how many times you failed God and how many times God has been faithful to you. Want you to think for a minute of how many times you've done wrong and God still went exceedingly and abundantly above what you ask or deserve. Think of how many times you went in the wrong direction and God made sure no weapon formed against you would prosper. Think of how many times you disobeyed the word of God and God took what was meant for evil and used it for your good. Think of how many times you spoke evil out of your mouth and God still shut the mouths of your enemies. Think of how many times you went down the wrong road and God made the crooked straight and the rough smooth. Think of how many times you failed God and God showed up with blessing after blessing, after blessing, after blessing, after blessing, because our God is faithful in the face of our sins. Beloved, here's what Paul presses. I want you to see the mathematical equation that when you look at the faithfulness of God and you subtract your own sinful disobedience, all you're left with is the love of God let me say that again if you look at the faithfulness of God and you subtract your own sinful disobedience all you're left with is the love of God if you ever want proof that God loves you don't go to the garage looking for the Mercedes if you want proof that God loves you don't go to Bank of America and look at the balance if you want proof that God loves you don't look at the degrees on the wall if you want proof that God loves you look at the trash can of your life and every mistake that you've made

30:36 and every fault and failure and every sin and look at how good God has been to you in spite of how wretched you've been with God. And there is the proof that God truly loves you. Beloved, I came by to ask you a question.

30:56 How would you treat someone who treated you the way you treat God? Let me ask that again. How would you treat someone who treated you the same way you treat God? And when you think about how God has treated you in a way you wouldn't treat anyone who treated you the way you treat God, you ought to step back and know God must love me with an unconditional love. God must love me with an inseparable love. God must love me with a love that never ceases and a love that never ends, which is why Paul would argue nothing can separate us from the love of God because God is faithful in the midst of our disobedience. we're sinners God is faithful but here's the third reality because God loves us God watch this has provided a way out of sin that we could not have done on our own we're sinners God is faithful and because God is faithful in the midst of our disobedience God has provided a way out of our sins that we never could have done for ourselves.

32:20 That in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has provided a mechanism for sinful humanity to be delivered from what they could not deliver themselves from. that in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, watch this, God has opened the cell of sin so you can walk out. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, your prison of sin has been destroyed and God has given us the option and the opportunity through Jesus to walk out of a sinful life. What Paul does in Romans, particularly Romans 7, Mark, he paints a comparative portrait. Watch this between Jesus and Adam. Go and read Romans chapter 7. Paul paints this comparison between Jesus and Adam.

33:31 As a matter of fact, he refers to Jesus as the second Adam. Why? Why? Because Jesus undoes what Adam did. That Jesus is the correction for Adam. Come on, get deep, Pastor. Adam is the firstborn son. Jesus is the only begotten son. Adam disobeys God. Jesus obeys God to the point of death on the cross. Adam says no to the will of God in the Garden of Eden. Jesus says not my will, but thy will be done in the Garden of Gethsemane. Because of Adam, sin reigns over our lives. but because of Jesus the power of the Holy Spirit is available to us. In Adam we die but in Jesus we have new life. Jesus undoes what Adam did. Jesus is God's offer and opportunity for you to be delivered from a sin you could not get yourself out of. I'm done. Let's get to chapter eight. We're sinners. God is faithful. God has provided a way out. So the logical conclusion and the fourth reality of the book of Romans is this, that the lordship of Jesus is your only way to escape the penalty, the power, and the presence of sin. Here it is, the logical conclusion.

35:19 You're a sinner. God is faithful. God has provided a way out, and therefore, the lordship of Jesus is your only way of escaping the penalty, the power, and the presence of sin. saying yes to Jesus is the only way out putting your hands in the hand of the Lord is the only way out surrendering your heart to the Lordship of Jesus is the only way out giving your life to the Lord and allowing yourself to be born again is the only way out and what Paul presses on us and Romans is what I try to press on you every time I stand behind this podium. And that is simply this, that saying yes to Jesus is the best decision you will ever make in your life. Paul wants us to understand that Jesus is a decision that everyone has to make.

36:23 the lordship of Jesus is not something you can be neutral about you cannot stand on the fence and waver between two opinions either he's lord of all or he's not lord at all but everyone must make a decision about Jesus yeah I believe that's what Paul pressed on us in Philippians when he says that God has given Jesus a name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus is a decision that you must make at some moment in your life. And hear me, this is how Paul paints it. It's not that you're standing making a decision between Jesus and sin. Your choice is not between do I live a life with the Lord or do I live a life of sin?

37:24 Watch this. Because you've already gone through the door of sin. That decision is behind you. The decision that is in front of you is do I want to stay in sin or do I want to accept God's offer for a different life? Do I want to keep being what I've been or do I want to let the Lord remake who I am? do I want to keep doing the things I know I shouldn't do or do I want the Lord to empower me to live a life that is pleasing in his sight what is your choice stay in sin or accept Jesus Christ and what Paul argues that I close with is that when you say yes to Jesus there's some benefits. When you say yes to Jesus, there's some rewards. When you say yes to Jesus, there's some aid and assistance. When you say yes to Jesus, there's some unexpected glory coming your way.

38:24 When you say yes to Jesus, things will work together for your good. When you say yes to Jesus, God who is with you is more than the world against you. When you say yes to Jesus, you are more than a conqueror. When you say yes to Jesus, there's no condemnation for you. When you say yes to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will help you. When you say yes to Jesus, you can live a life free of sin in the power of the Spirit of God. Will you say yes? And if you say yes, the benefits and the Blessings begin in chapter eight. Because next week you're going to see verse one of chapter eight begins like this. Now, therefore, now that you know you're a sinner, now that you know God is faithful in the face of your sin, now that you know in love God has provided a way out, now that you've said yes to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, therefore, watch what's about to happen.

39:29 Come on, join with me next week as we begin our journey in Romans chapter 8 and discover that we are more.