seeking once again the Lord's
gracious help enabling me to speak to you this evening. I'd
like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read together,
Romans chapter 8 and the text you'll find in 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. As Daisy asked me to give her
the chapter to read, to write on the board, she said, oh, I
expect it's verse 28. I said, well, how do you know
that? And she said, well, it's a very
well-known verse. And it's a very well-known verse
because it's a very beneficial verse to the people of God. Where
would we be without knowing that all things work together for
good to them that love God. I think many of us as we pass
through varying trials of life hang on to verses like this. If we didn't believe that everything
was working together for good we would be in utter despair.
If we believed that the events of life were just chance or bad
luck then we would be at our wit's
end. So when we can come into a trial whatever it may be and
understand that the hand of a loving God is moving to or has ordained
this trial for a specific purpose and that trial and that purpose
is for our good it enables us to persevere and to continue. If you remember when we looked
at the armour of God and we looked at the shield I said that children
sometimes stick on their beds stickers and people have on their
fridges fridge magnets or texts of encouragement and I said the
children of God behind their shield of faith have texts to
encourage them to press on. And this is one of those texts
that are on the back of every child of God's shield of faith
as they press forward in life, often walking in the darkness,
groping in the darkness, and they don't really know where
they're going, they don't really know what God is doing, yet they
press on in faith and knowing that all things work together
for good to them who love God. That sticker is clearly implanted
in their mind and so that they can meditate upon it and enable
them to press on. And so there are things in life
that we know and when we know them they have a great benefit
and help to us. And when I was in Kenya, we had
a visit from somebody and they bought a drone. And they were
flying this drone one evening and the ladies were going to
get water. And as they looked up in the
sky, these ladies, they saw something that they'd never seen before.
And they began to throw rocks at it. They thought it was some
evil spirit coming to torment them. And so they shouted at
it and threw rocks at it to try and get it to go away. And the
difference between us and them was knowledge. We knew what it
was and they didn't. They were ignorant and so they
thought that it was something coming to harm them. but it was
nothing more than just a drone in the sky. And so knowledge
can be greatly beneficial to the child of God. And that's
why the apostle says, and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God. The many things that God does,
he hides from us. The scripture tells us that He
is all-knowing. He's far greater than us. In
the book of Deuteronomy it tells us there there are some things
that God hides from us that we don't know. Deuteronomy 29 and
29. It says there are secret things. Secret things belong unto the
Lord our God. But those things which are revealed
belong unto us and to our children forever that we may do all the
words of this law. And so there are things that
God purposely hides from us. Things that we couldn't understand.
Things that we couldn't grasp with our simple minds. And these are the secret things
of God. things that he does in our lives that we may not understand
at the time, that we may know later. Things that he does in
the church, things that he does in the country and things that
he does in the world that we don't know why he does it. They are secret things. They're
things about his character, as we saw his way in which he has
elected predestined people to salvation. There are things that
we can't grasp. They are the Lord's secret things. We can't understand them. And
he's hidden them from us. But there are those things that
he has revealed to us in which we can understand. And he has
taken it upon himself to reveal to the Lord's people that there
are purposes in the trials that they go through. He could have
kept it secret but he has chosen to reveal these things to help
them and to enable them to persevere in trial. In Isaiah it says,
my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways. And
so there are many things that God does that we don't understand. There are things about himself,
there are things about his ways, even things about his word that
is difficult to grasp and difficult to put together. The prophecies
regarding end times, for instance, that people are fighting and
arguing about what is going to happen. because nobody really
knows for sure the secret things of God that are hidden from our
human or limited mind and our limited understanding. So we
can only know about God what God tells us about himself. Anything
that we think about God will always fall short of who God
really is and what he is really like. And you only have to look
outside of Christianity to see people who have invented gods
from their own minds. They invent gods that are similar
to themselves, that think in the same way that they think.
or look like them but our God the creator of heaven and earth
has revealed himself in his word and he doesn't need us to try
and understand what he is like because he has laid it all bare
before us. Everything that we need to know
about God is here in this book. Everything we need to know about
his character, his attributes, his ways in which he works is
found here in this book. In Jesus's prayer in John 17,
in verse 3 it says, And this is life eternal,
that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. So this is something that we
can know. There are things that are hidden about God but life
eternal that we may know God, the only true God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We can know God and we can know
the Lord Jesus Christ and we can know his Holy Spirit, the
Holy Spirit, the Comforter as he indwells within each of his
people. In verse 22 it says, for we know
that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until
now. It's something else that we know.
