SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, church family.
SPEAKER_01: It's great to see you.
SPEAKER_01: I hope everyone weathered the storm well.
SPEAKER_01: I know we had things going on, but uh glad you're here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Great to see you.
SPEAKER_01: I want to reiterate what Dave said if you're visiting with us in person or online.
SPEAKER_01: Great to see you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: As we continue our series uh this summer on uh studying the ten favorite verses of our church, I want to invite Jeremy Schreckheis to come up and help me this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremy is the chairman of our deacons, and it's a joy to work alongside him in so many ways, and he has the task of keeping me out of trouble.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's hard work, Jeremy.
SPEAKER_02: I don't think anybody can do that.
SPEAKER_02: Turn your mic on.
SPEAKER_02: Are you on?
SPEAKER_01: I'm on.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if anybody can keep you out of trouble.
SPEAKER_02: It's true.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe Janet.
SPEAKER_02: She's got a tough job.
SPEAKER_01: She's been trying for a long time, and it's worked.
SPEAKER_01: Let's uh let's look at our four nominations this morning.
SPEAKER_01: These are verses that you nominated uh as part of this group of ten verses, John 3.16, Romans 8.28.
SPEAKER_01: We know that all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_01: Those who love God are called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 5.8, God proves his own love for us, and while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_01: Number 4, Philippians 1, 6.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremy, I think you're ready to reveal for us.
SPEAKER_02: And the winter is a life of the camp.
SPEAKER_02: Romans 8 28.
SPEAKER_02: For we know that all things work together for good of those who love God and those who are called for Him.
SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Jeremy.
SPEAKER_01: So turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 8, verse 28.
SPEAKER_01: This is a well-known verse, and this is an awesome verse.
SPEAKER_01: This is a verse that speaks to our hearts and our minds throughout all kinds of circumstances in life.
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, it is really fundamental to, I think, one of the most fundamental questions that people have in life.
SPEAKER_01: And that is, can I trust the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: And so this verse, I think, gives us some incredible spiritual truths and foundations that teach us that we can trust the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now you answer this question when you make the decision in searching for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Am I going to trust Him as my Savior or not?
SPEAKER_01: Can I trust that He is true?
SPEAKER_01: Can I trust that He loves?
SPEAKER_01: Can I trust Him with my life?
SPEAKER_01: Even as a believer, as we begin walking the Christian life, we come to these places, these forks in the road, these situations where we have to again make this call.
SPEAKER_01: Am I going to give this to the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Am I going to be obedient?
SPEAKER_01: Am I going to trust in His promise?
SPEAKER_01: Am I going to follow Him?
SPEAKER_01: And I think this verse gives an incredible foundation for trusting the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when you look at this verse, it is just chock full of truth, but really it answers this fundamental question.
SPEAKER_01: Can I truly trust the Lord with the details and directions of my life?
SPEAKER_01: Now, trust is something that is very difficult to give.
SPEAKER_01: It is something that in relationships, for example, it takes time to know that I can know this person and I can trust them with what we're going to do.
SPEAKER_01: I have a friend who's been a longtime friend, and I trust him in a lot of areas in life.
SPEAKER_01: In one of my previous ministry positions, I was a singles pastor, and we went on a ski trip.
SPEAKER_01: We went on a single adult ski trip.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have done that.
SPEAKER_01: We do all that.
SPEAKER_01: Now I was a pretty good athlete in life, but I never could get the hang of skiing.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what he kept saying.
SPEAKER_01: He would take me out at the first day and try to show me how to do that.
SPEAKER_01: But there is an element of trust in skiing, those of you who are good at know what it is.
SPEAKER_01: You have to get on the sides and the edges of those skis.
SPEAKER_01: And you're going pretty quickly down the mountain, right?
SPEAKER_01: And you're supposed to turn and get on the edge of those skis, and the edge of those skis is about that much.
SPEAKER_01: So you're going 25, 30 miles an hour, and you're on about the edge like that.
SPEAKER_01: That just takes a lot of trust.
SPEAKER_01: I never could quite get to.
SPEAKER_01: I just couldn't get over far enough to get to that.
SPEAKER_01: And my friend would take me aside and he'd say, Listen, just trust me.
SPEAKER_01: Just trust me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, no, you're not going to be there when I fall over and break my neck, right?
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to be standing.
SPEAKER_01: No, just trust me.
SPEAKER_01: You got to trust the skis.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to trust on the edge.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I can't do that.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how.
SPEAKER_01: I never could get that.
SPEAKER_01: I just couldn't get comfortable.
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't give up that moment to get on those sides of those skis.
SPEAKER_01: Just to kind of finish the story, by the last day of it, I was just starting to get the hang of it.
