“A Lesson Worth Learning”
Romans 8:28
Saturday January 28, 2006 at 8:37 am
That’s when the Lord gave me this message, a message He wants you to hear. That was just one day and three hours ago. Up until that time, I knew not what I would say to you this morning
In the past, I would have fretted…worried, about what I should preach. I would have tried to ‘recycle’ an old message, or tried to force a message into my heart and onto my lips. But, in recent time, I just wait…wait until God gives me something to say.
For you see, a recycled message isn’t always best. A forced message can be difficult on the ears and the heart. But, when I wait on the Lord… to supply His Word, then my brothers and sisters, the message is right on time!
So, Saturday January 28, 2006 at 8:37 am, came…and brought with it a Word from the Lord.
At that time, Sis. Thompson called me and shared the news that one of our members, her sister-in-law had passed way. In all honesty, I was prepared for such, seeing that Sis. Vanessa had been in the ICU of Baptist for the past 2 weeks. I had visited her and her family there many a times…prayed with them…prayed for her. So, this news, although sad, was not a surprise.
But, Sis. Thompson went on to say that there was more news. Sis. Vanessa had a twins sister, who had a daughter, and this daughter was lost early Saturday morning in a house fire. Within the course of one day, two souls…united by blood…had past from life into eternity.
There I sat… in the parking lot of this church…preparing to lead a Men’s Bible study…searching for the words to say that would ease the pain…searching for something, anything, that could somehow example “WHY”! Yet, after 22 years in the ministry, words seemed so violently uncomforting. Yet and still the Lord just told me to pray with the Thompson’s, and that I did.
In the course of my prayer, at 8:37 am, the Lord gave me this message. With the phone against my ear, and a certain emptiness in my voice, I prayed for man, and listened to God.
What I prayed is personal, and should not be shared with others. But, today, I can share with you what God said to me… He said, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
I thought in my heart, these words may be true, but I cannot speak them NOW! They’ve been used too many times. They may be true, but they won’t ease this pain…this pain is too raw and open….too real!
However, if these words of Romans 8:28 are not for such a time as this, …then when? The reason they’ve been used so much, church family, is because they’ve been needed so much. If I won’t speak them, then who will?
· The doctor at the hospital?
· The news reporter at the burning house?
· The funeral director or coroner?
No, church family, it’s my job…my responsibility …to speak the Word of the Lord…even the parts that I might not fully understand or appreciate.
So, this morning, I want to share three Lessons that I believe are worth your time to learn… And learn well. Though brief in their statement, they take a lifetime to truly value.
The first lesson is called, A Lesson in Compilation. Compilation simply means ‘the act of compiling or put together”. As Christians, we should learn, and learn well, that God puts things together in our life, for our good.
Verse 28 tells us that “all things work together for good…” I know you did, but I’m gonna ask any way…did you see that word ‘all’? The Bible says ‘all’ things work together for good.
But, God must not have known the extent of the word ‘All’. He must not have known the ramifications of saying ‘all things work together for good’
· God must not have known the pains of watching a loved one die!
· He must not have known the agony of hearing the words, “He’s Gone”!
· He must not have known the grief of the living,… having to say ‘good-bye’ to the dead!
· He must not have known any of these things when He wrote the words of ‘All Things’.
But, yes, church family, He did! He knew it, from the foundations of the world, through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. You see, God knew every pain that you and I would bear, and then some, before the earth itself was created. Revelation 13:8 tells us that every name, …of every Christian… is recorded in the book of life. But this verse goes on to say that this book belongs to Someone, …the Lamb, …Jesus Christ. And, in the mind of God, this Lamb was slain for you and for me, before the foundation of the world was laid.
God knows what it’s like to stand of the lifeless body of His only Begotten Son. He knows how it feels when the Death Angel visits a name that He knows. He knows the every ache…and every pain…that every death brings to the living who are left behind
You see, no matter what we have gone through…no matter how long you’ve gone through it…no matter how much you have gone through…God’s still tells us that… ‘all things…work together for good’
And this is what we should focus on. Not just the ‘things’ that happen…but how that the ‘things’ work together for good. That word ‘together’ literally means ‘to be a fellow-worker’, or ‘to co-operate with’. This leads me to conclude that God allows certain things in our lives, at certain times, in certain quantity, so as to work together or co-operate with one another, so as to produce something good.
As we grieve with the Thompson family, during this time of loss, let us not be remiss in acknowledging that ‘all things’, even death, co-operate with one another for good.
Why? Because of this first lesson worth learning, a lesson in Compilation.
