Believers in those times faced many trials and sufferings. They were persecuted and opposed, because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
• We got to know it in history, as well as in the Scriptures.
• Paul mentioned some of these difficulties in verse 35 - trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Yet Paul was not defeated. He says we need not be defeated, because “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (8:37)
• Through the strength that Christ gives us, we can overcome.
• In order words, no matter what people tries to do, or what life brings upon us, we have enough power in Christ to overcome these difficulties.
How can we be so sure? What is the basis of our confidence?
• We are sure because He loves us. He is the One who loved us.
• “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” (Eph 5:2)
• The ground of our confidence is our crucified Saviour, who stood in our place at the cross and suffered on our behalf.
• If He sacrificed Himself for you, if He gave up His life to save you, then you have nothing to fear. He will surely help you.
• We are confident today because we are loved. We are not worried today because we know someone cares, and is looking after us.
Do you know that today? Dear friends, do you know you are deeply loved?
Paul uses a series of questions to emphasize this point. 6 questions in one breath.
• Verse 31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (v.31)
• Verse 32: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”
• Verse 33: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?”
• Verse 34: “Who is he that condemns?”
• Verse 35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
• And then he went on to list down 7 different obstacles that all of us faces – at one time or another, in one way or another. He says, “Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”
Although this was asked almost 2000 years ago (written AD58), nothing much has changed, right?
• We are facing these same problems today - trouble, hardship, persecution, famine - and we question God over these.
• When we are overwhelmed by sufferings like these, we tend to doubt God. We feel separated from His love, for some unknown reasons.
But after all the questioning, Paul gave an emphatic NO in verse 37.
• NO WAY. You are wrong if you think that way.
• No situation that you are in today can change the truth of God’s love for you.
In all these things, he says. We are more than conquerors.
• Take note of what he did not say - WO THINGS he did not say:
(1) He did not say in SOME of these difficulties, God will help you overcome. He said in ALL these things.
(2), he did not say God will REMOVE all these things and immune you from all hardships.
• He said instead: “In all these things, we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS…”
In fact, Paul was speaking from his own experience - he was imprisoned, flogged, beaten, stoned, persecuted, went without food, faced all kinds of dangers (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-27)
• But went through them, through Christ’s help, and he was able to write this down for us today.
• We are called to be FIGHTERS, conquerors. We are called to be overcomers.
• We are not called to sail through life, but to fight this spiritual battle. The people of Israel did not sail into Canaan; they had to fight their way in.
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
• Actually, I would be very happy if you say “I am a conqueror.” I’d be contended.
• But the Scripture says “We are MORE than conquerors!”
• In order words, no matter what you encounter in life, you have, in Christ, more than enough strength, more than enough help, to overcome it.
• He is a MORE THAN ENOUGH God. You do not ‘barely survive’, you thrive.
Jesus: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
The question we need to ask is not, “Why? Why am I facing so much trouble?”
• That’s the wrong question to ask. Jesus says, “In this world, we’ll have trouble.”
• The right question is, “Why? Why am I not overcoming it? Why am I so weak?”
• Only through Christ can we overcome! When you are weak and burdened, you’ve got to get back to Jesus and cry out to Him.
Let me encourage you to fight in two ways:
(1) We Fight with an Attitude of Faith
The shepherd boy David showed such a faith in God when he fought the Philistine giant Goliath in 1 Sam 17.
• He was much younger, smaller and more inexperienced than his enemy, but he relied on God’s help.
• He told King (Saul): “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Sam 17:37)
Do you believe this today? The God who delivered David, and Paul, will also deliver you today?
• The Word of God did not say, “One day, you will be a conqueror. Or wait until the situation change for the better. Or once you become more mature…”
• TODAY, if you know Christ, you are more than a conqueror in Christ.
• Today, if you trust Christ, you can experience His help and His strength. You will not be defeated; you can stand strong even in the midst of hardship.
• We need to believe who God says we are.
Today you are not a victim of the circumstances.
• You are a child of God, greatly loved by Him and “can do all things through Him who gives you strength” (Phil 4:13)
• You must believe in what God says about you. You must know who you are in Christ.
1 John 5:4 “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
If we face life situations with a faithless mindset, we have already lost the battle in our mind before we even lift our hands to fight.
• That was what happened to the soldiers of Israel when they saw the giant Goliath, and heard what he said (cf. 1 Sam 17). They felt weak and terrified.
• The battle starts in the mind. We need to gain control over our mind and feed it with the truths of God’s Word, else damaging thoughts will take over.
• Wrong thoughts in our minds instil fears and rob us from victory.
• The soldiers need to believe what God says, and not what their enemy says.
(2) We Fight with an Attitude of Reliance
Pray. Fight on our knees. We need God’s help.
• He is not our last resort; He is the first we cry out to.
2 Cor 10:3-4 says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
We have a strength that is not physical, not earthly, not of this world.
• We have DIVINE POWER to demolish strongholds. We have the ‘power of God’ on our side. Paul says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31)
• What we need is not human strength, wisdom, or skills. We need God.
Paul says in 2 Cor 4:7-9
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
We may face all kinds of hardships but there is this TREASURE in us (jars of clay).
• Christ dwells in us – He is the all-surpassing POWER that we need.
• We are hard pressed on every side, but not… crushed. Perplexed, confused but… not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed.
• WHY? Because we are OVERCOMERS through Christ who loved us, who dwells in us. That was Paul’s experience, and that can be our experience today!
Charles Spurgeon says it in a very interesting way:
• “You look at man as he is, and what can he do? He can do nothing!”
• But look at man with God IN him and I will reverse the question: “What can he not do?”
We face life’s challenges with FAITH and a complete RELIANCE upon God.
How you choose to think is a choice – YOUR choice.
• You can choose to think the way God tells us to think. You can trust His Word stand upon His promises.
• Or you can choose to believe what the enemy says, or what the world says, or what people say.
• We want to believe what God says. It is not always important to know what people say, but it is very important to know what God says.
Whatever weakness or worry or fear you may have, you can surely overcome.
• Believe this. When you trust Christ fully, you are more than conquerors!
Accept Jesus as your Saviour today, if you have not done so.
• He saves us from our sin; He forgives us and gives us a new life.
• He is our only hope, and our only way back to God.
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Let us pray.
• If you are facing a problem, a difficulty, let God know and ask for His help.
• Go to Him who loves you. He will surely help you.
• We need Him. You need Him more than you realize.
• It doesn’t mean that your troubles will go overnight. But you will have the faith, the strength, and the courage to overcome them.
PRAYER:
Father, we pray that your Spirit would plant this truth deep within our hearts. Dear Lord Jesus, we believe that through you, we shall overcome our problems, for we are more than conquerors with your help.
Help us fight our battles with faith, and help us depend fully upon the power of the Holy Spirit. Fill us afresh so we can stand strong and overcome.
Give us victory, Lord, over all that seeks to destroy us or oppose us. We want to glorify your Name. Use us Lord for your glory. In Jesus name, we pray. AMEN.