SPEAKER_01: And I was just starting to get on that edge enough where I'm going, oh, this is why they're having fun.
SPEAKER_01: Because the first three days of that, all I did was snowplow like this down the mountain.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm telling you, that's like lifting weights 12 hours a day.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's the most non-fun thing you could possibly do.
SPEAKER_01: And I finally got that.
SPEAKER_01: So the last morning, uh, we were going to fly out that morning right after lunch, and he said, Hey, let's go down and take a few more runs.
SPEAKER_01: You're just getting the hang of it.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Look, I got through this without breaking my neck.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just go.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes, Trust me, trust me.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right, okay.
SPEAKER_01: It has snowed about seven inches of new powder that night.
SPEAKER_01: And what I didn't know, because you know, I didn't know how to ski, it's the first time I've ever been, when you get all that powder on the top of it, it changes how you do it.
SPEAKER_01: It's a different deal.
SPEAKER_01: And so, sure enough, here we go, my friend and I going down the mountain, and of course, just like I knew, he's way down there in front of me.
SPEAKER_01: He's not there when I'm doing this swooshing thing, and I get on that, and I get on the edge of my skis, and one of them sticks in the powder that way, and the other one goes that way.
SPEAKER_01: And I went over and faceplanted, and I tore the MCL in both knees.
SPEAKER_01: Watch it when a friend says, trust me.
SPEAKER_01: Trust is hard sometimes to do in these situations where I'm thinking, can I can I let that go?
SPEAKER_01: Can I can I get on the edge of that ski in whatever decision that you have?
SPEAKER_01: Can I trust that friend that's trying to coach me and can I trust their advice?
SPEAKER_01: Can I really get there?
SPEAKER_01: Well, here's the answer when we're talking about the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: This verse says it plainly and clearly for us, and this answers every question you would ever have in life.
SPEAKER_01: We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, those are called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: This says in so many ways and in so many foundational truths that the Lord is infinitely and eternally trustworthy with everything in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Let's take a minute and look at just some of the central truths of this verse.
SPEAKER_01: If you just break down these phrases, it is filled with truth.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the way it begins.
SPEAKER_01: Many times when we quote this in our shorthand quote, we get in a situation and in our minds we go, can I handle this?
SPEAKER_01: Can I gonna trust the Lord in this?
SPEAKER_01: We think all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_01: Or we find ourselves in a difficult spot and we go, all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_01: And we forget the first part of this.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes, even when you're encouraging a friend, a friend finds themselves in a difficult spot, and you say, Now you know the Bible says all things.
SPEAKER_01: Do not skip these two words.
SPEAKER_01: This says, we know.
SPEAKER_01: We know.
SPEAKER_01: It is inherent in the Christian's life when you have trusted Jesus Christ with your life, that He is infinitely trustworthy with everything that comes or everything that will ever happen.
SPEAKER_01: It is all in his hands.
SPEAKER_01: And here's this word no.
SPEAKER_01: This word no describes an inherent, intimate knowledge that is by virtue of the fact that I am who I am.
SPEAKER_01: I do not have to ask the question if my mom and dad loved me.
SPEAKER_01: I was an Addison.
SPEAKER_01: I knew.
SPEAKER_01: They gave me their name, they gave me their lives, they built the home that I lived in.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have to ask.
SPEAKER_01: I just knew.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, my dad, when I was young, his dad died when he was 19.
SPEAKER_01: And my dad spent my entire adult life or my childhood telling me, son, I'm so excited that we're gonna get to be friends when you're an adult.
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking forward when we get to be friends when you're an adult because I didn't get a chance to do that with my dad.
SPEAKER_01: He left, and I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_01: Your brother and I, we're gonna get to be friends.
SPEAKER_01: And we had that friendship, but what it did was it created an inherent knowledge in me that I knew my dad loved me.
SPEAKER_01: Just because of who I was.
SPEAKER_01: And as a follower of Jesus Christ, when you have given your life to Christ, what happens in your identity as a believer is that you should never again have to question whether God is trustworthy because of the inherent identity in who you are.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the scripture says in this chapter that in verse 14, all those led by God's Spirit are God's sons.
SPEAKER_01: For you do not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.
SPEAKER_01: That is the most intimate, loving name of Father.
SPEAKER_01: And what he says is, when we are adopted, when we are a child, it is inherent in who we are, the relationship that we have with God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: The Spirit Himself testifies together with our Spirit that we are God's children.
SPEAKER_01: And if we are God's children, we are also heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It is inherent in who we are.
SPEAKER_01: As a believer, as I know him more in my walk, I know more inherently that he is trustworthy in every circumstance.
SPEAKER_01: It is in my identity as a believer.
SPEAKER_01: Don't skip over those two words.
