History's His Story

Romans, chapter 8, verses 22 through 30. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our body.

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God.

And we know that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called.

And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. God knows what he is doing.

Trust him. It was Thursday morning, a hot Thursday morning, June 28, 1787, and the Constitutional Convention was making very, very little progress, and the delegates were getting discouraged. It was a very critical hour.

It could have meant that the Constitution would not be completed and the United States of America would be dissolved. Then Dr. Benjamin Franklin addressed the chair. George Washington was in the chair.

And Benjamin Franklin reminded the delegates that the hand of God had been over the colonies in their founding and in their revolution. And he made a statement that has come down to us when much else that was discussed at that convention was forgotten. He said this, quote, I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of man.

Dr. A.T. Pearson, the great Bible student and writer, put that same sentence into one succinct statement. A.T. Pearson said, history is his story. And this is true not only of nations.

It's also true of individuals. The same God who guides in the affairs of nations guides in the affairs of individuals. And I speak to some today who are wondering what God is doing.

The winds are blowing and changes are coming to your life, physical changes, perhaps geographical changes. There are problems and burdens and difficulties. And I'm sure there are people listening to me right now, not only here in the Moody Church but in our radio congregation, who have asked the question, why, God, why? Just about the time everything was going so beautifully, it seemed that some invisible hand came down and pulled the rug out from underneath us.

Why? In Romans 8, Paul is encouraging God's people. He's encouraging them by telling them what God has done for them. And in verses 28, 29, and 30, he climaxes his discussion of this problem of discouragement and disappointment.

He's told us in the first part of this chapter, there is no condemnation. We're free from guilt. He's told us there is no obligation.

We are free from defeat. We don't have to live for the flesh. And here in the middle of this chapter, he's talking about the fact that there ought to be no frustration, that in spite of the circumstances around us and the difficulties that come, we as Christians ought to just keep right on going.

Paul assumes that Christians go through difficulties. Nowhere in this chapter does Paul say, if you are a dedicated Christian living for the Lord, you'll never face problems. He doesn't say that at all.

He knows better. He doesn't say that God will keep you out of difficulties. He does say God can bring you through the difficulties.

In these three verses, Romans 8, 28 through 30, Paul gives to us three magnificent encouragements to keep us going when the going is tough. Encouragement number one in verse 28, God is working. Encouragement number two, verse 29, God is working according to plan.

Encouragement number three, verse 30, God's plan is going to succeed. Now, my friend, if you can take with you those three biblical encouragements, you'll keep on going. You won't throw up your hands and quit.

God is working. That's the encouragement of verse 28. And we know that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Some manuscripts read and some translations, and we know that God is working all things together for good. But whether you drop that word in there or not, it still means the same thing. God is working.

Now, would you notice the verb in that sentence? It does not say, and we see all things working together for good. And for a very good reason. We Christians do not walk by sight.

We walk by faith. Up at Canadian Keswick a few years ago, one of the dear ladies who was there had an accident and it was necessary to rush her to the nearby hospital. My good friend, Dr. Howard Sugden, who was the speaker that week and the chaplain and the great blesser of everybody, went to the hospital.

She looked up at him and said, Oh, Dr. Sugden, why did this happen to me? Here I am on my holiday enjoying the beauty and the blessing of Keswick, and why did this happen to me? In his own tender way, Dr. Sugden looked at her and said, Ah, but the scripture says, and we know all things work together for good. She said, but I can't see it. And he said, it doesn't say, and we see all things working together for good.

It says, we know. I would much rather God's words say, we know, than we see. I have seen some things that weren't there.

I don't trust my sight, bifocals notwithstanding. We do not walk by sight. We walk by faith, and as Christians, we go from faith to faith, not from faith to sight.

We go from faith to faith, and it doesn't say we see. It says we know. How do we know? Because God said so.

How do you know you're saved? God said so. How do you know you're going to heaven? God said so. How do you know all things are working together for good? God said so.

That settles it. Nor does it say we feel. So often I find people using the word feel more than any other word.

