Sermons
All Things Work Together For Your Good
This is a profound Scripture. You can feel the strength of its structure when it's dissected. Listen to it again:
"We know . . ." means, we are fully convinced of this truth.
"that in all things . . ." and that excludes nothing!
"God works . . ." He works with all His omnipotent, sovereign, and wise power.
"for the good . . ." this is the way God prefers to work.
"of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose . . ." and these are the beneficiaries of God's good work!
God strategically placed each word of this passage to assure us He is for us! And if you're a Christian, it applies to every aspect of life. You can claim it whether you're operating a billion-dollar industry or you're unemployed. Regardless of what happens, everything—everything!—somehow cooperates for your good!
(Transition) Let' take a few minutes to take a deeper look at this Scripture. As we examine it, I want to examine the last portion of this verse first. That is because the end of this Scripture identifies the recipients of God's grace; and Paul says God's goodness focuses on Believers.
I. God's Goodness Works for Believers
First, I want you to notice what Romans 8:28 doesn't say. It doesn't say, ‘God works all things for the good of all people.' While God indeed works for the welfare of all humanity and causes "the sun to shine on the just and unjust," He reserves a special grace of goodness for "those that love Him and are called according to his purpose."
This may sound unfair, but the Bible shows that God is free to work for the good of some and to the exclusion of others. And there's a reason. It has to do with two sins: the sin of unbelief and the sin of rejecting Christ. Those twin sins—unbelief and rejection—place a wall of separation between God and man.
This becomes evident when you study the life of Christ in the four Gospels. The flow of Christ's goodness toward others was always thwarted when people either disbelieved Christ's power to work miracles and when they rejected His power to work miracles. Let me show you what I mean.
When Jesus ministered in His hometown, the people were "offended" at His ministry. They had watched Jesus grow up and Matthew 13:58 says He couldn't work "many miracles there because of their lack of faith." The sin of unbelief stopped Christ's miracle flow toward them.
Then, the rejection of Christ restricts God's flow of goodness. On one occasion, Jesus traveled to Gadara and exorcised about 6000 demons from one man called "Legion." (That's what "Legion" means. It was a military term that marked anywhere between 4200 and 6000 troops.) And when Jesus dismissed the demons they entered a herd of swine that lunged into the waters. You would think the Jewish community of Gadara would have delighted in Christ decimating the pork industry. But Mark 5:17 says the people urged "Jesus to leave their region." Do you know how Christ reacted? He immediately left! He didn't beg to stay. He moved on!
Unbelief and rejection of Christ impede His goodness! That's why Hebrews 3 takes the time to expose these two sins that prevented Israel from entering Canaan.
Hebrews 3:7-19
If you "love God and are called according to His purpose," then believe Him and accept His work! It's through our love and faith toward Christ that God releases His goodness to us.
(Transition) So, the first thing we see is that God's goodness works for those that love God and those who are called according to His purpose. Next, let's investigate the fact that everything works for your "good."
II. Everything Works For Your Good!
God says, if you're on His side, then every event in life, from the least to the most significant, cooperates for your good, and nothing is permitted to happen contrary to that intention!
Romans 8:28 doesn't say "all things are good." Hatred and evil aren't good; being afflicted or being ridiculed by others isn't enjoyable. What this statement means is this: God knows how to create good from every circumstance!
I don't understand how God's providential mastery can craft and shape every invent into something good; but He does it! God knows how to make everything work for our good:
Adversity works for our good.
Mysteries work for our good.
Answered prayers work for our good.
Unanswered prayers work for our good.
Prosperity works for our good.
Setbacks work for our good.
Friends work for our good.
Foes, even Satan, work for our good.
Those two words, "work together" mean, "to cooperate." God mysteriously combines everything happening to you—the adversity, mysteries, answered prayers, unanswered prayers, prosperity, setbacks, friends, and foes—with the command to work for your good! God actually demands all things to work for the good of His chosen people . . . all the time! Even when things don't pan out as we planned.
(Illustration) Sometime back, I heard the story of what halted the gladiatorial contests. Rome was supposedly Christianized, yet it forced its slaves and political prisoners to fight in the Coliseums. But there was a monk named Almachius who desperately wanted to stop the brutality, so he headed for the arena. Once the Emperor arrived, the gladiators squared off. That's when Almachius bolted onto the field and raised the cross of Christ. He separated the gladiators and shouted, "In the name of our Master stop fighting!" The entire arena froze and fell silent. But moments later, mayhem erupted and the crowd began stoning Almachius. His body was then beaten to the floor, bludgeoned, and the people were left staring at his corpse. History says a feeling of revulsion sank into the crowd and without further fighting, the people dispersed. Before another contest could convene, the Emperor issued an edict that forbade all gladiatorial games. And it was all because a monk was willing to become a martyr and let God work for "the good" of others.
(Transition) When things don't work out as we planned; God still works for our good! And He works for our good even when we endure tough times!
God Works for our Good when Life is Tough
Think about something. When it comes to making our choices—like deciding where we'll work or live or what risks we'll take—we employ the "pleasure principle." What are the benefits? How much pain will it inflict? What will others think? We tend to measure the goodness of life in proportion to the pleasure it brings. That's not always the wrong approach but it can be!