SPEAKER_01: Then he says this we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.
SPEAKER_01: For good.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's what you get out of that.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, it does not say that God creates all things.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't say that he makes everything happen.
SPEAKER_01: What we know is that God takes the things that do happen and he works them for good.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, this idea of working together, if you go in the original language, the word there is the word that we get synergy or synergism from.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what he says: God is so strong and powerful.
SPEAKER_01: He is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, he is all-knowing, all-powerful.
SPEAKER_01: He is everywhere, he is over all those things.
SPEAKER_01: In church life, we use the word sovereign.
SPEAKER_01: God is so sovereign, he is over all those things, that what happens is whatever is going on in life, he never wastes that circumstance.
SPEAKER_01: And he steps in and he puts his hands on it, and then it begins to create a synergy that works for us.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't say that all things are good, it says that he works all things for good.
SPEAKER_01: Now, sometimes if we're looking for encouragement in this verse, we'll say, look, all things work together for good, and we take the idea that it's always going to get better, it's always going to get better, right?
SPEAKER_01: Well, it doesn't always get better.
SPEAKER_01: We live in a broken, fallen world.
SPEAKER_01: Death is a real thing, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what he says in this chapter.
SPEAKER_01: If you go back and read in verse 19, for the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God's sons to be revealed.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 20, for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God's children.
SPEAKER_01: For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.
SPEAKER_01: What is he talking about there?
SPEAKER_01: He's using this illustration that when Adam and Eve sinned, they not just broke the human race, they broke the world that we live in.
SPEAKER_01: We now live in a world that is broken by sin, tainted by sin, and we walk around in a world of people who have been tainted by sin.
SPEAKER_01: And because of that, things go wrong.
SPEAKER_01: They go wrong because of that.
SPEAKER_01: He uses the illustration.
SPEAKER_01: It is in this futility, and the creation is groaning.
SPEAKER_01: Where do storms come from?
SPEAKER_01: God didn't create the storm that came through here.
SPEAKER_01: Sin broke the world that we live in, and it is tainted and struggles under moments like that.
SPEAKER_01: God, what he does is he steps into these moments and he puts his thumbprint on it and he works in the midst of it, and he works to create a synergy between the things that we're going through and his purposes to work them for good in our life.
SPEAKER_01: This word good, all things work together for the good of those who love God.
SPEAKER_01: That word good, it doesn't mean comfortable.
SPEAKER_01: I fully expect I'm going to use the word good tonight a lot of times.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to bring desserts tonight, and I'm going to walk over and take a bite, and I'm going to go, that is good.
SPEAKER_01: And somebody's going to bring some pie and I'm going to say, that is really good.
SPEAKER_01: And somebody's going to make some cake and I'm going to say, that's really good.
SPEAKER_01: And some of y'all, because you love your church family, you're going to bring homemade ice cream that has peach flavor in it.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to go, that is so good.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's good.
SPEAKER_01: That is not this word.
SPEAKER_01: This word means in a benevolent way.
SPEAKER_01: It means useful.
SPEAKER_01: It means productive.
SPEAKER_01: It means something like the idea, we would say, the greater good.
SPEAKER_01: It means that he steps into that and he turns it into something that grows us.
SPEAKER_01: It grows us closer to him.
SPEAKER_01: It touches our lives.
SPEAKER_01: It improves our faith and our understanding of who he is.
SPEAKER_01: And this picture is not that God creates the things that we go through, but he steps into those moments in whatever we're going through.
SPEAKER_01: And he makes all of them work in his benevolence and his purpose to grow us closer to him, stronger in our faith.
SPEAKER_01: If you read all throughout Scripture, you'll see a number of times.
SPEAKER_01: James chapter 1, for example.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Count it joy when you go through these various trials and tribulations.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because it works the growth of our patience and our faith.
SPEAKER_01: God never wastes these circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: Now just let me just say this for just a moment because it is inherent in this question if I can trust God.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, God does not make evil.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't cause evil.
SPEAKER_01: In the same chapter of James, chapter 1, the Bible says, God is not tempted by evil, and he literally doesn't even tempt people into evil.
SPEAKER_01: Evil entered into the world through sin, and it broke the world, and it is in every part and aspect of life, and we walk through all of this.
SPEAKER_01: But the Bible teaches us that God is good.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, in John 3.16, one of the verses you've nominated, he says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes in him will never perish but have everlasting life.
SPEAKER_01: That means God did not create people to go to hell, but God created the plan of salvation to redeem people from hell.
SPEAKER_01: The next verse says, God did not come into the world to condemn the world because the world was condemned already.
SPEAKER_01: It is the effect of sin that has done that.
SPEAKER_01: But yet Jesus stepped out of heaven and stepped into life, as the next part of that verse says, but that the world through him might be saved.