Pastor, I don't feel like I'm getting anyplace. I don't feel this. I don't feel.

And feelings are important. You have to live with them. But feelings can be treacherous.

There are people who have felt like everything was going great, and boom, everything fell apart. And there are people who felt like everything was falling apart, and then God did some great thing, and everything came back together again. In his later years, J. Hudson Taylor went through some deep waters, some dark valleys, and he wrote to a friend, I cannot pray, I cannot understand, but I can trust.

Sometimes you come to the place where you just have a hard time even praying. And then it's good to know, not feel, not see, but know that all things are in the hand of God, and God is working. Now he tells us in this verse for whom he is working and how he is working.

For whom is God working? Well, he uses the word saints up in verse 27. The Holy Spirit is making intercession for the saints according to the will of God. I am glad to know that in my praying, the Holy Spirit of God rules and overrules and prays in the will of God.

Many times I have prayed out of the will of God. I have lived long enough to be thankful for unanswered prayer. But the Holy Spirit prays in the will of God, and he prays for the saints.

Now this word saints means set-apart ones. The Holy Spirit is not praying for the lost world. Jesus Christ up in heaven is not interceding for the lost world.

He did that on the cross. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.

The Holy Spirit of God in your heart and Jesus Christ up in heaven are interceding according to the will of God. Now this is important. The saints of God are being prayed for according to the will of God.

We are the set-apart ones. For whom is God working all things together? To them that love God. Now this is the opposite of these people back here in verse 7 who have enmity against God.

He doesn't say all things are working together for good for the unsaved who hate God. He's saying that all things are working together for good to them that love God. And who are those that love God? The saved people.

We love him because he first loved us. Herein is love. Not that we love God, but he loved us.

For whom is all things working together for good? For those who are the called. Verse 28. My friend, if you have been called of God, I mean by that the gospel has come to you.

The Holy Spirit has spoken to you and you have trusted Jesus Christ. You are among the called of God. Now if you're among the called of God and you love God and you are the set-apart of God, then all things are working together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose.

This is one reason why I feel sorry for unsaved people. It's really bad enough that when a person dies without Jesus Christ, he goes to hell. He goes to a lost eternity.

That's tragic. I had an unsaved man say to me one day, I'm living in hell right now. I said, no, sir, you're living in heaven right now.

When you die, you'll find out how real hell is. It's tragic for a person to die and enter into a dark, lost eternity, but is it not equally tragic for a person to live today a selfish, sinful life without being a part of the great plan of God? For whom is God doing this? For his own people. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, I want you to know that nothing is working together for good.

You can't claim this promise unless you know you're saved. Now how is God working all things together for good? What is God doing? Number one, God is working completely, and we know that all things are working together for good. Not some things, all things are working together for good.

The things that don't feel so good, the things you don't understand, all things are working together for good. I was reading just recently Psalm 148, and in Psalm 148, the psalmist is telling us how God is in control of everything, the rain and the snow and the ice and the wind and the creatures in the sea. God is in control, and Paul tells me that God is working completely all things.

This shows how foolish it is for you and me not to surrender all things to him. He can do a much better job of running your bank account than you can. He can do a much better job of taking care of the business than you can.

Just let him have his way. He is able to work completely. He works constantly.

The verb here is the present tense, and we know that all things are working together. He is working constantly. Did you ever sit in a business office and watch the receptionist handle the phone calls? I was waiting on a visit recently and was watching the girl pushing the buttons and turning the dial and trying to keep everybody happy who was phoning in.

I thought to myself, she has a problem with about a hundred telephones. Think of what it must be like up in heaven with millions of people praying, and God has to keep track of all those prayers. Think of what it means for God to be in control of little one-celled animals as well as great big animals.

Think of what it means for God to know every detail of every life, and yet he can do it. God is working completely all things, and God is working constantly. All things are working, and God is working coherently together.

