Romans chapter 8, verse 28, and we know, and we
know that all things, that's a pretty wide promise, isn't
it? All things, all things in heaven, all things in earth,
all things work together for good. To them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. Now of all the
exceeding great and precious promises found in the written
word and the inspired word of God, perhaps this is one of the
sweetest consolation given to the believer that gives us peace
and rest and hope of all salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It
causes us to know that our salvation is totally, completely, and only
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's of Him, through Him, and
salvation is certainly in Him. He hath the Son, hath light,
life and light. Every believer knows that God
is God. And we know that all things work
together for good. Every believer knows that we
are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Every believer
knows that the salvation we enjoy is by the grace of God alone. Saving faith is not ignorant.
God teaches us the gospel. All those who have heard and
learned of the Father come to Christ, and we know that we are
redeemed by His blood. We know that we are justified
by His grace. Every believer knows that God
is God. He is God from everlasting to
everlasting. Thou art the eternal God. Every believer knows that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only just God and Savior. And every believer knows that
Almighty God, the Sovereign of heaven and earth, is working
all things according to His eternal purpose. There is nothing in
this world, in this life, in our life or anybody else's life,
that is not working according to the eternal purpose of God. He does according to His will
in the army of heaven, And among the inhabitants of this earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, Lord God Almighty,
what doest thou? Daniel nine, Daniel four, verse
35 and verse 34. It says in Psalm 135, that he
worketh all things. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven, earth, sea and all deep places. And
he's working all things after the counsel of his own eternal
will and purpose. God is not a beggar. God is not
a beggar. Sadly, most of the preaching
that we hear on radio and TV today has reduced God to a beggar.
He wants to, but you won't let Him. He's trying to, but you
get in His way. That's not the God of Scripture.
The God of Scripture is almighty, all-powerful, and He's working
everything according to His eternal will and purpose. There is nothing
that comes to pass in the believer's life that was not purposed, planned
from eternity, brought to pass in time according to His eternal
purpose. Now we can't overemphasize this
fact. All things are working together
for the eternal good of God's elect to the glory of our God. Everything, every trial comes
from the hand of our Father. Every sickness, David said, Lord,
in your faithfulness you have afflicted me. Every heartache,
every sorrow, every trial, all things come from the hand of
our Heavenly Father, whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. Now, we read recently in Romans
11.36, of him and through him and to him are all things to
whom be glory both now and forever. And I often think of this scripture
when we talk about all things working together for good to
them who love God. The apostle who knew a lot about
affliction and trial, he says, our light affliction which is
but for a moment worketh for us, not against us. worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." The Apostle
again writes, for I reckon that the suffering of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. All things therefore are working
together for good, but not for everyone. This verse
here has a qualifier. We know that all things work
together for good. Now, oftentimes you hear people
quoting this scripture at a funeral home or at the hospital, and
they quote just part of this verse. Well, we know all things
work together for good. What's the rest of the verse?
All things work together for good to them that love God. Now, if you're not a believer,
everything is working against you. Everything is against you. God's against you, the law's
against you, sin is against you, everything, the wrath of God's
upon you. You see, not everyone can claim
this precious promise. All things are only working together
for good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Now, this promise of grace and
salvation is only given to those who love God. Now, those who
love God do so only because He first loved us. The only reason
we love God is because He first loved us. Men by nature, what
do they love? They love darkness, not light.
Men by nature, as we studied in Romans 8-7, men by nature,
the carnal mind is enmity against God. Remember I told you that
word enmity is deep-rooted, deep-seated, deeply ingrained enmity, hatred
against God. So not everyone loves God, therefore
everyone cannot claim this promise. Those who do love Him are made
objects of His mercy, objects of His grace from all eternity. For God has loved His people
with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness He does
draw us unto Himself. He does all the calling. He does
all the drawing. You see, our love for Him is
the fruit of the Spirit. Remember? Love, joy, peace. The carnal mind receiveth not
things of the Spirit of God. This promise is given, this promise
of God who cannot lie, who cannot change. We know that all things
are working together for the eternal good of them and the
eternal glory of God to them that love God as He is revealed
in the Word of the Lord. We love God as He is revealed. as the eternal God, as the unchanging
God, as the holy God. We love His sovereignty. We love
everything about His attributes and His character. We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God. And
then the second part of this, because they are loved of God
from all eternity, they are called. They are called. According, I
love that word according. They're called not according
to our faith. They're called but not according
to our repentance. We're called by God's purpose,
according to God's purpose. Someday I'm going to put an outline
together using this word according. According. He has chosen us according
as He has blessed us in Christ. To them who are called according
to His purpose. Now every sinner that is saved
is not by accident. God doesn't save sinners by accident.
