Well, you might have expected that I would go to the book of Revelation—and I will sometime soon, I’m not sure when—but I wanted to be an encouragement to all of you today as I think about this, kind of the final Sunday in 55 years of ministry, and next Sunday we sort of launch into year 56, which seems, really, impossible. But I wanted to bring to you something that would encourage you and I, in fact, have chosen a passage of Scripture that may well be the most encouraging in all the Bible. That’s Romans chapter 8. So I invite you to turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 8. It’s a great chapter, but we’re going to look particularly at verses 31 to 39—Romans chapter 8, verses 31 to 39—and I’ll read that for you just so you have it in mind.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I titled this “The Triumph of Divine Love” because that is exactly what it is. It’s an incredibly important portion of Holy Scripture and, perhaps, as I said, the most encouraging of all New Testament passages.

I was listening to some psychoanalysts this last week and there was a recorded session of their concerns for the things that people need the most, and not surprisingly they came up with: number one is food, number two is water, and number three is shelter. But beyond that, it was interesting to me that the fourth desperate need that humanity has is to be loved, to be loved. People need to be loved. It’s little wonder that they’re talking about things like that, because there are so many unloved people or people who perceive themselves as being unloved, miserable, bound up in the escapes through drugs and alcohol, and even the final escape of suicide. People need to be loved. People are exhilarated when they fall in love and they are crushed when love fails. Probably nothing is as devastating as to love and be forsaken. Human souls long for a love that will not disappoint, a love that will not wane, a love that will not fail, a love that will not die.

But there really is no eternal love in this world. It’s hard enough to sustain love for a year or, certainly, for a lifetime. But there is a love that is everlasting, and that is the love that we just read about in Romans 8. It is “the love of God,” verse 39, “which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is a love that comes with a fullness and an extent that produces lasting satisfaction and joy beyond anything else, far beyond anything else.

Back up a little bit with me to the thirteenth chapter of John, if you will. Our Lord gathered with His disciples for the final Passover, the night of His betrayal and the night before His crucifixion, and it was the hardest—certainly the hardest time in His life on earth. He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood in the garden over the agony of anticipating the cross. He anticipated the Father forsaking Him. He anticipated bearing all the sins of all the people who would ever believe through all of human history, and being punished in full for all of them. He anticipated that.

He expected some encouragement and some help from His disciples. Maybe they could stay awake a little bit and pray. But we found they couldn’t do that. They couldn’t pray with Him; they were too busy with their own concerns. In fact, while our Lord is facing the most horrific moment of His earthly life, they are really at their ugliest. They are seemingly unconcerned about what is about to happen to Him but very concerned about themselves. They’re discussing whether this one or that one will be the most prominent if there is a kingdom to come. When He is arrested on that night, they scatter—one of them, of course, having betrayed Him; the other, Peter, about to deny Him; but all of them forsaking Him.

It’s really an ugly group that night. And that’s why verse 1 of chapter 13 is so important. It says, “Before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour”—His hour of crucifixion—“had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father”—then this—“having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

This is just an incredible, incredible statement. On the hardest night of His earthly life, the eve of His crucifixion, when His disciples were virtually useless and would soon forsake Him, He expresses this kind of love to them.

At the moment of their most disappointing behavior, He loved them to the end. “He loved them”—in the Greek, eis telos—“unto the finish,” or you could say, “without limits” or “completely” or “fully” or “surpassing all other loves” or “to the extent of His capacity to love.” Christ never loved them more than He loved them that night, at their ugliest, because He could never love them less. He loved them to the end, to the full, to the max.

This is a love reserved for “His own.” He loved “His own who were in the world,” “His own.” They were the ones that Romans 5:8 says, “God [demonstrated] His own love toward . . . in that while they were sinners, Christ died for [them].” He loved them. He loved them in the moment of their darkest disappointing behavior. He loved them even when all their sins were heaped on Him, along with all the sins of all the rest who would ever believe. He loved them with an everlasting, immeasurable love. This, really, sounds too good.

Can we be sure that He loves us like that? This is a powerful, powerful truth, and it needs to be fully understood. And to fully understand it, we have to go back to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8.

Here we have, I think, the greatest statement of this love that is eis telos—to the max, to the full, to the end. It’s described here. And what I read to you has to be the most precious spiritual reality of all spiritual realities, because we are given the confidence that we have an eternal salvation because we have a God who loves us to the max.

