How God's Will Helps in Suffering (Romans 8:28-29)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:07.269 If you're able to remain standing, please do. And let's give our attention 2 00:00:07.349 --> 00:00:35.140 to Romans Chapter Eight, Verses Twenty Eight, twenty nine, Romans Eight, 3 00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:42.729 twenty eight. And we know that for those who love God, all things 4 00:00:42.770 --> 00:00:47.289 work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose, 5 00:00:48.490 --> 00:00:54.719 for those whom he fore knew, he also predestined to be conformed to the 6 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:00.119 image of his son, in order that he might be the first born among 7 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:26.459 many brothers. He may be seated. Well, we come now, in 8 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:32.620 Romans Chapter Eight, to the third of three major encouragements that Paul gives us, 9 00:01:33.450 --> 00:01:37.689 because he knows and his he tells us that we are going to have 10 00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:42.170 to endure suffering and we're going to have to endure it, we're going to 11 00:01:42.329 --> 00:01:46.689 have to be patient in it, courageous in it. In other places of 12 00:01:46.769 --> 00:01:52.319 scripture we even hear about having joy. Paul talks about having overwhelming joy, 13 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:59.159 even in his trials and in his suffering. Back in Verse Eighteen, we 14 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:04.430 read Paul says I, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time 15 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:07.949 are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be very be revealed. 16 00:02:08.710 --> 00:02:14.270 And right before said eighteen, we read in seventeen, that we are called 17 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:19.340 to suffer with Christ in order that we may be glorified in him. Well, 18 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:23.020 having put this full for us, that there is this period of time, 19 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:27.819 this present age, in which we are called to endure sufferings with our 20 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:31.650 Lord Jesus in order that we may be glorified with him, Paul has been 21 00:02:31.689 --> 00:02:37.930 giving us these encouragements on these places, these thoughts which we can go to, 22 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:42.569 things which we can hide in our hearts for difficult times of trial, 23 00:02:44.289 --> 00:02:49.560 that encourage us and strengthen us in those trials. Well, this is the 24 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.400 third of the three today. Will I'll spend a little more time on it 25 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:59.110 next week as we cover verse thirty, but today just versus twenty eight and 26 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:05.830 twenty nine, and here we read that God intends something in a way that 27 00:03:05.990 --> 00:03:13.180 we don't always recognize. He intends our sufferings for blessing, and that's ultimately 28 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:15.979 what I want to convince you of this morning. It's that, if you're 29 00:03:16.219 --> 00:03:25.620 a Christian, your sufferings are actually blessings, that what seems to be one 30 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:30.129 thing is actually another. That's what I want to convince you of, that 31 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:36.210 your sufferings, if you're a Christian, are actually blessings, and I want 32 00:03:36.250 --> 00:03:38.289 to convince you of that, not just in your your heads, but even 33 00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:45.879 persuade it in your hearts, so that whatever trials you face, that you'll 34 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:50.400 face them with boldness and with courage, knowing that this is for my good, 35 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:57.189 this thing that I'm experiencing, this painful thing, is actually a blessing 36 00:03:58.069 --> 00:04:03.310 of God, that God will use it to bless me. Now, in 37 00:04:03.550 --> 00:04:09.629 saying that your sufferings are actually blessings, and in desiring to convince you of 38 00:04:09.750 --> 00:04:15.780 that, I realize I am facing an uphill battle and and maybe even an 39 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:24.100 impossible task to Su persuade you that your sufferings are really blessings. I realize 40 00:04:24.220 --> 00:04:29.290 that there are all kinds of things pointing both you and me in another direction. 41 00:04:30.649 --> 00:04:34.610 There are the aches and pains of your body, some are fresh, 42 00:04:35.370 --> 00:04:43.079 some are decades old. These are very powerful arguments that suffering is not good, 43 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:47.639 that it is not a blessing, that it doesn't feel right. Then 44 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:55.430 there are the painful of consequences that come from lacking things, the consequences of 45 00:04:55.550 --> 00:05:00.509 not having enough money, of not having enough education, not having enough privilege 46 00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:05.550 or time, things which you know, if you had, your life would 47 00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:11.980 be so much better, or at least significantly better, if I only had 48 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:15.339 that other degree, if I only had x amount of more dollars, if 49 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:20.449 I only had a better relationship with this friend or this boss or this spouse, 50 00:05:23.250 --> 00:05:28.970 then my suffering wouldn't be suffering anymore. These aren't blessings, these are 51 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:33.970 painful. There are other arguments that we feel pointing us in the other direction. 