The Lord has seen fit to reveal to us that the creation is groaning
under the weight of sin. Many of us know by personal experience
that we groan daily under the weight of sin. We know that and
we see the evidences of it around about us. But also there are
things that we don't know. It tells us here that we don't
know how to pray. Verse 26, likewise the spirit
also helps our infirmities. For we know not or we don't know
what we should pray for as we ought. But the spirit itself
or the spirit we can say himself make his intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered. And so we can see and
know about sin and the sin in our own lives and in our own
hearts. We can know about that. But then
when we come to speak to God We don't know how we should pray.
And so the spirit himself takes over and prays for us with groanings
and intercessions which cannot be uttered. In our hymn, the
first one, it says, I know not or I don't
know. why God's wondrous grace has been made known. I don't
know how this saving faith to me it did impart. I do not know
how the Spirit moves convincing men of sin. I do not know what
good or ill may be reserved for me. I do not know when my Lord
may come. I do not know how or where. There are many things that we
don't know but then he says taken from the scripture, I know whom
I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day. And so we know. There are many things how God
works we don't know. How he worked in our life to
bring us from the darkness into the light and to put us onto
that narrow way. How he leads us and directs us
by his spirit. There are things that are so
beyond our understanding we can't grasp or consider them. Yet we know, the scripture tells
us, we know The only true God and his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this knowledge of God,
this knowledge of God's character, that God is good and that everything
that he does is good. And that when he brings his beloved
children through trial and opposition and persecution and difficulty,
then he is working it for their good. His hand is, as it were,
upon their shoulder leading them through, teaching them, training
them, conforming them, and rebuking them, chastening them. working
everything for their good. And so this knowledge which we
can have of God, this knowledge that we can have of God's word,
God's character and God's dealings with his people is for our benefit. We're not to put aside knowledge
as some people do as head knowledge. It says, I know, we know. That's knowledge, to know something,
something that's in your brain. And it's something that has been
placed there and it's something that should be thought upon,
pinned there in your mind as you stick something on your fridge
so you can continually see it. This verse is to be stuck on
the back of your shield of faith. This verse is to be stuck, imprinted
into your mind. that whenever you walk, whenever
you enter into trial, you know that this is working for my good. And he doesn't say some things.
He doesn't say, and we know that some things work together for
good. He says all things, that is all
things Every single day, God is at work in the lives of his
dear people, doing for them good. Psalm 119 verse 71, it says,
It was good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might
learn thy statutes, or learn thy law, or learn thy word. The psalmist says it's good for
him. The flesh, our flesh hates trial,
hates difficulty, hates opposition, hates sickness, hates trouble. God puts us in it for a purpose. And the psalmist says, it was
good for me that I have been afflicted. That you might learn
more of the word of God or the experiences that God puts his
people through. There's something, maybe just
the knowledge. But when you have put that knowledge
with experience and proved the reality of what you know with
what the Bible says, it becomes deeper. Faith is increased. Faith is strengthened. And the
next time you pass through another trial or another difficulty or
another opposition or persecution, you're going to go into it with
a greater measure of faith. Last time I proved that this
worked for my good. God did not fail. God brought
me through. God helped me. And so he's going
to do it again. Before I was afflicted, I went
astray. Verse 35 of Romans 8, it says, 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, or the day long we are accounted as sheep towards
the slaughter." And so as the writer, as he went
through these different things, tribulation, distress, persecution,
famine and the nakedness or persecution of the sword. He saw God's hand in it, not
separating him from the love of God, not driving a wedge between
him and God, not destroying him and God, but He proved the reality
of what he had already written, that all of these things worked
together for good, that God was at work in his life doing something,
conforming him in a greater way to the image of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse 39, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed unto the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And so what
he saw was that God was doing something, conforming him and
shaping him and changing him into the likeness of his son. And so he's doing good. That is what we all want as a
Christian. We want to be conformed to the
image of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to bear the image of
our Saviour. I know that process can be painful,
but it's for good, shaping us. And when the Lord brings trial
and opposition into our life. He is doing it for a purpose.