So, verse 31, Romans 8. Paul begins this passage with this question: “What then shall we say to these things?” What’s our response? What “things” are you talking about? Well, all the realities of salvation. They started back in chapter 3, verse 20, and they went through chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and all the way through chapter 8.

What is our response to this amazing salvation? And the sum-up of it is in verses 28 to 30, the preceding few verses: “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” That is the sum of everything from chapter 3, verse 20, on—that we have been predestined and called and justified and will be glorified. And the Lord will fulfill that purpose by causing “all things to work together for good,” “all things.”

So, verse 31, “What shall we say to these things?” What should be our response to this astounding salvation? All the realities of our salvation described from chapter 3 on, all the issues that come across our path in life, all of it works together for our final glory. What should we say about that?

The chapter began in verse 1 with the declaration that if we’re in Christ, there’ll never be any condemnation. We have been delivered from condemnation, judgment, and punishment. What shall we say to the magnanimity of this? What shall we say about a God who loves us to the max, to the limit of His capacity (which is infinite), who can’t love us more and can’t love us less? What shall we say? What’s our response to that? It seems so overwhelming. It seems so merciful and so gracious that we wonder if it’s even possible.

There are two hypothetical possibilities: God could decide to reject us, or we could decide to reject Him. Can either of those happen? I mean, this is just too good. Couldn’t it be possible that somewhere along the line, God says, “You know, I’ve been working with you a long time. You’re making no progress. I give. I’m weary of your disappointments. I’m weary of your transgressions. I’m weary of teaching you the same lessons over and over again which you don’t seem to be able to learn. You embarrass Me. You bring dishonor on My name and My church. I’ve really had enough, and My holiness demands that I not tolerate anymore of it, so we’re done. Your salvation is canceled.” I could understand that. I think we all could understand that.

On the other hand, it is also possible that you might say, “God, I’m kind of tired of the way You are operating. Does life have to be this hard? Does my husband have to be that stupid? Do my kids have to be that disobedient? Do my bosses have to make life this miserable? Do I have to be this ill? Does it ever end?” I can understand the hypothetical possibility that somebody’s going to say, “I’ve had all I can take,” especially if they were promised the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel.

But can either of those things happen? Can God stop loving us? Is there something that can make Him stop loving us, or is there something to make us stop loving Him? Well, those are the two questions that Paul answers here. Let’s look at the one in verses 31 to 34.

Can God stop loving His own? Can God reject His own? I’ll give you the answer: No. No. But look at verse 31: “If God is for us, who is against us?” That’s one of the greatest statements in Scripture. God is for us. Did you hear that? I think sometimes even Christians think God is against them, or He’s neutral, or He’s just in a constant state of disappointment. No, “God is for us.” God is for us. The most precious truth of the gospel: “God is for us.”

You just heard Phil sing Psalm 27. Let me read it to you, the first three verses: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.”

What is the psalmist’s confidence? Well, that is stated in Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear.” Psalm 46, verse 7, “The Lord of hosts is with us.” Verse 11, “The Lord of hosts is with us.” Psalm 56, verse 4, “In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” Listen to Psalm 84: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!” Psalm 118, verse 6, “The Lord is for me.” Great statement. “The Lord is for me; I will not fear.”

Listen to Isaiah chapter 50, verses 7 to 9: “For the Lord God helps Me, therefore, I am not disgraced; therefore, I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He who vindicates Me is near; who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me. Behold, the Lord God helps Me”—“God’s on my side. Bring your accusations.” Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” says the Lord. Or the wonderful language of John 10. Our Lord speaks of His sheep with this statement: “I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Just a few scriptures that indicate God is for us. He is for us.

He knows we’re weak. He knows we’re sinful. He knows we fail. He knows we stumble. He knows we fall short. We don’t love Him the way we should, we don’t serve Him the way we should, but He is for us. He is for us.

Look at verse 32. Here’s the proof: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” This is the greatest proof that God is for us. What is it? That He “didn’t spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all,” talking about His death. God loves us, and because He loves us, He sent His Son. He gave Him as a sacrifice on our behalf. He did not spare His own Son. Literally, He required of His Son the most horrific, unimaginable sacrifice, and He did it for people who were ungodly.

Listen to Romans 5:6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Verse 8, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be being saved by His life.” In other words, it’s an argument from the greater to the lesser. If God made the greater sacrifice when we were totally sinful, He will make a lesser sacrifice now that we’re less sinful. His love is so strong, He loved us when we were ungodly, He loved us when we were enemies; and He loved us so much He didn’t spare His Son.

