God's Love Works It All Out for Good!
The Book of Romans
Romans 8:28-39
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Bank Springs Baptist Church - March 15, 2020
(Revised January 25, 2021)
BACKGROUND:
*I preached this sermon almost a year ago. It was on March 15th, right at the beginning of the Covid 19 epidemic. Truly this has been the strangest, most difficult year I have ever seen for our nation, and that's saying something, since I am almost 70 years old.
*Two of our children had relatively mild cases, and by God's grace, Mary and I have been spared so far. But we know around 15 families whose loved ones have died from Covid. And last night, my closest friend in the ministry passed away from it.
*Covid 19 is a monster, not to mention the way it has been used as a political weapon and a tool to help suppress our God-given freedoms. I never thought I would live in a country where God's Church was considered to be "non-essential."
*Even at the start of Covid, we could begin to see its impact, and on that day in March, the Lord led me to preach on Romans 8:28. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
*WE STAND ON THE TRUTH OF THIS SCRIPTURE AND ALL OF GOD'S WORD! Sometimes we have to wait to see the good, but I surely did see it last summer in the testimony of a Christian friend. Kevin Bayles texted it to me on July 31, 2020:
*"Hey Rick. I just thought about you. I had a Terrible bought of Covid that kept me in Glenwood for 6 days. I'm recuperating at home since last Wednesday. I've had this since 7-9.
I finally figured out about a month ago that God was breaking me to totally conform to Him. When I laid in GW with 78% oxygen, (needing 92-100%), that fact was hammered home. The 'guy that doesn't get sick' was totally dependent on the God of the Universe: my Savior, Creator, and Sustainer.
I thought 'Wow, aren't we always?' I want to make my life COUNT for Christ. Thank you for being one of my Spiritual Mentors on my journey. I love you and your family more than I am able to express."
*Kevin is doing fine now, and we know that God used that sickness to draw His child closer to the Lord. God is also bringing good out of Kevin's stronger desire to serve the Lord. And God's not through yet! Just as He always has, God will continue to bring good out of the bad things we have to go through.
*Below is the message I preached last year after we read Romans 8:28-39.
MESSAGE:
*Romans 8:28 is one of our favorite verses, because it gives Christians hope for the hardest times of life. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
*Most anybody who has been a Christian for a while can look back and see how God proved this verse in their life. I got saved in October 1975, about 6 weeks after I started teaching school. And before that year was out, I was so miserable, I was asking God to take me home.
*When we went out for recess, I would look up at the sky, and pray: "Please God, take me home, I'm ready to go!" I was 24 years old, and I was praying: "Please God, take me home, I'm ready to go!"
*I was fervently praying that prayer before my children and grandchildren were born, before God called me to preach, before I got to serve the Lord for 36 years, and before a million other great blessings from God.
*Plus, if I hadn't taught at that school, I may have never gotten saved, because one of my fellow-teachers invited me to the church that led me to Jesus. And when I answered God's call 8 years later, that was the same church where I started my ministry as a Youth Pastor.
*God surely does work all things together for good to those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose. But Church: Why does God do that? It's because of His infinite love for us. So, Paul goes on to tell us some of the amazing things that God's love can do in our lives.
1. FIRST: THE LORD'S LOVE GIVES US INFINITE BLESSINGS.
*And vs. 29-32, show us some of the greatest blessings of all:
29. For whom He (God) foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
*Did you notice that crucial question in vs. 31? "If God is for us, who can be against us?" This points out a wonderful truth for all Christians: "GOD IS FOR US!"
*Antonio Torrence said, "I believe that the gospel may be summarized in four small words: God is for us. No matter who you are, regardless of what you have done, in spite of where you may be in your walk with Him, you must know that the Lord God: Yahweh, Jehovah, Elohim, Adonai, the Lion of Judah, Emmanuel, Jesus Christ IS FOR US.
*God is on our side. We are not on the battlefield alone. God has our backs. He is walking with us. He is talking with us. He is both with us and for us! (1)
*God loves us so much that He wants to give us infinite blessings. That's why Paul asked another question in vs. 32, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" James 1:17 tells us that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. . ."
*But the greatest gift of all, the greatest demonstration of God's love, is the gift of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And in vs. 32, Paul is basically saying God has already given us His best. Now we can count on Him to give us everything else we will ever really need in life.
*God has already been incredibly good to us! We may not feel like that right now. But think of all the blessings God has poured into our lives.
