On my breath, Lord, I hear you
say to me, All right, back to Romans 8. We didn't finish John 1 Sunday
morning, nor Romans 8, as I had hoped. So we'll work on it tonight.
Romans chapter 8. I've entitled this message in the form of a question. Do you reckon everything will
turn out all right? That's the title. of this message,
and that's the question I want us to consider tonight. Do you
reckon everything will turn out all right? That word reckon is an old country
saying. Country folk like to use that.
You know, the more of these old country sayings I run into, the
more I realize they got it from the Bible. That's where these
things come from. I was talking to Barbara a little
while ago, talking about old Claude, always his so-and-so, hope me, hope me. He said, and he's been, Claude's
been over hoping me, build my chicken house. He's been a lot
of hope to me. Well, that's a scripture word.
It's an old country saying. It comes from the scripture.
The psalm says, Thou hast opened me. Well, the word reckoned is
an old country saying. It's biblical. And what it means,
I looked it up. Concordance is good for looking
up words like this. The word reckoned means to take
inventory. It means to think on things based
on what's been said or what's been done. Now, you reckon everything's
going to turn out all right. Think on things based on what's
been said and what's been done. Do you reckon? Well, the Apostle
Paul uses this word twice in Romans alone. It's throughout. I was surprised how many times
the word reckon is used. But in Romans chapter 6, a verse
that I like well, Romans 6 verse 11, he says, Reckon yourself
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Reckon yourself. And then here
in verse 18, the apostle uses it again here. In Romans 8 verse
18, he says, I reckon. I reckon. that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with a
glory which not might, but shall be revealed in us." You reckon
everything's going to turn out all right. According to that
verse, it's a certainty. Now, let's take inventory, okay?
According to that word, let's take inventory. Let's think on
things based on what God has said. and what God has done.
All right? And let's come to some conclusion.
The word reckon also means that. Come to some conclusion. Well,
I just reckon. If you ever said that, I reckon.
You've come to some conclusion. And maybe we'll leave here with
a little bit of assurance. Now, all of our reckoning is
based on them. It must be. All of our reckoning
is based on God's Word. And I thought, when I was thinking
about that word, I thought about... We don't have any sailors in
here tonight, do we? Anybody been in the Navy? Well, there's
an old naval term called dead reckoning. You heard that? John,
you probably heard that at one time. Dead reckoning. What that
means is... It means that you chart the course
of a ship, not by the stars, but based upon the course that
the ship has sailed and how far it's come, and you come to the
exact—you reach an absolute reckoning of your position. In other words, dead reckoning.
It's not a guess. When they go by the scholar,
they guess. But when you take dead reckoning,
you chart your course, what course you've been on, and how far you've
come, and you've come to a definite conclusion. You say, this is
where I'm at. I'm right here, 528 degrees north. west latitude and such longitude,
you know. That's right here is where I
am. Dead reckoning. Well, that uses
both those scriptures, doesn't it, John? Reckon yourself dead. Dead reckoning. I want us to
get a dead reckoning tonight. Not a guess, not a hope, a hope,
a hope, but a dead reckoning. Let's see if we're in the right
ship, fellowship. Let's see where we
stand if we're anchored. Let's see how far we've come
and where we're headed and reckon we'll make it to our destination.
All right? And based on this chart and compass.
We just sung that song, chart and compass. And that's what
this is. It's our chart and our compass. All right. Again, with verse
14 in Romans 8, he says, Now, as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. He's
just stating a fact there. He's not saying this is something
that ought to be, although we ought to be. But as I said Sunday
morning, he's just stating a fact here, because he said, If any
man had not the Spirit of Christ, verse 9, if any man had not the
Spirit of Christ, he's none of it. OK? Is that right? So every believer
has the Holy Spirit of God. There's no second word, like
the Pentecostal say. No. No. And as many as are led
by the, anyone who has the Spirit of Christ are led by the Spirit
of Christ. And they're a new creature in
Christ, and they bear the fruit of the Spirit. We're encouraged,
and we're exhorted, and admonished, and rebuked, and all that. Nevertheless,
this is a fact, Ted. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they're the sons of God. Read on. He says, You've never
seen the spirit of abondage again. What's that? What's the spirit of bondage?
