I did choose the Lord Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I'm going to be speaking from
the eighth chapter of Romans, the 28th verse. It's the verse
where Paul 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. What I'd like to do for the next
six Sundays is preach from Romans 8, verses 28 through 39. If I don't die before then, or
if the Lord doesn't come back before then, we're going to look
at these so very important verses from the Word of God. Somebody
once said this passage of Scripture in Romans 8 is the same to the
New Testament that Isaiah 53 is to the Old Testament. But
we're just going to consider the 28th verse this morning,
where Paul 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. I want to introduce this message
with five questions. Number one, is this statement
that Paul makes optimism or the promise of God? I've heard people say, well,
I believe there's a reason for everything and all things work
together for good. People quote that half the time,
quite often. I believe there's a reason for
everything. I just think everything's going to work out. What I want
to ask, is this an irrevocable promise of God or is this vague
optimism when Paul says, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose? And the second question is, is
this promise for everybody? Can every son of Adam take this
promise to themselves and know that all things are working together
for their good? The answer is no. The only ones
who can take this promise to themselves are those who actually
love the living God, to those who are called according to His
purpose. They're identified as in verses
29 and 30 as those he did foreknow, for whom he did foreknow. He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, then he also called. And whom he called,
then he also justified. And whom he justified, then he
also glorified. That is who this promise is for,
those God has foreknown, those God has predestinated to be just
like Christ. Now here's my third question.
Do I have any problem with this? The fact that this promise is
not for everybody, but only for God's elect, only for those who
believe. Do I have any problem with this?
Do I think, well, that's not fair for God to do something
for one that he doesn't do for the other? Now, if that is my
response, what I prove by that is I don't really have any understanding
of sin or the fact that I'm a sinner or the fact that God is holy
and just and whatever he does is right. No, I should not have
any problem with that at all. Now here's the fourth question.
The first question was, is this Vague optimism or a promise of
God? The second question, is this
for everybody or for just the elect? The third question is,
do I have any problem with it being just for those that are
the call of God, those who are the call according to His purpose?
And the fourth statement is, if this is true, and it is, what
does this say about our God? It says that He is in absolute
control of everything and everybody. He is the first cause of everything. Everything that happens is His
will being done. He controls all events. In Amos 3, verse 6, we read,
"...shall there be evil in the city, and hath not the Lord done
it?" He controls all of nature. I love the way the disciples
said, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea
do obey him? He controls the animal world.
Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly Father.
He controls the demonic world. Why, when the demons went before
they could go to the pigs, they had to ask him permission to
leave, suffer us to go into the herd of swine, and Jesus gave
them leave. He controls nations and governments. Daniel 4.35 says he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What
doest thou? He controls all individuals. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will, and he controls all of the free,
uncoerced actions of men. A man's heart diviseth his way,
the wise man said, but the Lord directeth his steps. Everything
is under His control. He even controls the sinful acts
of men. The Scripture says, Now, God
has an end. and a design in all that he does. 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, what should our response
to this be? Number one, worship. You'll only
worship a sovereign God, one that you cannot control or manipulate,
one who has complete control of everything and everybody.
You won't worship unless you worship a sovereign God. And
what confidence and courage this ought to give every believer. All things work together for
good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose." Now, Paul begins
this verse with these words, and we know. Well, who's the
we? Is Paul talking about some select
group? No, he's acting as the spokesman
for every believer. Every believer knows this. And
we know. You see, a Christian is someone
who knows something that the rest of the world does not know. They've had truth revealed to
them. That's why they know it. 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, how do you know, Paul? Well, we know, number
one, because this is revelation. God has revealed this in His
Word. If we didn't have this in the
Bible, we couldn't know it, but He's revealed this in His Word,
and He's revealed it into us by His Spirit so we can hear
what is being said. That's the first reason. And
the second reason we know this is it fits the character of God
Almighty. He's all-wise. He's all-knowing. He is sovereign. How could it
be any other way? Oh, what a promise given by God
Himself that all things work together for good to them that
love God to them who are the called according to His purpose."
Now, we're given a twofold description of the people for whom all things
are working together for their good. First, them that love God. And second, them that are the
called according to His purpose. First, all things work together
for good to them that love God. They love the God of the Bible. Now, most people will say they
love God. I've met very few people who
say, I have no love for God. Most people will say they love
God, but the God they love is not the same God that's revealed
in this book. The God of this book is holy. The God of this
book is absolutely sovereign in control of everything. We love this God. We love the
God of predestination. We love the God of election.
