Again, the message will go to
God in prayer. We want to remember those that are presently
suffering in this body, this frail house of clay. I reflect on my youth and the
strength that I thought I possessed. The illusion of strength, because
that's all it was, an illusion. You're young, you're strong.
It's just an illusion. You have really no strength in
yourself. But experience, I think, is the
only teacher, isn't it, in that? This house of clay and everything
around us dissolves away, doesn't it? If you're looking for any satisfaction,
I had that in the bulletin. It was hard for me to whittle
that one down to fit into the bulletin, but I think that the
Lord gave me enough to put that in there, and I suggest you take
your time and read that later, what Philpott writes concerning
that. I thought it was very good for me. If you seek to find any satisfaction
in this world, you'll be disappointed. I know we still do. We still
look for it. The flesh does. And one thing
is sure, God will not let us find paradise here. And it's a mercy, it's not a
punishment. What kind of man would I be if
I found paradise here? I surely would not seek the Lord.
I surely would not seek his face. But our God allows these pains,
these struggles, these afflictions for a divine purpose of bringing
us near to trust him. And it's a sad condition of our
nature. If we find anything to trust
Him, we will. If we find anything to lean on, we will. Therefore,
God will remove all the crutches that we lean on. He just will. And it is a mercy. Believe me,
it is a mercy that we trust Him. How so few in this life trust
Him, in this day. How so few really lean on Christ. Yeah, they trust Him to give
them good things, health and wealth, prosperity. We look for something far greater
than that, don't we? I look for things that only
God can give, righteousness, peace, joy. contentment, heaven,
eternal life. Those are the only things that
God can give that are lasting. And they're only found in Christ.
Only found in Christ. Not found anywhere else. Only
in His Son. When you find them there, you'll
be satisfied. You'll be satisfied. I pray God will satisfy us again
with His Word. Feed us. Remember those, again, that are
sick. Pray for Mariah. She goes to
the doctor this week. Pray for Gene and Glenn's daughter,
Trinda. She goes into surgery this week.
Pray for Eric, Angela, Rick. He goes into surgery this week,
too. The Lord is going to teach us
a lesson to not look at what we see. If you look at what you
see, then you would see, you would think we were cursed. You
think we were not blessed. That's just an illusion too.
You're in Christ, you're blessed. Regardless. It doesn't matter.
You're blessed. And everything God does, we're
gonna see it this morning, everything God does is for your good. Everything. It's hard to imagine
that. Pray God give us faith for it
this morning. Let's go to him in prayer. Father, I'm so thankful for prayer. I'm so thankful for Christ, that through Him we are able
to bring our requests, our petitions, our groanings, our afflictions,
our pains, our sorrows, our griefs, our sickness, our... Whatever
ails us, you have given us this means, to lay it before your
feet and ask you for grace and strength and healing and power. All things come from your hands,
sickness and health, life and death, joy and peace, sorrow
and grief. We know this, that you are sovereign
in all things. I pray this morning again that
you would teach us who know Christ to know the truth of our text
that all things work together for our good. I beg you, Father, for healing
of your people. I plead for it. We lay our bodies at thy feet
and say, Lord, if you can, if you will, I pray for the souls of men.
