Things we should know about God and his work
Text Romans 8:28 Time 07/11/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
Romans 8:28 is one of the great texts of the Bible, a verse worth knowing and learning. Down the years it has been a comfort and blessing to countless believers. It’s often likened to “a soft pillow for a tired heart” and is one on which many a weary traveller has laid his head.
In many ways it stands on its own and I want to treat it separately this evening. It acts as a sort of summary of Romans 8:1-27 but also anticipates the great climax at the end of Romans 8. Paul has already said that there is no condemnation for Christians, for those who are in Christ Jesus. They have the Holy Spirit who will even one day raise their bodies from the dead. They are God’s children and heirs. Though they presently suffer they will one day share in Christ’s glory, glory incomparable with any suffering known in this life. It is for this end that creation is groaning and believers groan too. By nature we are very weak but the Holy Spirit helps us and effectively prays with us and for us.
Now before we go any further we ought to say something about what Paul actually says here. We are probably wisest to accept the NIV margin for the first part - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. What seems to have happened is that early on someone objected to this phrase all things work together for good as if it somehow happened automatically and so some very early manuscripts do read (as NIV) in all things God works for the good. If you would prefer the NIV text that’s fine. For the rest of the verse the NIV is excellent.
So our text is
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who have been called according to his purpose.
We want to say five things about the verse
1. Here is something we ought to be in no doubt about
Paul begins And we know …. It’s a favourite phrase with him. He has already used it three times in this letter (see 8:22) and uses it at least another five times elsewhere. It contrasts rather with verse 26 where he says we do not know what to pray for. Yes, there are things Christians do not know. We should not be afraid to admit it. Many things are hidden from us. But it’s a little bit like an exam in school – what matters is not what you do not know but what you do know. That is where the emphasis should lie in our thinking. These are things we know, things about which we are certain.
The question arises as to how we know these things and, of course, we know them because they have been revealed. God revealed this truth to Paul and through Paul to all believers. If we enquire further as to how Paul learned it, we cannot be far wrong when we say that he learned it from the Scriptures and from his own experience.
1. Scripture
He knew, for example, the story of Joseph and how despite everything seeming to be against that boy and despite his father Jacob’s despair, God worked it all together for the good of his people. All the way along, despite the evil intentions of others in the wonderful words of Genesis 50:20 God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Or think of the story of Daniel's three friends and how King Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown into the fiery furnace and yet not a hair of their heads was even singed but God brought about a miraculous deliverance from them. Think of Daniel himself and the way God rescued him from the mouths of the lions.
2. Paul’s own experiences of the Lord’s dealings with him had taught him the same thing. He had been in trouble time and time again but later on writing to Timothy he says Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them (2 Timothy 3:11). Again and again Paul had seen God use impossible situations for the advance of the gospel. Many of us could share our own experience in this same way.
2. We ought to know that God is at work
The verse begins God works or all things work. Everything that happens from the mightiest earthquake to the silent movement of the wings of a butterfly; from the most insignificant action of the most insignificant person to the decisions of the world’s most powerful leaders, God is at work in it all. God is at work and we ought to be alert to that reality. God has not wound the universe and left it to turn like some gigantic clockwork time-piece. No, he is actively at work in everything. Nothing happens apart from him being at work in it. We had that catechism question this morning -
“What are the decrees of God?” The answer: “The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory, He has fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” The catechism goes on to ask “How does God execute His decrees?” The answer is that “God executes His decrees in the works of creation and providence.” Providence is then defined as “His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions.”
3. We ought to know that he works for good
God works for the good or all things work together for good. Knowing what we do of God this should come as no surprise. He not only works but he also works for the good of his people. All his efforts are bent in that one direction. We must be convinced of that. He is the one who was proclaimed to Moses (Exodus 34:6, 7) as
The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.
In the New Testament James says (1:17) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Let's never doubt the goodness of God.
Allen Gardiner is one who did not. Gardiner was an officer in the Royal Navy and a faithful missionary to Patagonia in South America. He experienced many physical difficulties and hardships throughout his service to the Saviour. Despite his troubles, he said, “While God gives me strength, failure will not daunt me.” In 1851, at the age of 57, he died of disease and starvation while serving on Picton Island at the southern tip of South America. When his body was found, his diary lay nearby. It bore the record of his hunger, thirst, wounds and loneliness. The last entry in his little book showed the struggle of his shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. It read, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.”
4. We ought to know that he works all things together for good
Importantly, Paul says that all things work together for good. He is not simply saying that there are certain things in this life where we can be sure God is working for good but there are other things, of course, where either he is not at work or where, despite the Lord these work for our harm. No, it is a much more extreme statement than that. He is including
1. All things positive. This is perhaps the easiest to understand. Why is there such a thing as the Bible? Why is the Holy Spirit at work doing the things he does? Why are there such things as prayer and Christian fellowship and Christian witness? Where does a desire to serve others and family love come from? Marriage and friendship, food and clothing, the joys of music and art and conversation and games and sport, etc. All these good things and countless others are among the all things that work together for the good of God’s people. Whenever anything good happens we ought to see that God as done it. He has brought it about. Every good and perfect gift is from above.
2. All things neutral. With that we can include all the things we are perhaps not sure about or that are neutral or indifferent – such as the rain and the wind and various inventions such as radio, TV, microphones, recorders, computers, the internet; the size of your family, how much money you have. We could perhaps put the ability to read and education in general here along with the religious impulse in man and his desire to be creative. We can think, no doubt of many things that are neither good nor bad in and of themselves but that can be used in good ways and so without too much difficulty we can see fairly easily how they work together for the good of God’s people.