We love the God of grace. We love the God of absolute justice. We love the God who is immutable,
who never changes. We love the God who's independent,
has no needs. He says, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you about it. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. We love God as he's revealed
in his word. We love every attribute of God. We love his wisdom. God only
wise. We love. His way of saving by
grace. We love God. We love his word.
We love his people. We love him as he is. And if
it were in our power, we wouldn't change him if we could. We love
God. Now, those people who love God
are the ones who are the called. according to His purpose." Now,
this promise of all things working together for good is not a reward
to them for their love to God. Why, the very love they have
to God is the result of them being the called according to
His purpose. Look at verses 29 and 30. For
whom he did foreknow, whom he did love before is what that
means. Adam knew his wife Eve. What about when the Lord said,
depart from me, I never knew you. God said to Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. This is talking about an
intimate relationship. who he foreknew. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren." Now there's God's purpose. God is a God of
purpose. He said, I have spoken it, I
will also do it. I have purposed it, I will also
bring it to pass. We read in Ephesians chapter
1 beginning in verse 9. having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he
purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him,
in whom also we have obtained inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will." Listen to this scripture speaking
of election for the children. being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth."
II Timothy 1.9 says, He saved us and He called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace which were given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began." God has a purpose. There was a woman that heard
her pastor speak on election. out of Ephesians 1, verse 4,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him. And she said, I'm just having a hard time understanding this
thing of election. And her pastor said, well, see
if this helps you. He said, do you believe you're
saved? And she said, yes, I do believe
I'm saved. Well, did you save yourself or
did God save you? She said, oh, God saved me. He
then replied, well, did he do it all or did you help? And she
said, oh, he did it all. And then he asked this question,
was it an accident or did he do it on purpose? And she said,
oh, I see. God is a God of purpose. And his purpose is to glorify
his son in the salvation of sinners and have a bunch more that are
just like Him. That is the purpose of the living
God. So we see this promise, all things
work together for good, is to them who love God and to them
who are the called according to His purpose. Now let's consider
this promise. All things. That covers everything,
doesn't it? All things, not most things,
but all things. Big things, little things, exhilarating
things, mundane things. Failure, tragedy, sickness, sorrow,
suffering, heartache, heartbreak, all things. along with the many
good and joyous things we experience in life. All things. And that means all things. Work together. God at work bringing
his purpose to pass. There are no accidents. God never
responds to anything. There's no such thing as good
luck. There's no such thing as bad luck. All things. I love this. All things. I'm
so thankful for this promise. I would go crazy if I didn't
really believe this. All things. Work together. Not separately. God is orchestrating
it all. I love what the songwriter said,
ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds you so much
dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your
head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. There's nothing bad. It's all
good. Even the bad things, or what
we would call the bad things, are good, for our good and for
His glory and to bring us to His designed end. Now I would like to read from
a passage in the Old Testament, the book of Ecclesiastes, There
was a group one time that actually wrote a song about this passage
of scripture, and it begins in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse
1. This is a commentary on Romans
chapter 8, verse 28, how that all things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. The wise man said in verse 1
of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 to everything, There is a season
and a time to every purpose under heaven. Everything that happens
is an it came to pass. How many times you read that
in the Bible? And it came to pass and it came to pass and
it came to pass. Well, it came to pass because God purposed
it. And if God purposed it, it will come to pass. And there's
a reason for everything God has a purpose and a design in all
that he does. What happens tomorrow, he determined
yesterday. God is not a time traveler. He
never responds. He never looks through the telescope
of time and sees what someone's going to do and then responds
to that. No, he purposes everything. Verse two, there's a time to
be born. When you were born, it was ordained
by God. And if you're born again, if
you're born from above, if you're given the new birth, there was
a time of love when he determined it would take place. There's
a time to be born, and there's a time to die. Your time of death
is already fixed. There's nothing you can do to
prolong your life. Now, I suggest that we do all
we can to take care of ourselves and live healthy lives, but anything
we do is not gonna add one moment to our life. There's a time already
determined for you to die. And there was a time for Christ
to die. It was God's time for him to
die and put away the sins of all who believe. He says there's
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted,
which means there's a time to sow and there's a time to reap,
both materially in this life and spiritually, sowing and reaping. He says in verse 3, there's a
time to kill and a time to There's a time when killing is the right
thing to do, and there's a time when healing is the right thing. And oh, you think of the healing
that comes as a result of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
By His stripes, you are healed. All sin put away. He says there's
a time to break down and there's a time to build up. There's a
time to break down walls, walls of prejudice, walls of false
notions in religion. There's a time to break down.