That’s language, I think, borrowed from Genesis 22. Do you remember the story in Genesis 22, Abraham and Isaac? And God said to Abraham, “I want you to take your only son, your only legitimate son, the son of the covenant, and I want you to offer him as a sacrifice.”

Listen to this, Genesis 22, verse 12. Abraham is ready to offer Isaac: “OK, I won’t spare my son. This is what You’ve asked me to do.” An angel of the Lord, in verse 11, calls to Abraham and says, “Whoa, whoa, whoa”: “Abraham, Abraham! [Stop.] . . . Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” “You were willing to sacrifice your only son, and all the promises were bound up in him.”

Verse 15, “The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, ‘By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will greatly bless you.’” Abraham did not withhold his son. But God didn’t require him to die. God, however, did not withhold His Son, and He did require Him to die. It pleased the Lord—Isaiah 53:10—it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. This kind of contrast with Abraham: Abraham was willing to give his son; wasn’t required. The Father was willing to give His Son; and it was required.

And back to Romans chapter 8, it was “His own Son,” “His own Son,” and He “delivered Him over”—“delivered Him over,” language of execution. “Delivered Him over,” in fact, according to Luke 22, to “the power of darkness,” Satan himself, who used the weapon of death. So if God was willing to do that for us when we were ungodly sinners, Paul says, “Will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Will He not then, now that we are His own and the sacrifice for our sin has been paid in full, withhold nothing from us? God made Him to be sin for us. God made Him to be a curse in our place. He delivered the Son to damnation, He delivered the Son to abandonment, and He did it while we were sinners.

Who delivered Jesus to die? Not Pilate, for fear; not Judas, for money; not the Jews, for envy—but the Father, for love. And notice again, back to verse 32, “For us all.” Who is this “us all”? Well, it’s the same “us” as in verse 31; the “us” that God is for, the “us” that God says, “He is for us, He is for us.” It’s His own. And who are they? The ones He foreknew, verse 29; predestined, verse 30; called, justified, and will one day glorify.

“He . . . did not spare His . . . Son, but delivered Him over for us all”—that’s all believers, all the elect. And to drive home the point—if He did that, “How will He not with Him freely give us all things?” How could He hold anything back? What are “all things”? “All spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ,” Ephesians 1:3.

This is the staggering reality of the gospel: that God loved us when we were His enemies, when we were ungodly, and He loved us to a degree that is infinite and everlasting. And that love led Him to provide a sacrifice that would remove us from condemnation forever and bring us to eternal glory because that was the plan of His love. And if He did that when we were His enemies, what will He do now to make sure that we are, as His children, brought to glory?

No, God’s not going to stop loving us. He’s not going to turn against us. He’s not going to all of a sudden condemn us or reject us. He already offered His Son for all of our sins.

Well, Paul says in verse 33, what if somebody shows up and brings a charge against God’s elect—you know, that maybe escaped God’s notice, or the degree to which, God was not aware? We say, “Who might do that?” Oh, I know who would do that. According to Revelation 12:10, the devil is the accuser, right, day and night before God. He goes, in Job in chapter 1 and verse 9, before God, and he tries to get God to stop loving Job, to take away Job’s salvation. How? By depriving him of all the blessings which, the devil says, “are the only reason he clings to You.”

I’m sure when the devil comes before God, he brings a list: “Let me tell you about John MacArthur. Have You been watching lately? Do You understand this list? This is an embarrassment to You. Why are You tolerating this?” It’s like Zachariah 3 where Satan shows up to try to indict Joshua the high priest.

No, he is the accuser. But he’s come to the wrong place to bring a charge against God’s elect. God has already given the final verdict. He has justified us. He has declared us righteous, sins paid for in full, and the righteousness of His Son imputed to us.

So who’s going to successfully bring an accusation before God—first of all, one that He doesn’t know about? That’s not possible. Secondly, one that hasn’t been covered by the death of Christ? That’s not possible. This is why John Wesley wrote, “Bold shall I stand in that great day; for who aught to my charge shall lay? Fully through Thee absolved I am from sin and fear, from guilt and shame.” We sing that, and it’s true. It’s true. We are God’s elect. He chose us and justified us, and He chose us to bring us to glory.

