INTRODUCTION
Text Romans 8:28-30 why do we have to face hard times?
I was reading an article in readers digest by a man named Mark Smith
• And in that article Mark Like many high school seniors, was filling out a college-scholarship application.
• One form asked for any extracurricular activities.
• He answered: “wrestling.”
• The next question requested positions held.
• He entered: “pinned, mostly.”
All of us at one time or another can relate to Mark
• In life we sometimes feel like we are continually being “pinned” to the mat and are just waiting to get counted out.
• Maybe you have been hit with so much adversity you feel like the little girl who was riding along on her bike when she bumped her head on the low hanging branch of a tree.
• She ran into the house hollering, "Mom, Joey hit me!"
• Her Mom looked up from what she was doing and said, "Sissy, Joey didn’t hurt you. Joey’s not even here.
• He went to the grocery store with your dad."
• The little girl got this startled look on her face, and said,
• "You mean stuff like this can happen on its own at anytime. Whoa, what a bummer!"
When it comes to the subject of discouragement.
• One of the great things we can enjoy in Christ is freedom from discouragement.
• What I want to look at today is what Paul tells us about how we can enjoy freedom from discouragement
• And that reason is because God is bigger than our problems.
• His plans are bigger than our problems.
Romans 8:28-30
SERMON What we see here is God is bigger than whatever we are facing. (28)
1.When we are suffering through difficult times,
• We can know that God will cause the bad situation to work together for good.
• And that’s exactly what it says in verse 28
• God causes all things to work together for good.
• The word “know” means to learn by instruction.
• How do we know our math facts? By instruction.
• We know that God causes all things to work together for good because we are taught through God’s word this is true.
• The only way we know this fact is through the teaching of the Bible.
If it Didn’t tell us this
• We could come to the conclusion that alot things that happen in life work for evil instead of for Good.
• How many times have you seen what seemed like a hopeless situation turn into something good?
• I have seen some of the most difficult situations in life turn into something good for people.
• In my own life there have been many things that when they happened didn’t seem all that good,
• But later I could see they were the best thing that happened to me or they led to something really good.
Joseph M. Stowell tells a story about his childhood.
• He says “Growing up in Hackensack, N.J., provided a variety of experiences for me.
• One was going to school with some of the rough kids from the neighboring town of South Hackensack.
• I recall one afternoon, playfully trading punches with one of the southside guys and having his punch actually land on my face.
• The blow jarred one of my front teeth loose.
• Thankfully, the dentist was able to anchor the tooth again, and I didn’t lose it.
• In fact, I was better off--the tooth had always been crooked, so the dentist straightened it as he worked.
• Sometimes the blows of life have a way of taking something crooked and making it straight.”
We are told that God causes ALL THINGS to work together for good.
• In the context of the Bible,
• all things includes the trials and tribulations that we deal with in life.
• It deals with the persecutions we face as a result of our faith.
• We have some examples in the scriptures of this principle.
How many of you think it would be terrible
• To be sold into slavery by your own brothers?
• Then how many of you think it would be bad to be thrown into prison for something you were completely innocent of
• after things seemed to be going well for you?
This happened to Joseph
• Later on in his life, Joseph’s brothers thought he was going to get them back when he said
• Genesis 50:20, “Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it.
• This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now.”
When the early church was being persecuted,
• It seemed like a bad thing, but the good that came out of it was
• it made the Christians leave Jerusalem
• And when they left they took the Gospel with them
• And in doing this the Gospel made its way into other parts of the world.
• Acts 8:4 tells, “But the believers who had fled Jerusalem went everywhere preaching the Good News about Jesus.”
Whatever we are facing in life,
• God promises that it will work together for good.
• But Who is that promise for?
• Is it for every person or just a limited few?
Look at the rest of verse 28.
We see this promise is only for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose.
• The text implies that only those who continually love God are the ones for whom this promise is for.
• If we love God, we will present ourselves to Him.
• We see that if we love God, we will grow in sanctification
• Or to put it simply we will become more holy and Christ-like in our lives.