God saves sinners by purpose. Purpose. He wisely saves every
sinner whom He justifies by His purpose, and His purpose is an
eternal purpose. And those who He calls according
to His eternal purpose, He calls them with the irresistible call
of the gospel, the effectual call of the gospel, the invincible
call of the gospel. It's the call of God. It's God
who saved us and called us. Now this is not the mere invitation. This is the command of God. God Almighty doesn't merely invite
His people to believe Him. God, who is God, as He's revealed
in the Scripture, commands men to bow and believe the Gospel. And to those to whom that effectual
call goes, they do believe the Gospel. Now the old timers talk
about a general call, a general call of the gospel. They talk
about the call of conscience and the call of the law. But
none of those things are the effectual call of God with the
gospel in the hands of God the Holy Spirit that produces an
effectual call to your heart. His sheep do hear His voice,
He knows them, and they do follow Him. Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ, he's born of God. He's begotten of God. That's why we call the gospel
of God as the power of God in the salvation. And the power
of the gospel is not within the sinner to make an act or by an
act of his will to make the gospel effectual. The gospel is the
gospel of God that always gets the job done. It's a successful,
you have He quickened who were dead. Now, in the next two verses,
verse 29 and verse 30 of Romans 8, He gives us the description
of those for whom He has loved and those for whom He has called.
Verse 29, for whom He did foreknow. Now that word can also be rendered
foreordained. Foreordained. He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. The Lord our God, in His eternal
wisdom, determined to choose according to his foreordination. And that word foreknow also means
that he has loved his people with an everlasting love and
predestinated or determined to make a people just like Christ. Whenever you read this word predestination,
it's found twice in the book of Romans and twice in Ephesians
chapter 1. And every time it has a reference
to God making a people whom he has chosen in that eternal covenant
of grace, we call that eternal election. And God has determined
to make those people just like Christ. Now, it is not a biblical
and scriptural thing of saying God predestinated. That's why
when people say, well, do you believe in predestination? It's
always a good thing to never say yes when someone asks you
that because oftentimes what they think or what they've heard
about predestination is totally wrong. A lot of people have the
idea that God predestinated some to hell and God predestinated
some to heaven. The old timers called that double
predestination. Now the scriptures do not teach
that. Does not teach that. What sins mend eternal condemnation? What is it? S-I-N. It's sin. Our sin has condemned
us. So, whenever we read about predestination,
this is God, this is what the Scriptures teach. We are predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. So, if anybody ever
asks you if you believe in predestination, say, well, I believe in Biblical
predestination. I believe what the Bible teaches
about predestination because This blessed truth has been given
a bad rap by the enemies of the gospel. They want to demonize
this blessed, blessed truth and say, well, God's predestinated
some to hell. That's not so. That's not what
this verse says, does it? He's predestinated His people
to be conformed to the image of Christ. That's what He's teaching
here. His elect are predestined for
ordained to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you
hold your place there and let's find Ephesians chapter 1 verse
3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He has
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. There again, it's talking about
God choosing a people, that's eternal election. And then, by
His sovereign pleasure and goodwill, He is determined to make those
people, predetermined to make those people just like the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, every believer wants to
be just like Christ. I've always said over the years
for a man to say, call himself a believer and say, well, I don't
believe in predestination. Now, hold on a minute. Wait a
minute. If you believe God, you do. If
you believe the Scriptures, you do. Now, look at verse 29 again. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of the Son, that
to this end. that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren." Now, we must know and understand that
the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the elect, right? If you look up the word elect
as it's used in Scripture, Isaiah 42.1, the first time it's used
in Scripture, the word elect is found in Isaiah 42.1. where
it says, Behold my servant, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. Well, who's he talking about?