SPEAKER_01: He stepped out of heaven into this world and created the plan of salvation and accomplished the plan of salvation, and he rose again conquering death and sin to offer us salvation and new life.
SPEAKER_01: And listen if the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart and he calls you to give your life to Jesus, you come and you surrender your life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He loves you, and that verse is written for you.
SPEAKER_01: God steps into life and he makes all things work.
SPEAKER_01: The New American Standard Version makes it clear.
SPEAKER_01: It says, He causes all things to work for the good of those who love him.
SPEAKER_01: And so he steps in and he makes them work.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the next part of this verse.
SPEAKER_01: And this is important to understand this.
SPEAKER_01: Those who love God, we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.
SPEAKER_01: This verse is written to believers.
SPEAKER_01: This is helping us understand our position and identity as followers of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This verse is written primarily for us to understand what happened to us by virtue of our salvation and because we are saved.
SPEAKER_01: This is written to Christians.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, if you look at this chapter, the entire thing was written to believers.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 1 of Romans 8 says this therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: This is written to someone who is a follower of Christ, who has surrendered their life to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He then explains how salvation occurs in verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: What the law could not do, since it was limited by the flesh, God did.
SPEAKER_01: What he says is he gave us the law in the Old Testament to point out here is the standard of holiness.
SPEAKER_01: And when we take our lives and we compare it against the Ten Commandments, all of us know that all of us have sinned.
SPEAKER_01: No one can meet those.
SPEAKER_01: No one can meet that standard of perfection.
SPEAKER_01: And in Galatians, Paul says this that the law is a teacher or a schoolmaster.
SPEAKER_01: It teaches us of our need for salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And we cannot in our own lives fix what is wrong.
SPEAKER_01: We can't fix the sin in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: We can't fix the sin in the world.
SPEAKER_01: We can't fix any of that.
SPEAKER_01: The law simply points out that we are sinners and we are under judgment and we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But in Jesus there is no condemnation.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because verse 3, what he says, God did.
SPEAKER_01: He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in flesh like ours under sin's domain and as a sin offering, in order that the law's requirement for judgment would be accomplished in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, what he says is Jesus stepped out of heaven to take the full wrath and punishment of God on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus would have never died.
SPEAKER_01: He was never touched by sin, and yet he voluntarily went to the cross, and there he gave his sinless, eternal life as a substitute for ours.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in this very book of Romans, for the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: Our sin must be punished eternally because it has been an offense to God, and in his holiness it must be judged.
SPEAKER_01: Someone has to pay the price for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: And what it says here is that Jesus stepped out of heaven and he went as a sin offering in order that the law's requirement would be accomplished.
SPEAKER_01: He went and died so that his death could pay the price for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: And so now what happens when I trust him as my Savior is I bring him my life and my sin, everything I've been, I am, and I ever will be, and I give it all to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And he pays the price for all of that sin on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: And because he rose again, offering, conquering death and sin, he offers to us a new life.
SPEAKER_01: It's a spiritual rebirth.
SPEAKER_01: We are born again.
SPEAKER_01: We are made new because of our faith in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why he says, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And then the Bible tells us at the end of this chapter, Paul says, For I am condemned.
SPEAKER_01: Persuaded, I'm convinced it's the same concept as the we know.
SPEAKER_01: Because of all the things he's taught here, and our adoption as a Son of God and the Holy Spirit speaking to us and bearing witness to our spirit, he says, I know, I'm convinced, I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, or things that are present, nor things that might come, nor any other created thing can ever separate me from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so it begins with no condemnation and it ends with nothing can ever take it away from you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus paid it all.
SPEAKER_01: And when he paid it all on the cross, and we trust him, we are eternally saved, and we are saved forever.
SPEAKER_01: We are saved gloriously, eternally, spiritually, and powerfully.
SPEAKER_01: In this life, this verse becomes ours.
SPEAKER_01: Our identity becomes, I know that God is with me in all of this.
SPEAKER_01: I know that I am his, and so I can trust him with everything.
SPEAKER_01: This verse is written to those who are Christians, who have trusted Christ as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: If you have this question this morning, should I trust God as my Lord and Savior?
SPEAKER_01: Should I surrender my life to Jesus Christ and trust his death, burial, and resurrection to pay the price for our sins?
SPEAKER_01: The answer to this is yes.
SPEAKER_01: Come to him, and this promise is yours.
SPEAKER_01: Then he says this called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: He has a purpose in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: When you are saved, you have a purpose.
SPEAKER_01: When he has called you into salvation, he has called you into the transformation process to become like Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He is working in your life to change you and transform you.