You see, sin tears things apart. God puts things together, and it's a beautiful thing how God can take the pieces of life and put them together, how he can rule and overrule. Somebody has illustrated this with a prescription.

You go to the pharmacist and you hand him the prescription, and he looks at it and tries to read it. Then he finally figures it out, and he says, I will mix the prescription for you. He takes this ingredient and this ingredient, two or three other ingredients, and he puts them together, and he mixes them, and he comes up with the medicine.

These ingredients individually might kill you, but having them put together, they become medicine. Cooking is the same way. Nobody is going to sit down and eat two cups of flour, or some baking soda, or a pinch of salt, but you take all of this and put it together, and you get a cake.

Now, the individual ingredients of life may not seem to us to be working together for anything. We may say, why that last surgery? Why this job transfer? Why this death? Why this loss of employment? Why? I don't know why. But I do know this, that God completely, constantly, is working all things together for good.

These things individually may not make sense, but when you put them together and you understand the will of God, and someday we will, we're going to say, hallelujah, what a Savior. God is working. I suppose the greatest illustration of this anywhere in the Bible is Jacob.

Remember how Jacob schemed and lied, and finally Jacob established his own family. He had his sons. Famine came.

Joseph had been taken from them. Jacob thought Joseph was dead when Joseph was actually alive. He sent his sons down to Egypt to get some food, and Joseph recognized them, and he kept Simeon there.

He said, you can go back, but you can't come back again until you bring your younger brother, and so here come these men who have lied about their brother. They've lied to their father. They come home, and they have the—he says, where's Simeon? He said, well, he's keeping Simeon as hostage.

He says, Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. Then he utters these amazing words, all these things are against me, when actually all these things were working for him.

We're just like Jacob. This happens, and that happens, and something else happens, and we say, all of these things are against me, and the angels up in heaven who are watching are saying, don't talk like that. Oh, if only you could see what God has planned for you.

Jacob lived to regret those words because he discovered all those things were working for him. Now my friend, God is working. That's the first encouragement we want to get a hold of, and we know that God is working.

Now verse 29 gives us the second encouragement. God is working according to plan. God has a purpose in what he is doing.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Now God has two purposes in mind in all of his working. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that God is working all things together for our pleasure.

God has brought many things into my life that could hardly be called pleasure. God is not working all things together for our financial gain. God is working all things together for two purposes.

Number one, our good, and number two, his glory, immediately and ultimately. Right now, God is working all things together for good and for his glory, and that's what he's talking about in verse 29. He's working together for our good, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, his truth endureth to all generations. A loving, holy God can never will anything less than what is good for you. That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

God doesn't have three wills for you. God has one will for you, and that will is good. God does that which is good.

You say, well, I can't see it. He didn't say you'd see it, but he did say, I am working for your good. Jacob, you're complaining, all these things are against me.

God says, Jacob, I'm working for your good. One day you will see your son Joseph again. One day you will see Simeon again.

You aren't going to live here in Canaan land and starve. I have a home prepared for you in Egypt where you will grow and prosper. God's working for our good.

That's where faith comes in. Unbelief says, Lord, you don't know what you're doing. Do it my way.

Faith says, God, I don't know what you're doing, but I'm glad you're doing it instead of me. I'd make a mess out of it. Now, God is also working for his glory.

Verse 29, what is his ultimate purpose for you? That you might be conformed to the image of his son. God loves his son so much he wants everyone to be like him. Now, ultimately, we shall be like him in body.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Ultimately, we shall be conformed to the image of his son.

That is God's purpose. And today he wants us to be conformed to the image of his son. Though my body has not yet reached its adoption, verse 23, its redemption, my soul, my mind, my spiritual man ought day by day to become more and more like Jesus Christ and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is why difficulties come to us. This is why temptations come to us. This is why trials come to us.

They came to Jesus. As you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you find that our Lord Jesus went through many, many difficulties, many, many trials. And in them all he glorified God.

You and I go through difficulties and trials. Why? They are good for us, and they glorify God. They help to make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me hasten to say that trials by themselves do not make people better. Sometimes they make people bitter. Trials plus faith make people better.