I beg you, Father, that you would do your most glorious
work, which is to save sinners by the blood and righteousness
of your Son. Oh, this morning that you would,
by your grace, that Christ himself would kiss us with the kisses
of his lips, that out of his mouth should
flow the gospel of Christ to the heart of your people, to
heal our infirmities, our weaknesses, strengthen us in faith, hope,
and love. Give us hearts of compassion, not self-righteousness, knowing this, that we are only
saved by the grace of God through Christ our Savior. I ask you to do this for your
own glory and the good of your people. In Christ's name, Amen. Alright, take your Bibles and
turn with me to Romans 8. Romans chapter 8. The text is
found in verse 28. Paul says, We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. I entitled this message, A Comforting
Knowledge. A Comforting Knowledge. Paul has given us many things
before this. Many comforting truths, there's
therefore now no condemnation, those are in Christ Jesus. Everyone
who is led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, heirs
of God, join heirs with Jesus Christ. He gave us a lesson concerning
suffering that every believer suffers, but the suffering of
this life is not worthy to be compared with the glory we shall
receive in Christ Jesus. He tells us, even though we've
grown in this life, yet prayer is a gift of God by the Holy
Spirit, and all of our prayers are interceded for by the Spirit
of God. And listen, all of this is according
to the will of God. God willed that this take place. And He says, and, here's another
comforting thing, and we know, that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Now this is a very familiar text. Every believer knows this well. We cite this so often in our
minds when we come into trouble, come into difficulty. All things
work together for good. I remember the story of Henry
Mahan when Ralph Barna was preaching there, and he asked him to quote
this text, and Henry, he said, young man, quote this text, and
Henry said, all things work together for good to them that love God. And he didn't, he said, no, quote
the whole thing, to them who are called according to his purpose.
We all know this text, it's familiar to us. But how often do we take
a familiar text and it loses its meaning? Familiarity of it
causes us to lose its meaning, and thus losing our comfort in
it. And I pray that God would help us to plow our hearts up
and take this seed afresh and put it into our hearts, because
that's what it's going to take. That's what it's going to take
to make this effectual to you. You can keep quoting it over
and over and over and over again, but if the Spirit of God does
not apply it, then we can't make it effectual. It's not going
to be comforting. And so then, this being my text, that all
things work together for our good. I want us to look closely
at this text because I desire that you be comforted. Isn't
this the mission of every preacher? And this is what we're called
to do. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Why? Because they
need comfort. In this world they suffer tribulation,
they suffer persecution, they suffer distress. They're pressed
out of measure. So what is the job here? Am I
to press you more? Am I to try to put my foot on
your neck? No. My job is this. Comfort ye
my people. Sayeth the Lord. Why? Because
her warfare is accomplished. That's why. That's the comfort,
isn't it? It's done. Your salvation's finished. It's done. Why? She has received
double of the Lord's hands. Isn't that enough? Double? You
owe something? Somebody not only pays the bare
minimum, but they pay double. The Lord's paid double. And what
is the result? There's no condemnation for you.
There's no condemnation for you. God may chasten us, and He does. But listen, that's not condemnation. That's not condemnation. Why?
There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Our
Lord said, Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for
I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Isn't
that good? I will strengthen thee. I will
help thee, I will uphold thee by the right hand of my righteousness."
What's that? That's Christ, isn't it? I'm
going to uphold you. I'm going to do it. This is the
Word of God. Don't be afraid. I'm with you. I'm going to help you. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this,
be anxious for nothing. What to God I can do? Be anxious for nothing. Seek
first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these
things of beatitude. What's the only thing that really
matters? Tell me, what's the only thing that really matters
to you, believer? Is it not the King and His righteousness? Is
it not Christ and His righteousness? That's the only thing that matters. Let us lay hold of this promise,
the riches of this promise, that God will supply all our needs
according to the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. All our
needs. Paul was confident. I'm confident
that God shall supply all your needs. You remember Joseph? Things didn't
appear like it was going well for Joseph, did it? At the beginning
it did. He had all the right, God told
him what's going to happen. He's going to be the one. His
family didn't even like it. His daddy didn't even like it.
Was upset with him about it. Remember his brother sold him
into slavery and he experienced all of those evil things. But
you remember what that was for, right? He was setting him up
to save Jacob. Isn't that a picture of Christ?
all the things Christ endured and suffered in this life. Why? That he should store up the bread
of life for Jacob, the church, his people. And so tonight, today,
I want us to eat. I want you to feed your souls
on this bread. I want you to be comforted because
this Word of God is immutable. It's unchangeable. God says this,
He that hath begun a good work in you shall perform it unto
the day of Jesus Christ. Consider this, that not even
death can stop God from saving us. In fact, to the believer, isn't
that what Paul said, that death is gain? For me to live is Christ, but
to die is what? Gain. And so I want us to be comforted
this morning according to the Word of God. Now listen to this.
