All Things for Good - Romans 8:28-30

Alright, my goal today is just kind of do something that I think would be of an encouragement to you. From the Word of God. I tried to do that last week by talking about the peace that we have in troubled times.

And I want to turn today to a familiar passage and I joked last week about turning to Ecclesiastes and that was a joke because well, it's Ecclesiastes, but Honestly, if we have to do this for too many more weeks or this becomes a long-term thing.

Then we're gonna long for the good old days of Ecclesiastes. So turn today to the book of Romans chapter 8. We're gonna look at Romans 8 28 through 30 and the word of the day today is good. For those of you didn't catch it in the chat or didn't catch it at the beginning.

The word of the day is good for the kids and kids if you get this. Accurate no matter what your number is your parents will give you buckets of candy today after the service buckets. We know that they have Candy stored up for just such a time as this in the event of pandemic.

There's buckets of candy under their bed in the closets. Up on the upper shelf of the garage and it's all yours. If you count accurately than the word good the right number of times, okay? Starting now nothing counted until now now we're starting with the word good every time after right now.

You hear the word good after this one, then. You count them. Here we go. So Romans chapter 8. We're gonna read. I'm gonna read verses 28 and 30 and we're gonna kind of look. I want to look at this promise again kind of remind us about what it is that God has promised to us and.

Then I'm gonna kind of tie it into the whole context of Romans 8. Romans 8 28 through 30. And we know that God Causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. So that he would be the firstborn among many brethren and these whom he predestined He also called and these whom he called.

He also justified and these whom he justified. He also glorified. There's a question to get you thinking about this passage is the corona virus. Kovat 19 is the corona virus. God's will. Think about it for just a second.

If it is in what sense does God will it and for what purpose does he will it is the corona virus? God's will and if it is in what sense does he will it and for what purpose does he will it? To ask another sort of related question that would be more local and not a pandemic.

Obviously was it God's will for Joseph to be hated by his brothers sold into slavery. Eventually put into prison and forgotten in prison for who knows how many years was that all God's will for Joseph?

And the answer to that question is if you've ever read the book of Genesis is that obviously yes. That was God's will for Joseph because Joseph says so at the end when he's talking with his brothers He says to them you intended this for evil.

But God intended this for good and it's the the same word that is used there in that context for intended. What Joseph's brothers willed with an evil will what they intended for sin in a sinful sense?

They willed it sinfully. God intended or willed the exact same things for Joseph. But God willed it with a holy will and he willed it unsinfully or sinlessly. So God intended in willing that for Joseph God intended to use the sin of his brothers.

Sinlessly to accomplish a good end and end that would not have been achieved. Otherwise so yes, God willed what happened to Joseph and Joseph could look at all of the horrible things that had happened to To him in that series of events his brothers hating him.

Attempting to murder him selling him into slavery and then him being cast out of Potiphar's house into prison all of those events God intended or willed for Joseph in Joseph's life. So is the Corona event God's will well the Corona event this pandemic is The result of sin it is an aspect of the disease the death the destruction the calamity.

Viruses all of those things are the results of sin. They're all tied together. We we live together on a cursed planet in a cursed world. That is groaning under the effects of sin. And one thing that the corona virus should remind us of is that we're all going to die if it's not by this virus, it'll be by something else, but all of us have an appointment with death and.

And.

What we are doing and everything that we do and everything that we say and all of our activities our service to one another our service to the king ought to be Evaluated evaluated in light of that reality that eventually someday we are going to die and the corona virus should remind us we live in a sin-cursed fallen world a World that is lost in a world that lies under the curse of God because of Adam's sin.

That's one thing that it should remind us of now. Is that Corona virus outside of God's control? As those who believe the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God we would have to say no. It's not outside of his control because nothing is outside of God's control.

There's not a renegade Molecule or Adam in all of the universe nothing lies outside of his control. Scripture teaches that God can and does send calamity and I would can I would say that that this Corona virus is on the brink of Collapsing a number of economic systems across the world perhaps even our own at some point.