What is that? That's the law, people. That's
the law. There's bondage under the law.
And I hear men who profess to be grace men, grace preachers,
whose people are constantly cowering in fear and under bondage to
that man. To look, walk, think, talk a
certain way to please him. But we don't answer to a man.
Every man before his master stands or falls, right? The law is bondage. Bondage. But the Son sets you
free. You're free indeed. You've not
received the spirit of bondage. We're not under the law. Paul
says that several times. And that's good news. Anybody who has any understanding
of the law realizes how strict it is, and how it's spiritual.
It requires perfection of heart and motive. Well, we've not received
that spirit in him, but we received, verse 15, the spirit of adoption. Children. And whereby we've called God
the Father, and I don't use this flippantly and carelessly and
irreverently, Just so you'll know the term here, Abba, we
cried, Dad. My daughter does not live in
fear of me, that she must absolutely toe the line or I'm going to
kick her out or I'm going to destroy her. No, that's bondage. That'd be bondage, wouldn't it?
That's under a cruel taskmaster. I've worked non-union jobs before,
and unions. Most of you do work non-union
jobs. I worked construction one time and I was down in Florida
and it was hot, it was the middle of August, over 100 degrees,
out in the middle of nowhere, no tree, no shade in sight, no
wind at all, it was just absolutely suffocatingly hot and our boss
had a whistle he wore a whistle around his neck and we got a
five minute water break at about nine fifteen started at seven
about nine fifteen got a five minute water break and he stood
over us looking at his second hand with that whistle and you
had better either be on the job or running to the job when he
blew that whistle. My friend one of my friends got
heat, overcome by heat, and started throwing up. They fired him.
Now, that's bondage. Huh? Isn't that bondage? A cruel
taskmaster. We'll not receive that again.
We're not under a crew. We're not come to a mountain. The Scripture says, "...quaketh
with fire, and nobody can get near." And verse 16, he says, Now the
Spirit itself, the Holy Spirit, beareth witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God. How does he bear witness? How
are we led by the Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit bear
witness with our spirit? Well, we saw that Sunday morning,
and I'll not go into too much detail, but The Spirit, what
does the Spirit lead a person to? Christ. We saw that in John 14,
John 16. The Scripture says that when
He comes, He'll convince us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And I've been convinced of that,
haven't you? My own sin, my need of a perfect
righteousness. And the fact that my sins have
been judged in Christ. The Holy Spirit has convinced
me of that. That Christ is my salvation. And he points me,
keeps pointing me to Christ. Keeps pointing me to Christ.
Leading me to Christ. By faith. And in the fruit of
the Spirit, old things do pass away. And all things become new. The fruit of the Spirit. Every
child of God to some degree. Has this fruit of the Spirit,
love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, long-suffering, meekness, temperance,
faith. They have this fruit of the Spirit. They have new desires. They love
the things they used to hate. They hate these things they used
to love. Every child of God has this to some degree. This is
the work of the Spirit. They have new principles. They
think differently than they used to think. like God thinks. They think according
to this now. That is so. It must be so. If any man had not that spirit,
he's nothing. Okay? It's not perfect, and I'm
confident that he that did it, put it there, will perfect it. All right? Led by the Spirit.
