Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the chapter that we read,
Romans chapter 8, and reading from our text, verse 28. 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. Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. Our text begins with these words,
we know. We know that all things work
together for good. And what follows? How do we know
these things? Well, there's three ways that
we know. is through the scriptures themselves,
where God has been pleased to reveal these precious truths. This very text, it tells us that
these things are so. But not only through this text,
but right through the scriptures, we have the asserting that it
is not chance, It is God's almighty hand that is causing all things
to come to pass and that those things are not just disjointed
things that have no relevance one with another, but actually
are working together, are joined together. They're not isolated
incidents that have no relevance to anything else. We are in a
society where We all are used to working together. We are dependent
upon one another. We have in our homes, we have
our water, our electricity, we have our gas, we have the shops,
the things that we go and buy. And all of these things, we depend
on people that are working in these sectors bring these facilities
to us. This day we are using the internet
and streaming the services and again we're relying upon facilities
provided by others. We are dependent one on another,
our very lives we are used to the idea of things working together
and they work together for good, for a specific purpose and specific
end. those of you that are used to
mechanical things. And of course, we drive our cars.
Many just take for granted what is happening when we get in a
car and we drive it. But we think especially of the
engine, where all the different parts of that engine are all
working together so finely tuned exactly to perform each of its
function thousands of times a minute. how fast the engine goes and
then of course the different parts of the car. We are surrounded
with illustrations we make use of in our own lives, the idea
that things are not in isolation, they are working together and
the scriptures tells us that all things in our lives, they
do work together and they work together for good. And this especially
relates to where things are not nice, where things are trials
or troubles, that they actually work together for good. If we
turn back a few chapters to Romans chapter five, then we read in
the third verse there, not only so, but we glory, in tribulations
also tribulations are great troubles and afflictions and again he
uses this word knowing knowing that tribulation worketh patience
and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us And all these things are joined
together. Who would think that tribulation
and great trouble should be joined with a working of patience and
then patience experience and experience hope, the whole link
towards hope. If we go just a few verses on
from where our text is in Romans 8, and we see again Beautiful
link in verse 29 following our text. He who did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. And you see in the salvation
of a soul, there is foreknowledge, there is predestination, there
is calling, there is justification, there is glorification. All of
these things, they are working, they're following and working
together for good. Peter, when he writes to encourage
and strengthen the brethren in his very first epistle in chapter
one, He speaks of the trial of faith and what that is to a person,
to a child of God. That the trial of your faith
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found under praise and honour
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. That trial of faith
working together for good, we think of the well-known psalm,
Psalm 46, of great comfort to the people of God and how that
begins. A most profound statement, God
is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. A statement
that where there's trouble, then God is a present help in that
trouble. The two are joined together. What God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder. God's put together a sinner and
a saviour of sinners, trouble and the helper in the times of
trouble. And we think of what God said
to Jeremiah concerning the Jews, that he sent them into Babylon. and that the Chaldeans should
be over them for their good. The very captivity of the people
of God was for their good. So we know from the scriptures
themselves, a very specific teaching, that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. We know also that it is so by
personal experience. Our text is a very personal word. It says, together for good to
them. It is speaking of a people, them
that love God, them who are the called according to his purpose. So it must be reflected. in the experience as God's people. It is in the scriptures. And
we bless God where we see it and know it in our own lives
and can preach it as a truth, not just because it is in the
scriptures, but because we can say that we know that all things
work together. We have proved it, we know it
so. And in that it enlarges what
those all things mean. and to what it means to us personally. May we especially pray that that
be so in the word this morning, that it is a personal word to
us. But not only that, it is known
by viewing it in the lives of others as well. When we can see,
looking on, at what God is doing in his children's lives and in
the Church of God, we observe it in others and know that this
truth is so. And we know that all things work
together for good. It's a blessed thing to not be
in uncertainty, but to truly be able to say, We know, and
I pray that that might be so with each of you that listened
this morning, that this truth is something that you also know. So when we say, we know, you
may answer and say, I know. I know this truth. It's a precious
truth. Well, I want to then look with
the Lord's help at three points. Firstly, the use. of this truth,
the use of this truth. And then secondly, what is needed
to use this truth rightly. And then lastly, this truth seen
in the scriptures in the lives of God's people, God's children. But firstly, the use of this truth and I want