The Lord Jesus Christ. You see, He is the elect. We
are elected in Him. We are chosen in Him. The old
songwriter said, God, Christ be my first elect, and we are
chosen in Him. And that's so. All that the Father
giveth to me shall come to me, and those that come to me I will
in no wise cast out. You see, we are predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ, that He might be the
firstborn Lord and King of many brethren. Now, how many people
were given to the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal covenant
of grace? How many? Well, a definite number,
that is for sure, but the Word describes describes them out
of every kindred, tribe, nation, tongue under heaven, ten thousand
times, ten thousands and thousands and thousands. That's a whole
lot of people. The Lord knows every one of His
elect by name. He is intimately acquainted with
every one of them. They were given to Him in that
covenant of grace, and in time He calls them out of darkness
into His marvelous light with the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, I've said this for years
and I'm never going to change it by His grace. The Lord our
God does not use the lies of men to teach His people the truth. You can't learn the truth by
listening to lies. God wants to and can't. God's
tried to and failed. God loves all men everywhere.
Christ died for all men. God's trying to save all men.
I just lied to you three times. But that's what goes in this
day for gospel preaching. Well, God loves everybody. That's
not so. We're gonna see that in Romans
chapter nine. Jacob hath loved, Esau hath hated.
And they say, well, Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, he died for
everybody. Well, that's not so either. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. There are some for whom he did not die. Those
who are in hell right now, did the Lord Jesus Christ die for
them? Well, if He did, He failed to put away their sins. You see
the implications there? So the Lord Jesus Christ is a
Savior that saved His people from their sin. And my soul,
God is not trying to do anything. God's trying to save you, but
you won't let Him. Now, I'm making fun of this religious world,
and it needs to be made fun of. Didn't Elijah do the same thing
on Mars Hill? when those prophets from morning
to noon cried after Baal and jumped up and down and cut themselves
with lances and the blood gushed out. Elijah said, well, you know,
why don't you call a little bit louder? Maybe your God's sleeping. Well, why don't you call a little
bit louder? Maybe he's on vacation. He can't hear you. Elijah made
fun of him. Elijah, the prophet of God, the
man of God. This religious world needs to
be exposed for what it is, false, full of lies, the lies of men. The election of grace. Now watch this. The election
of grace is according to God's foreknowledge. Now I'm going
to show you something here. And you need to turn and read this
with me. And you find 1 Peter chapter
1. Whenever you start talking to
people about election, I remember one of the first times
I read about this blessed truth of God, the Bible Doctrine of
Election. I was in a bookstore, a religious
bookstore, and picked up a little tiny book by a man by the name
of Claude Deval Cole, C.D. Cole. And the title of the book
was The Bible Doctrine of Election. I had never heard of the term
of Calvinism or Arminianism. all these different isms. But
this man, C.D. Cole, the preacher who lived
in Lexington, Kentucky way back in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, but
he wrote a very, very good book on the Bible doctrine of election.
And I bought that book, 50 cents, 50 cent book, took it home and
read it, and the Lord turned on the light.
The Lord, that man went scripture after scripture after scripture,
and I said, that's what this book teaches. God chose a people. Well, immediately I got on the
phone and called all my religious friends and told them about this
new revelation I had. They thought I was crazy. They
thought I had lost my mind. But now, watch this carefully.
Find 1 Peter 1. Did I tell you to turn there?
1 Peter 1. Now whenever you start talking
about election, a lot of people want to minimize the power and
the effect of God's sovereign choice of choosing a people unto
salvation. Now look at verse 1. Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Bithynia, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedient and the sprinkling of blood of Jesus
Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Elect according
to God's foreknowledge. Now what does that mean? Well
I'll tell you what it means. It means that God's election
is according to His foreordination. His predestination, His predestinating
purpose. But now watch this carefully.