That's what the Spirit leads a man to. It leads him to Christ,
convinced of sin, righteousness, judgment. But as a witness with
our spirit, with these new desires and old things passing away and
so forth. So then, so then, verse 17 says,
if children, if children then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs
with Christ, all that Christ has is and all that Christ is
and all that Christ has is mine, as he is. So are we. As he has, so do we. All that
he hath, all thine are mine, and mine are thine. Everything
Christ is and everything Christ has is mine. Read on. And he says, and here's another,
here's just another statement of fact. It so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together. If so, be
that we suffer. Now, every child of God will
go through suffering. This is another thing. This is another work of God in
bearing witness with our spirit. They go through suffering. Turn
over to Acts chapter 14. Every single child of God goes
through suffering. The scripture says, it calls
suffering by different names, and there's different types of
suffering, trials and afflictions we go through. Chastening is
one word, one reason. He said, if you be without chastening,
you're bastards. You're not children. And I gave
the illustration of how I see other kids, you know, running
wild out in the world, and I don't bother with them. I leave them
alone. I see they might be headed to destruction, but I don't say
anything to them. But buddy, I do to my daughter, and I deal
with her. Well, we'd be without that, we're bastards,
we're not children. Acts 14, verse 22, look down
here. The disciples went throughout
the cities, confirming the souls. of the apostles confirming the
souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith
and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom
of God. We must. Turn back to, well,
I don't have time. Let's run over to 1 Thessalonians
3. 1 Thessalonians 3. He said we
must through much tribulation. Much tribulation. The word tribulation
means trials, afflictions, sorrows, and trouble. 1 Thessalonians
3, look at verse 3 and 4. 1 Thessalonians 3, 3 and 4, and
now the Apostle Paul knew what he was talking about here, because
he suffered as much or more than any man. And he said in verse
3, no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves
know that we are appointed thereunto. Our Lord said in one place, or
the Scripture says in one place, it's not only given unto us to
believe, but also to suffer. Verse 4, Verily, when we were
with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation. And it's come to pass, and you
know. Here it is. Expect it. Now here it is. And over in 1
Peter, turn over there, 1 Peter 4, and this is the last one on
this subject will turn to 1 Peter 4, verse 12. And it was when some difficult
trial, some weighty trial, as the scripture calls it, comes
upon you. Look what he says here, verse
12. Don't think it's strange. It's not something strange, it's
not something unexpected. It's something to be expected.
Concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, though some strange
thing happen unto you, rejoice in as much as you are partakers
of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed,
you may be glad also with exceeding joy. Now, he's saying the same
thing back there in Romans 8. He said, he said here, that we
may be glorified together, glorified together with Christ. Let me
just pause there for a minute and ask you a question. Why do
we suffer? I know it's an established fact
that believers will suffer. That's what we just read. We
read it. This is what the Word of God
says. I don't care what these charismatic preachers say. They're
a bunch of liars. They're a bunch of liars. And
everybody in this book suffered. God's choice people suffered
the most. That's what David said, didn't
he, in Psalm 73. He said, the world, they're not
in trouble as other men. God's people, their waters are
full of copper running out on them. And that's just so. Well,
why? Why do God's people suffer? We're often prone to think that
it's punishment. Well, God's getting back at me
for something I've done. No, God doesn't punish that. Not in the strict sense of that
word. He punished Christ on the cross. He killed his son on the
cross. He was made sin. All our iniquity
on him was laid. All. Past, present, future. All. God doesn't punish us for
our sins. Now, just let that be established
fact. All right? Christ was punished
in our state. Corrections, the better word,
is chastening. See, punishment seems to imply
strict justice, an eye for an eye. You did this, I'm going
to do that. Oh, no. It's God. Does God deal with every sin
that, every sin that we commit in our life? We've received the
Lord's hand double for all our sins. Scripture says he dealt
with all our sins in Christ. But he does chasten us at times,
and the word chasten means to correct. to instruct, to set
right, to turn from a bad course, he said. It's not, it's not the
lash without the love. You see, that's what punishment
is, lash without the love. Correction is, might be the lash,
but it's a love and it's an explanation. Sometimes troubles of our own
making. Like a child that's allowed to
fall in order to learn something. You see it's going, you want
to stop. No, let it fall. Sometimes that's the best way
to learn something. Sometimes troubles are of our
own making. But yet trials come, and our
Lord gave the the parable of the man that built his house
on the rock and the man that built his house on the sand.