First thing I want to inspect every part of this verse. First
thing is this. We know. We know. God tells every believer something
that we already know. This knowledge is not a speculation. It is not a guess. It's not something
you're going to receive if you just study hard enough, if you
just work hard enough at it, then you're going to get this
knowledge. No. He is telling you something that
you already know. We know. What do we know? As a believer
in Christ, what do you know? You know this, that all things
work together for good to them that love God. We know we have
this knowledge because we are born of the Spirit of God. This knowledge that we have is
not based on how we feel or what we think or the opinions of men. This knowledge is not based on
what men normally base knowledge on. What is this knowledge you're
based on? That you know all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
How do you know that? Because the Word of God tells
me. The Word of God is the foundation
of all we know. All we know. Religion today is
grounded not on the word of God. If it is, it's just partial.
Most religion is founded on this, I think and I feel. This is what they do. They reason,
their logic, their earthly wisdom. They say, well, I don't understand,
God can't be like that. Well, that's what it says God
is. Well, I think. Well, there you go. There's the
problem. Your knowledge is based on what
you think. Well, I feel like God's like this. Well, there's
your problem. You feel. Our knowledge does not come from
these things. Our knowledge comes from the Word of God. Luther
said, Feelings come and feelings go. Feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing. He said, I'll trust in God's
unchanging Word till soul and body sever. For though all things
shall pass away, His Word shall stand forever. Isn't that? You
found that to be true? What happened to all the people
who thought and felt, and yet there it is. The Word of God
is still here. They're gone. Our Lord says they're
going to melt away as a moth and rust. That's all they're
going to do. They're just going to melt away.
You know what's going to stand? This Word. When you and I are
gone, what's going to be here? What's left? The Word of God. The Word of God. This is the
foundation of all we know. I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. We trust the Word because God
is immutable. And so what is His Word? It is
unchangeable. Unchangeable. And so what does the Word of
God teach us, this immutable Word of God? What do you really
know? You know this, that all things
work together for good to them that love God. Now, I want us
to dig down deep. What does that mean? All things. What does it mean? What does
it mean? And you need to take this to
its farthest extreme possible. All things means exactly what
it says. all things. I don't know how. I am not given
that information. But I know this, that all things
means that all things. All things in heaven. Everything is happening in heaven.
There's things happening there. I don't see them. But I know
whatever is happening there and whatever happens here in this
earth. All things in the Godhead, God
the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit and their work of
salvation. All men and beasts, all things
that happen in providence of time, all of it is according
to the sovereign will of God. That's what's happening right
now. Exactly. In perfect precision timing,
all things are of the hand of God. And that's generally, right? That's a lot of general statement.
That's a big... Not only generally, listen to me. I know individually
our birth, our life, and our death. all that has been, all that is
now, and all will be. We know, according to the immutable
Word of God, that all things will, not might, not maybe, not
perhaps, all things will work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
Go to Jeremiah chapter 24. Look at verse 5. Now, God had brought
a great evil upon Jerusalem. He sent Babylon to destroy it.
Now God's telling them, I'm sending Babylon to destroy you. This providence appeared to be
very dark. It appeared as though God had
forsaken His people. This did not seem good. God was going to destroy the
temple. That didn't seem good. He was
going to carry them away captive. That didn't seem good. But notice
what he says in verse 5, ìThus saith the Lord,î even though
Iím going to do this. Listen to this, ìThus saith the
Lord, the God of Israel, ìLike these good figs, so will
I acknowledge them that are carried away captive to Judah, whom I
have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.î Why? ìFor their good.î where I will set mine eyes upon
them, listen, for good. And I will bring them again to
this land, I will build them, I will not pull them down, I
will plant them and not pluck them up. In the middle of our darkest
providences, in the time it seems as though God is trying to destroy
us, God said this, I'm doing it for your good. How do I know that? Because what
God says to Israel, He says to me. The promises God gave Israel
in a temporal manner are mine spiritually. To do them good. Regardless of where you are,
regardless of your circumstances, and regardless of how you feel
about it. It don't matter. That doesn't enter into the equation
at all. I'm doing this and I'm doing
it for your good. That's God. And so, we may not understand
how at that time Jerusalem did not understand how in the world
it's going to be good. Neither do we. I don't know how
this is going to be good. But what I do know is that it
is. I don't feel like it's good.
