God’s Infallible Guarantee Series

INTRODUCTION

Last year I read the book entitled, Into Thin Air, written by John Krakauer, an account of the ill-fated expedition to climb Mt. Everest in May of 1996. This was the expedition where some of them got caught at the top of Mt. Everest during a terrible storm and of the five people who reached the summit four of them died. A pathologist from Dallas, Dr. Beck Weathers, was in that group and was left for dead on the mountainside, but instead with a tremendous determination of will he found his way back into the camp although he lost his arm and the fingers on one of his hands. He is still a practicing physician. I have often wondered, “What is it about the human personality that causes people to want to climb to the very summit of the tallest place on earth: 29,028 feet? Well, I have been told by some who climb mountains that when you get to the top, the view is worth the effort.

I think what we are doing today when we come to Romans 8:18. I believe we are ascending to the very pinnacle of God’s truth and revelation. In fact, I think all of Romans 8 could be called the Himalayan Mountains. When you come to Romans 8:1, it says, “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.” That’s a pretty lofty point. Then, you continue climbing higher to get to verse 17 and it talks about how “we’re not only children of God, but we’re heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” I call that “Mount Glory.” Then in verses 18-27 we descend into the valley of suffering. It talks about how “the whole of creation is groaning”. and then it talks about “how we groan and even the holy spirit groans.” but now we come to prepare to climb up to the very pinnacle, the Mt. Everest of biblical truth. Romans 8:28. You know on some of these climbing expeditions, they have to pause and wait before they can go higher because they have to wait and get acclimated to the lack of oxygen to the thin atmosphere. Well, that’s similar to what we have done in January with Y2K. We’ve paused a little bit to get ready. Now, I want you to join me as we go for the crest, as we go to the top and we discover what God’s pinnacle of revelation is. Some people who climbed Everest find death, but all who climb to the top of Romans 8:28 find life.

Paul writes. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Please don’t close your Bibles because we are going to look at verse 29 later in the service. This is what I call “God’s Infallible Guarantee.” Have you ever bought a product and along with it you receive a guarantee or a warranty that says if anything goes wrong with it, you get your money back? Well this is “God’s Infallible Guarantee!” He says, “I guarantee if you meet my conditions that you’re going to see all things become a part of his plan to produce good.” R.A. Torrey said Romans 8:28 is “a soft pillow for tired hearts.” I call it “Gods greatest promise.” Let’s learn four things about God’s promise:

I. CERTAIN “WE KNOW”

God’s promise is certain. He says, “We know” There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. It is an ironclad-promise-no-shred-of-doubt-whatsoever! Paul says, “We know that it is certain!” How can you know that Romans 8:28 is true? How can you really know? There are at least two reasons.

1. God’s character

Number one is God’s character. This promise is not based upon the whim of human disposition. It is based upon the rock of God’s faultless character. God is a good God. There are many scriptures that talk about the goodness of God, but it says, Look at what it says in Psalm 1:45 “The Lord is good,” hang on to that word “is good to all. He has compassion on all he has made.” Do you remember when you were a little kid one of the first prayers you learned was, “God is great. God is good.” That says it all! God is great! And God is good! God is not some mean, vengeful God. He is a loving Father who wants to make your life enjoyable so it is based upon his character. By the way God cannot lie. God has never told a lie nor can he lie. Dr. F. B. Meyer was a great Christian writer and he wrote this about the reliability of God’s character, “If any promise of God should fail, then the heavens would clothe themselves in sackcloth, the sun, moon and stars would reel from their courses, the universe would rock and a hollow wind would moan through a ruined creation the awful fact that God can lie!” Praise God that will never happen because God does not lie. He cannot lie. He has never told a lie. The reason we are certain about this truth is because of God’s character.