You remember that? He said three things came at
those two houses. You remember? He said the rains
descended and the floods ascended and the winds blew. Those are
three forms of trial. Rains come down and trials come
down on us from God himself, then trials, our sin that besets
us, the floods that overflow our heads, sin, then the wind
that blows, trials and troubles that come from all around us.
Unexpected sources. Now, why? And all of this, all
of these are from the hand of the loving Father. Now, why does
God, why do God's people suffer? We separate, God causes us to
separate, to wean us from this world, because we have here no continuum
of the city. If this was all a bed of roses, the old song, I never promised
you a rose garden, you know. Well, we promised a thorn. the promised thorn. But as to
wean us from this world, and that reminded me of a saying
I read one time. It said that the things of this
world are like a road. They're beautiful to look at
and can be somewhat enjoyable except when you grab hold and
latch hold onto them. And then they come become positively
painful. And then we got wings us from
this world we have here, no continuing city. We look for another who's
builder and maker is God. If there were no troubles here,
why would we want to live here? Number two, we suffer to teach
us to trust God. Teach us to trust our Heavenly
Father. No matter what he sends our way,
we need to learn that he sent it and to trust him that that
He sent it on purpose, and it's best for me to trust Him, to
live by faith, not by sight. And number three, and maybe this
ought to be number one, we suffer for His glory. You see, generally speaking,
we glorify God more in suffering than we do outside of suffering. people who have been on the deathbed
have been a means, a source of more honor and glory to God Almighty
than those in wealth. More people witness that testimony
of that believer. You see what I'm saying? For his glory. It also gives
us patience, enduring of trials. And he said, our light afflictions.
2 Corinthians 4, verse 16 says, our light afflictions. Paul calls
them light. You know, work for us in a far
more exceeding way of eternal glory. And I had some things
written down for that. Light, affliction. They're light
compared with our blessings. They're light compared to the
blessings we've had all our life. Ninety-five percent of our lives
have been blessings. five percent trial, if that much. And they're like, compared to
other people's trials, no matter how bad we have it, somebody's
worse. Right? You don't mind if I use you,
Steve, or when your daughter broke her arm, that's a trial,
somewhat of a trial. It wasn't nothing compared to
watching your daughter die of cancer. I saw somebody the other
day, a young person who lost all their hair, you know, evidently
been taking chemotherapy and all of that would just rip your
heart out. You know those arms are going
to heal. And they're like, our trials
are like compared to some others. We think our jobs are hard. And I mentioned the people in
Mexico, they're just struggling to make to eke out of existence. They struggle for the next meal.
Women carry water on their heads up hills with no shoes or little
shoes at all. Children four years old go to
work. Our afflictions are light compared
to future glory. And this is what verse 18 says
here in Romans 8. He says, He reckons it's going
to turn out all right. Paul says, I reckon, I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that shall be revealed in us. In us. The glory in us. You know, God's going to get
glory in us in bringing many sons to glory. He's going to
get glory. God's going to say, look, look
here, look what I've done. The angels are going to applaud.