He doesn't delight in destroying or subjecting his children to
trouble or difficulty but he does so for a reason. So that
they may be enabled to benefit from all that they are passing
through. Maybe he's stopping you from doing something. like the apostle, stopping you
from becoming proud, stopping you from becoming self-sufficient,
confident, stopping you from becoming worldly. But the psalmist says, before
I was afflicted, I went astray. That means the affliction brought
him back. as the shepherd has his shepherd's
stick to bring back a wandering sheep that has wandered from
the flock or wandered far away from the shepherd. So the Lord
uses means to bring back his children closer to himself to purify you. Maybe you've entered
into some sin And the Lord has brought something
into your life to purify you, to make you realise that you're
walking in error, walking in sin. And as a father disciplines his
children, so the Lord is disciplining you. As we looked at Jonah on
Sunday evening and we saw that Jonah was the cause of the trouble,
of the storm. Even in that process, even in
that storm, it all worked for good. The Lord already prepared
a great fish to swallow up Jonah and to take him back to where
he should have gone. The salvation of those mariners
who went from crying to false gods, then to crying and offering
sacrifices to the true and living God. These are things that we can't
understand that God can twist events and the sinful behaviors
of his people to bring about his own purposes and ultimately
for the good and salvation of others and for the sanctifying
process of dealing with his own children conforming them to his
son. If you think of a big rock that
falls off a mountain. And along comes a sculptor, a
stonemason. He looks at this rock and he
thinks it's suitable. And he begins work on it. Other
people passing by, they see nothing but a big rock. Over time as
they pass by the sculpture, the stone mason is at work and he
begins chipping off all the boulder, the edges and making it into
a pillar. And then he begins to cut into
it and shape it and make it into the image of a person. And so
it's gone from a boulder to the likeness of a person. That's what the Lord is doing
to every single one of his children. He's at work on them. And every
hammer blow that he strikes is for their good. Every point of
the chisel that is jabbed in to knock a piece off is for their
good. He is conforming every single
one of his children to be more, to bear the greater image of
his son. Sometimes when you walk in town
you see the sign, work in progress. And that's what we are. We're
not perfect. We're sinful. Our perfection
lies in Christ. As soon as we are saved, as soon
as we are born again, there is no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. We are justified. Our slate of sin has been dealt
with. There's no condemnation anymore.
But physically, we are a work in progress. God is dealing with
us and everything that we pass through works for our good. Drawing us closer to himself,
weaning us from the world, weaning us from our sin, weaning us from
self-sufficiency. If you've walked with the Lord
for some years and you look back, you will see that God has done
things in your life. You are not the person that you
were when you were first saved. And if you are, there's a problem. You should not be the same. You
should have been dealt with. You should bear a greater resemblance
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Though you may not think that. All things work together for
good. Physical good and spiritual good
of his people. But the Lord has put a distinction
here. It's them that love God. There's a difference between
those who don't love God and those who do love God. When the world or the ungodly
or the nominal Christian pass through trial They don't see God in their trial. It doesn't draw them to God,
it draws them away from God. It makes them angry. Makes them
discouraged. Makes them blame God. And it doesn't work for their
good. The trial has no eternal effect
upon them only to annoy them. And even when God blesses the
ungodly with material blessings they don't rejoice, they don't
give thanks. But those blessings are as it
were lead weights or gold weights that damn them, that sink them. rather than save them. Nothing works for their good. But for the Lord's people everything works for their good.
If he blesses them with riches it works for their good and it
works for the good of others. If he causes them to walk a life
of poverty and difficulty it's for their good. Everything that
they pass through, every circumstance of life is for their good. It's when we have to hang on
to the fact that God is a sovereign God and is in control of all
things. They're able to come to terms
and to lay hold of the fact that God is good. If you know in your
mind that God wants you exactly where you are then you can be
content with that. If you need a new car, God will
give you one. If you need to walk, God will
give you the strength to walk. If he needs you to be in hospital
for a few months, you will be in hospital for a few months.