It don't matter. It is. It's something we know. And so then do you believe this
verse? You've read it. You've quoted it thousands of
times. Do you really believe it? Do I really believe that all
things work together for good to them that love God? Listen, again, if you can't take all
things to mean that, then you're not going to have any comfort
at all. You understand that there is
one thing, one thing outside of the providence of God, one
thing outside of the will and power of the sovereign God, He
is no longer God. So what do you know? You know
He's God. And you know this, that all things are in His hands. And you know this, that He has
promised to work all things together for your good. In Psalm 115 it says, Wherefore
doth the heathen say, Where is now their God? Isn't that what
they say? You see a believer suffering in sickness, in sorrow,
in pain, in misery. You see the wicked prosper. You
see them enjoying themselves, having a great time, great health,
wonderful situation. And then they look at you and
say, Where's your God? What do we know? I know He's
right where He's always been. Our God is in the heavens and
hath done whatsoever He has pleased." I remember back on 9-11, people
were real confused. Remember that? People, real religious
people, they were beside themselves. They didn't have an answer for
any of these hard questions, people coming at them. Where
was God when that happened? I remember watching this guy,
Bill, you know, I'm not going to say anything, I don't care
about him. This well-known religious fellow on television, they said,
where's God? And just watching him stammer
around and stumble and try to find an excuse for what God did. I'll never forget a message that
Milton Howard preached. He preached it from Deuteronomy
32, 39. I am God. He said, see now that I, even
I am He, and there is no God with me. Listen to this. I kill
and I make alive. Where was God? right where he
has always been. Who killed those people? God
did. What are you going to do about
it? What are you going to do about it? God kills one man, heals another. What are you going to do about
it? I know where my God is. He's
in the heavens. What does He do? Whatsoever He
pleases. What is He pleased to do? He's pleased to do this,
to work all things together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose. Secondly, I want
to see this. We know all things, listen, work
together. Very important. These two words,
work together. Every event of divine providence
is sent not to work independently, but with one another to bring
about good to God's people. When someone gets sick, you don't
say, well man, that's good. You say that, you're lying. Because
you know that's an evil, it's a pain. And God tells us this,
is there not evil in a city and have not I done it? What is he
talking about? Calamities, troubles, afflictions. He calls them evil and they are
because they are a result of sin, aren't they? All of our
afflictions. God sends his providence to work
those things that are evil or ill and those things that are
good and he puts them together. If we were to judge God based
on one event in our lives, surely We would be in despair. Again,
I've told you about looking at one particular circumstance in
divine providence. You're just going to get dizzy.
You're not going to be able to understand it. You don't look
at that. Who do you look to? You look
to God who doesn't move. Who controls the providence? You're not going to be able to
understand because one event is only a necessary part of working
together for your good. A pharmacist, you have an illness
and there's a drug that can help you. And the pharmacist takes
one compound, by itself would kill you. And then he mixes it with another
compound And only when they're put together are they for the
cure. That's exactly how God does it.
One thing individually by itself would destroy you. But God doesn't
use them independently. He causes them to work together.
So often we see only one thing that God is doing. We see his
hand of chastisement. We see sickness. We see his dark
providence. Satan is permitted to assault
our souls. We, like Job, lose all our earthly
possessions. And then what? We think God is
going to destroy us. I like what Newton said, the
way he put it. Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? That's how it feels. That's exactly
how it feels. But what does he say to the child
of God? No. No. He told him, this is how
I answer prayer for grace and faith. Did you not ask for grace
and faith? Didn't you ask for it? Did you ask for more faith? Anybody ask for more faith? What
about love? You want more love? Did you ask
for it? What does Christ say? This is how I give it to you.