to notice it in three particulars. Firstly, it is to those that
do have assurance that they indeed are called of God and called
according to God's purpose. It is a verse of exceeding comfort
to that people. We might say, what is it then
to be called and what is the purpose of God? For God, when
he made and created this world, has created all things for his
honour and for his glory. And he formed man upon earth,
but man disobeyed, rebelled against God and sinned and sin entered
into the world and death by sin. But God had a people that he
had foreknown and loved from eternity and they were given
from the father to the son so that he would redeem that people
and that he would save that people by being made a sacrifice for
them and suffering upon Calvary's tree shedding His precious blood
to blot out their sins and put away their sin, satisfy justice,
fulfil the law of God, and so be able to give unto them eternal
life, so that they never perish, and so that they may stand faultless
in the presence of God. He in His life wrought out a
righteousness that should be given to them, His sinless, spotless
life, is to be imputed or put on the account of a believer,
so that when they appear before God, it is not their works, all
of their sin that is seen, but Christ's obedience. The hymn
writer says, in Christ's obedient clothe and wash me in his blood,
so shall I lift my head with joy among the sons of God. And so to be called is to be
given spiritual life, to hear as the sheep hear the shepherd's
voice, the Lord while here below, to be called out of nature's
darkness and into God's marvellous light, to be given eternal life,
and to be called to show forth the praises of Him who hath called
us out of nature's darkness and into His marvellous light. to
show forth His praises here below, and at last, when we die, to
be with the Lord in heaven, to join that innumerable multitude
who shall show forth His praise there, shall crown Him Lord of
all. And when this world shall be
no more, and the Lord shall create a new heavens and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness, that we shall be partner with
the Lord in His throne, and shall enjoy him forever. The Lord has
a purpose and a plan, and he says in that beautiful prayer
of John 17, Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And so the Lord has a purpose,
and in that purpose he calls sinners by His sovereign grace,
freely, mercifully, through no cause or reason in themselves,
but because of His love that He has eternally to them, and
He causes them to hear His voice and to follow Him. And when He
does that, when He then calls them and He makes that known
to them, that they are the called according to His purpose, such
a word as this, is of great comfort to them, because here below they
are in a body of death. They're in a world where there
is much peril. They must, through much tribulation,
enter the kingdom. And it seems that there are many
things that fight and struggle against them. And they need such
a word to point to all that they go through and all that happens
round about them. and to be able to know that all
things are working together for good to them that are called,
that to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Dear friend in tribulation, in
trouble, in affliction, perplexity, this morning, may this precious
truth be such an anchor, a comfort, a refuge to your soul, to my
soul, that those things that seem most ill and most working
contrary are actually working together for good for us. It is to be a word of great comfort,
a personal word, that though we do not see, though we do not
yet understand, Though as yet we cannot see all things working
for good, yet to know this precious truth that it is so, God's Word
is true, and that in due time, maybe in eternity, we shall see
it and shall know it in the fullness of it. But for now, we walk by
faith, not by sight, and we walk trusting, resting upon this precious
Word. However contrary the winds, the
waves, the billows, the tribulations may be at this present time,
we know the Lord is in control and it is working together for
good. The second use of this truth
is for one that is a seeker. We hope that those that do not
have assurance that this is the case with them, are seeking this
blessing, that we are seeking that we might be truly called
of God, that we might love God, that we are found in His plan
and in His purpose. The alternative is most solemn,
to be found outside of Christ, to be found under the wrath of
God, to be found under condemnation. Remember how this chapter begins,
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And this implies most solemnly,
if you, if I am not in Christ Jesus, we are under condemnation
already. And most solemnly, we shall then
be forever cast out from the presence of God in eternal hellfire. It's a most solemn thing for
those who deny the existence of a judgment to come or of there
to be an eternal fire. I heard only just recently one
making this terrible assertion, one that was brought up actually
as a Roman Catholic, but he made the assertion that it is ridiculous,
the thought of eternal fire. And he said, the thought that
there could be a fire that goes on and on and on with no ceasing
is foolish. He said, it won't be so. I thought,
what a solemn, solemn position to be in. The scriptures are very, very
clear. It is so. And even in a natural
sense, when we think of the created sun in the 6,000 years of the
existence of this world, that sun has been a burning fire that
has not gone out in all that time. But we do not even need
illustrations like that to think of the solemnity of eternity. and of that which awaits those
that are outside of Christ. Those things that we speak of,
the way of salvation is a deliverance from the wrath to come. And when
we think of the illustrations of the Lord bearing that wrath,
especially the illustration with the sacrifice that Elijah, God's
commandment, made on the top of Carmel, when there was water
poured upon the sacrifice, and yet the fire came down from heaven,
and it consumed the bullock, it consumed the wood, it consumed
the stones, it consumed the water and the dust all around, completely
consumed everything. The fire came down from heaven.