52 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:41.040 Social and succept pains and society. There are pains in the soul. 53 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:47.519 There's grieving that won't go away. There's clouds of depression that block out the 54 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:55.910 light. There are stubborn sins, deep rooted sins that you've gone out there 55 00:05:55.990 --> 00:05:59.870 with your weed whack or over and over and over again and you're just starting 56 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:03.699 to realize these roots go deep and this is not going to be easy to 57 00:06:03.779 --> 00:06:08.939 get rid of and you're trying and you're trying, but it's hurting and it's 58 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:14.939 hurting and it's breaking you. It's hurting others. Maybe it's lust or anger 59 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:21.730 pride with these sufferings. When we feel these, when we feel their intensity, 60 00:06:23.050 --> 00:06:27.209 when we feel their consequences, it's hard to say, well, all 61 00:06:27.290 --> 00:06:31.250 things work together for good, as it doesn't feel like it. It doesn't 62 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:36.480 feel like it at all. It hurts, and it hurts bad and it's 63 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:44.879 hard and we fight and we cry and we grow weary. These are powerful 64 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:49.430 arguments against this thing. I want to convince you of that your sufferings aren't 65 00:06:49.430 --> 00:06:58.149 really blessings. In fact, in our less faithful moments, when the light 66 00:06:58.269 --> 00:07:03.459 of God seems to have ceased entirely from shining in our world, it may 67 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:08.300 be easy to say not just that Paul is wrong in Romans eight hundred and 68 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:13.939 twenty eight, but actually that the opposite is true, that our sufferings aren't 69 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:19.170 really blessings. It's that our blessings are actually sufferings. But good things are 70 00:07:19.329 --> 00:07:27.610 ultimately vain and even evil. We feel this way when we think about death 71 00:07:27.649 --> 00:07:32.800 as an ultimate force and Leveler, when everything ends in death, a maxed 72 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:40.120 out retirement fun feels like a cruel joke. When death tears apart the most 73 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:46.310 lovely and intimate of lovers, or when death destroys a special child or a 74 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:51.310 brilliant mind, even these best things, these blessings, these good things, 75 00:07:53.910 --> 00:08:00.060 begin to feel like a chasing after the wind. So believe me when I 76 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:03.980 say I understand, because these are the thoughts that come into my own heart 77 00:08:03.579 --> 00:08:11.339 and my own mind like snakes in the garden. These are the pains and 78 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:16.610 punishing experiences that we feel in our bodies and our souls and our relationships and 79 00:08:16.769 --> 00:08:22.449 all of our lives. These sufferings that Paul is talking about our real sufferings, 80 00:08:22.529 --> 00:08:28.120 and we all know it. And when times are at our worst and 81 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:33.000 our hearts are weak, it feels impossible to even pretend that we actually believe 82 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.320 that all things work together for good for those who are called according to his 83 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:48.429 purpose. And yet these are the words, are they not? These are 84 00:08:48.470 --> 00:08:54.389 the words from God, right here where they are, saying what they always 85 00:08:54.429 --> 00:09:01.059 say and being where they always have been, that he comes to us and 86 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:07.580 he says this thing, and we know, we Christians know, that for 87 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:15.690 those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who 88 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:20.009 are called according to his purpose. He even goes on to describe what that 89 00:09:20.330 --> 00:09:26.600 good is. He says, for those whom he foreknew, he predestined to 90 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:31.720 be conformed to the image of his son. This is a quite an amazing 91 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:37.960 thing. A some people forget that these words for no predestined are even in 92 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:41.190 the Bible, but here they are, and their beautiful words, their wonderful 93 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:46.470 words, because they're saying that God has a plan, that God, the 94 00:09:46.629 --> 00:09:52.179 goodness that God intends, the things that he's orchestrating together are not accidental. 