Surrendering and saying, Lord, I don't know what it's all about, but I know you're guiding me and you're working and you're making me to be more like your Son, therefore, here I am. I'm available. I want to be conformed to the image of your Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Firstborn means, of course, the highest. It's a title of honor. When we get to glory, God is going to use his Church to the praise of the glory of his grace.

Throughout all eternity, the Church of Jesus Christ will radiate the glory of God three times in Ephesians 1, to the praise of his glory. To the praise of his glory. I'll tell you what my trouble is.

My trouble is I'm very short-sighted. I can only see this next day, this next week, and I say, Lord, I don't see how that's going to work out for good. That looks to me like an absolute tragedy.

God, how can this work out for good? God says, look, throw away your watch and throw away your calendar. I'm working for eternity. I'm not operating from business meeting to business meeting.

I'm working for eternity. Get the long-range view of what I'm doing. God is at work.

That's your first encouragement. God is working according to plan. That's your second encouragement.

His ultimate goal is to make us like Jesus Christ. Not make us rich, not make us popular, not make us famous, not make us have an easy time of it. God's ultimate goal is to make us like Jesus Christ.

Paul faced this problem. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. He did what I would have done.

He said, Lord, take it away. It's hindering me. God said, I'm not going to take it away.

It's good for you. How can it be good for me, Lord? It hurts. My strength is made perfect in your weakness.

Paul, if you did not have that thorn in the flesh, you'd be so proud because of all the visions and revelations that you had, I couldn't use you. And Paul said, all right, Lord, I'll glory in my infirmities then because it makes me more like Christ and it brings glory to your name. I do not agree with these who say that God has to heal every affliction.

I believe that is a lie. I will not agree with these who say if you have a handicap or an affliction or you're in trouble, you must be out of the will of God. That's a lie.

I agree with the Apostle Paul who says God's working all things together for his glory and for our good. Our third encouragement, verse 30, God's plan is going to succeed. You see, Paul gives us here what this purpose is all about.

Verse 28, we're called according to his purpose. Now how does this purpose work? He uses five words, foreknow, predestinate, call, justified, glorified. All of this is God's purpose, and God's purpose is going to succeed.

There are no ifs in this verse. If you do thus and so, God will. Oh no, there are no conditions laid down.

He says this is what God is doing, and it's going to succeed. Number one, whom he foreknew. Foreknowledge does not mean to know beforehand.

Foreknowledge means to choose beforehand. In the Bible, the word know, K-N-O-W, has the idea to set your love upon. God says to Israel back in the book of Amos, you only have I known of all the nations.

Does that mean God doesn't know the other nations? Of course he knows the other nations. He talked about them, Egypt and Babylon and so forth. The word know there means to choose in his love.

Here were all the nations of the world, but God chose Israel. Jesus says to some people who were lost, I never knew you. Does that mean he'd never had cognizance of them? No.

It means they had not been chosen in his love. The beginning of God's salvation plan is with the heart of God, not the mind of man. The first step is choosing in his love.

Those that he chose, he predestined to be conformed to Christ. We go from eternity past to eternity future. Predestination does not apply to unsaved people.

Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that God predestines anybody to be lost. He says to the saved in Matthew 25, enter into the kingdom prepared from before the foundation of the world. He says to the lost, depart from me into outer darkness prepared for the devil and his angels.

Not prepared from the foundation of the world. God does not predestine people to be lost. Predestination belongs to God's people.

Those whom he foreknew, and that doesn't mean he knew they were going to be saved. No, no. It means in his love he set his heart upon them.

These he predestined that one day they would be like Jesus Christ. Did you notice something interesting here? Verse 30 tells me that these people were predestinated before they were called. Now we are wallowing here and wading here and swimming here in depths that are beyond our intelligence.