It is certainly disrupting all of our lives as we know it and is that calamity then something that God has sent or that God would will and Scripture does say that God is responsible for and can and does send calamity if you doubt that I just I challenge you to look up the word calamity in a in a.

We call a concordance and look at every time that the word calamity is used in scripture. And you will see that God himself is the author and he takes credit for a number of calamities. Isaiah 45 verse 7 the one forming light and creating darkness causing well-being and creating calamity.

I am the Lord who does all of these things. So initially when something bad strikes a tornado a tsunami an earthquake a destruction that takes the lives of people. Oftentimes Christians want to sit back and we want to say now God's not responsible for any of that.

He had nothing to do with that. That's just a part of living in a sin-cursed fallen world, which that's true. It is part of living in a sin-cursed fallen world. But we want to somehow remove God from culpability for sending a calamity when in Scripture oftentimes He is the one who who claims responsibility for the calamity.

He says to the nation of Israel I'm gonna send calamity upon you for your sin. So God can be the author and is the author of these calamities and he wills them and sometimes sends them With a holy and perfect will to accomplish a holy and perfect end.

Oftentimes a good that could not or would not be accomplished in any other way. Read the book of Exodus for instance. What if what if the children of Israel in the midst of all of the plagues the frogs the flies the locusts the hail the fire?

The darkness what if they had sat back and said well, that's just we live in a sin-cursed fallen world. God's not responsible for any of that. God caused all of those calamities and he ruined the nation of Egypt as a result of all those calamities.

He wiped out their military. He destroyed their economy. He killed all the firstborn in the land. He brought misery and destruction upon the Egyptians for their sin for their idolatry because they would not let the nation of Israel go and Also that Israel may know that there is a God in heaven and that Israel is his chosen people.

God did all of that just to demonstrate That he is God he sent those calamities and those were calamities. They weren't not just a little Sunday school lesson events that happened with it the word, you know, the nation of Egypt Weathered just fine each one each and every one of those ten plagues was sent and each and every one of them was sufficient to destroy That nation and set back its economy and and God got sent one right after another read the book of Revelation chapter 16.

And you're gonna see that God is going to send the very same events upon this earth during the tribulation just prior to the coming of Christ those some of those same things the the plagues the the locusts the boils on the skin of people the darkness hailstones earthquakes.

Destruction economic collapse all of those things are going to be things that God himself is going to bring upon this world. So God is the author of these things and he is in sovereignly in control of all of these things now for those of us Who are believers that are the causes to rejoice and to rest and trust in the sovereignty of God?

Understand nothing is outside of his control. He's the author of all of this. God can destroy the whole world through one little virus. That's all it takes and Everything that we hold so dear can all vanish and God can do it just by speaking a word.

That's what you said the other day you can do it just by speaking a word and it can just happen and and send the whole.

World.

Shake it to its very foundation and its core. God is the one who does that. So is the corona virus his will in the sense? Yes, it is his will. I believe that he has and does and can send these things.

What is God doing in it? What is the message behind it that we cannot know? I can I can know that he is sovereign over it. I can know that he can control it and I can know that if it if it delighted him if it pleased him it would Be gone tomorrow.

Because God is sovereign over those things but it's not it's still here and so it is here because he has decreed that it be so and God is working this along with all other things for our good. So now back to our passage.

What does it mean? And here's our biblical encouragement. I Need to pull up the passage here. So I have it right up in front of me the whole thing here. Here's the biblical encouragement that we can know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God are called according to his purpose.

So I want to talk a little bit about that passage in light of kind of what we are facing and what we're seeing in our world today. First God does the one. God is the one who calls or who causes all these things to work together for good.

He is the one who does this. He's the active agent. God is simply he's not a passive observer. Who is who is Playing the game with the cards that he has dealt. He's not passively observing what is going on and doing the best he can to keep all of the plates spinning and doing the best he can To work everything together for good.

He is the one who causes He himself initiating. He's the active agent who causes all these things to work together for good everything. He's the author of history. He has decreed all things that come to pass.

