The Love That Will Not Let Me Go Series

THE LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO

Text: Rom. 8:31-39

Introduction

1. George Matheson was only fifteen when he was told that he was losing what little eyesight he had. Instead of giving up, Matheson immediately continued with his plans to enroll in the University of Glasgow, and his determination lead to his graduation at age nineteen. But as he pursued graduate studies in theology for Christian ministry, he finally lost his sight. His sisters joined ranks beside him, learning Greek and Hebrew to assist him in his studies. He pressed faithfully on. But his spirit collapsed when his fiancée, unwilling to be married to a blind man, broke their engagement and returned his ring. He never married, and the pain of that rejection never totally left him. Years later, as a well-loved preacher in Scotland, his sister came to him announcing her engagement. He rejoiced with her, but his mind went back to his own heartache. He consoled himself in thinking of God’s love which is never limited, never conditional, never withdrawn, and never uncertain. Out of this experience he wrote the hymn, O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.

O love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;

I give thee back the life I owe,

That in thine ocean depths it flow

May richer, fuller be.

Human love is very uncertain, and I am sure all of us here today have experienced rejection at some point in our lives. Like George Matheson we need to learn to lean on and trust God’s perfect love. His love is our hope and our goal. Being a Christian means that we learn to love like Jesus.

2. We have all at some time in our lives had love taken from us. Whether if it was by death or a hurtful decision, we have all lost love of one kind or another.

3. However, there is one love that will never be taken from you; that is the love of God in Christ Jesus.

4. In his life Paul faced about every kind of adversity known to man.

a. He was beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, bitten by a snake, and it seemed the whole world was out to kill him.

b. But in all of this he knew that no one could take the love of Christ from him.

5. In our text today, Paul tells us about two things that no one can do to us, both centered on the love of God.

a. No Accusation

b. No Separation

6. Please stand with me, out of respect for the Word of God, as we read Rom. 8:31-39.

Proposition: No power in all the universe can take the love of God from you.

Transition: First, Paul talks about…

I. No Accusation (31-34).

A. Who Dares Accuse Us?

1. The 8th chapter of Romans is one of the most comforting chapters in all of Scripture.

a. Paul begins by telling there is no condemnation for us.

b. He then tells us that we have been adopted as full children of God.

c. Next, he tells us about the glory that awaits us.

2. Now, he tells us about our confidence we have in Christ. In v. 31 he says, “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”

a. What shall we say introduces an important qualification, often introduces an important qualification to the argument, often introducing a section and concluding a logical argument as here.

b. In view of all that God has done for us as believers—sacrificing his own Son, forgiving our sins and making us right with himself, bringing us into his own family, giving us the gift of his Spirit, promising us eternal glory—we need have no fear or panic.

c. In Jesus Christ we are safe and secure in God’s care, and nothing in the whole world can change that (Mohrlang, Volume 14: Romans and Galatians, 143).

d. In light of this Paul declares if God is for us, who can ever be against us?

e. The idea of God literally "on our behalf" brings in the basic gospel message of the book; Christ has died on our behalf, and the Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

f. God is faithful to his covenant people, and so those who are against us will come to nothing.

g. There is no one that we need to fear, and all their opposition is ultimately doomed.

h. Revelation 12:11 (NLT2)

11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

i. The implications are enormous! Every time Satan tries to conquer God's people by killing them, they conquer him by being killed.