1983 A New Year's Promise (Ro. 8:32)

Romans 8:32 Back to Basics at the Beginning of a New Year (1997)

In this New Year's sermon, Pastor Martin expounds Romans 8:32, 'He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?' He places this promise within the context of God's monergistic and particularistic salvation, emphasizing that the 'us' refers to God's elect. Martin argues from the greater (God giving His Son) to the lesser (God giving 'all things' necessary for salvation and doing His will), assuring believers that God will provide everything needed to bring them to glory and enable them to serve Him in the coming year, especially as they face uncertainties and demands. He applies this promise to individual trials, church finances, and the Lord's Supper, urging both believers to trust and unbelievers to flee to Christ.

3 illustrations in this sermon

Introduction: A New Year's Promise for Uncertain Times

compare analogy

Ballast in the Hull

The point: Plead the fulfillment of God's promises in the coming days, especially when facing uncertainties and demands.

The promise of Romans 8:32 is likened to ballast in the hull of a ship, providing stability as believers face the 'uncharted and very stormy seas' of the new year.

and even for you who are not the Lord's people as we stand on the threshold of this new year and then to encourage you at the end of the day to pray. you to plead that prayer, to put in your hands a promise from the living God by which you may plead the fulfillment of those prayers in the coming days. As we face all of the uncertainties, all of the unpredictables, all of the unknowns of 1983, is there a word of God which in any sense comes to us in the face of all of the unknowns and all of the unpredictables and all of the uncertainties that can act as it were like ballast in the hull of our ...

4:51 - 6:11 Read in full sermon

The Conclusion: From Greater to Lesser, All Things Freely Given

lightbulb example

Children Asking for Shoelaces

Driving home: If you don't know a little logic, at least informally, there are many parts of your Bible you'll never understand. And the apostle is arguing from the greater to the lesser.

Children asking parents for shoelaces, knowing they provide greater needs like food and shelter, illustrates the logical argument from the greater to the lesser, showing how believers should confidently ask God for 'all things' after He gave His Son.

Now you kids do this all the time. It doesn't bother you to go and ask mommy and daddy to get you some shoelaces when they break and your shoes are flopping off your feet. You're not reluctant to ask mommy and daddy for some new shoelaces. Why?

29:09 - 29:22 Read in full sermon

lightbulb example

Children Asking for a Playhouse

Driving home: If you don't know a little logic, at least informally, there are many parts of your Bible you'll never understand. And the apostle is arguing from the greater to the lesser.

Children not asking for an extravagant playhouse because they know their parents don't have that kind of money, further clarifies the limits of the 'greater to lesser' logic, contrasting it with the infinite resources of God.

If mommy and daddy meet all those needs. Now, you don't walk up to mommy and daddy any day of the week and say, hey, mom, hey, dad, you know, I think I'd like a playhouse out in the back. That's about the size of our living room. And I'd like to have it made with beautiful oak wood and carpeted floors.

29:45 - 30:01 Read in full sermon

headphones Listen to full sermon