God's Wondrous Assurances 

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:28-39.

Memory Verse: "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

Introduction: The glorious message of Romans is that God assures deliverance (freedom) from struggling and suffering--through Christ. This is the whole point of all that has been written before. Man desperately struggles against the pressures and forces both within himself and externally. And somehow, through his suffering and struggle through life, he feels that his suffering and struggling are due to a wrong relationship with God.
  Therefore, man views his many problems as really being one supreme problem: how to get right with God. If he can establish the right relationship with God, he feels sure God will help him through his trials and take care of his future hereafter.
  This is the very message of Romans. Man needs to get right with God, for he is under the condemnation and wrath of God. Man needs a right relationship with God; he needs to be justified, that is, declared righteous by God. Man needs to be freed from the bondage of the Law; for the Law enslaves, accuses, condemns, and strikes hopelessness within the heart.--Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times, p. 1046.
  John Vassar, a well-known missionary, was going from house to house distributing tracts and talking with people about their souls. One woman who heard about this strange man and what he was doing said, "If he comes to my house, he will get the door slammed in his face."
  Without knowing that the woman had made such a statement, Mr. Vassar rang her doorbell the next day. When she saw that he was the man who had been described to her, she slammed the door in his face. John Vassar sat down on her doorstep and sang,

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe,
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
'Tis all that I can do.   The woman heard the earnest verse as he sang and was convicted a sinner. She opened the door and called Mr. Vassar in, who led her to Jesus Christ.--Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, p. 136.

Lesson Questions:

1. What great assurance does a child of God have concerning the storms of life? Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Psalm 34:19; Isaiah 43:2; 2 Corinthians 4:17,18.

2. What assurance do we have through God's foreknowledge and predestination? Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 1:2,18-20; Ephesians 1:3-5; 3:11,12.

3. How complete is God's plan of redemption? Romans 8:30; Colossians 3:4; Hebrews 7:25.

4. How sure may our confidence in God be? Romans 8:31; Numbers 14:8; Psalm 20:5-9; 23:4; 27:3-6; Habakkuk 3:17-19.

5. Examine the ways in which God Himself has become our guarantee of deliverance. Romans 8:32,33; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-10; Ephesians 2:7-9; Philippians 1:6; 4:19; Proverbs 1:33; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

6. What four things has Jesus done to prove that He will not condemn the true believer? Romans 8:34; 1 Peter 2:24; Acts 17:31; 1 Corinthians 15:17; John 14:2,3; Revelation 3:21; 1 John 2:1,2; Hebrews 9:24.

7. Who can separate us from Christ's love? Romans 8:35-37; John 14:27; 16:33; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1:3,4; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Isaiah 46:4; 1 Peter 3:12-14.

8. What grand finale of assurance does Paul give to show our absolute security in God's love? Romans 8:38,39; Zephaniah 3:17; Jeremiah 31:3; 1 John 4:8-10.