Cherubs and the seraphs are going to have a standing ovation. Not
for us, but for him who loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood. We're going to be trophies on
display in his trophy case. He's the one that won us. He's
the one that fought the battles. Our captain, we're medals on
his chest. He's going to get glory in us,
bringing many sons, bringing all the sons to glory, the whole
line that they're all present and accountable. He's going to
get glory in us. And it's going to be glorious
for us just to be there. And so wonderful and glorious
and amazing and happy and joyful will be this, will be the end. We won't even
remember the beginning. That's what Isaiah 65 says. He says, You rejoice in that
which I create. I create a new heaven and a new
earth. I create Jerusalem, a joy and a rejoicing. My people are
rejoicing. He said, And the former things will not be remembered,
nor come to mind. The end will be so joyous He'll
not even remember the beginning. It's kind of like a, you know,
our lives may be compared to a child going on an extended
trip with her parents, a vacation of sorts. I remember we used
to go to Florida when Hannah was real small. I probably told
you this, but, you know, a little child has a very short attention
span, very short on patience. and can't sit in a seat very
long. I remember her sitting in that car seat. Oh, my. I felt
so sorry for her, you know, that just trapped in. Oh, you know,
the whole time we were just wiggling, trying to get out and shove her
back down in there. And we'd take a trip for 12 hours
or 14 all the way to Florida, you know, the whole time. When
are we going to get there? When are we going to get there? And finally, we got there. You know, there was a lot of
discomfort, a lot of—it seemed like a long time and all, but
I remember we got there, and we said—we pulled into the place
where we were going to stay there on the ocean, and there was that
ocean. He said, Look, Hannah, there's
the ocean. And I looked back, and she—big
smile on her face, and she's rubbing her eyes. She says, I
so excited, I got tears in my eyes. I so excited, I got tears
in my eyes. Well, we're going to be so excited
that they're going to be in tears. And this is discomfort. You're seventy-some years old.
You feel like you ought to be about forty. Went like that,
didn't it? And Joe Parks, you're going to
be seventy tomorrow. And I'm going to be old like
you, too. Just tomorrow. Right? And then, in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye, I'm going to be with Christ. We won't even remember the old
thing. Verse 19 and 20, read down through
verse 22. He says, The earnest expectation
of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. Creation was made subject to
this vanity, all vanity of vanity. God didn't create this thing
to be vanity. God created this planet, and
it's beautiful. He says it's good. It's not vanity.
It's good. Sin made it vanity, didn't it? Mankind ruined this creation
by sin. Creation was made subject to
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of God, who has subjected
the same in whole. Known unto God all his works
from the beginning, God allowed, God—however you want to say it—God
purposed the fall of Adam for a grander and more glorious purpose
in the end, to bring in an everlasting righteousness. It will not dwell
there. Go on. The creature itself, verse
21, shall be delivered from the bondage. of corruption and the
glorious liberty of the children of God. We know the whole creation
groaned and travailed in pain together, even until now. Animal kingdom. I feel sorry
for animals because of man. Everything that riles a wriggle,
man's out to kill it. That's the reason the fear of
man's in him. As much as I've tried to befriend Those animals
we have out there, little ducks, and nobody's as kind. Just don't sneak up on me sometime.
You'll hear me talking duck talk or something. Or chickens. Talking to the chickens. Oh boy. But I'm trying to befriend those
little creatures and let them know I'm not going to hurt you.
I'm not going to hurt you. I'm doing everything for you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm
not going to kill you. I'm not going to shoot you. I'm not going
to eat you. She said, maybe I won if she didn't quit brooding all
the time. But I'm not going to hurt you.
Don't you say, I'm feeding you, I'm feeding you, I'm feeding
you. Well, they're still afraid of me. And always will be afraid
of me. Now whole creation groans. Beautiful
deer, you know, whatever animals they just run from, you know. I often wonder, I often wonder,
what rapport the Lord had with animals when he was here on the
earth. Ever wondered that? He had no sin. He's their God. I bet you I know they ran up
to him. Deer licked his hand. I know
it. The ox knows his owner. The ass
knows his master's crib. The animals know their God. There's
nothing to be afraid of. Man, where the whole creation
groans. Verse 23, we ourselves also groan. We are the firstfruits of the
Spirit. Firstfruits. The end fruit is the result,
the end of it all. Firstfruit is here. The end,
you know, is when it's ripe and it's picked and it's over. The
harvest is over. Our firstfruit is the Spirit.
We're ourselves groaning within ourselves. We say, How long,
O Lord, how long? Don't we? Listen to this psalm, My soul
is sore and vexed, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver
my soul. Save me for thy mercy's sake. I'm weary with my groaning, All
night I make my bed to swim with tears. Ever done that? Listen to this. Listen to him.