The songwriter said,
As I looked backed over my life,
I can see how Your love has guided me.
Even though I’ve done wrong, You never left me alone
But, You forgave me, and You kept on blessing
This I recall to my mind therefore I have hope
It is because of Your mercies that we’re not consumed
Because Thy compassions fail not, They are new every morning.
Great is Thy Faithfulness! Great is Thy Faithfulness!
I want you to notice a couple things about the words of this powerful song. First, it says, ‘As I look back over my life’. Notice that it doesn’t say, ‘as I look at this one situation of my life’. Nor does it say ‘as I look at this one thing in my life’. It says, ‘as I look back over my life’. This tells me that our reflection of things, should not be set on one or two situations or circumstances.
Why not? Because if we focused on a single instance of good or bad, it would cripple us. If it were good, we’d be like the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, we wouldn’t want to leave. If it be bad, then we’d be so depressed, that we couldn’t go on.
No, church family, good doesn’t come from a single event, it comes from a compilation of good and bad events. Even the event of death.
Solomon wrote ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;’ Later in this same chapter, the king wrote, ‘He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:’
You see, when it comes to this first lesson, the lesson of Compilation, we need to be mindful of at least two things. Number one, it is the Lord that does the compilation. It is He that gives us what we need, in the quantities that we need it. And number two, He does it all …in His time!
Take this first lesson to heart, the lesson of Compilation. God combines ‘things’ into our life, for our good, according to…His time.
The second lesson we need to learn is ‘A Lesson In Progression’. Take note of verses 29-30. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
This second lesson, if properly understood, will help you to understand the first. For, you see, The Lesson in Progression can explain ‘why’ bad things happen to good people.
This lessons begins by telling us that God ‘foreknew’ us. This means that He knew us, before we were ‘us’. The Psalmist says that even in our mother’s womb, we have been fearfully and wonderfully made. In the womb, a child is a living soul, precious in the sight of God. But even before we were in our mother’s womb…God knew us.
I can’t tell you where we were, but I can tell you that wherever that place is, God knew us there. And this knowledge led Him to predestine us to be conformed into the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But what does this mean? Predestine. Simply stated, predestine means to plan in advance where someone or thing will end. It’s what Airline companies do every day. They state when a fly will leave a certain airport, and arrive in another. They take into account the distance from point A to point B. They consider the weather…the number of passengers…if it will be a direct flight or have a layover in a particular city.
So, when you get on a flight from Oklahoma City to Orlando, the Airline has predestined your arrival at a certain time.
But, does that mean it will arrive where it’s suppose to? No! Why not?
· Because the plane may not get off the runway due to poor weather.
· Because it may have engine trouble half way through the flight and have to make an emergency landing in another city.
· Because the plane may be hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center by terrorist.
Predestination has to do with what God ordains to happen. But, always remember, you and I have a vital role in making it happen. You see, we all have a free will…to do the things that we want to do…when we want…with whom we want. Although God Almighty has predestined some things to happen, …He has given us the responsibility of making sure that they happen!
That’s why it’s vitally important for us to KNOW the will of God and then DO it!
And, this is where the lesson of Progression comes in. God gives us project A. He has ordained that we complete project is a certain amount of time, and if we do, He’ll progress us to Project B. However, if project A goes unattended, ignored, or half-done, project B gets tabled…until we finish project A.
You see, God knows that he that is faithful in little will be faithful in much. And He’s not going to trust us with much, until we’ve earned His trust with our little! When we’ve earned His trust, THEN He will progress us to the next level!
God is looking for a people who He can progress, …advance…move on…in the perfect will of His Father.
What did Christ teach his disciples when it came to prayer? “Our Father, which art in Heaven, holloweth be Thy name, Thy Kingdom Come,… Thy will be done …on earth, as it is in heaven’
What did Jesus pray in the garden of Gethsemane? “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”
You see, Church family, the second lesson that we should learn is the lesson of Progression. God moves us here…and gives us that…and takes us someplace else, because…when everything is put together…it works together for good.
And, aren’t you thankful that God progresses us in the direction that He wants us to go, and doesn’t just drop it all on us at once. We couldn’t handle it. Imagine every good thing and every bad thing that you have every received, being given to you over the course of one day…one week…one month…one year. It’s hard enough to deal with over the course of one lifetime.
But, by God’s grace, we endure.