It just needs to be done away with. And there's also a time
to build up. Not to tear down people, but to build them up.
Not to criticize them, but to comfort them and build them up.
There's a time to build up. This is all a part of God's providence.
This is all a part of God's purpose. Verse 4, there's a time to weep.
And there's a time to laugh. There's a time, weeping, you
lose somebody dear to you, of course you'll weep. Things happen
that'll make us cry. There's a time to weep. It's
all part of God's providence. But there's also a time to laugh
for joy. Laugh because something's funny.
It's all a part of God's providence. He controls everything. There's
a time to mourn, and there's a time to dance. There's a time
to mourn over your sin. David said, my sin is ever before
me. And there's a time to dance for
joy in your heart at the goodness of God, at the freeness of his
salvation, of the completeness of his salvation, of the excellency
and the glory of Jesus Christ. And knowing him to know that
all things work together for good is a time to dance for joy
in your heart. There's a verse five. There's
a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones. There
is a time to remove obstacles and there's a time to gather
them together to build things up and build things in unity
and harmony. He says there's a time to embrace
and a time to refrain from embracing. And there is a time to embrace
and receive and bring in. And there are also times in God's
providence to refrain from embracing. Verse six, there's a time to
get and a time to lose. There's a time to cherish and
hold on to and cherish the memory. And there's times that we much
better off just forget them. Forget hurt feelings and past
injustices and feeling that you've been wronged. Just forget about
it. Remember that all things work together for good, to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
If you're bearing a grudge against anyone, if you bear ill will,
stop it by the grace of God, because it's God's purpose. Whatever happened to you was
all according to His sovereign will. There's a Time to keep
and a time to cast away, just get rid of it. A time to rend
and tear up and a time to sow and mend. There's a time to keep
silence whenever God is speaking. We ought to be keeping silence.
Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. I want to hear what God says. And there's a time to keep silence. I heard a preacher once say this,
and I thought it was so wise. He said, never lose an opportunity
to shut up. And that's good advice. There's
a time to keep silence, and there's a time to speak when someone
needs to hear the gospel, when someone needs to hear the truth.
There's a time of love, verse 8. How many times there are for
that? And there's a time to hate. Ye
that love the Lord hate evil. There's a time of war and a time
of peace. There's a true warfare the believers
called on to battle, but there's also the joy and the peace of
believing. Now the wise man asked this question,
what profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?
You know, we're going through life with all these things beside
each other, and it causes us to see the vanity of everything.
Verse 10, I've seen the travail which God hath given to the sons
of men to be exercised therewith. You know, we just don't get it.
We see all these things happen. We can't see the big picture,
but God does, and we're to trust Him for it. Look in verse 11.
He hath made everything beautiful in His time. There's Romans 8,
28, all things working together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. He has made everything
beautiful in his time. Also, he has set the world in
their hearts so that no man can find out the work that God maketh
from the beginning to the end. We really don't get it. We can't
figure this out. God knows, and that's enough
for us to rest in. The wise man says, I know that
there's no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and to do
good in his life, I want to enjoy life, don't you? and also that
every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his
labor. It's the gift of God. Now, I know, he says, I love
this verse, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it. Nothing
can be added to it. Nothing can be taken from it.
And God doeth it that men should fear before him. What I thought
of when I thought of this verse is what our Lord said. This is
what the Lord said. He said, it is finished. My salvation was accomplished. There's nothing that can be added
to it. There's nothing that can be taken from it. Whatsoever
God does, and Jesus Christ is God, what He did is what God
has done. He kept the law. He put away
my sin. He was raised from the dead.
His work is perfect. It can't be added to. It can't
be taken from. Verse 15, He says, That which
hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been. And God requireth that which
is past. Now, you can't get away from
your past. And God requires that which is past. Now, somebody
may be thinking, where is there good news there if I can't get
away from my past? Here's the good news. If you're
a believer, God has given you a new history. Your past is all
good. It's all obedience. It's all
perfect because your past is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. His very righteousness becomes
your history if you're a believer. God requires that which is past.
Have you ever thought, oh, I'm afraid that you thought about
something you've done in the past and you thought, what if
God brings that up on judgment day? What if that's brought up?
Listen to me. If you're outside of Christ,
everything you've ever done, thought, and all the things you
don't even know about, it's all going to be brought up and you'll
be condemned. God is just, he always pays his
debts. But if you're in Christ, your past is gonna be brought
up, and it's all good. You see, you've been given a
new history. And that's because, and we know,
that all things work together for good, to them that love God,
to them who are thee called according to his purpose. Now we have this
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