He is sovereign over all things. He is the one who upholds all things by the word of his power. We saw in Hebrews chapter 1 that when that describes Jesus that word upholding means not just that he holds it all together.

But that he holds it all together and he carries it to its appointed end. He knows what the end is. He knows the goal to which he is bringing all things and he himself is upholding and keeping all of it together and moving It all along on a timetable on a schedule right to its appointed end, which he has already predetermined.

He has already determined what that is. He has chosen what that is and he has described to us a little bit about what that is. And he's carrying it all along and it's not just the good things that God works together for good.

In fact.

If you back up in the context of Romans 8 you see in verse 18 where Paul describes the present the sufferings the present sufferings of this age the the light and momentary afflictions that. Those sufferings and afflictions that Paul experienced.

Those are part of the things that God uses to work together for Our good and towards good. So yes. The bad things the suffering the pain the calamity the disease the distress the disaster the sickness our death the good things our health our prosperity our blessings our conveniences our comforts all of those things all go into that mix and He takes all of those things He causes all things to work together for good and think for a moment about what the alternative would be.

What is the alternative to God causing all things to work together for good. The alternative would be God not causing those things to work together for good. The alternative would be a God who cannot stop anything.

He cannot foresee that these things are coming coming. He can't fix them. He can't alter them. He can't he has no purpose in it. It would be a God who sits back and he watches evil unfold in front of him and For him and to him his perspective.

It is all just it is all random evil. It's all just random events happening that he can work. He can do nothing to affect or to change or to alter at all, but we believe in a God who himself is the active agent in causing all of these individual things to move together toward an appointed end a sovereignly predetermined predestined appointed end and He works all these things together.

He's so he is the active agent He causes all these things to work together for good. What is the working and what is the together? Working together means that he is orchestrating all of it toward an appointed end.

Not that each individual thing Will be in itself good or will result in good. Sometimes Christians will look at one the individual incident that happens and they'll say well God has promised that he's gonna bring good out of this.

No, God has not promised that he will bring good out of any one individual particular evil. What he has promised is that in every individual event will go into the mix of all the things that he's working together for good so it's not any it's not like we can say that there's a one-to-one correspondence between a thing that happens and a good thing that comes of it.

I Slammed my thumb under a hammer. That was a horrible thing was a painful thing, but God's promises something good will happen. So later on this day. Something's not happening a check in the mail for a hundred bucks or something Good's gonna happen to me as to compensate for that evil.

That's not that's not the equation. The equation is that everything that God allows to happen and everything that God causes to happen everything that he sends. Everything that he ordains all of it together.

He is moving toward that appointed end. He's working all of it together in conjunction for good and it's not that everything that happens is good. Because he's causing all things even the bad things there are there are some things that happen that are unmitigated evils.

But the promise for the believer is that even the unmitigated evil will itself contribute in some way. Toward the ultimate good that God has in mind. So now the question is what is that ultimate good and.

And what is God bringing or working out as a result of it? He is causing all things to work together for good. For whom. For those who love God and are called according to this purpose. Well, who are they?

This is not God's promise for all of humanity or for the world or for the nations for for unbelievers. It is not God's promise toward his for his enemies. This is the promise of God for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose.

This is a promise that belongs to the chosen of God the elect of God the believers the redeemed the saved his bride his sheep. His people those whom he redeems that is whom the promise is for God causes all things to work together.

For those who are called according to his purpose who are his believers. And then in that context that opens. That brings us to the the larger context where Paul then goes into the the chain of redemption.

That gold what's called the golden chain of redemption where he says those whom he foreknew he predestined those whom he predestined. He called those whom he called he justified knows whom he justified.

He also glorified. And there is this chain that goes stretches from eternity past in the foreknowledge of God. Through our calling and our justification and on into eternity future into our glorification.

So Paul has in mind here this promise that God causes all things to work together for good. To those whom he then describes as those who were foreknew or foreknown called predestined Justified and then glorified the word foreknowledge.

There is simply the word that it doesn't refer to God for knowing certain events. It doesn't describe God knowing ahead of time what I'm going to choose. It describes God Setting his love and affection for knowing a predetermined love relationship.