There is one man in Scripture that had a multitude of bad, dropped on him at once. His name…is Job. Job chapter one tells us that in one day,
· Job lost all of his oxen and asses, and the servants that were watching them, when a rival tribe came and stole them away…
· Job lost his sheep and the servants that were watching them when fire fell from heaven…
· Job lost his camels and the servants that were watching them, when the Chaldeans came and stole them away…
· Job lost his children when a strong wind came and caused their house to fall upon them…
Yet and still, through all of this, Job still serve the Lord. But, it doesn’t stop there. Satan had taken Job’s oxen and asses…his sheep and camels…and even his sons and daughters…but now God would allow Satan to make it more personal.
Chapter 2 tells us that Satan touched Job’s flesh from the top of his head to the sole of his feet. A sickness so vile, that when his friends, good friends, looked upon him, they knew not it was he.
Yet and still, Job served the Lord. Even through this, Job did not curse the Lord! God allowed 5 terrible events to happen, over the course of time, one of which apparently last for several months. Why? To progress Job from where he was …to where he should be. After this time of testing, God restored the oxen and assess…He restored the sheep and camels…He even restored the sons an daughters.
And God does the same thing with us, today.
You see, by design, God is progressing us from where we were…to where we are…to were we should be…to where we will be. And He does this through… ‘all things’!
God has predestined us to be changed into the image of His Son. And in order to get us there, he called us out of the world, justified us by grace through faith, and will one day glorify us in His kingdom.
But, before we get glorified, we have to be conformed…. Changed into… the likeness of Christ. And regardless of what some preachers may say God uses pain, …suffering, …and grief in establishing His perfect will in our lives.
Consider the words of I Peter 4:19, “Wherefore let them that suffer… according to the will of God ….commit the keeping of their souls to him…”
Did you see it? Sometimes Christian DO suffer, according to the will of God! Then listen to the words of I Peter 3:17 & 18 “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,…” Listen to what the Spirit is saying. When a Christian suffers for doing good, it’s their transport into the presence of God.
Why?
· Because we serve a Savior that has been tempted in every way known to man…yet without sin.
· We serve a Savior that knows how we feel, and what we’re thinking, when we’re called to go into the valley of the shadow of death.
· We serve a Savior that won’t put more on us than we can bear.
Instead, He will progress is through the good times…and the bad. That’s the lesson of progression.
So, what are you going through right now? What every it is …thank God that you’re going through it…and that it’s not gonna last always!
The third lesson worth learning, that I’d like you to consider is the lesson titled ‘If God’!
If you’ve been saved any length of time, you know that God doesn’t always come when you want Him…but He’s always…right on time!
You may be here today…wondering ‘where’s God?’ But, let me remind you of your past. Though I don’t know when…though I don’t know how….I know that sometime in your past…God showed up…just in time.
God allows ‘all things’ to come into our lives… then He progresses us from where we were…to where we are…to where we should be….to where we’re gonna be.
But, just to make sure we get there …He gives us a little ‘som-um, som-um’, and we see it in verse 31. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”
Paul asked us a question,
· ‘If God be for us, who can be against us’
· “If God’s is on our side, WHO can stand against us?”
Whoever it is, …they would have to be ‘outside themselves’ to go against you. Why? Because God’s got your back!…and front…and every other side!
So, while you’re going through the valley of the shadow of death…while tears race down your cheeks and into God’s little bottle…while the weight of the world crashed down upon your shoulders…don’t forget about this third lesson… the lesson of ‘If God’!
What shall we say to these things?
· What shall we say when death comes to our family, not once but twice in the space of a day?
· What shall we say, when we move from one tragedy to another?
· What shall we say, when the devil takes a special interest in us…making us his special hobby?
· What shall we say, when our enemies multiply, and our friends divide?
I’ll tell you what to say: “If God Be For Me, Who Can Be Against Me?”
· If God before me, I know everything will be all right, in His time!
· If God before me, I understand that when I’m weak, then am I strong!
· If God before me, I know that I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me!
· If God before me, I know that neither death, nor life,… nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, …..nor things present,…. nor things to come,…Nor height, nor depth,… nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This third lesson states that…come what May…come what June… or come what July…I am well-able to see it through. Why? Because If God Be For Me, Who Can Be Against Me?
Conclusion
What are you going through, today? It may be the death of a loved one…it may be the loss of a job…it may be a failed relationship…it may be something totally different.
Have you asked God the ‘WHY’ question?
· Why Me?
· Why This?
· Why Now?
Although we may have used this verse a lot, it’s only because it’s been needed a lot….All things work together for good, to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.”
Do you love God? Are you living your life, according to His purpose? If so, then according to the authority of the Word of God…All Things… work together for good.