This is how it's got to come. In Zechariah 13 he said, I will
bring a third part through the fire and I will refine the silver
as silver is refined. I will try them as gold is tried. They shall call upon my name
and I will hear them. I will say this is my people
and they shall say the Lord is my God. When you try gold and
silver through the fire, is it intended to hurt them? No, the fire is intended to purify
them. Take a lump of gold, right? It has all these impurities in
it. The gold is in there. And the
gold is just as valuable before it goes into the fire as after. It's gold. What gets burned off? The garbage. Isn't this what
had happened to you and me as we grow in grace? Isn't the garbage
of this world burning itself off? Isn't God burning it? I
tell you, I look at my daughter and look at my son and all the
things that they look forward to and all the things that they,
and I'm like, I'm scratching my head, what in the world are
you looking forward to that stuff for? You know why? All that stuff's garbage. They
don't know that. I tell you what, you've been
put through the fire, you begin to see what's important, what's
valuable. That's what God does. He doesn't
do it to destroy us, but He causes the fire, the tribulation, the
pain, to work together with His Spirit to do you good, to increase
your faith, to increase your love, to increase your joy. Is there any greater joy than
when God delivers you from trials when you've been in it for a
while? And then God brings you out of it. Joy there. Praise to Him. Secondly, look,
the good that God works. What is this good? All things
work together for what? Good. Now does this mean, does
it mean that God only intends to give you good feelings? Is
that it? Is that what He wants? Just to
give you good feelings? Does God intend to only give
you the wants of riches and lusts of your flesh? Is that good? Does He intend to give you health
and well-being? That's what most people think
this verse means. God works all things together
so you can be happy and healthy and wealthy when? Right now. That's what they want. They want
the good of this world. That is not the good that God
works for his people. That is not the good. The times
he gives those things, and if you have any of those things,
they are a gift of God and we, there's nothing wrong with them.
They're good. Abraham was a rich man. Did Abraham
trust in his riches? No. Maybe you're not a rich person
because maybe you wouldn't, you're not that kind of person. Maybe
what kind of person would you be if you were rich? So it's
good that you're not. But that's all lost men desire
is the health and wealth and security of this world. That's
the idea of good for this modern religious age. Remember that
time that the Lord went across the sea and those people followed
Him in John 6? And He said, you came not, not
because you know who I am and what I'm doing. Where'd you come
from? You wanted more bread. He fed those people over there,
fed that 5,000 people. And what'd they do? They wanted
to make Him king. Why? because he can provide them bread. But
what did he say? No, I'm the bread of life, spiritual
good. He is intending not for our physical
enjoyments of this world, but rather our spiritual good. Go to Philippians chapter 3,
look at the apostle and his evaluation of what is good. Look at Philippians 3 and verse
7. He said, What things were gained to me, those things I
counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things loss. Look, I counted all things, all
of his religion, all of his popularity. He was a rising star in the Jewish
religion. He was a Pharisee. And you know what he says about
that? Garbage. It's wasted. It's foolishness. I don't count that as anything
but trash. For what? The excellency and
knowledge of him. Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things and do at this present
time count them as done. Why? That I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Here's good. Here's the good
that God has given you. Not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Jesus Christ. The righteousness which is of
God. by faith that I may know Him." Is there
any greater good than that? Than having His righteousness and knowing Him and the power of His resurrection.
Is there anything greater than knowing the power of His resurrection?
What is he talking about, His resurrection? He's talking about
a spiritual resurrection! power of his spiritual birth.