*"Count your blessings," the old song says, and towering over them all is the cross of Jesus Christ. So, again in vs. 32, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
*Think about the love, mercy, and grace that Jesus has given to us! Christians: We are saved! We are going to live forever in Heaven. And we have been blessed in countless other ways, so we need to count our blessings.
*David Ring is a great example for us. Mary and I first heard David at the Texas Evangelism Conference in 1987. He was born in 1953 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the youngest of eight children. David's dad was a Baptist minister, but he died when David was only 11. Even more painful was the death of David's mother from cancer a few years later.
*David has cerebral palsy, and he has never been able to speak very plainly. He couldn't walk like the other children. He couldn't use his hands and arms like everyone else.
*And when David became an orphan at the age of 14, no one wanted him. He went from family to family never finding a home. He was in terrible pain, both physically and emotionally. You know, kids can be cruel, and David was often mocked in public. He was told that no one liked him, and that he would never amount to anything. He gave up on himself, and felt that others, including his family, had done the same.
*One sister, however, did not give up on David Ring. She encouraged him to go back to church and school. Eventually he did return to church. And at a service in 1970, David gave his heart and life to Jesus Christ.
*He felt like a nobody before. Now he says he's a somebody for Jesus Christ! Strengthened by his new relationship with Jesus, David went back to high school. There he served as manager of the football, basketball and track teams. David was also voted Most Popular, and Vice President of his class.
*In 1971, David was called by God into the ministry. He became a full-time evangelist in 1973, and has preached to many thousands of people.
*I once heard David say this in his garbled voice: "I have pain every moment I am awake." Then he said: "When I see my Lord the first thing I am going to say to Him is 'Why. WHY HAVE YOU BEEN SO GOOD TO ME?'"
*David Ring also said: "I have cerebral palsy, but it doesn't have me -- not for a minute. Count your many blessings and it will blow your ever-loving mind what the Lord has done for you." (2)
*If David Ring can count his blessings, then so can we! -- Because God is for us! God gave us His best because of His great love for us. He gave His Son Jesus Christ! Now we can count on God to give us everything else we will ever really need.
2. OUR SAVIOR’S LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF INFINITE BLESSINGS. IT ALSO MAKES US INNOCENT.
*Paul stressed this wonderful truth in vs. 33-34, and here he asked two more important questions. First in vs. 33: "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies."
*Church: We cannot overestimate how important God's justification is for us all. Without it we all stand guilty before the judgment throne of Almighty God. That's why Romans 3:19 says: "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
*All the world is guilty before God, because all of us were born with a sinful nature. That's why Romans 3:10 says: "There is none righteous, no, not one." And Romans 3:20 says: "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
*No one can be justified by keeping God's law, because no one has ever been able to keep the law, except for Jesus Christ. And the rest of us? As Romans 3:23 says: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We all fall short. We are all guilty with no hope of ever measuring up.
*If you've ever been to Disney World, you know they have a minimum height requirement for some of the rides. You can look them up on the internet. At the Magic Kingdom, you are not getting on "Goofy's Barnstormer" unless you are 35 inches tall. You are not getting on "Splash Mountain" unless you are 40 inches tall. And you are not getting on "Space Mountain" unless you are 44 inches tall. (3)
*Church: What if there was a minimum height requirement for getting into Heaven? If it was 6 feet, then some of us here would be fine. But there is nothing I could ever do to get there.
*But you see, if there was a minimum height requirement for getting into Heaven, it wouldn’t be 6 feet. It would be 6 miles or 6 million miles. And there is nothing any of us could ever do to measure up.
*All of us desperately needed God’s justification. Without it we are guilty. But the great news of God's Word is that all of us can have justification! And it comes by grace through faith.
*That's why Romans 3:21-24 says:
21. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22. even the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
*Or as Paul says here in Romans 8:33: "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies." When we turn to God and trust in Jesus Christ, when we believe that Jesus took all of the punishment for our sins on the cross, when we believe that Jesus rose again from the dead, and when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior, we receive God's forgiveness and a full pardon for our sins!
*Christians: In the eyes of God we are now fully justified. It is just as if we had never sinned! And we are innocent in God's eyes.
*But we must always remember that our pardon didn’t come easy or cheap. So, vs. 34 asks: "Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God."