95 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:58.340 They're not just happening. It's not God just sort of stirring a bunch of 96 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:01.899 letters around on a table hoping they'll turn into a book. No, God 97 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:05.860 has a plan, like an author, he writes things down, he has 98 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:11.730 a will and he determines it and he knows it even before it happens. 99 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:16.690 God is not reacting to things in time and in history. God is doing 100 00:10:16.929 --> 00:10:24.440 these things in time, in history, and this includes even our salvation. 101 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:30.200 Some people like to interpret this word for know, for those whom he fore 102 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:35.750 knew, he also predestined as to be saying, those whom he for knew 103 00:10:35.789 --> 00:10:39.710 that they would believe some day on the basis of their choice. He then 104 00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:48.070 chose them for this good purpose. Well, there's a number of problems with 105 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:52.539 that. First of all, it doesn't say that. All that extra language 106 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:56.940 that's there simply isn't in the text. Doesn't say anything about God and for 107 00:10:56.139 --> 00:11:01.620 knowing faith. It's a people that he knows. It says whom he knows. 108 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:05.370 Also, God fore knows everything. People's faith. They're non faith all 109 00:11:05.450 --> 00:11:09.330 the rest. God is not talking about everyone here, is he? He's 110 00:11:09.370 --> 00:11:13.850 talking about a particular group of people, the people that love God, the 111 00:11:13.889 --> 00:11:18.759 people that are called according to his purpose. So what does he mean by 112 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.039 these words for no, if they don't mean that God is looking down through 113 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:28.679 the corridors of time and seeing something in the future and then reacting to it 114 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:35.070 somehow in eternity? What does it mean? Well, this word is used 115 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:39.429 in another sense. It's not the only way, the only thing it means, 116 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:43.789 like the word run for refrigerator runs, a person runs. Their words 117 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:48.179 can have different meanings. In this one too, one of the meanings that 118 00:11:48.299 --> 00:11:54.259 this word has is this kind of electing, selective love. You see it 119 00:11:54.299 --> 00:12:00.259 in Romans Eleven, versus five and six, for example, where he says 120 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:03.929 so too. At the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 121 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:07.970 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of 122 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:15.129 works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. This is a spoken in 123 00:12:15.210 --> 00:12:20.279 a context where God says that he knows his people from this is used over 124 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:24.480 and over again in the scriptures. Where God has said to know and to 125 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:31.230 choose is his people. In this way, there's a way in which knowing 126 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:35.269 is used in this kind of intimate way, even between people. Read in 127 00:12:35.309 --> 00:12:39.590 the Old Testament that various husbands know their wives. And you know what happens 128 00:12:39.629 --> 00:12:45.259 when they know their wives babies are born? They don't. They don't come 129 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:48.820 away with a book and a chart and a checklist. Hey, look at 130 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:52.299 these things, I found out. No, they they have children, they 131 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:58.610 have love. God knows us, he for knows us. It's this kind 132 00:12:58.690 --> 00:13:03.970 of way in which a husband, or let's say a man or a woman, 133 00:13:05.450 --> 00:13:09.250 choose each other to marry. Out of all of these people that they 134 00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:13.279 see, they set their minds on this person and they say that's the one 135 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:18.000 I want, it's her, it's she's the one I love. That's what 136 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:24.879 God means here and that's what he's doing here, which means this is consistent 137 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.070 with the rest of excuse me, this is consistent with the rest of the 138 00:13:28.190 --> 00:13:33.710 things he's sang here. Notice that the actions all throughout this passage are God's 139 00:13:33.750 --> 00:13:41.350 actions. It is God who forenows, God who predestines. I'm God who 140 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:48.620 calls in Verse Thirty, God who justifies God, who glorifies. Having thought 141 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:52.899 about this word and these verbs, remember the basic point. What is God 142 00:13:54.100 --> 00:14:01.649 saying here? He's saying I'm working all things together for good, for this 143 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:05.250 people, these people whom I've loved, and I'm not going to just start 144 00:14:05.409 --> 00:14:09.879 that process and then