3. All things negative. But those two categories do not exhaust the phrase all things. All things surely also includes all the things that we would instinctively label as bad such as all forms of evil and suffering and sin. This is perhaps where we find some difficulty in going along with Paul. ‘What? The Devil and the Fall and all my troubles and sins are actually working together for my good? This is clearly what the verse says, however. If you are ill or have to go into hospital for an operation; if you are affected by a gale or a flood; if your car breaks down or you have an accident; if you are the victim of a burglary or some other crime; if you fall into depression or have doubts; if you are not married but would dearly love to be or you cannot have children though you long for them; if you are persecuted for your faith or face hostility; even if you sin by word or deed – all this God will work together for your good. This does not mean for one moment that we should be indifferent to what happens to us or whether we sin or not. It is no more right for a Christian to sin than for unbelievers to persecute believers but God can and does over-rule all things for good. This verse is here for encouragement not for licence. When things go wrong we have a tendency to despair and even when things are going well we can be prone to worry and anxiety. Here God tells us to put away our anxieties and not to give into despair. Whatever it is, God says, it is all part of his glorious plan and that plan is to do good to his people. And he will do his will. We can count on it.
Spurgeon says
"Did you ever hear of a man who got his health by being sick? That is a Christian. He gets rich by his losses, he rises by his falls, he goes on by being pushed back, he lives by dying, he grows by being diminished, and becomes full by being emptied. Well, if the bad things work for him so much good, what must his best things do? If he can sing in a dungeon, how sweetly will he sing in heaven!"
So our attitude to our troubles and our sins should be one that recognises and keeps in mind that God will do us good – despite our troubles, despite ourselves even. We can be sure of this.
5. We ought to know that he does this for those who love him and whom he has called
Now it is important finally to add that this is not some general law that applies to everybody. Paul does not say that everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. He is careful to make clear that what he has to say does not apply to everyone but specifically to Christian believers.
If you are an unbeliever this verse is not for you. In fact, the very opposite could be said. Despite what good you may receive in this life, all things are actually working against you for you will be judged if you go on in sin. Repent! Turn to the Lord now before it is too late. Despite all your rebellion and sin God can work it together for your good. He speaks of believers as
1. Those who love him. Do you love the Lord? It is not an easy question in some ways. If you know anything, you know how treacherous your heart is. However, is there some reason to suppose that you love God? Are you at least committed to loving him and serving him? Do you want to please him? Are you trying to obey his command to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? If you do love the Lord, even though the level of your commitment may leave a lot to be desired, then you can be sure this promise is for you. All things are working together for your good. Despite all your troubles, despite all your sins, despite the Devil’s desperate efforts – God is at work and he is working for good, for your good! Oh what an encouragement this is, especially on the darkest days. Of course, we need faith to believe it. Some things have happened in our lives may be and we simply can’t see how it could possibly have been for our good. There are things and we still wonder why. I’m not saying, and this verse does not say, that we will always see how God is working things negative to our good.
Sometimes we will. Sometimes we will see how God has used trouble and adversity and even our own sins to wean us from this world and to teach us humility before God and compassion towards others.
At other times we will not see it at first but eventually we will at least have some idea of how it has worked for our good. Do you know the story of the northern Puritan Bernard Gilpin breaking his leg when arrested during the reign of Queen Mary? Gilpin preached in a place called Houghton far from London but worked of his faithful preaching reached the authorities in London and so he was arrested and had to make the journey to London to face almost inevitable martyrdom. Somehow on the way as he mounted his horse he managed to break his leg. Perhaps some questioned at that point how a broken leg on top of everything else was working for his good. What happened, however, was that his arrival in London was delayed. Apparently it was a s they finally reached Highgate that news came of the death of wicked Queen Mary and so he was safe from further danger.
Sometimes, in this life, we will never see it. I think I have mentioned to you before how one preacher has mentioned how his mother died 20 minutes before he arrived to see her for the last time and his question as to why in God's purpose he was not allowed to see her alive one last time. Who knows? However, this is where faith comes in again. We must believe this verse. We must trust that God truly is working all things together for our good. Who would not love a God like this?
The testimony of Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch lady who was so faithful in the last war in sheltering Jews from the Nazis, is powerful. She wrote
"Often I have heard people say, “How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!'” Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. “No, Corrie,” said Betsie, “He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: 'For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.'” She concludes, “There is an ocean of God's love available - there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love - whatever the circumstances.”"
2. Who have been called according to his purpose. Who have been called according to his purpose. We must not miss that final bit. In the end it is not that we love him but that he first loved us. That is what makes the difference. Yes, our choice is a free one but not in the sense that God had nothing to do with it. No, he works out everything according to his own will. It is according to his purpose that he calls people to himself. He has a good purpose and part for that purpose is to call people to himself. That call is always for their good. It is important to remember this.
I love the story of Drew Garner and the rough and unorthodox usual evangelist Rolfe Barnard in the United States. In 1954 Rolfe Barnard was taking a series of meetings in a Southern Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky, where a man called Drew Garner was the pastor. Lots of interesting things happened that week but at one point Barnard preached on Romans 8:28. He began his sermon by asking if anyone could quote Romans 8:28. Well, Drew Garner was fresh out of seminary and he was pretty sure he knew what Romans 8:28 was. And so he raised his hand and said And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and then sat down. Barnard looked at him and he began to read the verse again. Yes, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God just as Garner had said but there is more … to them who are the called according to his (and here Barnard boomed) PURPOSE!!!
That is the thing to remember. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. This how he speaks to us all who are believers. What comfort such a fact should give us.
Perhaps this whole truth is seen most clearly in the cross of Christ. Remember Peter's words in Acts 2:33, 34 you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him and 3:15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. Yes, those who put Jesus to death were guilty before him. It was an evil act. And yet God worked it together for good. What he did with the cross he does with all things – for his own glory and for the good of his people.