*Christ died on the cross for us. Amazing grace! And He rose again, so there are no charges left against us! We are innocent in the eyes of the Lord. When you trust in Jesus Christ, you can be certain that you are forgiven forever. And it's all because of God's great love!
3. OUR SAVIOR’S LOVE MAKES US INNOCENT. IT ALSO BRINGS HIS INTERCESSION.
*We see this amazing truth at the end of vs. 34. Here Paul said that Jesus "is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."
*We almost never use this word "intercession," but it means "to meet with God for prayer." So, vs. 34 in the NLT says Jesus "is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us." Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus "is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them."
*Christians: Surely whenever we are in need. And maybe every single moment of our lives, Jesus Christ is praying to our Heavenly Father for us!
*One of the best things about being a pastor was the fact that people were praying for me every day. I loved knowing that they were praying for me! There was nothing I would rather have them do for me. I never could have made it for 36 years without their prayers.
*But there is someone BIGGER, STRONGER and WISER praying for us all. Jesus Christ is praying for us! And Jesus always makes the right requests. He never gets distracted. And He never runs out of time, because He is bigger than time!
*He knows our every need. He knows us better than we know ourselves! He even knows our future, so we can trust Him fully. All of us can fully trust in Jesus as He is praying for us up in Heaven. And the Lord doesn't have to pray for us. He wants to, because He loves us!
4. THE SAVIOR’S LOVE BRINGS HIS INTERCESSION. HIS LOVE IS ALSO INVINCIBLE.
*This is the victorious truth we see in vs. 35-37. Here Paul said:
35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36. As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.''
37. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
*Because of the love of Jesus Christ, we are more than conquerors. We have super-victory over anything and everything the world can throw at us! We have victory in Jesus!
*We even have victory over death through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 describes this ultimate victory for believers. There in the NIV, Paul says:
51. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed --
52. in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
54. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55. "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
56. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
5. OUR SAVIOR’S LOVE IS INVINCIBLE! AND HIS LOVE IS INSEPARABLE.
*This is the comforting truth we find in vs. 35. There Paul asked: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
*Then in vs. 38-39, Paul said:
38. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39. nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
*Nothing can separate us from the love of God! Verses 38-39 in the NLT say: "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
*Robert Leroe said, "Looking up toward the heavens, we may feel insignificant. At times we may even feel forsaken. But there's nothing to fear. Make no mistake. God is fully and forever committed to us. Sin separates us from God. But our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. And God's love WILL NEVER LET US GO." Nothing can "separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (4)
*Charles Lowery told the story of a young boy from south Florida. His house was on a lake. One day after school, the boy hit the water and began to swim. When he was about halfway out into the lake, he looked up and realized that an alligator was heading straight toward him!
*The boy made a U-turn and swam as hard and fast as he could, yelling the whole time. His mom saw him and dove into the lake. The alligator and the mom got to her son about the same time, and there was a tug-of-war. But Mom won!
*When the boy got out of the hospital, the reporters were there. And they asked to see the scars from the alligator. So, he showed them the alligator scars. Then he told them he wanted them to see his other scars.
*He pulled up his sleeve, and there on his other arm were the scars where his mother would not let him go. That's a picture of the kind of love that Jesus has for us. He came for us, and He will never let us go! (5)
*The difference is that Jesus has the scars because He went to the cross for us. And in John 10:27-29, Jesus said:
27. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
29. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
CONCLUSION:
*This is the love that God has for you, for me, and for all of us here today! So put your trust in Jesus. He is the Son of God who came into this world to die on the cross for you. He rose again from the dead. And Jesus will give His everlasting life to you, if you will open your heart to receive Him as your Lord and Savior.
*Call on the Lord to save you. Thank Him for His great love. Do everything you can to help other people learn about the love of Jesus Christ. And no matter what happens in sin-sick world, keep trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ! Because "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
*Would you please bow for prayer.
(1) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Conquerors" by Antonio Torrence - Romans 8:28-39
(2) Sources:
-David Ring to speak at Arbor Baptist Church - St. Clair Alabama Times - Gary Hanner - 03/04/2004
-SermonCentral sermon "Thorns of Life" by Bill Butsko - 2 Corinthians 12:2-10
-https://www.davidring.org/
(3) https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/height-requirements/
(4) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Winning Team" by Robert Leroe - Romans 8:31-39
(5) Adapted from "The Prize" - by Charles Lowery - SBC LIFE - April 2004 Issue
