I'm reading a very familiar verse
of scripture from God's Word. In Romans 8, verse 28, I read,
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. One of our dear ladies who passed
away a few years ago, before she passed away, she requested
that I preach this verse at her funeral. She loved this truth. She loved the truth, the gospel,
and she requested I preach it at her funeral. Another lady
whom I was speaking to at one time, a neighbor whose husband
passed away, She requested of her preacher that he not quote
this verse of scripture. She did not want him to read
that all things work together for good. This is an oft quoted
verse of scripture, and yet few really believe this. Few, very
few really believe that all things good and evil work together according
to God's purpose. Another one of our ladies was
speaking to a man at the place where she worked. She was talking
to that man about how she believed God is absolutely sovereign over
all things and doeth all things according to His will. That's
what the scripture says in Ephesians 1.11. But she was talking to
this man about the sovereign God. of the universe who works
all things, who controls all things. And she said to him,
I believe that if I was driving down the street today and had
a car wreck, that that was God's will. It is God's will. That
man quickly disagreed with her. Oh, no, I don't believe that,
he said. Now this was a man who claimed
to believe in God, who claimed to believe the Bible, who claimed
to be a Christian, yet he did not believe that all things work
together, that God is working all things. Well, this says,
and we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, who are called according to His purpose. Who he is speaking
of there is The saints, the beloved of God, those whom God has chosen,
those whom God loved before the world began and chose and gave
to His Son, Jesus Christ, and put in His Son. This whole book
of Romans begins this way, to all the beloved of God called
to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God is not the Father
of all mankind. God is the Father of His people.
by adoption and by new birth. And Jesus Christ is the firstborn
among these elect brethren. Well, it says that all things
work. We know that all things work
together. We know all those in Christ. Chapter 8 begins that way. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ. In Christ. What does that mean?
That's all through the Scripture. That means those that are in
His covenant, those that are in His will, in His purpose,
ordered in all things and sure. Christ is the surety of an everlasting
covenant that God made concerning the people of God whom He gave
to Christ, put in Christ, and put Christ in them. All those
in Christ, like Noah and his family, were found in that ark.
Do you remember the story of Noah and his ark? Do you believe
that's a true story? Do you know most people do not?
Most professing Christians do not believe that actually happened.
They believe it's some kind of allegory, some kind of religious
fable. But it's true. And everyone in
that ark knew several things. They all knew it. There were
only eight souls. Do you realize how few were in
that ark? Eight souls. While outside the
ark, millions perished. What does that tell you about
the love of God? That God does not love everyone. God loves those that are in Christ. God loves those that love Christ. God loves those that love Him.
And those who love Him, love Him because He first loved them. Romans 1 clearly speaks of those
who hate God. Most people don't love the God
of the Bible, the true and living God. They love their conception
of God. Well, this says all things work
together for good to them that love God, the God of the Bible. Well, Noah and his family, they
knew that God is holy, God is righteous, God is angry. As they
saw the world outside that ark perishing, See, outside of Christ,
God is a consuming fire. He will not clear the guilty.
He is the judge. They all knew, everyone in that
ark knew that salvation was of the Lord. It was His choice,
His call, His power, His sovereignty, His power that brought them into
that ark. They all knew that the love of
God, the mercy of God, the grace of God was only in that ark,
not outside of it. Those who are listening to me
this morning, that ark of Noah is Jesus Christ. That ark represents
Jesus Christ wherein, in whom, is the love of God, the mercy
of God, the grace of God, the salvation of God, the purpose
of God. All the love, mercy, grace, pardon,
peace of God is found in Jesus Christ. So this says we know
that all things work together. We know. All those in Christ
know this because they're taught of God. John 6.45 says, they
shall all be taught of God. Well, everyone is not taught
of God, but all of His children are. All of His people are. All
of His elect are. Those who are led by the Spirit
are taught by the Spirit to know that Christ is all. We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, who
are called according to His purpose. Now, if God reveals Himself to
you, the first thing He will reveal to you is that He is God. And if He is God, that means
He is working all things. All things. Most believe that,
you know, they say, I believe everything's going to work out.
