All right, good morning. Today I'm going to be going through,
the title of my message today is Fear Not, and it'll be coming
from Romans 8.28. So if you'll be turning your
Bibles to Romans 8.28, that's where this message will come
from. So every day I think about Christ
and His work. I think all true believers do
every day. And I stand before you today
as a sinner, and I know it. I'm absolutely no better than
anyone else that walks this earth. And sometimes we share the gospel
with people, and they hear me talking about the gospel. And
sometimes people think, I believe that they think that I'm sharing
with them a message that they don't know about, and they feel
like I may I feel like I have a higher knowledge than they
do. And the first thing I want to say is if that's the way I
come across, I'm not planning to come across that way. And
I apologize for that. That's never the way I set out
to be or ever what I would want anyone to think. I'm just sharing
a message that they've never heard before. And that's it. It's like listening to some foreign
language for a lot of people. And to the unbeliever, it is
absolutely an offensive message when they first hear it. And
it's described in scripture as the offense of the cross, and
it will offend the nonbeliever. And who knows when we talk to
people and individuals as we get the opportunity about this
gospel, about the true gospel, It could possibly be the only
time that they ever hear it in their life. So that's, we have
to take that into consideration. But I'm still a sinner. The difference
is that I'm a sinner saved by grace. Saved by Christ's blood
and His blood alone. And that's it. I'm not saved
by some decision that I've made, by making a tithe, a baptism,
or walking the aisle. They're saying a sinner's prayer.
And many of you know that I'm an entrepreneur. Some of you
don't, but I am. I own and I've owned multiple
businesses throughout my life. And I'm still searching for the
next deal or the next business that'll help me and my family
with the financial burdens most of us face every day throughout
this life. But here's the thing. When I
die, I will take nothing with me. My body will be empty and
my soul will leave this body. And that's what all sinners will
face. That's what all sinners will come to the final day. They breathe their last breath.
So this gospel is something that we should all invest time and
thought into. Look into it. So the title of
today's message is Fear Not, and I'll be coming from Romans
8, verse 28. It reads, 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. Today, the message
I'm going to deliver is directed to Christ's sheep, the children
of Christ. This message should be encouraging
to those who believe, know, and love Christ. So this message
should comfort you today. I want to assure you of the promises
of God which you have in Jesus Christ, our Lord. In Isaiah 40,
verses one and two, it says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. We need not fear. We all have
fear in our lives, but what this gospel says is that we should
not fear. Our Lord tells us in Isaiah 41,
10 through 13, fear thou not for I am with thee, Be not dismayed,
for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Don't be afraid of what others
are doing around you. Don't be afraid of what tomorrow
holds. Don't be afraid of the future.
Don't be afraid. Fear not, I am with thee, is
what God tells us. Here on earth, we all get anxious
of the material things of this world. How are we going to pay
for this or get that? Our health issues. And we all
want our own kids to have the best Christmas gifts. I'm guilty
of it myself. I worry about how I can ever
save up enough money to help my kids through college and buy
cars, weddings, all the things of this world. But we don't need
to fear those things. Look in Matthew 6, verses 31
through 34. It says, therefore, take no thought,
saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. For you, heavenly Father, knoweth
that you have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. Don't be anxious about these
things. Paul said in Philippians 4.19, but my God shall supply
all your need according to his riches and glory by Jesus Christ.
That sure is good news. God will supply all your need.
And what does this wretched sinner need? I don't need loads of money. I don't need all these earthly
possessions. When I lay down in that box,
after I breathe my last breath, I will not take anything with
me from this earth. So what do I need? I need a perfect
substitute. I need a righteousness imputed.
That's what I need. Nothing else. And that's what
I have. A perfect, spotless Lamb of God
standing in my place to take care of a sin debt that I can
never get even close to reconciling with God. Listen to what Christ
said in John 10, 27 through 30. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me,
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Do you understand what that means?
Christ said His sheep will hear Him, and He will know them. He will give them eternal life,
and they will never perish. And then He goes on to say that
no one can take them from Him. He says that He and the Father
are one, and no one can take them from the Father. That's
some good and comforting news for the believer. you were being
kept by Christ. It doesn't get any better than
that. In Philippians 1.6, he said, being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. God has never left anything
half done that he started. God has a plan and he will execute
it perfectly and fully. In Matthew 28, 20, Christ said,
lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world. We
don't need to dread dying. If you ask a hundred people what
their biggest, deepest, and innermost fear is, I'll bet you 98 out
of a hundred people would say that they're afraid of dying.
But listen to Psalm 116, verse 15. It says, precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Don't build your
hope on your own faithfulness. We should build our hopes on
God's faithfulness. God is faithful to his promises
and to his word. And God's faithfulness to give
his children eternal life will not fail. God's Word of Malachi
3.6 says, For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. God said he does not change.