A lot of people, when you talk about God's sovereign electing
grace, they want to use that very scripture, and they will
say that election is according to foreknowledge. Oh, really? And here's the way they spin
it. And now you need to be aware of this, because this is the
trickeries of false religion. They'll spin it this way. Well,
God looked down through the telescope of time, and he saw that person
who would believe the gospel, and then he elected them unto
salvation. Ooh, that sounds pretty clever,
doesn't it? It's a lie. God's electing love is not based
upon seeing the creature doing anything. In that scheme of things,
who gets the glory? Pat myself right on the back.
See, that word there in 1 Peter is essentially the same word
that we read about here in Romans 8, 29 for no, for ordained. Now, these aren't deep things. These are the things that we
know. These are the things that God teaches us when He saves
us by His grace. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn, the firstborn among many brethren,
the Lord Jesus Christ, died and rose and revived that he might
be Lord to the dead and the living. And he's not Lord by something
we do. He is the firstborn. And that
word there can rightly be rendered as it is in Colossians chapter
1. He's the Lord of all things. He's the Lord among many brethren. He is our Lord. Now, another
thing that goes on in religious circles is this thing of make
Jesus your Lord. And my soul, who do you think
you are? Make Jesus your Lord? He's your Lord by God's decree. His eternal decree. You remember what Peter said
on Pentecost? God had made that same Jesus
whom you crucified. God had made Him both Lord and
Christ. We don't make Him Lord. We bow
to His Lordship. We submit to His Lordship. He
is the elect, we're chosen in Him. He is the husband, we are
His bride. He is the head, we are His body.
Christ is the surety and Savior. We are His purchased people.
Now, look at verse 30. I love this word, moreover. We're going to dig a little deeper.
Moreover, whom He did predestinate. Now, who are the whom? Those
he loves, those he's called. Moreover, whom he did predestinate. Now, who does the choosing? Who
does the saving? Who does all things in salvation? Our
God, who is God. For whom he did foreknow. Them,
them is a key word. them he called, now he calls
not with the call of creation, the heavens declare the glory
of God, not the call of conscience, the law of God written on our
heart bearing as witness in our conscience, this is not the call
of creation or the call of conscience or the call of the law, this
is that irresistible effectual call of God with the truth of
God by the hand and the power of God the Holy Spirit that makes
us new creatures in Christ. Now watch it. Them he also called,
and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified,
them he also glorified. Now every one of those that I
just read are past tense. They're called. Those who are
called are justified. Those who are justified are glorified.
That is, in the mind and purpose of God, and the decree of God,
which is from all eternity, God decreed the end from the beginning. Right? He's the Alpha. He's the
Omega. God has determined, called, justified,
decreed, and glorified His people whom He chose in that eternal
covenant of grace. Now some wise-ache or smart-aleck,
some religious lost person might say, well, that's not fair. I thought every sinner had a
chance. And that often is the argument,
right? For my friend, salvation is not
by chance, it's by grace. God saves every sinner whom he
wisely saves on purpose by his eternal powerful grace in the
Lord Jesus Christ. But here's what a believer says,
what shall we say then to these things? Now a lot of people say
ugly things about these things. Not God's people. God's people
say if Christ be for us, If Christ is before us, who can be against
us? Who can be against us? Those
He did predestinate, He called. Our election is known by our
calling. Those He called, He justified. How did He justify His people?
Romans 5, 9. Justified by His blood. Justified
by His grace. Those He justified, He glorified. God's people are
already glorified. Now in time we experience the
things of calling and being justified. And one day we'll experience
actually being justified with Christ. But right now in our
head and our husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He entered
into glory as a forerunner and sat down, where are you now? In Him. What's true of the head
is true of the body. Where He is, that's where we
are now, in Him. Seated together already in the
heavenlies, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6. Now, what shall we
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us in eternal election,
eternal grace, eternal salvation, well, who can be against us?
Not the law, it's been honored. Not Satan, he's been defeated
and destroyed, not our sin. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. Now, we'll pick up next week
with verse 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justify.