He found it very interesting dew to the three words, “MORE THAN CONQUERORS.” This also intrigued me. What does it mean to be more than a conqueror? We will learn () that the answer to this question is an important comfort to our assurance of eternal life.

Thesis: Our assurance of eternal life with God is founded upon the consistency of God’s divine love revealed through Jesus our Lord. His love is always there as a CONSTANT,--never wavering, never changing. He will never forsake us. Let us not forsake Him.

A.) A few weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of looking for a new family car. Long before our family started out on this brave adventure I knew that I would have to put on the proper gear in order to survive the ordeal before us. You see, I’ve been on this adventure many times before. I knew there was danger lurking at the places we had to go to, so this time I took my secret weapon; Linda. As we drove along Auto Center Drive the images of the Florida coastline filled my mind. After all, it has been on the news a lot lately. My eyes scanned the sea of cars before us () as a familiar sense of alarm started to grow within me. I knew they were there but I haven’t spotted any sign of one yet. This was something that I had to do though; I had no choice. We needed the car because the family is getting too busy, someone needs to go here someone else needs to go someplace else. I’m sure you know the problem. So I mustered up all the strength I could, took hold of my secret weapon, and stepped into the sea. We didn’t get two feet into the car lot before I was spotted by the dreaded car shark.

Was the picture I just drew in your minds a picture of assurance? NO! I don’t really have any dislike for car salesman because I know that the men are just doing their job. Some are simply more credible than others, just like any person you meet on the street.

B.) Because we don’t receive any assurance of honesty, integrity, or truth in this world, we become pessimistic, defensive, and even jaded. Where in the world can we find any assurance? The only assurance (in this world) I know of, is that there is no assurances when it comes to mankind, except for death and taxes; and some people cheat the taxes part, but you can’t cheat death. It seems the only assurance we have (in this world) is death. IT SEEMS.

C.) So far we have been talking about life in the world (The worldly man), but what about the other half of our humanity, our spiritual side (The spiritual man)? Why do so many people ignore the part of ourselves that can correct most of our suffering? This is the part of us that, if exercised wisely, can lead us to that elusive assurance, an assurance not of this world, but a heavenly assurance given by God () through His inspired word.

Our assurance of eternal life is given to us plainly and confidently By Paul in Romans chapter 8 where Paul tells us about “life in the Spirit.”

Do you notice that this and many other scriptures are conditional statements? Since God is the constant and we are the variables, it is up to us to choose which condition to follow or which way to go. God leads us to Him through the scriptures () and we make a choice. It will either be, yes I will let God lead me, or no, no-one leads me but me. This pride (The Me Myself and I syndrome) is the most common sin that separates us from God, but with such a clear conformation that there will not be condemnation to those who are in Christ, why would anyone chose anything else, especially when anything else will be spiritual death? I thank God that these thoughts are now behind me, because I had thought that way for forty years. These days though, when these thoughts try to take hold of me, I know that I have a friend to help me, Jesus Christ. He is My strength and my shield. He helps me to live in the Spirit instead of in the flesh. Ever sense I gave Christ control and started to exercise my spiritual life by following His exercise plan (The Bible), all of the problems I had that were from a starved spirit, disappeared.

Isn‘t that ASSURANCE? Would God hold back from us anything that was given to Christ () whom is the first of many? Absolutely not! God can not lie. It is impossible for him to lie. Remember that His love is a constant.

How wonderful the promise is for those that conquer their “life in the flesh” and become joint heirs with Christ. It is the hope of every Christian to have a heavenly home with God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and we gain our confidence of assurance through the study of God’s inspired word.

This is a powerful statement made by these scriptures that say to us, “This is your ASSURANCE.”

What then shall we say to these things that Paul has said regarding the Holy Spirit, being heirs to God, and being called by the Gospel? What comfort can we draw from the scriptures concerning our assurance of eternal life? He answers his question with another question in (8:31). “IF God is for us, who can be against us?” No one! No one because no one is greater than God! What a great hope! What a great assurance and a blessed comfort. A comfort given by the Holy Spirit. A confident comfort in the knowledge that God’s inspired word is truth (John 17:17 and 2Peter 1:20-21). There is a great comfort in the knowledge that His love is always there for us, and all we need to do is go to Him to receive it.

If God gave us his only Son, and He did, would He withhold anything else from us that we need? NO! As Paul says, He will give us all things graciously. 2Peter 1:1-11 This is yet another example of God‘s divine love revealed through Jesus our Lord. Even more ASSURANCE

a) Who can separate us from our assurance?

b) Who can condemn us?

If we are in Christ, if God’s Spirit is in us, then who can harm us? Who can condemn us? Truly, no one can. No one can separate us from the love of Christ, no earthly judge, not even satin himself because we have Jesus. It is a fact that; 1) Jesus died for us, 2) He was raised to life, 3) and He was seated at the right hand of God with all authority. Matthew 28:18-20 & Ephesians 1:18-23. He also intercedes for us, as we have just read, and is repeated in; 1John 2:1, and Hebrews 9:15. We can’t lose! God justifies us through His Son Jesus Christ. This shows the fullness and all sufficiency of God’s care for us.

B) There is only one person on this Earth that can separate you from your God. THAT ONE IS YOU! He will never forsake us, but if our love for Him grows cold, we separate ourselves from Him. Remember, God is the constant and we are the variables. We have the power of choice, so wield your power with wisdom and understanding, so that your pride won’t destroy you. If you are in Christ, examine yourself. Are you where you should be spiritually? If your not yet in Christ, why not? What more do you need to know to make the decision that will save your eternal soul? Do you think if you give yourself to God that you can be conquered?

1) Can we be conquered?

2) Are we more than conquers as the scriptures tell us?

3) And what does it mean to be more than a conquer?

A) Throughout history there has always been one army conquering another, until they, in time, are conquered by some other army. These conquering armies obviously can be conquered. The only hope they have is in there own strength and ability not to let their guard down. There is always going to be someone bigger, stronger or smarter that will step in and take over the rule of power. So how do we become more than conquers?

How do you become more than a conquer? When nothing can stand against you, not even satin, that’s how! This is done only while we are in Christ. Can anything be more assuring to us of an eternal life than chapter 8 of the book of Romans? I know there are many assurances throughout the bible but this chapter hits it home for me. With Christ, we can never be conquered. Paul is persuaded of this just as we should be persuaded.

God’s love and Jesus’ love are so great that nothing can separate us from that love, except our own sins.

Conclusion:

As I have mentioned at the beginning of this lesson, our assurance of eternal life with God is founded upon the consistency of God’s divine love revealed through Jesus our lord. His love is constant and He will never forsake us. Since God’s love is constant, and we are the one’s that change, then we need to be very careful not to let our sins separate us from God. It is our hope to be with God and our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, so if we find ourselves with a bad case of “ME, MYSELF and I syndrome,” or any other syndrome such as, COMPLANCY, forgetting to be FORGIVING, and forgetting that you are a debtor for the sacrifice of His only Son for our sins, YOU KNOW, forgetting to exercise your spiritual side, then we need to correct it through prayer and repentance. Only through the blood of Jesus do we have forgiveness of our sins, but you have to be in Jesus before any cleansing or forgiveness can take place. Once we place ourselves in Jesus, through baptism, and continue faithfully in His word, then truly no one can separate you from Jesus or God. In Him is where YOU ARE more than a conquer, never being conquered again, but only if you are a part of His army.