That's his promise. His word will not ever change
and he will not change. The gifts of God are without
change. Let's go back to Romans 8.28
again. It says, 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. When our God declared all things
work together for good, he absolutely means all things. That includes
things in time. past, present, and future, before
the world, during the world, after the world, and eternity,
all things, no exceptions. Listen, all things here on earth,
in my life and in my death, work together for my good if I am
one who loves God and who has been called according to his
purpose. It doesn't matter if it's joy or sorrow. It doesn't
matter if it's success or failure, plenty or poverty, sickness or
health, life or death. And that's good news to a sinner
saved by the blood of Christ. There is nothing that takes place
in the life of a believer before he was born, after he was born,
and during his life, or in every life that touches their life
that is not for his eternal good. Listen, there are no accidents
in this life, none. Everything that happens is on
purpose. Every step is designed and purposed
and ordered by God. God is not surprised by anything. Look at Psalms 37, 23 and 24. It says, the steps of a good
man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the
Lord upholdeth him with his hand. In Matthew 10, 30, it says, but the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. God reigns in everything. And
we know that all things is what it says. And listen to this,
it's all things without exception. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. They actively work
together, the bad and the good, Poverty, plenty, success, failure,
sickness, and health. They work together. Most of us
here have children. Some are grown and gone out of
the house. Some not. But listen to this. We discipline our children. We
put certain rules and requirements on them. We think we know them,
and we think we know what's best for them. We do what we think
is best. Here's the difference. God doesn't
think. He knows what's best for His
children. He is infinite, sovereign Father. Romans 8.28 says, and I keep
going back to this, and we know that all things work together
for good. What does the word good mean? When some people think
of good, They're concerned only for the good, the feeling and
the pleasure of the moment, right now. Some people may say they
have a bad headache. Is that good at the time of the
headache? It's not good. But that's not what this is talking
about. He's not talking about the good of the moment or the
good of right now. When a lot of people think about
things working for the good, they automatically think of the
temporal things of this earth. And when I say temporal, I'm
talking about our health, our wealth, jewelry, expensive cars,
big houses, fine clothes, social and political problems we deal
with. But these are temporal things. They will not ever help
us eternally. These are the things of this
world that we will instantly lose upon our death. This is
my plea to you today. Please do not spend a lifetime
chasing these temporal things. They do not last. God the Father,
God the Creator has never promised His children that all things
would work together for our present good and our good temporarily. But I'll tell you what He does
promise. He promises that all things are ordered and purposed
by Him for our spiritual good and our eternal good. God's children
have an eternal life. We will be here on earth for
just a brief moment. And I'll try to put that into
some perspective. Think about this. Our time here
on earth is like a grain of sand on the beach that spreads for
miles and miles. One grain of sand on the beach.
It's like a drop of water in the ocean. Think about that,
one drop of water in the ocean. We are here for just a moment.
These temporary sorrows and tribulations we face in this life are nothing. They are not worthy to even be
compared with the eternal glory that we will spend. So fear not.
I want to be found in Christ. I want to know God and the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to have my sins forgiven.
I want to have eternal life. I want to be the means to share
this gospel. I want to preach the gospel,
share this word. I want to be made like Christ.
That's what I'm talking about. At the end of the day, whatever
God is pleased to bring into my life or your life, then so
be it. Whatever life requires or whatever
it takes to bring me to Christ, then it's absolutely worth it.
Whatever it takes to bring me to glory, it is worth it. Whatever it takes or whatever
God has to do to break me, humble me, bring me to faith, or set
his seal upon me, then so be it. It will all be according
to his purpose. Anything that takes our focus
away from Christ is not good. And whatever brings us to Christ
is good. And here is the key to this.
To whom is that promise given? Let's go back to Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. And here it is. Who is this promise made to?
To them who are called according to His purpose. This promise
is given to those who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. not for those who don't love
God, not to those who weren't called by God. A true believer
loves God. He loves the true and living
God. He loves God the Father. He loves this word and he loves
Christ. The true believer loves the redemption
that Christ provided with his life and his death. Why does
the believer love God? The reason is because God loved
him first. First John 4.10 says, herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us first and
sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. In Psalm 42.1, David said, as
the heart and a heart is a deer. So it says, as the deer panteth
after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. He
was thirsting after the true and living God. These are the
same people that he's talking about, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. What does called according to
his purpose mean? The answer is described in the
next verse, and this is one key to it all. It says, for whom
he foreknew. Listen to this, and this is the
key. We did not choose Christ. He
chose us. Whom he foreknew. He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his son. Almighty God has
decreed, designed, and determined that all whom he chose and all
whom he redeemed will be just like Christ. in whom he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his son, he called one day
by his word and by his spirit. He called us out of darkness
into the light, out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom
of his son. He justified us by his blood. He forgave us of all our sins. He pardoned us and gave us eternal
life. He justified us and made us righteous
by His blood. Whom He justified, He glorified.
Now, what shall we say to these things? Well, I say this, if
God be for us, then who can be against us? And we know that
all things work together for good to them who love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. Isn't that comforting? I sure hope that it's a comforting
message. If you're a true believer that has been washed in his blood,
there is no other message that will do. With Christ being crucified,
there is hope for all who believe. There is no hope without Christ
doing his job. Without Christ completing the
work of redemption and satisfying God the Father, there's no hope. We have hope in Christ. John
20.31 says, But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have
life through his name. Jew or Gentile, bond or free,
old or young, whoever you are or wherever you are, whatever
your sins are, Christ is the Savior of sinners. His death
on the cross is the only way to justify and satisfy a holy
God. First John 5.20 says, and we
know that the Son of God has come and hath given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true and we are in Him that is
true. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God and eternal life. Christ's death is salvation. It should comfort the saved sinner. It is the finishing of the work.
He is the only ultimate savior. He is the only redeemer and the
only suitable substitute. Without Christ, we have no hope. Without Christ, we are all terminally
ill. But fear not. For if Christ died
for you and washed away your sins, you were in good standing
for all of eternity. Christ did the work. He finished
the job. He made the atonement. He made
that final payment. And there is nothing to be afraid
of. Amen.