God will never turn against us, nor will any kind of pleading on the part of the adversary, Satan, change His mind. You say, “Well, what about Jesus? What if He went to the Father and said, ‘I’m so disappointed in these people. There are so many things we ought to be doing, but We’re messing with them all the time because they’re so sinful. Father, couldn’t You just kind of let them go, and We could stick with the good ones?’?”

Verse 34, “Who is the one who condemns?” Satan wouldn’t successfully show up in God’s court because the verdict’s already been given. Would it be Christ? Would Christ show up and say, “I’m here to condemn this person, that person, the other. Here’s My list of reasons why We need to stop loving these people”? Would Christ do that?

No. And Paul gives us four reasons why. “Christ Jesus is He who died.” Well, it’s to say He’s already paid the penalty. He’s already paid the penalty in full. How do we know that He paid the penalty in full? Because it then says, “Who was raised.” He died, that’s the first thing; He was delivered over on account of our transgressions, Romans 4:25. He was then raised on the account of our justification. So Christ died, and the Father raised Him, and the Father’s raising Him was divine affirmation of a fully accomplished redemption. The Father was satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ for His elect.

Not just that. Paul goes on, the third statement in verse 34, “Who is at the right hand of God,” “who is at the right hand of God.” It’s an echo of Psalm 110:1, “The Lord [said] to my Lord”—God the Father says to God the Son—“‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool.’” In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3, He says, “[After] He had made purification for sin, He sat down at the right hand of [God].” That’s His exaltation.

His death, His resurrection, and His exaltation are all affirmations that Christ would never condemn us. He died for us, paying in full the penalty; He rose, the Father indicating that His sacrifice was complete; and then the Father sat Him at His right seat because He had accomplished the purging of the sins of His people.

And then one more: “Who also intercedes for us.” He's not going to condemn us. He died for us, He rose for us, He was exalted to heaven because of the perfection of His sacrifice, and now He ever lives to make intercession for us. He ever lives to make intercession for us. He is our Great High Priest. John 11:42, Jesus said to the Father, “I [know] that You always hear Me.”

So could God stop loving us? Could God reject us? No. God would not reject us because He already loved us when we were wretched. God will not reject us because of any accusations from Satan because Satan’s only accusing us of what has already been paid for. Christ would never stop loving us because He paid full price to make sure we would never be condemned, and now He lives to defend us. When we say God is for us, we mean that He is for us. And one of the ways in which He is for us is because Christ lives to intercede for us to bring us to glory.

“Well,” you say, “OK. Well, maybe we could stop loving God. Could that happen?” Well, that’s where we come to verse 35: “Who”—or what; same word, tis, in the Greek. Are there some things that could separate us from loving Christ? Could we decide we’ve had enough? And then he gives a really rough list, and these are the things that theoretically could make you decide, “I don’t think I want to be a Christian any longer.” These are definitely the things that came into the experience of the soil that was weedy—a little bit of persecution, a little bit of tribulation, and no fruit; and they die. Is it possible that if life gets hard enough, a true believer would stop loving Christ? What would that be? Well, let’s take a look at verse 35.

What about “tribulation,” pressure? This is talking about something that’s outward, thlipsis. It literally in Latin means a flailing, a whipping, a beating, torture, like scourging. I mean, really just bad stuff in life. And the overtones here are things that come on us for the sake of Christ—because we belong to Him, because we are His. It puts us in a situation where the world hates us, and it can end up with this kind of persecution. Tribulation can be bodily harm, severe bodily harm. Would that be enough to make somebody say, “Well, I’m out. It’s enough of that for me”?

Or how about “distress,” the second word? That’s an inward difficulty. It’s a word that means narrow, hemmed in, no way out. Can we be in such a difficult situation that appears to be inescapable, that is going badly for us, and we say, “Look, I don’t need any more of this, Lord. Where are the blessings?”

And “persecution”; that’s a word for abuse—physical, mental suffering and abuse at the hands of those who hate Christ. He’s gone to that extreme level to say, “Does extreme persecution cause believers to stop loving God?” Could include “famine,” going without food; “nakedness,” having to go without clothing. “Peril,” what’s that? Just being exposed to danger. And then the “sword,” death.

Would that be enough? I mean, if all that comes at a Christian—tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword—would that be enough for someone to say, “OK, I don’t want any more of this; this was not what I signed up for”? Would this drive us to doubt, drive us to sin, drive us to a rejection of Christ, drive us to turn on Him, maybe, in a way that Judas did when he was disappointed in the emphasis that Christ made, which was not what he thought He should be concerned about, and so he betrayed Him? If it gets that bad, will we turn on Christ?