SPEAKER_01: And then he is going to transform you, not just for your good, to make you like Jesus, but he is going to transform you for his glory so that you are an example to others around you of the beauty of what happens when you give your life to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Because this is written to Christians, this verse of calling, sometimes people get confused with this.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what this word called means.
SPEAKER_01: It's a beautiful picture in Scripture, and these are the people who have been saved.
SPEAKER_01: When you've been saved, you have heard the voice of the Holy Spirit call you, and you have responded, and you are in this position of being a believer.
SPEAKER_01: You are in this position of having been saved.
SPEAKER_01: You have an identity that can never be taken away from you, and He has a purpose in your life now.
SPEAKER_01: You don't just get saved and get fire insurance from hell and don't ever have to worry about that, and then you go off and live your own life doing whatever you want to.
SPEAKER_01: When he saves you, he steps into your life purposefully with a plan to transform you to be like Christ, to transform you as an example of what happens when God changes the life of a believer.
SPEAKER_01: He transforms who you are so the people around you can know who Jesus is, so that they can know that Jesus loves them and that salvation is available for them.
SPEAKER_01: He saves you because he has desires and plans and wants for you.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, if you read in this chapter again where he talks about adoption and all of that, what he's explaining is that we have this.
SPEAKER_01: Look in verse 23.
SPEAKER_01: Not only that, the creation groaning, but we ourselves have the Spirit as the first fruits.
SPEAKER_01: We groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
SPEAKER_01: Now, in this hope we were saved.
SPEAKER_01: Yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he's seen, what he sees?
SPEAKER_01: But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
SPEAKER_01: What is he saying?
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, listen, I was saved as a nine and a half-year-old boy.
SPEAKER_01: My future was determined.
SPEAKER_01: No one can ever take me away from the hand of God.
SPEAKER_01: I will never lose my salvation.
SPEAKER_01: No one else can affect that, and I can't even mess up so bad that I cause God not to love me anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I am saved from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.
SPEAKER_01: When I got saved at nine and a half, I was saved, and I can always be confident that I will be in heaven forever.
SPEAKER_01: I am persuaded that neither death nor life or angels or principalities nor powers or things are present, things might come, nor heights them to death, or any other creative thing.
SPEAKER_01: That verse at the end of the chapter can separate me from the love of God, which is found in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm 58 now, and in that course of almost 50 years, I've messed up a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I've learned a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I've gone through some difficulties, I've gone through things that are blessing.
SPEAKER_01: I've gotten to know more things about the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I've gotten to know more things about myself.
SPEAKER_01: There are things I'm grateful that God has changed, and there are things that I wish God would continue to work on and change.
SPEAKER_01: In that journey, I am looking forward to the day when I will be in heaven and be complete.
SPEAKER_01: Paul said in Philippians chapter 1, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
SPEAKER_01: He told the church in Philippi, he said, look, I really want to go to heaven to be with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking forward to that.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he's describing here.
SPEAKER_01: We are hoping for that day when we will see Jesus and will we will be in heaven with him.
SPEAKER_01: Every Christian should live in light of eternity.
SPEAKER_01: We should be thinking about what heaven's going to be like and what it's going to be like when we get there.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited about being with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited when I don't have to struggle with this anymore, and I don't have to struggle with that anymore.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm looking forward to that heaven.
SPEAKER_01: But between now and then, God still has purpose in my life.
SPEAKER_01: I'm hoping for what I have not seen yet, the clear physical presence of Jesus as I'm with him in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: But that doesn't mean he's not using me now, and it doesn't mean he's not working on me now.
SPEAKER_01: In this moment, I am waiting for that time when my adoption and salvation is completed in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: But he doesn't just save me and leave me here to wallow in this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: There's a purpose.
SPEAKER_01: We know he causes all things to work together for the good, those who love God, called according to his purpose, to transform me into the image of Jesus, to draw me closer to his person, to make me more like him.
SPEAKER_01: And then to use me as an example to all the people around me who need Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That look, if God can do this in Greg's life, he can do this in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Now you attach this verse to the next verse.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 28 attaches to verse 29.
SPEAKER_01: For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that we would be the firstborn among many brothers.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is a beautiful picture that speaks to us of the fact that we will never lose our salvation.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says very clearly, for those he foreknew, God is infinite.
SPEAKER_01: As the creator of time, he is above all time.
SPEAKER_01: God always exists, then, present, and in the future.
SPEAKER_01: To him, he's always there, and he's always a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: That's why the Bible says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
SPEAKER_01: We spent a couple of weeks ago talking about how Jesus was at the beginning of creation.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says that God sees all those things.
SPEAKER_01: So when I was made and when he saw me in my life, he knew that he would call me to salvation.
SPEAKER_01: He knew that I would respond to salvation.
SPEAKER_01: He just knows that.