drop it. I'm going to continue it to the very 145 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:16.279 end, from the very beginnings of us, in of God's love for us, 146 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:20.399 in his will, to our actual glorification on the last day when Jesus 147 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:28.870 returns. God is working things together for good. Well, we read not 148 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:33.549 only of his purpose but also the good that he desires. He says in 149 00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:37.350 Verse Twenty Nine that we are to be conformed to the image of his son. 150 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:43.139 This is quite a remarkable thing, having fallen and Adam to now be 151 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:48.019 brought in under Christ. You remember Jesus as he comes to us in the 152 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:54.529 Gospels, don't you? You remember her Jesus and his meekness, His mercy, 153 00:14:56.610 --> 00:15:01.769 his power, His grace, he's Greatt wisdom. Everything that he does 154 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:07.080 he does perfectly and wonderfully, and it's to his image that we are being 155 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:13.639 conformed. Paul goes on to say it's not only for this, but it's 156 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:20.480 an order that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brothers. So you see, 157 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.389 it's not just God's good or God or are good that God is after, 158 00:15:24.509 --> 00:15:28.190 but it's his glory. God is working all things together for good in 159 00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:35.110 order that Jesus might be glorified, in order that he might receive this first 160 00:15:35.269 --> 00:15:39.980 the status as firstborn among many brothers. So here we have another thought. 161 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:46.620 If God has purposed our salvation from the beginning and intends to keep it to 162 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:50.850 the end, and it's on the basis of his own desire to glorify his 163 00:15:50.049 --> 00:15:54.769 son, do you think he's going to drop that ball? Do you think 164 00:15:54.769 --> 00:16:00.690 he's going to let your sufferings overtake you and not let Christ be glorified as 165 00:16:00.730 --> 00:16:06.960 a result? Of course not. When God intends to glorify himself, he's 166 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:11.320 not going to fail at that. If he wants to uplift his son to 167 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.360 the highest of places, that he might be glorified as the firstborn among many 168 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:22.190 brothers, he's not going to let your knee pain or your marriage that's having 169 00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:30.590 trouble or a problem at work thwart that plan. He is working all things 170 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:37.740 together for these particular goods. That's what Paul says here. That's how we 171 00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:42.340 are to begin to frame in our minds and in our hearts are sufferings and 172 00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:52.850 our trials. And so we come to this point of decision. Are we 173 00:16:53.090 --> 00:16:57.929 going to believe what he says, what God says here, or not? 174 00:17:00.610 --> 00:17:03.960 That is the decision that each of us have to make, and the answer 175 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:10.359 to this question, of course, will turn on faith. God does not 176 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:15.069 tell us this. He does not tell us once you see for yourself that 177 00:17:15.190 --> 00:17:21.230 this is true, once you are able to connect the dots and say well, 178 00:17:21.349 --> 00:17:25.269 because I'm suffering, this thing, this good thing, will happen and 179 00:17:25.430 --> 00:17:29.670 therefore I can see us good. God doesn't say once you connect the dots, 180 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:33.539 then you can relax, then you can have joy in your suffering. 181 00:17:34.339 --> 00:17:41.019 No, he says trust me even when you can't connect the dots. It's 182 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:45.809 not your job to believe him only when you see it all working out. 183 00:17:47.970 --> 00:17:52.170 We are called to believe him even when it doesn't seem right to us. 184 00:17:53.049 --> 00:17:57.720 In this hymn that we saying right before the sermon, there were various verses 185 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:03.880 that spoke about this. I'm like verse FRY at First Five. In this 186 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:11.000 William Cowper him his purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The Bud 187 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:15.390 may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. That's is 188 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:21.470 gross. I hate this, we say, but there is this promise. 