Can God Really Use "All" Things?
Romans 8:28
Tonight I want to talk about a very familiar verse of Scripture, and that makes me nervous. Why? Because we may easily just write it off and say that we already know about this and so let's just work on next week's to-do list while the preacher rambles on. Sometimes we approach a verse like this and we feel that there really isn't much more to learn, but I believe that is a great fallacy. There are many things we have forgotten which Paul teaches the Roman church out of this great verse.
But I want to remind you of what we have addressed up to verse 28 that hopefully will open our eyes to some wonderful lessons. In this chapter we have learned that there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Thank God for that. That's an incredible point for us to hold on to. We have also learned that for those in Christ, there is a great promise of eternal security and it is evident by the presence of God's Spirit in a believer's life. And by the way, just another verse that comes to mind regarding eternal security is found in the Great Commission, Matthew's Gospel, "And lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." Jesus said, "always". Do you see an exception clause in there? Well, Paul affirms the fact that when a person trusts Christ as Savior, there is a change and a mark. And because of God's working in our lives, we are debtors. I'm a grateful debtor! And then Paul moves to talk about suffering and we addressed that last Sunday. And a great help in our time of suffering is God's Spirit who intercedes on our behalf to the Father.
After these great promises of Scripture, then Paul writes,
Romans 8:28
8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.
J. Vernon McGee translates it this way, "But we know (with divine knowledge) that for those who love God, all things are working together for good, even to them who are called-ones according to His purpose."1 Dr. R.A. Torrey, a man that suffered much abuse and was misunderstood in his life as pastor, said that this verse was a "soft pillow for a tired heart. Many of us have pillowed our heads on Romans 8:28. We know the whole creation is groaning, but we also know something else: all things are working together for good-even the groanings."2
I want you to see some key points,
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Conviction - we know
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Conviction can never be based on conjecture, but on certainties. That is, if all you have as a belief is something that you have guessed about, it will never be a deep conviction. But when you can say, "I know," that's a place where conviction will dwell. Paul is sharing a conviction here. He says, "We know." That phrase is used five times in Romans, and "know" is used thirteen times. It refers to that which is the common knowledge of the Christian, that is, that which the Holy Spirit makes real."3 So, does that mean that we have everything figured out, it's like first grade math? No. It means to know intuitively - regardless of whether or not we may fully understand or sense something experientially - we are sure of something.
Let me give you an example. We can go outside and we can look at some power lines. As you look at those power lines, you may think that there is nothing major about them, that there is no electricity going through those wires. I have a suggestion for you if you're ready to meet Jesus if you really want to remove all doubt that electricity is flowing through those wires. Climb up the pole and then touch one of those top wires. Then you'll be with Jesus.
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If someone were to ask you how you know that God truly can work all things together for good, what would you say? Let me give you a couple of examples. Joseph. I'm reading through the Bible this year, and on Friday, I read these words from Joseph to his brothers, "You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good."
Now folks, I want to tell you that Joseph lived in some more family! They defined sibling rivalry! He was talking specifically about how they mistreated Joseph, and sold him into slavery because they hated him. Any way you look at that, it wasn't good! Yet, Joseph had a deep conviction - what they meant for evil, God meant for good.
Another example is Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church. Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 4:15), "For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God." That seems like a pretty easy verse until you understand that a good portion of the "all things" that Paul was talking about was that their lives were threatened, and death even looked very ominous to them on more than one occasion. Having understood that point, this verse has a new understanding.
But let's come back to the year, 2008, to you and me, to Maysville Baptist Church. Can we say with deep conviction that God really can work all things together for good?
Has anyone ever had a bad day? Did you see God use it for good?
Has anyone ever had a broken heart? Did you see God use it for good?
Has anyone ever had a financial crisis? Did you see God use it for good?
Has anyone ever had a dream fulfilled? Did you see God use it for good?
Has anyone ever experienced a tragedy? Did you see God use it for good?
Has anyone ever struggled with breaking free from a habit? Did you see God use it for good?
I understand that I've leaned more towards the bad things of life than the good things of life because I think it's pretty easy for us to see how God can use good things for our good. But it's those gut shots, those broken pieces, shattered dreams that cause us to struggle.
But let me ask you this question, committed believer - you say you have taken up your cross as Jesus commanded, did you see God use it for good? I don't know about you, but to carry a cross may seem anything but a good outcome.