Well, the reason all things work together for good to God's people
is God is working them out. God is doing all things. He doeth
all things according to His will. That's Ephesians 111, among the
armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. That's Daniel 4.35.
In Deuteronomy 32, 39, he says, I am He. There is no God with
me. I kill and I make alive. I wound
and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. I kill and I make alive. If anyone
is born, anyone's given life, God gave it to them. If anyone
dies, God's the one that took their soul. Though there are
means, though there are things that are used to take people's
lives, it's God that ordered it. Do you believe that? Well,
that's what the Scripture says. That's the God of the Bible,
and most people do not believe that. Isaiah 45 verse 5 says,
I am the Lord. There's none else. There's no
God beside me. He says in verse 7, I form the
light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil, I the
Lord do all these things. Well, most people do not believe
that, but all God's people do. They know that all things work
together according to God's purpose, because God is working them together
according to His will, His infinite will. A preacher friend of mine
who used to be in false religion, he used to be a Pentecostal preacher,
he said that the Lord used this verse to open his blind eyes
revealed to him the true and living God. He said in 2 Timothy
1 verses 8 and 9, he says, The gospel according to the power
of God is he who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. God did all of this on purpose. And he purposed it all, predestined
it all before the world began. That's what Romans 8 verse 29
says. Whom he did foreknow, he did
predestinate. Oh, do you believe that? Oh,
how few believe that. Most people hate the sound of
that word. Not God's people. They know. They know that all
things work together according to God's purpose. God does all
things on purpose. If you'll learn something about
the God of purpose, you'll know something about the God of the
Bible. Nothing by chance, nothing by accident, nothing by fate,
but all things work together, working together according to
God's purpose and power and direction and will. All things work together
for good. For good. I could give you countless
examples in the Scriptures and countless examples in this life. God's people, how that all things
work together for their good. Even what we may think of as
evil. Tragedies. whatever it be. And down in chapter 8, he goes
on to talk about persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword,
and all of that. Well, God purposes all things. Have you ever seen the backside
of a tapestry or a woven rug? What it looks like is a jumbled
mess of threads with no connection, with no unity at all, but if
you turn it over, what you'll see is a perfect picture, pattern,
or scene that was purposed by the one who wove that rug. Well,
mankind looks at all things and sees a disjointed mess, sees
chaos, but God's people are made to know and believe that God
is working all things, that every single thing in the universe
works together for the good of God's people. Oh, not the good
of everyone. Not the good of everyone, but
God's people. Them that love God. What does
that mean? Those that love the God of the
Bible. Those that love God as God in all His character, His
holiness, His justice, His sovereignty. the unchanging God, those that
love God's right to be God, His will. Most people prefer man's
so-called free will to God having a free will. But I'm here to
tell you that man does not have a free will. He's bound by his
sinful nature, and he's under the bondage of the God of this
world, Satan himself, bound by him. God alone has free will,
working all things according to His will. And those who love
God love His right as God, to be God, His glory, His will,
His power, His salvation. Scripture says, Look, such as
love thy salvation say, The Lord be magnified. But all things
work together for good to them that love God. And anyone who
knows and loves the God of the Bible knows Him because He foreknew
them, foreloved them. Those that love God love Him
because He first loved them. And they're called. by the Gospel,
this very Gospel you are hearing this morning, this very truth
that you're hearing now. All hate it when they first hear
it. All reject it when they first
hear it. But God, rich in mercy and grace
and love and kindness to His chosen people, reveals to them,
breaks down that enmity and reveals to them the truth, gives them
a love for it, grants them repentance, faith, And they come to Jesus
Christ for their salvation. What about you? All things work
together for the good of them that love God.