The Bible calls Lot a "righteous man," but he made some terrible choices. Lot longed for the lush, well-watered land of Jordan rather than facing the challenge of cultivating Canaan! He craved the culture and conveniences of city life!
I wonder how many would be in this auditorium if, years ago, our spiritual ancestors had chosen the path of least resistance and not ventured out in faith to claim God's best? Good things often occur when we're willing to accept unknown consequences!
I wonder how long Rome would have continued its bloodletting in its Coliseums without that monk?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had no clue whether they would live or die when they refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's image. But they were willing to trust God! And when Nebuchadnezzar saw the fire couldn't consume these three men he repealed his decree and an entire nation was delivered from worshiping the image.
(Transition) Then, Good things occur when we're willing to accept unknown consequences!
God Works for our Good when the Future is Unknown
Namaan, the leprous General, didn't understand why Elijah told him to dip in the Jordan River seven times in order to be cleansed, but he was healed when he obeyed.
I'm sure the Israelites didn't understand God's military strategy for defeating Jericho when He told them to silently circle it for seven days. But victory followed their obedience!
And what about the unusual things Jesus did immediately before manifesting His goodness to people?
He spit on His fingers and touched a man's tongue in order to heal him.
He coated a blind man's eyes with clay before restoring his sight.
He told His disciples to throw their nets on the opposite side of the boat if they wanted to catch fish.
God shows us time and again in His Word that He does good and special things when we're willing to accept unknown consequences!
(Illustration) I remember an unusual way God illustrated this to me years back. I was preaching one hot summer evening in a church I pastored when, during the sermon, I removed my jacket. At that moment, the Holy Spirit said: "Strike both sides of the pulpit with your jacket." Now, I'm preaching in front of 400 people and I know everyone in the house is going to think I am insane when I do this. I probably thought, "Lord, what in the world can possibly come of this?" But I obeyed. After the message, the altars filled with seekers accepting the invitation to seek God. Among them was a visitor to the church that walked up on the platform wanting me to pray for him. I was totally surprised at this man's response. The man, far from "being in the Spirit," responded to the prayer by slamming into the pulpit and from that four-foot high platform sent it spiraling toward those worshiping in the altar. But as providence would have it, God had placed a 6'3", 250-pound man, right in front of the pulpit. All he did was hold out his hands, catch that pulpit, and replace it with skillful ease!
Do you know why God speaks to people to do seemingly strange things, like striking a jacket on the pulpit? Do you know why He veils His work in mystery before manifesting His goodness? God wants to build faith and trust in us. Let me illustrate it this way.
(Illustration) Having chiropractors in the church I've occasionally employed their services to alleviate some aches. Here's what I've discovered about medical care. Like Jesus sometimes demonstrated, there's a process attached to obtaining relief and not an instantaneous cure. And that process demands that we, the patient, trust the doctor's expertise. I've visited the clinic and said, "The lower back is the problem" or "The head is the problem." (No comment from Cindy please.) Now generally, here's the doctor's procedure. He says, "First, come in this room, lie on this table, and let this machine message your back." (I'm ready for that!) After several minutes he moves me to another room and asks me to lie on my side. And I think, O.K., no problem. Then he says, "Now, bend your leg." I say to myself, "A little strange, but he knows what he's doing." Then he says, "Alright, now cross your arms." And now I'm on the verge of needing a second opinion! From there he proceeds to bend over my twisted skeleton and simultaneously grab about eight different places of my body and squeeze! And guess what? A tingling sensation runs up my spine and creeps into the base of my neck and relief starts.
Do you see the issue here? Trust! The doctor is saying, "Trust me, I'm credentialed and qualified for this." And that's what Christ is saying when He pokes His hand into our life and churns us with unexplainable mystery. He's saying, "If you'll trust Me, something good will happen!"
We want God to show us "the end from the beginning." But we're told in Psalm 9:10 that those "who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you."
We want to know all the possibilities and variables but Proverbs 3:5 says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not unto your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."
Before we make the journey, we want God to remove every rift in the road and every ripple on the water, but it doesn't happen. However, Jesus tells us how to make the journey in John 14:1, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."
Good things occur when we're willing to trust God and accept unknown consequences!
Conclusion
But do you know what really vexes us? Situations that never make sense—event that don't make sense even years after they happen. That vexes us! We can see the good that comes from a monk's death in Rome, but making sense of random acts of violence or plane crashes and car wrecks trouble us. Under-standing why cancer strikes in the prime of life vexes us.
I want you to understand one more thing that Romans 8:28 doesn't say. It doesn't say, ‘And we fully know or completely comprehend everything happening to us.' That would be nice, but it doesn't say that. The Bible is filled with God working in ways that mystified people. But the mystery is part of the process of getting to a good end.
We like to say, "Hindsight is 20-20," but it's not! Just because an episode is now history doesn't mean we can unravel and decode it. I'm convinced some things will remain a mystery until we reach the shining shores of Heaven and the answers are reflected in Christ's transcendent glory.
What Romans 8:28 does say we can understand is this: "Everything affecting us works together for our good!" That means, if God does something to you, it is good for you! You can always trust God to work in your behalf. God is good, all the time.
Copyright © 2009 by Pulpit Today
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