If he needs you to go a year without any sickness, you will
go a year without any sickness. but we have to learn that in
whatever circumstance we are in life is to meditate on the
fact that God is good and that all things are working together
for my good and for the good of them that love him. Why do we love him? Because he first loved us. It
is Him who brought us out of nature's darkness. It is Him
who opened up our understanding to the need of Christ. We love Him because He first
loved us. And He called us. They are the called. according to his purposes. Working
together for good to them who love God, to them who are the
called according to his purposes. Verse 30, moreover whom he did
predestinate before the foundation of the world that part of God
that we cannot comprehend or understand, that God chose a
people before the foundation of the world. Those people whom
he predestinated before time and gave them to Christ, in time
he called them. Whom he called, also justified
and he glorified them. They were called in time. They heard the gospel. The gospel
entered into their heart, the message that Jesus saves. They were convicted of their
sin. They were brought to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They turned from their sin. They were called, called from
darkness, called to follow the Lord Jesus, called to as Jesus
says, to take up their cross daily and to follow him. They
were called. And they are called even to carry
the cross of trial. They are called to know, to know
God. and to know the Lord Jesus Christ
and to know about God and God's dealings with his people that
we can say we know that all the things, all things work together
for good to them who love God and to them who are the call
according to his purposes, his purposes. Now are we persuaded as the apostle
is persuaded? Although this verse is so great yet how quickly do we forget
it? How quickly does the darkness
come over our minds when we enter into some difficulty and it's
though the lights have gone out and we can't remember any of
the promises of God. In times of blessing we think
about them. But then as we enter into the
trial, we begin to grumble and complain.
But the apostle says, I am persuaded. I am totally sold out to the
promises of God that nothing is able to separate us from the
love of Christ. That's what unites us to God.
love of Christ saved us. As we said we're enabled to be
called God, Abba Father, Our Father, Abba Father, in Christ. Once we're in Christ that union
can never be separated. Though when we enter into trial
often we think God has forgotten us. The Apostle says nothing
can separate us from the love of God, not even tribulation,
not even distress, not even persecution, not famine, nor nakedness, nor
peril, or sword. He says, for as it's written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted
as sheep to the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded
And 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. So he is persuaded. Am I persuaded? Are you persuaded
that nothing is able to separate you from the love of God that
is in Christ Jesus? Or have you at this moment in
time abandoned all hope? Have you forgotten that all things
work together for good? The song that I just was reminded
of just then. I said it to Elsie the other
day. Have you forgotten that the sky
is blue? You know sometimes like this
time of year, grey and miserable. We forget that the sky is blue.
The sun is still shining. Just because the clouds are in
the way doesn't mean that it stopped. Just because the clouds
of trial and sorrow are in the way doesn't mean that the promises
of God fall short. Doesn't mean that the sun has
stopped shining. Doesn't mean that Christ is not
on the throne, that God is not in control. It's all still there. It's just that you can't see
it. Meditate. upon the goodness of
God, that God is good and that everything that he does in the
lives of his people is for their good. He is sculpturing which
is painful, it is difficult, it is hard but that does not
mean that God is not good That does not mean that all you're
going through is of no use or no purpose. It has a purpose
and it's for the good of those who love God. Let us be persuaded
then that neither death nor life nor angels or principalities
or any other thing is able to separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. May the Lord add his
blessing. Amen. May the Lord help us as we close
this service by singing hymn number 318, God's Unchangeable
Love. O God of eternal love, how fickle
are our ways, and yet how oft did Israel prove the constancy
and grace. Hymn number 318, the tune number
61. And yet how oft did Israel prove
thy constancy and grace? They saw thy wonders raw, and
then thy praise they saw. But soon thy works of pow'r forecome,
And thou art with them taught. Now they believe his word, What
rocks with rivers flow, Now with them hearts proven, Yet when they hold their vows,
we hearken to their words. We've saved them from their vice. All teach us thus, but never
so the people that teach us. Let Israel bless the Lord. Our Heavenly Father, we thank thee
for thy unchanging love. We thank thee, O Lord, that thou
a God that changes not. And we do acknowledge that we
so often change our emotions, our up and down, our faith is
up and down, Lord. And we pray that thou forgive
us when we forget thy blessed promises that are given to us. We may know thee the only true
God and thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to know why we pass
through certain things. Lord, we thank thee that thou
art working in the lives of thy people. We pray thou continue
to walk with us and work on us, that we may grow in grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that Thou
wouldst dismiss us with Thy blessing, do return us here upon Thy day
in peace and in safety. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, do be with us each now
and for evermore. Amen.