SPEAKER_01: He knows that.
SPEAKER_01: And because he knows that, and because he knew I would respond to him, he sealed forever that I would be his.
SPEAKER_01: What the scripture says.
SPEAKER_01: Predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.
SPEAKER_01: You see, that's the purpose that he has for us as Christians.
SPEAKER_01: If you will give your life to Jesus, what will happen is he will step into your life and he will cause to happen this transformation process and continue in your life until he takes you home to be in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And you are saved forever.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of struggles in these verses and a lot of theological issues that people wrestle with and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: They try to make it determined that somehow God determines who's going to be going to heaven and who's going to be going to hell.
SPEAKER_01: And I do not believe that's what this verse means.
SPEAKER_01: Whom he foreknew.
SPEAKER_01: You see, nobody wakes up and decides, oh, I'm just spiritually adept today.
SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, that was really bad what I did with my kids yesterday, or what I did with that deal.
SPEAKER_01: So I think I need to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: So I think I'm going to go find me a Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And we're so smart, we just go out and start finding that.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what that means.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, we are called, convicted by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in this very same book, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: We hear from the Word of God that Jesus is the plan of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: It is from the Word of God that we hear that God did what the law could not do.
SPEAKER_01: It is from the Word of God that we hear that Jesus stepped out of heaven and he was condemned in our place as a sin offering in order that the law's requirement would be accomplished.
SPEAKER_01: It is the Holy Spirit that takes that scripture and applies it to our lives and talks to us about our heart and our sin.
SPEAKER_01: If you have any question about the Holy Spirit, whether he talks to hearts or not, listen to what he says in his same chapter.
SPEAKER_01: The Spirit Himself testifies together within our Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is a person who speaks to us.
SPEAKER_01: And if you feel a conviction of your sin, and if you have a question about Jesus and salvation, that is the Holy Spirit at work in your life.
SPEAKER_01: He is talking to you, He is calling you, He is speaking to you.
SPEAKER_01: That's not something that you're doing because you're so smart and wise, you figure out you need a salvation.
SPEAKER_01: No, the Holy Spirit teaches us that.
SPEAKER_01: And he calls us that.
SPEAKER_01: And if you are feeling that conviction, I want you to understand that God is speaking to you.
SPEAKER_01: He is calling you salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And you are responsible to respond.
SPEAKER_01: To respond.
SPEAKER_01: All throughout Scripture, we see choices all throughout Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: It's a theme throughout Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: And so you have a choice to make.
SPEAKER_01: Are you going to try to do your best and fix yourself and make yourself worthy?
SPEAKER_01: I hear people all the time say this.
SPEAKER_01: It's just incredible to me.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I just hope I've done enough good that when I get to the pearly gates, God will just let me in because I've done more good than bad or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: No, listen, sin is sin.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter how much you've done, sin is sin, and it is an affront to holy God.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus came to pay the price for that sin and he calls to you and says, Listen, I loved you, but God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him will never perish.
SPEAKER_01: He is calling you and he is speaking to you and he is saying, You need to trust me as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And it is up to you if you will trust him or not.
SPEAKER_01: When you trust him, you have been called to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: You have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And he is now at work in your life, and he has grabbed you with both hands, and he is going to work in your life, and he is never going to give up, and he's never going to give up on you, and he's never going to give up on what he's doing in your life, and there's nothing that can stop God from doing that in your life.
SPEAKER_01: How do you know that, Pastor?
SPEAKER_01: Because the Bible says we know that God causes all things to work for the good of those who love God, called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: So let me go back and break this question down in three points here.
SPEAKER_01: Let's start at the end of that.
SPEAKER_01: Is there really a greater purpose to this?
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Greg, I get that in normal circumstances or when life is just stressful, but you don't know the doctor told me this.
SPEAKER_01: Or I was just delivered with papers.
SPEAKER_01: Or my business is in this position and it's not working.
SPEAKER_01: In the depth of this kind of a thing, is there really a greater purpose?
SPEAKER_01: How is God stepping into this to make this work for my good or his glory?
SPEAKER_01: How is that happening?
SPEAKER_01: Listen, I wrote this down so you can see this.
SPEAKER_01: We'll post these questions and answers on our social media so you can see these.
SPEAKER_01: God is always at work transforming us in the image of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He never allows anything to interrupt this process until we are redeemed for eternity.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what the Bible says at the end of this chapter.
SPEAKER_01: He says, verse 36, quoting from the Old Testament, Because of you, we are being put to death all day long.
SPEAKER_01: We are counted as sheep as slaughtered.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.
SPEAKER_01: What is he talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Look at what he says in verse 35.
SPEAKER_01: Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: In all these things, whatever is happening in your life, whatever life in this broken world has caused to happen, none of it can ever stop God's work in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing can interrupt what he is doing.
