me to Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 verse 28 says, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. The Apostle Paul right here said, this is something that we know. This is something that we are absolutely certain of. All things work together for good. Not for everybody. All things do not work together for good for everybody, but they do for a specific particular people. It is them that love God. Them that love God. That's the title of this Bible study. Them that love God. And who is that? Who are the ones that love God? Well, it's every soul who has been called to love God. Called to love God according to his purpose.

Verse 28 says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Now, the purpose of this Bible study is to show from the scripture who God is. That's the whole purpose of this Bible study. who God is, and then after we see from the scripture who God is, we should all be able to know whether we love him or not. We'll see who he is, and then we'll see whether or not we love him.

And before we begin this, I just want to set this forth. I want us to acknowledge this. Everyone says that they love God. Everybody. every religious person. Everyone says that they love God when all that they know of God is what they have imagined in their mind. Okay, everyone you you say oh good to them that love God well that'd be me oh I love God everybody will say they love God when all that they know of God is what they have imagined Him to be in their minds. Everyone naturally loves to envision God in a way that is pleasing to them. But what we need to understand is whether God is pleasing to us or not, God is who God is. God is what God is. God has done what God has done and said what God has said and set in order and set in stone what he has set in stone. And we can either bow to it or rebel against it. We can either love him for who he is or hate him for who he is. We're about to read a scripture where he spoke of those who hate him. But either way, he is the unchangeable, all-sovereign, all-controlling, almighty God.

And this is my deep, sincere prayer. All right, this is my sincere prayer. that after we see him, every soul here will be caused to say, I love him. I love him for who he is. He is altogether lovely. To him be the glory and the praise for who he is, for who he is. All right, now, who is he? Verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good To them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. His purpose, not my purpose, not your purpose, not anybody else's purpose. His purpose. Who is he? He is the sovereign God. who does all things according to his purpose. Everything. He's not a little g-god, a lowercase g-god who is trying as hard as he can to work out his plan. He is the capital g-god who works all things according to his purpose. People say God is trying, God wants to, you know, if you'll You got the wrong God. You got the wrong God.

Now turn with me to Deuteronomy 32.

Deuteronomy 32 verse 39 says, See now that I even I am he and there is no God with me.

There's one God and this one God is three persons and this is something that I really want to get across.

Anytime we say God, We're speaking of three persons. That is a very good thing to know. That's a very good thing to understand.

When we talk about God and who God is and what God has done, and God's purpose and God's will, we are speaking of and we are honoring the Father, and we are speaking of and we are honoring the Son, and we're speaking of and honoring the Spirit, who Romans 8 calls the Spirit of Christ.

So we are speaking of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. These three are one.

And verse 39, they, he says, see now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me, I kill, and I make alive, I wound and I heal, neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live forever.

If I wet my glittering sword, and he means with blood, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies and will reward them that hate me.

There's some that hate me, he said. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, and that with the blood of the slain, and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land and to his people.

That's God. That's God.

Some people see that and say, that's not my God. My God wouldn't do that. Or if that is my God, he has changed. He's not like that anymore.

Well, in Malachi 3 verse 6, he said, I am the Lord, I change not.

And it really occurred to me for the first time that he said that in the last book of the Old Testament, just before the New Testament, as though he's saying, let me just remind you before we make this swap here, I don't change. Everything you've read me to be, seen me to be, I do not change.

Hebrews 13, eight says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, forever.

And Exodus 15 says, the Lord is a man of war. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord God is a man of war.

Second Thessalonians 1 says, when the Lord comes back, he's coming in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. Don't know God.

So this is God. This is the sovereign almighty God who does what he wants with whom he wants.

Isaiah cried, behold your God. He said, all flesh is grass and the grass is going to wither and the flower is going to fade. But the word of our God is going to stand forever.

Turn with me to Isaiah 43.

Isaiah 43 verse 11. He said, I, even I am the Lord and beside me there is no savior. I have declared and have saved and I have showed when there was no strange God among you, therefore you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.

Yea, before the day was, I am he and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will work and who shall let it?

I will do what I've purposed to do and no one can stop me. No one can hinder me. No one can ruin or mess up or sidetrack what I've purposed to do.

Look at Isaiah 45.

Verse five, he said, I am the Lord and there is none else. There's no God beside me. I girded thee though thou hast not known me. You didn't even know me. I did this for you and you didn't even know me.

That they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there's none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.

Every single thing you see happening, all things. He said, I'm doing it. I'm doing it.

Isaiah 46 verse 9 says, remember the former things of old for I'm God and there's none else. I'm God and there's none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning.