To know that is good. That's good. If by any means I might attain
to the resurrection of the dead. And I know this, there's more
good to come. I've just received a down payment
of the good. And there's more to come. And so none who love God will
ever be satisfied with the temporal things of this world. I know this, if you have needs
of this life and body, pray for them. Ask God for them. And it's
good. We say we know it's good when
He gives those things to us. But that's not the good He's
working all things together for. What is He working all things
together for? My salvation. Listen, everything in this world
is moving in accordance with His will to save me. Is that not good? So whatever God is pleased to
pass in this life, then let us who love Him bow down. Submit ourselves completely to
know this, that He is working all things together for our good. Fifthly, look at this, to whom
does all things work together? Now that's very important. All
things work together for good. You hear this all the time from
religious men. Religious people quote this all
the time. But this text is not for everybody.
Now I want you to pay close attention to this. This text is not for
everybody. God gives a very specific group
of people to whom all things work together for good. He's
going to give us two characteristics of these people. Two sides of
the same coin. First of all, these people who
love God. These people that love God, a
true believer, only a true believer in Christ, only one who is born
again of the Spirit of God, has any real love for God. And we know this, I never could
have loved Him had He not first loved me. I know this, that my love for
Him is only a result of His love for me. When the moon is shining at its
brightest, you get a beautiful, isn't it? Not close to the city. You get
out in the country and it's really dark. You have a full moon and
it's shining in its brightness and you can just almost see everything
like it's daytime. Where does the moon get its light
from? The sun. It's only a reflection,
isn't it? It doesn't have any light of
its own. How often do we see the moon and you can't even see
it? It's dark. because it has no light of its own. If you love
God, it is only a direct result of His love for you. His love for you. Now I know this, there was a
time that I did not love God. There was a time when I loved
the things of this world, I loved this life. I loved my pleasure. I loved my sin. And I'd tip my
hat to God. I knew all of the doctrines. Thought that was sufficient. But I really didn't know Him. The only person I loved was me.
And whatever I could get for myself, I went after it. But when God came to me and revealed
my unloveliness, He revealed my sin to me. He revealed the
darkness of my own self. The inability of myself to love
God or even come to Christ. I heard about coming to Christ.
I heard about believing on Jesus Christ. I couldn't come! And by the grace and power of
God, I did something that I couldn't do. I came. I relate with old Mephibosheth
and those soldiers that came to him. Mephibosheth didn't have
any heavy strength in his leg, couldn't walk. David said, go
fetch him. And the soldiers went out there
and grabbed him and dragged him. That's exactly how God brought
me. And laid me at his feet, and
I fell as dead. And he said the same thing that
David said to Mephibosheth, fear not. I am going to show to you kindness
for Christ's sake. I'm going to show you who don't
deserve kindness. Kindness. Not because of you. Because of your father. who loved
you and gave Himself for you, Christ gave Himself for you,
I'm going to show you kindness. And you know what you're going
to do? You're going to sit at my table every day. John said this in 1 John 4, he
says, He that loveth knoweth He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. For in this was manifest the
love of God toward us, because He sent His only begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through Him." Herein is
love, not that we loved God. If you want to know love, you
can't look at your love. Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that He loved us. How do I know that? He sent His
Son. to be the propitiation, the mercy
seat for my sins. We love only the true and living
God. Now, so many love a God of their
own making. They imagine a God, they think
God's like this, and they love Him. You know why? Because it's
themselves. They take a vision of themselves
and they set it just a little higher than themselves and they
call that God. They love a God whose love and
salvation are dependent on them. They love a God who will accept
them and their empty works. They love a God who is not sovereign
and cannot save them apart from their help. I don't love such
a God as that. I don't worship a God like that. But we love the Father who loved
us, chose us. We love the Son who redeemed
us. We love the Holy Spirit who called
and quickened us. We love God who saves us from
the beginning to the end. Do you love God? I say yes. I love God. But I confess, I
want to love Him more. I remember Peter. I identify
with Peter, don't you? When the Lord, after He had betrayed
the Lord, after He had denied Him three times, They were there
on Eton after the Lord's resurrection and he said, Peter, lovest thou
me more than me? He did that three times and Peter
was so grieved because he only could remember his rejection.