We see conviction, but I want you to see another key point,
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Construction - work together
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Remember the project Manager - God. I'm so glad that we have a God that is extremely personal and cares deeply about every part and every moment of our lives! David reminds us (Psalm 139:16), "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." Those that hold to the belief that God just got the world started and then left us to our own have completely missed it! The construction manager is God. But also,
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Remember that God wants to use every part of your life to work together a good outcome. And He is intentional in His doings. They work together. Again, it's not chance. "Our lives are not controlled by impersonal forces such as chance, luck, or fate, but by our wonderful, personal Lord, who is "too loving to be unkind and too wise to err."4
I mentioned Joseph a few moments ago. Anywhere from age 17 to age 30 or more, he could have really developed a bitter spirit and had it out for God. Besides, "why would God give me a dream like He did, and then the next 13 years of my life are one bit of unfair treatment after another?" You remember the story don't you? He has a dream that his brothers and father will one day bow down to him. The family gets upset with him; the brothers sell him off in slavery; and then he winds up in Potiphar's house. But remember a key point that Joseph reacted correctly to wrong actions. God was with Joseph in Potiphar's house. Potiphar's wife frames Joseph by accusing him of raping her when she wanted him! He refused knowing that he would sin, not against his master, but against His God. Joseph goes to prison, but again, the Lord was with him. Two men have a dream and he rightly interprets both. He tells the cup bearer to remember him as he goes back to serve Potiphar, but again an unfair thing happened - he forgot. Two more years pass before Pharaoh has a dream and the cupbearer remembers Joseph. To this point, it has been 13 years of utter mistreatment - yet Joseph has not turned his back on God. He interprets Pharaoh's dream and is placed as number two in the kingdom.
Church Family I want you to understand something that Joseph would realize as well. Though the path that Joseph took was anything but easy, God had a plan in all of it. How could he have ever wound up before Pharaoh if he had not had access to one close to him - like the cupbearer? How could he have had access to one close to Pharaoh if he would have never had access to the cupbearer in prison? And how could he have gotten to the royal prison had he not served a very influential man like Potiphar? God used all of these events to prepare Joseph to preserve not just the Egyptians, but Israel. Do you think Joseph would have tried to change anything if he saw the whole picture as a teenager? You and I know very well he would have - just as we would have attempted to do the same. Why? We want convenience, not commitment!
It's amazing how much we pay for convenience and we've convinced ourselves that convenience is absolutely necessary. A.W. Tozer had this to say, "What must our Lord think of us if His work and His witness depend upon the convenience of His people? The truth is that every advance that we make for God and for His cause must be made at our inconvenience. If it does not inconvenience us at all, there is no cross in it! If we have been able to reduce spirituality to a smooth pattern and it costs us nothing - no disturbance, no bother and no element of sacrifice in it - we are not getting anywhere with God. We have stopped and pitched our tent halfway between the swamp and the peak. We are mediocre Christians!" Was the cross of Christ convenient? Why should we be so set on convenience?
Why does God take such care? Why is He continually working as the present tense tells us? Because "whatever God permits to come into our lives is designed to conform us to the image of His Son. When we see this, it takes the question mark out of our prayers."5
God wants to use and will use all things - "good and bad; bright and dark; sweet and bitter; easy and hard; happy and sad; prosperity and poverty; health and sickness; calm and storm; comfort and suffering; life and death."6
Job could agree with Joseph even in the midst of great tragedy. He said (Job 13:15), "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him … "
There are some that are going through some rough and tough times. Some are facing health struggles, either with yourself or with a family member. The Bagwell's come to mind. Daniel Moore, Sally Moore's son comes to mind. Jackie Whitfield faces the daily reminder of cancer. Others are facing job struggles. And I've mentioned you before. I talked with a lady this week that lost her job and is looking for another one. One and on we could go with the struggles but some of you just can't seem to think or understand that God is using and will use what you are going through for a good that you just can't believe. There's something you need to understand, something you need to be prepared for - and the only way is through the struggle even as it was with Joseph. Do you want to know something? You're a construction sight - and God is doing a great work!
But there's something else we need to understand. There is a,
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Condition - to those who love Him…
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We greatly long to see the good that God wants to bring, but there's a condition,
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Those who love God. But how is it that we love Him? He first loved us. That's what John tells us. But I want you to understand something about this love relationship with God. It will impact and affect other relationships. In fact, "you are going to have trouble believing that God loves you, and you will have difficulty loving God, if you are hating other Christians."7
If you look behind you and see a myriad of broken and strained relationships, then you probably have a hard time loving God or accepting His love for you. This great verse is conditional - to those who love God.
Paul also states,
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Those who are called according to His purpose. Did you see that? God is the One that does the calling. God is the One that gives the purpose. We spend so much of our lives trying to make a name for ourselves when God has given us a calling. And we spend so much time and resources trying to make our own purpose - that's usually lucrative - when God says that He has a purpose for our lives. I want to tell you again that you will never be more content in life than when you are enjoying that call and living according to His purpose. Why? That's why God made you! That's what God made you for!
But I want you to see the greatest purpose for your life and this is what Paul addresses - a relationship with Christ. That's THE condition to having a conviction that is deep and knows that God is constructing our lives to bring glory to Him.
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What is the condition of your soul? Can you say with absolute assurance that not only have you been called, but that you also accepted that call?
Can you say, even in the midst of the storms of life that it is well with your soul?