What a sight that must have been. When we think that the altar,
the sacrifice, everything is set forth the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we transfer that to what the Lord endured at Calvary,
we think if the Lord did not endure that for us, then we must
endure that wrath and that fire eternally. So this word for a seeker, One
that realises their danger, their need, that they need to be called,
that they need to be found in Christ Jesus. Here is a way that
they may be given a sure scripture, evidence and token of it. A person that is able to see
that things are working together for good. You may not be able,
most likely will not, be able to see that all things are, but
when you see some things and you see them working together
and working for an eternal good, working for your soul's good,
working to bring you to Christ, working to humbled your soul,
working to bring you to trust solely in the Lord. And it may
be at first even things of a secular time nature that you're able
to see that work together, and able to see God's hand in it,
and to believe God's hand is in it, and to see it as a token
for good as the Holy Spirit as we have here bears witness that
this is of God. It is God's work specifically
for his people and a token that is given to them. And so this
is the second use of this truth. It is to give the people of God,
those that are called according to his purpose, a very clear,
scriptural, evidence that they are called, that they are the
people of God. What about those then in the
third place that are uncalled and unconcerned at all? I pray
the Lord will bring such into concern. We may ask ourselves,
are we concerned? Does it trouble us concerning
our souls? Do we have any thoughts about
it or are we just hearing the word on the Lord's day, coming
to the house of God or hearing in our homes? And there is no
thought in our minds where we shall spend eternity or how the
case is with us at all. By nature, we are all like this.
But may we be alarmed if we are like that, with no concern or
thought at all. I say to such, watch providence. Watch the Lord's hand. A use
of this text is showing something that does happen in the lives
of God's children, is used as a token for good, and so though
you at this time may not be concerned of your soul, yet take it upon
you to watch God's hand in your own lives, things that happen,
in the lives of others, things that happen, and think upon them,
meditate upon them, go over them. You know, we read concerning
Mary, the mother of our Lord, that those things that happened
at his birth, She pondered those things in her heart. She laid
them up in her heart. And if things were to work for
good and work together for good, then we take something that we
cannot understand and we wait until we get something that will
fit together with it. Those of you that are used to
doing jigsaw puzzles, you might have one piece and you pick it
up and you think, well, I don't know where this fits at all until
you find another piece that fits to it and then you put the two
together. You can see they're meant to
be together. And it is so that if we are to
rightly use this truth and if you are unconcerned and not exercised
about spiritual things, here is something to begin with. Take
things. in your life, in the lives of
others, maybe lay them up, ponder them, until something else is
brought that fits together, joins together with it, and in that
way be brought to be inside this text and in a path where, by
the Lord's grace, you may see his purpose towards His grace
beginning in this very text in your lives. I want to look then
secondly about what is needed to use this truth rightly. Having given these three uses
of it, we need to know how we can rightly use this truth. The first thing is to understand
what is meant by all things. You say, well, preacher, the
word says all things, so that means all things. And it does
mean all things. But there will be some that will
say, well, it is obviously that the good that is mentioned here
Sometimes it won't be, and many times won't be in a natural way,
but will be in a spiritual way. And therefore those all things
that are working together, they are just spiritual things. But that is not so. There are others that would say,
well, these are just Temporal things, these must be things
that actually happen in providence. But if we just then confine it
to that, then we are looking for the good things and that
they are working for good, that that will just be in providence
and you'll have great disappointments in that. So with the all things,
it encompasses both spiritual things, blessings, the Word of
God given, the Word preached, it encompasses things that happen
in Providence, things that happen on the world scene, and things
that happen in the local scene, in our homes and round about
us, things that impact upon us, all things. There's nothing that
does not come under this word. And I think it is vital for us
to really understand that. The small things, my life's minutest
circumstance, and the greatest things that happen. All things. The virus that we
cannot see. the greatest things that we can
see. All things. Don't limit the word
in this text, otherwise we will miss the message of it. The second is what is truly good. Again, if we think, well, we're
going to measure this, by our health, by our strength, by the
money in the bank, by things that we like and are pleasing
to the flesh, then we shall be bitterly disappointed in such
a word as this. If we are going to join with
one of the dying thieves and say to the Lord, if thou be the
Christ, save thyself and us and come down from the cross, then
we shall be greatly disappointed, because our Lord did not come
down from the cross, and the thieves died upon the cross.