And look, that’s not unexpected. Look at verse 36, directly quoted from Psalm 44:22, “For Your sake [Lord] we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” When it comes to real persecution, is that enough to cause a Christian to break and turn on the Lord? Is that enough?

Could be persecution from family. Jesus said in Matthew 10 that He came not to bring peace but a sword, and separate people in a family. Lots of ways persecution can come. This level of severity, you might say, “Look, if I have to suffer this, I don’t think I need Christ.” Would a true believer ever do that? No.

Look at verse 37: “But in all these things”—what things? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword—“we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” It’s not like you’re sneaking by. It’s not like you’re barely surviving. You “overwhelmingly conquer.” You are hypernikōmen, winners with a sweeping victory, an overwhelming victory. I understand being a conqueror—in other words, you win the battle of temptation, you don’t cave in—but what’s the super part of it? The super part of it is this: You not only won the battle, but you are now far stronger than you ever would have been without it. So it has the exact opposite effect from what the enemy wants to do.

Read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Get a modern interpretation of that, and read the testimonies of those people who were martyred for the cause of Christ—burned at the stake, killed with a sword, had their tongues cut out. See what they said as they stood in the face of death. Their testimonies are stunning. They don’t say, “I don’t love Christ anymore. I wish I had never had anything to do with Him.” They say the very opposite, and they overwhelmingly conquer through the power of the One who loves them. They love Him as we love Him because He—what?—first loved us.

So you are overwhelmingly victorious. Not only do you win the victory over temptation and you will not stop loving the Lord, but you are even stronger because of the trial, as Jesus said to Peter when He said, “After you’re converted from this trial with Satan, you will be able to strengthen the brothers.” The honor of Christ is safe in the keeping of His own. It might be hard, it might be horrific, it might be death, but true believers conquer.

What’s the sum of it all? Here’s the conclusion, verses 38 and 39: “For I am convinced”—I like that—“I am convinced that neither death”—the greatest enemy, the gates of hades—“[even] death, nor life”—with all its dangers, with all its difficulties, with all its temptations, with all its troubles. In other words, no state of being, either dead or alive—no “angels”—probably referring to good angels hypothetically, as if some good angels could lead us astray—or “principalities”—likely referring to evil angels. No state of being, death or life; no angels, good or evil—no “things present”—here and now. What do you mean? Anything, nothing, everything present—or “to come” in the future. There’s nothing in time and there’s nothing in eternity. There’s nothing now or in the future—not any state of being, death or life; not any supernatural beings, holy angels or demons; nothing in this age and time, nothing in the future age and eternity.

And he’s not done: “Nor powers”—plural in the New Testament. That’s used to refer to miracles and mighty deeds. There’s no supernatural power, no mighty power. And then he just goes as far as he can in taking us to the height and depth of this reality—“nor height”—that’s an astrological term; it referred to the star when it was at its zenith—and “depth”—is the same star at its lowest point. He’s spanning heaven—“nothing”—nothing in life, nothing in death, nothing in the world of angels, nothing in the world of demons, nothing in time, nothing in eternity, no miracle power, nothing on earth, nothing from one end of heaven to the other. From the earth where we stand to the edges of infinite space, nothing, nothing, nothing “will be able to”—what?—“separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And he just throws in “nor any other created thing.” Can’t happen. God will not stop loving us, and we will never stop loving Him.

George Matheson, a young pastor—I think about eighteen years of age or so, maybe a little older than that. It was in 1882 he was engaged to a girl, his fiancée, and he gave her the bad news that he was going blind; and when she got that news, she broke off the engagement. He had told her that she would obviously have to be his eyes and care for him. She was not interested. So George Matheson wrote a hymn, and it starts like this: “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 its ocean depths . . . may richer, fuller be.”

And that’s the right response, isn’t it? Since we are loved with a love that will not let us go, then let’s live in the depths of that love, right? Jeremiah 31:3, write it down somewhere, Jeremiah 31:3, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” You want love? There’s love. There’s love.

Father, we are, really, speechless even in speaking, to grasp and articulate the wonders of our salvation and Your love. Encourage us with this this morning, and may we lose ourselves in that ocean of divine love and love You in return, in Christ’s name. Amen.