189 00:18:22.349 --> 00:18:30.099 Wait, hang on, God is doing something good, well pre and this 190 00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:36.700 is and this of course, requires faith. But perhaps that leap of faith 191 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:42.210 won't be quite so difficult if you remember two things, two things in addition 192 00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:48.009 to what I've said already. The first is also spoken about in this hymn. 193 00:18:48.089 --> 00:18:52.049 It's in verse four. It's a command to our own hearts and to 194 00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:59.119 one another. It says judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust 195 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:04.440 him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence hides a smiling face. And 196 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:08.480 it's that first part I want you to focus on. Judge, not the 197 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:17.630 Lord by Feeble Sense. If you want to have confidence in these promises that 198 00:19:17.750 --> 00:19:22.670 God is working all things together for good, you first have to remember your 199 00:19:22.789 --> 00:19:29.700 own inability. You need to be humbled, because as long as you think 200 00:19:29.819 --> 00:19:33.539 that you can connect all the dots, that you can get everything right, 201 00:19:33.779 --> 00:19:37.420 that you know the master plan, you're always going to be frustrated. You're 202 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:40.970 always going to be saying to God, how come things aren't the way they 203 00:19:40.970 --> 00:19:48.369 should be. But be humbled, take a moment and reflect on your own 204 00:19:48.650 --> 00:19:57.680 powerlessness to make things happen or to even see the picture itself. Some of 205 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:03.880 US struggle to trace the simple plot in a novel or to draw of the 206 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.549 face of someone that we know very well. What makes we think, and 207 00:20:08.670 --> 00:20:14.470 that makes us think that if we can't do these simple things like following an 208 00:20:14.549 --> 00:20:18.990 argument, a plot, a line, staying in the lines on the roads, 209 00:20:19.029 --> 00:20:22.619 if we can't trace these basic things, what makes us think that we 210 00:20:22.660 --> 00:20:27.059 can trace out God's providence in this world? What makes us think that we 211 00:20:27.099 --> 00:20:33.660 can look at all the but Jillions of variables and say, ah, I 212 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:38.970 can see what's going on here? Of course we can't. We can barely 213 00:20:40.250 --> 00:20:44.609 manage to get our clothes on in the morning half the time. We cannot 214 00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:48.490 go out into the world with this kind of cocky attitude and say I got 215 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:52.400 this, Lord, I can figure this out, I'll tell you what you 216 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.359 need to do and how to evaluate things between what's right and what's not. 217 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:04.230 We can't do this. We are like a little kids. There are these 218 00:21:04.549 --> 00:21:08.509 big floor puzzles that we have in our house. There twenty four pieces. 219 00:21:08.869 --> 00:21:12.950 Some of them are even smaller. The pieces certain you know, really big. 220 00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:18.150 Sometimes there are even twelve pieces or something like this. When I dump 221 00:21:18.269 --> 00:21:21.460 them out on the floor, I know immediately how they go together. This 222 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:26.700 is not hard, but the little ones right they look at it. I 223 00:21:26.900 --> 00:21:33.730 can't do this. Help me. We're just like that. To God, 224 00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:37.410 this is not a big deal. The millions and millions of variables that are 225 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:44.690 going on in your life, the interconnectedness of events, contingencies and secondary causes 226 00:21:44.769 --> 00:21:48.000 and all these this is not a big deal for God. He is the 227 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:52.759 one who established things in this way. It's all fouling falling out according to 228 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:56.680 his will. Just because you are struggling, just because you're looking at the 229 00:21:56.759 --> 00:22:02.470 puzzle and saying I don't even see what this is supposed to be, doesn't 230 00:22:02.509 --> 00:22:10.029 mean that God doesn't. Let's not make God in our image, but instead 231 00:22:10.109 --> 00:22:12.670 see him for who he is, see him for the one who establish these 232 00:22:12.789 --> 00:22:21.220 these things, and trust him for that. Some people say, I believe 233 00:22:21.259 --> 00:22:23.900 it was John Flavel, said this, a puritan author who wrote a book 234 00:22:23.940 --> 00:22:30.450 about Providence. He said Providence is best read backwards, like Hebrew. Actually, 235 00:22:30.450 --> 00:22:34.769 I think he says you read providence like Hebrew. Backwards. In other 236 00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:38.930 words, you don't see the connections usually going forward. You see them in 237 00:22:38.970 --> 00:22:42.650 the rearview mirror. You say, AH, now I know why I had 238 00:22:42.769 --> 00:22:48.200 to take that job so that I can meet my wife. But you know, 239 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:55.400 even then, even in those instances, even in the places where we 240 00:22:55.480 --> 00:23:00.789 can with relatively relative certainty, connect the dots, how much do we still 241 00:23:02.029 --> 00:23:07.630 not know? A man turns on the road and slightly crosses the line, 242 00:23:08.150 --> 00:23:14.500 and what happens? You have no idea. The the windows are tinted, 243 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:17.259 you don't know who was in the car. You