But if we say with the thief that said and petitioned the
Lord, Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, then
there shall be no disappointment, because the Lord says, verily,
verily, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And so we are
to think with the working for good that again, like the word
all things, it does encompass those things that are good. God's dear children will see
that the Lord has been pleased to provide them with natural
gifts and talents, that he has given them an employment, that
has given them money to do things in this life, and those things
that are done, very often vital to the fulfilling of the spiritual
purposes of God, they shall see the Lord provides, whether it
be a wife and children or a home, there are those things that see
the Lord's hand. But some, they will see those
very things that have been good and provided for others, the
Lord has seen fit to deny to them. But it doesn't mean to
say that those things that have worked for good in those temporal
ways have not come forth from the Lord's hand. And as we said,
there are many things that are so dovetailed and joined together. You know, when I was called from
Australia to come to the pastorate here, there was things that worked
together for good again and again, and very comforting to see. The
very first time I stood in this pulpit, that was before I was
called to this pastorate, I had come over here for three months
holiday and preaching during that time and yet reserved the
First Lord's Days to just be at East Peckham where my wife
was a member and in God's purpose at the last minute was invited
to preach here on the morning of that First Lord's Day and
the Lord laid in the hearts of the friends here to call me to
the Paschrit on that first sermon ever preached in England, which
was preached in this pulpit. And that very sermon, you can
actually listen to on our website. The Lord ordered the keeping
back of those three days so that I would preach here on that occasion. And when we actually came over
here as well, and I've always been so amazed at what the Lord
will do, because when we emigrated here, of course, you're moving
from one country to another. It requires the exchange rate
to be in favour, depending on what funds you have to bring
over, and to buy a home over here as to what the value of
the homes were. And we've got graphs of that
time that in moving over here 10 years before and after that
time, that there was never a better time for the interest rate to
be, to be in our favour to come here. And yet we had just enough
money to put down on a deposit on our home and to buy a car
and nothing over. And what's more, when we look
at the housing prices, they were the lowest, again, for right,
10 years before or after, they dipped right down and then immediately
went right up afterwards. If those two things, which are
governed by world markets, had not met at that time, the high
exchange rate or the housing market, we would never have been
established here in Cranbrook and to be given our own home. And though it be quite a temporal
thing, it is bound up with the pastorate, it is bound up with
the Lord's work, and in that exceeding a comfort, especially
in times of tribulation. And so we must not, when we look
at the good, just confine it to looking at, well, is it a
spiritual blessing? Is it something that has revealed
Christ? Is it something that has strengthened
our faith? Yes, the Lord will work it for
good in that way, to draw us from the world, to sanctify us,
separate us from sin, make us fit for his use and to be a blessing
for his people. That good for his people is to
make them a prepared people for a prepared place and to be used
in his service here below, not just as a minister. Everyone
that is a member of the Church of God should be of use, of benefit,
of a blessing, and not just cumbers of the ground, but should seek
to be serving the Lord in the way that he'd have them to do.