He says, Arise, O Lord, in that. Lift up yourself. Awake to judgment. Your congregation, compass them
about. Listen to this one. I gave this
psalm for a dear dying believer to read. Psalm 42, listen to
this, where it says, My soul thirsteth for God. When shall
I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night. While they continually say, Where
is your God? Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Why art thou despised? Hope thou in God. I'll yet praise
him for the help of his countenance. We say, How long? How long, O
Lord? We've grown. We've grown. Well, look at verse 24. We're
saved by hope, though. We're saved by hope. Turn over
quickly. Quickly. Just a few more minutes.
Hebrews 6. Hebrews chapter 6, we're saved by hope. You see,
if we didn't have hope in Christ, we'd be all men most miserable.
I don't see how people live in this life. This is why people
commit suicide. A believer never has any reason
to do that. That's the most selfish, let
me just digress right there for a minute, that's the most selfish
thing you could ever do. Because you have left your loved
ones with a scar and a stigma that they'll never get over.
Your troubles may be over. Maybe. Theirs have just begun. Your children have left with
that stigma on them. Your wife, your husband. Forget
that, believer. Don't. And if that ever runs
through your mind, don't. We have no reason for that. We
have hope. We have hope. Look at Hebrews
6, verse 18 and 19. Look at this. You see, by two
immutable things, it's impossible for God to lie. We might have
a strong consolation who fled for refuge to lay hold on the
hope set before us. Which hope? We have as an anchor
of the soul. I like that song, My Anchor Holds
and Grips the Solid Rock. Which hope? What hope? It's not
a what, it's a who. Christ is our hope. It's what
Paul said, Jesus Christ our hope. He is our hope. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. The hope of glory. We're saved
by hope. We're saved by Christ. And, you know, if you don't have
any hope, you'll quit. Right? That's the same sense
there. Look at verse 24 again, back
in the text. He said, but hope that is seen
is not hope. What a man seeeth, why does he
yet hope for? You see, there's no hope in sight. If you see something, you don't
need hope. Right? Someday hope will give
way to sight. We don't need hope. We'll have
a reality. But now we live by hope, faith, hope. Now abideth these three, faith,
hope, and love. But these three, faith and hope,
will give way to sight, reality. Love won't. It'll continue. But we live by hope. If you don't
have a good hope, you'll give up. But we've got a good hope. We've got a good hope through
grace. I love that passage. It says,
it's by grace, through faith, that the promised might be sure
to all the elect. It's by grace. We've got a good
hope through grace. It's not a hope, I hope, I hope, cross
my fingers. That's not the kind of hope. What it means is not
a wishing and a hope, I hope. You know what I'm trying to say.
I can't say it any different. It's not sight, but it's It's
evidence that things are not seen. It's as good as. See, things that are not seen
are eternal. Things that are seen are temporal. People who
live by sight, that's all going to vanish before
their eyes. Well, everything's going to appear before our eyes. Christ, when Christ shall appear,
our hope, our hope. And, you know, it gives way and
it makes us wait. Verse 25, We hope for that which
we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. You know, something's
really not precious to you until you have to wait for it a while,
isn't it? You know what I'm saying?
Things are more precious to you than you have to wait for. If
we'd have had that child when... Say we got married when we were
both real young. Say you'd have had that child
when you were 18 years old. She'd have been nothing but a
burden to you. Right? We had to wait five years. Didn't think we were going to
get one. Is she precious or what? Is it more you have to wait for
something more precious it comes to? That's what he's saying here. Verse 26. And the Spirit helps
our infirmities. What infirmities? Infirmity means
felt weaknesses. I don't have much patience now. I don't have much patience. Well,
he knows that. That's what he said. He helps
us that. And this will help you. He helps us that. A trial of
our faith worketh what? Patience. Trials bring patience. And, you know, you go through
a difficult trial and you think, I'll never get through this.