What he's saying is I set it in order and that's how it's going to be. And from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it. He said, every single thing that I've purposed, I'll do. All my counsel shall stand. Ephesians 1 says he works all things after the counsel of his own will. So love him or hate him, this is God. This is God. Nebuchadnezzar said in Daniel 4, his dominion's an everlasting dominion, his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. They're saying to him, what doest thou? Like it or not, love him or not. And again, my prayer is that we like it. My prayer is that we love it, love him. Because this is God. This is the God with whom we have to do. This is the God whose hands we are in. Now go with me back to Romans 8. All right, Romans eight, who is this God? Number one, he's the sovereign God. This word is written right here. This promise is given to them that love the sovereign God. Verse 28, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Number two. And I'm going to tell you, this is the message I brought to the Philippines last night. All right, this is what they heard. And I'll go ahead and tell you, they loved it. They liked it. They rejoiced in it. But I'm going to speed up a little bit here because I took all the time I needed last night and I was expounding and all those kinds of things. I wanted you to hear what they heard. But I'm gonna try to speak, stay with me. We're gonna move out. I wanna get through the whole thing here, okay? But, all right, number two. Verse 29 says, for whom he did foreknow. That word foreknow means elect. God, the true and living God, is the electing God. He's the sovereign God. And he is the electing God. What does that mean? That means God, from the beginning, chose exactly who he would save. That's still amazing to me, even now. God, from the beginning, chose exactly who he would save. Nona de God were all his works from the beginning. And from the beginning, he knew exactly who he would save. Ephesians 1 says, don't turn, I had them turn, you just listen. It says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. He chose us. This is how salvation started for every single soul that is saved. All of them were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. All of them. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 says, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. And somebody will hear that and say, well, now wait a minute. It wasn't just God chose you to salvation. It was his choice and your belief. That's what people will say. It's, it's the belief of the truth. Now you got to believe. Yeah. God, God did the choosing. We'll give God some credit here, but, uh, but now you got to believe now that's on you. No, it's not. You like relief as much as I do? You like this God right here? No, it's not. Acts 13, 48 says, every soul that believes was ordained of God to believe. Ephesians 2, 8 says, faith is not of ourselves, it's the gift of God. Hebrews 2, 12 says, Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith. So all of it was of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. It was of His decision. And I told them last night, I gave them my experience of when I was young and when I finally got a hold of that, salvation was His decision. That scared me to death. The moment I finally got a hold of that, this is not my decision. Let me tell you something in case anybody's never gotten a hold of this. Salvation is not your decision. This is God. This is God. It was of his decision, his choosing, his election to save who he was pleased to save. He said, I chose you. You didn't choose me. I chose you. I ordained you.

So the true God of the Bible is the sovereign God, and he's the electing God. All right, now are you in Romans 8? If you're not, go to Romans 8. Verse 28, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. Who is the true and living God? He is the predestinating God. Every soul that God elected to save in Christ, God has predestinated that soul to Christ. And that is, that's the part that I really want us to get a hold of. All of us, I want us to really understand that. All of God's people are predestinated to Christ. They are not predestinated to the law. They are not predestinated to doctrine. They are predestinated to Christ. Christ is the end of the law for them. Christ is their doctrine of wisdom and knowledge. Christ is all they need. John 6, 37 says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. In him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Every soul that the sovereign God elected to save will be brought to Christ. And they will be conformed to his image by being brought to Christ. They've been predestinated to Christ and they've been predestinated to get to Christ by the Father drawing them to Christ. It says there in John 6, 44, our Lord said, no man can come unto me except the Father which sent me drawing. So that's the means. All the Father has given to me shall come to me and they will come by the Father drawing them. So truly saved sinners are those who come to Christ, not church, Not a better version of self. I hope everyone, you know, becomes a better version of yourself. I hope you're better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you are today. But that's not what salvation is. Truly save people. It's not about self. It's not about us. It's about Christ. Salvation is not in our obedience to the law. Thank God, because we've never done it. We've lied to ourselves and we fooled ourselves in thinking we've done it, but we haven't. Salvation's in Christ. It's not in our doctrinal wisdom or knowledge of what we know or what we don't know. It's in Christ. It's in a person. It's in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we ever get to Christ, we will have gotten to salvation. And if we ever do get to Christ, it's because we were predestinated to get to Christ. I'm talking about right here. Predestinated to cut through all that false religion and get to Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is in His doing and His dying alone without me adding anything of my own to it. He by Himself purged the sin of His people and all of His people will be brought to that realization. And that realization, that realization, that is God's quickening call. That's God's quickening call. That moment where he cuts all that stuff out and he teaches. It's called repentance. It's a changed mind. The moment that he creates in one of his own. Wait a minute. The answer is Christ. That's the moment you go from darkness to light. That's the moment you go from spiritual death to spiritual life. That's the moment you're called. That's the moment you're drawn to Jesus Christ. Romans 8 verse 30 says, moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. The true and living God is the quickening calling God. He's the one who says, come. Come, come unto me. He's the giver of life.

In the same way that we didn't have anything to do with our physical life, we don't have anything to do with our spiritual life. Nothing.

We don't decide to be born again. I didn't decide to be born the first time.

Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, and you hath he quickened.

So he's the quickener, he's the caller, he's the opener of eyes, he is the opener of ears, he is the producer of spiritual life in his people.

Paul told the Galatians, I was lost and I was dead in my false religion, but when it pleased God, he revealed Christ to me. He called me to himself and I followed him. So the true God of the Bible, is the sovereign God, the electing God, the predestinating God, the calling God.

And to just finish this verse out, we're gonna see he's the justifying God and the glorifying God.

Verse 30, we'll wrap this up.

Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called, and whom he called, then he also justified. And whom he justified, then he also glorified.

You like this, God? This is what it means to say he's the justifying God and the glorifying God.

Verse 31, what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

He that spared not his own son. How for us is God. He spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all who are the us all.

Every soul he purposed, foreknew, predestinated, called, justified, glorified. All those things right there are all the things that work together for the good of his people.

He that spared not his own son, verse 32, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, all of them? That's what it means to be justified. It is God that justified.

Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again who's even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us.

God the Father justified us by laying our sin on God the Son and hanging God the Son on the cross of condemnation and as our substitute, killing His own Son in our place.

And with His death being so satisfactory, so appeasing for our sin, God the Father raised him up and raised us up together with him. That's how he justified us and that's how he glorified us.

Verse 33, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We're accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we're more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Why'd all this happen? Because he loved us. Does that make you love him?

Verse 38, I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's God. What do you think? You love him? All of God's people do. Oh, all of God's people do. Oh, he's altogether lovely.

If we can honestly say that in our hearts, oh, I love that God, then listen to this.

Closing remark, listen to this.

All things work together for good to them that love God. to them who are the called according to his purpose. Amen. You're dismissed.