It's that that intimate love knowing relationship that is described in Scripture. So often it's God setting his love and affection upon us in eternity past as Paul says in I think it's 2nd Timothy there was a grace granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

That's foreknown. We were known by God and loved by God. Beforehand, that's the idea behind foreknown. Those whom he foreknown foreknew he predestined he determined beforehand that we would be Conformed into the image of his son.

We are in the words of verse 29 Predestined to be conformed to the image of his son and I'll give you a hint here. That is the ultimate good to which God is working all things for us. The ultimate good is to be conformed into the image of Christ and to be made more like him.

That is the best thing that God can do with everything that exists. So every horrible thing that happens to me the disease the suffering the death destruction pain anguish the afflictions of this present time as well as all of the good things everything that God is doing for me and to me and everything that God allows to happen to me and every calamity that he sends all of it is.

For the goal of conforming you and me believers Into the image of Jesus Christ so that we would be conformed to his image made like him because Christ likeness holiness righteousness sanctification. Being like him is the greatest good and that is the ultimate good to which God is working all things.

You and I will look back on everything that happens in this life.

All.

Evil all sin all of our suffering and affliction and we will look back on that from the perspective of eternity and Christ likeness and our glorification and we will say God worked it for good. We will say ultimately that what God brought out of that was worth it.

That's why Paul says in 2nd Corinthians that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that would be revealed in us. When we see that glorification All of the afflictions of this present time.

It's gonna pale in comparison. That is his promise. Paul had that perspective. We have to get that perspective because as things happened that might loosen our love and affection for the things of this world.

We're gonna have to set our minds on things above and start to realize that that glory to which we are headed is going to Make everything on this side of eternity Well worth whatever it is that we endure All right, so those whom he foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that's the ultimate glory.

That's the ultimate goal and the ultimate good and those whom Once I say and oh so he would be the firstborn among many brethren and those whom he is predestined verse 30 To be conformed to the image of his son these he also called that is he brought you to his son those whom he is Predestined to be conformed to the son.

He has brought them to the son. That's why Jesus in John 6 can promise all that the father gives me will come to me and no one can come to me Unless the father who sent me draws him because God has promised that those whom he foreknew He is predestined to be conformed to the image of son He will draw them to the son.

So we are the called ones and that's not a reference to the general call. It's not a reference to all of humanity hearing the gospel call and being summoned this is a reference to the effectual call the specific call of God where you as his sheep heard his voice and Came to him and received eternal life.

That's the call that's being described there because all those whom he pre loved foreknew. All those whom he predestined he also called them. So this obviously cannot be a reference to the general call.

Otherwise, everybody would be foreknown. Everybody would be predestined to be conformed to the image of his son and since everybody is not predestined to be conformed to the image of his son Everybody is not called in this sense.

And since all those whom he has called in this sense He has justified and declared righteous and made righteous positionally. And eventually we will be righteous in our conduct and and and in everything as we are free from sin in eternity future.

All those whom he has called in this way. He has justified or declared righteous He gives us grants us the repentance and the faith to come to Christ and in believing in him We are declared righteous in him.

All of our sin is imputed to his account. All of his righteousness is given to us as a gift. It's the great exchange over which all scripture was written that transaction that takes place that justification and the Imputing of all of our sin to him and his righteousness to us credited to our account all those whom he has called He has justified so there is no individual who is Justified that was not first called to the Sun and wasn't first predestined to be conformed to the image of his son and then even before.

That.

Foreknown in eternity past and. Then all those whom he has justified He is also glorified and this is this is beautiful because the the verse puts glorification in the past tense. It doesn't say all those whom he has justified will be glorified.

It says all those whom he has justified.

Are glorified.

Meaning that our glorification is such a certainty such a future certainty that Paul can describe it as a past event. Because positionally in Christ, I'm seated there with him positionally in terms of God's courtroom and the case against me and what might his righteousness on my behalf has purchased for me I Stand glorified before God.