SPEAKER_01: In all these things, we are more than victorious through him who loved us.
SPEAKER_01: Is there a purpose in our struggle?
SPEAKER_01: Is there a purpose when somebody does something to us?
SPEAKER_01: Is there a purpose when our bodies are failing because of sin?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, there is a purpose in that.
SPEAKER_01: He is using us and he is showing in our lives, in this transformation process, who he is and his faithfulness, and that we can trust him.
SPEAKER_01: How many times have you seen someone who was in a struggle and they were faithful to the Lord and they exhibited the faithfulness of the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: And they sang praises in that moment, and your life was changed because of what they were going through.
SPEAKER_01: They were walking close to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He was putting his hand in their life, they were comforted in his presence, and they created such an example for you that it changed your life.
SPEAKER_01: God is always at work.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter what's happening, nothing can stop God's purpose in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And he will keep doing it until it is completed when we're in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Question two.
SPEAKER_01: Does God really love me?
SPEAKER_01: That's a fundamental question.
SPEAKER_01: People ask questions all the time about if God is so loving, would he do this?
SPEAKER_01: And is God loving about that?
SPEAKER_01: And even in our lives, we think we're going along and something bad happens and we pull back from the Lord because we're thinking, I'm just not sure.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just not sure about that.
SPEAKER_01: Can I trust him with that?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I get the salvation thing, Pastor Greg, but I'm just, man, that this is like, this hurts.
SPEAKER_01: And it creates in us a question: does God really love me?
SPEAKER_01: With everything bad going on and all my struggles in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: How can I truly trust in the love of God?
SPEAKER_01: Well, listen to what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: When you go from this verse 28, we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, those who are called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what he says in verse 31.
SPEAKER_01: What then are we to say about these things?
SPEAKER_01: If all things are working together for good, and I'm going through this struggle and I'm trying to figure out all this, what do I say about all this?
SPEAKER_01: If God is for us, who is against us?
SPEAKER_01: He did not even spare his own son, but offered him up for us all.
SPEAKER_01: And if he did that, how will he not also with him grant us everything?
SPEAKER_01: Listen, God loves you so deeply and eternally that he gave his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: And every blessing in heaven comes with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what this means.
SPEAKER_01: If he didn't spare his own son, why would he not freely give us everything?
SPEAKER_01: We were at our daughter's house this weekend, and we were helping get ready for the baby room and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And so here we start talking about what the room's going to be and all this stuff, and it's going to be cool and decorate and all that.
SPEAKER_01: And then we start talking about their childhood and all these kinds of things.
SPEAKER_01: And the topic of swords came up.
SPEAKER_01: My son loves swords.
SPEAKER_01: And he has all these kinds of swords, and he has swords from every movie, and he has swords from King Arthur, and he has all this kind of swords when we when he was a little boy, y'all are lucky now.
SPEAKER_01: Like parents today, you got all this stuff we didn't have.
SPEAKER_01: Like you have nerfed swords and stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Like when my son was playing with swords, they were just hard plastic swords.
SPEAKER_01: And I probably spent four years with my knuckles just cracked and broken, broken from sword fighting with those plastic swords.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: Like whack, whack, whack.
SPEAKER_01: How that hurts.
SPEAKER_01: Whack, whack, whack.
SPEAKER_01: He loves swords.
SPEAKER_01: And now he's grown and you know he's working and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: And we get nostalgic and we go back in our like where our stuff is that our kids leave at our house.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: They leave all this stuff at your house.
SPEAKER_01: Take it with you.
SPEAKER_01: I have stuff I want to put there, and he leave it there.
SPEAKER_01: And I see these swords.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking, I remember that.
SPEAKER_01: I remember when my son and I, I remember when we bought that.
SPEAKER_01: I remember that.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the deal.
SPEAKER_01: Man, you need someone to give up their life for you.
SPEAKER_01: What sense would it make if I said, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give my son to you, and I'm gonna let my son die for you, but you can't have his sword.
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm gonna keep the sword.
SPEAKER_01: Like, what sense does that make?
SPEAKER_01: The most precious, personal, deep part of who we are are children.
SPEAKER_01: And what he's saying is, if God gave you his own son, if Jesus died, as he says in the beginning of this book, of this chapter, if he was condemned in the flesh as a sin offering, if he gave Jesus to take on our sins and die for us, why is he gonna hold back something else?
SPEAKER_01: He gave you the most loving, powerful, precious gift that he could.
SPEAKER_01: He gave of himself when he gave Jesus to die for us.
SPEAKER_01: Why is he gonna hold back any blessing?
SPEAKER_01: Why is he gonna hold back his hand and not step into all things and synergize them and cause them to work for your good?
