We’re thinking this morning about the human need for security.
A Wirral Gospel Partnership online survey asked the simple question, “What do you feel is missing from your life right now?” And one of the top answers was, “Security.”
We live in an imperfect world; you’re not in control of everything. We crave peace, certainty, stability, a sense of wellbeing. For many people there’s so much change going on that security in life actually feels impossible, an illusion.
The Bible is crystal clear that there is a rock – a refuge – where you can know eternal security. Jesus Christ is that refuge, and there is eternal security in him alone.
So we’re going to think through some areas of life where people feel a lack of security, and for each one we’ll see how life in Christ is the answer, rooted firmly in God’s love for you.
Our text is Romans 8:35. We’ll take the words there under 5 headings.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in March 2026. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Find security in Christ, not health
We’re especially picking up on the word “affliction” in v35. The word Paul uses is broad, and we’ll pick up more of its meaning when we look at the next word, “distress”.
So here we’re thinking about the lack of peace and security you experience when health is threatened.
Your sense of security can be significantly affected:
- Maybe you’ve got that thing wrong with you. You don’t know what it is. You wonder if you should make an appointment. Or maybe you’ve had tests, and you’re waiting for a diagnosis. Is it serious?
- Some people live with long-term conditions. There are good days and bad days. It’s hard to plan anything, because you don’t know what today will bring.
- Then there are things like Covid and ‘flu – unseen, contagious, and potentially fatal.
- And there’s always the Big C – cancer. Is it treatable. If treated, has it gone?
On top of all those, there’s obviously the ageing process.
We all get old. You need reading glasses, a hearing aid, a walking stick, a walking frame… Things you used to do without thinking now take planning. Or maybe you can’t do them at all.
Or even if you’re not ill, what if there’s someone you love facing these challenges? It’s unsettling, to say the least.
All this takes away a sense of security in the world.
Does God know? Does he care?
Christ lives and gives life
Of course he does. The Bible doesn’t hide away from these kinds of human pains.
- Psalm 39:12-13 asks for respite from pain simply because life is so short: “Hear my prayer, LORD, and listen to my cry for help; do not be silent at my tears. For I am here with you as an alien, a temporary resident like all my ancestors. Turn your angry gaze from me so that I may be cheered up before I die and am gone.”
But illness and death have been swallowed up by Christ.
- Isaiah 25:7-8 “On this mountain he will swallow up the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations. When he has swallowed up death once and for all, the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face…”
And that’s because Jesus rose from the dead:
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
- Philippians 3:21 “He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body…”
- 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 “So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonour, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body.”
As we face illness and decay in this world, we realise that there are some things we can’t change. But eternal security isn’t to be found in your health. It’s in the promises of God, grounded on the historical reality of Christ’s resurrection and promise to bring life to all his people.
That is security that no-one can take away.
But maybe that’s not something you’re worried about:
Find security in Christ, not circumstance
Back in Romans 15:35, Paul wonders about “distress… or danger or sword”.
All sorts of changes in circumstances can rob you of a sense of security in your life.
- It might be something simple like starting a new job. You’re not sure where the loos are. Will you need your own equipment or will they be provided?
- Or with 24-hour news and immediate reporting, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with information. Is it even true?
- There are wars, global warming, refugees in boats, politicians posturing, oil prices fluctuating, and more wars!
But even at a personal level, it’s easy to feel a loss of security. You’ve got too much going on. You’re always spinning plates with your work, your family, your plans for this and that. What will give? Which plate will smash? Or you may even be worried you don’t have enough going on: You’re just drifting through life without a rudder or anchor.
All of these stresses are natural responses to our overwhelming world.
Some people cope better than others; it’s partly temperamental.
But we all have “distress” at some point. Again, the Bible knows.
God is in control
And again, security is found only in Christ:
- Jesus said these things would happen: You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. Matthew 24:6-7.
- Revelation 6 paints the world in wild colours, full of war, pain, social injustice, and death. Where is security in that? Revelation 7:2-3 I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea, “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God…” – God’s people are sealed against the world’s calamities.
- Revelation 17 is a violent, complex picture of our violent, complex world. When John saw it he was overwhelmed, but security is found in the fact that God is in control: God has put it into their hearts to carry out his plan by having one purpose and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. Rev 17:17.