So certain is that future glorification? So certain is my conformity to the image of Christ and you believe her your conformity to the image of Christ. So certain is it that God can describe your glorification as a past event?

That's the certainty of it. So all those whom God glorified. Even for those of us who for yet it is still future in terms of our our time all those whom God has glorified He has first justified them. All those whom he has justified He has first called them to his son.

And all those whom he has called he has first Predestined them to be conformed to the image of his son, which is glorification. And then all those whom he has first predestined He foreknew in eternity past.

That's the golden chain of redemption that stretches from eternity past to eternity future. And brethren. That is the ultimate good that God is working all things.

Toward.

Every evil thing every act of sin. Every act of rebellion every disease every death every pain every affliction every suffering every sickness all of it. He is working it all toward that appointed end your glorification because he has Predestined you to be conformed to the image of his son.

That is the glorious truth of that passage. And that's the eternal perspective that we need to have. So then verse 31 says well, what should we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all will we not also with him freely? Give us all things. This follow Paul's argument. If God who has done all of this for you who set his affections on you from eternity past and then has promised your glorification and he has promised to take everything that happens in this world and Moving it upholding all things by the word of his power moving it all toward that God appointed ordained and which is your glorification the glorification of his name the good of all those whom he foreknew if God has Promised to do that.

Then what do we say to these things if that God is for us who on earth can be against us. Can governments be against us? Unbelievers be against us. Atheists haters. The corona virus sickness death affliction what can possibly come against those of us?

For whom God has secured all of those blessings. Intending them from eternity past. And verse 32 he who did not spare his own son for us, but delivered him up for us. Those whom he has called predestined etc.

He delivered him up for us. Will he not with Christ also freely give us all things? What's the all things? It's not all things in this world. It's not a promise of health and prosperity. He will give us all things.

He will give us conformity the image of Christ. He will give us faith. He will give us repentance. He will give us sanctification. He will give us our justification. He will give us our glorification.

He will give us the kingdom. He will give us the full inheritance with the Saints of God and Christ. Everything that belongs to the father belongs to the son and everything that belongs to the son belongs to those who are in his son.

He's going to freely give us all things. So then Paul asked in verse 33 who's gonna bring a charge against God's elect. Who can possibly say to God's elect that you are condemned? That your sin stands between you and God and separates you from him who can bring a charge against God's elect.

God is the one who justifies. He's the one who declares us righteous. And so if the judge has declared us righteous. Then what prosecutor can step into the courtroom of God's justice and bring a charge against us whatever that sin might be.

Verse 40 34. Who is the one who condemns Christ Jesus is he who died? Yes was rather raised and who is at the right hand of God who intercedes for us. So is there anybody who can bring a charge against us or condemn us?

No verse 35 who will separate us from the love of God in Christ will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword or Corona or The US government or quarantine. I added the last three in case you're not familiar with the passage and you think I was reading it Into it.

None of those things will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus that love which he describes back in verse 28 and 29. He foreknew us. If God has foreknown us if he has loved us from eternity past and tell me what in time can separate us from that love.

Nothing will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Just as it's written for your sake. We are being put to death all day long. We are considered a sheep to be slaughtered.

But in all these things we are overwhelmingly conquerors through him who loved us for I'm convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor Principalities nor things present or things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing Will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's the promise. That is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture that promised the God who foreknew you Predestined you to be conformed to the image of his son. He has glorified you and there is nothing that can separate you from his love from his care from his protection or from his promise.

That he will work all things After the all things together for good for your sake not for the sake of the world. But for your sake believer, not not the unbeliever. Let me leave you with a couple other promises real quick.

Psalm 115 verse 3 says our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases. Psalm 135 or 6 whatever the Lord pleases He does in heaven and on earth in the season and all the deeps. Isaiah 46 verse 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things Which have not been done saying my purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.

Those are God's statements. Whatever pleases the Lord he does in heavens or on earth or under the earth and in the pleases him He accomplishes all his good pleasure. In some way and in some sense our current distress, whatever it is Pleases the Lord.