Who in this mortal flesh could ever understand the mind of God? Paul, when he gets to the end of that great sovereignty passage in Romans 11, says, oh, the depths of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. And if Paul was drowning in the depths, where does that leave the rest of us? God chose in his love those whom he chose, he predestined that one day they would be like Christ, then he called them. Called is the middle term here.

He called them through his gospel. There's an interesting statement over in 2 Thessalonians 2 that I think helps us at this point. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13 and 14.

But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth unto which he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's the whole thing. God chose them.

He set them apart through the Holy Spirit. They believe the truth. They were called by the gospel.

They share in the glory of Jesus Christ. Today God is calling people. My responsibility is to preach the word of God and call people.

And you don't go up to people and say, hey, are you predestined to be saved? Mr. Moody used to pray, Lord, save the elect and then elect some more. What did he mean by that? He meant what the Bible means, whosoever will, let him come. You see, predestination and election are family secrets that belong to us.

There are some secrets my family has you'll never know about. And this is one of God's family secrets. For knowledge, he set his love upon us.

Predestination. One day you'll be like Jesus. He called us.

We responded to his call through the Holy Spirit. Now, when he called us, what did he do? He justified us. That word justified means he declared us righteous, not just forgives us, not just pardons us, justifies.

That means he declares us righteous in Jesus Christ. Would you notice the tense of the last verb in verse 30, those whom he justified, them he also glorified, not will glorify, glorified. Would you excuse me if I tell you that I have already been glorified? It just hasn't been revealed yet.

That's what Romans eight is all about. All of creation is waiting, says verse 18 and verse 19 of chapter eight, for the manifestation of the sons of God. Now, look, you are as sure of heaven today as if you were there because he says you have already been glorified.

In John chapter 17, Jesus said this, Father, the glory which thou has given me, I have given them. Not I will give them, not I might give them. I have given them.

That means we have already received the glory. The Holy Spirit, the first fruits of God's glory, lives within us. And God says you have been glorified.

It just hasn't been revealed yet. God's plan is going to succeed. It starts with eternity past.

It moves into eternity future and nothing can stop God's plan from succeeding. In these three verses, there are no conditions laid down. If you are a good Christian, if you read your Bible every day, if you do this, oh, no.

It just simply says, are you one of God's called? Yes. Do you love him because you've been saved? Yes. Are you his set apart one, his saint? Yes.

Then you can be sure of three wonderful encouragements. God is working. God is working according to plan.

And God's plan is going to succeed. My friend, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're going to make it. And one day you'll be just like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I don't know what this truth does to you. I know what it does to me. It makes me want to fall down before my father in worship and adoration and say, oh, God, who am I that you should do this for me? Oh, what you should have done was cast me into the deepest, darkest pit of hell.

But you love me and you've saved me and you've given me the assurance that no matter what happens in this life, one day I shall be like the Lord Jesus. That humbles me. It doesn't make me want to go out and sin and say, hey, now that I'm saved, I know.

No, it humbles us and it makes us want to serve him and do his will and glorify his name. Yes, God does work in the affairs of men. God works in your life.

He works in my life. This next week, my friend, when Satan throws all of his artillery at you, when the clouds come out and blot out the sun, when it's so dark you can't even see the stars, would you remember these three great encouragements? If you're one of God's children, God is working. You know it.

You don't see it. You don't feel it. You know it.

God is working according to plan, your good, his glory, and God's plan is going to succeed. And one day we'll be with him in glory. Gracious Father, thank you for this marvelous truth, the assurance that we have in Jesus Christ.

To think that even before we were born or even man was created, this marvelous plan came from your heart. We're thankful, Lord, that in Jesus Christ we are a part of eternity and therefore we cannot be separated from you because of time or the things of time. Lord, grant to us that broad, far sighted perspective, forgive us for having tunnel vision, forgive us, Lord, for being short sighted and forgive us most of all, Lord, for testing our circumstances by our own pleasures and plans instead of by our good and your glory.

Forgive us for this. You are working, work in us and work through us and work around us and work ahead of us, oh Lord, and be glorified in and through us for Jesus' sake. Amen.