- So what can you do with your distress? Phil 4:6-7 says, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Circumstance will always be chaotic and unpredictable until Christ returns, so find your security in him, not circumstance.
Find security in Christ, not religious feeling
In Romans 8:35, we’re on the word “persecution.” You can be persecuted because of your faith. You can suffer in all manner of ways because of your faith. And so there’s a paradox: You have gained faith in Christ and yet that has increased your felt insecurity.
Maybe you’re unsure of God’s love, or his forgiveness, or his promises. And you need to be sure to face persecution. It’s common for Christians to be unsure of their salvation: “Am I really a Christian? Or am I just kidding myself?”
Changes in church leadership or teaching or even worship style are often a time of insecurity too, where someone begins to ask if they’re in the right church.
But you’re not to look for security in religious feeling, but in Christ himself.
God speaks truth you can trust
He has made objective promises that are true, no matter how you’re feeling.
- Titus 1:1-2 speaks of how God cannot lie.
- Hebrew 6:17-19 also locks your hope in God’s words: Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.
- And God’s nature and promises are show in Christ: 1 John 4:9 God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
Whatever doubts you may have, whatever lack of security about your salvation or church, there is always certainty in God’s word and his promises. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. You can trust him far more than you can trust your feelings.
You are secure in Christ’s words of truth, not religious feeling.
Find security in Christ, not possessions
For many people, a huge part of the sense of security in life is financial security.
That can be challenged by losing your job. Or having to sort out debts. The cost of living goes up all the time, and people can’t always afford the basics. Some have to choose whether to heat or eat, as they can’t do both. Then the boiler’s on the blink, the car needs fixing, etc.
So where do you look for security?
- A steady job with a steady income.
- Savings, house price stability, pension investments.
- But as ever, not everything is under your control.
- And that’s where people lose their sense of security.
Treasures in heaven can’t be lost
But what if your treasure really was in heaven? What if you really grasped how everything you have is already the Lord’s?
- The apostle Paul had to work to earn a living at times, working as a tentmaker by day and preaching the gospel at other times (Acts 18:1-4). He lived in the real world.
- But his contentment wasn’t in possessions: Philippians 4:12-13 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
- His treasure was Christ himself. As Jesus taught in Matthew 6:31-33, “…don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”
The Lord knows you need food and shelter, and he also knows your dependence on worldly wealth better than you know it. Make him your treasure, and him your security, and no-one can take him away.
Now the fifth and last source of a lack of security draws these others together to a focal point on God’s love for you in Christ.
Find security in Christ, not people
Much of our security in life is in the people we know and love. So anything that puts those relationships at risk will bring deep insecurity to our lives – maybe the deepest of all insecurity.
The unavoidable one is obviously grief. Nothing can prepare you for the depth of pain. And nothing can stop the pain continuing to come at you in waves as time passes. Even years can go by.
Some insecurity comes from a sense of betrayal from a friend or colleague. Someone really let you down when you thought they had your back.
You might be in a toxic environment with gaslighting or bullying – sometimes at home, sometimes in work, school, or college.
And of course adultery and marriage breakdown tears people apart at a profoundly spiritual depth.
Grief is never underestimated in the Bible
Paul’s friend and colleague Epaphroditus was seriously ill.
In Phil 2:27 Paul says “he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.” Paul knew how much grief hurts.
Even Jesus has felt the pain of grief. How did he react at Lazarus’ tomb? John 11:33 says, “he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.”
But when we speak of what it is to be a Christian, we point out the certain love of God, of his steadfastness, his dependability.
Ephesians 1:4-6 For [God] chose us in [Christ], before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.
And Ephesians 2:18 reminds us that in Christ we all have access to the same Father by the Spirit. The Triune God chose you, loves you, and welcomes you.
Children of God
1 John 3:1-2 hammers it home: See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.
Is there any possibility that Christ might allow you to become a Christian and then let you go? In John 6:39-40 he says, “This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
If you are a Christian, your relationship with God is grounded in the love of the Father for the Son, the Son for the Father.
For the Son of God to let you go is to lose someone the Father gave the Son in eternity past. It’s impossible.
You were chosen in that loving relationship, and now kept in it.
So we’ve looked at possible loss of security in affliction, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword.
And in each case we’ve seen that the only true and lasting security is found in the love of God in Christ.
So read Romans 8:35-39.