don't know got who got 244 00:23:17.380 --> 00:23:19.900 scared. You don't know what happened and what all the fallout was from that. 245 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:26.019 We drive down the roads, we walk in our lives, constantly reacting 246 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:30.609 and bumping into each other in a thousand ways, thousands upon thousands of ways. 247 00:23:30.009 --> 00:23:37.210 You simply do not know. So stop trying to know. You get 248 00:23:37.250 --> 00:23:47.279 it. Humble yourselves before the Lord. God has worked everything in a perfect 249 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:52.480 way. Let us not. Let us, who has so little knowledge of 250 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.509 even the most basic things and so little influence and power over the things that 251 00:23:56.549 --> 00:24:06.029 are then seek to evaluate God. We are unable. But, and here's 252 00:24:06.109 --> 00:24:11.059 the second thing, God is amazingly able in every way in which we have 253 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:19.940 described our weaknesses. God is strong, God is capable. There's a whole 254 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:22.980 book in the Bible devoted this, by the way. It's the book of 255 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:29.930 Job. Job Comes under this intense amount of suffering and his friends come to 256 00:24:30.009 --> 00:24:33.369 him and say, no problem, job, we can connect the dots. 257 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:38.640 You sinned, your God is God is unpunishing you, obviously because you sinned. 258 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:42.960 And job says that doesn't make sense. And job goes the Lord and 259 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.640 there's all this dialog back and forth, and you know what the Lord says? 260 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:53.349 Shot Up, stop talking. And eventually that's what job does. After 261 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:56.390 enough dialog back and forth, he says, I put my hand over my 262 00:24:56.509 --> 00:25:02.069 mouth, I don't want to say anything anymore. And God humbles him by 263 00:25:02.109 --> 00:25:07.660 reminding him of all of these details of which God is in control over, 264 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:12.980 from the birth of wild animals way out in the forest where no one sees, 265 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:22.450 to the planetary movements in the sky, to the waves and the ocean, 266 00:25:22.289 --> 00:25:27.210 to the birth and growth in the womb, many, many things. 267 00:25:29.970 --> 00:25:37.200 God says, I am in control, and he is. He not only 268 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:41.319 says it, but he demonstrates it. They're great examples of this in scripture. 269 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:45.119 Some of the most famous are the Joseph. It's brothers try to kill 270 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:48.799 him, they throw him in a pit, they sell him to say, 271 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:53.150 slave traitors, and he ends up number two in Egypt, saving all of 272 00:25:53.349 --> 00:26:00.869 God's people and all many who aren't God's people from famine and devastation. And 273 00:26:02.150 --> 00:26:04.700 Joseph says to his brothers, what you meant for Evil, God has made 274 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:11.779 good. This wasn't just Joseph's story. This is all our stories. Or 275 00:26:11.859 --> 00:26:17.420 you can think of Paul sitting in prison. I once had a pastor tell 276 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:22.410 me he talked about the inefficiency of God. This is he used that term 277 00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:27.089 from a kind of human perspective. Does it make any sense? He says 278 00:26:27.130 --> 00:26:30.849 to me. He said to me, to take this man, this great 279 00:26:30.849 --> 00:26:37.519 persecutor of the Church, endow him with such a great salvation, all kinds 280 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:41.559 of gifts and revelation, to empower him and call him to be a preacher 281 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.680 to all the gentiles, and then to put him in jail for a couple 282 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:52.789 years, again in again and again. What kind of plan is that? 283 00:26:53.190 --> 00:26:59.470 Why? What benefit could there possibly be from having such a powerful, brilliant, 284 00:27:00.109 --> 00:27:06.099 spirit equipped person in prison? Why wouldn't God have him out on the 285 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:11.500 streets planting churches, doing good works for the Lord. And yet we see 286 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:17.450 Paul rejoicing and we see letters that we have in our bibles written by Paul 287 00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:22.529 from jail and he tells us that in these prisons people were converted and came 288 00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:29.450 to know the Lord Jesus. But even when we don't know the plans, 289 00:27:29.490 --> 00:27:32.559 even when we can't say I'm going to be number two in Egypt at the 290 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:37.400 end, we still trust the Lord because the end is ultimately not the things 291 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.960 here on earth, or Ethel's death would just wipe all that out. The 292 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:48.470 end is the glorification of the son of God and