SPEAKER_01: Why would he step back from the purpose that he began in your life when he saved you to transform you into his image and to take you to heaven to be like him?
SPEAKER_01: Why in this particular moment would he step back and say, Oh, you can't have that?
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't even make sense.
SPEAKER_01: We can always count on the love of God.
SPEAKER_01: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.
SPEAKER_01: In this book, it says in Romans chapter 5, just a few chapters before that, God demonstrated his love towards us and that while we were sinners, while we were in the position of rejecting him, he gave his son for us.
SPEAKER_01: In 1 John, the book it says this.
SPEAKER_01: Not that we loved him first, but he first loved us and gave his son to be the payment for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: If he did not spare Jesus but place the sins of the world in him, why is he going to step out of your life when he has a purpose for your life?
SPEAKER_01: Why is he going to hold back what is for your good?
SPEAKER_01: Why is he going to hold back touching you and walking with you and carrying you through that moment if he loves you that much?
SPEAKER_01: You never have to question if God loves you that much.
SPEAKER_01: And the third question How can I trust that all things work together for good in the middle of this?
SPEAKER_01: In the middle of this mess?
SPEAKER_01: How can I know that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, here's what we learn from this these.
SPEAKER_01: Truths all put together.
SPEAKER_01: God steps into every situation with his love and his omnipotent power to protect us from anything, anything interrupting his work and our redemption.
SPEAKER_01: If we are conquerors in anguish, in persecution, in struggle, if he has created this confirmation that we will end up in heaven, that we can never lose our salvation.
SPEAKER_01: If death, life, angels, principalities, things that would happen, things that might come, if none of those things can separate us from Him, then you know that He is always there.
SPEAKER_01: And He is in every situation.
SPEAKER_01: It may not, He may not do it the way we want it to, but He loves you enough He's gonna do it in a way that is most what we need.
SPEAKER_01: And He's never gonna stop.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing can interrupt His work.
SPEAKER_01: And nothing can interrupt our redemption.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the next thing I want you to see.
SPEAKER_01: He never wastes circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: This is what I love.
SPEAKER_01: Go look at how many times it says all.
SPEAKER_01: We know that He causes all things.
SPEAKER_01: Persecution, anguish, struggle, difficulty.
SPEAKER_01: In all of those, we are more than conquerors.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing can separate me from the love of God which is info in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Then why am I going through this?
SPEAKER_01: Because you live in a broken, fallen world.
SPEAKER_01: It is a broken, fallen world, and sin is rampant, and that's why Jesus stepped into it to bring salvation, and that's why he steps into those circumstances in our lives, and he miraculously and purposefully moves and brings good and uses them for good so that the people around us can see, oh, I want what you have.
SPEAKER_01: Then you want Jesus because he's the one that makes this work.
SPEAKER_01: God never wastes any of those circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: He steps into all of them and he turns it into a classroom for us to learn more about who he is and what he's doing, and he makes it a stage for him to show the world what it looks like when he steps into the life of one of his children.
SPEAKER_01: And when we have that anchor of faith, we can go through any of those circumstances and we can trust God and we can be that stage so that other people can learn that they can trust the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: First question I want to ask you if you're online, if you're watching, if you're here, have you trusted Jesus as your Savior?
SPEAKER_01: Listen, if you've heard the gospel preached today, it means that God loves you and He's calling you to salvation.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I'm gonna invite you, if you're in the room, to come and to give your life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: In a moment, I'm gonna pray, and God's people are gonna stand and sing, a testimony of God's love.
SPEAKER_01: And if you need Jesus, you come.
SPEAKER_01: If you're online, listen, Dave invited you and welcomed you already this morning.
SPEAKER_01: You come.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, reach out to us.
SPEAKER_01: The number on the screen, email, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_01: You call, you write us, come see us tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: Reach out.
SPEAKER_01: We will walk with you.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, Jesus loves you and he is offering you salvation.
SPEAKER_01: You come.
SPEAKER_01: If you're already a believer and you're in the midst of some all things, you can trust the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Bow your heads with me and let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we love you and we thank you.
SPEAKER_01: And God, we pray this morning that if there are some who don't know Christ as their Savior, they would be called when they see the trustworthiness of who you are.
SPEAKER_01: They will see what it means to be your child.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray this morning that you will speak into all of this.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so grateful that it's not the quality of my presentation or preaching that people respond to.
SPEAKER_01: It is the living, powerful word of God and the speaking of the Holy Spirit into their lives.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, I pray that you will speak and draw them to you.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray for those who are going through a struggle, this will be an encouragement to them.
SPEAKER_01: That they will see the depth of your love and your work and know they can trust you in that storm of life.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.