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do should be our question. And really the first is to obey
Him, and then having obeyed Him in His ordinances and ways, be
found doing His will. And so when we look at the right
use of this, what is needed, we are to be able to really rightly
discern what is good. Because if we are thinking, well,
all we can see is our sicknesses, our tribulations, our troubles,
And we immediately dismiss this text and we say, well, I thought
it was going to work for good, but everything's gone wrong.
Then we shall fall short of this word. May we have a right understanding,
and we can see further by these scriptures as well, what is meant. The third thing is, that it is
a working together, not isolated. We mentioned this before, we
gave the illustrations like of the car engine. It is not one
isolated point. It is working together. That
is the thing to notice, specifically notice how things are linked
together, how they are joined together. The fourth thing is
to really be persuaded that it is God's work, It is things are
not just by chance. We can easily pass over things
or the significance of things if we're just passing it over
as just chance. And especially if some of these
things that are working for good are actually men, what men are
doing. And especially if those things
that men are doing are things that are foreign to us or abhorrent
to us, and get our backs up and we get offended, then we won't
see that working together for good. We think of Naaman offended
even at being asked to go and wash in Jordan seven times. And yet that was part of the
working together for good of his healing. But because he was
offended at it, he was going to rebel and kick against that
providence. And that is another way, thing
that we need to be very mindful of, that we are not bringing
it about ourselves, but at the same time, though we are not
trying to make the things work together for good, forcing providence,
we are not to resist providence and go against it, to kick against
the pricks, to resist the Lord's hand, when the Lord is doing
things and we are resisting it and will not walk in the way
that the Lord would have us to walk. We must go in that way
and obey the Lord in the ways that he is directing us in. Another point is this, that we
are not to judge things before the time. If things work together,
then there is a waiting. With Mary, we mentioned, well,
she would really have had to wait 30 or three years or so
before seeing the full end when her son was crucified and then
raised again from the dead. Judge nothing before the time. Wait to see that working together
for good. And although it is said that
it is all things work together for good, we seldom see that
all things work together for good. If we are to receive the
benefit and blessing of this, we're not to wait until we see
everything in our lives working, but to see two or three things,
or see groups of things, or see things at a specific time in
our life, that those have worked together for good and those things
that we cannot understand yet believe that they are in the
all things as well. Some things we never may be. In eternity to come we may fully
understand but here below may never know. But this word is
to be esteemed by faith that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And you know, if we love God,
we'll love his ways, we'll love his work, we'll love his word,
we'll love his people, we love when we see his purposes, we're
sung of it ripening fast. Unfolding every hour, the bud
may have, and it may be with you this morning, a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. I want to then look, lastly,
at this truth in this verse, seen in the scriptures, in the
lives of God's children. Obviously, I can only name just
a few to you. One most familiar is that in
the life of Joseph. And Joseph most illustrates the
timing of things and the needing to wait. We're told in Psalm
105 that until his time came, the word of the Lord tried him.
But at the end of the book of Genesis in chapter 50, Then we
read Joseph's brothers are very concerned. Now Jacob has died,
that Joseph will deal hardly with them. But Joseph, he says
to them in verse 19, fear not for am I in the place of God. But as for you, ye thought evil
against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as
it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore,
fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones.' And he
comforted them and spake kindly unto them." Do you know when
Joseph was in the pit, his brothers had thrown himself in, when he
was falsely accused by his mistress and thrown into prison, when
he was forgotten, by the butler, were all things working together
for good? Could he see that? There was
a time to wait, and now Joseph can look back and he can clearly
say that it did work for good. It'd be a wonderful thing, isn't
it, if we're brought to the end of our journey, end of our lives,
and we can then survey our life and survey all that has happened,
and be able to see that the Lord had done all things well, that
he has not done anything, but that he has had a purpose and
there's been a cause for all of these things. Joseph's whole
life is a good lesson to us, an illustration of this specific
text. But then we think of the account
in the book of Esther In the book of Esther, there's so much
of the timing of the Lord in that book. And it is that working
together that is so important. You can only mention perhaps
a couple of the things there. In this sixth chapter of Esther,
we read of this, on that night could not the king sleep? That in itself, you might think,
well, That's an insignificant thing. Many times, no doubt you
as well as I, had times we couldn't sleep. But this time was a working
together time, a specific time. Something had happened before.