You do. So what could come next? What
could possibly come next? It'd be that you won't get through
it. Think about Abraham, you know,
and all he went through. And yet, this too shall pass. It came to pass. It came to pass. Verse 26, And the Spirit helps
our infirmities. We don't know what we should
pray for. Lord, remove this. Give me this, give me that. We
are in front of our self weaknesses. We have a weak understanding. No. We have a weak understanding. We don't know what to pray for.
Lord, I think I need to, I don't know. I need to, I don't know. Take this away. No. I'm going
to leave it. Well, give me that. No. Remove
it. We don't know what to pray for.
Read on. I love this verse. I love this
verse. But the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. How many times? I'll be honest
with you. Most of our praying is this way. I don't know what to say. Don't
know what to say. And he take groanings which cannot
be uttered. He knows. He knows. He knows up. And verse 27 says,
He who searches the heart knows the mind of the Spirit. The Spirit
goes to him with groanings that we cannot utter and makes intercession
to the saints according to the will of God. And we know. Now, what reckoning have you
come to now? Well, here's the reckoning Paul
said. He said, now we know, and this is a conclusion we ought
to reach, we know that all things, A-double-L, all things are working
together for our good. Remember when our Lord said,
I'm going away, and I'm going to prepare a place for you."
Remember that? He said, in my father's house
are many mansions, and you've got one of them. That means dwelling
places there, reservations. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if it were not so, I would have
told you. I'm going to prepare a place
for you. And all things work together, and everything, he
says, I send the Holy Spirit and do all these things, and
I work everything in your life. Everything is working out according
to God's divine, sovereign, immutable purpose, and it's all right on
schedule. Every hair on your head, or every
hair that fell out of your head, God purposed it. He numbered
them. He says, Joe, you get Twenty-five. Stan, you get thirty-two. Paul,
you get thirty-six. That's the way it is, isn't it?
Now, a few numbers of hair on our head. Is that significant
hair on your head? Some people act like it is. I
know better, don't we, Joe? Ain't nothing to it. We've had
it. No big deal. Right? But a few numbers are
on your head and he said that about the sparrow that he sold
for a fire. Those old chickens out there?
That I've spent three days building an old house for? They ain't worth a blood nickel. I've been sweating and toiling
trying to get them a place, preparing a place for them. To keep them
safe from that old fox. Well, our Lord said, Are you
not worth much more than a sparrow? Yes. Yes. And all things are
working. We know this is dead reckoning. Dead reckoning. I'm in Christ. I'm in God's will, and God's
accord, and all things are working according to his purpose, and
cannot be moved. And I'm going to reach my destination. Courtney is great. See, our ship
is coming in. Our ship's coming in. Truly, our fellowship is with
the Father, because our ship's coming. It's going to reach its
desired haven because of who's at the helm. Now, these people that had this
bumper sticker, God is my co-pilot, they ain't going to make it. They're going to be shipwrecked. But the captain of my salvation
is at the wheel. He's at the helm. And one of
these days, some morning, the sun's going to rise, some morning,
and I'm going shout, land ho! He's here. He's here. And it
has nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with me. And it's
all based on that. Oh, you get all this. Dead reckoning. Chart and compass. I've charted
my course. I've seen his hand all the way
through my life, bringing me up to this point. I've done all
that. I can be guaranteed I'm All right,
let's stand and be dismissed. Our Father, we thank you for
your blessed Word. We thank you for Romans 8. This is not just for the times
of sorrow and trouble, but this is to live by daily, rejoicing. Lord, we thank you for it. We
ask that you would imprint it on our minds and hearts, give
us peace and joy and comfort through it, cause us to trust
you more. We have so very little faith
and trust, and Lord, we ask that as a result of this leading tonight,
this word, your word, that you might increase our faith. We
live by faith. We live by faith. We need more
of it to live by, that we might have life more abundant, and
cease our murmuring, complaining, and worrying, and rest in everlasting
arm. Trust our God. Rest in peace. Keep our minds stayed upon Jehovah,
the Lord our Rock. And we'll be at peace, we pray. Thank you, Lord, for the blood
of your Son that accomplished all of this. In Christ's name
we pray. Amen.