us in him. That's 293 00:27:48.509 --> 00:27:52.190 the end. That's why we can look death in the face and we say 294 00:27:52.309 --> 00:27:57.700 go ahead, take my riches, take my family, take anything you want, 295 00:27:57.980 --> 00:28:04.059 because I have everything I could ever need in Jesus, all the good 296 00:28:04.460 --> 00:28:11.140 that I could ever need, beyond my wildest dreams, vast amounts of riches 297 00:28:11.220 --> 00:28:17.410 and beauty and wealth, eternal life itself has been given to me in Christ 298 00:28:18.569 --> 00:28:22.890 and death won't stop that. It doesn't stop that and we know that because 299 00:28:22.930 --> 00:28:29.680 of Jesus's own death. Remember back in verse Seventeen provided we suffer with him 300 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:33.920 in order that we may also be glorified with him. That's what happened with 301 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:37.119 Jesus. He didn't die and stay dead. He rose again from the dead, 302 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:45.390 victoriously, gloriously ascended into heaven and promises to come again to bring to 303 00:28:45.509 --> 00:28:52.869 an end all of these sufferings, to turn them ultimately finally into a good 304 00:28:55.670 --> 00:29:00.339 so these are the things that I'm calling you to remember. Your inability, 305 00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:07.819 God's ability and the promises of God that he has made to you, that 306 00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:15.410 he has secured for you. In Jesus, God's will will be done, 307 00:29:15.450 --> 00:29:21.769 all things will work together for good, for those who call are called according 308 00:29:21.809 --> 00:29:30.880 to his purpose. So will you trust him? Yes, the answer is 309 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:36.000 yes, we will trust him. We do trust him. We love him 310 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:40.670 with all of our hearts. He's saved us from great wrath and Sin and 311 00:29:40.950 --> 00:29:45.109 death. He's brought us into eternal life. Of course we love him, 312 00:29:45.630 --> 00:29:52.099 of course will trust him. If you don't love him, if you don't 313 00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:57.019 trust him, then there is not an ounce of comfort in this verse. 314 00:29:57.740 --> 00:30:03.180 In fact, it's just the opposite. Those who refuse to love God, 315 00:30:03.380 --> 00:30:07.970 those who refuse to trust him, those who stake their flag on their own 316 00:30:08.170 --> 00:30:15.369 plans, their own wills, their own abilities, will not find that all 317 00:30:15.450 --> 00:30:21.960 things work together for their good. You'll find that, in rejecting the grace 318 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:26.720 and mercy offered to sinners in Christ, that all things will not work together 319 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:32.839 for your good but for your destruction, that the great blessings that you have 320 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:36.829 will end in death, not just in this life but in the life to 321 00:30:36.950 --> 00:30:41.549 come. If you do not love the Lord, if you do not trust 322 00:30:41.589 --> 00:30:45.869 the Lord, then I plead with you turn from these sins here, the 323 00:30:45.950 --> 00:30:49.819 word of God as it is spoken to us here, the goodness of his 324 00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:56.779 promises, the consolations of them, the sweetness of His grace, and turned 325 00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:00.539 to him who offers peace to you and good to you, while there is 326 00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:06.690 still time, and for those who have turned to him, those who do 327 00:31:06.970 --> 00:31:11.690 love to him, let us commit ourselves to trust in him and in his 328 00:31:11.930 --> 00:31:18.170 word, that the God who predestined and called us and die for us will 329 00:31:18.250 --> 00:31:22.119 not neglect us in this life, that, like gold, he puts us 330 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:27.559 into the fire so that we may be purified. So let's put aside misery, 331 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:34.789 put aside discontent and instead face our trials with patience and joy because of 332 00:31:34.950 --> 00:31:40.630 the hope that is set before us, the hope that is grounded in Christ, 333 00:31:41.190 --> 00:31:47.539 secured in him. Let us commit ourselves to walking by faith, and 334 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:53.259 not just in general, but in the specific things that you hate, the 335 00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:57.740 things that you fear, the things right now that you wish God would simply 336 00:31:57.980 --> 00:32:01.569 take away, or the things that you lack and you wish he would give 337 00:32:01.609 --> 00:32:09.569 you. What are those things? Think about it. Walk by faith in 338 00:32:09.769 --> 00:32:16.119 those things. Trust the Lord, for those things call out to him, 339 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:21.200 not just the he would remove it or give it to you, for we're 340 00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:25.920 always going to have trials. Call out to him, not just because he 341 00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:30.589 not that he will tell you how it's all going to work out, but 342 00:32:30.750 --> 00:32:35.509 because he's already told you how it's all going to work out. He's already 343 00:32:35.710 --> 00:32:39.309 connected the dots for us. So let's see the puzzle that he has made 344 00:32:39.470 --> 00:32:44.940 for us and to trust in his plan. Let us pray,