Two of the Chamberlains had been planning to murder the King,
and Mordecai had found it out, told, and delivered the King. But nothing had been done. to
honour him. That had been one thing. The
king not sleeping was another thing. So then he orders that
the records of the chronicles be read before the king. That's
another thing that's going to work together. Of all of those
records that he could have read, why does he read that specific
record? Why does he ask? Has anything
been done for this man? And nothing been done. And then
what happens? Why Haman is coming and he's
in the court. Why is he in the court? He's
coming to ask for permission to kill Mordecai. And so the king, instead of giving
him opportunity to have his permission, he asked him what should be done
to the man that the king delights to honour. And Haman, he thinks,
well, it's him. In his pride, he thinks this
is what the king wants to do for me. So he says, well, array
this man with all the king's garments, bring them throughout
the streets, thus shall it be done to the man the king delighted
to honour. And the king then says, go and
do this to Mordecai. How can Haman then ask for his
life? and his wife and his friends. They rightly say, if Mordecai
be of the seed of the Jews, for whom thou hast begun to fall,
thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before
him. You may look at your leisure
through the book of Esther and this sixth chapter especially,
but right through it, and you see not just isolated incidents,
but are working together, and the timing is so important. We think of Moses, when Moses
was born. There was a commandment that
the babies, the males, be cast into the river. And because of
that, it was that his parents, they made an ark of bulrushes. Again, the timing of it, that
it should be that Pharaoh's daughter comes down to wash, the babe
is found, the babe cries. And the Lord's way of bringing
Moses as a babe into the house of Pharaoh for 40 years, brought
up as knowing how a palace operates, how a leader should operate,
a schooling as it were for 40 years. And then through the seeking to avenge his brethren. He is brought to flee for his
life into the desert. And again, for 40 years, keeping
his sheep of his father-in-law, he learns the desert craft and
what it is to then have to bring a people through the desert. 80 years preparation for a 40-year
work. And so you get in the Moses life,
not just things just in a matter of hours or days or months, but
in a span of 40 years and 40 years working together for good. And we get a picture of how this
has actually worked in the lives of God's people. We think of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the Gospel according to Luke,
chapter two, we read of there being a decree made by Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And when that was first
taxing made, or a census made, when Cyrenius was governor of
Syria, and all went to be taxed. Well, if Joseph and Mary had
said this is just an edict from one of our oppressors from the
Romans that we're under, we're not going to obey this, we're
going to stay where we are. Then the Lord's purposes of the
Messiah being born in Bethlehem would not have been brought to
pass. And so you see a decree by world leaders affects the
lives of God's people. And this may be very much in
our lives at this time in our nations, affecting what we do
in obeying those that are over us, as we should do in the Lord. And then we think of when they
came to Bethlehem, no room for them in the inn, so they go to
a stable. The sign that was given to the
shepherds was not go and you shall find in a certain inn,
it was a very distinctive sign, you shall find him wrapped in
swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And those things are working
together, the rejection, the no room, made it that here was
a token that was given to them and used. And many things in
the lives of our Lord, you can see the working together for
good. The very first miracle, he goes
to a wedding feast. There is no wine. Because there
was no wine, then there was the occasion that the Lord worked
the first miracle in turning the water into wine. And you say, was it just a chance? There happened to be no wine?
One of those things that were ordered, that the miracle should
be performed. and should be done. When Peter
speaks at the Day of Pentecost and he speaks of our Lord being
delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of
God, it was to be taken and by wicked hands crucified and slain. When we can come from the crucifixion
of our Lord and we see that this was God's purpose, that he should
redeem his people and save his people through this means, then
we know of most certainty that this word is a most precious
word, a word that is to be of exceeding comfort to the people
of God. May it be to us this morning.
We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according. to his purpose. Amen.