• In this chapter, we have learned that if we love God,
• we will walk according to the Spirit.
• The promise is for those who are called according to God’s purpose.
• The word “purpose” means to place something before one’s mind, to plan, to resolve.
• This verse leads us to believe that a called one is one who has heard the call and has accepted it and obeyed it.
• We are called through the gospel to God.
• Romans 10:17 (NASB) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
• Romans 1:16 (NASB) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Now let us look at the purpose God had in making His plan. (29)
And by doing This it will help us to understand why God works through our difficult times.
1. One of the purposes behind God’s plan
• Was to see those who love Him be conformed to the image of Jesus.
• The word “conformed” is a word that means a likeness inside and out.
• A complete change, not just an outward superficial resemblance.
• One of the purposes for God working in our lives through the difficult times
• Is so that one day we will have the same resurrection body that Jesus has.
• We will look like Him.
In the mean time we are to allow ourselves to be transformed into His image.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect£ the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
• Romans 12:2 (NLT) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
• This is the destiny for those who love God. God does not want us to fail to reach this goal for our lives because it is part of a bigger plan for us.
2. The second purpose behind God’s plan was for Him to have a large family!
In verse 29 we are told that God wants His Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.
• This means that God wants a big family.
• Jesus was resurrected and given a new body and now is seated at the right hand of the Father.
• God wants a VERY large family.
• He wants many others to follow the path of Jesus.
• Remember, the reason that we are given freewill is because God only wants those in His family because they love Him.
• Giving us freewill is the only way for God to know we love Him.
I wonder if Bill Gates came out and said he would adopt ANYONE
• Who loved him into his family, how many people would say they loved him.
• How would he know if people really loved him?
• When you have great wealth that would be one of the problems,
• knowing who really loves you for you or who loves what you have.
I think that when most people are about to die,
• They want to go to heaven. The question is, did they love God enough to live for Him while they had the chance?
• Or do they say they love Him now to save themselves?
One of the ways I know my wife loves me is the fact that she had a choice.
• If I were to become wealthy somehow, I know she loves me for who I am.
• The question is Don’t you want people to love you for who you are?
• God is no different. God wants a big family!
3 Now I want to briefly look at the process behind God’s plan (29, 30)
1. Foreknowledge
• Verse 29 talks about those that God knew in advance.
• In the context the word means to “approve of beforehand.”
• What this means is that forever in the past,
• God’s knew He would approve of anyone who accepted His Son.
• He knew in advance those who would accepted Jesus
2. Predestine
• The passage says and he chose them to become like his Son,
• Once again, this deals with the fact that God decided beforehand
• that those who accept Jesus would be conformed to His image,
• that we would have a resurrection body.
3. Called
• And having chosen them, he called them to come to him.
• The ones who are chosen are those who accept the call.
• The call is open to EVERYONE!
• Those who reject the call are lost, those who accept are saved.
4. Justified
• The one’s called are justified.
• Being justified means that we are declared innocent.
• If we are guilty, we can’t go to heaven,
• we can’t declare ourselves innocent,
• Because God is the only one who can do that,
• And the only way that happens is to answer the call of Jesus.
5. Glorified
• When it is all said and done, when Jesus returns, we will be glorified with Jesus.
• We will be a brother or sister of Jesus.
• Look at verse 29 so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters
• We will receive our inheritance in full from God
CONCLUSION
• The purpose God has behind His plans
• And the processes behind those plan
• Are some of the reasons that God works through our trials and problems to make them work out for good.
• God does not want us to fail
• He doesn’t want us to think that Satan is more powerful than He is.
• Pain and suffering are a part of this world,
• As long as we live this life; it will be a part of life.
• But when we go to heaven it will all be over
• Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.
• Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune;
• but great minds rise above them. --Washington Irving
God is a great God who will help us rise above the misfortunes in life!
• Don’t be discouraged;
• look for the silver lining in the cloud of distress.
• God loves you
• And when we love Him,
• He will welcome us into His family!
The only question that remains is DO you want to be a part of that family?