I think it pleases him because he sees the end and what it's going to do in our lives. He sees the end of what he is going to accomplish in the hearts and the lives of his people. That's what God sees.

And so since he sees the end that pleases him I can tell you this and I can promise you this if it pleased the Lord to eradicate the coronavirus tomorrow. He would do it tomorrow if it pleased him. He will accomplish all his good pleasure.

Whatever it pleases the Lord that he does why because he is the sovereign king and he can do. He can raise up nations and take Down nations raise up kings and take down kings. He can destroy economies.

He can wipe out populations. He can destroy the wicked. He can judge the world. He can work all things after the counsel of his own will for the good of his people for the glory of his name He can do all of that.

He does any and everything that pleases him if it pleased him that we would be meeting together today. Here in this building where I'm at if it pleased him then that's what we would be doing. He accomplishes all his good pleasure the problem is.

That.

What pleases the Lord is not always what pleases us? And if we were pleased by the same things that please him We wouldn't be nearly as distressed as we often are whatever the Lord pleases that he does.

And he accomplishes all his good pleasure. I want to close with a quote from a Puritan Octavius Winslow, this is a bit long but bear with me as I read this to you. Here's what he writes. To our dim view it may appear an evil.

But to God's far-seeing eye it is a positive good. His glory secured by it and his end accomplished. We are sure it must be good. How many whose eyes trace this page? It may be those whose tears be do it whose sighs breathe over it whose prayers Hallow it may be waiting in deep waters may be drinking bitter cups and are ready to exclaim.

All these things are against me. Oh Beloved of God all these things are for you. The Lord sits upon the flood. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. Be not then afraid.

Calmly stay your faith on this divinely assured truth that all things work together for good to those who love God. Will it not be good if your present adversity results in the dethronement of some worshiped idol in?

The endearing of Christ to your soul in the closer conformity of your mind to God's image in the purification Of your heart in your move through fitness for heaven. You're sorry in your more thorough fitness for heaven in a revival of God's work within you and stirring you up to more prayer.

Oh Yes, good real good permanent good must result from all the divine dispensations in your history. Bitter repentance shall end in the experienced sweetness of Christ's love. The festering wound shall buddy list at the healing balm.

The overpowering burden shall but bring you to the tranquil wet rest. The storm shall but quicken your footsteps to the hiding place in a little while. Oh how soon you shall pass away from earth to heaven and it is clearer cleaner light.

You shall read the truth often read with tears before all these things work together for good to those who love God. Close quote as Octavius Winslow. Friends, let that be your encouragement from Romans chapter 8 and a great Puritan.

That God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Let's pray together and then I just have a couple of announcements. Let's pray. Father, we do know with absolute certainty that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

No bad or ill can come to us. But that you work it for our good eventually and we need to have that eternal perspective that eternal. That eternal sight that sees you and sees your glory and sees our good and sees your ultimate purposes.

You have revealed to us just enough of those ultimate purposes to give us a foretaste of heaven divine. To comfort our hearts and to encourage us in affliction. You have revealed just enough that we might know some of your purposes and some of your.

The things that you have predestined to occur and we can anticipate with great expectation that you will bring to pass. Every last thing that you have promised. Your word is always sure and true and right and perfect and it must come to pass.

You you must and always will accomplish that which pleases you. And so we thank you for that grace and for that confidence. And it is our earnest desire that you would comfort our hearts with these truths and help us to rest upon this fact that You have appointed all these things for our good.

May we rest in that? Lay our head upon it and trust in you and may you comfort our hearts during this time. Cause us to dethrone the idols of our hearts and to. To look for opportunities to serve one another.

To look for opportunities to make what is going on in our world. An opportunity for the gospel. Give us boldness to that end. Glorify your name through all of these things. And we pray that you would work good for your people help us to trust in you and to rest in your word.

Sanctify us through this we pray and conform us to the image of Christ our Lord in whose name we pray. Amen. Alright, so that is it for today and well, look at that Matt Cowell. It's earlier. So even without the feedback of people nodding off I managed to tighten it up.