He could only remember his sin. Yet Peter knew this, I do love
him. Often we are grieved when we
are asked that question, do you love the Lord? But it is our heart's desire
to love Him. If you love Him, then what do
you know? You know that all things work
together for good for you. For you. Only those who love
Him. And lastly, look at this second
part of this. to them who are the called according
to His purpose. What does this mean? Look at
the next verse in Romans 8, 29. He explains this. He said, For whom He did foreknow, them He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many. Why does everything work
together for your good? Because of this. Because God
intended for those He loves to be conformed to the image of
His Son. And that's why all things work
together for your good. Don't ever think all things work
together for good to them that love God based on your love for
God. That's just a characteristic
of those who believe in Christ. Here's why God intended for you
to be like His Son. That's the only reason all things
work together for good, is for the glory of Jesus Christ, His
Son. So those who love God, those
who believe on Christ, I want you to know this, you love Him
because you were chosen. He didn't say, look, he said,
for whom he did foreknow. He didn't say for what he foreknew. He didn't look down the portal
of time, figure out what you was going to do. Didn't look down and say,
oh, look, this one's going to love me, so I'm going to choose
it. No, he chose you. It's whom he
foreknew. It's a person, you, who love
him. You love him because he foreknew
you and predestinated you to be conformed to the image of
his son. all that the Father loved, therefore
He put us into union with Christ. Is this not a comfort to you
that love Him? Because you are the called according to His purpose. Were you saved on accident or
on purpose? You were saved on purpose. Whose
purpose? Yours or His? His purpose. You were called according to
His purpose. The only reason you love Him
and the only reason that all things work together for good
is because He purposed to do it. Listen, not for you, but
because of Christ. Because of Christ. and you love him, consider that
his election of you was before there was any sin or death or
trouble or pain. He loved you with an eternal
love. And Christ came in love to die
in your stead Like I said at the beginning, accomplish your
warfare. Save you. When were you saved? That's an astounding question. In the purpose and mind of God,
I was always saved. That salvation wasn't actually
purchased until Christ did it. And when He did it, it was done.
But I didn't actually receive it until the Spirit of God came
to me and gave it to me. And now that He's given it to
me, what do I do? What is the response of everyone
who believes? We love Him. And what is the promise to everyone
who is called of His eternal purpose and loves Him? What is
the promise? What do you know? Without doubt
and speculation, regardless of feelings, what do you know? I
know that all things work together for my good. Paul's going to get down to that
one verse there, and he's going to say, now if that's true, you
know that, and that's true, then God is for you in everything. Isn't that something? Everything, God is for you. Who then, can be against you. What is happening that's against
you? What providence is happening
to you that is not working together for your good? What? May God now take that and put
it not in your head, in your heart. You know what the result
of this is going to be? More love. It will stir love for him. You want to love him? That's
what he does then. He takes these dark providences
and mixes them with all these other things. And then what does
he do? He brings it out for your good. Isn't that what happened
to Joseph? Isn't that what Joseph learned after all those years
of suffering? He said, you meant it for evil. And they did. They
despised him. They hated him. They intended
him to die somewhere. They didn't want to be guilty
of killing him, but they wanted somebody else to kill him. He said, you meant it for evil. But I know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. You know what even worked together
for those sorry old boys that threw him in the pit? It worked
together for their good, didn't it? Same with this sorry old boy.
I didn't love Christ. If I'd been there that day, I'd
have hit the nails just as hard as any soldier would. But he loved me. Because I believe on the Son
of God and trust my soul and my life in His hand. And I know He works all things
together for my good because of Christ. Regardless of how
I feel, regardless of what I think. That's something you know. Great
God bless us. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer. Our gracious Father in heaven,
I pray you dismiss us with your own mercies and grace and power
and love. Oh, that you'd sweep over our
souls with your Spirit and instill in our hearts and minds the truth
of your word. Let us lay hold of Christ and
not let go, knowing this, that you hold us. And I pray you'd bless it according
to your word, in Jesus' name, amen.